Closed Captions software-decoding

January 6th, 2009   Filed Under naaktbelgisch.com   edit

  • hi, is it possible to add support for closed-caption subtitles? i think in the usa it is standard in every tv equipment but it's not possible to display these subs in europe especially in germany on tv screen.

    mplayer support this feature (mplayer manual (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/docs/html/en/subosd.html)) so only a little bit to change...!?

    thx and cu


  • btw, it's possible to view closed caption from dvd movies with mplayer.
    you must add following code to config or mplayer.conf file in mplayer directory:
    subcc=1

    this enables mplayers closed caption decoding. then you have to choose play using... on ifo file in xbmc and select mplayer instead of dvdplayer.
    not perfect but it's working.

    now, i'm dreaming of closed caption support in xbmc dvdplayer ;)


  • closed caption should be supported by mplayer (they have a decoder for it in cvs) but i never tested it.


  • actually area prelim cc decoder in the dvdplayer allready. not enabled thou, think it wasn't completly finished.


  • "closed captioning" is an ntsc standard where caption text is encoded on a particular scanline normally in the upper overscan area. if you've ever noticed a line or two of flickering black and white pixels at the top of a video file, that's probably closed captioning information.

    they were mostly invented for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. most us network television programs include the closed caption information.

    a bit on the history of closed captioning is here:
    http://deafness.about.com/cs/featurearticles/a/historycaptions.htm

    a couple of faqs are here:
    http://www.robson.org/capfaq/overview.html
    http://www.google.com/url?sa=....&q=http (http://www.google.com/url?sa=u&start=3&ei=qpqequyqcb-ciaga_cjkba&q=http://www.cpcweb.com/captioning/cap_faqs_articles.htm&e=747)

    a lightly technical description of the encoding is here:
    http://www.robson.org/capfaq/technical.html

    there appears to be a decoder project at sourceforge:
    http://sourceforge.net/projects/ccdecoder/

    i'd love to see xbmc support software closed-caption decoding, particularly with transparency and/or dropshadows and font selection.

    closed-caption "passthrough" (where the lines containing the closed caption information are lifted from the source video, scaled and positioned properly for decoding by the television itself or other hardware that processes the video signal) would be nice, as well.

    i hope this information is helpful in making the implementation of these features possible. xbmc is a wonderful, wonderful project and i think the addition of some accessibility features like these would make it even better. thank you!


  • when play movies it loads from xbmc and the caption from tv is not working. dvdx2 it works with caption from tv. could you fix this problem please?? i am deaf. thank you!!!


  • so you're saying it's a dvd-specific feature?
    the -current- builtin dvdplayer is not very good, i can't stress thic fact hard enough.
    thats why we recommend dvdx2 or ms-dash as dvdplayers until our own -better- player is in place.


  • in a sence yes. the tuner in the xbox does have support for writing cc out. we'd still need to parse it and then output it to the tv as closed captions.


  • currently no. dvdplayer has no support (actually does have prelim code that is commented out). mplayer's support is lacking. you might get something out if you read up on mplayerhq about the cc commands for mplayer.


  • Hi

    I have some ntsc dvds with Closed Captions only.

    They don't have regular subtitles and and because the lack of hardware support of decoding cc on tv in europe I ask:

    1)

    Does XBMC decode and display (no passthrough) Closed Captions so that European users who do not have a CC enabled TV or other CC reader can enjoy Closed Captions as well ?

    Or

    2)Should I use mplayer that, as far as I know, supports this feature and the CC are decoded in software
    and displayed. For the hearing impaired CC are a must to fully enjoy DVD movies .

    Thanks for the input


  • I know it might not appeal to a large audience but that would allow use for a device called tv guardian which bleeps out swears.


  • In PowerDVD for the PC, there is Closed Captioning support.

    Not sure if that means anything, but it's the first PC program that I know of that displays closed captioning... It actually displays it like subtitles, too..

    This is a feature I'm really interested in.


  • Any progress in Closed Caption support for XBMC?


  • see the official feature request here (link) (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=87054&atid=581841&func=detail&aid=817654) (ps! "closed captions pass-through support request (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=87054&atid=581841&func=detail&aid=817653)" is releated but not exacly the same thing)


  • http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=817653&group_id=87054&atid=581841
    http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=817654&group_id=87054&atid=581841

    cfsmp3 said he started to look at it, but I have no idea how far he has gotten along with the project


  • eeeeh? i don't have a clue what "caption from tv" means.

    please try again and more details this time, like the required info, xbmc build/version and mplayer build/version


  • i dont get this... what kind of a video stream has cc in it? how would xbmc play a tv signal? as far as subtitles for a video file .srt works just fine but i dont know how xbmc is suppost to use cc without any video input.... is there some magic digital encoding of cc or something exotic i dont know about?


  • On a slightly similar and not that important note would it be possible to passthru cc? like to the tv


  • I would really like to see subtitle support for dvdplayer decoder too as I use it for my divx/xvids too with srt/vobsub
    I use dvdplayer as it outperforms mplayer with hd content


  • currently no. dvdplayer has no support (actually does have prelim code that is commented out). mplayer's support is lacking. you might get something out if you read up on mplayerhq about the cc commands for mplayer.

    I am confused :

    http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html

    MPlayer has an onscreen display (OSD) for status information, nice big antialiased shaded subtitles and visual feedback for keyboard controls. European/ISO 8859-1,2 (Hungarian, English, Czech, etc), Cyrillic and Korean fonts are supported along with 12 subtitle formats (MicroDVD, SubRip, OGM, SubViewer, Sami, VPlayer, RT, SSA, AQTitle, JACOsub, PJS and our own: MPsub). DVD subtitles (SPU streams, VOBsub and Closed Captions) are supported as well.

    Apparently suports CC.


  • would it somehow be possible to implement the use of closed captions [cc] when playing dvds?

    living in a country that does not support [cc] i find it quite annoying that i can only watch the closed captions through my computer (powerdvd). most american and uk dvds have [cc], and some only have [cc], so i would very much appreciate it if xbmc had this feature.


  • @asteron
    see the official feature request here (link) (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=87054&atid=581841&func=detail&aid=817654) (ps! "closed captions pass-through support request (http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=87054&atid=581841&func=detail&aid=817653)" is releated but not exacly the same thing)
    i have some ntsc dvds with cc only. they don't have subtitles.
    and because the lack of hardware support of decoding cc on tv in europe, it would be a great feature for me and maybe for deaf people.


  • any news about adding closed caption support to xbmc?
    for me it's more important that xbmc displays the closed captions, because in europe, especially in germany, all televisions doesn't support closed captions.

    thx and cu


  • all televisions have closed-caption for hearing-impaired. the black background with words on televisions. when play movies from xbmc program it doesnt work with closed-caption (not subtitles) because of codes in xbmc i think * when play movies from dvdx2 it works with closed-caption. *hope you understand what i am saying?

    thanks







    • #If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.#
    Your name:
    E-mail:
    Telphone:

    Your comments:


    If you have any other info about Closed Captions software-decoding , Please add it free.

    Post Linx
    Permalink | Trackback | | Print This Article |

    Bulk Vending Machines - a Good Small Business
    Web Pointers for Successful eCommerce