You would agree with me, but it’s hard to watch TV with hearing people. Our preference for comfortable listening is like blasting the TV loudly to them. Our choice for closed captioning is a distraction to them. Generally, our preference for how we watch TV is annoying them. One hearing problem is a problem for another.
You’re on the way to buying another TV soon. The right TV is about balancing everybody’s needs in the household. You have no plans of buying another streamer to add to the new TV. It’s just not ideal for your budget.
Well, it turns out that you can find a solution that will bring peace to the battle. But it’s at best for people who are hearing aids and cochlear implant wearers.
Trust me, you also won’t even need to buy added devices like TV streamers or headsets and other accessories to get this problem fixed.
In this article, I will show you exactly what you need to look for when buying your next brand-new TV.
Are you ready to find the right TV for you and your family or roommate?
Let’s get started with the first point that I think is important.
The Hearing Loss Persona Test
Which one are you?
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You’ll need to sound directly to your hearing aids
The possibility of having multiple volumes in the room would be magic. Having multiple sound volumes from one speaker is difficult and scientifically impossible. However, you can get multiple volume preferences. It can happen; it just won’t be from the same sound source.
Most modern hearing aids and cochlear implants have a feature that streams sounds to the ear. This is known as Bluetooth.
Bluetooth allows you to send sound wirelessly between two devices. That’s with no cord or electrical wire needed to make the connection happen.
Most hearing devices, like hearing aids or cochlear implants, have Bluetooth as a basic feature. Aim for the latest version of Bluetooth 5.0 or higher.
If the hearing devices are about ten years or older, sorry, you better get a headset or a soundbar. Your device probably comes with an accessory known as a Bluetooth transmitter or streamer. It is the in-between device for your hearing aids and other electronic devices. Unfortunately, older streamers can connect to several smart devices, mainly mobile phones. However, it may not be recognized by the newer Bluetooth electronic devices.
So with a Bluetooth feature on your TV, you’ll get to pair your hearing device and have sound enter right where you want it. In your ears.
They say sharing is caring. And when it comes to your TV, that’s equally important.
You don’t want to be in a situation where your Bluetooth connection is taking all the sound away so that no one else can also watch the TV. Some of our hearing people struggle with silence. Plus, it is not fun to be staring at Tv without any ability to lip read or desire to watch closed captioning.
You’ll need to give. The internal speaker in the TV needs to work with Bluetooth-connected devices. When you have multiple, everyone can listen together. You want to be able to turn up and down the volume separately as well.
Making the Bluetooth connection on the settings should give you dual or multiple connection options. The language used to call this dual connection differs depending on the brand.
A stand-alone Bluetooth optical audio adapter can fix the problem can fix the multiple connected devices. Your best option is an all-in-one solution.
Sound delay is becoming a huge issue
Have you ever found yourself watching TV, and everyone is laughing a second or two ahead of you? Well, you’re experiencing a lag between the sound from the TV and your Bluetooth speaker.
Some TVs are so lazy to get the sound out to the Bluetooth device. You’ll need to find a way to speed it up. Surprisingly, you can fix some TV by slowing down the video found in the Bluetooth setting. This way, everything can be in sync and on the same rhythm.
Sometimes collaborations between the manufacturers are needed to make the lag go away. Apple is known to work with hearing device manufacturers to reduce the time delay or create low-latency connections between various brands.
Realistically, if you are choosing a Bluetooth connection, you have to make a compromise on sound quality. The technology for Bluetooth requires that sound be altered and compressed to make its journey to your hearing aids. If you have a wired headset, it might be the better way for now until all Bluetooth device has the new technology called Qualcomm’s aptX Low Latency.
You got to be cool with the amount of battery energy
Hearing aids are already notorious when it comes to using hearing aid batteries. Even more so when it uses Bluetooth technologies.
The challenge is that we all use Bluetooth connections to make phone calls, watch YouTube videos or listen in on our Zoom meetings.
Suddenly the battery goes out.
It’s all a bit too much for the hearing devices to stream constant sounds into thin air. So as long as you are cool with not having to worry about wasting a lot of batteries, your Bluetooth feature shouldn’t be a problem.
Some people and things are just going to get tuned out
One of the advantages of hearing loss is that you can claim selective hearing. Even more so with Bluetooth technologies.
Currently, when using your Bluetooth to stream audio, you may lose your ability to connect and speak with others. You may be missing out on what’s happening around you.
We all know a good show and movie’s goal is to get you to watch to the end. It has been enticing enough to lock your attention. Yet, how else can you hear that you left your stove on a bit too long and your fire alarm is going off for a while?
Now that won’t be too much of a problem if you are with someone. But what about that person who likes to talk while watching TV?
So, which TV should you get?
You should be on the lookout for a few smart TV brands to meet your needs and provide a good TV-watching experience.
Sharp Aquos Tv
- Almost all LG TV or the higher range OLED (Set ‘Sound Out’ for both TV and Bluetooth listening)
- Sharp Aquos TV (A better option to use at your workplace)
- Sony Android TV (Find an A2DP-supported model)
- TCL Roku TV
- Samsung (Seek those with Multi-output Audio in the settings)
Wait a bit longer?
Maybe you’re okay with putting up the problem for a bit longer until there are better Bluetooth Audio devices on the horizon.
Audio LE will make current technologies less ideal. These next-generation technologies will allow you to stream from any audio source, not just at home but in public places. Sometimes others just have to keep up with the noise for a while.