Ask HN: Will Apple's hearing aid feature lead to lower volume in movie theaters? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Will Apple's hearing aid feature lead to lower volume in movie theaters?

3 pointsamichail15 comments

Or maybe movie theaters will have some showings be at reduced sound volume?

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

Don't dialogue-heavy movies (with limited dynamic range) tend to have really loud sound because hearing the dialogue is especially important?

You may want to read up on industry best practices for theatrical sound mixing and digital cinema delivery.

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.

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?

I think that's true, yes.

I don’t think it’s true at all. I think they play it loud to play up the rollercoaster aspect of seeing a film — of getting you viscerally involved with what’s going on onscreen.

It would make more sense for theaters to have headphones to give an extra boost to people who need it. Some theaters have a system called Hearing Loop which will send the movie audio right to the person's hearing aids, without having to deal with other background noise that might be in the theater.

> Hearing Loop is an induction loop system which magnetically transmits the auditorium sound to compatible hearing aids. Our guests who have hearing aids with T-Coils can link directly into the theatre sound system at the touch of a button on their hearing aid. This delivers our guests a crisp and clear sound free from background noise and no headset is required. Hearing Loop is available at Landmark Theatres in Chicago and Aquarius Theatre, San Francisco Peninsula.

https://www.landmarktheatres.com/httpswwwlandmarktheatrescom...

I don't think movie volume goes down for everyone else, because these things exist. It just gives these people extra help, when they still have trouble, as loud as it is.

It's not; there is a nominal series of standards for this.

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

Some restaurants only have QR code menus.

QR codes are a ISO-ratified standard. Airpods are bluetooth headphones.

Portable computers are a product and they have changed how some places operate.

That is a class of device that has been around for decades and produced by countless companies. AirPods are one product from one company, and the hearing aid feature isn't even universal to all AirPods at this time.

I'm speaking of what some people call smart phones. I was referring to the QR code thing. The statement that products don't change $Service is incorrect.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com