Specific-Loudness Audio Gain Control at Auditory Event Boundaries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional audio dynamics processing methods introduce audible artifacts due to uncontrolled gain changes, as they do not assess psychoacoustically the time intervals during which gain changes are perceived, leading to unwanted perceptible changes in audio signals.
Innovation Solution
An audio processing method that monitors audio signal characteristics, identifies auditory events, and applies dynamic gain modification based on these events, ensuring that gain changes occur primarily near event boundaries or are delayed until the next boundary, thereby reducing audible artifacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional audio dynamics processing applies continuous gain modification to control audio levels, then the audio level can be adjusted to desired ranges, but audible artifacts are introduced due to uncontrolled gain changes
Solution Approach 1:
The audio signal is segmented into discrete auditory events based on psychoacoustic perception boundaries. Gain modification is applied segmentally rather than continuously, with each segment representing a perceptually distinct auditory event. This segmentation allows gain changes to be controlled at perceptually relevant boundaries, preventing audible artifacts while maintaining effective audio level control.
Solution Approach 2:
Auditory events are detected and identified before gain modification is applied. The system preliminarily analyzes the audio signal to determine event boundaries and characteristics, then uses this information to guide subsequent gain adjustment. This preliminary detection ensures that gain changes are timed appropriately to avoid introducing audible artifacts during critical perceptual transitions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If gain changes are applied continuously to adjust audio dynamics, then the audio signal can be compressed or expanded, but perceptible changes and artifacts are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts gain based on detected auditory events rather than applying fixed or continuous gain modification. The gain structure adapts to the temporal and spectral characteristics of each auditory event, allowing versatile dynamics processing that responds to the actual content of the audio signal. This dynamic approach maintains audio quality by aligning gain changes with perceptual boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from auditory event detection to control gain modification. Detected event characteristics (temporal position, spectral content, duration) provide feedback that guides the amount and timing of gain adjustment. This closed-loop approach ensures that dynamics processing adapts to the audio content while minimizing perceptible artifacts through intelligent gain control based on perceptual feedback.
Data Source
AI summary
In one disclosed aspect, dynamic gain modifications are applied to an audio signal at least partly in response to auditory events. In another aspect, an input channel is divided into auditory events by detecting changes in a measurable characteristic of the input signal with respect to time.