Sound lag when watching TV through bluetooth

Hearing Aids
#1

So I’ve recently gotten some bluetooth-compatible hearing aids for the first time. I’ve found bluetooth very helpful with my phone.

Then I tried hooking up a bluetooth transmitter to my TV (I’m using the TosBlue II transmitter since it can connect to an optical out). I found that the sound I was getting in my hearing aids was quite a bit behind the TV, such that the voices did not match up with the picture. This is very distracting to me as I am conditioned to do a lot of lip reading.

The problem was even worse when the TV speaker was on (so my wife could watch TV too). The bluetooth is behind the TV sound so there’s an echo effect that is basically unworkable.

I did a search of past forums here and found a bunch of threads about this from 3-4 years ago. What I’m wondering is whether anyone has figured out how to fix this issue, or is it something that simply can’t be fixed? If it can’t be fixed then why are all these new hearing aids promoting their ability to hook up to a TV via bluetooth?

Any help would be much appreciated. :smiley:

#2

On my Samsung set you can add a delay to the picture to re-synch it withe sound of whatever amp system you are using.

#3

I have the Oticon TV adapter that I use with my Streamer and have no problems with lip sync being delayed although a friend had an early version of the adapter and his was slightly delayed which drove me crazy and he didn’t think it could get any better until I brought him over a stereo cable that he could plug into the TV and plug the other end into his Streamer which ended the out of sync problem but had him tethered to his TV. I think Oticon fixed the problem with later versions. With you problem, If Um Bongo’s solution doesn’t work you might have to try a different system. Good luck!

#4

I found using the headset jack eliminated any sound delay.

#5

I have no delay using a TVLink to my miniTek… if I BT with my PC for YouTube, etc. if I’m watching closely I can catch just a very little delay.

#6

I’ll have to take a look at this. I found a feature on my TV where you could delay the audio going out, but that wasn’t helpful as the Bluetooth is already running behind the TV (so delaying it further only exacerbated the problem). What I need is something that does the opposite. I’ll see if there’s something I can do with the picture in that regard.

Of course I imagine that will mess up the volume coming out of the TV itself. Have you had that problem? What I’m trying to do here is have me listening to the TV via bluetooth to my hearing aids while my wife is listening through the TV speakers.

Also, seb: I tried the Oticon with, I believe, the newest Streamer. So I don’t think that’s the problem. But you had the Oticon TV adapter right, not a third party thing like the Telme2? Maybe that is the issue for me.

#7

Yes I have the Oticon TV adapter.

#8

I do not find any problem with lip synch using bluetooth. The delay is so slight that you do not notice it.

However … if you also have the TV sound coming from the TV’s own speakers for the benefit of others then you get an annoying echo.

Using bluetooth on the phone is also no problem because the phone’s speaker is muted.

Gilbert

#9

in my experience I found that if I hooked up my Bluetooth the the cable box, there was a delay, but if I hooked it directly to the audio out on the TV, the delay was not noticeable. So I am guessing the degree of delay will be different depending on how your TV is set up and what type of devices are being used.

Bottom line, there will probably always be some type of delay with bluetooth, which is why I just use a wireless system with my streamer and avoid using BT for the TV only. For phone and music, bluetooth is great, but not for TV.

#10

I’ve found that starting the sound signal as far upstream as possible works better. My dish receiver has a built in bluetooth transmitter (like for wireless headphones) and it works great with my Resound Phone Clip, no delay.

If you route sound to a home theater system using HDMI you may be able to catch the sound at that point and start bluetooth from there. I would imagine the actual TV sound processing would be the slowest way to do it.

#11

Hellothere, it’s very frustrating to deal with the delays.
Your TosBlue II the Telme2 Bluetooth sending unit does have the Optical input as well as a inline 3.5mm input that can be directly connected to the STB as jgiradi and Don suggest.
I only fund a slight difference between the two as can be seen on the first two pictures. Optical vs inline 3.5mm input with the same delay setting.
The third picture shows the delay without adjustment.
The sound delay adjustable on my Sound-Bar does bring both the speaker sound and the Headset sound in sync, but that does not match the voices to the picture, it makes it worse.

