Apparatus and method for displaying audio data as a discrete waveform
US5634020A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 31, 1992 |
| Grant date | May 27, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 31, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B27/034
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A display system represents an audio track as a discrete waveform, wherein each sample in the waveform may take on one of a discrete range of possible values. The discrete waveform indicates the presence of sound energy above user-set thresholds. Audio data samples are smoothed and applied to one or more thresholding functions. The resulting discrete output is displayed by using graphics of either different size or different color. An editor using this display system in conjunction with a computerized editing system receives an indication of where sufficient sound levels occur on the audio track. This information may be used to locate breaks in sound, dialog and other sound effects, which simplifies audio editing and synchronization of audio with other media in a multimedia presentation. Similar thresholds may be applied to the results of frequency analysis to provide an indication of which frequencies are present in the audio's signal.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.