Abstract: A method for steering binauralization of audio is provided. The method comprises steps of: receiving (410) an audio input signal, calculating (430) a confidence value indicating a likelihood that a current audio frame of the audio input signal comprises binauralized audio; determining (450) a state signal based on the confidence value; determining (460) a steering signal, based on the first confidence value, the state signal and an energy value of the audio frame; and generating (470) an audio output signal with steered binauralization by processing the audio input signal according to the steering signal.

Abstract: Methods and systems for improving signal processing by smoothing the covariance matrix of a multi-channel signal by setting a forgetting factor based on the bins of a band. A method and system for resetting the smoothing based on transient detection is also disclosed. A method and system for resampling for the smoothing during a banding transition is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method may involve receiving output signals from each microphone of a plurality of microphones in the environment, each of the plurality of microphones residing in a microphone location of the environment, the output signals corresponding to an utterance of a person. The method may involve determining, based at least in part on the output signals, a zone within the environment that has at least a threshold probability of including the person's location and generating a plurality of spatially-varying attentiveness signals within the zone. Each attentiveness signal may be generated by a device located within the zone. Each attentiveness signal may indicate that a corresponding device is in an operating mode in which the corresponding device is awaiting a command and may indicate a relevance metric of the corresponding device.

Abstract: Audio perception in local proximity to visual cues is provided. A device includes a video display, first row of audio transducers, and second row of audio transducers. The first and second rows can be vertically disposed above and below the video display. An audio transducer of the first row and an audio transducer of the second row form a column to produce, in concert, an audible signal. The perceived emanation of the audible signal is from a plane of the video display (e.g., a location of a visual cue) by weighing outputs of the audio transducers of the column. In certain embodiments, the audio transducers are spaced farther apart at a periphery for increased fidelity in a center portion of the plane and less fidelity at the periphery.

Abstract: Described is a method of processing position information indicative of an object position of an audio object, wherein the object position is usable for rendering of the audio object, that comprises: obtaining listener orientation information indicative of an orientation of a listener's head; obtaining listener displacement information indicative of a displacement of the listener's head; determining the object position from the position information; modifying the object position based on the listener displacement information by applying a translation to the object position; and further modifying the modified object position based on the listener orientation information. Further described is a corresponding apparatus for processing position information indicative of an object position of an audio object, wherein the object position is usable for rendering of the audio object.

Abstract: When compressing an HOA data frame representation, a gain control (15, 151) is applied for each channel signal before it is perceptually encoded (16). The gain values are transferred in a differential manner as side information. However, for starting decoding of such streamed compressed HOA data frame representation absolute gain values are required, which should be coded with a minimum number of bits. For determining such lowest integer number (?e) of bits the HOA data frame representation (C(k)) is rendered in spatial domain to virtual loudspeaker signals lying on a unit sphere, followed by normalisation of the HOA data frame representation (C(k)). Then the lowest integer number of bits is set to ?e=?log2(?log2(?{square root over (KMAX)}·O)?+1)?.

Abstract: Described is a method of processing position information indicative of an object position of an audio object, wherein the object position is usable for rendering of the audio object, that comprises: obtaining listener orientation information indicative of an orientation of a listener's head; obtaining listener displacement information indicative of a displacement of the listener's head; determining the object position from the position information; modifying the object position based on the listener displacement information by applying a translation to the object position; and further modifying the modified object position based on the listener orientation information. Further described is a corresponding apparatus for processing position information indicative of an object position of an audio object, wherein the object position is usable for rendering of the audio object.

Abstract: Described herein is a method (30) of rendering an audio signal (17) for playback in an audio environment (27) defined by a target loudspeaker system (23), the audio signal (17) including audio data relating to an audio object and associated position data indicative of an object position. Method (30) includes the initial step (31) of receiving the audio signal (17). At step (32) loudspeaker layout data for the target loudspeaker system (23) is received. At step (33) control data is received that is indicative of a position modification to be applied to the audio object in the audio environment (27). At step (38) in response to the position data, loudspeaker layout data and control data, rendering modification data is generated. Finally, at step (39) the audio signal (17) is rendered with the rendering modification data to output the audio signal (17) with the audio object at a modified object position that is between loudspeakers within the audio environment (27).

