JP2012165131A - Voice output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice output device which outputs a voice of high sound quality when a voice supplied from an external apparatus is output to an external voice output device.SOLUTION: When an external apparatus is connected with a TV receiver (S1), the device type of this apparatus is recognized (S2), and if it is "Audio System" (YES in S3), voice output information of this apparatus is acquired (S5). If a voice which can be output by the external apparatus (hereinafter, referred to an AV amplifier) has a higher sound quality than that of a voice which can be output by the TV receiver (YES at S7), the TV receiver updates the content of EDID (S8). More specifically, when the voice which can be output by the TV receiver has a format of PCM and 2ch, and the voice which can be output by the AV amplifier has a format of DTS, AC3, and PCM and 5.1ch, EDID of the TV receiver is rewritten so that a voice having a format of DTS, AC3, and PCM and 5.1ch can be output.

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio output device that can be connected to an external audio output device.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, a television (hereinafter referred to as a TV) receiver 101 and an external device (hereinafter referred to as a player device) 102 such as a DVD player are connected to an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable 103. An AV (audio / video) system 100 is known in which a TV receiver 101 outputs video and audio of content supplied from a player device 102.

  In the AV system 100, after the TV receiver 101 transmits device information including audio output information indicating the audio output performance of the device itself and video output information indicating the video display performance to the player device 102, the player device 102 acquires the information. The video signal and the audio signal corresponding to the device information are supplied to the TV receiver 101. That is, the player device 102 supplies the highest quality audio signal that can be output by the TV receiver 101 among the types of audio signals that can be reproduced by the own device, and among the types of video signals that can be reproduced by the own device. The highest quality video signal that can be displayed by the TV receiver 101 is supplied to the TV receiver 101.

  Recently, as shown in FIG. 11, a TV receiver 111, a player device 112 connected to the TV receiver 111 via an HDMI cable 114, and a TV receiver 111 connected to the TV receiver 111 via an HDMI cable 115. An AV system 200 including an AV AMP (hereinafter referred to as an AV amplifier) 113 is known. In the AV system 200, the TV receiver 111 displays the content video supplied from the player device 112, and the sound supplied from the player device 112 can be output from the speaker 113a of the AV amplifier 113.

  However, in the AV system 200, the player device 112 supplies an audio signal based only on the audio output information of the TV receiver 111. That is, even if the audio signal format that can be output from the TV receiver 111 is only PCM and the audio signal formats that can be output from the AV amplifier 113 are DTS, AC3, and PCM, the player device 112 is used. Only determines the format of the audio signal that can be output from the TV receiver 111. Therefore, although the AV amplifier 113 can output higher-quality sound (DTS), the player device 112 supplies a PCM sound signal, so that there is a problem that a high-quality sound signal is not supplied.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 has two EDID-ROMs in which the audio output information of its own device is stored in advance, and when an AV amplifier is connected, what is the HDMI port to which the AV amplifier is connected? An audio output device that rewrites audio output information (“2ch”) stored in an EDID-ROM of a different HDMI port into audio output information (“5.1ch”) of an AV amplifier is disclosed. However, since this audio output device only rewrites information on the number of channels in the audio output performance information, the above problem cannot be solved. Further, in this audio output device, since it is necessary to provide two EDID-ROMs, the manufacturing cost cannot be suppressed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an information processing apparatus capable of rewriting device information of a sink device to device information of another sink device and transmitting the information to the source device when the source device is connected. However, even this information processing apparatus cannot solve the above problem.

  In Patent Document 3, the source device reads each EDID from the EDID-ROMs of a plurality of sink devices, and all the sink devices support the transmission data format in the AV stream based on the data format information in the EDID. A transmission data format determination method is disclosed in which an AV stream having a determined transmission data format is broadcast to a sink device. However, even this method cannot solve the above problem.

  Further, Patent Document 4 discloses a second method for holding low resolution format information when the error rate of a digital video signal supplied from a signal generator is detected and then the detected error rate is greater than a predetermined threshold. A video processing apparatus and a television receiver that control a switch to select an EDID circuit and transmit selected format information to a signal generator are disclosed. However, even this video processing apparatus and television receiver cannot solve the above problem.

