Conexant Systems today announced the CX20865, its new high-performance Far-Field Voiceinput processor system-on-chip (SoC) designed specifically for Smart TVs. The CX20865 is the first dedicated Far-Field Voice solution with integrated Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) engine, optimized for telepresence and voice control applications. Conexant has integrated a third party ASR with the new low-power DSP to support stand-alone Wake-on-Voice functionality during Smart TV power-off state. Combined with Conexant's proprietary Far-Field Voice pre-processing algorithms and integrated high-performance 24bit ADCs, the CX20865 adds a differentiated Watch Live and Talk experience with popular VoIP applications, such as Skype TV, and delivers accurate voice control performance while the TV is blasting in high volume. The new Selective Source Pickup technology maintains speech recognition in the presence of random ambient interference, enabling live demos in the retail environment and tradeshows.
As the centerpiece of the living room, the Smart TV is becoming the new hub for the human interface to other digital appliances and the Cloud. Voice is the natural and ideal hands-free interface for consumers to access and interact with Smart TVs; from basic voice remote controls to advanced voice search, apps interaction, social networking, chat and gaming. However, in order for voice to deliver on the promise of Smart TV experience for users, ambient noise, TV playback volume and distance must be taken into consideration. A pioneer in Far-Field Voice processing technology, Conexant is working closely with leading TV OEMs to overcome these technical challenges.
The new CX20865 hardware features dual cores, high-performance 32bit DSP, processing multi-thread voice streams and a third party ASR. The integrated DC/DC provides advanced power management functions. The device has full-speed USB and I2S I/Os for voice data, and I2C and UART interface for control. The quad microphone input paths have been upgraded with high-performance pre-amp and 24 bit ADCs, delivering 106dB dynamic range full path. Further, each microphone path has dedicated microphone bias to prevent cross-talk.
The voice pre-processing performance is enhanced to deliver >97 percent ASR hit-rate when the TV is playing sound at high volume. The new echo-cancellation supports stereo, 2.1CH, and 2+2CH internal speaker configurations. The improved de-reverberation and true wideband processing has radically enhanced the perceptual voice clarity. To this end, Conexant is also working with leading regional ASR vendors to optimize hit-rates and reduce false detection with their local and Cloud-based ASR engines.
The featured Watch Live and Talk seamlessly blends voice conversation and TV entertainment into a single experience, allowing two parties to "share the moment" watching the same or different TV programs while carrying on a conversation. The experience also applies to voice-chat during multi-party game play on TV, without tethering to a headset.
At 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, the Mariana Grajales park in downtown Havana pulses with a thumping beat. Young men in drooping trousers and women in miniskirts dance, raise their hands in the air and grind pelvis to pelvis amid whooping, clapping and coarse jokes.
The risque dance style known as "perreo," which translates loosely as "dogging," is associated with reggaeton, an up-tempo mix of reggae, hip-hop and Latin rhythms that was popularized in Puerto Rico and has become a mainstay on Cuban TV and radio.
Now, the music finds itself squarely in the sights of critics who lament the genre's notoriously suggestive lyrics, steamy videos and sometimes misogynistic stereotyping.
Cuban authorities recently announced restrictions reportedly declaring state-run recording studios and broadcasts off-limits to songs with questionable lyrics. They also prohibit such music in performance spaces subject to government control.
The rules would theoretically apply to all genres, but it's reggaeton that leading cultural lights have singled out for criticism in official media while warning of new rules governing "public uses of music."
Legislators are also studying a bill to regulate the airwaves and performance spaces. Artists would face potential sanctions for lyrics and performances deemed too racy, although it's not yet clear who would be the official arbiters of taste or what penalties may be imposed.
"It has been decided," said Danilo Sirio Lopez, director of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television, in a December speech to lawmakers. "We will not play one more rude song, one more base song, one more song with offensive lyrics or videos that attack or denigrate the image of women."
The proposal apparently falls short of an outright ban, but in a country where the government is the main patron of the arts and controls all airwaves, the threat of losing access to broadcasts, produ ction facilities and performance spaces sends a clear message to reggaetoneros: Clean up your act, or else.
The past year's hit song, "Quimba Pa' Que Suene," by Los Principales, translates gently as "Shake It So It Goes Off" and is a kind of homage to masturbation. The video was uploaded to YouTube and heralded as "the new hymn of Cuban youth," and for the last year it could be heard booming at top volume at private parties, school events and other get-togethers.
"I really like reggaeton. It has a beat that fires me up," said Yanet Perez, a 28-year-old Havana resident. "It's fun to dance to because of the way it gets you moving, although the lyrics sometimes can be bad or slimy."
Records with explicit lyri cs in the United States have carried parental warning labels since the 1980s, and last year the Rihanna video "S&M" was banned in at least 11 countries. In 2009, Jamaica prohibited songs and videos with explicit references to sex and violence from being broadcast on radio or TV.
The backlash against reggaeton has historical echoes in Cuba, where genres such as danzon, cha-cha, timba and salsa once scandalized older generations by pushing contemporary boundaries of sensuality. Today, they are firmly established in the musical mainstream.
In the 1960s the Beatles were banned from Cuban radio, and some fans were forced to cut their long hair, reprimanded at work or passed over for jobs. Now, a Havana plaza boasts a statue of John Lennon and the nearby Beatles-themed bar The Yellow Submarine is a thriving nightspot.
No comments:
Post a Comment