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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player Apps
This tip originally appeared here on macbidouille.com. In case you can't read French, here are the steps to remove dynamic range compression from the DVD Player:
  1. Edit ~Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.dvdplayer.plist
  2. Change:
    
    <key>DisplayDolbyLineMode</key>
    <false/>
    
    to:
    
    <key>DisplayDolbyLineMode</key>
    <true/>
    
Launch DVD Player, and a new option appears on the Player tab of the Preferences called 'Dolby Line Mode.' Tick this to disable the dynamic range compression on Dolby Digital source DVDs for much better quality, especially for Music DVDs. This was only tested on DVD Player v3.2 included with OS X 10.2.6.

One step closer to DVD Player 4.0 included in Panther, bring on the S/PDIF output. :-)
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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player | 17 comments | Create New Account
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Tradebacks?
Authored by: elmimmo on Aug 14, '03 03:29:16AM

Why wouldn't this be enabled, if there wasn't any tradeback?



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Macbidouille US = Hardmac.com
Authored by: yoc on Aug 14, '03 04:23:56AM
Macbidouille.com is now available in the language of Shakespeare : www.hardmac.com.
You can read this hint here

---
www.macbidouille.com

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Macbidouille US = Hardmac.com
Authored by: NeutronMonk on Aug 14, '03 09:30:38AM

More Robespierre than Shakespeare! Actually, a mostly serviceable translation.



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Tradebacks?
Authored by: deped on Aug 14, '03 09:14:23AM

Dynamic range control was probably set to always 'on' in the belief that it would be safer, and give more consistent results, with the humble speakers and amplifiers found in computers.

But is anyone else more interested in getting DTS support in Apple DVD Player? The difference in quality between Dolby Digital and DTS is not subtle. DTS is equal to or typically better than true 'CD quality', while Dolby Digital is comparable to or below MP3 quality at 128kb/s. Apple Mac users deserve the quality option!



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Tradebacks?
Authored by: Alrescha on Aug 14, '03 09:25:26AM

Some compression is intended and invoked on just about every Dolby Digital amplifier that you might buy today. It's often an option that you can fiddle with.

One effect of turning it off that you may be familiar with is the tendancy of sound effects to tear pictures off the walls while dialog is nearly inaudible.

There are some situations where completely disabling compression works, but in general some compression was factored into the the creation of the DVD and turning it off can result in unnatural-sounding audio.

It is nice to have the option just the same.

A.



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Tradebacks?
Authored by: drhmoss on Aug 14, '03 10:00:50AM

I tried it with "Ice Age" last night and my wife and I found that the sound was much superior to what it had been.

We have a 17" iMac with the standard speakers.

Please try it - it can work well!



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Tradebacks?
Authored by: Arakageeta on Aug 14, '03 11:52:52AM

I have a DVD image that would play, but without sound before I tried this hint.

The image now plays perfectly!!



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: phoomp on Aug 14, '03 04:05:34PM

Thank-you! I've been looking for something like this for a LONG time. My iBook is the only device I use to play DVDs and I have been very annoyed at the volume drops at sound spikes, even with such brief spikes and something clicking in the movie. This will make my movie viewing experience MUCH better!



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: rdm on Aug 15, '03 11:48:32AM

When I first read this hint, I went to my ~Library/Preferences/com.apple.dvdplayer.plist, and found that I didn't have these two entries. I checked, and indeed my Apple dvd player was v3.2 on Mac OS X 10.2.6. So I thought perhaps I had customized the plist somehow, so I copied the plist to a different file, and restarted the dvdplayer. I didn't get these entries in my new com.apple.dvdplayer.plist either!

I decided to wait until someone else brought this up, but so far, no one else has mentioned this. Am I the only one without these values? Can someone suggest some reason why I might not have them? I have a PowerBook G4 500 -- perhaps the values are only listed on desktop systems?



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: nicola on Aug 15, '03 01:04:46PM
That's a bit strange. Anyway, instead of writing directly to the prefs file (to avoid typos etc.), you may try giving these two commands from the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.dvdplayer DisplayDolbyLineMode true

defaults write com.apple.dvdplayer DolbyLineMode true

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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: travisdu on Aug 21, '03 07:27:10PM

AHH!! This didn't work - now I can't even open DVD Player without it closing because of an "Unexpected Error" - I tried typing the same commands in the terminal with "False" after them, but that didn't work either!
HELP PLEASE!!



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: deltonis@mac.com on Aug 23, '03 05:42:59AM

Now i'm in the same boat here. How do we fix this problem now that we cant even watch dvds:(

I have learn my lesson on listening to what hack people ave tried out.



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: oRiCN on Aug 24, '03 11:00:05AM

Pop into the ~Library/Preferences/com.apple.DVDplayer.plist and delete the 4 lines:

<key>DisplayDolbyLineMode</key>
<string>true</string>

and

<key>DolbyLineMode</key>
<string>true</string>

It appears that even if there 'False' it can stop the player loading, but If there not in there at all it works again



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: w4lna on Aug 23, '03 08:18:33AM
When I first read this hint, I went to my ~Library/Preferences/com.apple.dvdplayer.plist, and found that I didn't have these two entries. I checked, and indeed my Apple dvd player was v3.2 on Mac OS X 10.2.6. So I thought perhaps I had customized the plist somehow, so I copied the plist to a different file, and restarted the dvdplayer. I didn't get these entries in my new com.apple.dvdplayer.plist either!
Are you checking for the file in your home directory or the root directory? The file location is in ~/Library/Preferences (notice the added forward slash)

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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: rdm on Aug 24, '03 10:06:16PM

Yes, I am sure I am referring to the plist in my home Library Preferences directory -- there isn't one in the root Library Preferences.

I don't consider the hints on how to add the value (vs change the value) to be helpful -- I know how to add values, I just consider it unwise in this case if my configuration does not list them as it does for some of the other folks writing. (And since one person seems to have added them and gotten in trouble, perhaps this prudence is justified.)

I am trying to find out if anyone else out there using an older PowerBook (although a Ti500 might not be considered old) using Apple's 3.2 dvdplayer and Mac OS X 10.2.6 has seen these values. If not, there may be a fundamental difference between the players as installed.



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Enable full-quality Dolby audio output in DVD Player
Authored by: bluehz on Aug 25, '03 08:20:11AM

When I made the Dolby modifications to my Apple DVDPlayer 3.2 .plist it would not load.



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From the terminal
Authored by: bostmass on Aug 18, '03 05:09:59PM

type:
defaults write com.apple.dvdplayer DisplayDolbyLineMode true
hit return and your done.



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