Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

For questions and discussion that is NOT (I repeat NOT) specific to a certain Operating System.
VideoWatchingMachine
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 3
Joined: 17 Jan 2022 21:20

Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby VideoWatchingMachine » 17 Jan 2022 21:41

Good evening.

I'm a new user of VLC media player. I've tried searching the internet and the forums, but didn't find the answer to my question.
I've noticed that when watching a DVD-quality videos (576p) on Full HD or QHD display, the subtitles are very pixelated. It seems that they are added to the frame before upscaling to the full size of the display.
Is there an option to change it so that the text is added after upscaling, so that it doesn't look like displayed on ZX Spectrum? ;-)
I'm attaching an example shot and a second image where I've manually entered the same text in the same Arial font, size 28, in a basic image editor (ShareX editor) to show the quality difference.
I'm using VLC 3.0.16 on Windows 10, posted in this forum, because I think it's not OS-related. If I did it wrong, please forgive.
Thanks in advance.

Image

Image

Lotesdelere
Cone Master
Cone Master
Posts: 10074
Joined: 08 Sep 2006 04:39
Location: Europe

Re: Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby Lotesdelere » 18 Jan 2022 13:21

If the subtitles are DVD subtitles, then they are bitmap images, so yes they are at SD resolution and they look ugly on a 4k display.

VideoWatchingMachine
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 3
Joined: 17 Jan 2022 21:20

Re: Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby VideoWatchingMachine » 18 Jan 2022 14:36

Thank you. You mean that subtitles are stored on the DVD disc/in the file as bitmaps?

Rémi Denis-Courmont
Developer
Developer
Posts: 15312
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 16:01
VLC version: master
Operating System: Linux
Contact:

Re: Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby Rémi Denis-Courmont » 18 Jan 2022 18:12

Yes.
Rémi Denis-Courmont
https://www.remlab.net/
Private messages soliciting support will be systematically discarded

VideoWatchingMachine
New Cone
New Cone
Posts: 3
Joined: 17 Jan 2022 21:20

Re: Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby VideoWatchingMachine » 19 Jan 2022 10:07

Honestly haven't given much thought to this topic before. Now, when I realized the features and processing power of early DVD players, it makes perfect sense. However in 2022 it's hard to imagine that there were devices without an operating system incapable of rendering text.

Thanks a lot for enlightenment. :)

Rémi Denis-Courmont
Developer
Developer
Posts: 15312
Joined: 07 Jun 2004 16:01
VLC version: master
Operating System: Linux
Contact:

Re: Bad subtitle font quality when watching DVD-quality videos

Postby Rémi Denis-Courmont » 19 Jan 2022 17:08

Devices were capable of rendering text. This is just a very stupid short-sighted decision by DVD-IF ostensibly so that the subtitles would look the same on all devices.
Rémi Denis-Courmont
https://www.remlab.net/
Private messages soliciting support will be systematically discarded


Return to “General VLC media player Troubleshooting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 38 guests