7 ms·

Why Is Everyone Watching TV with the Subtitles On?

zlwaterfield 3y ago
For me it depends on the OS because I don’t mind Apple TV ones but the Samsung OS has subtitles that move around and I can’t stand it.
- Sunspark 3y ago
  I don't have a Samsung OS (other than a phone) but it is possible to specify where on a screen a subtitle appears. I've noticed it happening with some shows where they have them high up so they don't block the credits but then go back down later.
cf100clunk 3y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36647258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36647258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36213136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36213136 The Algolia search tool here at HN is quite helpful for checking earlier submissions.
nine_zeros 3y ago
Because dialogue volume is low. Also, the topics of the dialogue and accents are varied, which means that stumble upon words/phrases that I need to backtrack to really hear.
ajolly 3y ago
I watch them with a 2 second delay on subtitles so I don't read the text before the audio plays. But if something isn't clear, I can then glance at the subtitles.
- tdubhro1 3y ago
  I never knew you could set a delay! Is this widely supported?
  - porridgeraisin 3y ago
    SRT is a text file with a awk-able format that you can just write a script to update all the timestamps of. There's also a bunch of online services that do it. VLC has it built-in (track synchronisation - you can set delays on video audio and subtitle tracks individually).
    - kebsup 3y ago
      A great thing in VLC are "h" and "k" (I think) shortcuts, which shift the subtitles 100ms forward and backward.
  - justinclift 3y ago
    Yes, changing the delay of subtitles is extremely widely supported and has been for many years. At least, that's in the common Open Source video players such as vlc, mpv, mplayer, etc.
ars 3y ago
He would be horrified to find out that people are watching movies and tv at 1.25 or 1.5x speeds these days! It's not just slow paced or talky YouTube videos that get sped up.
blincoln 3y ago
I'm 45 (i.e not a Millennial) and I've turned subtitles on when possible for many ywars because I dislike having to go back and rewatch repeatedly when dialogue is ambiguous. It's not hard to pay attention to both aspects of a film. Does the author of the article insist on watching dubbed versions of foreign-language films instead of subtitles?
8bitsrule 3y ago
Sometimes the audio tracks of videos aren't so great (ones that are old or not well-equalized, or in critical quiet passages). But subtitles are an aggravating distraction. Instead I juice up what's missing (YMMV) with this (mobile or desktop) toolbar pop-up browser extension: https://mybrowseraddon.com/audio-equalizer.html https://mybrowseraddon.com/audio-equalizer.html which can be quickly turned on-off, quickly adjusted, and saves named presets. For me it's been the audio equivalent of uBlock.
zzo38computer 3y ago
I don't care much if other people use captions or not, but I like to use them. They are useful whether or not you can hear it (I usually can hear it, but there are reasons why it might be difficult for anyone to hear, e.g. other people in the room are arguing loudly). They are not a substitute for having audio settings; I use both audio and captions. I watch TV with captions on for several reasons: - Sometimes it is difficult to understand what they are saying, e.g. someone else not on the TV is talking (or other noises outside), or they speak with a strong accent, or I simply missed something, or the audio is unclear or the volume is low (or muted). - To know the spelling of something which is unknown (e.g. a character's name). - To know the name of some music. Not all shows have this, but sometimes they do describe this. - To pay attention better. - There are others, too. Sometimes the descriptions are rather worthless, e.g. "male announcer reads text on screen". (This might sometimes be relevant to a plot in a TV show, but I have only seen it in the notices between shows, where such a thing is completely worthless, whether or not you can hear it.) And, sometimes the captions are just badly written (with misspellings, missing words, wrong words, etc), even if it is not worthless; if something is unknown they should try to figure out what they said before writing it. Sometimes the caption writer might have to review the scripts, talk to the people on the show, and/or watch the entire show, before writing any captions, in order to do so correctly, but they rarely do all of that stuff. On the TV I set up to use opaque outlined fixpitch text but with a translucent background. (I find this easier to read than an opaque or transparent background.) However, on DVD subtitles you cannot change the font, and no DVD player I have is able to change the colour or opacity of DVD subtitles even though their working should make this possible. Fortunately, some DVDs have captions and so this is not a problem. Some shows have open captions. I dislike this, because then I cannot change the font. I think closed captions are better, even if it is a strong accent or if the speech is in a different language from the text. A feature I would like on the TV (but which I have not seen) is a "caption scrollback" feature, so that you can view a menu of captions which have previously been played (including hidden captions, which they ought to sometimes do e.g. for clues on Jeopardy!).
happytiger 3y ago
The audio quality of what we watch is all over the place. YouTube shot on a phone, and a 4 million dollar per-installment miniseries go back-to-back. We use subtitles because adjusting the audio all the time is crazy. We’ve even disconnected the sub and sound bar because the low audio quality on YouTube causes all kinds of booms and stuff that’s kinda shocking. Nobody ever talks about the insanely bad quality of audio in amateur productions, but that’s why we always have the subtitles on. Also, we have a much more multigenerational presence than ever before and the older folks really like being able to see what they can’t always hear.
