Acoustic apparatus and acoustic setting method

• US 20040258259A1
• Filed: 06/08/2004
• Published: 12/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Koyama, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,412,067 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/307
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2420/03 Connection circuits to selectively connect loudspeakers or headphones to amplifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 29/008 Visual indication of individual signal levels visual indication of stereophonic sound image H04S7/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 5/04 Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments combinations of amplifiers H03F3/68; stereophonic systems H04S
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/00 Systems employing more than two channels, e.g. quadraphonic H04S5/00, H04S7/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/40 Visual indication of stereophonic sound image

Abstract

A setting up operation for connecting a number of speakers can be easily executed by a system in which setups and pattern numbers are stored in a memory. When the user operates an operation input unit and selects an easy setup, a default setting pattern number is read out from the memory and displayed on the display. The user operates encoders by watching display contents on a display. When the pattern number corresponding to his own speaker construction obtained by a chart or the like is displayed, he determines it by a key operation. A microcomputer stores the determined pattern number in a memory and the speaker setup corresponding to the pattern number is read out from a ROM in the microcomputer. Each unit of an acoustic apparatus is controlled on the basis of the read-out speaker setup, thereby performing the speaker setup. The user can perform the speaker setup merely by inputting the pattern number using the encoders.

Claims

1. An acoustic apparatus to which three or more speakers can be connected and that can reproduce surround sounds, comprising:

output control means for controlling audio signal outputs of a plurality of channels;

a table for storing each of a plurality of speaker constructions that can be constructed by said plurality of channels and storing a plurality of identification codes for identifying said plurality of speaker constructions in correspondence to each other;

operating means for selecting an identification code from said plurality of identification codes in accordance with an operation by a user; and

display means for displaying said identification code selected by said operating means,

wherein said acoustic apparatus has a batch setup mode in which said control by said output control means is set based on said speaker construction corresponding to said selected identification code with reference to said table based on said identification code selected by said operating means.

2. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a setup of each speaker of said plurality of speaker constructions is stored in said table in correspondence to said identification code.

3. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in said speaker construction, predetermined limitations are provided for all of the plurality of speaker constructions that can be constructed by said plurality of channels.

4. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means displays a speaker construction corresponding to said identification code by a visual expression together with said identification code.

5. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said visual expression is realized by three-dimensionally displaying said speaker construction.

6. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said display means can output the display by said visual expression to an external monitor apparatus.

7. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 1, further having an individual setup mode in which said control by said output control means is individually set for every speaker in said speaker construction.

8. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein in said batch setup mode, said display means omits set items according to said individual setup mode or displays said set items in a state that is weaker than a state of set items in said batch setup mode, and in said individual setup mode, said display means omits the set items according to said batch setup mode or displays said set items in a state that is weaker than a state of the set items in said individual setup mode.

9. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the setup in a setup result according to said batch setup mode can be changed in said individual setup mode.

10. The acoustic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when a setup result set by said individual setup mode corresponds to said speaker construction stored in said table, and when a mode is changed from said individual setup mode to said batch setup mode, said identification code corresponding to said speaker construction is displayed by said display means.

11. An acoustic setting method of performing an acoustic setup of each of a plurality of speakers connected to an acoustic apparatus to which three or more speakers can be connected and that can reproduce surround sounds, comprising:

an output control step of controlling audio signal outputs of a plurality of channels;

an operating step of selecting an identification code from a table in accordance with an operation by a user, in which said identification code corresponds to each of speaker setup that can be constructed by said plurality of channels and is used for identifying said speaker setup; and

a displaying step of displaying said identification code selected by said operating step,

wherein said method has a batch setup mode for controlling said output control step based on said speaker setup corresponding to said selected identification code with reference to said table based on said identification code selected in said operating step.