JP 2010-141410 A JP 2010-147829 A JP 2009-213121 A JP 2003-259241 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is connected to an external audio output device and an external device, and outputs high-quality sound when outputting audio supplied from the external device to the external audio output device. An object of the present invention is to provide a sound output device that can output a simple sound and can reduce the manufacturing cost.

  In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 includes an external audio output device having first audio type information indicating the type of audio that can be output, and transmitting the first audio type information, and the external audio output. An audio output unit that can be connected to an external device capable of supplying an audio signal to the device and outputs audio, and an audio type that stores second audio type information indicating the type of audio that can be output by the audio output unit An audio output device comprising: information storage means; and transmission means for transmitting the second audio type information stored in the audio type information storage means to the external device. Voice type information receiving means for receiving the first voice type information, contents of the first voice type information received using the voice type information receiving means, and the voice type information storage means The audio output for comparing the content of the second audio type information to determine whether the audio that can be output by the external audio output device has higher sound quality than the audio that can be output by the audio output means As a result of the determination by the performance determination means and the sound output performance determination means, it is determined that the sound that can be output by the external sound output device is higher in sound quality than the sound that can be output by the sound output means. In addition, the audio type information for updating the content of the second audio type information stored in the audio type information storage unit to the content corresponding to the content of the first audio type information received by the audio type information receiving unit Update means.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the audio output device according to claim 1, wherein the first audio type information and the second audio type information are output channels in addition to the output audio types. It further includes information indicating the number.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the audio output device according to the first or second aspect, each of the audio output device, the external audio output device, and the external device is based on a home appliance control protocol. The voice type information and the second voice type information are transmitted and received.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the audio output device according to the third aspect, the home appliance control protocol is a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) -consumer electronics control (CEC).

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the audio output device according to the fourth aspect, the first audio type information and the second audio type information are EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) in the HDMI-CEC.

  According to the present invention, when it is determined that the sound that can be output by the external sound output device has higher sound quality than the sound that can be output by the own device, the content of the second sound type information is the first content. The content is updated according to the content of the audio type information. For this reason, the second audio type information (information indicating the type of higher quality audio) updated to the content corresponding to the content of the first audio type information is transmitted to the external device. A high-quality sound signal that can be output by the device can be supplied to the external sound output device via the sound output device. Further, unlike the invention of Patent Document 1, the sound output device itself needs to have one sound type information storage unit (corresponding to the EDID-ROM of Patent Document 1), and thus manufacturing costs can be suppressed.

1 is a perspective view showing a home appliance network system including a TV receiver, an AV amplifier, and a BD player according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the said TV receiver. Explanatory drawing which shows the content of the logical device list stored in the said TV receiver. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the said AV amplifier. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the said BD player. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the audio | voice output information update process in the said TV receiver. A list showing the return value of the audio signal format. The sequence diagram which shows the procedure of the apparatus authentication process in the said TV receiver. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the supply process of the audio | voice signal in the said BD player. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the household appliance network system containing the conventional TV receiver and player apparatus. The block diagram which shows schematic structure of the household appliance network system containing the conventional TV receiver, player apparatus, and AV amplifier.

  Hereinafter, a television receiver (audio output device in claims) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. 1 shows a television (hereinafter referred to as TV) receiver 1, an AV AMP (hereinafter referred to as AV amplifier; external audio output device in claims) 2, and a BD (Blu-ray Disc) player (external device) 3. The schematic structure of the household appliance network system 100 containing these is shown. FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the TV receiver 1, and FIG. 3 shows an example of the logical address list 18c. FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the AV amplifier 2, and FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the BD player 3.

  The TV receiver 1 and the AV amplifier 2 are connected via an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cable 71. The TV receiver 1 and the BD player 3 are connected via an HDMI cable 72. The TV receiver 1, the AV amplifier 2, and the BD player 3 are all HDMI-compatible devices, and can transmit and receive CEC commands based on HDMI-CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and response data for the CEC commands. .

