ASS subtitle problems on newer Emby versions (after cca 1.0.89)

[smecerb1 4]

My TV is Samsung Q9FN (2018. model) updated with the latest firmware. 

I'm currently on (latest beta) Emby Server version 4.8.0.12 beta (but the same problem occurs on previous versions) and I'm using Emby For SamsungTV version 1.0.85 because this is one of the last version which doesn't have the annoying problem with 30-day trial period. ASS subtitles are working totally correctly (font size is wrong but that is not a problem, that has been corrected in later versions) - attachments with prefix OK.

Problem begins when I install any new version of Emby For SamsungTV after 1.0.85 (last I tried version 1.4.2) - ERR attachments:

   1) subtitles don't occur in the first 60 seconds of play and then all of them"unwrap" in a blink and after that the subtitles are showing normally. If  you switch the subtitles the problem occurs again (1minute of nothing and after that they are OK). SRT subtitles are OK.

   2) subtitles have the problem with Central European letters (lowercase č,š and ž). This special part of the letter (above letter) is shown in front of the letter instead above the letter - the problem is shown in an ERR picture. The rest of lower case special letters are OK and all uppercase letters are OK.

I tried different versions of Server but the problem only occurs on newer versions of Emby For SamsungTV. Every version I tried after 1.0.85, and I tried 4-5 versions, have the same problem.

I notice that there were some "Various ass/ssa subtitle fixes" on version 1.0.89 and latter...

OK-embyserver.txt ERR - embyserver.txt Firefly.S01E01.1080p.BluRay.x265-RARBG.hr.ass

[Luke 37086]

Hi, please try the next update to the app once available and let us know if that looks better. Thanks.

[SamES 891]

Can you please post a copy of the media info from the server?  I want to see the language detected on the subtitle file

[Luke 37086]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, please try the next update to the app once available and let us know if that looks better. Thanks.

New build is up to try. Thanks.

[smecerb1 4]

Media info:

[smecerb1 4]

I tried the last version 1.4.5 and the problem with čšž is solved...great...thanx....

Problem no2 is still here: ASS subtitles are shown cca 60sec after the movie is started (Subtitle Debug 2 is empty for ASS, but for SRT it has http link)

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by smecerb1

[SamES 891]

Just make sure your external subtitle files are named with the correct language identify.  Generally the three letters before the extension (ie: filename.eng.ass). If the wrong language is used then possibly the wrong font will be used for the corresponding language.

For the long startup time for ass subs, the ass renderer only has a small number of subtitle fonts built in.  If it is required to load additional fonts, this takies considerably longer.

[smecerb1 4]

I have around 60sec startup delay whether ass subtitles are UNDefined, ENGlish or croatian(HR).

On version 1.0.85 there was no startup delay for ass subtitles.

 

Which language doesn't require a load of additional fonts?

How does the renderer know when to load additional fonts?

[SamES 891]

1.0.85 is very old, and was using an older ass method

The language selection is generally based on the filename (is it an internal stream or and external ass file).  The are predefined langages that are supported. 

 *.eng.ass file will use the built-in font and will start quicker, but may not support all the characters for the actual language

 

[smecerb1 4]

I did a test on the latest version 1.4.6.
I used the same .ass file and made 3 files with different language sufix.

Loading times:
undefined:     *.ass = 45sec
english:   *.eng.ass =  5sec
croatian:     *.hr.ass= 50sec

Non english times are huge....

 

But this is not all:

then I tried Croatian subtitles (with č š ć đ ž ...) and renamed the file from *.hr.ass to *.eng.ass and loading time this time was around 5 sec and all the special letters were shown correctly. So a workaround for me is to use *.eng.ass filename regardless of the original language in the file. 

Edited October 25, 2022 by smecerb1

[SamES 891]

3 hours ago, smecerb1 said:

I did a test on the latest version 1.4.6.
I used the same .ass file and made 3 files with different language sufix.

Loading times:
undefined:     *.ass = 45sec
english:   *.eng.ass =  5sec
croatian:     *.hr.ass= 50sec

Non english times are huge....

 

But this is not all:

then I tried Croatian subtitles (with č š ć đ ž ...) and renamed the file from *.hr.ass to *.eng.ass and loading time this time was around 5 sec and all the special letters were shown correctly. So a workaround for me is to use *.eng.ass filename regardless of the original language in the file. 

@Luke, are there more languages than the ones we define that are be supported by the internal subs (ie: Croation) or is this just a fluke that this works correctly?