Explain why sound on DVDs is so bad

Question

We have a HD tv with a upconverting dvd player. When we watch a DVD the louds are very loud and the quiets are too quiet. Whats the deal with that? How do I fix it? I have a receiver to run the sound through, but it needs updating.

Answer 1

If you go into the audio setup of your DVD player you will see a feature called dynamic compression. This is designed to allow you to turn up a movie loud enough to hear the quiet dialog yet not have you and/or your neighbors blown away by the loud action parts. Conversely, if you like loud action parts you can turn the compression down and get rocked by the explosions.

Sounds like your dynamic compression is set to "wide". Each DVD player calls the settings something different, but I think that is the answer you need.

Answer 2

Also - get a Radio Shack SPL meter and a copy of "Avia" "Digital Video Essentials" or "Sound and Vision Setup Disk". These DVD's have tutorials on how to level-adjust your speakers.

Properly aligning your speakers helps. Use a laser pointer to see where they are pointing.  

Answer 3

Could be many things.  It could be your upconverting dvd player is garbage or your receiver is garbage and is not set up correctly.