JP3519420B2 - Multi-channel audio playback device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reproducing apparatus for multi-channel stereo audio accompanied by video.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention relates to a multi-channel stereo audio reproducing apparatus having a center channel. Conventionally, this was done to solve the problem that the spatial height of the sound image of the sound of the center channel did not match the height of the image display and other speakers due to the restriction of the location of the center speaker. By reproducing only the high frequency component of the sound from a speaker different from the original center speaker, the height of the sound image of the center channel can be made to match the height of the image display or the left and right channel speakers in terms of hearing. is there.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for controlling the spatial height of a sound image of a center channel has not been known, but the following measures have been taken as symptomatic treatment.

(1) Center speakers are installed above and below the screen of a video display to reproduce the same audio signal.

(2) Center speakers are installed close to the left and right of the screen of the video display to reproduce the same audio signal.

[0006]

A multi-channel stereo sound reproduction system with video often has a center speaker in order to ensure the matching of the directions of the video and the sound image and a wide viewing range. Being in the front, the center speaker must be installed above or below the video display, and the spatial height of the center channel sound image does not match the video. Therefore, conventionally, localization has been achieved by driving a plurality of center channel speakers with the same audio signal as in (1) and (2) above. In addition to the limitation on the size of the speaker that can be produced, there is a problem that the deterioration of the sound quality and the quality of the sound image due to the use of a plurality of speakers cannot be avoided.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and a device utilizing the auditory property is added to the method of reproducing the sound of the center channel, and the spatial height of the reproduced sound image is changed to that of the video display. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-channel audio reproducing device which is adapted to match an image.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention is a speaker for exclusively reproducing a high frequency component of an audio signal, and a speaker for reproducing a main frequency component including the high frequency component of the audio signal. The sound image localization is arranged at a position different from that in the center of the display for displaying the image reproduced together with the sound signal.

Also, in the multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the high frequency components of the audio signal of the center signal are mixed in the left and right channel speakers disposed on the left and right of the video display, and the audio is displayed at the lower center or the upper part of the video display. A speaker for reproducing the main frequency component of the signal may be arranged.

[0010] Multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention is to place the speaker for reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal dedicated to the top or bottom of the video display, the audio signal high at the bottom or top of the video display Region component
It is assumed that a speaker that reproduces main frequency components including is arranged.

[0011]

In the multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention, the speaker for exclusively reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal is placed at a position different from that of the speaker for reproducing the main frequency component of the audio signal, and the sound image localization is performed together with the audio signal. By arranging it at a position substantially at the center of the display for displaying the image to be reproduced, it is possible to make the sound image localization of the reproduced sound substantially at the center of the image display and match the image.

Also, in the multi-channel audio reproducing device of the present invention, the high frequency components of the audio signal of the center signal are mixed in the left and right channel speakers arranged on the left and right sides of the video display, and the high frequency component of the center signal is added to the lower or upper center of the video display. By arranging the speaker that reproduces the main frequency component of the audio signal, it is possible to match the high frequency component that affects the sound image localization with the video display.

In the multi-channel audio reproducing device of the present invention, a speaker for exclusively reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal is arranged above or below the video display, and the main part of the audio signal is below or above the video display. By arranging the speaker that reproduces the frequency component, the high frequency component that affects the sound image localization can be matched with the image on the image display.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, which is a front three-channel audio reproducing apparatus consisting of center, right, and left three channels.
As shown in FIG. 2, a center channel speaker 2 is installed below the video display 1, a left channel speaker 3 is installed on the left side of the display 1, and a right channel speaker 4 is installed on the right side.

As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit structure of this 3-channel audio reproducing apparatus includes a high-pass filter 5 for extracting the high-frequency part of the center-channel audio signal and a low-pass filter 6 for extracting the middle and low-frequency parts. , A delay element 7 for delaying the output of the high-pass filter 5, mixing circuits 8 and 9 for mixing the output of the delay element 7 with the audio signals of the left and right channels, and an amplifier 1 for each channel.
0, 11, 12 and speakers 2, 3, 4 for the center, left and right channels respectively. Then, to the left channel audio signal input terminal L, the center channel audio signal input terminal C, and the right channel audio signal input terminal R, the audio signals of the corresponding channels are input from the front stage circuit (not shown) such as the front 3 channel stereo reproduction circuit. It is supposed to be entered.

Next, the operation of the multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

The high-pass filter 5 extracts from the center channel audio signal applied to the center channel audio signal input terminal C a frequency component of 4 to 10 kHz or more that contributes to the vertical feeling of the sound image. On the other hand, the low pass filter 6 extracts the remaining frequency band components from the center channel audio signal. The sum of the pass amount of the pass band of the low pass filter 6 and the pass amount of the pass band of the high pass filter 5 is determined so that the gains of all the bands are substantially equal when reproduced through the speaker.

The output of the high-pass filter 5 is input to the mixing circuits 8 and 9 via the delay element 7 and mixed with the sounds of the left and right channels. Then, the low-pass filter 6
The output of is input to the amplifier 11 for the center channel,
The outputs of the mixing circuits 8 and 9 are input to the left channel amplifier 10 and the right channel amplifier 11, respectively,
As a result, most of the high frequency components of the center channel are reproduced from the left and right channel speakers 3, 4 and the spatial height of the center channel sound image is that of the left and right channel speakers 3, 4. It will be localized to the spatial height. Therefore, the spatial heights of the left and right channel speakers 3 and 4 are adjusted to the video display 1
The sound image of the center channel can be localized at the spatial height of the video display 1 by aligning with the height of the center channel.

