Live Streaming KDramas With Real-Time Subtitles (Edited)

Posted by goodange on February 1, 2012 · 20 Comments 

Okay, be warned that this post will sound like an infomercial Heh.

So, I didn’t think this was possible, but today, I live streamed episode 2 of Dream High 2 and there were English captions! That’s awesome, right?

Thanks to LinkJChan from the Dream High 2 Soompi thread for recommending iOnAir. Basically, iOnAir allows you to read real-time subtitles in your preferred language (English, Japanese, or Chinese) as you live stream. As far as I can tell, only some programs are closed captioned.

Before I present the quick and easy tutorial for the site, let me delineate the pros and cons.

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PROS

1. Duh, watching a drama live and reading subs at the same time! This has to be a big deal for those who don’t want to wait for recaps or for subs to be uploaded. Also, if you missed a line or dialogue, you can always scroll back through the translations.

2. RAW episodes of various dramas from several countries are available to watch. This is a good alternative to Dramacrazy, EpDrama, KrDrama.org, etc. However, no subtitle/closed captioning is provided.

3. You can live stream on either a PC or a MAC.

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CONS

1. The streaming quality is not as great as SOLIVE. The stream will occasionally stall, but the video quality is decent.

2. Closed captioning is delayed for a second or longer (at times, much longer).

3. Closed captioning can’t be viewed when the video enters full screen. You’re better off hitting Ctrl and + (or Command and + on MACs) to enlarge your video screen.

4. The major networks (SBS, MBC, KBS 2, KBS 1), MNET, and three sports channels are the only channels live streamed on iOnAir, but RAW episodes, including those of cable dramas, are eventually uploaded.

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TUTORIAL TIME!

This tutorial isn’t really necessary because the iOnAir website is user-friendly. Nevertheless, just to be helpful, follow the instructions and diagrams.

Go to iOnAir’s website to start, and then, register an account.

Once that’s done, click on the OnAir section. Then, select the channel that’ll be airing your drama … or if it’s close to show time, just stay on the home page, and then click on one of the dramas under the Subtitles on upcoming OnAir area. See below for a clearer understanding.

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Your program should automatically load on the video screen. To the right side of the video screen is the Caption. Just select your language from the drop down menu, and a long, rectangular closed caption box will pop up right below the video screen.

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The refresh-like button (circular arrow) situated next to the “Caption drop down menu” allows you to switch the location of the closed caption box to the right side of the video screen.

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If you want to know if your drama will be subbed during the live stream, go back to the iOnAir home page, and click on the SUBTITLE SCHEDULE. (Of the Wednesday-Thursday dramas, it doesn’t look like Wild Romance will be live subbed … I could be wrong, so, try it anyway.)

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And that’s it!

Easy, yeah?

I hope it works for you, guys, especially the METS fans …

Enjoy watching!

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Sources  |  Soompi, c/o LinkJChan  |  iOnAir

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Filed under Entertainment, K-drama, Random News · Tagged with iOnAir