Help A Deaf Person Watch TV

HBC08

Hi there,

My elderly dad is deaf.He had bad hearing all his life and hearing aids from a young age but it's gotten very bad recently as to be expected as he's mid 80s now.

He can't hear the TV and has it at top level volume.This is affecting my mam now aswell,she can't be in the room with that level of noise.

He used my bluetooth headphones to make a call yesterday and was amazed that he could hear so well.He wanted to know could he use them for the TV.

My question is this,is it possible to have headphones connected to the TV but the sound also playing out of the TV?

This way my mam or anybody else in the room can watch the telly with him.

Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated!

HeidiHeidi

My mum who is very hard of hearing - and formerly my dad (who was absolutely deaf as a post!) have this set up - we just got a basic soundbar for the TV, and you can turn that up and down separately while the headphones do their thing.

My brother got headphones for them, I'm not entirely sure how they connect to the telly, I'm assuming it involves BT - there's a little charging unit that they live in when not in use. I can take pics next time I'm there.

looksee

I had this same problem. I can hear sound from the tv but not reliably make out what is being said. Its not really a matter of loudness, I think, though that is part of it, but clarity. The other person in the room has particularly sensitive hearing and would be driven mad by the volume I would need. Got a soundbar but it didn't really help. My husband did have the exact same issue, which we didn't resolve, but he just listened to the tv with the sound turned up to '27'. Regardless of the programme he had to have it on 27, which was often deafening (sorry!).

I was told that bluetooth has a lag, which would annoy me, and I could not just have a connection to the tv while other people would be able to hear it as well, its one or the other. We decided we did not really want the tv anyway and if we want to watch something it can generally be got on the laptop/phone, or we don't bother.

I suppose if you had a bluetooth connection as well as a the tv on for others you would get an echo effect. At the same time headphones are not great with hearing aids as, while they are mostly ok, sometimes there is feedback which is annoying.

This is not very helpful, I know, but if there is a good solution I would be interested to know.

Flinty997

Subtitles. Even people with hearing turn it on due to the poor sound decisions in modern broadcasting. Actors now mumble a lot.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969117#Comment_123969117

Thanks for that suggestion, that sounds perfect.

I was told that this couldn't be done,it was either one or the other (sound coming out of TV or going through headphones)

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969341#Comment_123969341

Subtitles aren't great on live programmes like the news,Primetime etc though.

I remember having to use subtitles for the whole of The Wire!

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969353#Comment_123969353

That sounds like it makes sense - but I'll check out the set up this weekend, I've definitely watched telly with Mum plugged into the headphones and the soundbar at normal volume for me.

magicbastarder

this topic came up on another discussion forum i frequent - a user there had a very similar issue, and found and downloaded an app called 'live transcribe'. he'd only tested it with himself and his wife at the time he posted about it, but hadn't actually tried it with his dad. he said initial testing looked positive, and that it worked on his 10 year old iphone so it's not madly power hungry.

i must follow up and ask whether he did get a chance to try it with his dad.

that said, his specific use case wasn't the TV per se, but following conversations in the room.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969366#Comment_123969366

Fair point.

AI live transaction is getting really good.

Theres a human resistance to admit hearing problems. I remember one of my in-laws would be on the phone couldn't hear a thing, the other one would be across the room having to shout the conversation back to them. Madness.

Probably as was suggested earphones and sound bar might work. Two different sound levels for different listeners.

lalababa

What happened to the headphone Jack on tvs?

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969713#Comment_123969713

A set of headphones can be plugged into the jack on the TV or connected by Bluetooth. That's not the issue here

trmartin

Some hearing aids can be connected to/paired with a streaming device that is plugged into the TV. When the technology works, it's brilliant — the person with the hearing aid can often hear better than the person without one. And yes, the non-deaf person can watch the TV at their normal volume.

Lu Tze

You can get a splitter cable with two jacks, plug the headphones into one and the speaker/ soundbar into the other

looksee

There is a lot more information here than I got going round shops that sold sound equipment!

youtheman

Wasn't there a post in the 'Stingiest Person' thread about a fella who had 2 tellies, one on top of the other (because the sound was gone on one and the picture on the other). You could buy a cheap second telly, plug the headphones into one and adjust the sound on the other. Result !.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123969353#Comment_123969353

It 100% can be done.

