Closed Captioning In The Cinema - Present trends and developments?

[Andy Frodsham]

Can anyone give me an update on the existing situation regarding Closed Captioning and DCP film screenings.

A few years back there seemed to be a lot of news about new captioning devices being developed but now it's all one quiet again. How many, if any, DCPs now contain Closed Captioning data and how many devices (arm rest displays or glasses) are available to display this information?

Do you run or own a cinema that regularly screens films to clients using these devices? What system do you use and how successful is it?

[Steve Guttag]

Captioning requirements are mostly something that is regulated by country and jurisdiction so what may be require in one part of the world (or even within one country) may not apply elsewhere. In the USA, for example, there are minimum requirements for how many caption displays one must have. The cinema is not required to generate captions if the movie does not have them. There are some states now that are requiring certain shows and showtime ranges that have to be open caption and not just lesser viewing times to ensure those that need captions have some prime times available.

As for companies that can support all three key things (HI, AD and Captions), in the USA, it is pretty much all split up between Doremi/Dolby (RF based) and the USL/QSC/MIT (IR based). There have been other attempts with BYOD (phones) to get captions but they have not taken hold here. The next thing that is already happening in other countries is a form of sign-language too. It is probably a matter of time before that goes around the globe too.

I'm sure other countries have other options but those are the ones that make up nearly 100% of the USA installations.

[Gordon McLeod]

CineDigital offers a captioning system that uses the theatres WIFI to send them to the users phone or a android tablet

[Leo Enticknap]

So do we.