Sound processing apparatus and method

• US 8,401,201 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2010
• Issued: 03/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Goins, Davetta W
• Assistant Examiner(s): GANMAVO, KUASSI A
• Application Number:
  US12/962,469
• Publication Number:
  US 20110150230A1
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 381/66, 381/93, 381/58, 381/59, 381/61, 381/98, 381/101, 381/103, 381/97, 379/406.01, 379/406.08, 716/4, 700/94
• US Class Current: 381/58
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 3/04 for correcting frequency response
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/305 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic audio signals to reverberation of the listening space H04S7/301 takes precedence

Abstract

A sound processing apparatus according to the present invention acquires a test signal for measuring a standing wave state emitted in a listening room, and determines a peak position or a dip position due to a standing wave based on frequency characteristics of the test signal. Next, the sound processing apparatus emits a burst signal corresponding to the frequency of the peak position or the dip position, and acquires this signal. The sound processing apparatus calculates an increment ΔP of the acquired signal, which indicates an amount of increase of a peak in the trailing edge portion corresponding to the end position of the burst signal relative to a peak in the portion corresponding to the stationary portion of the burst signal, and attenuates the frequency of the above peak position or dip position of a sound signal to be output by an attenuation depending on ΔP.

Claims

1. A sound processing apparatus for adjusting a sound signal to be output based on acoustic characteristics of a listening room, the apparatus comprising:

a first acquisition unit configured to emit a test signal for measuring a standing wave state in the listening room from a loudspeaker, and acquire the test signal that has been emitted using a microphone;

a determination unit configured to determine a peak position or a dip position due to a standing wave based on frequency characteristics of the signal acquired by the first acquisition unit;

a second acquisition unit configured to emit a burst signal corresponding to a frequency of the peak position or the dip position from the loudspeaker in the listening room, and acquire the burst signal that has been emitted using the microphone;

a calculation unit configured to calculate an increment Δ

P of the signal acquired by the second acquisition unit, the Δ

P indicating an amount of increase of a peak in a trailing edge portion corresponding to an end position of the burst signal relative to a peak in a portion corresponding to a stationary portion of the burst signal; and

a filter unit configured to attenuate a frequency component of the peak position or the dip position of the sound signal to be output by an attenuation depending on the Δ

P.

2. The sound processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the filter unit includes:

a band pass filter configured to discriminate a frequency of the peak position or the dip position of the sound signal to be output;

an envelope generation unit configured to generate an envelope signal of an output signal of the band pass filter;

a differential unit configured to perform differential processing on the envelope signal, and obtain a differential signal;

a generation unit configured to generate an attenuation control signal having a time width and an amplitude depending on the Δ

P at a position in synchronization with a signal on a negative side of the differential signal;

a delay unit configured to delay the sound signal to be output by a fixed time; and

a notch filter configured to attenuate, by an attenuation instructed using the attenuation control signal, the frequency component of the peak position or the dip position of the sound signal that has been delayed by the fixed time by the delay unit.

3. The sound processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the generation unit measures a time period from when the peak has increased by the Δ

P in the trailing edge portion until when the peak has decreased so as to have a value equal to a value of the peak in the stationary portion, and generates an attenuation control signal having a predetermined time width and a predetermined amplitude corresponding to the measured time period.

4. The sound processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the processing performed by the second acquisition unit, the calculation unit, and the filter unit is repeated until the Δ

P becomes a predetermined value or less.

5. The sound processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the filter unit starts operation after a predetermined time elapses after the sound signal to be output is input.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing therein a program that causes a computer to function as the units that the sound processing apparatus according to claim 1 comprises.

6. A sound processing method executed by a sound processing apparatus for adjusting a sound signal to be output based on acoustic characteristics of a listening room, the method comprising:

a first acquisition step of emitting a test signal for measuring a standing wave state in the listening room from a loudspeaker, and acquiring the test signal that has been emitted using a microphone;

a determination step of determining a peak position or a dip position due to a standing wave based on frequency characteristics of the signal acquired in the first acquisition step;

a second acquisition step of emitting a burst signal corresponding to a frequency of the peak position or the dip position from the loudspeaker in the listening room, and acquiring the burst signal that has been emitted using the microphone;

a calculation step of calculating an increment Δ

P of the signal acquired in the second acquisition step, the Δ

P indicating an amount of increase of a peak in a trailing edge portion corresponding to an end position of the burst signal relative to a peak in a portion corresponding to a stationary portion of the burst signal; and

a filter step of attenuating a frequency component of the peak position or the dip position of the sound signal to be output by an attenuation depending on the Δ

P.