EEG Addresses Closed-Captioning Latency with CCMatch

EEG, the innovators in closed captioning, have announced the availability of CCMatch. A new feature available exclusively for the EEG HD491 iCap Encoder, the CCMatch Syncing Module allows broadcasters to reduce or completely eliminate latency between captions and audio in program video output.

Designed primarily for live programming, CCMatch effectively resolves the issue of delayed captions. In CCMatch mode, the HD491 intelligently detects whether the caption input is post-produced or real-time, and synchronizes captions accordingly with the output video and audio.

In addition, captioners who are using EEG’s iCap Secure Realtime Captioning System receive program audio that is advanced with respect to the unit’s program video output, thereby minimizing caption latency. Captions from commercial and promotional segments are preserved in their original timing, and protected from being overwritten at segment boundaries by real-time caption input.

With CCMatch, broadcasters can now easily and efficiently achieve perfectly synchronized captioning for full compliance with the FCC Quality Rules going into effect in 2015, which include caption timing as a specific criteria for judgment. Under these guidelines, broadcasters will be expected to provide the best possible synchronization between captions and the audio track.

Additionally, perfectly synchronized captions through CCMatch will never overhang program segments and run into commercial blocks – a common situation often causing the final lines of a caption segment to be lost to downstream inserted commercials. These lost captions violate the FCC’s new “completeness” criteria, and are also often a problem in repurposing broadcast content for streaming delivery. With CCMatch, each and every segment is naturally complete with its correctly synchronized captions, with on special steps required for production or re-editing.

CCMatch on the HD491 includes a reliable and configurable built-in program delay, or can be used seamlessly with an external video delay line. When used with a pre-existing profanity delay of as little as 3 seconds, CCMatch can perform perfect caption synchronization with NO additional impact on timing to the viewer.

“Out-of-sync captioning has traditionally been treated as inevitable on live programming – however, the newest FCC Quality Rules provide a clear mandate to improve this situation moving forward,” says Bill McLaughlin, Vice President of Product Development.” CCMatch provides broadcasters with a streamlined and practical solution for ensuring compliance and improving the viewer experience by eliminating this frequently cited complaint.”