Fm stereophonic system having improved compatibility in presence of

Abstract

The compatibility of an FM stereophonic broadcasting system incorporating companding of the difference signal, in which both the usual difference signal and a compressed version of the difference signal are transmitted, with conventional FM receivers is improved by minimizing crosstalk from the compressed difference signal to the usual difference signal that sometimes occurs in conventional FM stereo receivers, particularly when the multiplex signal is received under multipath propagation conditions. Crosstalk in conventional receivers is significantly reduced, without an attendent lessening of perceived noise reduction in the companded system, by inverting the phase of the audio signals contained in the compressed difference signal relative to the audio content of the usual difference signal, and also adjusting the relative amplitudes of different portions of the audio frequency spectrum of the compressed difference signal in approximate correspondence with the response of the human hearing mechanism to sound loudness level. In the receiver of the companded system the relative amplitudes of the audio signals contained in the spectrum of the received compressed difference signal are restored to have the levels they had before adjustment at the transmitter, and their phase inverted to put them in phase with corresponding audio signals in the received uncompressed difference signal, and then expanded complementarily with the compression characteristic utilized at the transmitter.