Do you use Close Captioning when you watch TV?

[corbe]

   The sound on some of the Old Movies I watch is just horrible (midrange push through) so I find myself using CC more often. 
   @Texas Robin loves it, she can multitask better than me.

[Lando Lincoln]

   The sound on some of the Old Movies I watch is just horrible (midrange push through) so I find myself using CC more often. 
   @Texas Robin loves it, she can multitask better than me.

The answer from here is, yes.

[corbe]

Why Is Everyone Watching TV With the Subtitles On?
It’s not just you.

By Devin Gordon

JUNE 6, 2023

The first time it happened, I assumed it was a Millennial thing. Our younger neighbors had come over with their kids and a projector for backyard movie night—Clueless, I think, or maybe The Goonies.

“Oh,” I said as the opening scene began, “you left the subtitles on.”

“Oh,” the husband said, “we always leave the subtitles on.”

Now, I don’t like to think of myself as a snob—snobs never do—but in that moment, I felt something gurgling up my windpipe that can only be described as snobbery, a need to express my aesthetic horror at the needless gashing of all those scenes. All that came out, though, was: Why? They don’t like missing any of the dialogue, he said, and sometimes it’s hard to hear, or someone is trying to sleep, or they’re only half paying attention, and the subtitles are right there waiting to be flipped on, so … why not?

Because now I’m reading TV, not watching it. Because now, instead of focusing my attention on the performances, the costumes, the cinematography, the painstakingly mixed sound, and how it all works together to tell a story and transport me into an alternate world, my eyes keep getting yanked downward to read words I can already hear. My soul can’t bear the notion of someone watching The Sopranos for the first time and, as Tony wades into the pool, looking down to the bottom of the screen to read [ducks quack]. Subtitles serve an important purpose for people with hearing or cognitive impairments, or for translation from a foreign language. They’re not for fluent English speakers watching something in fluent English.

<..snip..>

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fideas%2Farchive%2F2023%2F06%2Fwatching-movies-tv-with-subtitles%2F674301%2F

   *paywall removed*

[Cyber Liberty]

Yes.  Period.

[Smokin Joe]

Yep. If I don't, at some key point in the dialogue, some crap will happen and I won't be able to hear it. That, and there were some movies which went from a thin mumble to screaming, and I could damp the screaming to a reasonable level and read the rest.

Older soundtrack English accents can't seem to get through my selective hearing loss and have a kazoo like quality I can't decipher, too. (Not talking about Mr. Bean).

[sneakypete]

ALWAYS. Without it,all I can do is guess about what is going on.

[Gefn]

 

[Texas Yellow Rose]

I've been watching Turkish TV series on my computer since 2015.  For that I use closed captioning. I don't use it for regular TV.  My daughter-in-law uses it all the time.  CC drives me crazy when the show is in English.

[GtHawk]

I use CC when there is a lot of background noise(loud music) and can't make out the dialogue. Losing your hearing sucks! remember when you would occasionally have your brain go all mondegreen when you listened to a song? Well with profound hearing loss your brain substitutes words more like 50-60%...or more

[roamer_1]

Nope. Hate em. What I hate worse is swipe-left with the mouse automatically turning them on. I bet I have to shut them back off 10 times a day.

[roamer_1]

Well with profound hearing loss your brain substitutes words more like 50-60%...or more

I find that to be excellent entertainment.

You wouldn't believe the things that have come out of my dear mother's mouth... Of course, she didn't actually SAY those things, and I know that - But the babelfish in my head thinks she did.

Same thing happens with reading. Anymore, when I speed read, which is nearly all the time, I will hit a full stop because it could not have said what I read... Slower re-reading confirms the fact.

Thankfully for me, it's always hilarious.

[sneakypete]

I find that to be excellent entertainment.

You wouldn't believe the things that have come out of my dear mother's mouth... Of course, she didn't actually SAY those things, and I know that - But the babelfish in my head thinks she did.

Same thing happens with reading. Anymore, when I speed read, which is nearly all the time, I will hit a full stop because it could not have said what I read... Slower re-reading confirms the fact.

Thankfully for me, it's always hilarious.

@roamer_1

Well,sometime the ONLY real choices you have in life end up being either amused or pissed off. Amused seems to be the only rational option.

Don't ask me how I know this.

[roamer_1]

Don't ask me how I know this.

@sneakypete

LOL! I don't have to. 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

My hearing is awful, so yes. I qualify for cochlear impants according to my audiologist. I'm 47.

