Sound correction device

Abstract

To provide a sound correction device for correcting sound to be output sound suited to an environment with an acoustic apparatus arranged therein.SOLUTION: In a smart phone constituted as a separate body from an on-vehicle machine, a reception section 11 acquires characteristic information of a microphone 15 included in the smart phone from a server, and a G sensor 18 acquires information related to a direction of the smart phone. Then, an arithmetic section 13 allows a white noise generation section 14 to generate white noise sound, allows the on-vehicle machine to output the white noise sound, and allows a sound recording section 16 to record the white noise sound with the use of the microphone 15 so as to be defined as a measurement result. The arithmetic section 13 generates correction information, on the basis of the characteristic information of the microphone 15, the information related to the direction of the smart phone, and the measurement result.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an audio correction device that corrects output audio from an audio device or the like. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, many audio devices, such as car audio devices, are capable of adjusting the sound quality in accordance with the environment in which the audio device is installed.

[0003] In recent years, it has also become common to connect a portable music player to a car audio system and play music stored in the portable music player. In this case, it has been proposed that the car audio system acquires the sound quality settings of the portable music player and plays the music with a sound quality close to that of the portable music player (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] Patent Document 1 describes that a vehicle audio device 300 acquires audio setting information of an external sound source device 100, and an audio setting correction unit 302 converts the information based on output characteristics specific to the external sound source device 100, and further corrects the information taking into account the output characteristics of the vehicle audio device 300 itself, thereby playing music, etc. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5114922 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, when the vehicle audio device 300 to be applied is a device such as a commercially available car audio device in a store, in which the vehicle in which it is installed and the speakers to be connected are not specified in advance, it is possible to take into account the audio setting information of the connected portable music player, etc., but the characteristics of the connected speakers, the reverberation characteristics inside the vehicle, and the characteristics of attenuation due to the seats and interior materials are unknown. Therefore, even if the output characteristics of the vehicle audio device 300 itself are known, corrections to suit the individual vehicle interior environments may be insufficient.

[0007] It is also possible to mount a microphone and a computing device on a car audio device, record the sound from the speaker with the microphone, calculate parameters that optimize the characteristics, and play back the sound by reflecting the parameters. However, in this case, a microphone and a sophisticated computing device are required, which is costly.

[0008] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an audio correction device that can correct an output audio to be suited to the environment in which an audio device is installed, for example. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is an audio correction device comprising a microphone, a characteristic information acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information of the microphone, a measurement unit that causes an external acoustic device to output a test sound and measures the test sound via the microphone, a presentation unit that presents to a user instruction information instructing the position and orientation of the microphone during the measurement, and a correction information generation unit that generates correction information to correct the output sound of the acoustic device based on the characteristics of the microphone and the measurement results measured by the measurement unit, wherein the presentation unit presents the instruction information before the measurement unit starts the measurement.

[0010] The invention described in claim 10 is an audio correction method executed by an audio correction device equipped with a microphone and which corrects the output sound of an external audio device, comprising: a characteristic information acquisition step of acquiring characteristic information of the microphone; a measurement step of causing the audio device to output a test sound and measuring the test sound via the microphone; a presentation step of presenting to a user instruction information instructing the position and orientation of the microphone at the time of the measurement; and a correction information generation step of generating correction information for correcting the output sound of the audio device based on the characteristics of the microphone and the measurement results measured in the measurement step, wherein the presentation step presents the instruction information before starting the measurement by the measurement step.

[0011] The invention recited in claim 11 is an audio correction program for causing a computer to execute the audio correction method recited in claim 10.

