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    Younger adults are much more 'particular' about TV volume [OC]
    Data

    Younger adults are much more ‘particular’ about TV volume [OC]


    Younger adults are far more likely than older adults to prefer to set the TV volume to a specific type of number (even, odd, or multiple of 5). In fact, among younger U.S. adults, it can be considered more of a quirk to not have a specific TV volume preference.

    Data Source: CivicScience InsightStore
    Visualization: Infogram

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    Posted by CivicScienceInsights

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    48 Comments

    1. probablyuntrue on

      lol I love these niche surveys, I do wonder what drives small generational rifts like these

    3. Nu11u5 on

      My TV’s volume scale goes to 100 but my sound system only goes to 50. Therefore the TV only allows incrementing to even numbers.

    5. bruhbelacc on

      Could it be that older people didn’t have TVs displaying the numbers of the volume for most of their life? I remember old TVs only had a bar.

    7. TulsaBasterd on

      Anyone else remember decades ago when they passed a law that all new TVs would have “Smart Volume” so commercials wouldn’t blast louder than the show you had been watching? That didn’t last.

    9. 40prcentiron on

      i like putting the volume at an odd number solely cause it pisses my wife off

    10. new_account_5009 on

      Interesting concept for a survey and interesting results too. I don’t think I’ve ever spent ten seconds in my life thinking about the precise volume number on the TV. If it’s too quiet, I turn it up until I can hear. If it’s too loud, I turn it down until I’m comfortable. If commercials come on, I mute it.

      I’m actually fascinated that the survey designer got 20K+ responses to this with so many people having a preference. Is it a borderline OCD thing? If so, does that manifest itself more in younger generations due to stuff like the internet always being available?

    12. MADCATMK3 on

      After reading the title I thought it was going to be interesting like how loud people like it or different rate of hearing loss, but this is just stupid.

    14. noname9300 on

      My TV with my soundbar connected doesn’t display numbers or a volume level bar.

    15. jbaranski on

      Idk about the rest of you but I used to care more. Now I’m 35 and I don’t really care. I bet I’ll care even less as I’m older.

      My opinion is this is as deep as it goes.

    16. bcopes158 on

      I turn the TV up or down until it is a comfortable listing volume. Which varies quite a bit depending on what I’m watching. I couldn’t care less what the number says. This is a hard one for me to fathom.

    17. spill_oreilly on

      I had no idea anyone does or even would care what number the volume is on. This seems absolutely demented to me.

    22. CrashBandicoot2 on

      The survey should ask number DIVISIBLE by 5, not number ENDING in 5. Thus, ending in either 5 or 0. And yes, I clarify this because that’s how I set the volume

    23. morningreis on

      I’m surprised at how many odd number psychopaths are walking among us…

    25. Boutros_BoutrosGhali on

      I think this is actually pretty simple – as people age they have a lot less time and bandwidth to care about things like this. When I was younger I would definitely pay attention to this. Now with 2 young kids and a demanding job, I don’t have the energy to even register things like that.

    26. canuck47 on

      I have always set the volume on the TV and car radio to an even number – somehow in my mind it just seems more “balanced”. I know it doesn’t make sense but i still do it. I’ve even converted my wife, although she recently admitted when she’s mad at me she sets it to an odd number LOL

    28. lucianw on

      My TV is hooked up to a sounds system which measures its output in decibels with reference “0” being the loudest it can go without clipping. Therefore it always has to be set at a NEGATIVE number. I usually use -23.7 if other people are sleeping in the adjacent room, or -19.1 if I can be as loud as I want.

      Take that, survey!

    29. thetoastofthefrench on

      Could it be that the older people used to be particular, then they grew out of it? I personally used to care a lot more about this but today I probably wouldn’t bother targeting specific numbers.

    31. Astromanatee on

      55 and up only answered

      ‘No, it doesn’t matter to me’

      Because ‘Triple digits only’ wasn’t an option.

    34. MasterQuatre on

      Mine is more specific, but also more logical. Multiples of 5 (not just ending in 5, which is weird). But also 13, 42 and 69 are fine.

    35. mrb9110 on

      I would firmly be in the “Other” category. Even numbers or divisible by 5, but if a number is adjacent to a number ending in 5, then the number ending in 5 is preferable. Example: 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, etc.

    37. New-Interaction1893 on

      My generation will start a revolution.

      Your generation can’t even leave the TV volume on a odd number that isn’t 5.

    39. hardlyreadit on

      My ex was like that, only even or divisible by 5. Now that Im not with her I realize how dumb this was. Doing that by a dial while driving was frustrating

    41. AfternoonPossible on

      I feel like I’m *constantly* changing the volume bc it’s either a deafening explosion or dialog that’s being whispered. The actual number is irrelevant

    43. TheParanoidBaboon on

      I like the “other” category. It’s the wold of people who say “I would only set the volume to multiples of 3”, or “Prime numbers until 23 then 23 + multiple of 5, so 28, 33, etc”.

    45. GroundThing on

      I don’t really get it, especially with evens (or odds). With multiples of 5, it turns a 1-100 scale into a 1-20 scale, which is probably about as much precision as you actually need unless you have a TV where 100 is insanely loud (mine for instance is basically already a 1-20 scale, because of this, and I don’t get it, because it sounds like crap at higher volumes, so it’s not like you wouldn’t get speakers anyway if using it for a home theater scenario, and it’s not really big enough for that anyway). But even so, when I had a TV with a more normal volume range, I would change it by about 5, if it was too loud or too quiet, but as long as it was the right volume, I didn’t care about the actual number.

    47. PokeScape on

      As a kid in the 2000s, we would always make sure the TV is at volume level 12, or 11 if later at night

    48. Arinium on

      My sanity was saved when I got a TV that doesn’t display the number. You actually are allowed to just set it to the volume you want without being required to be at certain numbers 😮‍💨