Annoying, isn’t it? I bet you didn’t even notice the TV in there. And that’s just visual, you can look away or change the page. Also, I doubt it’s so bad you have physical pain as a result.
But if it was audio, you’d have muted your speakers, yelled at the computer, and called me a jackass. It’s like when you swap from a normal webpage to a MySpace page, a sudden loud blast of something you don’t want to hear at any volume. That’s what’s going on constantly with the TV. Even the best volume normalizer, and many sets come with them now, can’t catch some of these jumps.
Given all the asinine regulations the FCC has put out, all the stupid decisions of the last year, and the fact you can’t say fuck, why can a cable company run a commercial at double the volume of what I’m watching? There are commercials that run at such an increase people actually have to yell over them. Of course, their ears adjust, so they turn the TV show up, then the commercials are louder, reaching the point of genuine damage to the ears.
I’m much less concerned about someone yelling “shit shit fuck shit fuck!” on Jerry Springer than someone that has actual effects on my life. It makes me yell “FUCK THAT’S LOUD, WHERE’S THE REMOTE?” first, then in 20 years, I’ll never hear anything ever again. It’s always, of course, a really awful ad. Usually a local jingle that makes you want to stab your ears at very low volume, much less when it’s the only thing audible at the time, over dogs, friends, vacuums, and low-flying F-15s. And when it’s played so loud it echoes in your brain over the TV show, it borders on criminal. Mind rape.
Oh, and don’t think it’s not obvious who’s doing it intentionally. That’s right Cox Communications, we know. We know because the local commercials and commercials for your own services are always, ALWAYS double the volume of the DirecTV commercials. Only with more awful hipster music. It’s not coincidentally dissimilar bitrates, and I’m sure it works both ways.
Loud commercials are bad enough, loud commercials that try to be Apple are even worse. This was tolerable when it was just a few used car dealerships, but now it happens with every break.
Someone find me the name of the new head of the FCC. Forget net neutrality, I shouldn’t ever be forced to hear Her Space Holiday at high volume.
2 comments ↓
I’d just like to apologise in advance, ‘cos I’m about to start being a show-off…
As I understand it, there is a subtle difference between the concepts of ‘volume’ and ‘loudness’. The extra-loud sound that comes with most commercials is actually the same ‘volume’ as the normal sound of programmes (Spelling – I’m British!), but the extra ‘loudness’ is caused by audio compression increasing the sound waves, which produces a different effect on the eardrum, and so through the rest of the auditory process.
As an analogy, you could compare it to water pressure in a hose – the more compression at the nozzle, the greater the pressure, although the volume of water is still the same.
You’ll find that the same thing occurs with many commercials on radio, as well as TV.
There have been studies which suggest that loudness is more damaging to our hearing than plain old volume, and for that reason, there are some here in Britain who are trying to stop the use of compressed sound in advertising.
Personally (especially being hearing-impaired myself), I support them in their endeavours, and from the sound of the article, I feel you may also agree with them!
As far as I know, the data is still inconclusive as to the true effects of compressed audio, and further research needs to be conducted, but if there is a risk component to it, I think that this issue may ultimately be much bigger than the aggravation these ads cause.
Well, no matter what the proper term, be it an issue of loudness or volume, the levels are lower for television than commercials by a significant margin, particularly anything on a cable or satellite feed. Cable networks are run at a lower level than local stations, and the local commercials on top of the ones sent by the network are even worse since the TV’s volume is higher anyway to compensate.
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