TV commercials to be quieter?

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13 Dec 2012, 6:16 am

I assume that this will be quite welcome around here.

From http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2012/12/12/15866886-ahh-tv-commercials-to-get-quieter-starting-thursday?lite:

Quote:

Shouting TV ads are soon to become a thing of the past as a new law goes into effect Thursday at midnight mandating that the volume of commercials has to be within a range of 2 decibels (db) more or less than the programming around them.

Joe Addalia, director of technology projects for Hearst Television, was in charge of figuring out the right technology to make 31 transmitters compliant with the new regulations. He told TODAY that 2 db was "the difference between viewers reaching for the remote and not." TV stations want to encourage watchers to leave the remote alone, he said, "because right next to the volume button is the channel button."

Commercials are often so loud because the only real limit on programming volumes is the one set by stations so that the sound levels don't damage their equipment. That level, however, represents a peak sound meant to accommodate for when something like a gunshot or explosion goes off during a show. Advertising content creators routinely crank the sound of their ads to just shy of that peak level, so the entire commercial is playing at the equivalent of a 30-second bomb blast.

I suspect that the tv stations and the advertisers will likely come out ahead if it means more people won't be tempted to fast forward over the advertisements or to shut the tv off entirely.

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13 Dec 2012, 6:33 am

I sooooooo wish we had the same law in my country.

I really hate it when I have to turn up the volume to watch something, and then all of a sudden - BOOM!! ! Extremely loud advertisements

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13 Dec 2012, 6:36 am

I guess they figure that by increasing the volume, you can still hear it while you run to the kitchen to get a bite to eat or to take a quick bathroom break. It sure is aggravating, though.

elfabyanos
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13 Dec 2012, 11:50 am

I'm a trained sound engineer and I've some knowledge of this.

All audio tracks are exported (or bounced in old terminology) to hit the maximum absolute output of the audio medium in order to achieve the greatest signal-noise ratio*. The problem is that the adverts do not have a higher peak audio power output as the film that they sit within, its just the film is longer, is more dynamic, and necessarily its 'average' will sound less then the 'average' of a short advert that has little dynamic range. (Unless the film is end to end explosions).

The problem is, the engineers who mix the adverts cannot know the dynamic range and overall loudness (as perceived) of the media that they will be played against.

And in my opinion, surely everyone has a mute button?

* slight oversimplification as it is not an exact science, and the "loudness wars" have plagued CD production for more than a decade - the advert problem is slightly related to said wars and is a result of the modern digital audio limiter which can properly "brickwall" a recording to get maximum perceived loudness without distortion (and without much life left either). Compare Foo Fighters Echoes Silence Patience & Grace vs Nirvana In Utero (similar production valies for their respective eras)

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13 Dec 2012, 12:14 pm

The extra loudness could also disturb people trying to sleep. Also I may be busy and doing something watching tv and don't want to hit the mute button. Also then have to turn it back up.

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13 Dec 2012, 1:01 pm

ianorlin wrote:

I may be busy and doing something watching tv and don't want to hit the mute button. Also then have to turn it back up.

^This. And if I mute the tv, I have to watch the commercials to know when the show is back on. And sometimes I get "sticky hands" and carry the remote into the other room and then the commercials blow me away while I'm frantically trying to remember where I left it.

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13 Dec 2012, 1:14 pm

Commercials are one of my major peeves. I can't stand them and always hit the mute button. Actually, I have a theory that they aren't aimed at adults at all but at small children because they are more impressionable and will learn to associate a brand name with a product from an early age, and remember this as adults when they come to chose products for themselves. And they are so loud in order to grab their attention after switching off during the boring adult programs.

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13 Dec 2012, 1:26 pm

between the loud noises
voices mixed with blasting music
flashing between scenes

commercials are one of the few things that put me into sensory overload.
i always keep my remote next to me ready to hit mute (or fast forward if its recorded programming)

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13 Dec 2012, 2:07 pm

elfabyanos wrote:

This ^^^

I am similarly trained, but have never actually worked in the field.

It is also a problem with audio compression. The db level isn't the only factor in how loud audio tracks sound. It's also a matter of how many frequencies of audio are being used at one time (as elfabyanos said, "dynamic range"). If the show you are watching only contains background music turned way down in relation to dialogue, and mixed in a way that limits frequencies that would interfere with the dialogue, then an ad comes on using every audible frequency compressed to the max, it could have the same db level, but sound far louder than the show.

The laws were written by people with little knowledge of audio mixing and production.

I agree. Use your MUTE button. The remote is a wonderful thing. :wink:

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13 Dec 2012, 2:12 pm

The mute button is designed for adverts. Adverts are also a good opportunity to flick around the other channels to see what else is on that might be better to watch anyway.

Some adverts are so nauseatingly bad and noisy that I flick channels anyway. The trend at the moment seems to be having people shouting or screaming in adverts - their power of shouting doesn't match the power of my mute button though.

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13 Dec 2012, 10:52 pm

a jejune thought-
most tv programming is already compressed a fair bit, to bring up the volume of the quiet parts to easy audibility, and to tamp down the loud parts within a comfortable level of the average viewer on average viewing equipment. commercial producers should be disallowed from using any audio trick to pre-boost their apparent volume levels [beyond the typical RMS broadcast values of tv programs] before broadcast, and broadcasters should be allowed no volume maximization at any time outside of emergency broadcasts. i believe the regulators "with no knowledge of audio mixing and production" should not care too much just how the broadcasters get this job done, just that it get done somehow.

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14 Dec 2012, 4:55 am

Didn't notice them on TV at first, but by reading this article. I'd say that's welcome.

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14 Dec 2012, 6:19 am

auntblabby wrote:

RMS doesn't reflect how loud audio actually sounds to the human ear. Neither does db. That's the problem. There is no single measurement that equates to what a listener will consider loud or quiet.

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14 Dec 2012, 7:35 am

There's one thing I find even more annoying than loud advertisements, and that's bad audio mixing of the movies or shows themselves. Like the background music completely drowns out the conversations.

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14 Dec 2012, 7:42 am

Sanctus wrote:

There's one thing I find even more annoying than loud advertisements, and that's bad audio mixing of the movies or shows themselves. Like the background music completely drowns out the conversations.

There is a lot more of that going on these days than there used to be. Seems there are a lot more engineers in the business these days that have no clue what they are doing. I've got to wonder how they manage to get into the business.

Personally, I think the worst of those productions are done by people that watch meters instead of using their EARS. Meters don't tell you enough. You've GOT to learn to use them with your ears. The ear should take precedent over the meters. Meters should be used, but the ear tells all.

Regardless of what the equipment tells you, if it sounds like crap, it is crap.

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14 Dec 2012, 12:34 pm

So ears and meters are complements not substitutes.

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