Foreign movies with subtitles - Netflix you suck

[pcslookout]

I noticed this on Netflix that some foreign movies put their subtitles on the blank border down below and it makes the subtitles so much easier to read than when its on the movie picture itself. Why do some foreign movies make the subtitles so unbearable to read at times and is there anyway to fix it?

Can you reposition the subtitles on the blank border of the bottom of the movie so they are easier to read ?

 

[pradeep1]

I rent a lot of foreign movies, I am willing to bet it has something to do with the conversion from PAL to NTSC. Foreign screen shapes are different, and probably the subtitles get mangled when scaled differently for different screen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL

 

[ChaoZ]

It's fine if there are subtitles on the picture, as long as it has a black border. A lot of older movies don't have a border so the words blend in with the video which suck.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
It's fine if there are subtitles on the picture, as long as it has a black border. A lot of older movies don't have a border so the words blend in with the video which suck.

What happens if you've got a 16:9 TV and you don't have black borders?

 

[paulney]

I hate it when the subtitles are on the actual movie. I prefer them down below.

 

[ChaoZ]

Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
It's fine if there are subtitles on the picture, as long as it has a black border. A lot of older movies don't have a border so the words blend in with the video which suck.

What happens if you've got a 16:9 TV and you don't have black borders?

I meant a black border around the letters. Some movies don't bother with that so you see white letters and they blend in with the video.

 

[pcslookout]

So is there anyway to move the subtitles yourself down to the black border so you can actually read the subtitles a lot easier and from further away ? I don't know how people read them from 15 to 20 feet away.

 

[mugs]

What does this have to do with Netflix?

 

[0roo0roo]

sometimes the subtitles are subtitles, meaning its encoded as a buncha bmps the player then puts on top of the picture without the hideous black bar behind the word area. sometimes they encode it as part of the picture old school style and your tv is the one that decodes the closed captions.

its the choice of the company, some have both. its not netflix fault.
and theres no blank border on wide screen tvs

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: mugs
What does this have to do with Netflix?

I was wondering the same thing.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You think Netflix makes the movies they rent?

I hate to tell you this, but the subtitles are pretty much the same at Blockbuster too, unless the clerks get bored and start re-typing them on the disc.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
You think Netflix makes the movies they rent?

I hate to tell you this, but the subtitles are pretty much the same at Blockbuster too, unless the clerks get bored and start re-typing them on the disc.

Nope not at all. They could at least look for a version of the movie that make the subtitles readable though or somehow fix it ? I don't care if they have to increase the monthly fee.

 

[BoberFett]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
You think Netflix makes the movies they rent?

I hate to tell you this, but the subtitles are pretty much the same at Blockbuster too, unless the clerks get bored and start re-typing them on the disc.

Nope not at all. They could at least look for a version of the movie that make the subtitles readable though or somehow fix it ? I don't care if they have to increase the monthly fee.

Which part of "Netflix doesn't make the movies" didn't you understand? They can't fix it. It's up to the DVD publisher. Netflix buys whatever is made available. It's not rocket science here.

 

[grohl]

netflix is the bomb.

blockbuster you can go straight to hell.

 

[0roo0roo]

is it really so unreadable? perhaps your tv just sucks, or you just need glasses. i've never had a problem.

 

[Atvar]

I rent a lot of foreign movies, I am willing to bet it has something to do with the conversion from PAL to NTSC. Foreign screen shapes are different, and probably the subtitles get mangled when scaled differently for different screen.

Makes sense but it actually has nothing to do with that. The subtitles aren't part of the video. They are their own data streams. Groups of tif's with a .son file which is basically just a huge text database that matches a file name to a timecode range. You typically straddle the tifs to a screen grab of the image to make sure they are placed properly.

Depending on the aspect ratio of the move there simply might not be enough of a black border to put the subtitle in. In that case it has to go in the picture. Not much you can do about it. Studios hate when their subs cross the border. So its one or the other. And yea, its a pain in the ass ;-)

sometimes the subtitles are subtitles, meaning its encoded as a buncha bmps the player then puts on top of the picture without the hideous black bar behind the word area. sometimes they encode it as part of the picture old school style and your tv is the one that decodes the closed captions.

The closed captions are line 21 subs. Totally different from regular subs which are just images. Paramount seems to love line 21 subs. Don't see them too much on other studios titles.

its the choice of the company, some have both. its not netflix fault.

Yup. The studio makes the call. If they want them pink and diagonal on the screen...cool by us.

Nope not at all. They could at least look for a version of the movie that make the subtitles readable though or somehow fix it ? I don't care if they have to increase the monthly fee.

Yea, the only way that would happen though is if the studio realized there was a problem and wanted to do another version of the disk (called a version up). Its expensive so unless they were completely unreadable or they felt it could make them money somehow...not going to happen. It isn't like netflix has 20 different versions of the same movie to go and try.

 

[pcslookout]

Couldn't you always redo the subtitles yourself to make them more readable?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: pcslookout
Couldn't you always redo the subtitles yourself to make them more readable?

Netflix can't do this for you because it would infringe the copyrights of the movies. It's also not legal for you or anyone else to do this if you share your work with others.

Netflix just buys already-pressed discs from Sony, 20th Century Fox, Tai Seng, etc. -- even the discs with Netflix logos on them are just an extra pressing of some high-volume title done by the studio to make sure the discs are destroyed instead of sold later.

Netflix has no control over the subtitles, sorry but you're out of luck.

 

[FoBoT]

i didn't even know netflix made their own movies

 

[TheTony]

Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
It's fine if there are subtitles on the picture, as long as it has a black border. A lot of older movies don't have a border so the words blend in with the video which suck.

What happens if you've got a 16:9 TV and you don't have black borders?

16:9 displays are not neccesarily immune to letterboxing.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
i didn't even know netflix made their own movies

Possibly because they don't

Some discs do come with a Netflix logo on them now, because for some major titles they buy enough copies to get their own press run (from the exact same master as retail discs).