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The loud volume of commercials.....

Navy Chief

Navy Chief

Senior Member
I hate commercials; ALL commercials. Aside from the annoyance of the interruption they obviously cause, when watching a program; I really get pissed off at the increased volume that so many of them have.

I don't know where I saw this, but I seem to recall a study that supposedly proved that commercial volume levels were not higher, but that certain "frequencies" were higher. Bulls....t.

When I have to race to hit the "mute" button because my ears are hurting from a commercial, I know better.

I don't know what it is, but my wife loves commercials. Me? I can't change stations fast enough. And just to be even more clear, I will go out of my way NOT to buy something I have to watch a commercial about on TV.

Being able to record a tv show/movie, and then speed forward through all the commercials, is a Godsend.

Yes, I know that those companies pay for programming, but it doesn't mean I like having to watch their advertising!!!

By the way, there was an actual bill proposed to stop this crap. I bet it never gets voted on.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.06209:

NC
 
thats why i like the BBCs method, pay a lience, tada, no ads during shows or even better ... druing movies!!! you only get them inbetween shows, which is drink time anyways.

There was one channel i used to watch, i ended up not bothering when the adverts where longer than the actuall bits of the program! :faint:
 
Magnavox has a feature called quiet sound or something like that (or at least they did the last time I bought a tv).

Its a preset in the controls that actually filters the signal and determines if it is a program or a commerical and then sets the sound based on your preference setting.

Works pretty handy :)
 
happens here as well, have to turn the tele up to hear the programs, then have to turn it down for the ads
 
They've been doing that here in the States since the 50's. Yeah we need a TV with an auto volume control. Big advertisers probably pay manufacturers not to make them standard
 
Our SONY TV has an option for "Smart Volume" where, if set, keeps the volume at a steady level to avoid the up/down.

I've noticed also that with DirecTV satellite service, our HD channels have a very low normal volume as compared to non-HD channels. Don't know if it's HD-related in how the sound comes across, but it's very distinct.

Also, I've noticed an uptick in the number of HD channels that have a little "Now Watching" promo, followed by a "Later" promo in the bottom part of the screen for other programming. Guess they figured with all the screen real estate that HD gives them, they could fill it up with ads for their own programs.
 
Odie said:
Our SONY TV has an option for "Smart Volume" where, if set, keeps the volume at a steady level to avoid the up/down.

I've noticed also that with DirecTV satellite service, our HD channels have a very low normal volume as compared to non-HD channels. Don't know if it's HD-related in how the sound comes across, but it's very distinct.

Also, I've noticed an uptick in the number of HD channels that have a little "Now Watching" promo, followed by a "Later" promo in the bottom part of the screen for other programming. Guess they figured with all the screen real estate that HD gives them, they could fill it up with ads for their own programs.
Click to expand...

My Sony has that as well. Seems the cable here kinda doesn't play nice with it.
 
or alternitavly, just make do with what you have and turn the voloume down the good ol way useing the remote, its not like you have to get out of the chair and walk to the tele to it anymore :engel016:
 
The volume is what you set it at. But what you cannot set is the amount of "volume compression" that is, every thing is brought up to what ever volume you set with no modulation. That's why it sounds loud, there isn't any relief as there would be in normal conversation. A whisper would be as loud as a sneeze.
The FCC sets no regulation on the amount of volume compression.
 
What drives me nuts with commercials is at the beginning of a movie or a program you only see a few here and there, towards the end of the movie you get the pleasure of seeing one every other minute...it makes watching a program on TV go to crap.:argue:
 
What's funny (in a not funny sort of way :-> ), is that the FCC and congress pass laws/rules to "fix" this problem back in the 80's, but their "fix" was to place a max limit on the audio programs dB level, which just meant that they turned down the volume on the actual programming, and left the commercials at the "max" volume setting - thanks congress, useful as ever :->

Tim
 
Odie said:
Our SONY TV has an option for "Smart Volume" where, if set, keeps the volume at a steady level to avoid the up/down.

I've noticed also that with DirecTV satellite service, our HD channels have a very low normal volume as compared to non-HD channels. Don't know if it's HD-related in how the sound comes across, but it's very distinct.

Also, I've noticed an uptick in the number of HD channels that have a little "Now Watching" promo, followed by a "Later" promo in the bottom part of the screen for other programming. Guess they figured with all the screen real estate that HD gives them, they could fill it up with ads for their own programs.
Click to expand...

I have cable tv (Comcast) and I've noticed the same things with the HD channels. The HD volume is lower, but is also crisper, seems to have less noise, but the commercials are evidently not HD as the volume seems louder. Non-HD channels do not suffer from this problem. As for the promo thing, that started many years ago with the networks popping their logo into the image for a few seconds. Now, the logo is always on with scrolls and pop ups being added to advertise what you are currently watching or upcoming shows.

Last year one of the cable/satellite only channels actually put full length commercials running in a small box while simultaneously broadcasting a NASCAR race. The race was silent while the commercials were running. Talk about annoying!
 
[

Last year one of the cable/satellite only channels actually put full length commercials running in a small box while simultaneously broadcasting a NASCAR race. The race was silent while the commercials were running. Talk about annoying![/quote]

:faint:
 
Yeah, they only did it for one race. I think NASCAR might have had some words with them about their advertising policy.
 
I have grown so annoyed at commercials, I rarely ever watch network TV. Cable movie channels, without commercial interruptions, are my choice.

And if I want to see something on network tv, I record the program, and watch it later so I can zip past the commercials.

NC
 
navychief said:
I don't know where I saw this, but I seem to recall a study that supposedly proved that commercial volume levels were not higher, but that certain "frequencies" were higher. Bulls....t.
Click to expand...

This is actually true. I job shadowed a TV meteorologist once and people at the station showed me how they did it, step by step. They do not increase the volume, but use different methods to make it seem louder. They have professional audio programs made just for it. However it was too long ago to remember what exactly they did.
 
Whether it simply "seems" like those d....n commercials are loud or in reality are not; they hurt my ears!!!

NC
 
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