KR20060116383A - Method and device for automatically setting equalizer function of digital audio player - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of playing an encoded audio data file including an additional information storage tag in a digital audio reproducing apparatus, wherein the audio data file is opened to determine whether there is an additional information storage tag in the corresponding audio data file. Judging the presence or absence of genre information of the audio data file if an information storage tag exists, loading a predetermined equalizer setting according to the genre information if genre information is present, and an equalizer. A method and an apparatus for automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio playback device comprising the step of setting a function. According to the present invention, even if the equalizer function setting is not changed for each audio data file, it is possible to provide the best sound quality suitable for the unique characteristics of the audio data file.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SETTING EQUALIZING FUNCTIONALITY IN A DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER}

1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically setting an equalizer function according to the prior art;

2 is a functional block diagram of a general digital audio reproducing apparatus,

3 is a flowchart illustrating an audio data file reproduction process in a conventional digital audio reproduction apparatus;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an additional information storage tag of an audio data file;

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of an automatic equalizer function setting device of the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

200: digital audio playback device 201: signal processing unit

202: ROM 203: RAM

204: data storage unit 205: user interface unit

206: display unit 207: audio processing unit

601: Genre information extraction unit

602: equalizer function automatic setting unit

603 volume control

The present invention relates to an audio setting method and apparatus in a digital audio reproducing apparatus, and more particularly, to an automatic setting method of an equalizer function in a digital audio reproducing apparatus in which an equalizer function is automatically set according to genre information when an audio data file is played. And to an apparatus.

Currently, portable audio reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing digitally encoded audio data is commonly used. The digital audio reproducing apparatus is a device that receives a digital voice file and reproduces it as music. Since the digital audio reproducing device uses a semiconductor memory to store music, the digital audio reproducing device has gained sensation because of its small size and convenient portability.

Digital audio reproducing apparatus, like a CD player, converts and records sound into a digital signal, thereby providing a CD level sound quality. In this digitization process, the loss codes cause problems that sound is not deep and partially crushed.

Therefore, in order to improve the sound quality of the digital audio reproducing apparatus, the digital audio reproducing apparatus, like other audio apparatuses, is divided into a plurality of frequency bands to increase or decrease the voice signal level of a predetermined frequency band to obtain a voice signal suitable for the user's taste. Equalizer function is provided for output. In this way, the ultra low and high notes, which are weakened in the process of producing digital voice files, can be provided with better quality by slightly emphasized using an equalizer.

However, in the existing digital audio reproducing apparatus, the user must change the equalizer function according to the genre of each music, and the initial equalizer function setting state is maintained until the user changes the setting. Therefore, it is not possible to immediately respond to a variety of genres of music because there was a problem that does not utilize the unique characteristics of the music.

In order to overcome the above problem, a method of automatically setting an equalizer function for music without a user changing the equalizer function has been studied. For example, in Korean Patent No. 475056, the equalizer function is automatically set so that the equalizer is automatically set when the music file is played by inputting equalizer information suitable for the music characteristics of the music file by using the music file editing function when downloading the music file from a computer. A setting method is disclosed.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a process of selecting an equalizer according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, first, an MP3 file to download is selected (101), and then an MP3 file to be downloaded is selected (103). Subsequently, the user selects one of a standard download method of downloading a file without listening to a sample of the file and a detailed download method of listening to the sample and starting the download (105). In the case of the standard download, an equalizer code corresponding to the characteristics of the selected MP3 file is input to a specific part of the MP3 file (109), and then the MP3 file is downloaded (111). As described above, the related art uses a download program for downloading MP3 files and storing them in the file memory unit.

However, since this conventional method starts the download after assigning an arbitrary equalizer code to a specific part of the file name information in the file download editor on the computer, it is limited to the MP3 file downloaded from the device providing the music file download software. With the limitation that it can be, whenever you download the MP3 file from the server has a problem that it is inconvenient to input the equalizer code that matches the characteristics of each MP3 file.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art described above, and one object of the present invention is to automatically set an equalizer function in a digital audio playback apparatus for automatically setting an equalizer function for each genre of music to play an audio data file. To provide a way.

Another object of the present invention is to read the additional information storage tag in the audio data file and automatically set the equalizer function according to the genre of the corresponding audio data file, thereby providing the best sound quality and automatically providing the equalizer function of the user-friendly digital audio player. It is to provide a setting device.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is

In playing the encoded audio data file including the additional information storage tag in the digital audio playback apparatus,

Opening the audio data file and determining whether there is an additional information storage tag in the corresponding audio data file:

Determining presence or absence of genre information of a corresponding audio data file when the additional information storage tag exists;

Loading preset equalizer settings according to the genre information when genre information exists;

A method of automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio reproducing apparatus comprising the step of setting an equalizer function.