Abstract: A multi-stream rendering system and method may render and play simultaneously a plurality of audio program streams over a plurality of arbitrarily placed loudspeakers. At least one of the program streams may be a spatial mix. The rendering of said spatial mix may be dynamically modified as a function of the simultaneous rendering of one or more additional program streams. The rendering of one or more additional program streams may be dynamically modified as a function of the simultaneous rendering of the spatial mix.

Abstract: Embodiments are directed to a companding method and system for reducing coding noise in an audio codec. A method of processing an audio signal includes the following operations. A system receives an audio signal. The system determines that a first frame of the audio signal includes a sparse transient signal. The system determines that a second frame of the audio signal includes a dense transient signal. The system compresses/expands (compands) the audio signal using a companding mle that applies a first companding exponent to the first frame of the audio signal and applies a second companding exponent to the second frame of the audio signal, each companding exponent being used to derive a respective degree of dynamic range compression and expansion for a corresponding frame. The system then provides the companded audio signal to a downstream device.

Abstract: Embodiments are described for a method of rendering audio for playback through headphones comprising receiving digital audio content, receiving binaural rendering metadata generated by an authoring tool processing the received digital audio content, receiving playback metadata generated by a playback device, and combining the binaural rendering metadata and playback metadata to optimize playback of the digital audio content through the headphones.

Abstract: Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to audio object clustering. A method for metadata-preserved audio object clustering is disclosed. The method comprises classifying an audio object into at least a category based rendering mode information metadata. The method further comprises assigning a predetermined number of clusters to the categories and rendering the audio object based on the rendering mode. Corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the field of audio enhancement, and in particular to methods, devices and software for supervised training of a machine learning model, MLM, the MLM trained to enhance a degraded audio signal by calculating gains to be applied to frequency bands of the degraded audio signal. The present disclosure further relates to methods, devices and software for use of such a trained MLM.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus of encoding/decoding intra prediction mode using a plurality of candidate intra prediction modes are disclosed. The method includes deriving three candidate intra prediction modes about a current block and deriving an intra prediction mode of the current block.

Abstract: A novel spatial light modulator (SLM) includes a cover glass, and modulation layer, and a plurality of pixel mirrors, and separates unwanted, reflected light from desired, modulated light. In one embodiment, a geometrical relationship exists between the cover glass and the pixel mirrors, such that light that reflects from the cover glass is separated from light that reflects from the pixel mirrors and is transmitted from the SLM. In one example, one of the cover glass or the pixel mirrors is angled with respect to the modulation layer. In another example embodiment, the cover glass has a particular thickness, which introduces destructive interference between light that reflects from the top and bottom surfaces of the cover glass. In another embodiment antireflective coatings are disposed between optical interfaces of the SLM. In another embodiment, light from the SLM is directed through an optical filter to remove unwanted light.

Abstract: Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to orientation-aware surround sound playback. A method for processing audio on an electronic device that includes a plurality of loudspeakers is disclosed, the loudspeakers arranged in more than one dimension of the electronic device. The method includes, responsive to receipt of a plurality of received audio streams, generating a rendering component associated with the plurality of received audio streams, determining an orientation dependent component of the rendering component, processing the rendering component by updating the orientation dependent component according to an orientation of the loudspeakers and dispatching the received audio streams to the plurality of loudspeakers for playback based on the processed rendering component. Corresponding system and computer program products are also disclosed.

