Subtitles and Caption Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Subtitles and Caption facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What subtitle format is commonly required by Netflix for professional content delivery? → TTML/IMSC (Timed Text Markup Language)
2. What is the maximum recommended character count per line in US captions according to FCC guidelines? → 32 characters
3. When subtitling music lyrics in a film for a U.S. audience, what is the standard approach? → Include the translated or original lyrics in italics to distinguish them from dialogue
4. Which of the following best describes 'offline captioning' in the context of captioning tools? → Captions prepared and synchronized in advance before the content airs
5. What is the recommended caption safe area to avoid text being cut off on older TV screens? → 10% inset from all screen edges
6. What is the primary purpose of a caption encoder in a broadcast television workflow? → To insert caption data into the video signal for transmission
7. When captioning music or songs, which of the following is the best practice? → Include lyrics with musical notes (♪) to indicate they are sung, not spoken
8. What is the recommended approach for captioning overlapping speech from multiple speakers? → Use >> arrows or speaker labels to differentiate each speaker
9. What is 'subtitle spotting' in the subtitling workflow? → The process of setting in-points and out-points (timecodes) for each subtitle cue
10. What key advantage do cloud-based captioning tools offer over traditional desktop captioning software? → Scalability and the ability to support remote team collaboration
11. What technique is used to keep captions readable when speech is faster than the maximum recommended caption rate? → Condensing or paraphrasing the spoken words
12. What does 'subtitle latency' refer to in live subtitling? → The delay between when words are spoken and when the subtitle appears on screen
13. Which of the following is a professional caption authoring software widely used in broadcast television production? → MacCaption
14. When subtitling a foreign-language film, what term describes subtitles that appear in the same language as the audio? → Intralingual subtitles
15. Subtitles are generally located in which part of the screen? → Lower center
16. What is an SRT file primarily used for in captioning software workflows? → Storing plain-text subtitle entries with timestamps for video playback
17. Which scenario requires open captions under ADA Title III guidelines for public accommodations? → Public movie screenings where no assistive listening device is available
18. What happens to subtitle timing if a video is edited (trimmed or rearranged) after subtitles have been created? → Subtitles will be out of sync and must be re-timed
19. In the SubRip (.srt) format, how is the timecode for a caption entry formatted? → HH:MM:SS,mmm
20. What term describes the delay between spoken audio and the appearance of corresponding captions? → Latency
21. Spanish-language programming on U.S. television is required by the FCC to have captions in which language? → Spanish
22. What is the recommended minimum gap between consecutive subtitle entries to avoid visual merging? → 2-4 frames (approximately 80-160ms at 24fps)
23. What does 'burned-in subtitles' mean when exporting video? → Subtitle text that has been rendered permanently into the video frames as open captions
24. In international subtitle delivery, what does 'burnt-in' or 'open subtitle' mean? → Subtitles permanently rendered into the video image and cannot be turned off
25. What is 'subtitle latency' in live captioning? → The delay between speech being spoken and the caption appearing on screen
26. What is the recommended maximum display duration for a subtitle with 2 full lines of text? → 7 seconds
27. Under FCC rules, which type of programming was FIRST required to carry closed captions? → New English-language programming
28. In subtitling, what does the term 'reading speed' typically refer to? → The number of characters or words per minute a viewer can comfortably read
29. Which FCC rule requires video programming distributors to pass through captions intact without degradation? → Caption pass-through requirement
30. In accessibility standards, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires captions for: → Video content produced or funded by U.S. federal agencies