Methods and apparatus to control audio leveling in media presentation devices

1. A method for controlling audio leveling in a media presentation system, comprising:

receiving data including media content;

identifying a measure of vulnerability of a portion of the media content to inappropriate audio leveling based on an indicator in closed captioning data corresponding to the portion of the media content;

selecting, via processor, a level of aggressiveness for an audio leveling technique to be used in the audio leveling process based on the measure of vulnerability.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising selecting one or more settings associated with the selected audio leveling technique to be used in the audio leveling process.

3. A method as defined in claim 2 , wherein selecting the one or more settings to be used in the audio leveling process comprises choosing whether or not to apply the audio leveling process to the media content.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein identifying the measure of vulnerability comprises determining a characteristic of the portion of the media content using the indicator in the closed captioning data.

5. A method as defined in claim 4 , wherein the indicator is at least one of an exclamation mark, a capitalized letters, or an indication of an expletive.

6. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein selecting the level of aggressiveness for the audio leveling technique includes selecting a first technique to be applied to the media content during a first period of time and selecting a second technique to be applied to the media content during a second period of time.

7. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising selecting the level of aggressiveness for the audio leveling technique based on information related to the media presentation system.

8. A method as defined in claim 7 , wherein the information related to the media presentation device includes at least one of a first user input corresponding to a channel change, a second user input corresponding to a volume change, or a selection of one of a plurality of audio streams associated with the media content.

9. A method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising selecting the level of aggressiveness for the audio leveling technique based on metadata inserted into a data stream including the media content at a head-end of a direct-to-home satellite transmission system.

10. An apparatus for controlling audio leveling in a media presentation system, comprising:

a receiver to receive data including media content; and

a selector to:

identify a measure of vulnerability of a portion of the media content to inappropriate audio leveling based on an indicator in closed captioning data corresponding to the portion of the media content; and

select a level of aggressiveness for an audio leveling technique to be used in the audio leveling process based on the measure of vulnerability, wherein the selector is implemented via a processor.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the selector is to select one or more settings associated with the selected audio leveling technique to be used in the audio leveling process.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 11 , wherein the selector is to select the one or more settings to be used in the audio leveling process by choosing whether or not to apply the audio leveling process to the media content.

13. An apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the selector is to identify the measure of vulnerability by determining a characteristic of the portion of the media content using the indicator in the closed captioning data.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein the indicator is at least one of an exclamation point, capitalized letters, or an indication of an expletive.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the selector is to select the level of aggressiveness for the audio leveling technique by selecting a first technique to be applied to the media content during a first period of time and a second technique to be applied to the media content during a second period of time.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 10 , wherein the selector is to select the level of aggressiveness for the audio leveling technique based on information related to the media presentation device.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 16 , wherein the information related to the media presentation device includes at least one of a first user input corresponding to a channel change, a second user input corresponding to a volume change, or a third user input corresponding to a selection of one of a plurality of audio streams associated with the media content.

18. A media presentation system, comprising:

a receiver station including an audio leveler to apply an audio leveling technique to media content, the audio leveler implemented via a processor and including:

a presentation system information detector to detect a state of the media presentation system;

a technique selector to:

identify a measure of vulnerability of the media content to inappropriate audio leveling based on an indicator in closed captioning data corresponding to the media content; and

select one of a plurality of audio leveling techniques to be applied to the media content based on the measure of vulnerability, wherein the plurality of audio leveling techniques have different levels of aggressiveness; and

an audio level adjuster to apply the selected one of the plurality audio leveling techniques to the media content.

19. The media presentation system as defined in claim 18 , wherein the technique selector is to:

select a first one of the audio leveling techniques having a first level of aggressiveness when the indicator of the closed captioning data indicates that a presentation of the media content has reached a first portion without dialogue; and

select a second one of the audio leveling techniques having a second level of aggressiveness greater than the first audio leveling techniques when the indicator of the closed captioning data indicates that the presentation of the media content has reached a second portion including dialogue.

20. The media presentation system as defined in claim 19 , wherein the second audio leveling technique more drastically adjusts audio than the first leveling technique.