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QuickPlay Media Reports Support for Closed CaptioningJan 23, 2013 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- QuickPlay Media, a provider of cloud-based managed service solutions for the distribution of media to IP-connected devices, announced the availability of closed captioning support for its Live and On Demand multiscreen video solutions. Using its cloud-based OpenVideo platform, QuickPlay ingests, extracts and encodes closed captioning data from a variety of video formats - enabling mobile TV service providers to integrate closed captioning into their mobile video services. Last September, the FCC mandated that all episodic content delivered over IP networks must have closed captioning, under the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. According to a release, implementing closed captioning into a multiscreen service is a challenge for mobile TV service providers as there are currently multiple standards for closed captioning formats. In many cases, content providers either do not provide captioning data or supply variations that are unsupported on today's mobile TV devices. This creates increasing complexity in the ingestion, management and delivery of content with closed captioning. QuickPlay's OpenVideo platform simplifies the ingestion process by taking the closed captioning data, whether embedded or in a sidecar, and normalizing it in combination with player support to be compatible for viewing across iOS, Android and Windows devices. OpenVideo then runs the content through standard encoding and media transformation processes to add DRM, device profiles and packaging information. If content providers have failed to provide closed captioning data, the content is flagged as an exception and the service provider is notified of the non-compliance. QuickPlay has also introduced a user friendly toggle on the client application enabling consumers to easily turn closed captioning on or off while viewing streams or downloads. "Closed captions not only greatly enhance the mobile video viewing experience for people with hearing impairments, but they drive up overall viewership numbers," said Kavi Maharajh, QuickPlay's VP of Product and Research Development. "QuickPlay is dedicated to ensuring that our customers meet regulatory requirements. More importantly, we help them do it in a cost effective way that enables them to continue to offer a high-quality of service to their subscribers." ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |