Patent Publication Number: US-2009240360-A1

Title: Media player and audio processing method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to media players, and particularly to a media player and its audio processing method. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Almost all motion pictures (such as films), television programs, and video games are initially designed with an original language audio track. Dubbing tracks are later added for different languages. On conventional media players, only one of the tracks (original dialogue or dubbing) can be selected when the film or the video game is played. When two persons are viewing a film on the same media player, one person may have a preference for one language and the other person may have a preference for another language, but because the media player will only allow one audio track to be played this presents an inconvenience to the two persons viewing the film. 
     Therefore, an improved media player and its audio processing method are needed to address the aforementioned deficiency and inadequacies. 
     Other advantages and novel features of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a media player in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart of an audio processing method in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN INVENTIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     References will now be made to the drawings to describe certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a media system including a media player  100  and an earphone  300  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment is illustrated. The earphone  300  has a pair of transducers: a first transducer  301  and a second transducer  303 . The first transducer  301  and the second transducer  303  are disposed in separate earpieces (not shown). One user can wear one earpiece, and another user can wear the other earpiece. The media player  100  is capable of outputting different audio signals to respective transducers  301 ,  303  simultaneously. It should be noted that the transducer can be any electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds. 
     The media player  100  may include an input unit  101 , a play unit  103 , a storage unit  105 , a display unit  107 , a detecting unit  109 , a distributing unit  111 , and an audio output interface  113 . 
     The storage unit  105  is used for storing audio and video files. There may be a one-to-one or one-to-more relationship between the video files and the audio files. In other words, each of the video files is associated with one or more corresponding audio files. In other embodiments, the storage unit  105  may be replaced by an external storage device or media, such as a compact disc, a storage card, or a portable hardware. 
     The input unit  101  is for receiving user&#39;s inputs. The inputs may include a video select input for selecting a video file to be played, an audio select input for selecting one or more audio files to be played. The one or more audio files may correspond to the video file desired to be played. 
     The play unit  103  is used for reading the selected video files from the storage unit  105  according to the video select input, reading the selected one or more audio files according to the audio select input, and playing the selected video and audio files. The one or more audio files may be one or more songs, or one or more dubbing tracks of a film. The play unit  103  may include a first audio decoder  115 , a second audio decoder  117 , and a video decoder  119 . 
     The video decoder  119  is configured for decoding the video file read from the storage unit  105  to generate a video signal, and sending the video signal to the display unit  107  which then displays images corresponding to the video signal. The first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  are configured for decoding the one or more audio files read from the storage unit  105  into one or more audio signals, and sending the one or more audio signals to the distributing unit  111 . Each of the first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  can decode only one audio file at a time. In this embodiment, when two audio files are selected, the first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  simultaneously decode the two audio files respectively to generate a first audio signal and a second audio signal. When only one audio file is selected via the input unit  101 , the first audio decoder  115  is chosen to decode the audio file into the first audio signal. In other embodiments, when the two audio files are selected, the first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  decode the two audio files respectively, but maybe not at the same time. 
     The detecting unit  109  is configured for generating a distributing signal when determining that the first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  operate simultaneously, that is, two audio files are selected and decoded. The detecting unit  109  generates a non-distributing signal when determining that only the first audio decoder  115  operates, that is, only one audio file is selected and decoded. In other embodiments, the detecting unit  109  may generate the distributing signal when the input unit  101  receives the audio select input for selecting two audio files to be played, and generate the non-distributing signal when the input unit  101  receives the audio select input for selecting only one audio file. 
     The audio output interface  113  is configured for outputting the first and/or the second audio signals. The audio output interface  113  includes a first channel  121  capable of being connected to the first transducer  301  of the earphone  300 , and a second channel  123  capable of being connected to the second transducer  303 . 
     The distributing unit  111  is configured for transmitting the first audio signal and the second audio signal to the first and second channels  121 ,  123  respectively according to the distributing signal. As a result, the first and second channels  121 ,  123  output different audio signals. If the earphone  300  is connected to the audio output interface  113 , different sounds corresponding to the two audio files will be output by the first and second transducers  301 ,  303 . The distributing unit  111  is further configured for transmitting the first audio signal to both the first and second channels  121 ,  123  according to the non-distributing signal. As a result, sound corresponding to the first audio signal will be output by the first and second transducers  301 ,  303  when the earphone  300  is connected to the audio output interface  113 . 
     As described above, when a film having a video file and two audio files (an original track and a dubbing track, for example) is selected to be played on the media player  100 . The media player  100  may receive the video select input for selecting the video file first, and then receive the audio select input for selecting the two audio files. In response, the media player  100  decodes the video file into a video signal and displays images corresponding to the video signal on the display unit  107 , decodes the two audio files into the first and second audio signals using the first and second audio decoders  115 ,  117  respectively, and simultaneously sends the first and second audio signals to the first and second transducers  301 ,  303  respectively via the first and second channels  121 ,  123 . As a result, two users can listen to the two audio files respectively via the first and second transducers  301 ,  303 . 
     In other embodiments, the display unit  107  may be replaced by an external display device. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a flow chart of an audio processing method for a media player is illustrated. The media player may be the media player  100 . The audio processing method may include the following steps. The various actions in the audio processing method may be performed in the order presented, or may be performed in a different order. Furthermore, in some embodiments, some actions listed in  FIG. 2  may be omitted from the audio processing method. 
     In step S 401 , an audio select input for selecting two audio files is received. 
     In step S 403 , the two audio files are read from an inner or external storage media. 
     In step S 405 , the two audio files are decoded into two audio signals, respectively, using two audio decoders. The two audio files may be decoded simultaneously or not. 
     In step S 407 , the two audio signals are simultaneously output via respective audio output channels. 
     In step S 409 , the two audio signals are converted into different sounds by respective transducers. The transducers are disposed in separate earpieces of an earphone. One user can wear one earpiece, and another user can wear the other earpiece. 
     It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.