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Captioning vs. Subtitling
What's the Difference?
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What is Closed Captioning?
Closed captioning is text that appears on over a video that contains dialogue and audio cues such as music, or sound effects that are off-screen. Captions can be either open (always visible, aka "burned in") or closed. Closed captions require a decoder in your television or cable box to see them (most TVs and cable boxes do). Captions typically have the appearance of white text on a black border.
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What is Subtitling?
Subtitling is text that typically contain only a transcription of the dialogue. Often, subtitles are burned into the video so they can't be turned off, although on a DVD or Blu-ray this option is available. Subtitles vary in appearance and have more fonts and colors available than captions. |
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Why Choose One or the Other?
Captions are angled specifically at the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, but are also used by people unfamiliar with the language being spoken, or when audio equipment is not available. Since the ability to turn closed captions on and off is sometimes difficult (or impossible) to implement, open captions or subtitles are sometimes burned into the image so they are always visible.
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Types of Captions (608 vs. 708)
Just like television, there is a Standard Definition and High Definition version of captions, called 608 and 708 respectively. Click here to learn more about the difference.
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