iamflimflam1 3y ago
I sound like an old man, but it’s pretty much impossible to understand what people are saying. The current trend of mumbled dialogue is probably great for atmosphere - but I can’t hear what they are saying.
- spywaregorilla 3y ago
  Could you name some shows you like that you believe represent a current trend of mumbled dialogue?
  - mayankkaizen 3y ago
    I am 40 yrs old and English is my second language. I cant give you some specific examples but when I watch old hollywood movies (50-60s), I mostly understand dialogues. Dialogues from modern movies are a bit harder to understand and I cant watch any movie without subtitle.
    - hulitu 3y ago
      Maybe sound compression ? I need to bump audio to 80 % to underestand anything on Netflix.
    - moritzwarhier 3y ago
      I think apart from increased desire to be perceived as realistic today, in old times there was a stronger need to articulate speech clearly, because of constraints in recording and playing audio. Then conversely, today it seems that filmmmakers often assume their series or movies are consumed on headphones or loud TVs
  - tapoxi 3y ago
    A film not a show, but Tenet is notorious for this.
- mdekkers 3y ago
  I stopped going to the cinema because no subs.
tempaccount1234 3y ago
Subtitles are a great way to keep me engaged with TV content. When there’s none, my eyes are usually on TV station logos and other annoying distractions which make it hard to concentrate on what I’m actually watching (so I usually get bored and give up) - at the same time they allow me to keep the volume at an acceptable level. The only problem with subtitles is that some TV stations don’t do them properly. They should take some clues from the BBC or Danish TV, who have perfected subtitling, in regarding to font choice, size of black bars and timing the subs to the dialogue.
- tempaccount1234 3y ago
  Btw, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ suck at subtitling in languages other than English, because they don’t match the audio but are a different translation. If you want to learn Spanish by watching Spanish dubs with subs on those services, you’re screwed. (If you need correct Spanish subs, you need to watch the ad-infested Spanish Disney channel instead)
- deprecative 3y ago
  Is this an ADHD thing? When subtitles are present, they're all I can focus on. I visit folks regularly who need them (they probably just need hearing aids) and whatever we watch is a shitty book because my eyes focus on the words changing rather than the content. We'll get done and I'll be able to tell them what the people said but not anything that happened that wasn't spoken. They (ADHD) can tell me everything.
dumpsterdiver 3y ago
I've noticed that it's much easier for me to understand what's happening on a small TV. As television sets have grown I've found it more difficult to understand dialogue. Perhaps it's because as the TVs grew the output became "boomier", and I just don't like that and it bothers me to turn the volume up too much. Contrast this with older, smaller TVs, the sound had less bass, and was easier for me to turn up without becoming uncomfortable.
- wrp 3y ago
  I've also noticed a problem understanding speech when watching a big flat-screen TV that is using its built-in speakers. I don't have any problem when watching the same content on my old CRT sets with their better audio range.
expertentipp 3y ago
Because I don't understand you sloppy mumbling in English.
soultrees 3y ago
I haven’t seen anybody else mention this but I turn on subtitles, and watch foreign shows because it forces me to turn off my break and focus. If I look at my phone or start reading the internet, I lose where I am in the story. So it’s an escape and the subtitles keep me there without thinking about it.
mydogmuppet 3y ago
The Soundstage of TV and cinema 20+years ago was better. Today's Soundstage doesn't favour voice, instead we are aurally assaulted by staged, sfx, background noises to lend some semblance of reality. It's god awful. I've stopped torturing my aural processor and reparsing mumbled phrases to make sense of the dialog. I've unplugged the bass, I don't want to be shaken off the sofa. AND best of all it's subtitles all the way. Easy ro read, comprehend and no more " WTF did she just say?"
Claude_Shannon 3y ago
I'm not English native speaker, I will miss sometimes important stuff. For my native Polish movies, the sound mixing might as well not exist, it's that bad.
sacnoradhq 3y ago
Who is "everyone"? I don't know anyone who does this unless they're not a native speaker. EDIT: Might it be because TV speakers are worse than ever? I have a pair of Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2 and an SVS SB16-Ultra so I might be a bit biased. ;>
Seanambers 3y ago
The sound mix of tvseries and movies are horrendous, and not optimized for voice at all.
dizhn 3y ago
Turning the subtitles on is useful when you have to turn the volume down at night. Believe it or not it helps you hear what's being said. I also use it with the foreign language I am trying to learn. Both audio and subtitles set to the target language is useful. Though as someone has already mentioned, the two don't always match which is both frustrating and educational. You get to hear a synonym or a different way of saying the same thing. It helps fill in the blanks sometimes.
jokethrowaway 3y ago
Because kids are crying
Pent 3y ago
my speakers have never been good enough for crisp vocals with normalized background music and sounds I just assumed I didn’t pay enough, so subtitles always

