JP4816307B2 - Audio system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio system that outputs an audio signal in various modes (acoustic characteristics) according to a position in a room.

  In recent years, audio devices are often provided with a plurality of speakers and assigned different channels. For example, a home theater system generally includes a center speaker, a front L / R speaker, and a rear L / R speaker (and a bass dedicated speaker).

  In addition, there has been a sound field control device that generates a plurality of reflected sounds from a multi-channel surround sound to form a plurality of sound fields, thereby reproducing a sound with a sense of presence that exists on the spot (for example, a patent) Reference 1).

  In such a device, in order to realize an optimal sound field environment at the position of the listener (user), it is necessary to optimally set the volume, delay amount, etc. of each speaker (or channel). That is, it is necessary to increase the volume of the speaker (or channel) located away from the listener, and conversely, the speaker (or channel) located near the listener is noisy if the volume is too high. It needs to be small. It is also necessary to adjust the sound emission timing (delay amount) according to the position of the listener.

  In addition, when such a device is used at home, the audio source that the user wants to listen to may change depending on the location. For example, there are situations where you want to watch a movie on the sofa and watch news on the dining table.

In many cases, each user (father, mother, son, daughter, etc.) has a fixed place in the home. For example, my father mostly watches news at the dining table, my mother mostly stays in the kitchen and watches dramas, my son plays mostly in front of TV, and my daughter mostly on the sofa. There are situations where people often watch movies.
JP-A-8-275300

  Conventionally, the user changes the audio source each time the location is moved, and sets the optimum volume and delay amount (which are used as parameter values) at that position. In addition, as described above, the user often changes depending on the place in the room, and the audio source that the user wants to listen to changes depending on the user, so that it is necessary for each user to change the parameter value in the respective place.

  In the above situation, each time the user manually changes the parameter value, or reads and instructs the preset parameter value recorded in the memory or the parameter value previously set and recorded manually It was necessary and very troublesome. In addition, when a preset parameter value or a recorded parameter value is read and instructed, it is difficult to determine which parameter value should be read out of a plurality of recorded contents.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an audio system that saves the user from changing the parameter value depending on the location and improves the convenience of the user.

  An audio system according to the present invention is an audio system including a speaker device and a remote controller that transmits an operation signal to the speaker device. The speaker device includes an input unit that inputs an audio signal and a plurality of speaker units. An array of speaker arrays and an audio beam having a strong directivity in a predetermined direction are output to the speaker array by adding a predetermined delay to the audio signal input from the input unit and supplying the signal to each speaker unit. A beam processing unit, an acoustic processing unit that sets an acoustic characteristic of the audio signal, a delay amount that the beam processing unit gives to the audio signal, and a control that controls the acoustic characteristic that the acoustic processing unit sets to the audio signal A plurality of listening positions, a delay amount set in the beam processing unit by the control unit, and a set value of an acoustic characteristic set in the acoustic processing unit. And a position measuring unit for measuring the position of the remote controller relative to the speaker device, and the control unit is stored in the memory based on the position of the remote controller measured by the position measuring unit. It is characterized by reading the set value.

  In this configuration, parameter values are recorded in a memory for each of a plurality of listening positions. For example, when an instruction to record a parameter value is given from the remote controller, the speaker device measures the position of the remote controller, and the parameter value at the remote controller position (listening position) is recorded in the memory. When reading the parameter value, the control unit searches the memory based on the measured remote control position and reads the parameter value. For example, when reading of the parameter value is instructed from the remote controller, the position of the remote controller is measured, the memory is searched with the remote controller position measured at that time, and the parameter value of the listening position to which the remote controller position belongs is read. As a result, the optimum parameter value is set and recorded at a certain position, and when the user issues a read instruction at the same position, the parameter value previously set at that position is automatically read.

  In the audio system of the present invention, the input unit inputs audio signals of a plurality of audio sources, and the setting value includes information for selecting an input destination of the audio signal input by the input unit. And

  In this configuration, the parameter value includes information for selecting the input destination of the audio signal. Therefore, the audio source is automatically selected according to the remote control position.

  In the audio system of the present invention, when the position measurement unit measures the position of the remote controller every predetermined time, and the control unit receives an operation signal indicating an instruction to read the setting value from the remote control , Based on the position of the remote controller measured immediately before by the position measurement unit, the process of reading the setting value stored in the memory, and the position in the period when the operation signal is not received from the remote controller When the measuring unit measures the position of the remote controller, the position is set in the beam processing unit based on the difference between the position of the remote controller and the position of the remote controller measured when the setting value was read from the memory in the past. The delay amount and the acoustic characteristics set in the acoustic processing unit are corrected.

