JP2001290500A - Speech speed converter, speaker device and television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the speech signal output of a decelerated speech speed easy to listen while securing synchronization with a displayed video without causing incompatibility. SOLUTION: The converter is provided with speech speed specifying buttons 21 to 24 which are used to specify a speech speed of output audio signals, a speech speed converting means 122 which converts input audio signals to speech signals having a slow speech speed, a buffer memory 14 which is provided with a capacity equivalent to a delay time within the delay time without causing incompatibility with the displayed video when the input audio signals are attended to video signals and control means (121 and 123). The control means control the speech speed converting means so that input speech speed signals are converter to audio signals having a speech speed with a preset speed deceleration rate corresponding to the speech speed specifying button when the operations of the buttons are detected. When there exists empty space in the capacity of the buffer memory, the speech speed converted audio signals are written into the buffer memory and successively read out as output audio signals. When no empty capacity exists in the buffer memory, audio signals not subjected to a speech speed conversion process are outputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a speech speed converter for an audio signal reproduced in synchronization with a video.
The present invention also relates to a speaker device suitable for use by being connected to an electronic device having an output terminal for an audio signal reproduced in synchronization with a video.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a movie broadcast of a foreign film of a television broadcast, a bilingual multiplex broadcast may be accompanied by audio output in a foreign language synchronized with a video. In addition, in a so-called subtitled broadcast movie broadcast of a foreign film, the audio output of the foreign language itself is performed in synchronization with the video.

[0003] When such a broadcast is being performed, the viewer watches a video accompanied by a foreign language audio output, particularly when trying to enhance the hearing ability in a foreign language. When the speech speed is high, it is often difficult to hear.

[0004] Conventionally, therefore, viewers, for example, use VTRs.
In order to record a movie broadcast program using a program, the part that was difficult to listen to was repeatedly played back and listened again.

In order to practice a language, a method has been adopted in which only a foreign language audio signal is recorded on a recording medium such as a tape, and the reproduction speed is reduced to reproduce the foreign language audio at an easy-to-understand speed. .

[0006]

However, the former VTR
Recording, rewinding the tape, and playing back repeatedly is very cumbersome to operate and apart from watching the movie itself. In addition, the latter method also plays audio separately from watching movies,
It was unsatisfactory for viewers who wanted to listen in real time to the language of the original language while watching a movie.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an audio signal output at a decelerating speed that is easy to hear while ensuring synchronization with a display image so as not to give a sense of incongruity. .

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a means for receiving an input voice signal, a voice speed designation button for specifying a voice speed of an output voice signal,
The input voice signal, a voice speed conversion means for converting to a voice signal of a low voice speed, the voice signal subjected to voice speed conversion processing by the voice speed conversion means, for temporarily storing,
A buffer memory having a capacity corresponding to a delay time within a range of a delay time which does not cause a sense of incompatibility with a display image when the input audio signal is accompanied by a video signal, and an audio power amplifier for power-amplifying the audio signal And a speaker to which an output audio signal of the audio power amplifier is supplied, and an instruction input through the speech speed designation button is monitored. When the instruction input through the speech speed designation button is input, the input audio signal is Controlling the voice speed conversion means so as to convert the voice speed into a voice signal of a voice speed having a predetermined deceleration rate corresponding to the voice speed designation button, and monitoring the free space of the buffer memory; When there is free space in the memory, the voice signal whose speech speed has been converted is written to the buffer memory and sequentially read from the buffer memory. The audio signal to be supplied to the audio power amplifier, and when the free space for writing to the buffer memory is exhausted, the audio signal which is not subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is used as the output audio signal to be supplied to the audio power amplifier. Control means for controlling the
And a speaker device comprising:

In the speaker device having the above-described configuration, when the user operates the speech speed designation button, the speech speed conversion means causes
The input voice signal is converted into a digital voice signal having a voice speed at a predetermined deceleration rate corresponding to the voice speed designation button. Then, the digital voice signal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is temporarily stored in a buffer memory, and is sequentially read out from the buffer memory and converted into an analog voice signal by a D / A converter. Then, the analog audio signal is supplied to the speaker through the audio power amplifier, and the sound is reproduced.

[0010] In this case, if a silent section such as a speech interval is sufficiently within the range of the capacity of the buffer memory, the speech whose speech speed has been reduced continues to be emitted from the speaker in real time. And the buffer memory is full of data,
When the writing becomes impossible, the input audio signal is directly emitted from the speaker.

