As a hearing impaired iPod Touch user, I've been using Handbrake to "burn" subtitles into the ripped movies for some time now.* Soft subtitles and Closed Captions:
- DVD Closed Captions
- ATSC Closed Captions
- SRT subtitle import
- Text soft subtitles in MP4 and MKV output
- Bitmap soft subtitles in MKV output
Am I correct in understanding that the new version of Handbrake will allow me to encode a .mp4 file and allow for closed captions that can be turned on and off while playing on the iPod Touch?
I don't quite understand the difference between, "Text soft subtitles in MP4 and MKV output" and closed captions which can be either displayed or turned off. At first reading, this statement seems to imply that Handbrake will now allow me to make Closed Captions as I encode the movies for the iPod.
When I attempted this evening to encode a short chapter with the Closed Captioning option selected in the Subtitle tab in Handbrake, the resulting movie played in Quicktime, but the options to turn enable and disable the captions from the Quicktime menu was grayed out and not selectable. The subtitle text was displayed as if it were "burned" into the movie (although the color and the font style was presented differently and was thus, easier to read.)
Could I beg for someone to explain the difference between Text Soft Subtitles and Closed Captions insofar as they are practically effected in Quicktime and on the iPod?
I know that deaf and hard of hearing folks are often forgotten in the larger scheme of life in general and that things like closed captions and subtitles are easily overlooked as being a critical and vital necessity for this part of our demographic to enjoy movies.
While almost all new movies are being produced with subtitles, there are many older movies and foreign movies which only feature closed captions. For these movies, deaf and hard of hearing folks have no way to enjoy them on an iPod to date.
And finally, I don't know the members of the team that have maintained, added, improved and modified Handbrake over the years, but I would like to extent a sincere and wholesome "Thank You" for all of the hard work that you have put into making this program an essential part of our movie enjoyment and pleasure. The maxim that the best things in life are free doesn't really apply to everything, but in the case of Handbrake, it most certainly does.
Keep up the good work. I appreciate everything that you've done to make this an exceptional program to depend upon.
-joedy