For me it depends on the OS because I don’t mind Apple TV ones but the Samsung OS has subtitles that move around and I can’t stand it.

Sunspark 3y ago
I don't have a Samsung OS (other than a phone) but it is possible to specify where on a screen a subtitle appears. I've noticed it happening with some shows where they have them high up so they don't block the credits but then go back down later.

cf100clunk 3y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36647258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36647258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36213136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36213136 The Algolia search tool here at HN is quite helpful for checking earlier submissions.

nine_zeros 3y ago

Because dialogue volume is low. Also, the topics of the dialogue and accents are varied, which means that stumble upon words/phrases that I need to backtrack to really hear.

ajolly 3y ago

I watch them with a 2 second delay on subtitles so I don't read the text before the audio plays. But if something isn't clear, I can then glance at the subtitles.

tdubhro1 3y ago
I never knew you could set a delay! Is this widely supported?
- porridgeraisin 3y ago
  SRT is a text file with a awk-able format that you can just write a script to update all the timestamps of. There's also a bunch of online services that do it. VLC has it built-in (track synchronisation - you can set delays on video audio and subtitle tracks individually).
  - kebsup 3y ago
    A great thing in VLC are "h" and "k" (I think) shortcuts, which shift the subtitles 100ms forward and backward.
- justinclift 3y ago
  Yes, changing the delay of subtitles is extremely widely supported and has been for many years. At least, that's in the common Open Source video players such as vlc, mpv, mplayer, etc.

ars 3y ago

He would be horrified to find out that people are watching movies and tv at 1.25 or 1.5x speeds these days! It's not just slow paced or talky YouTube videos that get sped up.

blincoln 3y ago

I'm 45 (i.e not a Millennial) and I've turned subtitles on when possible for many ywars because I dislike having to go back and rewatch repeatedly when dialogue is ambiguous. It's not hard to pay attention to both aspects of a film. Does the author of the article insist on watching dubbed versions of foreign-language films instead of subtitles?