[0012] The invention described in claim 12 is a computer-readable recording medium storing the audio correction program described in claim 11. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a configuration diagram showing a connection configuration between a smartphone, an in-vehicle device, and a server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the smartphone shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of the vehicle-mounted device shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a server shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart of a sound quality correction operation in the smartphone shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 6 is a flowchart of the microphone characteristic correction operation shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] 6 is a flowchart of the measurement direction determination operation shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 8]6 is a flowchart of the measurement operation shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 9] 6 is a flowchart of the correction information generating operation shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 10] 13 is an example of a screen display with orientation specified. [Figure 11] This is an example of a screen display when the orientation is correct. [Figure 12] 1 is a graph showing an example of a measurement result. [Figure 13] 13 is a graph showing an example of the results of performing microphone characteristic correction on the sound signal shown in FIG. 12 . [Figure 14] 14 is a graph showing an example of the result of performing correction on FIG. 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] A display device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The audio correction device according to one embodiment of the present invention is configured separately from the audio device, and the measurement unit causes the audio device to output a measurement sound and measures the measurement sound via a microphone. Then, the correction information generation unit generates correction information based on the characteristics of the microphone acquired by the characteristic information acquisition unit and the measurement results measured by the measurement unit. In this way, correction information can be generated using a microphone of an apparatus separate from the audio device, and the output audio can be corrected to be suitable for the environment in which the audio device, such as a car audio device, is installed. In addition, since it is separate from the audio device, correction can be easily performed in a plurality of environments.

[0015] Furthermore, as long as the characteristics of the microphone can be obtained, the microphone itself does not need to be high performance, so the output sound of audio equipment such as car audio can be easily corrected using a device that already has a microphone installed, such as a smartphone.

[0016] The system may further include a characteristic information acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information of a microphone, and the correction information generation unit may generate the correction information based on the characteristics of the microphone acquired by the characteristic information acquisition unit and the measurement results measured by the measurement unit. In this way, the correction information can be generated taking into account the characteristics of the microphone that measures the measurement sound, and the output sound can be corrected to be suitable for the environment in which the audio equipment, such as a car audio device, is installed, without depending on the characteristics of the microphone.

[0017] The measurement unit may further include a direction information acquisition unit that acquires information about the direction of the microphone, and the measurement unit may cause the acoustic device to output a measurement sound based on the direction information acquired by the direction information acquisition unit and the direction of the microphone when measuring the characteristic information of the microphone, and measure the measurement sound via the microphone. In this way, the direction of the microphone can be taken into consideration, and correction that is less dependent on the characteristics of the microphone can be performed.

[0018] The correction information generating unit may generate microphone correction information by correcting the measurement result of the measuring unit based on the microphone characteristic information, and generate correction information based on the microphone correction information. In this way, microphone characteristic information that is not dependent on the microphone characteristics can be generated from the measurement result, and based on the information, the output sound can be corrected to be suitable for the environment in which the audio equipment, such as car audio, is installed.

[0019] In addition, the measurement unit may record the measurement sound, and the correction information generating unit may generate the correction information based on the measurement sound recorded by the measurement unit. In this way, the measurement sound can be recorded, so that the correction information can be generated even when the processing capacity is low and real-time processing is difficult.

[0020] The audio device may further include an output unit that outputs the correction information to the audio device, whereby the audio device can automatically make corrections using the generated correction information.

[0021] The audio device may further include a correction range information acquisition unit that acquires information about the correction range in the audio device, and the correction information generation unit may generate correction information based on the information about the correction range acquired by the correction range information acquisition unit. In this way, information about the correction range of the audio device, such as the number of bands, center frequency, Q value, gain, etc., of a correction means such as an equalizer that the audio device has, may be generated. Correction information can be generated based on the information.

[0022] In addition, the audio device may be provided in a moving object. In this way, audio devices such as car audio devices mounted in vehicles such as automobiles can be corrected to match the acoustic characteristics of the vehicle in which they are mounted.

[0023] In addition, in an audio correction method according to one embodiment of the present invention, in an audio correction device configured separately from an audio device, a measurement step causes the audio device to output a test sound and measures the test sound via a microphone. Then, a correction information generation step generates correction information based on the characteristics of the microphone acquired in the characteristic information acquisition step and the measurement results measured in the measurement step. In this way, correction information can be generated using a microphone of a device separate from the audio device, and the output audio can be corrected to be suitable for the environment in which the audio device, such as a car audio device, is installed. Also, since it is separate from the audio device, correction can be easily performed in a plurality of environments.

[0024] The above-mentioned audio correction method may be implemented as an audio correction program executed by a computer. By doing so, the computer can generate correction information using a microphone of a device separate from the audio device, and the output audio can be corrected to suit the environment in which the audio device, such as a car audio device, is installed. Since the microphone is separate from the audio device, correction can be easily performed in a plurality of environments.

