Closed Captioning – Teleprompter

Closed captioning is the process that makes it possible for individuals who are hearing impaired to read the dialogue on television programming by presenting the copy on the lower third of the screen. The FCC approved the first|initial|original|earliest closed caption ing directive in 1993. This obliged all analog televisions with displays larger than 13 inches sold and/or made in the US contain a integrated decoder to display closed display. Congress became involved several years after with the 1996 decision to demand all video programming distributors including cable TV, broadcasters, and satellite distributors to close caption their programming.

The FCC furthered this edict a year afterward with a explicit transition schedule that required all distributors to increase|expand the amount of programming that contained captioning. Finally, in July 2002, the FCC accepted a second law requiring digital television receivers to add closed captioning display mechanisms.

Being a part of the communications industry while working at the American Movie Company has given me a personal experience at the impact these laws have had on most studio productions. One of these effects has been how video and television productions have adapted the use of the teleprompter.

While many professionals understand why closed captioning is valuable, many people don’t realize how the teleprompter plays a key role in the providing of closed captioning to your TV. There are two branches into which closed captioning systems are separated: On-Line systems and Off-Line systems. This is when the teleprompter becomes important.

On-Line captioning is the teleprompter-based solution prevalent with broadcasters and news stations. In this situation, pre-scripted stories are fed from the newsroom automation system to both the teleprompter and to the closed caption encoder. This data typically doesn’t contain closed caption control codes but rather depends on the encoder inside the monitor itself to add the appropriate codes when an ASCII carriage return is received.

The regard for this kind of system is based on the fact that neither a steno-captioner nor a computer with costly software is required. In most cases, the teleprompter system is commonly used and closed captioning can be added for only the cost of the encoder.

Closed captioning is an exciting field that offers many opportunities for both the television broadcaster and the video producer. Hopefully, this introduction will help you to make intelligent decisions should you need to elect a caption service provider, acquire equipment, or offer information to those who will make these choices.

Those involved in Closed Captioning for multilingual purposes also greatly appreciate the fact that structures are in place to make their job a little easier.