Matthew Moore, Media Correspondent
July 26 2019, 12:01am, The Times
Viewers have complained of being unable to hear dramas such as Happy ValleyBEN BLACKALL/BBCMumbling actors, inaudible dialogue and booming soundtracks have ruined television dramas for millions. Now, finally, a solution is at hand.
The BBC is testing technology that allows viewers to tune out background noise while boosting characters’ voices, making plots easier to follow. A recent episode of the BBC One medical drama Casualty was the first to be produced with the new feature.
BBC tests technology to block out background noise in showsA version on the BBC website includes a slider button in addition to the volume control. Keeping the slider on the right-hand side retains the standard audio. Moving the slider to the left reduces background noise, including music, making the dialogue crisper.
The project is aimed at the 11 million Britons with hearing loss and any others who struggle to make out what actors are saying. Commuters who stream shows on noisy trains and buses could also benefit.
The broadcaster has received thousands of complaints from people unable to hear the dialogue in dramas including Jamaica Inn, SS-GB and Happy Valley.
It prompted a national debate about mumbling actors and questions were even asked in parliament.
The technology is labour-intensive because individual elements of sound have to be graded in a hierarchy based on their importance to the plot. Some non-speech sounds, such as the flatlining beep of a heart monitor in Casualty, are crucial to a show’s narrative. The technology allows these noises to stay prominent while non-essential sounds are turned down.
“The goal is all about accessibility, and making sure the stories we are trying to tell can be accessed by lots of different people with lots of different needs,” Lauren Ward, head of the project, said. She added that the response from viewers had been overwhelmingly positive. The pilot version has been viewed by 3,300 people on the website BBC Taster, with 80 per cent noting an improvement.
The technology is experimental but could become mainstream on iPlayer and even broadcast television as the BBC moves towards a personalised system of broadcasting called object-based media. This allows programmes to be broken down into their component objects, such as sounds and frames, then rearranged in different ways for different viewers.
Organisations including Action on Hearing Loss and the University of the Third Age are involved in trials with older and hard-of-hearing users. Younger people with perfect hearing could also benefit from the project.
“It’s aimed at people with hearing loss, but the effects of hearing loss are very similar to trying to listen in a high-noise environment,” Ms Ward said. “If you’re trying to listen to a show on your mobile phone on the Tube, a lot of the challenges are very similar.”
Lord Hall of Birkenhead, 68, the director-general, ordered the corporation’s TV executives to investigate the issue. “I don’t want to sound like a grumpy old man but I also think muttering is something we could have a look at,” he said in 2013.