  The HDMI cables 71 and 72 include a TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) line that is a transmission line for video signals and audio signals, a CEC line that is a transmission line for bidirectional transmission of CEC commands, and an EDID (Extended Display). And a DDC (Display Data Channel) line for transmitting data of Identification Data. In HDMI-CEC, a command that designates and transmits a partner (CEC-compatible device) connected by HDMI cables 71 and 72, and a broadcast that notifies the command to all CEC-compatible devices connected by HDMI cables 71 and 72. Type commands are defined, and communication is performed by combining these commands.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the TV receiver 1 is connected to an antenna 11 and receives a digital broadcast signal, a tuner unit 12, a decoder unit 13, a display 14 for displaying video, and a speaker 15 for outputting audio. And an operation unit 16 having a plurality of buttons operated by the user. The TV receiver 1 also has an HDMI terminal unit 17 for connecting an external device compliant with the HDMI standard, a memory (audio type information storage means) 18 storing various information, and a control for controlling each part of the apparatus. And a microcomputer 10.

  The tuner unit 12 receives the digital broadcast signal of each channel distributed from the broadcast station via the antenna 11. The digital broadcast signal includes a video signal and an audio signal of a TV program, and program information such as a program title of the TV program to be distributed.

  The decoder unit 13 performs a demodulation process, an error correction process, and the like on the digital broadcast signal received by the tuner unit 12 and separates a necessary TS (transport stream) packet from the multiplexed signal. (Not shown), a video decoding circuit (not shown) that decodes each separated TS packet, an audio decoding circuit (not shown), a data decoding circuit (not shown), and the like. . Mainly, the audio decoding circuit of the decoder unit 13 and the speaker 15 correspond to the audio output means in the claims.

  The video decoding circuit performs a decoding process on the TS packet including the video signal, extracts the video signal, and outputs the extracted video signal to the control microcomputer 10. The audio decoding circuit performs a decoding process on the TS packet including the audio signal, extracts the audio signal, and outputs the extracted audio signal to the control microcomputer 10. The data decoding circuit performs a decoding process on a TS packet including SI (Service Information) data, extracts SI data, and outputs the extracted SI data to the control microcomputer 10. The SI data includes an EIT (Event Information Table) in which program information of TV programs is stored.

  The display 14 displays the video of the TV program received by the tuner unit 12 and the video of the TV program supplied from the BD player 3. The speaker 15 outputs the sound of the TV program received by the tuner unit 12 and the sound supplied from the BD player 3. The audio signal that can be output from the speaker 15 is assumed to have a PCM format and 2 channels.

  The HDMI terminal unit 17 includes a first HDMI terminal 17a and a second HDMI terminal 17b. One end of an HDMI cable 71 connected to the AV amplifier 2 is connected to the first HDMI terminal 17a. One end of an HDMI cable 72 connected to the BD player 3 is connected to the second HDMI terminal 17b.

  The memory 18 stores a program 18a for operating the control microcomputer 10, an EDID (second audio type information) 18b, and a logical address list 18c. The EDID 18b includes various audio output information including the physical address assigned to the connected external device, the format of the audio signal that can be output by the speaker 15, the number of channels, and the like.

  The logical address list 18c, as shown in FIG. 3, shows the definition of the logical address defined by the HDMI standard and the device type (device type) corresponding to this logical address. The logical address “1” to “15” For each of these, a corresponding device type is assigned. For example, the logical address indicating the device type “Audio System” is “5”.

  The control microcomputer 10 includes a video output unit 10a, an audio output unit 10b, an HDMI transmission / reception control unit (transmission unit, audio type information reception unit) 10c, an audio performance determination unit (audio output performance determination unit) 10d, and an EDID. And an update unit (audio type information update means) 10e, which performs control processing of the TV receiver 1 based on the operation of the operation unit 16 by the user.

  The video output unit 10 a outputs the video signal of the TV program received from the decoder unit 13 and the video signal supplied from the BD player 3 to the display 14. The audio output unit 10 b outputs the audio signal of the TV program received from the decoder unit 13 and the audio signal supplied from the BD player 3 to the speaker 15.

  The HDMI transmission / reception control unit 10c functions as an HDMI receiver, and transmits / receives CEC commands and response data based on HDMI-CEC to the AV amplifier 2 and the BD player 3, and video signals and audio signals transmitted from the BD player 3. Reception processing and audio signal transfer processing to the AV amplifier 2. Specifically, the process of transmitting the EDID 18b of the memory 18 to the AV amplifier 2 and the BD player 3, the audio signal supplied from the BD player 3 is received, and the ARC (Audio Return Channel) function of HDMI-CEC is used. Processing to transmit to the AV amplifier 2 via the HDMI cable 71 is performed.

