Closed Captioning (CC) has benefited the deaf and hard of hearing community tremendously. I remember my early childhood when my family didn't have closed captioning on our television set. I had to ask my parents or siblings what was being said. Or I just left it to my imagination on what was being said which surprisingly worked quite well for me. You can do a lot with your imagination when you aren't given a lot of choices. When I was around 5 or 6, my mother was told of a device that enables the TV to display closed captioning. So she and my grandmother drove to the U.S.A. and bought the device as it was cheaper there at the time. I was told about the device but I didn't fully understand the concept because it was new to me. I already had begun to learn how to read and write before that. The day I came home from school, I saw a black box on the top of the television set and then looked at the screen. I was speechless and excited; I finally understood everything that was being said on the television. This was before they started requiring analog television sets to be sold with the CC decoder device built in.
I don't take the amazing technology for granted because it has done a lot for me. Even the hearing folks are benefiting from watching television programs with closed captioning turned on. It's amazing how much a hearing person can miss out by just listening, a lot of hearing people find themselves startled at first to learn how much they've been missing by not reading the captions. Not a lot of people know this, but it's a fact and has been proven in some studies. The largest audience in North America is the hearing people learning English as a second language. I bet you didn't know that one, eh?
Nowadays, quite a few things have changed. We didn't have high definition television sets when I was a kid. Nor did we have the DVD format. They developed the captioning technology for the analog (NTSC - National Television System Committee) televisions and VHS tapes. They designed it to encode the captions into line 21 of the vertical blanking interval of the picture on the television. This is where the issue for the HDTV (High Definition Television) comes in. Quite a lot of HDTV sets lack captioning when you use the video inputs that use either DVI (Digital Video Interface) or HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). The same issue is common with component inputs. Analog and digital televisions are interlaced while HDTV can be both interlaced and progressive. When you enable the progressive mode on a HDTV, it often cannot display the captions. This is common with progressive DVD players when they are in the progressive mode. From what I know, there are no laws requiring HDTV displays to be equipped with it.
The last couple years, the major studios coined a new term called, 'SDH'. It stands for 'Subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing'. This is becoming more common on the DVD format. For example, Buena Vista (Disney, Touchstone, etc) uses the SDH symbol instead of the CC symbol. Actually, it's both captioned and subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing but they don't use the CC symbol on it for some reasons.
Now we have two new high definition formats called HD-DVD (High Definition DVD) and BD (Blu-Ray Disc). Most of the HD-DVD/BD titles will not be captioned; instead they will be subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing. They include everything they normally do with CC including sound descriptions. While some of these subtitles are not perfect, but the best SDH style I have come across so far is from Sony. A movie I watched recently, 'The Covenant', not a great movie but the picture quality was astounding. Anyway, Sony distributed the movie and the SDH style resembled the traditional CC style, which I was really pleased with. So far, Fox is the only one that puts the CC symbol on their BD packages. I don't know if it's really the traditional CC since the HDMI input on my HDTV has no CC option, which is why the high definition formats are using SDH instead. It's because a lot of HDTV displays lack captioning in these video inputs.
Now they even have digital closed captioning, which I haven't figured out yet. From what I know, it works only on the digital channels, so I'll have to fool around with that someday. If any of you people are knowledgeable about these digital closed captioning, feel free to leave a comment.
I encourage all of you to embrace the 'SDH' as it's the new captioning method for the high definition era.
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1/11/2007 4:23 PM
A lot of DvDs can be viewed with closed captioning using TV's internal chip along with disc's subtitles. I often prefer closed captions if possible since subtitles on DVD discs often do not add notes for background noises like closed captions do.
1/11/2007 5:13 PM
Yes, I'm aware of that as I already mentioned it through the blog entry, though this is not possible on quite a good amount of DVD players when they are enabled in progressive mode.
I'm a movie buff and I'm quite experienced in this area. Most of the movies I watch contain CC but that's not going to be the case with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray because SDH is going to be the standard of both formats.
It's not the TV, it's the DVD player that isn't sending the CC signal to the TV when it's enabled to be progressive. This is a very common problem with DVD players and still is.
CC is designed to be encoded in line 21 of the picture and the analog/digital televisions are interlaced. But with HDTV being progressive, it's not uncommon for CC to be nowhere to be found especially in the video inputs where HDMI and DVI are used.
A lot of HDTV display are still lacking the CC mode when it's in 480p and up. It may not be that big of an issue with HD channels as you can get CC from most of them because of digital closed captioning.
But that's not going to happen with the HD movie formats (Blu-Ray/HD-DVD) since it would be just too much of an issue because of the 1080p mode. So that's why they're deciding to make SDH the standard of the future for HD video formats.
As I've described, when you see the term, 'SDH' on a DVD or anything else, it means it's for the deaf. It will contain everything including the background noises.
1/11/2007 5:19 PM
Oh -- the line 21 thing -- that helps me understand why this CC thing is such a pain with the HDTV. Hrm.
