Subtitles

[Anonymous User]

 Morning,

I think something missing!!!

Like other provider such as Netflix, they offer movies with subtitle at a lower price! 

Now TV should be able to offer that service for must of their movies and, this should normally help deaf people watching films...

Thanks,

Guy

[Anonymous User]

The last I checked my laptop was a 'hardware playback device'... 

Running on a mobile/tablet/TV stick/etc. still requires software ('app' is essentially short for 'software application') so I don't really see the difference here. In fact, that screenshot was taken on Linux and Android is also built on the Linux kernel so there really is little difference from a technical concept perspective.

Besides, on my Android tablet there are subtitles for some 'live' pre-recorded content:

However, the point is not actually to compare Sky to BBC but that it is not only possible but actually not overly complicated to program subtitles - if Now TV was open source I would happily submit the required commits to the codebase for them. Sky have clearly made the decision that the lost revenue is not sufficient compared to the cost of assigning resources to resolve this, and likely also that they fear people downgrading from the more expensive full Sky packages to Now TV if there were not some significant differences. So until this changes I can't see subtitles being a priority for Now TV, which is a shame.

[SeeMoreDigital]

It is EXTREAMLY complicated @Anonymous User...

By-the way, I currently have Dad's Army (via BBC 2) running on my Android tablet (iPlayer v4.22.1.476). And there are no subtitles.

[Anonymous User]

I work in technology and have been programming for over 20 years but I think we are going to have to agree to disagree @SeeMoreDigital, otherwise this will descend into "no, it's not" / "yes, it is". 🙂

I do however agree with you that the behaviour of the BBC live subtitles is a bit odd - they were there when I launched the live content via a browser (using the "BBC Media Player" app) and took the photo above but then disappeared after a while. :S

[Anonymous User]

It's not trivial to implement subtitles, but it's far from impossible. A company with Sky's resources can both afford and hire the talent to make it happen. In fact, Sky has already committed to implementing subtitles and said it'd be ready in late 2016. They've had years to do this and still we wait.

Not that anybody should ever be using the BBC's apps as a gold standard, but yes they do some live subtitling — as does YouTube, which analyses the voices in real time to produce text (albeit to comical effect sometimes but that's why this tech needs investment). And there are various ways of managing subtitles for the non-live content, which by the way is why most people would use Now TV on the first place. Much of Now TV's content is on other platforms — with subtitles.

None of this is thorough, but all the groundwork exists for a subtitle solution to be built. As someone said previously, some is better than none. We've discussed all that in this thread. If I remember correctly someone even put together a prototype of broadcast subtitles being linked to on-demand content.

It's a shame that TV is generally considered a luxury therefore accessibility is optional. In many other contexts the law simply mandates that you must cater for those with impairments and that's the end of it. I build web applications and we can be sued if a website isn't usable by the deaf, blind, etc.

[Anonymous User]

Well it is now early 2017 apparently they said 80% by September now.we have 0%.
Is this just excuses? By the time they get anywhwere with subtitles they will already lost a lot of customers

[SeeMoreDigital]

Sadly it's not just a matter of slipping something like a text based .srt file or graphics based .sub file into the mix. As we'd be able to do at home in order to view subtitles. That would be way too easy!

All broadcast and streamed content has to confirm to a ridged set of ISO/IEE approved standards. And not every hardware and software playback device offers the same level of support for subtitles. 

[Anonymous User]

why no subtitles?

I am leaving NOW because of this, I am hard of hearing and cannot catch all the words

so reluctantly leaving. NOW pleaseget subtitles.

[Anonymous User]

Hi Folks,

This is something we are working hard in the background to release.

I will chase this up to see if i can get a more concrete date for when subtitles will be available on all platforms that NowTV is available on.

Thanks

Eddie

[Karl-F]

Try subtitles on your NOW TV Box or Roku player

Want to be one of the first to try out subtitles on the NOW TV Box or Roku player? Sign up to join our trial and help us improve our subtitle service.

Keep in mind – if you’ve previously signed up for the Interactive service trial, you won’t be able to take part in the subtitles trial.

As ever, thanks for your help.

The NOW TV Team

[Simon-J]

 Subtitles are now avaiable on black NOW TV Box and NOW TV Smart Box, Samsung TV, EE TV, PS4 and Apple TV.

We've already added subtitles for over 80 movies, plus all new movies we add will have subtitles available. So keep an eye open for the S symbol on all your favourite films.

If you’ve got an Entertainment Month Pass, you can watch the following shows with subtitles:

• Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters season 1
• You, Me and the Apocalypse season 1 
• Bring the Noise season 1

We'll continue to add subtitles to as many shows, movies and devices as we can.