The popularity of turning captions "on"

Whether you have lousy TV speakers, are hard of hearing, are distracted by the kids, or are watching a film with actors who mumble, chances are you are using the captions option while watching TV, even if they're not translating a foreign language. Correspondent David Pogue talks with Oscar-winning sound mixer Tom Fleischman, who explains - despite technological advances in audio - why films may be getting harder to hear. Pogue also sits down with Jeff Tashige, whose closed-caption work for Netflix has gone viral.
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[@tillettman]

Thank you! Next can you find out why movies are so dark? I’m not taking about a depressing psychological thriller, I’m talking about why the brightness is always set too low.

[@user-hh8fg7gg6m]

I watched the new Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot movie.. it was exactly as you say.. so dark in places you could hardly make out who was in the scene or what they were doing

[@danakchampion]

Yes the constant dark /low contrast scenes bother me way more than poor sound! (Since subtitles can fix the latter.) I watch mostly on small devices. In ambient daylight can't see most scenes without blacking the windows out.

[@8ManFan]

CGI, especially in sci-fi/superhero films. They can cut more corners, but still look convincing in a scene that's dark vs. one in broad daylight.

[@billykuan]

I didn't expect this comment. I'm glad I saw it because I was going to say the same thing. It is really bad these days. I have heard it has to do with details. The darkness doesn't need to be filled (CGI) or when live it hides cables and items not part of the show. Either way when a movie is bright and colorful I recognize it and make a big deal about, lol. I laugh when they're in a hospital or office and it's still dark.

[@macemoneta]

Excessively dark, and not in a good way. 'Alien' had very dark scenes, but the lighting was done properly, so you could still see the action. There's also bad video direction. I watched a fight scene that had so many cuts, and was so close to the camera, I couldn't figure out who was hitting who. The whole industry has gone off the rails.

[@FoggyTinkering]

THANK YOU! For years I have thought it was just me. Abrasive music and sound effects at odds with barely discernable dialog. It's good to know I'm not alone.

[@user-er3ri6sc3j]

You're not alone. Never.

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

Yes!!!!

[@donmongoose]

Life long subtitle fan myself, with the added benefit of being able to enjoy foreign films in their original language.

[@robertskolimowski7049]

Haha, same here, totally🤜🤛 Alternative thoughts were like the movie industry had been plotting some conspiracy against us viewers😁

[@tictacleia]

I was always told I was the only one, too! Same with KZbin videos. The majority have pointless loud music and we can't hear what the narrators of the videos are saying! Whether it's craft instructions, a recipe, historical information, or an entertaining story, they add pointless Kevin MacLeod music cranked way up so there's no hope of hearing the narrator! And the sound effects, yes! Somebody needs to tell Hollywood that nobody's footsteps are THAT loud! And horror movies these days are just "startle" movies. Nothing scary. Just a loud sound every 5 minutes that you quickly come to expect so it doesn't even startle you, just causes pain. And the kids giggle and call it a "jump scare" because they don't understand that there exists an emotion called "startled" and that it's more closely related to annoyance than to fear. But I think it makes sense, really. We live in a society where people don't care about listening to others, so why would they make movies that have dialogue we can hear?

[@ctuero]

The “curb cut effect”! The deaf community advocated for better access to captions and we all benefited ! 🎉

[@LisaCupcake]

Although live captions (like on live news shows) are still pretty bad.

[@maryjeffries9251]

My father was hard of hearing all growing up so we always had CC if possible. It's awesome.

[@PurpleNoir]

Accessibility win!

[@tdelphia1]

Me too....unclear dialogue interspersed with unnervingly loud action scenes. Watching classic movies (like 50s and earlier) is so restful because dialogue is so precise.

[@user-er3ri6sc3j]

Marlon Brando mumble.

[@bettyboop1524]

I agree, nothing like a good black and white movie with fantastic acting and visually appealing - no dang computer stuff and green screen.

[@leefi1]

Not to mention the much larger working vocabulary in classic movies. The "Thin Man" movies are perfect examples of sparkling wit used subtly. Plus, they feature Myrna Loy. She was always gloriously beautiful as well as a distinguished actress. She, along with her co-star, William Powell have obvious chemistry together. Their movies are pure pleasure...

[@ericjames6501]

And they had worse speakers back then too! I don't buy that this is a speaker problem! It's a speaking problem! If these directors had any balls they would tell their actors to open their mouth when they speak!

[@noble604]

ericjames - Just as with everything else, today’s actors lack formal training. There’s little emphasis placed on and genuine respect for being formally taught in crafting a skill, talent, area of expertise or art now. You just study at the university of youtube and .... voila ... 🤯... you’re now a master plumber- slash therapist - actor - midwife - neurosurgeon. How hard can it be? 😞

[@maryellendipietra5568]

You missed a great opportunity! Have you seen the hilarious mistakes these captions make? You could do a whole segment just on that.

