JP2006171458A - Tone quality controller, content display device, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tone quality controller capable of allowing a user to view a decision result by deciding whether an input audio signal is a speech or non-speech signal. <P>SOLUTION: The tone quality controller includes a speech/non-speech decision means 12 of deciding whether the inputted audio signal corresponds to a speech or non-speech, a tone quality adjusting means 15 of controlling the audio signal after the speech/non-speech decision means 12 decides the speech/non-speech decision to different tone quality between the speech and non-speech, and a decision result display means 10 of displaying the decision result of the speech/non-speech decision means 12. The decision result display means 10 displays the decision result to the user in steps according to the degree of the speech or non-speech. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a sound quality adjustment device, a content display device, a program, and a recording medium, and more specifically, a sound quality adjustment device having a sound signal determination function for performing speech / non-speech determination on a sound signal, and the sound quality adjustment thereof The present invention relates to a content display device including the device, a program thereof, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  Conventionally, in general audio devices, various sound quality adjustment devices such as bass adjustment that adjusts the output frequency characteristics of the low frequency range, treble adjustment that adjusts the output frequency characteristics of the high frequency range, and loudness adjustment that emphasizes the low and high frequency ranges. Is provided.

As such a sound quality adjusting device, by detecting the presence or absence of the periodicity from the sound information itself of the input sound signal, it is determined whether the input signal is music information or other information, and the result is A device that controls acoustic parameters in response to this has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-61-93712

  However, in particular, in devices that receive television broadcasts or radio broadcasts, an unexpected misjudgment may occur when judging whether or not music information is appropriate only from audio information.

  For example, if a cappella flows in a music program, it is not possible to detect the rhythm due to its style, it is determined that it is not music information, and the optimal acoustic parameter for this music information is not selected by an equalizer or the like A misjudgment occurs. As a result, for this music information, the equalizer may select, for example, the optimal acoustic parameters for speech, etc., so the clarity of the words is improved for the music information of a cappella that emphasizes the sound of raw sounds. As a result, the sound characteristics that are emphasized (relatively emphasized in the middle sound range) are output, and the sound settings that the user originally wants to hear are not achieved.

  While watching a news program, it is best to select parameters that are optimal for speech that emphasizes language clarity. However, depending on the content of the news, news reporting may sometimes be performed in parallel with the announcement speech. In some cases, the sound collected on site is output as it is. If music is mixed in such collected audio information, it is assumed that the music information output from the collected audio has an advantage over the speech of the news program depending on the balance of the volume of both. Therefore, such a case is also a problem that can occur sufficiently as an example opposite to the above-described a cappella example.

  And even if the device solves the problems as described above and can execute accurate speech / non-speech determination on the input audio signal, the determination and the sound quality adjustment based on the determination are executed inside the device. Therefore, there arises a problem that the user cannot understand why the sound quality has been changed. In particular, if the sound output as a result of the sound quality adjustment based on such speech / non-speech determination is not user-preferred, the user cannot understand the cause of the sound quality adjustment and cannot change the setting. I have to hold.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when determining speech / non-speech for an input audio signal and adjusting the sound quality based on the determination result, the determination result is used by the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound quality adjusting device that can be visually recognized, a content display device including the sound quality adjusting device, a program thereof, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

The present invention is constituted by the following technical means in order to solve the above-described problems.
The first technical means includes speech / non-speech determination means for determining whether the input audio signal corresponds to speech or non-speech, and the speech / non-speech determination means. A sound quality adjusting means for adjusting the speech signal determined to be speech / non-speech by the speech / non-speech, and a determination result display means for displaying the determination result in the speech / non-speech determination means. In the sound quality adjusting apparatus, the determination result display means displays the determination result to the user in stages according to the degree of speech or non-speech.

  According to a second technical means, in the first technical means, the sound quality adjusting means includes an adjustment setting means for setting whether or not to execute the sound quality adjustment based on a determination result of the speech / non-speech determination means. The determination result display means displays the determination result only when the sound quality adjustment is set to be executed by the adjustment setting means.

  According to a third technical means, in the first or second technical means, the determination result display means has a display setting means for setting whether or not to display the determination result, and the display setting means The determination result is displayed only when it is set to execute the determination result display.

  A fourth technical means is a content display device comprising the sound quality adjusting device and the content input device according to any one of the first to third technical means, wherein the audio included in the content input by the content input device A signal is input to the sound quality adjustment device, the sound quality is adjusted and sound is output, a video signal included in the content is displayed, and a determination result display by the determination result display means is performed as necessary. It is a feature.

  The fifth technical means includes a speech / non-speech determination step for determining whether the input audio signal corresponds to speech or non-speech, and the speech / non-speech determination step. A sound quality adjustment step of adjusting the sound signal determined to be different between speech and non-speech with respect to the audio signal determined as speech / non-speech by the determination, and a determination result display step of displaying a determination result in the speech / non-speech determination step. A program for causing a computer to execute, wherein the determination result display step is a step of displaying the determination result to the user in a stepwise manner according to the degree of speech or non-speech. is there.

  According to a sixth technical means, in the fifth technical means, the sound quality adjustment step includes an adjustment setting step for setting whether or not to perform the sound quality adjustment based on a determination result in the speech / non-speech determination step. The determination result display step displays the determination result only when the sound quality adjustment is set to be executed by the adjustment setting step.

  A seventh technical means is the fifth or sixth technical means, wherein the determination result display step includes a display setting step for setting whether or not to display the determination result. Only when the determination result display is set to be executed, the determination result is displayed.

