Media Playback Loudness Matching During Content Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
During media content replacement events, playback devices often switch from content with a specific loudness level to new content with a different loudness level, leading to an unpleasant viewer experience due to potential increases in loudness or decreases that make the replacement content difficult to hear.
Innovation Solution
The playback device determines the loudness levels of both the original and replacement media content and adjusts the replacement content's loudness to match the original level, ensuring a smoother transition and improved viewer experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the playback device switches from first media content to second media content during a replacement event, then the replacement content can be delivered, but the loudness level may change causing an unpleasant viewer experience
Solution Approach 1:
The system determines the loudness level of the second media content in advance (before the replacement event occurs) and prepares the adjusted loudness level. This preliminary measurement and calculation of the target loudness level allows the system to smoothly transition without abrupt volume changes, resolving the contradiction between enabling content replacement and maintaining consistent loudness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the loudness level parameter of the second media content dynamically based on the determined loudness level of the first media content. By adjusting this parameter before and during the replacement event, the system maintains auditory consistency while enabling content replacement, thus resolving the contradiction between adaptability and harmful loudness changes.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the playback device adjusts the loudness level of replacement content, then viewer experience is improved, but additional processing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The loudness level determination and adjustment calculation are performed in advance before the replacement event. This preliminary processing consolidates the complexity into a preparatory phase, allowing the actual replacement to execute smoothly with minimal real-time processing, thus balancing improved loudness consistency with manageable device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The playback device autonomously determines the loudness levels of both media contents and performs the adjustment without requiring external intervention or complex external processing systems. This self-service capability handles the additional processing steps internally, maintaining loudness consistency while keeping the overall system architecture relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, an example method includes (i) presenting first media content from a first source; (ii) encountering a trigger to switch from presenting the first media content from the first source to presenting second media content from a second source; (iii) determining a first loudness level of the first media content; (iv) determining a second loudness level of the second media content; (v) based on a difference between the first loudness level and the second loudness level, adjusting a loudness level of the second media content so as to generate modified media content having a third loudness level that is different from the second loudness level; and (vi) responsive to encountering the trigger, presenting the modified media content having the third loudness level.