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Survey documents that American viewers are increasingly using subtitles - Gen Z uses them most frequently
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- Title
- Visualizing Why Americans Increasingly Need Subtitles For TV Shows And Movies | Digg
- Authors
- @jaredrusso
- Word count
- 235 words
I am among these masses that are leaning on CC more and more even though my hearing is fine (except some decrease at the 3kHz band).
It allows me to keep the volume lower for others in the house, hear quieter scenes without having to constantly adjust volume up and down between action and drama scenes, and to be able to "see" what's being said when I am cooking in the kitchen while the TV is on.
That being said, I can't stand using CC while watching comedies, it ruins the jokes where timing is critical to a good landing.
Having CC on ruins more than just comedies. A lot of times, I'll be re-watching a drama that I really wanted to show a friend. CC can affect some of those most dramatic moments as well!
Also, this seems silly (and not that I watch a lot of it) - but reality TV too!
Writing subtitles is an art. The best subtitlers will take this sort of thing into account and respect timing.
It’s one of the reasons I love Captions.Plus, who subtitle some of the more successful educational YouTubers. They have an incredible respect for timing, positioning, puns, etc. They are hands down the best subtitle team I’ve seen at work.
Subtitles can even add a layer to the scene. They'll sometimes write in descriptions of audio playing that play into the feeling of the scene.
Honestly that's kind of the fault of the subtitler if you get something like:
Which totally happens, but shouldn't.
Absolutely agree on the comedies point, it completely kills it! My partners first language isn't English so we'd watch most English programmes with subtitles on - Brooklyn 99 has never been the same!
It has gotten me into the habit of watching most programmes with them on though, and it's a game changer for dramas in particular. So much more enjoyable not stressing over trying to make out what has been said.
I don't particularly mind subtitles and use them frequently for foreign language media, but one gripe I have with them is that I read very quickly, which leads me to constantly outpace what's happening on-screen and spoil dramatic pauses and such, especially when the spoken language doesn't match English's sentence order.
So I'd say it'd be ideal if I didn't have to use them.
I hate this with comedy films too. It’ll completely ruin the flow of the joke, especially if physical comedy is involved
Flip side is that it’s nice if I completely zone out for a second and miss what was said, I can quickly read the subtitle lol
Yeah, I can't stand subtitles for this reason. Its frustrating that so many of my friends want to watch stuff with them on
Flip side is it can be frustrating watching a movie with a group and missing a bit of dialogue. When I'm alone it's quiet and I can rewind if I miss something. In a group distractions happen more often and I can't rewind as freely.
I do however wish subtitles would use the black margins instead of overlaying on the movie.
Sound editing in a lot of modern movies, and even shows, has seemingly gone to ploppers. I'm not prepared to throw away a perfectly good pre-smart era flatscreen TV, and fork out thousands on an overpriced and user-hostile new model, just to be able to make out what characters are trying to say among the muddled audio assault. Subtitles is a much cheaper option. Plus, it means you don't have to struggle to hear the television over people talking, or the other beeps and boops and nnnnnnnngs of the modern home. I don't remember fridges of the past being so loud and constant. D:
Also, I can switch to Spanish or Italian and laugh at what the characters are saying, because apparently I'm immensely easy to amuse.
A new TV won't help. They don't have per-channel volume controls. It's just poor editing, most noticeable if you watch a 40-50 year old movie (around when technology stopped being the bottleneck) back to back with a new one.
Hrmph. Then I'll just sit alone in my room and listen to movies through my headset. Not much on TV these days anyway, except for repeats of Come Dine With Me and inexplicable all-year Christmas movie channels.
It’s not so much poor editing as it is that built in tv speakers are universally terrible. Soundbars tend to be bad too. They overemphasize some frequencies and underproduce on others, so things never quite sound right.
On the other hand the fact that these programs are not taking bad speakers into account can be a knock against the sound mixing (unless we are talking about movies meant to be played in theaters with much better sound systems).
They've always been terrible though. Those old cabinet sized TVs didn't have great audio either, but producers worked within the limitations. I fully understand producers and engineers wanting to explore Dolby and make a great product for great hardware, I really do. But they need to also include a shit mix for those who aren't running a 10 grand studio at home. It's entirely possible to deliver both to customers and allow them to choose, same as we chose now for video quality.
Arrogance and laziness are the reason why you can't hear shit anymore, not hardware.
They haven't always been terrible, though - at least not as bad as they are now. They were bad because they had bare drivers against the grilles; a good speaker will have a chamber behind it to reduce resonance. But since TVs became flat panels they couldn't even put good quality drivers in them, and they had to put them in odd places like the bottom or the back.
It's also very bad to blame this on the sound engineers mixing the audio. If they mix their audio for low quality speakers it will sound bad on both of them. You're also asking them to gimp their work. You wouldn't ask a painter to try to make a worse painting, would you?
Video playback is capable of delivering different audio quality, it can also deliver different audio quality. You appear to have missed the entire section where I said the audio should be delivered as both high quality and low quality. We
One bit of tech that I think might help with this problem (though I haven't yet tried it myself) is a setting that newer Sony TVs (and maybe some other brands) have where after connecting any external speakers, even cheaper ones (even ~$150 stereo Edifiers can do wonders), the built-in speakers are repurposed to act as a supplementary middle channel.
In theory this should boost the audibility of dialogue substantially since those bands suddenly have dedicated speakers which can have their volume controlled independently.
It's more of an issue of mismatched drivers. Little speakers just can't push lows like they are being asked too.