8bitsrule 3y ago

Sometimes the audio tracks of videos aren't so great (ones that are old or not well-equalized, or in critical quiet passages). But subtitles are an aggravating distraction. Instead I juice up what's missing (YMMV) with this (mobile or desktop) toolbar pop-up browser extension: https://mybrowseraddon.com/audio-equalizer.html https://mybrowseraddon.com/audio-equalizer.html which can be quickly turned on-off, quickly adjusted, and saves named presets. For me it's been the audio equivalent of uBlock.

zzo38computer 3y ago

I don't care much if other people use captions or not, but I like to use them. They are useful whether or not you can hear it (I usually can hear it, but there are reasons why it might be difficult for anyone to hear, e.g. other people in the room are arguing loudly). They are not a substitute for having audio settings; I use both audio and captions. I watch TV with captions on for several reasons: - Sometimes it is difficult to understand what they are saying, e.g. someone else not on the TV is talking (or other noises outside), or they speak with a strong accent, or I simply missed something, or the audio is unclear or the volume is low (or muted). - To know the spelling of something which is unknown (e.g. a character's name). - To know the name of some music. Not all shows have this, but sometimes they do describe this. - To pay attention better. - There are others, too. Sometimes the descriptions are rather worthless, e.g. "male announcer reads text on screen". (This might sometimes be relevant to a plot in a TV show, but I have only seen it in the notices between shows, where such a thing is completely worthless, whether or not you can hear it.) And, sometimes the captions are just badly written (with misspellings, missing words, wrong words, etc), even if it is not worthless; if something is unknown they should try to figure out what they said before writing it. Sometimes the caption writer might have to review the scripts, talk to the people on the show, and/or watch the entire show, before writing any captions, in order to do so correctly, but they rarely do all of that stuff. On the TV I set up to use opaque outlined fixpitch text but with a translucent background. (I find this easier to read than an opaque or transparent background.) However, on DVD subtitles you cannot change the font, and no DVD player I have is able to change the colour or opacity of DVD subtitles even though their working should make this possible. Fortunately, some DVDs have captions and so this is not a problem. Some shows have open captions. I dislike this, because then I cannot change the font. I think closed captions are better, even if it is a strong accent or if the speech is in a different language from the text. A feature I would like on the TV (but which I have not seen) is a "caption scrollback" feature, so that you can view a menu of captions which have previously been played (including hidden captions, which they ought to sometimes do e.g. for clues on Jeopardy!).

happytiger 3y ago

The audio quality of what we watch is all over the place. YouTube shot on a phone, and a 4 million dollar per-installment miniseries go back-to-back. We use subtitles because adjusting the audio all the time is crazy. We’ve even disconnected the sub and sound bar because the low audio quality on YouTube causes all kinds of booms and stuff that’s kinda shocking. Nobody ever talks about the insanely bad quality of audio in amateur productions, but that’s why we always have the subtitles on. Also, we have a much more multigenerational presence than ever before and the older folks really like being able to see what they can’t always hear.

iamflimflam1 3y ago

I sound like an old man, but it’s pretty much impossible to understand what people are saying. The current trend of mumbled dialogue is probably great for atmosphere - but I can’t hear what they are saying.

spywaregorilla 3y ago
Could you name some shows you like that you believe represent a current trend of mumbled dialogue?
- mayankkaizen 3y ago
  I am 40 yrs old and English is my second language. I cant give you some specific examples but when I watch old hollywood movies (50-60s), I mostly understand dialogues. Dialogues from modern movies are a bit harder to understand and I cant watch any movie without subtitle.
  - hulitu 3y ago
    Maybe sound compression ? I need to bump audio to 80 % to underestand anything on Netflix.
  - moritzwarhier 3y ago
    I think apart from increased desire to be perceived as realistic today, in old times there was a stronger need to articulate speech clearly, because of constraints in recording and playing audio. Then conversely, today it seems that filmmmakers often assume their series or movies are consumed on headphones or loud TVs
- tapoxi 3y ago
  A film not a show, but Tenet is notorious for this.
mdekkers 3y ago
I stopped going to the cinema because no subs.

