JP2009077290A - Reproduction apparatus and equalizing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reproduction apparatus capable of adjusting frequency characteristics so that a sound signal obtained by reproducing content has more pleasant characteristics. <P>SOLUTION: The reproduction apparatus capable of performing equalizing processing to adjust the frequency characteristics of a sound signal obtained by reproducing the content to be reproduced is provided with a period acquisition means (step 74) for acquiring period information indicating a period in which the content is released or recorded to adjust the frequency characteristics based on the period information acquired by the period acquisition means (step 75). The period acquisition means can acquire the period information on the basis of additional information added to the data of the content to be reproduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a playback apparatus that adjusts frequency characteristics of an audio signal obtained by playing back content, and an equalizing method in the apparatus.

  Conventionally, as an equalizer used in a musical sound reproducing apparatus or the like, a preset equalizer that changes a frequency characteristic so as to have a preset characteristic is known. In this equalizer, when it is desired to change the preset value according to the music to be played, at present, the desired preset value is selected from the menu or the desired preset value is designated by pressing a predetermined button. Thus, the preset value can be changed.

  There is also known an equalizer in which each preset value of an equalizer is associated with each genre of music in advance, and a preset value corresponding to the genre of the music to be reproduced is used when the music is played (for example, patents). Reference 1). In this equalizer, the genre of the music is acquired based on the tag information of the disc on which the music to be reproduced is recorded, and a preset value corresponding to the genre is applied to the audio signal of the music. .

  In addition, when the music is recorded as an MP3 format or WMA format file, the information related to the genre of the music can be acquired based on an ID3 tag or a WMA tag attached to the file.

JP-A-9-171664

  However, according to the above-described equalizer for manually selecting preset values, it may be necessary to repeat the preset value selection operation using a menu or button every time the music to be played changes, which is troublesome. . Such an operation is not preferable from the viewpoint of safe driving in the case of an equalizer in an in-vehicle device.

  In addition, according to the technique of applying preset values corresponding to the above-described music genres, the sound quality characteristics according to the data of each music are variously different even if the genres are the same. It is impossible to apply it uniformly. The preset value associated with the genre of the music to be reproduced may or may not be suitable for the music data.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a playback apparatus capable of adjusting a frequency characteristic so as to obtain a more preferable characteristic with respect to an audio signal obtained by reproducing a content in view of the problems of the conventional technology. There is.

  In order to achieve this object, a playback device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a playback device that performs equalizing processing for adjusting the frequency characteristics of an audio signal obtained by playing back content to be played back. There is provided time acquisition means for acquiring time information indicating the recorded time, and the frequency characteristics of the audio signal are adjusted based on the time information acquired by the time acquisition means.

  Here, the content corresponds to, for example, music content or video content. The reproduction of the content can be performed based on, for example, a file, CD, DVD or the like in which the content data is recorded. Audio signals are not limited to those obtained by playing back content in a device in which a playback device is incorporated, but are played back by other devices and transmitted via wired or wireless communication means or broadcasting means. It may be. As a file in which content data is recorded, for example, a music file in MP3 or WMA format or a video content file in MPEG format is applicable.

  Here, content recording means fixing an audio signal or a video signal of music constituting the content as data on a recording medium. For example, the release year information in the ID3 tag of the MP3 file in which the content is recorded corresponds to the time information. It may be input by a user or acquired from a CDDB (CD database) or the like. As the time acquisition means, for example, the time information is acquired from tag information or metadata attached to the file in which the content to be played back is recorded, or the time from the CDDB or the like using the playback time or playback data of the content. Applicable to obtain information.

  In this configuration, when adjusting the frequency characteristics of the audio signal obtained by playing back the content to be played, the playback device acquires time information indicating the time when the content was recorded by the time information acquisition means. . And the frequency characteristic of the said audio | voice signal is adjusted based on the acquired time information. Therefore, the playback device can perform appropriate equalizing according to the time indicated by the acquired time information, for example.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reproduction apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising genre acquisition means for acquiring genre information indicating a genre to which the content to be reproduced belongs, and based on the genre information acquired by the genre acquisition means The frequency characteristic is adjusted.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a playback device according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein a timing classification table that divides a recording timing of content that can be played back into predetermined time zones, and a genre of content that can be played back are set as predetermined. A genre division table divided into genre divisions, and a pattern definition table that defines an equalizer pattern corresponding to each combination of each genre division in the genre division table and each time division in the time division table, by the time acquisition means An equalizer pattern to be applied to the adjustment of the frequency characteristic is determined based on the acquired time information, the genre information acquired by the genre acquisition means, the time division table, the genre division table, and the pattern definition table.

