EEG Shows Latest Features of iCap Closed Captioning Platform

The iCap Real-time Closed Captioning delivery system offers superior quality audio streams to caption service providers over the Internet, with low sub-second delivery latency.
LAS VEGAS—At this year’s NAB Show, closed captioning and subtitling veteran EEG exhibited its latest solutions that help broadcasters meet the new FCC mandates for captioning accuracy and proper on-screen positioning.

Highlights at the show included:

iCap Video: The company said its iCap Secure Real-time Closed Captioning delivery system offers superior quality audio streams to caption service providers over the Internet, with low sub-second delivery latency. Now reduced frame-rate proxy video feedback is also offered, to help providers ensure that caption positioning complies with the FCC mandate to never obscure banners, scoreboards, faces or other essential action.

iCap Archives: iCap also supports local or cloud-based archiving of caption text and timing, for automatic compliance with new record-keeping requirements for closed captioning data. Customers with new iCap Premium accounts will receive up to two years of cloud-based archiving, with secure (SSL) access to data.

iCap Advanced Audio Delivery: Specially equipped HD490 encoders using iCap can now provide real-time caption service providers with advanced program audio feedback, with the result of synchronization between video content and real-time captioning transcriptions. With this feature, EEG’s CC Smart Encoders can merge live and pre-recorded captioning, with little or no extra delay on real-time segments. Caption completeness problems are eliminated when cutting into commercials, interstitials or pre-recorded segments produced with offline captioning.

Faster Turnaround on Near-Live Programming with iCap and CCPlay FilePro: Closed captioning turnaround on near-live programs, defined by the FCC as those recorded within 24 hours of the time of air, is greatly improved by a new workflow, based on EEG’s CCPlay FilePro file-based caption stitching tools. Secure, low-bandwidth caption proxies of file-based program assets are streamed in advance to caption service providers over the iCap network, with returned transcript data stitched into the master video asset as broadcast-quality CEA-708 captioning. Turnaround time is reduced greatly compared to traditional offline workflows, while caption quality is improved compared to live-to-air processing, the company says. No special IT infrastructure is required, and there are no complexities or security risks as in uploading massive high-resolution video files out of the broadcast plant.