The capacity of the buffer memory is set to a value corresponding to a delay time within a range of a delay time that does not cause a sense of incompatibility with the display image. Therefore, even when the speech speed is reduced, the buffer memory is always synchronized with the display image without a feeling of incompatibility. A good sound output is obtained.

Therefore, according to the speaker device of the present invention, the user can operate the speaking speed designating button only by operating the speaking speed designating button to reduce the speaking speed and to output the audio synchronized with the display image in real time. , And the foreign language voice can be heard at an easy-to-hear speed while watching the display image.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a speaker device according to the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 1 shows an external view of a speaker device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of usage.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the speaker device 10 according to this embodiment has a housing formed in a substantially triangular prism shape and one side surface 10a serving as a sound emitting surface.
A left channel speaker 3L and a right channel speaker 3R are provided in the housing. Then, at a position where the user of the housing is easy to operate, a voice speed designation button 21, 22, 23, 24, which will be described in detail later, and an LED (Light Emitt) for notifying the user of the operation of those buttons.
ing Diodes 31, 32, 33, 34 are provided. A power button 25 and a volume control knob 26 are also provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, a speaker device 10 of this embodiment is an electronic device that outputs video and outputs audio, for example, an audio signal output terminal of a television receiver 40, for example, audio output from a headphone jack 41. The signal is configured to be input as the input audio signal. For this reason, although not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an input jack 1 as an audio signal input terminal is provided as shown in FIG. In this example, the input jack 1 is configured as a stereo input jack of left and right two channels.

Similarly, although not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the speaker device 10 of this embodiment is
As shown in FIG. 1, there are provided audio input terminals 2L and 2R which are connected to audio signal line output terminals of the electronic device and receive input of audio signals of left and right two channels.

In FIG. 1, for simplicity, the input jack 1 and the audio input terminals 2L and 2R are shown to be input to the A / D converter 11 in parallel. Is inserted, the input of the audio signal input from the audio input terminals 2L and 2R to the A / D converter 11 is cut off.

The two-channel analog audio signals input through the input jack 1 or the audio input terminals 2L and 2R are converted into digital audio signals by the A / D converter 11, respectively. The digital audio signal is synthesized so as to alternate every one sample and supplied to the audio signal processing unit 12 in order to alternately perform time-division processing on the left and right two channels.

The audio signal processing unit 12 includes a DSP (Digital
tal Signal Processor) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 13
By reading the software program written in the control unit 121, the control unit 121 and the speech speed conversion unit 12
2 and the compression / decompression unit 123. Needless to say, in practice, the DSP is not clearly divided into the three functional units as described above.

In this embodiment, the speech speed converter 122 converts the input speech signal from the input speech signal to a deceleration speed lower than the original speech speed (normal speech speed) of the input speech information without changing the sound quality of the input speech. To generate a converted voice signal of the speech speed. This speech speed conversion process is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-80796.
For example, the processing described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-216, etc. can be used.

The speech speed conversion process will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 4, voice information of a deceleration speed is generated by using a silent portion between speeches at a normal speech speed. Things. That is, by applying a silent part to sound reproduction and performing digital waveform processing so as to extend the sound reproduction to the period of the silent part, the speech speed is converted in the deceleration direction without changing the sound quality. is there.

In this case, even when the original audio signal does not have the above-mentioned “silence” in the “between”, for example, the SRAM (Static)
By storing the converted digital voice information in the buffer memory 14 in a first-in first-out (FIFO) format including a random access memory, the voice reproduction by deceleration can be extended by the capacity of the buffer memory 14. However, the audio output timing is delayed from the original audio signal by this delay.

The compression / decompression unit 123 has a memory control function of controlling writing and reading to and from the buffer memory 14 while monitoring the free space of the buffer memory 14. In this embodiment, the speech speed conversion is performed. The digital voice signal obtained by the speech speed conversion in the section 122 is data-compressed and written into the buffer memory 14, and the compressed data read out from the buffer memory 14 is decompressed to obtain a D / A converter 15 Output to The data compression reduces the capacity of the buffer memory 14
This is to make it smaller.

If a silent portion occurs in the input audio signal during the capacity of the buffer memory 14, the digital audio information stored in the buffer memory 14 is stored in the silent portion without writing new data. Since the data can be read out and output, the speech speed conversion of the deceleration speed can be performed continuously.

