Karaoke music reproduction device

• US 5,250,747 A
• Filed: 05/12/1992
• Issued: 10/05/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Tsumura, Mihoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Witkowski, Stanley J.
• Application Number:
  US07/881,815
• Time in Patent Office: 511 Days
• Field of Search: 84/601-603, 84/609-614, 84/634-638, 84/645, 84/671, 84/464 R, 84/464 A, 84/477 R, 84/478, 358/342
• US Class Current: 434/307.00A
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 15/00 Teaching music metronomes G04F5/02
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/065 Combinations of audio and video presentations, e.g. videotapes, videodiscs, television systems
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/365 the accompaniment information being stored on a host computer and transmitted to a reproducing terminal by means of a network, e.g. public telephone lines
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/368 displaying animated or moving pictures synchronized with the music or audio part
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/011 Lyrics displays, e.g. for karaoke applications
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/241 Telephone transmission, i.e. using twisted pair telephone lines or any type of telephone network

Abstract

The invention relates to a technique whereby karaoke music and lyrics, which have been digitalized with the help of MIDI data, are transmitted by public telephone line for reproduction on a terminal unit. Associated dynamic images are, on account of the volume of data required, stored independently of the music and lyric data within the terminal unit itself and retrieved and extracted with the help of codes which are written into the data in advance. The dynamic images and the lyrics are finally mixed and output to a visual display medium.

Claims

1. In a karaoke music reproduction device which transmits MIDI data and lyric data, which has been converted into digital form and incorporated into a karaoke data string including a header and a footer, by way of a public telephone line, said MIDI data being used for the reproduction of music and said lyric data being used for the display of song lyrics on a visual display medium, a karaoke music reproduction device comprising a dynamic image extraction means that controls a memory means, which writes special codes in advance into a part of said karaoke data string and which holds a number of groups of dynamic images, each of said dynamic images having been assigned a code to match one or other of said special codes, said karaoke music reproduction device inputting the code written into said karaoke data string into a dynamic image extraction means before initiating the reproduction of the karaoke music and accessing said memory means, reading out those dynamic images which have codes corresponding to said special code and mixing said dynamic images with the song lyrics for output to said visual display medium.

2. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 1 in which the memory means comprises a pair of memory devices arranged in parallel, each containing an identical set of dynamic images and each being accessed alternately in respect of each successive piece of karaoke music.

3. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 2 in which the memory means is an optical disk device.

4. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 3 in which said pair of memory devices each comprises an optical disk device which contains different sets of dynamic images and which is accessed sequentially.

5. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 1 in which a special code is written into the header of the karaoke data string.

6. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 1 in which the lyrics displayed on the aforementioned visual display medium are read out of a character generator in accordance with the aforementioned lyric data and are superimposed on dynamic images in a video control means.

7. The karaoke music reproduction device according to claim 1 in which the codes used for extraction of specified dynamic images from the aforementioned set of dynamic images are arranged in a hierarchical manner.