Why can't captions look pretty?

I use captions for TV and home movies. That being said, I was truly shocked the first time I watched a DVD on my Mac--the captions were utterly beautiful. Nice, anti-aliased font, partially transparent font background, and all of this is customizable!

Technology is sufficiently advanced at this point that there is really no reason not to expect pretty captions, but why isn't it the norm? Is it greedy to expect pretty captions when they are so obviously possible? Surely a company today pitching a 255-color computer would be laughed out of the market, so why is my state-of-the-art, big screen HDTV showing me such crude captions? Think of how much time and effort are put into making things aesthetically pleasing these days--why not captions?

Comments

RLM said…
Really? What the MAC screen size you have? If that is the MAC Cinematic Screen. I would be not really surprised at all.

I never bother to download any movies on the PC. Many thanks for sharing this one with all of us.

Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog
July 19, 2007 at 6:21 PM
moi said…
First, it's Mac, not MAC, RLM. *smile*

Second, I have to agree with you, Aaron. I was amazed at how gorgeous the captions look on my Mac, from my sage and ruby iMacs, to my PowerBook G4, and now my MacBook Pro. They just get better with each upgrade of DVD Player.

You've got a point - why can't newer TVs have nice anti-aliased captions. My new Toshiba DVD/TV player combo isn't too bad and is certainly an improvement, but it's still not as sexy as the DVD Player version in OS 10.4.9. Thanks for bringing it up!
July 20, 2007 at 1:11 AM
Aaron said…
rlm: I have the mac mini hooked to a 24" dell lcd widescreen. I don't bother with movie downloads either--I just use my mac to watch DVDs once in a while.
July 23, 2007 at 11:12 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New hearing aids - Rexton Cobalt 16

I picked up my new hearing aids today and thought I would post my initial thoughts. First, let's take a little journey back in time to understand some of my history. I got my first set of ears 10 years ago. They were the Senso+ model in the CIC (completely-in-the-canal) size, made by Widex. They were almost invisible and functioned fairly well, but after four years they were no longer powerful enough to keep up with my progressive loss, so I got a new set. The new set were Phonak Claro ITE (in-the-ear) models, and were far more technologically advanced, and also far larger and more noticeable. I was able to control the volume and choose programs using my Phonak wristwatch. I have worn these for about five years now, but again my hearing loss has outgrown the volume possible with these models. Fast forward to present day. I recently bought a pair of Rexton Cobalt 16 (same as Siemens Pure 700) and a bluetooth remote control that Rexton calls an RCU (same as the Siemens Tek). The...
Read more

ASL class starts today - Level TWO!!

I am really excited about taking the level 2 class this year. We were all really worried that it wasn't going to happen since we needed a minimum number of people and a couple people from level 1 moved away over the summer. So it is very welcome news that the class is happening, and I am really looking forward to taking my ASL to the next level!!
Read more

New Marvel Processors by Advanced Bionics - Review

 It has been about 7 years since I received my first cochlear implant.  I chose Advanced Bionics in 2014 and received their Q70 processor at activation.  This was their first processor based on Phonak technology, since both companies are owned by Sonova. The Q70 was a very good processor, and coupled with their HiRes Fidelity 120 programming strategy, I enjoyed good appreciation of music.  I use the Optima-P strategy in particular.  The processor was much smaller than the previous Harmony processor, and featured a much smaller, if fragile, t-mic2.  The t-mic is arguably the best feature offered by AB.  It is a microphone that hangs by a wire, and is positioned near the ear canal, allowing me to use headphones and mobile phones normally, by positioning the speaker where everyone else would hold it, instead of having to hold the speakers up near the top of the ear, where traditional mics are placed. With the Q70, I was able to use Bluetooth devices, but ...
Read more