Music is mixed at various levels and there is no standard for volume level. However, movies have the audio mixed to meet a uniform set of guidelines and are all supposed to be mixed at a certain reference level.
When you calibrate the audio using any modern receiver you set 0 on the volume control to match the playback of test tones at a certain volume. 0 then becomes the reference level and your volume control can then show either below or above reference. The Disney WOW: World of Wonder calibration disc is just one example of a calibration disc and it is designed for setting Reference Level (or 0 on the volume control) to 83 dB.
When I calibrated my system using the Blu-ray, Reference Level was at 87% (-6.5dB) on JRiver's internal volume. My surrounds are very inefficient and I just received some surrounds that are 11 dB more efficient. This should put my Reference Level at about 65% (-17.5 dB).
I request three things:
1. I would like an internal volume setting where we can say, "Set Reference Level to X%" and the dB reading for volume then uses that for calculating the level above or below 0. For example, I could put "Set Reference Level to 87%" and when the volume slider is at 87% it would read 0dB, at 100% it would read +6.5 dB and at 50% it would read -18.5 dB.
2. Regardless of the reference level change, I would like the volume indicator in Theater View to read dB levels instead of %.
3. I would like an option to set the maximum volume to a certain %. For example, set maximum volume to 87%. This could be part of Volume Protection. This way the kids would never be able to play music or movies too loud on a system with high sensitivity. It would also be helpful for Party Mode.