So far, I have tested them in MPC Homecinema and WMP only...
( You see, I'm still tweaking WinXP Service Pack 3 on
my recently-upgraded Dimension 4300 )

As MPC has built-in support for embedded subtitles in .AVIs,
this is a non-issue of course.

As for Mikrozoft WMP, the "abnormal" .AVIs require
Haali Media Splitter ( version 1.8.122.18 ) && DirectVobSub
( version 2.36 or 2.37 --- because of some unknown reason,
versions 2.33 and older do not work properly over here ).

N.B., HMS must be configured to "Autoload VSFilter", and the field
"Subtitle language priority" must be filled in with anything appropriate
( for example, « und,spa,ger,fre,ita,jpn,rus,pol » ).

HTH!

\\\\\\