More and More People Are Using Subtitles--Here Are the Hardest Shows and Actors to Understand

[Diamond_Dog]

(snip)

In a new survey shared by preply.com, 50% of respondents said they use subtitles most of the time. 70% of Gen Z respondents said they use subtitles, followed by 53% of millennials, 38% of Gen X, and 35% of baby boomers.

The survey showed that there are various reasons for why viewers are more often using subtitles. The leading reason respondents gave for using subtitles is that the audio is muddled, which 72% of respondents gave as the main reason. Other reasons include the accents being hard to understand, they don’t want the TV to be too loud, they want to stay focused on the screen, or they want to learn a new language.

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https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/more-and-more-people-are-using-subtitles-here-are-the-hardest-shows-and-actors-to-understand.html/

[riverbendviewgal]

1. I use subtitles all the time.

Accents are hard for me to understand. People mumble and background music is often too loud. I am deaf on one ear as well. I am thankful for this help.

[Tetrachloride]

2. ++. Sometimes I want to know the exact dialogue and not guess

[vanlassie]

10. I was deaf in one ear until it was diagnosed as a fixable condition.

My stapes (smallest bone in our body) was calcified. An artificial replacement is covered as a medical necessity!

[riverbendviewgal]

13. I have nerve deafness

Due to having spinal meningitis 3 times, almost died.

[vanlassie]

14. Oh man. So sorry. I often mention my experience because

I think a lot of people may think their hearing loss is inevitable old age, and they can’t afford a hearing aid. But a new stapes cost me an outpatient copayment.

[riverbendviewgal]

16. I found out I almost 30 years old

That I had 60 percent loss of hearing on my left ear from doctors who were treating me for another health problem. Then i got a hearing aid. The right ear is completely deaf. It is amazing to hear now.

[Mme. Defarge]

3. Interesting!

So it’s not just Moi who has trouble understanding dialogue. It’s why audiobooks are my preferred form of story entertainment.

[walkingman]

4. We use subtitles. It started because we watch so many BBC/UK/Scottish shows

I think they have the best actors hands down. Now I use them for everything simply because I am used to them and sometimes I like to pause and look up maybe a word I haven't heard. Usually a slang phrase. I also like being able to make them larger and I use yellow to make them standout.

Off-topic but I don't like having to pause so I can read the texts and phone stuff but it seems to be only every series and movie these days.

[3Hotdogs]

5. I recall, about a year ago, radio piece about sound tracks that are used to dub actors' voices when

something is inaudible. Seems this happens frequently and rather than call the actor back in studio, their voice is dubbed.

This radio piece was to explain one of the the needs for subtitles.

[Shermann]

6. A lot of people have crappy speakers

I'm old school and have a 5.1 system with a nice center channel. The center channel is what gives you clear dialog.

The trend now is sound bars. Some are OK, I prefer the discrete speakers.

[Auggie]

18. Especially flat screen television speakers; compromised due to their thin depth ...

though I place primary blame on bad sound mixing, actors and directors.

[tanyev]

7. We do most of the time.

Started doing it for all shows and movies from the UK and it helped tremendously. Then we used it for the show Elementary because Jonny Lee Miller delivered his lines so whispery soft, especially in the first season or two. They also came in handy for shows where lines were delivered rapidly, with cross talk. Fun shows to watch, but easy to miss some of the subtleties of the dialogue.

And then there are the shows where the dialogue is OK, but the background music or special effects come in very loud. It's nice to be able to dial it down and still catch all the dialogue.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. I definitely need caption for British TV shows

They are pretty useless for sporting events IMO

[dlbell]

9. Subtitles are becoming a Must

Subtitles are a must when watching the long-running series 'Coronation Street'. Scattered amongst the various actors are about 20 distinctly different regional accents. And, in the British custom, they constantly drop their consonants!

The worst movie for unintelligible dialogue was 'Bird on a Wire'. The sound went up two notches when the dialogue was clear but down three when the actors were soft spoken or mumbling their words. I gave up in frustration half way through.

You can tell those actors who've had stage experience. Many others have never taken formal speech lessons and think they can talk like they do in everyday situations. Mumbling and slurring their words is fine when someone's standing next to you but not in film.

[ChazInAz]

12. The last section of your post.

I'm a stage actor, with years of vocal training. Very few film actors today have had that training, and it shows. The Actor's Studio and the baleful Marlon Brando have much to answer for!

[BComplex]

11. Audio on programming of all kinds has gone to hell in a handbasket.

And any sound engineer who thinks one single human voice is supposed to have the same engineering authority as EACH instrument, is not qualified to be doing that job.

[vanlassie]

15. Subtitles are apparently good for kids to have as a

matter of fact.

[intrepidity]

17. Been using them on everything for decades

Lately I've found myself turning them *off* sometimes so that I can focus better on the actors. I'm so used to reading the dialogue that I miss some of the acting.

[Shermann]

19. The Witch was pretty tough to follow along with

Chalk this one up to mostly "accents".