[@patriciamorgan6545]

Oh my goodness, yes! Especially on certain live programs requiring knowledge of specialized jargon. (One I watch that often describes gemological/geological features is particularly laughable.) Actually, the flipside to that is the many times I'm impressed that the captioning gets something difficult or unusual right, like verbiage from arcane topics or the spelling of a guest's name, done in real time on a live program. They are either using some amazing automated software, or a highly gifted human captioner.

[@theresemalmberg955]

To most of us who can hear, yes, this is hilarious. BUT, if you can't hear, and depend on captions to know what is going on, it's not so funny. It's confusing as hell. Because if you can't hear, how do you know what is being talked about? How do you know what is a mistake and what is not? This is a very real problem with captioning. It greatly diminishes the enjoyment and accessibility of many programs and shows.

[@Tangent360]

I honestly haven't seen anything with AI-generated captions that didn't have at least one mistake in well over a year. I wish that was hyperbole but it's unfortunately accurate... Most professionally human-done ones these days are pretty good but what I always found weird is how lots of 80s shows apparently have captions based on earlier drafts of the script than what ended up getting filmed. It's not a misunderstanding, it's a completely different line.

[@shoesandahs]

I suspect some of the worst stuff is done by AI.

[@justinmj6586]

That's like 30 seconds of a segment that would take a week research. You want to do that work?

[@bruceneeley1724]

When I was young for various reasons I could barely read. At about the age of 16 I started watch silent & foreign films... all subtitled. Within a year I went from D's & F's in school to all A's & B's. Closed Captioning (Subtitles) literally saved my life.

[@lynnturman8157]

It didn't "literally" save your life. You wouldn't be dead if you'd never turned on subtitles.

[@ilovephotography1254]

Your story proves that watching TV can make you smarter. BTW good for you.

[@tomushy]

My mother in her youth and I as well in mine learned english that way. She was watching movies in the cinema which at that time were always in their original soundtrack and often came only with english subtitles. I was way too lazy in school, but after watching way too much during the 2010s in english, because the original voices are always so much better than any syncro versions, my english became bearable.

[@tictacleia]

When I was a kid in the '80s, I remember seeing advertisements for closed captioning, and some of them said that turning on closed captions helps kids learn to read. You're proof that it worked! :)

[@leefi1]

@@lynnturman8157 If you regularly use "gift" when you mean give, pronounce forte "for-tay", use "invite" for invitations, or "congrats" for congratulations, "unique" to mean more than only a single, solitary, one of a kind item, or (heaven forfend) "genius" for ingenious, your requirement for complete accuracy in word choice is toothless...

[@clarisahernandez5280]

Indeed I like captioning. Now if someone could make the commercials quieter.

[@marvinmartian8746]

Exactly. I just hit the mute button on my amplifier remote every time the commercials come on. If they were the same volume, I'd probably listen (which, you'd think would be what they want).

[@noble604]

They’re meant to follow you into any other room where you went during your quick break from the show.. in your kitchen to go make your quick sandwich, to go to the bathroom... . You don’t have to see it but if the seed can be planted that you heard that you need xyz product, mission accomplished ✅ 🗣You WILL hear me!!!! -- loud commercial

[@zoyadulzura7490]

Agreed. How is this nonsense not illegal? It causes harm to people's hearing. Just make it the same volume!

[@janelle144]

That's easy---just mute them. I never watch commercials.

[@zoyadulzura7490]

@@janelle144 That's a workaround, not a bug fix.

[@km-bo3zx]

TV manufactures and content providers need to provide the ability to either enhance the speaking tracks or turn down the background noise/music.

[@Mourtzouphlos240]

I think they do but it isn't enough.

[@DOCDOCFLAMINGOS]

Ummmmm well That really should Not be on them!!??..... And more a responsibility of the studios and tv/cable channels producing the products, and their sound mixers etc!! If they put out stuff that was produced in a way that each part could easily be adjusted by the viewers either + or -. Then I'm sure the technology needed would be easily made available. But as it stands the end product just doesn't allow for all the separate parts to be adjusted as needed.

[@Chairemy]

It’s called audio leveling and it’s a setting on all modern tvs.

[@mancerrss]

With their AI chips and advancements in AI-powered realtime stem separation of audio tracks. Technically yes that is possible right now. Most TV content are incredibly distributed in Dolby Atmos audio anyways. And that is separated always in channels. Talks shows and national TV shows like these tho needs to catch up

[@graymatters7584]

Sometimes the music in the movie is mixed too high - some dialogue is impossible to pick out.

[@maryhurst4663]

I agree 100%. The lyrics of song are loud and clear, but can’t hear the actors.

[@krw26]

I don’t think my reason was mentioned. It picks up background conversations. So I guess that’ll go under “adding to the story” category

[@quengmingmeow]

Totally. The CC captures lots of extra background things I would never be aware of…and it brings more color to the story.

[@kimberly3837]

I didn’t make the connection at first, but captions improved my son’s reading and spelling.

