| Deutsche Version |
• Intelligibility Conversion •
%ALcons = Articulation Loss of Consonants in % ← → STI = Speech Transmission Index
| The understanding of speech (intelligibility) is directly dependent of the background noise level, of the reverberation time and of the size of the room. For the rating of the understanding of speech, we have different methods, where STI and %ALcons are established. |
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This conversion is to be regarded with some doubts, because they are different evaluations of measurements.
The Speech Transmission Index STI is a machine measure of intelligibility whose
value varies from 0 (Completely unintelligible) to 1 (perfect intelligibility).

| STI | 0 - 0.3 | 0.3 - 0.45 | 0.45 - 0.6 | 0.60 - 0.75 | 0.75 - 1.0 |
| unexcceptable | poor | fair | good | excellent | |
| ALcons | 100 - 33% | 33 - 15% | 15 - 7% | 7 - 3% | 3 - 0% |
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Since %ALcons expresses loss of consonant definition, lower values are associated with greater intelligibility.
Zero %ALcons indicates perfect clarity. It is generally assumed that the maximum allowable value for
typical paging applications is 10 %, assuming that the environment is relatively free of masking noise.
For learning environments and voice warning systems, the desired value is 5 % or less. We know of the characteristic nonlinear decrease of intelligibility with distance from the sound source. |
There is an empirical conversion formula after Farrel Becker:
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For r < 3.5 × Dc at which direct/reverberation ratio D/R = -11 dB
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where For r > 3.5 × Dc (reverberant field, always worse than above) |
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