Volume Issues in Radio and Television

More and more radio listeners and television viewers are complaining about aggravating differences in broadcast volume among programmes. The differences in volume are especially stark and annoying when people “surf” from one radio/TV programme to another. Furthermore, differences in volume also occur within a programme, such as the transition from a conversation in a film to a highly compressed series of advertisements. The jump in volume can even exceed 10 dB. In other words, the volume can more than double during such a transition. The contrasts in volume on TV and the radio have the following causes:

• Obvious misunderstandings in regard to the level control of audio channels

• The use of very different volume-level meters, some of which are not standardised

• No standardised volume meter exists for studios

• Transmission of analogue/digital archive material lacks individual level alignment for corresponding transmission channels

IRT has addressed these concerns in recent years by focusing on the verification of existing volume-level recommendations for broadcasting and on the development of a volume meter for studio applications. The PINGUIN prototype for 5.1 multichannel audio is currently being enhanced.