DVB Subtitle
image/vnd.dvb.subtitle
Released 1997
· by DVB Project (ETSI)
The image/vnd.dvb.subtitle MIME type represents Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) subtitles. Unlike text-based subtitle formats (such as WebVTT or SRT), DVB subtitles are transmitted as highly compressed, indexed-color bitmap images using Run-Length Encoding (RLE). This guarantees that broadcasters have absolute control over typography, colors, and layout across all compatible set-top boxes, regardless of the device's installed fonts.
Technical Specifications
.sub.sup.ts
RLE (Run-Length Encoding)
Magic Bytes & HTTP Headers
Browser Support Matrix
| Browser | Status | Min Version |
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Not Supported | — |
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Not Supported | — |
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Not Supported | — |
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Not Supported | — |
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Not Supported | Legacy |
Advantages & Limitations
- Guarantees 100% accurate visual representation (fonts, colors, layouts) exactly as intended by the broadcaster
- Effortlessly supports complex character sets (e.g., Arabic, Asian languages) without relying on the client device possessing the necessary fonts
- Supports region-specific dynamic positioning to avoid obscuring important on-screen graphics or burned-in lower thirds
- Requires significantly more bandwidth than text-based subtitles
- Inaccessible to screen readers and cannot be indexed by search engines
- Requires OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to translate back into standard text-based web formats
- Zero native support in HTML5 video elements
Developer Code Snippets
File Detection Steps
How to programmatically detect a image/vnd.dvb.subtitle
file by reading its raw bytes:
- 1 DVB Subtitles are rarely standalone files. They are typically detected within an MPEG-TS multiplex via the Program Map Table (PMT), identified by a stream_type of 0x06 (PES private data) combined with a DVB Subtitling Descriptor (tag 0x59).
- 2 Inside the PES packet payload, the DVB subtitling data_identifier byte is strictly 0x20.
Software Support
Conversion Tools
Share & Embed
[](https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/dvb-sub)
<iframe src="https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/dvb-sub/embed" width="100%" height="280" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;border-radius:8px;" title="DVB-SUB Specs"></iframe>
JSON API
All data on this page is available as a free, open JSON API. Use it in your project, documentation, or tooling.
GET https://freewebptojpg.com/mime/image/dvb-sub.json
Open JSON
Frequently Asked Questions
Are DVB subtitles text or images?
DVB subtitles are bitmap images (raster graphics). They are rendered by the broadcaster and sent as pixels, which ensures perfect visual consistency but means the text cannot be natively searched or selected.
How do I convert DVB subtitles to SRT or WebVTT?
Because DVB subtitles are images, you cannot simply convert the file format. You must use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, such as Subtitle Edit or specialized FFmpeg pipelines, to visually read the bitmaps and convert them back into text.
Can web browsers display DVB subtitles?
No. HTML5 <track> elements only support text-based formats like WebVTT. To display DVB subtitles on the web, JavaScript-based video players (like hls.js) must manually parse the MPEG-TS stream, decode the Run-Length Encoded bitmaps, and draw them onto an HTML5 <canvas> overlaid on top of the video.