  In this configuration, the position of the remote control is measured every predetermined time (real time). The parameter value is changed based on the difference between the position of the remote controller at the time when the parameter value is first read (when the remote controller instructs reading) and the current position of the remote controller. For example, the sound beam is directed to the current position of the remote control. Further, the number of sound beams may be changed, and the sound beam volume level may be increased if the remote control position is a long distance.

  In the audio system of the present invention, the remote control includes a microphone that collects sound, and an information transmission unit that transmits information indicating timing at which the microphone picks up sound to the speaker device, and the position measurement unit Is configured to cause the plurality of speaker units of the speaker array to emit sound at different timings, and based on the sound emission timings of the plurality of speaker units and the information indicating the sound collection timing received from the remote controller, It is characterized by measuring the position of the remote control.

  According to the present invention, the parameter value is recorded in the memory for each of the plurality of listening positions, the position of the remote control is measured when the parameter value is read, and the parameter value corresponding to the remote control position is read. It is possible to save the user from changing the parameter value and improve user convenience.

  An audio system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This audio system is used in a living dining kitchen (so-called LDK) room in the home. FIG. 1 is a top view of an LDK room in which an audio system is installed. Hereinafter, the front of the LDK room is indicated as Y, the rear as -Y, the right as X, and the left as -X.

  In the LDK room, a television 1 and a speaker device 2 are installed on the front left side of the room. The television 1 and the speaker device 2 are installed at substantially the same position. A living table 3 is installed near the center left of the room, which is the front of the television 1 and the speaker device 2, and a sofa 4 is installed behind the living table 3. In addition, a dining table 5 is installed from the right rear side of the room, and a kitchen 6 is installed on the right rear side of the room on the right side.

A user h1 (eg, a son) exists near the living table 3, a user h2 (eg, a daughter) exists near the sofa 4, and a user h3 (eg, a father) exists near the dining table 5. In the vicinity of the kitchen 6, there is a user h4 (for example, mother). In this figure, the user h2 has a remote controller 10 for operating the speaker device 2, and the user h2 and the remote controller 10 are substantially at the same position.
It should be noted that the installation positions of the television 1, the speaker device 2 and the like in the figure are only examples, and are not limited to these installation positions.

  The speaker device 2 is connected to the television 1 and outputs audio from the television. It is also possible to output the sound of other audio equipment (DVD player, etc.) not shown connected. In the audio system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the speaker device 2 divides the space in front of its own device into a plurality of regions, and different parameter values for each region (sound beam, volume, input source, TV channel etc.). Therefore, this audio system supplies voices having different parameter values for each user in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a front view of the speaker device 2. In the figure, the right side is described as X, the left side as -X, the upper side as Z, and the lower side as -Z. The speaker device 2 includes a speaker array 202 in which a plurality of speaker units SP are arranged in a honeycomb shape so that a sound emitting surface faces the front, and two woofers U1 disposed on both sides of the speaker array 202. , U2. The woofers U1 and U2 are large-diameter speakers and output only the low sound range of the input audio signal.

  In the speaker array 202, three stages of speaker units SP are arranged at predetermined intervals in the Z to -Z directions, and 15 speaker units SP of speaker units SP11 to SP115 are arranged at predetermined intervals on the uppermost stage. It is arranged. In the middle stage, 14 speaker units SP of the speaker units SP21 to SP214 are arranged at a predetermined interval. Eleven speaker units SP of speaker units SP31 to SP311 are arranged at a predetermined interval at the lowermost stage. The number and arrangement of the speakers are not limited to this example. For example, it may be arranged densely at the center along the longitudinal direction of the apparatus main body and sparsely arranged toward both ends.

  The speaker device 2 can output a sound beam having strong directivity in a predetermined direction by configuring the speaker array 202 with a plurality of speaker units SP. In addition, by applying a predetermined delay to the audio data input to each speaker unit SP, the irradiation angle and focus of the audio beam can be arbitrarily controlled. A plurality of sound beams can be set at the same time.

