My "socalled" smart tv cant see/read subtitles

[Manuj]

@ib130258 : make sure you decrypt the DVD as Toengel is telling. For sur this is important.

ISO files are more practical to move (to me), and put into a directory in the midle of mkv, avi, ...
ISO files are not converted, this is an image of you DVD. You can then burn them again and get an exact copy.
You can also attach jpg files to be used by XBMC for instance.
On Windows, VLC is also doing a good job.

To make iso, (again once decrypted if this is the case of your cource), you just need a burn software that lets you create ISO files instead of creating a real DVD. This is fast and easy and you archive original !

[pmarcaul]

Hi, I purchased a 55PFL8007. Last Software version QF1EU-0.150.82.0 is installed.
TV specification from Philips site states MKV container and Subtitles SAMI | SubRip(SRT) | SubViewer | DivX in charcode UTF-8 (and others) are supported.

Nevertheless, so far I was NOT able to demonstrate it and read (via USB stick) any subtitle inside a mkv file.
I did generate (via mkvmerge tool) 2 mkv files from a same initial mkv file:
-one with 1 AVC video & 2 AAC audio & 1 UTF-8 subtitle will not play (no picture) at all (while working perfect on PC with VLC player)
-one with 1 AVC video & 2 AAC audio will play correctly and audio language switch works well on the TV
-one with 1 AVC video & 1 AAC audio & 1 UTF-8 subtitle play correctly video and audio but no subtitle (despite I activated via remote control the Subtitle). All tryout were played successfully with their subtitles with VLC player on a PC.

So the question is: has anyone ever succeeded in playing on a 2012 serie 8000 TV a MKV file with at least 1 encapsulated subtitle track ? if yes, possibility to eaxctly describe the file or post such a file .

[wolfk]

@ib130258 :
ISO files are more practical to move (to me), and put into a directory in the midle of mkv, avi, ...

Could you please explain, what you mean with "put in the middle" ?
I have the same problem: I have copied some DVDs as iso-files, and put them on a media server.
But the TV is not able to play them anyway.

[Manuj]

I meant drop ISO files into the same directory as other files (mkv, avi, ...).

Then, you're right, ISO files won't work with the TV (this is what I wrote).
You have either to extract the main film into .mpg (no re-encoding, but you lose menus), or re-encode into a supported format.

Another option is to use an external player, such as XBMC, plugged into HDMI input.
Could be a PC (like I use everyday, a Zbox) or a raspberry board + Raspbmc installed (I tested recently). The raspberry can be self-powered by TV USB output, and you plug your LAN in RJ45 connector (should run also with Wifi but it should be checked that power from TV-USB is still enough for an extra Wifi dongle).
Installing all this is a really cheap, small, and easy-to-install for a full-HD solution. XBMC will play almost any type of file.

Side Note : because of this damn audio-click over HDMI, I had to use audio headset ouput on the raspberry.

I hope this helps.

Edit : it will also make you a better smartTV, as XBMC has many plugins. Youtube (in HD) but also Netflix just to name 2 of the most widely used.

Edit 2 : Netflix is not supported by the Raspberry pi. A PC with a commercial soft can upnp an SD version of netflix. So, for netflix, a PS3 or Xbox is best or other officially supported hardware).