This new Amazon Prime Video feature needs to come to every streaming service pronto
Amazon has introduced a new audio feature that's long overdue
There’s nothing more annoying than watching a movie or TV show and being unable to hear the dialogue. What then ensues is a delicate dance as you carefully raise the volume to hear what people are actually saying, without having your ears drums blown out whenever an action scene takes place or music starts playing.
After 10 minutes of frustration, you inevitably settle for a lower volume than anyone would like and the all-too-reliable crutch of subtitles. But what if there was a better way?
Well, thankfully, there is. Amazon Prime Video is introducing a new 'Dialogue Boost’ feature that lets you self-select dialogue volume levels to suit your needs. The new accessibility feature is only available on select Amazon Originals like Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan but will start showing up on additional titles this year.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Amazon audio upgrade
👍 Amazon Prime Video is getting a super useful new feature
🚀 Dialogue Boost will let you increase the volume of dialogue relative to background music and effects
🤖 It uses an AI-based approach to deliver targeted enhancement to portions of spoken dialogue
🙌 The feature is available on select Amazon Originals now
In a blog post on the About Amazon website, Raf Soltanovich, VP of technology at Prime Video and Amazon Studios said: “At Prime Video, we are committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and enjoyable streaming experience for all our customers. Our library of captioned and audio described content continues to grow, and by leveraging our technological capabilities to create industry-first innovations like Dialogue Boost, we are taking another step to create a more accessible streaming experience.”
Dialogue Boost analyzes the original audio in a movie or TV series and identifies points where dialogue may be hard to hear above background music and effects. It then isolates speech patterns and enhances them to make dialogue clearer.
Amazon Prime Video subscribers can find Dialogue Boost via the audio and subtitles drop down menu. The audio tracks are labeled: “English Dialogue Boost: Medium” and “English Dialogue Boost: High.”
If Dialogue Boost works as intended, it’s a feature I’d love to see other streaming services adopt as soon as possible. I’m tired of having to watch films with subtitles because the audio mix was designed for cinemas and not TV speakers or other devices.