# Subtitles require transcoding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Apps & Creations\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 11:08am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964 "2014-08-07T11:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pfandrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pfandrade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pfandrade)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 11:08am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/1 "2014-08-07T11:08:20Z")
Hello,   I have PlexConnect running on my Synology along with PMS. Everything works fine on the AppleTV except for subtitles.   If I try to play a movie with external subtitles I get an error. If I choose the same movie with no subtitles it plays fine.   My Synology is not able to do transcoding, I would expect that Apple TV would be able to render the subtitles on its side. But apparently it's trying to transcode everything together on the PMS side.   Is this normal? Isn't the Apple TV able to render the subs on its side?   ---
**Author:** ![drewbie](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/drewbie/32/6262_2.png) [@drewbie](https://forums.plex.tv/u/drewbie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/2 "2014-08-07T11:46:12Z")
Have a read of this thread [https://forums.plex.tv/topic/95057-official-new-subtitle-renderer-feedback-thread/](https://forums.plex.tv/topic/95057-official-new-subtitle-renderer-feedback-thread/) the initial post has a link to the Subtitles supported direct via plexconnect. ---
**Author:** ![moody\_blue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/moody_blue/32/7835_2.png) [@moody\_blue](https://forums.plex.tv/u/moody_blue)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/3 "2014-08-07T18:12:03Z")
External subs need to be SRT and in aTV settings you need to specify iOS, PMS in one of the parameters at the bottom ---
**Author:** ![baa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/baa/32/2026_2.png) [@baa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/baa)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/4 "2014-08-07T18:15:22Z")
\>\> External subs need to be SRT ...or tell the type, come up with an import filter and I will happily add it into the Subtitle.py. :-D ---
**Author:** ![pfandrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pfandrade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pfandrade)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/5 "2014-08-11T11:00:49Z")
> External subs need to be SRT and in aTV settings you need to specify iOS, PMS in one of the parameters at the bottom I confirm that I have iOS, PMS on aTV settings and subtitles are SRT ``` Video Codec H264 Bitrate 907 kbps Bit Depth 8 CABAC 1 Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0 Color Space yuv Duration 2:08:14 Frame Rate 23.976 fps Frame Rate Mode cfr Has Scaling Matrix 0 Height 544 Level 4.1 Profile high Ref Frames 4 Scan Type progressive Width 1280 Audio Codec AAC Channels Stereo Bitrate 94 kbps Language English Bitrate Mode VBR Duration 2:08:14 Profile lc Sampling Rate 48000 Hz Subtitles Codec SRT Subtitles Codec SRT Language Português ``` Is there some way I can debug this on the PlexConnect side? I have checked plexconnect log and there's nothing there of note. Maybe I can add some log statements in the Python code that deals with the subtitles (Subtitles.py) ? ---
**Author:** ![baa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/baa/32/2026_2.png) [@baa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/baa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/6 "2014-08-11T15:28:11Z")
With loglevel=High you should find one or the other log from Subtitles.py already. Are your SRTs external to or embedded into the MKV files? ---
**Author:** ![moody\_blue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/moody_blue/32/7835_2.png) [@moody\_blue](https://forums.plex.tv/u/moody_blue)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/7 "2014-08-11T19:04:56Z")
Are you using DirectPlay (transcoder in ATV Settings) ? It is a must for Synology ARM devices. ---
**Author:** ![pfandrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pfandrade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pfandrade)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/8 "2014-08-12T20:12:07Z")
> With loglevel=High you should find one or the other log from Subtitles.py already. > > Are your SRTs external to or embedded into the MKV files? Ok have it set to High. Subtitles are external (automatically downloaded by the OpenSubtitles agent). > Are you using DirectPlay (transcoder in ATV Settings) ? It is a must for Synology ARM devices. I had it on Auto because I have some shared libraries that do support transcoding. I no longer get the error when playing movies with subtitles, but \_most\_ of  the time I also don't see any subtitles. Armed with my log files here's what I think is happening: 1 - Some automatically downloaded subtitles seem to missing a format. ``` WebServer: http request path: /PMS(192.168.144.2)/library/streams/2019&PlexConnect=Subtitle&PlexConnectSubtitleFormat=&PlexConnectUDID=C07H9XNGDRHN ``` 2 - There's also some encoding issues (at least in the log file): ``` 20:33:10 Subtitle: ====== received Subtitle ====== 20:33:10 Subtitle: 1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,074 Subtitles downloaded from www.OpenSubtitles.org 2 00:02:03,520 → 00:02:07,240 Bruxelas, B?lgica 3 00:02:27,280 → 00:02:29,320 CIA, Langley, Virginia 4 00:02:30,600 → 00:02:33,680 Opera??es Internac […] 20:33:10 Subtitle: ====== Subtitle finished ====== ``` I'll have to learn where the OpenSubtitles agent stores its subtitles to further debug this. PS: All of these subtitles work on Plex running on a RaspberryPi ([http://www.rasplex.com](http://www.rasplex.com)). ---
**Author:** ![moody\_blue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/moody_blue/32/7835_2.png) [@moody\_blue](https://forums.plex.tv/u/moody_blue)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/9 "2014-08-12T21:23:11Z")
> I'll have to learn where the OpenSubtitles agent stores its subtitles to further debug this. I would love to know this as well. I've seen in another post that the Plex agent stores the subtitles as "metadata", therefore not in the same folder as the video file, consequently PlexConnect does not finds them. But I'm not 100% sure of this. That's why I'm using Subliminal (from SynoCommunity) instead of Plex agents to search for subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![pfandrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pfandrade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pfandrade)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/10 "2014-08-13T08:20:32Z")
> I had it on Auto because I have some shared libraries that do support transcoding. I no longer get the error when playing movies with subtitles, but \_most\_ of  the time I also don't see any subtitles. Just realized that it would be great if on could set transcoding options per server instead of globally. > I would love to know this as well. I've seen in another post that the Plex agent stores the subtitles as "metadata", therefore not in the same folder as the video file, consequently PlexConnect does not finds them. But I'm not 100% sure of this. > > That's why I'm using Subliminal (from SynoCommunity) instead of Plex agents to search for subtitles. They are store in the "Media" folder along with the posters, etc. And PlexConnect does find them, they just don't work reliably. I'll give that package you mentioned a try. ---
**Author:** ![pfandrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pfandrade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pfandrade)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/11 "2014-08-13T19:35:50Z")
> That's why I'm using Subliminal (from SynoCommunity) instead of Plex agents to search for subtitles. Great tip, thanks! I'm using this now and everything seems to be working. With the plus that subtitles are now stored next to the video file. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/subtitles-require-transcoding/72964/12 "2019-12-21T02:40:21Z")
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