  In the following, the basic principle of sound beam formation and sound beam focusing will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the principle of forming an audio beam. FIG. 4A shows a case where audio signals having the same phase are simultaneously input to a plurality of speaker units SP arranged in a line. In this case, the same phase signal is simultaneously output from each speaker unit SP. Sound waves output from the individual speaker units SP propagate radially (circular). Here, the synthesized waveform of the sound wave outputted from each speaker unit SP is strengthened by synthesizing components propagating forward. On the other hand, the component propagating in the direction other than the front is canceled by the interference of the signal components output from the respective speaker units SP. Therefore, only the component heading forward is strengthened by synthesis and becomes an audio beam.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the delay time control in the case where the sound beams are formed obliquely from the plurality of speaker units SP shown in FIG. In this figure, the sound beam is formed at an angle of θ in the right direction from the front. In this case, the sound is first output from the speaker unit SP at the end opposite to the beam direction (the left end in the figure), and then adjacent to the beam direction sequentially every time τ thereafter (on the right side in the figure). Audio is output to the adjacent speaker unit SP.

  By sequentially delaying the sound output from the speaker units SP arranged in a row in this way from one end to the other end, the sound beam can be directed obliquely as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the directivity characteristics of the speaker array when the beam is focused. FIG. 4A is a diagram when the beam is focused on the front side of the speaker array, and FIG. 4B is a diagram when the beam is focused on the rear side of the speaker array.

  In FIG. 2A, a virtual focus is formed in front of the speaker array, and sound is output with a wavefront that converges to the virtual focus. In other words, the sound is first output from the speaker unit farthest from the virtual focus, and is output after being sequentially delayed from the adjacent speaker unit SP, so that the sound is sounded at the timing when each speaker unit is arranged at an equal distance from the virtual focus. Is delayed so that can be output. As described above, when focusing on the front side of the speaker array, the sound volume is maximized at the position of the focus.

  In FIG. 5B, a virtual sound source is formed behind the speaker array. The sound is first output from the speaker unit SP closest to the virtual sound source, and is sequentially delayed from the adjacent speaker unit SP. By sequentially delaying in this way, the focal point of the sound beam can be provided behind the speaker array, and sound image localization can be performed as if sound is emitted from the position of the virtual sound source.

By forming a plurality of sound beams as described above, the speaker device 2 can provide an optimal listening environment at the positions of the users h1 to h4 shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which five sound beams are set at the position of the head of the user h2. Here, an audio component directed from the front of the speaker device 2 (from the rear of the LDK room) to the user h2 is described as a component C, and an audio component reflected from the speaker device 2 on the right wall of the LDK room and directed to the user h2. Is reflected from the speaker FR 2 on the left wall of the LDK room and reflected toward the user h2 by the component FL, and reflected on the right wall of the LDK room and the rear wall of the speaker device 2 to the user h2. The audio component that travels is described as component SR, and the audio component that reflects from the speaker device 2 to the left side of the LDK room and the rear wall and travels toward the user h2 is described as component SL.

In the figure, for easy explanation, all components are shown by simple straight lines. For example, the component C is a center channel in 5.1 channel surround, the component FR is a front right channel, the component FL is a front left channel, the component SR is a rear right channel, and the component SL is a rear left channel.
The speaker device 2 individually adjusts and outputs the volume levels of the components C, FR, FL, SR, and SL, and sets the sound volume to be uniform at the position of the remote controller 10. By increasing the volume level as the sound propagation distance is longer, the volume level corresponding to the distance attenuation can be compensated, and the volume of each component can be made uniform at the position of the remote controller 10. Note that the volume of each component can be manually adjusted by the user. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the speaker device will be described in detail.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating configurations of the speaker device 2 and the remote controller 10.
The remote controller 10 includes an operation unit 101 composed of a plurality of operation buttons, a control unit 102 that controls the remote control 10, a microphone 103 that collects sound, and an infrared transmission unit 104 that transmits user operation information. An operation unit 101, a microphone 103, and an infrared transmission unit 104 are connected to the control unit 102.

  When the user performs an operation on the operation unit 101, an operation signal based on the operation mode is output to the control unit 102. The control unit 102 causes the infrared transmission unit 104 to transmit user operation information based on the input operation signal. This user operation information is transmitted to the infrared transmitter 15 of the speaker device 2.

  The microphone 103 transmits the sound collection timing to the control unit 102. In the figure, a front-end microphone amplifier and an AD converter for converting an analog signal into a digital signal are omitted.

