Audio playback system monitoring
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring status of N speakers in a playback environment, where N is a positive integer, said method including steps of:
- (a) playing back an audiovisual program whose soundtrack has N channels, including by emitting sound, determined by the program, from the N speakers in response to driving each speaker of the N speakers with a speaker feed for a different one of the channels of the soundtrack;
(b) obtaining audio data indicative of a status signal captured by each microphone of M microphones in the playback environment during emission of the sound in step (a), where M is a positive integer; and
(c) processing the audio data to perform a status check on each speaker of the N speakers, including by comparing, for each said speaker and each of at least one microphone in the M microphones, the status signal captured by the microphone and a template signal,wherein the template signal is indicative of response of a template microphone to playback by the speaker, in the playback environment at an initial time, of a channel of the soundtrack corresponding to said speaker.
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Abstract
In some embodiments, a method for monitoring speakers within an audio playback system (e.g., movie theater) environment. In typical embodiments, the monitoring method assumes that initial characteristics of the speakers (e.g., a room response for each of the speakers) have been determined at an initial time, and relies on one or more microphones positioned in the environment to perform a status check on each of the speakers to identify whether a change to at least one characteristic of any of the speakers has occurred since the initial time. In other embodiments, the method processes data indicative of output of a microphone to monitor audience reaction to an audiovisual program. Other aspects include a system configured (e.g., programmed) to perform any embodiment of the inventive method, and a computer readable medium (e.g., a disc) which stores code for implementing any embodiment of the inventive method.
144 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring status of N speakers in a playback environment, where N is a positive integer, said method including steps of:
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(a) playing back an audiovisual program whose soundtrack has N channels, including by emitting sound, determined by the program, from the N speakers in response to driving each speaker of the N speakers with a speaker feed for a different one of the channels of the soundtrack; (b) obtaining audio data indicative of a status signal captured by each microphone of M microphones in the playback environment during emission of the sound in step (a), where M is a positive integer; and (c) processing the audio data to perform a status check on each speaker of the N speakers, including by comparing, for each said speaker and each of at least one microphone in the M microphones, the status signal captured by the microphone and a template signal, wherein the template signal is indicative of response of a template microphone to playback by the speaker, in the playback environment at an initial time, of a channel of the soundtrack corresponding to said speaker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for monitoring status of N speakers in a playback environment, where N is a positive integer, said system including:
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M microphones positioned in the playback environment, where M is a positive integer; and a processor coupled to each of the M microphones, wherein the processor is configured to process audio data to perform a status check on each speaker of the N speakers, including by comparing, for each said speaker and each of at least one microphone in the M microphones, a status signal captured by the microphone and a template signal, wherein the template signal is indicative of response of a template microphone to playback by the speaker, in the playback environment at an initial time, of a channel of the sound track corresponding to said speaker, and wherein the audio data are indicative of a status signal captured by each microphone of the M microphones during playback of an audiovisual program whose soundtrack has N channels, wherein said playback of the program includes emission of sound determined by the program from the speakers in response to driving each speaker of the N speakers with a speaker feed for a different one of the channels of the soundtrack. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification