Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), pp. 4674-4677, Dallas, March 15-19, 2010.

Subjective Ratings of Instantaneous and Gradual Transitions from Narrowband to Wideband Active Speech

doi: 10.1109/ICASSP.2010.5495187

Cite This Publication

Stephen D. Voran ORCID logo

Abstract: In advanced heterogeneous telecommunication networks, network resources can dynamically dictate the type of speech coding that is used. An increase in resources allows for lower coding distortion or it might also be used to provide wideband speech instead of narrowband speech. Existing studies have demonstrated that wideband speech is preferred to narrowband speech, but they have also demonstrated that an abrupt transition from narrowband to wideband is perceived as an impairment, even though it is a transition to a higher quality signal. We describe our recent work that resulted in subjective scores for abrupt and gradual transitions from narrowband to wideband at the midpoint of a six–second segment of active speech. On average, signals that start narrowband and end wideband are rated slightly lower than constant narrowband signals and results are nearly the same for abrupt and gradual (2.5 second) transitions. Scores from 20 listeners show a wide range of individual opinions so we conclude that studies of bandwidth transitions may be quite sensitive to the listener population sample.

Keywords: switches; wideband; speech coding; frequency; bandwidth; Testing; Narrowband; Niobium; Passband; telecommunication switching

For technical information concerning this report, contact:

Stephen D. Voran
Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
(303) 497-3839
svoran@ntia.gov

Disclaimer: Certain commercial equipment, components, and software may be identified in this report to specify adequately the technical aspects of the reported results. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, nor does it imply that the equipment or software identified is necessarily the best available for the particular application or uses.

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