Apparatus and method for center signal scaling and stereophonic enhancement based on a signal-to-downmix ratio

Simple SummaryContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

This patent describes an apparatus and method for enhancing stereophonic audio by scaling the center channel and enhancing spatial sound based on the ratio between separate channel signals and their combined (downmixed) version. By analyzing the spectral properties of input audio channels and calculating a 'signal-to-downmix' ratio in the frequency domain, the system can intelligently boost or attenuate centered signals (like vocals or dialogue) versus side or ambient sounds, improving audio clarity, spatial separation, and overall listener experience. The approach can be implemented in hardware or software and tailored for various configurations of input and output channels.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Upmixing stereo audio (2 channels) to surround sound systems for immersive home theater or music playback.
• Dialogue enhancement in movies and broadcasts, letting users increase speech intelligibility over background noise or music segments.
• Preprocessing step for automatic audio analysis, like content recognition or transcription, where isolating main instruments or voices helps improve accuracy.
• Hearing assistance for people with reduced hearing capability, by boosting center-panned signals (like speech).
• Live sound mixing or post-production to adjust the prominence of centrally-located sound sources without affecting side or ambient sounds.
• Noise reduction or ambience extraction for surveillance, teleconferencing, or broadcast audio feeds.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Improves audio spatial clarity by effectively separating and adjusting center and side signals.
• Preserves or enhances the intelligibility of dialogue or lead instruments without overly impacting other elements.
• Enables customizable audio experiences, such as increasing dialogue clarity for hard-of-hearing users or in noisy settings.
• Works in real time and is computationally efficient, allowing use in embedded systems or live audio processing.
• Reduces artifacts typical of other source separation methods and minimizes distortion of the original spatial image.
• Flexible for both hardware and software implementations, and adaptable for diverse audio formats and channel numbers.

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Patent Abstract

An apparatus for generating a modified audio signal comprising two or more modified audio channels from an audio input signal comprising two or more audio input channels is provided. The apparatus comprises an information generator (110) for generating signal-to-downmix information. The information generator (110) is adapted to generate signal information by combining a spectral value of each of the two or more audio input channels in a first way. Moreover, the information generator (110) is adapted to generate downmix information by combining the spectral value of each of the two or more audio input channels in a second way being different from the first way. Furthermore, the information generator (110) is adapted to combine the signal information and the downmix information to obtain signal-to-downmix information. Moreover, the apparatus comprises a signal attenuator (120) for attenuating the two or more audio input channels depending on the signal-to-downmix information to obtain the two or more modified audio channels.