I suggest something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FJL31NQC/ref%3Dsspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0FJL31NQC&pd_rd_w=JlaMP&content-id=amzn1.sym.9a64fe05-cdee-4d53-a27b-f3614d726545&pf_rd_p=9a64fe05-cdee-4d53-a27b-f3614d726545&pf_rd_r=RR8B94DZGYKDV389YCFZ&pd_rd_wg=pFFmP&pd_rd_r=665fa48c-9afe-4826-b943-1198a5f53754&aref=jey7Ndva9H&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM

Plug the jack into the TV, pair one set of headphones to the bluetooth and pair a bluetooth speaker to it. So your Mam can listen via the Bluetooth speaker, and your dad can listen via the headphones.

Before you go out and buy these things, be sure to get a bluetooth speaker with its own volume, so your Mum can throttle the volume down on the speaker while the volume is loud coming from the TV to the headphones.

TomOnBoard

Here's my take, having been all around the houses on this a number of times.

1. What's the exact make and model of the TV.

2. What's the exact make and model of any Hearing Aids involved?

Without this information, we're all going to be guessing at best, and potentially leaving solutions on the table at worst.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123970043#Comment_123970043

Thanks for that (and all the people replying)

Great info,im investigating this.

HBC08

The TV is Sky Glass.

I don't know the make of hearing aid but im confident if we can get the headphones working he'll be happy.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123970511#Comment_123970511

Go out tomorrow and buy a pair of bluetooth headphones.

Then follow the instructions here:

https://www.sky.com/help/articles/connecting-bluetooth-devices-to-sky-glass

Take note of step 3:

. Select either Bluetooth device, TV speakers or to have sound from both, select Bluetooth and TV speakers.

Problem solved!

TomOnBoard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123970599#Comment_123970599

This may not solve solve the problem UNLESS the audio level being sent to the Bluetooth headphones headphones and the TV speakers can be controlled independently.

Furthermore, simultaneous usage will lead to the sound hitting the BT headphones slightly after the TV speakers. This will cause an annoying echo effect to the headphones while the headphone wearer is 👂 listening.

The above issues underpin my reasoning behind asking the questions above.

magicbastarder

given that the wearer has trouble hearing the TV speakers as is, i don't think he'd be troubled by an echo.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123970599#Comment_123970599

Amazing!

Right,im going to give this a go tomorrow and report back.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123970703#Comment_123970703

How did you get on?

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123973251#Comment_123973251

Couldn't get out to them today so haven't had a go yet.

I'll Update as soon as I do,don't worry!

Some great help on here.

Joe1919

The staff at 'Chime' below are very helpful and sell products. I know of one case where they called out to the house to advise and help a person.

https://shop.chime.ie/collections/at-home

HeidiHeidi

https://www.harveynorman.ie/clearance/tv-audio-clearance/lenco-hpw-400bk-wireless-hearing-amplifier-headphones-black.html?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22619756338&gclid=CjwKCAiAlMHIBhAcEiwAZhZBUmLnSWcE-h1PseWwCdGw0S5FiaPtM_cpWU1OBqP_c6jEMYSYgDj_ChoCk0YQAvD_BwE

This is the type of headphones my Mum has. Still haven't been to the house so I don't know if that's the exact brand - I'll take a pic and get the name when I call in then next couple of days.

HBC08

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123974232#Comment_123974232

Thank you so much for that.

Half price for this week aswell!

Looks like we have lots of options from this thread.

HBC08

The Bluetooth headphones won't connect to Sky glass if you are using the Sky "puc".That's the small ice hockey puc sized thing that is used in multi room.

Sky Glass is a disaster is every way.

Going to try this now as next option.

TomOnBoard

Once again, what HA make and model?

This issue has been solved many times by the hearing aid manufacturers.

That should should be the first avenue chosen to solve it.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123974473#Comment_123974473

Thats a pity. I thought you were onto a winner with Sky Glass.

That solution there, the jack splitter, could well be what you are looking for. I wish you the best with it and please let us know how you get on.