Method and apparatus for playing digital media and digital media for use therein

• US 20030049014A1
• Filed: 09/07/2001
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Tri-Vision Electronics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Tri-Vision Electronics Incorporated
• Inventors: Siddiqui, Najmul H.
• Application Number:
  US09/948,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20030049014A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/46
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/12 by sensing distinguishing features of or on records, e.g. diameter end mark
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10 Digital recording or reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

A method and apparatus for enabling a viewer to deselect certain portions of programming the viewer finds objectionable enable the viewer to skip over scenes in a digital media program that the viewer finds objectionable. Alternatively or in addition to, some embodiments enable the viewer to select alternative scenes of the same program recorded by the producer that do not include the objectionable material. A computer readable media has encoded thereon predetermined navigational threads that tell a playback device the proper sequence of program segments to play to meet a user specified content rating threshold.

Claims

1. A method for playing a program stored on a digital media comprising:

receiving a user viewing preference content rating threshold; and

replacing a first subset of the program having a rating that fails to satisfy the user viewing preference content rating threshold with an alternative subset of the program, which has a rating that meets the user viewing preference content rating threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising searching the digital media for an alternative subset of the program related to the first subset upon determining that the first subset fails to satisfy the user viewing preference content rating threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising displaying the alternative subset of the program rather than the first subset.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising decoding a rating code embedded in the first program subset.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising comparing the decoded rating code against a stored user preference content rating threshold.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising storing the user viewing preference content rating threshold.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising decoding a ratings code for each of a plurality of subsets of the program throughout the playing of the program and replacing those of said each subset that fail to meet the user viewing preference content rating threshold with an associated alternative for said each subset that does meet the user viewing preference content rating threshold or skipping said each subset if there does not exist an associated alternative subset that meets the user viewing preference content rating threshold.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first program subset includes both audio and video data.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the program subset includes only video data.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the program subset includes only audio data.

11. A method for playing a program recorded on a digital media comprising:

receiving a user viewing preference; and

skipping a first subset of the program having a rating that fails to satisfy the user viewing preference.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising decoding a rating code embedded in the first program subset.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising comparing the decoded rating code against a stored user preference.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising storing the user viewing preference.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising decoding a ratings code for each of a plurality of subsets of the program and replacing those of said each subset that fail to meet the user viewing preference with an associated alternative for said each subset that does meet the user viewing preference or skipping said each subset if there does not exist an associated alternative subset that meets the user viewing preference.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the program subset includes both audio data and video data.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the program subset includes only video data.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the program subset includes only audio data.

19. A method for recording a program on a digital media comprising:

encoding each of a plurality of subsets of the program with a code representative of a content of said each subset; and

recording on a same digital media one or more alternative versions of one or more of the plurality of subsets of the program, each of said one or more alternative versions of a same one of the plurality of subsets having a unique content code.

20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising decoding a rating code embedded in each of the plurality of program subset and replacing those of said each subset that fail to meet a user viewing preference with an associated alternative for said each subset that does meet the user viewing preference or skipping said each subset if there does not exist an associated alternative subset that meets the user viewing preference.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising comparing the decoded rating code against a stored user preference.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising storing the user viewing preference.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein each of the program subset includes both audio data and video data.

24. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of the program subsets includes only video data.

25. The method according to claim 19, wherein at least one of the program subsets includes only audio data.

26. A computer readable media having encoded thereon:

a plurality of program segments arranged in a predetermined sequence, each of which plurality of program segments has associated therewith one or more content codes representative of a content of said each segment according to one or more ratings systems; and

a plurality of alternative program segments, each of which alternative program segments are replacements for one or more of the plurality of program segments, said each of the plurality of alternative program segments having a unique content code.

27. The computer readable media according to claim 26, further comprising instructions causing a processor to:

play a particular one of the plurality of programming segments if one or more content codes associated with the particular one of the plurality of programming segments fall within a range set by a user preference or select an alternative programming segment of the plurality of alternative program segments having one or more content codes that fall within the user preference range.

28. The computer readable media according to claim 27, further comprising instructions that further cause the processor to skip to a next programming segment in the sequence of the plurality of programming segments having one or more content codes that fall within the user preference range if there is no alternative programming segment associated with the particular one of the plurality of programming segments that has one or more content codes that fall within the user preference range and the code associated with the particular one of the plurality of programming segments exceeds the user preference range.

29. The computer readable media according to claim 26, further comprising a navigational pointer that enables a processor to navigate among the plurality of programming segments and the plurality of alternative programming segments without exceeding a user content preference.

30. The computer readable media according to claim 26, wherein the plurality of program segments and the plurality of alternative program segments include both audio and video.

31. The computer readable media according to claim 26, wherein at least one of the plurality of program segments and the plurality of alternative program segments include video segments only.

32. The computer readable media according to claim 26, wherein at least one of the plurality of program segments and the plurality of alternative program segments include audio segments only.

33. A computer readable media having encoded thereon:

a plurality of user selectable navigational threads, each of said threads having associated therewith a content rating designating a content threshold for said each thread; and

a plurality of program segments, wherein each of said user selectable navigational threads forms a unique sequence of a subset of the plurality of program segments.

34. The computer media according to claim 33, wherein the plurality of user selectable navigational threads includes a plurality of pointers designating a plurality locations on the computer readable media where the subset of the plurality of program segments are disposed.

35. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the computer readable media comprises a DVD.

36. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the computer readable media comprises a magnetic disk.

37. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the computer readable media comprises an optical disk.

38. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the computer readable media comprises one or more CD-ROMs.

39. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein the computer readable media comprises one or more memory sticks.

40. The computer readable media according to claim 33, having encoded thereon instructions that cause a processor to display one of the unique sequences upon selection by a user of a content ratings threshold.

41. The computer readable media according to claim 40, wherein the one unique sequence has a content rating that falls within the user established threshold.

42. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein at least one of the plurality of program segments includes a combination of audio and video.

43. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein at least one of the plurality of program segments includes only video.

44. The computer readable media according to claim 33, wherein at least one of the plurality of program segments includes only audio.

45. A computer readable media having encoded thereon:

a plurality of version of a program, each of said plurality of versions having an associated content rating; and

a user interface menu via which a user can select one of the plurality of versions of the program by the associated content rating.

46. The computer readable media according to claim 45, wherein the computer readable media includes a DVD.

47. The computer readable media according to claim 45, wherein the program includes a movie.

48. The computer readable media according to claim 45, wherein the program includes a video game.

49. The computer readable media according to claim 45, wherein the program includes a media program.

50. The computer readable media according to claim 45, wherein the content rating includes a V-Chip rating.

51. A method for encoding a computer readable media comprising:

encoding a plurality of versions of a same program on the same computer readable media, wherein each of the plurality of versions of the same program have associated different content ratings; and

encoding a user interface menu on the same computer readable media via which a user can select one of the plurality of versions of the same program by its associated content rating.

52. The method according to claim 51, wherein the computer readable media includes a DVD.

53. The method according to claim 51, wherein the program includes a movie.

54. The method according to claim 51, wherein the program includes a video game.

55. The method according to claim 51, wherein the program includes a media program.

56. The method according to claim 51, wherein the content rating includes a V-Chip rating.