Abstract: Methods and systems for designing binaural room impulse responses (BRIRs) for use in headphone virtualizers, and methods and systems for generating a binaural signal in response to a set of channels of a multi-channel audio signal, including by applying a BRIR to each channel of the set, thereby generating filtered signals, and combining the filtered signals to generate the binaural signal, where each BRIR has been designed in accordance with an embodiment of the design method. Other aspects are audio processing units configured to perform any embodiment of the inventive method. In accordance with some embodiments, BRIR design is formulated as a numerical optimization problem based on a simulation model (which generates candidate BRIRs) and at least one objective function (which evaluates each candidate BRIR), and includes identification of a best one of the candidate BRIRs as indicated by performance metrics determined for the candidate BRIRs by each objective function.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for controlling a jitter buffer are described. In one embodiment, the apparatus for controlling a jitter buffer includes an inter-talkspurt delay jitter estimator for estimating an offset value of the delay of a first frame in the current talkspurt with respect to the delay of a latest anchor frame in a previous talkspurt, and a jitter buffer controller for adjusting a length of the jitter buffer based on a long term length of the jitter buffer for each frame and the offset value.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for providing solutions to the problem of preserving original creative intent for video playback on a target display are presented herein. According to one aspect, a video bitstream includes metadata with a flag indicative of creative intent for a target display. This metadata may include numerous fields that denote characteristics such as content type, content sub-type, intended white point, whether or not to use the video in Reference Mode, intended sharpness, intended noise reduction, intended MPEG noise reduction, intended Frame Rate Conversion, intended Average Picture Level, and intended color. This metadata is designed to make it effortless for the content creators to tag their content. The metadata can be added to the video content at multiple points, the status of the flag is set to TRUE or FALSE to indicate whether the metadata was added by the content creator or a third party.

Abstract: A feature vector may be extracted from each frame of input digitized microphone audio data. The feature vector may include a power value for each frequency band of a plurality of frequency bands. A feature history data structure, including a plurality of feature vectors, may be formed. A normalized feature set that includes a normalized feature data structure may be produced by determining normalized power values for a plurality of frequency bands of each feature vector of the feature history data structure. A signal recognition or modification process may be based, at least in part, on the normalized feature data structure.

Abstract: Spatial information that describes spatial locations of visual objects as in a three-dimensional (3D) image space as represented in one or more multi-view unlayered images is accessed. Based on the spatial information, a cinema image layer and one or more device image layers are generated from the one or more multi-view unlayered images. A multi-layer multi-view video signal comprising the cinema image layer and the device image layers is sent to downstream devices for rendering.

Abstract: A high-dynamic-range (HDR) camera module with adaptive image data linearization includes (i) an HDR image sensor configured to generate tone-compressed HDR images as respective frames that include active pixel data and metadata, (ii) a processor outside the HDR image sensor, and (iii) a memory outside the HDR image sensor and storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, control the processor to: (a) extract, from a frame of a first tone-compressed HDR image, tone-compressed pixel intensities from the active pixel data and a histogram of pre-tone-compression pixel intensities from the metadata, (b) derive, from the tone-compressed pixel intensities and the histogram, a correspondence between tone-compressed pixel intensities and pre-tone-compression pixel intensities, and (c) linearize at least a portion of the active pixel data of either the first tone-compressed HDR image or a subsequent tone-compressed HDR image, according to the correspondence, to produce a linearized HDR ima

Abstract: A control unit of a multipath data transportation system that optimizes the load of the multiple communication paths of this system when the system transmits a data segment over these paths in parallel with forward error correction. The control unit determines an optimized number of packets to send over each path based on a prediction of quality for each path. The transmitted packets include systematic packets and coded packets.

Abstract: The present document discloses a method for playback of media content via a delivery channel. The delivery channel may generally refer to the channels through which audio or video programs are delivered (transmitted) to the user (receiver). The media content may generally comprise consecutive media programs. In particular, for a specific media program within the media content, a respective content type for that specific media program is also provided. The method may comprise receiving an indication of the sensitivity of a media program to playback latency. The method may further comprise receiving at least a portion of the media program. The method may yet further comprise adapting the playback of the media program based on the indication of its sensitivity to playback latency.

Abstract: A method (600) for decoding an encoded audio signal (102) is described. The encoded audio signal (102) comprises a sequence of frames. Furthermore, the encoded audio signal (102) is indicative of a plurality of different dynamic range control (DRC) profiles for a corresponding plurality of different rendering modes. Different subsets of DRC profiles from the plurality of DRC profiles are comprised within different frames of the sequence of frames, such that two or more frames of the sequence of frames jointly comprise the plurality of DRC profiles.

