Comments on: Why Netflix Doesn’t Offer Subtitles or Closed Captions

By: Warren Page

Warren Page — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:01:57 +0000

Well, 2010 has come and gone. . . and still no subtitles. Sounds like corporate bs to me.

By: Kathryne

Kathryne — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:45:10 +0000

HEY NETFLIX!!! It’s the end 2010. Where’s the captioning?! jerks….

By: ron blanco

ron blanco — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:16:51 +0000

cost of rental fees go up but no closed captioning yet. Netflix should spend more time developing closed caption for those who need it.

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:28:38 +0000

The space requirements, as they said, are prohibitive. QuickTime has closed captions. Forget Microsoft latest a more backward technology, eh? Now we just need to require CC on all material that has it available from the creator, from publishers who provide a minimum number of hours or choices. It's just a law, and one that has long needed to be passed. Stop listening to the corporate whining.

By: Netflix Begins Rolling Out Captions for Streaming Videos

Netflix Begins Rolling Out Captions for Streaming Videos — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:54:38 +0000

[...] captioning has long been one of the most requested features for the streaming service. Hunt first addressed the issue last June in a blog post in which he described the difficulties involved with rolling out subtitles [...]

By: captions are easy!

captions are easy! — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:22:11 +0000

500 processor months? really? thats it? and you have to do it 4 times? why 4 times? but seriously? thats all that is stopping you?

let me see if I get this straight, 1 processor can do the entire netflix library in 500 months, hence, 500 can do it in 1 month?

I would gladly lease my renderfarm to netflix for 4 months, I have nearly that and they are all extremely fast multiple cpu!

c'mon! do the captions! I am sure netflix has the equipment, they just dont want to do it!

By: Leo

Leo — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:45:46 +0000

I find it very frustrating to watch English mysteries, comedys, series, etc. without closed captioning. This is a foreign language especially if your hearing is not the best. If you watch a show on BBC or PBS CC is available so I don't understand why Netflix doesn'tprovide it. Does Broadcast Video?

By: The Chutry Experiment » Wednesday Links

The Chutry Experiment » Wednesday Links — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:01:25 +0000

[...] NewTeeVee, a discussion of the fact that Netflix doesn’t offer subtitles or closed captions for their [...]

By: Jonathan Campos

Jonathan Campos — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:17:45 +0000

Problem is Silverlight, he even said it. The other companies mentioned that this works for all use Flash Player.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:45:02 +0000

There are a few companies that could provide the subtitles as SAMI files (Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange) that Netflix could use (i.e:SubPLY, DotSub). SubPly provides subtitles as SAMI files to Silverlight as well. There is no reason today for any video publisher to re-encode different formats of the video. One would assume that other reasons, than technology, are keeping Netflix from providing close captions and subtitles.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:41:52 +0000

There are a few companies that could provide the subtitles as SAMI files (Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange) that Netflix could use (i.e: SubPLY.com, DotSub). SubPly provides subtitles as SAMI files to Silverlight as well. There is no reason today for any video publisher to re-encode different formats of the video. One would assume that other reasons, than technology, are keeping Netflix from providing close captions and subtitles.

By: Bill

Bill — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:25:21 +0000

@Chris Albrecht: The reason YouTube can do it and they can't is because Netflix uses Microsoft's crappy Silverlight player and YouTube uses the flash video player. The Flash payer is much better in my opinion, but I am sure NF is getting some $$$ from Microsoft to use Silverlight, not to mention the fact that Reed Hastings sits on the Microsoft board of directors. So they are in bed with the inferior technology just like most of Microsoft's products that are not Windows or Office, they are OK, everything else they make is crap. Flash Player has many ways to add CC information and apparently Silverlight doesnt. Not sure why they didn't want to go with a mature technology for the streaming, but I am sure that they are in M$'s back pocket.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:50:38 +0000

I use Netfix for T.V. but I really want to be on computer. :-(

By: Digital Media Bytes: NewTeeVee Edition

Digital Media Bytes: NewTeeVee Edition — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:49:10 +0000

[...] Why Netflix Doesn’t Offer Subtitles or Closed Captions Netflix’s Chief Product Officer, Neil Hunt, wrote an interesting blog post today about why his company doesn’t offer subtitles or closed captions on its streaming content. Evidently, adding subtitles and closed captions is harder than it looks. Dave’s response: If Hulu could figure out how to do it, Netflix can. If they didn’t want to re-encode everything, they should have solved this earlier. [...]

By: Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:12:29 +0000

I asked them about why YouTube could do it, they said they wouldn't comment on other companies.

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:31:08 +0000

If Hulu could figure out how to do it, Netflix can. If they didn't want to re-encode everything, they should have solved this earlier.