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A Unified 4-4-4, 4-3-4, 4-2-4 SQ-Compatible System of Recording and FM Broadcasting (USQ)

The Unified SC surround-sound recording and broadcasting system (USQ) is a combination of technologies with the objective of spanning the present and the future requirements of the art of surround-sound reproduction. The present-day 4-2-4 SQ matrix system has been found by the FCC Laboratories (Project No. 2710-1) to surpass in quadraphonic listening other matrix systems tested, and to be preferred by the listeners to the four-channel master tape (summed pairwise) and to all other matrix codes for stereophonic and monophonic compatibility. Therefore, if commercial demand were to arise for higher-order surround-sound systems, SQ would be the matrix of choice for the basebands of future 4-2.5-4, 4-3-4, or 4-4-4 FM broadcast transmitters. Orderly means for assembling this hierarchy are described. Projecting other possibilities, it is shown that 1) a modified-with-logic 4-3-4 system offers potential advantages. 2) A "diamond" 4-3-4 decoding configuration in combination with the square or rectangular loudspeaker arrangement may lead to 4-3-6 or 4-3-8 surround-sound loudspeaker arrays with superior hemispheric perception. 3) SQ quadraphonic synthesis is capable of converting the existing libraries of stereo records to the surround-sound reproduction mode. 4) Application of SQ-coded signals to "Kunstkopfstereophonie"-or "dummy head listening" (JAES, 24, 5, 387, June 1976) offers a further intriguing possibility. And, not to slight those who by choice or necessity require the use of spatial (coincident, intensity) microphone systems, it is shown that the SQ GHENT Microphone System (JAES 26, 1/2, 2-11, Jan/Feb 1978) can be modified by addition of a T-function so as to operate successfully in either the 0-2-4 or the 0-3-4 modes compatibly with all the Sq decoder configurations.

Author: Bauer, Benjamin B.
Affiliation: Audio-Metric Laboratories, Inc., Stamford, CT
AES Convention:63 (May 1979) Paper Number:1467 Import into BibTeX

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