  The playback device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the playback device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the time indicated by the time information acquired by the time acquisition means for the content to be played back is a predetermined old time And applying an equalizer pattern that raises the level of a predetermined low range or high range by a predetermined amount compared to an equalizer pattern applied when the time indicated by the time information is a predetermined new time. The frequency characteristics are adjusted.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the time acquisition unit is configured to acquire the time information based on additional information accompanying content data to be reproduced. It is characterized by being performed.

  An equalizing method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is an equalizing method in a playback apparatus that performs an equalizing process for adjusting a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by playing back a content that is a playback target. A timing acquisition step of acquiring timing information indicating the recorded timing, and an adjustment step in which the playback device adjusts the frequency characteristics of the audio signal based on the timing information acquired by the timing acquisition step. Features.

  According to the present invention, the time information indicating the time when the content to be reproduced is recorded is acquired, and based on this, the frequency characteristic of the audio signal obtained by reproducing the content is adjusted. Thus, the frequency characteristic can be adjusted so as to obtain a more preferable frequency characteristic.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this apparatus displays various information under the control of the processing unit 11 that performs various processes such as control of each unit of the apparatus and equalizing, the storage unit 12 accessed by the processing unit 11, and the processing unit 11. The display unit 13, the operation unit 14 for the user to perform operation input to the processing unit 11, and the audio output unit 15 that converts the audio signal from the processing unit 11 into sound and outputs the sound.

  The storage unit 12 is configured using a hard disk or a flash memory. The storage unit 12 stores MP3, WMA, WAV, and other music file formats used for music playback. The processing unit 11 accepts the selection of the music file in the storage unit 12 by the user interface function by the operation unit 14 and the display unit 13 according to a predetermined program, and plays back the selected music file and the reproduced audio signal. Perform equalizing.

  In compressed audio data such as MP3 and WMA, there is an information area different from the audio called tag, and an area called “genre” (genre) is provided there. A standard genre such as “Rcck, Pops, Hiphop, Jazz, Classic,...” Can be recorded in this area. Also, there is an area called “Release Year”, and it is possible to record the year in which the CD of the music accompanying it is released.

  Such tag information can also be obtained by using CDDB or the like. At that time, the above-described genre and release year information can also be automatically added to the tag information. In the present embodiment, an equalizer pattern (hereinafter referred to as “EQ pattern”) is determined based on the genre information and the release year information, and the frequency characteristics are adjusted by performing equalization using the EQ pattern.

  FIG. 2 shows the format of version 1.0 and version 1.1 of the ID3 tag in the MP3 file. In any version, a fixed value for identifying tag information is stored in the first 3 bytes. The next 30 bytes store the file name, the next 30 bytes store the artist name, the next 30 bytes store the album name, and the next 4 bytes store the release year. The fields from the next to the last differ between versions 1.0 and 1.1. In version 1.0, all 30 bytes from the last to the last are fields for comments. In version 1.1, 28 bytes are a comment field, but the track number is stored in the next 2 bytes, and genre information is stored in the last 1 byte.

  FIG. 3 shows a genre division table held by the processing unit 11. In this table, the genre information of the music recorded in the ID3 tag or the like of the MP3 file is set to 7 of “Rock”, “Beat”, “Pops”, “R & B”, “Jazz”, “Classic”, and “Others”. It is divided into two genre categories, and genres such as “Classic-Rock” and “Hard Rock” belonging to each genre category are defined. These genre categories are associated with numbers 1 to 7 in order.

  FIG. 4 shows a release time division table held by the processing unit 11. This table divides the release year information in the ID3 tag etc. of the MP3 file into four release time categories “Old”, “Middle”, “New”, and “Other”, and the release years belonging to each release time category Is specified. Numbers 1 to 4 are sequentially associated with these release time sections. The release period “Old” includes release years before 1969. “Middle” includes release years from 1970 to 1986. “New” has release years after 1987. When there is no record of the release year in the ID3 tag or the like, it is classified as “Others”.

  FIG. 5 is an EQ pattern definition table held by the processing unit 11. This table defines an EQ pattern corresponding to each combination of each release time category in the release time category table of FIG. 4 and each genre category in the genre category table of FIG. In the “genre category” column, numbers 1 to 7 of each genre category in the genre category table are stored in order. In the “release time category” column, numbers 1 to 4 of the release time categories in the release time category table are associated with the numbers in the “genre category” column. In the “EQ pattern” column, an EQ pattern corresponding to each combination of the genre category and the release time category indicated by each number in the “genre category” column and each number in the “release time category” column is defined.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an EQ pattern corresponding to an MP3 file to be reproduced. In FIG. 9A, when the genre information in the ID3 tag of the MP3 file is “Rock” and the release year information is “2005”, the EQ pattern “13 (Rock-3)” corresponds. It is shown. That is, the genre “Rock” in the ID3 tag belongs to the genre category “Rock” (number 1) in the genre category table, and the release year “2005” belongs to the release time category “New” (number 3) in the release time category table. According to the EQ pattern definition table, the corresponding EQ pattern is “13 (Rock-3)”. Similarly, in FIG. 6B, when the genre information in the ID3 tag of the MP3 file to be reproduced is “Jazz” and the release year information is “1965”, the EQ pattern “51 (Jazz−1) ) ”Indicates that it corresponds.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the reproduction start process by the control unit 11. First, in step 71, the process waits for a file to be reproduced to be generated. For example, when a file to be played is selected by the user and a playback instruction is given, or when a playback instruction is given for a plurality of files, the playback is completed for one of them, and the next Corresponds to the case where another file is to be played.

