What's the technical definition of loudness that applies here? Is it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUFS ?
Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
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Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#42Considering the number of thick volumes of regulations the world's governments are accumulating in trying to combat harmful behaviour by businesses (or, in economic parlance, negative externalities ), and still failing to keep them in check, I wonder whether we should consider bringing back more flexible, socially imposed injunctions instead of legislation/regulation. Something not quite as strict as judge-made law /…
This is the fundamental tension in law making and government in general. Leaving room for nuance reduces the seeming capriciousness seen in the enforcement of some laws that look heavy-handed when applied strictly, while said underspecification can allow for abuse instead. As long as people are individuals with their own volition this tension will exist.
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Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#43> The groups argued that “many” streaming services were already trying to manage the “loudness of advertisements that come from server-side ad insertion that may be inconsistent with the loudness of the programs,” […]. Server-side ads can have differing volumes due to companies using various encoding pipelines. Boo-freaking-hoo. Cry me a river, poor streaming services without the technical know-how to calculate an ad…
I think the point is that when you don’t control the ad, it’s a bit tough to normalize its audio. And controlling the ad means bringing ad serving in house, which while possible, is a huge engineering ask. I guess the solution is to switch to a proper ad insertion company that normalizes to -24 like you’re supposed to, but that’s not cake either. Especially if contracts are signed.
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Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#44I found this to be an issue on YouTube. It wasn’t necessarily malicious. I often put on a no-talking video in the background while reading and the ad interruptions became really loud. I eventually just ended up subscribing, but this is great to see.
I don’t think YouTube normalizes the audio on their videos. I have no idea why, but that could easily become a quiet video that leads into a -16 LUFS ad that blows your ears out.
Supposedly they'll turn it down if it's mastered louder than -14 LUFS. They won't turn it up if it's quieter.
I couldn't find a Youtube source for this but it's mentioned extensively online: https://audio.rswaver.com/blog/youtube-loudness-standards
Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#45Waiting for California to ban obnoxiously bright electronic billboards next. The meatspace could use some love too.
Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the point is that when you don’t control the ad, it’s a bit tough to normalize its audio. And controlling the ad means bringing ad serving in house, which while possible, is a huge engineering ask. I guess the solution is to switch to a proper ad insertion company that normalizes to -24 like you’re supposed to, but that’s not cake either. Especially if contracts are signed.
If you're streaming the audio waveform, you can calculate the peak volume and adjust the gain.
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Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#47Well, since loud ads may be going away, I want to share my observations for posterity: Loud ads only annoyed some people. Or rather, some people found them hellishly torturous (mostly neurodivergent people like me) and others were remarkably okay with them (or were just placated by the thought of saving a few dollars a month)
My parents used to have the TV on, blaring, all day long. The ads back then were loud too. They liked the "background noise". They'd read with it on, have conversations shouting over it, and so on. Baffled me. I often wondered, why not just plop down a food blender and leave it on? Why pay for cable?!
I had a neighbor when I was a kid who had a TV in every room in their house, including the damned kitchen. And they were always on.
Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#48Instagram does something similar - they have random ads in HDR which iOS will display at obnoxious brightness. Just what you want as you scroll by trying to find someone you actually follow.
I experience this on Facebook on iOS. Glad I’m not the only one. Super irritating.
Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#49> [...] opposed the bill. The groups argued that “many” streaming services were already trying to manage the “loudness of advertisements that come from server-side ad insertion that may be inconsistent with the loudness of the programs,”
Well, stop "trying" and fix it already. It's your own damn system.
Re: Streaming services' obnoxiously loud ads become illegal on July 1 in California
#50Waiting for California to ban obnoxiously bright electronic billboards next. The meatspace could use some love too.
Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont got this right by simply banning all billboards.