Home

( ) CD Player

image

Contents

1. specific circuitry associated with any of the functional blocks shown in FIG 4 and there is no corresponding signal flow Rather the operations performed by the DSP are shown in terms of signal flow and functional blocks only for purposes of illustration and ease of discussion However an analog implementation of the sound signal processing would use the general signal flow and functional arrange ment shown in FIG 4 In FIG 4 DSP 2 processing includes Slit Loss Equaliza tion EQ processing 180 Calibrate Gain Adjust process ing 182 and Noise Reduction processing 184 Slit Loss EQ processing 180 attenuates and amplifies predetermined fre quencies in the input signal to compensate for signal deg radation due to photoelectric transduction assuming the signal source is from a projector and other imperfections in the signal source and associated electronics Calibrate Gain Adjust processing 182 adjusts the signal strength according to parameters set by the theater sound operator Optionally default parameters can be used for Calibrate Gain Adjust processing 182 In the preferred embodiment EQ and gain adjust func tions are performed digitally by software so that parameter ization and configuration of these functions is easily achieved The software to accomplish the EQ and gain adjust functions is discussed in detail below However these functions can also be performed with more traditional ana log circuitry or alterna
2. 206 convert the signals to analog signals and send the analog signals to gain adjusters 208 210 212 and 214 These gain adjusters are analog circuits which are not under software control but which may be set manually Line drivers 216 218 220 and 222 are used to convert the L R signals to balanced signals for transmis sion to speaker amplifiers Appendix A includes source code in the C computer language as defined by manuals published by Analog Devices including the Programmer s Reference Manual for the ADSP 2106x based systems manufactured by Analog Devices This language uses the standard C syntax and constructs as described for example in Programming in C by Kernighan Ritchie but provides for parallel pro cessing in a multiprocessor environment The source code module TIEQSET1 ASM is the code that performs EQ processing and high and low pass filtering This module executes on one of the two signal processors in the system of the present invention Include files such as def21060 h and asm__sprt h are provided as part of the applications library and are defined in the references Func tions such as dm and cascaded biquad are provided 10 15 25 35 45 55 65 8 in the applications library to perform functions such as respectively accessing data memory and performing a sec ond order filter calculation These functions are explained in detail in the references
3. Dolby Type A and Dolby Spectral Recording SR Systems that implement these noise reduction stan dards modify the sound before it is recorded compression and reverse modify the sound before it is played through the speakers so that only the original sounds are heard decompression A problem faced by theater sound system operators is that sound playback modes often differ from movie to movie For example one movie may be in stereo while another is in a surround sound playback mode Further the playback mode may be coupled with a noise reduction standard so that the appropriate sound decompression circuitry must be selected for proper sound reproduction Another important aspect in a listener s perception of the quality of the soundtrack is the specific theaters acoustics and placement of speakers That is the distance of stereo separation the degree of imple mentation of the surround sound speaker array balance and equalization within the theater etc may differ from theater to theater Since an operator may have to deal with showing several different movies on any given day the number of permutations of sound modes noise reduction standards and theater acoustics can be daunting The operator s task is further complicated when multiple projectors providing multiple signal sources are used to show a single movie Thus it is desirable to provide a cinema sound system that is easily configurable and provides a degr
4. Freeze cache We claim 1 A method for reproducing sound from an audiovisual production having a sound portion wherein the audiovisual production is played back using a playback device located in a theater wherein the method utilizes a digital cinema sound system including a digital processor coupled to a memory the playback device and a plurality of speakers the method comprising the following steps creating a program definition including at least one parameter specifying a sound distribution among the plurality of speakers during the playback of the sound portion of the audiovisual production wherein the specified sound distribution creates a characteristic sound quality of the sound portion of the audiovisual production storing the program definition in the memory of the digital cinema sound system and using the processor to play back the sound portion of the audiovisual production according to the sound distri bution specified by at least one parameter of the pro gram definition whereby the played back sound has the characteristic sound quality 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the step of creating a program definition is performed in a first location remote from the theatre wherein the processor is further coupled to a data port for receiving data wherein the method uses a digital transfer system to move data between the first loca tion and the theatre wherein the step of storing the program definition include