Another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is

Opening the encoded audio data file and determining whether there is an additional information storage tag in the audio data file:

Determining the presence or absence of genre information when the additional information storage tag exists;

Loading equalizer information corresponding to the genre information when genre information exists; And

A computer readable recording medium storing program code executable by a computer for performing an automatic setting method of an equalizer function of a digital audio reproducing apparatus comprising the step of setting an equalizer function as set in the genre information.

Another aspect of the invention

A genre information extracting unit for reading genre information stored in an additional information storage tag in the audio data file;

An equalizer function automatic setting unit for automatically setting an equalizer function in accordance with the genre information; And

And a volume control unit for adjusting the volume according to the set equalizer function.

In still another aspect, the present invention provides an audio data player including a signal processor, a data storage unit, a user interface unit, a display unit, and an audio processor.

Determining whether there is an additional information storage tag in the audio data file:

Determining whether or not genre information of the corresponding audio data file exists when the additional information storage tag exists;

Loading preset equalizer settings according to the genre information when genre information exists; And

A digital audio reproduction apparatus comprising software for performing the step of setting an equalizer function as set in the genre information.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings will be described in more detail with respect to the present invention.

According to the present invention, when playing an encoded audio data file in an audio data player, each audio data file is reproduced using genre information of an additional information storage tag including additional information related to the audio data file included in the audio data file. The equalizer function is automatically set according to the genre of the audio data file.

In the present invention, the term "digital audio reproducing apparatus" means an audio data reproducing apparatus capable of reproducing digitally encoded audio data, and includes all digital audio apparatuses equipped with a digital audio decoder. Typically include hardware devices, such as MP3 players, but also include, but not necessarily limited to, software-implemented players. Hardware devices are not necessarily limited to MP3 players, but include all possible information devices such as mobile phones, multicodec players, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or portable multimedia players (PMPs).

In the present invention, "additional information storage tag" means a special frame set for inserting additional information included in an audio data file. For example, in the case of an audio data file in the MP3 (MPEG Audio Player 3) format, this corresponds to a 128-byte ID3 tag (ID3tag) for storing descriptive text and other data related to the audio data file.

2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a conventional digital audio reproducing apparatus. The construction of the digital audio reproducing apparatus is well known to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains, and thus, detailed descriptions related to the respective components will be omitted.

The digital audio reproducing apparatus 200 generally includes a signal processing unit 201, a data storage unit 204, a user interface unit 205, a display unit 206, and an audio processing unit 207, and a USB port. Connect to a computer or similar device to download and play the encoded audio data file.

The user interface unit 205 may include a keyboard, a voice operated touch pad, a touch screen input device, and the like. The display unit 206 may provide various types of information (eg, elapsed time of reproduction and volume level) according to the operation of the digital audio player. , A preset DSP mode, etc.) may be displayed.

The audio processor 207 converts the encoded audio data file into an analog signal, synthesizes and amplifies it, and outputs the synthesized audio data file to a speaker, a headset, or the like.

When the digital audio player is connected to a computer via a USB port to download an encoded audio data file, the audio data file is stored in the data storage unit 204. In one embodiment, the data storage unit 204 may be a hard drive or a semiconductor memory device such as a removable data storage device or a flash memory card. The data storage unit 204 stores software and audio data files for implementing various functions of the digital audio reproducing apparatus. While the audio data file is being reproduced, additional information such as the title, artist, album name, production year, genre, etc. of the audio data file is displayed on the display unit 206.

The signal processor 201 includes a ROM 202 and a RAM 203, and controls all operations of each component of the digital audio reproducing apparatus. The signal processor 20 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) or a microcontroller. It includes a controller.

In a digital audio playback device, digital audio data is first loaded into the data storage by downloading the data from an audio CD, the Internet, or other digital audio device to a PC. This data is then compressed according to the selected encoding format and loaded into the data store. Audio data is decompressed and decoded by the digital audio player according to the selected encoding format during reproduction. Audio encoding formats include, but are not limited to, MP3 and MP3 Pro.