  The speaker device 2 includes a control unit 11, a memory 12, an interface 13, a signal processing unit 14, and an infrared receiving unit 15 in addition to the speaker array 202 and the woofers U1 and U2. A memory 12, an interface 13, a signal processing unit 14, and an infrared receiving unit 15 are connected to the control unit 11. Note that illustration and description of signal processing for audio signals output to the woofers U1 and U2 are omitted here.

  The memory 12 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, ROM, or the like, and stores a program for operating the speaker device 2 and data necessary for executing this program. The memory 12 stores parameter values (such as an audio beam angle, a focal length, and a sound volume) for the control unit 11 to control the signal processing unit 14. As will be described later, the parameter value is divided into a plurality of areas in front of the speaker device 2 and stored for each of the divided areas.

  The interface 13 is an interface circuit for inputting an audio signal from another device. For example, an audio signal is input from the television 1 or another audio device, and is output to the signal processing unit 14. The interface 13 incorporates an AD converter as necessary. When an analog audio signal is input, the interface 13 converts the analog audio signal into a digital audio signal and outputs the digital audio signal to the signal processing unit 14. Also, the input audio signal is divided for each channel (center, front left / right, rear left / right) and output to the signal processing unit 14.

  The signal processing unit 14 adjusts the volume level and gives a delay to the input audio signal for each channel, and outputs this to the speaker unit SP in the subsequent stage. The signal processing unit 14 controls the direction and focus of the sound beam by individually controlling the volume level and delay amount of the sound signal supplied to each speaker unit SP. The volume level adjustment amount and the delay amount are set by the control unit 11.

  The control unit 11 includes, for example, a CPU and has a built-in RAM serving as a work memory. The control unit 11 measures the position of the remote controller 10 when the power of the speaker device 2 is turned on. At this time, the parameter value stored in the memory 12 and associated with the position of the remote controller 10 (stored for each of the plurality of divided areas) is expanded in the RAM, and the signal processing unit 14 is based on the parameter value. To control.

  The parameter values developed in the RAM can be changed manually by the user. The user instructs to change the sound beam angle, the focal length, the sound volume, and the like using the remote controller 10. This instruction is transmitted from the infrared transmitter 104 of the remote controller 10 to the controller 11 via the infrared receiver 15 of the speaker device 2. Further, the user can instruct to record the parameter value set manually. When the user gives a recording instruction, the control unit 11 stores the current parameter value developed in the RAM in the memory 12. At this time, the speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 and records the parameter value in the memory 12 in association with the position of the remote controller 10 (area to which the position belongs).

  The user can also read and instruct parameter values stored in the memory 12. When the control unit 11 receives information instructing to read the parameter value from the remote controller 10, the control unit 11 reads the parameter value from the memory 12, develops the parameter value in the RAM, and sets the parameter value in the signal processing unit 14. Also at this time, the speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 and reads the parameter value of the region to which the measurement position belongs from the memory 12. Therefore, it is not necessary for the user to indicate which parameter value is to be read.

  Here, the position measurement of the remote controller 10 will be described. When the control unit 11 measures the position of the remote controller 10, a measurement sound (such as a pulse sound with a predetermined frequency) is output from both ends (for example, SP 11 and SP 115) of the speaker unit.

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing remote control position measurement. As shown in the figure, the same inspection audio signal s1 is sequentially input to the outermost speaker unit SP11 and the other outermost speaker unit SP115 in the speaker device 2. When the remote controller 10 picks up the test audio signal s1 from the microphone 103, the remote controller 10 transmits a notification signal for notifying the sound pickup timing to the speaker device 2 using the infrared transmitter 104 shown in FIG.

  The speaker device 2 measures the time t1 from when the speaker unit SP11 outputs the measurement sound to when the notification signal is received. Also, the time t2 from when the speaker unit SP115 outputs the measurement sound to when the notification signal is received is counted. The speaker device 2 calculates the listening position using the time t1 and the time t2. That is, the speaker device 2 can measure the distance between the speaker unit SP11 and the remote controller 10 and the distance between the speaker unit SP115 and the remote controller 10 from the relationship between the times t1 and t2 and the sound velocity. If it has distance information, the position of the remote controller 10 can be measured by triangulation. As shown in the figure, the position of the remote controller 10 is a distance r from the center position (viewed from the top) of the casing 201 and an axis in the front direction from the casing center position (this angle is 0 deg). It is represented by a deviation angle θ.

