Subtitle background

[Ollifi]

Some videos have hardcoded subtitles. But I would like to use other subtitles embedded to MKV file. So could you add an ability to have an black background in the subtitles? This way, the hardcoded subtitles would cover. I would really appreciate this!

[fkuehne]

Backgrounds for subtitles of any colour are on our todo list for this summer, but I can't give a more precise estimate since this requires major changes to VLC's subtitles drawing engine.

[Ollifi]

Ok, thank you for information. Couldn't you use iOS default subtitle engine? It gives many controls to users via Accessibility settings. For example Netflix uses those.

[fkuehne]

No, we can't use it, because we don't use the normal playback view in order to support more file formats.

However, we will include the full a11y support known from the default engine.

[Grover_vlc]

I am using VLC for iOS for the first time and although I love the Windows version of VLC (what would we be without it?) I am quite surprised to see that the iOS version of this respected program does not seem to be on par with what we are used to from VLC.

This request was posted 3 years ago and when I used VLC for iOS for the first time yesterday, one of the first things I noticed was indeed this: one can not change the textcolour (or background colour) of subtitles displayed by your own downloaded .srt files. Resulting in this when you watch movies with hardcoded subs:



Can this be implemented for a future version?
(Is VLC for iOS actually actively developed? I notice quite a few UI/UX issues in the current version... really not what I would expect from VLC)

Thanks.

[Grover_vlc]

My apologies...

I just discovered in the settings that it is indeed possible to change the color of the subtitles!

After testing it it did occur to me however that Ollifi's initial feature request makes total sense and is still valid. Even when we have the ability to change the textcolour of subtitles now, it is still quite hard to read (on top of hardcoded subs) when there is no background colour available.

It would be really helpful to have it. Thanks.

[Grover_vlc]

Option to vertically change the position of subtitles

Instead or in addition to a background colour for subtitles, what about:

- an option to vertically change the position of the subtitles? Infuse player for iOS does this. Look:



-
Problem solved elegantly .

[Grover_vlc]

Since VLC for iOS can't seem to stream movies directly from Dropbox with the .srt subtitles displayed on the movie, I am using nPlayer (free version) for now.

When I look at their options for subtitles, they cover more then VLC does at the moment. Have a look:



One of their handy options is:

Display Subtitles: On Screen or On Video.

When you select 'On Screen', nPlayer displays the srt subtitles on the screen-area of the player, under the actual movie frame. So, hardcoded subtitles never get in the way of your custom .srt ones! Perfect solution. I wish VLC has this for the nearby future.

[Grover_vlc]

Well... it doesn't end there with nPlayer. Look at how dead easy it is in that (free) iOS app to change the location and size of your subtitles on the screen:

http://help.nplayer.tv/en/36-2/subtitle ... subtitles/

Yes, you can change the location and size of your subtitles in a WYSIWYG manner, right on the screen where you are watching the movie!

Wow... that is quite impressive! I am now streaming a movie with a custom .srt file (which does not have the same filename as the movie) straight from my Dropbox account and...I can change the location and size of my subtitles in front of my eyes on the screen. That means, that when I play a movie with hardcoded Chinese subs, I can just move the English subs that are displayed from my .srt file under the Chinese subs on the screen, just with my finger. What a flexibility.

This is outstanding user-friendliness. Hope to see something like this in VLC iOS.