Sound field controller

• US 20040228498A1
• Filed: 04/06/2004
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Sekine, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,430,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/303
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2205/024 Positioning of loudspeaker enclosures for spatial sound reproduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 3/008 in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels data reduction aspects thereof based on psychoacoustics G10L19/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/30 Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/302 Electronic adaptation of stereophonic sound system to listener position or orientation H04S7/301 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/40 Visual indication of stereophonic sound image

Abstract

A sound field controller including a plurality of output channels for respectively supplying signals to a plurality of speakers, includes: a weighting-coefficient outputting unit which outputs weighting coefficients for determining how the signals on the plurality of channels for reproducing a sound field are to be distributed to the output channels, according to a relative positional relationship between the sound field and a listener; an input unit which inputs positional relation data indicating the relative positional relationship; and a distribution controller which distributes the signals on the plurality of channels to the output channels on the basis of the outputted weighting coefficients according to the inputted positional relation data.

Claims

1. A sound field controller including a plurality of output channels for respectively supplying signals to a plurality of speakers, comprising:

a weighting-coefficient outputting unit which outputs weighting coefficients for determining how the signals on the plurality of channels for reproducing a sound field are to be distributed to the output channels, according to a relative positional relationship between the sound field and a listener;

an input unit which inputs positional relation data indicating the relative positional relationship; and

a distribution controller which distributes the signals on the plurality of channels to the output channels on the basis of the outputted weighting coefficients according to the inputted positional relation data.

2. The sound field controller according to claim 1, wherein the positional relation data includes information indicating an angle of offset of the sound field from an axis directed toward one of the speakers.

3. The sound field controller according to claim 1, further comprising a positional-relation computing unit which prepares the positional relation data on the basis of a predetermined function, the positional-relation computing unit being provided in place of or in addition to the input unit,

wherein the distribution controller distributes output signals from an output device to the output channels on the basis of the positional relation data inputted by one of the input unit and the positional-relationship computing unit.

4. The sound field controller according to claim 1, wherein the-weighting-coefficient outputting unit outputs the weighting coefficients so that the sound field changes.

5. The sound field controller according to claim 4, wherein the change of the sound field includes a rotation of the sound field, enlarging and reducing of the sound field, movement of the sound field, and a combination thereof.

6. A computer readable recording medium storing a program for allowing a computer to realize:

a weighting-coefficient outputting function for outputting predetermined weighting coefficients according to a relative positional relationship between a sound field and a listener to distribute signals on a plurality of channels for reproducing the sound field to the plurality of output channels according to the predetermined weighting coefficients;

an inputting function for accepting the input of positional relation data indicating the relative positional relationship; and

a distribution controlling function for distributing the signals on the plurality of channels to the output channels on the basis of the outputted weighting coefficients corresponding to the positional relation data whose input has been accepted by the inputting function.