They can compress the sound, i.e. make the quiet bits louder, with the net result being that the commercials "sound louder" than the programing even if the absolute volume levels are the same.
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Apple Researching Sound Sensors for Automatically Adjusting Audio Output
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They can compress the sound, i.e. make the quiet bits louder, with the net result being that the commercials "sound louder" than the programing even if the absolute volume levels are the same.
Gives you an idea of JUST HOW POINTLESS patents are these days. This "invention" has been around several decades....so Apple is going to vigriously enforce its patent rights, iirc from the latest analyst calls, yeah...sure they arelike they don't have better things to spend time and money on.
To be honest, this is kinda creepy. Do you really want a device constantly listening to the environment. Think of the ways to abuse this component. The movie "Enemy of the State" comes to mind.
Vehicle based volume in accordance to speed is better compared to something constantly listening to the environment. Would this not drain the battery on mobile devices.
First Apple puts inferior batteries in they devices and now they want to shorten its life further by implementing useless features.
Well, it's hard to define loudness. In digital audio, there's a sampling frequency (the higher it is the higher frequencies you can reproduce. Keep in mind that lower frequencies have high harmonics that you can't really hear, but it makes a difference, when they're gon) and a bit depth which tells you, how many different loudness levels you have.
Now 44.1 kHz, 16 bit is fine for average music, it's almost not enough for classical music where you have some very quiet parts and some very loud ones. With compression (not the same thing as making an MP3), you can get those faint sounds louder while keeping already loud sounds at the same volume. You need to look at a small bit of audio, say half a second, else it sounds very unnatural, you compute the average volume of that bit and raise the volume if it's below the set threshold. The downside is that explosions and such don't make you jump out of your seat because they're not really louder than a conversation in a movie.
So broadcasters have to find a balance between compression and original volume to keep the volume high enough without killing the dynamic. Advertizers, on the other hand, will crank up the compression all the way so everything is as loud as possible, the colors are exaggerated and the whole screen is taken up (this is why the channel's logo has to go away during commercials: advertizers pay to get the whole picture). If you're a magazine and you print an ad and it's not exactly the colors your clients specified, they will pay you much less for it.
I imagine in the UK the ads are made more quiet to match the broadcast. Wish we had that law in Germany. It's one of the many, many reasons I don't watch regular TV anymore, but it's still annoying when I'm at friends' places and they keep the TV on for "background noise".
well....
this technology would be nice so that when I reboot my iMac at night (when everybody else is asleep) that it doesn't make it's typical loud DONG noise. Although, Apple could avoid having to put in expensive sensors and technology in the machine by JUST GIVING THE USER THE OPTION TO TURN OFF THAT STUPID SOUND.
It's retarded that I have to scour the internet for a hack to disable a stupid sound that shouldn't exist in the first place. My poor cat freaks out every time I turn my computer on.
this technology would be nice so that when I reboot my iMac at night (when everybody else is asleep) that it doesn't make it's typical loud DONG noise. Although, Apple could avoid having to put in expensive sensors and technology in the machine by JUST GIVING THE USER THE OPTION TO TURN OFF THAT STUPID SOUND.
It's retarded that I have to scour the internet for a hack to disable a stupid sound that shouldn't exist in the first place. My poor cat freaks out every time I turn my computer on.
Don't jump on Apple too quickly for patenting something that's been around for a long time. Remember, patents are for ideas (in concept) they're for implementations. Thus, this is Apple's implementation of a concept that has been around for a while, they think it'll work well, so they don't want anyone else ripping off their methods.
I can see some differences from the car analogies, btw. Not only do vehicles typically only increase their volume levels due to speed changes and not ambient noise levels, but they are fairly set in the type of change. They will raise the volume by a certain amount if the speed increases a certain amount, and will always do it exactly that way. In contrast, Apple's system appears to be intended to learn user's preferences and adjust the volume to fit a user's preference for that ambient noise level. It's something Apple's done in most of their sensor related technologies, such as making the ambient light sensors adjust based on a user's preference or having the Newton learn the user's handwriting style.
