Dolby Turns Down the Volume on Obnoxious Advertisers

Advertising is a tricky business. Marketers know that people avoid commercials, but they still have to try and capture their attention. Over the years, they’ve had pretty much free reign to do whatever they want to consumers, but with the advent of DVRs, consumers have finally started to take back control of their television sets.

One of the more obnoxious techniques that marketing companies love to use is to jack up the volume on commercial spots and then start the ad off with a phone ringing or an alarm clock going off. Even if you’ve got your trigger finger on the fast forward button, this still can be tough to avoid and is very annoying. You’ll be sitting there enjoying a show at a comfortable volume level and then the next thing you know, some snake oil salesman is trying to sell you a used car at a decibel level loud enough to wake up the neighbors.

Luckily, Dolby (DLB) has been working on a solution to this problem and, whether marketing companies like it or not, it unveiled sound leveling technology at CES. Dolby Volume should help to shift control of TV volume back into the hands of the consumer. In the past we’ve seen other tech companies try to launch their own solutions to this problem, but they’ve seen varying degrees of success.

Between Dolby’s audio expertise and its relationships with TV manufacturers, Dolby is in a good position to solve this problem for consumers. Dolby Volume will not only level the sound experience between commercial breaks, but will also ensure a consistent sound experience when you change channels. While the technology isn’t scheduled to be included in TV sets until the end of the year, it’s still very cool to see technology continue to give control back to the consumer.

DLB 1-yr chart