[moogly]

As someone from a country that uses subtitles over dubbing, I'll let you know that subtitling movies/tv shows is an art form. Good subtitles are more akin to interpretation than translation. You have less space to fit, timing is important, you need to translate idioms, etc.

Probably an art form that's going the way of the dodo, but nevertheless...

[JadeNB]

> Good subtitles are more akin to interpretation than translation. You have less space to fit, timing is important, you need to translate idioms, etc.

Timing particularly! You'll often get a mystery where the detective says "And the killer is … [long, dramatic pause to survey the room] … the butler!", but the subtitles, displayed at the beginning of the sentence, just say "And the killer is the butler!"

[noboostforyou]

I've noticed HBO seems to have the highest quality subtitles in terms of timing and position on screen relative to the character speaking.

Then there's other shows I watch on Netflix will do that exact thing you mentioned - spoiling the punchline because the subtitle appears before a single word is spoken.

[JadeNB]

Oh, I forgot that Hulu has an infuriating thing where, if you turn on English-language subtitles for a show that's mostly in English (as those of us with poor hearing often do), and the show has burnt-in subtitles for portions of speech in some other language, then the burnt-in subtitles will be overwritten by a subtitle reading, say, "[Speaking in French]."

[dragonwriter]

> Good subtitles are more akin to interpretation than translation.

Translation is interpretation to start with, but subtitling definitely adds constraints around what works well that don't exist for, say, generic prose in a purely written context. Similar to (but different specific constraints) to translation for dubs.

[Am4TIfIsER0ppos]

> Good subtitles are more akin to interpretation than translation.

Why would I want english subs for english audio to be anything than the lines coming from actors' mouths. English subs are the only language you're gonna get from english audio transcription regardless of the underlying technology.

[moogly]

That's open/closed captions, not subtitles.

[Am4TIfIsER0ppos]

That's a distinction without a difference. Text, bitmap, hard: they are all subtitles