HDTV Captioning: What You Should Know

The technology of closed captioning is a wonderful tool for the deaf and hard of hearing. Even the hearing people are finding the benefits in using the technology. I just want to let everybody know that this blog entry will not be covering the issues regarding the problems with captioning on HD channels through some cable/satellite services. Mainly, I will be focusing on all DVD, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD and the HDTV displays. I do feel that it's important that people understand the issues surrounding these formats. It concerns the technology of closed captioning. It is crucial that the deaf consumers become aware of this as many salespeople at stores like Best Buy, Circuit City and more tend to lack knowledge on the technology of captioning.

Closed Captioning Logo

More than ten years ago, high definition televisions started making their way onto the market. There are several resolutions available now including 480i, 480p, 720p, 768p, 1080i and 1080p. Now you may be asking how this concerns you and your needs. It's important that you know why.

For these unfamiliar with the resolutions I just mentioned, below is a picture showing the difference between all resolutions.


Here's an example, if you set your computer's resolution to 800x600. The last number, 600 would be known as 600p, for 1024x768, it would be 768p because all computer monitors are already in progressive.

If you have seen some people using terms like 1080p24 and 1080p60. Both 24 and 60 are refresh rates. 24 frames per second and 60 frames per second. The standard frame rate for movies is approximately 24 (23.97) frames per second. So that's basically the best way to watch movies. If you are to buy a 1080p HDTV, be sure to check that it offer this option.

The problem with a lot of HDTV displays is that they can be difficult to work with when it comes to closed captioning. Every time they make an upgrade in resolution, there will be a problem with closed captioning. Especially with two video inputs, DVI (Digital Visual Interface) and HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). On many HDTV displays, the option to select CC is nowhere to be found when one of these inputs is on display.

Digital Visual Interface Logo

High Definition Multimedia Interface Logo

Component video inputs, many offer CC as an option when the video input is on display. Though many DVD players will be unable to send the CC signal once it is set in progressive mode. Many deaf consumers end up using the DVD player in 480i even on their HDTV displays. It's the same situation in 720p and 1080i.

Component Cables

CC is an analog technology; the information is entered at every 21st line in the 480i mode. In the 480p mode, they have nowhere to put it because all 480 lines are displayed at once. They do now offer digital closed captioning on many HDTV displays. However, it's not as user-friendly as one would think. Not even with DVD players. There are at least 2 standard digital closed captioning modes that I know of. I'm still reading about many deaf consumers who face problems with their DVD players when the progressive mode is enabled. The truth is, no deaf consumer should ever have to put up with it.


This is an example of what an interlaced signal look like. The lines are much more visible in the interlaced mode. Only half of the 480 lines appear per frame.


This is what a progressive scan signal look like, the lines are much less visible because they all appear at once.

Now, we're moving onto SDH. It either stands for 'Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing' or 'Subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing'. This is important for the deaf and hard of hearing consumers to understand. There is a difference between SDH and English subtitles when it's mentioned on the back of a DVD case. When it says, 'English Subtitles', it's not often formatted for the deaf. It will exclude all background noise, names, common words people may be familiar with, song lyrics and more.

SDH (Subtitled for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) Logo

Myself, I now prefer SDH because it guarantee that you will get access at any given time regardless of what you are using, a portable DVD player with a small LCD display, a TV with no closed captioning decoder built in, on the computer and more.

The truth is, the major studios are leaning toward SDH because of the easiness with working with them and the fact that people can subtitle the movies within the DVD authoring software. Apple's DVD Studio offers this option. Not only to mention that it's probably the cheaper solution because they won't have to pay for the captioning equipment, which isn't cheap. I have looked up the prices for some of the equipments and software used to caption movies, they are not as cost effective since many DVD authoring software already offer the option to subtitle movies.

Universal Studios was one of the first studios on the DVD format to use SDH instead of CC. Though it was labeled as captions for the first few years till the term, SDH was introduced. I am not sure why Universal Studios chose to go on this path to start with but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the progressive scan mode causing headaches at Universal Studios.

Two new high definition video formats, Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD (High Density Digital Versatile Disc) were released last year. The majority of the movies released on both high definition formats lack analog/digital closed captioning. I’m not entirely confident but I believe none of the movies available on either Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD include analog CC. I believe it’s due to the reason I mentioned earlier. The HDMI and DVI inputs often lack the ability to display CC. So the movie studios are going the SDH route to make it easier on the consumers. I will be the first to admit that it's not perfect yet because of how most of them format it. The dialogues should be placed all over the screen rather than dead-on centre on the screen through the whole movie. They also often lack a solid or transparent background behind the subtitles. But I am pleased to tell you that they do include all the information as they do with closed captioning on the DVD and VHS.

As far I can tell you, Fox Home Entertainment and Sony are the best when it comes to formatting the SDH. Fox Home Entertainment uses a strong black stroke all around the subtitles. Sony formats the SDH to bear a strong resemblance to the old-fashioned CC style, which I do appreciate. In fact, Sony even moves them around the screen like they do with CC. Though Sony's SDH style can only be found on their Blu-ray Disc titles.

I made some examples for you to look at to get the idea of how a SDH is formatted and the difference between English subtitles and SDH.

The subtitle shown above is a common format seen on many DVD titles using English subtitles. They often exclude people's names from the dialogues.


The subtitle shown above is a common format seen on many DVD titles using SDH. They often include people's names from the dialogues.


The subtitle shown above is a format seen on some DVD titles and is strongly disliked due to the lack of black strokes around the subtitles making it difficult to read if the background is too light.


The subtitles shown above are the SDH format Sony use on their Blu-ray titles. Like I told you, it bears a strong resemblance to the closed captioning style.


The subtitles shown above show a description of a sound heard in the background. This is the kind of information you can expect to find on a DVD/Blu-ray/HD DVD where SDH is used.


Nothing appears on the screen at all, this is what you can expect from watching a movie with English subtitles, it is obviously not formatted for the deaf and hard of hearing. It's for people who are learning English or these who like to read subtitles.


Here's another example of how English subtitles is formatted. In the dialogue, the person's name is spoken but isn't included in the subtitle because the hearing people will already know who the person is. So it is not necessary to name the person.


As you can see, both images above show subtitles including the person's name rather than excluding it. This is important for the deaf and hard of hearing consumers. They need to know who's saying these lines, if they don't include this kind of information, people may end up finding it difficult to follow the storyline and whose lines it is.

Whew, what a long blog entry. It’s a blog entry I started on last week but I had to put it off for a while. Now that I’m on my vacation, I decided to finish it and publish it. I hope many people will find the information useful and helpful and clear up the confusion among many deaf consumers when it comes to HDTV displays, DVD and the high definition video formats.

If you have any questions or have something to share, feel free to leave a comment.