[@piggsinablankie]

I recently, finally got around to watching Oppenheimer, and one of my first reactions to the movie was...I couldn't hear about half of the dialogue. Even turning the volume up, everything was muffled and garbled. I had no idea this was a growing trend, and especially a thing with a Nolan move. This is just another example of making the public believe the abnormal is now normal. The fact is, it's just the quality of everything that seems to be going downhill.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

So you were watching at home, which is what I do. Haven't been to a theater in yrs. Last time I went to a cinema the Dolby sound was very impressive. I've noticed a great difference in various dvd players and discs where sound is concerned. I always have to turn up the volume beyond what I usually use for regular tv viewing. It's just mixed differently. Of course, I don't have any special fancy extra speakers hooked up to my tv either, so there's that.

[@piggsinablankie]

@@anastasiabeaverhausen8220 Watched at home on a streaming service (Peacock I think). I haven't been to a theater in years myself, and probably never will again. No fancy speakers here either on the set I watched it on, but I usually have no problem hearing other things. The audio in that movie was just bad. People talking very fast and hard to pick up. I kept saying to myself, "what did he/she say" half of the time.

[@mkawasaki2323]

Everyone complaining about the sound in Oppenheimer is correct. It was the first movie I went to the theater to see since before Covid. I went to the Chinese Theater in Hollywood with two TV sound mixers who are friends of mine. My hearing is suffering from being in rock bands since I was a teen and driving motorcycles cross country - a lot, so I thought it was my hearing as I had the same complaints as all the other commenters regarding Oppenheimer. When the movie was over and we got into the lobby, my friends were both furious about the sound. They both said there was no call for how bad it was and they'd be fired if they mixed sound like that.

[@stevenho660]

I thankfully watched Oppenheimer in the theater with captioning.

[@Emma-of1oe]

Saw Oppenheimer is a theatre with open captions. It was awesome. Captions at the bottom of screen. Did not interfere with movie at all.

[@LisaMarieFord]

However, commercials jack up the volume 2x, 3x, to 5x as much as the volume blasting viewers out of their seats and make sure their content is heard.

[@melindaburch4318]

I can usually hear commercials just fine!

[@bonniemoerdyk9809]

Right Lisa, it crazy! Did they ever think that maybe their commercials being so loud ...that maybe we might PURPOSELY Not buy their product ... I bet that never occurred to them! If a commercial busts my eardrums, I'm NOT going to buy their product!

[@LisaMarieFord]

@@bonniemoerdyk9809 Same, Bonnie. It’s a deterrent for certain.

[@MarciaMatthews]

Commercials have become very crude. I mute them and look out the window.

[@tdonohuel]

My issue is that sometimes I need the captions to understand the dialogue with varying audio levels. But then my attention is drawn to the captions and I miss visual details on the rest of the screen. So oftentimes I'll watch a program without captions and just accept that I'll miss some dialogue but I'll pick up the non-verbal cues.

[@kelleywyskiel3478]

Same

[@mattbosley3531]

I think being able to speed-read helps. I can read the caption and see what's happening on the screen at the same time so I don't really miss anything. Plus, I almost never watch anything live so it's always possible to rewind and watch it again. I need the captions because I'm hard of hearing.

[@anastasiabeaverhausen8220]

Exactly.

[@karablake9200]

I'm with you.

[@90w30n]

Over time, you actually get used to it, to the point that you can do both concurrently.

[@i-dash]

As a Real-time Captioner and user of closed captions myself I approve this message. I started using them bc I wanted to be a good a neighbor and keep my tv turned down below my full blast in the desert a/c.

[@SpongeSebastian]

No way! I also do realtime captioning! (Too bad they didn't cover that in this segment, but they maybe didn't have enough time.) Are you steno or voice?

[@i-dash]

@@SpongeSebastian Nice to meet a captioning peep. It’s unusual to bump into another! I started with steno but prefer voice. Really enjoy it. How about you?

[@SpongeSebastian]

​@i-dash Same scenario - started practicing steno then switched to voice. I mostly do broadcast and CART work now as an IC.

[@mkawasaki2323]

@i-dash Lately, I've assumed that AI is doing the CC. Have you and/or SpongeSebastian seen AI move in on your job?

[@mkawasaki2323]

@@SpongeSebastian Lately I've assumed that AI is doing the CC. Have you and/or @i-dash seen AI move in on your job?

[@xingxing0428]

I watched this video with subtitles on

[@thuita2tiime]

0:01 The video explores the growing trend of keeping subtitles on while watching TV shows and movies. 0:36 Subtitles are often used interchangeably with closed captions, originally designed for the hard of hearing. 1:29 Thin TVs with speakers firing out the back can make it hard to hear dialogue clearly. 2:36 Changes in acting styles and advances in technology have made mixing audio tracks more challenging, leading to dialogue being harder to decipher. 4:21 Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime have increased the availability of subtitles, influenced by the National Association of the Deaf. 6:03 While some may find subtitles distracting from the picture, many viewers, like the McMunn family, have become reliant on them for a better viewing experience.

[@TheSimmpleTruth]

😅

[@timoooo7320]

Which ones? I see there's English and there's English (auto generated)

[@melindaburch4318]

Me, too.

[@underavenue]

I would've missed half the plot of Game of Thrones w/o closed captions.

