JP2011250243A - Sound volume adjustment system and sound volume adjustment method - Google Patents

Abstract

A volume adjustment system and a volume adjustment method are provided that can automatically adjust the volume of a television receiver in accordance with the ambient volume of a user by providing an ambient sensor on the television receiver and the remote control.
A volume control system including a remote control and a television receiver, wherein the remote control transmits a second ambient sound sensor that detects ambient sounds of the remote control and the detected ambient sounds of the remote control as ambient sound information. The television receiver includes a reception unit that receives ambient sound information, a first ambient sound sensor that detects ambient sound of the television receiver, and at least received ambient sound information A first control unit that calculates a volume to be output according to the value of the ambient sound to be detected and the value of the detected ambient sound, and adjusts the volume to be output by the television receiver to the calculated volume to be output. A volume control unit.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a volume adjustment system and a volume adjustment method, and more particularly to a volume adjustment system and a volume adjustment method capable of automatically adjusting a volume in accordance with noise around a user.

  In recent years, the functions of television receivers have evolved in many ways. In the past, there were many functions that the user arbitrarily adjusted according to his / her preference, but in recent years, there are many that automatically adjust the user's preference by predicting in advance. For example, based on the measurement value from the illuminance sensor attached to the television receiver body, the function of automatically adjusting the brightness of the screen, and automatically calculating user preferences from past viewing program history, One example is a function for providing a recommended program. In addition, there is an apparatus that realizes a function of setting an initial sound volume at the time of activation according to the volume of the ambient sound by providing an ambient sound sensor in the television receiver body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 06-007370

  However, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the ambient sound sensor is provided only in the television receiver and the volume is adjusted only at the start-up, and the volume due to the ambient sound cannot be changed when viewing the television program. there were.

  In addition, as the screen size of television receivers is increasing, the viewing distance between the television receiver and the user tends to increase. In this case, the ambient sound of the place where the television receiver is installed There is also a problem that a volume difference occurs between the surrounding sounds of the place where the user is located and the volume cannot be adjusted to an appropriate level only by adjusting the volume according to only one of the surrounding sounds.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to automatically adjust the volume of the television receiver in accordance with the ambient volume of the user by providing an ambient sensor on the television receiver and the remote control. An object of the present invention is to provide a sound volume adjusting system and a sound volume adjusting method.

  A volume control system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a volume control system comprising a remote control and a television receiver, wherein the remote control includes a second ambient sound sensor for detecting ambient sounds of the remote control, and a second ambient sound sensor. A transmitter that transmits ambient sound of the remote control detected by the sound sensor as ambient sound information, and the television receiver is configured to receive the ambient sound information and to detect ambient sounds of the television receiver. 1st ambient sound sensor and 1st control which calculates the sound volume which should be output according to the value of ambient sound included in at least received ambient sound information and the ambient sound value detected by the first ambient sound sensor And a volume control unit for adjusting the volume output from the television receiver to the calculated volume to be output.

  The volume control system according to claim 2 of the present invention is the volume control system according to claim 1 of the present invention, wherein the remote controller is a second ambient sound sensor when a remote control operation is performed by the user. And a second control unit that detects the ambient sound of the remote control, and the television receiver stores the value of the ambient sound of the immediately previous remote control and the value of the ambient sound of the immediately previous television receiver. The first control unit causes the first ambient sound sensor to detect the ambient sound of the television receiver when the reception unit receives ambient sound information, and is stored in the storage unit. The ambient sound value of the immediately preceding remote controller, the ambient sound value of the immediately preceding television receiver, the ambient sound value included in the received ambient sound information, and the ambient sound value detected by the first ambient sound sensor. Depending on the output To calculate the volume, characterized in that.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a volume adjustment method in a volume adjustment system comprising a remote controller and a television receiver, wherein the remote controller detects a second ambient sound detecting the ambient sound of the remote controller. And a transmission step of transmitting the detected ambient sound of the remote control as ambient sound information, and the television receiver detects the ambient sound of the television receiver and a reception step of receiving the ambient sound information. A first ambient sound detection step, and a first sound volume to be output is calculated in accordance with at least the ambient sound value of the remote controller and the detected ambient sound value of the television receiver included in the received ambient sound information A control step; and a volume control step of adjusting a volume output from the television receiver to a calculated volume to be output.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a volume adjustment method according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the remote controller detects the second ambient sound when the user performs a remote control operation. A second control step for causing the step to detect the ambient sound of the remote control, and the television receiver stores the ambient sound value of the immediately preceding remote control and the ambient sound value of the immediately preceding television receiver. A storage step, and when the reception step receives ambient sound information, the first control step causes the first ambient sound detection step to detect the ambient sound of the television receiver and the storage step. The ambient sound value of the immediately preceding remote controller and the ambient sound value of the immediately preceding television receiver, the ambient sound value included in the received ambient sound information, and the first ambient sound detection step Depending on the value of the ambient sound-flop has detected, to calculate the volume to be output, characterized in that.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically adjust the volume of the television receiver in accordance with the viewing environment at the timing when the user performs an operation, and it is possible to reduce the user's trouble of volume adjustment. In addition, since information on the ambient sound of the remote control is also used, it is possible to automatically adjust the ambient sound at a location closer to the user to a volume that matches the user.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the volume control system in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the ambient sound information transmission process in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the ambient sound information acquisition process and volume control process in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the specific example of the volume control method in Embodiment 1 of this invention.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a volume control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Volume control system 100 according to the present embodiment includes television receiver 400 and remote controller 200, and the ambient sound detected by first ambient sound sensor 401 of television receiver 400 and the first remote controller 200. The volume of the sound output from the television receiver 400 is automatically adjusted according to the ambient sound information 300 transmitted from the second ambient sound sensor 201.

