Emby Android TV subtitle position at the bottom of screen

[Youthanasia 12]

I would like to have the option to display subtitles outside the "video frame" at the bottom of the screen, regardless of movie format.

Currently Plex, Jellyfin and also KODI offer this possibility, with Emby being the only left out, and the only reason I am not using Emby as my primary media server.

Kodi does have the best implementation options:

 

 

The forum discussion for reference:

 

[Luke 42077]

HI, yes more options to control this are certainly possible for future updates. Thanks.

[yzxvw 15]

We need this feature asap imo.

[martijnds 8]

I also agree, this is the main reason I'm still using infuse on my Apple TV...

[Youthanasia 12]

Let me know if more clarification is needed. Thanks.

[flueynidal 0]

Please have this feature asap, after I purchased I noticed this issue, so I'm still stuck with Plex....

[y29shi 8]

I want this as well!! Actually I thought this feature was already builtin in most modern media players

[podonnell 47]

This works fine on the LG version of the app. I saw my subtitles go into the black bar area on a few shows I tested.

[podonnell 47]

Android version:

 

LG version:

[ebr 16169]

3 hours ago, podonnell said:

This works fine on the LG version of the app. I saw my subtitles go into the black bar area on a few shows I tested.

Hi.  Yes, completely different players.

[podonnell 47]

24 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Yes, completely different players.

Indeed. Some comments here seem to hint that this is an Emby issue, but it just seems to be the player used for Android.
Hopefully it's not too much to get this working in Android, as very wide aspects ratios cause subtitles to block a lot of the image. Would love to use that black space for subtitles.

[Luke 42077]

2 hours ago, podonnell said:

Indeed. Some comments here seem to hint that this is an Emby issue, but it just seems to be the player used for Android.
Hopefully it's not too much to get this working in Android, as very wide aspects ratios cause subtitles to block a lot of the image. Would love to use that black space for subtitles.

On almost all platforms, the video player handles rendering subtitles for us. That means whether bottom means screen or video edge is decided by the subtitle rendering of the video player.  Changing this is easier on some platforms, harder on others. It usually involves disabling the video player's built-in rendering and handling all subtitle drawing ourselves. If we've already done that on a given platform, then adjusting the definition of the bottom isn't a big deal. If we haven't, then it comes with a big up-front cost.

[flueynidal 0]

5 hours ago, podonnell said:

Indeed. Some comments here seem to hint that this is an Emby issue, but it just seems to be the player used for Android.
Hopefully it's not too much to get this working in Android, as very wide aspects ratios cause subtitles to block a lot of the image. Would love to use that black space for subtitles.

so if you think it's not Emby issue, then why Plex is working OK? why Kodi working OK?  please let me know what's your thought about it, thanks

[podonnell 47]

1 hour ago, flueynidal said:

so if you think it's not Emby issue, then why Plex is working OK? why Kodi working OK?  please let me know what's your thought about it, thanks

I can see how that might have been misinterpreted, sorry. It's definitely an "emby issue".
What I meant by that is they have other players that do it correctly, so it's more specifically the player that has the problem. Not emby across the entire platform.

A better way to put it is this issue seems to be specific to emby-android, and perhaps some others but I have only tested a few.

[flueynidal 0]

3 hours ago, podonnell said:

I can see how that might have been misinterpreted, sorry. It's definitely an "emby issue".
What I meant by that is they have other players that do it correctly, so it's more specifically the player that has the problem. Not emby across the entire platform.

A better way to put it is this issue seems to be specific to emby-android, and perhaps some others but I have only tested a few.

Sorry, I don't want to be rude, just I'm waiting for this feature for a long time but seems no progress so far. I was hoping can get rid of Plex so I put lots of effort on setting up Emby sever, but in the end found out this issue which make me stuck with Plex again....

I'm happy with all other Emby functionality, better performance on the DV/HDR 4K videos , etc compared with Plex/Kodi, etc

[Youthanasia 12]

Bump,

Now even Jellyfin updated the android tv client. On the latest public version subtitles are shown as in Emby, which is a no-go for me.

Any development in horizon on Emby android tv client?

 

[yzxvw 15]

Hi, any update on this? I would like to use Android instead of TV version on my TV since it's more well developed now but neither support this function.

I just hope you guys pay more attention on this feature, it's really important for many users whose library contains most sup subs . As a paid user, currently I have to use a modded version which is able to display the sup on black bar. If some random could just fix this issue, you guys should do it much better!

 

@Luke@ebr

 

[Luke 42077]

On 1/14/2025 at 7:45 AM, yzxvw said:

Hi, any update on this? I would like to use Android instead of TV version on my TV since it's more well developed now but neither support this function.

I just hope you guys pay more attention on this feature, it's really important for many users whose library contains most sup subs . As a paid user, currently I have to use a modded version which is able to display the sup on black bar. If some random could just fix this issue, you guys should do it much better!

 

@Luke@ebr

 

Hi, yes more options to control this are certainly possible. Thanks.

[kron0s 24]

Hope this gets added soon.  Would love to get subtitles outside of the picture frame when the video is 21:9

[crusher11 1101]

On the subject of subtitle positioning, it seems that if a line has a flagged alignment, it doesn't get moved? I have an SRT subtitle where some lines are at the top of the screen, and no matter what I do to the positioning it only affects the lines at the bottom of the screen. Would be nice if the positioning control actually acted as a "reduce margin" control, bringing those lines down when I move the other lines up, or vice versa, so that for 2.4:1 films that are in a 1.78:1 container you could move the subtitles into or out of the picture frame as desired.

[ebr 16169]

9 hours ago, crusher11 said:

On the subject of subtitle positioning, it seems that if a line has a flagged alignment, it doesn't get moved? I have an SRT subtitle where some lines are at the top of the screen, and no matter what I do to the positioning it only affects the lines at the bottom of the screen. Would be nice if the positioning control actually acted as a "reduce margin" control, bringing those lines down when I move the other lines up, or vice versa, so that for 2.4:1 films that are in a 1.78:1 container you could move the subtitles into or out of the picture frame as desired.

Pretty sure that would be counter to what most people would expect or want.  If a subtitle has a specific position it is usually because it is designed to be shown at that specific position (it it is likely to line up with something  on the screen, or be deliberately designed to avoid something on the screen).

[crusher11 1101]

On 1/26/2025 at 10:27 PM, ebr said:

Pretty sure that would be counter to what most people would expect or want.  If a subtitle has a specific position it is usually because it is designed to be shown at that specific position (it it is likely to line up with something  on the screen, or be deliberately designed to avoid something on the screen).

For ASS, yes. But SRT subs can only be aligned to the top, bottom, left, right, and center of the screen. I have a projector with a CIH setup, and if the video file itself is 1.78:1 subtitles are displayed off-screen top and bottom. I can move the bottom subtitles up, but I can't do anything about the top subtitles. Conversely, someone with a 1.78:1 screen might want to shift all subtitles outside the picture area.

ASS involves more precise positioning but for that very reason would generally be inside the picture area.

[Youthanasia 12]

On 4/30/2024 at 5:46 PM, Luke said:

HI, yes more options to control this are certainly possible for future updates. Thanks.

bumping in a year later to see if an update to this issue is in works.

thanks

[Kurt13 11]

More than a year later and we still don't have that option on Emby for Android (running on Android TV). 

On Emby for Android TV, we have but the subtitles (srt) font is terrible (on Emby for Android is much better).

 

Subtitles position, font, and size are needed. 

Edited June 10, 2025 by Kurt13

[Freestyle 3]

I also need this feature because it is too important.

 

I think the subtitle position in the second picture is very perfect.