[@JamieSaives]

Great comment! I re-watched "The Last of Us" with subtitles and only then realized how many interconnecting storyline details I had missed.

[@thegreyhoundgirls536]

Me too!!

[@BradThePitts]

The modern "open floorplan" means the TV is often competing with banging pots & pans.

[@AdamJohnson0110]

This, 100%. Even in a large house, the floor plan is designed in a way where the family tv and couch are in the same large area as the sink, microwave, hood fans, etc. Plus the trend for less carpet and harder floors, modern houses are echo chambers where any conversation bounces everywhere.

[@ronswansonsdog2833]

This.

[@gigif8566]

Absolutely, open concept is great if you live alone. Split level floor plan is a nice compromise, the noisemakers can be banished downstairs. 😄

[@NinjaRunningWild]

@@AdamJohnson0110They don’t mix audio over concerns with architectural layout. 🤦‍♂️

[@paulrr5711]

Get in the kitchen and help with the cooking and cleaning so both of you can watch TV! 😂

[@TheClownfight]

This piece nailed it. Thank you for showing us we aren't crazy. Some audio dork info that will help explain... Movies and high end home audio systems have a dedicated speaker that sits centered and below the image. It's only job is dialogue. They can do this a couple ways. One is, obviously, recording a seperate audio track for that channel. Another is that the human voice sits at a specific range. I know this from being in a bar band. We had an eq and we could just work the specific vocal frequency to raise and lower the sound of the singer without touching his/her mic. Making their mic just louder wouldn't cut through. Few of us have a digital audio receiver that seperates and delivers 5 discreet digital audio channels to each speaker. I certainly dont. Instead we have soundbars or headphones.. Whatever. In all of these work arounds, dialogue is the sacrificial lamb. Hope that made sense

[@tenyouusness]

Of course, actors nowadays seem to "mumble" because it reflects how real people actually sound when they talk. It's much more naturalistic than the theatrical style of old film stars, despite the trade-off in clarity. (Although... there are times when you feel an actor is relying overly much on murmuring in order to appear convincing when greater enunciation or volume would do just as well in the context.) Hitting CC is a must for that and all the other reasons outlined in the vid. Hats off to deaf and hard-of-hearing groups for pushing for this accommodation, yet another accessibility feature that, in becoming widespread, has benefited everyone!

[@marvinmartian8746]

Ha ha! Those old-style films and the style was a hoot wasn't it? Makes you wonder why they ever did that. As you say, I'm all for things being more natural, but only if they hit that magic balance.

[@AmeliaHuckleberry]

I'm living for the day when remotes will have a special button for muting background music (just the music, not the dialog or other ambient sounds).

[@psychedelicyeti6053]

I remember some movies had an option where you could watch the movie without dialogue and just the soundtrack in the DVD bonus content. Not sure if I ever saw it the other way around lol

[@sashaashby]

same!!

[@wotan10950]

I thought it was just me! I was afraid my hearing was going, or that I had listened to too many opera singers belting out arias. But this is a real issue. I watch the British shows with subtitles turned on because the accents are so different. But I remember the perfect enunciation of Burt Lancaster and the mumbling of Marlon Brando. It seems like Brando won that battle because I can barely understand today’s actors, unless they’ve had extensive theater experience.

[@bobhutton1409]

You are right about theatre experience. I have defective hearing and depend upon subs. However, I could hear Michael Gambon without subs because he spoke so clearly due to having been trained on the stage. Bob, from England

[@marytheresejacksonlutz2533]

I use closed captions all the time now because I can’t understand the mumbling , the fast talking actors, news people talking over one another.

[@appnzllr]

You missed one reason. If you have subtitles on KZbin, there is humor in seeing the fiasco of how computers try to figure out the text. It's hilarious.

[@PongoXBongo]

Or seeing the ever popular " __ ".

[@westswell2757]

One thing that got old real quick is when the tv set has to caption on the fly. If there was a script, source for decent captioning is right there on hand.

[@christiancampbell466]

I hate when captioners don’t get access to or make use of the script. Getting main characters’ names wrong. Misspelling them two different ways in the same episode. Not watching twice to understand what’s going on, or even just using knowledge gained by the end of the episode to go back and correct obvious errors earlier in their transcription. Completely negating the sense of a line by mishearing “wasn’t” as “was.” Mojibaking a biblical allusion like “Esau” into “he saw.” Listing a main character’s voice as “male offscreen.” The one advantage to not having access to the script is not betraying plot developments. Poor captioners will prematurely reveal that Alice is actually Mom or that man #3 is a named villain instead of an incidental character.

[@SpongeSebastian]

CBS News, please do not re-upload the auto-captioning track as the main caption track for this video. This goes against accessibility, especially when there was likely a human captioning the original TV broadcast of this segment.

[@tjwash5118]

I watch a lot of British shows and I can’t understand a word they say. I totally need subtitles.

[@ameyring]

I've been using captions since i had a box on the tv in the 1980s. Very grateful!

