- Closed captioning began as speech-to-text software. In the 1970s, a college student created software to convert and display text. The software was later picked up by the BBC. Closed captioning did not debut in the United States until 1980, when viewers used a costly box adapter to watch the first caption-equipped programs on ABC, NBC and PBS. To make closed captioning more accessible, congress passed the Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990, which required larger analog TVs made in the United States to contain built-in decoders. In July 2002, the FCC required digital TVs to have captioning capabilities too.
- There are three kinds of closed captioning: pop-up, scroll-up and paint-on. Most captioning depends on the viewer's preference and how he chooses to read captions. Other factors depend on the type of TV, whether analog or digital and the medium. Generally, films and pre-recorded programs use pop-ups, which appear as a whole anywhere on the screen. Live events have scroll-up captions where words display from left to right as a single line, usually at the bottom of the screen. Though rarely used, paint-on presents captions word by word in a static box at the bottom of the screen.
- The most popular symbol for closed captioning is a black box with two white Cs that stand for "closed captioning." An alternative symbol is a TV-shaped speech balloon, which is a trademark of the National Captioning Institute. In theaters equipped with the Rear Window Captioning System, look for a plastic panels that resemble rear view windows. The panels attach to the theater seats so patrons can read reflected LED captions superimposed on the screen.
- The advantages of closed captioning are not limited to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. The original system supplemented audio with text for the deaf community, but not long after implementation, the National Captioning Institute found many English language learners used the system too. Closed captioning increases the level of literacy, fluency and comprehension for non-native speakers, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
- Closed captioning does not appear on all HDTVs because of compatibility issues, especially with HD-DVDs. Some new HDTVs cannot decode caption information without a DVD recorder or HD tuner (cable box) that has the ability to decode and overlay captions. Many viewers use HDMI cable to access captions, but find that it interferes with channel reception. The FCC has not implemented closed captioning standards for displaying captioning on HDTVs.
