The VideoLAN Forums

Hi Guys,
I am first time.. VLC is great, I am happy becuase I am legally-blind and deaf, I watch DVD Player, i can't read small closed caption on 480i, I got new VLC, I am very happy work Closed Caption on HDTV, big size, color, I am feeling better... but DVD will no longer closed caption become subtitles or SDH (Subtitle for Deaf & Hearing impairment)

I can't read subtitles becuase moive white, snow, between text and screen, too hard... I would like VLC can add "Solid Black Background" on Subtitle?

Help me?

Thank you
RHR

IIRC solid background option is better in VLC 1.2.0

Yep

Yes, i had 1.2 but how? I can't find options

RHR

Options might not be in GUI yet.

But they can be found from
http://git.videolan.org/?p=vlc.git;a=bl ... freetype.c
e.g. freetype-background-opacity and freetype-background-color

VLC 1.1.10:
Tools >> Preferences (CTRL+P): Show settings - Simple >> Subtitles & OSD: Display Settings - Effect [Background / Outline / Fat Outline]
Tools >> Preferences (CTRL+P): Show settings - All >> Video >> Subtitles/OSD >> Text renderer (Freetype2 font renderer): ...

it is for Closed Caption only, I need subtitle-text version

you need buy or rent Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

or ... any Blu-Ray Disc

They don't have closed caption, only subtitle-text, I can't see small fonts and hard see without solid background

RHR

I think that there is not much you can do about DVD subtitles as they are actually pictures = subpictures. I have just tried to play some DVD movie and add (drag&drop) subtitles from external subtitle SRT file - simple text. It works. Now you can adjust subtitle size, position, color, solid background. So you could download some subtitles to your movie from Internet or you can try to rip subtitles from DVD by yourself (VobSub, SubRip). BD could be similar.

I learn VideoLan 1.2, interest about subtitle / cpation, few days later... i got trouble it is crash

agian I click VideoLan, dialog box said "vlc media player just crashed do you want, no or yes" I alrady yes one time..
then quit and again... VideoLAN is normal, CTL + D normal, I click "Play" 5 second, diallog box is gone, i click VideoLAN again "1.2 vlc media player just crashed do you want"

re-install, same crash
I use uninstall, cleanup regedit, delete /appdata/vlc, all clear, then install still crash... uninstall and install for 1.1.11, it is fine work play... i need 1.2 for more subtitle/caption, install 1.2 still crash..

help me!

RHR

If you know gdb, you can provide us backtraces. Otherwise it is a bit hard to figure out what is the crashing section.

No, I don't know about gdb, please tell me about gdb or link?

RHR

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=84430&p=279282&hilit=gdb#p279282

Pardon my naivete, but I'm still not entirely sure what gdb is. I'm not very tech savvy and I wanna get the scoop on the subtitling issue. Maybe someone can help me out? I'm not legally blind (technically), but my vision is pretty bad and I have often times have trouble seeing the subtitled on a variety of foreign films. Anyway, the implementation of a solid background would be awesome. Of course, if someone could recommend or point me in the right direction of a tampa ophthalmologist, that would be super. I just moved to Florida and need to see an eye doctor anyway. Maybe he/she can help too. =D

gdb is a debugger. If VLC crashes when run via gdb, there will be some additional messages (if one uses backtrace command) that will help us pinpoint the part of the code that causes the crash. If you aren't tech savvy, you should forget gdb since it isn't noobie friendly.

VLC 1.1.10:
Tools >> Preferences (CTRL+P): Show settings - Simple >> Subtitles & OSD: Display Settings - Effect [Background / Outline / Fat Outline]
Tools >> Preferences (CTRL+P): Show settings - All >> Video >> Subtitles/OSD >> Text renderer (Freetype2 font renderer): ...

No matter what I change in the settings, the subtitles do not change their appearance: the size does not change, shadows, framing and background do not appear, making it easier to read the text against the contrasting background of the film. What can be wrong?

VLC media player 3.0.11 Vetinari, Microsoft Windows 10.0.19042.685

mkv:

Text #22
ID: 24
Format: ASS
Codec ID: S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info: Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode: Lossless
Language: Russian
Default: No
Forced: No

Settings:

On Screen Display

• Enable On Screen Display (OSD) - on
• Enable sub-pictures - on
• On Screen Display - on
• Text rendering module - Freetype2 font renderer

Add a shadow - on
Add a background - on
Outline colour - black
Overlays - all off

Text renderer / Freetype2 font renderer

• Background opacity - 128
• Background colour - black
• Outline opacity - 128
• Outline colour - black
• Outline thickness - thick
• Shadow opacity - 128
• Shadow colour - black
• Shadow angle - -45
• Shadow distance - 0.06

neither DVD or SSA have the ability to be modified as they are read or decoded as bitmaps

neither DVD or SSA have the ability to be modified as they are read or decoded as bitmaps

That is, subtitles in the .ASS format can not even be configured to display over a darkened background?

ticket 3798
You can extract ass subtitles from mkv file (mkvtoolnix mkvextractgui). Then you can see what you can edit in the ass file or convert it to ordinary srt file.

It's interesting that this feature request doesn't come up more, as I think there are ways some other players are at least affording some alteration to the subtitle overlay to make them more readable.

So the consensus is that DVD/BD subtitles are images and can't be easily changed through video players.

However, as much as I looked for a way to at least add an opaque background on the subtitles in VLC (3.0.x), nothing worked to change the actual subtitle display.

I merely wanted a solid box background to help differentiate the white subtitle from a bright scene.

Maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but of all the options now visible under Preferences > All > Video > Subtitles / OSD > Text renderer, none changed the actual way the subtitle displayed, only other overlays such as the time display when I'm scrolling through the video.

I extracted the m2ts video stream from the BD and played it back on VLC itself and MPC-HC, where as expected, no difference in results, until i played it in POT Player.

POT has a feature that does add a background opaque box behind the subtitle, so it's doing additional work to help make these readable.

It's unfortunate that POT can't play the DVD/BD ISO directly or its menus, this is one place VLC shines, but at least the technology exists to alter these DVD/BD subtitles just to make them a little more readable.

Maybe VLC could revisit this option.