I thought ADS were not supposed to be louder than the movie

[space-time]

Back some 5 years ago or so ads were much louder than the movies, and then they (FCC?) passed a rule that ads were not supposed to be louder than the movie.

That worked great for a while, but now Kids are watching a movie they recorded on DirecTV Now oops, ATT TV Now, and I _think_ the short ads (15 seconds) are louder than the movie (Kikiwaka, it's a movie about kids in a camp).


Question: does this rule apply to streaming services? is there a way to verify and complain if it is louder?

[mrbigstuff]

I can vaguely recall that they got around that by compressing the audio in an extreme fashion but not technically turning up the volume. But I think that bit of info may be dated.

[NewtonMP2100]

....it doesn't....ad.....up

[Sarcany]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial...gation_Act

https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washin...ls-quieter

Part of the trouble may be an apparent loophole in the language of the CALM Act, which states that a commercial must be no louder on average. That means the Obama Victory Coin announcer can shout loudly at the beginning of the ad so long as the middle of the ad is softer.

And some broadcasters may be flaunting the rules...

[Rolando]

Sarcany wrote:
And some broadcasters may be flaunting the rules...

Should that be "flouting" the rules?

[RAMd®d]

The FCC governs radio and television and other 'airwave' based transmissions, but I don't know their purview extends to movie theaters.


I first remember theater volumes being annoying once THX standards became a thing. They weren't legal requirements theaters were required to abide.

The standards were specs and requirements that were supposed to ensure the listening experience the producers/directors/whoever originally created was accurately reproduced in theaters and anywhere movie soundtracks might be heard. Theaters and audio (and video, probably) gear in compliance got to display the THX logo.

Somewhere along the line this was translated into ridiculously loud volume levels in many venues.

It's been corrected in most cases, but I still think audio compression is used in movie ads and previews.

I watched some summer block buster years ago and left, demanding a refund, within the first 15m or so of the movie, as even casual dialog was far too loud. That was after THX. Now days, I don't know how relevant THey are.

[Bernie]

The sound carrier is 10 to 15 db below the video carrier and does not change between programing and commercials.


Tallest hump is video carrier, second is color burst and last is sound carrier.

The loudness not determined by the db level of the carrier but by the deviation, how much it shakes.
Okay this is not an audio carrier but it is a great image to explain by. If it were an audio carrier and it looked like this it would be loud and normal would be half as wide. The height don't matter for loudness, just tunning.


The promised not to mess with the carrier level or height.

[freeradical]

The ads are the content...;-)