RTHK Audio Description supplies a real-time audio companion for eligible television programmes. Its start control appears five minutes before an audio-described programme. Narration-only audio can be silent before the programme or during a passage without description; the publisher suggests the combined description-and-original-audio option as a useful check.
Confirm the purpose of this app
The publisher distinguishes this service from a video player: it supplies live audio description and does not provide saved video or sharing of that content. Keep the television programme you are following identified separately. Opening the audio-description app is not a way to select an arbitrary earlier video edition.
Before troubleshooting, note the programme, its scheduled time and what the companion currently shows. “No start control”, “waiting for synchronisation” and “connected but silent” are different states. The next action should follow the state you can actually observe.
Use the timing and track checks in order
Do not use a missing control long before the programme as a reason to change every phone setting. Conversely, do not assume silence during an active programme always means success. Identify the selected track and compare the observed stage with the broadcaster’s explanation.
| Observed state | Publisher-supported next check |
|---|---|
| No start control | Whether an audio-described programme is within its five-minute start window |
| Narration-only selection is silent | Whether the programme has started or this passage contains description |
| Need to hear programme background too | Try the combined description and original-audio option |
| Combined option still has no background | Exit the description session and start it again as documented |
A shared-viewing example
Imagine a household preparing to watch an eligible programme together. Ten minutes before the announced start, the companion has no start control. The published five-minute window gives them a timing check: keep the programme identified and look again within that window.
During the programme, one listener selects description alone and hears a quiet passage. That can be consistent with a segment without narration. Trying the combined option helps distinguish narration-only silence from the absence of all programme audio. The result to retain is concrete: whether original sound becomes audible and whether description arrives when supplied.
This example follows the FAQ’s decision points. It does not assume that every programme, every minute or every television route carries description. Check that the actual programme is identified as eligible before relying on the companion for a planned viewing.
Use the documented restart only when it matches the symptom
If the combined option still has no background sound, RTHK’s FAQ directs the user to leave the audio-description session, return to the prior page and start again. After that, note whether the state changed. Repeating the same action indefinitely loses the distinction between a timing wait, a quiet narration passage and a session that never produces audio.
For an unresolved problem, keep the programme and time, selected audio option, visible state and the result of that restart. Confirm the device is connected to the internet, as the service requires a network connection. This produces a useful account of the companion session without confusing it with television picture quality, an unavailable archive video or the general sound level of the television.
Sources and review
- RTHK Audio Description FAQ — Radio Television Hong Kong