DTS Launches ‘Clear Dialogue’ Feature to Improve Dialogue Intelligibility

[gene]

DTS has developed an AI-based audio processing feature called Clear Dialogue. An on-device solution for TV OEMs, DTS Clear Dialogue identifies, separates, and enhances spoken dialogue for TV audio. Users can customize their experience to accommodate environmental issues and differences in hearing ability.

Interestingly, this was a feature originally promised when the DTS:X immersive audio format was launched. Does this mean DTS:X enabled AVRs will support this?

Read: DTS Clear Dialogue Feature to Improve Dialogue Intelligibility

 

[mtrycrafts]

Interesting how news channels and evening news comes in clearly, but many programs' dialogues are terrible.
So, DTS is fixing recording issues.

 

[corey]

The first thing I would want to know is if the AI does it's processing on a central server, letting DTS track what media I consume.

I use my TV as a display panel only, and get audio from my Denon based surround system.

 

[TLS Guy]

DTS has developed an AI-based audio processing feature called Clear Dialogue. An on-device solution for TV OEMs, DTS Clear Dialogue identifies, separates, and enhances spoken dialogue for TV audio. Users can customize their experience to accommodate environmental issues and differences in hearing ability.

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Interestingly, this was a feature originally promised when the DTS:X immersive audio format was launched. Does this mean DTS:X enabled AVRs will support this?

Read: DTS Clear Dialogue Feature to Improve Dialogue Intelligibility

So this is a down and dirty trick to hear dialog on poor systems.

As I have said many times the ability of a system to produce clear AND natural human speech is an essential requirement of any audio system. If it can't is is just a bad system. I know many can't, and there are far too many bad systems around.

I have three systems and all of them produce clear and natural speech, and I have never had to advance the volume on a center channel ever. One is a two channel system and still has clear dialog.

No one has ever complained they can't hear and understand the dialog.

It is most unfortunate this seems a complaint we get too frequently here.

 

[highfigh]

So this is a down and dirty trick to hear dialog on poor systems.

As I have said many times the ability of a system to produce clear AND natural human speech is an essential requirement of any audio system. If it can't is is just a bad system. I know many can't, and there are far too many bad systems around.

I have three systems and all of them produce clear and natural speech, and I have never had to advance the volume on a center channel ever. One is a two channel system and still has clear dialog.

No one has ever complained they can't hear and understand the dialog.

It is most unfortunate this seems a complaint we get too frequently here.

I don't even use surround and I can hear dialog at any level but if they're addressing bad systems/speakers or peoples' bad hearing acuity, it needs to have an adjustment for how much effect it will have. People have abused their ears for decades with ear buds and didn't read the warnings about heading damage, so we now have a hearing aid that's AI-based. Great for some listeners, bad for others.

If I can find a rep who knows anything about this tomorrow at an AV distributor event tomorrow, I'll ask.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Sweet. A fix for Christopher Nolan movies!

 

[Trell]

So this is a down and dirty trick to hear dialog on poor systems.

As I have said many times the ability of a system to produce clear AND natural human speech is an essential requirement of any audio system. If it can't is is just a bad system. I know many can't, and there are far too many bad systems around.

I have three systems and all of them produce clear and natural speech, and I have never had to advance the volume on a center channel ever. One is a two channel system and still has clear dialog.

No one has ever complained they can't hear and understand the dialog.

It is most unfortunate this seems a complaint we get too frequently here.

It’s putting lip stick on a pig, and all of this new effort is a new way for TV manufacturers to monetize data on the TV owners expense. Just read the article in detail.

 

[Mr._Clark]

My suggestion is an AI based device that automatically administers an electric shock to actors who mumble their lines.

Bane: "Peace has cost OUCH! SONOFABITCH! you your strength."

If nothing else, it would liven up the dialog.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Come to think of this, I was interrogating, looking into a movie on Amazon and it seems they have an option for this, at least on that crappy movie, medium or high setting.
Need to look at some others there now that my brain is rebooted on this.

ps. here we go on movie Doors:
"Audio languagesEnglish, English Dialogue Boost: Medium, English Dialogue Boost: High "

tested it, you have to have the program start, then pause to do language to adjust. just a test, will see if it helps when I decide to watch it.

 

[JerryLove]

Interesting how news channels and evening news comes in clearly, but many programs' dialogues are terrible.
So, DTS is fixing recording issues.

It's dynamic range mixing. Movies are recorded to be played in a quiet environment and at a high volume. Speech isn't emphasized. The news is all about speech.

It's the opposite of the problem with music. Music has suffered from "hot mastering" or dynamic compression which makes it louder at a given volume, but also acts to make it easier to hear in a poor environment or on poor playback. Sadly, it makes it worse than it should be in a good environment.

The ideal sound mix for your home theater is not the ideal sound mix for your iPad.

The feature described here has been on TVs for a while (a good sound mixer won't put much volume in the same band as voice; so you just dynamically compress the whole thing and/or boos the voice frequencies); though they are (surprisingly) not terribly good at it.

 

[ScottInWinterHaven]

When I write this I fully understand that when a movie like Tenet recorded on DTS X for Blu-ray discs in 4K UHD that has such weak Dialogue in their own Blu-ray movies. I can't help notice the complete irony in this story. With DTS one would think they should sound engineers intervention and retraining for them on how to dedicate higher dialogue volume for the Center Channel.
Clearly they know to use Bass Boost and Height Channels but then have weak dialogue on the Center Channel.
My Vizio sound bars are quite cable of boosting up the dialogue to the maximum setting to get it. I didn't do it because I could hear what was being said. I would have to reset it after the movie ended.
My soundbars have a Game setting. I use it to watch sports. It doesn't do much to put game announcers at the forefront either.
It seems to be for more for an in-stadium experience. I hear the music, I hear the PA game announcers, I hear the people in the stands. This is all out of my surround speakers. The sound bar they don't much for TV announcers.
I hope this a software fix for TVs that already include DTS X.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

When I write this I fully understand that when a movie like Tenet recorded on DTS X for Blu-ray discs in 4K UHD that has such weak Dialogue in their own Blu-ray movies. I can't help notice the complete irony in this story. With DTS one would think they should sound engineers intervention and retraining for them on how to dedicate higher dialogue volume for the Center Channel.
Clearly they know to use Bass Boost and Height Channels but then have weak dialogue on the Center Channel.
My Vizio sound bars are quite cable of boosting up the dialogue to the maximum setting to get it. I didn't do it because I could hear what was being said. I would have to reset it after the movie ended.
My soundbars have a Game setting. I use it to watch sports. It doesn't do much to put game announcers at the forefront either.
It seems to be for more for an in-stadium experience. I hear the music, I hear the PA game announcers, I hear the people in the stands. This is all out of my surround speakers. The sound bar they don't much for TV announcers.
I hope this a software fix for TVs that already include DTS X.

Two words.
Cristopher Nolan.