Surtitle Timing

Measure surtitle cue timing offsets against spoken cues.

Description

Surtitle timing can compare each displayed cue with its corresponding spoken cue on one time axis.

Surtitle timing can compare each displayed cue with its corresponding spoken cue on one time axis. Positive offsets mean the title appeared later than speech.^[1]

Measure surtitle cue timing offsets against spoken cues.

When to use Surtitle Timing

Use this tool to measure surtitle cue timing offsets against spoken cues.

Prepare the measurements or record lists for the intended production, performer, cohort or planning period. Confirm units, shared time/coordinate conventions and supplied targets.

How to use Surtitle Timing and understand its results

Prepare the measurements or record lists for the intended production, performer, cohort or planning period. Confirm units, shared time/coordinate conventions and supplied targets.
Enter spokenCueSeconds, surtitleCueSeconds, maximumOffsetSeconds using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read meanAbsoluteOffsetSeconds, maximumAbsoluteOffsetSeconds, lateCueCount, withinTolerance. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
spokenCueSeconds	Spoken cue times	list of number	Required
surtitleCueSeconds	Surtitle cue times	list of number	Required
maximumOffsetSeconds	Maximum cue offset	number; minimum: 0	Required

Enter aligned nonempty finite cue-time lists and nonnegative maximum absolute offset. Compute mean and maximum absolute offset, count strictly positive late offsets and test whether every offset is at most tolerance in magnitude. Exact coincidence is not late and equality meets tolerance.

offset_i=surtitleSeconds_i−spokenSeconds_i; absoluteOffset_i=|offset_i|

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
meanAbsoluteOffsetSeconds	Mean absolute offset	number; minimum: 0
maximumAbsoluteOffsetSeconds	Maximum absolute offset	number; minimum: 0
lateCueCount	Late surtitle count	integer; minimum: 0
withinTolerance	All cues within tolerance	boolean

json

{
  "input": {
    "spokenCueSeconds": [
      10,
      20,
      30
    ],
    "surtitleCueSeconds": [
      10,
      21,
      29
    ],
    "maximumOffsetSeconds": 1
  },
  "output": {
    "meanAbsoluteOffsetSeconds": 0.6666666666666666,
    "maximumAbsoluteOffsetSeconds": 1,
    "lateCueCount": 1,
    "withinTolerance": true
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

Cue correspondence must be established beforehand; lists need not be chronologically sorted by validation. This does not assess reading duration, text length or operator latency causes.

Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Lists are limited to 100,000 entries; the rules above may require smaller limits. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors. A successfully returned false flag is an evaluated outcome; its meaning is explained above.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use Stage Sound Sync Delay: Calculate the sound-delay adjustment needed to reach a caller-defined audiovisual offset. For a complementary task, use Traverse Sightline: Summarize traverse-stage sightline angles against a supplied clearance minimum.

References

Surtitle Timing — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Stage Sound Sync Delay
Calculate the sound-delay adjustment needed to reach a caller-defined audiovisual offset.
Traverse Sightline
Summarize traverse-stage sightline angles against a supplied clearance minimum.