

According to a 2019 study from Verizon Media and Publicis Media, 69% of people watch videos without sound in public places, and Facebook found that 85% of its users watch or begin watching videos with the sound off.Ĭaptions are sometimes referred to as subtitles, but subtitles are actually language-specific captions intended for viewers who do not understand and/or speak the language being spoken in the media.

We are dedicated to keeping ourselves updated on all translation innovations that will enable your business to succeed in the IoT world. With Localize by your side, your business gains a unique advantage in the global digital migration process. As such, unlike subtitles, their main purpose is not for translating the spoken audio into another language, but rather to enhance the overall-video watching experience for the entire audience, even for those with hearing issues. Back then, only open captions were available.Ĭaptions enable viewers to understand every audio in the video, including non-speech sounds.
#CLOSED CAPTIONING VS SUBTITLES MOVIE#
For example, the captions you use while watching a movie or show on Netflix are closed captions since you can turn them on and off simply with a few clicks.Ĭaptions were first introduced in the early 70s in the US in order to accommodate the deaf and hard of hearing watching TV. On the other hand, closed captions can be either turned on or off and are a separate file on their own. Open captions cannot be turned on/off as per the viewer’s wishes, meaning that they are embedded in the video file itself. There are two types of captions – open captions and closed captions. It does this by providing text versions of not only the spoken audio such as dialogues, narration or voice-over in the video file, but also background noises, soundtracks, speaker differentiation as well as other relevant audio parts. For this reason, only the spoken audio is included in subtitles.Ĭaptioning enables even those who are deaf or hard of hearing to enjoy and understand the video. Subtitles, unlike captions, assume that the viewer does not have any hearing problems and transcribes the audio files solely for translation purposes. As such, till today, the main objective of subtitling is to translate spoken audio in videos into another language that intended viewers can comprehend. They were used as a way to help foreign audiences understand the film by providing text translation of the spoken audio. Subtitles were first introduced sometime in the 1930s, when audio films started becoming popular. Whether it is the dialogue between the actors, a monologue, or a voice-over or narration, subtitles provide the text version. In other words, it is a timed transcription of the audio of a video footage which appears on the screen. It is mainly used for translation purposes so that audiences outside the country of origin can understand what is going on.

So, what is the difference between subtitling and captioning? Subtitles are text alternatives of the spoken dialogue in the video. Read on to learn more about the differences between subtitling and captioning. Especially for businesses, whether you choose subtitles or captions depending on your project and purpose can have a huge impact on brand positioning. Besides, choosing one over the other can have a substantial difference on how your audience views and understands your video. In fact, even though both forms can be best understood as text versions of audio, they serve very different purposes. Subtitles and captions may seem to be one and the same for most people, but they do have a significant difference. People can now watch and understand videos with foreign audio. Moreover, subtitling and captioning are now more in demand than ever with the cultural border quickly dissolving when it comes to media consumption. Nobody wants to waste time watching videos with confusing or barely audible audio that they have to decipher.
#CLOSED CAPTIONING VS SUBTITLES TV#
Today, many people prefer to watch movies and TV shows with subtitles or captions on.
