Apparatus for supplying control codes to sound field reproduction apparatus

Claim 2

In a sound field variation apparatus having a source of an audio signal, a source of a video signal, and sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said sound field control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: means for selecting successive ones of said sound fields and for generating sound field control codes respectively corresponding to selected sound fields; control code recording means for recording said sound field control codes on a recording track of a video tape, and video and audio signal recording means for recording said audio and video signals on recording tracks of said video tape concurrent with recording of said control codes; and control code playback means for playback of said sound field control codes from said video tape and supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means to control said processing, and video and audio signal playback means for playback of said audio and video signals from said video tape concurrent with playback of said control codes and for supplying said audio signal to said sound field variation circuit means as said input audio signal thereof.

Claim 3

The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said means for selecting successive sound fields comprises manually actuatable sound field selection means, operable for arbitrarily selecting successive ones of said sound fields and outputting control codes respectively corresponding to selected sound fields.

Claim 4

The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said source of a video signal is a video camera having a zoom lens, and in which said means for selecting successive sound fields comprises zoom factor detection means for detecting a value of zoom factor at which said lens is currently set and for producing an output signal in accordance with said value of zoom factor, and control code generating means for selecting a sound field in accordance with said output signal from said zoom factor detection means and producing a sound field control code in accordance with the selected sound field.

Claim 5

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and position control codes and controlled by said position control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said position control codes such as to produce respective sound images at specific positions within a listening room, means for supplying said position control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: position data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound image positions within said listening room and for generating position control codes respectively corresponding to said positions; set time data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting respective time durations for said sound image positions and for generating time data values respectively corresponding to said time durations; memory means for storing said sound field position control codes and time data values; data register means for holding successive ones of said sound field position control codes and supplying a currently held position control code to said sound field variation circuit means; and control means for successively reading out each of said sound field position control codes from said memory together with a corresponding one of said time data values, for transferring said position control code to said data register, and for transferring a succeeding one of said position control codes to said data register when a time interval expressed by said corresponding time data value has elapsed.

Claim 6

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and position control codes and controlled by said position control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said position control codes such as to produce respective sound images at specific positions within a listening room, means for supplying said position control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: position data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound image positions within said listening room and for generating position control codes respectively corresponding to said positions; set time data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting respective time durations for said sound image positions and for generating time data values respectively corresponding to said time durations; memory means for storing said sound field position control codes and time data values; data register means for holding successive ones of said sound field position control codes and supplying a currently held position control code to said sound field variation circuit means; and control means for successively reading out each of said sound field position control codes from said memory together with a corresponding one of said time data values, for transferring said position control code to said data register, and for transferring a succeeding one of said position control codes to said data register when a time interval expressed by said corresponding time data value has elapsed.

Claim 7

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and sound field position control codes and controlled by said position control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said position control codes such as to produce respective sound images at specific positions within a listening room, means for supplying said position control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: position data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound image positions within said listening room and for generating sound field position control codes respectively corresponding to said positions; timer circuit means coupled to said position data input means, functioning when each of said sound image positions is selected for measuring a time duration corresponding to said each position which elapses between a point in time at which said selection occurs and a point in time at which a succeeding selection is executed, and for generating time data values respectively corresponding to said time durations; memory means for storing said sound field position control codes and time data values; data register means for holding successive ones of said sound field position control codes and supplying a currently held position control code to said sound field variation circuit means; and control means for successively reading out each of said sound field position control codes from said memory together with a corresponding one of said time data values, for transferring said position control code to said data register, and for transferring a succeeding one of said position control codes to said data register when a time interval expressed by said corresponding time data value has elapsed.

Claim 8

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and sound field position control codes and controlled by said position control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said position control codes such as to produce respective sound images at specific positions within a listening room, means for supplying said position control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: position data input means manually operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound image positions within said listening room and for generating sound field position control codes respectively corresponding to said positions; timer circuit means coupled to said position data input means, functioning when each of said sound image positions is selected for measuring a time duration corresponding to said each position which elapses between a point in time at which said selection occurs and a point in time at which a succeeding selection is executed, and for generating time data values respectively corresponding to said time durations; memory means for storing said sound field position control codes and time data values; data register means for holding successive ones of said sound field position control codes and supplying a currently held position control code to said sound field variation circuit means; and control means for successively reading out each of said sound field position control codes from said memory together with a corresponding one of said time data values, for transferring said position control code to said data register, and for transferring a succeeding one of said position control codes to said data register when a time interval expressed by said corresponding time data value has elapsed.

Claim 9

The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, and further comprising display means coupled to said position data input means, for producing a miniaturized display representing said listening room and representing respective sound image positions corresponding to position control codes which are outputted from said position data input means.

