[mythtv-users] dual (bilingual) sound

[Dewey Smolka]

> Well, this lang1/2 feature is hardwired in every TV set sold on
> (Czech/Slovak - maybe European, maybe even world-wider?) market and it
> works correctly so I assume that one of the stereo channels is set as
> default language channel when the bilingual transmission is detected.
> Now it's up to me to look into xawtv source code to find out which
> channel it is - either left or right, there is no more possibilities.
>

When I lived in Slovakia, there were duo TVs and non-duo TVs. The duo
TV I had (for a short time) was not sticky -- you'd still have to set
the language manually when changing channels. IIRC, default sound was
stereo if there was a stereo stream and Lang1 if there was a duo
stream.

Of course sometimes shows or films you'd expect to be in duo were not,
and things you woudn't expect were -- for I time in 2000 or so I got
Simpsons in German with no duo (or maybe dubbing on lang2 I couldn't
get at the time), and some old Czech serials in duo with Czech and
Slovak tracks (!).

Apparently the last Meciar government made a law that X% of tv
broadcasts had to be in Slovak. It was a petty swipe at the private TV
station (run by Meciar rivals), which at the time was playing lots of
old Czech films. Ironically, to comply with the law Markiza started
showing a lot of political talk shows which played a major factor in
the 1998 elections that removed Meciar from office.

Also a bit ironic because Markiza had to translate and dub material
from Czech to Slovak, while most Slovaks (certainly almost everyone I
know) prefer these things in the original Czech. In fact the Slovaks I
know vastly prefer seeing films that have been dubbed/subtitled in
Czech rather than Slovak -- Czech literary translators and voice
actors are among the best in the world while Slovak translations tend
to be a bit clumsy and awkward, with some exceptions -- Harry Potter
in Slovak is excellent for example. Professional performers I know
like to act in Slovak but sing, particularly write songs, in Czech --
Slovak long vowels and dipthongs can be difficult to fit into
melodies, but when spoken Slovak has a much different rhythm. I
digress.

Anyway, my belated point is that I'm not sure there is any way to make
this sticky in Myth. You're probably better off recording both audio
channels and setting them manually on playback. Besides, you don't
need duo for the hockey.

Maj sa pekne,

a dej si to skvele ceske pivo pro mne.