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The broadcaster could program the commercials to not exceed the average level of the program. And yes, they are following the letter of the law...but the end result is that the commercials are blaring. Which is why the law is about to be changed.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.
Yer not understanding me...
It IS programmed to do that. Audio levels not to exceed XXXXdB. What yer experiencing is ALL the audio levels of a commercial at XXXXdB. The commercials are following the "letter of the law" so to speak, it just seems that they are louder. And it is purposefully done that way through compression of the audio commercial.
The broadcaster could program the commercials to not exceed the average level of the program. And yes, they are following the letter of the law...but the end result is that the commercials are blaring. Which is why the law is about to be changed.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.
Yer not understanding me...
It IS programmed to do that. Audio levels not to exceed XXXXdB. What yer experiencing is ALL the audio levels of a commercial at XXXXdB. The commercials are following the "letter of the law" so to speak, it just seems that they are louder. And it is purposefully done that way through compression of the audio commercial.
Why couldn't you just reduce the peak volume of anything that is highly compressed? Most movies aren't highly compressed, are they?
Exactly right.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.
Except that it's exactly....wrong.
Exactly right.
Except that it's exactly....wrong.
Except that it's not wrong at all.
The volume clearly jumps when the broadcasters air commercials. In my experience, that means MOST fucking commercials. Since that seems quite evidently "do-able," it is just as certain that the broadcasters can make fucking damn well sure that it DOESN'T happen.
They can require the advertising geeks to "make it so," as a TERM of any contracts between the advertisers and the broadcaster. Alternatively, we all know full well that if they were of a mind to do it themselves, the broadcasters could take simple actions to keep the volume down on the commercials.
Is this the most pressing issue of our day? Clearly not.
Good. Even BETTER reason to have Congress spend its time on it. This has the useful effect of all keeping them away from doing all the dangerously stupid crap they've been doing all year.
Except that it's exactly....wrong.
Except that it's not wrong at all.
The volume clearly jumps when the broadcasters air commercials. In my experience, that means MOST fucking commercials. Since that seems quite evidently "do-able," it is just as certain that the broadcasters can make fucking damn well sure that it DOESN'T happen.
They can require the advertising geeks to "make it so," as a TERM of any contracts between the advertisers and the broadcaster. Alternatively, we all know full well that if they were of a mind to do it themselves, the broadcasters could take simple actions to keep the volume down on the commercials.
Is this the most pressing issue of our day? Clearly not.
Good. Even BETTER reason to have Congress spend its time on it. This has the useful effect of all keeping them away from doing all the dangerously stupid crap they've been doing all year.
Except the volume doesn't go up.
* * * *
Except that it's not wrong at all.
The volume clearly jumps when the broadcasters air commercials. In my experience, that means MOST fucking commercials. Since that seems quite evidently "do-able," it is just as certain that the broadcasters can make fucking damn well sure that it DOESN'T happen.
They can require the advertising geeks to "make it so," as a TERM of any contracts between the advertisers and the broadcaster. Alternatively, we all know full well that if they were of a mind to do it themselves, the broadcasters could take simple actions to keep the volume down on the commercials.
Is this the most pressing issue of our day? Clearly not.
Good. Even BETTER reason to have Congress spend its time on it. This has the useful effect of all keeping them away from doing all the dangerously stupid crap they've been doing all year.
Except the volume doesn't go up.
* * * *
Except it absolutely does.
It's not even a rational argument to deny it. We all HEAR the volume jump. So, who are we gonna believe: Your theory or our own lying ears?
Except the volume doesn't go up.
* * * *
Except it absolutely does.
It's not even a rational argument to deny it. We all HEAR the volume jump. So, who are we gonna believe: Your theory or our own lying ears?
Believe what you want. I've already explained why it sounds like it goes up.
Except it absolutely does.
It's not even a rational argument to deny it. We all HEAR the volume jump. So, who are we gonna believe: Your theory or our own lying ears?
Believe what you want. I've already explained why it sounds like it goes up.
I do believe that which I hear for myself. Your explanation doesn't explain a single thing if the premise is a contradiction of reality.
The volume jumps during commercials.
Your explanation sounds like scientists telling us that aerodynamic principles and scientific research confirm that bees cannot fly.
Believe what you want. I've already explained why it sounds like it goes up.
I do believe that which I hear for myself. Your explanation doesn't explain a single thing if the premise is a contradiction of reality.
The volume jumps during commercials.
Your explanation sounds like scientists telling us that aerodynamic principles and scientific research confirm that bees cannot fly.
Like I said, believe what you want.
I do believe that which I hear for myself. Your explanation doesn't explain a single thing if the premise is a contradiction of reality.
The volume jumps during commercials.
Your explanation sounds like scientists telling us that aerodynamic principles and scientific research confirm that bees cannot fly.
