Zero decibels: Does absolute silence exist in audiovisuals?

Abstract

This work discusses and argues whether there is absolute silence in audiovisual products from the technical perspective of including a band in the synchronized soundtrack with zero decibels in perception. From an analysis of the existing scientific literature about audiovisual silence, an outline of silence in three dimensions is proposed: conceptual, technical and psychoperceptive. Although with some nuances and considerations the existence of absolute silence can be considered in the first two dimensions, the third one is completely ruled out with psychoperceptive arguments. It is concluded that the terminology used must be reviewed because the term absolute silence, in this case, may not refer to a sensation but to a digital or physical configuration of the state of a product: the soundtrack as a flow of information. In any case, it is concluded that an idea of absolute silence can only be accepted solely for technical issues related to the editing technique, but not to its perception.