  The eighth technical means is a computer-readable recording medium on which a program according to any of the fifth to seventh technical means is recorded.

  According to the present invention, when speech / non-speech is determined for an input audio signal and the sound quality is adjusted based on the determination result, the determination result can be made visible to the user.

  The sound quality adjustment apparatus according to the present invention includes speech / non-speech determination means, sound quality adjustment means, and determination result display means. Hereinafter, in the description of the present invention, in the speech / non-speech determination, the mono / stereo determination and a determination example in the speech / non-speech determination based on the determination result will be described with reference to a preferable example. Then, it is naturally possible to adopt a form in which such monaural / stereo determination and optimization are not executed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a sound quality adjustment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a sound quality adjustment apparatus, 10 is a determination result display means, 11 is an audio signal input means, and 12 is a sound signal input means. speech / non-speech decision section, the mono / stereo decision means 13, reference optimization means 14, 14a switch, setting means 14b is the threshold _(threshold) setting means to _{V SL1,} 14c is to the threshold _{V SL2,} 15 Is sound quality adjusting means, and 16 is an audio signal output means.

  The speech / non-speech determination unit 12 performs a determination for determining whether the audio signal input by the audio signal input unit 11 corresponds to speech or non-speech. In the audio signal input means 11, the input source and input method are not limited. The speech / non-speech determination unit 12 may be configured in whole or in part by hardware or software.

  Further, the speech / non-speech determination means 12 uses an empirical rule such as “News programs are generally monaural broadcasting, while music and music programs in which music flows are often set to stereo broadcasting”. It is preferable to determine whether the currently broadcast program is suitable for speech / non-speech (music) by detecting the monaural / stereo signal superimposed on the audio signal. For this reason, the sound quality adjustment apparatus described here includes a monaural / stereo determination unit 13 and a reference optimization unit 14, which optimizes speech / non-speech determination and controls acoustic parameters based on the determination. ing.

  The monaural / stereo determination means 13 determines whether the input audio signal is a monaural signal or a stereo signal. The monaural / stereo determination means 13 may be configured in whole or in part by hardware or software, and is determined by information such as mono / stereo switching when a sound signal is input. May be. Furthermore, if the original content of the audio signal is posted in an electronic program guide (EPG) and can be reserved for recording, the mono / stereo information in the EPG is also posted together. It is also possible to perform monaural / stereo determination by acquiring.

  The reference optimization unit 14 optimizes the determination criterion in the speech / non-speech determination unit 12 based on the determination result in the monaural / stereo determination unit 13. Thus, the accuracy of the detection function can be improved by optimizing the determination criterion of the automatic speech detection function by monaural / stereo determination. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine speech / non-speech with respect to the input audio signal, that is, suitable speech / non-speech detection according to the monaural / stereo signal of the audio signal. For example, optimization control can be performed so that a monaural signal such as news can be easily determined as speech, and a stereo signal with a lot of music including BGM can be easily determined as non-speech. Also, in this example, it is assumed that monaural / stereo determination and reference optimization have been performed in advance for the sound signal in order to accurately determine the speech / non-speech of the sound signal. Alternatively, the speech / non-speech determination may be performed by sequentially performing monaural / stereo determination and reference optimization every time an audio signal is input.

  Further, the determination by the speech / non-speech determination unit 12 is preferably performed by performing a plurality of signal analyzes on the input audio signal. Signal analysis includes, for example, signal energy change analysis with respect to time, syllable uniformity analysis, and frequency vs. sound intensity analysis. By such signal analysis, for example, (I) signal energy change over time, (II) frequency versus voice intensity, (III) vowel and consonant order, (IV) syllable length, (V) consonant and vowel. The amount of energy can be obtained.

For example, in consideration of the following points, speech / non-speech may be determined. (I) In speech, there is a segment with low speech energy between syllables (with high speech energy) and syllables, and such segments are often absent in non-speech. (II) The mid-range intensity of speech is 100 Hz to 3 kHz, and the non-speech intensity is low and high. (III) Speech often follows the order in a syllable from a consonant to a vowel. (IV) Speech often has uniform syllable lengths. In (V) speech, the amount of vowel energy is often greater than the amount of consonant energy. Further, weighting is performed on (I) to (V), summed, and statistical processing is performed to obtain a final signal analysis result. If the numerical value is monaural, the threshold value V is used. _{When SL1} is stereo, it is sufficient to determine speech / non-speech (for example, determination of the degree of possibility of speech, etc.) by determining with the threshold V _SL2 for that. As another method, the reference optimization unit 14 may change the set of threshold values for each signal analysis as a speech / non-speech determination criterion based on the monaural / stereo determination.

  The sound quality adjusting means 15 adjusts the sound signal determined to be speech / non-speech by the configuration as described above to at least different sound quality between speech and non-speech. The sound quality setting method here is arbitrary, and the set value, the increase / decrease set value, or the set value in each frequency band may be different depending on the degree of possibility of speech / non-speech. For example, the sound quality setting where the center frequency of the equalizer such as a graphic equalizer and the Q value of the filter (the sharpness of peaks and valleys in the curve for one band of the graphic equalizer) are fixed, and these can be changed as in the case of a parametric equalizer. Sound quality setting may be used. The audio signal output unit 16 outputs the audio signal adjusted by the sound quality adjustment unit 15.