Claim 10

The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein said display means further provides representations of respective time durations which are established for said sound image positions.

Claim 11

The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or 5, in which said control means functions such that each time duration for which a position control code is held in said data register is made a multiple of a corresponding time duration value measured by said timer circuit means.

Claim 12

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: input means operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound fields by generating sound field control codes respectively corresponding to said sound fields, for inputting time data values representing respective time durations for which said control codes are to be supplied to said sound field variation circuit means, for inputting a data value representing a number of successive repetitions of a program, said program consisting of generation of said selected sound fields for said respective durations in a fixed sequence, and for inputting data values respectively representing a starting and a finishing time point of said successive repetitions of the program; first memory means for storing said control codes and for storing data representing a sequence in which said control codes are to be supplied to said sound field variation circuit means; second memory means for storing said time data values; third memory means for storing said data values representing number of program repetitions and starting and finishing time points; first control circuit means for successively reading out said stored control codes from said first memory means and corresponding time data values from said second memory means, and for supplying each control code to said sound field variation circuit means for a corresponding time duration; and second control circuit means for controlling the repetitions of said program and for initiating and terminating said program repetitions based on said data values stored in said third memory means.

Claim 13

In a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal and sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: input means operable for arbitrarily selecting successive sound fields by generating sound field control codes respectively corresponding to said sound fields, for inputting time data values representing respective time durations for which said control codes are to be supplied to said sound field variation circuit means, for inputting a data value representing a number of successive repetitions of a program, said program consisting of generation of said selected sound fields for said respective durations in a fixed sequence, and for inputting data values respectively representing a starting and a finishing time point of said successive repetitions of the program; first memory means for storing said control codes and for storing data representing a sequence in which said control codes are to be supplied to said sound field variation circuit means; second memory means for storing said time data values; third memory means for storing said data values representing number of program repetitions and starting and finishing time points; first control circuit means for successively reading out said stored control codes from said first memory means and corresponding time data values from said second memory means, and for supplying each control code to said sound field variation circuit means for a corresponding time duration; and second control circuit means for controlling the repetitions of said program and for initiating and terminating said program repetitions based on said data values stored in said third memory means.

Claim 14

In an apparatus including illumination and image generating apparatus control means for controlling the operation of an illumination and image generating apparatus and including a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal from an audio signal source and to receive sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: sound field control code generating means for generating control codes for controlling said sound field variation circuit means; and signal conversion means coupled to receive a control signal produced from said illumination and image generating apparatus control means, for converting said control signal to a suitable form for transfer to said sound field control code generating means and supplying a converted signal obtained thereby to said control code generating means, to determine specific control codes that are generated by said sound field control code generating means.

Claim 15

In an apparatus including illumination and image generating apparatus control means for controlling the operation of an illumination and image generating apparatus and including a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal from an audio signal source and to receive sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: sound field control code generating means for generating control codes for controlling said sound field variation circuit means; and signal conversion means coupled to receive a control signal produced from said illumination and image generating apparatus control means, for converting said control signal to a suitable form for transfer to said sound field control code generating means and supplying a converted signal obtained thereby to said control code generating means, to determine specific control codes that are generated by said sound field control code generating means.

Claim 16

In an apparatus including illumination and image generating apparatus control means for controlling the operation of an illumination and image generating apparatus and including a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal from an audio signal source and to receive sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: sound field control code generating means for generating control codes for controlling said sound field variation circuit means; and photo-sensing means for detecting light which is produced from said illumination and image generating apparatus and producing a corresponding detection signal; signal conversion means coupled to receive said detection signal, for converting the detection signal to a suitable form for transfer to said sound field control code generating means, and for supplying a converted signal obtained thereby to said control code generating means to determine specific control codes that are generated by said sound field control code generating means.

Claim 17

In an apparatus including illumination and image generating apparatus control means for controlling the operation of an illumination and image generating apparatus and including a sound field variation apparatus having sound field variation circuit means coupled to receive an input audio signal from an audio signal source and to receive sound field control codes and controlled by said control codes for processing said input audio signal to produce output audio signals for driving loudspeakers to produce sound fields which are respectively determined by said control codes, means for supplying said control codes to said sound field variation circuit means, comprising: sound field control code generating means for generating control codes for controlling said sound field variation circuit means; and photo-sensing means for detecting light which is produced from said illumination and image generating apparatus and producing a corresponding detection signal; signal conversion means coupled to receive said detection signal, for converting the detection signal to a suitable form for transfer to said sound field control code generating means, and for supplying a converted signal obtained thereby to said control code generating means to determine specific control codes that are generated by said sound field control code generating means.