[0025] The above-mentioned audio correction program may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. In this way, the program can be distributed as a standalone program in addition to being incorporated into a device, and version upgrades can be easily performed. EXAMPLES

[0026] An audio correction device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 15. First, Fig. 1 shows a connection configuration between a smartphone 1 as an audio correction device according to this embodiment, an in-vehicle device 2 as an audio device, and a server 4.

[0027] The smartphone 1 is capable of wireless communication with the vehicle-mounted device 2. Although wireless communication is shown in FIG. 1, wired communication via USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like may also be possible. That is, the smartphone 1 is configured separately from the vehicle-mounted device 2. The vehicle-mounted device 2 is installed in the cabin of the vehicle and is a device for reproducing audio, such as a car audio or car navigation system. Speakers 3L and 3R are connected to the vehicle-mounted device 2. The number of speakers is not limited to two, and may be three or more.

[0028] Moreover, the smartphone 1 is capable of wirelessly communicating with the server 4. The server 4 is capable of communicating with the smartphone 1, for example, via the Internet.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, the smartphone 1 includes a receiving unit 11, a transmitting unit 12, a calculation unit 13, a white noise generating unit 14, a microphone 15, a recording unit 16, a display unit 17, a G sensor 18, and an operation unit 19.

[0030] The receiving unit 11 receives acoustic characteristic correctable range information (information on the correction range in the acoustic device) described below and the like from the in-vehicle device 2. The received acoustic characteristic correctable range information is output to the calculation unit 13. The receiving unit 11 also receives microphone characteristic information of the smartphone 1 and the like from the server 4. That is, the receiving unit 11 functions as a correction range information acquisition unit that acquires information on the correction range in the acoustic device and a characteristic information acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information of the microphone 15.

[0031] The transmission unit 12 transmits, to the in-vehicle device 2, acoustic characteristic correction amount information (described later) input from the calculation unit 13, white noise audio information input from the white noise generation unit 14, and the like. The transmission unit 12 also transmits, to the server 4, model information of the smartphone 1, and the like.

[0032] That is, the receiving unit 11 and the transmitting unit 12 have a communication function with the in-vehicle device 2 (Bluetooth (registered trademark), USB, etc.) and a communication function with the server 4 (LTE (Long Term Evolution), wireless, etc.). and a wired LAN (Local Area Network), etc.

[0033] The calculation unit 13 estimates the orientation of the smartphone 1 based on the output of the G sensor 18. The calculation unit 13 also causes the white noise generation unit 14 to generate a white noise sound, and causes the recording unit 16 to record the white noise sound played by the in-vehicle device 2 via the microphone 15. The calculation unit 13 also corrects the white noise sound recorded by the recording unit 16 for the characteristics of the microphone 15 based on the microphone characteristic information received from the server 4. The calculation unit 13 then generates acoustic characteristic correction amount information for the in-vehicle device 2 based on the result of the correction for the characteristics of the microphone 15.

[0034] The white noise generating unit 14 generates a white noise sound as a measurement sound. Note that, in this embodiment, a white noise sound is used as the measurement sound, but any sound suitable for measuring the frequency characteristics of the in-vehicle device 2, such as an impulse for impulse response, the speakers 3L and 3R, and the interior of the vehicle may be used.

[0035] The microphone 15 collects the white noise sound reproduced by the vehicle-mounted device 2. The microphone 15 does not have to be a dedicated microphone, and may be a microphone used for telephone calls or the like.

[0036] The recording unit 16 records the white noise sound collected by the microphone 15. The recording unit records the white noise sound in a storage medium such as a memory (not shown).

[0037] The display unit 17 is configured with, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays the result of the correction related to the characteristics of the microphone 15 calculated by the calculation unit 13, the acoustic characteristic correction amount information generated thereafter, etc. Of course, the display unit 17 may also display other functions of the smartphone 1 (calls, emails, etc.).

[0038] The G sensor 18 is a so-called acceleration sensor, and if it is a three-axis acceleration sensor, for example, it can measure acceleration in three directions of the X, Y and Z axes. The G sensor 18 outputs the measured acceleration to the calculation unit 13. That is, since gravity is applied in the direction of the ground, the acceleration output by the G sensor 18 becomes information regarding the orientation of the microphone 15, and the G sensor 18 functions as an orientation information acquisition unit.

