Hearing is not what it used to be, Brain 100%

Films and drama programs too.Im deaf as a post,wear two hearing aids.But when I watch a old film I can usually hear it.new stuff I rely totally on the subtitles.

I don't have hearing problems but some TV presenters seem to mumble at times.

We sometimes use subtitles and turn up the sound -
then Gary Lineker comes on at top volume.
Time to turn off

I find Victoria Coren-Mitchell very easy to understand - if only everyone spoke as clearly as she does.

Some dramas (especially BBC ones!) seem to have poor sound quality and the actors are mumbley.

I don't usually have a problem though and can't stand the volume if I ever go to the cinema!

Bad enough that people mumble they then add loud background music

I'm sure I read somewhere that people actually do mumble these days.
I find some American programmes difficult to hear.
I did do a phone test of some kind, and my hearing came back as ok.

I don't go to the cinema,can't understand a word they say,especially American.

I do not go to the cinema any more either, and always have the sub-titles on, but there again I do wear hearing aids, however the other half is finding it more and more difficult to hear the t.v. (radio is fine) and I am sure they speak far faster than they used to and a lot of presenters these days seem to 'swallow' the last sentences.

Victoria Coren-Mitchell is pretty damn near perfect in so many ways.....????. As is her husband of course - what a fine dynasty in the making. The old fashioned RP was very clear, there's no getting away from it.

Ana you are so right about BBC in particular. I have seen letters in newspapers about this. The background music and other effects (eg a trotting horse clip-clopping, or a motorcycle engine) are too loud, and the sound engineers do not bring up the voices, many which mumble anyways. A whisper is totally lost amidst props being touched moved by the actors, the dialogue volume needs to be enhanced. This is about poor directorship as well as slopping scene engineering and editing with after-effects.

I work on 3D modelling and am in an animation workshop and these are big issues. So it's not about older people being deaf!

Totally agree with comments above. I am not deaf but often find myself saying, "what did they say ", to my husband, who has no more idea than I have! Very frustrating. Doesn't help to turn up the volume, because it is then just louder mumbling and louder irrelevant background noise.

I will never rate Eddie Redmayne as an actor. I was really looking forward to the BBC adaptation of Birdsong. He ruined it for me, mumbled all the way through. My hearing isn't that bad, if the actors speak properly, the sound engineers put some effort into their work and the background music takes a back seat I can hear everything. Heard every bit of Rillington Place, perfect.

Ailma. Tim Roth in Rillington Place was awful. Couldn't hear a word he said!! I could hear everybody else but not the main protagonist.

Diction/elocution gone out the window. It used to be taught in schools. There was a rreason why, in the past, it was known as received BBC English. It wasn't posh, just spoken clearly.

Christie had a problem with his voice, apparently, and couldn't speak any louder. Tim Roth was playing him as he was, supposedly.

I also had problems with hearingTim Roth, and said on another thread that it didn't help as his head was down most of the time .

Yes and a lot of presenters, on Radio in particular, drop their voices at the end of their sentences so you can't catch the endings. People in general seem to mumble all the time - my youngest son and his wife mutter to each other, even in company. Is it so we can't hear what they are saying I wonder? Ha ha !!

Strange but I can hear the news and documentaries without any problems.I also found the series Victoria very easy too.

However American and any British Crime series are a no go area.Their mouths are moving but that is where it ends.

Strange but I can hear the news and documentaries without any problems.I also found the series Victoria very easy too.

However American and any British Crime series are a no go area.Their mouths are moving but that is where it ends.

I dont understand some of the background noise. Real life doesn't have a soundtrack of music all the time. I can understand it when there is, perhaps, a tense moment but not when someone is having a conversation in a street.
I read somewhere that it has to do with compression levels to suit the very small speakers in modern, thinner, TVs
I wonder if a sound bar would help?

Our independent cinema has a day when most of the films have subtitles so that's when we tend to go if there's anything good on. A few years ago we saw the re-make of True Grit (without subtitles) and the mumbling was dreadful. It was quite a revelation to see it on TV recently and find out what we had missed.

I find that there is too much whispering in drama productions. It drives me potty - granted I'm a little hard of hearing but I turn up the sound to compensate and still can't decipher what's being said. They must whisper for dramatic effect but I so wish they wouldn't. I can remember my dear old Dad complaining about sound quality on TV. Perhaps I'm just getting older..... It doesn't help that I suffer from tinnitus.

Nanny knows best and gets to decided what is best for us. Seemingly it is a brilliant new concept if they whisper then we will concentrate and focus engrossed in the programme. In our house we sadly but purposefully turn off. We just cant give them our viewing figures. I can actually hear it fine but my husband struggles so much.

I had a problem with this but OH changed a setting on the tv. Much better now. I still have problems with certain actors tho'. One in particular who plays Sherlock & an oriental woman who plays opposite him as Watson.