  The speaker device 2 according to the present embodiment performs the above-described remote control position measurement when the user instructs the recording of the parameter value and when the user instructs the reading of the parameter value. That is, the remote controller position is measured when the parameter value is stored in the memory 12 and when the parameter value stored in the memory 12 is read. Note that the speaker device 2 may perform remote control position measurement even when the power is turned on, and read the parameter value.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the speaker device 2 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the parameter value recording / reading operation of the speaker device 2. FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit 11 recording the parameter value in the memory 12, and FIG. 4B is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit 11 reading the parameter value from the memory 12. .

  In FIG. 9A, the control unit 11 determines whether or not a recording command signal has been received from the remote controller 10 (s11). The recording command signal is transmitted to the control unit 11 when the user gives an instruction to record the manually set parameter value by operating the operation unit 101 of the remote controller 10. For example, a button written as “Record” is installed in the operation unit 101, and the recording command signal is transmitted from the remote controller 10 when the user presses this button. The control unit 11 receives the recording command signal as a trigger for the recording process.

  When receiving the recording command signal, the control unit 11 measures the position of the remote controller 10 (s12). Thereafter, the control unit 11 records the parameter value currently developed in the RAM in the memory 12 in association with the remote control position (s13).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the remote control position and the parameter value (memory recording contents). FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example in which the front of the speaker device 2 is divided into a plurality of regions, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a recording table of the memory 12. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the speaker device 2 manages the position of the remote controller 10 for each of a plurality of areas, and records parameter values in the memory 12 for each area. In the memory 12, parameter values M1 to M21 are recorded. Each of the memory recording contents M1 to M21 records a beam angle, a focal length, an acoustic effect, a channel setting, a volume, an input source, a television channel, and the like as parameter values.

  Here, parameter values manually set by the user will be described. First, the user can set a channel. The channel setting is an item for setting the number of sound beams to be output. As described above, when the sound input to the speaker device 2 is 5.1 channel surround, a maximum of five sound beams (components C, FR, FL, SR, SL) can be set. The number of can be freely set by the user. For example, when the number of sound beams is set to 3, the component FR and the component SR are mixed into one sound beam, and the component FL and the component SL are mixed into one sound beam. Of course, it is possible to mix only the component FR and the component SR so that the number of sound beams is four, and further, including the component C (mixing 5 channels down to 2 channels), Stereo playback can also be performed using a unit and a woofer.

  The user can adjust the beam angle for each sound beam. In addition, the volume can be adjusted for each sound beam. Further, when the sound beam is a sound beam having a focus as shown in FIG. 4, the focal distance from the speaker device can be set.

  Furthermore, the user can select an input source. The input source means a source (audio supply destination) of audio input to the speaker device 2. For example, it can be selected from the television 1 connected to the speaker device 2, a DVD player, a game machine, and the like. Thereby, for example, the sound of the game machine can be supplied to the position of the user h1 (son) shown in FIG. 1, and the sound of the DVD player can be supplied to the position of the user h2 (daughter).

  In addition, even if the input source is a TV, if the TV displays a multi-screen (displays a sub-screen of another TV channel in the main screen), multiple audios are simultaneously supplied from the TV. It is possible to select whether to output the audio of the TV channel. Thereby, for example, the sound of the news program can be supplied to the position of the user h3 (father) shown in FIG. 1, and the sound of the cooking program can be supplied to the position of the user h4 (mother).

  The user can also select whether or not to provide an acoustic effect (so-called reverb or chorus effect).

  The user sets the setting items as described above using the remote controller 10. When all the above items are set and the “record” button is pressed, the recording process of FIG. 8A is performed, and the parameter value is recorded in the memory 12 in association with the position of the remote controller 10.

  Returning to FIG. 9, when the user is present with the remote controller 10 at a position where the speaker device 2 has a front distance of 7 m and an angle of −45 deg, for example, the control unit 11 of the speaker device 2 has a distance of 7 m as the remote controller position. The measurement result with an angle of −45 deg is calculated. In this case, since the remote control position belongs to an area (an area corresponding to the memory M16) having a distance of 5 m or more and an angle of −65 deg or more and less than −40 deg, the control unit 11 records the recorded contents of M16 with the current parameter value. Rewrite.

