EP0946079B1 - Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround - Google Patents

Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0946079B1
EP0946079B1 EP98250104A EP98250104A EP0946079B1 EP 0946079 B1 EP0946079 B1 EP 0946079B1 EP 98250104 A EP98250104 A EP 98250104A EP 98250104 A EP98250104 A EP 98250104A EP 0946079 B1 EP0946079 B1 EP 0946079B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
decoder
surround sound
channel
dsd
dec
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
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EP98250104A
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German (de)
English (en)
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EP0946079A1 (fr
Inventor
Ingo HÜTTER
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THOMSON LICENSING
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Thomson Licensing SAS
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Publication date
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Priority to EP98250104A priority Critical patent/EP0946079B1/fr
Priority to DE69841722T priority patent/DE69841722D1/de
Publication of EP0946079A1 publication Critical patent/EP0946079A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0946079B1 publication Critical patent/EP0946079B1/fr
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04S—STEREOPHONIC SYSTEMS 
    • H04S3/00—Systems employing more than two channels, e.g. quadraphonic

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for presenting digital surround sound data.
  • Future consumer electronics equipment like DVD (digital versatile disc) players, DVB (digital video broadcast) settop boxes or DVB TV receivers will be able to supply 5-channel or 6-channel digital surround sound, wherein 6-channel surround sound includes an additional subwoofer signal.
  • the analogue outputs of such devices typically provide a stereo or 2-channel signal only, while the surround sound signals stem from a multiplexed digital MPEG2 audio or AC-3 signal.
  • the surround sound channel signals are available at a digital output connector. Typically they are formatted according to the IEC 958 standard.
  • EP-A-0 782 372 discloses how a 5-channel matrixed signal can be downcoded to a stereo signal for recording, and following replay, can be reconstructed to five independent channel signals.
  • US-A-5 630 175 shows a stereo computer system which produces surround sound using audio cards and additional loudspeakers.
  • the surround sound equipment is combined with the existing HiFi rack in a specific way in order to save amplifiers and/or loudspeaker boxes.
  • the surround sound decoder solution typically replaces a high quality stereo amplifier
  • the surround sound decoder must include this high quality amplifier. Therefore the inventive low cost surround sound decoder uses the available stereo amplifier for the left and right channel signals, while the effect channels can advantageously be amplified with simplified amplifiers which are contained in the low cost surround sound decoder cabinet.
  • the stereo amplifier output signal, or - if available - the corresponding internal volume control signal is fed back to the surround sound decoder for controlling in addition the volume of the remaining channel output signals.
  • a DVD player DVD and a DVB settop box or a digital TV receiver DVB or any other sources for surround sound channels are connected to a digital low-cost surround sound decoder DSD, preferably using IEC 958 connections.
  • DSD may also comprise anolog or digital inputs for the left and right channel signals from the HiFi rack (not depicted).
  • the left and right channel signals LE and RI from DSD pass through a stereo HiFi amplifier to corresponding loudspeaker boxes.
  • the outputs of stereo amplifier SA are coupled back to volume control inputs of the surround sound decoder DSD so that the amplification of the external stereo amplifier SA can be measured and depending on its value the amplifiers for the 3 (or 4) effect channels of DSD can be controlled.
  • these channels are: left effect LEE, right effect RIE, centre CE and subwoofer SUB. So the overall volume is controlled merely by the already existing HiFi rack or stereo amplifier remote control or manual control. No separate volume control is required for DSD.
  • the two loudspeaker outputs of stereo amplifier SA can return to the surround sound decoder which also contains output connectors for the stereo loud-speakers directly connected with these returning inputs. Thereby the user can connect all five or six loudspeaker boxes to the surround sound decoder cabinet only and possible confusion caused by separate connection of loudspeakers to SA can be avoided. From these returning inputs the above described volume control for the surround sound decoder volume control inputs is derived internally, thereby avoiding an additional cable connection.
  • the main input signal of DSD at input IN may pass through a FiFo buffer FIFO and an IEC 958 decoder (not depicted) to an MPEG2 audio decoder and/or AC-3 decoder and/or any other kind of multi-channel decoder DEC which is controlled by a controller CO.
  • DEC has five or six audio channel outputs which are connected to corresponding D/A converters.
  • the D/A converted left and right channel signals are connected to an output TSA to the above mentioned HiFi stereo amplifier SA.
  • the D/A converted effect channel signals become amplified in corresponding volume-controlled amplifiers V, the outputs of which are connected to the LEE, RIE, CE, and SUB outputs.
  • Inputs FSA receive the two output signals of the HiFi stereo amplifier and provide on one hand corresponding left and right outputs LE and RI and on the other hand corresponding signals for automatically determining the current volume setting in SA in a volume setting calculator VCAL.
  • VCAL may also receive the two TSA output signals. The output of VCAL is fed to the volume control inputs of the V amplifiers.
  • the V amplifiers may be connected to a separate power supply.
  • Fig. 3 the two FSA inputs are fed to the negative inputs of differential amplifiers V33 and V34.
  • the both TSA signals are fed to the inputs of controllable amplifiers V31 and V32, the outputs of which are input to the positive inputs of amplifiers V33 and V34.
  • the output signals of V33 and V34 become combined in a combiner A30, the output signal of which passes through a low pass R/C in order to form VCAL output signal VO and to control the amplification factor of V31 and V32.
  • V31 to V34 can be implemented using a standard ICs, too.
  • the stereo amplifier SA and/or the V amplifiers can also be digital amplifiers. In that case the corresponding D/A converters are located within the corresponding amplifier.
  • the automatic volume control can operate digitally, wherein in case the volume control signal from SA is of analog type an A/D conversion takes place at the input of the automatic volume control.
  • a balance control can be added which allows to increase or decrease the volume of the effect channels LEE/RIE and/or SUB with respect to the front channels LE/RI and/or CE.
  • the automatic volume control can also be changed in such a way that the volume of LE automatically controls the volume of LEE and that the volume of RI automatically controls the volume of RIE.
  • amplifier SA is not used for the LE and RI channels but for other channel combinations, e.g. for the RI and RIE channels.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Stereophonic System (AREA)

