I'm adding vobsub in mkv support to HandBrake and have run into this "feature". I'm wondering if it was done to solve a particular problem or was just an oversight. In spudec.c, spudec_new_scaled calls spudec_parse_extradata which reads the vobsub size into orig_frame_height and orig_frame_width. Then spudec_new_scaled overwrites these values with one of the DVD standard resolutions. vlc does not do this and positions the subtitles where I expect. The reason I ask, is I can do better placement of the subtitles based on the information I know about cropping and scaling etc than mplayer could without this information. But it only works if the player pays attention to the size I tell it to use as a reference. Also, I was hoping to be able to translate blu-ray subtitles to vobsubs and insert them into mkv files. But it definitely will not work if I can specify a high definition reference size for the vobsub.