Congress outlaws television dynamic range

[newsbot]

Knowledgeable viewers understand apparent loudness (and so does the FCC, which is why they passed on issuing regulations) but Congress knows better. So look forward to no dynamic range on both program and commercial content 24/7 from now on. This is progress???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100930/ap_on_en_tv/us_congress_loud_commercials

 

[imhomerjay]

Let's see...we have an economy still on life support, wars, the little matter of no government funding bill, the open question of what tax rates will be in three months....and this is what Congress spends our tax money on?

 

[quadraphonic]

It seems like the volume of commercials has been discussed to some degree in political circles since the 1950s, so "everything else in due time" too....

 

[ixnay]

I see the sponsor(s) went to Acronyms R Us for the bill title: Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM). Imagine Henry Clay giving bills titles like this.

I'm sure broadcasters will simply turn up the volume on the programs themselves to match the volume of the spots, thus getting around this.

ixnay

 

[BRNout]

Let's see...we have an economy still on life support, wars, the little matter of no government funding bill, the open question of what tax rates will be in three months....and this is what Congress spends our tax money on?

Yep, glad to see that they know how to prioritize - right?

Yet another reason to fire a whole bunch of 'em in November....not because I like loud ads (I hate them), but because they waste our time and money with unfunded mandates and mircomanagement of business sectors that they do not know anything about. Absurd.

 

[flytrap]

its not that the commericals are loud, in reality the maximum volume during the commericals are the same as the maximum volume as that of the program. It comes out loud because they use too much compression during the commercials which pumps up the volume during the soft passages makin the entire commerical loud so a whisper is the same loudness as a car crash. It sounds like modern FM radio, which is too loud and many time unlistenable.

 

[azumanga]

Kind of funny is the fact that my Bright House system often shows local ad inserts at a volume much lower than the ads and programs on the actual feed.

 

[ajc_trw]

Kind of funny is the fact that my Bright House system often shows local ad inserts at a volume much lower than the ads and programs on the actual feed.

I know I often turn down the volume on most commercials as they are more often than not quite annoying.

Sounds like Bright House is aptly named as that is a bright idea.

 

[FightingIrish]

its not that the commericals are loud, in reality the maximum volume during the commericals are the same as the maximum volume as that of the program. It comes out loud because they use too much compression during the commercials which pumps up the volume during the soft passages makin the entire commerical loud so a whisper is the same loudness as a car crash. It sounds like modern FM radio, which is too loud and many time unlistenable.

You hit the nail on the head!

TV commercials (and I'm sure a number of shows) have long used excessive limiting to maximize the volume throughout. Contrary to the title of this thread, there is NO dynamic range! It's exactly the opposite! Even the quietest moments in an ad are maxed up, so every sound in the commercial is the same volume, and as a result, gives the impression of being much louder.

Sadly, the same thing is done in most modern music. Excessive limiting has essentially killed the natural sound of dynamic range, so it's all over-compressed noise. Artists from Metallica to Celine Dion have used and abused it. Ever wonder why the Red Hot Chili Peppers' most recent albums are so painful to listen to? Way too compressed! On top of that, Lossy audio formats such as mp3 compress it further. And most radio stations, which use automation systems playing lossy digital files, compress it even more! No wonder record sales are so terrible! Here's a site that explains more:

http://turnmeup.org/

And kudos to artists/producers/etc. such as Steely Dan, T-Bone Burnett, Neil Young and Guns n' Roses who opt for more dynamic range on their recordings.