television enhancements for hearing loss

By Andrea Kaneb

Photo by Mollie Sivaram, unsplash.com

Television is a great source of entertainment and news. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to hear from across the room. In addition, turning up the volume does not always make it easier to understand the words. One of the first signs of hearing loss is when another family member complains that the television is too loud. Fortunately, there are a lot of television enhancements for hearing loss that keep you connected to all your favorite shows. For instance, you can use a wireless system to send sound straight to your ears. Closed captions supplement your hearing. Finally, you can also adjust the television audio settings.

Things to consider to improve television listening:

Turn on closed captions
Change the TV’s audio settings and see if it makes a noticeable difference
Consider various wireless options to send the sound from the TV to your ears. Here are some vendors of these products.
If you have hearing aids/CIs or headphones you like, see if there is a wireless TV accessory for them
You may need to consider how you’ll converse with others while also listening to the TV.
You may need to figure out how you and someone else can both hear the TV at the same time.

Read on for more info on television enhancements for hearing loss…..

closed captions

Closed captioning on TV is well-known and fills in the gaps in our hearing, especially when the TV is far away or the room is noisy. To turn this feature on, go to menu and look for the language/subtitle/audio settings for your TV, streaming service settings, cable box or laptop. Closed captions are most accurate for prerecorded shows and can be maddeningly slow and inaccurate in live broadcasts. FCC rules state that captions must be reasonably fast, accurate, complete and well-placed on the screen. If your closed captions are unacceptable, you can file a complaint within 60 days to the FCC or video programming distributors – cable operators, broadcasters, satellite distributors, etc.

tv audio settings

The audio settings on your TV can be tailored to better suit your hearing needs. Go to the TV menu and look for audio or sound settings. If your TV has an equalizer, try turning down the frequencies where you hear well and turning up the frequencies where you struggle. For most older people, this means turning down the bass and lower mid-frequencies and turning up the (high frequency) treble. If available, try turning on the audio enhancement feature and/or turning off the “night” or “surround sound” settings for a more natural sound.

off-the-shelf wireless listening systems

There are wireless FM, Bluetooth or Infrared off-the-shelf systems that use a transmitter plugged into the TV and a receiver you wear at the ears, as headphones or a stethoscope shaped receiver. Some TVs have Bluetooth that you can pair to compatible Bluetooth headphones. Most systems have technology to boost the speech frequencies. There is also a portable TV speaker-box that you can carry with you and use with or without the built-in audio jack. There are many choices available online and at hearing assistive technology vendors.

hearing aid/CI wireless transmission

There are proprietary TV units that plug into your TV and transmit directly to certain hearing aids/CIs. These are straightforward to set up, easy to use and provide high quality sound. They are not cross-compatible with other brands and often unusable with your next new set of hearing aids, which can be costly.

To plug in and pair a proprietary TV connector unit to your hearing aids, refer to the device’s user guide or look on the manufacturer’s website or ask your hearing care professional. If your hearing aids/CIs are connected to your phone, incoming calls can still be received while listening to TV. These units can also be used with other devices that have a 3.5 mm jack, such as computers or on airplanes.

Streamers are like a middle man between the sound from your TV and your hearing aids/CIs. Streamers can take Bluetooth audio from your TV or FM/digital audio from a TV transmitter and translate it into audio that your hearing aids/CI can use. Streamers are useful if you want to switch quickly between hearing just the TV and hearing others in the room without getting out of your seat. They are also useful for computers, phones, public FM/IR receivers and other audio devices.

Some proprietary remote mics with a 3.5 mm socket can plug into the TV’s 3.5 mm or RCA AUDIO OUT using cables and transmit wirelessly to hearing aids/CIs. This allows you to purchase just one proprietary device to meet more than one need (noisy restaurant, TV) but you need to plug and unplug it from your TV when using it elsewhere so it’s not quite as convenient as a dedicated TV transmitter.

Off-the-shelf neckloops such as this Artone neckloop receive Bluetooth audio from devices like a TV and convert it into magnetic induction audio that works with hearing aids/CIs with enabled telecoils.

Hard-Wired Solutions

wired connections – jacks, plugs and adapters

Wired connections offer straightforward and reliable access to audio. Plugging in gives you the high quality sound you need to hear people, music, movies, and news. It is cleaner and stronger audio than sound from speakers that are across the room. It also lets you split audio when you need to use it in more [...]

room loops and neckloops

If you have hearing aids/CIs/hearing accessory with a telecoil, you may want to consider installing a small induction loop system in the room with your TV. These systems transmit high quality TV audio directly to your hearing aids/CIs with just the push of a button. Typically a wire is tucked under the flooring or trim around the perimeter of the room and connected to the loop amplifier system, which is also attached to the television. Anyone with a telecoil can access the system.

Your hearing aids/CI can be set up to mix the TV audio and room audio (M+T, hearing aid mics plus telecoil) so you are able to hear other people in the room or they can be set to just hear the television (T only) or have one program for each. These programs must be set up by your hearing care professional.

soundbars

A soundbar is a long thin add-on sound system that provides loud, high quality audio for televisions. They are popular with today’s flat screen TVs that look great on the wall, but don’t always sound very good through their small built-in speakers. Some soundbars claim to have “speech enhancement” technology that boosts the voice frequencies, which may be worth trying as long as you can return it if needed.

apps for TV

Tunity is an app that streams the audio from any live TV program straight to your phone. You simply point your phone at the TV screen and use the app’s camera function to identify the show and sync the audio to your mobile device. It works even with muted TVs and is used at bars, restaurants, gyms, universities, doctor’s offices, airports and even at home. You can listen through headphones, earbuds or stream it directly to smartphone compatible hearing aids. Learn more about the Tunity app here.