However, if no silence occurs during the capacity of the buffer memory 14, the buffer memory 14 becomes full with the decelerated voice data and the new voice data cannot be written. Cannot be maintained. In that case, the compression / decompression unit 123
Is sent to the control unit 121, and the control unit 121 receives the detection output and outputs a speech speed conversion unit 122.
Is stopped, and the compression / decompression unit 123
Is stopped, the speech speed conversion unit 122 and the compression / decompression unit 123 are bypassed, and the A /
The D / A converter 15 is controlled to supply the digital voice signal of the normal speed from the D converter 11 to the D / A converter 15.
Thereafter, when a silent portion is detected by the speech speed conversion unit 122, the speech speed conversion process of the deceleration speed is automatically restarted again.

As described above, the voice signal after the speech speed conversion processing can be delayed from the original voice signal by the capacity of the buffer memory 14. But in this case,
As shown in FIG. 4, since the video information remains unchanged without changing the speed, if the delay of the audio signal after the speech speed conversion processing with respect to the original audio signal increases, the deviation from the display video increases, A feeling of strangeness occurs. Therefore, the buffer memory 14
Is set in a range where deviation from the displayed image does not become large and unnaturalness does not occur. The buffer memory 14
If the capacity is too small, the accumulation effect for the appearance of the “between” does not work, and it becomes difficult to maintain the deceleration speed.

Specifically, if the capacity of the buffer memory 14 is less than, for example, 5 seconds of the audio information, it is difficult to maintain the deceleration speed, and if it is more than 10 seconds, the difference between the displayed image and the audio output will be lost. In this embodiment, the capacity of the buffer memory 14 is set to 7 seconds of the audio information because the size of the audio information becomes too large.

Also, in this embodiment, not to enable the value of the deceleration speed to be adjusted steplessly, but to obtain a significant deceleration speed speech speed by a simple operation, In the embodiment, a speech speed designation button for designating the speech speed of the output audio signal is provided.

A deceleration speed that the user can sufficiently sense as a deceleration speed compared with the normal speed is assigned to the speech speed designation button in advance and set. Therefore, in this embodiment, as will be described later, the user simply operates the speech speed designation button to convert the speech speed into the speech speed of the predetermined deceleration speed set corresponding to the speech speed designation button. Audio output can be obtained.

Although the number of speech speed designation buttons may be one,
In this embodiment, there are provided a plurality of speech speed designation buttons to which different deceleration speeds are assigned. Figure 1,
In FIG. 2, buttons 21 to 24 are speech speed designation buttons.

The speech speed designation button in this example comprises a normal speech speed designation button 21, a first speech speed designation button 22, a second speech speed designation button 23, and a third speech speed designation button 24. The normal speech speed designation button 21 is used to designate a normal speech speed.

The third speech speed designation button 24 is assigned a speech speed of a limit deceleration speed at which a foreign language voice can be normally heard in real time. Each of the second speech speed designation button 23 and the first speech speed designation button 22 has a speed between the normal speech speed and the speech speed assigned to the third speech speed designation button 24. , A speech speed of a deceleration speed at which the difference is as much as possible is assigned.

In this embodiment, when the speech speed at the normal speed is 100%, the speech speed specified by the first speech speed designation button 2 is 88%, and the speech speed designated by the second speech speed designation button 23 is designated. The voice speed specified by the third voice speed specification button 24 is set to 82%, and the voice speed specified by the third voice speed specification button 24 is set to 76%.

The control unit 1 of the audio signal processing unit 12 determines which of the speech speed specification buttons 21 to 24 has been turned on.
21 detects. The control unit 121 recognizes the speech speed mode in accordance with the detection result, and converts the input voice signal into a voice signal of the detected deceleration speed assigned to the voice speed designation button. The speech speed conversion unit 122 is controlled to perform In response, the speech speed conversion unit 122
Generates a converted digital audio signal from the digital audio signal from the A / D converter 11 whose speech speed is equal to the speech speed specified by the control unit 121. However, when the normal speech speed designation button 21 is turned on, the speech speed conversion unit 122
Does not perform the speech speed conversion processing.
Does not perform data compression, data decompression, and buffer memory control, and uses the digital audio signal from the A / D converter 11 as it is as the output of the audio signal processing unit 12.

