FIELD: means for encoding a stereophonic audio signal.
SUBSTANCE: method includes mixing down the left and right channels of a stereo audio signal to form a primary and secondary channels. Primary channel coding and secondary channel coding are performed, wherein primary channel encoding and secondary channel encoding comprise determining a first bit budget for encoding a primary channel and a second bit budget for encoding a secondary channel. If the second bit budget is sufficient, the secondary channel is encoded using a first coding model which employs four subframes per frame. If the second bit budget is insufficient to use the first encoding model, the secondary channel is encoded using a second encoding model which uses two subframes per frame.
EFFECT: technical result consists in improved efficiency of coding.
17 cl, 18 dwg
