Bob and I have a Friday night ritual. Popcorn, the good blanket, and a British mystery on Netflix. Last month we started a new one, and about ten minutes in, the detective leaned over and whispered something to the constable. Bob grabbed the remote and turned it up to 42.
Then the dramatic music kicked in, and I swear the dog left the room. Bob turned it down. The detective whispered again. Up to 45. By the end of the first episode, we'd missed who the suspect was, and our neighbor texted to ask if everything was all right over here.
So I tried something I'd been meaning to try for months. I turned on the captions. Oh my goodness. We caught every word of episode two, and the volume stayed at a peaceful 22.
Why is TV dialogue so hard to hear?
You're not imagining it, and it's not always your ears. Many shows and movies are mixed so the music and action are big and loud while the talking stays quiet. On a TV's small built-in speakers, voices can get lost. Accents, mumbled lines, and fast talking don't help.
Turning up the volume makes everything louder, including the music that's drowning out the words. Captions go straight to the problem.
How do I turn on captions on Netflix?
In plain words: start playing the show. Open the playback controls, which on many TVs means pressing up or down on the remote, and look for "Audio & Subtitles" or a little speech bubble. Choose English or English CC for the captions, and make sure the audio is still set to English.
Netflix's help page on turning subtitles and captions on or off has the steps for your exact device. Most other streaming apps and cable boxes have a similar button, so once you learn it on one, the others come easy.
A tip: replay the same short scene with captions on. Ask yourself, can I read them comfortably from my usual chair? If the letters are too small, many TVs and streaming devices let you make captions bigger in their accessibility settings.
Are captions only for people with hearing loss?
Not at all. Plenty of people with perfectly good hearing use captions every night, especially for shows with heavy accents, whispered lines, or lots of characters to keep track of. Our granddaughter watches everything with captions on, and she's seventeen.
If the words at the bottom feel distracting at first, give it two episodes. Most people stop noticing them and just enjoy following the story.
What else can make TV voices clearer?
Here are those tricks in words. Look in your TV's sound settings for a speech, dialogue, or "clear voice" mode, which boosts voices over music. Try a night mode, sometimes called "reduce loud sounds," which evens out the loud and quiet parts. Cut background noise like fans and the dishwasher, or simply sit a little closer. And write your caption button steps on a sticky note and keep it by the remote.
Should I get my hearing checked?
Captions help with TV. They don't tell you why the words are hard to catch. If you're also missing words at dinner, on the phone, or at church, it's worth a hearing test. Bob went through that this year, and I wrote about it in our guide to thinking about OTC hearing aids.
And if you're looking for something new to watch with those captions, here's how to watch free movies legally.
How our Friday nights sound now
Captions are on by default in our house now. Bob says he didn't think he'd like reading his TV, but after two episodes he stopped noticing the words at the bottom. We solved the mystery before the detective did, and the neighbor hasn't texted since.
Take good care of yourself, and take even better care of each other.
Do you watch with captions on? Tell us in the comments, and share your favorite show to watch with them.
