I bought a Panasonic DVDRV30 DVD player, and I've got it attached to a Philips Magnovox TP2784C TV. There are no external receiver or speakers attached, the sound comes through the TV's speakers. I love the DVD player with one exception. I've got to keep my hand on the volume control of the remote, because there is such as discrepancy between the volume of the dialog on the movies
and the volume of the background noise and music. I always have to raise the volume to hear the dialog and lower it for the action scenes and when there's a lot of music.

Is there anything I can do to even out the levels?

Thanks,
Larry

Hi,
Unfortunately, this is the nature of DVD's. They have tremendous dynamic range so that you feel the impact when something explodes.

Fortunately, there's something you can do.
DVD players have this thing called "Dynamic Range Control" that reduces the dynamic range by limiting the peak volumes and raising the quieter sounds while keeping the dialogue the same. Its not the end all solution but it might help.
For your info, this feature only works in Dolby Digital material so you're listening to a DTS track, then this feature will not work.

I have the Panasonic RV30 as well so I can guide you through it.
Turn the DVD player on so that the DVD-Video logo appears. Make sure if a disc is in, that its not playing by pressing stop. Press the "ACTION" key on the lower left hand corner of the remote. This will bring you to a setup screen. Go to the last item on the list (#9 I think) and press select. This will bring you to a new menu where one of the options will say: Dynamic Range Control: OFF
Go in and select "ON".
Then exit and pop in a movie and see whether this makes a difference or not.

I'm interested to know if this worked or not so let me know if it did.
Hope this helps
Andy

PS. Another thing I read that will boost dialogue is using the VSS modes. There are 2 of them. Press VSS on the remote and try the two out and let me know if any of them did the trick or not

Kenwood receivers have a feature much like this called Midnight mode. It basiclly limits the sound levels on the "loud" scenes, without lowering the volume of the dialog. This comes in very handy when the kids are in bed.

Something else you might want to try is to buy an SPL meter from Radio Shack. You can use it to balance all of your speaker levels by using the built in test tones in your receiver. In my case balancing the speaker levels helped the discrepancy in the dialog and action scenes that you refer to.

------------------
Go Noles!
>>------>

Thanks for the advice, folks. I don't have a receiver or external speakers, so I don't think the SPL meter will help. I did try Andy's suggestions, and it looks like the combination of turning ON the Dynamic Range Compression and turning OFF the VSS (the second VSS selection had been on) does the best job for me.

Thanks again,
Larry

You might want to try turning off the TVs "Smart Sound" if it has it. My parents 27" Magnavox has that feature and it often makes DVDs do the same volume problem you describe.

------------------
Dave My DVDs(Not updated anymore since DVD Tracker uncooly started charging). My Humble Home Theatre

hey this SPL Thing Sounds Cool. uh how does it work? I am going to have to check this out, im sure i screwed up the setup of my reciver.

Hi Ifeidels,
Another thing you can do to raise the volume is use the "Dialogue Enhancer" feature on the Panasonic RV30.

The Dialogue Enhancer actually works by increasing the center channel volume on a 5.1 mix by 6 dB's. Since the center channel carries other stuff besides dialogue, you will get a boost of other stuff too. But its a nice way to boost the dialogue and you will notice a difference.

You can use this even without a 5.1 setup or a center channel.
But when you watch a movie, you need to select the 5.1 audio track and not a 2.0.
When you select a 5.1 track, the dialogue enhancer will boost the center channel before it downmixes to stereo so you will still notice the difference in a stereo setup like yourself.
I have tested this out myself and use it alot.

To use it, the movie has to be playing in 5.1 first. Then press "Display" twice, and the 3 box from the left is the dialogue enhancer feature. Turn it to "ON".
If this is not clear, check the manual.
Hope this helps,
Andy