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Technical Subtitles

Kepler75 edited this page Oct 31, 2026 · 1 revision

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Subtitles

  • Made for your file: subtitle addons are told the playing file's name, size and fingerprint (when the source gives them), as Stremio does. This is kept with Continue Watching, so resuming asks the same way. For a matched USB video the fingerprint is the OpenSubtitles hash of the file.
  • Languages: every language OpenSubtitles uses is known by its 2- and 3-letter codes and its names. A file's own tracks are read whichever way the TV reports their language (language or track_lang, even when its track details aren't clean JSON).
  • The order your language is looked for in: an addon's, a subtitle file next to a USB video, a YouTube caption, or a track built into the video; only when none has it is the second choice looked for, in the same order (a track to download first, then a built-in one). A choice you made for a title wins over both. The second subtitle is the first addon subtitle in its language, and isn't shown when it's the language already at the bottom; Off in the subtitle languages turns both off for that title.
  • WebVTT: comments (NOTE blocks: some subtitle addons put the line their own banner overlaps there), STYLE and REGION blocks aren't shown; codes such as & show as the characters they stand for.
  • Built-in tracks' timing: the TV's player hands each line over at its time, so StremioK can hold it back (shown when playback gets there; a jump in between drops it) but not show it sooner. A built-in track picked on its own at the start is picked once more after a few seconds of playback: the TV can take the first pick without showing its lines.
  • Subtitle files on a USB drive: SRT and WebVTT as they are, ASS / SSA turned into SRT, old Windows-1252 and UTF-16 files read correctly. Those next to a playing USB video are there as soon as playback starts (one that's your choice or language shows at once; the addons' join later without replacing it). For streams, a drive's subtitles come from its saved index (its files aren't read again), with a drive plugged in only; one already on the drive isn't offered for ⬇ Download.
  • YouTube's automatic captions show one line at a time.
  • A subtitle file gets 20 seconds to arrive (some subtitle servers build the file when it's asked for); the video plays on meanwhile. Picked again while it comes, it isn't asked for again; another pick (or Off) stops it. The last 8 downloaded are kept while StremioK runs.

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