The other problem is the wider dynamic range audio is being mixed in. This makes for bigger booms but completely ignores how disruptive it is to listen at the "correct" audio levels in an apartment lifestyle. So people turn the audio down to not piss off neighbors during shooting scenes, making speaking parts practically a whisper. Older shows mixed a pretty even loudness across the entire show.
I came across this video a little while back that took a quick look at this phenomenon. It drives me crazy that I can't hear anything, even when I run it through a halfway decent external sound system. I've even had some movies where I get 10 minutes in and just finally shut it off because I can't understand anything anyone's saying. It really kills the whole experience for me.
Why are we still mixing audio primarily for theater level sound systems, when most people are watching movies at home? There's got to be a better middle ground than what we have now.
No need to throw out the TV- you’ll get much better sound from an external sound source. You can occasionally find good deals on sound setups on Craigslist/FB Marketplace. I got a full surround setup, receiver included, for under $200, sounds much better than any TV speaker on the market.
When I was a teenager, I went through a few year period where I almost only watched subbed anime - so basically everything I consumed, I could only understand through reading subtitles
Just been instilled in me since. It’s hard for me to watch something without them now. It’s why I’m glad it’s been becoming more normal, because it could be weird to ask for subtitles to be put on 20 years ago
The irony also is that I only watched dubbed anime now lol
I'm not sure when you started watching anime but it used to be ...really bad. From the translations, to the lip sync, to the timing. Reeealy bad.
Dubs? Yeah, they’re significantly better now though
Subs? Always was dependent. VHS fan subs normally were solid, but importing from HK was one of the only ways to get anime before and yeah those could be HORRIBLE
The first time I watched Yu Yu Hakusho was with HK subs, and I basically had no idea what was happening. But it was the only way I knew how to watch it and was still fun lol
I mostly watch subtitled anime now, and also watch everything else subtitled. One thing I like about anime is it's a more literary medium: characters emote more than is common outside of stage acting, and voiceovers actually give you an internal monologue that's absent in most Hollywood productions. As someone who grew up reading a lot, being able to know what characters are thinking is something dreadfully absent in most films.
Subtitled anime is also more mentally stimulating than passively watching a TV show, because I can listen to the audio and pick out new vocabulary/try to understand what words were said/criticize choices in translation. And I tend to get bored with passive consumption.
That’s exactly why I switched to dubs, because TV has become mostly a “background” thing for me and so I need to be able to passively consume it. I do switch back to subs when it’s something I want to actively consume and fully take in
100% to your first paragraph too. I never thought of it before but I was also a voracious reader and definitely relate to what you’re talking about with anime
40 years old and lost a decent amount of hearing in the military, so I'm definitely in the subtitles-always-on group.
That said, I really love the way the Apple TV+ shows do it: they have a CC option that just puts dialogue on the screen (instead of all the sound effects, grunts, groans, etc).
the original source seems to be these two blog posts by Preply:
https://preply.com/en/blog/america-still-obsessed-subtitles/
https://preply.com/en/blog/americas-subtitles-use/
I hadn't heard of Preply before. they appear to be a company that sells language learning resources & tutoring.
Do you think they would have any motive for skewing this kind of research?
nah, probably not. I think their only motive is to drive traffic to their blog and hope that some of those clicks results in conversions of traffic to their main website, and then signups for their product (we're looking at the outermost edge of what is called a sales funnel)
they may have a mild bias towards the research generating "surprising" or "interesting" results, because that'll make for a better blog post, but I think that's true of virtually any research, regardless of who's running it.
People reading this topic might also be interested in this previous post:
Why is everyone watching TV with the subtitles on?
Thank you! It's nice to see your name. You commented more frequently when I first joined and were welcoming.
I go through phases, hot and cold. In the past, I've dropped out for months at a time. I'm still here, though.
Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression about me. ;)
When I went to watch Oppenheimer, the couple in front of us had a subtitle machined thingy. And I wanted and needed it, I definitely missed more than a couple lines.
Despite the rep that Nolan has with sound mixing, I didn't run into any issues understanding everything in Oppenheimer.
This is the new mixed-marriage. Either choice is of course fine, but it must be hard to be in a partnership with the opposite preference. People seem to feel quite strongly one way or the other! I am personally not a fan of subtitles (except for media in other languages where it’s far preferable to dubbing) - I find them distracting and tend to miss facial expressions
My partner and I watch almost everything with subs despite neither of us having hearing issues. We're both neurodivergent which I think plays a part -- I have ADHD so having two modes of communication makes it easier for me not to miss things if I stop paying attention to one of them. Plus there's always the issue of life noise getting in the way -- I don't want to miss something because I was eating something crunchy.
As long as people don't start routinely hard-coding them it's all good. I've run across YT channels and stuff that just assume you want subtitles as a default and it's kind of aggravating.
Combine this with how dark some shows are now and I sometimes feel more like I'm reading a book from across the room than watching TV.
It's important to keep in mind that a good portion of this has less to do with anyone's loss of hearing, and a lot to do with a changing industry.
From The Guardian (but emphasis mine):
Anecdotally, that last comment seems to line up with why younger generations would be using more subtitles.
Additionally, I only recently learned that Foley artists exist, which just seems like a super cool profession. As it relates to subtitling, quoted below from this article, it seems like Foleys are adding a lot more sound into movies than what they used to, which would also line up with a changing industry / changing film.
Algernon_Asimov's comment in this thread links to a good Tildes post that I also read through, but it seemed like most of that thread was focused on surround sound mixing.
Just my thoughts.
I’m surprised TVs haven’t yet added an AI audio processing feature to make it easier to hear dialogue. It would be considered tasteless by some, like motion smoothing, but that never stopped TV manufacturers before.