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A lot of ad volume problems come from failure to normalize audio between what the studio distributes and what the advertiser distributes. Failure to fix somethi

by Kye 5y ago

A lot of ad volume problems come from failure to normalize audio between what the studio distributes and what the advertiser distributes. Failure to fix something can be innocent or malicious: someone high up can simply not prioritize it, and no one could honestly say it's to serve advertisers without an admission. Some of it is innocent, some isn't. Laws are passed to regulate it, but they find ways past it.

Legion 5y ago
> A lot of ad volume problems come from failure to normalize audio between what the studio distributes and what the advertiser distributes. Weird how this supposed lack of normalization never seems to result in overly quiet commercials...
- a9h74j 5y ago
  Like hospital billing errors always being in favor of the hospital.
denton-scratch 5y ago
They use psycho-acoustics. It's not actually louder, in the sense of carrying more acoustic energy overall; but the sound-engineer emphasises those parts that we perceive as "loud". Regulators are pwned, and refuse to act. Movie sound-engineers seem to have started doing the same. I really don't understand why annoying ads have't become extinct, in accordance with the Darwin principle. [Edit] And advertisers hire loud, shouty actors to present their ads; it's almost as if they were challenging us to change channel or stick in a DVD.
- GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago
  Not an advertisement, and I have no other relationship except as a satisfied customer: Consider getting a TV Speaker from ZVOX that has the 'output leveling' feature. It really works, and keeps those of us who are 'aural'-sensitive from being whacked on the side of the head by crazy audio. Also works to fix bad Movie mixes (avengers... black widow...). This seems to be the cheapest unit with the 'Output Leveling' feature: https://zvox.com/collections/accuvoice/products/av100-accuvoice-speaker https://zvox.com/collections/accuvoice/products/av100-accuvo...
- munk-a 5y ago
  > I really don't understand why annoying ads have't become extinct, in accordance with the Darwin principle. Unfortunately it's because of the Darwin principle. While I hate them to death annoying stuff is more memorable than pleasant stuff - you can sit on a beach all day and get bitten by a mosquito at one point, you're definitely going to remember the mosquito more than hours of pleasant relaxation. Annoying loud crap gets our attention, I think, in part, because things that are annoying and loud are dangerous (both in the modern and historically) so we're trained to pay more attention to them. I wish it wasn't true but Advertising gains effectiveness from obnoxiousness - like if a marketing company could make your house smell like rotten fish every time they were blasting information about their insurance you'd sure as hell remember their name.
- wahern 5y ago
  > Regulators are pwned, and refuse to act. Congress mandated a very specific method for controlling loudness by incorporating an ATSC standards document. As long as broadcasters stick to the standard what is the FCC to do? See https://www.fcc.gov/media/policy/loud-commercials https://www.fcc.gov/media/policy/loud-commercials, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/pdf/PLAW-111publ311.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/pdf/PLAW..., and https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/a85-techniques-for-establishing-and-maintaining-audio-loudness-for-digital-television/ https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/a85-techniques-for-estab... The problem is less worse now than before circa 2011. Although most people have switched to streaming so they wouldn't realize.

by Kye 5y ago

Legion 5y ago

> A lot of ad volume problems come from failure to normalize audio between what the studio distributes and what the advertiser distributes. Weird how this supposed lack of normalization never seems to result in overly quiet commercials...

a9h74j 5y ago
Like hospital billing errors always being in favor of the hospital.

denton-scratch 5y ago

They use psycho-acoustics. It's not actually louder, in the sense of carrying more acoustic energy overall; but the sound-engineer emphasises those parts that we perceive as "loud". Regulators are pwned, and refuse to act. Movie sound-engineers seem to have started doing the same. I really don't understand why annoying ads have't become extinct, in accordance with the Darwin principle. [Edit] And advertisers hire loud, shouty actors to present their ads; it's almost as if they were challenging us to change channel or stick in a DVD.

GeorgeTirebiter 5y ago
Not an advertisement, and I have no other relationship except as a satisfied customer: Consider getting a TV Speaker from ZVOX that has the 'output leveling' feature. It really works, and keeps those of us who are 'aural'-sensitive from being whacked on the side of the head by crazy audio. Also works to fix bad Movie mixes (avengers... black widow...). This seems to be the cheapest unit with the 'Output Leveling' feature: https://zvox.com/collections/accuvoice/products/av100-accuvoice-speaker https://zvox.com/collections/accuvoice/products/av100-accuvo...
munk-a 5y ago
> I really don't understand why annoying ads have't become extinct, in accordance with the Darwin principle. Unfortunately it's because of the Darwin principle. While I hate them to death annoying stuff is more memorable than pleasant stuff - you can sit on a beach all day and get bitten by a mosquito at one point, you're definitely going to remember the mosquito more than hours of pleasant relaxation. Annoying loud crap gets our attention, I think, in part, because things that are annoying and loud are dangerous (both in the modern and historically) so we're trained to pay more attention to them. I wish it wasn't true but Advertising gains effectiveness from obnoxiousness - like if a marketing company could make your house smell like rotten fish every time they were blasting information about their insurance you'd sure as hell remember their name.
wahern 5y ago
> Regulators are pwned, and refuse to act. Congress mandated a very specific method for controlling loudness by incorporating an ATSC standards document. As long as broadcasters stick to the standard what is the FCC to do? See https://www.fcc.gov/media/policy/loud-commercials https://www.fcc.gov/media/policy/loud-commercials, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/pdf/PLAW-111publ311.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-111publ311/pdf/PLAW..., and https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/a85-techniques-for-establishing-and-maintaining-audio-loudness-for-digital-television/ https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/a85-techniques-for-estab... The problem is less worse now than before circa 2011. Although most people have switched to streaming so they wouldn't realize.