This review was written in September 2011 and Smart Talk box was priced at £85 (excl Vat) at the time of writing.
Please note: Smart Talk is no longer available to buy so you might in interested in TVonics - Freeview+ digital TV HD recorder.
Introduction
I purchased my Smart Talk set top box from RNIB Customer Services in September 2010 shortly after it was first released.
Although far from a TV addict, I was excited about the accessibility features which the Smart Talk was said to offer to the blind or partially sighted user.
My enjoyment of TV had reduced as my eye sight had deteriorated and as television equipment had become increasingly menu driven and programming increasingly visually complex. My hope was that the Smart Talk's accessibility features would help to restore enjoyment and control to my experience of watching TV.
In particular, I was excited about the Smart Talk's ability to play audio description (AD) where this is made available by the broadcaster, and the provision of built-in synthetic text-to-speech to read menus and other on-screen information such as the program information box and the on screen electronic program guide (EPG).
Although I do not have sufficient eye sight to benefit from this myself, the Smart Talk's other main accessibility feature is to provide an adjustable, large, high contrast font for the display of menus and other on-screen information.
I am registered blind. I have very little useful residual vision.
I have now been using the Goodmans SmartTalk set top box for one year.
Whilst there are some glitches and areas for improvement with this product, it should be regarded as a serious contender for anyone, blind or partially sighted, considering purchasing a new Freeview set top box. This review is intended to describe some of the functions of this device, and provide a personal perspective on some of its strengths and weaknesses, in order to assist others in their buying choices.
Purchasing and delivery
The process of buying this device and having it delivered was easy. One phone call to RNIB Customer Services was all it took, and it arrived a few days later.
Setting Up
I had no assistance setting up the Smart Talk set top box, and I found the process relatively straight forward to complete on my own.
When unpacking the box, it was fairly easy to identify all the supplied components. And with the use of the accessible instructions (see below), it was straight forward to work out how to connect up the Smart Talk to the power, and to my TV using both SCART and RF (aerial) wires.
I experienced only one difficulty whilst connecting up the device. The power and SCART sockets on the rear panel of the Smart Talk are situated next to each other, but the gap between them is not sufficient to allow the power and SCART cables to sit comfortably next to each other once they are inserted into their respective sockets. So a certain amount of jiggling was required to get both cables into place.
Comment from RNIB: This has now been fixed with the provision of an elbow on the power cable.
Once all cables had been connected up, the TV and Smart Talk were switched on, and the correct 'channel' had been selected on the TV, the TV displayed the Smart Talk's intro screen. The Smart Talk was then ready to commence the set-up process at the press of a few buttons on the supplied remote control.
The Smart Talk gave me clear spoken instructions about what to do. The main part of the set-up process involves the Smart Talk performing a channel scan to locate all the available Freeview television and radio channels and saving them to memory. This takes a couple of minutes and the Smart Talk provided a regular spoken progress report to keep me informed about what it was doing. Once this process was complete, the Smart Talk was ready for me to use.
Not everyone would necessarily find it as easy to set up this device as I did. I am fairly comfortable with using technology. I also did some preparation before attempting to set up the Smart Talk by reading the product instructions which I downloaded from the RNIB's website (see link, below). Large print instructions were also supplied in the box, and I believe braille instructions can be supplied with the product upon request if it is purchased from RNIB Customer Services.
Anyone who feels that they lack the confidence to complete the set-up process independently may find it helpful to seek sighted assistance from a friend or relative.
Alternatively, this may be something which the RNIB could arrange through its network of volunteers.
Configuring the Smart Talk set top box
The Smart Talk set top box is controlled primarily through the supplied remote control. This has clear and distinct buttons which are well described in the instructions. All on screen information is spoken using the built-in text-to-speech engine. This includes menus, the program information box and the EPG.
All on-screen information is also displayed in a large, clear, high contrast font for easy reading by those with low vision.
Before settling down to use the Smart Talk, it is worth spending some time going through the main menu. This provides access to a number of options and settings which it may be necessary or helpful for the user to set in order to get the most out of this device.
The main menu allows you to change your preferences, set up a list of favourite channels, maintain a list of program reminders, set parental controls, make changes to the technical settings, and obtain help and system information. Of these, the two most important areas are likely to be preferences and technical settings.
Preferences allows, amongst other things: the layout of the EPG to be changed; the default volume levels for television and AD to be set independently of each other; AD, and an AD notification bleep, to be turned on or off; visual preferences such as the colour scheme and font size for the display of on-screen information to be adjusted; and the verbosity and speech rate for talking features to be set.
Technical settings allows, amongst other things: TV connections to be specified and configured; channel tuning to be performed (this may be necessary in the future if changes are made to the Freeview service such as the addition of a new channel); and power and standby modes to be set.
I found that these features were straight forward to set up and use, with just one exception. I found that the Smart Talk set top box would not remember certain channels which I wished to store as favourites. No matter how many times I followed the instructions to include them in the favourites list, the Smart Talk simply would not remember these channels as favourites.