The encoded audio data file stores additional information for explaining characteristics of the audio data file in addition to the audio data file to be reproduced. For convenience of explanation, hereinafter, audio data encoded in the MP3 format will be described as an example.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of reproducing an encoded audio data file including additional information storage tags in a conventional digital audio reproducing apparatus. Referring to FIG. 2, after opening an audio data file (eg, an MP3 format file) downloaded from a server (301), it is checked whether an ID3 tag (ID3tag) is present in the MP3 file (303).

If there is an ID3 tag, the audio data file is played and at the same time, ID3 tag information such as title, artist, album name, and genre is displayed on a display such as an LCD window (305). On the other hand, if the ID3 tag does not exist or is damaged and no longer valid, the file name is displayed on the display while playing music (307). As described above, in relation to the existing digital audio reproducing apparatus, a technique for equalizing using genre information among additional information included in the encoded audio data file has not been used.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, in the case of playing an encoded audio data file including an additional information storage tag in a digital audio playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the audio data file is first opened and the additional information in the corresponding audio data file is opened. It is determined whether there is a storage tag (S401). In the present invention, the compression format of the encoded audio data file is not particularly limited. Preferably, the compression format is an MP3 format. In this case, the additional information storage tag may be an ID3 tag.

Next, when the additional information storage tag exists, it is determined whether there is genre information of the corresponding audio data file, that is, whether there is a genre field (S402). If genre information exists in the additional information storage tag of the audio data file, a predetermined equalizer setting is loaded for each gen in accordance with the genre information (S403). Next, an equalizer function corresponding to the genre of the audio data file to be played is set (S404).

In the case of an audio data file encoded in the MP3 format, a special frame set called ID3 tag is added to describe additional information that is difficult to be displayed only by the file name. The ID3 tag contains additional information related to the audio data file such as the song name, artist (singer), album name, year of production, album track information, lyrics, genre, etc. of the song. For example, when the ID3 tag is present at the end of the audio data file, the information of the ID3 tag can be obtained by reading the last 128 bytes of the MP3 format audio data file. The ID3 tag information is useful for searching, classifying and selecting specific audio data files based on the information contained in the ID3 tag. When playing a digital music file in the digital audio reproducing apparatus, the ID3 tag information is basically displayed on the display screen. If the ID3 tag information is missing or damaged, the file name is displayed. That is, even if the file name is changed, if there is ID3 tag information, ID3 tag information is displayed first.

An example of the structure of ID3 tag information is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a genre field stores a code defined in relation to a genre of music. There are various modes provided by the equalizer function, such as 5, 8, and 10 modes. In each case, for example, normal is "0", classical music is "1", jazz is "2", and blues is "3". And so on.

Finally, the equalizer function is automatically executed according to the characteristics of the audio data file to be played, and the additional information stored in the additional information storage tag is displayed on the display unit of the digital audio reproducing apparatus at the same time (S405). ). When the equalizer function is automatically executed according to the characteristics of the audio data file as described above, the parameter values of the bass, middle, and treble parts are appropriately set according to the genre of the music to vary the level of the output audio signal. For example, if the genre is "rock," you can set the bass value to 3, the midrange value to 5, and the treble value to 10. If the genre is "classic," you can set the bass value to 5 and the midrange value. You can set the parameter value to 9, the treble value to 6.

On the other hand, if the additional information storage tag does not exist or is damaged or invalid in the audio data file to be played, or if the genre field of the additional information storage tag is missing or the corresponding field is damaged and no longer valid, the default equalizer setting is loaded. (S406), the file name is displayed on the display unit while playing music (S407).

The method of the present invention can be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, optical data storage, and the like.

The computer-readable recording medium according to the present invention comprises the steps of opening an encoded audio data file to determine whether there is an additional information storage tag in the corresponding audio data file, and determining the presence or absence of genre information if the additional information storage tag exists. Performing the automatic setting of the equalizer function of the digital audio reproducing apparatus, including the step of loading the equalizer information corresponding to the genre information if the genre information exists, and setting the equalizer function as set in the genre information. Program code executable by a computer for execution.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio reproducing apparatus. 6 is a functional block diagram of an automatic equalizer function setting device of the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the apparatus for automatically setting an equalizer function of the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes a genre information extracting unit 601 that reads genre information stored in an additional information storage tag in an audio data file, so as to conform to the genre information. An equalizer function automatic setting unit 602 for automatically setting an equalizer function, and a volume adjusting unit 603 for adjusting the volume of the bass, mids and highs according to the set equalizer function.

The apparatus for automatically setting an equalizer function of the digital audio player of the present invention can support various audio compression formats. For example, the audio data file is an MP3 format audio data file, and the additional information storage tag is an ID3 tag. Can be.

