Multi-channel audio enhancement for television
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- generating, by a computer, a multiplexed signal comprising;
a video signal corresponding to a program;
a plurality of audio signals corresponding to said video signal;
parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals permitting a receiver to control which of the audio signals are presentable based on the rating information; and
metadata providing a description of audio content of each of the audio signals, wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer, and wherein the description provides information for prioritizing an order of titles of two or more of the audio signals based on viewer preferences for simultaneous presentation of the titles in the order; and
causing distribution of said multiplexed signal.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A comprehensive mechanism is provided for broadcasting and accessing multiple audio sources in connection with the viewing of a television program. In the preferred embodiment, the first step in providing audio is collecting the audio through the use of standard audio capture techniques. Next, the audio is distributed by either of in-band via broadcast or out-of-band techniques. In-band audio is preferably provided via an MPEG stream associated with the current television program. Out-of-band (OOB) audio can be broadcast as well, although it is preferable to select which channel is distributed upstream first, rather than broadcast all channels downstream and consume bandwidth for unselected audio. Thus, it is preferred that only the desired audio channel(s) are sent over the OOB channel. The audio is preferably tagged with metadata, such that information describing the audio accompanies each audio channel. This allows, for example, a description of the audio to be provided to the viewer as part of a selection mechanism (see below), and/or provides control information that is used by the system, for example to configure the system for a particular type of audio processing, e.g. DTS; display accompanying graphic information; such as an ad; or engage a viewer authentication/billing mechanism, for example to provide upstream information concerning the viewer'"'"'s selections. With either system, the viewer operates a set top box to select the appropriate audio channel(s) and route the television audio to a television or to a separate amplifier and speakers for reproduction.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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generating, by a computer, a multiplexed signal comprising; a video signal corresponding to a program; a plurality of audio signals corresponding to said video signal; parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals permitting a receiver to control which of the audio signals are presentable based on the rating information; and metadata providing a description of audio content of each of the audio signals, wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer, and wherein the description provides information for prioritizing an order of titles of two or more of the audio signals based on viewer preferences for simultaneous presentation of the titles in the order; and causing distribution of said multiplexed signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A system comprising:
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a distribution center comprising; a multiplexing module configured to generate a multiplexed signal comprising;
a video signal corresponding to a program;
a plurality of audio signals corresponding to said video signal;
parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals; and
metadata associated individually with each of the audio signals so that a description relating to each of the audio signals can be embedded in the multiplexed signal independently of a description relating to the other audio signals, wherein a first description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and a second description indicates that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer; anda transmission module configured to cause distribution of said multiplexed signal; and a user unit comprising; a receiving module configured to receive said multiplexed signal; a demultiplexing module configured to demultiplex said multiplexed signal to provide said video signal and said plurality of audio signals in discrete form; and a selection module configured to limit selection, based on the rating information, of which of the plurality of audio signals to play with said video signal. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. An apparatus comprising:
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a receiving module configured to receive a multiplexed signal, said multiplexed signal comprising; a video signal corresponding to a program; a plurality of audio signals corresponding to said video signal; parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals; and metadata providing a description of audio content of each of the audio signals, wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer, and wherein the description provides information for prioritizing an order of titles of two or more of the audio signals based on viewer preferences for simultaneous presentation of the titles in the order; a demultiplexing module configured to demultiplex said multiplexed signal to provide said video signal and said plurality of audio signals in discrete form; a selection module configured to limit presentation of the audio signals based on the rating information and to receive a selection of one of said plurality of audio signals; and an output module configured to output said video signal and said selected audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method comprising:
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generating a video signal corresponding to a program; generating, by a computer, a plurality of audio signals corresponding to said video signal; generating parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals permitting a receiver to control which of the audio signals are presentable based on the rating information; and generating metadata providing a description of audio content of each of the audio signals, wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer; causing distribution of said video signal; and causing distribution of said audio signals as either an in-band audio signal or an out-of-band audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An apparatus comprising:
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an audio capture module configured to receive a plurality of audio signals from at least two audio sources corresponding to a video signal; and a multiplexor configured to generate a multiplexed signal comprising the video signal, the plurality of audio signals, parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals permitting a receiver to control which of the audio signals are presentable based on the rating information, and metadata associated with each of the plurality of audio signals, wherein the metadata provides a description of audio content of each of the plurality of audio signals, and wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the video signal from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the video signal from a second participant or second announcer.
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17. A method comprising:
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providing a multiplexed signal, the multiplexed signal comprising; a video signal corresponding to a program, a plurality of audio signals corresponding to the video signal, parental control rating information for at least one of the audio signals; and metadata providing a description of audio content of each of the audio signals, wherein the description indicates that a first of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a first participant or first announcer and that a second of the plurality of audio signals comprises audio commentary for the program from a second participant or second announcer; demultiplexing, by a processor, the multiplexed signal to provide the video signal and the plurality of audio signals; culling an audio signal list comprising the plurality of audio signals based on the parental control rating information; causing presentation of the culled audio signal list; receiving a selection of the first of the plurality of audio signals from the culled audio signal list; and outputting the video signal and the first of the plurality of audio signals. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification