A television receiver for displaying a video signal representing a first frame with a first aspect ratio is described wherein the video signal includes a coded character signal to be reproduced within the first frame. The receiver includes: a decoding unit for decoding the coded character signal; a first converter for converting the video signal into a second video signal to be reproduced to have a second frame with a second aspect ratio in accordance with a mode signal; a second converter for converting the decoded character signal into a second character signal to be reproduced to have a third frame smaller than the second frame; and a displaying unit for displaying the second video signal and the second character signal with characters from the second character signal being superimposed on a video image reproduced from the second video signal. The second converter controls start position and size of displayed characters by controlling counters used for determining the start position and size. Alternatively, a frequency of a clock signal used for determining the start position and size may be controlled.