Subtle fix, what works for me Sony Bravia 2014

ok so because I have a Sony TV KDL-48W600B (2014) and these MKV files in x264 and x265 that contain a video stream, one or more audio streams and subtitle(s), I can't see subtitles when I want to.

Now, this subtitle problem has been plaguing me and the internet for ages and no one seems to understand how to fix this problem.

But I have one more piece of the puzzle: Language names are a no-no on my tv!

I want to say that "ALL Sony TVs" do but that would be a gross generalization since I don't have enough evidence to support that claim. So feel free to reply if it works for you.

So every time I have an MKV with subs and of course they are named or identified (English, French, Italian, etc) the tv doesn't show subs and as a matter of fact it doesn't show the subtitle sub-menu in the options menu while playing the file either !

But using MKVToolNix v70 ("caught a little sneeze"), it's important to use that specific version for this trick to work. I don't know why v71 and up don't do MKV right for my tv but here are the steps I use to fix the subs in mkv files.

1st install MKVToolNix v70.0.0 (Windows)

2. Open the mkv in MKVToolNix

original streams.png (12.41 KiB) Viewed 174 times

3. For all subtitles you want to keep in the MKV file, change the language to Undetermined (Und)

properties.png (22.72 KiB) Viewed 174 times

Side note: I also do some cleaning up of other parts of the MKV that will trip up my TV
such as removing the CHAPTERS, GLOBAL TAGS and various SUBTITLES that I don't need.

Too many subs make my TV reboot !!

Tracks, chapters and tags.png (14 KiB) Viewed 174 times

That's it ready to start multiplexing !


Now, I'm hoping I can get a profile for Serviio to use on my TV, anyone know a good profile maker ?

[atc98092]

You have to remember that few (if any) TVs support image based captions, such as PGS or VOBSUB. And of course, those are the captions contained on almost every DVD/Blu Ray disc. The only way to display those captions on a player that doesn't support them (such as your TV) is to have Serviio burn the captions into the video stream. That is an available option, but it will also do it with captions the TV does support (text based) and it takes a lot more computer power to transcode the video. With HDR/DV content, you might lose the video metadata for HDR as well, so the image might not look as good when the captions are burned in.

A better solution is to use a player that supports those captions without requiring modification. There are a number of Android based players that can do that, starting as low cost as the $20 Onn 4K video player from Walmart to the $200 Nvidia Shield. Personally I use a Shield on several of my TVs, as players like a Roku won't play the image based captions either. The advantage of the more expensive Shield is that it will bitstream all of the lossless audio tracks (Dolby TrueHD, including with Atmos, DTS-Master Audio/DTS:X) to a compatible AVR. If you are simply using the TV speakers, then the simpler players like the Onn will work fine.