Patent ID: 7382886

Claim:
A method for coding of stereo properties of a first channel and a second channel of an input signal, the input signal being a two channel signal or a multichannel signal having the first channel and the second channel, comprising: calculating a stereo width parameter from the first channel and the second channel, wherein the stereo-width parameter represents a degree of similarity between the first channel and the second channel, and wherein the stereo width-parameter is a value from a finite set of values covering a range between a mono situation and a wide stereo situation between the first channel and the second channel; calculating a balance-parameter, wherein the balance-parameter represents a localization in a stereo field of the first channel and the second channel, and transmitting or storing the width parameter and the balance parameter so that a decoder, when receiving the width parameter and the balance parameter is adapted to generate a first output channel and a second output channel of an output signal, the output signal being a two channel output signal or a multichannel output signal having the first output channel and the second output channel, using the stereo width-parameter to control a stereo-width between the first output channel and the second output channel of the output signal and using the balance-parameter to control a localization in the stereo field between the first output channel and the second output channel of the output signal.