[0039] The operation unit 19 is composed of push buttons, a touch panel, etc., and outputs information related to operations input by a user or the like to the calculation unit 13.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle-mounted device 2 includes a transmitter 21, a receiver 22, a corrector 23, an optical disc drive 24, a player 25, and an amplifier 26.

[0041] The transmission unit 21 transmits, to the smartphone 1, the acoustic characteristic correctable range information and the like input from the correction unit 23.

[0042] The receiving unit 22 receives the acoustic characteristic correction amount information, the white noise audio information, and the like from the smartphone 1. The received acoustic characteristic correction amount information is output to the correcting unit 23, and the white noise audio information is output to the reproducing unit 25.

[0043] The correction unit 23 sets gains and the like for each of a plurality of frequency bands based on the acoustic characteristic correction amount information input from the receiving unit 22, and corrects the audio signal reproduced by the reproduction unit 25.

[0044] The optical disc drive 24 is a device that reads out audio information from an optical disc on which audio information such as music is recorded, such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a Blu-ray disc. In this embodiment, an optical disc is used as the recording medium on which audio information such as music is recorded, but the recording medium is not limited to this and may be a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. The audio may also be audio from a radio broadcast or a television broadcast. Alternatively, the audio information may be music stored in the smartphone 1 or audio information input from the outside via communication or the like.

[0045] The playback unit 25 plays back the audio information read by the optical disc drive 24 and outputs it to the amplifier 26 .

[0046] The amplifier 26 amplifies the audio signal reproduced by the reproduction unit 25 by a predetermined amount and outputs the amplified signal to the speakers 3L and 3R.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4, the server 4 includes a transmitting unit 41, a receiving unit 42, a calculation unit 43, and a microphone characteristic storage unit 44.

[0048] The transmitting unit 41 transmits the microphone characteristic information and the like input from the computing unit 43 to the smartphone 1 .

[0049] The receiving unit 42 receives the model information and the like from the smartphone 1. The receiving unit 42 outputs the received model information and the like to the calculation unit 43.

[0050] The calculation unit 43 reads out the microphone characteristics corresponding to the model from the microphone characteristics storage unit 44 based on the model information received by the receiving unit 42 , and transmits the microphone characteristics to the smartphone 1 via the transmitting unit 41 .

[0051] The microphone characteristic storage unit 44 is a recording medium in which the microphone characteristics of each of a plurality of smartphone 1 models are stored. The microphone characteristics are frequency characteristics according to the orientation of the microphone in the model (the orientation of the smartphone 1 itself). The recording characteristics of the smartphone 1 differ depending on the model due to differences in the microphone position and performance. Therefore, a speaker whose characteristics are known in advance and the smartphone 1 are measured in an environment where ideal recording can be performed, such as an anechoic chamber, to obtain the frequency characteristics of the microphone 15 of the smartphone 1. The microphone characteristics may be measured for each of a plurality of smartphone 1 orientations (i.e., microphone orientations) and stored in the microphone characteristic storage unit 44, or may be stored for only one specific direction.

[0052] The model stored in the microphone characteristic storage unit 44 is not limited to the smartphone 1, but may include devices such as mobile phones that are equipped with a microphone and can function as a sound correction device.

[0053] Next, the sound quality correction operation in the smartphone 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of Fig. 5 to Fig. 9. These flowcharts are executed by the calculation unit 13 of the smartphone 1 unless otherwise specified.

[0054] First, in step S11, the application is started and the process proceeds to step S12. Here, the application is a sound correction program for executing the sound quality correction method according to the present embodiment. This application is installed in the smartphone 1 in advance or by downloading or the like.

[0055] Next, in step S12 as a characteristic information acquisition step, the microphone characteristic of the smartphone 1 is acquired from the server 4, and the process proceeds to step S13. In this step, as shown in FIG. 6, first, the smartphone 1 transmits preset model information to the server 4 via the transmission unit 12 (step S21). In the server 4, the calculation unit 43 selects the microphone characteristic of the model stored in the microphone characteristic storage unit 44 based on the model information received by the reception unit 42, and transmits it as microphone characteristic information to the smartphone 1 via the transmission unit 41. The smartphone 1 acquires the microphone characteristic information by receiving it with the reception unit 11 (step S22). Note that once this step S12 is executed, it does not need to be executed next time or thereafter, for example, when performing a correction operation in another vehicle.

