Is there a reason why audio looks out of synch on my new TV?

Yes. Video processing in TVs often results in the picture being out of sync with the audio. See if your TV has a "game" mode. Set it to that, don't worry about the picture changing, and see if it is more in sync now.

As to fix, your processor/audio equipment likely has an audio delay setting. Go into that menu and change it and see if you can get it in sync. It is very common to have to do this to get good sync.

There are many causes of sync problems with TV broadcasts, and this article explains it in detail:

http://mixonline.com/post/features/audio_late_future/

Note that the video it usually ahead, at least that's the case when I notice this on TV. So delaying the audio would only make the problem worse. (Though this should not be an issue with DVDs or Blu-rays etc.)

--Ethan

I have no problem with TV audio. For my hi-def TV I do have to use the audio delay feature built into by Bluray player to get the lip sync right for DVD and Bluray. As I recall I need to use 50 ms of audio delay.

If the delay is consistent and the audio precedes the video you may be able to fix it with either a setting on the TV or your AV receiver as advised above..

If it's random, you are just seeing the sloppiness in today's TV broadcast industry. And then who fault is it really? The production facility, the duplicator, the network, the local station, the cable or satellite company? Any of these can induce lip sync errors these days.

Most of it is caused by the MPEG (or other) compression and re-compression processes. When we had analog distribution chains and even early uncompressed digital systems, these lip sync problems were rare. Today they seem to be the norm!

Broadcast tv doesn't necessarily mean cable, it can still be over the air and can make a difference as the video is directly part of the tv rather than an outside source and how that's routed and being processed.

In your Pioneer's manual there should be a listing for how to find your lipsync or audio delay adjustment feature.

Streaming and internet download? I would expect these sources to be the worst in terms of lip sync. Far too many encoder/decoder incompatabilities with streaming technology.

I'd return the bd player or replace if it performs inconsistently.

The sub setup sounds off, and the settings for your avr/sub you don't specify. What are the details of settings on the sub, in your avr and what you did to setup the sub overall?

Did you try setting the TV to game mode as I suggested? If it works, I can explain why .

The symptoms given above are extremely unusual.

Typically, lip synch from BD players is off consistently unless the actual video has problems. The usual situation is that the audio leads the video which most modern receivers can correct.

Our perception of lip synch is much more critical with dialogue than sound effects. Maybe that is what is going on.

Receivers generally can provide excellent bass response unless there is a problem with the selection, room, positioning or adjustment of the speakers.

I have a PS3 not quite 2 years old. Never an issue. You sure it's not the source media? Did you try adjusting for delay in the AVR?

As to your sub, what sub is it and what input to the sub are you using?

Which is what I have been trying to tell you . The TV has video processing. It attempts to de-interlace and inverse telecine the video to get back to 24p for movies. It does this by analyzing the picture and depending on what it sees, it changes what it does to generate a progressive frame image. And when it does this, it can change the amount of time it takes for the video to reach the screen. Now, it is not supposed to be broken this way but sadly, that is the nature of the animal sometimes. Mistakes in how the video is encoded causes this problem to show up on some titles and some parts of a title and not others.

Try a couple of things:

1. Set PS3 to 1080p24. Connect it directly to the TV first, bypassing the AVR. Play the part that has the problem and see if it is still there. If it is not, then try it through the AVR as that box also attempts to screw around with the video. If it is still there try #2 below

2. Set your TV to game mode as I suggested. Game mode is designed for low latency and it likewise removes the video processing. It also screws up the picture so you don't want to use it permanently but for now, will produce a new data point on what could be wrong.

If you are unwilling to try things as suggested please say so and I will go ahead and try to confuse someone else and not you.

This is probably why your bass is non existent. Im betting your receiver isnt seeing your sub, your +/- setting in the receiver is off, or some combo of the two.

Dr. Kain, take a look at the Pioneer remote control. Perhaps you will see "lip sync", and you can make the adjustment on the fly. I would be very surprised if the receiver didn't have this. Please state what model number the receiver is.

Are you processing the audio from..."out" of the disc player...to "in" on the receiver. Some people are "out" of the TV to "in" on the receiver...(ARC/ audio return channel).
HDMI or optical/toslink hook up?

The VSX-60, one of the smaller Pioneer Elite's does in fact have "lip Sync". From my experience, this is not a problem created by the networks or the TV, but an audio delay that happens as a result of the signal traveling through components and passing from one component to another. I don't really know the real answer...LOL. We shall wait to see what the Dr's model number is.

Correct even the 5x series Elites have it.

The fact is, there are MANY reason why lip sync issues can occur. For example, it is well known that Directv has lip sync issues with NBC, Nat Geo, and a few other channels. Directv hasnt come out and said it, but its a common enough discussion on their boards its considered a known issue. Then there are as you mentioned hardware issues. Which is more prevalent? Who knows. But there are many reasons for lip sunc issues.

DIalnorm has nothing to do with bass levels specifically. It is intended to allow automatic adjustment between different movies that have different average dialog levels (dialog normalization) so they all sound about the same loudness, at least in the dialog. It's metadata in the digital stream, and 4 (or -4, depending on how the particular device displays it) is basically the default value. Not always used on Dolby encodes, available but essentially never used for DTS (as I understand it).

If you have not atke nsteps to set your subwoofer's output to balance with the other speakers, it's possible the sub needs more signal from the receiver to get to the right level.

But if like many you listen well below "reference" things may sound bass shy, because of how humans' ears work. Equal loudness curves show that (very, very roughly) if you turn a movie down by 6 dB, the bass will sound like it's been turned down by more like 12 dB, because our ears are less sensitive to bass . . . . Some folks use a "house curve" (bass boost) to deal with this, some rely on software solutions in their receivers, and others just live with it (like pertty much everybody did until maybe 10 years ago or so). The old-fashioned "loudness" controls on some stereo devices are intended to get at this issue, too . . .

The VSX-30 has a "10 frame delay" lip sync...whatever that means...it will in fact allow you to make this adjustment. Do you have "monitor out" from the rear of the receiver connected to the TV so that you can view the on screen menu?

Um.....hey Doc, what happened to the lip sync issue?