  The sound performance determination unit 10d determines whether the sound that can be output by the AV amplifier 2 has higher sound quality than the sound that can be output by the decoder unit 13 and the speaker 15 of the own device (TV receiver 1). Perform the process. Specifically, the determination is made by comparing the content of the EDID audio output information of the AV amplifier 2 with the content of the audio output information of the EDID 18b of the TV receiver 1.

  As a result of the determination by the audio performance determination unit 10d, the EDID update unit 10e determines that the sound that can be output by the AV amplifier 2 is higher in sound quality than the sound that can be output by the TV receiver 1. A process of updating the content of the audio output information of the EDID 18b to a content corresponding to the content of the audio output information that can be output by the AV amplifier 2 (hereinafter referred to as an audio output information update process) is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the AV amplifier 2 stores an operation unit 21 having a plurality of buttons operated by a user, an HDMI terminal unit 22 for connecting an external device compliant with the HDMI standard, and various types of information. A memory 23, an amplifier unit 24 to which a speaker 25 is connected, and a control microcomputer 20 for controlling each unit of the apparatus. In FIG. 4, only one amplifier unit 24 and one speaker 25 are shown for convenience of explanation, but the amplifier unit 24 and the speaker 25 can output 5.1 channel sound. .

  The other end of the HDMI cable 71 connected to the TV receiver 1 is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 22. The memory 23 stores a program 23 a for operating the control microcomputer 20 and an EDID (first audio type information) 23 b including various information such as audio output information of the AV amplifier 2. The amplifier unit 24 amplifies the audio signal received from the control microcomputer 20 and supplies it to the speaker 25.

  The control microcomputer 20 includes an audio signal control unit 20a and an HDMI reception control unit 20b, and performs control processing of the AV amplifier 2 based on the operation of the operation unit 21 by the user. The audio signal control unit 20 a performs a decoding process in accordance with the format type of the audio signal received from the TV receiver 1, and then forms a 5.1 channel audio signal and transmits it to the amplifier unit 24.

  The HDMI reception control unit 20b functions as an HDMI receiver, and transmits / receives CEC commands and response data based on HDMI-CEC to / from the TV receiver 1 and receives audio signals transmitted from the TV receiver 1. Do.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the BD player 3 stores an operation unit 31 having a plurality of buttons operated by a user, an HDMI terminal unit 32 for connecting an external device compliant with the HDMI standard, and various types of information. A memory 33, an optical disk drive 34 to which an optical disk d such as a BD disk or a DVD disk is mounted, and a control microcomputer 30 for controlling each part of the apparatus.

  The BD player 3 reads the video signal and audio signal of the content from the optical disc d and supplies them to the TV receiver 1 via the HDMI cable 72. The BD player 3 can reproduce audio signals in a plurality of formats such as DTS, AC3, and PCM, and can supply audio signals in these formats to the TV receiver 1. Further, the BD player 3 can reproduce 5.1 channel multi-channel audio signals, and can supply the reproduced multi-channel audio signals to the TV receiver 1. The BD player 3 supplies audio signals having a format and the number of channels corresponding to the contents of the audio output information received from the TV receiver 1.

  The other end of the HDMI cable 72 connected to the TV receiver 1 is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 32. The memory 33 stores a program 33a for operating the control microcomputer 30 and an EDID 33b in which various information such as a logical address of the BD player 3 is stored. The optical disc drive 34 is loaded with an optical disc d and reads content from the optical disc d.

  The control microcomputer 30 includes a reproduction control unit 30a and an HDMI transmission control unit 30b, and performs control processing for the BD player 3 based on the operation of the operation unit 31 by the user.

  The reproduction control unit 30a reproduces the content read from the optical disc d by the optical disc drive 34, and outputs a video signal and an audio signal of the reproduced content to the TV receiver 1 via the HDMI cable 72. Do. The HDMI transmission control unit 30b functions as an HDMI transmitter and transmits / receives a CEC command and response data based on HDMI-CEC to / from the TV receiver 1 and transmits a video signal and an audio signal to the TV receiver 1. .

  Next, the procedure of the audio output information update process in the TV receiver 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that no external device is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 17 of the TV receiver 1.