  Further, the user can easily read the set parameter value. The user operates the operation unit 101 of the remote controller 10 to give an instruction to read out the manually set parameter value. For example, a button written “read” is provided on the operation unit 101, and when the user presses this button, a read command signal is transmitted from the remote controller 10. In FIG. 8B, the control unit 11 determines whether or not this read command signal has been received (s21). When receiving the read command signal, the controller 11 measures the position of the remote controller 10 (s22). Thereafter, the control unit 11 searches the memory 12 based on the measured position of the remote controller 10 (s23). For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, when a measurement result with a distance of 7 m and an angle of −45 deg is calculated as the remote control position, the memory recording contents to which the measurement result belongs are retrieved from the table of FIG. As a result, since the remote control position belongs to an area (area corresponding to the memory M16) having a distance of 5 m or more and an angle of −65 deg or more and less than −40 deg, the control unit 11 reads the recorded content of M16 (s24).

  Thereby, the parameter value set by the user at the position in the past is read, and the control unit 11 controls the signal processing unit 14 based on the parameter value to reproduce the optimum sound field desired by the user. it can. The user can record the parameter values set at each position in the LDK room simply by pressing the “record” button. Next, when the user wants to reproduce the sound field environment, the user only needs to press the “read” button.

  The association between the remote control position and the parameter value may be as follows. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the correspondence between the remote control position and the parameter value (memory recording contents). FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an area in front of the speaker device 2, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a recording table in the memory 12. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the speaker device 2 manages the position of the remote controller 10 with XY coordinate axes with the center position of the speaker device 2 as the origin, and parameter values for each coordinate. Is recorded in the memory 12. In this example as well, each memory recording content records beam angle, focal length, acoustic effect, channel setting, volume, input source, television channel, etc. as parameter values.

  For example, when the user is present with the remote controller 10 at a position where the front distance of the speaker device 2 is 2.5 m and the angle is 30 deg, the control unit 11 of the speaker device 2 has a distance of 2.5 m as the remote control position. A measurement result with an angle of 30 deg is calculated. The control unit 11 converts the measurement result into XY coordinate axes, and calculates coordinates (X = 1.3, Y = 2.2). The present parameter value is recorded using the coordinates (X = 1.3, Y = 2.2) as the memory M1. In this example, when the user instructs to record the parameter values set at each position, the coordinates (X = -1.0, Y = 0.6) are set to M2, and the coordinates (X = 1.6, Y = 1.4) are set as shown in FIG. M3 and coordinates (X = −0.8, Y = 1.3) are recorded in order of M4.

  When the user gives an instruction to read out the parameter value, the control unit 11 measures the position of the remote controller 10 and searches the memory 12 based on the measured position of the remote controller 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when a measurement result with a distance of 3 m and an angle of 18 deg is calculated as the remote control position, the measurement result is converted into XY coordinates, and coordinates (X = 0.9, Y = 2.9) are calculated. The control unit 11 selects the recorded content with the shortest distance between coordinates (M1 in the example in the figure) from the recorded content in the memory 12, and reads out the parameter value.

  In this example, the case has been described in which the recorded content having the shortest distance between the coordinates is selected. However, the recorded content having the closest angle θ may be selected, or the recorded content having the closest distance r may be selected. It may be. Further, the determination may be made based on the angle θ and the distance r. In this case, the distance may be weighted or the angle may be weighted.

  Note that even if the user issues a read instruction at the same position, different parameter values may be read depending on the time. In this case, when the user gives a recording instruction, the control unit 11 reads the time from a built-in timer (not shown), and this time information is also recorded in the memory in association with the parameter value. The time at that time may be read out from the built-in timer, and the recorded content with the closest time may be read out.

  In the above description, the case where the speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 when the user gives a recording / reading instruction has been described. However, the remote controller position may be measured in real time (every predetermined time). Good. By measuring the position of the remote controller in real time, the read parameter value can be corrected.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the sound beam correction by the remote control position. As shown in FIG. 2A, the speaker device 2 generates five sound beams based on the parameter values read from the memory. The speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 every predetermined time and corrects the beam angle and the focal length. In the figure, the speaker device 2 acquires information on the size of the room (position of each wall surface) and the speaker installation position, and can calculate the beam angle so that all the beams are directed to the position of the remote controller 10. it can. If the room size and the speaker installation position are unknown, only component C may be corrected. That is, correction is performed so that the sound beam of component C is directed toward the remote controller 10.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 5B, the speaker device 2 mixes the component FR and the component SR when the position of the remote controller 10 moves greatly to the right from the front and the reflection path of the component SR cannot be secured. Output. Alternatively, the component SR is output at the same beam angle as the component FR.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5C, the speaker device 2 moves the components FR and FL when the position of the remote controller 10 moves to the vicinity of the device and the components SR and SL cannot be supplied at a sufficient volume from the rear. Is set to perform normal (not audio beam) stereo reproduction using a part of the speaker array of the speaker device 2 and a woofer, and the components SR and SL are set to be reflected from the left and right wall surfaces.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4D, when the position of the remote controller 10 is further moved to the vicinity of the apparatus, the components FR, SR, and C are mixed into the R channel, and the components FL, SL, and C are mixed into the L channel. These are set to perform normal (not audio beam) stereo reproduction using a part of the speaker array of the speaker device 2 and a woofer.

