DVD subtitles position

[Brazil2]

Are there limits for the position of subtitles on a DVD ?

I want my subtitles to be a low as possible on the image. I've found a page saying that they must be at least 2 pixels from the bottom of the image but I couldn't find any confirmation about this yet.

Is it different for PAL and NTSC ?
Anyone knows ?

[Adub]

Not really. I believe that DVDSubEdit should let you edit your subtitle positions in-file, so just drop them down as far as you like and you should be good to go.

[Brazil2]

Thanks for the tip.

DVDSubEdit allows me to put the subtitles at the very bottom of the image, it's not even using a 2 pixels limit.
I just wonder if it's 'safe' and 'standard'.

[setarip_old]

@Brazil2

Hi!

If you're going to be using a television for playback, you might want to make sure that such low placement doesn't disappear as a consequence of overscan...

[Brazil2]

That's a good point.

So what are you suggesting as the minimal distance from the bottom to be safe and for best compatibility ?

[setarip_old]

If I remember correctly, 4 pixels (ALWAYS use an even number) should be okay...

[Ghitulescu]

Top and bottom overscan should be at most 5% each (10% together), newer sets having less that the older ones. On top there is also a recommendation: another 5% for the Title safe region. For a PAL image that would be 5-6 pixels in total (overscan+titlesafe bottom).
For NTSC maybe 4 would be ok.

It also depends if it's 4:3 FS (16:9 anamorph) of 4:3 LB. But it's only 1 pixel ;)

[Brazil2]

Thanks for the informations :)

EDIT:
For the record someone pointed me to these Wikipedia articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_area
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overscan

The action safe area is a larger rectangle, consisting of the green title safe area and a rectangle around it shown in yellow. As of 2007, most television stations and networks will place information within this area.

However, the yellow area might be used if the television station wants the information to butt up against the edge of the screen. For example, many stations place tickers that run horizontally in some of the yellow area.

Action safe area is applied against a worst case of on-screen location and display type.