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Captions & subtitles

CEA-608 captions

CEA-608 is the legacy North American broadcast standard for closed captions — the 'line 21' captions of analog television, limited to basic styling and two simultaneous languages.

Despite its age, 608 data still travels inside digital broadcasts and many delivery specs require it alongside its successor CEA-708. If a broadcaster asks for '608/708 compliance', they mean captions embedded to these standards, not a sidecar SRT.

Related terms

CEA-708 captionsCEA-708 is the digital-television caption standard in North America, supporting multiple windows, fonts, color… Closed captionsClosed captions are timed text that can be turned on or off by the viewer, written for deaf and hard-of-hearin… Live captioningLive captioning produces captions in real time for broadcasts, streams, meetings and events, via streaming spe…

Frequently asked

What is CEA-608 captions?

CEA-608 is the legacy North American broadcast standard for closed captions — the 'line 21' captions of analog television, limited to basic styling and two simultaneous languages.

Why does CEA-608 captions matter?

Despite its age, 608 data still travels inside digital broadcasts and many delivery specs require it alongside its successor CEA-708. If a broadcaster asks for '608/708 compliance', they mean captions embedded to these standards, not a sidecar SRT.

What terms are related to CEA-608 captions?

Closely related concepts: CEA-708 captions, Closed captions, Live captioning — each has its own entry in this glossary.

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