  As described above, by measuring the position of the remote controller 10 in real time, the sound beam set by the read parameter value can be corrected in real time. The position measurement of the remote controller 10 and the sound beam correction are not limited to real time, and may be performed when the user gives an instruction at an arbitrary timing.

  If the remote control position is extremely changed, it is determined that there is a high possibility of a measurement error, and the reading process of FIG. 8 is executed again to reread the parameter values in the memory 12. . In this case, another parameter value is read according to the position of the remote controller 10 at that time.

  Furthermore, when measuring the position of the remote controller in real time, the volume of the sound beam may be corrected. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining sound beam volume correction. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance between the remote controller 10 and the volume correction amount (speaker device 2), and FIG. 4B shows the relationship between the angle of the remote control 10 and the volume correction amount. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 every predetermined time, and the position of the remote controller 10 has moved from the position at the time of reading the parameter value. If so, correct the sound beam volume.

  In FIG. 6A, the speaker device 2 is configured such that when the position of the remote controller 10 has moved to a short distance from the position at the time of reading the parameter value, the volume of the sound beam has been lowered and moved to a long distance. Perform correction to increase the volume. In FIG. 5B, the speaker device 2 increases the sound volume when the position of the remote controller 10 is shifted from the position at the time of reading the parameter value and the shift amount from 0 deg is large, and the shift amount from 0 deg. If is small, turn down the volume.

  Note that these volume corrections are mainly performed for the component C. This is because the volume change due to the distance and angle has the greatest influence on the center channel. Note that the ratio of the volume correction amount based on the distance and the angle is not limited to the graph shown in FIG.

  Further, by measuring the position of the remote controller 10 in real time, it is possible to reduce time and labor when the user manually sets the parameter value. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example in which the position of the remote controller 10 is measured in real time when audio beams corresponding to two television channels are output. In this case, it is assumed that a user on the right side (from 0 deg to the plus side) listens to the sound of the TV channel 1, and a user on the left side (from 0 deg to the minus side) listens to the sound of the TV channel 2.

  The speaker device 2 measures the position of the remote controller 10 in real time and determines whether the remote controller 10 is positioned on the plus side or the minus side from 0 deg. Here, when the user manually sets the parameter value, when the position of the remote controller 10 is on the plus side from 0 deg, the parameter for controlling the television channel 1 is automatically selected from the parameter values. On the other hand, when the position of the remote controller 10 is on the minus side from 0 deg, the parameter for controlling the TV channel 2 is automatically selected from the parameter values. This eliminates the need for a TV channel switching instruction when the user performs manual setting.

View of the LDK room with the audio system from above Front view of speaker device 2 Diagram for explaining the principle of sound beam formation Diagram showing the directivity characteristics of the speaker array when the beam is focused The figure which shows the example which set five sound beams to the position of the user's h2 head The block diagram which shows the structure of the speaker apparatus 2 and the remote control 10. Conceptual diagram showing remote control position measurement Flowchart showing parameter value recording and reading operations of the speaker device 2 Diagram showing correspondence between remote control position and parameter value (memory recording contents) Figure of another example showing correspondence between remote control position and parameter value (memory recording contents) The figure explaining audio beam correction by remote control position The figure explaining the sound volume correction The figure explaining the example which measures the position of the remote control 10 in real time in the case of outputting the sound beam corresponding to two television channels.

