Patent ID: 8611186

Claim:
An apparatus for localizing a sound image in a target position from which a synthesized sound is directed to a viewing area in front of a display device, the apparatus comprising: a first signal generating unit configured to generate a first acoustic signal; a first speaker provided on the display device and configured to generate a first sound according to the first acoustic signal; an input unit configured to input a localization magnification n; a first control filter unit configured to adjust the first acoustic signal with a first control filter G 1 expressed by Equation (101) to generate a first adjusted acoustic signal, the first control filter G 1 being calculated based on the input localization magnification n; a second speaker provided on the display device and configured to generate a second sound according to the first adjusted acoustic signal; a second control filter unit configured to adjust the first acoustic signal with a second control filter G 2 expressed by Equation (102) to generate a second adjusted acoustic signal, the second control filter G 2 being calculated based on the input localization magnification n; and a third speaker provided on the display device and configured to generate a third sound according to the second adjusted acoustic signal, wherein the first, second and third sounds are produced as the synthesized sound in the viewing area: G 1 = α + β · G 2 ( 101 ) G 2 = - ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ A i · B i * ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ B i · B i * ( 102 ) where A i = ( 1 - 2 ⁢ ⁢ n ) ⁢ W Ri + α · U Ri ⁢ ⁢ 1 B i = β · U Ri ⁢ ⁢ 1 + U Ri ⁢ ⁢ 2 α = ( 2 ⁢ n - 1 ) ⁢ ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ ( W Li · U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 * ) ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ ( U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 · U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 * ) β = ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ ( U Li ⁢ ⁢ 2 · U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 * ) ∑ i = 1 N ⁢ ( U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 · U Li ⁢ ⁢ 1 * ) N denotes a number of left ear positions which are set along a direction perpendicular to a display panel included in the display device, N also denotes a number of right ear positions which are set in parallel with the left ear positions respectively, W Li denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the first speaker and an i-th left ear position of the left ear positions, W Ri denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the first speaker and an i-th right ear position of the right ear positions, U Li1 denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the second speaker and the i-th left ear position, U Ri1 denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the second speaker and the i-th right ear position, U Li2 denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the third speaker and the i-th left ear position, U Ri2 denotes a transfer function determined by a linear distance between the third speaker and the i-th right ear position, and i is an arbitrary natural number not more than N.