[@christiancampbell466]

I used a caption box in the 2000s.

[@user-wg8rb5gb2w]

Jeff is quite amazing to explicitly describe the sounds; the audience is mersmerized!

[@markhendrickson5886]

Although, I do wonder if someone who has never been able to hear will understand creative captioning. If it entertains those who can hear, but doesn't serve those wh can't, it kind of misses the point.

[@michelebriere9569]

People go on about CC, but those of us with vision impairment need audio description. It's on a few things, but it needs to be on everything.

[@kelleywyskiel3478]

I always had subtitles on when my kids were little just to encourage reading comprehension. It resulted in hav8g children who watched various films in various languages. My only issue is that I start to read and miss what’s happening on the screen visually. lol.

[@michaelluby3297]

I have watched English with Spanish subtitles for years! ¡Me ha ayudado a aprender español!

[@TheSimmpleTruth]

Interesting!

[@danakchampion]

Being able to watch series originally produced in Spanish along with Spanish language subtitles has made them accessible to me at my learning level while also providing enough of a challenge to accelerate my learning. Watching without subtitles I'm not able to disambiguate the sounds into words. I miss most of what's going on. Watching with English subtitles (my native language) I also don't follow the actual Spanish dialogue so well. Being able to read and listen at the same time really enriches the language acquisition process. I can see why it would be beneficial to kids learning to read in their own spoken language. Additionally, always watching with English subtitles whether the dialogue is in English or another language sets the bar lower for the effort it takes to watch a movie in a language I don't understand. Because I'm used to reading as I watch and don't find it distracting or difficult anymore.

[@michaelluby3297]

Another way to learn Spanish is to marry a Latina like I did. She is from Honduras. We have been together since 2015.🎉

[@danakchampion]

@@michaelluby3297 Felicitaciones! 🎉

[@agme8045]

Cringe

[@octaviatheappalled912]

I saw "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" at a local theater. The soundtrack and sound effects were so loud I had great difficulty hearing the dialogue. It made the movie very hard to enjoy. When the second "Fantastic Beasts" came out, I chose to see it at a different theater to be able to hear it better. Alas, we had the same issues, and I realized it was the film itself, both of them probably, and I certainly wished for closed captions at that point.

[@TheTWhite]

If I understand correctly, some theaters offer showing with captions or a personal tablet with captioning on it. Anyone have experience with that?

[@OrangeCat1992]

There have been studies that show that having subtitles on increases literacy and comprehension especially in children. Everyone should have their subtitles on.

[@peaceful525]

Or tune off the TV and read to your kids instead. 😉

[@ilovephotography1254]

Interesting enough, not too long ago CBS Sunday Morning finally made CC available for KZbin viewers.

[@RedStallion2000]

Wow; seems like they should have done that a long time ago. Any idea if they intentionally delayed it for as long as possible?

[@SpongeSebastian]

Except they're just reuploading the auto-captioning track. That's not access.

[@ilovephotography1254]

I feel that it may have more of an oversight. CBS executives may have just said please post this and handed the broadcast to an under link, who gave it to an intern.@@RedStallion2000

[@pennynoel6921]

We almost always have the CC on because my husband wears a hearing aid. But when I watch Sunday Morning I have to turn it off because it interferes with some of the segments like the week’s Sunday Passage. You can’t read the information if the closed caption is on. Otherwise, it’s quite helpful.

[@Mycroft9]

Competent captioning will switch to the top of the screen when important text appears at the bottom. It’s what should always happen!

[@Sashazur]

You should complain to the network. They can and should move captions to another part of the screen at those times.

[@kikijewell2967]

Accommodations are _always_ an increase in efficiency for everyone.

[@joshandkorinna]

It's fairly simple for me, I have moderate to severe OCD and can't stand the idea of not understanding every spoken line of dialogue and the worry that I may miss part of the plot because of it. Thanks for this story.

[@mysterymayhem7020]

Some of the best things about subtitles are when movie characters switch to another language. With the subtitles, you can then also see what they are saying in your language.

[@danakchampion]

Except when the closed caption is, e.g., "[Speaks in German]" 😆 I have definitely gotten used to the high-value closed captioning such as provided by the guest on this segment. I expect translations, song lyrics, and give me the title and artist etc. It has really enhanced my viewing experience and my sense of engagement with various series.

[@bobhutton1409]

I have defective hearing and I depend absolutely on Subs. Please keep them coming.

[@Jogwheel]

Hearing and reading at the same time helps a great deal with comprehension too - especially with proper nouns like names and places. Extra helpful for fantasy films like Dune or Lord of the Rings where every third word is made up.

[@WaynoGur]

I am a board member of Aloha (Adult Loss of Hearing Association) here in Tucson. I can't hear sounds beyond 6 khz. Some of the voices on phones, especially if they are offshore, are a formidable obstacle. I have been using captioning for over 30 years. It has been a life changing experience.

