[Feature Request] Enhance loudness normalization. - Youtube's normalization only ever decreases, not increases volume?

[RubenKelevra]

⚬ PROBLEM:

Currently the normalization functionality is only reducing the volume of videos to give them enough headroom to avoid clipping and reduce the differences between very loud and normal loudness content, like advertisements and normal videos or electric music vs classic music.

However, this falls short on lower volume videos, and I noticed that I more and more often have to reach for the volume knob if I'm not listening via headphones, but via loudspeakers.

I think the YouTube-Extention might be able to improve on that:

⚬ SOLUTION:

Change the calculation which is used to normalize the loudness, to include steps up the volume, as long as there's headroom. So if the user has set 50% volume in the YouTube player and the video is quiet, the player can set it to say 70% to make it louder like it is currently doing the other way around.

⚬ RELEVANCE / SCOPE:
I think this makes sense to set the volume to say 50% and have this way more room for the algorithm to adjust the volume. This gives a more consistent experience with the audio level and should be preferred by everyone.

⚬ "SIDE EFFECTS":
The user should be made aware that this is expected behavior that the volume is slightly less than it's used to. But in most cases, the absolute volume output of the speakers or headphones is not reached anyway. So the user can just turn the master volume of the operating system a bit higher to compensate.

SHORT Table	(Summary)
Problem	Low volume videos are not adjusted for by the loudness normalization
Solution	Reduce the user set volume and adjust the loudness adjusting algorithm to allow for adjustments above the set volume
Scope	default
Side effects	slightly less average volume from the browser

[ghost]

This feature requires research, so not now.

[RubenKelevra]

@victor-savinov thanks for considering this for the future. :)

[User198263321]

How about depending on how low the video "content loudness" as seen in the stats for nerds menu, it adjusts that volume offset accordingly?