Convert SBV Subtitles to SUB_SUBVIEWER Format
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About SBV
SBV (SubViewer) is a very simple, comma-separated subtitle format. It's most known for being one of the formats used by YouTube for caption uploads. The format consists of a start and end time on a single line, followed by the subtitle text. It's a very basic format without any styling capabilities, similar in simplicity to SRT.
About SUB_SUBVIEWER
SubViewer (.sub) is one of the earliest popular subtitle formats. It is a simple, time-based text format. There have been two major versions, SubViewer 1.0 and 2.0. Version 2.0, which is more common, uses a '[region]' section to define metadata and then lists subtitles with timestamps. Its simplicity led to wide support, but it lacks any styling features.
SBV vs SUB_SUBVIEWER
| Feature | SBV | SUB_SUBVIEWER |
|---|---|---|
| Styling Support | false | false |
| Positioning Support | false | false |
| Animation Support | false | false |
| Learning Curve | beginner | beginner |
| Quality Rating | 3 | 3 |
| Patent Status | proprietary | freeware |
| Year Introduced | 2009 | 1999 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SBV the same as SubViewer (.sub)?
They are very similar but have distinct formatting. The .sbv extension is specifically associated with YouTube's variant of the format. While they share the same core principle of 'start_time,end_time' followed by text, there can be minor incompatibilities between them. Our converter handles both.
Why would I use SBV?
The primary reason to use SBV is for uploading captions to YouTube, as it's one of their natively supported formats. It's a simple, no-frills format that is easy to create and edit in a plain text editor.
My .sub file doesn't work. Why?
The '.sub' file extension is very generic and is used by several completely different and incompatible subtitle formats, including the text-based SubViewer and the image-based VobSub (for DVDs). If your file isn't working, it's likely because your player is expecting a different '.sub' format. Our converter can intelligently distinguish between them.
Is SubViewer still a good format to use?
For new projects, SRT is a much better choice. It's just as simple but has even wider and more reliable support across all modern platforms and players. SubViewer is mostly relevant for compatibility with older files.
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