kkielhofner
Do you feel like the overall volume level changes based on the general genre of film?

As I understand it:

Action movies, for example, have to factor in audio for everything from whispers to big explosions. In order to do that properly (avoiding clipping, etc) you have to look at the dynamic range. Then the problem becomes trying to make sure most people can hear the whispers while not blowing them away with the explosion at the other end of amplitude.

If the film is just dialog at relatively consistent volumes the necessary dynamic range gets narrower and you can (pretty much) settle on a much more reasonable "sweet spot" output volume.

Of course there are normalizers/compressors/etc and other forms of processing you can get heavy handed with but they're not really that popular when it comes to art because they arguably modify the art itself. There's even a specific Academy Award for sound[0].

When it comes to music it's a different story as we are well into the loudness war[1].

Anyway, to answer your question: probably not.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Sound

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

daemonologist
My experience with elderly relatives is that quite a lot of them can hear well enough in conversation but want the TV turned way up, and that they're very resistant to getting hearing aids until they really desperately need them, regardless of cost. While having more affordable OTC hearing aid options is great I don't know how many people it'll convert. Maybe in ten or twenty years when there's more overlap between people who need hearing aid and people who already own airpods/similar. I'm also skeptical that this is the reason theaters are so loud, although I can't think of a more compelling reason.

Anyways I hope I'm wrong. The last time I went a theater (Dune Part 1) I forgot my earplugs and there were sections where I had my hands over my ears.

dave4420
I don’t see the logic.

Are you under the impression that cinemas play films at such a high volume because they’re worried about people not being able to hear them properly?

talldayo
No, $PRODUCT will not change how $SERVICE behaves. Can we move on from this stuff?