Subtitles and Caption Subtitles and Caption 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does 'latency' mean in the context of live closed captioning?
- The accuracy rate of the captions
- The delay between spoken words and when captions appear on screen (Correct answer)
- The speed at which captions scroll
- The file size of the caption stream
Correct answer: The delay between spoken words and when captions appear on screen
Latency in live captioning refers to the time delay between when words are spoken and when the corresponding captions appear on the screen.
Question 2: In the SubRip (.srt) format, how is the timecode for a caption entry formatted?
- HH:MM:SS.mmm
- HH:MM:SS,mmm (Correct answer)
- MM:SS:FF
- HH:MM:SS:FF
Correct answer: HH:MM:SS,mmm
SRT timecodes use the format HH:MM:SS,mmm (hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds) with a comma separating seconds from milliseconds.
Question 3: What is the purpose of a 'spotting list' in subtitle production?
- A list of hard-to-hear audio moments requiring extra attention
- A document identifying the in-point and out-point timecodes for each subtitle (Correct answer)
- A record of all on-screen text that needs translation
- A list of speakers and their dialogue lines
Correct answer: A document identifying the in-point and out-point timecodes for each subtitle
A spotting list (or cue sheet) records the in-point and out-point timecodes for each subtitle segment, forming the timing backbone of a subtitle project.
Question 4: Which organization publishes widely-used caption quality standards including the 'Described and Captioned Media Program' guidelines in the US?
- MPAA
- DCMP (Described and Captioned Media Program) (Correct answer)
- W3C
- IEEE
Correct answer: DCMP (Described and Captioned Media Program)
The DCMP publishes caption quality guidelines used as a benchmark for educational and media captioning in the United States.
Question 5: What is 'respeaking' in the context of live captioning?
- A technique where a captioner repeats spoken words into voice recognition software to generate captions (Correct answer)
- Playing back audio at a slower speed for transcription
- Editing pre-existing captions for accuracy
- A method of translating captions from one language to another
Correct answer: A technique where a captioner repeats spoken words into voice recognition software to generate captions
Respeaking involves a trained captioner listening to live audio and re-speaking it clearly into voice recognition software, which converts it to text captions in near real time.
Question 6: When captions use a pop-on display style, how do they appear on screen?
- They scroll line by line from the bottom
- They appear all at once as a complete block of text (Correct answer)
- They paint on word by word across the screen
- They fade in and out gradually
Correct answer: They appear all at once as a complete block of text
Pop-on captions appear as a complete pre-prepared block of text all at once, then disappear, making them the preferred style for pre-recorded content.
Question 7: What is the key difference between 'intralingual' and 'interlingual' subtitles?
- Intralingual subtitles are for deaf viewers; interlingual are for hearing viewers
- Intralingual subtitles are in the same language as the audio; interlingual subtitles translate to a different language (Correct answer)
- Intralingual subtitles use scroll style; interlingual use pop-on style
- Intralingual subtitles are live; interlingual are pre-recorded
Correct answer: Intralingual subtitles are in the same language as the audio; interlingual subtitles translate to a different language
Intralingual subtitles remain in the source language (e.g., English audio with English text), while interlingual subtitles translate the dialogue into a different target language.
Subtitles and Caption Subtitles and Caption 4
What does 'latency' mean in the context of live closed captioning?