Sony Bravia DOES play both external and internal .srt WITHOUT transcoding!

It just didn't work on my TV.

I bought this new 2019 Sony Bravia Android TV and at first I didn't see the subtitles. Also not the option to select them.

So I searched a lot on the internet finding out everyone saying: Sony doesn't recognize subtitles as they are not DLNA standard.

Since my Kodi, Samsung TV, Apple iOS, etc. all had the subtitles running for years without issues using this setup I thought:"oh well, so sony doesn't support it indeed, I have to use the transcoding function of Mezzmo again"

And it was kinda tricky with the transcoding... eventually I figured I need a new CPU so I switched off the transcoding again deleted all the files.

But there was STILL THE OPTION TO PLAY THE SUBTITLES!!!!

I just checked and re-checked: no transcoding and what didn't work before now runs very well!

So Sony, at least this version Android TV, DOES actually support both external and internal .srt (yes just checked both are working including the language definitions)

Our TV: 55X8000G (asian market)

So I can confirm Sony listened to the complaints of its users and today with the "Android TV" which is not the same as "Google TV" they actually do support.


So the thing is, some setting in mezzmo worked fine for all the other devices, but not for Sony.

Settings BEFORE Sony recognized and played the subtitles:

- Under the "Transcoding Settings" I have selected the option "Turn off transcoding for all connected devices"
- "Options" -> "Burn subtitles into video files" unchecked
- Device Settings -> Subtitles -> Burn subtitles into video files (disabled in transcoding settings dialog) unchecked
- Device Settings -> Burn Subtitles for these languages -> no languages selected here
- Device Settings -> General -> Device Profile Sony Bravia KDL (2015 Models)


With the above 5 settings the Sony TV does NOT play subtitles over DLNA neither external nor within the .mkv

then I changed the settings into:

- Under the "Transcoding Settings" I have unchecked the option "Turn off transcoding for all connected devices"
- "Options" -> "Burn subtitles into video files" checked
- Device Settings -> Subtitles -> Burn subtitles into video files (disabled in transcoding settings dialog) checked
- Device Settings -> Burn Subtitles for these languages -> en, ru, nl
- Device Settings -> General -> Device Profile Sony Bravia KDL (Android TV)

now I could play the subtitles but not optimal AND unnecessary because after I changed back this option:

- Under the "Transcoding Settings" I have CHECKED the option "Turn off transcoding for all connected devices"

All the other options I left checked

Et voila, no transcoding, to be sure deleted all transcoding files..

and now all movies running with the subtitles enabled :)

So I can confirm on the latest Android TV you actually CAN PLAY the subtitles no need for transcoding...

Why Mezzmo didn't let me see the subtitles availability with the above mentioned initial settings?

I HAVE NO IDEA! Maybe a bug? Because all the other devices let me see the subtitles and I for years using that setup!

But with the Sony I need to have the settings CHECKED as if I'm going to transcode, but I never going to transcode
because it's disabled in the options.

Would be interesting to hear Mezzmo support on this strange behavior. Either way, working now

Older Sony TVs did not support external subtitles and subtitles could only be displayed burned into the video when transcoding. Newer Android TV Sony TVs do support external subtitles so changing the device profile to Sony Bravia KDL (Android TV) will also srt subtitles to be sent to the TV.

Yes, figured that out eventually LOL

A lot of information on Sony on the internet is outdated..

Sometimes wish Google wouldn't remember so much LOL

Hey, I'm in similar situation as you were. I have Sony X9000F with Android Oreo. I managed to get DLNA working with minidlna on raspberry pi, but I cant get the external subtitles to work in sony native video player app. I also tried Universal Media Server, but it was the same thing.

Can you please confirm that you managed to get the external subtitles loaded in Sony Video app over mezzmo? Or was it in some other video player app such as kodi or something? Also, what version of android are you using?

With a TV running Android you can use the Mezzmo Android app to have control over displaying external and embedded subtitles for a video.