tempaccount1234 3y ago

Subtitles are a great way to keep me engaged with TV content. When there’s none, my eyes are usually on TV station logos and other annoying distractions which make it hard to concentrate on what I’m actually watching (so I usually get bored and give up) - at the same time they allow me to keep the volume at an acceptable level. The only problem with subtitles is that some TV stations don’t do them properly. They should take some clues from the BBC or Danish TV, who have perfected subtitling, in regarding to font choice, size of black bars and timing the subs to the dialogue.

tempaccount1234 3y ago
Btw, streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ suck at subtitling in languages other than English, because they don’t match the audio but are a different translation. If you want to learn Spanish by watching Spanish dubs with subs on those services, you’re screwed. (If you need correct Spanish subs, you need to watch the ad-infested Spanish Disney channel instead)
deprecative 3y ago
Is this an ADHD thing? When subtitles are present, they're all I can focus on. I visit folks regularly who need them (they probably just need hearing aids) and whatever we watch is a shitty book because my eyes focus on the words changing rather than the content. We'll get done and I'll be able to tell them what the people said but not anything that happened that wasn't spoken. They (ADHD) can tell me everything.

dumpsterdiver 3y ago

I've noticed that it's much easier for me to understand what's happening on a small TV. As television sets have grown I've found it more difficult to understand dialogue. Perhaps it's because as the TVs grew the output became "boomier", and I just don't like that and it bothers me to turn the volume up too much. Contrast this with older, smaller TVs, the sound had less bass, and was easier for me to turn up without becoming uncomfortable.

wrp 3y ago
I've also noticed a problem understanding speech when watching a big flat-screen TV that is using its built-in speakers. I don't have any problem when watching the same content on my old CRT sets with their better audio range.

expertentipp 3y ago

Because I don't understand you sloppy mumbling in English.

soultrees 3y ago

I haven’t seen anybody else mention this but I turn on subtitles, and watch foreign shows because it forces me to turn off my break and focus. If I look at my phone or start reading the internet, I lose where I am in the story. So it’s an escape and the subtitles keep me there without thinking about it.

mydogmuppet 3y ago

The Soundstage of TV and cinema 20+years ago was better. Today's Soundstage doesn't favour voice, instead we are aurally assaulted by staged, sfx, background noises to lend some semblance of reality. It's god awful. I've stopped torturing my aural processor and reparsing mumbled phrases to make sense of the dialog. I've unplugged the bass, I don't want to be shaken off the sofa. AND best of all it's subtitles all the way. Easy ro read, comprehend and no more " WTF did she just say?"

Claude_Shannon 3y ago

I'm not English native speaker, I will miss sometimes important stuff. For my native Polish movies, the sound mixing might as well not exist, it's that bad.

sacnoradhq 3y ago

Who is "everyone"? I don't know anyone who does this unless they're not a native speaker. EDIT: Might it be because TV speakers are worse than ever? I have a pair of Elac Debut 2.0 F6.2 and an SVS SB16-Ultra so I might be a bit biased. ;>

Seanambers 3y ago

The sound mix of tvseries and movies are horrendous, and not optimized for voice at all.

dizhn 3y ago

Turning the subtitles on is useful when you have to turn the volume down at night. Believe it or not it helps you hear what's being said. I also use it with the foreign language I am trying to learn. Both audio and subtitles set to the target language is useful. Though as someone has already mentioned, the two don't always match which is both frustrating and educational. You get to hear a synonym or a different way of saying the same thing. It helps fill in the blanks sometimes.

jokethrowaway 3y ago

Because kids are crying

Pent 3y ago

my speakers have never been good enough for crisp vocals with normalized background music and sounds I just assumed I didn’t pay enough, so subtitles always