IP Library Granted Patent US 12713104
Granted Patent B2
US 12713104 · App. 18/438,328 · Granted Aug 18, 2026

Automatic subtitle enabling

Inventors: James Charles Wilson (Salisbury, GB); Iain David Cooke (Hampshire, GB); Charles Arthur George Nurser (Southampton, GB); James Robert Bushell (Southampton, GB); Paul Howard Rutland (Hampshire, GB)
Assignee: Synamedia Limited
H04N21/4884G10L15/26
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12713104
App. No.
18/438,328
Granted
Aug 18, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Techniques for automatic subtitle enabling are described herein. In various embodiments, one or more servers, which include processor(s) and non-transitory memory, receive an audio file and a subtitle file of a media content object, obtain, using speech-to-text, transcription of the audio file and one or more confidence scores for one or more portions of the transcription. The server(s) then determine one or more similarity scores representing similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file, and derive a clarity score for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores, wherein when playing the media content object, display of each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file is enabled based at least in part on the clarity score.

Claims (64)

1 . A method comprising:

at one or more servers including one or more processors and non-transitory memory:

receiving an audio file and a subtitle file of a media content object;

obtaining, using speech-to-text at the one or more servers, transcription of the audio file and one or more confidence scores for one or more portions of the transcription;

determining one or more similarity scores representing similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file;

deriving a clarity score at the one or more servers for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores; and

transmitting the audio file, the subtitle file, and the clarity score to a client device, wherein when playing the media content object and displaying the subtitle file at the client device, display of each of the one or more corresponding portions is shown or hidden by adjusting one or more display properties of a respective portion in the subtitle file based at least in part on the clarity score.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the transcription include a word, a phrase, or a sentence transcribed from the audio file.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more similarity scores representing the similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file includes:

grouping the one or more portions of the transcription according to timestamps from the subtitle file that are associated with the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file; and

comparing the one or more portions of the transcription with the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file to derive the one or more similarity scores.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein deriving the clarity score for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores includes:

determining whether a respective similarity score of the one or more similarity scores is higher than a first threshold and whether a respective confidence score of the one or more confidence scores is higher than a second threshold; and

assigning the clarity score higher than a third threshold in accordance with a determination that the respective similarity score is higher than the first threshold and the respective confidence score is higher than the second threshold.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

assigning the clarity score less than the third threshold in accordance with a determination that the respective similarity score is not higher than the first threshold or the respective confidence score is not higher than the second threshold.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying one or more portions of the media content object associated with the one or more portions in the subtitle file;

obtaining statistics of user interactions with the one or more portions of the media content object; and

revising the clarity score based on the statistics of the user interactions.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

revising the clarity score based on one or more of characteristics of the media content, production properties of the media content, and an operator preference.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

rewriting the subtitle file to adjust alpha component of each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file according to the clarity score and an enabling threshold for determining the display of each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating multiple subtitle files based on the subtitle file, wherein each of the multiple subtitle files is associated with a different enabling threshold for determining the display of each of the one or more corresponding portions in each of the multiple subtitle files.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the one or more display properties include an alpha component of the subtitle file; and

transmitting the clarity score to the client device causes the client device to update the alpha component for each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file.

11 . A non-transitory memory storing one or more programs, which, when executed by one or more servers with one or more processors, cause the one or more servers to:

receive an audio file and a subtitle file of a media content object;

obtain, using speech-to-text at the one or more servers, transcription of the audio file and one or more confidence scores for one or more portions of the transcription;

determine one or more similarity scores representing similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file;

derive a clarity score at the one or more servers for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores; and

transmit the audio file, the subtitle file, and the clarity score to a client device, wherein when playing the media content object and displaying the subtitle file at the client device, display of each of the one or more corresponding portions is shown or hidden by adjusting one or more display properties of a respective portion in the subtitle file based at least in part on the clarity score.

12 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more portions of the transcription include a word, a phrase, or a sentence transcribed from the audio file.

13 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein determining the one or more similarity scores representing the similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file includes:

grouping the one or more portions of the transcription according to timestamps from the subtitle file that are associated with the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file; and

comparing the one or more portions of the transcription with the corresponding one or more portions in the subtitle file to derive the one or more similarity scores.

14 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein deriving the clarity score for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores includes:

determining whether a respective similarity score of the one or more similarity scores is higher than a first threshold and whether a respective confidence score of the one or more confidence scores is higher than a second threshold; and

assigning the clarity score higher than a third threshold in accordance with a determination that the respective similarity score is higher than the first threshold and the respective confidence score is higher than the second threshold.

15 . The non-transitory memory of claim 14 , wherein the one or more programs further cause the one or more servers to:

assign the clarity score less than the third threshold in accordance with a determination that the respective similarity score is not higher than the first threshold or the respective confidence score is not higher than the second threshold.

16 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further cause the one or more servers to:

identify one or more portions of the media content object associated with the one or more portions in the subtitle file;

obtain statistics of user interactions with the one or more portions of the media content object; and

revise the clarity score based on the statistics of the user interactions.

17 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further cause the one or more servers to:

revise the clarity score based on one or more of characteristics of the media content, production properties of the media content, and an operator preference.

18 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further cause the one or more servers to:

rewrite the subtitle file to adjust alpha component of each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file according to the clarity score and an enabling threshold for determining the display of each of the one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file.

19 . The non-transitory memory of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further cause the one or more servers to:

generate multiple subtitle files based on the subtitle file, wherein each of the multiple subtitle files is associated with a different enabling threshold for determining the display of each of the one or more corresponding portions in each of the multiple subtitle files.

20 . A server comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory memory;

a network interface; and

one or more programs, stored in the non-transitory memory, which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the server to:

receive an audio file and a subtitle file of a media content object;

obtain, using speech-to-text at the server, transcription of the audio file and one or more confidence scores for one or more portions of the transcription;

determine one or more similarity scores representing similarities between the one or more portions of the transcription and one or more corresponding portions in the subtitle file;

derive a clarity score at the server for each of the one or more portions in the subtitle file based on the one or more similarity scores and the one or more confidence scores; and

transmit the audio file, the subtitle file, and the clarity score to a client device, wherein when playing the media content object and displaying the subtitle file at the client device, display of each of the one or more corresponding portions is shown or hidden by adjusting one or more display properties of a respective portion in the subtitle file based at least in part on the clarity score.