Why is closed captioning always so f***ed up?
Asked by
AstroChuck (
37609
)
March 7th, 2010
from iPhone
I was watching a show with closed captioning on (something I don’t usually do but I couldn’t make out a couple of mumbled words so on it went) and I was immediately thankful that I wasn’t deaf. I feel for those who rely on closed captioning for content. I guess I can kind of understand the need sometimes to cut out a word here and there in order to shorten a sentence. What I can’t understand is all the typos and gibberish that it spews. Often times it makes no sense at all. Haven’t we had CC long enough to provide a quality product? Or are we just marginalizing a population that can’t hear?
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10 Answers
Isn’t it voice recognition software that is used? That certainly has a long way to go… I think it’s kind of funny sometimes to see what comes up on the screen, as opposed to what was really said. But you’re right – if you were deaf, you have to decipher a lot of what you read to make sense of things. My father started to use the CC a couple of years ago and he ends up yelling at the TV a lot because of what it says. It’s kind of comical to watch him. He might do just as well for me to stand up next to the TV and try to write things on a white board for him.
I have always had the theory that they start falling asleep around the middle of the show.
My wife is deaf, and we are always amused at the inaccuracies we see.
Sometimes, I need to explain to my wife that what she saw was not what was said.
I also have a friend who is a Closed Caption Captioner. She began working as a court reporter, and has moved over to this job, so I know it isn’t Voice Recognition software.
Most of the times the inaccuracies are during sports broadcasts or news, where you’ve got someone transcribing in real time, right? I don’t think I’ve seen a whole lot of errors in, say, network sitcoms.
@andrew- Most of the time it is on live events such as the news and sports but I see it often messed up on pre-recorded stuff such as sitcoms.
That is a good question. I’ll turn on the closed captioning when the street noise picks up. It is impossible to compete with a Harley for volume. I have noticed how the local news CC tends to lead the the actual dialog and banter is not included. But on most shows the CC lag the actual dialog and cut off into the commercial. I can see where that would be frustrating.
Why is clothes capturing so fluffed up?
I’m sorry I don’t understand.
Tonight, on the Academy Awards, Brad Pitt described Quenton Tarantino:
“The set is his church, and no heretics allowed.”
The closed captioning read:
“The set is his church, and no hair techs allowed.”
That’s just a little different.
Tall hoop pose stead: Good dancers.
It happens with subtitles in different languages too. Not always translated with the exact same meaning or feeling as the original spoken words.
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