5. Referring to Appendix A inputs from surround decoding processing block 186 of FIG 4 are obtained at lines 502 At lines 504 these values are subjected to equalization and high low pass filtering to implement the processing of block 190 The coefficients used by the _ cascaded biquad routine are prestored as dictated by the cascaded biquad calling parameters specified in the references Other processing performed by the source code of Appen dix A includes left and right channel signal scaling prior to sending the inputs to noise reduction processing That is the processing of block 182 is performed at lines 506 and 508 where parameters defined by the user see discussion below in connection with FIG 10 are used to adjust the signal strength by multiplying the signal values by a predetermined gain factor FIG 6 shows the front panel of the DCP 1000 digital cinema processor The front panel includes display 250 and several groups of controls such as cursor buttons at 252 select button 254 preset recall buttons 256 and additional controls at 258 including Input A select button 272 Input B select button 274 for selecting the input assigned as either Input A or Input B remote enable button 276 to allow the unit to be operated from an external remote controller mute button 278 to mute the entire output of the DCP and dial 280 for setting numeric values as displayed in meter display 279 While the DCP 1000 provides the user with many b
6. in the references Other processor architectures are possible For example while the multiprocessor architecture discussed in connection with FIG 7 is especially well suited for digital signal processing any general purpose central processing unit CPU such as the 80x86 line of CPUs is capable of executing the user interface functions of the present inven tion In the preferred embodiment execution of program instructions to implement the user interface and configura tion of the DCP is handled by both the signal processing core 5 798 818 9 processors and by an 80286 CPU and associated hardware such as memory VO etc The ADSP chip of FIG 7 receives user input signals from the control panel of FIG 6 via YO processor 308 The ADSP chip also sends signals to display 250 of FIG 6 through I O processor 308 The VO of the present invention with respect to the user interface can be accomplished by means well known in the art FIG 8 shows a first screen display 400 along with cursor buttons 252 and select button 254 Screen display 400 includes a list of preset names with default names of Preset 1 through Preset 8 A user is able to select a preset by using up and down arrow buttons 402 and 406 respectively to move highlight bar 410 up and down the list When the user depresses select button 254 the highlighted preset name is displayed on the display screen FIG 9 shows screen display 420 which is generate
7. P system as discussed above in FIGS 1 5 to achieve the desired sound mode For example selection of the Mono module causes the sum of the left and right input signals to be processed to result in the same signal on each of the L LC C RC R SL SR and SW signals In the preferred embodiment the gain adjust bass ext EQ low pass and high pass filters channel and master gain are all set by a technician when the DCP system is installed in the theater FIG 10 shows PEC Board Calibration screen 450 PEC Board Calibration screen 450 is used to allow the user to set the signal level inputs to the noise reduction processing Referring to FIG 4 the PEC Board Calibration screen 450 is used to set the gain adjust parameters for signals L and R That is the Calibrate Gain Adjust processing 182 of FIG 4 uses the parameters set by the user from screen 450 to ensure that the inputs to the noise reduction processing 184 are at the proper level As shown in FIG 10 the user pressed the up and down arrow buttons to move the highlight bar over the desired signal to scale either left LF or right RT Then by using the right and left buttons the user adjusts the vertical line 452 or 454 until it is substantially centered The numerical value of the adjustment is shown at the left of the each meter If the user saves the parameters they become associated with the current preset Thus the invention has been described in connection with the includ
8. SE Chak ov e awa sng mea Wa as sng 328 8 u j0ssad01diinw L T Yad Mod O I uod 10SS8001g Q Syo pauog eng ng aya uonongsu f JOU 90 WES Pao g eng POE 10SS3I014 8107 5 798 818 Sheet 8 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent NO 1891 4195 9IJNOO NOISH3A joejes 8 1eseld 8 poz 4 90 1 18S81d 9 19S 1d 9 S19S91d G y 19S91d y AN ne lt 80r leSe d e 19S91d Z A olr C92 20p 5 798 818 Sheet 9 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent alas 027 A IIX3 9 anes 3 QE IEAY UON SSoJppy g 9 qe ieAy SUON gindul 0 SSOIPPY y JUAS UON y indu 19S81d OU0 N 3 npow Jasad 9UJEN 18S81d sanjea abueyd oj s y lt gt ash NOILINI33Q 13S3Hd 6 01 5 798 818 Sheet 10 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent Sc 9SBYJ 0 9 9497 14BIg 0 9 19487 437 X3 anes Paas uoyelmbiuoo WaysAs wos 0 93d e ouied 9u S UON anos 53d 0 93d uoHesqied pog 93d asp 01 Old 5 798 818 1 CONFIGURABLE CINEMA SOUND SYSTEM This is a continuation of application Ser No 08 544 353 filed on Oct 17 1995 now abandoned which is hereby incorporated by reference SOURCE CODE APPENDIX A microfiche appendix of computer language source code for a preferred embodiment O 1995 Sony Corporation is filed herewith A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright pro
9. US005798818A United States Patent us 11 Patent Number 5 798 818 Derderian et al 45 Date of Patent Aug 25 1998 54 CONFIGURABLE CINEMA SOUND SYSTEM 5 386255 1 1995 Beard et al sss 352 5 5 386256 1 1995 Taylor et al 352 27 75 Inventors ra J Derderian Alta Loma Daniel 5 450 146 9 1995 Chedeville et al 352531 J Minear Westminster Paul M 5 550 603 8 1996 Yoshimura et al 352 27 Embree Irvine James S Mercs 5 617 158 4 1997 Miyamon et al 352 37 Huntington Beach all of Calif Primary Examiner Safet Metjahic I r Assistant Examiner John Chizmar 73 Assignees 5 Mas ce Attorney Agent or Firm Jerry A Miller Calif 57 ABSTRACT A theater sound processing system that provides preset 21 Appl No 948 747 configurations including parameters that can be modified by 22 Filed Sep 30 1997 a user Other setup parameters are modifiable by the manu facturer or a third party such as a sound technician who Related U S Application Data provides such parameters at installation time The param eters allow control of equalization settings gain noise 63 Continuation of Ser No 544 353 Oct 17 1995 abandoned reduction processing surround sound processing and other 51 Int CL G03B 31 04 audio characteristics The designation of user modifiable Ha kapa pa ai es d p eters and non user modifiable parameters in