Question: Does your Hearting Aid pickup the BT sound directly from your TosBlue II (Telme2)? without a neck loop?

What HA do you have?

#12

Hi Flatfish, I was using the TosBlue with the Oticon Alta Pro, via the neck loop. I suspect that part of the problem is the sound has to travel out of the TV to the TosBlue, then by Bluetooth from the TosBlue to the neck loop, then from the neck loop to the hearing aid. I can see how a delay would result.

I’m actually trialing a pair of Naida CRTs right now. I don’t yet have the neckloop for these ones, so I can’t try anything out at the moment. I imagine the experience would be similar even though it’s a different hearing aid, right?

My next thought was to try a soundbar with bluetooth capability. Those are pretty pricey though, like half as much as I recently paid for my TV. But if it made things better it’d probably be worth it.

To whoever mentioned the FM setup, you’ll have to excuse my ignorance but I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about. Are you wearing a headset over your hearing aids or is it something you can do directly to the aids?

#13

Yes,

What I don’t know is since I have only experimented with the less costly BT units that were not designed for hearing impaired, do more expensive BT have less latency? The TosBlue specs say “Low Latency” but it’s not quantified.

My next thought was to try a soundbar with bluetooth capability.

From what I have seen, the BT on a Soundbars is used to also streams music from iPhone, iPads, smartphones, MP3 players, laptops and personal computers to the Soundbar but not to transmit to another device.

FM and 900Mz units don’t have the type of delay like the BT, as I found out my 900Mz unit connected up stream to the STB was actually ahead of the speakers. That was never a problem before the digital TV.

In the picture the Blue is from the speaker and Red from the 900MZ

#14

Thanks for the info. What is a 900Mz unit? Sorry I am a little out of my depth here.

I would prefer something that is ahead of the speakers, because that seems easy to fix. Being behind the speakers is seemingly not workable.

#15

It’s a wireless Analog Headphone as opposed to digital BlueTooth. They usually work at a 900Mhz FM frequency. The Sennheiser is a popular model : http://www.4homespeakers.com/wireless-tv-headphones.html

What I don’t like about them, the receiver is in the headphone and therefore it’s rather bulky. I use to use a system like it but the receiver was a belt-pack and I could use earbuds for more comfort.
That was before I had HA.

You had mentioned a Soundbar with BT, that made me think you could use the TosBlue Telm2, it does pair with two devices and drive the BT Soundbar as well as the BT Neckloop at the same time. That would definitely sync the sounds up to the Neckloop. I don’t know if there is a lag from the Neckloop to the HA.
My Soundbar doesn’t have BT, I would have liked to try this.

And if your TV has Audio Delay adjustment you now could sync the picture to the sound.

#16

hellothere
“900Mz unit” is a wireless Analog Headphone as opposed to Digital BlueTooth. They usually work at a 900Mhz FM frequency. The Sennheiser is a popular model : http://www.4homespeakers.com/wireless-tv-headphones.html

What I don’t like about them, the receiver is in the headphone and therefore it’s rather bulky. I use to use a system like it but the receiver was a belt-pack and I could use earbuds for more comfort.
That was before I had HA.

You had mentioned a Soundbar with BT, that made me think you could use the TosBlue Telm2, it does pair with two devices and drive the BT Soundbar as well as the BT Neckloop at the same time. That would definitely sync the sounds up to the Neckloop. I don’t know if there is a lag from the Neckloop to the HA.
Could also use less expensive Bluetooth speakers.
The TV speakers would be turned off.
My Soundbar doesn’t have BT, I would have liked to try this.

And if your TV has Audio Delay adjustment you now could sync the picture to the sound.