When the automatic setting of the equalizer function of the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention downloads the encoded audio data file from the server, the genre information extracting unit 601 opens the file and searches the genre field in the additional information storage tag. If there is a gen field in the additional information storage tag of the audio data file, the equalizer function automatic setting unit 102 automatically sets an equalizer function for the corresponding genre. When the equalizer function is automatically set as described above, the volume control unit automatically adjusts the volume level of the treble, midtone, and bass whenever the corresponding audio data file is played.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a digital audio playback device having an equalizer function automatic setting function. The digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes a signal processing unit in contact with a data storage unit and a user interface unit. The signal processing unit determines whether there is an additional information storage tag in the audio data file, and the additional information storage tag. Determining presence or absence of genre information of the audio data file in the presence of the audio data file, loading predetermined equalizer settings according to the genre information in the presence of genre information, and setting the genre information in the genre information. And software for performing the step of setting the equalizer function.

When the user selects a particular audio data file in the data storage unit, the digital audio reproducing apparatus according to the present invention automatically sets an equalizer function according to the genre of the corresponding audio data file to reproduce the selected audio data file.

In the digital audio reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, the audio data file is preferably an MP3 format audio data file and the additional information storage tag is an ID3 tag. However, the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention can be updated to reproduce audio data files of formats other than the MP3 format audio data files by updating the software of the signal processing section. Accordingly, the digital audio reproducing apparatus of the present invention may be updated to reproduce an audio data file of an encoding format that will be available in the future.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of example, these are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various substitutions, modifications, and changes can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. For example, the method of the present invention can be applied not only to portable applications such as portable MP3 players or automotive MP3 players, but also to fixed applications using AC power. In addition, the method and apparatus of the present invention is not only an MP3 audio compression format but also a digital audio playback device or a plurality of audio compression formats that support other audio compression formats such as AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and WMA (Windows Media Audio). It can also be applied to an audio reproducing apparatus.

According to the method of the present invention, the equalizer function is automatically set according to the music genre played by the digital audio reproducing apparatus, so that the user needs to change the setting of the equalizer function every time in order to listen to the music according to the unique characteristics of the various genres of music. There is no.

In addition, since the method and apparatus of the present invention store information on the genre of the music in the additional information storage tag of the audio data file, it is applicable to all audio data files regardless of the device providing the music file downloading software. In the case of downloading a file, it is not necessary to enter an equalizer code for each file characteristic, which is much more convenient and practical than the conventional method. What's more, the equalizer function is automatically set to the music being played without any special setup by the user, allowing the user to enjoy the best, lively and rich sound quality for each music's unique characteristics.

Claims (10)

In playing the encoded audio data file including the additional information storage tag in the digital audio playback apparatus, Determining whether there is an additional information storage tag in the audio data file by opening the audio data file: Determining the presence or absence of genre information data in the additional information storage tag; Loading preset equalizer settings according to each gen when the gen information exists. And setting the equalizer function. The digital audio system according to claim 1, further comprising the step of displaying the information included in the additional information storage tag on the display unit while playing the audio data file while automatically executing the equalizer function. How to set the equalizer function of the playback device automatically. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of loading a default equalizer setting if the side information storage tag in the audio data file is not valid or the information for the genre is not valid. How to automatically set equalizer function of digital audio player. 3. The automatic setting of an equalizer function of a digital audio reproducing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the audio data file is an MP3 format audio data file, and the additional information storage tag includes an ID3 tag. Way. 5. The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the ID3 tag comprises a genre information field. The method of claim 1, wherein the setting of the equalizer function comprises setting parameter values of the bass, mids, and trebles according to the loaded equalizer information. Opening the encoded audio data file and determining whether there is an additional information storage tag in the audio data file: Determining presence or absence of genre information in the audio data file Loading preset equalizer information according to each gen when the gen information exists A computer-readable recording medium storing program code executable by a computer for performing a method of automatically setting an equalizer function of a digital audio playback device comprising setting an equalizer function. 8. The computer-readable recording medium of claim 7, wherein the audio data file is an MP3 format audio data file and the additional information storage tag comprises an ID3 tag. Genre information extracting unit for reading information on the genre of a particular audio data file stored in the additional information storage tag in the audio data file Equalizer function automatic setting unit for automatically setting the equalizer function in accordance with the genre information And a volume control unit for adjusting the volume according to the set equalizer function. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the audio data file is an MP3 format audio data file, and the additional information storage tag comprises an ID3 tag.

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