KR19990040205A - Time-adaptive automatic volume control device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic volume control device and a method for automatically changing the volume of a television according to a current time. Particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic volume adjusting device and a method for estimating the volume level of a listener at that time, and storing the estimated volume level in a memory in advance. If the current time detected using the internal clock or the additional information from the broadcasting station matches the time stored in the memory, the user can listen at the stored volume, so that the ambient noise according to the time change such as night, day, morning, lunch, and evening In addition, the volume can be adaptively changed according to the propagation characteristics of the sound waves. Also, the memory can be used to store the reference volume level of the listener for each time zone, so that the memory can be made smaller. It is also simple to implement.

Description

Time-adaptive automatic volume control device and method

The present invention relates to an automatic volume control device and method for automatically changing the volume of a television in accordance with the current time.

Recently, television (TV) systems have been improved in image quality and sound quality from various angles for the convenience of users. In particular, there is a system that automatically finds the best image quality according to the brightness of the surrounding area, and there is an automatic volume control system that automatically compensates the volume according to the volume of the input volume.

The automatic volume control system is a system in which a user can always hear a constant volume regardless of the input sound signal.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional automatic volume control device. The first tone control unit 11, the volume detection unit 12, and the first microcomputer 13 consistently adjust the volume according to input left and right sound signals. The second tone control unit 21, the second microcomputer 22, and the remote control 23 are left to be output to the speaker when the TV system user changes the listening volume using the remote control. A block 20 for changing the height of the volume of the right sound signal.

That is, the volume detector 12 detects a peak level of the volume of the left or right sound signal input through the first tone controller 11 or calculates a root mean square value (RMS) value for a predetermined time. The result is output to the first microcomputer 13. The first microcomputer 13 determines a compensation amount according to the input value and outputs the compensation amount to the first tone control unit 11, and the first tone control unit 11 is input as much as the compensation amount output from the microcomputer 13. The sound quality (Tone) of the left or right sound signal is adjusted and output to the second tone controller 21.

As a result, since the first tone control unit 11 is controlled in proportion to the volume of the input volume, the input of the second tone control unit 21 is always maintained at a constant value.

When the user adjusts the volume using the remote controller 23, the second microcomputer 22 is input to the second microcomputer 22 and the TV-only second microcomputer 22 determines the volume control volume and outputs it to the second tone controller 21. do. The second tone control unit 22 determines the height of the volume of the left and right speaker output by adjusting the sound quality of the left or right sound signal by the volume control amount determined by the microcomputer 22.

That is, the first tone control unit 11 adjusts the sound quality by increasing or decreasing the high range or the low range by the compensation amount determined by the first microcomputer 12 by the input left and right sound signals, and the second tone control unit 21 Based on the volume control of the user using the remote control 23 based on the output of the first tone control unit 11, the second microcomputer 22 determines the compensation amount and increases or decreases the high or low range by using the determined compensation amount. Adjust the sound quality of the output.

However, the above-described conventional automatic volume control system is capable of compensating the volume level according to the difference in sound modulation degree or the difference in sound source when changing channels, but the sound quality is different depending on ambient noise or time. There is a difference, that is, the intensity of the volume listened to during the day and night is heard differently due to the change of the sound transmission medium, there is a problem that does not compensate for this difference. The lack of completeness of automatic volume control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to adaptively adjust the intensity of the volume in consideration of the listener's listening volume intensity to the change of the ambient noise and the atmosphere, which is the medium for transmitting the sound, in a normal case. It is to provide a time-adaptive automatic volume control device and method for changing.

Time-adaptive automatic volume control device according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the remote control for inputting the user's selection signal, and the voice output according to the control signal by the input voice signal or the user's selection signal Outputs to the tone control unit a tone control unit for controlling the tone of the tone, a reference volume according to a time-varying environment or condition, a memory in which the corresponding time is stored, and an input voice signal or a tone control signal according to a user's key input; And a micom that reads a reference volume according to a time-varying environment or condition from the memory and outputs a tone control signal according to the tone control unit.

A feature of the time-adaptive automatic volume control method according to the present invention includes a first step of performing tone control by recognizing current time information and reading reference volume data corresponding to the current time from a memory in which the reference volume is stored in advance; A second step of determining if there is a volume change of the user with respect to the voice output according to the tone control; a third step of comparing the change amount with a predetermined threshold value if the user volume is adjusted in the second step; And a fourth step of performing tone control and changing the reference volume of the memory again when it is determined that the change amount is less than or equal to the threshold in the third step.

