Frame-Level DRC Profile Decoding for Multi-Mode Audio Rendering
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently transmitting Dynamic Range Control (DRC) profiles for audio signals across different rendering devices with varying capabilities, leading to inconsistencies in audio quality and intelligibility.
Innovation Solution
The method involves inserting multiple DRC profiles into a sequence of audio frames, allowing an audio decoder to select the appropriate profile for a specific rendering mode, ensuring high-quality and intelligible audio reproduction across diverse playback environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple DRC profiles are transmitted for different rendering modes, then audio quality and intelligibility across diverse devices is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The DRC profiles are segmented and distributed across different frames rather than transmitting all profiles in every frame. Each frame contains only the DRC profile relevant to its rendering mode, reducing redundant data transmission while ensuring all devices receive appropriate profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
DRC profiles are inserted into frames in advance before playback, organized by rendering mode. This preliminary organization allows decoders to efficiently select and apply the appropriate profile without requiring real-time processing or additional bandwidth for dynamic profile selection.
2Reliability
If DRC profiles are inserted into all frames, then audio reproduction quality is maintained consistently, but data redundancy and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Frames are segmented into different types (first type and second type) with different DRC profile insertion strategies. First type frames receive DRC profiles for all rendering modes, while second type frames receive DRC profiles only for a subset of rendering modes, reducing processing overhead while maintaining quality.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying full DRC profile processing to all frames, the system applies partial processing by inserting DRC profiles only where necessary (second type frames receive subset profiles). This reduces processing overhead while maintaining sufficient audio reproduction quality for each rendering mode.
3Reliability
If DRC profiles are optimized for specific rendering modes, then audio intelligibility improves for that mode, but adaptability to other rendering modes decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates DRC profiles that serve multiple rendering modes simultaneously. By inserting DRC profiles for multiple rendering modes into appropriate frames, a single audio signal can be adaptively rendered across diverse devices with different capabilities, achieving both specialized optimization and broad compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The DRC profile selection is dynamic rather than static. Different DRC profiles are inserted into different frame types, allowing the system to adaptively select the appropriate profile based on the rendering mode. This dynamic approach enables optimized audio intelligibility for each mode while maintaining versatility across all supported rendering modes.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A method for decoding an encoded audio signal is described. The encoded audio signal comprises a sequence of frames, and is indicative of a plurality of different dynamic range control (DRC) profiles for a corresponding plurality of different rendering modes. The method comprises determining a first rendering mode from the plurality of different rendering modes; determining one or more DRC profiles from a subset of DRC profiles comprised within a current frame of the sequence of frames; determining whether at least one of the one or more DRC profiles is applicable to the first rendering mode; selecting a default DRC profile as a current DRC profile, if none of the one or more DRC profiles is applicable to the first rendering mode; wherein definition data of the default DRC profile is known at a decoder; and decoding the current frame using the current DRC profile.