Netflix Debuts Dialogue-Only Subtitles

[MacRumors]

Netflix today announced that it is introducing a new subtitle option that only shows subtitles for spoken dialogue, aimed at those who don't need captions, but prefer to watch movies and TV shows with the subtitles turned on.

According to Netflix, nearly half of all viewing hours on the streaming service in the U.S. happen with the subtitles or captions on, which is why it is debuting the new setting.

The new option will show subtitles for dialogue, but no audio cues such as [phone buzzing], [door slams], or [fireplace crackling], which are normally shown when closed captioning is turned on. Netflix says the option will be available on new titles that are coming to Netflix, starting with the final season of YOU that launched today.

The dialogue-only subtitle setting can be selected by opening up the language picker when watching a Netflix show and choosing the "English" option. "English CC" will have both dialogue and audio cues as normal.

Going forward, dialogue-only subtitles will be available for all new Netflix originals in every language that Netflix offers in addition to the SDH and CC options.

Article Link: Netflix Debuts Dialogue-Only Subtitles

 

[JamesMay82]

I have it on so I don’t wake kids up so I’d still want traditional subtitles.

I would of thought most people would have same use case

 

[JosephAW]

Currently using the no video or audio family plan, my brother uses a different Wi-Fi name than my Wi-Fi name so Netflix has cut me off in the same household and wants to charge me for my own account on our family plan.

 

[that be me]

Finally! I don't need to read every single sound that plays in the background. I can get a sense of tone from what I see. I'm surprised I haven't seen this before.

 

[Chemaximvs]

Funny, this is how we are used to watching subtitles in languages other than English in the rest of the world…

 

[GMShadow]

I have it on so I don’t wake kids up so I’d still want traditional subtitles.

I would of thought most people would have same use case

Most people use them because modern films/shows are mixed terribly - if they do any mixing it's for 7 channel+ and as a result they sound like crap on anything else - dialogue mixed too low and effects too high.

 

[Plerf]

I don’t know why I started turning on subtitles even when it was already in English, but I like it.

The only change I would make to captioning (which is probably hard to do programmatically) is not ruining a punchline or gag or similar by showing the response too early.

 

[BB1970]

Me: [exasperated sigh] “Finally”

 

[tongxinshe]

Wow, there are really people watching the TV without subtitles? How is that possible to catch every word? The majority of the sound tracks are not crisp clear enough.

 

[CalMin]

My pet peeve on this is when they subtitle lyrics from a song that is playing in the background. Oftentimes the lyrics have no relevance to the dialog in the scene and yet then intersperse them. I'm fortunate enough to still be able to hear things, so it's an annoyance. If I was hard of hearing this would confuse the heck out of me a lot of the time I bet!

 

[Pezimak]

I'd like an option to have subtitles for when foreign language is spoken only in a film or programme. Alas not on Netflix. So when foreign language is used in an English show unless you have all subtitles on you've no idea what they said.

 

[dschmitty-o]

Half their customers have subtitles on, and their response is to implement dialog-only captions, instead of figuring out why people can’t hear the dialog (hint: the audio mix is awful).

 

[ikramerica]

Currently using the no video or audio family plan, my brother uses a different Wi-Fi name than my Wi-Fi name so Netflix has cut me off in the same household and wants to charge me for my own account on our family plan.

Wifi name is a stupid way to do it. Router IP is better. Netflix sux.

 

[ikramerica]

Half their customers have subtitles on, and their response is to implement dialog-only captions, instead of figuring out why people can’t hear the dialog (hint: the audio mix is awful).

Ding. Winner.

Multichannel audio is the worst for dialogue and now even kids cartoon shows are in Atmos or whatever.

On my big sound system, I let the system balance itself to proper levels, then manually crank the center speaker up because despite the room being balanced, the mixes are so bad you can’t hear people talk.

On TVs without external speakers I try to select the sound setting for boosting dialogue which helps on most TVs but some don’t have it.

 

[Analog Kid]

I thought my hearing was shot until I learned that mumblecore is a thing. Supposedly there's been a move toward "more natural" dialogue, but never in real life do I find myself asking someone three times to back up 10 seconds and try again before I just tell them to write down what they're saying...

 

[SkyRom]

Sounds fun. I had an ex that was really into this during The Walking Dead era, now I can’t watch without them except for comedy lol. I hope they shore up the timing - Netflix seems among the worst at keeping subtitle dialogue on time or behind the audio. It ruins the goal when it gets ahead, especially in jury trials 🤣

At least we’re past the days where a major villain or traitor in disguise would say something several episodes or years before the big reveal and subtitles would spoil it all 😦

 

[Nermal]

Currently using the no video or audio family plan, my brother uses a different Wi-Fi name than my Wi-Fi name so Netflix has cut me off in the same household and wants to charge me for my own account on our family plan.

I find it astounding that non-system software such as Netflix is even able to see your network name. What platform is this on?

 

[Avenged110]

Wow, there are really people watching the TV without subtitles? How is that possible to catch every word? The majority of the sound tracks are not crisp clear enough.

I realize this is kind of the crux of the argument, but if you have a nice surround system (and a nice center channel in particular) it's not that difficult. I do agree, though, that (a) it shouldn't be difficult at all, and (b) in my very limited experience with Netflix, the mixing is awful.

I'd like an option to have subtitles for when foreign language is spoken only in a film or program. Alas not on Netflix. So foreign language is used in an English show unless you have all subtitles on you've no idea what they said.

Those are the sort of subtitles that I wish were just burned into the video. My "favorite" is when you have the subtitles enabled, someone speaks in a language other than English, and the captions just say "Speaking [language]." and nothing more.

 

[iMacDragon]

Those are the sort of subtitles that I wish were just burned into the video. My "favorite" is when you have the subtitles enabled, someone speaks in a language other than English, and the captions just say "Speaking [language]." and nothing more.

Except being burned in doesn't work if it's being watched in some foreign country that is neither of the languages involved.

 

[Avenged110]

Except being burned in doesn't work if it's being watched in some foreign country that is neither of the languages involved.

Oh, I completely understand. That's simply not a concern for me. Hence the "I wish."

 

[Earendil]

Wow, there are really people watching the TV without subtitles? How is that possible to catch every word? The majority of the sound tracks are not crisp clear enough.

I’m sure I’m a minority, but if you have at least 3 speakers where one is center, you can up the volume out of that single speaker.
I use an $80 used stereo/receiver and 3 speakers that cost $250 total. Not a small investment, but voices aside, it’s a big improvement in sound.

Still, we turn it up occasionally so my wife can hear the dialog in some scenes. The Apple “what did they say?” Solves most occasional edge case.

 

[bigcat]

The Apple TV has a "Enhance/Enhance More" setting under Audio Dialog that we've been using and it does seem to help here.

 

[ambientdaw]

I like when they include the song lyrics in the CC, which seems to be less often these days. For rap it's fun to see the words that are otherwise unintelligible or too fast, and for older songs it's fun the see the ACTUAL lyrics which are sometimes different than what I thought I knew them to be. But as another poster mentioned, when they are interspersed with some dialog it is difficult to follow.

 

[MysteriousStain]

The “Squelching sound” subtitles are half the fun of watching Stranger Things

 

[ikramerica]

I like when they include the song lyrics in the CC, which seems to be less often these days. For rap it's fun to see the words that are otherwise unintelligible or too fast, and for older songs it's fun the see the ACTUAL lyrics which are sometimes different than what I thought I knew them to be. But as another poster mentioned, when they are interspersed with some dialog it is difficult to follow.

I like when they write the name of the song and the artist beforehand too.
[“Here Comes Yet Another Day” by The Kinks plays]