Now, the operation of the delay element 7 will be described. This is because the horizontal localization of the high frequency components reproduced from the left and right speakers is the direction of the center channel speaker 2 even at the listening position deviated laterally. The delay element 7 allows the low-level high-frequency component sound (that is, the pass amount of the stop band of the low-pass filter 6) reproduced from the center-channel speaker 2 to be inserted into the left and right speakers. It precedes the high-frequency component sound reproduced from and is localized in the direction of the center channel speaker 2 due to the preceding sound (hearth) effect. When the main energy of the audio signal is concentrated in the low and middle frequency band, the omission of the delay element 7 does not cause a significant auditory problem.

3 and 4 show another embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a normal center channel speaker 2 and a center channel high frequency speaker 2a dedicated to high frequencies are separately installed above and below the video display 1, and the left side of the video display 1 is separated. In this configuration, the left channel speaker 3 is installed and the right channel speaker 4 is installed on the right side. Then, as shown in the circuit configuration of FIG. 3, a high-pass filter 5 for extracting a high-frequency component of the center channel audio signal, a low-pass filter 6 for extracting a low-mid frequency component, and a distributor for distributing an output of the high-pass filter 5. 13, a mixing circuit 14 for mixing the distribution output of the distributor 13 with the output of the low-pass filter 6, and amplifiers 11a, 11 for amplifying the distribution output of the distributor 13 and the mixing output of the mixing circuit 14, respectively. .

Amplifiers 10 and 12 for directly amplifying the left channel audio signal and the right channel audio signal respectively.
Also equipped with these amplifiers 10, 11a, 11, 1
The respective outputs 2 are given to the corresponding left channel speaker 3, center channel high frequency speaker 2a, center channel speaker 2 and right channel speaker 4 for audio output.

Next, the operation of the multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus of the second embodiment having the above construction will be described.

The left channel audio signal input to the left channel audio signal input terminal L is amplified and supplied to the left channel speaker 3 by the amplifier 10. The right channel speaker 4 receives the right channel audio signal input terminal R. The right channel audio signal given to the signal is amplified by the amplifier 12 and supplied.

High-pass filter 5 and low-pass filter 6
Respectively operate in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the high-pass filter 5 extracts a frequency component of 4 to 10 kHz or more, which contributes to the up-and-down feeling of the sound image, from the center channel audio signal applied to the center channel audio signal input terminal C, and the low pass filter The filter 6 extracts the remaining frequency band components from the center channel audio signal. Then, the high frequency component of the audio signal output from the high pass filter 5 is supplied to the center channel high frequency speaker 2a through the distributor 13, and some of the high frequency component is supplied to the mixing circuit 14. Therefore, in the speaker 2 for the center channel, the output signal of the low-pass filter 6 is fed to the mixing circuit 1.
4 will be mixed with some of the high frequency components and supplied.

As a result, the high frequency component that particularly contributes to the sound image localization is spatially distributed to the speakers above and below the video display 1 and output, and is output just from the intermediate position of the video display 1. This gives a feeling of hearing, and the spatial height of the sound image and the height of the image can be matched.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be widely applied to the control of the spatial height of the sound image in general.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the speaker for exclusively reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal is placed at a position different from that of the speaker for reproducing the main frequency component including the high frequency component of the audio signal. By arranging the sound image localization at a position substantially in the center of the display for displaying the image reproduced together with the audio signal, the sound image localization of the reproduced sound can be made substantially in the center of the image display to be matched with the image.

Further, in the multi-channel audio reproducing device of the present invention, the high frequency components of the audio signal of the center signal are mixed in the left and right channel speakers arranged on the left and right of the video display, and the audio is displayed at the lower center or the upper part of the video display. By arranging the speaker that reproduces the main frequency component of the signal, the high frequency component that affects the sound image localization can be matched with the image on the image display.

[0030] In the multi-channel sound reproducing apparatus of the present invention is to place the speaker for reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal at the top or bottom of the video display only, the audio signal high at the bottom or top of the video display Region
By arranging the speaker that reproduces the main frequency component including the minute component, the high frequency component that affects the sound image localization can be matched with the image on the image display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the speaker arrangement of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the speaker arrangement of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Video display 2 Center channel speaker 2a Center channel high range speaker 3 Left channel speaker 4 Right channel speaker 5 high pass filter 6 low pass filter 7 Delay element 8, 9 mixed circuit 10, 11, 11a, 12 amplifier 13 distributor 14 mixing circuit

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Akira Morita 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Inside Broadcasting Research Laboratories, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (56) Reference JP-A-3-128600 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 59000 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 2-101675 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04S 7/00 H04N 5/60 H04R 5/02 H04S 3/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sound image localization is reproduced together with the audio signal at a position different from a speaker which reproduces a high frequency component of the audio signal exclusively from a speaker which reproduces a main frequency component including the high frequency component of the audio signal. A multi-channel audio playback device that is placed at a position approximately in the center of the display that displays the video. 2. A high frequency component of an audio signal of a center signal is mixed with left and right channel speakers arranged on the left and right of the image display, and a main frequency component of the audio signal is reproduced at a lower center or an upper part of the image display. A multi-channel audio playback device with speakers arranged. 3. A speaker for exclusively reproducing the high frequency component of the audio signal is arranged at the upper or lower part of the video display,
A multi-channel audio reproducing apparatus comprising a speaker for reproducing a main frequency component including a high frequency component of the audio signal, which is arranged below or above the video display.