Are you one of those brave souls who consume video content without subtitles, or do you need captions to follow the important dialogues? If you have seen captions on YouTube videos, Netflix shows, or any other type of video content, you might already know that they are a textual transcript of a video’s content, including dialogues, music, and sound effects.
But did you know that there are different types of captions? The most common types are open and closed captions. While their functionality is generally the same, they differ in the way they are delivered.
Closed captions (CC) are everywhere, helping you comprehend dialogues in noisy environments. In comparison, open captions are often included in the videos to provide an inclusive viewing experience. Let’s explore their differences in greater detail!
Key Differences Between Open and Closed Captions
| Features | Open Captions | Closed Captions (CC) |
|---|---|---|
| What are they? | Permanently visible captions | Hidden captions |
| How are they delivered? | They are burned onto the video stream | They exist as a separate file |
| Can you switch them on or off? | No | Yes |
| Are they easy to edit? | No | Yes |
| What are the language options? | Typically limited to one language | Can include multiple language options |
| Purpose | To provide an inclusive viewing experience | To improve the comprehension of content in a noisy environment |
Both closed and open captions display the important content of the video in textual format and have the same character lengths per line, but they are delivered differently. To summarize, open captions are always visible because they are embedded into the video. However, this makes them less customizable.
On the other hand, closed captions are added as a separate file, which allows users to turn them on or off. They also offer multiple options for languages and are easier to remove or edit. The table above highlights quite a few glaring differences between closed and open captions so you can identify the importance of each style and reach your target audience effectively.
Open Captions
Pros
- Always visible on the screen
- Provide an engaging viewing experience
- Not affected by platform restrictions and can be added to any video
Cons
- Impossible to edit or remove from a video
- You cannot switch them off
- The quality of open captions is dependent on the quality of the video stream
Closed Captions
Pros
- You can turn them on or off, depending on your circumstances
- They often include multiple language options
- Easy to edit because they exist as a separate file
Cons
- Incompatible with several platforms
- User comprehension is required to turn them on or off
Use Cases - Open Captions vs Closed Captions
If you are a content creator, you should understand the key differences between closed and open captions and the requirements of various platforms to satisfy the needs of your target audience. You can add closed captions to your YouTube videos and empower your audience to turn them on or off according to their needs.
On the other hand, you can use open captions on platforms that restrict closed captions, like Instagram, to provide a more equitable viewing experience to deaf or hard-of-hearing audiences.
Usually, content creators and producers use open captions to reach a diverse audience, including people with hearing disabilities. Hence, they are a common sight in movie theaters, allowing viewers to understand the important plot points of a movie.
Besides content creators, event producers, researchers, and foreign artists collaborate with professional captioning services to improve their engagements. These services provide real-time captions for live events and seminars so the audience can actively participate in the live event and understand the content. Although open captions improve the visibility of content creators and producers, they can also be quite distracting to neurodiverse viewers.
Captioning Services by Limegreen Media
Captioning should be the last hurdle in your content creation journey. Instead of spending hours on video captions, spend your time on more productive tasks, like improvising your script or doing market research, by hiring Limegreen Media for captioning services.
By trusting LGM’s experienced professionals, you can save money in the long run and avoid potential technical difficulties and frustrations. Allow us to handle the closed captions in your videos so you can concentrate on growing your audience.