10. al cinema sound system including a digital processor coupled to a memory the playback device noise reduction processing for applying one of a plurality of noise reduction modes and at least one speaker wherein the method further utilizes a digital transfer system for transferring data the method comprising the following steps creating a program definition including at least one parameter specifying one of the plurality of noise reduction mode to be used during the playback of the sound portion of the audiovisual production storing the program definition in the memory of the digital cinema sound system and using the processor to play back the sound portion of the audiovisual production according to the noise reduction mode specified by the at least one parameter of the program definition
11. asic control functions the discussion below focuses on the ability of the DCP 1000 to be configured by the user for different sound modes noise reduction formats and other sound playback characteristics FIG 7 is a diagram of processor 300 in the DCP In the preferred embodiment the DCP uses two processors such as the one shown in FIG 7 manufactured by Analog Devices Inc of Norwood Mass The processors are part number ADSP 2106 For more information on this processor refer to the ADSP 2106x user s manual and ADSP 21060 62 Data Sheet for timing electrical and package specifications The two processors in the DCP communicate via the multipro cessor interface 302 so that a multiprocessor system is achieved This allows some operations to be performed concurrently as discussed above in connection with the source code Appendix A Logic and arithmetic functions of each processor are performed by Core Processor 304 in each of the processors Dual Ported static random access memory SRAM 306 stores program code that directs the core processor to perform the digital sound processing functions of the DCP Also the user interface and other functions of the DCP are performed by appropriate software executed from the SRAM Data used by the core processor and generated by the core processor is also stored in the SRAM Input Qutput Y O functions are achieved by I O processor 308 The architecture of processor 300 is described in detail
12. ass EXT EQ processing deals with sub woofer equal ization and level and are presets that are adjustable by the technician who installs the digital cinema processing sys tem Outputs of Surround Decoding processing are surround sound signals L C R SL and SR These signals are sent to separate EQ functions Note that signals L and R are split into Wide Left Narrow Left and Wide Right Narrow Right signals respectively This is a provision for theaters that have more or less stereo separa 5 798 818 7 tion corresponding to wide or narrow left and right channels Again since all of the processing is performed in hardware the application of output signals to the channels designated as Wide Left Narrow Left Center Narrow Right Wide Right Surround Left Surround Right and SubWoofer are highly configurable That is some or all of the signals can be muted as might be desired where a theater does not have all of the surround sound channels The signals can be re assigned to provide for other sound formats such as the Sony Dynamic Digital Sound SDDS format standard which uses eight channels that are different from the sur round sound channels Another example is where the sound mode is simple stereo Depending on whether the theater left and right speakers are close together or farther apart wide or narrow stereo modes can be selected as part of the preset configuration by the user In the preferred embodiment the room EQ pa
13. at var lphp dline ch6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 var eq dline ch7 2 SECTIONS zeros dat 5 798 818 continued var iphp dline ch7 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 endseg segment pm seg pmco ing switch to alt regs BIT SET MODE1 SRDIH SRDIL SRD2H SRD2L SRRFL BIT CLR MODE2 CAFRZ Un Freeze cache 1 Move inputs from SHARC 2 into registers FO dm SRND__OUT2 0 F1 dm SRND__OUT2 1 F5 dm SRND__OUT2 2 F7 dm SRND__OUT2 3 Input eq d right center left center and subwoof from SHARC 2 F9 dm LEFT_OUT2 F10 dm RIGHT_OUT2 F11 dm SUBWOOF_OUT2 Input slit eq ed left and right to store in meter buffers r14 dm store ena r14 PASS r14 if EQ JUMP skip store db Il store ena f8 dm SLITEQL OUT2 BIT CLR STKY CB7S dm 16 M1 f8 f8 dm SLITEQR_OUT 2 18 r8 r8 dm I7 M1 18 BIT TST STKY CB7S if TF dm I1 M5 18 skip store eq and Ip hp filtering uses 40 bit precision ustatl dm SYSCON BIT SET ustatl IMDW1X dm SYSCON ustat1 bO eq dline ch delay line pointer b8 eq coefs ch0 coef pointer Il I0 call cascaded biquad db input F8 output F8 F8 FO rl4 SECTIONS 2 call _cascaded_biquad db input F8 output F8 1 F0 F8 F8 Fl call cascaded biquad db 4 imput F8 output F8 F1 F8 F8 FS call cascaded biquad db input F8 output F8 F5 F8 F3 F7 call cascaded biquad d
14. ay UBIH ZL 9 0 1sn py ueg I010 l01d 5 798 818 Sheet 4 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent JBJOOMGNS uiy punoung HOT ke ga E punoung IS 9pIM 1ybly MOEN Jaju99 MOEN HO o3 HS 03 981 buiposag punong l 7 061 uec ISEW S43 dH d 1 jeuueu 903 uoog jsn py ules BEIGIED uononpeg e8l 5 798 818 Sheet 5 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent occ c je ug aun sjeuueyo z isnpv uled sieuueu3 2 Ova sjauueyo z 03 Jang aun sjauueyy z iSnlpv ure9 sjeuueyoz Ova sjauueyo z 812 C je uq eur sjauueyD z Pisnipy ued sjeuueyoz ova sjeuueyo z 912 0 aang Bun sjeuueu z PISNPY ued sjauueyo z ova sjauueyo Z 9pt eoeyojul INQ L 5 798 818 Sheet 6 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent 082 WELT DE EY 7 7 7 2 A Y Z AS 2 1414491404 A AB ABE A An LY SOIHdVHD 3 1X31 OSV ANIT 91 X YILOVEVHO OF N334098 dN13S ANY SNLVLS 097 SNITILINW V SI SIHL 5 798 818 Sheet 7 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent DE 408899014 O 0 9 p sayng eieg SO Yul 9 smels EC cl ONU0D pP wW siajsibay aHUS dOl nv Face NG 0X0 eo as gt RIN jasibay lt ars E ouo VNQ 2