  First, when an HDMI compatible external device is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 17 (S1), the control microcomputer 10 of the TV receiver 1 performs device authentication processing for confirming the device type of the connected external device. Perform (S2).

  When the device type of the external device is the logical address “5” indicating “Audio System” (YES in S3), the control microcomputer 10 requests audio output information using the HDMI transmission / reception control unit 10c. The CEC command is transmitted to the external device (S4), and audio output information including the format of the audio signal that can be output and information on the number of channels is acquired from the external device (S5). Specifically, for example, when the AV amplifier 2 is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 17 (corresponding to S1), “5” is acquired as the logical address (corresponding to YES in S3), so that the TV receiver 1 is an AV amplifier. <Request Short Audio Descriptor> is transmitted to 2 (corresponding to S4), and a return value indicating the format of the audio signal that can be output by the AV amplifier 2 is acquired (corresponding to S5).

  FIG. 7 is a list showing the correspondence between audio signal formats and return values. The audio signal format is assigned to each of the return values “0” to “15”. That is, when “1”, “2”, and “7” are acquired as return values from the AV amplifier 2, it indicates that the AV amplifier 2 is compatible with audio signals in the PCM, AC3, and DTS formats. .

  Then, the control microcomputer 10 uses the audio performance determination unit 10d, and the sound that can be output by the external device (hereinafter referred to as the AV amplifier 2) has higher sound quality than the sound that can be output by the speaker 15. Whether or not (S6). If it is determined that the AV amplifier 2 has higher sound quality (YES in S7), the control microcomputer 10 updates the contents of the EDID 18b in the memory 18 using the EDID update unit 10e (S8). Specifically, for example, the audio that can be output from the TV receiver 1 has a format of PCM and 2 channels, while the audio that can be output from the AV amplifier 2 has formats of DTS, AC3, and When the PCM is used and the number of channels is 5.1ch, the AV amplifier 2 can output higher quality sound (equivalent to YES in S7). Therefore, the content of the audio output information of the EDID 18b of the TV receiver 1 is rewritten so that audio of the formats DTS, AC3, and PCM and the number of channels 5.1ch can be output (corresponding to S8 above).

  Next, a detailed procedure of device authentication processing in the TV receiver 1 will be described with reference to a sequence diagram shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that an HDMI compatible external device is connected to the HDMI terminal unit 17 of the TV receiver 1.

  First, the TV receiver 1 transmits <Polling Message> to the logical address “1” (S21), and when ACK is returned (S22), to the external device that has returned ACK, <Give Physical Address>. To request a physical address (S23). Then, the TV receiver 1 acquires the physical address of this external device (<Report Physical Address>) (S24). If there is no ACK response, the processing after S23 is not performed.

  Then, the TV receiver 1 transmits <Give Vender ID> to this external device (S25), and acquires the Vender ID of this external device (<Device Vender ID>) (S26). Next, the TV receiver 1 transmits <Get CEC Version> to the external device (S27), and acquires the CEC version of this external device (<CEC Version>) (S28).

  Then, the TV receiver 1 transmits <Give OSD Name> to the external device (S29), and acquires the OSD Name of the external device <Set OSD Name> (S30). OSD Name indicates the model name of the external device. Then, the TV receiver 1 performs this processing sequentially for each of the logical addresses “2” to “14”.

  Next, audio signal supply processing in the BD player 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the content of the audio output information of the EDID 18b of the TV receiver 1 has been rewritten to the content corresponding to the content of the audio output information of the AV amplifier 2 by the processing of FIG.

  First, when the BD player 3 is connected via the HDMI cable 72 of the TV receiver 1 (S41), the TV receiver 1 and the BD player perform inter-device authentication processing (S42), and then the BD player 3 Audio output information is acquired from the EDID 18b of the receiver 1 (S43). Specifically, for example, the BD player 3 transmits <Give System Audio Mode Status> to the TV receiver 1 and acquires <System Audio Mode Status> from the TV receiver 1.

