The latest Vizio TV models not only provide crisp images and good sound quality but a narration feature as well. However, it can come with some issues, including continuous narration.
If you want to know how to turn off this voice on a Vizio TV, our TV techs are here to detail the steps:
Why is My Vizio TV Talking to Me?
Vizio TV narration is the technical term for when your Vizio smart TV is talking to you. The main reason for this may be due to the possibility that you have activated the Talk Back feature.
The Vizio company expanded all the accessibility features in their television starting 2017. Among the advanced accessibility features and tools include one that will aid individuals who have visual and hearing impairments.
Talk Back is one of the features added to the television. However, this feature works with the audio description that is being displayed by the television on its own. Furthermore, Vizio television narrations will not work with cables, streaming applications, or satellite boxes.
Once in a while accidentally turning on this feature does happen. Not all television programs support or enable audio description.
What is Vizio’s Voice Assistant?
A Vizio’s Voice Assistant is also known as virtual assistant software that allows you to use the unit remotely. The different commands can be given through the voice narrator. Furthermore, the device creates a voice response too. This aids those that have visual impairments.
This system function allows the user to follow TV programs easily.
Talk Back, Conversation Level, and Zoom Mode
These are more advanced accessibility features that you can find on your Vizio smart TV. These advanced accessibility tools can easily be accessed on your television unit.
How to Disable and Enable the Accessibility Features (For Older TVs)
Learning how to turn off the voice on feature of a Vizio TV is not that difficult. Follow these easy steps to disable/enable or turn accessibility features ON in Vizio TV units made before 2017:
- Look for the Vizio TV MENU button on the Vizio remote control
- Choose the SYSTEM option by using the remote control’s arrow buttons. Then, press the OK button
- Choose the ACCESSIBILITY function and then enable or disable the feature that suits your preference
- Then choose EXIT to confirm the settings
There are many accessibility features which include Closed captioning, Speech rate, Talk back, and Zoom mode functions. These settings can easily be located in the System tab then settings.
Voice Guidance
Look for the TALK BACK accessibility feature and select it to turn it ON. You can select it again if you decide to turn it OFF.
The talkback feature or voice guidance feature narrates out loud the text displayed on the screen. This function is also recognized by others as a text to speech function. It is commonly known as voice guidance because it guides the viewer through the Vizio UI.
You can activate voice guidance especially when you are watching many TV channels or watching ESPN, watching fox sports, and other applications, once enabled, the talkback feature will narrate out loud the captions reflected on the screen.
Sometimes this feature may not work especially on streaming applications like Netflix or even Amazon prime video. There are other applications that do not support this feature. Make sure to know what these are before keeping your hopes up on using this feature.
Zoom Mode
This mode feature enlarges the text size flashed on the screen and does not toggle the aspect ratio. This feature may not also work on certain streaming applications like Netflix and Amazon prime.
Speech Rate
This specific feature works in association with the talk back feature. The talk back feature of the television controls how fast or slow it will be. The options for this feature include slow, normal, or fast.
Closed Captioning
The closed captioning feature can be accessed through the Accessibility settings on the first menu text on the user interface. The closed captioning feature is available to Vizio television units that come with a built-in tuner.
The majority of television shows have closed captioning embedded within its code and are sent via cable box, satellite, and airwaves [1]. Certain TV programs like Youtube do not support Vizio close captioning but will have a subtitle version of their own.
If you find that the subtitles are lagging a bit this may be due to the content provider. Text sizes and the volume of the talk back function, on the other hand, can be manipulated through the accessibility options.
How to Disable the Narrator on My Vizio Unit (For New TVs)
Here are a few steps to disable the narrator on newer models of Vizio television units.
Step 1: Turn ON the television to activate your unit
Step 2: Look at the Vizio menus and navigate to the system options and select this option.
Step 3: Look for the accessibility section and press enter.
Step 4: Find the TALK BACK option from the drop down menu and turn it OFF
Step 5: Save the changes you have made
What Should I Do When the Narrator Does Not Turn Off?
A number of Vizio TV owners have reported that the Vizio TV narrating feature fails to turn OFF. There are some reasons that can explain this. However, a simple reset might help you resolve this issue.
All of your custom settings will be lost once you reset TV to factory settings. You will need to configure them again one by one once you have successfully factory reset the unit.
Can I Activate the Voice Guidance Feature Accidently?
You can activate the voice guidance feature accidentally on your Vizio TV. This can happen when you accidentally press the MENU button as well as other buttons to activate the TALK BACK feature. This can also be referred to as pocket dialing.
This usually happens with universal remote controls.
FAQ
What does “SAP” do on Vizio TVs?
SAP is the acronym for Secondary Audio Programming. This television feature serves non-English speaking viewers. SAP is an audio stream which is programmed in the Vizio smart TV that can make you listen to the show in another language.
Conclusion
Owning a Vizio television unit is worth every penny. It’s made from premium materials and has advanced features including the voice narration.
However, if you accidentally enabled this feature and do not know how to turn it off, just refer to the steps above. Knowing how to turn off voice on Vizio TV will save you a lot of trouble and a trip to the official service centers.