15. b imput F8 output F8 F6 F8 F8 F7 F7 F8 BIT CLR ustat1 IMDW1X dm SYSCON ustatl Output all data I5 gt _tx_bufO r13 Ox7fff 10 FIX FO 10 CLIP r0 BY r13 rl FIX FI dm LEFT 15 10 tl CLIP r1 BY 113 rl FIX FS dm CENTER I5 11 11 CLIP r1 BY 113 rl FIX F6 dm RIGHT 15 r1 rl CLIP ri BY r13 rl FIX F7 dm SURR_LEFT IS r1 rl CLIP r1 BY 113 rl FIX Fo dm SURR_RIGHT 5 11 rl CLIP r1 BY r13 rl FIX F10 dm LEFT CENTER I5 r1 rl CLIP r1 BY r13 rl FIX Fil dm RIGHT CENTER 15 11 rl CLIP r1 BY r13 dm SUBWOOE 5 11 check input source ri4 dm in source 1 oscillator ri4 r14 1 generate OSC output if eq call _osc db BIT SET MODEL nop rl4 r14 1 2 noise 5 798 818 15 continued 16 generate pink noise output if input 2 if eq call frand 114 dm _in_source O audio input 114 PASS r14 if ne JUMP skip input db F1 F8 read left channel F2 dm input scale D r0 dm rx bufO r1 FEXT r0 BY 0 16 SE F8 float rl F8 F8 F2 read right channel F2 dmf input scale r rO dm __rx__buf0 4 rl FEXT 10 BY 0 16 SE Fi float rl Fi F1 F2 skip input Cleanup and return BIT SET MODE2 CAFRZ RTI db pass inputs to SHARC 2 for left center right center and subwoof eq dm LEFT IN2 F8 dm RIGHT IN2 Fl endseq read serial port
16. cinema processing system the manufacturer of the DCP or another party Some parameters are global parameters that are set by the manufacturer The user is able to modify local param eters to adapt the system to a particular theater environment For example some parameters that are complex to determine such as theater room EQ can be set by the manufacturer of the DCP system or by a technician that comes to the specific theater with test equipment to deter mine the parameters by experimentation Other parameters such as for Slit Loss EQ are known depending upon the characteristics of known signal sources and can be accu rately set by the manufacturer The global parameters set by the manufacturer or third party are referred to as part of the setup of the DCP The local parameters that may be set by a sound system operator at the theater are referred to as preset parameters This approach provides flexibility with out putting an undue burden on the theater sound system operator Further the operator is protected from making wrong inputs to sensitive parameters from which recovery may be difficult In the preferred embodiment Slit Loss EQ parameters are part of the setup parameters determined by the manufacturer while the Calibrate Gain Adjust parameters are user definable presets as discussed below Other embodiments may regard setup parameters described here as presets and vice versa It should be apparent that ad
17. d when Preset 1 has been selected from the screen display of FIG 8 Screen display 420 is the preset definition screen showing the definition of Preset 1 Preset 1 s definition includes the preset name module preset number Input A assignment Input A address Input B assignment and Input B address The user is able to change the preset name in the preset definition screen by using the arrow buttons The module name is selectable from a list of predefined modules as described below The preset number is a fixed number from 1 to 8 indicating that up to 8 different presets can be defined by the user Inputs A and B can each be assigned to different PEC boards discussed above In the preferred embodiment Inputs A and B are usually assigned to two different pro jectors used to project a film By using a predesignated button in control area 258 of FIG 6 the user can instantly switch between Input A and B Thus the user is able to switch from one projector to another when it is necessary to change reels The A and B addresses correspond to PEC board addresses so that any PEC board and its associated input that is connected to the DCP can be assigned to either of Inputs A or B In FIG 9 screen display 420 has a PEC board with address 0 assigned to Input A The Non Sync input to PEC board 0 is being used which means that whatever input signal is connected to the RCA connector on the PEC board will be processed by the DCP The 8 pres
18. dding and sub tracting the phase of the left right signals Note that not all of these signals need be output For example if the sound mode is simply stereo then only L and R signals need to be output with a sub woofer signal if desired Any combination of signals may be automatically selected and preconfigured since the routing and selection of L LC C RC R SE SR and SW signals is under software control as discussed below The outputs of DSP board 144 are output to a TDM data bus for input to analog output Aout board 148 Aout board 148 includes digital to analog converters to convert the digital data output from the DSP into corresponding analog signals for the speakers Naturally where analog circuitry rather than digital processing is used to perform the signal processing functions circuitry associated with digital processing such as the A D converters and data buses of the TDMs can be omitted from the design General Purpose Microcomputer 149 communicates with PEC Board 140 DSP Board 144 and Aout Board 148 Microcomputer 149 may be any suitable microprocessor system including memory I O etc In the preferred embodiment microcomputer 149 is an 80286 based com puter which performs rudimentary control and configuration operations and executes the user interface of the present invention along with processing performed by DSP board 144 The distribution of tasks such as the user interface among the processors in the
19. developed by Sony Corporation DCP 108 accepts inputs from photoelectric cells com monly used as transducers in movie projectors such as Projector 1 Projector 2 and Projector 104 Photoelectric cells in the projectors are used to convert an optical track on the film into electrical analog sound signals The DCP then converts the analog sound signals to digital signals and performs digital signal processing to implement various sound modes and noise reduction formats along with per forming other audio processing as discussed below Although the DCP 1000 uses digital technology to accom plish the sound processing functions other traditional forms of signal processing such as analog circuitry may be used with the present invention to perform the signal processing In order for the system to be configurable according to the present invention certain of the components controlling key parameters as discussed below must be under electrical as opposed to manual control so that the parameters may be set automatically and the parameter values saved In general this application deals with the configurability of the cinema processing system and does not concern the actual signal processing aspects of the cinema sound processor which may be implemented by any suitable means known in the art DCP 108 can be adapted to handle up to eight inputs from eight different sources DCP 108 uses input cards known as photoelectric cell PEC cards in t
