YouTube’s automated captioning falls on deaf ears

jeff — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:50:53 +0000

Several months ago, Google implemented captioning into their video service, YouTube. All you needed was a transcript, formatted in timed text and that was it. The most difficult thing about this process was making the special timed text file. So Google did away with that…

All you need now, is a transcript and Google’s automatic speech recognition (ASR) software will create the timed text for you. Not only will this help with accessibility, but SEO as well.

High-Quality (HQ) Video on YouTube

jeff — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:46:41 +0000

About six months ago YouTube gave their viewers the option to see videos in high-quality or as they call it, “HQ.” This is wonderful news for anyone who always liked YouTube but did not like the loss of quality of videos. Not to be confused with high-definition (HD) this new format can be switched from normal view with a click of a button.

high quality button in youtube allows users to switch between HQ and normal.

Colleagues have said they don’t notice much of a difference, but I can if I watch closely. It also seems to very depending on the video. Perhaps reflecting the quality of the original video? There is a subtle difference. Let’s examine a side by side comparison:

side by side comparison

Clearly in this example there is a difference in quality.

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YouTube’s automated captioning falls on deaf ears

High-Quality (HQ) Video on YouTube