Playback Loudness Tracking With Shorter Time Constants During Source Switching
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Solution Overview
Problem
During media content replacement events, playback devices often fail to detect and respond to user-adjusted volume changes, leading to a poor user experience as they lack access to volume playback information from the source device, resulting in apparent malfunctions or unresponsive volume controls.
Innovation Solution
The playback device monitors an audio signal corresponding to the replaced media content, measures loudness levels, and adjusts the volume of the new content based on detected user changes, even when volume information from the source is inaccessible, by analyzing shorter portions of content during replacements to quickly respond to volume adjustments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the playback device uses a longer time constant to measure loudness levels, then the measurement precision is improved, but the response speed to volume changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dynamically adjusts the time constant used for loudness measurement based on the playback state. During media replacement events, a shorter time constant is used to enable quick detection of volume changes. During normal playback, a longer time constant is used to maintain measurement precision. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between response speed and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter (time constant) of the loudness measurement process based on operational context. By switching between different time constant values (shorter during replacement events, longer during normal playback), the system optimizes both response speed and measurement precision for different scenarios, resolving the technical contradiction.
2Measurement precision
If the playback device monitors loudness levels continuously with longer time constants, then the volume detection accuracy is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the loudness monitoring process into different modes based on playback state. During media replacement events, the system uses a simplified monitoring approach with shorter time constants. During normal playback, it switches to a more comprehensive monitoring mode with longer time constants. This segmentation reduces overall system complexity while maintaining high detection accuracy when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its monitoring complexity based on operational context. By activating different monitoring strategies (shorter time constants during replacement events, longer time constants during normal playback), the system maintains high volume detection accuracy without requiring continuously complex monitoring infrastructure, thus resolving the contradiction between accuracy and complexity.
3Speed
If the playback device uses shorter time constants during media replacement, then the response speed to volume changes is improved, but the measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of time constants based on playback state. During media replacement events, shorter time constants are used to achieve fast response to volume changes. During normal playback, longer time constants are used to maintain measurement precision. This dynamic switching resolves the contradiction by applying the appropriate time constant duration for each operational context.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the time constant parameter based on operational context. By switching between shorter and longer time constant values depending on whether a media replacement event is occurring, the system optimizes both response speed and measurement precision, resolving the technical contradiction between these two parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, an example method includes (i) determining, by a playback device, a first loudness level of a first portion of first media content from a first source while the playback device presents the first media content, with the first portion having a first length; (ii) switching, by the playback device, from presenting the first media content from the first source to presenting second media content from a second source; (iii) based on the switching, determining, by the playback device, second loudness levels of second portions of the first media content while the playback device presents the second media content, with the second portions having a second length that is shorter than the first length; and (iv) while the playback device presents the second media content, adjusting, by the playback device, a volume of the playback device based on one or more of the second loudness levels.