PGS Subtitles Can Now Become Editable Text - but Recognition Can Make Mistakes
The short answer: they get recognised, and they come out as a real subtitle track. Image-based subtitles of the kind Blu-ray rips carry (PGS) used to have nowhere to go inside MP4, so the whole track was dropped. CineX now reads those images, turns the lines into text, and puts a text subtitle track in the result - one you can resize and restyle while watching. The picture itself isn't touched: nothing is burned into the frame. There's a second half to that sentence, and it belongs in the same breath: recognition makes mistakes.
First, the difference that decides everything
Subtitle tracks hold one of two things. Some hold text: "from this second to that second, show this line", with the font and colour chosen by whatever is playing. SRT and ASS work this way. Others hold images of subtitles that were already drawn, and the player just pastes them up - PGS, the Blu-ray kind, is in this group. An image has no text inside it, so a player can't resize it and an editor can't read it. Everything below depends on which of those two you have.
Why image subtitles used to vanish entirely
MP4 has a place for text subtitles and none for picture subtitles. When a file carried PGS there were only two outcomes: drop the track, or burn the subtitles into the picture. Burning them in is the option this product rejects - once the frame is redrawn it can't be undone, and the text stays glued to the image forever. So the old result was the first one: the conversion finished normally, and the output simply had fewer subtitle tracks than the source.
Rather than print subtitles onto the picture, read the words out of them and hand back a subtitle you can still adjust.
What the extra step actually does
When a file carries a PGS track, that track gets scanned as part of the same run: the lines are recognised, and the result is written as a text subtitle track in the output. There's no separate "recognition pass" to kick off beforehand and nothing to fill in - this app doesn't hand you parameters at all. Once the track is text, playback controls can change its size and colour, and software that reads subtitle text can read it.
Three limits, and none of them is optional
One: this has been run on real devices for PGS. Other subtitle formats stored as pictures haven't been run through, so they aren't part of what this page promises. Two: recognition errs. It's a capability, not a guarantee. For watching, that's usually fine; if you intend to reuse the track as a subtitle file, proofread it or archive it, treat it as a first draft and check it line by line. Three: the output is a subtitle track. The frame isn't redrawn and no text is pressed into the image where it can never be turned off.
The text-subtitle path hasn't changed
Tracks that already hold text follow the old rules: carried over one by one. Styling in ASS - colour, positioning - doesn't fit into MP4 and comes out as plain text. That's a different situation from the image path and the two shouldn't be merged into one description: one case is "the styling is lost, the words remain", the other is "it was a picture, now it's text". Track-by-track detail is in what happens to subtitles after a conversion.
Worth testing on your own episode
Yes - and this is a judgement only your own file can settle. Pick one episode you're sure carries PGS, run it, then check the subtitle count in the result and whether the recognised lines match what you heard. The free tier counts only conversions that complete, explained in how far the free version goes. Opus is a one-time purchase; buying changes only how many more conversions you can make, and quality, speed and format range don't change because you paid.
Whether it reads correctly is a question about your file, and your file is the only place it gets answered.
Frequently asked questions
Is the recognised subtitle text word-for-word accurate?
No guarantee. It's recognition, and recognition misreads - titles, names, swearing, song lyrics and on-screen text are the usual trouble spots. Treat the track as a convenient draft; check it line by line when precision matters.
Do the subtitles get burned into the video?
No. The result holds a text subtitle track, and the picture isn't redrawn. You can change size and colour from the playback side, or turn the track off entirely.
Does this work for image subtitles other than PGS?
This page only claims PGS, because PGS is the one with real-device readings behind it. Other picture-based subtitle formats haven't been run through, and I'm not promising them here.
What happens to SRT or ASS tracks already in the file?
They don't go through recognition at all - text tracks follow the existing rules and are carried over one by one, with ASS styling reduced to plain text. One file can hold a text track and a PGS track at the same time, and the two are handled separately.
Does this step add a lot of waiting?
Recognition is one stage inside the same run, and total time depends on the material - files whose picture needs re-compressing take time proportional to their length. To judge it on your own footage, run a shorter clip first.
Axiom One LLC — CineX. Figures current as of 24 September 2026.