  Then, after the BD player 3 reproduces the optical disk d (S44), the audio signal and the video signal corresponding to the content of the audio output information acquired from the TV receiver 1 are supplied to the TV receiver 1 (S45). Specifically, if the audio output information acquired from the TV receiver 1 is “format DTS, AC3, and PCM and 5.1 ch audio can be output”, the BD player 3 In response to the audio output information, the TV receiver 1 is supplied with a 5.1-channel audio signal in the DTS format having the highest sound quality among the output audio signal formats.

  As described above, in the TV receiver 1 according to the present embodiment, it is determined that the sound that can be output by the AV amplifier 2 has higher sound quality than the sound that can be output by the speaker 15 of the TV receiver 1. In this case, the content of the audio output information of the EDID 18b is updated to the content corresponding to the content of the audio output information of the AV amplifier 2. Therefore, since the audio output information of EDID 18b corresponding to the content of the audio output information of the AV amplifier 2 is transmitted to the BD player 3, the BD player 3 outputs a high-quality audio signal that can be output by the AV amplifier 2. It can be supplied via the TV receiver 1. Further, since the TV receiver 1 only has to have a memory 18 for storing one EDID 18b, unlike the invention of Patent Document 1 that requires two memories (EDID-ROM), the manufacturing cost can be suppressed. .

  Further, since the TV receiver 1 can rewrite the audio signal format and the channel number information of the audio output information of the EDID 18b, the BD player 3 can be rewritten as compared with the case where only one of the format and the channel number can be rewritten. Can supply higher-quality sound.

  Further, since the TV receiver 1, the AV amplifier 2, and the BD player 3 perform transmission / reception of CEC commands in accordance with the HDMI-CEC standard, it is necessary to incur the installation cost of dedicated equipment, dedicated software, etc. corresponding to the original protocol. Absent. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the TV receiver 1 can be suppressed.

  In addition, this invention is not restricted to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not change the meaning of invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the example in which the audio output device described in the claims is a TV receiver has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the audio output information can be updated and an AV device to which an external audio output device can be connected. If it is.

  Moreover, although the example in which the external device shown in the claims is a BD player has been shown, any AV device that can supply an audio signal according to audio output information may be used. Further, although an example in which each of the TV receiver 1, the AV amplifier 2, and the BD player 3 corresponds to the HDMI-CEC standard has been shown, any home appliance control protocol that can transmit audio output information and audio signals may be used.

1 TV receiver (audio output device)
2 AV amplifier (external audio output device)
3 BD player (external device)
13 Decoder unit (sound output means)
15 Speaker (Audio output means)
18 Memory (Audio type information storage means)
10c HDMI transmission / reception control unit (transmission means, audio type information reception means)
10d Voice performance judgment unit (voice output performance judgment means)
10e EDID update unit (voice type information update means)
18b EDID (second audio type information)
23b EDID (first audio type information)

Claims (5)

Connected to an external audio output device having first audio type information indicating the type of audio that can be output, and transmitting the first audio type information, and an external device capable of supplying an audio signal to the external audio output device It is possible,
Audio output means for outputting audio;
Voice type information storage means for storing second voice type information indicating the type of voice that can be output by the voice output means;
In an audio output device comprising: transmission means for transmitting the second audio type information stored in the audio type information storage means to the external device;
Audio type information receiving means for receiving the first audio type information from the external audio output device;
The content of the first sound type information received using the sound type information receiving means is compared with the content of the second sound type information stored in the sound type information storage means, and the external sound A sound output performance judging means for judging whether or not the sound that can be output by the output device is higher in sound quality than the sound that can be output by the sound output means;
As a result of the determination by the sound output performance determining means, when it is determined that the sound that can be output by the external sound output device has higher sound quality than the sound that can be output by the sound output means, the sound type Voice type information updating means for updating the contents of the second voice type information stored in the information storage means to contents corresponding to the contents of the first voice type information received by the voice type information receiving means; An audio output device comprising:   The audio output according to claim 1, wherein the first audio type information and the second audio type information further include information indicating the number of channels that can be output, in addition to the type of audio that can be output. apparatus.   The audio output device, the external audio output device, and the external device each transmit and receive the first audio type information and the second audio type information based on a home appliance control protocol. 2. The audio output device according to 2.   4. The audio output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the home appliance control protocol is HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) -CEC (Consumer Electronics Control).   5. The audio output device according to claim 4, wherein the first audio type information and the second audio type information are EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) in the HDMI-CEC.

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