  The television receiver 400 receives the ambient sound information 300 as information from the first ambient sound sensor 401 that detects ambient sounds within a predetermined range at the place where the television receiver 400 is installed, and the remote control 200. Unit 402 and the value of the first ambient sound immediately before detection by first ambient sound sensor 401 and the first ambient sound detected by second ambient sound sensor 201 included in ambient sound information 300 received by reception unit 402. A memory (storage unit) 403 that holds the values of the two ambient sounds, the value of the first ambient sound immediately before and the value of the second ambient sound immediately before stored in the memory 400, and the first ambient sound sensor A first control unit 404 that calculates an appropriate volume from the current first ambient sound value detected by the 401 and the current second ambient sound value included in the ambient sound information 300 received by the receiving unit 402; , First control unit 04 consists of the volume control unit 405 for adjusting the volume to be output in accordance with the volume was calculated.

  The remote controller 200 includes a second ambient sound sensor 201 that detects ambient sound within a predetermined range at a location where the remote controller 200 is located, and a television receiver 400 that uses the value detected by the second ambient sound sensor 201 as ambient sound information 300. The transmitting unit 202 transmits to the receiving unit 402, and the second control unit 203 monitors the user's remote control operation. Here, the second ambient sound sensor 201 performs the remote control operation whenever it is determined in the second control unit 203 that an operation for switching the screen such as channel change or input device change is performed as a remote control operation. Every time it is determined that it has been broken, the ambient sound is measured and output to the transmission unit 202 together with the remote control operation information.

  Here, the volume adjustment processing of the volume adjustment system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing ambient sound information transmission processing of the volume control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing ambient sound information acquisition processing and volume adjustment processing of the volume adjustment system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the volume control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  First, ambient sound information transmission processing in the remote controller 200 will be described with reference to FIG. The remote control 200 is always in a state of waiting for the user's remote control operation, and the ambient sound information transmission process is executed every time the user performs the remote control operation. When the second control unit 203 of the remote controller 200 determines that the remote control operation is an operation to change the screen such as channel change or input device switching (“Yes” in step S201), the second control unit 203 The ambient sound sensor 201 is caused to acquire the ambient sound value (step S202). Then, the transmission unit 202 converts the ambient sound value acquired by the second ambient sound sensor 201 into a transmission signal (step S203), and transmits it to the reception unit 402 of the television receiver 400 as the ambient sound information 300 after the conversion. (Step S204). On the other hand, when the second control unit 203 determines that the remote control operation is not an operation for changing the screen such as channel change or input device switching (“No” in step S201), the second control unit 203 performs the remote control operation. Only the information is transmitted to the receiving unit 402 of the television receiver 400 via the transmitting unit 202.

  Next, ambient sound information acquisition processing and volume adjustment processing in the television receiver 400 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the television receiver 400, when the receiving unit 402 receives a remote control signal from the remote control 200 (“Yes” in step S301), the first control unit 404 includes the ambient sound information 300 in the received remote control signal. It is determined whether or not (step S302). If it is determined that the ambient sound information 300 is included (“Yes” in step S302), the ambient sound information 300 is extracted from the remote control signal as the current second ambient sound value (step S303), and the first The ambient sound sensor 401 is caused to acquire the ambient sound of the television receiver 400 as the current first ambient sound value (step S304). Here, the timing at which the current value of the first ambient sound is extracted from the first ambient sound sensor 401 in step S304 is the timing at which no sound is output from the television receiver 400 immediately before the channel or input device is switched. The sound output from the television receiver 400 is prevented from being mixed with ambient sounds.

  After the above processing, the first control unit 404 detects the ambient sound value (the previous first ambient sound value) detected by the first ambient sound sensor 401 from the memory 403 and the second ambient sound sensor. The value of the ambient sound detected by 201 (the value of the immediately preceding second ambient sound) is acquired (step S305), and an appropriate volume is calculated according to the difference between the values of each ambient sound (step S306). Based on the calculation result, the volume control unit 405 is caused to change the volume (step S307). Here, the sound volume calculation method performed by the first control unit 404 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  After the volume change, the first control unit 404 uses the current second ambient sound value acquired in step S303 as the immediately preceding second ambient sound value and the current first ambient sound value acquired in step S304. The ambient sound value is stored in the memory 403 as the immediately preceding first ambient sound value (step S308).