In the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 2, in the vicinity of each of the speech speed designation buttons 21 to 24,
LEDs 31 to 34 are provided corresponding to the respective speech speed designation buttons. When any one of the speech speed designation buttons 21 to 24 is turned on, the turned on speech speed designation button is detected by the control unit 121. Then, an LED selection drive signal corresponding to the detection result is supplied to the LED drive unit 30 and
The drive unit 30 controls so that the LED corresponding to the speech speed designation button that is turned on is illuminated. This LED
The user is informed of which of the speech speed designation buttons is in the mode of the speech speed designated by the light emission of.

In this embodiment, the converted digital audio signal obtained by the speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion unit 122 is:
After the data is compressed, the data is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 14 and is sequentially read from the buffer memory 14. The compressed data is decompressed and output as the audio signal processing unit 12.

The digital audio signal read from the buffer memory 14 or the digital audio signal output from the audio signal processing unit 12 without being subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is supplied to the D / A converter 15. . The D / A converter 15 converts the input digital audio signal into two left and right analog audio signals and supplies the analog audio signal to the audio power amplifier 16. The audio power amplifier 16 supplies left and right two-channel audio signals having a volume according to the volume control knob 26 for adjusting the volume 17 to the speakers 3L and 3R and the headphone jack 4.

The user listens to the voice at the designated speech speed as a voice output from the speakers 3L and 3R or a voice output from headphones connected to the headphone jack 4.

Although FIG. 1 shows the speakers 3L and 3R and the headphone jack 4 connected in parallel to the audio power amplifier 16 for the sake of simplicity, the headphone jack 4 is connected to the headphone plug. Is inserted, the audio signal output to the speakers 3L and 3R is cut off.

Next, the operation of the audio signal processing unit 12 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
Further explanation will be given.

First, it is waited for the power to be turned on by the power button 25 (step S1), and when the power is turned on by the power button 25, the state of the last speech speed mode immediately before the last power off is entered. LE corresponding to speed mode
D lights up (step S2). That is, voice output is performed in any of the normal speech speed mode, the first speech speed mode, the second speech speed mode, and the third speech speed mode.

Next, it is determined whether any one of the speech speed designation buttons 21 to 24 has been turned on (step S3). When it is determined that none of the speech speed designation buttons 21 to 24 has been operated, it is determined whether or not a power-off operation has been performed by the power button 25 (step S9). When it is determined that the power-off operation is not performed, the process returns to step S2,
The speech speed mode at that time is continued.

If it is determined in step S9 that the power-off operation has been performed, it is stored which of the deceleration speeds (including the normal voice speed mode) the last voice speed mode was (step S18). The processing routine ends.

On the other hand, in step S3, the speech speed designation button 2
When it is determined that any one of 1 to 24 has been turned on, the buffer memory 14 is cleared (step S4),
Recognize the operated speech speed designation button (step S
5). Then, control is performed to turn on the LED corresponding to the recognized operated speech speed designation button (step S6). At this time, when the LED that has been lit immediately before and the LED that is newly lit are different, the previously lit LED is turned off.

Next, it is determined whether or not the recognized operated speech speed designation button is the normal speech speed designation button 21 (step S7). If it is determined that the recognized speech speed designation button 21 is the normal speech speed designation button 21, the speech speed conversion is performed. The speech rate conversion process is not performed by the section 122, and the input speech signal is determined to be in the normal speech rate mode in which the speech rate is output at the speech rate.
Output a digital signal of the input audio signal to the D / A converter 15 (step S15).

When it is determined in step S7 that the recognized operated speech speed designation button is not the normal speech speed designation button 21, the first speech speed designation button 22, the second speech speed designation button 23, and the third speech speed designation button. A speech speed conversion process is performed so that the speech speed becomes the deceleration speed set and assigned to the recognized speech speed designation button among the speed designation buttons 24 (step S8).

Then, the free space of the buffer memory 14 is checked (step S10).
When writing into the digital audio signal is possible, the digital audio signal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is subjected to data compression (step S1).
1), writing to the buffer memory 14 (step S1)
2). When there is no digital voice data subjected to the speech speed conversion processing for the silent part, the processing in steps S11 and S12 is not performed.

Next, the compressed data is read out from the buffer memory 14 in order from the head data (step S13), the compression of the read data is decompressed (step S14), and the decompressed digital audio signal is D
Output to the / A converter 15 (step S15).

