Server Version#: 1.18.9.9571
Player Version#: 6.6.16
Hello,
Is it possible a recent update would stop forced subtitles from working on my Plex/Roku Ultra setup? I could have sworn movies such as Hunt for Red October, Tora Tora Tora, Letters from Iwo Jima, etc. all used to play back the foreign subtitles with no issue and no manual intervention to change settings. Movies are all in .mkv format and server is installed on Synology NAS DS718+ with transcoding enabled (Plex Pass). Although after playing back the movies on VLC they required to have subtitles enabled which makes me now think they actually don’t have forced subs. I haven’t watched those movies in a while.
If I manually turn on the subtitle stream that has the subs only for the foreign parts and not the entire movie I get buffering issues. Seems more so with those with dts audio. I’m guessing because the Roku doesn’t really support dts even though the nas drive is trying to transcode.? “Only” buffers when subtitles selected.
Looking through postings it seems this has been an issue. Has it been rectified or is there a setting or suggestions to stop the buffering as I prefer to keep the mkv format?
MediaInfo will show you if any embedded subtitle tracks exist and if they have the forced flag set.
Here is the subtitle information for my copy of The Hunt for Red October. The second track has the forced flag set.
The Hunt for Red October
Text #1
ID : 4
Format : PGS
Codec ID : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration : 2 h 9 min
Bit rate : 40.0 kb/s
Count of elements : 3240
Stream size : 37.2 MiB (0%)
Language : English
Default : Yes
Forced : No
Text #2
ID : 5
Format : PGS
Codec ID : S_HDMV/PGS
Codec ID/Info : Picture based subtitle format used on BDs/HD-DVDs
Duration : 2 h 4 min
Bit rate : 470 b/s
Count of elements : 52
Stream size : 427 KiB (0%)
Title : Foreign Language (forced)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : Yes
You can use the Header Editor tool in MKVToolNix to set the forced flag for a subtitle track.
Plex honors the forced flag for subtitles. You may have to reanalyze or refresh the metadata for the movie after changing any flags.
Note that Plex remembers subtitle settings, so if you manually select a different track, Plex will remember that choice the next time you play the movie and use it instead of the forced track.
If you want to convert image subtitles (PGS/VOBSUB) to text (SRT), look at Subtitle Edit. Conversion for forced subtitle tracks is usually very fast, as there are usually few entries. For example, the forced subtitles for The Hunt for Red October has 26 lines. The full subtitle track has 1600+ lines.
/Movies/The Hunt For Red October (1990)/The Hunt For Red October (1990).mkv
/Movies/The Hunt For Red October (1990)/The Hunt For Red October (1990).eng.forced.srt
I edited my post as I’m thinking some of those movies don’t have forced subs. When I tried them in VLC I had to have subtitles enabled. Viewing some posts it seems to be an issue when subtitles are selected. Do you know if there have been any updates to rectify this issue when selecting a subtitle stream?
I do not have any Roku devices, so cannot comment on their behavior.
I have not noticed any issues with recognizing forced subtitles in the following clients: Android mobile & Android TV, Plex app for LG TVs, Plex Web, and Plex for Windows.
I’m running Plex Media Server 1.21.0.3608. It has no issues recognizing embedded or external subtitles.
Using the tools I mentioned, you can determine if subtitles tracks exist, if the forced flag is set, and modify the flags as desired.
You should also verify the Audio & Subtitle settings for your Plex account (Account Settings).
You can also try Plex Dancing one of the movies. That will force Plex to re-recognize the movie, removing any saved behavior from previous subtitle selections.
I’m learning as I go with the plex setup. Interesting in that I have a family member that I shared my library with via remote connection. They have a slightly newer roku ultra and a brand new tv. I have an old plasma. They have no issues at all viewing with subtitles. Could it be the newer ultra or the new tv allows for less or no transcoding/better compatibility?
