Volume Control... AAAARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[Jan Van Quirm]

This may just be the time of year (my housemate insists on having a fan on in the living room when we get the merest hint of summer sun) but does anyone think that the volume of TV progs and especially adverts are getting exceptionally & unacceptably loud?

The TV volume is competing with the fan anyway but even so I find myself constantly wanting to tear the remote away from the housemate (I'd be dead if I touched the fan) as the already quite loud programmes' decibel levels suddenly soar upwards for the advert break and the adverts are almost without exception at rock concert level (OK so I'm exaggerating a bit but c'mon you know what I'm saying here :x )

It's almost certainly because the housemate is going deaf and the fan of course doesn't help, but I do prefer to be allowed to set my own level of bearable sound, not constantly have to adjust it in case I might be lured into buying some stupid cornflakes or a different sort of bloody ladyshave against my will...

I'd say thank gods for the remote but I strongly suspect they're actually behind this heinous variety of 'love-bombing' - it never happened when you had to get out of your couch-potato pit to turn a knob 2 or 3 yards away.... *mutters bitterly*

 

[Tonyblack]

When I'm here in Tucson we generally only ever watch PBS (Public Broadcast Service) that doesn't have adverts as such. When I've (rarely) gone to other stations, I find the adverts almost impossible to watch. Not only are they loud, the people in them seem to be on speed, trying to get as much info into the couple of minutes as possible. They really grate on my nerves.

 

[chris.ph]

sky is murder for wacking the volume up in the adverts :twisted:

 

[Batty]

Jan, I'm constantly reducing the volume control during the adverts.
What's more, there are some programmes that are so quiet that I have to turn the volume up - and then have my ears blasted when the adverts come on, which then has me scrabbling for the volume control... and I then have to turn it up again when the advert finishes ...
:x

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

You can set the volume level on the newer tv's that supposed to set a level which does not change when the adverts come on.

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

Hah! Yeah we have one of those WWD.... allegedly!

It is an older digital model so maybe it's had the mastering for volume knackered? Also it's absolutely crap for DVD volume - those are so bloody quiet you have to whack up to full virtually... can't flipping win! :x

 

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Jan, I'm constantly reducing the volume control during the adverts.
What's more, there are some programmes that are so quiet that I have to turn the volume up - and then have my ears blasted when the adverts come on, which then has me scrabbling for the volume control... and I then have to turn it up again when the advert finishes ...
:x

Yes, they push it to the FULL LEGAL LIMIT! The show producers know full well and are in collusion with the people who pay their bills.

I want one of the newer televisions that can make the commercials muted. I Hate them.

 

[Ezekiel000]

I just mute advert breaks, but also I watch most TV recorded on V+ so no advert breaks most of the time.

 

[boohoo]

Who really watches adverts now a days, me I've got the remote in my had before the music has time to stop and I'm happily flicking away (drives everyone mental )

 

[Jan Van Quirm]

Yeah Boo Hoo *resists urge to call you Boo Boo as per Yogi*

But the trouble is a lot of adverts breaks are tuned around the hour (except for the BBC but on there it's either always Eastenders *reaches for projectile weapon* or even one of their 'not-an-advert-lasting-3-minutes for a repeat.... ). In fact surfing during ad breaks is even more annoying as you then get a cacophany of volumes in x many jingles everywhere else...

Is this the reason why I spend most of my time online with the sound OFF! :x

 

[superfurryandy]

It is annoying - Bill Hicks had it right when he spoke on advertising.

 

[superfurryandy]

Et voila!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo&feature=related

 

[Tiffany]

The loudness of adverts does annoy me as well.
My 92 year old Mother, who is going deaf, though she denies it, has her T.V. volume so high you can't here yourself think, let alone talk. Good job she lives in a detached bungalow.
She has still got her C/Hing on as well, but that's going off topic.

 

[Jason]

There are two things that affect the volume.

The physical volume of the recording and a thing called compression.

I believe adverts can go about 20% louder that the programmes around them but they can also squash the compression so that more of the sound is in the up levels this magnifies the volume increase.

 

[Straw Walker]

I just mute advert breaks, but also I watch most TV recorded on V+ so no advert breaks most of the time.

The PVR is the only way to watch commercial TV. No sound at all on the ads at 32 times FF but you do have to be a bit quick on the play button.

Many of the commercial channels now seem to pad out the adverts with 'in house' previews to increase the break length up to five minutes. :x

 

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

She has still got her C/Hing on as well, but that's going off topic.

ok, what is C/Hing?

 

[Tonyblack]

I think that's central heating. Sounds like my mother.

 

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Ahh, I have read that the older we get the less our bodies can regulate our temperature. Depending on the metabolism, you can feel cold, even if it is warm outside.

 

[Batty]

Many of the commercial channels now seem to pad out the adverts with 'in house' previews to increase the break length up to five minutes. :x

I once timed the adverts/breaks during a CSI programme, as I was becomming increasingly annoyed that the channel would show the opening 5 minutes of the programme, and then - before the opening credits had rolled - go to an ad break.
Considering that the programme is listed as being on the screen for an hour, I timed the programme as actually only lasting for 38 minutes. The resulting 22 minutes were promos and adverts.
I did complain as the maximum amount of advertising permitted in an hour is 14 minutes, but the 8 minutes 'over-run' was classed as 'promotion of forthcoming programmes'. Which to me is nothing more than another name for an advert!

 

[bikkit]

Sometimes I'm lulled into a quiet daydream whilst watching a nature documentry and then, ripping through my chain of thought come the words 'DON'T SHOP FOR IT, ARGOS IT!' Whatever that means.