TECH

We should look forward to better quality calls via Bluetooth headphones

Telephone calls conducted via Bluetooth headsets they will probably have a lot to see much better sound. After a long period when audio engineers focused mainly on better listening to music or the best possible active ambient noise filtering (ANC), Google probably intends to use Bluetooth technology in Android. Well-known analyst Mishaal Rahman found in the AOSP code that support is heading to the system Super Wideband Speech (SWB), i.e. a wider frequency spectrum for sound transmission during calls. It should fall into the HFP hands-free profile.

By including this technology, the range of reproduced frequencies will be expanded through a hands-free device. The standard currently used in Android comes from HFP v1.6 and is known in the phone industry as Wideband. Commercially, it is also called HD Voice. It covers frequencies from 50 Hz to 7 kHz through a special version of the SBC codec called mSBC.

However, it should happen in the foreseeable future upgrade from current HFP v1.8 to HFP 1.9, where there will be better quality SWB. Super Wideband Speech should use the LC3 codec extend the frequency range up to 50 Hz – 14 kHz, so it will be much closer to the band that is common for listening to music, for example (20 Hz – 20 kHz). The new HFP 1.9 is currently in its final design phase.

by Marek Houser