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What Is STT? Speech-to-Text Definition
STT (Speech-to-Text) is the conversion of spoken audio into written text, used interchangeably with ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition).
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By Sumit DeyUpdated
STT, Explained
STT (Speech-to-Text) is the conversion of spoken language audio into written text. The terms STT and ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) refer to the same technology and are used interchangeably, 'STT' is more common in product and API contexts, while 'ASR' is more common in academic and engineering contexts. Modern STT services are commonly used as the backend for caption generators, podcast transcription tools, voice assistants, and dictation software. Quality differs across: language and accent coverage, word-level timing granularity, latency (real-time vs batch), and price per audio minute.
STT Examples
- Sending a podcast to a speech-to-text API and getting a transcript back.
- A caption tool converting an MP3 into a timed transcript.
Terms Related to STT
STT, answered
What does STT stand for?
STT stands for speech-to-text, software that converts spoken audio into written words. It powers automatic captions, voice notes, dictation, meeting transcripts and most video transcription tools you will find online.
Is speech-to-text free?
Many tools offer free speech-to-text with limits, such as a number of minutes or videos. Caption tools usually include it in their free plan, since every automatic caption starts with a speech-to-text pass.
How do I turn a video into text?
Upload the video to a video to text converter. It pulls the audio out, runs speech-to-text on it, and gives you a transcript you can copy or download as a TXT, SRT or VTT file.
Can speech-to-text handle mixed languages?
Some systems can, such as Hindi and English in the same sentence. Others force a single language and get the switch wrong, so test a short clip with mixed speech before you rely on a tool.
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