Compression processong of sound source from television broadcasting for the universal design

本研究探讨电视广播声源压缩处理对轻度听力损失老年人听力的影响。将电视广播声源划分为4个频带，对每个频带的信号采用不同的压缩比进行压缩。经过处理的信号通过消声室的扬声器呈现给老年人。一些人评价说，在4千赫频率以上放大6分贝的处理信号比原始信号更容易听。然而，对于大多数人来说，与原始信号相比，经过处理的信号并没有提高听力。这些结果表明，对电视广播的声源进行压缩处理以使所有老年人更好地倾听可能是困难的。

This study investigated effects of compression processing of sound sources from television broadcasting on listening in elderly people with mild hearing loss. The sound sources from television broadcasting were divided into four frequency bands, and then the signal of the each bandwidth was compressed with a different compression ratio. The processed signals were presented to the elderly people by a loudspeaker in an anechoic room. Some of the people evaluated that the processed signals with amplification of 6 dB above a frequency of 4 kHz were easier to listen to than the original signal. For the majority of the people, however, the processed signals did not improve listening as compared to the original signal. These results suggest that it might be difficult to apply compression processing of sound sources from television broadcasting for better listening in all elderly people.