Video Screens for Hearing Research: Transmittance and Reflectance of Professional and Other Fabrics

TL;DR

This study measures the acoustical transmittance and reflectance of various fabrics used in video screens for virtual reality hearing labs, highlighting how fabric choice affects sound properties and immersion quality.

Contribution

It provides detailed measurements of acoustical properties of professional and general fabrics, including effects of tension and backing, informing better design of VR hearing research environments.

Findings

Chiffon fabric has the best acoustical properties.

Transmission losses range from -5 dB to -0.1 dB.

Reflected sound levels vary from -32 dB to -4 dB.

Abstract

Virtual reality labs for hearing research are commonly designed to achieve maximal acoustical accuracy of virtual environments. For a high immersion, 3D video systems are applied, that ideally do not influence the acoustical conditions. In labs with projection systems, the video screens have a potentially strong influence depending on their size, their acoustical transmittance and their acoustical reflectance. In this study, the acoustical transmittance and reflectance of six professional acoustic screen fabrics and 13 general purpose fabrics were measured considering two tension conditions. Additionally, the influence of a black backing was tested, which is needed to reduce the optical transparency of fabrics. The measured transmission losses range from -5 dB to -0.1 dB and the reflected sound pressure levels from -32 dB to -4 dB. The best acoustical properties were measured for a chiffon fabric.