If you’ve gotten tired of streaming sites having subtitles that read out audio cues such as “door slams”, “eats chips”, or “combs hair”, then I’ve got good news for you. Last Thursday, Netflix announced a subtitle option that is strictly dialogue only. A response to the growing popularity of subtitles which nearly half of viewing hours by US audiences are spent with subtitles enabled.
In order to access this option, the viewer must go to “Navigate to Audio” and then “Subtitles”. Furthermore, users will see an option labeled “English” – which will only include spoken words. This is a benefit for those who find the aforementioned additional context a bore or too exposition heavy.
The new season of “YOU” has this feature enabled, and other original Netflix titles will have use of this in every language.
Interestingly enough, Apple TV was early on this ball game. For example, in the show “Pachinko,” some characters are bilingual (Korean and Japanese). So, in order to not confuse the audience, the subtitles inform you which language is being spoken. Let’s say hypothetically, if a character is speaking Korean, then the color will be red. If a character is speaking Japanese, then the color would be green. This is used to show scenes where both characters are speaking to one another, so the audience does not have to be perplexed on what is happening.
Overall, this feature is a good move for Netflix. It allows them to continue to have different options for different viewer experiences. It complements the closed-captioned option that the streaming service provided for the deaf community. A great option for the future of viewing shows on the platform.