Next, it is determined whether or not a power-off operation has been performed by operating the power button 25 (step S16).
When it is determined that the power-off operation has been performed, which deceleration speed the last mode was the speech speed mode is stored (step S18), and this processing routine ends.

When it is determined that the power-off operation has not been performed, it is determined whether or not any of the speech speed designation buttons 21 to 24 has been operated (step S1).
7) If it is determined that no operation has been performed, step S8
And the processing in the speech speed mode is continued.

During processing in a certain speech speed mode, in step S10, when the free space of the buffer memory 14 is exhausted and writing becomes impossible, the buffer memory 1 with speech speed conversion processing and data compression / expansion is executed.
Then, the writing / reading process for No. 4 is stopped, and the normal speech speed mode is set (step S19). And
The LED 31 indicating the normal voice speed mode is turned on (step S20) to notify the user that the voice speed mode has been forcibly changed to the normal voice speed mode.

If it is determined in step S17 that one of the speech speed designation buttons has been operated, the flow returns to step S4, where the buffer memory 14 is cleared, and the speech designated by the operated speech speed designation button. Start the speed mode again from the beginning. This processing is performed similarly when the same speech speed designation button as the previous time is operated.

Therefore, in this embodiment,
In the specific speech speed mode, the buffer memory 1
4, the speech speed conversion process of the same speech speed mode can be performed from that point.

As described above, according to the loudspeaker apparatus of this embodiment, by simply operating any one of the speech speed designation buttons, the speech speed significantly reduced from the speech speed of the original voice can be obtained. Can be easily obtained.

For example, in the case of a method in which the deceleration speed is adjusted steplessly by using the volume knob, it is difficult for the user to sense a significant change in the deceleration speed by slightly turning the volume knob. It is very difficult to adjust to a specific deceleration speed that the user wants to set. In particular, it is very difficult to adjust the speech speed to a plurality of levels as described above, and the usability is very poor. In this regard, in this embodiment, simply operating the speech speed designation button results in a speech speed of a preset significant deceleration speed, so that the usability is greatly improved.

Further, since the capacity of the buffer memory 14 is set to be large enough to store the audio signal for a time that does not unnaturally deviate from the displayed image, the user can adjust the speech speed at the deceleration speed. In this case, the user can always listen to the audio output substantially in synchronization with the displayed video.

Further, in this embodiment, the voice data subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is compressed and stored in the buffer memory 14, so that the capacity of the buffer memory 14 is limited by the data compression. There is an effect that a memory having a small capacity is sufficient for the amount.

In the above embodiment, the buffer memory 14 is always cleared when the speech speed designation button is operated. For example, when the same speech speed designation button is pressed twice, the same In the speech speed mode, it is easy to instruct to start a new speech speed conversion process in the middle.

[Other Embodiments] The above-described embodiment is
In this case, the present invention is applied to a speaker device having a built-in speech speed conversion device. However, instead of the speaker device, a speaker is provided separately, and an audio signal output terminal of an electronic device such as a television receiver is connected to the speaker. A configuration of a speech speed conversion device as an adapter provided therebetween may be employed.

Further, instead of the configuration of the adapter, a configuration of a television receiver having a built-in speech speed conversion device having a configuration from an A / D converter to an audio power amplifier may be adopted.

Further, the above-mentioned speech speed conversion device may be incorporated in an audio system of a set and a box for receiving a digital television broadcast, instead of the television receiver. In that case, the A / D converter may not be necessary.

Also, in the case of the above-described embodiment of the speaker device, a case is considered in which the speaker device of the embodiment is connected to a digital audio signal output terminal of an electronic device such as a television receiver. , Speaker device 1
The A / D converter 11 of 0 is unnecessary.

When the television receiver is built-in, the television receiver is not provided with a speech speed designation button, but the remote commander is provided with a speech speed designation button. The above operation may be performed when a speech speed change instruction is received from a commander.

In the above embodiment of the speaker device, the input terminal of the speaker device is connected to the audio signal output terminal of the electronic device, but the electronic device outputs the audio output signal wirelessly. If you have the means,
A means for wirelessly receiving an audio signal may be provided in the speaker device so as to replace the audio signal input terminal.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can perform a simple instruction operation, such as operation of a speech speed designation button, on a preset speech speed of the original voice. Thus, it is possible to easily obtain a speech output with a speech speed significantly reduced in speed.