Like I said, believe what you want.
As I said, I do. We all do. Even you. Even if what you believe is contradicted by our own senses.
Like I said, believe what you want.
As I said, I do. We all do. Even you. Even if what you believe is contradicted by our own senses.
Except common sense.
As I said, I do. We all do. Even you. Even if what you believe is contradicted by our own senses.
Except common sense.
You seem like a good guy. But if you were working with common sense, you wouldn't be busy denying that the volume of commercial ads go up compared to the programming in which they appear.
Your argument is akin to saying that it's all just an optical (actually, it's an aural) illusion. Well, with all due respect: Nonsense.
The reason people are reacting is NOT because of some mass hysteria. We have not all been hyp-mo-tized. We are reacting because the fucking sound difference between the show and the commercials is JARRING. I don't give a crap about the highest peak volume of the show being watched. A loud scene is just one scene. The entire commercial advertisements, however, are BLARING at some hideously uncomfortable level.
And yes. That CAN be easily addressed. Not doing so is just a choice. A piss poor choice.
I guess I don't have the same lack of faith in audio technology that you have. No one is asking for 100% success rate.Why couldn't you just reduce the peak volume of anything that is highly compressed? Most movies aren't highly compressed, are they?
Because there's no way that I am aware of to have the equipment detect automatically 100% of the time that has been compressed and then keep it there within the same spot/segment/promo.
What would most likely happen would be even more annoying.... audio going all the way up and then when the computer realized what was happening bringing it down again all within the same single commercial, and then the computer holding over that setting into the next commercial and then compensating partially through it to bring it back to normal.
That sounds like a good way to never get anyone to advertise on your station again if you ask me.
I guess I don't have the same lack of faith in audio technology that you have. No one is asking for 100% success rate.Why couldn't you just reduce the peak volume of anything that is highly compressed? Most movies aren't highly compressed, are they?
Because there's no way that I am aware of to have the equipment detect automatically 100% of the time that has been compressed and then keep it there within the same spot/segment/promo.
What would most likely happen would be even more annoying.... audio going all the way up and then when the computer realized what was happening bringing it down again all within the same single commercial, and then the computer holding over that setting into the next commercial and then compensating partially through it to bring it back to normal.
That sounds like a good way to never get anyone to advertise on your station again if you ask me.
I suppose you could stop allowing compressed commercials...there are actually stations on both radio and television that don't have this problem.
Except common sense.
You seem like a good guy. But if you were working with common sense, you wouldn't be busy denying that the volume of commercial ads go up compared to the programming in which they appear.
Your argument is akin to saying that it's all just an optical (actually, it's an aural) illusion. Well, with all due respect: Nonsense.
The reason people are reacting is NOT because of some mass hysteria. We have not all been hyp-mo-tized. We are reacting because the fucking sound difference between the show and the commercials is JARRING. I don't give a crap about the highest peak volume of the show being watched. A loud scene is just one scene. The entire commercial advertisements, however, are BLARING at some hideously uncomfortable level.
And yes. That CAN be easily addressed. Not doing so is just a choice. A piss poor choice.
Suit yerself.
You seem like a good guy. But if you were working with common sense, you wouldn't be busy denying that the volume of commercial ads go up compared to the programming in which they appear.
Your argument is akin to saying that it's all just an optical (actually, it's an aural) illusion. Well, with all due respect: Nonsense.
The reason people are reacting is NOT because of some mass hysteria. We have not all been hyp-mo-tized. We are reacting because the fucking sound difference between the show and the commercials is JARRING. I don't give a crap about the highest peak volume of the show being watched. A loud scene is just one scene. The entire commercial advertisements, however, are BLARING at some hideously uncomfortable level.
And yes. That CAN be easily addressed. Not doing so is just a choice. A piss poor choice.
Suit yerself.
I do.
I'm not understanding your point. It is possible for stations to comply by rules on commercial volume, and it is understandable that human error will sometimes cause the stations to fail.I guess I don't have the same lack of faith in audio technology that you have. No one is asking for 100% success rate.Because there's no way that I am aware of to have the equipment detect automatically 100% of the time that has been compressed and then keep it there within the same spot/segment/promo.
What would most likely happen would be even more annoying.... audio going all the way up and then when the computer realized what was happening bringing it down again all within the same single commercial, and then the computer holding over that setting into the next commercial and then compensating partially through it to bring it back to normal.
That sounds like a good way to never get anyone to advertise on your station again if you ask me.
I suppose you could stop allowing compressed commercials...there are actually stations on both radio and television that don't have this problem.
If it's not 100%, barring a breakdown in equipment, then it makes the station sound like crap. And therefore no station would agree to it.
And I don't know of a station, either radio or tv, that does not have the potential for this issue.
