Closed captions for live streams

1. A method comprising:

receiving a live video stream and first closed captioning data associated with the live video stream at a computing device, wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

loading a first converter that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format and to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to a second format;

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to a first destination device;

receiving second closed captioning data associated with the live video stream, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

loading a second converter that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format and to convert the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to a fourth format; and

transmitting the second closed captioning data in the fourth format to a second destination device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitted first closed captioning data is embedded in an output video stream.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein for a particular segment of timed text, the platform-independent format includes a start time of the particular segment, an end time of the particular segment, a language identifier associated with the particular segment, layout information associated with the particular segment, font information associated with the particular segment, style information associated with the particular segment, or any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein converting from the first format, converting to the second format, and transmitting the first closed captioning data are performed during a single live video streaming session.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first format and the second format each comprises an embedded format that includes at least one of:

action message format (AMF) on TextData,

consumer electronics association (CEA)-608,

CEA-708,

motion pictures expert group (MPEG)-4 part 17,

3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) timed text,

digital video broadcasting (DVB) subtitling,

sistema brasileiro de televisao digital (SBTVD),

digital terrestrial multimedia broadcast (DTMB), and

world system teletext (WST).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a media server, and wherein the first closed captioning data in the second format is transmitted by the media server in accordance with at least one of:

hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) live streaming (HLS),

HTTP dynamic streaming (HDS),

real time messaging protocol (RTMP),

smooth streaming, and

motion picture experts group (MPEG) dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH).

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first destination device includes a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a set-top box, a television, a portable media player, a game console, a media server, a stream relay server, a server of a content distribution network (CDN), or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second format is compatible with the first destination device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first closed captioning data is transmitted in the second format and the first converter is loaded in response to receiving a request from the first destination device, wherein the request indicates the second format.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing an optical character recognition (OCR) process on video data to generate the first closed captioning data.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving first closed captioning data associated with a live video stream, wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

loading a first converter that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format and to convert the first closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to a second format;

transmitting the first closed captioning data in the second format to a first destination device;

receiving second closed captioning data associated with the live video stream, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

loading a second converter that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format and to convert the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to a fourth format; and

transmitting the second closed captioning data in the fourth format to a second destination device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first converter comprises a software class that is executable by the processor.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising one or more storage devices to store video stream data, closed captioning data, or any combination thereof.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first destination device comprises a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a set-top box, a television, a portable media player, a game console, or any combination thereof.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the transmitted first closed captioning data is embedded in an output video stream.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein converting from the first format, converting to the second format, and transmitting the first closed captioning data are performed during a single live video streaming session.

17. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a live video stream and first closed captioning data associated with the live video stream, wherein the first closed captioning data is represented in a first format;

load a first converter that is compatible with the first format to convert the first closed captioning data from the first format to a platform-independent format and from the platform-independent format to a second format;

transmit the first closed captioning data in the second format to a first destination device;

receive second closed captioning data associated with the live video stream, wherein the second closed captioning data is represented in a third format;

load a second converter that is compatible with the third format to convert the second closed captioning data from the third format to the platform-independent format and to convert the second closed captioning data from the platform-independent format to a fourth format; and

transmit the second closed captioning data in the fourth format to a second destination device.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein the transmitted first closed captioning data is embedded in an output video stream.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein for a particular segment of timed text, the platform-independent format includes a start time of the particular segment, an end time of the particular segment, a language identifier associated with the particular segment, layout information associated with the particular segment, font information associated with the particular segment, style information associated with the particular segment, or any combination thereof.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17 , wherein converting from the first format, converting to the second format, and transmitting the first closed captioning data are performed during a single live video streaming session.