Dialogue enhancement techniques
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsChristof Faller, Hyen-O Oh, Yang-Won Jung
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plural-channel audio signal (e.g., a stereo audio) is processed to modify a gain (e.g., a volume or loudness) of a speech component signal (e.g., dialogue spoken by actors in a movie) relative to an ambient component signal (e.g., reflected or reverberated sound) or other component signals. In one aspect, the speech component signal is identified and modified. In one aspect, the speech component signal is identified by assuming that the speech source (e.g., the actor currently speaking) is in the center of a stereo sound image of the plural-channel audio signal and by considering the spectral content of the speech component signal.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- obtaining a plural-channel audio signal including a speech component signal and other component signals;
- determining gain values for at least two channels of the plural-channel audio signal, each gain value representing a level for different one channel of the at least two channels;
- determining a cross-correlation between the at least two channels;
- determining a spatial location of the speech component signal using at least one of the cross-correlation and the gain values;
- identifying the speech component signal based on the spatial location of the speech component signal;
- modifying the speech component signal by applying a gain factor to the speech component signal;
- and
- generating a modified audio signal including the modified speech component signal.
An apparatus for processing an audio signal, comprising:
- an interface configurable for obtaining a plural-channel audio signal including a speech component signal and other component signals;
- a power estimator configurable for:
- determining gain values for at least two channels of the plural-channel audio signal, each gain value representing a level for different one channel of the at least two channels;
- and
- determining a cross-correlation between the at least two channels;
- a signal estimator configurable for:
- determining a spatial location of the speech component signal using at least one of the cross-correlation and the gain values;
- and
- identifying the speech component signal based on the spatial location of the speech component signal;
- and
- a signal synthesizer configurable for:
- modifying the speech component signal by applying a gain factor to the speech component signal;
- and
- generating a modified audio signal including the modified speech component signal.
A method for processing an audio signal, comprising:
- obtaining the audio signal;
- obtaining a user input specifying a modification of a first component signal of the audio signal;
- and
- modifying the first component signal based on the user input and a location cue of the first component signal, the step for modifying comprising:
- decomposing the audio signal into a number of frequency subband signals;
- estimating a first set of powers for two or more channels of the audio signal using the subband signals;
- determining a cross-correlation using the first set of powers;
- estimating a decomposition gain factor using the first set of powers and the cross-correlation;
- estimating a second set of powers for the first component signal and a second component signal from the first set of powers and the cross-correlation;
- estimating the first component signal and the second component signal using the second set of powers and the decomposition gain factor;
- synthesizing subband signals using the estimated first and second component signals;
- and
- converting the synthesized subband signals into a time domain audio signal having a modified first component signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.