Claims (3)

  1. Procédé pour la représentation de données numériques sonores surround utilisant un décodeur sonore surround (DSD) et un équipement sonore stéréo incluant un amplificateur stéréo (SA), où :
    - ledit amplificateur stéréo (SA) est un dispositif distinct dudit décodeur sonore surround (DSD), et
    - ledit décodeur sonore surround (DSD) inclut un décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) et un amplificateur (V) pour chaque sortie dudit décodeur à canaux multiples ; et
    les sorties de canal gauche et droite du décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) sont envoyées aux entrées de canal gauche et droite dudit amplificateur stéréo (SA), et où les sorties de canal restantes dudit décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) sont envoyées à des amplificateurs respectifs (V) et des haut-parleurs ou des enceintes de haut-parleur,
    caractérisé en ce que
    un signal de sortie (FSA) dudit amplificateur stéréo (SA) est renvoyé audit décodeur sonore surround (DSD) pour commander automatiquement (VCAL) le volume (VO) desdites sorties de canal restantes, de sorte que le volume (VO) desdites sorties de canal restantes corresponde à un réglage de volume dudit amplificateur stéréo.
  2. Décodeur numérique sonore surround (DSD) incluant :
    - au moins six connecteurs de sortie (TSA, LE, RI, LEE, RIE, SUB) ;
    - un décodeur audio MPEG2 et/ou un décodeur AC-3 et/ou tout autre type de décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) ;
    - un convertisseur N/A pour chacun des canaux de sortie dudit décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC), où les sorties de canal gauche et droite converties N/A du décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) sont envoyées à un connecteur de sortie (TSA) dudit décodeur numérique sonore surround (DSD) auquel un amplificateur stéréo distinct (SA) doit être connecté ;
    - un amplificateur (V) pour chacune des sorties de canal converties N/A restantes du décodeur à canaux multiples ;
    caractérisé en ce que
    ledit décodeur numérique sonore surround (DSD) inclut en outre un connecteur d'entrée (FSA) pour recevoir un signal de sortie de réaction provenant dudit amplificateur stéréo (SA), où ledit signal de réaction est utilisé dans ledit décodeur numérique sonore surround (DSD) pour commander automatiquement (VCAL) le volume (VO) desdits amplificateurs (V) desdites sorties de canal converties N/A restantes dudit décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC), de sorte que le volume (VO) desdits amplificateurs corresponde à un réglage de volume dudit amplificateur stéréo, où ledit connecteur d'entrée (FSA) pour recevoir un signal de sortie de réaction reçoit les signaux de sortie des haut-parleurs provenant dudit amplificateur stéréo(SA) et où ces signaux de sortie des haut-parleurs de l'amplificateur stéréo sont transmis aux connecteurs de sortie des haut-parleurs gauche (LE) et droit (RI) dudit décodeur numérique sonore surround (DSD).
  3. Décodeur numérique sonore surround selon la revendication 2, où le signal d'entrée (IN) dudit décodeur audio MPEG2 et/ou du décodeur AC-3 et/ou d'un autre type de décodeur à canaux multiples (DEC) est formaté selon la norme CEI 958 et transite via une mémoire tampon FiFo (FIFO).
EP98250104A 1998-03-26 1998-03-26 Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround Expired - Lifetime EP0946079B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98250104A EP0946079B1 (fr) 1998-03-26 1998-03-26 Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround
DE69841722T DE69841722D1 (de) 1998-03-26 1998-03-26 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Darbietung von digitalen Raumklangdaten

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98250104A EP0946079B1 (fr) 1998-03-26 1998-03-26 Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround

Publications (2)

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EP0946079A1 EP0946079A1 (fr) 1999-09-29
EP0946079B1 true EP0946079B1 (fr) 2010-06-16

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EP98250104A Expired - Lifetime EP0946079B1 (fr) 1998-03-26 1998-03-26 Procédé et appareil pour la representation de données numériques sonores surround

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EP (1) EP0946079B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69841722D1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2345233A (en) * 1998-10-23 2000-06-28 John Robert Emmett Encoding of multiple digital audio signals into a lesser number of bitstreams, e.g. for surround sound
GB0200149D0 (en) * 2002-01-04 2002-02-20 1 Ltd Surround-sound system

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5386473A (en) * 1994-01-21 1995-01-31 Harrison; Robert W. Passive surround sound circuit

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2766466B2 (ja) * 1995-08-02 1998-06-18 株式会社東芝 オーディオ方式、その再生方法、並びにその記録媒体及びその記録媒体への記録方法
US5771295A (en) * 1995-12-26 1998-06-23 Rocktron Corporation 5-2-5 matrix system

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5386473A (en) * 1994-01-21 1995-01-31 Harrison; Robert W. Passive surround sound circuit

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EP0946079A1 (fr) 1999-09-29
DE69841722D1 (de) 2010-07-29

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