Video translation overview #3 How are SDH, CC, and Subtitle used matters in the industry?

2024-07-04

Here's a summary of the complicated video subtitle types.

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Getting started

I think you've heard various terms such as Subtitle, SDH, and CC when subtitling or translating videos. When we first came across this concept, it was vague to set standards, and in particular, the guides provided by government agencies had a lot of conceptual parts, so they weren't very helpful in actual work.

The Letterworks translation team has gone through a lot of trial and error to create a guide on subtitling. Here's a summary of the translation work terms we've defined.

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Summary of terms related to subtitling

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1) Subtitle

Subtitle is a commonly displayed form of subtitle. It refers to text information that is open to viewers, such as backgrounds, situation descriptions, and screen captions. It is also displayed at the bottom of the video, and the subtitles are placed in the right place where needed depending on the video. There are also cases where it is included as an image rather than in the form of a separate file.

In particular, subtitles of entertainment or lecture videos added for content explanation and reference greatly enhance understanding, fun, and immersion in the video.

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2) SDH

SDH is an abbreviation for “Attending for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing,” and refers to a subtitling service for people with hearing loss. SDH subtitles help hearing impaired people understand video content by providing not only audio information but also additional information such as important sounds or background sounds that occur on the screen along with general subtitles.

These captions generally include information such as ambient sounds, music, and special effects along with dialogue, and can provide a richer experience for everyone watching video content. SDH subtitles are mainly used in movies, TV shows, and video content to help deaf people get equal access to entertainment.

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3) CC

CC is an abbreviation for “Closed Caption,” and unlike subtitle (Subtitle), it is not usually visible and can only be displayed if set separately. Have you ever looked for CC because you wanted to turn on subtitles when watching videos on OTT or YouTube platforms? In this way, speech subtitles and translated subtitles, which can be viewed by setting whether to display them as needed, are called CC.

For video subtitles translated into multiple languages, you can select various options in CC settings such as [KOR CC], [ENG CC], [JP CC], and [TW CC]. CC is a useful feature because it can be turned off and on at any time, and can also be modified.

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Letterworks' subtitle guidelines

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Letterworks also supports not only closed subtitle formats, but also various subtitle formats such as CC and captions according to clients' requests. Although it is based on our own standards, we are constantly communicating and updating to fully reflect customer requests.

I'll share a little list of rules set by the Letterworks translation delivery service based on the lines of the characters in the video content.

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When to apply captions subtitles
If you don't apply captions to captions
Extra expression method
Expression method when two or more people have overlapping utterances
When metabolic processing is included
When the actors of the characters change depending on the time of day in the play
punctuation marks

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Detailed guidelines are prepared and worked according to the nature of video content such as movies, dramas, and entertainment, and other glossaries frequently used by customers are being built separately and used as data assets.

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While finishing

I also looked at the types of video subtitles and Letterworks' subtitle guidelines. Letterworks' research for professional video content translation continues. Please keep watching!

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