[pulseaudio-discuss] Flat volume research paper

[Alexander E. Patrakov]

On 12.06.2015 16:06, Nicolai Syvertsen wrote:
> Has Lennart read this document?
> http://www.patrickbaudisch.com/publications/2004-Baudisch-CHI04-FlatVolumeControl.pdf

Yes, this was his primary motivation behind implementing flat volumes.

>
> It is out of MS research and is essentially what lead to the
> improvements in the volume controls in Windows Vista and beyond.
> The flat volume approach in Pulseaudio is broken and I would like it to
> be fixed.
> All you need to understand this is to read that research paper.
> The researchers conducted user studies so they know what works and what
> does not.

Please be aware of the following facts:

1. The current implementation of volume controls in Windows (including 
Windows 8.1) does not follow the paper either. Look at the volume 
control for Windows Media Player in the player itself and in the mixer, 
and compare. Did Microsoft refute the results internally?

2. There was no effort to independently replicate this research.

3. There are valid security-related reasons (such as 
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=675217 ) to avoid flat 
volumes altogether.

I.e. please don't treat the paper like a gospel, either. OTOH, a list of 
differences between the current implementations and the paper would be 
an interesting read. You are welcome to post it here when you write it.

To prove that I have read the paper, here is one difference: the paper 
specifically mentions the ability to control the volume of 
recently-played sounds, PulseAudio does not offer this.

-- 
Alexander E. Patrakov