Minimum Display Time Validator

The Minimum Display Time Validator checks how long each cue in the SRT you paste into the SRT Content box stays on screen and reports any outside the window set by Min seconds and Max seconds. Each finding names the cue number, its duration to two decimals and the boundary it broke; a passing file returns a confirmation quoting the range used. The report saves as a .txt file.

Duration limits exist because both extremes hurt the viewer. A caption under roughly eight tenths of a second registers as a flicker rather than as text, and some players will not render it cleanly at all. At the other end, a cue held for twelve or fifteen seconds nearly always means a line that should have been split, or an out point never trimmed at a scene change. Streaming platforms, broadcasters and accessibility auditors write both limits into their specifications, so QC reviewers need to test against them before a file ships.

The validator parses each block into start and end milliseconds, converts the difference to seconds and compares it with your thresholds. Anything under the minimum is reported first, and only cues that clear the minimum are then tested against the maximum, so each cue yields at most one finding and the report stays readable. Empty fields fall back to 0.8 and 7 seconds, which match common house standards. It is purely diagnostic and changes no timing or dialogue.

All parsing happens in your browser, so files stay on your machine and a long episodic track validates instantly.

• Both ends checked in one pass: Min seconds catches flash cues and Max seconds catches captions that overstay, so a single run covers the whole duration specification.
• Sensible defaults: Leaving the fields blank validates against 0.8 and 7 seconds, values that line up with widely used broadcast and streaming house rules.
• Fully configurable window: Any client spec can be entered directly, whether that is a one second floor for a training platform or a five second ceiling for a fast-cut promo.
• Precise findings: Each reported cue shows its actual duration to two decimals alongside the limit it broke, so you can tell a marginal miss from a serious one.
• One finding per cue: Because the maximum is only tested when the minimum passes, the report never double-flags a cue and stays easy to work through.
• Explicit pass confirmation: A clean file returns a message naming the range used, which doubles as a record of what standard you validated against.
• Non-destructive by design: No timings are adjusted and no text is touched, making it safe to run repeatedly on a delivered master.
• Local and immediate: Validation happens entirely in the browser with no upload and no waiting.

1. Paste the caption file you want to validate into the SRT Content box, or press Load sample to see the report on a file that already contains a too-short cue.
2. Enter your floor in Min seconds, using 0.8 as a general starting point or a full second if your client insists on a more generous minimum.
3. Enter your ceiling in Max seconds, with 7 being typical for dialogue and a lower value appropriate for tightly cut material.
4. Press Run and read the report, which lists every cue outside the window with its duration, or confirms that all cues sit within the range you set.
5. Deal with cues below the minimum by extending the out point into the gap that follows, provided that does not collide with the next cue.
6. Deal with cues above the maximum by splitting the caption into two shorter ones rather than simply trimming the end, since the text usually needs the time it was given.
7. Copy the report or download it as a .txt file for your QC paperwork, then run the tool again on the corrected file to confirm a clean pass.

Example 1 - a flash cue below the floor. With Min seconds at 0.8 the validator catches a caption that is on screen for barely a third of a second.

3
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:12,300
Stop!

Report: Cue 3: 0.30s (below min 0.8s).

Example 2 - a caption that overstays. With Max seconds at 7, a cue left running across a scene change is reported so it can be split or trimmed.

9
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:14,500
We had assumed the readings were stable.

Report: Cue 9: 12.50s (above max 7s).

Cue 3 is short enough that many viewers would never register it at all, while cue 9 is a strong sign its out point was never trimmed, and both are routine automatic fails on a platform QC report.

• Passes platform duration specs: Streaming and broadcast delivery documents state minimum and maximum on-screen times, and validating in advance prevents a file coming straight back.
• No more invisible captions: Catching sub-second cues means every line you wrote is actually on screen long enough to be read.
• Signposts cues that need splitting: An over-long duration is usually a structural problem, and finding it early gives you time to reword rather than rush a fix.
• Documented QC evidence: The pass message quotes the exact range used, so your sign-off records what standard the file met.
• Better accessibility outcomes: Consistent, readable display times are what make a caption track genuinely usable rather than merely present.
• Zero risk to the file: Because the validator only reads, you can check an approved deliverable as many times as you like without altering it, and nothing is ever uploaded.