diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 31092ab38b..3276264c0c 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -3605,6 +3605,7 @@ frei0r_deps_any="libdl LoadLibrary"
 frei0r_filter_deps="frei0r"
 frei0r_src_filter_deps="frei0r"
 fspp_filter_deps="gpl"
+graphicsub2text_filter_deps="libtesseract"
 histeq_filter_deps="gpl"
 hqdn3d_filter_deps="gpl"
 interlace_filter_deps="gpl"
diff --git a/doc/filters.texi b/doc/filters.texi
index 998bd8ff60..f18b80ea7c 100644
--- a/doc/filters.texi
+++ b/doc/filters.texi
@@ -25408,6 +25408,61 @@ ffmpeg -i "https://streams.videolan.org/ffmpeg/mkv_subtitles.mkv" -filter_comple
 @end example
 @end itemize
 
+@section graphicsub2text
+
+Converts graphic subtitles to text subtitles by performing OCR.
+
+For this filter to be available, ffmpeg needs to be compiled with libtesseract (see https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tesseract).
+Language models need to be downloaded from https://github.com/tesseract-ocr/tessdata and put into as subfolder named 'tessdata' or into a folder specified via the environment variable 'TESSDATA_PREFIX'. 
+The path can also be specified via filter option (see below).
+
+Note: These models are including the data for both OCR modes.
+
+Inputs:
+- 0: Subtitles [bitmap]
+
+Outputs:
+- 0: Subtitles [text]
+
+It accepts the following parameters:
+
+@table @option
+@item ocr_mode
+The character recognition mode to use.
+
+Supported OCR modes are:
+
+@table @var
+@item 0, tesseract
+This is the classic libtesseract operation mode. It is fast but less accurate than LSTM.
+@item 1, lstm
+Newer OCR implementation based on ML models. Provides usually better results, requires more processing resources.
+@item 2, both
+Use a combination of both modes.
+@end table
+
+@item tessdata_path
+The path to a folder containing the language models to be used.
+
+@item language
+The recognition language. It needs to match the first three characters of a  language model file in the tessdata path.
+
+@end table
+
+
+@subsection Examples
+
+@itemize
+@item
+Convert DVB graphic subtitles to ASS (text) subtitles
+
+Note: For this to work, you need to have the data file 'eng.traineddata' in a 'tessdata' subfolder (see above).
+@example
+ffmpeg ffmpeg -loglevel verbose -i "https://streams.videolan.org/streams/ts/video_subs_ttxt%2Bdvbsub.ts" -filter_complex "[0:13]graphicsub2text=ocr_mode=both" -c:s ass -y output.mkv
+@end example
+@end itemize
+
+
 @section graphicsub2video
 
 Renders graphic subtitles as video frames. 
diff --git a/libavfilter/Makefile b/libavfilter/Makefile
index 6c225980db..eb3d2ffca5 100644
--- a/libavfilter/Makefile
+++ b/libavfilter/Makefile
@@ -293,6 +293,8 @@ OBJS-$(CONFIG_GBLUR_FILTER)                  += vf_gblur.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GEQ_FILTER)                    += vf_geq.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRADFUN_FILTER)                += vf_gradfun.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRAPHICSUB2VIDEO_FILTER)       += vf_overlaygraphicsubs.o framesync.o
+OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRAPHICSUB2TEXT_FILTER)        += sf_graphicsub2text.o
+OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRAPHICSUB2VIDEO_FILTER)       += vf_overlaygraphicsubs.o framesync.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRAPHMONITOR_FILTER)           += f_graphmonitor.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GRAYWORLD_FILTER)              += vf_grayworld.o
 OBJS-$(CONFIG_GREYEDGE_FILTER)               += vf_colorconstancy.o
diff --git a/libavfilter/allfilters.c b/libavfilter/allfilters.c
index e4a673bdb1..e94c4f38cb 100644
--- a/libavfilter/allfilters.c
+++ b/libavfilter/allfilters.c
@@ -532,6 +532,7 @@ extern const AVFilter ff_avf_showwaves;
 extern const AVFilter ff_avf_showwavespic;
 extern const AVFilter ff_vaf_spectrumsynth;
 extern const AVFilter ff_sf_censor;
+extern const AVFilter ff_sf_graphicsub2text;
 extern const AVFilter ff_sf_showspeaker;
 extern const AVFilter ff_sf_splitcc;
 extern const AVFilter ff_sf_stripstyles;