[0056] Next, in step S13, the orientation of the smartphone 1 is determined for a measurement operation, which will be described later. The orientation of the smartphone 1 is determined according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0057] In step S31 of the flowchart in FIG. 7, the user of the smartphone 1 or the like specifies the orientation of the smartphone 1, and the process proceeds to step S32. The orientation is specified by displaying, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 10 on a display unit (not shown) of the in-vehicle device 2 or the display unit 17 of the smartphone 1. In the example of FIG. 10, the lower side is determined based on the screen display of the smartphone 1. This orientation is specified to be the same as the orientation of the smartphone 1 when measuring the microphone characteristic information. In this embodiment, the orientation of the smartphone 1 is specified, but this is essentially equivalent to specifying the orientation of the microphone 15. Note that, for example, a screen showing the actual ear of the user who will listen (such as by aligning it with the position of the headrest of the vehicle seat including the driver's seat and the passenger seat) may be displayed on a display unit (not shown) of the in-vehicle device 2 or the display unit 17 of the smartphone 1.

[0058] Next, in step S32, the orientation of the smartphone 1 is estimated, and the process proceeds to step S33. The orientation is estimated based on the output (orientation information) of the G sensor 18 mounted on the smartphone 1 by a well-known method.

[0059] Next, in step S33, it is determined whether the actual orientation of the smartphone 1 matches the specified orientation, and if they match (YES), proceed to step S34, and if they do not match (NO), this step is repeated until they match.

[0060] Next, in step S34, a message indicating that the orientation is correct is displayed on a screen such as that shown in FIG. 11, and the process returns to the flowchart of FIG.

[0061] Returning to the flowchart of Fig. 5, measurement is performed in step S14 as a measurement process. The measurement is to measure the frequency characteristics during playback by the vehicle-mounted device 2 in the vehicle cabin in which the vehicle-mounted device 2 is installed. The measurement operation is performed according to the flowchart shown in Fig. 8. That is, the measurement process is performed based on the orientation of the microphone (the orientation of the smartphone 1) and the orientation of the microphone when measuring the characteristic information of the microphone (specified direction).

[0062] 8, a measurement start button or the like is displayed on the display unit 17 of the smartphone 1, and the measurement is started by the user or the like operating the button, and the process proceeds to step S42. Then, the user or the like operates the button to start recording the sound collected by the microphone 15. The measurement start button may be displayed on the vehicle-mounted device 2 instead of the smartphone 1, and information indicating the start of measurement may be received from the vehicle-mounted device 2.

[0063] Next, in step S42, the white noise generating unit 14 is made to generate a white noise sound and transmit it as white noise sound information via the transmitting unit 12. In the in-vehicle device 2, the white noise sound information received by the receiving unit 22 is directly reproduced by the reproducing unit 25, and the white noise sound is radiated from the speakers 3L and 3R. At this time, the in-vehicle device 2 does not perform a sound quality correction operation by the correcting unit 23. The white noise sound radiated from the speakers 3L and 3R is collected by the microphone 15 of the smartphone 1 and recorded by the recording unit 16.

[0064] Next, in step S43, the measurement (recording) is ended after the white noise sound is played back for a predetermined time on the vehicle-mounted device 2, and the process returns to the flowchart of Fig. 5. That is, the white noise generating unit 14 is caused to stop generating the white noise sound, and the recording unit 16 is caused to stop recording. The white noise sound recorded by the recording unit 16 then becomes the measurement result. As is clear from the explanation of the flowchart of Fig. 8, when the information regarding the orientation acquired by the G sensor 18 (orientation information acquiring unit) matches the orientation of the microphone 15 when the characteristic information was measured, the calculation unit 13 causes the vehicle-mounted device 2 (acoustic device) to output a measurement sound and measures the measurement sound using the microphone 15.

[0065] In this embodiment, the smartphone 1 is equipped with a white noise generating unit 14 and outputs white noise sound to the vehicle-mounted device 2, but the vehicle-mounted device 2 may be configured to have a function for generating a measurement sound such as a white noise sound, and the smartphone 1 may be configured to send an instruction to output the measurement sound.