Abstract: Methods and systems for advanced stereo processing of an audio signal are disclosed. The methods and systems include selecting a coding mode of either transform coding or linear predictive coding and performing advanced stereo processing when in the selected coding mode. Both encoding and decoding operations are provided.

Abstract: A projection system and method therefor comprises a first light source configured to emit a first-eye light, wherein the first-eye light includes a first set of wavelengths; a second light source configured to emit a second-eye light, wherein the second-eye light includes a second set of wavelengths; a first projector including first projection optics configured to receive a first input light; and an optical switch configured to be switched between an a first mode and a second mode, wherein the optical switch is configured to, in the first mode, combine the first-eye light and the second-eye light into a combined light and direct the combined light to the first projection optics as the first input light.

Abstract: A non-transitory computer-readable-medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of an image projector, cause the image projector to perform operations including receiving a first image data, determining a thermal state of the image projector based at least in part on a content of the first image data, generating a second image data based on the first image data and the thermal state; emitting light in response to the second image data, and projecting an image onto a screen based on the emitted light, wherein the first image data corresponds to a frame of a video, and the second image data corresponds to the frame of the video.

Abstract: A display for displaying image data includes defining virtual color gamuts based on a plurality of primary display colors associated with a light source. At least one of the virtual color gamuts is defined to approximate an established color gamut. Intensity values associated with the virtual color gamuts are generated based on received video data, and the intensity values associated with the virtual color gamuts are used to generate drive values for the primary colors of the light source. A display using one or more virtual color gamuts is also disclosed.

Abstract: Described herein is a method for generating a modified bitstream on a source device, wherein the method includes the steps of: a) receiving, by a receiver, a bitstream including coded media data; b) generating, by an embedder, payload of additional media data and embedding the payload in the bitstream for obtaining, as an output from the embedder, a modified bitstream including the coded media data and the payload of the additional media data; and d) outputting the modified bitstream to a sink device. Described is further a method for processing said modified bitstream on a sink device. Described are moreover a respective source device and sink device as well as a system of a source device and a sink device and respective computer program products.

Abstract: A filterbank, suitable for modifying audio signals with dynamic gains in each band, is constructed so that the perceived latency is small, while a larger group delay is applied at low frequencies to enable higher frequency resolution in the lower frequency bands. The higher group delay at low frequencies is achieved by inserting an all-pass filter into the reconstructed filter response.

Abstract: Given a sequence of images in a first codeword representation, methods, processes, and systems are presented for image reshaping using rate distortion optimization, wherein reshaping allows the images to be coded in a second codeword representation which allows more efficient compression than using the first codeword representation. Syntax methods for signaling reshaping parameters are also presented.

Abstract: Higher Order Ambisonics represents three-dimensional sound independent of a specific loudspeaker set-up. However, transmission of an HOA representation results in a very high bit rate. Therefore, compression with a fixed number of channels is used, in which directional and ambient signal components are processed differently. The ambient HOA component is represented by a minimum number of HOA coefficient sequences. The remaining channels contain either directional signals or additional coefficient sequences of the ambient HOA component, depending on what will result in optimum perceptual quality. This processing can change on a frame-by-frame basis.

Abstract: Described herein is a method for Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based speech source separation, wherein the method includes the steps of: (a) providing multiple frames of a time-frequency transform of an original noisy speech signal; (b) inputting the time-frequency transform of said multiple frames into an aggregated multi-scale CNN having a plurality of parallel convolution paths; (c) extracting and outputting, by each parallel convolution path, features from the input time-frequency transform of said multiple frames; (d) obtaining an aggregated output of the outputs of the parallel convolution paths; and (e) generating an output mask for extracting speech from the original noisy speech signal based on the aggregated output. Described herein are further an apparatus for CNN based speech source separation as well as a respective computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium with instructions adapted to carry out said method when executed by a device having processing capability.

Abstract: Images are acquired through image sensors operating in conjunction with a media consumption system. The acquired images are used to determine a user's movement in a plurality of degrees of freedom. Sound images depicted in spatial audio rendered by audio speakers operating in conjunction with the media consumption system are adapted based at least in part on the user's movement in the plurality of degrees of freedom.

