Amazon dialogue boost: Solution to TV’s most annoying sound issue is coming

John Krasinski as Jack Ryan. Photo / Supplied

We’ve all been there. A character on TV is trying to deliver a crucial bit of expository dialogue but you can’t hear anything because there are cars whizzing past in the background.

Or a plane is taking off, or the helicopter rotor blades are whirring, or a bomb is exploding. But what did that guy just say about who the traitor in their midst is?

Not being able to hear the dialogue in a TV series or movie, especially an action blockbuster where it seems like anything blowing up is about seven times louder than characters speaking, has been a constant thorn in people’s sides.

Netflix previously revealed 40 per cent of members have the subtitles on all the time while surveys in the US and UK have found anywhere between 60 and 70 per cent of young viewers are frequent users of subtitles.

But if your use of subtitles has more to do with clarity on the dialogue than accessibility issues, Amazon is introducing a new feature that could do away with needing to turn them on because of the sound mix.

It’s called “dialogue boost” and it turns up the volume on the dialogue track relative to the score, ambient sound or effects.

The catch is it’s only available on a selection of Amazon Prime Video’s originals, including Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Being The Ricardos and Beautiful Boy.

There are already some expensive sound systems and certain TV sets which have a similar feature, but Amazon claims it’s the first streaming platform to roll it out on a global scale.

To turn it on, you select it from the audio and subtitles drop-down menu on an individual title, and it will give you two options: “English Dialogue Boost: High” or “English Dialogue Boost: Medium”.

The title page for a TV show or movie will indicate whether dialogue boost is available.

The feature was originally developed for hearing-impaired viewers, according to Variety.