Flat Panel Loudspeaker Consisting of an Array of Miniature Transducers

Multichannel audio reproduction systems like the Wave-Field-Synthesis (WFS) use a large number of small and closely spaced loudspeakers. The successful use of WFS requires among other things the ability of an "invisible" integration of loudspeakers in a room. Flat panel speakers compared with conventional cone loudspeakers provide advantages in the space saved room integration, because of their low manufactured depth. In this way flat panel speakers can be found in furniture, media devices or like pictures at the wall. Besides the integration flat speakers should provide at least the same good acoustical performance as conventional speakers. This is indeed a problem, because the low depth influences negatively the acoustical quality of reproduction in the lower and middle frequency range. This paper demonstrates a new flat panel loudspeaker consisting of an array of miniature transducers.