Using the Smart Talk set top box
On the whole I found, and still find, the Smart Talk easy to use.
It is possible to switch channels either by using a channel up/down button to move sequentially through the channels, by entering a desired channel number directly on the number pad, or by bringing up and selecting from an on-screen list of channels. When ever a new channel is selected, the Smart Talk speaks the channel number, name of the channel, the name of the program which is currently on, and the start and end time of the program. It will also indicate whether the program has subtitles and/or AD.
Further information about the current program can also be obtained by pressing the information button. This brings up a program information box which reiterates some of the above information, and also provides a description summarising the program. This often tells you what the program is about, whether it is a drama, comedy, documentary etc, who is starring in it, and what year it was produced. As with the channel change information, the contents of the program information box are spoken as well as displayed in a large clear font.
If you want to find out what else is on later on that day, or tomorrow, on any channel, it is possible to bring up an electronic program guide (EPG) by pressing the EPG button. This will enable you to scroll through a complete list of programs for all channels. A cut-down version of the EPG, referred to as the mini guide, can also be called up. This provides similar information to the EPG but it is focused around your current channel. All information provided through the EPG and the mini guide is spoken using the built-in synthetic text-to-speech engine and is displayed in a large clear font.
The speech can be stopped temporarily at any time by pressing a dedicated button on the remote control (or more perminantly from within the main menu).
AD can be switched on and off by pressing a dedicated button on the remote control (or more perminantly from within the main menu).
All of this works and the device certainly does do what it says on the tin. The Smart Talk provides unparalleled access to Freeview services. Although there are now a range of televisions and other set top boxes which provide AD, no other device provides complete access to all on-screen information, including the EPG and all menus, using synthetic speech, at the price point of this product, which, whilst not cheep, is certainly comparable to the cost of many other mainstream set top boxes which offer little or no access to such facilities for the blind or partially sighted user.
To this extent, the Smart Talk is a compelling product which has gone a significant way to fulfilling my hopes for it, and for restoring my enjoyment of television.
The Smart Talk does, however, suffer from a few significant short comings which users should be aware of before purchasing the box.
Shortcomings and areas for improvement
In addition to the two more minor niggles which I have already described, the SmartTalk set top box appears to have three more significant short comings.
Audio level for the audio description track
First, the volume level of the television sound, and of the audio description track, can sometimes be difficult to set and keep at a level which is comfortable.
It is possible to set the default volume level for the television sound and the AD separately through the main menu. This is extremely helpful because it enables the different sound levels to be matched to each other and to the user's preferences. However, the level set for one program may prove unsatisfactory for others, so the user may find themselves having to adjust the default volume levels rather more frequently than would be desirable.
I believe that this is in part down to the fact that different broadcasters or programs are broadcast at different volume levels and so to some extent, the same problem might occur on other set top boxes with comparable functionality.
However, even when the default levels are comfortable, when the overall volume is adjusted using the volume button on the remote control, the SmartTalk sometimes appears to adjust one or other of the volume levels rather than adjusting both together.
This may result in the television sound, or the audio description, becoming significantly louder than the other. Whilst this can be rectified by going back into the main menu and resetting the default volume levels, this seems like a glitch in the software and it is an unwelcome hassle to have to do this.
I would hope that future releases of this product would look at ways of improving the reliability of the volume control.
Synthetic speech
Secondly, whilst the synthetic text-to-speech provides unparalleled access to the menus and on-screen information from a device at the price point of the Smart Talk, the speech unfortunately has a tendency to stutter. The speech can also be rather difficult to understand at times, particularly at the start of sentences or when pronouncing special nouns such as names. This can be frustrating and may require some patience to get used to.
There may be times it is not possible to understand a word or phrase at all however many times you listen to it.
Slow response
Thirdly, the Smart Talk is slower at responding when changing channels than should be expected of a Freeview set top box. This can make channel surfing slow work compared to what could be achieved on an alternative set top box.
I believe that the second and third issue could be improved if the manufacturers utilised a faster processor that was better able to handle the additional processing requirements of the text-to-speech engine, and by improving the quality of the TTS engine itself.
Hopefully, these points will be addressed in future releases.
Conclusion
The Goodmans Smart Talk Freeview set top box is a very worth wile addition to the pantheon of digital televisions and Freeview set top boxes. It provides unparalleled levels of accessibility to AD and on-screen information compared to other devices currently on the market.
It is easy to set up and easy to use. It suffers from a couple of minor glitches, and some more serious short comings regarding the quality and clarity of the synthetic speech, and the sluggishness of its response when changing channels. Nevertheless, this product is the first product which offers complete access to all its features to the blind and partially sighted user, and it should be commended for that.
RNIB, Goodmans, and their partners, have worked hard to bring this product to market and I would urge anyone who might benefit from the features it has to offer to seriously consider it. I look forward to new releases of this product and possibly other products incorporating similar levels of accessibility, in the future.
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