Server Version#: 1.40.5.8897
Player Version#: 7.24 build 8
I noticed that while watching a show with Plex on my Roku 4K that I see {\an8} being printed along with the subtitle text using the embedded SRT. This typically would direct the subtitle to be moved to the top of the screen but it’s being printed instead. I tried downloading an external version of the same SRT file but I see the same issue.
When I play the same show from chrome using the same embedded SRT, Plex is transcoding the show as well as the subtitle to ASS format which then directs the stream to correctly move the subtitle to the top of the screen. It doesn’t print the {\an8} as text.
Can someone explain to me how this works and why when I play the show transcoded, the subtitles are correctly displayed as opposed to my Roku using direct play?
Here is a link to screenshot showing the two plays. PrivateBin
As a side question, the embedded SRT has 25 other versions of the subtitles in different languages that I have to scroll through to get to the external SRT selection at the bottom. Is there a way to only show the preferred language subtitle selections?
{\an8} isn’t an officially supported tag in SRT files (AFAIK it just supports plain text with some basic HTML tags for things like bold and italic text), so you’re relying on developers adding support for unofficial markup tags, and it sounds like Roku doesn’t have that support. Since {\anX} tags are part of the ASS/SSA spec, maybe the web player has some smarts to say, “it looks like there’s an ASS alignment tag in this text file, I’ll try to render it as ASS instead of SRT,” but that isn’t happening on your Roku. I’d be curious to see if just renaming your external file from .srt to .ass would be enough for it to work properly on Roku (assuming Roku supports that format).
That can’t be done within Plex. You’d have to use something like ffmpeg or MKVToolNix to strip out (or at least rearrange) the tracks you don’t care about.
Thanks @DTR. I did change the file extension from .srt to .ass and Plex/Roku recognizes it as an .ass subtitle. What’s interesting is that it resolves the issue on the Roku but it causes it to transcode the video stream. See before and after rename screenshots - PrivateBin
Regarding the side question, I figure it would have to be manually removed although it would be nice to just say in Plex, don’t show me subtitles that aren’t my preferred language(s).