Further, since the capacity of the buffer memory is set to be large enough to store the audio signal for a time that does not unnaturally deviate from the displayed image, the user can reduce the speech speed at the deceleration speed. Sometimes, the user can always hear the audio output substantially synchronized with the displayed video.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an embodiment of a speaker device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an appearance of the speaker device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a usage mode of the speaker device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a speech speed conversion process;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a main part of the speaker device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a main part of the speaker device according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... input jack, 2L, 2R ... audio signal input terminal, 3
L, 3R ... speaker, 4 ... headphone jack, 11 ...
A / D converter, 12 ... Audio signal processing unit (DSP), 13
... ROM, 14 ... buffer memory, 15 ... D / A converter, 16 ... audio power amplifier, 21-24 ... talking speed designation button, 31-34 ... LED, 25 ... power button,
26: Volume control knob

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A speech rate conversion means for converting an input speech signal into a speech signal with a low speech rate, and for temporarily storing the speech signal subjected to speech rate conversion processing by said speech rate conversion means. A buffer memory having a capacity for a delay time within a range of a delay time that does not cause a sense of incompatibility with a display image when the input audio signal is attached to a video signal, and a speech speed instruction input of a deceleration speed. When detecting, the input voice signal, while controlling the voice speed conversion means to convert to a voice signal of voice speed of a predetermined deceleration rate,
Monitoring the free space of the buffer memory, and when there is free space in the buffer memory, writes the speech speed-converted audio signal into the buffer memory, and
Control means for sequentially reading from the buffer memory as an output audio signal, and when the free space for writing to the buffer memory is exhausted, an audio signal which is not subjected to the speech speed conversion processing is set as the output audio signal; A speech speed conversion device comprising: 2. The speech speed conversion device according to claim 1, wherein said control means clears said buffer memory when receiving said speech speed instruction input. 3. The speech speed conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the buffer memory has a capacity to store audio signals for a predetermined time within a range of 5 seconds to 10 seconds. Characteristic speech speed converter. 4. The speech rate conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the control means compresses the speech rate-converted audio signal, writes the data into the buffer memory, and reads out the audio signal from the buffer memory. A speech speed conversion device, comprising: means for decompressing the data compression. 5. A means for receiving an input voice signal, a voice speed designation button for specifying a voice speed of an output voice signal, and a voice speed conversion means for converting the input voice signal into a voice signal having a low voice speed. The audio signal subjected to the speech speed conversion processing by the speech speed conversion means is for temporarily storing the audio signal, and a sense of incongruity with a display image occurs when the input audio signal is attached to a video signal. A buffer memory having a capacity corresponding to a delay time within a range of no delay time, an audio power amplifier for amplifying an audio signal, a speaker to which an output audio signal of the audio power amplifier is supplied, and a speech speed designation button. The instruction input is monitored, and when an instruction is input through the speech speed designation button, the input voice signal is changed to a predetermined deceleration rate corresponding to the speech speed designation button. While controlling the voice speed conversion means so as to convert the voice speed into a voice signal, the free space of the buffer memory is monitored, and when the free space is available in the buffer memory, the voice speed converted voice signal is converted. Writing to the buffer memory, and sequentially reading from the buffer memory to obtain an output audio signal to be supplied to the audio power amplifier, and when the free space for writing to the buffer memory is exhausted, the speech speed conversion processing is not performed. Control means for controlling an audio signal to be an output audio signal to be supplied to the audio power amplifier. 6. The speaker device according to claim 5, wherein the control means compresses the speech speed-converted audio signal, writes the data in the buffer memory, and reads the audio signal read from the buffer memory. A speaker device comprising means for decompressing data compression. 7. The speaker device according to claim 5, wherein the buffer memory has a capacity to store audio signals for a predetermined time within a range of 5 seconds to 10 seconds. A speaker device characterized by the above-mentioned. 8. The speaker device according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of said speech speed designation buttons are provided, and said control means monitors an instruction input through each of said plurality of speech speed designation buttons. When any one of the speech speed designation buttons is instructed, the input audio signal is converted into a speech signal of a speech speed of a predetermined deceleration rate corresponding to the speech speed designation button that is instructed. A speaker device for controlling the speech speed conversion means so as to perform conversion. 9. The speaker device according to claim 5, wherein said control means clears said buffer memory when receiving an operation instruction input of said speech speed designation button. apparatus. 10. A television receiver comprising the speech speed conversion device according to claim 1.