The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 14, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 14, 1998
Paul Nigel Wood, Glendale, CA (US);
Laura Mercs, Huntington Beach, CA (US);
Paul Embree, Irvine, CA (US);
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Culver City, CA (US);
Abstract
The system and method of the present invention provides surround sound effects through a two channel system. In one embodiment, the first channel is connected to one speaker (e.g., the right speaker) of a headset and the second channel is connected to the other speaker (e.g., the left speaker) of the headset. Thus, surround sound effects, including providing effects to distinguish front and rear sound sources, are provided through headsets which isolate the sound provided to right ear and the left ear of the listener. Alternately, the signals are output to a two speaker system, enabling surround sound effects to be output through home stereo systems not necessarily configured specifically for surround sound. Modified head related transfer functions (HRTF) are applied to each rear sound signal. The modified HRTF for each rear signal is generated by removing the head related transfer function corresponding to the front center signal from the HRTF corresponding to the rear sound signal. This provides the audible effect of distinguishing more clearly sounds originating in front of the listener or to the rear of the listener while not limiting the perceived bandwidth of the signal.