AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Technical › CALM Act is now law - is the "loud commercial" problem fixed?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

CALM Act is now law - is the "loud commercial" problem fixed? - Page 2

post #31 of 40
3/5/13 at 1:35pm
I see. Again, I am just going to cancel my service and get where I get most of my media from anyway; online. That way I can just block the commercials outright. If they want to play semantics with the law let them. When they lose all their 'PRODUCTS' as you put it, they can spend time wondering why, or not, I really could care less. They had a chance to fix the problem and are giving us the run around. If you run a business and can't fix a problem, in the face of so many complaints, after two years, then you don't deserve your 'PRODUCTS/CUSTOMERS.'
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #32 of 40
3/5/13 at 1:41pm
Well, AGAIN, as I said earlier, being that the commercials are broadcast via the 'Provider' and said provider has to comply with the law, they can dictate audio/compression levels to the producers of the commercials. Two years is plenty of time to address the problem. We made it to the moon in under 10years, so I think that we could handle some simple audio problems
Reply
Reply
post #33 of 40
3/5/13 at 2:06pm
Quote:
being that the commercials are broadcast via the 'Provider'

thye're not. Broadcasters use transmitters to 'broadcast' their signal. Cable companies and sattelite providers are common carriers...like telephone companies.
You can't blame the phone company is someone yells at you on the phone.
Quote:
they can dictate audio/compression levels to the producers of the commercials.

Again, you need a reality check. Broadcasters can't dictate content to their content providers.
Reply
Reply
post #34 of 40
3/5/13 at 2:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAM64 View Post

Broadcasters can't dictate content to their content providers.

That's true, but they can "adjust" the content after they receive it to make it compliant. That's pretty much what I do all day, every day. Well actually, I use software that does it for me -- every commercial we receive is processed by the software and it "adjusts" the level of the file so that it hits the desired average of -24 LKFS. After it's done, I measure it when it goes into our server -- if the software got it wrong, I'll change the parameters and process it again. Note that this is NOT altering the dynamics of the material, just the overall gain, same as you would do with a volume control.

Sad to say, this does not seem to be the norm. In inquiring with people at several other stations, it seems that nobody is measuring anything before it goes into their servers -- they just put everything in "as-is," and then use heavy-handed audio processing in order to make things "compliant." To my ears, this doesn't really fix the problem, and in many cases, the super-compression makes the commercials sound even louder, even though the "meter" might say otherwise. We're right back where we started!

Even sadder, the sonic quality of the audio processors being used today is really offensive to my ears. They make me feel very uncomfortable, to the point where I MUST change the channel. I've had to resort to buying the shows I want from iTunes or Amazon, as that's the only way to hear them without being offended. Truly, the audio of many stations, even in top markets, sounds markedly worse than they did in the analog days.
Reply
Reply
post #35 of 40
3/5/13 at 3:52pm
Thank you video janitor!!! As I said, the Broadcaster, being the party that is responsible for relaying the content to the consumer, and the party that the law applies to has the means to deal with the problem. It's not that complicated. I deal with music editing and use Limiters, I would think that broadcasters have access to something similiar. And, yes, it does sound like crap. You still have a person yelling their commercial at you in a compressed format which sounds horrible, and does nothing but annoy me. Those companies no longer get my business. The point is, companies, regardless of consumers, are making next to no effort to change what they do. They think that yelling at people is a great way to sell items. Maybe they are right, but I won't be a person who buys something from a companies that feels they need to scream at me to get me to buy their product.

As I said earlier, we sent a person to the moon in under 10 years. We can't adjust commercial volumes( much less complicated) in 2 years? And, by the way, this bill has been in the works since 2009, so nearly 4 years. This shows nothing more than a lack of willingness to deal with it by the Advertisers, Broadcasters or both.
Reply
Reply
post #36 of 40
3/5/13 at 3:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by videojanitor View Post

That's true, but they can "adjust" the content after they receive it to make it compliant. That's pretty much what I do all day, every day. Well actually, I use software that does it for me -- every commercial we receive is processed by the software and it "adjusts" the level of the file so that it hits the desired average of -24 LKFS. After it's done, I measure it when it goes into our server -- if the software got it wrong, I'll change the parameters and process it again. Note that this is NOT altering the dynamics of the material, just the overall gain, same as you would do with a volume control.

Sad to say, this does not seem to be the norm. In inquiring with people at several other stations, it seems that nobody is measuring anything before it goes into their servers -- they just put everything in "as-is," and then use heavy-handed audio processing in order to make things "compliant." To my ears, this doesn't really fix the problem, and in many cases, the super-compression makes the commercials sound even louder, even though the "meter" might say otherwise. We're right back where we started!

Even sadder, the sonic quality of the audio processors being used today is really offensive to my ears. They make me feel very uncomfortable, to the point where I MUST change the channel. I've had to resort to buying the shows I want from iTunes or Amazon, as that's the only way to hear them without being offended. Truly, the audio of many stations, even in top markets, sounds markedly worse than they did in the analog days.
This sounds like what KPIX(CBS O&O) San Francisco is doing and I get blasted out of my seat when I switch from them to a station that is doing it right like KNTV(NBC O&O).
Reply
Reply
post #37 of 40
3/6/13 at 12:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan View Post

This sounds like what KPIX(CBS O&O) San Francisco is doing and I get blasted out of my seat when I switch from them to a station that is doing it right like KNTV(NBC O&O).

Sad to report that it sounds like KTVU has now joined that camp. I love their newscast, but had to stop watching because their audio is now way over-compressed. All the other programming, like "Seinfeld" etc. is also unlistenable. The only thing that sounds good is FOX, since they can't run that through their processor.
Reply
Reply
post #38 of 40
3/6/13 at 12:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sorthious View Post

I deal with music editing and use Limiters, I would think that broadcasters have access to something similiar.

Yes, most of them are using very expensive processors (over-priced, if you ask me, considering the sonic destruction), but even with that, commercials seem too loud. I believe this is because while the shows sound compressed, the commercials now sound SUPER compressed after going through these boxes. Hey, I'm not not anti-compression in the sense that I want to hear all audio uncompressed -- but there is sensible compression that sounds good (because you can't hear it working), and then there is this. I should not be aware of the compression when there is nothing but a single human voice speaking. When I feel like my eardrums are being sucked out, that's when I TUNE out.
Reply
Reply
post #39 of 40
3/6/13 at 6:28am
Quote:
Well actually, I use software that does it for me

Baton? or something else?.
Quote:
As I said, the Broadcaster, being the party that is responsible for relaying the content

No, you were talking about cable companies...you're still confused.
Quote:
. It's not that complicated. I deal with music editing and use Limiters, I would think that broadcasters have access to something similiar.

You continue to pummel us with your lack of understanding.
Quote:
Those companies no longer get my business.

They're still in business, I guess they don't care about you.
Quote:
As I said earlier, we sent a person to the moon in under 10 years.

...and the metric system is over 400 years old, but you still can't grasp it.
Reply
Reply
post #40 of 40
3/6/13 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SAM64 View Post

Baton? or something else?.

Harmonic's ProMedia Carbon (formerly Rhozet Carbon Coder)
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: HDTV Technical

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › HDTV › HDTV Technical › CALM Act is now law - is the "loud commercial" problem fixed?