Glossary → Captions & subtitles
Captions & subtitles
Characters per second (CPS)
Characters per second (CPS) is the standard measure of caption reading speed: total characters in a caption divided by its display duration.
Style guides from major platforms commonly cap CPS around 17–20 for adult content and lower for children's programming. CPS, line length and minimum display duration together define whether captions feel comfortable or frantic.
Related terms
Caption reading speedCaption reading speed measures how fast text asks viewers to read, commonly in characters per second (CPS) or …
Caption line lengthCaption line length is the maximum characters per caption line — commonly 32 in broadcast tradition, up to 42 …
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