Server Version#: 1.25.6.5577
Player Version#: N/A
Tuner Make/Model: Hauppaugge HVR-2255
Guide/Lineup name:
Using XMLTV?: N
Channel number/Name: Any
When I watch Live TV from OTA through my Antenna, everything works fine. When I record a Live Broadcast, as I did the other night, it records no audio track whatsoever. The file is there, but no sound. I delved into seeing what was going on, and the file itself (a TS file) had no sound at all. Has something changed? Because this worked flawlessly the last time I recorded something.
Yes, mine worked great for 3 years. Then a blind disability accommodation hit the broadcasters. Now what I’m finding is the tags are off coming from the broadcast stations. I’m not familiar enough with the ATSC 1.0 standard to know if the three letter flags for language are hardcoded or freeform. In the Dallas\Fort Worth market, the descriptive channel comes through as unlabeled or spa (Spanish) but that’s not making sense that I would end up with a TS file with only spa audio track.
As a test, I just found the track selection and turned it completely off so all audio tracks are captured. I’ll see what happens from tonight on. You may want to try turning this off for you as well. The Audio & Subtitle Settings is under your icon on the upper right then scroll to Account and click.
So, I did this, and now DVR programs have sound. This looks like an issue. Apparently, when Plex picks the audio track, it simply picks no track at all. Weird.
A few months ago an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) adjustment was made. To accommodate the Blind, a descriptive audio track was added. Descriptive gives details about the scene that the Blind cannot see: “Sheldon glares at Leonard”
That audio track has replaced the Spanish track on some stations while others leave it as unknown. That has played havoc with the audio track selection scheme. Don’t blame Plex. I suspect ATSC 3.0 currently making it’s way around the country, will have the bandwidth to include not only 4K TV but all the audio tracks with bells and whistles you’d ever want. ATSC 1.0 is rather limited.
How is not selecting ANY audio track not a bug? I wasn’t looking for Spanish, Visually Impaired, or anything. While I understand the issue, the behavior of PMS when “Auto” is selected for an audio track to function correctly for Live TV, but to provide no audio track at all (No English, Spanish, or Descriptive) for DVR can only be described as a bug. Unless you think that is working as designed because users want their DVR to have no sound whatsoever. A wrong track I could understand, that wouldn’t be the fault of Plex. No track at all? That is Plex’s fault. Particularly when it works for Live TV.
When you do something outside the published standard and get strange behavior, it’s not a bug. ATSC 1.0 was developed long before any discussion was out for adding a descriptive channel.
Now do you see? Vendors will have to adjust to this surprise change. But it’s not Plex that is to blame. It’s the Standards Body that shoehorned in something that was not planned.
From the National Association of Broadcasters, a good background document on what was intended and the reality they encountered. It’s an interesting read through and you can see the confusion come in right at the start.
This follows no logic. If Plex’s system works for live tv, but doesn’t for DVR, then it is a configuration issue on their side. Particularly if unchecking a box fixes it. Uncheck the box by default, then. The ATSC standards are neither here nor there when Plex can recognize the issue, and unchecking a box fixes it. Why have the box checked if it is known that it breaks DVR recording? Plex should uncheck the box, and remove it as an option. Problem solved.
Having the same issue but only on some stations like CBS and FOX. Some programs on those stations record the sound fine and some programs there is nothing. I have tried unchecking the Audio and Subtitles setting box and will see what happens…
It’s how the stations send the descriptive audio out. Your best bet for now is to uncheck the setting to pick the best track and capture all of them when you record. Then if you use MCEBuddy, you’ll have to turn off saving only the ENG audio track. You want them all.
I did that and went to the raw TS file to see what I had. It captured two on 9-1-1 Austin. Both were labeled “Unknown” and had language flags of English and Spanish. The Spanish track was actually the English Descriptive Audio track.
I’m afraid we’re stuck with that setup from broadcasters using ATSC 1.0. Allowances for this new disability accommodation were made in the new ATSC 3.0 standard starting to be pushed out across the country.
Well speaking as an IT Professional, standards are important as they outline how a broadcast stream’s data will come across. That’s how we know episode information, Dolby options available, and where to find the Spanish/English audio tracks. What broadcasters have done is grab the Spanish track and inserted the English Descriptive Audio track. There is also a flag for “Main” audio to identify what to play as default. I highly suspect both tracks are flagged as “Main” by the local broadcasters.
Your local stations are responsible for how the audio tracks are displayed to you. They differ by station so now, no one can count on what audio is recorded on what track.
This issue is NOT Plex but the existing standard not having a clear definition for descriptive audio and how it presents. All the FCC said to stations was “You will have this disability accommodation available to your viewers.”
This issue is NOT Plex but the existing standard not having a clear definition for descriptive audio and how it presents.
The descriptive audio track, while a part of the issue, is not my issue. My issue is that rather than Plex taking a guess at the correct track, which may or may not be correct, the DVR automatically chose NO AUDIO TRACK AT ALL. So rather than being correct any percentage of the time, Plex made the decision to be wrong 100% of the time unless a box is unchecked.
That choice is ultimately Plex’s responsibility. As someone who has worked in IT, I can tell you pre-configuring any system to fail in its job 100% of the time is not how we do things. Best effort is always better than no effort. Best guess is better than no choice at all.