[@housepianist]

You know, this all makes sense. I get it now. There are times where some dialog gets washed in background sounds and music. And during times where there is only dialog, you have to turn it up a bit to hear it clearly. Then the music and effects come on and BOOM - your ears get blasted. 😳😋

[@Lovejazz01]

I confess, when I watch tv with my wife , she talks a lot or comments about the show , so I keep the subtitles on to see what I might miss while she is talking. When I’m watching alone I keep them on because I might glance at some things on my phone or iPad. One thing I wish is TVs in a bar or restaurant( or other public places) to have subtitles on when the sound is down so I can see what they are saying on the tv …

[@KeizaiTree]

One of the reasons we do it is for the fact that we are a bilingual family. And more often than not we are watching content, which is in one of the two languages. We will put the audio to one of the languages that we speak. And the captions to the other. It’s amazing way to learn a new language. Are used to use close caption for my children as it’s a great way to teach them how to read. if you leave the captions on their favorite TV or not movie show, they will quickly learned how to read.

[@m0dulegirl]

I started watching with subtitles back in the late 80s due to my mom’s hearing loss when it still wasn’t required but right before the law went into effect. And for 15 years it was spotty af. There were whole cable channels we couldn’t watch anything because there was no captioning. We had to check to make sure any DVD we wanted to watch or buy well into the 00s had captioning because that was hit or miss. Going into the 10s it was all better except for streaming. We couldn’t watch very much because Netflix didn’t have any incentive at the time to caption. Then it did and our life was changed. In the last two years, KZbin got its act together and figured out how to turn on global captioning as opposed to captioning with every video. Now if the auto captioning could figure out from context the difference between flower and four. We can watch anything. And everything has captions turned on because I use them too even though my hearing is fine. And captioning itself has gotten better. I mean there are obvious and frustrating fails but when I bought White Christmas in ‘88 there’s a whole scene of dialogue between Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby that got cut from probably forty lines to ten. Like they didn’t think deaf people could read the rapid fire dialogue or need the whole scene which is hilarious (because c’mon Danny Kaye.) Up until the late 10s that dialogue had not been recaptioned. But now it has and deaf people can laugh at it like it was meant to be. It’s so much better than it was.

[@Sashazur]

I still get channels over the air with an antenna, where the picture is fine but the subtitles are garbled with lots of missing letters and words.

[@viviandibrell849]

Yes! It’s about time someone acknowledged this. My friends and I have been talking about how hard it is to understand the dialogue these days, and I think all the reasons they showed in this clip were true. In addition, the dialogue has been speeded up in so many shows. People talk over each other and talk so fast it’s unbelievable and almost impossible to understand!

[@marvinmartian8746]

Very true. When it was used in the kind-of obscure movie Primer, they called that style obfuscation. Sort of a way of cheating in order to make it appear the dialog was more technical than it actually was. A funny thing I noticed recently when watching the original The Thing (The Thing From Another World) is that they used that too (esp. the 'talking over each other'). Which surprised me because I was thinking this style was a more recent thing as well.

[@campion77]

In addition- it’s great for new young readers to expand their vocabulary!

[@Revdotcom]

This is a great example of how captions can be more than just words on the screen. They can help your brand foster a bigger audience and loyalty. Well done, Jeff and CBS!

[@psychedelicyeti6053]

I grew up with subtitles and dubs. My parents would buy me Disney movies in Spanish and English because we're bilingual and growing up, i always liked it when subtitles were an option. So, I'm very happy subtitles are more available nowadays.

[@LisaMarieFord]

Closed Captioning is necessary and very appreciated. It’s been lifetimes, but it is wonderful they have been implemented to usually be available. Unfortunately, some translators apparently did not watch the video they’re translating well like this person did. He’s doing a great job. As far as two of the other reasons: not having a budget or filmmaker’s choice those are just excuses. If you’re going to create something for people to watch and be able to enjoy, create it well and don’t rely on a third party necessity (CC) to be required to watch let alone enjoy your production. You could be excluding those that cannot hear or understand if there are no captions and excluding those that cannot watch and read captions at the same time; like some who are dyslexic. As many say, audio is the key for a great video, if you’re audio is bad you’re already limiting the reach of your video.

[@Mycroft9]

I’m a big proponent of physical media and a regular purchaser of DVDs and Blu rays. But too many TV series DVD sets come without captions, which makes me watch shows on streaming services instead (through gritted teeth). I appreciate the effort that the streamers go to in order to add captions/subs.

[@customer5032]

I prefer renting DVD's too, but I can ALWAYS find them. Click on "setup" (or sometimes it says "language") and then "SDH" and you will get the subtitles without the annoying black box used for closed captioning. I use them for every movie I watch!

[@Sashazur]

Every TV and streaming device made in the last 30+ years can do captions. It’s the same for nearly all discs and streaming services. You just have to figure out how to make them appear! You may need to enable it on the player and/or the TV and it could be called closed captions, captions, CC or subtitles.

[@Mycroft9]

@@Sashazur TV and device manufacturers have indeed been mandated to be able to display captions. However, I wish it were true that "nearly all discs" contained captions. I have many box sets of TV shows that simply don't. And it's not an issue of figuring out how to activate them.

