I think from the 4dtv standpoint, subtitles and closed captioning are 2 completely different things. Subtitles are similiar to DVD subtitles, where the different language subtitles are embedded in the movie datastream. When you select a language subtitle, the dvd player then decodes that designated datastream and displays the text as the movie progresses. However, closed captioning was originally designed for the folks with hearing problems, not as a language translator and the text was transmitted at the video signal level from the tv station. From reading the owner's manual, it looks like the 4dtv can decode subtitles if they are included in the datastream from the provider but there's no capabilities to decode closed captioning data. Maybe someone has more info on this. Good luck.