Does US/rest of the world telly do this too?
 

It seems now all commercial channels in the UK increase the volume when the ads come on. It gets really fucking annoying keep having to turn it up/down. Is this just a UK thing?

I've noticed it in U.S. ads before.

It happens in the USA.

Glad it's not just us. I suppose it wont be long before someone fits a feature into the TV to control it although it probably wont be cheap. Stupid thing is it has the opposite effect with me to the one the TV channels probably desire. Rather than taking more notice of the ads I now tend to hit mute until the programs start again.

Yes.
Its the only thing in the world where everybody acts the same way :winkwink:

It's fairly recent here though. Seems to have been within the past couple of years that they've all started doing it. Still Murdoch is gradually becoming that guy out of the Bond film so is probably behind most of it.

Happens here in Mexico too.


it is cheap, it's called a compressor/limiter and it's used everyday by lots of musicians worldwide, I own a couple :)

it's broadcast marketing 101

They dont actually turn the volume up, they just play it at a higher compression.

So if you take a normal show, the 'loudness' goes up and down....ie, a girl can be whispering, then she screams. The scream seems louder than the whisper, but they havent turned your volume up.

The ads play the whole time at the high compression, ie the girl is screaming the whole time, and so it seems louder.

Up wasn't perhaps the right word but has the same effect. On a normal telly the ads are much louder. The limiter may exist but isn't built into any TV's as far as I know. If it were you can bet they'd charge well over the odds for it.

Most TV sets have a slow release compressor to deal with overly loud average volumes. High end TV's don't include this shit, cause they lower the fidelity of the sound.

the volume doesn't actually increase.. it just sounds louder from the way they use compression, utilise higher frequencies, and of course the lack of the need for reflective moments - it's just pumping the message all through the ad..

so yeah.. if you measured it with a Db meter you wouldn't notice much.. although it actually sounds a lot louder..

lol wildman you beat me to it! heheh in oz here there was a big debate on it about a year ago.. so i guess we know a little about the techniques used :)

Fucking annoying though however they do it :)

If I watched television I could tell you...

Tivo :) <---- never watch another commercial.

I guess you saw that also :thumbsup

Actually, I used to work for our local cable company. I was in charge of the local commercial insertion. You know when you're watching TV and you hear those 3-4 tones just before a commercial starts? That's what starts the commercials if your cable company inserts local commercials on that channel. And yes, the volume was hiked up higher on commercials. It was intentional.

I can say for sure what the major networks do but I suspect their commercials are a tad higher too. I can definitely hear a difference.

They jack it up here in Russia also....

It's actually illegal to jack up the volume of commercials in Australia.

But as I'm at the wild northern frontier at the moment the volume is all over the place, I've been here a month and nearly worn out the remote trying to get an even volume, and it's not just the ads

they do it here in canada to.
but it is only annoying when its late and everyone else is sleeping