"Muting" Really Isn't Muting

Did you know that muting really isn't muting at all. The intent is to silence the audio from some device, such as a television or radio, when the mute button is pressed. But did you know that sound is actually still traveling through. Next time you are in front of the tube, try this experiment. Start out by turning the volume all the way up, and then hit mute. You'll have to get really close up on the television to listen in. It will also help if there is no other background noises to distract you. Your television is going to require your undivided attention for this experiment. Once you've established this, listen closely. Although very, very faint. You should still hear a trickle of sound coming through. Now try different variations. For instance, turn the volume all the way down and listen. Then hit mute, while the volume is at 0%. Still, that faint audio noise will travel through, and I don't just mean any type of noise. You'll confirm that sound is still traveling through because you'll hear the actual dialog of what's going on. What is of this phenomenon. If you presses mute, you'd expect no sound to come through. Even if it is lower than you can naturally hear-unless you really concentrate, you'd expect No Sound.

Not that it really bothers me personally, and I am sure that not many people are even aware of this, but I simply wanted to bring awareness to this strange discovery. I noticed this years ago as a very young child. I could remember my aunt and I wowing over the discovery for the first time. I recently tried it again and to my surprise, this still occurs. Even with all the high tech televisions these days, none could defeat the muting bug.

I tried doing a little research on the phenomenon to get some insight, but my efforts were to no avail. Instead, many of my queries resulted in 'troubleshooting for problems with audio' and 'how to properly work the mute button'. I guess all of them people haven't discovered what I have yet. At any rate, the best assessment I could come up with is that the audio operates on it's own closed circuit, separate from video. This is why audio/video cables come in a bundle-red, whit & yellow cables. So the only way to break that continuous circuit and to completely rid of the sound would be to turn the television off, or Break It. Even with pressing mute, or reducing the volume to 0% doesn't cut the circuitry, which is why there is still an audio flow. I guess, in order for it to truly work would be to cut the circuitry of sound completely, while viewing the television. But will this cause another problem? Is it even possible?