Digital TV Captioning--Has Anyone Seen It?

jejones3141 · 03-25-2004, 10:06 AM

Digital TV is supposed to have a lot of new features for captioning.

64 colors
eight fonts (really sixteen, since they can be italic or not)
small, medium, or large text sizes
potentially lots of captioning services on a single channel
up to eight windows for a captioning service
overlapping windows (not sure why you'd want this...)

I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff. Oh, yeah...you can override some of them if you want. If you like your text large, you can make it large. If you're red-green color blind, you can force the text to be a color combination you can read.

There are a bunch of stores where I am that sell fancy digital TVs...but try to get them to demonstrate the captioning, and you don't have much luck, or at least I haven't. Has anyone here seen CC on digital TV? What's it like? Are captioners actually using all the fancy features, or just doing the same old stuff as before?

ideafspy · 03-25-2004, 11:50 AM

Right. The close caption will shut down and transfer to be (I think that name) Digital Caption that will work anything for us able know what is going on. It will run on computer, television and several more. It will or suppose to save a lot money because the person don't have to re typing for close caption and digital caption. I have seen digital capition which looks easier to able choose what I want. The save money for them for us to read caption on internet that use media such as news, demo movie, and several thing at same thing will show on TV the same thing. So they expect that should be easier for rest of us.

I don't remember where I read from the website. They are planning to close the closed caption in next year or what. They, FCC, are dicussing to provide us a free digital caption part to able plug between cable outlet and behind the television. So it will run digital caption for now on.

The closed caption run idea as analog that require decode to able see text word appear on tv. So the digital caption will show any language that we primary use the English, Japan or Spanish verisons.

Ziusudra · 03-25-2004, 01:51 PM

Sounds interesting... do you know where I can find more information about this? There's already a digital decoder out, where you are guaranteed to have perfect captions regardless of reception. Unfortunately, this technology can only work with certain models of TVs and it also depends on the area you live in. This new digital TV captioning sounds great but I hope I will be able to get it.

jejones3141 · 03-25-2004, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziusudra

Sounds interesting... do you know where I can find more information about this?

This page has a lot of links to info. The EIA standard is now EIA 708B, and like other standards (ANSI, ISO, and so forth) you get to buy a copy of it.

The W3C people (who maintain/improve the standards for the Web) have a group called the "Timed Text Working Group" that want to set up standards for the web that have some relation to captioning; you might want to look at their charter. Really, if you look at all the bells and whistles on EIA 708B, you have to wonder why they don't just go all the way to HTML--maybe with the Timed Text Group work, things might go in that direction.

ideafspy · 03-25-2004, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziusudra

Unfortunately, this technology can only work with certain models of TVs and it also depends on the area you live in.

It will not going depend on where we do live because the cable or wireless has data that carrier the images to television. Today, I do not know when they, telephone companies, are planning to use the telephone wire to television to watch tv show. I read on the internet about business research to see anything objective of goal improve the customer needed. I know that sound odd and impossible. Everything impossible to be possible. Expectly the small town; I couldn't not answer this because I do not know the current status on their processing work and reviewing with FCC first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziusudra

I hope I will be able to get it.

They, FCC, is suppose providing for free who has regular caption on our home television. I do not know what will looks like but will similar like old time between television and caption box unless you have current model of digital television and then nothing to worry. So I was planning to buy new tv to big size, but heard about digital caption. So I decide to wait, it is easier to have one television instead two device to caption what the show/news says.

jejones3141 · 05-25-2005, 01:30 PM

OK... I have indeed now seen digital TV closed captioning. (In the example I saw, there wasn't a heck of a lot of difference between some of the fonts...but that may be just as well, because a bunch of the captioning seems to just be converted 608-style captioning in all caps, and if you learn anything about setting type, somewhere near the start you learn NEVER SET ALL CAPS TEXT IN A DISPLAY FONT.)

One thing that still surprises me greatly is that in addition to caption windows popping on and off, EIA 708B allows for (but the FCC doesn't require) windows that come and go with timed fade and wipe effects. I suppose it's cute...and maybe somebody who went to film school suggested it...but I really can't see that it's particularly useful. You certainly wouldn't want captions on a window that is fading in or out or being wiped--and if the window is blank, isn't fade or wipe just something tacked on to try to look fancy? If you have an opinion on this, I'd be very interested in hearing it.

03-25-2004, 10:06 AM	#1 (permalink)
jejones3141 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 93	Digital TV Captioning--Has Anyone Seen It? Digital TV is supposed to have a lot of new features for captioning. 64 colors eight fonts (really sixteen, since they can be italic or not) small, medium, or large text sizes potentially lots of captioning services on a single channel up to eight windows for a captioning service overlapping windows (not sure why you'd want this...) I'm sure I forgot a bunch of stuff. Oh, yeah...you can override some of them if you want. If you like your text large, you can make it large. If you're red-green color blind, you can force the text to be a color combination you can read. There are a bunch of stores where I am that sell fancy digital TVs...but try to get them to demonstrate the captioning, and you don't have much luck, or at least I haven't. Has anyone here seen CC on digital TV? What's it like? Are captioners actually using all the fancy features, or just doing the same old stuff as before?

03-25-2004, 11:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
ideafspy Are you ...... Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 774	Right. The close caption will shut down and transfer to be (I think that name) Digital Caption that will work anything for us able know what is going on. It will run on computer, television and several more. It will or suppose to save a lot money because the person don't have to re typing for close caption and digital caption. I have seen digital capition which looks easier to able choose what I want. The save money for them for us to read caption on internet that use media such as news, demo movie, and several thing at same thing will show on TV the same thing. So they expect that should be easier for rest of us. I don't remember where I read from the website. They are planning to close the closed caption in next year or what. They, FCC, are dicussing to provide us a free digital caption part to able plug between cable outlet and behind the television. So it will run digital caption for now on. The closed caption run idea as analog that require decode to able see text word appear on tv. So the digital caption will show any language that we primary use the English, Japan or Spanish verisons. __________________ Let the star inner your heart be blast dark sky where there will be a bright kingdom.

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03-25-2004, 01:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ziusudra The Cammy Fighter Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Gold Coast, Australia Posts: 771	Sounds interesting... do you know where I can find more information about this? There's already a digital decoder out, where you are guaranteed to have perfect captions regardless of reception. Unfortunately, this technology can only work with certain models of TVs and it also depends on the area you live in. This new digital TV captioning sounds great but I hope I will be able to get it.

05-25-2005, 01:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
jejones3141 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Des Moines, IA Posts: 93	OK... I have indeed now seen digital TV closed captioning. (In the example I saw, there wasn't a heck of a lot of difference between some of the fonts...but that may be just as well, because a bunch of the captioning seems to just be converted 608-style captioning in all caps, and if you learn anything about setting type, somewhere near the start you learn NEVER SET ALL CAPS TEXT IN A DISPLAY FONT.) One thing that still surprises me greatly is that in addition to caption windows popping on and off, EIA 708B allows for (but the FCC doesn't require) windows that come and go with timed fade and wipe effects. I suppose it's cute...and maybe somebody who went to film school suggested it...but I really can't see that it's particularly useful. You certainly wouldn't want captions on a window that is fading in or out or being wiped--and if the window is blank, isn't fade or wipe just something tacked on to try to look fancy? If you have an opinion on this, I'd be very interested in hearing it.