All TV stations Complaint

Sound

- Texas
WHY DO THE TV STATIONS RAISE THE SOUND LEVELS AT EVERY COMMERICAL BREAK??? DO THEY THINK IT WILL SELL MORE STUFF. ARE THE SOUND ENGINEERS SO POOR THAT THEY CAN NOT KEEP THE LEVELS THE SAME?? WE HAVE ELECTED TO DO IT, WE WILL AVOID THAT PRODUCT.

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Reader Comments:

Posted by complainttv on 09/16/2009
There are two main reasons why the commercials are louder than the program. First when producers make a TV show they use the volume of sound for dramatic effect. So a whisper is quiet and an explosion is very loud. They keep the normal talking dialog at a lower level so they can have more of a dynamic audio range of volume so you don't have to adjust it on your TV between a whisper scene and an explosion.
Commercials don't need a large range of volume so they typically use full volume. The same level as the explosion. You notice the volume difference on dramatic shows more than like a sitcom or game show because they are typically produced at full volume.

The second cause is at the TV station. With TV stations converting all of their analog tape based shows and commercials to ingesting into a video server it becomes more difficult to adjust audio levels because programs and commercials are all coming from different places and automatically going into the system. Once it is in the system you can't adjust the audio. At the TV station I work for we had a big problem with audio levels when we went digital. We installed an audio processor to automatically adjust the volume up or down. There still is a difference in volume because of the way the shows are made vs. the way commercials are made but it isn't as annoying or as dramatic. We have had no complaints after that was installed.

If you have just noticed it, chances are the TV station you are watching is now playing from a video server and don't have a post audio processor to help make up for the inherent audio problems of a video server. So it isn't the fault of the commercial producers. Commercials have always been produced at full volume and the TV stations are not purposely raising the volume. It is the fault of all of the new digital equipment. There are still bugs to work out. A post audio processor at the TV station is a quick and easy fix.


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