Digital entertainment solution
First Claim
1. A system for providing digital content to viewers on demand, the system comprising:
- a treatment station configured to receive digital content files and prepare the digital content files for transmission over a closed system network, including compressing the digital content files;
a network configured for transmitting the treated digital content files; and
a viewing station connected with the network for receiving the digital content files over the network and for displaying the digital content files to a user.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital entertainment solution includes a system for treating digital content, transmitting the digital content over a network to a viewing station where the digital content is presented to a viewer. A network-booting set-top box built from computer desktop technologies supports gaming, web browsing, e-mail, music listening, movie viewing and the like. A scan converter within the set-top box converts monitor resolution images to formats used by standard television sets. A browser within the set-top box substitutes fonts optimized for television viewing for standard fonts designed for computer monitors. Multiple set-top boxes are combined in a network and isolated from data-only devices to ensure service quality and to prevent unauthorized copying of digital content. The reach of the network is extended with wireless segments that use a variety of mechanisms to ensure security and service quality. A treatment process removes unneeded information that consumes bandwidth and reduces the quality of standard compression techniques such as MPEG 4.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A system for providing digital content to viewers on demand, the system comprising:
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a treatment station configured to receive digital content files and prepare the digital content files for transmission over a closed system network, including compressing the digital content files;
a network configured for transmitting the treated digital content files; and
a viewing station connected with the network for receiving the digital content files over the network and for displaying the digital content files to a user.
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2. A system for interactively streaming digital content to a plurality of television sets, the system comprising:
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a streaming network configured to stream digital content;
a plurality of set-top boxes configured to receive the digital content and convert the digital content from monitor resolutions to television resolutions; and
each set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes further configured to boot from a bootable run-time image received on a communications port. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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26. A method for interactively streaming digital content to a plurality of television sets, the method comprising:
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pre-filtering digital content to reduce compression artifacts;
compressing the pre-filtered digital content to a streaming format;
providing a bootable run-time image to a set-top box; and
streaming the digital content to the set-top box.
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46. An apparatus for rendering streamed digital content to a television, the apparatus comprising:
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a tuner configured to receive and decode TV broadcasts;
a resolution converter configured to convert monitor resolution images to television resolution images;
a network interface configured to receive a bootable run-time image during a power-up sequence; and
a BIOS configured to boot the apparatus from the bootable run-time image.
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Specification