Captioning Rules for Digital TV

Editor: Digital Television (DTV) is on its way, and the FCC has just released its rules regarding the provision of closed-captioning for DTV. The short story is that they have required that DTV be captioned, and that the captioning be more functional and more configurable than the captioning for current (analog) television.

The rules require the inclusion of compliant DTV closed captioning decoder circuitry in DTV televisions larger than a specified size, and in DTV tuners. The specified circuitry will be required in devices by July 1, 2002. The rules also require that the viewer be able to configure the size, color, and font of the captions, and to select from various captioning versions, including foreign language versions. In addition, the rules require that programs produced after the specified date be considered "new programming" for purposes of satisfying the percentage of programming that must be captioned.

Excerpts from the FCC press release are provided below. For the full press release, point your browser to www.fcc.gov/cib/dro

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In 1990, Congress passed the Television Decoder Circuitry Act. The Act requires that television receivers with picture screens 13 inches or larger contain built-in decoder circuitry designed to display closed-captioned television transmissions. The Act also requires the FCC to ensure that closed captioning services continue to be available to consumers as new technology is developed. In 1991, the FCC amended its rules to include standards for the display of closed-captioned text on analog television receivers. The development of digital broadcasting requires that the FCC again update its rules to fulfill its obligations under the Act.

In the Report and Order adopted today, the FCC incorporated sections of industry standard EIA-708-B, "Digital Television (DTV) Closed Captioning" into its rules. The standard provides instructions for the encoding, delivery, and display of closed captioning information for digital television systems. The Commission said that it would require manufacturers to include compliant DTV closed captioning decoder circuitry in DTV devices by July 1, 2002. Devices covered under the rules include DTV sets with integrated "widescreen" displays measuring at least 7.8 inches vertically, DTV sets with conventional displays measuring at least 13 inches vertically, and stand-alone DTV tuners, whether or not they are marketed with display screens.

The Report and Order contains provisions that will allow viewers to choose and alter the color, size, and font of their captioning and to choose between multiple streams of captioning, such as "easy reader" or alternate language captioning. The Commission said that requiring decoders to be able to respond to these various features is necessary to ensure that closed captioning will be accessible for the greatest number of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.