en.Wedoany.com Reported - French telecom operator Bouygues Telecom has integrated an automatic subtitle translation service into its b.tv decoder, powered by artificial intelligence. All processing is completed locally on the user's home hardware without going through the cloud. Currently in the testing phase, this service supports real-time translation in five languages.
The b.tv decoder from Bouygues Telecom is equipped with a dedicated NPU chip for artificial intelligence, previously used to improve image resolution and color, and now adds real-time automatic subtitle translation. This feature is integrated into the "b.tv IA" menu, accessible via the "Parameters" option in the decoder's regular settings. The five languages initially tested are English, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese, corresponding to the most common non-native language backgrounds in France. Approximately 10 to 15 million residents in France do not speak French as their mother tongue, making people with hearing impairments, expatriates, and language learners potential users of this service. The range of languages may be expanded based on demand.
All processing is done locally, without going through the cloud. Frédéric Penault, TV Product Manager at Bouygues Telecom, explained at the VivaTech exhibition that only the initial model download requires an internet connection. These models, developed by the South Korean company Enerzai, are approximately 1 GB in size. All subsequent operations are performed on the decoder's chip.
The testing phase began a few days ago and will theoretically cover thousands of users. Additionally, users can participate in public testing through the Innolab platform. Duyen Nguyen, TV Decoder Product Manager, relayed initial feedback from testers, highlighting the tool's smoothness and noting its particular benefit for users learning Arabic or Mandarin Chinese.
At VivaTech, Bouygues Telecom announced a partnership with the Canal+ Group to extend the language management capabilities of "b.tv IA" to the CStar, CNews, and Ciné+ channels. Duyen Nguyen confirmed that an agreement has been reached between the two parties, with plans to allow visitors to experience it during the exhibition. Regarding subtitle fluency and latency, due to the 12 to 14-second buffer of OTT streaming (internet transmission), the translated subtitles are displayed simultaneously with the regular French subtitles without additional delay. Live subtitling remains a challenge, as even French subtitles are sometimes imprecise. A larger-scale deployment of this automatic subtitle service is expected in the fall.
The timeline for the official rollout to all b.tv decoder users has not yet been announced.
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