Improvements to subtitles

[Martinspire 1]

I'm one of those folks that likes to use subtitles for most of his content and now that I've been using Emby for a while I'd like to suggest a few improvements to the display of subtitles on media on various Emby apps. I've been spoiled by PotPlayer on Windows that can just display gorgeous subtitles that transform it from "that thing Grandma uses to hear better" to "it kinda looks nice".

 

So first things first, my main annoyance:

1. Sometimes the shadow just isn't enough to spot the white-on-white text. Most notible with tv-shows that display the crew on the bottom of the screen in white text and it kinda forced setting the background square to just being able to read them. More shadow or thicker border lines would help.

2. Easier access to sync the subtitle. I often download subtitles and they don't really match the content sometimes. But every device I use Emby on, it needs a lot of clicks to move it forward and back depending on whether the timing is too soon or too late. And while the Shield allows for 0.5 second intervals, my LG TV only goes by 0.1s and on Chrome its even 0.05s (and most often I need 1 or 2 seconds in 1 go to change). If there was a keyboard shortcut to use, I would gladly use it than a remote with directional buttons. <enter> <left> <left> <enter> <down (at least twice but if you have a lot of subtitles it takes long)> <down> <enter> <left or right depending on earlier/later and often like 6 times> <back> <back> done... It kinda ruins the viewing experience if you need to go to the menu to sync up but you need the content to play to know how much you need to change it.

3. Also let me go up to move to the bottom of the subtitles menu and move it to the side of the screen on every device. Especially not on top of the subtitles I'm trying to synchronize. 

3. More padding on the (transparent) background color. I notice this on the Nvidia Shield that on the left and right it kinda needs padding to make it look better, though I'd just rather use more shadow.

4. The ability to have both shadow and border at the same time. 

5. Fade-in and fade-out. It improves the viewing experience by easing the display of subtitles on the video and makes it easier on the eyes.

6. Decrease brightness as a night-mode or based on the content. On dark scenes its sometimes too bright, especially during the night. And a blue light filter would help make it easier on the eyes as well.

7. More settings for size and better specify it for the device I'm using. I shouldn't need to change the size on my TV

8. When searching for subtitles in the search menu, on the Shield it doesn't show a spinner. And it always waits for 30 or 60 seconds to show the results. Not to mention that you can't search for 2 languages at the same time. Though I'm not sure if thats the subtitle plugin I'm using but let me know if I need to request this somewhere else...

9. Allow me to pick a different font family. Its mostly Arial but I'd rather use. Also font smoothing, anti aliasing, higher resolution overall or something to make it look more detailed would be appreciated. On some devices I can still see the pixels of the letters.

10. Allow me to shift it up or down a bit. I like it closer to the middle of the screen. Others might prefer it lower.

 

I would understand if some of the settings would be behind some "advanced" menu to not annoy other folks with an overload of features but overall I think a few more options wouldn't hurt. And as you can see, there's still much to improve. Not to mention that it sets yourself apart from the direct competition. As for somebody with bad hearing, its nice if subtitles are not just barebones and ugly. Its part of the content for many folks that aren't fluent in like English, Norwegian or Chinese.

[visproduction 315]

Martin,

I think you are asking for updates for all platforms.  I believe that processing subtitles will be different for each Emby presentation software / hardware.  I think making features work for all is quite a lot of work for each method.  Reading through your list, it sounds like you already know that.

Using CSS custom for browser playback is the one where you can change a lot of styling.  I posted some css style options here: 
 You can adjust the subtitles for all media by adding custom css in settings.
These custom css styles would fix most of your numbered list above, for browser playback and casting to TV's: 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10

Your #2: Syncing the original .src to be accurate so it doesn't need adjustment is possible to do with Sync subtitles online: easy timing adjuster | Subtitle Tools --- but it's a bit of work and makes you feel like a video editor.  It's rather satisfying when you get it right.

#5  Also could possibly be done with CSS animation.  It would need some extra trigger to recognize each subtitle. Try adding css custom style to subtitles div with some trigger:

animation: fadeIn 0.5s;

But how to exit with a fadeout?  That would also need to get the trigger.  Then you have the problem that some titles change immediately and if you add fade in and out, the sync will go out.  If a user is still reading the subtitle and it fades out, that will be a bad experience. This feature seems like it is not worth the effort. 

#8.  Shield related. I have no idea what is going on.

Hope that helps.

[Luke 42078]

Hi @Martinspire yes these are good suggestions. We will take a look at incorporating them. Thanks !

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10. Allow me to shift it up or down a bit. I like it closer to the middle of the screen. Others might prefer it lower.

This one is planned for future updates !

[Luke 42078]

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More settings for size

What other settings for size would you like?