Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus to create a sound field

US7515719B2 · kind B2 · utility

99Cited by
64References
26Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 27, 2002
Grant dateApr 7, 2009
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 24, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04S3/002
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for taking an input signal, replicating it a number of times and modifying each of the replicas before routing them to respective output transducers such that a desired sound field is created. This sound field may comprise a directed beam, focussed beam or a simulated origin. In a first aspect, delays are added to sound channels to remove the effects of different travelling distances. In a second aspect, a delay is added to a video signal to account for the delays added to the sound channels. In a third aspect, different window functions are applied to each channel to give improved flexibility of use. In a fourth aspect, a smaller extent of transducers is used top output high frequencies than are used to output low frequencies. An array having a larger density of transducers near the centre is also provided. In a fifth aspect, a line of elongate transducers is provided to give good directivity in a plane. In a sixth aspect, sound beams are focussed in front or behind surfaces to give different beam widths and simulated origins. In a seventh aspect, a camera is used to indicate where sound is directed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.