diff --git a/libavfilter/sf_graphicsub2text.c b/libavfilter/sf_graphicsub2text.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c963ba4384
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libavfilter/sf_graphicsub2text.c
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2021 softworkz
+ *
+ * This file is part of FFmpeg.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * FFmpeg is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with FFmpeg; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * subtitle filter to convert graphical subs to text subs via OCR
+ */
+
+#include <tesseract/capi.h>
+#include <libavutil/ass_internal.h>
+
+#include "libavutil/opt.h"
+#include "subtitles.h"
+
+typedef struct SubOcrContext {
+    const AVClass *class;
+    int w, h;
+
+    TessBaseAPI *tapi;
+    TessOcrEngineMode ocr_mode;
+    char *tessdata_path;
+    char *language;
+
+    int readorder_counter;
+
+    AVFrame *pending_frame;
+} SubOcrContext;
+
+
+static int init(AVFilterContext *ctx)
+{
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+    const char* tver = TessVersion();
+    int ret;
+
+    s->tapi = TessBaseAPICreate();
+
+    if (!s->tapi || !tver || !strlen(tver)) {
+        av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to access libtesseract\n");
+        return AVERROR(ENOSYS);
+    }
+
+    av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_VERBOSE, "Initializing libtesseract, version: %s\n", tver);
+
+    ret = TessBaseAPIInit4(s->tapi, s->tessdata_path, s->language, s->ocr_mode, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, 0, 1);
+    if (ret < 0 ) {
+        av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to initialize libtesseract. Error: %d\n", ret);
+        return AVERROR(ENOSYS);
+    }
+
+    ret = TessBaseAPISetVariable(s->tapi, "tessedit_char_blacklist", "|");
+    if (ret < 0 ) {
+        av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_ERROR, "Failed to set 'tessedit_char_blacklist'. Error: %d\n", ret);
+        return AVERROR(EINVAL);
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static void uninit(AVFilterContext *ctx)
+{
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+
+    if (s->tapi) {
+        TessBaseAPIEnd(s->tapi);
+        TessBaseAPIDelete(s->tapi);
+    }
+}
+
+static int query_formats(AVFilterContext *ctx)
+{
+    AVFilterFormats *formats, *formats2;
+    AVFilterLink *inlink = ctx->inputs[0];
+    AVFilterLink *outlink = ctx->outputs[0];
+    static const enum AVSubtitleType in_fmts[] = { AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_BITMAP, AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_NONE };
+    static const enum AVSubtitleType out_fmts[] = { AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS, AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_NONE };
+    int ret;
+
+    /* set input format */
+    formats = ff_make_format_list(in_fmts);
+    if ((ret = ff_formats_ref(formats, &inlink->outcfg.formats)) < 0)
+        return ret;
+
+    /* set output format */
+    formats2 = ff_make_format_list(out_fmts);
+    if ((ret = ff_formats_ref(formats2, &outlink->incfg.formats)) < 0)
+        return ret;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int config_input(AVFilterLink *inlink)
+{
+    AVFilterContext *ctx = inlink->dst;
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+
+    if (s->w <= 0 || s->h <= 0) {
+        s->w = inlink->w;
+        s->h = inlink->h;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int config_output(AVFilterLink *outlink)
+{
+    const AVFilterContext *ctx  = outlink->src;
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+
+    outlink->format = AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS;
+    outlink->w = s->w;
+    outlink->h = s->h;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static uint8_t* create_grayscale_image(AVFilterContext *ctx, AVSubtitleArea *area)
+{
+    uint8_t gray_pal[256];
+    const size_t img_size = area->buf[0]->size;
+    const uint8_t* img    = area->buf[0]->data;
