Turning down the volume on TV commercials

[☭proletarian☭]

. Anyone who pays for cable should not have to put up with the annoying earsplitting ads. .

Turn off the TV or press the mute button. Noone's forcing you to tune in.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

Help is on the way! Last month Dolby Laboratories announced it has developed technology to level out the sound differences that take place during shows and between TV programs and commercials. You pick the volume you like and the Dolby software will make the adjustments in real time automatically.

Dolby Volume could show up in some TV sets by the end of this year or early next year.

Why are TV commercials so loud? - ConsumerMan- msnbc.com[/quote]
Holy crap, a free market solution!

What was billy saying earlier about the free market not being able to come up with solutions?

Of course, the free market came up with a solution shortly after the TV became popular. It is called 'mute' and is oft located near the volume controls.

 

[Liability]

Help is on the way! Last month Dolby Laboratories announced it has developed technology to level out the sound differences that take place during shows and between TV programs and commercials. You pick the volume you like and the Dolby software will make the adjustments in real time automatically.

Dolby Volume could show up in some TV sets by the end of this year or early next year.

Why are TV commercials so loud? - ConsumerMan- msnbc.com

Holy crap, a free market solution!

What was billy saying earlier about the free market not being able to come up with solutions?

Of course, the free market came up with a solution shortly after the TV became popular. It is called 'mute' and is oft located near the volume controls.[/QUOTE]


What a douchebag.

If -- by "billy [sic]" -- you mean Liability, you douchebag, then the answer is "no." It was not me who said anything about the free market not being able to come up with solutions. The free market often comes up with solutions -- at least as to those things it is able to deal with. For instance: A free market can deal with business failures. A free market will not solve the hatred of Islamofuckers directed against people who do not share their pig-dog religion.

What I did say is that the free market lacks the ability to effectively deal with the problem of allocating frequencies in a way that is consistent with the right of the people to have access to those frequencies. I said NOTHING about the market not being able to come up with a solution to the advertisement audible-volume problem. The market already addressed that once and the broadcasters and advertisers bypassed it. Since those pricks will not do it willingly, we have every right to exercise OUR power by compelling them to be civil. That is what I have said, you dishonest douchebag.

Leave it to a fucking lying twat like sickle-boi to find it necessary to resort to lies, again, to "make" his argument. Typical of his weak mind.

 

[Liability]

. Anyone who pays for cable should not have to put up with the annoying earsplitting ads. .

Turn off the TV or press the mute button. Noone's forcing you to tune in.

What a douchebag. No. Nobody is forcing me to watch the game I want to watch, you numbskull. But when I choose to do so, I have every right to insist that the broadcasters not blast my eardrums. Those are OUR airwaves and they are but lessors of the frequencies which WE permit them to exploit for a profit. Since we LET the pricks use our airwaves, we have every right to insist that they be civil and let us enjoy it in relative quiet.

If I want the volume to shatter my eardrums, that's MY choice, not theirs. I can turn the volume all the way up or not -- as I choose. You can mute ir or not, as you choose. This whole freedom of choice thing has you stymied it seems, you twit.

But when they fucking BLAST the commercials, they have controlled the volume, not me; and even for that moment it takes to reach for the remote, they have imposed their arrogant will on the folks who LET them use that frequency. Fucking rude and fucking stupid of them. If they won't be civil in my house in the use of MY fucking property which they only lease from me, then I will impose it on their lease if I choose to do so.

And yes. It is a petty issue in many respects, but again: I prefer that Congress attend to one of my expressed directions rather than going about their usual business of imposing their will on me AGAINST my will.

 

[RadiomanATL]

See: Audio dynamic range compression.

Dynamic range compression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The broadcasters aren't doing it. It's the advertising production companies who create the commercials. They are simply exploiting the peak audio range that the broadcasters are limited to at a more constant level.

 

[Liability]

See: Audio dynamic range compression.

Dynamic range compression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The broadcasters aren't doing it. It's the advertising production companies who create the commercials. They are simply exploiting the peak audio range that the broadcasters are limited to at a more constant level.

Not quite right. The advertisers may be cranking up the volume on the fucking ads they sell to the broadcasters, but the broadcasters have control over the volume they send out over the airwaves. This is why I place the blame at both of their sets of feet, but primarily at the broadcasters'.

An advertiser cannot exploit jack shit if the broadcaster decides to turn down the volume as they send out the signal.

