Audio Video News

The CALM Act was a great idea: Tame blaring TV ads by mandating technology that would keep them at approximately the same level as programming. Then the idea became legislation. Now the legislation has become technology. And before long, the technology will become products.

At this week's National Association of Broadcasters meeting in Las Vegas, the technologies are surfacing at an exhibit called CALM Place. They include audio mixing, loudness monitoring, loudness control, loudness processing, program optimizing, and more. Eventually this stuff will find its way into program production and broadcast equipment.

The Commercial Advertising Loudness Mitigation Act was masterminded by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA). After years of work, it passed Congress last year with bipartisan support and was signed into law by the president.

See This Week In Consumer Electronics.