Cinema anti-piracy measures

• US 7,634,089 B1
• Filed: 10/04/2000
• Issued: 12/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation (SRI International, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sarnoff Corporation (SRI International, Inc.)
• Inventors: Burstyn, Herschel Clement
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid; Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHAW, YIN CHEN
• Application Number:
  US09/679,320
• Time in Patent Office: 3,359 Days
• Field of Search: 380/218, 380/201, 380/204, 380/224, 380/200, 380213-214, 386/31, 382/135, 713/176, 726/26
• US Class Current: 380/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91335 the copy protection signal being a watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91392 using means for preventing making copies of projected video images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41415 involving a public display, viewable by several users in a public space outside their home, e.g. movie theatre, information kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/631 Multimode Transmission, e.g. transmitting basic layers and enhancement layers of the content over different transmission paths or transmitting with different error corrections, different keys or with different transmission protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/1675 Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence pseudo-random number generators in general G06F7/58

Abstract

An anti-piracy system introduces distortion into a recorded image, while maintaining a high quality projected image. The video source material includes modulated entities for providing artifacts incompatible with the content of the video source material and selectively deliverable information that the projection system uses to demodulate the entities. A projector receives the information about the modulated entity and corrects, or demodulates, the entity. The projection system also imposes a recording device dependent interference on the projected images.

Claims

1. A method for distorting a recording of projected images, comprising the steps of:

imposing modulated entities on video content of video source material, the modulated entities being incompatible with the video content, the imposing modulated entities including separating the video content into selected colors and varying at least one of a plurality of parameters of at least one of the selected colors;

demodulating the modulated entities, wherein the demodulated entities are compatible with the video content; and

projecting the video content to provide the projected entities;

wherein the at least one parameter comprises intensity, the varying step including the step of determining the intensity as a function of position on the video content.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of selecting a space for modulating the video content.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of encoding modulation information corresponding to the modulated entities, wherein the projecting step further includes the step of decoding the modulation information.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein imposing the modulated entities further includes the step of modulating the video in the selected space.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the video source material comprises film.

8. The method of claim 3 wherein the video source material comprises film, the encoding step including storing the modulation information on the film.

9. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of varying the modulation information with respect to the video source material.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the projecting step includes the further step of imposing a recording device dependent interference on the projected video content.

5. A method for distorting a recording of projected images comprising the steps of:

imposing modulated entities on video content of video source material, the modulated entities being incompatible with the video content, the imposing modulated entities including separating the video content into selected colors and varying at least one of a plurality of parameters of at least one of the selected colors;

demodulating the modulated entities, wherein the demodulated entities are compatible with the video content; and

projecting the video content to provide the projected entities;

wherein the parameter comprises duty cycle, the varying step including the step of determining the duty cycle as a function of position on the video content.

6. A method for distorting a recording of projected images, comprising the steps of:

imposing modulated entities on video content of video source material, the modulated entities being incompatible with the video content, the imposing modulated entities including separating the video content into selected colors and varying at least one of a plurality of parameters of at least one of the selected colors;

demodulating the modulated entities, wherein the demodulated entities are compatible with the video content; and

projecting the video content to provide the projected entities;

wherein the at least one parameter is selected from the Group comprising intensity, frequency, gain, brightness, luminance, duty cycle, amplitude, and wavelength; and

wherein the varying step includes the step of determining a value of the parameter as a function of position on the video content, the function describing a modulation envelope, the modulation envelope decreasing a magnitude of the parameter to correct an alignment error.

10. A system for distorting a recording of projected images, comprising:

video source material having modulated entities incompatible with a content of the video source material and having selectively deliverable modulation information; and

a projector system responsive to the video source material to provide the projected images, the projector system including;

a modulator responsive to the video source material, the modulator imposing a recording device dependent interface on the projected images; and

a demodulator responsive to the video source material for demodulating the modulated entities according to the selectively deliverable modulation information, wherein the demodulated entities are compatible with the content of the video source material;

wherein the modulated entities are spatial entities, the projection system including;

a scanner operable to scan a white light strip over a frame;

a color separator operable to separate the white light strip into color light strips; and

a separator operable to separate the modulated entities into component colors, wherein the modulator modulates the component colors of the spatial entities over at least one of the color light strips.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the video source material includes film and wherein the modulation information is encoded on the film.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the modulated entities are color modulated and the modulator varies a projection rate of the modulated color.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the projection system includes an electronic projection system and the modulation information includes information downloadable from a remote source.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the modulation information includes packetized information.