The one thing everyone agrees on, regardless of politics.

[Askthepizzaguy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100930/...ud_commercials

The Senate finally passed the most important piece of legislation in our time, with a unanimous vote.

And I, for one, couldn't be happier.

Now, we can get back to our divisive political discourse in peace, and relative quiet.

[gaelic cowboy]

I read somewhere that actually they are the same sound level it is just some kind of electronic wizardry that makes it seem louder.

If you had a decibel meter in the room it would probably not show any great variation between the programmes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17229281/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7388473.stm

[Askthepizzaguy]

I read somewhere that actually they are the same sound level it is just some kind of electronic wizardry that makes it seem louder.

If you had a decibel meter in the room it would probably not show any great variation between the programmes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17229281/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7388473.stm

That I will not believe.

Often television programs I watch have highs and lows in their broadcast, but the immediate sound impact of the first commercial, sustained throughout, causes hurt to my ears and even gives me headaches.

Either I have been a victim of mass hypnosis, or there's a difference between programs and commericals which is very real.

[gaelic cowboy]

No it's not hypnosis it's just you ears and brain are very good at telling the difference of the type of sound but they aint as far as I have ever been able to find actually louder.

[Askthepizzaguy]

No it's not hypnosis it's just you ears and brain are very good at telling the difference of the type of sound but they aint as far as I have ever been able to find actually louder.

That means the loudest TV commercial will never be any louder than the loudest part of any TV program.

Yes, there are loud parts of a TV program, but that loudness is not sustained throughout.

A woman screaming, a gunshot, a car chase, etc, will be louder and exciting, and we expect that part to be loud, brief, and then return to normal volume.

People on commercials are marketing something, so there is usually someone speaking like directly into the microphone in a way that sounds like they are right in your ear, at a level of loudness equal to that woman screaming or that gunshot.

Sure, it's no louder than that, and we're used to the TV programs having brief bursts of loudness, but the sustained shouting (literally, like with car commercials, where some overly enthusiastic knucklehead is SCREAMING at my face about how low his prices are) and the loud background music (much louder than typical television program theme songs, which are designed to be pleasant and not as ear-popping, and not sustained throughout the program) all combine to make one violent, non-stop noise which is basically like listening to a woman shrieking for 30 seconds.

Sure, it's no louder than the loudest part of a TV show, but it is sustained loud and unpleasantness that won't go away.

Most advertisersdon’t want nuance. They want to grab your attention. To do that, the audio track is electronically processed to make every part of it as loud as possible within legal limits. “Nothing is allowed to be subtle,” says Brian Dooley, Editor-At-Large for CNET.com. “Everything is loud – the voices, the music and the sound effects.”

[Rhyfelwyr]

Where is Barry Scott?!

[Xiahou]

What a stupid law. Do we really need the federal government regulating volume levels?

That's what mute buttons are for. Or better still, just cancel your cable altogether. You'll save yourself a bunch of money- and probably some brain cells too.

[Askthepizzaguy]

What a stupid law. Do we really need the federal government regulating volume levels?

That's what mute buttons are for. Or better still, just cancel your cable altogether. You'll save yourself a bunch of money- and probably some brain cells too.

Do we really need the federal government monitoring our television for dirty language, sexuality, violence, and culturally sensitive topics, and censoring free speech?

We have laws that allow us to say "NO" to telemarketers bothering us at home. We can say no to that, and have laws protecting us.

We want to be able to make it so that we don't have to listen to sustained loudness during every commercial; just to turn that aspect down a notch. It's in the same category. Kind of like when people don't want to give their children toys that are covered in poisons. We have a right to ask our government to regulate something. Sure, we can "hang up the phone" on telemarketers but I don't want them calling in the first place. Sure, I can turn the TV down, but the commercials shouldn't be sustained screaming in the first place.

What I watch on TV is news, I watch elections and current events stories, and educational programming mostly, in addition to some laugh-based stuff on Comedy Central. I don't agree that television necessarily makes us dumber, it is a medium, like newspapers or the internet, or books.

I could always turn this around and say, if you like your commercials loud, you can always turn them up. The remote is right there. Or, since the TV is a brain-cell reducing machine that you're obviously too enlightened to watch, it shouldn't matter to you to begin with.

[Lemur]

And here I thought this thread would be about bacon.

[a completely inoffensive name]

HI! BILLY MAYS HERE TURNING OVER IN MY GRAVE!

[InsaneApache]

Where is Barry Scott?!

*Bang* he's gone!

