ETSI
TSI EN 300 743 V1.3.1 (2006
1)
uimsbf unsigned integer, most significant bit first
Y luminance value
NOTE: As defined in ITU-R Recommendation BT.601 [3], clause 7.2.3.
4 Introduction to DVB subtitling system
The present document specifies the DVB subtitling system for the transport and coding of subtitles.
4.1 Overview
The DVB subtitling system defined in the present document provides a syntax for decoding subtitle streams. A subtitle
stream conveys one or more subtitle services; each service containing the textual and/or graphical information needed
to provide subtitles or glyphs for a particular purpose. Separate subtitle services may be used, for example, to convey
subtitles in several languages.
Each subtitle service displays its information in a sequence of so-called pages that are intended to be overlayed on the
associated video image. A subtitle page contains one or more regions, each region being a rectangular area with a
specified set of attributes. These attributes include a region identifier, the horizontal and vertical size, pixel depth and
background colour. A region is used as the background structure into which graphical objects are placed. An object
may represent a character, a word, a line of text or an entire sentence; it might also define a logo or icon.
The use and positioning of objects within a region is defined by the region composition segment.
The use and positioning of regions within a page is defined by the page composition segment, in which a list of
displayed regions is provided, each with their own spatial position. A page composition need not change when objects
are added to or removed from a region. Furthermore regions may be declared but not used. By way of example one
region can be used to display multiple subtitle fragments, as depicted in figure 1. First the text "Shall we?" is displayed
in the region; subsequently this text is removed and the new text "Said the fly on the mirror" is displayed. It is possible
to use more than one region at the same time; for example one region could be used to display subtitles on the bottom of
the screen, while another one might be used to display a logo somewhere else on the screen.
Shall we ?
Said the fly on the mirror.
➐ ➐
Region 1
Region 2
Figure 1: Two regions overlayed on top of video; one with a logo and another one with subtitles.
Note that the subtitles are positioned within the same region.
A DVB subtitle stream is carried in PES packets and the timing of their presentation is defined by the PTS in the PES
header. Upon reception and decoding of the subtitle data for a page (such as the page composition, the region
composition, the objects to be used and any other associated data) the page contents are displayed at the time indicated
by the associated PTS. When objects are to be added, the decoder receives region composition updates and the data for
the new objects, and will display the updated page at the time indicated by the new PTS. At the page update only page
differences need be provided. To improve random access to DVB subtitling, a page refresh is also possible. At page
refresh all the subtitling data needed to display a page is provided. Each page update or refresh will result in a new page
instance. A page ceases to exist after the time-out of the page, or when a new page is defined.