FWIW, every comment OP has posted has been spamming HN with this for almost a month.

I need something like this for when my AC unit, which can only be right next to the TV, cycles on for a bit. It's sort of the inverse problem. When total noise gets louder I need the TV also to get louder.

…so an equalizer.

I think you should detect the commercial using audio fingerprinting or perhaps video and then mute the commercial for its duration. There aren't that many active commercials, so it shouldn't take long to cover most of them. Bonus if you had intra-commercial finger printing so it knew to say, mute for only a few seconds.

I'd also like to see a visual mute that puts a black box over 85% of the screen, so you could unmute it once you recognize the background is from your show.

Brand logo remover would be nice. So you could watch sports and have it blur the company logos on the sports areas