What it means
CPS divides the characters displayed in a cue by its duration in seconds. It helps locate captions that may need more reading time. It does not tell you whether the text is accurate or the audio is synchronized.
For an illustrative cue containing 40 counted characters over 2 seconds, the calculation is 40 ÷ 2 = 20 CPS.
State the counting rule
Different counters can treat spaces, punctuation and combined characters differently. Topicut's checker counts Unicode code points, including spaces and punctuation, while excluding line breaks. A combined character or emoji sequence can contain multiple code points.
Use a threshold as a review aid
Choose a threshold appropriate to the intended audience and delivery, then inspect the flagged cue. The default is an editable preference, not a universal platform rule. Consider the picture, unfamiliar terms, line breaks and whether the wording can be improved without changing its meaning.
Keep separate checks separate
Line length, number of lines and overlapping cues are independent findings. A low CPS does not make a caption complete, and simultaneous captions may be intentional. Use findings to guide a review rather than deleting or rewriting every flagged line automatically.