  If it is confirmed in step 71 that the reproduction target file has been generated, the process proceeds to step 72 to determine whether or not the automatic equalizer mode is on. The case where the automatic equalizer mode is on is a case where the operation unit 14 is set to turn on the same mode. If it is determined that the mode is not turned on, the process proceeds to step 73. If the user has set a desired EQ pattern in advance, the equalizer pattern is equalized and not set In this case, reproduction of the file to be reproduced is started without performing equalizing. Then, the process of FIG. 7 is complete | finished.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 72 that the automatic equalizer mode is on, the process proceeds to step 74, and genre information and release year information are acquired based on the tag information of the reproduction target file. Further, in step 75, the EQ pattern to be applied is determined based on the acquired genre information and release year information, the genre division table of FIG. 3, the release time division table of FIG. 4, and the EQ pattern definition table of FIG. Determine as in the example. In step 76, reproduction of the reproduction target file is started while equalizing with the determined EQ pattern. Then, the process of FIG. 7 is complete | finished.

  FIG. 8 illustrates the characteristics of the EQ pattern applied by the process of FIG. FIG. 6A shows an example of each case where the genre in the tag information of the file to be played is “Rock” and the release year is “2005” (2005) and “1965” (1965). Has been. A curve 81 in the figure is a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by reproducing a file whose release year is “2005”, and a curve 82 is a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by reproducing a file whose release year is “1965”. It is.

  The applied EQ pattern is determined to be “13 (Rock-3)” by the above-described step 75 when the release year is “2005”, and “11 (Rock) when the release year is“ 1965 ”. -1) ". The characteristic of the EQ pattern “13 (Rock-3)” is that the correction amount is a band of 0 [dB] and 10 [kHz] in a band of +1 [dB] and 1 [kHz] in a band of a center frequency of 100 [Hz]. +1 [dB]. The characteristic of the EQ pattern “11 (Rock-1)” is that the correction amount is +3 [dB] in the band where the center frequency is 100 [Hz], +1 [dB] and 10 [kHz] in the band of 1 [kHz]. It is +3 [dB] in the band.

  That is, the degree of emphasis by the EQ pattern “13 (Rock-3)” applied to the characteristic of the curve 82 is emphasized by the EQ pattern “11 (Rock-1)” applied to the characteristic of the curve 81. And higher in the bands of the center frequencies 100 [Hz] and 10 [kHz] than in the band of the center frequency 1 [kHz]. Therefore, by applying these EQ patterns, it can be seen that the characteristic of the curve 82 with the old release year of the content approaches the characteristic of the curve 81 with the new release year. That is, by applying an EQ pattern “11 (Rock-1)” that emphasizes the low frequency and high frequency more than the EQ pattern “13 (Rock-3)” applied to new content, It can be seen that audible characteristics similar to those obtained when the EQ pattern “13 (Rock-3)” is applied to the content can be obtained.

  FIG. 8B shows an example of each case where the genre in the tag information of the file to be played is “Pops”, the release years are “2005” (2005), and “1965” (1965). Has been. A curve 83 in the figure is a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by reproducing a file whose release year is “2005”, and a curve 84 is a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by reproducing a file whose release year is “1965”. It is.

  The applied EQ pattern is determined to be “33 (Pops-3)” by the above-described step 75 when the release year is “2005”, and “31 (Pops) when the release year is“ 1965 ”. -1) ". The characteristic of the EQ pattern “33 (Pops-3)” is that the correction amount is 0 [dB] in the band of the center frequency 100 [Hz], +2 [dB] and 10 [kHz] in the band of 1 [kHz]. +1 [dB]. The characteristic of the EQ pattern “31 (Pops-1)” is that the correction amount is +2 [dB] in the band where the center frequency is 100 [Hz], +3 [dB] and 10 [kHz] in the band of 1 [kHz]. +3 [dB] in this band.

  Also in this case, the degree of emphasis by the EQ pattern “33 (Pops-3)” applied to the characteristic of the curve 83 is equal to the EQ pattern “31 (Pops−1)” applied to the characteristic of the curve 84. The degree of emphasis is higher than that of the center frequency 1 [kHz] in the bands of the center frequencies 100 [Hz] and 10 [kHz]. Therefore, also in this case, the EQ pattern “31 (Pops-1)” in which the low frequency and the high frequency are more emphasized than the EQ pattern “33 (Pops-3)” applied to the new content is applied to the old content. Accordingly, it is possible to obtain the same auditory characteristics as when the EQ pattern “33 (Pops-3)” is applied to new content.

