Unable to turn off closed captioning on DVR recordings

Plex Media Server
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1

Server Version#: 1.42.0.9975
Player Version#: 4.148.0

I have seen multiple posts on this issue, and most are closed now but I am still unable to find a solution. I am running PMS 1.42. I installed that version since it fixed the live tv browsing and scheduling recording issues I was running into. Now the issue is no matter what program I record using the dvr (I have 2 HDHomeRun Flex 4K tuners) it forces the closed captioning to show even with it turned off in the player no matter what client I am using.

I have tried everything that was suggested in other posts and nothing has worked. I know this is a PMS issue since the HomeRun app lets me turn them off without issue as well as Channels. Most of the time the captions are not in sync with the program I am watching. I am hoping someone else found a creative solution without having to downgrade. That option is going to be my last-ditch effort since I am afraid that the live tv browsing issue will come back with a downgrade. Thanks in advance to anyone who is able to help, and I apologize if this is a rehash of the issue, but I cannot find an answer after more than a week of trial and error.

2

Have you already tried to explicitly activate the subs and then deactivate them again, before starting playback?

Other than that, only this comes to mind: SOLUTION: EIA_608 Subtitles Suck - Here's how to automatically replace them with srt goodness

Or for simply removing them: Samsung forcing closed captions - #2 by tom80H

4

I am not sure what you mean by “explicitly activate subs and deactivate”.

Also, thanks for those suggestions, but I really was hoping not to have to run external tools to fix a problem that the DVR should already be doing. It isn’t behaving as expected so I was looking for a solution that wouldn’t require that, but if that is my only option maybe I’ll spend some time on it later. I am just not going to use the dvr function until I get a solution.

5

Have you tried playing the video in another player to see if the cc got burned into the video?

6

Good point. I only looked at other sources like HDHomeRun’s app and Channels app. I just loaded one of the *.ts files in vlc and windows media player. The CC are not there using the same file that Plex played. I am not sure what that tells me but it looks like it is entirely how Plex is playing the content since the behavior is different when not using the plex player.

7

Okay this is interesting. I copied over a recorded video from my HDHomeRun DVR and a video from my Hauppauge DVR without making any changes other than the filename to be compatible to what Plex is looking for. Playing back on the Plex server it added the Closed Captions even though I had them turned off in the player. I played it back from my FireStick, RokuTV, and my Samsung tv using the app with the same behavior with the CC. Something definitely changed with the PMS to start doing this since it never did before. It needs to be fixed. I think my only option now is to downgrade if I can find older versions. I wish I had kept the older versions around for this exact reason but didn’t have the foresight then.

8

Downgrading fixed my issues. I am back to a reliable and functioning as expected DVR. It is a shame that this has to happen without Plex addressing the issues.

9

Well, fixing one thing has now led to another. Live tv no longer works. It times out no matter what channel I choose. It just seems I can’t get a break with plex. Once everything is working, they release a new version that breaks things. I downgrade and fix a new break only to introduce a new issue. The product just has become so unstable over the last few months or so. Maybe it is time to give up on the dvr/live tv and look at another solution.