[@CathyS_Bx]

I started with CC for The Wire because the various accents confused me. Now I always turn on CC; it helps with instant comprehension.

[@fpnewsandpromos]

I love never missing a word and it's great not having the volume way up.

[@tictacleia]

They still need to get people who can write correctly to make the captions! I don't think I've ever seen a movie or TV show that had all of the captions correct. I watched "Music for Millions" yesterday, and the incorrect captions ruined most Durante's jokes! But the most ridiculous was when José Iturbi said "you are a virtuoso", and the caption said, "you are a bit of drizzle."

[@war-painter]

CNN is a disaster for subtitles

[@iamthebock]

I just got tested and diagnosed with auditory processing disorder! I need those subtitles! My left ear sucks bc I'm right handed!

[@leegalen8383]

I told my daughter to turn on the subtitles when her kids watch TV, it helps them to learn to read. It works! They both enjoy sounding out the words.

[@lvtiguy226]

As a person with hearing loss in both ears (but not deaf), subtitles are critical for me to understand and enjoy a movie or TV program. Live shows often have some interesting subtitles though. 🙂

[@TinLeadHammer]

Subtitles is not a person.

[@JaxNoodle]

We use CC in our household too! We have a young kid who is always telling us his stories on top of the show dialogue at different times of the day. I do appreciate how CC helps move dialogue along rather than just transcribing. Plus, it does best when actors have thick accents in English, whether it’s regional or international. I will encourage that folks use CC for DUNE. The audio FX/music made it absolutely hard to follow dialogue!

[@InaMacallan]

With you on Dune! The sound is dreadful. How the heck did it get an Oscar for sound!?

[@sommps]

As a non-native English speaker, I'm glad to know that it's not just a me problem. Others can't hear it too 😂

[@agme8045]

You can figure out whether it’s just you or not simply by thinking if you use CC when you watch something in your native language. Personally I do, I use subtitles/CC when I watch local shows/movies.

[@sommps]

@@agme8045 that's a good point! I don't turn on cc when I watch things in native language. Looks like my English skill is still an issue lol

[@sharonhoepker]

Roku soundbar has a setting for type of show (music, movie, etc.). They have one to enhance dialog, somehow changes the sound balancing to bring out the actors' dialog. That has been suoer duper helpful!!

[@lindahouston5635]

I started using CC because of various accents I had a bit of trouble with. I use them now out of habit.

[@patriciamorgan6545]

I usually keep the tv on all the time with the sound pretty low. For me, closed captioning fills in what I miss when my attention is focussed elsewhere (phone calls, crafts, a KZbin video running on my handheld device concurrently, etc.). It confirms what I half-heard, misheard, or thought I heard. It's also great when I'm watching music programs, to finally get the lyrics on songs I've misheard for decades. That's very satisfying indeed!

[@TinLeadHammer]

Have you tried reading a book for a change?

[@patriciamorgan6545]

@TinLeadHammer I'd like to, but I'm disabled now and can't reach them off the shelf anymore, nor leave the house to get to a library. I don't have any e-book or streaming services because of the cost. Essentials only, food and shelter.

[@highfiveanimations]

The subtitles on this video are very inaccurate because they were taken from the automatic captions track. How ironic.

[@SpongeSebastian]

Especially when there was likely a human captioning the original TV broadcast of this segment. Come on, CBS News, do better.

[@tofutots]

i need it for shows and films where there is world building and i’m trying to figure out everyone’s names & places a la game of thrones - lord of the rings and more recently dune

[@customer5032]

Yes, same here! 👍

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

I like the captions because if they have the script and put in sounds and things intended to be known to the watcher it enriches the experience. It also clears up things like What someone said in a past movie line you always wondered about but never knew like some lines in Aliens where they are getting a briefing before the drop ship. It also helps with spelling of strange names and places.

[@Blusoup1]

We definitely use closed captioning when we watch a period film where the actors have thick accents. They came in very handy when watching Ted Lasso.

[@yvonnecamperriovista225]

I love subtitles, but hate it when they aren’t synced and can be distracting, especially when it’s foreign language.

[@louiseevans6121]

Me too. I’ve been using captions for years.

[@autumnwishes8364]

I'm hard of hearing and I've been using CC on the TVs since it was first introduced so I can understand what is being said. It's nice to see that others are embracing using CC even though they might not necessarily need them.

[@rwstavros]

The problem is that the sound engineers because it is mixed for a large screen and professional equipment, but most people are watching on home equipment

[@mmedved5567]

I've found CBS to have some of the worst captioning around. There's often skipping phrases and whole sentences. I use captions in a couple of ways, one is to check dialog that's unclear, so for me the worst overall are the media companies that have captioning that precedes the actual dialog so if I am listening and miss a word or two, the captioning is already past that point.

[@bnln1939]

There are time s I just love to watch foreign films in there original languages. For the German version of Das Boot is great!

[@war-painter]

We HATE dubbing and go out of our way to get each foreign film back to its ORIGINAL language and then watch it with English subtitles. Sorry for all the voice actors, but I just don’t like watching say a Japanese film with people speaking in broad American accents when their lips don’t match the words. Yuck.