1 is a block diagram of a conventional automatic volume control device

2 is a block diagram of a time-adaptive automatic volume control device according to the present invention

3 is a flowchart of a time-adaptive automatic volume control method according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

31,41: tone control unit 32: volume detection unit

33,42: Micom 43: Memory

44: remote control

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a time-adaptive automatic volume control device according to the present invention, in which only the memory 43 for automatic volume control is further added to the second microcomputer 42 of the automatic volume control system of FIG. In this way, the value stored in the memory 43 is associated with the value set by the user over time. The memory 43 may have a capacity capable of storing a reference volume level for each time slot. In addition, the memory 43 has a reference volume level estimated after the designer estimates a volume level according to ambient noise or sound wave transmission characteristics according to time changes such as night, day, morning, lunch, and dinner at the time of product shipment. The time can be stored, or the listener can directly save the desired time and the reference level according to the time as an initial value. That is, the volume level of the listener for each time zone is estimated and stored in the memory, so that the user can listen to the volume corresponding to the specific time zone.

Therefore, since the operation of the present invention is the same as in FIG. 1 except for the operation according to the volume control using the memory 43, the second microcomputer 42, and the remote controller 44, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

3 is a flowchart of setting and storing the current time and the reference volume at that time in the second microcomputer 42.

To do this, first find out the current time (step 301). The current time can be known not only by using the internal clock of the second microcomputer 42, but also in the digital TV system by using the current time information transmitted by the broadcasting station as additional information. In particular, in a TV system in which a KBPS (Korean Broadcasting Program System) decoder is embedded, the current time can be known using KBPS information. In this case, the current time detected from the additional information or the KBPS information may be more accurate than the current time of the internal clock.

When the current time is detected in the step 301, the volume level corresponding to the time is read from the memory 43 (step 302), and output to the second tone control unit 41 to increase or decrease the high or low range. (Step 303). Therefore, the user can watch TV according to the already stored reference volume level. In other words, the volume of sound felt by viewers differs depending on the noise and time of the surroundings, but the volume of the sound felt differently by the viewer. It becomes impossible.

If the user adjusts the volume level by using a hot key of the remote controller 44 (step 304), it is compared whether or not the current volume change is normal by comparing the changed volume level with a predetermined threshold. Determine (step 305). If the amount changed in step 305 is less than or equal to the threshold, the volume change amount is normal, so that the volume is adjusted through the second tone control unit 41 (step 306), and at the same time, the reference volume level value stored in the memory 43 is updated (step 307).

One of the methods of updating the reference volume of the memory 43 is a method of taking an average of two values. You can update it by resaving with current time. This means that the volume level of the volume set by the previous user is updated to the new value by affecting the current volume level. Then, the second microcomputer 42 is in a waiting state for a predetermined time until the next set time.

As described above, according to the time-adaptive automatic volume control apparatus and method according to the present invention, the volume level of the listener at that time is divided into specific time zones and stored in advance, and then detected by using an internal clock or additional information sent from a broadcasting station. If the current time and the stored time match, the user can listen to the stored volume, and the volume is adaptively changed according to the ambient noise or the propagation characteristics of the sound wave according to the change of time of night, day, morning, lunch, and evening. Convenience can be achieved.

In addition, since the memory is capable of storing the reference volume level of the listener for each time zone, it is possible to use the memory having a small capacity, and the algorithm for updating the storage level can be easily implemented.

In addition, by changing the volume due to a sudden external noise or the volume change component in a specific situation, it does not affect the stored reference level volume, thereby ensuring the safety of the system by not considering the change in the intensity of the volume in an abnormal situation. can do.

Claims (4)

A remote control unit for inputting a user's selection signal; Tone control unit for controlling the tone of the voice output in accordance with the control signal according to the input voice signal or the user's selection signal, A reference volume according to a time-varying environment or condition, a memory for storing a corresponding time, Outputs a voice signal or a tone control signal according to a user's key input to the tone controller, and reads a reference volume according to a time-varying environment or condition from the memory and outputs the signal to the tone controller as a signal for tone control. Time-adaptive automatic volume control device characterized in that it comprises a micom. The method of claim 1, wherein the microcomputer And adjusting the user volume through the remote controller to update the reference volume of the memory by re-storing user volume control information with the time information in the memory. A first step of performing tone control by recognizing current time information and reading reference volume data corresponding to the current time from a memory in which the reference volume is stored in advance; A second step of determining if there is a volume change of the user with respect to the voice output according to the tone control; A third step of comparing the change amount with a predetermined threshold when the user volume adjustment is made in the second step; And a fourth step of performing tone control and changing a reference volume of the memory by determining that the change amount is less than or equal to the threshold value in the third step. The method of claim 3, wherein the fourth step The reference volume updated in the memory is Time-adaptive automatic volume control method characterized in that to restore with the current time.