I actually prefer the subtitling (though I do agree the additional notes in the CC are helpful [or funny; such as "ominous thunder"]) because usually the subtitling is cleaner, and out of the way of the movie itself. The CC is on a black background that obscures parts of the movie.
Can you imagine: I didn't start using captions until I was almost 30. I just really either didn't watch too much stuff, or I'd ask afterwards what it was about. Books, that's always been my big love...
1/11/2007 5:32 PM
Hi Beg, nice to see you here. Been a while since you left a comment here.
Oh my, 30? Well, at least you had the books to read.
I also happen to enjoy reading books. I'm always reading something... even on the back of a cereal box. I also happen to subscribe to a few magazines and I read way too many blogs... too many.
:-)
1/11/2007 5:41 PM
Banjo writes: "...I just left it to my imagination on what was being said which surprisingly worked quite well for me." I agreed with him fully but I would like to mention something betraying. In my days, the movie "Gone With the Wind" was without captioning for a long, long time. Finally we got the captioning films, and we gathered together in MWAD (Metro-Washington Association of the Deaf), a deaf club located outside Washington, DC. It was a huge crowd and we got to watch the movie with captioning for the first time. Oh my goodness, we thought that Rhett Butler was a bad guy for breaking up with Scarlett O'Hara. It was strange even to be able to change our thought about Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.
1/11/2007 5:59 PM
'Gone with the Wind'... such a brilliant and beautiful film even to this day. I have the 4-disc edition on the DVD format and it never has looked better.
I can completely understand what you mean. It was like that with some movies I had watched as a child then re-watch them again with captions after we got the CC decoder device.
Though you have to admit that it's quite fascinating how we can interpret an uncaptioned film and the "imagined" outcome can be quite radical from the actual outcome. Yet we think it still makes sense to us!
That's the bright side to being deaf, you can make a different perceptive of observation from not hearing but by watching. The hearing folks could learn a thing or two from us.
1/11/2007 8:15 PM
I'm reminded of when I saw "Amadeus" without captions in the movie theater and then some time later with captions. The first time, I paid so much attention to the facial expressions and tone of voice (I'm hard of hearing) and I thought the musician who wasn't Mozart truly loved and admired his work and to some degree Mozart himself even though he was jealous of the attention he received. The movie seemed especially tragic because of what S. did despite his appreciation of Mozart's work. With captions, the movie seemed less dimensional, but perhaps that's because of paying so much visual attention to the words at the expense of non-verbal communication.
As far as showing captions from DVDs on HDTVs, one strategy that a friend of mine discovered was to play the DVD from a computer with a DVD player through the VGA connection (which would require the HDTV to have a VGA connection). That method provides very good video plus the captions. The captions are being provided by the computer rather than the HDTV, so the captions have to be enabled by the software on the computer.
1/11/2007 8:45 PM
Dana,
"As far as showing captions from DVDs on HDTVs, one strategy that a friend of mine discovered was to play the DVD from a computer with a DVD player through the VGA connection (which would require the HDTV to have a VGA connection). That method provides very good video plus the captions. The captions are being provided by the computer rather than the HDTV, so the captions have to be enabled by the software on the computer."
This is also the method I use. I use my PowerMac G4 and connect to the HDTV using VGA. Look pretty amazing on it and I prefer the captions on Apple DVD player to the traditional CC.
1/12/2007 2:47 AM
banjo,
about digital tvs, usually known as HDTV, sometimes also EDTV, they still follow the same requirement for having built in caption decoder. The rules has changed tho, and I think for the better. Only HDTVs with built in tuners will have the decoders. Those without tuners are actually called HD(TV) Monitors and lacks the decoders. About the decoders, they must have both analog (line 21) and digital caption.
The analog obviously works only on s-video, composite or coax (antenna/ntsc). Digital will work only for coax (antenna/atsc). There is no caption carried over DVI, HDMI or component. No fear, as FCC regulations were updated recently for this - now set top, players, etc must have their own decoders. This means your digital/HD cable box, satellite receiver, DVRs, video adapter for computer, etc all are required to have caption decoders. This makes unnecessary to carry caption info over DVI/HDMI/component as they will be already decoded before that.
So if you have one of those new set top, player, etc, remember to go in that device's own menu to turn on CC (not TV'S). I am not sure if DVDs are included in this requirement, but I would assume they are if they have one or more of those, DVI/HDMI/component.
You can find more info about CC at my site, www.captionadvocacy.com and at several other cc sites linked from there. My site hasn't been updated for in abit because I am working on completely new one to replace it, hopefully soon. I'll have more in-depth information about CC in laymen's terms.
bob
1/15/2007 1:07 AM
Well, "in my day" if I was eventually going to see a movie, I always read the book first. I read Gone With The Wind long before it was made into a movie. That is how I survived in "those days".
Isn't it amazing what we deafies had to put up with? I recall sitting on the floor watching Lawrence Welk every Saturday night, because I loved the beautiful gowns and the ladies who had so much class. My kids(hearing) made fun of me!