  If it is determined in step S302 that the remote control signal received by the first control unit 404 does not include the ambient sound information 300 (“No” in step S302), the normal control corresponding to the received remote control signal is performed. Remote control processing is executed (step S309).

  Finally, a volume calculation method performed by the first control unit 404 will be described with reference to FIG. The first control unit 404 stores the ambient sound values of the previous television receiver 400 and the remote controller 200 stored in the memory 403 (the immediately preceding first ambient sound value and the immediately preceding second ambient sound value). Then, the volume is adjusted on the basis of changes in the respective ambient sound values (current first ambient sound value, current second ambient sound value). Here, the volume output by the voice control unit 405 is A> B> C> D> E> F> G, the maximum volume level is A, the minimum volume level is G, and there is no volume change. Let the level be D.

  Consider a case where the ambient sound of the television receiver 400 becomes louder. In this situation, if the ambient sound of the remote controller 200 increases, it is considered that noise has increased at each location, so the volume is set to A. When there is no change in the ambient sound of the remote controller 200, the noise is increased only around the television receiver 400, so the volume is set to B. When the ambient sound of the remote controller 200 is reduced, the user's surroundings become quiet, but it is considered that noise has increased around the television receiver 400, so the volume is assumed to be C.

  When there is no change in the ambient sound of the television receiver 400, it is only necessary to consider the ambient sound of the remote controller 200. Therefore, if the ambient sound is increased in accordance with the ambient sound, the volume is increased (the volume is B). When the volume is reduced, the volume is also reduced (the volume is F).

  When the ambient sound of the television receiver 400 is reduced, the following is performed. When the ambient sound of the remote control 200 is reduced, it is considered that the ambient sound has become quiet as a whole. When the ambient sounds of the remote controller 200 are the same, the ambient sound of the television receiver 400 becomes small and the sound is easy to hear. When the ambient sound of the remote controller 200 becomes louder, it is considered that the user has become difficult to hear, so the volume is set to C.

  The present invention is useful in all AV equipment that can be operated with a remote controller, such as a television receiver.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Volume control system 200 Remote control 201 2nd ambient sound sensor 202 Transmission part 203 2nd control part 300 Ambient sound information 400 Television receiver 401 1st ambient sound sensor 402 Reception part 403 Memory 404 1st control part 405 Volume control section

Claims (4)

A volume control system consisting of a remote control and a television receiver,
The remote control is
A second ambient sound sensor for detecting ambient sounds of the remote control;
A transmitter that transmits the ambient sound of the remote control detected by the second ambient sound sensor as ambient sound information,
The television receiver is
A receiving unit for receiving the ambient sound information;
A first ambient sound sensor for detecting ambient sound of the television receiver;
A first control unit that calculates a volume to be output according to at least the value of the ambient sound included in the received ambient sound information and the value of the ambient sound detected by the first ambient sound sensor;
A volume control system comprising: a volume control unit configured to adjust a volume output from the television receiver to the calculated volume to be output. The remote control is
A second control unit that causes the second ambient sound sensor to detect the ambient sound of the remote control when a remote control operation is performed by a user;
The television receiver is
A storage unit for storing the value of the ambient sound of the previous remote control and the value of the ambient sound of the previous television receiver;
When the receiving unit receives the ambient sound information, the first control unit causes the first ambient sound sensor to detect the ambient sound of the television receiver and is stored in the storage unit The ambient sound value of the immediately preceding remote controller and the ambient sound value of the immediately preceding television receiver, the ambient sound value included in the received ambient sound information, and the first ambient sound sensor detected. The volume adjustment system according to claim 1, wherein a volume to be output is calculated according to the value of the ambient sound. A volume adjustment method in a volume adjustment system comprising a remote control and a television receiver,
The remote control is
A second ambient sound detection step for detecting the ambient sound of the remote control;
Transmitting the detected ambient sound of the remote control as ambient sound information,
The television receiver is
A receiving step for receiving the ambient sound information;
A first ambient sound detection step for detecting ambient sound of the television receiver;
A first control step of calculating a volume to be output according to at least a value of the ambient sound of the remote controller included in the received ambient sound information and a detected value of the ambient sound of the television receiver;
A volume control method comprising adjusting a volume output from the television receiver to the calculated volume to be output. The remote control is
A second control step of causing the second ambient sound detection step to detect the ambient sound of the remote control when a remote control operation is performed by the user;
The television receiver is
A storage step of storing the immediately preceding ambient sound value of the remote control and the immediately preceding ambient sound value of the television receiver;
The first control step causes the first ambient sound detection step to detect the ambient sound of the television receiver when the reception step receives the ambient sound information, and is stored in the storage step. The ambient sound value of the remote control just before and the ambient sound value of the television receiver just before, the ambient sound value included in the received ambient sound information, and the first ambient sound detection step. The volume adjustment method according to claim 3, wherein a volume to be output is calculated according to the detected value of the ambient sound.

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