Subtitles

Subtitles are texts that show what is being said in a film, television show, opera, or other media with sound. They can write down the words people speak or translate them into another language. There are also special subtitles called captions that describe music or sound effects, which helps deaf or hard-of-hearing people enjoy the show.

Subtitles can also give extra information that is not in the audio, like explaining that "sake" is a kind of Japanese wine. Sometimes they are used for funny effects, like showing a character's secret thoughts.

Making subtitles is a big job. Someone has to write the words, and for live TV, this might be done very fast by special writers or computers. Fans sometimes make their own subtitles, called fansubs. Then the subtitles have to be sent to viewers. Open subtitles are part of the video and cannot be turned off, while closed subtitles are separate and can be chosen by the viewer. Finally, subtitles are shown on screen, either as part of the video or on a separate display.

Methods

Sometimes, especially at film festivals, subtitles can be shown on a different screen below the main one. This way, filmmakers don’t need to make a special version just for one showing.

Creation, delivery, and display of subtitles

Professional subtitlers use special computer tools to create subtitles. They decide when each subtitle should appear and how long it stays on the screen. This timing is based on either electronic timecodes or film length.

The finished subtitles can be added to videos in different ways. They can be part of the picture itself, shown by a special device on a TV, or turned into graphics that appear over the video.

People can also make subtitles using free software and add them to videos using other programs. For web videos, there are special ways to add timing and text, like SMIL and Timed Text.

Some programs can create captions automatically using speech-to-text technology. For example, YouTube offers automatic captions in many languages. However, these automatic captions are not always perfect, as they can mix up words that sound similar. This can make it hard to understand educational videos, especially if the speaker is hard to hear or there are many speakers. Experts suggest that automatic captions should be checked by a person before they are shared, especially when they might affect learning.

Same-language captions

Same-language captions are texts that match the audio without translating it. They help people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing understand what is being said. These captions also describe important sounds like music or effects.

Closed captions (CC)

Closed captioning is a type of caption used mainly in the United States for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. It transcribes spoken words and adds descriptions of sounds, such as laughter or door creaks. There are different ways to create captions, including live captioning for news and events, which can sometimes lag behind the audio.

Subtitles for the deaf or hard-of-hearing (SDH)

SDH subtitles add extra information like who is speaking and what sounds are happening. They look different from closed captions, often using the same font as other subtitles.

Use by hearing people

Many people who can hear also use subtitles. This is because some movies have soft or unclear speaking, and subtitles help everyone understand better.

Same-language subtitling

Same-language subtitling shows captions in the same language as the audio. It can help children improve their reading skills. Some countries, like China and India, use this method to help viewers understand different dialects.

Asia

In some Asian countries, subtitles are used in almost every TV show and movie. This helps people understand different dialects. In Japan, subtitles are sometimes used for decoration and fun, with different colors and styles.

Translation

Translation means changing one language into another, either written or spoken. Subtitles can translate dialogue from a foreign language into the viewer's native language. This is often the quickest and most affordable way to translate content, and it lets the audience hear the original dialogue and acting.

Subtitle translation can be different from translating written text. When creating subtitles for films or TV shows, translators look at the pictures and the spoken words. Sometimes they have a written script, and sometimes they don’t. In commercial subtitles, translators often focus on the meaning rather than the exact words, which can be frustrating for viewers who understand some of the spoken language. Translators may also shorten dialogue to make it easier to read quickly.

Fans sometimes translate both the meaning and the style of the dialogue. They might add notes in parentheses or as separate text on the screen to keep the original style and help viewers understand better. For example, in Japanese, there are different words people use to say “I,” and each shows a different level of politeness. Translators might change the sentence or add words to show this in English.

Categories

Subtitles in the same language on the same production can be in different categories:

• Hearing impaired subtitles (sometimes abbreviated as HI or SDH) are for people who are hard of hearing. They describe music, sounds, and off-screen voices, like when a doorbell rings or a gunshot is heard. These descriptions are usually put inside brackets to tell them apart from the characters' dialogue. Examples include [sound of typing on a keyboard], [mysterious music], and [glass breaks].

• Narrative subtitles are the most common type. They show the spoken dialogue and are often used to translate a film from one language to another.

• Forced subtitles appear only when characters speak a foreign or alien language, or when a sign or flag isn’t translated. Sometimes, foreign dialogue is left untranslated if the story is told from a character’s point of view who doesn’t understand the language. For example, in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, Spanish dialogue is translated, but African languages are not.

• Content subtitles add missing information from the action or dialogue in lower-budget films. They are often seen in special films from America and Canada, and sometimes at the start or end of bigger movies like Star Wars or Gods and Generals.

• Titles only subtitles are used in dubbed programs and only show untranslated text that appears on screen.

• Bonus subtitles are extra bits of information added to DVDs, often showing fun facts or mistakes during filming. They appear in popup or balloon form.

• Localized subtitles use extra details to explain local customs or replace standard subtitles with ones that fit a specific area.

• Extended or expanded subtitles mix standard subtitles with localized ones. This format started with DVDs from companies like Celestial and is now used in many films from China, Japan, India, and Taiwan.

Types

Subtitles come in two main forms. Open subtitles are shown to everyone and cannot be turned off. Closed subtitles can be turned on or off by the viewer and are meant for specific groups.

Subtitles can also be found in three different types when content is shared:

• Hard subtitles are mixed directly into the video and cannot be turned off. They can have special effects, like colorful moving text for songs, but you cannot change them or have them in different languages.
• Prerendered subtitles are separate images added to the video when it plays. They can be turned off or changed to different languages if the player supports it, but they often look simple and changing them can be difficult.
• Soft subtitles are text instructions with timing information that appear during playback. They are easy to create and change, often used by fans, and can look better than prerendered subtitles, though sometimes they can have trouble showing different languages at the same time.

Digital video subtitles can be internal, meaning they are inside the video file, or external, meaning they are in a separate file that is easier to edit.

Subtitle formats

".ass" redirects here. For the format, see Halo 2 § Ports and rereleases.

For software video players

There are still many more uncommon formats. Most of them are text-based and have the extension .txt.

For media

For cinema movies shown in a theatre:

• Cinema
• D-Cinema: digital projection of movie in DCP format

For movies on DVD Video:

• DVD-Video subtitles (related to VobSub)
• Blu-ray Disc subtitles (related to PGS)

For TV broadcast:

• Teletext
• DVB Subtitles (DVB-SUB), a graphic-based, bitmap format.
• Philips Overlay Graphics Text
• Imitext

Subtitles created for TV broadcast are stored in a variety of file formats. The majority of these formats are proprietary to the vendors of subtitle insertion systems.

Broadcast subtitle formats include: .ESY, .XIF, .X32, .PAC, .RAC, .CHK, .AYA, .890, .CIP, .CAP, .ULT, .USF, .CIN, .L32, .ST4, .ST7, .TIT, .STL

The EBU format defined by Technical Reference 3264-E is an 'open' format intended for subtitle exchange between broadcasters. Files in this format have the extension .stl (not to be mixed up with text "Spruce subtitle format" mentioned above, which also has extension .stl)

For internet delivery:

• SMIL
• TTML/DFXP
  • SMPTE-TT/CFF-TT (for UltraViolet-compatible players)
  • EBU-TT-D

The Timed Text format currently a "Candidate Recommendation" of the W3C (called DFXP) is also proposed as an 'open' format for subtitle exchange and distribution to media players, such as Microsoft Silverlight.