20. dices that 52 KS Cl enne the user is given safe control over necessary parts of the 58 Field of Search 352 5 11 31 system User modifiable parameters are changed via a user M interface Other parameters can be transferred to the sound 56 References Cited processing system via a portable computer or by commu U S PATENT DOCUMENTS nications link In a digital sound processing embodiment of the invention the entire sound processing ability of the 2 a ER o creat bana system can be updated by downloading new signal process 4385814 5 1983 Elliot Lie 352 92 ing software 5 155 510 10 1992 Beard 352 27 5280 14 1 1994 Hymes 352 129 26 Claims 10 Drawing Sheets D PI Proj 2 bis bl Proj 1 nagi Projector 104 Audio Signal 106 Digital Cinema Sound Processor 108 eli Npa U S Patent Aug 25 1998 Sheet 1 of 10 5 798 818 FIG 1 100 Ng Projector 104 PI Audio Signal 106 Digital Cinema Sound Processor 108 KA Pa EA KG 5 798 818 Sheet 2 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent 6bl 1085820140131 asodind e19uar cc EEE vel pagod dSd O ela 01 iu iy ye d4 eoepieju WOL 146i 487 Ort pig0g Odd lui 497 5 798 818 Sheet 3 of 10 Aug 25 1998 U S Patent YO orl 908 au Wal 961 M07 p
21. ditional parameters can be employed depending on the circuitry used and that some parameters used in the preferred embodiment need not be used in all embodiments Noise Reduction processing 184 is performed after the signals have been subjected to Slit Loss EQ processing and Calibrate Gain Adjust processing In the preferred embodiment Noise Reduction processing 184 includes pro cessing compatible with Dolby Type A noise reduction and Dolby Spectral Recording noise reduction standards pro mulgated by Dolby Laboratories These standards are described for example in papers by Ray M Dolby pub lished in the Journal of Audio Engineering Society as An Audio Noise Reduction System vol 15 pp 383 88 October 1967 and The Spectral Recording Process vol 35 no 3 March 1987 for the Type A and SR standards respectively However any type of noise reduction may be implemented in the present invention The noise reduction parameters are determined by the manufacturer and are not user adjustable After noise reduction processing the signals are processed according to Surround Decoding 186 and Bass EXT EQ processing 188 Surround Decoding 186 splits the L and R signals into up to 8 surround signals The surround decoding also complies with specifications determined by Dolby Laboratories For a discussion of the surround decoding standard see e g Sound Recording Ch 4 by John Eargle published by Van Nostrand Rheinhold Co B
22. e arrangement shown in FIG 1 For example external amplifiers and sound processing equipment may be placed between the outputs of the DCP and the speakers FIG 2 shows the general path of signals through the DCP Signals enter the DCP from an external source such as a projector not shown through the PEC board 140 Typically there will be dual left right signals from the signal source PEC board 140 includes analog to digital A D converters to convert the left right inputs to PEC board 140 to digital data In the preferred embodiment the signals are assumed to be analog signals but provision can also be made for direct digital in signals in which case the A D conversion may be skipped Time division multiplex TDM interface 142 is a serial data bus interface including associated controller and arbitration circuitry that accepts the digital data and distrib utes it to processors in digital signal processor DSP board 144 DSP board 144 performs the digital signal processing necessary to implement the sound modes noise reduction and other signal processing to achieve the desired cinema sound The outputs of DSP board 144 are shown as digital surround sound signals L LC C RC R SL SR and SW corresponding to left left center center right center right surround left surround right and sub woofer speaker sig nals In the surround sound environment additional signals are derived from the left right signals by a
23. ed Figures While a specific embodiment of the invention has been presented is should be understood that the scope of the invention is determined solely by the appended claims APPENDIX A PERE OR LEER ER EEN HR EEA AAAS ARNO ROCCA ERNE OE RARA AAA PME serial port 1 interupt service routine for eq 1 5 95 PME added osc and frand for room EQ 3 1 95 PME changed to used PEC input only 4 3 95 LM added lowpass and highpass filters 5 3 95 LM single coef dlme buffer structure 5 10 95 PME changed to receive IRQ1 only 5 15 95 LM dual processor support LM production eqsetup code SHARC 1 5 798 818 11 12 continued LM added buffers for new dspmain sliteq wide narrow etc LM moved subwoof eq to SHARC 2 LM added surround LM added meter buffers and input scaling LM 40 bit delays in eq filters serial port 1 ADSP 21060 lt CS8412 ADSP 21060 gt CS8402A serial port 0 ADSP 21060 lt STD TDM RX BUS ADSP 21060 5 STD TDM TX BUS id A inchude lt def21060 h gt include lt asm_sprt h gt include dspmain h include chan h include commaddr h GLOBAL irq extern store ena extern input scale 1 extern input scale r segment dm seg_dmda VAR osc out VAR noise out VAR loop delay 0x2000 endseg GLOBAL 1php coefs ch0 Iphp coefs chl 1php coefs ch2 1php coefs ch3 GLOBAL lphp coefs ch4 Iphp coefs ch5 Iphp coefs ch6 Iphp coefs ch GLOBAL eq coe
24. ee of automation in matching the proper audio system characteristics with a particular movie sound track SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a cinema sound system that allows a theater sound operator special technician manufacturer or other source to program configurations of sound modes noise reduction formats and other parameters and store the configurations in the form of presets The system uses a single device to digitally process and imple ment the various sound modes noise reduction formats and other audio processing required in a cinema sound system The system allows multiple signal sources to be selected and calibrated and to be incorporated into the presets In a preferred embodiment a method for reproducing sound from an audiovisual production is disclosed The audiovisual production is played back using a playback device located in a theatre The method utilizes a digital cinema sound system including a digital processor coupled to a memory the playback device and at least one speaker The method further utilizes a digital transfer system for transferring data and comprises the following steps creating a program definition including at least one parameter speci fying the playback of the sound portion of the audiovisual production storing the program definition in the memory of the digital cinema sound system and using the processor to play back the sound portion of the audiovisual production accordin
