Question how to make srt/avi subtitles bigger when playing in DVD player

[jimdagys]

I am wondering if there is any hidden parameter in the srt text file that when changed, will cause the subtitles to be bigger when playing the srt/avi on a standalone DVD player. I don't think that simply increasing the font in Notepad will have any effect.

[Baldrick]

Nope, srt subtitles has no settings. You must adjust it in the dvd player. If that is not possible you can make image subtitles using for example AVIAddXSubs.

[jimdagys]

Figured that. I just turned the avi/srt into DVD with DVD Flick. Makes very professional looking subtitles with simple adjustment for subtitle size, subtitle color, etc. The default settings are fine for me, except I increase the font size a bit for easier reading. See screenshot.

[jimdagys]

I did try to use the free program, AVIAddXSubs, to turn the avi/srt subtitles into the special (XSUB) AVI DivX video file. I burned the single file to a CD, and the switchable subtitles played perfectly in my DVD player. Advantage is that it took 4 minutes to convert the movie from avi/srt to single divx file, (compared to 4 hours when using DVDFlick to convert into DVD, ) AND you can readily increase the size of the subtitles. (See screenshot). However, the subtitles (when playing the divx file) would not appear in my computer when using Media Player Classic, KM Player, Real Player,
Total Video Player or VLC Portable player. I tried but couldn't get them to appear. I didn't feel like installing any other players or plugins to try to get the subtitles to appear. I think the software should make it very clear that most software players will not display these kinds of subtitles.

[handyguy]

What player is playing too small? Only my Philips does them small.

[jimdagys]

I normally have no problem with the size of avi/srt subtitles in a DVD player. But in this case, the subtitles were way too small. Could be the brand of DVD player (some Chinese brand) or the fact that the avi was ntsc instead of the usual pal. In the past, I had no problem with the size of the avi/srt subtitles in this particular player. So it seems this DVD player doesn't display subtitles well on ntsc material. But, I didn't think to press the ntsc/pal switch on the DVD player. Maybe that would have solved the subtitle size problem. The TV will also convert ntsc/pal so it shouldn't make any difference whether the DVD player is outputing ntsc or pal. I've still got the original avi/srt file, so I will fiddle with these buttons to see if that solves the problem.

[jimdagys]

Yep, changing the system on the DVD player to ntsc solved the problem. Now the subtitles size is OK.