In 1972 , regular viewers ofJulia Child’scooking program , " The French Chef , " watched for thefirst timeas a serial publication of condemnation scroll across the bottom of their television screens . Just as Holy Scripture like " I think every womanhood should have a blowtorch"rolled offChild ’s backtalk , the same words look as text to every wannabe Julia watching her programme .

This was the first TV program to air with closed captions appearing mechanically on thetelevision screen . Like those on " The French Chef , " closed captions were some of the earliest efforts to lend the joy of television to hearing - impaired audiences .

Today , there are two way that viewers can read what ’s going on in their preferred videos : subtitle and closed subtitle . Though the terminal figure are used interchangeably , there is a notable remainder between the two . Once you empathise the note , you ’ll be capable to make out it every time .

Closed captioning

Closed Captioning

shut captionsappear as text on the screenland and are always in the same language as the original content . Aside from just the audio dowery of the programme , closed caption also include background sounds ; they also point when speakers change by using their public figure or a " — " to take down the change in who ’s blab .

For example , if you ’re watching a documentary film , and the narrator stops speaking and is put back by a musical intermezzo , you ’ll see something like [ drab music playing ] on the screen . unsympathetic captions are design with the hard - of - audience and deaf communities in mind .

The 2022 Oscar for Best Picture " CODA " ( acronym for youngster of indifferent adults ) has one - third of its duologue spoken through American Sign Language and was thefirst characteristic filmto be discharge to theatre with closed in caption in the film reel .

In the United States , the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) requires all video programming distributors toprovide shut caption . unluckily , not every platform or video has it available . In most cases , what you see is subtitles alternatively .

Subtitles

So what exactly are subtitle ? caption are when only spoken dialog is displayed with text on the concealment . It ’s typically intended to make content available to viewers in dissimilar languages . So for illustration , if a movie or television show is initially recorded in Spanish , viewers who speak English can watch using English subtitle on their sieve .

subtitle add on the audio experience but do n’t attempt to describe background knowledge sound like close captioning . caption are n’t intended for the heavy - of - listen community ; they ’re designed instead to make on - screen content more wide available to viewing audience in other language . The super - popular Korean series " Squid Game " use subtitles for non - Korean - speaking viewers .

Both closed captions and subtitles are becoming more popular as video content dominates streaming and social medium platforms . Viewers who want to see a YouTube or TikTok television in secrecy can easily snap on the automatically generated subtitles to view the TV without strait .

Whether you ’re attempt to get preparation example from your preferent chef or watching your favorite sitcom while your baby sleeps , closed captions and subtitles make video consider more widely available to everyone .