+    uint8_t* gs_img       = av_malloc(img_size);
+
+    if (!gs_img)
+        return NULL;
+
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < 256; i++) {
+        const uint8_t *col = (uint8_t*)&area->pal[i];
+        const int val      = (int)col[3] * FFMAX3(col[0], col[1], col[2]);
+        gray_pal[i]        = (uint8_t)(val >> 8);
+    }
+
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < img_size; i++)
+        gs_img[i] = 255 - gray_pal[img[i]];
+
+    return gs_img;
+}
+
+static int convert_area(AVFilterContext *ctx, AVSubtitleArea *area)
+{
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+    char *ocr_text = NULL;
+    int ret;
+    uint8_t *gs_img = create_grayscale_image(ctx, area);
+
+    if (!gs_img)
+        return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+
+    area->type = AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS;
+    TessBaseAPISetImage(s->tapi, gs_img, area->w, area->h, 1, area->linesize[0]);
+    TessBaseAPISetSourceResolution(s->tapi, 70);
+
+    ret = TessBaseAPIRecognize(s->tapi, NULL);
+    if (ret == 0)
+        ocr_text = TessBaseAPIGetUTF8Text(s->tapi);
+
+    if (!ocr_text) {
+        av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_WARNING, "OCR didn't return a text. ret=%d\n", ret);
+        area->ass = NULL;
+    }
+    else {
+        const size_t len = strlen(ocr_text);
+
+        if (len > 0 && ocr_text[len - 1] == '\n')
+            ocr_text[len - 1] = 0;
+
+        av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_VERBOSE, "OCR Result: %s\n", ocr_text);
+
+        area->ass = av_strdup(ocr_text);
+
+        TessDeleteText(ocr_text);
+    }
+
+    av_freep(&gs_img);
+    av_buffer_unref(&area->buf[0]);
+    area->type = AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS;
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int filter_frame(AVFilterLink *inlink, AVFrame *frame)
+{
+    AVFilterContext *ctx = inlink->dst;
+    SubOcrContext *s = ctx->priv;
+    AVFilterLink *outlink = inlink->dst->outputs[0];
+    int ret, frame_sent = 0;
+
+    if (s->pending_frame) {
+        const uint64_t pts_diff = frame->subtitle_pts - s->pending_frame->subtitle_pts;
+        s->pending_frame->subtitle_end_time = (uint32_t)(pts_diff / 1000);
+
+        ret = ff_filter_frame(outlink, s->pending_frame);
+        s->pending_frame = NULL;
+        if (ret < 0)
+            return  ret;
+
+        frame_sent = 1;
+
+        if (frame->num_subtitle_areas == 0) {
+            // No need to forward this empty frame
+            av_frame_free(&frame);
+            return 0;
+        }
+    }
+
+    ret = av_frame_make_writable(frame);
+
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        av_frame_free(&frame);
+        return ret;
+    }
+
+    frame->format = AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS;
+
+    av_log(ctx, AV_LOG_DEBUG, "filter_frame sub_pts: %"PRIu64", start_time: %d, end_time: %d, num_areas: %d\n", 
+        frame->subtitle_pts, frame->subtitle_start_time, frame->subtitle_end_time, frame->num_subtitle_areas);
+
+    if (frame->num_subtitle_areas > 1 &&
+        frame->subtitle_areas[0]->y > frame->subtitle_areas[frame->num_subtitle_areas - 1]->y) {
+
+        for (unsigned i = 0; i < frame->num_subtitle_areas / 2; i++)
+            FFSWAP(AVSubtitleArea*, frame->subtitle_areas[i], frame->subtitle_areas[frame->num_subtitle_areas - i - 1]);
+    }
+    
+    for (unsigned i = 0; i < frame->num_subtitle_areas; i++) {
+        AVSubtitleArea *area = frame->subtitle_areas[i];
+
+        ret = convert_area(ctx, area);
+        if (ret < 0)
+            return ret;
+
+        if (area->ass && area->ass[0] != '\0') {
+            char *tmp = area->ass;
+
+            if (i == 0)
+                area->ass = avpriv_ass_get_dialog(s->readorder_counter++, 0, "Default", NULL, tmp);
+            else
+                area->ass = av_asprintf("\\N%s", tmp);
+
+            av_free(tmp);
+        }
+    }
+
+    // When decoders can't determine the end time, they are setting it either to UINT32_NAX
+    // or 30s (dvbsub).
