7 Causes of Dialogue Intelligibility Issues and the Innovation Opportunities for OEMs

More and more TV viewers are turning on subtitles — not necessarily out of preference, but out of necessity due to challenges in understanding dialogue. Muffled voices, booming sound effects and uneven audio mixes make it increasingly difficult to catch what is being said on screen. And as dialogue intelligibility declines, so does the overall viewing experience. TV OEMs can address this issue by prioritizing audio clarity, ultimately setting themselves apart in the crowded market. To understand how, it’s crucial to examine the core factors that make dialogue hard to hear, and why so many viewers are defaulting to subtitles.

Why TV dialogue has become difficult to follow

Dialogue intelligibility, or how easily viewers understand spoken words on TV, isn’t just a matter of turning up the volume. It’s about clarity and the various factors that affect audio quality. These seven key problems help explain why so many viewers now rely on subtitles:

1. Slim TVs with compromised sound: Today’s ultra-thin TVs often sacrifice speaker quality for sleek, aesthetically pleasing design. While digital signal processing (DSP) attempts to compensate, it can inadvertently hinder dialogue clarity.

2. Artistic vision vs. home reality: Directors often prioritize immersive audio experiences. However, what sounds crystal clear in a professional studio with high-end equipment may not translate well to a typical home setup. And downmixing surround sound to stereo can muddy dialogue even further.

3. Compressed production timelines: There’s pressure to create and deliver content under tight budgets and deadlines, often deprioritizing nuanced audio mixing for diverse listening environments. The result? Dialogue that is heard poorly across real-world listening environments, especially in acoustically challenging home living rooms.

4. Environment noise masks TV dialogue: Households are constantly filled with competing noise sources, from HVAC systems to kitchen appliances and traffic. In open-concept homes, ambient noise severely reduces dialogue intelligibility. Raising the volume isn’t always a solution, given noise-sensitive settings like apartment walls or sleeping children.

5. Language barriers: Regional accents, rapid speech and multilingual content are increasingly common in global TV entertainment. While they add authenticity to the screen, they also elevate the comprehension needed, with viewers relying on subtitles that can distract from the overall immersive experience.

6. Aging viewers and hearing loss: With a growing percentage of the audience over 60, age-related hearing loss highlights a significant factor in dialogue clarity. Current audio personalization tools often fall short of effectively serving this demographic and others who are hard of hearing.

7. Inconsistent audio across platforms: Viewers engage with content across multiple platforms, each with its own audio encoding practices. This lack of standardization leads to fragmented dialogue levels and forces viewers to manually adjust, undermining satisfaction and perceived quality.

Turning challenges into innovations for OEMs

Addressing these challenges presents a golden opportunity for TV OEMs to elevate their products and lead the market. Here’s how OEMs can innovate:

Advanced audio processing: Moving beyond basic DSP, manufacturers can integrate sophisticated audio processing technologies, leveraging AI and machine learning to dynamically enhance dialogue clarity while preserving the overall audio experience. This could involve algorithms that intelligently identify and separate dialogue from background noise or adaptive volume control that automatically adjusts based on the content and ambient noise levels.

Personalized sound profiles: OEMs can develop personalized sound profiles to better serve the growing hard-of-hearing population. These profiles could be customized based on individual hearing tests or user preferences, allowing viewers to tailor the audio output to their specific needs, potentially integrating with hearing aids or other assistive devices.

Room correction technology: OEMs can incorporate room correction technology to address the impact of room acoustics. This involves analyzing the room’s acoustic properties using microphones and adjusting the TV’s audio output to compensate for reflections and other distortions, delivering a more balanced and clear sound regardless of the listening environment.

Partnerships and content optimization: OEMs can collaborate with content creators and streaming platforms to establish consistent audio standards and optimize audio tracks for diverse playback environments. This collaborative approach ensures that content is delivered with optimal audio clarity across different platforms, minimizing the need for viewers to constantly adjust settings.

Elevating the viewing experience

OEMs that take the lead on solving dialogue intelligibility challenges aren’t just improving sound quality — they’re redefining the viewing experience. By first addressing the root causes of poor audio clarity, manufacturers can deliver the premium, frustration-free experience consumers expect today, enhance user satisfaction and differentiate offerings. This proactive strategy positions OEMs as leaders in innovation, transforming the viewing experience and setting new standards for audio clarity excellence in entertainment.

Discover how DTS Clear Dialogue is designed to help OEMs put this strategy into action — tackling audio clarity issues at the source and keeping viewers off the subtitles.