Fuzz

Drives me nuts, just get the volume level right on the program you are watching and then the ads come on at twice the loudness.

WHY do they do it.

Snazy

To make sure you hear the ads when you pop to the loo or to get a drink

Sonic'

They do it because they can, and each ad maker tries to get their ad as loud as possible to grab your attention

The broadcasters should use levellers to make sure it doesnt happen, but i bet they are paid to keep the levels really high

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

of course the ads are gonna be louder..

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

This drives me nuts too, I'm so glad I'm not alone

STi-Frenchie

I agree. It's a total pain in the **** and I can't see any justification for it. It's not like we don't know the ads are coming on or aren't familiar with the products. It's almost like having their 30 seconds of airtime forcibly rammed down your throat. But then....we're worth it. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!

Reality

Some telly's have volume levelling to attempt to sort this.

Check your manual .

Abdabz

I dont watch adverts anymore thanks to Sky +. Yes, Sky + records live tv!
You can start watching a non "auntie" programme 10mins afters its planned start time and simply fast forward the ads, thus watching almost uninterupted and the programme still finishing at almost the same time as the noisy advert version.
I am special

StickyMicky

my tv levels the sound fine, it all went **** up when i started useing a 5.1 surround sound system

also found some of the xbox360 games are a little bit mental with the sound effects in places

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Similar thing - one of the main reasons I stopped going to the cinema to watch films - half the time the surround sound effects coming from behind you would be so loud you couldnt hear what the actors were saying on the screen.

Dracoro

Loads of PVRs offer this, BTVision as well etc.

Problem is, you would have to end up waiting 10 minutes before each (non bbc) program, rather impractical, may as well mute the ads.

They also usually only record the channel you are watching. So if you change your mind and switch over to another channel you'd have to wait another 10 mins etc. As I say, far easier to mute.

Agree though that this is crap though, Dave channel seems to be worse although not the ads, but the 'inbetween programmes' voice over, you can tell it's adjusting the volume as well so they are aware it's happening.

boxst

It really annoys me. The volume is 'just right' with children sleeping upstairs. Then the adverts come on and there is a furious scrabble for the mute button.

Irritiating.

Steve

Shark Man

Their excuse is audio compression.

Of course, regulations should be put into place to harmonise it with normal braodcast programs.


I noted Barry Scott isn't as loud as he used to be - obviously the regulators obtained more complaints than deemed acceptable. But really, the advertising agency who created the advert should be fined and banned from broadcasting. As they know full well what they are doing. And they are intentionally walking a fine line with the given regs concerning volume levels.

oldsplice

This drives me mad too!

I'd also like to say..........how come ads now last 4-5 minutes?? Back in the olden days, it used to be 2!

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Back in the video days a guy invented a device to stop recordings when adverts were on, there was uproar from the advertising companies. I believe he was paid quite nicely to not promote his invention

Andy

Brendan Hughes

I thought some company got severely fined over this, in the last year or two?

Maybe their ads were even louder than usual.

Here you go - page 3.

http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E...13July2005.pdf

Simon C

Really pisses me off as well. Infact I thought it was illegal full stop.

Leslie

It is deliberate for the advertising. It is non productive anyway because most people turn the volume down low so thay cant hear the ads anyway.

It should not be allowed and these days TV's can be set to control the volume automatically to a constant level.

Les

Suresh

Make a mental note of who has really loud ads and just be sure to never buy any of their stuff. Problem will solve itself eventually.

mart360

Not this chestnut again.....

the broadcasters do not turn up the volume levels!!! contrary to popular belief.

What the do is expand the broadcast signal to use all of the available bandwidth. this boosts all the levels, sound and video, hence the change in clarity and audio. Once the film starts again they drop the bandwidth to stop the transients from causing problems.


Thats how wthey escape fines. the way to get the point accross is to shout at them every time you phone them up.... then point out all your doing is what they do to you


Mart

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Yep, if I see Barry Scott I will snot him one !

Brendan Hughes

Right if no-one's going to read my link, I'll paste it here. Louder


Ofcom’s technical department provides the ASA with expert advice and conducts tests for noise related issues in advertisements. It examined the sound levels of the advertisements during the times highlighted by the viewer. It said that almost all the advertisements sounded subjectively louder than the main content of the surrounding film and that this subjective loudness had been due to the use of audio compression. This meant that the minimum sound levels of the advertisements had been raised during the production stage, resulting in almost constant loudness. The film contained several scenes of quiet dialogue, some of which immediately preceded advertising breaks. Advertisement soundtracks featuring highly compressed sound played during these breaks appeared particularly strident. A requirement of the TV Advertising Standards Code is that highly compressed advertisements of this nature have their peak volume reduced before broadcast. They must maintain a particular range of volume to ensure the subjective volume is consistent with adjacent programming and to prevent excessive loudness changes. Ofcom did not consider the range of volume was at the required level, with the result that the advertisements sounded incongruous against the surrounding programme. It concluded that the peak volume of the compressed advertisements was higher than permitted by the Code.
We agreed with Ofcom’s findings and considered that the fixed absolute maximum sound level was set too high by the licensee to guarantee that its sound output would comply with the Code in all instances.

Channel 5 therefore breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code Rule 6.9 (Sound levels in advertisements) and was reminded to ensure that its output levels for advertisements comply with the Code.

NACRO

Simple solution. Don't watch TV, most of it is crap anyway and if you gave it up you'd doubtless be healthier, happier and wealthier.

Fuzz

I turned it off when I'm a c**t get me out of here came on.
Put the new Hed Kandi album on full **** instead, much more pleasing to the ears.

NACRO

Sounds like the best solution I've heard here yet.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

We just need to get together and complain to the ASA. There are plenty of ads that have been on TV that have been pulled when only 5 or 6 people have complained. There have been some threads on here in the past, and it is just mind boggling how few people need to complain for them to look into something.

We just need to start noting times, dates and channels where ads are really loud. Then all send in letters for those events. That is of course if you want to do something about this, rather than just moan

Brendan Hughes

oh, sorry

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Fuzz

Curry's ad 15:19. ITV3 twice as loud as the film.

Andy

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

right, now we need the correct address and all write to them