Chyron

What is a chyron?

By definiton, a chyron is an electronically generated caption superimposed on a television or cinema screen.

In simple words, a chyron is the text you might see on the bottom of a video broadcast. The original purpose of a chyron is to provide context, and help viewers quickly identify the topic that is shown on the video.

The word itself originates from the company of the same name. The Chyron corporation pioneered the addition of text at the bottom of a video. Just as a "xerox" became a synonym of a photocopy, and how "googling" is a synonym searching online, a chyron refers to the text at the bottom of a video broadcast.

When to use chyrons?

If the chyron’s definition is clear, let’s see how one can use chyrons to communicate important information directly to viewers. Here are some common examples where chyrons are used:

• News broadcasts: Show breaking news alerts, headlines, or critical updates
• Sports events: Show scores, player names, statistics, or similar information
• Live events: Display information about performers, event schedules
• Interviews: Show the names or professions of the participants
• Weather updates: You’ve guessed it - shows temperatures, weather conditions, storm warnings

And now, let’s check some advanced use cases:

• Accessibility: Provide information that complements audio content for viewers that are hard of hearing, or when audio quality is poor
• Monetization: Show sponsors, promote products, and enhance viewer engagement with some affiliate marketing or dynamic advertising that fits the contents of the broadcast
• Legal and compliance: Display legal information or disclaimers for content that requires it, for example ads about pharmaceuticals
• Interactive content: With the rise of interactive shows on popular streaming sites, chyrons enable providers to prompt viewers to take actions like clicking a button, or to engage with the content through comments and polls

How to use chyrons with api.video?

With api.video, you have two options: use simple text-based chyrons, or use a canvas to draw over a live stream.

Note that these features are not natively supported by our API, rather they are superimposed through a HTML canvas over the video or live stream.

You can play around with both options through these demos:

• chyron.a.video enables you to stream your screen and your camera, while adding a chyron to the bottom of the screen. The chyron can be changed on the fly during the recording - it is being drawn on an HTML canvas that is being recorded. If you are using Chrome, this demo also showcases live captioning based on your voice input.
• record.a.video works in the same way, however in this demo you can draw on the screen, just like on an interactive whiteboard.

Check out the demos and try building your own solution using the free code sample that drives these apps!

Sign-up for a free sandbox account with api.video and try live streaming with chyrons today!