Explanation of symbols

2-speaker device 10-remote control

Claims (4)

An audio system comprising a speaker device and a remote control that transmits an operation signal to the speaker device,
The speaker device
An input unit for inputting an audio signal;
A speaker array in which a plurality of speaker units are arranged;
A beam processing unit that outputs a sound beam having strong directivity in a predetermined direction to the speaker array by giving a predetermined delay to the sound signal input from the input unit and supplying the sound signal to each speaker unit;
An acoustic processing unit for setting acoustic characteristics of the audio signal;
Together with the beam processing unit sets the sound beams by controlling the delay amount given to the audio signals, and a control unit for the acoustic processing unit controls the acoustic characteristics to be set to the audio signal,
A memory for storing the setting of the sound beam set by the control unit in the beam processing unit and the setting value of the acoustic characteristics set in the acoustic processing unit in association with each of a plurality of areas;
A position measuring unit for measuring a distance and an angle of the remote controller with respect to the speaker device;
With
The control unit searches an area to which the distance and angle of the remote control belong from among a plurality of areas stored in the memory based on the distance and angle of the remote control measured by the position measurement unit, and the searched area And a delay amount that the beam processing unit imparts to the audio signal, and an acoustic characteristic that the acoustic processing unit sets to the audio signal ,
The position measuring unit measures the distance and angle of the remote controller every predetermined time,
When the control unit receives an operation signal indicating an instruction to read the setting value from the remote controller, the setting stored in the memory is based on the distance and angle of the remote controller that the position measurement unit has measured immediately before. While executing the process of reading the value,
Measured when the position measurement unit measures the distance and angle of the remote controller during a period when the operation signal is not received from the remote controller, and when the set value is read from the memory in the past, and the distance and angle of the remote controller. the distance and angle of the remote controller, based on the deviation of the delay amount to be set in the beam processing unit, and the acoustic characteristics is corrected to set the sound processing unit,
The audio characteristic correction includes a process of increasing the volume as the deviation of the angle from the front direction of the speaker device increases . An audio system comprising a speaker device and a remote control that transmits an operation signal to the speaker device,
The speaker device
An input unit for inputting an audio signal;
A speaker array in which a plurality of speaker units are arranged;
A beam processing unit that outputs a sound beam having strong directivity in a predetermined direction to the speaker array by giving a predetermined delay to the sound signal input from the input unit and supplying the sound signal to each speaker unit;
An acoustic processing unit for setting acoustic characteristics of the audio signal;
Together with the beam processing unit sets the sound beams by controlling the delay amount given to the audio signals, and a control unit for the acoustic processing unit controls the acoustic characteristics to be set to the audio signal,
A memory for storing the setting of the sound beam set in the beam processing unit by the control unit and the setting value of the acoustic characteristic set in the acoustic processing unit in association with each other for a plurality of coordinates;
A position measuring unit for measuring a distance and an angle of the remote controller with respect to the speaker device;
With
The control unit calculates the coordinates of the remote control at that time based on the distance and angle of the remote control measured by the position measurement unit, and sets the delay amount set in the beam processing unit and the acoustic processing unit A storage operation for storing the acoustic characteristics as the set value in the memory in association with the calculated coordinates;
Based on the distance and angle of the remote control measured by the position measurement unit, the corresponding coordinates are retrieved from the memory, the setting value associated with the retrieved coordinates is read, and the delay that the beam processing unit imparts to the audio signal And a read operation for controlling the acoustic characteristics set by the acoustic processing unit in the audio signal ,
The position measuring unit measures the distance and angle of the remote controller every predetermined time,
When the control unit receives an operation signal indicating an instruction to read the setting value from the remote controller, the setting stored in the memory is based on the distance and angle of the remote controller that the position measurement unit has measured immediately before. While executing the process of reading the value,
Measured when the position measurement unit measures the distance and angle of the remote controller during a period when the operation signal is not received from the remote controller, and when the set value is read from the memory in the past, and the distance and angle of the remote controller. the distance and angle of the remote controller, based on the deviation of the delay amount to be set in the beam processing unit, and the acoustic characteristics is corrected to set the sound processing unit,
The audio characteristic correction includes a process of increasing the volume as the deviation of the angle from the front direction of the speaker device increases . The input unit inputs audio signals from a plurality of audio sources,
The audio system according to claim 1, wherein the set value includes information for selecting an input destination of an audio signal input by the input unit. The remote control includes a microphone that collects sound;
An information transmission unit that transmits information indicating the timing at which the microphone picks up sound to the speaker device;
The position measuring unit causes the plurality of speaker units of the speaker array to emit sound at different timings, and information indicating the sound emission timings of the plurality of speaker units and the sound collection timing received from the remote controller. The audio system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein a distance and an angle of the remote controller are measured based on the distance .

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