  Then, the determination result display means 10 which is a feature of the present invention gives the determination result of the speech / non-speech determination means 12 to the user as the degree of speech or non-speech (for example, the ratio of speech portion or the possibility of speech) ) To display in stages. Actually, the speech / non-speech determination means 12 detects speech or non-speech, performs threshold processing with a predetermined threshold according to the detection result, and determines whether the speech is / non-speech. The determination result display means 10 displays the speech detection result or the non-speech detection result that is the basis of such speech / non-speech determination in a stepwise manner according to the detection level (for example, the degree of speech). That's fine. When performing such stepwise display, a plurality of threshold processings (at least two sets of threshold groups may be prepared according to the degree of monaural / stereo) are combined, By adjusting the sound quality according to the stage, the staged display becomes more effective.

  Further, the sound quality adjusting unit 15 may include an adjustment setting unit that sets whether or not to perform the sound quality adjustment by the sound quality adjusting unit 15 based on the determination result of the speech / non-speech determining unit 12. In addition, what is necessary is just to set separately about the sound quality adjustment resulting from other than speech / non-speech determination. This adjustment setting means is set by a user operation. The settings here include, for example, (a) automatically adjusting the sound quality based on speech / non-speech determination, (b) fixing the sound quality adjustment (sound quality adjustment performed on a predetermined speech, And (c) sound quality adjustment (sound quality adjustment based on speech / non-speech determination) is not performed, and the setting is set by the user's selection operation from among the options. Based on the user settings in the adjustment setting means, the sound quality adjustment means 15 performs sound quality adjustments that match each of (a), (b), and (c), and the determination result display means 10 determines in the case of (a). Display of the determination result (detection result), and in the case of (b) and (c), it is not displayed. As described above, the determination result display unit 10 may display the determination result only when the adjustment setting unit is set to execute the sound quality adjustment. For example, the determination result is not displayed when the sound quality adjustment for speech is simply performed as in (b) described above.

  Further, the determination result display means 10 may include display setting means for setting whether or not to display the determination result. The determination result display means 10 may display the determination result only when the display setting means is set to execute the determination result display. It should be noted that this display setting means may be provided regardless of the provision of the adjustment setting means described above. However, in the embodiment provided with the adjustment setting means, the determination result display means 10 is the determination result obtained by the adjustment setting means. The determination result is displayed only when the sound quality adjustment based on is performed and the determination result display is performed.

  2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the sound quality adjustment process and the determination result display process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the sound quality setting equalization used in the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example in the determination result display process of FIG.

  For the sake of simplification, the description will be made assuming that the determination criterion for speech / non-speech is performed by one threshold process. Good. First, when an audio signal is input, monaural / stereo determination means 13 performs monaural / stereo determination (step S1). In this determination, for example, assuming that L is a left input signal and R is a right input signal, a calculation of (LR) / (L + R) is performed on the input signal, and the phase difference determination may be performed.

If it is determined by this determination that the signal is a monaural signal, the reference optimization means 14 connects the switch 14a to the setting means 14b side for the threshold value _VSL1, and the determination threshold value in the speech / non-speech determination means 12 _Is set to _VSL1 (step S2). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the signal is a stereo signal, the reference optimizing unit 14 connects the switch 14a to the setting unit 14c side for the threshold value _VSL2, and the determination in the speech / non-speech determining unit 12 is performed. _Is set to _VSL2 (step S3). By optimizing the threshold setting in this way, control is performed so that it is easy to determine speech for monaural signals such as news, and it is easy to determine non-speech for stereo signals with a lot of music including BGM. Can do. The configuration of the reference optimization unit 14 is not limited to that shown in the figure.

Next, the speech / non-speech determination unit 12 determines speech / non-speech based on the threshold value V _SL1 / V _SL2 set in any of steps S 2 / S 3 (step S 4). If the speech is determined to be speech, the sound quality setting A is selected to adjust the sound quality (step S5). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the speech is not speech, the sound quality setting B is selected to adjust the sound quality (step S6).

  Here, an example of the difference between the sound quality setting A and the sound quality setting B will be described with reference to FIG. In the case of the sound quality setting A (speech), the frequency characteristic of the equalizer is set as shown in the graph 21, and in the case of the sound quality setting B (non-speech), the frequency characteristic of the equalizer is set as shown in the graph 22. The difference between the graph 21 and the graph 22 is that in the case of non-speech, the vicinity of the predetermined low frequency 22a and the vicinity of the predetermined high frequency 22b are emphasized compared to the case of speech.

  The determination result is displayed before and after the process of step S5 / S6 (at least after the speech / non-speech determination in step S4) (step S7). As a display method, an LED may be displayed on the sound quality adjusting device. When an audio signal is input together with a video signal, a screen for displaying the video signal, for example, as illustrated in FIG. OSD (On Screen Display) display may be performed on 31.

  When the determination result is displayed in step S7, the determination result is displayed step by step so that the speech degree (or non-speech degree) by the speech / non-speech determination can be visually recognized. Note that the lowest stage display process here corresponds to the case where the speech / non-speech determination process is performed with one threshold value and the sound quality adjustment is executed, and at least two stages of speech or non-speech. indicate. Hereinafter, an example in which the user visually recognizes the speech level will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, the character 32 indicating “speech level” is displayed on the screen 31 and the speech level (speech detection level). The number of marks 33 may be displayed according to (). The number of marks 33 is a number corresponding to the degree of speech and can also be called a speech sensor mark. As a result, it indicates how much the sound quality adjustment is made, and an example of the mark 33 is green. For example, a speech mark representing the face of a person who opened his mouth with a color may be displayed. In addition, for example, color selection (for example, green for Japanese, orange for English) or selection of shape (speaker mark, sign, cosine mark, flashing flashing, etc.) may be made possible by user settings. In the example of FIG. 4, the name of the sound quality adjustment based on the speech / non-speech determination (named “lively voice” here) is shown as the character 32 representing “speech degree”.