 

[RadiomanATL]

See: Audio dynamic range compression.

Dynamic range compression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The broadcasters aren't doing it. It's the advertising production companies who create the commercials. They are simply exploiting the peak audio range that the broadcasters are limited to at a more constant level.

Not quite right. The advertisers may be cranking up the volume on the fucking ads they sell to the broadcasters, but the broadcasters have control over the volume they send out over the airwaves. This is why I place the blame at both of their sets of feet, but primarily at the broadcasters'.

An advertiser cannot exploit jack shit if the broadcaster decides to turn down the volume as they send out the signal.

The problem with that is that the broadcaster doesn't change the audio levels constantly during broadcasting. Especially for television. It's set at a constant level, and the processing equipment keeps the peaks at a certain level.

There's no guy in a control room saying "OK, here come the commercials...crank it NOW".

This stuff is all automated now man. The computer doesn't care about the content of what is going on the air, all it cares about is the peak levels being sent out and keeping it below a certain level to prevent over-modulation. Doesn't matter if it's Law and Order or Crazy Sams Sunglass Emporium. The advertisers use the dynamic range processing to bring ALL the audio up to the peak levels and keep it there. And the system on the broadcast end doesn't care as long as none of it is going over the peak levels. Doesn't matter how often its getting to the peaks, as long as none of it goes over.

I gotta run, but next weekend when I'm at the station, and if this thread is going on, I'll post a couple of audio examples of a non-compressed song (what you normally would hear on a CD) and a compressed song (what you would hear on a commercial if the song was used as part of the ad).

See ya next week.

 

[Liability]

See: Audio dynamic range compression.

Dynamic range compression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The broadcasters aren't doing it. It's the advertising production companies who create the commercials. They are simply exploiting the peak audio range that the broadcasters are limited to at a more constant level.

Not quite right. The advertisers may be cranking up the volume on the fucking ads they sell to the broadcasters, but the broadcasters have control over the volume they send out over the airwaves. This is why I place the blame at both of their sets of feet, but primarily at the broadcasters'.

An advertiser cannot exploit jack shit if the broadcaster decides to turn down the volume as they send out the signal.

The problem with that is that the broadcaster doesn't change the audio levels constantly during broadcasting. Especially for television. It's set at a constant level, and the processing equipment keeps the peaks at a certain level.

There's no guy in a control room saying "OK, here come the commercials...crank it NOW".

This stuff is all automated now man. The computer doesn't care about the content of what is going on the air, all it cares about is the peak levels being sent out and keeping it below a certain level to prevent over-modulation. Doesn't matter if it's Law and Order or Crazy Sams Sunglass Emporium. The advertisers use the dynamic range processing to bring ALL the audio up to the peak levels and keep it there. And the system on the broadcast end doesn't care as long as none of it is going over the peak levels. Doesn't matter how often its getting to the peaks, as long as none of it goes over.

I gotta run, but next weekend when I'm at the station, and if this thread is going on, I'll post a couple of audio examples of a non-compressed song (what you normally would hear on a CD) and a compressed song (what you would hear on a commercial if the song was used as part of the ad).

See ya next week.

Again, that's just a weak excuse for what the broadcasters CHOOSE to do.

They clearly have engineers while their stations are up and running. It would be a simple enough task to check the levels and turn the shit down. They could PROGRAM their equipment to do that automatically if they had a mind to be civil in fact. And they could do a check on the volume of an advertisement when they screen it for impermissible content (they do have to do that to make sure some dopey ad guys haven't inserted nudity into a commercial for example). They could declinee ads which violate their policies in that regard. They could issue guidleines and standards to the ad compmanies informing the latter that they will not accept ads that blast the eardrums of their customers.... Their warnings can be written in geek-speak, but hte gist of it could be simple and clear. They do none of that. It's their fault.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

. Anyone who pays for cable should not have to put up with the annoying earsplitting ads. .

Turn off the TV or press the mute button. Noone's forcing you to tune in.

What a douchebag.

Yes, how fucked up of me to expect a grown-ass man to be able to push a button instead of crying like a little bitch for Uncle Sam to mute the TV until Barney comes back on.

No. Nobody is forcing me to watch the game I want to watch, you numbskull. But when I choose to do so, I have every right to insist that the broadcasters not blast my eardrums

See those buttons on your remote labeled 'volume'?

