Editing Closed captioning (section)

== Terminology ==
The term ''closed'' indicates that the captions are not visible until activated by the viewer, usually via the [[remote control]] or menu option. On the other hand, the terms ''open'', ''burned-in'', ''baked on'', ''hard-coded'', or simply ''hard'' indicate that the captions are visible to all viewers as they are embedded in the video.

In the United States and Canada, the terms ''[[subtitles]]'' and ''captions'' have different meanings. ''Subtitles'' assume the viewer can hear but cannot understand the language or accent, or the speech is not entirely clear, so they transcribe only dialogue and some on-screen text. ''Captions'' aim to describe to the deaf and hard of hearing all significant audio content—spoken dialogue and non-speech information such as the identity of speakers and, occasionally, their manner of speaking—along with any significant [[music]] or [[sound effect]]s using words or symbols. Also, the term ''closed caption'' has come to be used to also refer to the North American [[EIA-608]] encoding that is used with NTSC-compatible video.

The [[United Kingdom]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], and a number of other countries do not distinguish between subtitles and captions and use ''subtitles'' as the general term.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} The equivalent of ''captioning'' is usually referred to as ''subtitles for the hard of hearing''. Their presence is referenced on screen by notation which says "Subtitles", or previously "Subtitles 888" or just "888" (the latter two are in reference to the conventional [[Teletext|videotext]] channel for captions), which is why the term ''subtitle'' is also used to refer to the [[Ceefax]]-based videotext encoding that is used with PAL-compatible video. The term ''subtitle'' has been replaced with ''caption'' in a number of markets—such as Australia and New Zealand—that purchase large amounts of imported US material, with much of that video having had the US CC logo already superimposed over the start of it. In New Zealand, broadcasters superimpose an ear logo with a line through it that represents subtitles for the hard of hearing, even though they are currently referred to as captions. In the UK, modern digital television services have subtitles for the majority of programs, so it is no longer necessary to highlight which have subtitling/captioning and which do not.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

[[Remote control]] handsets for TVs, DVD players, and similar devices in most European markets often use "SUB" or "SUBTITLE" on the button used to control the display of subtitles and captions.