commercials are loud.

[Ian]

We have a one year old who goes to bed at 8:30, we have a small house so the kids room ain't far from the TV. I have tried to ride the volume between the commercials and the program, but it's tough. The worst is on movies, dialog seems to be less important these days than the SFX or soundtrack. I try to anticipate the action, but can't count how many times Daddy is a little late and has to go in and rock her back to sleep. I was just thinking about rigging up a limiter to the set. Not looking forward to hooking up even more cable to that rats nest.

[nlmd311]

I second the question MT had: any limiter at all or a particular model for this device?

I have never done it, but heard people doing it without a problem (like Brian Brock said). I know PAIA used to make a Hi-Fi compressor meant to be used with your home entertainment system for just this purpose, but after looking for it now I can't find it.

o well. I am sure that just about any compressor would work. Buy one of the little Alesis Nanocompressors on eBay for cheap and give it a go.

-Darrill

[Devlars]

I suppose you're right nlmd311, as long as the connections are compatible it's all just sound running through a compressor/limiter. I'll have to use my RNC for this purpose as a test before making a purchase.

[nacho459]

I love how people now make commercials without any sound so you are like, "WTF? Did my TV break?"

[lutopia]

yeah, I've been telling myself to do this for a few years now. I've got the same "small house" problem too. Kudos to those of you that actually did something about it. I'm inspired!

[nacho459]

Out here in LA there is this indie UHF station (KDOC 56) that just runs old shows like Perry Mason, The A-Team, Simon & Simon, Matlock, Saved By The Bell, Night Rider, etc. and their commercials are always F'd up sometimes there Super Loud and distorted sometimes their out of phase, but they seriouslly have a staff of like 5 people so what do you expect.

http://www.kdoctv.net/

[nlmd311]

I don't know if I am alone on this, but I remember some tv sets that came out in the early-mid 90's that had some type of V-chip like thing built in that just muted the channel when commercials came on. This topic just reminded me of that. I tried looking up information on it, but all I could find was this:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technolog ... &cset=true
unrelated, but, it is something.

I remember there being some type of controversy at the time because advertising companies felt that this was an unfair way to kill off their industry. ? Something along those lines. That combined with poor sales lead to the sets only being on the market for a short time.
Anyone remember that. ?
I was young, so I may be really off on my facts.

-Darrill

[lifeintime]

Put a limiter on your tv.

Anyone here currently putting one to use in this fashion (what make/model?) or am I going to have to UTFSF?

MT

The movie Jackie Brown has really loud music and much quieter talking, so I ran an RNC between the VCR and the TV and it was AOK - any unbalanced compressor/limiter should do the trick.

That's what I've been looking for. The level differences seem to be getting more dramatic or I'm just paying more attention to them. RNC here I come.

[oobedoob]

afaik it's actually illegal to have the commercials louder.

make a complaint to the FCC? They make it easy. Everyone is doing it....

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html

[comfortstarr]

afaik it's actually illegal to have the commercials louder.

make a complaint to the FCC? They make it easy. Everyone is doing it....

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html

Oobedoob is correct... but I don't think it's ever been paid much attention too.

Also, magnavox marketed sets for a while (I think it was earlier than the 90s, I'm thinking more 80s) that allegedly controlled the volume.

My problem is that to use a compressor/limiter, I'd have to have a TV newer than 1988. I don't have the connections.

[djdrake13]

I think its the program people's faults. I work in commercials and we have a standard level and will even get rejected when we send them out if they are too loud. The programs aren't using the same standards or not "mastering"/compressing, like the commercials are, and when the spots come on it seems to be so much louder. I've read about Fox's problems with audio since they started HD. Aparently you can't have good audio with good video.

I hate this situation, cause people are like oooh, you work in commercials.. yuck, because things like this annoy the public. The TV stations need figure out what the problem is and fix it, its not the people who make the spots.

[SKEETER]

Commercials are not loud, they are just compressed to the max. When a sitcom is on, the sounds in the show are at various volume levels, occationally peaking out. With commercials they compress everything to the ceiling, making them seem louder because everything is at peak all the time. They are not really louder, they just have no dynamics.

[SKEETER]

BTW If it were not for remotes with mute buttons, I would not even bother with TV. I don't listen to commercials, either on TV or radio. Got enough garbage that makes it into my head.

[The Real MC]

Alesis Nanocomp (cheap) between the TV and an entertainment system, or between the cable box and the TV.

That's what I did. I no longer have cable (nothing to watch and way too much advertising) and I have a Nanocomp between my DVD player and my entertainment system for my movies.

Sounds great, no more freaking ear-splitting dynamics.

Hollywood, get a clue! Those of us with little kids or who live in multiple dwellings don't have the luxury of exploiting the unearthly dynamics of DVDs and TV. There's a lot of us out there.

[SKEETER]

Interesting you should say that about commercials on cable. I was in the test area when Warner first test marketed Warner Qube. It was the first cable with a box, before that all cable went right into the television. One of the features that Qube touted was pay TV, comercial free broadcasting. As soon as Pay TV started running commericails I got rid of it, and have had it once since. When I got it the second time, I ended up with a couple of things I liked and a lot of crap I was paying for but had no interest in. Next time I will get a big ugly dish and be able to order exactly only the channels I want.