[240B]

Diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing loss resulting from time in service. So yes.
Also, with Science fiction in particular, they tend to whisper dialogue to portray seriousness/intimacy. I cannot hear it.
Then in the next minute they are blowing up a planet and shaking my walls. Many shows/movies have no leveling.

[Sighlass]

About half the time, and I do watch a lot of foreign films to boot. I just enjoy being able to tell what some hushier sections are saying, also sometimes little clues are given in the details that help the film make more sense.

[Bigun]

My hearing is awful, so yes. I qualify for cochlear impants according to my audiologist. I'm 47.

ALL the time! My hearing is terrible. I have only one ear that works at all and that one with the hearing aid turned up to the max.

[Cyber Liberty]

Diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing loss resulting from time in service. So yes.
Also, with Science fiction in particular, they tend to whisper dialogue to portray seriousness/intimacy. I cannot hear it.
Then in the next minute they are blowing up a planet and shaking my walls. Many shows/movies have no leveling.

I have issues with tinnitus too.  I wish Rumble and Twitter have CC.

[roamer_1]

Diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing loss resulting from time in service. So yes.
Also, with Science fiction in particular, they tend to whisper dialogue to portray seriousness/intimacy. I cannot hear it.
Then in the next minute they are blowing up a planet and shaking my walls. Many shows/movies have no leveling.

I picked up a very serious pair of cordless headphones. Plugged em into my main TV, which operates as a media center, so my music library is on that box too... That was the purpose... For listening to music in my easy chair. BUT I have found it to also be a perfect remedy for what you describe. I seldom listen to movies anymore via ambient sound. If it is a movie, I am probably under those headphones.

[libertybele]

I wanted to vote, but there wasn't an "as needed" selection, so I voted stoner.

I rarely watch TV and I am hard of hearing, so when I do watch a program CC is helpful.

[mountaineer]

I never think about using it at home, but whenever we're at a restaurant that has a bunch of TVs with sporting events on, I wish they'd turn on the CC.

[jmyrlefuller]

Usually I do.

It allows me to listen at lower volumes and allows me to process things on multiple levels (retaining more of what I watched). It's an autism-spectrum thing.

[roamer_1]

Usually I do.

It allows me to listen at lower volumes and allows me to process things on multiple levels (retaining more of what I watched). It's an autism-spectrum thing.

See, for me it's the sound... Especially when I am concentrating.
I can't write a lick of code (as an instance) without some sort of white noise in the background.
So I nearly always have something playing. Sometimes music, sometimes vids... mostly HANK FM or Youtube...

[Smokin Joe]

Diagnosed with tinnitus and hearing loss resulting from time in service. So yes.
Also, with Science fiction in particular, they tend to whisper dialogue to portray seriousness/intimacy. I cannot hear it.
Then in the next minute they are blowing up a planet and shaking my walls. Many shows/movies have no leveling.

Not the service, but the oil patch...same problem. Same gripe about audio levels, so yes, the captions are on to keep the windows from rattling in the loud parts.

[Smokin Joe]

ALL the time! My hearing is terrible. I have only one ear that works at all and that one with the hearing aid turned up to the max.

Don'tcha just love how people always seem to stand on the wrong side when they want to talk to you?

[Bigun]

Don'tcha just love how people always seem to stand on the wrong side when they want to talk to you?

  My wife goes out of her way to make sure I'm sitting in the right place if we are with friends.

[Cyber Liberty]

My wife goes out of her way to make sure I'm sitting in the right place if we are with friends.

I am at the stage where hearing aids don't help much and I tell people to look at me when they are talking to me. so I can fill in what I don't hear with lip reading.

I can hear fairly well, but the Tinnitus makes it hard to understand the soft speakers. Videos are almost impossible.

[Bigun]

I am at the stage where hearing aids don't help much and I tell people to look at me when they are talking to me. so I can fill in what I don't hear with lip reading.

I can hear fairly well, but the Tinnitus makes it hard to understand the soft speakers. Videos are almost impossible.

I can handle videos by using an ear bud or headset, but I don't have Tinnitus.

Crowds are impossible for me.

[GtHawk]

I can handle videos by using an ear bud or headset, but I don't have Tinnitus.

Crowds are impossible for me.

I have Tinnitus and profound hearing loss and even the noise of moderate gathering of family can overwhelm me and make me very aggravated so that I have to leave the room or area. I have hearing aids but no matter how I try to tune them all they seem to do is amplify everything and make it worse

[sneakypete]

I have Tinnitus and profound hearing loss and even the noise of moderate gathering of family can overwhelm me and make me very aggravated so that I have to leave the room or area. I have hearing aids but no matter how I try to tune them all they seem to do is amplify everything and make it worse

@GtHawk

That is why I threw mine away years ago.

THINKING about checking out some new ones,though. The ones I got came from the VA,so you know  they were the cheapest ones available.

I now need them a lot more than I needed them before,so I might try getting a pair from a commercial source.

[Bigun]

I have Tinnitus and profound hearing loss and even the noise of moderate gathering of family can overwhelm me and make me very aggravated so that I have to leave the room or area. I have hearing aids but no matter how I try to tune them all they seem to do is amplify everything and make it worse

Yeah! I get that! Boy! Do I ever get that!

[bigheadfred]

I don't use close captioning. It doesn't have a Braille edition.

[roamer_1]

I can handle videos by using an ear bud or headset, but I don't have Tinnitus.

Crowds are impossible for me.

@Bigun
I kinda have that crowd thing... Talking to someone in a crowd... I think I can hear them fine. I think my brain is having trouble with interpretation against all the background. I get tinnitus off and on again. Can't hear high stuff so well... Too much time around machinery and guns.

But that has it's benefits. I can't hear a naggin woman. at all... God may have some planning in that 

I'll tell you what though... I didn't know how much I rely on lip reading and facial expression for interpretation purposes until this whole mask thing. I find it really difficult to understand someone in a mask.

[Bigun]

@Bigun
I kinda have that crowd thing... Talking to someone in a crowd... I think I can hear them fine. I think my brain is having trouble with interpretation against all the background. I get tinnitus off and on again. Can't hear high stuff so well... Too much time around machinery and guns.

But that has it's benefits. I can't hear a naggin woman. at all... God may have some planning in that 

I'll tell you what though... I didn't know how much I rely on lip reading and facial expression for interpretation purposes until this whole mask thing. I find it really difficult to understand someone in a mask.

  To ALL of that!

[Lando Lincoln]

@Bigun

I'll tell you what though... I didn't know how much I rely on lip reading and facial expression for interpretation purposes until this whole mask thing. I find it really difficult to understand someone in a mask.

True for me as well. The masks clipped the frequencies where I’m most challenged. So difficult.

The best hearing centers I have visited are at Costco.  I’ve been to several and they are outstanding.

Can anyone recommend a telephone landline handset that provides clarity?  We still have ours and I hate it.

[sneakypete]

True for me as well. The masks clipped the frequencies where I’m most challenged. So difficult.

The best hearing centers I have visited are at Costco.  I’ve been to several and they are outstanding.

Can anyone recommend a telephone landline handset that provides clarity?  We still have ours and I hate it.

@Lando Lincoln

I never knew I had been lip-reading until everybody started wearing masks,and I had no idea what  they were talking  about. All I could hear was noise,not words.

[roamer_1]

True for me as well. The masks clipped the frequencies where I’m most challenged. So difficult.

The best hearing centers I have visited are at Costco.  I’ve been to several and they are outstanding.

There's a thing... I don't know and can't recommend... But higher end earbuds are developing a pass-through sound feature, which is basically for being able to hear ambient sound THROUGH the earbuds, with vol control and mixing... So you can say, be listening to music walking down a sidewalk and still be aware of things around you.

I don't know how any of it works at all, but for folks that have hearing issues close to needing aids, maybe that's a cheap hearing aid, or enough assistance that the real thing might be pushed off a while.

Like I said, I don't know nothin.

Can anyone recommend a telephone landline handset that provides clarity?  We still have ours and I hate it.

I don't have a recommendation but I DO have a feature recommendation: My Landline phones are wireless, and I always look for a earphone jack on the handset so I can plug in wired earbuds.

Best headset phone I ever had was Plantronix... Superfine... But it's a business phone and always spendy. And it was long ago... It had a tiny handset that clipped to my belt and a dedicated wired headset that came up from that. Always gave superior sound and control.

[roamer_1]

@Lando Lincoln

I never knew I had been lip-reading until everybody started wearing masks,and I had no idea what  they were talking  about. All I could hear was noise,not words.

I know, right? It's weird.

[Polly Ticks]

Don'tcha just love how people always seem to stand on the wrong side when they want to talk to you?

Yes!  It drives me crazy.

Having said that, in certain social situations I will sometimes put my husband on the wrong side, since he's aware of the issue, and put other folks on my "good" ear to give me a better chance of actually understanding them.  And if I don't, my husband will generally either translate for me or answer them himself ... which I greatly appreciate.

Of course, that's in social settings.  At home, he mumbles.  Or tries to talk to me from another room.  Or says something to me with his back turned, his hand over his mouth, or as he's walking away.   

Hearing loss is NO fun.

[Bigun]

Yes!  It drives me crazy.

Having said that, in certain social situations I will sometimes put my husband on the wrong side, since he's aware of the issue, and put other folks on my "good" ear to give me a better chance of actually understanding them.  And if I don't, my husband will generally either translate for me or answer them himself ... which I greatly appreciate.

Of course, that's in social settings.  At home, he mumbles.  Or tries to talk to me from another room.  Or says something to me with his back turned, his hand over his mouth, or as he's walking away.   

Hearing loss is NO fun.

My wife and I have been married for a very long time, (55 yrs) but the hearing loss thing is testing the limits.  I'll just leave it right there.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

My wife and I have been married for a very long time, (55 yrs) but the hearing loss thing is testing the limits.  I'll just leave it right there.

Have you looked into cochlear implants?

[Polly Ticks]

My wife and I have been married for a very long time, (55 yrs) but the hearing loss thing is testing the limits.  I'll just leave it right there.

I was diagnosed with my disease and had the first of my ear surgeries in my late 20's.  I'm quite bit older than that now and we're still married, so I'm sure you'll make it, too!   

[Bigun]

Have you looked into cochlear implants?

I have no auditory nerve behind my right ear due to it having been surgically removed along with the tumor that was growing from it so no possibility of implant. My left ear still functions with the hearing aid but that is only good if I'm pointed in the right direction.  I seriously doubt an implant would improve the situation.

[Bigun]

I was diagnosed with my disease and had the first of my ear surgeries in my late 20's.  I'm quite bit older than that now and we're still married, so I'm sure you'll make it, too!   

She is a fine lady but even those get tested sometimes. We are good!

[Kamaji]

I have no auditory nerve behind my right ear due to it having been surgically removed along with the tumor that was growing from it so no possibility of implant. My left ear still functions with the hearing aid but that is only good if I'm pointed in the right direction.  I seriously doubt an implant would improve the situation.

Have you tried the cross-over hearing aids?

[GtHawk]

Yes!  It drives me crazy.

Having said that, in certain social situations I will sometimes put my husband on the wrong side, since he's aware of the issue, and put other folks on my "good" ear to give me a better chance of actually understanding them.  And if I don't, my husband will generally either translate for me or answer them himself ... which I greatly appreciate.

Of course, that's in social settings.  At home, he mumbles.  Or tries to talk to me from another room.  Or says something to me with his back turned, his hand over his mouth, or as he's walking away.   

Hearing loss is NO fun.

I have had hearing issues for decades with constant degradation right side effectively zero, my wife is having A-fib issues so can't drive, which puts her on my right side. Well she puts the music sound up and then talks to me in a normal conversational level...and then she gets frustrated when I can't hear her I also get the same with with back turned or so low it comes across as a mumble. What was really frustrating was that for years  she would say I was just making up the hearing issue because I was ignoring what she said.........................maybe

[Bigun]

Have you tried the cross-over hearing aids?

Yes! And I can tell you that they are not what they're cracked up to be at present, but the technology IS evolving.

[Bigun]

I have had hearing issues for decades with constant degradation right side effectively zero, my wife is having A-fib issues so can't drive, which puts her on my right side. Well she puts the music sound up and then talks to me in a normal conversational level...and then she gets frustrated when I can't hear her I also get the same with with back turned or so low it comes across as a mumble. What was really frustrating was that for years  she would say I was just making up the hearing issue because I was ignoring what she said.........................maybe

If you haven't done so already, you need to go and see an ENT to make sure you don't have the same issue I did on my right side (Vestibular Schwannoma) @GtHawk Had I not done that 5 years ago I would not be here today.

[Kamaji]

Yes! And I can tell you that they are not what they're cracked up to be at present, but the technology IS evolving.

Fair enough.  I have a family member who used them and liked them; it's my understanding that it's an intensely personal thing, though.