Adaptive Sound Image Width Enhancement via Loudspeaker Distance Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Incorrect loudspeaker positioning leads to a degraded sound image, resulting in a poor listening experience due to an inaccurate or narrowed sound stage and the introduction of undesired artefacts such as comb-filtering.
Innovation Solution
The method involves decomposing an audio signal into mid, side, and unprocessed signal components and applying respective correction gains based on the physical distance between loudspeakers. These gains are determined using mapping functions or look-up tables to adaptively enhance the sound image width, ensuring it matches the intended width even with incorrect loudspeaker positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If loudspeakers are positioned at incorrect distances, then the sound image width becomes degraded and narrowed, but correcting the positioning physically is complex and requires user intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes audio signal parameters (amplitude, phase, timing) dynamically based on detected loudspeaker positioning to compensate for incorrect placement. By adjusting these parameters, the system maintains accurate sound image width without requiring physical repositioning of loudspeakers, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of physically positioning loudspeakers at exact distances with a digital signal processing approach. Instead of mechanically adjusting loudspeaker placement, the system uses audio processing techniques (amplitude panning, phase correction, timing adjustment) to achieve the same effect, eliminating the need for precise mechanical setup.
2Manufacturing precision
If loudspeakers are placed too close together, then the sound stage narrows and comb-filtering artifacts appear, but increasing separation distance may not be feasible in limited spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies parameter changes to the audio signals including amplitude modulation, phase shifting, and timing adjustments to simulate the effect of proper loudspeaker separation. This allows the system to achieve accurate sound stage width without requiring physical space for proper loudspeaker placement, resolving the contradiction between sound quality and space constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces digital signal processing as an intermediary between the loudspeakers and the listener's perception. This intermediary layer processes the audio signals to compensate for the physical constraints, effectively decoupling the relationship between physical loudspeaker distance and perceived sound stage width.
3Adaptability or versatility
If traditional panning algorithms are used, then audio signals can be distributed across loudspeakers, but they cannot adapt to incorrect loudspeaker positioning or varying listening environments
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by detecting actual loudspeaker positioning and listening environment characteristics, then using this information to dynamically adjust audio signal parameters. This closed-loop approach enables the system to adapt to varying conditions automatically, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity by making the complexity conditional and context-dependent.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms static panning algorithms into dynamic systems that automatically adjust their behavior based on detected conditions. The system dynamically modifies amplitude, phase, and timing parameters in response to loudspeaker positioning and environmental factors, enabling adaptability without requiring the system to be complex in all situations, only when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides an approach for adaptive sound image width enhancement. A method of adaptively correcting sound image width is provided. The method includes obtaining an audio signal. The audio signal is associated with one or more audio channels. Each audio channel is associated with a position of an audio source with respect to a reference point within a local reproduction system. The method includes decomposing the audio signal into mid signal, side signal, and unprocessed signal components. The method includes applying respective correction gains to each of the mid signal, side signal, and unprocessed signal components. The respective correction gains are based on a physical distance between a first loudspeaker and a second loudspeaker within the local reproduction system. The method includes rendering, after applying the respective correction gains, the mid signal, side signal, and unprocessed signal components to the first and second loudspeakers.