Thread: 7 Mate tv

For me it seems to happen on all channels.

I don't watch very much TV, but by criminey I can hear the audio levels change astronomically during commercials when my folks are watching it in a separate room.

And you know what?...the issue has already been raised (numerous times over many years) with the "department of governmental bozos who administer this sort of thing" and the result was "it's cool man, hey bro, relax...what? you need me to speak up? HEY RELAX!!! IT'S FINE!!!"




Gits.

It's most likely an issue on all channels but you only notice it when watching 7mate. It is a well known marketing device (I guess they want you to pay attention) and some countries are now legislating against it.

Check the audio settings on your TV. Most newer sets have volume limiters or volume equalizers. Try turning this setting ON if it's not already. With luck it might have some effect for you. It might not make enough difference to your ears though.

Your TV might also have a dynamic audio setting. Try turning this OFF or change it to something else - it might help 'flatten' the audio changes.

What we need is a device that has a sound meter and capability of adjusting the sound.
You set the sound level you want and the device automatically adjusts the sound when the meter detects a change.
I suspect such a device doesn't exist, but I would be first in queue to buy one if it did.

There are references (on the internet) to an external feedback controller back in 2009. I'm not sure how effective it is/was, because the issue is percieved as volume but is actually frequency related.

Many ad producers compress the frequency range (for both technical and advertising reasons I think), so the change between normal programming and (some) ads is extreme to our ears. That's why the methods I suggested earlier are recommended by experts. It might also be why you notice it on 7mate and not others. The number of advertisers using the network's secondary channels is still quite small compared to the flagship channels, so you are 'viewing' a smaller range of ads.
Edit: added some words.

I understand that its not louder but rather they inject parallel signals during ad breaks (eg multiple sine waves of sound one for voice, one for backing music etc...) this apparently has the effect of making it sound louder but again, apparently, if you measure it with a db meter its not louder at all its just that there is so much more sound to listen to that it SOUNDS louder.

It's a combination of two things:

Dynamic signal compression (squashing the signal together so there is nothing really quiet and nothing really LOUD, JUST A REALLY, REALLY AVERAGE SIGNAL),

and then the TV boosting the (now very flat) signal so that the average value is more like a PEAK value.

Think of it like taking the original signal range of the 1812 Overture - from total silence to cannons going off - and squashing it so the whole thing just sounds like a circular saw.

As a former broadcast engineer designing and using production facilities and commercial PA systems etc, Splinters explanation, and the 'graphical' layout of is very accurate and true. The situation arises in a lot of situations, but TV, radio, and trade show spruikers are among the more obvious.

Another possibility is that the stations are under staffing the presentation departments of the secondary channels and simply playing automating everything with no human monitoring to even out the levels, and just relying on levels set in final production stages of programs and ads produced in different locations around the world.

Either way, it smacks of 'We want the money but don't give **mn about how we get it'.

Way back probably before FM radio broadcasts became the norm here in the US the FCC had an 85% rule. Basically the amplitude modulation had to be at least 85% of the RF signal.

Unfortunately, we suffer from the same audio level changes during commercials. With the volume levels shown on the screen the audio volume becomes so obvious. And to make it worse, the FCC doesn't respond to volume differences complaints.

Ever since 'reality TV' became a thing in the early-to-mid 2000's, I've found that the 'annoying loud ad' problem has solved itself.

I stopped watching broadcast TV.

My D2 worked nights as a switcher in a TV station control.
They had instructions for greater volume for the commercials.
The ads paid more for that. She just laughed.

Well, as someone who in a former life sold "space" as opposed to "time," I still say thank you every time I hear a commercial .

My take is that without advertisers we would be paying for our TV. Now that is something of which I am definitely not in favour!! Advertisers allow us to view for free. The alternative is to go to Pay TV or not watch at all. We actually did the latter for the first years of our marriage. Unfortunately, this was a flawed attitude as initially it produced children and when they got big enough to walk, they trotted up the road to the neighbours to watch their telly . Pretty ironic really. So we relented and bought a goggle box .

Having said all that, the extra volume is irritating, but don't you folks have one of those little handpieces which control all functions of the TV. There is a mute button on it somewhere. I remember this distinctly because SWMBO rants and raves over the excessive volume (apparent) of the commercials and before we lost that little bizzo, thingy we regularly killed the sound during the commercial breaks.

Regards
Paul

I thought it was deliberate to get the viewers attention.

Yeah that's what I suspect - and it pisses me off cos I have to play with the volume as well when I channel hop.
Ah well, another reason to download all my watching since the cappers edit out the commercials to keep file size down.