Abstract:
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
Abstract:
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
Abstract:
A digital sound system for motion picture films employs a digital time code on the film to trigger the transfer of sound data from a digital audio store to a FIFO memory. The digital audio data is read out from the FIFO memory and played back in the theater at a constant rate, with any jumps in the digital time code handled by making a corresponding jump within the digital audio store but not in the FIFO memory. Readout from the FIFO memory and clocking of the digital-to-analog converters (DACs) used for theater playback is synchronized to the AC mains that powers the theater projector, and thus allows for an uninterrupted audio playback even if time code entries on the film are obliterated. The FIFO memory need only have enough capacity to accommodate the maximum audio store access time, and can be quite small.
Abstract:
An information signal is compressively encoded for application to a limited amplitude transmission channel, such as a cinemagraphic film, by generating a gain control signal which represents the information signal level, delaying the information signal until the gain control signal has been substantially generated, and using the gain control signal to control encoding of the delayed information signal. The encoded information signal may be transmitted by itself with a similar delay step employed to decode it after reception, or the gain control signal may be transmitted along with the information signal and employed in the decoding operation, thereby avoiding the need for a delay step in the decoding process. In the latter case the gain control signal may be encoded along with the information signal, and employed in a feedback control loop for the encoding process.The invention also includes apparatus designed to perform the disclosed method.
Abstract:
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
Abstract:
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
Abstract:
A method and circuit for deriving a set of multichannel audio signals from a conventional monaural or stereo audio signal uses an auxiliary multichannel spectral mapping data stream. Audio can be played back in stereo and multichannel formats from a conventional stereo signal on compact discs, FM radio, or other stereo or monaural delivery systems. The invention reduces the data rate needed for the transmission of multichannel digital audio.
Abstract:
Extra high quality or ultralong digital audio channels with an aggregate data bit rate that exceeds the maximum data bit rate for a digital storage medium, such as a CD, laser disk or digital audio tape, are recorded on the audio medium. The recording is accomplished by compressing the data bit rates of the multi-channel input signals so that their aggregate data bit rate after compression does not exceed the maximum for the storage medium, multiplexing the compressed audio signals, encoding the multiplexed signal into a predetermined format, and recording the encoded signal on the storage medium. With the storage medium configured to store audio samples having a predetermined number of bits per sample, the compressed audio signals are multiplexed into data groups having the same number of bits, thereby emulating a normal input to the storage medium, even when this involves dividing various input samples among different data groups. The recorded signals can thus be placed in a standard AES/EBU format normally expected by the storage medium. Playback is achieved by decoding, demultiplexing and decompressing the signals from the storage medium in a manner complementary to the recording process.
Abstract:
An air driven amusement ride propels a passenger vehicle upward along a guide cable out of an acceleration tube by a blast of pressurized air within the tube under the vehicle. Passengers experience a feeling of weightlessness and free fall from the time the vehicle exits the tube until it later re-enters, which can exceed ten seconds. The source of pressurized gas for the tube preferably includes a gas reservoir, a pump that raises the gas pressure in the reservoir at a predetermined pump rate, and a release that allows gas to flow from the reservoir into the tube at a rate substantially faster than the pump rate. Various mechanisms are disclosed to prevent the vehicle from over shooting the top of the ride and to limit the acceleration, including pressure relief valves in the acceleration tube, a pressure relief valve that extends through the vehicle itself, an emergency deceleration tube at the top of the guide cable with a pressure relief mechanism and emergency stops, and a system to adjust the acceleration pressure in accordance with the vehicle weight.
Abstract:
Apparatus and an associated method are described for encoding an analog signal to a digital representation thereof and then decoding the same to reconstruct the original analog signal with reduced quantization noise and error. The analog signal is first adaptively pre-emphasized. A series of samples of the pre-emphasized signal are then obtained and encoded to create a series of digital representations which have a lower order resolution than the samples. The difference between each sample and its corresponding lower resolution digital representation is obtained and combined with the next sample. Decoding of the combined signals takes place in a complementary manner to create an approximate analog output signal, which is then de-emphasized in a manner complementary to the pre-emphasis to produce an analog output signal closely approximating the original analog signal. In a fully digital implementation the samples are converted to a digital format with a higher order resolution; the digital representations are obtained from the digitized samples, and the difference measurements are combined with the samples in their digital format. In a hybrid digital/analog implementation the difference is combined with the analog signal prior to sampling.