LG’s Unbelievable Noise Cancellation Tech

In this case, literally unbelievable.

Of all the new technologies LG highlighted at its press conference on Thursday, the demo that got perhaps the biggest reaction came from relatively mundane noise cancellation tech. The laughs of disbelief may not quite have been quite the reaction the company hoped for, though.

LG’s new DSE noise reduction uses dual microphones within a phone to digitally filter out background noise. The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Woo Paik, showed off the new technology in a demo reel that features a man in a quiet office calling his wife, who is standing on a busy street corner. The noise level is comparable to the city evacuation scenes in all those post-apocalyptic movies: cars rushing by, shouting, horns, the whole works.

After a frustrating first few words, the husband asks his wife to move to a quieter location. “Hold on, I’ll switch on DSE!” she tells him. The noise drops to complete silence, and in the conference room, the crowd erupts into laughter. The woman’s voice sounds impeccable as she speaks. “Wouldn’t you like this technology on your cell phone?” Paik asks the snickering audience.

I suppose we all wish we had some Hollywood magic in real life. I can only hope LG has a demo at their booth this year so we can see whether LG can really deliver on its over-the-top levels of noise cancellation. This reporter suspects not.