Living Well with Hearing Loss
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Start Free Hearing TestIf you can hear the TV but can't make out what people are saying, turning up the volume usually isn't the fix. Start with your TV's sound settings: turn on any dialogue or voice enhancement mode, turn off virtual surround, and switch on closed captions. If that isn't enough, a sound bar, headphones, or streaming straight to your hearing aids can make a bigger difference.
Dialogue is the hardest part of TV audio for most people with hearing loss. Many types of hearing loss, including the high-frequency loss that's common with age and noise exposure, make consonant sounds harder to pick out, so voices blur into the music and sound effects. Volume makes everything louder, including the parts that drown speech out.
Which TV Sound Settings Help With Hearing Loss?
Most TVs let you change sound settings from the main menu: open Settings, then look for Sound or Audio. The names vary by brand, but these are the settings worth trying.
Dialogue or voice enhancement
Many TVs and sound bars have a mode built specifically to make speech clearer, with names like "Clear Voice," "Dialogue Enhancement," or "Voice." Turn it on first. It's the setting most likely to help.
Stereo instead of virtual surround
On TVs with a surround or "virtual surround" option, switch to Stereo or Standard. Surround processing can push voices into the background.
Night mode or auto volume
Night mode (sometimes called auto volume or dynamic range compression) narrows the gap between loud explosions and quiet speech. Some people with hearing loss find dialogue easier to follow with it on; others find it flattens the sound. Try it both ways.
Center-channel level on surround systems
If you have a multichannel system such as Dolby Digital or DTS, dialogue mostly comes from the center speaker. Turn up the center channel and turn the others down a bit for clearer speech.
Equalizer (EQ) or "User" mode
If your TV has a User or Custom mode with an equalizer, you can boost specific frequencies. If you know your hearing loss is mostly in the higher frequencies, raising the upper bands slightly can bring out consonants. A free online hearing test can show you which frequencies you're missing.
Devices That Make TV Dialogue Easier to Hear
If settings alone don't do it, these add-ons can help.
- Stream to your hearing aids. Many Bluetooth hearing aids can stream TV audio directly, either from a TV that supports it or through a TV streamer accessory plugged into the TV. Sound goes straight into your ears at your own volume, while everyone else hears the TV normally. Here's more on how Bluetooth hearing aids work.
- Wireless headphones. Bluetooth headphones give you your own volume control without cords across the room. If your TV can't send Bluetooth audio, a small plug-in Bluetooth transmitter adds it.
- A sound bar with a dialogue mode. Look for a sound bar with a dedicated center channel and a voice or dialogue enhancement setting. Specific models change every year, so check for those two features rather than a particular product name.
- A room loop (induction loop). Common in theaters, a loop can also be installed at home: an amplifier connects to your TV's audio output and a wire runs around the room. If your hearing aids have a telecoil, switch to the T program and you'll hear the TV clearly from anywhere in the room. The Hearing Loss Association of America has more on how hearing loops work.
Should You Use Closed Captions for Hearing Loss?
Yes. Captions are the simplest fix and work alongside any of the options above. If your hearing loss is severe, or affects certain frequencies, captions fill in the words your ears miss, without any extra equipment.
Closed captions display the dialogue and important sounds as text on screen, and you can turn them on or off in your TV's settings or your streaming app. They were developed for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, though plenty of people now use them to watch quietly too.
Captions have a longer history than most people realize. Closed captioning was first demonstrated in 1971 at the First National Conference on Television for the Hearing Impaired, and the National Captioning Institute aired the first closed-captioned TV programs in 1980. NCI later worked with ITT Corporation to develop the first caption-decoding microchip. Since 1993, federal law has required caption decoders in TVs larger than 13 inches, and FCC rules require captions on most TV programming, according to the NIDCD. Read more in our article on closed captioning for people with hearing loss.
If hearing loss is making TV hard to follow, Audicus offers online hearing care from licensed audiologists, including hearing aids programmed to your hearing test.
Turning the volume up makes everything louder; the right settings make the dialogue clearer. Start there.
Sources: Consumer Reports, Healthy Hearing, Hearing Loss Association of America, NIDCD