But when they fucking BLAST the commercials

They're no louder than the show itself gets, per the current legislation. Grow the fuck up already and stop acting like a child.

 

[☭proletarian☭]

See: Audio dynamic range compression.

Dynamic range compression - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The broadcasters aren't doing it. It's the advertising production companies who create the commercials. They are simply exploiting the peak audio range that the broadcasters are limited to at a more constant level.

Shouldn't it be possible to subject the incoming signal to volume normalization prior to forwarding it to the tv?

 

[Ravi]

What I see is some advocating government intervention when it's most convenient for them.

I don't see why a company or an individual for that matter that pays hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to run an ad should not have the freedom to choose a desired volume level on the ad. If they want to make themselves look like assholes for placing an extra loud ad, why should they not have that freedom? If we have such a problem with it, we should simply not buy their products, and along with not buying the products, send them an email letting them know why.

I fail to see how the government is necessary here. That is SUCH a fucking cop out.

With your logic, any advertiser can stand outside my door and blast some propaganda for their product at 194 dB. And I'm free to buy noise canceling headphones.

That is retarded Rav. Not only is a TV commercial nowhere close to 194 db even at their loudest, someone standing outside your door is on your property. You can kindly ask them to leave, or call the police and have them removed.

When it comes to TV advertising, you invited it into your house by virtue of paying for a TV and cable service. YOU set the volume standards at that point.

What if there are just as many people who WANT commericals to be louder? That's obviously a possibility. What makes your desire for less volume any more important than someone else's desire for more volume?

You paid for the service, you paid for the TV, it's YOUR house, so YOU set the standard on an individual level.

Why do you need the government to regulate it for you?

The wouldn't be standing on my property...they'd be on public property...blasting 194 dB at me.

 

[Ravi]

Throwing another log on the fire here....

The Federal Communications Commission does not specifically regulate the volume of TV programs or TV commercials. However, broadcasters are required to have equipment that limits the peak power they can use to send out their audio and video signals. That means the loudest TV commercial will never be any louder than the loudest part of any TV program. A TV program has a mix of audio levels. There are loud parts and soft parts. Nuance is used to build the dramatic effect.

Most advertisers don’t want nuance. They want to grab your attention. To do that, the audio track is electronically processed to make every part of it as loud as possible within legal limits. “Nothing is allowed to be subtle,” says Brian Dooley, Editor-At-Large for CNET.com. “Everything is loud – the voices, the music and the sound effects.”

Spencer Critchley, writing in Digital Audio last month, explained it this way: “The peak levels of commercials are no higher than the peak levels of program content. But the average level is way, way higher, and that’s the level your ears care about. If someone sets off a camera flash every now and then it’s one thing; if they aim a steady spot light into your eyes it’s another, even if the peak brightness is no higher.”

There’s also what Brian Dooley of CNET.com calls “perceived loudness.” If you’re watching a drama with soft music and quiet dialogue and the station slams into a commercial for the July 4th Blow Out Sale, it’s going to be jarring. If you happen to go from the program into a commercial for a sleeping pill, one with a subtle soundtrack, it probably won’t bother you.

Help is on the way! Last month Dolby Laboratories announced it has developed technology to level out the sound differences that take place during shows and between TV programs and commercials. You pick the volume you like and the Dolby software will make the adjustments in real time automatically.

Dolby Volume could show up in some TV sets by the end of this year or early next year.

Why are TV commercials so loud? - ConsumerMan- msnbc.com

Sweet! Then there will be no need for government regulation and Dolby will make money.

 

[Ravi]

What I see is some advocating government intervention when it's most convenient for them.

I don't see why a company or an individual for that matter that pays hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to run an ad should not have the freedom to choose a desired volume level on the ad. If they want to make themselves look like assholes for placing an extra loud ad, why should they not have that freedom? If we have such a problem with it, we should simply not buy their products, and along with not buying the products, send them an email letting them know why.

I fail to see how the government is necessary here. That is SUCH a fucking cop out.

With your logic, any advertiser can stand outside my door and blast some propaganda for their product at 194 dB. And I'm free to buy noise canceling headphones.

You have to actively choose to turn on a TV and tune it to a station in your house.

Your analogy fails.

And I choose to live in a house without a sound barrier. Your stupidity knows no bounds.