Abstract: There are two representations for Higher Order Ambisonics denoted HOA: spatial domain and coefficient domain. The invention generates from a coefficient domain representation a mixed spatial/coefficient domain representation, wherein the number of said HOA signals can be variable. An aspect of the invention further relates to methods and apparatus decoding multiplexed and perceptually encoded HOA signals, including transforming a vector of PCM encoded spatial domain signals of the HOA representation to a corresponding vector of coefficient domain signals by multiplying the vector of PCM encoded spatial domain signals with a transform matrix and de-normalizing the vector of PCM encoded and normalized coefficient domain signals, wherein said de-normalizing comprises.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems which convert a multi-microphone input signal to a multichannel output signal making use of a time- and frequency-varying matrix. For each time and frequency tile, the matrix is derived as a function of a dominant direction of arrival and a steering strength parameter. Likewise, the dominant direction and steering strength parameter are derived from characteristics of the multi-microphone signals, where those characteristics include values representative of the inter-channel amplitude and group-delay differences.

Abstract: Higher Order Ambisonics represents three-dimensional sound independent of a specific loudspeaker set-up. However, transmission of an HOA representation results in a very high bit rate. Therefore, compression with a fixed number of channels is used, in which directional and ambient signal components are processed differently. The ambient HOA component is represented by a minimum number of HOA coefficient sequences. The remaining channels contain either directional signals or additional coefficient sequences of the ambient HOA component, depending on what will result in optimum perceptual quality. This processing can change on a frame-by-frame basis.

Abstract: Systems and methods for providing forward error correction for a multi-channel audio signal are described. Blocks of an audio stream are buffered into a frame. A transformation can be applied that compacts the energy of each block into a plurality of transformed channels. The energy compaction transform may compact the most energy of a block into the first transformed channel and to compact decreasing amounts of energy into each subsequent transformed channel. The transformed frame may be encoded using any suitable codec and transmitted in a packet over a network. Improved forward error correction may be provided by attaching a low bit rate encoding of the first transformed channel to a subsequent packet. To reconstruct a lost packet, the low bit rate encoding of the first channel for the lost packet may be combined with a packet loss concealment version of the other channels, constructed from a previously-received packet.

Abstract: A novel high efficiency image projection system includes a beam-steering modulator, an amplitude modulator, and a controller. In a particular embodiment the controller generates beam-steering drive values from image data and uses the beam-steering drive values to drive the beam-steering modulator. Additionally, the controller utilizes the beam-steering drive values to generate a lightfield simulation of a lightfield projected onto the amplitude modulator by the beam-steering modulator. The controller utilizes the lightfield simulation to generate amplitude drive values for driving the amplitude modulator in order to project a high quality version of the image described by the image data.

Abstract: A system and method for displaying image data comprise receiving 2D video data, generating, from the video data, a first plurality of intensity values of virtual primaries of a first virtual color gamut and a second plurality intensity values of a second virtual color gamut, the first plurality of intensity values being below a luminance threshold and approximating a predefined color gamut and the second plurality of intensity values being above the luminance threshold, converting the first plurality of intensity values into a third plurality of intensity values of predefined primaries of a first projection head of a display system and the second plurality of intensity values into a fourth plurality of intensity values of predefined primaries of a second projection head of the display system, and dynamically adjusting pixel levels of spatial modulators of the display system based on the third plurality and the fourth plurality of intensity values.

Abstract: Scenes in video images are identified based on image content of the video images. Regional cross sections of the video images are determined based on the scenes in the video images. Image portions of the video images in the regional cross sections are encoded into multiple video sub-streams at multiple different spatiotemporal resolutions. An overall video stream that includes the multiple video sub-streams is transmitted to a streaming client device.

Abstract: A communication system, method, and computer-readable medium therefor comprise a media server configured to receive a plurality of audio streams from a corresponding plurality of client devices, the media server including circuitry configured to rank the plurality of audio streams based on a predetermined metric, group a first portion of the plurality of audio streams into a first set, the first portion of the plurality of audio streams being the N highest-ranked audio streams, group a second portion of the plurality of audio streams into a second set, the second portion of the plurality of audio streams being the M lowest-ranked audio streams, forward respective audio streams of the first set to a receiver device, and discard respective audio streams of the second set, wherein N and M are independent integers.

