The VideoLAN Forums

When I'm watching DVDs with VLC the subtitles are gray and very hard to read. All my settings are default and this is the 4th time it's happened. It's fine when using srt files but when I play DVDs for whatever reason it just doesn't work.

Any solutions?

The DVD subtitles are stored as pictures on the disc, not text. Thus there is nothing that can be changed about them,

Hmm okay, thanks. I just found it strange that once I played Syriana on VLC and the subs were gray so I tried it on the xbox and they were fine and somehow I ended up watching it on VLC again and the subs were fine again...

But thanks anyways.

I have exactly the same issue, on VLC 1.0.3 Goldeneye (Intel 32bit) on OSX 10.6.2. Seems to be the same issue as:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=70201 (windows)
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=56806 (windows)

The movie was "A Very Long Engagement". Some other movies play OK.
The subtitle background and foreground are both gray, the background should be black. Subs render fine on OSX DVD Player.

I'm playing dvds through vlc player on my pc and had the distorted gray subtitles, I did a little work around and the subtitles look great on my computer now.
Here is what I did:

Do these without closing or restarting the vlc program:
1. While the movie was playing (with the distorted gray subtitles) point your eyes at the menu bar up top (movie is not at full screen so you can see the main menu bar).
2. click these in order: playback->navigation->dvd menu->subtitle
3. the player will bring you back to the main menu
4. from the main menu, go to setup and turn on the subtitles
5. from the main menu, play your movie.
6: You will see the subtitles clearly!!!

Took me an hour to find this work-around (i was lucky) and I have to do it every time i restart the vlc player, but it's better then seeing those blotchy gray subtitles. Let me know how this works!! Glad if i can help!

Hey thanks man, I signed up just to say that your solution worked perfectly. I spent ages trying to find a work around for this and it drove me nuts lol.

Thanks again!