25. ets can be recalled instantly by using preset buttons 256 on the front panel shown in FIG 6 There are enough presets so that a user can program several different films as presets if needed as where the films have different sound modes or noise reduction formats Of interest in screen display 420 is the selection of a module called Mono in the Module field In the pre ferred embodiment the user is able to select from 15 predefined modules Table I below shows the different predefined module names The left column of names corre sponds to modules with no noise reduction The middle column of names includes those modules with noise reduc 10 15 35 45 55 10 tion of a first type The right column of names includes those modules with noise reduction of a second type TABLE I Module Name No NR NR 1 NR 2 Mono Mono NR I Mono NR II Stereo Wide Stereo Wide NR I Stereo Wide NR Il Stereo Narrow Stereo Narrow NR I Stereo Narrow NR H Surround Wide Surround Wide NR I Surround Wide NR II Surround Narrow Surround Narrow NR I Surround Narrow NR H In the preferred embodiment the user can cycle through and select a module by using the left and right arrow buttons buttons 404 and 408 in FIG 8 after moving the highlight bar to highlight the Module field by using the up and down arrow buttons buttons 402 and 406 in FIG 8 Each module includes parameters to set the routing and configuration of the DC
26. fies playback of the prerecorded sounds in an SR noise reduction mode 19 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 12 further comprising equalization means for equalizing the prerecorded sounds wherein the parameter specifies an equalization setting for playback of the prerecorded sounds 20 The digital cinema sound system of claim 12 further comprising a data port coupled to the processor wherein the data port receives data from a data source wherein the data includes a new parameter to be stored in the memory to replace any given previously stored parameter 21 The digital cinema sound system of claim 20 wherein the data port is coupled to an external computer for down loading the new parameter from the external computer into the memory 22 The digital cinema sound system of claim 20 wherein the data port is coupled to a data network for loading the new parameter from the data network to the memory 23 The digital cinema sound system of claim 20 wherein the data port is coupled to a telephone line for loading the new parameter from a communication sent over the tele phone line 24 The digital cinema sound system of claim 20 wherein the data port is coupled to a radio link for loading the new parameter from a communication sent over the radio link 25 A digital cinema sound system for playing back an audiovisual production according to one or more stored parameters the digital cinema sound system comprising a pla
27. fs ch0 eq coefs chl eq coefs ch2 eq coefs ch3 GLOBAL eq coefs chd eq coefs ch5 eq coefs ch eq coefs ch7 GLOBAL gain chO gain chl gain ch2 gain cb3 GLOBAL gain ch4 gain ch5 gai ch6 gain ch7 GLOBAL __sliteq_coefs GLOBAL eq coefs l eq coefs r gain 1 gain r GLOBAL loop delay GLOBAL left buf right buf segment pm seq pmda war eq coefs chO 4 SECTIONS war php coefs chO 8 war gain ch0 var eq coefs ch2 4 SECTIONS war lphp coefs ch2 8 war gain ch2 war eq coefs ch4 4 SECTIONS var lphp coefs ch4 8 war gain ch4 var _eq_coefs_ch6j4 SECTIONS war lphp coefs ch6 8 war gain ch war eq coefs ch7 4 SECTIONS war lphp coefs ch7 8 war gain ch7 var __smd_outbuf CHANNELS The following variables are not used by this routine var __Iphp__coefs_ch5 4 war gain ch5 war hp coefs ch5 4 sliteq_coefs _eq_coefs__1 eq coefs r eq coefs chi _ q coefs ch3 war eq coefs ch5 4 SECTIONS Jphp coefs chl yar lphp coefs ch3 8 gain 1 gain_r gain chl war gain ch3 endseg segment dm seg dm40 war eq dline chO 2 SECTIONS zeros dat war Iphp dline ch0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 var eq _ dline ch2 2 SECTIONS zeros dat var lphp dline ch2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 war eq dline ch4 2 SECTIONS zeros dat var _ lphp dline ch4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 var eg dline ch6 2 SECTIONS zeros d
28. g to the at least one parameter of the program definition so that the signals generated by the playback device are used to drive the speaker to create audible sound BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a diagram illustrating the inputs and outputs of the digital cinema sound processing system of the present invention FIG 2 shows the general path of signals through the digital cinema sound processing system FIG 3 shows details of a photoelectric cell input board FIG 4 shows details of the digital signal processor signal path 5 798 818 3 FIG 5 shows details of an analog output board FIG 6 shows the front panel of the digital cinema processor FIG 7 is a diagram of a processor in the digital cinema processor FIG shows a first screen display along with cursor buttons and a select button FIG 9 shows a screen display generated when a first preset is selected and FIG 10 shows a calibration screen for the photoelectric cell board DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG 1 is a diagram illustrating the inputs and outputs of the digital cinema sound processing system of the present invention In FIG 1 system 100 is shown having digital cinema processor DCP 108 with inputs from Projector 1 Projector 2 compact disc CD player 102 projector 104 and audio signal source 106 A preferred embodiment of the present invention uses a digital cinema processor known as the DCP 1000
