Audyssey Expands TV, Mobile-Device Portfolio

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 7/27/2010

Los Angeles - Audyssey Labs is expanding its portfolio of audio-processing technologies for TV sets, portable devices and mobile devices with the launch of Audyssey Volume Extension, said to double the volume delivered by small speakers without increasing audible distortion.

 The new technology will appear in the U.S. for the first time in select Insignia-brand TVs in late August and in other-brand TVs either late this year or next year, the company said.

The technology is also targeted to such portable devices as laptops and cellphones, said chief technology officer Chris Kyriakakis. The technology would also be appropriate for iPod-docking speaker systems, but the company hasn't yet targeted that class of products, he said.

The first Audyssey technologies appearing in U.S. TVs were ABX, EQ and Dynamic Volume. Audyssey is also targeting those technologies to portable and mobile devices. All three technologies appear in select Insignia and Sanyo TVs in the U.S., and EQ appears in select Toshiba TVs in the U.S.

With Audyssey Volume Extension, suppliers can boost the volume of small speakers in TVs and small devices by up to two times, or 10dB, without adding audible distortion, Kyriakakis told TWICE. The company achieves that goal by modeling the characteristics of the speakers designed for a particular TV set or mobile device "so we know when they will distort," he explained. The Audyssey technology then monitors the device's audio content before it reaches the speakers, then blocks the distorted sounds, or unwanted harmonics, from reaching the speakers.

He called the technology ideal for any product with limited power output or with limited driver size.