[@bnln1939]

When I watch a foreign language I don't use subtitles. Can't improve language skills like that. @@war-painter

[@marsspacex6065]

If the music and sound effects are loud and you want to not miss the exact dialogue.

[@davidwolfgang]

My wife and I both used subtitles individually and together.

[@purplemicrodot58]

This plus some minor legitimate hearing loss pretty much ended my attendance at theaters. I almost can't watch a movie without them.

[@nwsportstilidie]

Perhaps it's that the caption descriptions are better than the sounds themselves.

[@ebybeehoney]

Captions always!

[@hestergnu6627]

I thought it was just me. I found the subtitles incredibly useful while watching The Bear.

[@rickkarrer8370]

I didn’t realize people mislabeled closed captioning as subtitles.

[@BFRIZZLE909]

Helps me follow with the story a lot better, thank you

[@lisakwaterski6707]

Interesting story, especially regarding the high numbers of layers in editing. I took an editing class in film production. No way I had that many layers on my work. Today in the New York Times, many readers were complaining about Nolan's use of too loud sound. He may have had most of the Oscar sound predictions pointing towards his film, but I'm glad "Zone of Interest" took the award.

[@kareninthevalley]

This guy is living my dream job, doing subtitle transcription.

[@orppranator5230]

I recently watched Cromwell (1970) starring Alec Guinness and Richard Harris, all the actors spoke clearly, the music was not overly loud compared to the dialogue, and the brightness of the film was just right. Not once did I feel the need to turn captions on.

[@Cafe1981]

They help immensely when English is your second language. My husband and I started watching with captions because we ended up with some neighbors that complained about noise constantly. Low volume, captions on. No longer have the neighbor issue but we never stopped using the captions. Helps me with certain accents I have difficulty understanding.

[@gigif8566]

The lack of diction is a big problem, so many male actors mumble their lines. I love when a stage actor shows up on screen, because they clearly pronounce their lines.

[@toshikosuisei4160]

One reason that was missed is that the sound mixers crank the volume of a tune during non-dialog segments so loud that I can't leave the general volume of the movie at a level where the dialog is always clear or I get audibly blasted with the music segments. So I set the general volume, use CC for quiet dialog, normal dialog is ok, and tolerable music volume...

[@sixbutton9]

taught my kids to read.

[@mililaniman]

I enjoy putting on the closed captions because the actors might talk too fast, and I would miss what they are saying.

[@Tangent360]

Mumbling actors and an insane mix where to get good dialog volume you end up with rocket-launch volumes for action scenes and music are the biggest issues for me. And that's with a pretty good soundbar, not built-in speakers.

[@v8beamer]

I've done sound (music/drama) for over 30 years. In the past 20 years or so, vocals have been de-emphasized in music, so that vocals "blended" better. I always thought it was a bad practice and got into a lot of heated discussions over the mix.

[@RedStallion2000]

Another factor may be what seems (to me, at least) to be an increase in "Over the Shoulder" shots, where the person speaking is the one whose shoulder is being filmed over. In many of these shots, the person doing the speaking isn't actually saying anything, or is saying something completely different than what the audible dialog is conveying. Therefore, one can't even try to read the lips of the side of the person's mouth as they speak.

[@georgeg.7124]

I like watching online shows with closed caption on. Fun little topic.

[@ericbishop3468]

I thought it was me.

[@DevonFrohne]

I watch almost all video content with captions on these days. I have gotten so used to it since we tend to watch movies later at night with the volume low and it has been a game changer for understanding the content we are watching.

[@practice4089]

+1 THANK YOU! For years I have thought it was just me.

[@jefffunke252]

I wish there was a CC option that only covered dialogue. I don't need captioning to tell me that it's raining or a door just slammed.

[@tictacleia]

There are different tracks for that, but it may not always be available, depending on the show, channel, etc. Most of the DVDs in my huge DVD collection have different tracks so you can choose if you want the sound effects or just the words. I have noticed that online movies and TV shows usually don't give other options, just different languages.

[@customer5032]

There is- choose DHH instead of close captioning- it also eliminates the annoying black box around the words!

[@Sashazur]

Some shows offer “descriptive audio” separate from captions/subtitles.

[@danjo8673]

Whether TV or movies, the music and sound effects are always louder than the people speaking. Even on documentaries the "background" music is louder than the person talking.

[@AlohaChips]

The one silver lining of it all is that normalizing captions/subtitle use is a win for HoH people, IMO. I remember growing up in the 90s... you almost never saw them on by default, and asking about turning them on might get you odd or confused looks--a lot of people didn't even know how to do it. Now it's a pretty routine question for which way the group wants it when watching things with others.

[@Sashazur]

I use captions as much as possible. What drives me crazy on many streaming apps is when the video already has captions since it’s foreign and then the TV or streaming device adds the same text right on top, making both impossible to read! Also I use an antenna, and for several channels although the picture is fine, the captions are garbled with frequent missing words or letters.