I agree with GC. Unless it's different in the States. I heared it wasn't volumn per se but summat to do with wavelenth. Still very annoying though.

[Tellos Athenaios]

That I will not believe.

Undoubtedly commercials are not at all meant to be pleasant, but there is some truth in that they seem louder than they actually are. The reason is that commercials focus on a spectrum of sound frequencies to which the human ear is more sensitive to than other spectra: namely the spectrum of human speech.

I guess it is an evolutionary trait: it pays to be able to distinguish meaningful speech in whispers no louder than rustling leaves if the alternative is to speak loud enough for the bad guy to hear you and shoot you to pieces on TV.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Hehehe, they probably didn't read this legislation either. Wonder what else got snuck into the bill...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I don't understand though...how can something sound louder but not actually be louder? Isn't sounding louder sufficient for it being louder? Like if something tastes sweeter it actually is sweeter, regardless of what kind of sugar it has.

[Tellos Athenaios]

No loudness is measured in terms of power/square meter, or dB. This has nothing to do with what it sounds like: you could have a 5Ghz sound at 150dB and not hear a thing, despite 150dB being more loud than a jet engine being started. You simply can't hear a thing at 5Ghz frequencies. Perceived loudness is how many “sensors” in your ear trigger how “strong” a response to the sound. So if the sensors in your ear are more sensitive to one spectrum than to others any sound in that spectrum will generate a stronger response than a sound with equivalent loudness (dB) in another spectrum.

[rory_20_uk]

You could even have adverts that only certain age groups are likely to hear as the ability high pitched sounds decreases with age.

Not likely to win friends with parents or regulators though...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

No loudness is measured in terms of power/square meter, or dB. This has nothing to do with what it sounds like: you could have a 5Ghz sound at 150dB and not hear a thing, despite 150dB being more loud than a jet engine being started. You simply can't hear a thing at 5Ghz frequencies. Perceived loudness is how many “sensors” in your ear trigger how “strong” a response to the sound. So if the sensors in your ear are more sensitive to one spectrum than to others any sound in that spectrum will generate a stronger response than a sound with equivalent loudness (dB) in another spectrum.

hmm, but:

Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical strength (amplitude). More formally, it is defined as "that attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud."[1]
The horizontal axis shows frequency in Hz

Loudness, a subjective measure, is often confused with objective measures of sound strength such as sound pressure, sound pressure level (in decibels), sound intensity or sound power.

[Beskar]

The commercials are loud is because the programme ends quiet, thus the sound difference between because the end of the programme and the commercial is the issue.

People with hearing problems end up with different issues as well on a more objective level. Those of normal hearing can automatically adjust to sound levels while those hearing difficulties cannot, so even during programmes when an 'action scene' comes up, with loud noises, banging, and loud music, they complain and whine about how loud it is.

So it is objective and subjective.

[gaelic cowboy]

I think the OZ orgahs will agree with me that Harvey Norman is the worst for loudness this one is not even the loudest I could find.

The radio adds in Ireland are so brutal from Harvey that it is now a classic example of a shouty add that most people forget what they were actually selling and instead just shout "Go Harvey Go".

[CountArach]

I think the OZ orgahs will agree with me that Harvey Norman is the worst for loudness this one is not even the loudest I could find.

I shall murder the people who do this with the Harvey Norman ads.

[Furunculus]

far more importantly:

http://www.defenceviewpoints.co.uk/d...by-us-congress

about bloody time!

[InsaneApache]

far more importantly:

http://www.defenceviewpoints.co.uk/d...by-us-congress

about bloody time!

What's that got to do with loud tellys?

[Furunculus]

nothing at all, but it is relevant to the thread title and the OP statement about the senate ratifying stuff. ;)

[CountArach]

Please keep this thread as off-topic as it was intended to be.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Please keep this thread as off-topic as it was intended to be.

There are times when I am deeply gratified to be your colleague.

[Andres]

I read somewhere that actually they are the same sound level it is just some kind of electronic wizardry that makes it seem louder.

What a stupid law. Do we really need the federal government regulating volume levels?

I don't understand though...how can something sound louder but not actually be louder? Isn't sounding louder sufficient for it being louder? Like if something tastes sweeter it actually is sweeter, regardless of what kind of sugar it has.

Thread title -> "The one thing everyone agrees on, regardless of politics. "

Agree or get out of this topic

[Xiahou]

Thread title -> "The one thing everyone agrees on, regardless of politics. "

Agree or get out of this topic

Let's just agree to disagree.