  When displaying the determination result, the face image may be displayed in the horizontal direction at the bottom of the screen 31 like the mark 33, or the display position may be moved to an arbitrary position automatically or manually. Furthermore, it is preferable that the vertical display / horizontal display can be changed. Further, as a method of moving the display position, for example, when characters are displayed at the lower or upper part of the screen, it is preferable that the display position can be moved to a position that does not overlap those characters. More specifically, for example, it may be moved to a position where it does not overlap with text display such as Japanese dubbing display of audio multiplex broadcasting or news information of data broadcasting at the bottom of the screen. In addition, the program type information (for example, a song program or other program) is acquired from the EPG, and in the case of a song program, the display size is reduced or increased, and the position that does not overlap with the display of lyrics displayed on the screen Applications such as displaying on the screen are also possible.

  Furthermore, the present invention is also applied to a content display device (for example, a broadcast receiving device that receives a broadcast signal of a television broadcast or a radio broadcast as well as a digital / analog) including the sound quality adjusting device and the content input device as described above. Applicable. In this content display device, the audio signal included in the content input by the content input device is input to the sound quality adjustment device, the sound quality is adjusted and the sound is output, the video signal included in the content is displayed, and necessary. In response to this, the determination result display means 10 displays the determination result. The content display device according to the present invention is also applicable to, for example, a general-purpose personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a PC) including modules such as a television receiver, a content reproduction program, and a video card (also referred to as a video adapter). It is applicable as described later. Further, in the present invention, the distribution and broadcasting form of the content are basically not questioned. Next, a television receiver (television receiver) is given as an example of a content display device incorporating a sound quality adjusting device, and will be described more specifically.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a television receiver which is one of application examples in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a mark display target table stored in the microcomputer of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the determination result display processing in the television receiver of FIG. 5, and is also a flowchart for excerpting the determination result display processing in the flowchart of FIG. . Further, FIGS. 8 to 10 are diagrams illustrating an example of a setting screen for determination result display in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is an example of setting items for audio adjustment, and FIG. 9 is an example of setting items of FIG. FIG. 10 shows an example of operation setting items for sound quality adjustment according to the present invention, and FIG. 10 shows an example of display setting items for sound quality adjustment according to the present invention, among the setting item examples of FIG.

  In FIG. 5, 4 is a television receiver main body, 40 is a tuner unit, 41 is an external input unit, 42 is a main body operation unit, 43 is a video processing IC (Integrated Circuit), 44 is a main body microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer), 45 is an audio processing IC, 46 is a display, 47L is a left speaker, 47R is a right speaker, 48 is a light receiving unit, and 49 is a remote controller unit (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller). 6 and 8 to 10, 5 is a speech sensor mark display target table stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like in the microcomputer 44, 6 is an example of a voice adjustment setting screen, and 61 is a setting. A menu list, 62 is an audio adjustment item list, 63 is an operation setting item, and 64 is a display setting item.

  The television receiver main body 4 exemplified here mainly includes a main body microcomputer 44 as an example of a control means, a video / audio input unit such as an antenna and a tuner unit 40 and an external input unit 41, and various video processings for input video signals. A video processing IC 43 that performs various processing on the input audio signal, a main body operation unit 42 that accepts user operations, a display (display device) such as an LCD, PDP, or organic EL that displays the video signal that has undergone the video processing 46, left and right speakers 47L and 47R that output audio signals subjected to audio processing, and a light receiving unit 48 that receives light from the remote controller 49. The speech sensor mark display target table 5 is stored in the ROM or the like in the microcomputer 44. The microcomputer 44 and the audio processing IC 45 (and the video processing IC 43) can also be incorporated as a system LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit).

  In addition, the setting of the periodic processing time is set in the adjustment process in the television receiver 4. The setting of the period processing time is a process for setting a period for reading the speech / non-speech determination result performed by the voice processing IC 45 by the microcomputer 44 when the determination result display process according to the present invention is performed. It is good to set to read. Here, for example, it may be variable between 100 ms and 2000 ms, and may be variable not only by the adjustment process but also by user settings. Thus, if the reading time is not fixed to some extent, the smoothness of the determination result display is affected. For example, −160 to +160 (FFFF 60 to 000000 to 0000A0) is prepared as the movable range of the register as the data that is actually read at the period set here, and the initial setting value of this register is set to “000000”. . Then, the sound quality adjustment itself is controlled so that the register value is set to a sound quality setting of speech in the positive direction and non-speech in the negative direction. In addition, the display target number is set in advance by the following formula and the setting of the MIN and MAX values in the following formula. Here, the set value of each display number is “less than or equal to”. The following equation may be stored as the speech sensor mark display target table 5 or the like.

      MIN + (MAX−MIN) × variables [1-9] ÷ 9

  In the above equation, MAX and MIN are the maximum and minimum values set in advance as values between −160 and +160 in the above-described example. For example, MIN is set to 0, MAX is set to 150, etc. Just keep it. Further, in the following expression, the determination result is displayed in 10 steps (that is, MAX), that is, as an example of the number of displays, it is illustrated as being preset so that 0 to 10 marks 33 in FIG. 4 can be displayed. However, it is not limited to this.