29. he preferred embodiment that allow input signals from projectors or other sources to be applied to the DCP Each PEC card allows one input that can be of two possible types The input may be via a standard 4 conductor input compatible with a projector s photoelectric output signals or the input may be a common non synchronized signal input through a standard Radio Corporation of America RCA plug Thus the DCP allows inputs from various devices such as CD player 102 or general audio signal source 106 This is useful in cases where alternative sound signal sources are used as for example where a CD player is synchronized to an external projector Also this allows the theater sound operator to play audio not intended to be synchronized with a film such as music played before the film begins The outputs of DCP 108 are provided to speakers such as speakers 110 120 shown in FIG 1 FIG 1 shows a six speaker arrangement that is common to theaters having 10 15 20 25 35 45 50 55 65 4 surround sound capability In the surround sound arrangement speaker 110 is the left speaker speaker 112 is the center speaker speaker 114 is the right speaker speaker 116 is the left surround speaker speaker 118 is the right surround speaker and speaker 120 is the sub woofer The speaker arrangement and the number of speakers may vary widely from that shown in FIG 1 Also various additional equipment may be used with th
30. iovisual production a memory at least one speaker coupled to the playback device a parameter stored in the memory for specifying a char acteristic sound quality of the playback of the prere corded sounds input means coupled to the processor and memory for modifying the parameter to change the specification of the characteristic sound quality of the playback of the prerecorded sounds and a digital processor coupled to the memory and the play back device for controlling the playback of the prere corded sounds with the characteristic sound quality according to the stored parameter 13 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 12 wherein the parameter specifies playback of the prerecorded sounds in a surround sound mode 14 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 12 wherein the parameter specifies playback of the prerecorded sounds in a stereo mode 15 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 12 wherein the parameter specifies playback of the prerecorded sounds in a mono mode 5 798 818 17 16 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 12 further comprising noise reduction means coupled to the processor for performing one or more noise reduction modes on the prerecorded sounds 17 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 16 wherein the parameter specifies playback of the prerecorded sounds in a Type A noise reduction mode 18 The digital cinema sound processor of claim 16 wherein the parameter speci
31. rameters of Room EQ amp LP HP filter processing EQ and Filter processing 190 are set by a technician who uses special equipment to determine the optimum EQ settings for a particular theater The technician downloads the parameters into the DCP unit via a device such as a portable computer Manufacturer setup parameters may also be loaded in this manner Other ways to load the DCP unit with parameters can be via telecommunication links such as telephone wire radio infrared laser fiber optic etc Networks such as the Internet can be used to provide automatic updating of parameters both global and local and of processing soft ware Because the system performs all of the significant audio signal processing in software the system has the ability to implement entirely new sound standards without any change of hardware EQ and Filter processing 190 includes low pass LP and high pass HP filters that are selectable by the user as presets Channel and Master Gain processing is settable by the user to control the gain of each channel individually and to provide a master volume control for all channels collec tively FIG 5 shows details of the Aout board 148 and TDM data bus 146 of FIG 2 In FIG 5 signals that are output from DSP 144 are input to TDM data bus 146 The data is distributed among DACs 200 202 204 and 206 For ease of illustration each L R pair of signals is shown as a single line DACs 200 202 204 and
32. re speakers In mono sound even if more than one speaker is used each of the speakers plays the same sound signal Stereo mode allows left and right channels to have different signals thus providing more realistic separation of sound resulting in simulated spatial placement of sound sources during play back While stereo playback modes allow two channels other multi channel modes allow even more channels A popular multi channel mode is known as surround sound Surround sound uses up to eight channels whose signals are derived from a pair of signals on the film or other medium Typically a theater equipped with a surround sound system uses left right center left center right center surround left surround right and sub woofer channels The left right and center speakers are positioned toward the front of the theater the left center and right center speakers are between the left center and right center speaker pairs respectively The surround left and surround right speakers are positioned at the left and right sides of the theater respectively The sub woofer channel may be powered by several large low frequency speakers located around the theater especially towards the back of the theater In addition to the sound modes cinema sound systems include noise reduction ability which is used to improve the sound quality in any of the modes Popular noise reduction 10 15 25 35 45 55 65 2 standards are
33. s the substeps of coupling the digital transfer system to the digital cinema sound system via the data port and downloading the program definition into the memory of the digital cinema sound system 3 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes a portable computer 4 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes a data network 5 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes a telephone line 6 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes a radio link 25 35 55 65 7 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes nonvolatile memory 8 The method of claim 2 wherein the digital transfer system includes a recordable magnetic medium the method further comprising the step of transferring the program definition to the memory of the digital cinema sound system via the digital transfer system 9 The method of claim 1 wherein the specified sound distribution is for surround sound playback 10 The method of claim 1 wherein the specified sound distribution is for stereo playback 11 The method of claim 1 wherein the specified sound distribution is for mono playback 12 A digital cinema sound system for playing back an audio visual production according to one or more stored parameters the digital cinema sound system comprising a playback device for playing back prerecorded sounds according to the aud
