Supposedly most Gen Z now use subtitles and I don’t blame them. With the way movie sound is mixed it’s really hard to hear the dialog. Not everyone has a Dolby-certified sound system in their living room.
Even with a basic surround system that has a separate center channel (and fiddling with the settings for 5.1, Atmos, stereo) we still often have to use subtitles. It’s major failure on the part of movie studio audio engineers.
I’ve noticed an annoying trend lately with movies that have foreign or alien language parts to them where the streaming site won’t show the translation for what they’re saying unless all subtitles are turned on.
And then sometimes when you have subtitles turned on it has digital subtitles that cover up in-video subtitles with something useless like [speaking alien language].
At the same time though, there’s lots of older movies and TV shows that had bits of foreign language in them and the shows/movies never translated it. I finally get to know what the villains are saying thanks to streaming sites using subtitles.
Funny thing is, that it is only in the original language audio track, if you watch in German (what I not recommend, since I can’t stand the synchros) the speakers are way louder compared to the background noice/action scenes.
Luckily Plex has a feature to fix that on original language tracks as well and reduces loud sound automatically.
If you run on a window system, there is a setting deep in your sound device’s advanced options that will allow you to suppress those loud sounds as well. It seems to cut the dynamic range and makes most media much more tolerable in that respect.
I’m Gen X and have been using subtitles ever since I had kids. My kids have only ever seen the TV with subtitles on. Just recently I noticed that they watch Youtube with subtitles on. So, not sure if it’s nature or nurture :)
Turning on the subtitles while children are watching television can double the chances of a child becoming good at reading†. It’s so brilliantly simple and can help children’s literacy so much that we want to shout it from the rooftops!
†Based on an academic study of 2,350 children, 34% became good readers with schooling alone. But when exposed to 30 minutes a week of subtitled film songs, that proportion more than doubled to 70%. There are lots of studies about the benefits of subtitles. This is just one! Check out our research page to find out more.
At least you can tell people you like to read. Unfortunately, in my experience, there isn’t always an option for stereo. I prefer stereo over surround sound. Never understood why this would be so hard to provide. So I read my favorite shows, too.
Here’s the fun thing: you don’t have to be distracted!
Most TVs now allow you to adjust the subs however you want them to look, so they can be as huge and intrusive or tiny and ignorable as you want.
Even with default settings, I find that I visually tune them out pretty damn quick, but then I have them there for when I miss something due to poor audio balance.
Subtitles: On
Supposedly most Gen Z now use subtitles and I don’t blame them. With the way movie sound is mixed it’s really hard to hear the dialog. Not everyone has a Dolby-certified sound system in their living room.
Even with a basic surround system that has a separate center channel (and fiddling with the settings for 5.1, Atmos, stereo) we still often have to use subtitles. It’s major failure on the part of movie studio audio engineers.
I’ve noticed an annoying trend lately with movies that have foreign or alien language parts to them where the streaming site won’t show the translation for what they’re saying unless all subtitles are turned on.
And then sometimes when you have subtitles turned on it has digital subtitles that cover up in-video subtitles with something useless like [speaking alien language].
And sometimes that alien language is… Spanish.
[yells in foreign language]
It’s funny when things will translate some sentences and not others.
What you’re looking for is forced subtitles! They’re subtitles that only have text for different languages/overly quiet ones
At the same time though, there’s lots of older movies and TV shows that had bits of foreign language in them and the shows/movies never translated it. I finally get to know what the villains are saying thanks to streaming sites using subtitles.
Funny thing is, that it is only in the original language audio track, if you watch in German (what I not recommend, since I can’t stand the synchros) the speakers are way louder compared to the background noice/action scenes.
Luckily Plex has a feature to fix that on original language tracks as well and reduces loud sound automatically.
Is the feature client or server side? What’s it called?
I need it
If you run on a window system, there is a setting deep in your sound device’s advanced options that will allow you to suppress those loud sounds as well. It seems to cut the dynamic range and makes most media much more tolerable in that respect.
Oh I just learned that this is a feature of the Apple TV player, not plex, plex just uses apple’s player on the Apple TV
Which I do not recommend.
I think you got what I wanted to say
I’m Gen X and have been using subtitles ever since I had kids. My kids have only ever seen the TV with subtitles on. Just recently I noticed that they watch Youtube with subtitles on. So, not sure if it’s nature or nurture :)
The nice thing about a dedicated center channel is you can focus your volume battles there for some movies.
The best are the Amazon originals with no 2.1 mix where the dialog is center channel only. My daughter loves cartoons with zero dialog.
https://turnonthesubtitles.org/
Why does the child becoming good at reading come with a check(†)?
Because I copied the formatting exactly and the † denotes the foot note.
So I copied the claim, and the source.
Wow, that’s amazing! Are schools adding 30 minutes of subtitled entertainment to their curriculum? If not, why the hell not?
I’m Dutch. I put subtitles on everything, even if the show is in my native language.
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At least you can tell people you like to read. Unfortunately, in my experience, there isn’t always an option for stereo. I prefer stereo over surround sound. Never understood why this would be so hard to provide. So I read my favorite shows, too.
If I wanted to read I wouldn’t be watching TV.
I hate this stupid sentiment, as if video never has letters on it. If a sentence at a time is so hard for you to read, maybe that’s a you problem.
(If you have a genuine disability, I’m sorry, but otherwise, stop being lazy)
Sorry for not living up to your expectations, but I don’t like being distracted from the visuals by shit at the bottom of the screen.
Here’s the fun thing: you don’t have to be distracted!
Most TVs now allow you to adjust the subs however you want them to look, so they can be as huge and intrusive or tiny and ignorable as you want.
Even with default settings, I find that I visually tune them out pretty damn quick, but then I have them there for when I miss something due to poor audio balance.
You do you though.