  In the processing of the microcomputer 44 in the television receiver 4 as described above, first, periodic processing (for example, in units of 100 ms) is performed with the period set as described above (step S11). In step S11, the following steps S12 to S22 are executed according to the arrival of the processing cycle. First, in step S12, the display target value is set, that is, the number of displays is determined by substituting the determination result in the voice processing IC 45 read by the microcomputer 44 into the above equation (Table 5).

  Here, the display is immediately set to “0” when there is no synchronization and when there is no sound (steps S13 and S14). In step S13, it is determined whether or not the input signal is synchronized and the silence state is determined. If the input signal is not synchronized or is silent, the calculation is forcibly set to “0” in step S14. Go to step S20. The determination of the silent state will be described later in another embodiment. Note that the determination in step S13 and the calculation in step S14 are effective, for example, when the user views a news program and then displays a sandstorm screen by selecting a song. In such a case, as a speech / non-speech determination result, for example, the determination result of speech (for example, the register value is +160) gradually falls to 0 but remains in the register, and is periodically Since the display is executed by reading the register value (the remaining value), the user misunderstands that it is also executed for a sandstorm where speech / non-speech determination cannot be performed. End up. Therefore, it is necessary to forcibly set the register value to 0 in order to prevent such a misunderstanding.

  On the other hand, in the case of NO in step S13, it is determined whether or not the display number of the previous cycle is the display target value set in step S12 (step S15). If YES in step S15, the display number is maintained (step S16), and the process proceeds to step S20. In the case of NO in step S15, it is determined whether or not the display number of the previous cycle is smaller than the display target value set in step S12 (step S17). If “YES” in the step S17, a calculation of “the display number of the previous cycle + 1” is executed (step S18), and the process proceeds to the step S20. In the case of NO in step S17, the calculation of “display number of previous period−1” is executed (step S19), and the process proceeds to step S20.

  Then, after Steps S14, S16, S18, and S19, the display number is stored in the display number of the previous period (Step S20), and it is determined whether or not to display (Step S21). Is displayed on the screen (step S22), otherwise, the processing in this cycle is terminated and the next cycle is awaited. As described above, the microcomputer 44 performs the periodic processing and calculation as described above based on the table 5 stored in the ROM.

  Next, the determination in step S21 will be described. This determination is made by reading a default value or a user setting. Here, the user setting corresponds to the setting in the adjustment setting means and the display setting means described above, and is performed in the following procedure. First, as shown in FIG. 8, a user menu list 61 (video adjustment, audio adjustment, main unit setting, function switching) is displayed, and when the user selects audio adjustment, an item list 62 relating to audio adjustment (high, low, (Balance, surround, lively voice, reset) is displayed. When the user selects the sound quality adjustment (“live voice” 62a) according to the present invention from among them, the operation setting item (setting item in the adjustment setting means) 63 and the display setting item as shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 64 (setting item in the display setting means) is displayed.

  As the operation setting item 63, for example, “OFF” 63a corresponding to a setting for performing no sound quality adjustment according to the present invention, sound quality close to speech (or non-speech) without or without determination of speech / non-speech “Fixed” 63b corresponding to the setting for adjusting to “Automatic” and “Automatic” 63c corresponding to the setting for automatically performing speech / non-speech determination and sound quality adjustment based on the determination result are prepared. When the “operation setting” is “automatic” 63c, the speech sensor mark is displayed. When the “operation setting” is “fixed” 63b and “off” 63a, the speech sensor mark is not displayed. Note that data may be read even when “OFF” 64a is set as in the flow. On the other hand, “no display” 64a and “display” 64b are prepared as display setting items 64, and the speech sensor mark is displayed only when “display setting” is “display” 64b. Of course, reading the data every set cycle (for example, in units of 100 ms) and displaying the speech sensor mark at the bottom of the screen may be executed only when “with display” 64b is set.

  With the configuration and processing as described above, in this embodiment, when speech / non-speech is determined for an input audio signal, the determination result can be made visible to the user. By making the user visually recognize such a determination result, it is possible to cause the user to understand the sound quality adjustment factor being processed based on the determination result. Further, further user settings can be made by the visual recognition. In addition, by determining monaural / stereo when determining speech / non-speech, the judgment (speech / non-speech) is based not only on the audio information of the audio signal but also on the gist of the program (the program including the audio signal). (Judgement) is also performed at the same time, it is possible to reduce erroneous determination of acoustic parameter control of an equalizer or the like due to the characteristics of the input audio signal as much as possible, and it is possible to perform accurate acoustic parameter control and accurate sound quality adjustment. Also, for example, in order to determine whether the program is based on a monaural / stereo signal superimposed on the audio signal at the same time as the audio information, and to determine whether the input audio signal is speech or non-speech (music) according to the result. By optimizing the judgment criteria, it is possible to freely control speech / non-speech detection according to the contents and characteristics of the broadcasted program, and to control equipment based on that control (for example, sound quality adjustment and separate recording) become.

  In addition, the content display device according to the present embodiment includes a display function capable of visually recognizing whether a TV program, a video / DVD, or the like is a speech sound or a non-speech sound by using a speech automatic detection function, for example. It is possible to make the user visually recognize whether the currently displayed content is speech sound or non-speech sound. That is, an audio system (speech / non-speech) such as a TV program or video / DVD can be visually recognized in real time. In addition, the speech / non-speech determination described above may be applied to content recording (including re-recording). In this case, the content is transmitted to the content display device via broadcast, via a network, via a recording medium, or the like. It is preferable to add a function to record or reserve record the acquired content as well as the acquired content. For example, speech / non-speech determination can be used for CM determination and other separate recordings with various recorders, etc., and at that time, whether the content corresponds to speech or non-speech at the same time It may be displayed so as to be visible.

