Method and system for maintaining audio during video control

• US 5,953,485 A
• Filed: 10/16/1997
• Issued: 09/14/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nissim Corp.
• Original Assignee: Max Abecassis
• Inventors: Abecassis, Max
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey, David E.
• Application Number:
  US08/951,284
• Time in Patent Office: 698 Days
• US Class Current: 386/278
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/493 Resuming a game, e.g. after pausing, malfunction or power failure
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/63 by the player, e.g. authoring using a level editor
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/409 Data transfer via television network
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/63 for controlling the execution of the game in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/632 by branching, e.g. choosing one of several possible story developments at a given point in time
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/807 Role playing or strategy games
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/70 of video data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/735 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/75 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/02 Control of operating function, e.g. switching from recording to reproducing
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/022 Control panels
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/04 Arrangements for preventing, inhibiting, or warning against double recording on the same blank or against other recording or reproducing malfunctions
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 19/12 by sensing distinguishing features of or on records, e.g. diameter end mark
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2587 Laser Discs; Optical disc using analog recording
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 : on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 : of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 : Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 7/14 : specially adapted to record on, or to reproduce from, more than one track simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/10 : Arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or the distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 : Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/38 : Arrangements for distribution where lower stations, e.g. receivers, interact with the broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/16 : on playing information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/37 : for identifying segments of broadcast information, e.g. scenes or extracting programme ID
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/46 : for recognising users' preferences
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/48 : for recognising items expressed in broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 : of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 : for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/73 : using meta-information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234318 : by decomposing into objects, e.g. MPEG-4 objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 : Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 : Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 : being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/426 : Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 : Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 : Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• 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 21/454 : Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 : Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 : Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 : End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 : End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• 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 21/478 : Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 : for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 : involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• 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 21/8405 : represented by keywords
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 : by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/4448 : for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 : on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17354 : in an intermediate station common to a plurality of user terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 : the additional signal being at least another television signal

Abstract

A video method and system maintains a transmission of an audio of a video during a viewer controlled freezing, slowing, and/or zooming of the transmission of the video component of the video by automatically selecting, adjusting audio levels, looping, and producing audio effects, from a plurality of audio elements of the video, such as a foreground and background audio elements, in response to the viewer control of the transmission of the video component.

Claims

1. A method of playing a video comprising the steps of:

allowing a viewer to control a playing of a video component of a full-motion video, said full-motion video having an audio component comprising at least one synchronized background audio element and at least one synchronized foreground audio element;

playing, at normal speed and responsive to the initiation of a viewer'"'"'s control over the playing of said video component, an audio that includes said at least one synchronized background audio element and excludes said at least one synchronized foreground audio element; and

restoring, responsive to a termination of said viewer'"'"'s control, the playing of said video component and said audio component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the excluding of said at least one synchronized foreground audio element is by adjusting the volume level of said at least one synchronized foreground audio element.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said playing of an audio that includes said at least one synchronized background audio element comprises selectively adjusting the volume of said at least one synchronized background audio element.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

and wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component; and

wherein the excluding of said at least one synchronized foreground audio element is by adjusting the volume level of said at least one synchronized foreground audio element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component; and

wherein said playing of an audio that includes said at least one synchronized background audio element comprises selectively adjusting the volume of said at least one synchronized background audio element.

7. A method of playing a video comprising the steps of:

allowing a viewer to control a playing of a video component of a full-motion video, said full-motion video having an audio component comprising a plurality of synchronized audio elements;

playing, at normal speed and responsive to the initiation of a viewer'"'"'s control over the playing of said video component, an audio that is generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements and excludes at least one of said plurality of synchronized audio elements; and

restoring, responsive to a termination of said viewer'"'"'s control, the playing of said video component and said audio component.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively utilizing said plurality of synchronized audio elements.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume level of at least one of the plurality of synchronized audio elements.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises at least one background audio element and at least one foreground audio element;

and wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume level of said at least one foreground audio element.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises at least one background audio element and at least one foreground audio element;

and wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume of said at least one background audio element.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

and wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein said introduction of a viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component; and

wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively utilizing said plurality of synchronized audio elements.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein said, viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component; and

wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume level of at least one of the plurality of synchronized audio elements.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component;

wherein said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises at least one background audio element and at least one foreground audio element; and

wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume level of said at least one foreground audio element.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein said viewer'"'"'s control pauses the playing of the video component of said full-motion video;

wherein said termination of said viewer'"'"'s control resumes the playing of said video component;

wherein said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises at least one background audio element and at least one foreground audio element; and

wherein said playing an audio generated from said plurality of synchronized audio elements comprises selectively adjusting the volume of said at least one background audio element.