34. system is not critical so long as the digital signal processing is not unduly hampered As mentioned many other processor architectures are possible such as a single general purpose computer controlling tra ditional analog or a mix of analog and digital sound processing circuitry FIG 3 shows more details of PEC board 140 of FIG 2 In general where the same reference number is used in two different Figures it designates the same item 5 798 818 5 In FIG 3 PEC board 140 is shown with two input blocks 152 and 154 corresponding to a projector input or RCA input Only one of the inputs at a time is selectable according to software controlled switch 158 The projector input signal passes through gain adjust block 156 which allows the configuration software in the DCP to set the gain at 0 6 or 12 decibels dB as desired Analog to digital converter ADC 160 performs a 16 bit A D conversion on which ever of the Projector or RCA input signals is selected by switch 158 The converted signal is passed to TDM interface 142 FIG 4 shows details of the DSP signal path In FIG 4 functions performed by the digital signal processing of the DSP are shown as blocks The processing is further shown as consisting of two major functional blocks labeled DSP 1 and DSP 2 In actuality the processing is performed in the digital domain among four processors as discussed below Because the processing is performed digitally there is no
35. tection The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trade mark Office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to sound processing sys tems and specifically to a configurable cinema sound pro cessing system for use in theaters BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The cinema sound systems found in today s theaters have evolved to include several sound formats and playback modes The sound formats are defined by the manner in which the sound signals are recorded on the playback medium Typically the playback medium is an optical or magnetic track on the film itself However the sound signals may come from a source other than the film as where a compact disk CD or magnetic tape is synchronized to the film The sound signal is traditionally passed through a cinema sound circuit to derive signals for one or more channels Each channel signal is unique and is used to drive one or more speakers The characteristics of the channels such as the number of channels and relationship of one channel to another determines the mode of sound play back of the cinema sound system Older films used a simple monaural mono sound playback mode where all of the sound is present on a single electrical channel for playback over one or mo
36. tive digital circuitry For example analog filters in series with electrically controlled attenua tors can be used to achieve a configurable EQ with the parameters being the value of each attenuator setting for each filter frequency Also commercially available control lable filters both digital and analog may be employed For a general discussion of engineering techniques to achieve signal processing functions used in the present invention a reference manual such as Audio Engineering Handbook 1988 Blair Benson published by McGraw Hill may be consulted Also commercially available products can be used to perform the noise reduction and surround decoding of processes 184 and 186 respectively For example a product called Pro Logic from Dolby Laboratories can be used to perform surround decoding while Dolby s Model 365 noise reduction system is available in SR and Type A modes Note that a feature of the present invention is that all of the processing functions are capable of automatic configu ration and presetting Thus for example the gain of L and R signals in Calibrate Gain Adjust processing 182 are stored parameters as are parameters for frequency strength adjust ments for Slit Loss EQ processing 180 The entire array of 10 35 45 55 60 65 6 parameters or a subset of the parameters for all of the processing functions discussed herein is capable of being set and stored by a user of the digital
37. yback device for playing back prerecorded sounds according to the audiovisual production a memory at least one speaker coupled to the playback device parameters stored in the memory for specifying the play back of the prerecorded sounds to create a character istic sound quality 25 35 18 input means coupled to the processor and memory for modifying the parameters to change the specification of playback of the prerecorded sounds to modify the characteristic sound quality a digital processor coupled to the memory and the play back device for controlling the playback of the prere corded sounds according to the stored parameters sound distribution processing responsive to one or more of the stored parameters for playback of the prere corded sounds in a sound distribution mode noise reduction processing responsive to one or more of the stored parameters for playback of the prerecorded sounds in a noise reduction mode and equalization processing responsive to one or more of the stored parameters for playback of the prerecorded sounds in an equalization mode wherein the sound distribution mode the noise reduction mode and the equalization mode are all components of the charac teristic sound quality 26 A method for reproducing sound from an audiovisual production having a sound portion wherein the audiovisual production is played back using a playback device located in a theater wherein the method utilizes a digit

Download Pdf Manuals

image

Related Search

Related Contents

Samsung AVMWH035EA4C 用户手册  MODE D`EMPLOI PH METRE FR IT GB D 240811  Rubi 25990 Use and Care Manual  Multicade 412 maunal  取扱説明書  WS5100 Series Switch  PC1 MANUAL - Polyspede Electronics Corporation  User`s Manual  "取扱説明書"  Libretto W100  

Copyright © All rights reserved.
DMCA: DMCA_mwitty#outlook.com.