[0066] Returning to the flowchart of Fig. 5, in step S15, the measurement result measured in step S14 is corrected based on the microphone characteristic information acquired in step S12, and the process proceeds to step S16. The measurement result corrected in this step becomes microphone correction information. This step is performed to eliminate the influence of the characteristics of microphone 15 on the measurement performed in step S14. For example, the measurement result measured in step S14 is subjected to a fast Fourier transform to calculate the frequency characteristics, and correction is performed on the frequency characteristics so that the characteristics of microphone 15 become flat.

[0067] Next, in step S16 as a correction information generating step, acoustic characteristic correction amount information for the vehicle-mounted device 2 is generated, and the process proceeds to step S17. The acoustic characteristic correction amount information generating operation is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0068] 9, in step S51, acoustic characteristic correctable range information (information on the correction range) is obtained from the correction unit 23 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 via the transmission unit 21 and the reception unit 11, and the process proceeds to step S52. The acoustic characteristic correctable range information indicates information on the amount of correction of the correction unit 23 of the vehicle-mounted device 2. Specifically, the information is information on a sound quality adjustment function such as an equalizer, such as the number of bands, center frequency, Q value, upper and lower limits of gain, etc.

[0069] Next, in step S52, acoustic characteristic correction amount information for the vehicle-mounted device 2 is generated based on the acoustic characteristic correction possible range information acquired in step S51 and the measurement result after the microphone characteristic has been corrected in step S15 (microphone correction information), and the process returns to the flowchart of Fig. 5. That is, the calculation unit 13 functions as a correction information generation unit that generates correction information for correcting the output sound of the vehicle-mounted device 2 based on the characteristics of the microphone 15 and the measurement result.

[0070] Returning to the flowchart of Fig. 5, in step S17, the acoustic characteristic correction amount information is output and the process ends. In this step, the acoustic characteristic correction amount information is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 2 via the transmission unit 12. That is, the transmission unit 12 functions as an output unit that outputs the correction information to the vehicle-mounted device 2 (acoustic device). In the vehicle-mounted device 2, the correction unit 23 performs a correction operation based on the acoustic characteristic correction amount information received by the reception unit 22. In addition, the acoustic characteristic correction amount information may be displayed on the display unit 17 of the smartphone 1, and a user or the like may manually adjust the vehicle-mounted device 2.

[0071] Here, specific examples of the above-mentioned measurement operation, microphone characteristic correction operation, and correction information generation operation will be described.

[0072] Fig. 12 shows an example of the frequency characteristics measured (recorded) in step S14. In Fig. 12, the microphone characteristics are such that it is difficult to pick up sounds below 200Hz. In other words, the bass sounds recorded are quieter than the actual sounds. Therefore, correct correction cannot be performed in this state.

[0073] Fig. 13 shows an example of the result of correcting the microphone characteristics in step S15. This state is the actual sound condition in the vehicle cabin. However, Fig. 13 shows that the in-vehicle device 2 (speakers 3L and 3R) and the in-vehicle environment have characteristics that cause a loud sound around 6 kHz.

[0074] Therefore, in step S16, acoustic characteristic correction amount information is generated based on the acoustic characteristic correction possible range information of the vehicle-mounted device 2 so as to approach flat frequency characteristics, and is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 2. The correction unit 23 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 performs correction based on the received acoustic characteristic correction amount information as shown in Fig. 14. In the case of Fig. 14, corrections were made by -10 dB around 6 kHz, -5 dB around 10 kHz, and +2 dB around 2 kHz. In this way, the characteristics can be made closer to flat, improving the listening experience.

[0075] According to this embodiment, the smartphone 1 is configured separately from the in-vehicle device 2, and the receiving unit 11 acquires characteristic information of the microphone 15 of the smartphone 1 from the server 4, and the G sensor 18 acquires information on the orientation of the smartphone 1. Next, the calculation unit 13 generates a white noise sound in the white noise generation unit 14, causes the in-vehicle device 2 to output the white noise sound, and causes the recording unit 16 to record the white noise sound using the microphone 15 as a measurement result. Then, the calculation unit 13 generates correction information based on the characteristic information of the microphone 15 and the measurement result. In this way, correction information can be generated taking into account the characteristics of the microphone of the smartphone 1, and the output sound can be corrected to an output sound suitable for the environment in which the in-vehicle device 2, such as a car audio device, is installed, regardless of the characteristics of the microphone 15. In addition, since it is separate from the in-vehicle device 2, correction can be easily performed in multiple environments, such as other vehicles and other audio equipment.

