Late add to thread - I'm surprised there are not more responses...it must be a rare problem.

I've noticed that on Comcast in MN the comercials have always been louder on non-HD, and often local comercials the loudest - I just figured that the cable provider was either sloppy or was trying to get us to sit up and pay attention to the comcercials. Then I got to HD....and it is way worse. It is barely watchable on Comcast - you have turn the volume way down for comercials, or mute it, or of course watch everything from DVR and skip over them (heh heh - but even then there is the unpleasant volume jump when the comercial break starts). To add to Gonk's piont, I don't think it is a matter to be fixed by dynamic compression - besides who would want to dynamically compress otherwise perfectly-good audio in the programming content just so the comercials don't blow your ears out.

Any ideas or commiseration : ) would be appreciated.