Audio

[Carraig]

I have a 42" Phillips HD tv, new at Christmas time. And I am  using a PS3 for playing movies.  Today I rented The King's Speech, only to discover the background music was very loud, while we could not hear the actors speaking.

I turned the volume on the remote as high as it would go and we could just barely hear the actors, and of course when sound came on, it almost burst our eardrums.

I have tried everything I could think of, including turning off the Surround Sound on the tv (didn't help),and  turning on the AVL (didn't help either).

On the PS3 I checked the audio output settings for HDMI and the whole list of formats that are supported were checked.

This is the first DVD I have rented since getting the new tv, but I have played other DVDs, including the Downton Abbey series made by PBS, with no problem.

It's almost as if the background sounds/music are recorded on one "track' and the speaking parts on another and they are way out of balance.

Can anyone suggest how I can correct this? It's really disappointing to have a beautiful tv and not be able to watch a good movie.

[XL]

• is your center channel plugged in and working?
• go into the movie setup and try out other audio optons.  Look for something other than 5.1 or 7.1.

[Carraig]

Thanks for the reply XL. I'm not a very technical person. Where would I find those two things? Are they on the tv, or the PS3?

[XL]

Without knowing your complete system, I was suggesting to investigate your center channel speaker if you have one.  Vocals are often stored on the center channel.  You mentioned the problems is vocals.

DVD's usually provide multiple audio tracks for language (eg French & Spanish) and sound output (2.0, 2.1, 4.1, 5,1, etc...).  I was suggesting you look into the DVD audio menus (via PS3) to try different audio tracks.  Avoiding 3.1, 5.1, and 7.1 tells the movie to send the vocals to the side speakers where you are getting backgrounds.

[Carraig]

I don't have a theatre set up unfortunately. Just my tv

[Carraig]

I did find the movie audio set up but there was only Dolby digital 5.1 english, and the same for French.

[XL]

Hmm... I don't have a PS3, but if someone can jump in here to clarify if there is a way to tell the PS3 console there is no surround center channel.

This way the PS3 will the vocal signal to be split with the left and right channels.

I will say that since I got myself a surround speaker solution, my movie vocals sound clearer with a center channel speaker.

[Carraig]

Well, I'm back again with the same problem, only worse this time.

I have a copy of The Devil Wears Prada and I put it in the PS3 last night, only to find out I had the same problem: there is no sound for the speaking track unless you turn the volume up full, and even then you can barely hear it.

And here is the odd part: There are little scene clips at the beginning, where the screen lets you choose "Play", "Scene Selection", etc. And I can hear the actors just fine. But once the movie starts, the voice track can't be heard.

I had it up and running last night while I went into the tv settings and tried changing what little is there. There is an option for a TruSurround HD on the audio, which is turned on, but it makes no difference.  The sound is 5.1.

I really don't understand why I cannot get the audio on some DVDs. Not all of them mind you, just random ones. And I have been unable to determine what the ones that won't play the sound have in common.

The tv is  a Philips 40" 40PFL5505D, bought at Future Shop last Boxing Day, if that is of any help.

[XL]

What happens when you put the DVD on your laptop and computer?  How is the audio there?

[Carraig]

The audio is fine on the computer. So it has to be something in the tv.