No Closed Captions on a Sony SLV-N55 VHS/VCR Player with a Sony KV-13TR24

[Conorc]

I've got a Sony Trinitron KV-13TR24, which does not support CC! But I am wondering if I can still get them through my VCR. I have a Sony SLV-N55 VHS/VCR super hi-fi stereo unit. Can this work? Or is there a work around somehow without having to buy a whole new TV set?

[dellsam34]

CC is a TV feature, I'm not aware that VCR's has CC. What does the user manual of your VCR say?

[Conorc]

Manual on either mentions nothing.

[Cornucopia]

Cc is part of the (hidden, ~ line21) video signal. The decoder is usually supposed to be in the TV (though there have been some outboard decoder boxes in the past).

A standard vcr will pass that signal (assuming it was encoded on the tape in the first place) along with video, using composite, svideo, or rf connections. Component may or may not work, but you don't really encounter component on vhs vcrs anyway. Btw, fyi, digital, particularly hdmi, dp, do NOT support this old analog form of cc.

That tv doesn't say ANYTHING about cc, so am betting it doesn't have a decoder. Depending on manufacture date & country, that may not have been mandated for it. You either need to find an outboard box to put inline, or get a different tv that does have a decoder.


Scott

[johns0]

Cable boxes usual have their own cc built in.

[Cornucopia]

True. But then, who still has cable? I was a holdout for a while, but even I fully cut the cord last year.

Also, cable boxes' cc work only with received cable programming, it cannot help with vcr playback's passthrough.

Scott

[dellsam34]

Depends on the origin of the TV, If it was designed for the US market it should have CC, if it was for the European market then no, They have Teletext over there.

[Cornucopia]

And if designed for the Japanese market, possibly neither. AFAIK NTSC style CC's were only mandated in the US.


Scott

[usually_quiet]

True. But then, who still has cable?

I do. My cable box is a new model that displays closed captions from digital cable and supported streaming services. However, I doubt that it can tune NTSC analog signals let alone display analog CCs.

Even the DTV converter boxes from the digital transition could only display CCs from ATSC channels. The TV was responsible for displaying NTSC closed captions.

[Edit] Since July 1, 1993, all TVs made for the USA with a 13-inch or larger screen have been required to display closed captions. It looks like the Sony Trinitron KV-13TR24 was released before the requirement was in effect and that is why it has no closed caption decoder.