Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to audio players and a method using the same for adjusting audio playing channels. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    A media player, such as one able to process a moving picture experts group audio layer III (MP3) or a smart phone, may play music using a pair of earphones, namely left earphone and right earphone, and output left channel sound via the left earphone and right channel sound via the right earphone. However, since the left and right earphones normally have very similar configuration, it is not easy for a user to distinguish them and the user may insert the left earphone into the right ear and the right earphone into the left ear, and the wrongly employed earphones may decrease the user experience and the perceived playback quality. 
         [0005]    Therefore, an audio player and a related method having function to overcome the above-described shortcomings are needed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of at least one embodiment. In the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the various views. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an audio player according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the audio player including a display unit and employing a pair of earphones. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of pair of earphones of  FIG. 1 , according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0009]      FIGS. 3-4  are schematic diagrams of different states of a channel control interface on the display unit of  FIG. 1 , according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0010]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an audio playing method using the audio player of  FIG. 1 , according to one method embodiment of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0011]    Reference will be made to the drawings to describe various embodiments. 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an audio player  10  according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The audio player  10  employs a pair of earphones  20  as shown in  FIG. 2 , namely left earphone and right earphone. The audio player  10  includes an earphone jack  110 , an earphone detector  120 , a display unit  130 , a processor  140 , a storage unit  150 , and a sound output driver  160 . The audio player  10  can playback any type of media files. 
         [0013]    The earphone jack  110  connects to an earphone plug of the pair of earphones  20 . 
         [0014]    The earphone detector  120  is configured to determine whether the earphone plug of the pair of earphones is inserted into the earphone jack  110 . The earphone detector  120  generates a channel control signal and sends the channel control signal to the processor  140  when the earphone plug of the pair of earphones is inserted into the earphone jack  110 . In alternative embodiments, the audio player  10  may include a physical key (not shown) to generate the channel control signal, when the physical key is pressed by a user. 
         [0015]    The display unit  130  displays a channel control interface  131  as shown in  FIGS. 3-4 . The channel control interface  131  includes a left channel playing icon  132  as shown in  FIG. 3 , a right channel playing icon  134  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a channel exchange button  136 , and an OK button  138 . In one embodiment, the display unit  130  is a touch display, and the user can input commands by pressing or touching the displayed icons of the channel control interface  131 . In the embodiment, the processor  140  generates a driving control signal when the channel exchange button  136  is pressed or touched, and provides the driving control signal to the sound output driver  160  for toggling an operation mode of the sound output driver  160 . 
         [0016]    In alternative embodiments, the audio player  10  may further include an input unit such as a keypad for the user to input commands corresponding to the buttons of the channel control interface  131 . 
         [0017]    The storage unit  150  pre-stores one or more media files. In the embodiment, the storage unit  150  further stores a channel test file. In one embodiment, the storage unit  150  can be selected from a group consisting of compact discs (CDs), digital video discs (DVDs), BLU-RAY disks, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
         [0018]    The sound output driver  160  generates a left channel driving signal and a right channel driving signal according to the media file or the channel test file. In a first driving mode, the sound output driver  160  outputs the left and right audio driving signals to the left and right earphones respectively. In a second driving mode, the sound output driver  160  outputs the right and left audio driving signals to the left and right earphones respectively. In alternative embodiments, the sound output driver  160  further includes a switch (not shown) for receiving the driving control signal from the processor  140  to change the operation of the sound output driver  160  from the first driving mode to the second driving mode, or vice versa. In alternative embodiments, a program in the form of one or more computerized instructions stored in the storage unit  150  and executed by the processor  140  may be performed to change the mode of operation of the sound output driver  160 . 
         [0019]    In operation, when the channel control signal is generated by the earphone detector  120  or the physical key and sent to the processor  140 , the processor  140  controls the display unit  130  to display the channel control interface  131  thereon. The processor  140  also controls the sound output driver  160  to generate a left channel driving signal and a right channel driving signal to drive the pair of earphones  20  according to the channel test file. 
         [0020]    When the sound output driver  160  operates in the first driving mode for example, the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed on left side of the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is not visible on the display unit  130  as shown in  FIG. 3  while the sound output driver  160  only outputs the left audio driving signal to the left earphone. When the sound output driver  160  is outputting only the right audio driving signal to the right earphone, the left channel playing icon  132  is hidden from the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed on right side of the display unit  130  as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0021]    When the sound output driver  160  is started up and is in the second driving mode, the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed on the left side of the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is not visible on the display unit  130 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , while the sound output driver  160  only outputs the left audio driving signal to the right earphone. The left channel playing icon  132  is hidden from the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed on the right side of display unit  130 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , while the sound output driver  160  only outputs the right audio driving signal to the left earphone. 
