Spatial calibration of surround sound systems including listener position estimation

A method comprising:

• receiving a request to calibrate a multichannel surround sound system including a soundbar with an integrated microphone array and one or more surround loudspeakers;
• responsive to the request including estimating a position of a surround loudspeaker, playing a test signal at the surround loudspeaker;
• and
• estimating the position of the surround loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array based on received test signal from the surround loudspeaker at the integrated microphone array;
• responsive to the request including estimating a position of a listener, estimating the position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array based on a received sound from the listener at the integrated microphone array;
• deriving a distance and an angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener based on the estimated position of the surround loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array and the estimated position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array;
• and
• performing a spatial calibration to the surround sound system based at least on the derived distance and angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener.

An apparatus for calibrating a multichannel surround sound system including one or more loudspeakers, the apparatus comprising:

• a microphone array with two or more microphones integrated in a front component of the surround sound system, wherein the integrated microphone array is configured for receiving a test signal played at a loudspeaker to be calibrated, and for receiving a sound from the listener;
• an estimation module configured for:
• estimating a position of the loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array based on the received test signal from the loudspeaker, and for estimating a position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array based on the received sound from the listener;
• and
• deriving a distance and an angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener based on the estimated position of the surround loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array and the estimated position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array;
• and
• a calibration module configured for performing a spatial calibration to the surround sound system based at least on the derived distance and angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener.

A system for calibrating a multichannel surround sound system including one or more loudspeakers, the system comprising:

• a microphone array with two or more microphones integrated in a front component of the surround sound system, wherein the microphone array is configured for receiving a test signal played at a loudspeaker to be calibrated and for receiving a sound from the listener;
• an estimation module configured for:
• estimating a position of the loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array based on the received test signal from the loudspeaker, and for estimating a position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array based on the received sound from the listener;
• and
• deriving a distance and an angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener based on the estimated position of the surround loudspeaker relative to the integrated microphone array and the estimated position of the listener relative to the integrated microphone array;
• and
• a calibration module configured for performing a spatial calibration to the surround sound system based at least on the derived distance and angle between the surround loudspeaker and the listener.