Repetitively changing volume in order to hear actor/actress (1 Viewer)

[joey.b]

I have noticed that on some DVD movies that I watch on my tv (HDTV 32" flatscreen Samsung), the voices of the actor/actress are not loud enough. I have no additional speakers, but the volume on the tv is turned up quite a bit. I start running into the problem of having to keep turning the volume up in order to hear the words, but then turn the volume down when explosions or other load noises in the movie occur. Is there a way to adjust something (like the treble or bass) so I don't have to keep changing the volume, or should I just buy a home-theater speaker system?
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!!

 

[Ron Alcasid]

Most DVD players have a dynamic range compression feature. However, I'm not sure it affects the analog outputs that I assume you are using. Try it out.

 

[RichardH]

If you just bought a home theater system, you could run the center channel speaker (where all the voices come from) a few dB hot. That should help w/ understanding the dialogue. And yes, the dynamic range compression will also help w/ wide swings in volume.

Even without running the center hot, you're going to understand more because even a cheap center channel speaker is usually better than a TV's built-in speakers. Another big factor is that w/ a home theater system, you have the other non-dialogue parts coming through other speakers, and this helps w/ intelligibility as well.