         [0022]    While wearing the left and right earphones, the user can determine simply whether positions of the left and right earphones comply with positions of the left and right channel playing icons  132 ,  134 , by observing the positions of the alternatively displayed channel playing icons  132 ,  134  and hearing a sound, or not hearing a sound as the case may be, from the left earphone and from the right earphone. In other words, if only the left ear of the user hears sound when the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed and only the right ear of the user hears sound when the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed, the user can be satisfied that the positions of the left and right earphones are standard or regular, as complying with the positions of the left and right channel playing icons. In this situation, the user directly presses or touches the OK button  138  to exit the channel control interface  131  to enter a normal playback mode and display the normal audio playing interface (not shown). 
         [0023]    Conversely, if only the right ear of the user hears sound when the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed and only the left ear of the user hears sound when the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed, the user knows that the positions of the left and right earphones are reversed, and do not comply with positions of the left and right channel playing icons. In this situation, the user can press or touch the channel exchange button  136  to change the operation of the sound output driver  160  from the first driving mode into the second driving mode, that is, exchange the left and right audio driving signals being output to the left and right earphones. The user then presses or touches the OK button  138  to exit the channel control interface  131  to enter a normal playback mode. 
         [0024]    The audio player  10  enables the user to determine whether the left and right earphones are in the wrong ears and, even if the earphones are in the wrong ears, to compensate by enabling the reverse operation of the left and right audio driving signals. 
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of an audio playing method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The method is carried out using the audio player  10 . Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
         [0026]    In step S 201 , the earphone detector  120  generates a channel control signal and sends the channel control signal to the processor  140  when the earphone plug of the pair of earphones  20  is inserted into the earphone jack  110 . The processor  140  starts a channel adjusting function when the processor  140  receives the channel control signal. In alternative embodiments, the channel control signal may also be generated by the user pressing a physical key of the audio player  10 . 
         [0027]    In step S 202 , the processor  140  controls the sound output driver  160  to generate a left channel driving signal and a right channel driving signal according to the channel test file for playing the channel test file. In a first driving mode, the sound output driver  160  outputs the left and right audio driving signals to the left and right earphones respectively. In a second driving mode, the sound output driver  160  outputs the right and left audio driving signals to the left and right earphones respectively. 
         [0028]    In step S 203 , the processor  140  controls the display unit  130  to display the channel control interface  131  as shown in  FIGS. 3-4 . The channel control interface  131  includes a left channel playing icon  132  as shown in  FIG. 3 , a right channel playing icon  134  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a channel exchange button  136 , and an OK button  138 . When the sound output driver  160  is in the first driving mode, only the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed on the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is not visible on the display unit  130  while the sound output driver  160  only outputs a left audio driving signal to the left earphone. The left channel playing icon  132  is not visible on the display unit  130  and only the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed on the display unit  130  while the sound output driver  160  only outputs a right audio driving signal to the right earphone. When the sound output driver  160  is in the second driving mode, only the left channel playing icon  132  is displayed on the display unit  130  and the right channel playing icon  134  is not visible on the display unit  130  while the sound output driver  160  only outputs a left audio driving signal to the right earphone. The left channel playing icon  132  is not visible on the display unit  130  and only the right channel playing icon  134  is displayed on the display unit  130  while the sound output driver  160  only outputs a right audio driving signal to the left earphone. 
         [0029]    In alternative embodiments, the left and right channel playing icons  132 ,  134  may flicker on the display unit  130  instead of being constantly displayed or not being displayed on the display unit  130 , to show their positions. 
         [0030]    In step S 204 , the user can determine whether the positions of the left and right earphones comply with positions of the left and right channel by observing the playing icon  132  or (as the case may be) the playing icon  134  and hearing sound from only the left earphone or (as the case may be) only the right earphone. If the positions of the left and right earphones as worn by the user are in compliance with the displayed positions of the left and right channel playing icons, the process goes to step S 206 . If the positions of the left and right earphones as worn by the user are not in compliance with the displayed positions of the left and right channel playing icons, the process goes to step S 205 . 
         [0031]    In step S 205 , when the user presses or touches the channel exchange button  136 , the processor  140  generates a driving control signal to the sound output driver  160  to toggle the operation of the sound output driver  160  from the first driving mode into the second driving mode, to exchange audio channels. 
         [0032]    In step S 206 , when the user presses or touches the OK button  138 , the processor  140  controls the channel control interface  131  to exit and allow a normal playback mode (playing interface is not shown). 
         [0033]    It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only; and changes may be in detail, especially in the matters of arrangement of parts within the principles of the embodiments to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Technology Category: h