 

[Ravi]

Not quite right. The advertisers may be cranking up the volume on the fucking ads they sell to the broadcasters, but the broadcasters have control over the volume they send out over the airwaves. This is why I place the blame at both of their sets of feet, but primarily at the broadcasters'.

An advertiser cannot exploit jack shit if the broadcaster decides to turn down the volume as they send out the signal.

The problem with that is that the broadcaster doesn't change the audio levels constantly during broadcasting. Especially for television. It's set at a constant level, and the processing equipment keeps the peaks at a certain level.

There's no guy in a control room saying "OK, here come the commercials...crank it NOW".

This stuff is all automated now man. The computer doesn't care about the content of what is going on the air, all it cares about is the peak levels being sent out and keeping it below a certain level to prevent over-modulation. Doesn't matter if it's Law and Order or Crazy Sams Sunglass Emporium. The advertisers use the dynamic range processing to bring ALL the audio up to the peak levels and keep it there. And the system on the broadcast end doesn't care as long as none of it is going over the peak levels. Doesn't matter how often its getting to the peaks, as long as none of it goes over.

I gotta run, but next weekend when I'm at the station, and if this thread is going on, I'll post a couple of audio examples of a non-compressed song (what you normally would hear on a CD) and a compressed song (what you would hear on a commercial if the song was used as part of the ad).

See ya next week.

Again, that's just a weak excuse for what the broadcasters CHOOSE to do.

They clearly have engineers while their stations are up and running. It would be a simple enough task to check the levels and turn the shit down. They could PROGRAM their equipment to do that automatically if they had a mind to be civil in fact. And they could do a check on the volume of an advertisement when they screen it for impermissible content (they do have to do that to make sure some dopey ad guys haven't inserted nudity into a commercial for example). They could declinee ads which violate their policies in that regard. They could issue guidleines and standards to the ad compmanies informing the latter that they will not accept ads that blast the eardrums of their customers.... Their warnings can be written in geek-speak, but hte gist of it could be simple and clear. They do none of that. It's their fault.

Exactly right.

 

[Care4all]

It's baloney.... I am watching a program on the history channel....there is not one point in this program where the volume is high, yet the commercials are blaring and very very very loud....

How is it that the commercials are not suppose to be any louder than the peak point in what you are watching, yet these commercials are double to triple times louder than the program I am watching?

Does it go by the loudest program on the History Channel or the loudest program out of all programs on all of the cable channels combined?

 

[☭proletarian☭]

With your logic, any advertiser can stand outside my door and blast some propaganda for their product at 194 dB. And I'm free to buy noise canceling headphones.

You have to actively choose to turn on a TV and tune it to a station in your house.

Your analogy fails.

And I choose to live in a house without a sound barrier. Your stupidity knows no bounds.

 

[Liability]

* * * *

But when they fucking BLAST the commercials

They're no louder than the show itself gets, per the current legislation. Grow the fuck up already and stop acting like a child.

Of course they are louder than the show itself. Stop being such a dishonest dumbfucker.

And "growing up" is a concept utterly alien to you, so feel obliged apply your hypocritical advice to yourself, sickle-boi.

 

[Anguille]

It's baloney.... I am watching a program on the history channel....there is not one point in this program where the volume is high, yet the commercials are blaring and very very very loud....

How is it that the commercials are not suppose to be any louder than the peak point in what you are watching, yet these commercials are double to triple times louder than the program I am watching?

Does it go by the loudest program on the History Channel or the loudest program out of all programs on all of the cable channels combined?

The new legislation will require that the volume of the commercial go no higher than the highest volume of the the last 5 minutes of the segment of programming that it follows. Because of all the attention and complaints I think that the advertisers will be monitored more closely and not be able to get away with breaking the laws as they currently have been doing. I also have noticed that they do indeed exceed the volume level of the program they follow.

 

[Anguille]

. Anyone who pays for cable should not have to put up with the annoying earsplitting ads. .

Turn off the TV or press the mute button. Noone's forcing you to tune in.

If you prefer to prostrate yourself before the advertising corporations and invite them to ride roughshod over you, be my guest.
I will continue to insist on my rights as a tax payer and a consumer till I get what I pay for.

 

[Samson]

If you prefer to prostrate yourself before the advertising corporations and invite them to ride roughshod over you, be my guest. .

My guess is that prole enjoys being "prostrate," and being ridden "roughshod."