Can’t hear Jack Ryan’s voice over all the explosions? A new Amazon Prime Video feature should help you hear the voice of the embattled CIA operative amid popping bullets and the soaring music score.
Rolling out today for “select” Amazon Originals programming, Prime Video’s new Dialogue Boost feature strives to do what many TVs and sound bars do already: boost the sound of dialogue that might otherwise be drowned out by the cacophony of sound effects or an overpowering soundtrack.
According to Amazon, the new Dialogue Boost feature doesn’t just jack up the sound of the center channel, as some TVs and sound bars do when “voice mode” is activated.
Instead, Prime Video’s Dialogue Boost “intelligently” pinpoints moments when voices might be difficult to hear, and then isolates and enhances the dialogue.
You can access the Dialogue Boost settings from the audio and subtitles drop-down menu. Two levels of Dialogue Boost are available: High and Medium.
You’ll find the Dialogue Boost feature “across all devices that support the Prime Video experience,” Amazon says.
That’s the good news; the bad news is that for now, Dialogue Boost is only available on a few Amazon Originals series, including Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Harlem.
Amazon Originals movies with the Dialogue Boost feature include The Big Sick, Beautiful Boy, and Being the Ricardos.
You can check the title detail page on any Prime Video title to see if Dialogue Boost functionality is available.
We can expect Dialogue Boost to appear on more Prime Video shows and movies “this year,” Amazon says.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.