  Further, the content display devices such as the sound quality adjusting device 1 and the television receiver 4 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10, and further, the respective constituent elements thereof may be configured with hardware as described above. However, a part thereof may be configured by software. For example, the program may be incorporated in a general-purpose computer such as a computer or a PC as shown by the microcomputer in FIG. 5, and the configuration of the general information processing apparatus shown in FIG. This will be described with reference to an example. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a general information processing apparatus. In the figure, 7 is an information processing apparatus, 71 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), 72 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), and 73 is rewritable. ROM, 74 is an input device, 75 is a display device, 76 is an output device, and 77 is a bus.

  Further, a program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus or each means according to the present invention or a program for causing a computer to execute each processing step is stored in the ROM 73 and is executed by being read out by the CPU 71. This program when installed in a computer or the like is a program (a program that causes a computer to function) that controls the CPU 71 or the like of the computer as each of the means described above. Information handled by the apparatus and each means according to the present invention is temporarily accumulated in the RAM 72 at the time of processing, then stored in various ROMs 73, and read out, corrected, and written by the CPU 71 as necessary. Here, the information related to the present invention includes information on items selected by the user, audio signals when the signal is input and analyzed by the audio signal input means as one of the threshold value and the input device 74, and the like. Further, for example, the setting value stored in the ROM 73 may be read out to the RAM 72 to maintain the setting during that time.

  The progress and result of the process are presented to the device user through a display device 75 such as an LCD, PDP, organic EL, or CRT. When user settings are required, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse (pointing device). The device user may input or select and input parameters necessary for processing from 74 (for example, specification of an audio signal to be input or content including it, selection of various user setting items, etc.). In addition, this program may be provided with a graphical user interface (GUI) for the display device 75 so as to be easy for the device user to use. Examples of GUIs are also illustrated in FIGS. Examples of the output device 76 include a speaker which is an audio signal output device, a communication device such as a network board for communication by connecting to a network, and an output device for an output device such as a printing device. . The CPU 71, RAM 72, ROM 73, input device 74, display device 75, and output device 76 may be connected by a bus 77 or the like.

  Further, as a recording medium on which the program as described above is recorded, specifically, a CD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk, a DVD-ROM, an FD, a flash memory, and various other ROMs (including a rewritable ROM) and a RAM The above functions can be easily realized by recording and distributing a program for causing a computer to execute the functions of the above-described embodiments of the present invention on these recording media. Then, the information processing apparatus such as a computer is loaded with the recording medium as described above, and the program is read by the information processing apparatus, or the program is stored in the recording medium included in the information processing apparatus, By reading in response, the function according to the present invention can be executed.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a sound quality adjusting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which 8 is a sound quality adjusting apparatus, 80 is a determination result display means, 81 is an audio signal input means, and 82. Is speech / non-speech determination means, 83 is sound / silence determination means, 85 is sound quality adjustment means, and 86 is audio signal output means.

  The sound quality adjustment apparatus 8 according to the present embodiment includes a sound / silence determination unit 83, a speech / non-speech determination unit 82, a sound quality adjustment unit 85, and a determination result display unit 80. The voice / silence determination unit 83 determines whether the voice signal input by the voice signal input unit 81 is in a voiced state or in a silent state. In the audio signal input means 81, the input source and input method are not limited. In addition, the sound / silence determination means 83 detects the state of sound / silence, for example, by detecting the signal level of the input sound signal (eg, a sound level above a predetermined level). Good. The voice / silence determination means 83 may be configured in whole or in part by hardware or software.

  The sound quality adjusting unit 85 sets the sound signal to be different in sound quality and soundless based on the determination result in the sound / silence determination unit 83, and adjusts the sound quality based on the setting. The sound quality adjusting means 85 may be configured in whole or in part by hardware or software. The sound quality setting by the sound quality adjusting means 85 is performed by changing only a part thereof based on the sound quality setting at the time of sound immediately before the sound / silence determining means 83 determines that there is no sound. For example, in the case of silence, the output level of a predetermined low frequency band and a predetermined high frequency band may be lowered by 1 to 2 dB compared to the case of sound. By changing only a part, adjustment is made with a setting value close to the setting value at the time of the previous sound, and when transitioning from the silent state to the sounding state again, this state is close to the previous sounding level. Therefore, it is possible to change the setting value in part and to quickly return. This effect becomes more prominent when the sound quality setting based on the sound quality adjusting means 85 is configured by hardware. The audio signal output unit 86 outputs the audio signal adjusted by the sound quality adjusting unit 85.

  Further, the speech / non-speech determination means 82 is as described with reference to FIG. 1, but here, an example in which threshold optimization based on monaural / stereo determination is not performed is shown. Note that the accuracy of the detection function can be improved by optimizing the determination standard of the automatic speech detection function by monaural / stereo determination. Further, instead of the speech / non-speech determination means 82, it may be configured to acquire detailed time-series information of the content based on the EPG information. In this case, the determination result is also displayed based on the acquired information. It will be. Further, the arrangement of the speech / non-speech determination means 82 is not limited to that shown in FIG. Then, the sound quality adjusting means 85 in this embodiment may make the change values of only a part of the speech and non-speech different based on the determination result in the speech / non-speech determination means 82.

