Volume and compression control in movie theaters

A motion picture soundtrack reproduction apparatus, the apparatus having a plurality of soundtrack channels, comprising

• an estimator of the loudness of the channels when reproduced, the estimator providing a loudness estimation level in response to the soundtrack channels or data associated with the soundtrack channels,
• a control for adjusting both gain and compression applied to the channels, the control having a range of settings from a minimum to a maximum including a standard setting at which a signal having a respective reference level in each channel is reproduced at a respective standard acoustic level, wherein
• at said standard setting, the gain applied to each of the channels is substantially constant for all loudness estimation levels and substantially no compression is applied, and
• for each control setting in a range of control settings less than said standard setting,
• for loudness estimation levels below a threshold higher than said standard acoustic level, the gain of each channel is substantially constant at each control setting, the gain staying substantially the same or decreasing as the control setting decreases, and substantially no compression is applied for loudness estimation levels up to said threshold and,
• for loudness estimation levels above said threshold, compression is applied to one or more channels, the threshold decreasing as the control setting decreases.