jW
I can see some differences from the car analogies, btw. Not only do vehicles typically only increase their volume levels due to speed changes and not ambient noise levels, but they are fairly set in the type of change. They will raise the volume by a certain amount if the speed increases a certain amount, and will always do it exactly that way. In contrast, Apple's system appears to be intended to learn user's preferences and adjust the volume to fit a user's preference for that ambient noise level. It's something Apple's done in most of their sensor related technologies, such as making the ambient light sensors adjust based on a user's preference or having the Newton learn the user's handwriting style.
jW
this technology would be nice so that when I reboot my iMac at night (when everybody else is asleep) that it doesn't make it's typical loud DONG noise. Although, Apple could avoid having to put in expensive sensors and technology in the machine by JUST GIVING THE USER THE OPTION TO TURN OFF THAT STUPID SOUND.
It's retarded that I have to scour the internet for a hack to disable a stupid sound that shouldn't exist in the first place. My poor cat freaks out every time I turn my computer on.
That is Classic Apple, even Wall-E had this sound. Before you turn off your computer mute the speakers and you will not hear the "Dong" chime.
Yeah - they used to be really loud over here. Especially during the movies - movies were always a bit quieter, but when the adverts came on, they were deafening. Not anymore though.
Yeah - I turn off the ambient light sensor because I hate it dimming down when I don't want it to. I prefer to control it.
I'd hate the audio to suddenly get louder if someone sneezed etc. I control the volume and set it to what I like.
Course, if is useful in cars because you can't keep switching the volume, but in a Mac...meh.
What they really ought to do is make their laptop speakers not suck so much- Quality and output-wise
with all respect, bit depth is about resolution and it doesn't imply loudness levels. 8-bit can easily be as loud as 24-bit, but the resolution between them is definitely miles apart for example, the details during fades are especially prone to suffering from low bit depth. don't wish to steer this off-topic, but just thought i point that out.
That's not actually true. If the audio signal in an ad is too loud, you'll get distortion when it's played back, and no advertiser wants that. And in the end, it's not the ad that determines the volume -- it's the broadcaster. The person sitting at the board monitoring the audio and video as it goes out needs to make sure the audio is within a certain range.
Ads appear louder because there's a lot more going on in a commercial to get your attention in 30 seconds as opposed to the show you were just watching. Music, sound effects and the voice/announcer are all being output at as close to 100% as possible for the whole duration of the ad. The show you were watching may have had explosions, dramatic music, crashes that also hit 100%, but because those events are not packed into 30 seconds, they seem quieter.
Look at it this way. All the audio in a program, whether it be a full-length movie or a 30-second ad, ranges from 0 to 100%. The loudest sounds in that movie are going to be at 100%, and those sounds could be the explosions, dramatic music, etc. The rest of the movie (ambient sounds, dialog, etc.) will be heard at much quieter levels (50 - 80%). Now if an ad comes on that has minimal music and no "loud" sounds, the loudest sound will still be at 100%, but it might be the announcer's voice, so ads seem louder because they can hit that maximum level more often and constantly.
For the love of God, do people have to do this in EVERY SINGLE THREAD? We all get it. Send Apple feeback and get over it.
How about contributing something on topic? Posts like this are what keep me away from this place.
Now, on topic, I don't quite get the hate. This seems like it would be a useful feature regardless of it if has been done before in cars or whatever. And what does anyone here care about Apple's patents? If Apple patents it or not, what difference does that make to end users?
And lastly, just because it has done before doesn't mean Apple is going to do it the same way. Apple didn't invent the mp3 player, but they made the best one. Same with phone, etc. If they implement this feature in a way that make the user experience better, then I am all for it. It is little things like this, magsafe, glass trackpads, multi-touch support, and backlit keyboards that make Apple computers worth the premium you have to pay to get one.
I don't see a real improvement for the user.....no need to adjust volume automatically...
however, they better make the internal speakers output louder... talking in a group of more than four ppl AND listening to musik provided by the macbook is impossible...
however, they better make the internal speakers output louder... talking in a group of more than four ppl AND listening to musik provided by the macbook is impossible...
Great news. I have been in several situations where this would be of convenience. Much easier than manually turning the volume up/down.
And for those who want control...you can choose to turn the ambient adjustment off.
Yeah, you are meant to pay to use it or something, I remember hearing about that on Q.I. (UK quiz show).
But what on earth has that got to do with this?