SurtitlesTM is a trademarked process and business name used by the Canadian Opera Company to describe a type of projection system that displays the translation of the words during an opera. In general terms, the term is sometimes used without a trademark symbol to describe the same process. In opera houses around the world, a variety of techniques for projecting translations have been used. Surtitles are typically used on large liquid crystal display (LCD) screens, but other techniques such as smaller electronic displays near the seats, digital projection, and the use of reflective panels are also used. Although some critics argue that surtitles can cause audience members to become distracted from the emotion of the performers on stage, research has shown that the majority of people prefer to have them available.
The terms “surtitles” and “subtitles” are not interchangeable. In movies or on television, a subtitle is a translation of a foreign language. The “sur” in “surtitles” refers to the titles being projected onto a surface and comes from the French translation of “on.”
Other opera houses took notice when the Canadian Opera Company used surtitles in a 1983 production of Elektra. The New York City Opera was the first to use the technique not long after. Almost every opera house in the world has used the process in some form or another since then.
The words were originally projected on a large screen using slides and slide projectors by the Canadian Opera Company. The screen was usually placed on the proscenium of the stage. The same company began using video projectors to project the words in the early 1990s.
A specialized computerized system is a common 21st-century technique. This method places a small LCD monitor in front of each audience member on the back of the seat. It translates the words into any language in white letters against a black screen with no distracting ambient glow by pressing a single button. One of the first opera houses to use similar surtitle technology was the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The words are projected onto large screens by high-definition projectors in some opera houses with limited budgets.
Reflective panels are used in another, less-common surtitle process designed for the hearing impaired. A reflective panel can be given to an audience member and placed on the arm of his or her chair. A mirror-image projection of the words on the back wall of the opera house is picked up by the reflective panel.