  The sound quality setting method here is arbitrary, and it suffices if the setting value, the increase / decrease setting value, or the setting value in each frequency band differs depending on speech / non-speech. For example, a sound quality setting such as a graphic equalizer in which the center frequency of the equalizer and the Q value of the filter are fixed, or a sound quality setting that can be changed like a parametric equalizer may be used. The sound quality setting at the time of transition from sound to silence is partially changed from that at the previous sound. In addition, only a part of the change described above is illustrated as a case where the output level of the predetermined low-frequency band and the predetermined high-frequency band is lowered by 1 to 2 dB in the case of silence as compared to the case of sound. It is preferable to change the output level locally in the frequency band.

  The determination result display means 80 is a means for making the user visually recognize the speech / non-speech determination result. Similarly, the sound / silence determination result may be visually recognized by the user.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the sound quality setting equalization used in the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. is there. Here, FIG. 14A shows an example during speech, and FIG. 14B shows an example during non-speech.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the sound quality is initially set to the basic sound quality. Further, an explanation will be made focusing on an example in which speech / non-speech is determined from the audio signal, and the sound quality of A is set when it is determined as speech, and the sound quality of B is set when it is determined as non-speech.

  First, the voice / silence determination means 83 confirms the input level (step S31). Here, if there is sound, the process proceeds to step S33. If there is no sound, the basic sound quality is corrected (step S32), and the input level is confirmed again in step S31. In step S32, if the determination of the silent state in step S31 is the second time or later, the basic sound quality may not be corrected, and the setting is continued even in the case of correcting again instead of this case. deep. The processes in steps S31 and S32 are processes before an audio signal is input and the sound quality is first set to one of the sound quality A / B. After that, the setting is changed and retained in the processes after step S33. It will be carried out.

  In step S33, speech / non-speech is determined (step S33). Note that the determination criteria for speech / non-speech may be made by a single threshold process or a multi-parameter threshold process. Based on the determination in step S33, the sound quality is set and adjusted (steps S34 and S35). In this sound quality setting, when it is determined to be speech, the sound quality of A is selected to adjust the sound quality (step S34), and when it is determined to be non-speech, the sound quality of B is selected to adjust the sound quality (step S35).

  Here, an example of the difference between the sound quality setting A and the sound quality setting B will be described with reference to FIG. In the case of sound quality setting A (speech), the frequency characteristic of the equalizer is set as shown by a graph 91, and in the case of sound quality setting B (non-speech), the frequency characteristic of the equalizer is set as shown by a graph 93. The difference between the graph 91 and the graph 93 is that in the case of non-speech, the vicinity of the predetermined low frequency 93a and the predetermined level in the vicinity of the predetermined low frequency 91a and the output level in the vicinity of the predetermined high frequency 91b at the time of speech. The output level near the high frequency 93b is emphasized.

  In the processes of steps S34 and S35, the selected sound quality is held, and then, in step S36, the speech / non-speech determination result that is the origin is displayed. The voice / silence determination means 83 confirms the input level (step S37). Here, if there is sound, the process is terminated, and if there is no sound, the sound quality is adjusted. In the sound quality adjustment performed here, the sound quality is corrected in accordance with each previous state (step S38). When the set sound quality (the sound quality before silence) is the sound quality A, the sound quality is A 'as shown in the graph 92 of FIG. ) To a sound quality B 'as shown in the graph 94 of FIG. The difference between the graph 92 and the graph 91 during speech is that the vicinity of the predetermined low frequency 91a and the vicinity of the predetermined high frequency 91b are emphasized. Similarly, the difference between the non-speech graph 94 and the graph 93 is that the vicinity of the predetermined low frequency 93a and the vicinity of the predetermined high frequency 93b are emphasized. In the present embodiment, when the automatic speech detection function is used, as in the case of the sound quality A ′ and B ′, in addition to the sound quality settings A and B in the presence of sound, Alternatively, a sound quality setting when the input signal is small (background noise) is provided.

  Next, it is determined whether the silent state has returned to the voiced state (step S39). If the sound is not restored and remains silent, the settings (sound quality parameters, etc.) at that time are continued without being changed, and a return to the sound state is awaited. On the other hand, when the sound is restored, the sound quality A ′ or the sound quality B ′ is returned to the sound quality setting A or B when there is a sound (step S40), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, by executing the sound / silence determination as in the present embodiment, the following problems of the prior art can be solved. That is, in the prior art, not only is it difficult to accurately adjust the sound quality due to such a misjudgment caused by judging whether or not the music information is only from the sound information, but the sound signal is a silent signal or an input level. Is a small signal, low and high frequency noise is output from the speaker. To solve this situation, when the signal level rises and the sound is restored even when the equipment is configured to adjust the sound quality so that the input signal is shut out when the signal level is 0 or low The sound quality cannot be set accurately and quickly. Such phenomena occur when recording media are loaded, when switching to external input, when the content to be viewed is switched from speech to non-speech, when the channel to be received is switched, and from CM to the main part. This is particularly a problem for audio signals whose signal level changes suddenly, such as at times.

  That is, according to the sound quality adjustment apparatus according to the present embodiment, the low-high frequency noise is output from the speaker when there is no sound, and the sound quality setting is performed in a state close to the previous state, so that the sound quality is restored. Quick response (sound quality setting) is possible. In other words, with this sound quality adjustment device, it is possible to perform sound quality settings that accurately reduce noise output during silence and quickly return to the sound state even for audio signals whose input level changes abruptly. It becomes.

