Is it better to have internal SRT subs or external SRT subs to increase likelihood of Direct Play?

General Discussions
1

Hey guys,

All my files are h264 in an mp4 container with AAC audio, and I would like to know if internal subs or external subs are more beneficial when it comes to increasing likelihood of direct play.

Thank you!

2

The forum is jam-packed full of horror stories about any kind of sub file that isn’t UTF-8 and external subs are more likely to behave.

I can’t get internal subs in an MP4 file to Direct Play on a Roku - as such I use external srt files. If necessary, I use MKVToolNix to strip subs out of an MKV file before I use something else to turn it into an MP4, but most of the time I find the forced sub I want at: https://subscene.com/

3

External subs are preferable.

Unless you still have a lot of DLNA clients (which do support displaying subtitles, that is).

Although I for one am still embedding all my subtitles into MKV files.
But I don’t own a Roku, so… ¯\(ツ)/¯

4

@OttoKerner said:
Although I for one am still embedding all my subtitles into MKV files.
But I don’t own a Roku, so… ¯\(ツ)/¯

If you did - and you wanted Direct Play - that would cure you of that pretty fast.

5

I can’t speak for others but have had a lot of luck with internal SRT files inside and mp4.

As a tool I use mp4tools on the mac.

6

Is external subtitles still preferable?