Persistent Subtitles

yes, you're right. we just went through life of pi again and the subtitles were NOT freezing until the last one...still extremely frustrating and disappointed in apple's customer sevice on this

I had it happen with the Hobbit and SkyFall.

If anyone at Apple is actually reading this I've learned a few things about "our problem".

This issue is "Hard Subtitles" embedded in the MP4's that we are downloading.

These subtitles refer to a text based control parameter that typically reads:

i.e. - at 01:03:29;17 display "US Embassy, 1979", turn off at 01:03:34;17

The Apple TV is not "turning off" the Hard Subtitles.

That is the root of our problem

Get refunds from iTunes.

I'd like to add that iTunes offered full refunds for Argo and Savages. Very helpful, but they cannot find an issue from the iTunes side and suggested contacting Apple TV support. Unfortunately that costs approx. AUD40, which I am not prepared to pay given this seems a widespread issue. I have submitted a feedback form.

I will now continue to hit up iTunes for refunds on movies that have persistent subtitles/captions, not because I am cheap, instead I am hoping iTunes will get onto Apple TV's case if enough of us keep asking for refunds; they don't like to loose money. I suggest everyone who has this problem contact iTunes, it is easy, just select the report a problem link in your iTunes receipt email for the affected movie.

Also if you have a minute send feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Let's get this fixed and then we can watch movies properly again.

It's a revolution,

Garry

Yes, this is exactly what the problem is. We have had the same issues. It is a problem with subtitles that are already. part of the movie. Just watched Zero Dark Thirty. last night and had to stop and play again after the few built in subtitles stayed on the screen.

Thanks! This solution fixed the problem for a rented version of Argo using Apple TV 1

Regards

Jeremy

Emonk007--I will forward your note to the upper level supervisor at Apple who said they are reviewing this. Supposedly they have seen this thread but since they don't comment on it, never know.

jemsykes---are you referring to the post saying that actually selecting the language rather than relying on "Auto" resolved your problem ? Will soon know as i just rented Zero Dark Thirty and will try that approach tonight--

Wyoboy- Since my last post I've rented "Life Of Pi" and of course the same issue with the subtitles.

I should also clarify that I meant M4V files not MP4 files when I mentioned the hard subtitles issue.

This would make sense AS "hard subtitles" would not be affected by language settings.

Let's hope we figure this out soon

Yes, go to subtitles and select English (default is 'off'). This corrects the problem.

Jeremy

Actually, selecting English as the subtitle language only works in some instances. It does nothing to correct the issue in Dr. No, it solves the issue with all but the last subtitle in The Hobbit and in the case of Skyfall it causes the entire movie to be subtitled. Interestingly, older movies with enbedded subtitles (Avatar, Robin Hood) do not have any issues so this is something relatively recent. Just don't want folks to think this is "solved".

Jemsykes--

this did not solve the problem and i had to turn Zero Dark Thirty off several times and then resume to get rid of a hard caption. There were many captions in the movie that went away properly but they were not at the bottom like these pesky ones are.

Emonk007--

understand and will send another note to the Apple tech with this correction--

In one way I'm happy to know I'm not alone in this subtitle mess. I have a 32GB older Apple TV and have had this problem for sometime and have gone round and round with Apple. They keep sending me to basic stuff, well I'm long past that. I've gone and turned off subtitles in Audio/Video, I've tried a different language when it appears, I believe that only works if they don't have subtitles in that language, I've restored and reloaded. Nothing seems to fix the problem that will or will not appear on rented, purchased movies. I can't even get them to acknowledge the problem and that is more frustrating than anything! I think its grand that they refund your money, which is what lead me to believe they know they have a problem, but that wasn't what I was after. I believe this all started after the last update to my Apple TV, but not completely sure if it's the TV or iTunes. All I know is has made me gun-shy to buy or rent any more movies from iTunes until they address this problem. I am happy with the Apple TV I have and in some ways think it's better than the new ones (storage, etc) I hope that this isn't some marketing ploy to make me buy the new one, it won't work. Last but not least, I will say the lastest update to my Apple TV leaves alot to be desired, I lost the ability to keep the movies I wanted on it unless I go into iTunes an remark them as unwatched. Come on Apple, lets just let us go back to the way it was before!

I just watched Skyfall and immediately noticed a small, gray rectangle on the bottom of the screen where subtitles would normally go - very annoying.

After reading this thread I stopped the movie and changed the subtitles setting from "Off" to "English" and can confirm this removed the gray rectangle.

I also purchased Argo a while back and experienced the same issues others mentioned where subtitles would stay on screen until the next one came up. Have just re-checked using subtitles set to "English" and can confirm that this no longer happens - haven't watched till the end to see if the last one stays on though.

We also own an Apple TV 3 (a recent purchase) but it's not practical for use with iTunes movies because of painful buffering issues - as noted in threads elsewhere. Also, when you purchase a movie, it doesn't sync back to your iTunes computer - fine if you live in a country with fast, all-you-can-eat internet, but painful if your internet is calculated based on traffic usage.

We'll be sticking with our Apple TV v1 for as long as possible so hope this subtitles issue doesn't come up again.

There is a little comfort knowing that I'm not alone with this.

First experienced this with Taken 2. Recently after suffering through Life of Pi, I figured out the 'english' fix by holding down the menu button. It came back when I rented The Hobbit, but noted that it had switched back to off again. Figured out that going to the atv menu and setting it there sets it for all movies. This fixed it and I was happy until the last subtitle stuck, "Kill Him".

Happy to see someone got a response from Apple. Hopefully they will find a solution for us.

I love my 1st general and don't plan on getting rid of it.