  According to the present embodiment, in addition to the effects described above, not only the audio information of the audio signal but also the determination (speech / non-speech determination) according to the gist of the program (the program including the audio signal) is made at the same time. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the erroneous determination of the acoustic parameter control of the equalizer or the like as much as possible due to the characteristics of the input audio signal, and it is possible to accurately control the acoustic parameters and adjust the sound quality.In addition, as the main effect of the present invention, When the speech / non-speech is determined for the audio signal, the determination result can be made visible to the user. For example, the main purpose of the program is determined by a monaural / stereo signal superimposed on the audio signal at the same time as the audio information, and a determination for determining whether the input audio signal is speech or non-speech (music) according to the result. By optimizing the criteria, it is possible to freely control speech / non-speech detection according to the contents of broadcasted programs, characteristics, and sound quality adjustment based on the control, and to present detection results to the user.

  Further, the sound quality adjusting device 8 described above with reference to FIGS. 12 to 14 can also be incorporated into the content display device in the same manner as the sound quality adjusting device shown in FIG. Further, each means that is a component in the sound quality adjusting device 8 or the content display device may be configured by hardware, but a part thereof may be configured by software. An example in which a program is incorporated in a general-purpose computer such as a PC (personal computer) and an example of a computer-readable recording medium in which the program is recorded are as described with reference to FIG. The programs stored in are different. This program performs processing steps corresponding to the above-described means, that is, sound / silence determination step, speech / non-speech determination step, sound quality adjustment step, and determination result display step based on speech / non-speech determination on a computer. This is a program to be executed. The sound quality setting in the sound quality adjustment step is performed by changing only a part thereof based on the sound quality setting in the sound immediately before it is determined that there is no sound in the sound / silence determination step. The sound quality adjustment step when the sound quality adjustment is executed by the sound quality adjuster (hardware) is a step of performing control for causing the sound quality adjusting device to adjust the sound quality of the sound signal based on the sound quality setting of the sound signal.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the sound quality adjustment apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the sound quality adjustment process and determination result display process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the sound quality setting equalizing used by the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display in the determination result display process of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the television receiver which is one of the application examples in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the mark display target table stored in the microcomputer in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining determination result display processing in the television receiver of FIG. 5, and is also a flowchart for explaining in detail by extracting the determination result display processing in the flowchart of FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of the determination result display in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of the determination result display in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of the determination result display in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a general information processing apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the sound quality adjustment apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the sound quality setting equalization used by the sound quality adjustment process in the sound quality adjustment apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,8 ... Sound quality adjustment apparatus, 4 ... Television receiver, 7 ... Information processing apparatus, 10, 80 ... Determination result display means, 11, 81 ... Audio | voice signal input means, 12, 82 ... Speech / non-speech determination means, 13 ... mono / stereo decision means, 14 ... reference optimization means, 14a ... switch, setting means to 14b ... threshold _{V SL1,} setting means to 14c ... threshold _{V SL2,} 15,85 ... tone control means, 16,86 ... Audio signal output means, 40 ... tuner unit, 41 ... external input unit, 42 ... main body operation unit, 43 ... video processing IC, 44 ... microcomputer, 45 ... audio processing IC, 46 ... display, 47L, 47R ... speaker, 48 ... Light receiving unit 49... Remote control 71... CPU 72. RAM 73. Rewriteable ROM 74 Input device 75 Display device 76 Output device 77 Bus 83 Sound / silence determining means.

Claims (8)

  Speech / non-speech determination means for determining whether the input audio signal corresponds to speech or non-speech, and the speech / non-speech determination means determines speech / non-speech. A sound quality adjusting device having sound quality adjusting means for adjusting the sound quality of the speech signal different between speech and non-speech, and a determination result display means for displaying a determination result in the speech / non-speech determining means, The determination result display means displays to the user the determination result in stages according to the degree of speech or non-speech.   The sound quality adjusting means includes adjustment setting means for setting whether or not to execute the sound quality adjustment based on a determination result of the speech / non-speech determining means, and the determination result display means is determined by the adjustment setting means. The sound quality adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination result is displayed only when the sound quality adjustment is set to be executed.   The determination result display means has display setting means for setting whether or not to display the determination result, and only when the determination result display is set to be executed by the display setting means, The sound quality adjustment apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a determination result is displayed.   A content display device comprising the sound quality adjustment device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and a content input device, wherein an audio signal included in the content input by the content input device is transmitted to the sound quality adjustment device. The content display device is characterized in that the sound quality is adjusted, the sound is output, the video signal included in the content is displayed, and the determination result display unit displays the determination result as necessary. .   A speech / non-speech determination step for determining whether an input audio signal corresponds to speech or non-speech, and the speech / non-speech determination step determines speech / non-speech. A program for causing a computer to execute a sound quality adjustment step for adjusting different sound qualities for speech and non-speech with respect to a sound signal and a determination result display step for displaying a determination result in the speech / non-speech determination step The determination result display step is a step of displaying the determination result stepwise to the user in accordance with the degree of speech or non-speech.   The sound quality adjustment step includes an adjustment setting step for setting whether or not to execute the sound quality adjustment based on the determination result in the speech / non-speech determination step, and the determination result display step includes the adjustment setting step. The program according to claim 5, wherein the determination result is displayed only when the sound quality adjustment is set to be executed.   The determination result display step includes a display setting step for setting whether or not to display the determination result, and the determination result is displayed only when the determination result display is set to be executed by the display setting step. The program according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a result is displayed.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program of any one of Claim 5 thru | or 7.

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