It’s been suggested before, but I thought I’d bring this back, as it’s a feature that should be optional for users in multi-lingual homes as well as those who have users who are learning new languages.
It would be incredibly well thought out if we could load more than one subtitle stream to a VOD, allowing users to watch their content in what could be up to 3 languages at the same time! Spoken, Subtitle 1, Subtitle 2.
Better subtitle management should be a cool selling feature for user engagement as well, as it’s also the default replacement for closed captioning. This means that companies that lead the way in subtitle management are also making headways in accessibility options for users with disabilities as well as those who struggle with or are learning new foreign languages.
Right now, ALL of the major streamers treat subtitles and captioning as a second thought. A leftover feature of a bygone era. Plex could lead the way in tapping a unaddressed accessibility feature that is mostly neglected by major corporations.
You are asking specifically for the free online streaming on https://watch.plex.tv right?
Because if you have a movie on your own Plex server, you can add as many different subtitles as you like. And different users can have individual language preferences, which can pre-select the right subtitle (and audio language, if there are several) automatically.
The selection of subtitles in the online streaming offerings on plex.tv on the other hand is limited to whatever the distribution partner has included. Which is typically very limited.
Side note: Many users have an issue parsing subtitles fast enough even in one language.
How are you handling that if there are 2 or 3 languages at the same time on screen?
My tip: the key to efficient language learning is immersion. Which means you should select the audio stream that contains the language that you want to learn. Then add the “full”/“dialogs” subtitle in the same language.
Activating subtitles in your own native language should only be done for absolute beginners.
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m not interested in modifying my Video files or manually generating a new subtitle file for every single item in my library. I’m more interested in just natively streaming the multiple language options I already have available locally and within the app itself.
I’m also not terribly concerned with how a user benefits or doesn’t from this ability. I’m more interested in the ability to do so. The level of proficiency needed to benefit from this application of technology should be best left to the user.
I appreciate the effort but I’m already aware that I can manually extract and merge my own subtitle files. This is not as elegant a solution as I’m trying to propose here.
As for simultaneously displaying multiple subtitles… there’s already an existing feature suggestion. Unless I’m missing some unique aspect in your suggestion, please comment/vote in that thread to help us avoid distracting or cannibalizing votes.
