calm act
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Hopper/Joey and the ViP have commercial volume technology built in to them.
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I have a VIP 722 with firmware 7.27. Does yours work when "activated" If I read the "help" right it says "digital output on rear of receiver" which I take to mean the "optical" going to the home theater system. I don't think this includes a HDMI cable. I have both but don't seam to notice a difference especially on local channels.James Long said:
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I've moved on to the Hopper, so I can't answer from personal experience.tymekeeper said:
Broadcast has had long standing regulations that said that commercials couldn't be greatly louder than the programs. I guess this act includes cable & satellite and probably decreases the allowed variances for broadcast. Dish has never been bad with this (even when I had a 322 years ago), but cable tends to be horrible sometimes with the local commercials.
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I've got the 222k, "audio leveling enabled"James Long said:
NO difference. [ I have had three of these 222k's, audio leveling never seemed to make a bit of difference]
most commercials are louder, some are even louder still.
Calm act, I believe will pertain to cable and satellite as well as others.
I just don't see the "calm act" being enforce anytime soon, even though next month was the deadline:nono2:
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+1 Guess we will have to wait and see. I have some locals I have to turn down 8 levels and more on my home theater and audio out of dish box between one station and another. Every station is different and not just commercials.satcrazy said:
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For prime time on the networks the Hopper works pretty good for not needing to worry about commercial volume levels. Or pictures. 
This has been an ongoing issue between broadcasters and the government for many years.
If you took a VU meter to any broadcast you will see that the commercials are already peaking at a slightly lower level than the program audio. Why it sounds louder has to do with the amount of audio compression applied. Commercials have their audio dynamics smashed to near zero, while the program audio dynamic range is much wider (which sounds softer to the human ear). It's also why noncommercial networks like HBO sound softer in comparison to commercial networks.
If you took a VU meter to any broadcast you will see that the commercials are already peaking at a slightly lower level than the program audio. Why it sounds louder has to do with the amount of audio compression applied. Commercials have their audio dynamics smashed to near zero, while the program audio dynamic range is much wider (which sounds softer to the human ear). It's also why noncommercial networks like HBO sound softer in comparison to commercial networks.
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Who do I write to on Dic 16 to start complaining.
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Geez!
Yes it is mildly irritating to get that louder volume on commercials, but did we really have to get the govt involved towards creating and passing a new law regulating the sound gain on TV ads? No wonder Congress cannot get anything of substance done.
And what happens if a network does not comply? They will be fined? And if they don't pay the fines- will CEOs be doing hard time?
And, as others have pointed out, in many-most-maybe all cases there may not be some insidious plot to grab one's attention towards these ads, but rather simply a change in the dynamics of the sound range. Much like switching from an HD channel to "TVLand": the volume gain is sudddenly much louder due to less of a dynamic range on that particular channel.
Perhaps some sound engineers, somewhere in the broadcast chain, should be monitoring inputs, seeking more of a uniform gain level, but bringing in regulation to enforce this is over the top IMO.
Yes it is mildly irritating to get that louder volume on commercials, but did we really have to get the govt involved towards creating and passing a new law regulating the sound gain on TV ads? No wonder Congress cannot get anything of substance done.
And what happens if a network does not comply? They will be fined? And if they don't pay the fines- will CEOs be doing hard time?
And, as others have pointed out, in many-most-maybe all cases there may not be some insidious plot to grab one's attention towards these ads, but rather simply a change in the dynamics of the sound range. Much like switching from an HD channel to "TVLand": the volume gain is sudddenly much louder due to less of a dynamic range on that particular channel.
Perhaps some sound engineers, somewhere in the broadcast chain, should be monitoring inputs, seeking more of a uniform gain level, but bringing in regulation to enforce this is over the top IMO.
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Makes no difference to me as i have not watched a show real time as it aired in years. One thing i have noticed in movies and shows lately is the music and or sound effects seem to be louder than the dialog. I am always lowering the volume then raising it when people are speaking......
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+1 I always think to myself, do these audio people ever listen to their work?! It juust keeps getting worse and worse.cj9788 said:
They do listen, however...tymekeeper said:
If the program source is a feature film originally produced for theatrical release than the dialog levels are fine for listening in a theater. Unless someone pays to remix the entire film for home viewing than the mix is what it is. The engineers on the TV side cannot remix the dialog, they can only run it through compressors - the very device that caused the uproar about loud commercials in the first place.
OTOH a DD 5.1 mix may be adjustable at home by simply raising the front center channel louder.
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