More than 56 screens in 30 sites are now showing captioned movies throughout the UK using the DTS-CSS Cinema Subtitling System.
With every major film distributor committed to producing titles with DTS Access technologies (including captioning and audio description), more than 100 films have been released to date for presentation with DTS-CSS, with over 70 feature titles released in 2003 alone (over 100% more than the previous year.) In 2003, every major commercial release was made available with DTS-CSS, including Matrix Revolutions, Love Actually, Master and Commander, Finding Nemo, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
The DTS-CSS Cinema Subtitling System was commercially launched in the UK following a 12-month trial during which 16 participating cinemas, including Odeon cinemas in London’s Leicester Square and West End, promoted DTS-CSS captioned and audio-described screenings. In 2003, Odeon Cinemas commenced a program to install DTS-CSS nationally.
Paul Schofield, technical manager at Odeon Cinemas, underlines the positive reaction to the DTS solution: "DTS-CSS marks a major advance in accessibility to cinema for hearing and sight impaired customers and we are delighted that it is proving so beneficial and popular. In previous years, our customers have seen limited numbers of captioned and audio-described releases, but that situation has been significantly improved as a result of our involvement with DTS."
DTS-CSS operates in the same way as the company's cinema digital sound system, where a CD-ROM containing both the captions – which are projected directly onto the screen – and audio description tracks is synchronized with a standard film print. Available as a standalone system, DTS-CSS incorporates elements of DTS' digital sound technology, enabling a single inventory of prints and the appropriate CSS discs to provide subtitling, captioning and audio description in any required language or languages throughout the world. The audio description tracks on the disc for the blind and partially-sighted are relayed to the audience via infrared headsets and provide narration in between the dialogue that describes the action and other visual aspects of the movie. The open-back design of the headphones enables the user to hear the movie soundtrack in the normal way.
