Pandemic binge watching has been a thing in my life for the past couple of years. We have subscriptions to several streaming services and we have done our share of binge watching different shows. One thing that I have gotten used to using is the closed caption option.
Now I am not hearing impaired (although sometimes I suspect my husband is….) but the closed caption option is a pretty cool feature to turn on. Especially when you are watching shows from other countries like England. Depending upon the dialect it can go from easy to difficult to understand. Some British shows we have watched are pretty hard to decipher but the closed captioning helps immensely.
Closed captioning is a technique used to display text on a television screen by request from the viewer. The “closed” is a reference to the fact that the captions must be “opened” or unlocked by the viewer, in contrast with open captions, which are always on display. Most televisions available today have this option and it is easy to use.
Sometimes the translation is less than perfect and it makes me laugh. One show we were watching kept displaying “insects chirring” and I suspect they wanted “chirping”. Often the news closed captioning is very inaccurate and I wonder why that is. Are those little fingers behind the tv typing too fast or do they need to listen better?
I do love the option. There are a lot of times it is helpful when someone is watching tv and someone else is doing something else and the tv needs to be muted or lowered in volume. Closed captioning helps not only the deaf and hearing impaired – it helps the average person.
So thank you to those who make closed captioning possible. You make me laugh sometimes with the inaccuracies but I love you.
How about you? Do you use closed captioning? Or do you find it annoying? I would love to hear your comments so don’t forget to leave one and Comment for a Cause – Mountain Laurel Animal Rescue.
13 Comments
Leave a commentYes, closed captioning is useful, yet sometimes a total mess! Chirring is a thing, I looked it up. Oxford Languages-(of an insect) make a prolonged low-trilling sound. “grasshoppers were chirring”.
Well thank you, Sandy! I never bothered to look it up! You are a genius!
Yes to CC!! You are right it’s especially helpful for English shows or spy thriller type where they have to communicate quickly. Ozark is back!!
We binged Ozark this weekend!
We pretty much always have it on and are so used to having it that it feels weird when it’s not on. I also think the reason that sometimes the words shows up different is the way closed captioning is done. I had to do some research to figure it out. 🙂
I need to do some research as well — I just like to think there is a little man behind my tv typing……..
I have used it, I remember reading faster than they were speaking, but I can’t remember what I was watching. We don’t have any streaming services and I don’t have enough patience or concentration to watch more than a show or two at a time. I usually fall asleep anyway!
The CC does help but it makes me giggle sometimes when the translation is not accurate . It is usually slower and many times there are huge typos!
Sometimes I could certainly use this given my near total deafness in my right ear. I have no idea if this is an option on our TV.
It really is helpful –especially if you want to watch tv quietly if someone else is doing something. The way our house is open it is difficult to have the tv on and have someone be able to do something else at the same time.
For those who are hard of hearing close caption is very much needed. My husband ihas loss about 80 percent of his hearing but still won’t use it. I am sure it is just a matter of getting used to it. It is a very useful tool.
Its great for those of us who now have some trouble hearing. And as you say, it helps when the dialects impinge on the spoken words.
It is great, isn’ t it? I love being able to understand some of the more difficult foreign dialects.