Has it been that long ago that the "Deaf Club" was our main source of a social network? I recall rocking my baby half the night while my husband played poker at the deaf club! Most of those poker players are gone now, including my husband.
1/15/2007 1:37 AM
Bob,
Thanks for the great information on the legal requirements on these equipments. I live in Canada, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of these equipments have CC decoders built in as they often share the same technology as the American providers'.
Thank you for adding the web address to your website.
1/22/2007 11:22 AM
Thanks to Banjo and Bon. Over x-mas, I bought a HDTV with HDMI inputs. I was so discouraged not having captions through the HDMI and component videos directly from a DVD player (upconverting). I thought about returning the expensive TV, but with the new law, I assume future dvd players will have the caption decoders in them if I understand. I have gone through a lot trying to understand the HDTV capabilities until I found this web site today. What a relief! Thank you.
I would like to share my experience about a digital cable box. A coaxial cable has to be connected to the HD box very tightly or otherwise, there are no captions on some programs or CC becomes fickle, going on and off. So, the connection to the HD box is very important.
1/22/2007 2:58 PM
Kodakguy...
I hate to break it to you... but I don't think there are any DVD players out there that has a CC decoder built in at the moment. There may be some in the future once HDMI-equipped DVD players become more common.
Though you would benefit more from a Blu-Ray player (or a HD-DVD player) since most movies are subtitled for the deaf with the sound descriptions included. The symbol is "SDH".
I'm just trying to educate people about what's going on in the entertainment industry and what's being done about it.
1/23/2007 7:27 AM
Banjo,
Yes, I agree that no DVD players have a CC decoder yet. My new upconverting DVD player with HDMI hookup does a great job, upconverting to 1080i and displays DVD's subtitles very well. I tried every DVD and got subtitles. They might have "SDH". So, I should not complain.
One question for you...my Sony HDTV allows me to change characters in captions in many ways like color, size, style, etc., but the cable box's captions override the TV's. Is it correct?
BTW, please continue to educate us. Thank you!
1/23/2007 2:36 PM
Well, the captions you've just described... sound like 'Digital Closed Captioning' that many HDTV models today has.
From what I know, neither DVI or HDMI video input feature the option to use CC. It's only featured on the analog/RCA/component video inputs.
If Bob is reading this, he may be able to give you some answers. You can go to his website... www.captionadvocacy.com
4/09/2007 12:27 AM
Banjo,
Wow! I have so crazy system on Captions what I have done on test recently first thing I watch DVD Children of Men with SDH only I used Toshbia Combo DVD/VHS and Our Sony HDTV Wega LCD use connection from Outlet Cable coax to TV anyway I watched on show SDH have miss part Caption not really good so I brought Sony DVD player with HDMI add into to video 6 I pull out Combo player tranfer to new DVD player with HDMI I watched Children of Men wow it was showed full captions use SDH also I tested my own DVD blanked recorded use CC decoder from VHS to DVD was good worked CC so I put on Sony DVD player with HDMI shows not caption also our comcast DVR with HDMI connection not working too but cable coax no problems. I knew HDMI wont tramitted use CC decoded.
My advice use Combo DVD/VHS and DVD with HDMI good for SDH better than nothing just back up two way captions I dont know what in the future with solved it? What I have learned this issued. Sony DVD with HDMI so great picture qualify and rich colors. Please help fixed with HDMI included CC decoded.
4/23/2007 4:25 PM
"It's not the TV, it's the DVD player that isn't sending the CC signal to the TV when it's enabled to be progressive. This is a very common problem with DVD players and still is.
"
Is this to say, Banjo, that the YPrPb component inputs will carry the CC data on line 21 from the DVD player to the TV when the DVD is not on progressive scan? This has not been my experience. My JVC tube-TV with component inputs did not support progressive scan, and I couldn't get CC unless I used the old analog composite "yellow cable" video signal. I now have an LCD HD monitor and am still stuck with analog video output from my DVD player.
7/29/2007 4:34 AM
I have had been searching high and low for a perfect DVD player that sends out CC through composite jacks. I have had tried a couple of DVD players, Sony, Oppo, and Panasonic. Panasonic do sends out CC from a DVD player via jacks unfortunately the color quality isnt great and didnt operate smoothly. Today, I went to Costco to check out their latest items, I was a bit skeptical with Philip DVP 5982 and took a research on this product. To my surprise, in Philip manual on line showed, there's CC feature in the DVD player and it doesnt say about CC and HMDI. I am hoping this will be my final testing.
11/13/2008 3:29 PM
Why should we embrace SDH as an alternative to CC?
It's cheaper to update the HDMI cable instead of making all players include cc decoder. TV CC decoder, PVR CC decoder, DVD player CC decoder.. WTF? Leave it on the TV and have all cables being able to transmit CC signal.
I have seen SDH but at this moment I cant recall if it does algin the text on left or right to reflect who is speaking like CC? I like it that way.
Also SDH may solve the issues with HDMI and HDTV but it doesnt solve the problem if we are to record tv shows without burning the text onto the video with cable boxes.
HDMI needs to be updated, PEROID!