Which streaming sites and video players work with the Polili subtitle translation extension? This page maps every major platform — from YouTube and Viki to Netflix — against the two subtitle architectures Polili can and cannot read.
Burned-in (hardcoded) subtitles are text baked directly into the video frame as pixels. The Polili OCR translation engine reads these the same way a human reads a photograph — by analyzing the pixel data from the screen. This works on any site and any player, because Polili reads what's visually rendered, not what's in a data stream.
DRM-protected video (Widevine) decodes inside a locked GPU layer that the browser cannot capture. Any attempt to read the frame returns a black rectangle. This is a hardware-level enforcement — Polili does not attempt to bypass it. See the blocked-sites section below.
| Platform | Polili Works? | Subtitle type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | ✓ Full support | Burned-in or channel-uploaded SRT | Best results. Most Chinese/Korean content uses burned-in subtitles. Supports 720p–4K. Real-time video subtitle translator extension works flawlessly. |
| Bilibili | ✓ Full support | Burned-in (most content) | The Polili OCR engine handles simplified and traditional Chinese characters with high accuracy on Bilibili's standard subtitle rendering. |
| Viki / Rakuten Viki | ✓ Full support | Burned-in on most K-drama / C-drama titles | Best Chrome extension for Viki Rakuten subtitles. Most content uses burned-in Chinese or Korean subtitles. Some titles use an overlay track — both work. |
| iQIYI International | ✓ Full support | Burned-in | Chinese drama and variety content typically ships with burned-in simplified Chinese subtitles. Polili reads them at 720p and above. |
| Youku | ✓ Full support | Burned-in | Regional variety and drama content. Hardcoded subtitles work well at standard quality settings. |
| WeTV (Tencent Video Int.) | ✓ Full support | Burned-in | Popular for C-drama and Korean content dubbed or subbed in Chinese. On-screen OCR translation works reliably. |
| Vimeo (public videos) | ✓ Full support | Burned-in or SRT overlay | Public, non-DRM content works. Some private business accounts use Widevine — Polili will warn you if the frame is blank. |
| Local files (file:// in Chrome) | ✓ Full support | Burned-in | Load an .mp4 or .mkv directly in Chrome. Requires "Allow access to file URLs" enabled in Chrome extension settings. |
| Educational platforms (Coursera, edX, etc.) | ✓ Generally works | Varies | Most use standard HTML5 video players without DRM. Pop-up definition reader for streaming video works on lecture content with Chinese subtitles. |
| Netflix | ✗ DRM blocked | Widevine DRM | Video frames render as black. This is hardware-enforced by Netflix and cannot be bypassed. Language Reactor and Trancy use the subtitle data track instead — Polili does not target this use case. |
| Disney+ | ✗ DRM blocked | Widevine DRM | Same as Netflix. All frames return black. |
| Amazon Prime Video | ✗ DRM blocked | Widevine DRM | Widevine active on all content. |
| Apple TV+ | ✗ DRM blocked | FairPlay / Widevine | DRM-protected, frames not accessible to the browser. |
| Max (HBO) | ✗ DRM blocked | Widevine DRM | Frames not readable. |
The Polili subtitle translation extension reads the rendered pixels on screen. At 480p, Chinese characters may be as small as 12–16 pixels tall, which reduces OCR accuracy. At 720p, characters are typically 24–32 pixels tall — the PaddleOCR engine is calibrated for this range. At 1080p you'll see near-perfect accuracy on any standard subtitle font.
When you mark the subtitle zone, drag the teal box to sit tightly over the Chinese line only. If your box also captures an English translation below, the OCR sees twice the characters and accuracy drops. Use the Draw custom button for pixel-precise placement.
Stylized or calligraphic fonts (common in period dramas) occasionally confuse the recognition model. The ✂ Snip button in the Polili panel lets you draw a box around any specific characters and get an instant on-screen OCR translation with per-character definitions.
Polili v1.7.0 targets Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) exclusively. Korean, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese romanization are on the roadmap. The OCR density filter only triggers when Chinese CJK characters are detected in the frame — Latin or Hangul subtitle tracks are silently ignored and do not produce incorrect output.