+    if (frame->num_subtitle_areas > 0 && frame->subtitle_end_time >= 30000) {
+        // Can't send it without end time, wait for the next frame to determine the end_display time
+        s->pending_frame = frame;
+
+        if (frame_sent)
+            return 0;
+
+        // To keep all going, send an empty frame instead
+        frame = ff_get_subtitles_buffer(outlink, AV_SUBTITLE_FMT_ASS);
+        if (!frame)
+            return AVERROR(ENOMEM);
+
+        av_frame_copy_props(frame, s->pending_frame);
+        frame->subtitle_end_time = 1;
+    }
+
+    return ff_filter_frame(outlink, frame);
+}
+
+#define OFFSET(x) offsetof(SubOcrContext, x)
+#define FLAGS (AV_OPT_FLAG_SUBTITLE_PARAM | AV_OPT_FLAG_FILTERING_PARAM)
+
+static const AVOption graphicsub2text_options[] = {
+    { "ocr_mode",       "set ocr mode",                  OFFSET(ocr_mode),      AV_OPT_TYPE_INT,    {.i64=OEM_TESSERACT_ONLY},          OEM_TESSERACT_ONLY, 2, FLAGS, "ocr_mode" },
+    {   "tesseract",    "classic tesseract ocr",         0,                     AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST,  {.i64=OEM_TESSERACT_ONLY},          0,                  0, FLAGS, "ocr_mode" },
+    {   "lstm",         "lstm (ML based)",               0,                     AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST,  {.i64=OEM_LSTM_ONLY},               0,                  0, FLAGS, "ocr_mode" },
+    {   "both",         "use both models combined",      0,                     AV_OPT_TYPE_CONST,  {.i64=OEM_TESSERACT_LSTM_COMBINED}, 0,                  0, FLAGS, "ocr_mode" },
+    { "tessdata_path",  "path to tesseract data",        OFFSET(tessdata_path), AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, {.str = NULL},                      0,                  0, FLAGS, NULL   },
+    { "language",       "ocr language",                  OFFSET(language),      AV_OPT_TYPE_STRING, {.str = "eng"},                     0,                  0, FLAGS, NULL   },
+    { NULL },
+};
+
+AVFILTER_DEFINE_CLASS(graphicsub2text);
+
+static const AVFilterPad inputs[] = {
+    {
+        .name         = "default",
+        .type         = AVMEDIA_TYPE_SUBTITLE,
+        .filter_frame = filter_frame,
+        .config_props = config_input,
+    },
+};
+
+static const AVFilterPad outputs[] = {
+    {
+        .name          = "default",
+        .type          = AVMEDIA_TYPE_SUBTITLE,
+        .config_props  = config_output,
+    },
+};
+
+const AVFilter ff_sf_graphicsub2text = {
+    .name          = "graphicsub2text",
+    .description   = NULL_IF_CONFIG_SMALL("Convert graphical subtitles to text subtitles via OCR"),
+    .init          = init,
+    .uninit        = uninit,
+    .priv_size     = sizeof(SubOcrContext),
+    .priv_class    = &graphicsub2text_class,
+    FILTER_INPUTS(inputs),
+    FILTER_OUTPUTS(outputs),
+    FILTER_QUERY_FUNC(query_formats),
+};
