Decorrelation For Audio Object Coding

Object-based representations of audio content are increasingly used in entertainment systems to deliver immersive and personalized experiences. Efficient storage and transmission of such content can be achieved by joint object coding algorithms that convey a reduced number of downmix signals together with parametric side information that enables object reconstruction in the decoder. This paper presents an approach to improve the performance of joint object coding by adding one or more decorrelators to the decoding process. Listening test results illustrate the performance as a function of the number of decorrelators. The method is adopted as part of the Dolby AC-4 system standardized by ETSI.