Abstract: The present application relates to a method of extracting audio features in a dialog detector in response to an input audio signal, the method comprising dividing the input audio signal into a plurality of frames, extracting frame audio features from each frame, determining a set of context windows, each context window including a number of frames surrounding a current frame, deriving, for each context window, a relevant context audio feature for the current frame based on the frame audio features of the frames in each respective context, and concatenating each context audio feature to form a combined feature vector to represent the current frame. The context windows with the different length can improve the response speed and improve robustness.

Abstract: A method for generating a high-dynamic-range (HDR) image includes (a) denoising a short-exposure-time image, wherein the denoising comprises applying a first guided filter to the short-exposure-time image, the guided filter utilizing a long exposure-time-image as its guide, (b) after the step of denoising, scaling at least one of the short-exposure-time image and the long-exposure-time image to place the short-exposure-time image and the long-exposure-time image on a common radiance scale, and (c) after the step of scaling, merging the short-exposure-time image with the long-exposure-time image to generate the HDR image.

Abstract: Some disclosed teleconferencing methods may involve detecting a howl state during a teleconference. The teleconference may involve two or more teleconference client locations and a teleconference server. The teleconference server may be configured for providing full-duplex audio connectivity between the teleconference client locations. The howl state may be a state of acoustic feedback involving two or more teleconference devices in a teleconference client location. Detecting the howl state may involve an analysis of both spectral and temporal characteristics of teleconference audio data. Some disclosed teleconferencing methods may involve determining which client location is causing the howl state. Some such methods may involve mitigating the howl state and/or sending a howl state detection message.

Abstract: Dialogue enhancement of an audio signal, comprising obtaining a set of time-varying parameters configured to estimate a dialogue component present in said audio signal, estimating the dialogue component from the audio signal, applying a compressor only to the estimated dialogue component, to generate a processed dialogue component, applying a user-determined gain to the processed dialogue component, to provide an enhanced dialogue component. The processing of the estimated dialogue may be performed on the decoder side or encoder side. The invention enables an improved dialogue enhancement.

Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for data traffic management in multi-source content delivery are described. The apparatus includes a downloader and a controller. The downloader is coupled to servers via communication links. The controller is configured to determine initial download requests for the servers based on predetermined information about a quality of the links. The controller is also configured to send the initial download requests to the servers with the downloader. The controller is further configured to update the information about the quality of the communication links after the downloader receives data associated with a data file from the servers via the communication links. The controller is also configured to determine subsequent download requests for the servers based on the updated information about the quality of the communication links. The controller of further configured to send the subsequent download requests to the servers via the downloader.

Abstract: A dual-modulation laser projection system (100) includes a polarizing beamsplitter (110) for splitting laser light (180) into first (182) and second (184) polarized beams having mutually orthogonal polarizations, a phase spatial light modulator (120) for beam steering the second polarized beam (184), a mechanical amplitude spatial light modulator (130) for amplitude modulating a combination of the first polarized beam (182) and the second polarized beam (186) as beam steered by the phase spatial light modulator (120), and a filter (140) for removing, from the combination (190) of the first and second polarized beams, one or more of a plurality of diffraction orders introduced by the mechanical amplitude spatial light modulator (130), to generate filtered, modulated output light (192).

Abstract: Described is a method performed by a computation device for generating a binaural audio stream, comprising: receiving an audio stream for a sound source; determining a measure of processing capability of the computation device; selecting, based on the determined measure, a filtering mode from among a predefined set of filtering modes for use in an audio filtering process intended to convert the audio stream into a binaural audio stream; determining, based on a relative position of the virtual source location to a virtual listener location in a virtual listening environment, filter parameters for a set of filters specified by the selected filtering mode; generating the binaural audio stream by applying the audio filtering process to the audio stream, using the set of filters specified by the selected filtering mode; and outputting the binaural audio stream for playback. Further described are corresponding computation devices, computer programs, and computer-readable storage media.