DVD players with audio sync adjustment?

[Mutley]

I have a Samsung C650 TV (which I'm very pleased with). Hooked into this over HDMI is a Samsung DVD-C550 standard definition DVD player.

I don't have any Bluray disks, and don't wish to replace my whole library. Anyway, both the TV and DVD player do a good of upscaling, and it looks good to me.

For audio, I have a Logitech Z5400 5.1 system. Its nothing special, but does a good for me. I have the DVD player connection to the Logitech via coax cable to deliver DTS or DD 5.1 sound.

This is where the trouble starts - the audio sync is badly off (often seen as bad lip sync).

This is because the TV image takes a while for the TV process, longer than the audio signal. So the sound appears before the image. I've taken off all the image processing on the TV that I can, which has helped, but it isn't good enough. The sound always appear noticeably before the picture.

Some DVD players and digital audio systems have options to introduce latency into the audio stream to delay it. Mine do not.

So...does anybody know of a DVD player (sub £100) that has an audio sync adjustment / lip sync delay option? Or a 5.1 surround system similar to the Z5400 that has this ability? It is driving me mad!

Thanks!

[dave87]

Try this, it may solve the issue without needing any more hardware (well a converter maybe, depending on the connections available on the Logitech).

You've got the digital audio coming from the DVD player? If so, change it so that the audio is coming from the Optical Out on the TV to the Logitech Speaker system. That way you should find it is in sync.

[Mutley]

I so wish that I could do this.
But it seems that if you transmit sound over HDMI from DVD to TV, then from TV to audio you use SPDIF, that breaks the chain of something or other (something to do with the licensing), and as a consequence the SPDIF signal is down-converted to 2 channel stereo. The TV has an audio delay control for SPDIF output too, so it would be ideal!
If you know a way around this, I would be very very grateful!

[dave87]

Hmm, that does indeed rather suck.

A separate 5.1 System would be your best bet then - something like the Samsung HT-D550 is a punchy little set for not a huge outlay - that has optical in too, so if you ever did add a BluRay or the like you would be able to pass it 5.1, or just use that to hook the TV up so you can get Freeview audio through it aswell as the DVDs.

[Mutley]

Hmm, that does indeed rather suck.

A separate 5.1 System would be your best bet then - something like the Samsung HT-D550 is a punchy little set for not a huge outlay - that has optical in too, so if you ever did add a BluRay or the like you would be able to pass it 5.1, or just use that to hook the TV up so you can get Freeview audio through it aswell as the DVDs.

Does it have the option to adjust audio? I'm using a seperate 5.1 system now (the Z5400) but that has no audio sync adjustment.

[Agent]

This is because the TV image takes a while for the TV process, longer than the audio signal. So the sound appears before the image. I've taken off all the image processing on the TV that I can, which has helped, but it isn't good enough. The sound always appear noticeably before the picture.

I hit this problem a while back when buying a new Samsung for parents and linking it to their hifi / Windows media centre.

The solution was much easier than I thought - in the service menu (you'll have to Google on how to get it for your set, they are usually slightly different) there is an option to change the audio offset. Only took a couple of mins and it's always been 100% spot on
This does mean of course that you need to use the audio pass-through on the TV, and not direct from the player.

[Mutley]

I hit this problem a while back when buying a new Samsung for parents and linking it to their hifi / Windows media centre.

The solution was much easier than I thought - in the service menu (you'll have to Google on how to get it for your set, they are usually slightly different) there is an option to change the audio offset. Only took a couple of mins and it's always been 100% spot on
This does mean of course that you need to use the audio pass-through on the TV, and not direct from the player.

But the problem with this is that the audio pass through down-converts the 5.1 digital signal to 2 channel stereo...

EDIT:
To quote from the Samsung C650 manual:

✎DIGITAL AUDIO OUT (OPTICAL)
5.1 CH (channel) audio is available when the TV is connected to an external device supporting 5.1 CH.

When the source is a digital component such as a DVD / Blu-ray player / cable box / STB (Set-Top-Box) satellite receiver and is connected to the TV via HDMI, only 2 CH audio will be heard from the home theatre receiver. If you want to hear 5.1 CH audio, connect the digital audio out jack from your DVD / Blu-ray player / cable box / STB satellite receiver directly to an amplifier or home theatre.

This sucks.

[Otherhand]

I don't know if this would help you...

I had an audio sync problem with my Samsung TV for everything, even Freeview channels. After a bit of googling, I discovered a secret menu that can only be accessed through something akin to the Konami code: try searching on your model name with "hidden menu audio sync delay" as additional terms. Mine involved a weird combo on the remote that you'd never find through trial and error, and in there was a unique slider that allows you to push and pull the video by ms increments until picture and sound match up.