  In other words, music (music) is not only its genre, but its audio characteristics are greatly influenced by the devices used for recording the data, such as microphones, recording tables, and recorders, and the sound preference of the public who requests the music. Change. And it is a well-known fact that the preference of devices and sounds has greatly improved and changed with the ages. For example, the sound quality characteristics of CDs have changed over time. Recently released songs have better frequency characteristics and wider dynamic range. In other words, even for songs of the same genre, the sound varies greatly depending on the release year and recording time. Since there is such a temporal change of the sound source, it is not sufficient to obtain a good EQ effect only by controlling the EQ pattern according to the genre of the content as in the prior art. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the EQ pattern is determined in consideration of the release year that is a major factor of the change in the sound source, thereby making it possible to approximate the tone color desired by the user.

  According to the present embodiment, since the EQ pattern to be applied to the reproduced music is automatically determined and reproduced, the troublesomeness of manually setting the EQ pattern can be eliminated. In addition, when the playback device is for in-vehicle use, the safe operation of the vehicle is not hindered because the EQ pattern is manually set. Further, since the decision is made in consideration of the release year information in addition to the genre information in the tag information of the music file when the EQ pattern is decided, the equalizer pattern is applied by applying an EQ pattern that makes the tone preferred by the user. It can be performed.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented with appropriate modifications. For example, in the above, when the automatic equalizer mode is on, the EQ pattern considering the release year is applied, but when the user manually selects a desired EQ pattern, The EQ pattern may be changed in consideration of the release year.

  Although not mentioned above, the tables shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 may be prepared by storing a dedicated memory bank for storing them.

  In the above description, the EQ pattern is determined with reference to the tables of FIGS. 3 to 5 based on the genre information and release year information in the tag information of the music file to be reproduced. An EQ pattern suitable for reproduction of the music file may be recorded as comment information in the tag information of the music file, and reproduction may be performed using the EQ pattern.

  Further, when there is no record of genre or release year in the tag information of the music file, such information is acquired using CDDB (CD database) or the like, or the information is included in the tag information of the music It may be added automatically and the EQ pattern may be determined based on the information.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the reproducing | regenerating apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the format of the ID3 tag in a MP3 file. It is a figure which shows the genre division table in the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the release time division table in the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the EQ pattern prescription | regulation table in the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the EQ pattern corresponding to the MP3 file made into reproduction | regeneration object in the apparatus of FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a reproduction start process in the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the characteristic of the EQ pattern applied in the apparatus of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  11: processing unit, 12: storage unit, 13: display unit, 14: operation unit, 15: audio output unit, 81-84: curves representing frequency characteristics.

Claims (6)

A playback device that performs an equalizing process for adjusting the frequency characteristics of an audio signal obtained by playing back content that is a playback target,
A time acquisition means for acquiring time information indicating a time when the content was recorded;
A reproduction apparatus, wherein the frequency characteristic is adjusted based on time information acquired by the time acquisition means. Genre acquisition means for acquiring genre information indicating the genre to which the content to be reproduced belongs,
The playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the frequency characteristic is adjusted based on genre information acquired by the genre acquisition unit. A time division table that divides the time when content that can be played back is recorded into predetermined time divisions;
A genre division table that divides the genres of content that can be played back into predetermined genre divisions;
A pattern defining table that defines an equalizer pattern corresponding to each genre section in the genre section table and each combination of each time section in the time section table;
Determining an equalizer pattern to be applied to the adjustment of the frequency characteristic based on the time information acquired by the time acquisition means, the genre information acquired by the genre acquisition means, and the time division table, genre division table, and pattern definition table. The reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the reproducing apparatus is characterized.   Applied when the time indicated by the time information acquired by the time acquisition means for the content to be played is a predetermined old time, and when the time indicated by the time information is a predetermined new time for the content 4. The frequency characteristic is adjusted by applying an equalizer pattern that increases a level of a predetermined low range or high range by a predetermined amount as compared with an equalizer pattern. The playback device described in 1.   The said time acquisition means performs the acquisition of the said time information based on the additional information accompanying the data of the content made into reproduction | regeneration object, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Playback device. An equalizing method in a playback apparatus that performs an equalizing process for adjusting a frequency characteristic of an audio signal obtained by playing back content to be played back,
A time acquisition step in which the playback device acquires time information indicating the time when the content was recorded;
An equalizing method comprising: an adjusting step in which the reproduction apparatus adjusts a frequency characteristic of the audio signal based on time information acquired in the time acquiring step.

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