Apple TV 4k voice over is being truncated or getting cut off. It seems to happen when exiting from watching something (doesn't matter which app) then going to the home screen, voice over only speaks part of the words. I believe VO is reading the full word, but the first part kind of drops out. I really hope this makes sense.
My guess is that it may have something to do with the type of audio it was playing in the program, then when switching to the home screen, something gets messed up.
It is connected via HDMI.
Thanks for any help.
By Jeff, 5 September, 2023
Forum
tvOS and Apple TV Apps
Comments
It’s probably your TV
So this actually just might be your TV and there might not be much you can do about it. What’s probably happening is that your HDMI port recognizes when content is being played, and switches automatically between audio profiles to something a little, more dynamic, for movie watching. Switching back to your home screen, which is it back to the way it was. That’s probably why voiceover is getting truncated. My old TV actually used to have a much longer delay between when it switched profiles which made voiceover kind of annoying to use, but my current TV delay is super short so it’s not really much of a problem . If you want to know for sure, though, connect a set of Bluetooth headphones or a speaker or something of that nature to your Apple TV, and see if that changes anything.
Even if the TV isn't the sound source?
All 3 TV's in the house have an ATV 4k connected via HDMI. One room is using TV speakers only. Another room the ATV is connected via HDMI, then a soundbar is connected to the ARC port of the TV. Lastly, the theater room ATV is connected to a fairly new Yamaha receiver via HDMI. With these different type of connections, do you still think it's the TV's? TV speakers only is roughly 10 years old, the soundbar TV is 2 years old, and the theater TV is about 5 years old.
Do you still think it's the TVs?
I appreciate your time and assistance John.
Jeff
I have this too.
My TV is an LG 55 inch OLED G1. just about the best available 2 years ago. I don’t think it’s the profile issue as I see that as a separate but entirely manageable annoyance. When my TV switches to Dolby Vision it changes profile and this cuts VO off for about 2 or 3 seconds. The issue you are describing though sounds like an issue I’m having especially after I’ve watched something in Netflix. VO just won’t talk in Netflix anymore until I close the app and restart it. Going back to the Home Screen then gets VO messed up and often requires I restart that. Honestly I just don’t bother with TV anymore which is annoying because its VO bugs that have caused me to not use over £10k of equipment that sounds fantastic but its just not worth the hassle of VO bugs. Going into the TV app also freezes the Apple TV because the TV show always previews even though I’ve told it not to. That then cuts VO off. It’s not fun but I don’t know what the fix is other than Apple pulling its finger out on accessibility. Sorry not to be able to help but I’ll be monitoring this thread to see if anyone else is more helpful than I can be. Sounds like they’d be helping us both.
I've had luck with...
Sorry to hear about your issue Andy. I assume you have reached out to Apple Accessibility? I haven't had luck with turning VO off and on again, but I have had luck with going into accessibility settings and switching voices. It's a pain in the keister but it's the only workaround I've found so far. Wish I could find the reason why so I could possibly change the behavior.
BTW, it doesn't seem to matter whether if the program I've finished watching has AD or not. I think it has something to do with the audio format.
I do plan on reaching out to Apple accessibility about this sometime this week.
I think you might be right about the audio format.
I have a 5.4.2 system but thats plugged into the TV. The TV handles audio decoding. It seems to be after anything more than a stereo audio stream has played that VO gets all messed up but I can’t be certain about that. It’s just a feeling I have. Like I say I just gave up on my 4 apple TV’s. TBH I haven’t spoke to Apple about my problems until very recently. I’ve not been in a great place for lots of different reasons and having the energy to speak to Apple just wasn’t realistic. I’m getting a lot better recently though so I’ll be fully on their case if the new major updates don’t sort a lot of things out for me.
I'm with you on the audio format feeling
Andy, I'm with you on the audio format being the culprit. For example, when watching a show on a local subchannel through the Channels app; I'm relatively certain the program is in stereo, and when going back to the home screen, there is no problem. Most of the stuff we watch is not stereo, and frankly, I'm not interested in stereo. Not a problem on the bedroom device as it is tv speakers only. Not an option when playing on the other 2 devices. I'll have to play around with it. Sorry to hear about your previous challenges, I am glad things are looking up.
Opened a ticket with Apple Accessibility
I opened a ticket with Apple Accessibility. Oddly enough, the representative referenced this thread. I'll report back as the issue moves along.
Think I may have found a workaround for the truncation.
When voice over is truncating, move your focus to the Apple TV+ app (if you have it), then move up to the "Up Next" banner and move back and forth a bit to see if the truncation stops.
Jeff