Subtitles cannot be turned off from the Emby app when casting by DLNA

[strichmo 12]

Device: Samsung Q60AA 55 TV

Control: Android App or Firefox web browser

Server: Local network and media is direct streamed

When I play media via the above with DLNA that has subtitles (all built into the video file) the subtitles are turned on and can only be turned off directly via the TV. On the Emby app the subtitles are marked as off. So clearly the TV is ignoring the command to have subtitles off. Is this an Emby bug or TV bug?

[Luke 36997]

Hi, is it direct playing? If yes, then there is no way to do it, at least to my knowledge. I'll have to look through upnp docs.

We could accomplish it via server transcoding but that's not even worth pursuing as the vast majority of users will be unhappy with giving up direct play just for that.

[strichmo 12]

14 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, is it direct playing? If yes, then there is no way to do it, at least to my knowledge. I'll have to look through upnp docs.

We could accomplish it via server transcoding but that's not even worth pursuing as the vast majority of users will be unhappy with giving up direct play just for that.

Yes it is via direct playing. So for my curiosity - DLNA doesn't provide a way to control subtitles remotely, is that what you're saying?

I agree server transcoding is a bad option. Couldn't the server simply not send the subtitles data? Or is "direct play" literally just a blind transfer of the file itself?

[Luke 36997]

It's embedded in the file, so the file would have to change, thus server transcoding. If they were external subtitles then yes we could do that 

[strichmo 12]

I figured out how to control the subtitles over DLNA remotely. Just FYI I've never dived into this stuff before but I'll do my best:

I downloaded Intel Device Spy to check out what UPNP interfaces the TV provides. I used GetMediaInfo to get the currently playing media from Emby:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<DIDL-Lite xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dlna="urn:schemas-dlna-org:metadata-1-0/" xmlns:upnp="urn:schemas-upnp-org:metadata-1-0/upnp/" xmlns:sec="http://www.sec.co.kr/" xmlns:pv="http://www.pv.com/pvns/" xmlns="urn:schemas-upnp-org:metadata-1-0/DIDL-Lite/">
  <item restricted="1" id="325" parentID="321">
    <dc:title>The Great British Bake Off - Bread Week</dc:title>
    <upnp:class>object.item.videoItem</upnp:class>
    <dc:date>2020-10-05T14:00:00.0000000Z</dc:date>
    <dc:description>It's Bread Week, and the remaining bakers have a lot to prove in a sweet and savoury signature, a technical that honours the NHS, and an ambitious, artistic showstopper.</dc:description>
    <upnp:album>Season 11</upnp:album>
    <upnp:originalTrackNumber>3</upnp:originalTrackNumber>
    <upnp:episodeNumber>3</upnp:episodeNumber>
    <upnp:episodeSeason>11</upnp:episodeSeason>
    <upnp:seriesTitle>The Great British Bake Off</upnp:seriesTitle>
    <upnp:playbackCount>3</upnp:playbackCount>
    <upnp:lastPlaybackTime>2022-05-19</upnp:lastPlaybackTime>
    <res duration="1:08:05.878" size="1585008997" nrAudioChannels="2" resolution="1280x720" sampleFrequency="48000" bitrate="3487389" protocolInfo="http-get:*:video/x-mkv:DLNA.ORG_PN=MATROSKA;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_CI=0;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01D00000000000000000000000000000">http://192.168.20.200:8096/videos/325/stream.mkv?DeviceProfileId=b3f4bbf6d57f3f7ae15ab103ebf2f99d&amp;DeviceId=uuid:f051d24a-b62a-4652-a511-93fe565c563c&amp;MediaSourceId=edc444205811b3e15ecdf236c73715de&amp;Static=true&amp;StartTimeTicks=231199999&amp;PlaySessionId=1a6048249ae04647a54b0dd115c9af67&amp;api_key=838c69992252433585ac10fe6f4c3221</res>
    <sec:CaptionInfoEx sec:type="srt">http://192.168.20.200:8096/Videos/325/edc444205811b3e15ecdf236c73715de/Subtitles/3/0/Stream.srt?api_key=838c69992252433585ac10fe6f4c3221</sec:CaptionInfoEx>
    <upnp:albumArtURI dlna:profileID="JPEG_SM">http://192.168.20.200:8096/Items/325/Images/Primary/0/f73b0030817a53d3069a4033d5f64b42/jpg/640/480/0/0</upnp:albumArtURI>
    <upnp:icon>http://192.168.20.200:8096/Items/325/Images/Primary/0/f73b0030817a53d3069a4033d5f64b42/jpg/48/48/0/0</upnp:icon>
    <res protocolInfo="http-get:*:image/jpeg:DLNA.ORG_PN=JPEG_TN;DLNA.ORG_OP=01;DLNA.ORG_CI=0;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=01D00000000000000000000000000000" resolution="160x90">http://192.168.20.200:8096/Items/325/Images/Primary/0/f73b0030817a53d3069a4033d5f64b42/jpg/160/160/0/0</res>
  </item>
</DIDL-Lite>

Then used XControlCaption interface to enable/disable the subtitles:

Based on my 30 minutes total knowledge of UPNP/DLNA, Emby can use this interface to fully control the subtitles of (at least) Samsung TVs.

Is this helpful to you? Happy to dive deeper anywhere for you.

Edited May 19, 2022 by strichmo

[Luke 36997]

Interestingly I can't find any info about that in a google search. I wonder if it's Samsung specific.

[strichmo 12]

Should I submit this as a feature request somewhere? Or have you taken it on board?

[Luke 36997]

We'll take a look at it. Thanks.