As anyone noticed that netflix subtitles are not that good?

Submitted by Hellpy t3_10op4af in television

I recently got Netflix in a drunken stupor when I wanted to watch cyberpunk edgerunners and because of said drunkenness couldn't follow subtitles. Anyway back to the main issue here, how do you guys feel about netlfix subtitles? I often feel like I'm losing a good bit of info when watching shows, the discrepancy between the dub and the sub is intense at times and it's like I don't know which to trust the most. Usually I always watch in original language with subtitles because I felt that was the most accurate, but Netflix has me doubting a lot of times if the dub isn't better. So yeah next question which is closer to the original dialogue, sub or dub?

Btw I hate dubs with a passion but if goofy voices are ''better'' than I might go for it even though it destroys my suspension of disbelief.

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Economy-Inspector-23 t1_j6g1pep wrote

You don’t want to see Amazon Prime subtitles, seriously so slow it’s crazy, like 2-3 lines behind where the movie actually is.

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TheSeventhAnimorph t1_j6gk7f5 wrote

I've never had a problem with them. The only issue I've seen is that occasionally they have some glitch where symbols or extra letters show up on the left and right of the text, but it doesn't affect the actual readability of anything.

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Hellpy OP t1_j6gbkvj wrote

Interesting, I've been watching a lot of prime since it started but never noticed any problems, tho most shows are English so I can't say if I put on the subs, mostly watch prime exclusives/originals tho(boys, expanse,in the loop,...)

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TheSeventhAnimorph t1_j6fzp2t wrote

I watched Edgerunners with the subtitles and they were completely fine except for episode 3 for some reason. I don't know what happened to them on that episode, but they were bizarrely bad on that one.

> So yeah next question which is closer to the original dialogue, sub or dub?

Subs are the most literal translation and dubs try to also account for mouth movements. (That being said, Netflix sometimes has two subtitle tracks available - one which is that "most literal translation" and one which is closed captions for the dub.)

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Hellpy OP t1_j6gb3rr wrote

Thanks for the info, I'm really having a hard time with Alice in Borderland at the moment, I put on English sub and dub cause I watch it in the background but when I look up the difference is intense and I don't know if it's due to the original screen play or just lazy Netflix

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TheSeventhAnimorph t1_j6hf4km wrote

> I put on English sub and dub cause I watch it in the background but when I look up the difference is intense

Oh, then in that case it's intentional. If the sub and dub are different, then they aren't supposed to match up; they're separate translations.

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LKMagnificentBastard t1_j6g0pc7 wrote

Yep, I noticed this with The Good Place a few years ago. Entire episodes were completely wrong even though it’s just transcribing English from English. There’s an option to report them though!

I typically watch dubbed anime, but when I watch subbed I don’t take the risk of watching it on Netflix.

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Hellpy OP t1_j6gb7j3 wrote

Aight good to know, I'll stay on the safe side

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lorZzeus t1_j6h8vdj wrote

Yes, they are bad, which is not surprising, because Netflix gives like 15 days for a sole translator to sub and translate one full season. They also have instructions about the maximum number of words/characters (I don't remember which) a translator can use in a single line. Besides they don't pay very well for this kind of work...

I have no idea about the dubs, though. I know they use dubs from DVDs and TV channels in some shows/movies, so those dubs should be more faithful to the original content. I have no idea if they have used subs from DVDs in shows/movies, though.

So yeah, basically Netflix doesn't care much about the quality in their subs, they just want something done quickly. I wish they gave translators more time to make a good job and also less limitations in how they should do their work. One thing they could do is to let the translator rework and improve the subs right after they completed their 15 days assignment, giving them more time, which wouldn't matter much to Netflix since they already have the v1 subs for their content. A v2 sub would be quite welcome, Netflix.

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TheSeventhAnimorph t1_j6hf649 wrote

> They also have instructions about the maximum number of words/characters (I don't remember which) a translator can use in a single line.

This is a standard across subtitles in general, not a Netflix-specific thing.

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lorZzeus t1_j6jo0x0 wrote

I know and anyone who works in that area knows that too, but sometimes it's impossible to meet those requirement in a line or two. Netflix won't accept that and will force the translator to respect that instruction. They literally can't submit a subtitle which contains a line that has too many characters.

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Hellpy OP t1_j6hjm6n wrote

Damn, they really dumb like that. With all their different customers languages and different content languages, one would assume they don't cheap out on subs, but I guess that's the way she goes bubs. I'm most definitely cancelling Netflix before the 2nd bill comes up, illegal streams have 4k anyways

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lorZzeus t1_j6jptvc wrote

It could be worse, though. Crunchyroll, for example, is a streaming service for anime and they only have like subs for 5 languages. Their subs aren't very good either, so I guess it's a general problem in these streaming services that prioritize cheap subs just because they're quickly made and then they don't have to worry about them anymore.

It's dumb, given the fact these companies are investing millions and millions of money in making/acquiring new content for their services and then they think a sub made in a rush by someone who's being underpaid will be good enough.

On the other side, subtitles made by fans are usually good and they don't receive a single penny for it.

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bngarland t1_j6gonho wrote

I started watching Freud on Netflix and it was dubbed (apparently. I didn't know that going in). So I had the subtitles on and it was a MESS I got so frustrated I just quit not even 15 minutes in and I will probably never finish it now bc I need the subtitles.

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jitito1641 t1_j6hxk79 wrote

They are never good. They had always butchered asian subtitles.

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urgasmic t1_j6gwuw8 wrote

i htink they are all bad, cw.tv, hulu as well.

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