How to Turn On or Off Closed Captions on a Sharp TV

At some point, you might have found yourself in a packed room where there’s a lot of noise, but you still want to keep up with your favorite TV show. Other times, you may have just put the baby to bed but you want to watch an episode of your favorite show and you’re worried the noise will wake the baby. What do you do? The solution may lie in closed captions.

In this article, we are going to take you through the world of closed captions and how you can turn them on or off on your Sharp TV.

Turning Closed Captions On with a Sharp TV

Although there are different Sharp TV models out there, closed captioning is a constant feature in most of them. There are two ways to turn on closed captions on your Sharp TV.

The CC Button

The first one is a walk in the park. Make sure that you’re on the Sharp TV home screen, then grab your remote and locate the closed caption (CC) button. A single press will activate the captions. Just like that, you’ll be able to understand all the dialogue and get more engaged as you watch.

The Settings Menu

Perhaps the CC button on the remote you are using is worn out and you’re not sure which one it is. You can still find a way around such a problem. Your Sharp TV comes with various accessibility settings, and closed captioning is certainly one of them. To turn captions on without using a specialized remote button, follow these steps:

1. Turn on your Sharp TV and press “Menu” on your remote.
2. Proceed to “Settings” and select the “Accessibility” category.
3. Select “Captions” and then select “On” to activate.

While you’re there, you can also play around with several related options:

Caption language: This option allows you to change the caption language. However, your options will be limited to the languages chosen by the broadcaster.

Digital Captions: The option will enable you to adjust the color of the caption’s background or change the font size for easier reading.

Do All Programs Have Closed Captions?

Although most TV programs these days come with closed captioning, there are still a few that don’t. As such, captions may not appear even after you have followed the instructions we’ve laid down. Additionally, subscription services like Netflix or YouTube come with their own captioning features built it. You have to turn on the captions within the service. When streaming on YouTube, for example, you can activate captioning on the bottom right corner of the video (if the video features it).

Turning Off Closed Captions on a Sharp TV

Sometimes you may find captions a bit distracting especially if the font size is too large and there are no readily available options to make an adjustment. Other times, the background maybe too bright, making reading them a difficult issue. In such cases, you’ll want to turn off captioning. Here’s how you go about it.

1. On your TV remote, press “Menu.”
2. Proceed to “Settings” and select the “Accessibility” category.
3. Select “Captions” and then select “OFF” to deactivate.

If you’ve noticed, you’ll have repeated the activation process, only this time you’ll select “Off” instead of “On.” Alternately, you may simply toggle the CC button on your remote while on your TV’s home screen. This is, by far, the easiest method.

Are Sharp TV Captions Always Closed?

It’s important to note that captioning has a lot to do with your service provider, local network, or the type of media you’re playing. It’s not a service offered by your Sharp TV itself. Rather, your TV simply executes the commands it receives from your provider or media. You may encounter programs that have no captions at all, and others that have open captions that cannot be turned off.

What If You Identify an Error on Closed Captions?

Closed captioning comes with many benefits, but you might occasionally come across an error or two in the spelling or language in a caption. If that happens, you cannot correct the problem yourself unless you’re the original content publisher. You would have to report the matter to your local broadcaster or subscription service provider. Editing can only be done using closed captioning software. Knowing how to turn captions off comes in handy if you feel there are too many errors.

Is Turning On Subtitles the Same as Turning On Closed Captions?

Some people struggle to understand the difference between subtitles and captions. Subtitles display the on-screen dialogue in a preferred language and are meant for viewers who don’t understand the source language. For example, a movie shot in Spanish could have English subtitles for U.S. viewers.

Closed captions go a step further. They display all types of information: the dialogue, on-screen sound effects, song lyrics, etc. They describe all relevant sounds, not just on-screen dialogue.

As such, subtitles and captions largely serve the same purpose, but turning subtitles on or off is an entirely different process.

Captioning can be a great way to keep yourself engaged while watching. And the best part is that it’s easy to turn closed captions on or off on your Sharp TV.

Have you experienced any challenges while trying to activate or deactivate closed captions on your Sharp TV? What are your preferences in terms of font size and color? Let us know in the comments.