System and method for scheduling digital cinema content
First Claim
1. A method of scheduling digital content show presentations in a theatre comprising:
- providing digital content items in a theatre server;
storing a plurality of scheduling records at the theatre server, each scheduling record identifying a particular content item and including scheduling data associated with that particular content item, wherein the scheduling data includes at least one item of information that correlates to a particular presentation criteria that must be satisfied when the content is presented;
building a digital content show play list for a particular auditorium by;
selecting scheduling records that will have their presentation criteria satisfied by the at least one attribute specified in the theatre schedule information; and
arranging content items associated with each of the selected scheduling records to form the digital content show play list.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of scheduling digital content presentations in a theatre by providing content items in a theatre server. A plurality of scheduling records are stored at the theatre server, where each scheduling record identifies at least one content item. The scheduling records include scheduling data associated with that particular content item, wherein the scheduling data includes at least one item of information that correlates to a particular presentation criterion that must be satisfied when the content item is presented. Optionally, theatre schedule information indicates particular events, other than the digital content presentation, that will be presented in particular auditoriums and includes the scheduling information including at least one attribute of the feature presentation. A play list is built for a particular auditorium by selecting scheduling records that will have their presentation criteria satisfied by the at least one attribute specified in the theatre schedule information arranging content items associated with each of the selected scheduling records to form the digital content show play list.
145 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of scheduling digital content show presentations in a theatre comprising:
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providing digital content items in a theatre server;
storing a plurality of scheduling records at the theatre server, each scheduling record identifying a particular content item and including scheduling data associated with that particular content item, wherein the scheduling data includes at least one item of information that correlates to a particular presentation criteria that must be satisfied when the content is presented;
building a digital content show play list for a particular auditorium by;
selecting scheduling records that will have their presentation criteria satisfied by the at least one attribute specified in the theatre schedule information; and
arranging content items associated with each of the selected scheduling records to form the digital content show play list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16)
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7. A presentation contract record for use in presenting a digital content show, the contract record comprising:
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identification of particular content item;
specification of at least one presentation criteria that must be satisfied when the content item is presented; and
specification of at least one presentation preference that is desirably satisfied when the content item is presented. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A digital content show play list data structure comprising:
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a plurality of segments;
one or more slots within each segment, each slot configured to identify at least a portion of a content item such that the digital content show play list defines a sequence of content items that will be presented in a particular order. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A method of building a play list defining a digital content show for digital cinema presentation, the method comprising the acts of:
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obtaining scheduling records indicating presentation criteria for content items from a remote source;
obtaining auditorium scheduling information, the auditorium scheduling information including attributes of other events being presented within a particular auditorium;
building the digital content show play list in conjunction with one or more of the other events being presented by matching the presentation criteria with the attributes of the other events being presented to select a set of digital content items to be included in the digital content show play list. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A digital cinema theatre comprising:
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a plurality of auditoriums;
presentation mechanisms within each auditorium operable to present digital content to an audience;
a system for presenting a plurality of digital content shows before feature presentations, where each digital content show is specified for a particular auditorium and each digital content show comprises a sequence of media files, wherein the system for presenting comprises;
a digital content show play list data structure for each digital content show, the play list data structure defining the sequence of media files that make up the digital content show;
media player components coupled to the presentation mechanisms and operable to play the sequence of media files defined by the digital content show play list;
update services executing in the system for presenting and operable to detect changes that impact any one of the digital content show play lists; and
a play list generator operable to create a replacement digital content show data structure in response to identifying a digital content show play list that is impacted by a change.
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17. A method for creating a show comprising a plurality of content items, the method comprising:
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providing a set of contract records, each contract record being associated with a content item and specifying at least one presentation criterion; and
selecting content items so as to satisfy the presentation criterion; and
scheduling the selected content items for presentation in a sequence that forms the show. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification