Closed Caption vs Open Caption: Understanding the Differences

Have you ever wondered about the differences between closed caption vs open caption when watching a movie or a video?

In this article, Thao & Co. unveils specific traits that distinguish open caption and closed caption, helping you choose the most appropriate type for your content and audience. Now let’s dive right into it!

What is open caption vs closed caption?

Closed captions and open captions are two types of on-screen texts added to videos and films to aid hearing-impaired individuals or to provide speech translations to viewers who can’t understand the language being spoken.

1. ● Open captions are encoded into a video track, making it an inseparable part of the video itself. This means they are always visible and compatible across all media players and viewing platforms.
2. ● Closed captions are added to a video as an independent file (often .srt or .sub) and can be turned on or off depending on the viewer’s preference. This type of caption offers flexibility by letting viewers decide whether to have the captions on or not and modify the caption size and on-screen placement.

Both closed captions and open captions play a critical role in making video content more accessible for viewers who can’t hear the audio due to various reasons or don’t understand the language being spoken.

The two caption types share the same purpose of ensuring video content is accessible to all viewers regardless of their language proficiency level and hearing ability.

3 Differences between Open Caption vs Closed Caption

In the world of movies and video content, closed captions and open captions both offer synchronized audio transcription, but they differ significantly in how viewers interact with the media.

In the world of movies and video content, closed captions and open captions play a vital role in enhancing viewer experience. Though they both provide audio transcription, they possess unique traits that impact how viewers interact with the media content.

Purposes

Open captions are embedded into the video itself and can’t be switched off. Content creators utilize open captions to ensure their videos are universally accessible, as these captions do not require any special features from media players or viewing platforms for display. 

This becomes particularly useful for sharing videos on platforms lacking closed caption support or distributing them in areas where options for personalizing the viewing experience are limited.

Unlike open captions, closed captions are a separate asset from the video. Closed captions are provided to give viewers control of their viewing experience, from deciding for themselves whether to turn on the captions to selecting their preferred language from available options and adjusting the caption position. 

This is an effective tool to create a personalized viewing experience for a multilingual audience with different needs and preferences.

Flexible viewing options

Open captions are permanently embedded into the video, making it impossible for viewers to customize or disable them.

This lack of viewer control is a significant drawback of open captions. Viewers have no option to change the language or hide the text if it’s visually distracting. That being said, open captions promote a more consistent viewing experience, helping to control caption quality and minimize the risk of technical failures.

Closed captions, on the other hand, offer flexibility and customization. When watching videos that offer closed captions, viewers can easily turn this feature on or off by choice and select their preferred caption language (if multilingual captions are available).

Some platforms even go the extra mile by allowing viewers to change caption font, size, color, and placement based on their preferences. This is particularly beneficial for those who want to be in control of their viewing experience.

Open caption vs closed caption: Use cases

Whether to use closed captions or open captions depends on your goals as a content creator and your viewers’ needs.

Choosing the right caption type for your videos helps optimize the viewing experience of your audience and achieve your desired outcomes.

Common uses of open captions:

1. ●  When closed captions are not supported: Closed captions are not an available option for traditional streaming services, television broadcasts, and DVD players that don’t have the essential functionality for displaying closed captions.
2. ●  Ensure permanent accessibility: If you need to convey an important message and want to ensure that your viewers don’t miss it, open captions are a great choice for your video. Open captions are always visible and cannot be turned off, making them perfect for delivering your message effectively.
3. ●  Optimize film screenings: In movie theaters, the use of open captions empowers viewers to seamlessly follow the storyline without the need for a special device to display the captions.

Common uses of closed captions:

1. ● Publish content on platforms that allow modifying caption settings: Popular streaming platforms that enable caption customization include YouTube, Netflix, and Vimeo.
2. ● Provide multilingual captions: Closed captions can be added in multiple languages to accommodate a global audience, allowing them to choose the language they prefer.
3. ● Edit with ease: Closed captions empower you to edit them even after the video has been published without taking it down. This helps save a lot of time and effort.
4. ● Cater to viewers’ diverse needs: Closed captions offer viewer-selected options that allow adjusting caption size and color to improve readability.

Closed Caption vs Open Caption: Which to choose?

It’s important to ensure that your choice of caption aligns with your goals as a video creator and the needs and preferences of your target audience.

Keep in mind the following factors when deciding between closed and open captions:

1. ● Platform compatibility: If you are going to publish your content on a platform that doesn’t support closed captions, open captions are your only choice. On the other hand, if the platform accepts closed caption files, you will have more accessibility options to cater to your viewers’ needs.
2. ● Viewers’ needs: If your video is aimed at international audiences or viewers with hearing impairment, there’s no better solution to enhance accessibility than adding closed captions.
3. ● Content protection: Open captions are ideal for copyrighted content and content containing sensitive information as they help protect the content from infringement.
4. ● Professionalism: Videos used for marketing purposes or formal events typically require open captions to promote seamless and professional message delivery.
5. ● Convenience in editing: For much easier caption editing after the video has been published, choose closed captions because you will only need to edit the caption file, not the video itself.
6. ● SEO friendliness: Closed captions are searchable and indexable by search engines, thus increasing the chances of your video appearing in search results for relevant queries.
7. ● Resource efficiency: Since open captions are an actual part of the video itself, the process of creating and editing this type of caption is more complicated and requires more time and effort. Closed captions, on the other hand, are a more cost-effective solution because they are easier to work with.

Where to find a reliable captioning service?

To ensure highly accurate and readable captions for your video, it is vital to choose a trustworthy captioning service.

With dedicated assistance from Thao & Co. – a reputable captioning and subtitling service provider – there’s no need to worry about the quality of your captions:

1. ● Client testimonials: Thao & Co. takes immense pride in the high level of satisfaction that our services have brought to each and every client. Check out our client reviews and feedback for unbiased views of our service quality.
2. ● Professional and experienced specialists: Our team of highly experienced native linguists is committed to delivering top-notch captioning and subtitling services.
3. ● Dedicated customer service: Our professional and dedicated customer support team is always readily available to answer all your inquiries and assist you through every stage of the project.
4. ● Captioning samples: Our past captioning products are available for you to check out and get some idea about the quality and accuracy of our captions.
5. ● A wide range of languages and services: Reach and engage a global audience with Thao & Co. as we provide subtitling services in more than 50 languages, including English, Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and many more.  
6. ● Proficiency in caption technologies: Thao & Co. makes use of the latest caption tools to facilitate an efficient captioning process and enhance the accuracy of the captions.
7. ● Timely delivery and reasonable prices: You won’t regret choosing your captioning service as we guarantee fast turnaround while keeping the charges affordable.
8. ● Confidentiality and privacy: Your information is guaranteed to be strictly safeguarded with Non-Disclosure Agreements signed by our team members.

Coming to Thao & Co., each client will be provided with an account to access our proprietary platform for progress tracking, payment status checks, and file management. This platform is developed as part of our efforts to provide high-quality services characterized by their modernity, transparency, and convenience.

Choosing the right service for your captioning needs will not only enhance the quality of your videos but also ensure that your message is fully and accurately conveyed to your audience. 

Ready to level up your videos with Thao & Co.’s captioning services? Get in touch with us today for a free same-day consultation!