[0076] In addition, since microphone characteristic correction and correction information generation are performed after the white noise sound is recorded by the recording unit 16, correction information can be generated even in cases where real-time processing is difficult due to low processing capacity.

[0077] Furthermore, as long as the characteristics and orientation of microphone 15 can be obtained, the microphone itself does not need to be high performance, so it is possible to easily correct the output sound of audio equipment such as car audio by using a device that already has microphone 15 installed, such as a smartphone 1.

[0078] Furthermore, when the information regarding the orientation of the smartphone 1 acquired by the G sensor 18 matches the orientation of the microphone 15 when the characteristic information of the microphone 15 was measured, the calculation unit 43 causes the in-vehicle device 2 to output white noise sound and records it from the microphone 15. In this way, the orientation of the microphone 15 can be taken into consideration, so that correction that is less dependent on the characteristics of the microphone 15 can be performed.

[0079] Furthermore, the calculation unit 13 generates microphone correction information by correcting the measurement results based on the characteristic information of the microphone 15 and information related to the orientation of the smartphone 1, and generates correction information based on the microphone correction information. In this way, it is possible to generate microphone characteristic information that is not dependent on the characteristics of the microphone 15 from the measurement results, and to correct the output sound based on the information to be suitable for the environment in which the in-vehicle device 2 is installed.

[0080] Also, a transmitter 12 is provided that transmits the correction information to the vehicle-mounted device 2. In this manner, the vehicle-mounted device 2 uses the generated correction information, and correction can be performed thereafter using only the vehicle-mounted device 2.

[0081] In addition, the receiver 11 acquires information on the acoustic characteristic correction possible range of the vehicle-mounted device 2, and the calculator 13 generates correction information based on the acoustic characteristic correction possible range information acquired by the receiver 11. In this way, the number of bands, center frequency, Q value, gain, etc. of the equalizer of the vehicle-mounted device can be easily adjusted. The correction information can be generated based on the acoustic characteristic correction possible range information of 2. Therefore, the smartphone 1 alone can generate optimal correction information for a plurality of types of in-vehicle devices.

[0082] Furthermore, since the microphone characteristic information for each model is stored in the server 4, it is possible to easily accommodate new models and also to easily update the microphone characteristic information.

[0083] Furthermore, since the vehicle-mounted device 2 is installed in a vehicle such as an automobile, it can perform correction in accordance with the acoustic characteristics of the vehicle in which it is installed.

[0084] In the above embodiment, the on-board device 2 is described as an audio device installed in a vehicle, but the audio device may be an audio device installed in a moving body such as a railroad car, a ship, or an airplane. Also, the audio device may be an audio device such as a home audio device installed indoors.

[0085] In the above-described embodiment, the server 4 is provided, but the characteristic information of the microphone 15 may be stored in the smartphone 1.

[0086] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. In other words, a person skilled in the art can implement various modifications according to the conventionally known knowledge without departing from the gist of the present invention. As long as such modifications still have the configuration of the audio correction device of the present invention, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0087] 1 Smartphone (audio correction device) 2 Onboard equipment (audio equipment) 11 Receiving unit (characteristic information acquisition unit, correction range information acquisition unit) 12 Transmitter (output unit) 13 Arithmetic unit (correction information generation unit) 14 White noise generator (measurement unit) 15. Mike 16 Recording section (measurement section) 18 G sensor (orientation information acquisition section) S12 Microphone characteristic acquisition (characteristic information acquisition process) S13 Measurement direction determination (direction information acquisition process) S14 Measurement (measurement process) S15 Microphone characteristic correction (correction information generation process) S16 Correction information generation (correction information generation process)

Claims

1. With a microphone A characteristic information acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information of the microphone; a measurement unit that outputs a test sound from an external acoustic device and measures the test sound via the microphone; a presentation unit that presents to a user instruction information instructing a position and an orientation of the microphone during the measurement; a correction information generating unit that generates correction information for correcting an output sound of the acoustic device based on the characteristics of the microphone and the measurement result measured by the measuring unit, The presentation unit presents the instruction information before the measurement unit starts the measurement.

1. A sound correction device comprising:

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