Add break volume changing

paulbok · 04-10-2011 10:21AM #1

Is anyone else getting seriously P1$$*d with the volume increasing during add breaks on the majority of the non-terrestrial stations?
I have to turn it down at least 5-6 notches as it becomes deafening, then of course I miss the restart of whatever I was watching as I don't hear it come back on and may be reading a magazine or on the web.

I rang UPC before on this and was told that it was down to the signal from the stations. But surely they have control of their own signals?

I also have a vague recollection of hearing of a law in Italy making this illegal.

Freddie59 · 04-10-2011 12:53PM

paulbok wrote: »

Is anyone else getting seriously P1$$*d with the volume increasing during add breaks on the majority of the non-terrestrial stations?

Doesn't really bother me. I find Sky One to be the worst offender - particularly on ad breaks during America-made shows.

seamus · 04-10-2011 01:10PM

Yeah, wrecks my head. As said, Sky are the pits for this and it generally seems to be the satellite channels that do this - Comedy, Dave, etc - rather than the likes of BBC or RTE.

I doubt there's anything UPC can easily do about it. They could apply a sound normalisation algorithm to the stream, but I imagine that any agreement they have includes clauses that disallow UPC from interfering with the feed as provided by Sky.

It's also a fairly big deal to do that for the sake of a few complaints from customers, as they risk causing sound and/or syncing issues on the feed. Much easier to say that's the feed and there's nothing they can do about it.

Red Alert · 04-10-2011 08:11PM

The sad thing is that the reduced volume level during the actual movie or programme you're watching means that the signal/noise ratio is lower, so the sound quality is worse too!

If you use a surround amplifier for watching TV, take out the manual and see if there's any option called something like Compression or DRC. That'll do the normalisation for you.

Cantona's Collars · 05-10-2011 10:19PM

It's an old trick used to grab peoples attention when the ads come on.The volume is higher,that makes you take notice whether you like it or not.

Del2005 · 08-10-2011 04:21PM

It's annoying and the USA has banned it. Why can't our caring EU do it for us?

Add break volume changing

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