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What is the TASA Standard?

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“The TASA Standard” is an audio standard for motion picture trailer volume. It was developed by the Trailer Audio Standards Association at the request of The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) to address audience complaints about excessively loud trailers.

TASA employs a measuring technique called “Leq(m)” that quantifies sound with an emphasis on the sound frequencies that are the most annoying to audiences.

Not all “loud” sounds irritate an audience to the same extent. The irritability of sounds to an audience is frequency and duration specific. For example, breaking glass at 85 decibels is far more irritating to an audience than a foghorn at 85 decibels.

Rather than simply measuring “volume,” the standard seeks to measure “annoying volume.”

At any given time, the TASA Standard identifies a specific Leqm number as a recommended upper volume limit for trailers in order to bring the audio level of trailers closer to the features they precede. The current upper volume limit is Leq(m) 85 dB.

The TASA Standard has been voluntarily adopted by all of the MPA member studios.

If you are having a film rated by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), your trailer must be submitted to the MPA’s Advertising Administration for approval. The MPA will only approve theatrical trailers certified as TASA compliant.

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