Television – Basic receiver with additional function – For display of additional information
Reexamination Certificate
1996-04-09
2001-10-30
Britton, Howard (Department: 2713)
Television
Basic receiver with additional function
For display of additional information
C348S567000, C348S564000, C348S555000, C348S556000, C348S445000, C348S715000, C348S716000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06310655
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to the display of television pictures. More particularly, the invention relates to the display of a widescreen video image on widescreen and standard aspect ratio video monitors.
Color television pictures are broadcast in the United States according to the National Television System Committee (NTSC) composite standards. A television picture broadcast under the NTSC standard has an width-to-height or aspect ratio of 4:3. Visual information, however, is more often predominant in the horizontal direction than the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. The human eye also has a natural field of view that is significantly greater in the horizontal direction than the 4:3 aspect ratio.
To accommodate the natural characteristics of visual information and human vision, visual information has often been recorded and displayed in widescreen formats greater than 4:3. Motion pictures are commonly recorded in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio format. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers favors a 16:9 aspect ratio as the standard for broadcast television. A 5:3 aspect ratio has also been proposed for broadcast television.
A primary issue with new widescreen aspect ratios is the compatibility of widescreen images with the millions of standard 4:3 aspect ratio televisions currently in use. A 16:9 widescreen image is 33.3% larger than a standard 4:3 image of the same vertical height. Widescreen motion pictures have been shown on broadcast television in a “letter box” to allow display of the entire image on a standard display monitor. The letter boxing of movies, however, has not been widely practiced because of mixed audience reception.
A more common method of achieving compatibility between widescreen and conventional pictures involves displaying only a 4:3 portion of the widescreen picture. A standard monitor thus displays a 4:3 “window” of the larger widescreen image. The widescreen image outside the 4:3 window, however, is not displayed. Thus, one approach to achieving compatibility involves broadcasting two television signals, one signal for widescreen televisions and a signal containing a 4:3 portion of the widescreen image for standard screens. The appropriate signal is chosen by the television receiver. Broadcasting two television signals, however, inefficiently consumes valuable transmission bandwidth. Another approach squeezes the widescreen image into the standard screen format. A 16:9 widescreen image is thus compressed into a 4:3 standard display. Compressing the widescreen image into the standard display, however, significantly distorts the image in the form of a lateral compression of the image.
Widescreen formats are also limited by available widescreen source material. Television programming today is ordinarily produced in the standard 4:3 format. As a result, many programs are not suitable for broadcast as a widescreen picture. Though conversion to a widescreen aspect ratio format is possible, the widescreen format is best utilized with widescreen source material.
Accordingly, there is a need for better utilization of widescreen aspect ratio images with standard aspect ratio display monitors.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention utilizes a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio image to show several standard 4:3 aspect ratio images. Preferably, four different 4:3 images are combined into a 16:9 composite widescreen image. The 16:9 composite image includes a primary 4:3 image which fills the entire height of the 16:9 display. Three smaller 4:3 images or picture-out-of-picture (POP) windows fill the remaining 16:9 image. An audio channel and a supplemental data channel may also be assembled for each window.
The video receiver/decoder or integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) which receives and displays the images preferably includes a frame store array, frame address logic, and image configuration logic to determine the display of primary 4:3 and POP images. The image configuration logic preferably determines the video image configuration to be displayed according to the aspect ratio of the display monitor, interactive user input, broadcaster selection, or from a viewer profile. Frame address logic determines the location in the frame store array which image information is written to according to the desired video image configuration determined by the image configuration logic. The video image stored in the frame store array is then read-out to a decoder/digital-to-analog converter (decoder/DAC) for output to a display monitor. The display monitor is preferably a 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio display monitor.
The IRD displays a configuration of images based primarily on the aspect ratio of the display monitor. For example, a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio display monitor and widescreen receiver is capable of displaying all four 4:3 images which make up the 16:9 composite image.
With a 4:3 aspect ratio display monitor, the images may be displayed in several different configurations. A first image configuration displays the entire primary 4:3 image, the three 4:3 POP windows or portions of these images utilizing pan-and-scan techniques. A second image configuration utilizes a 4:3 monitor with a receiver configured to output a 16:9 image to display the entire 16:9 composite image compressed into the 4:3 display. A third image configuration displays only portions of the 16:9 composite image. For example, the three smaller POP 4:3 images are in a 4:9 window portion of the 4:3 monitor. An 8:9 portion of the primary 4:3 image may be displayed on the remaining portion of the 4:3 monitor. The 8:9 window may be a pan-and-scan portion of the primary 4:3 image. In addition, the viewer may interactively control the 8:9 pan-and-scan window.
A fourth image configuration with a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor displays the entire primary 4:3 image with one of the three 4:3 POP windows displayed in a picture-in-picture (PIP) window. The POP window to be displayed in the PIP window may be selected according to several different criteria such as the broadcaster selection, viewer selection, or a viewer profile.
The present invention utilizes widescreen aspect ratio images while maintaining compatibility with conventional aspect ratio equipment. Broadcasters may use programming produced with conventional aspect ratio equipment and combine the conventional size images into a widescreen image. Moreover, users of conventional aspect ratio equipment can also view portions of the widescreen image and experience the benefits of the widescreen image.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. The invention, together with further intended advantages, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
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Britton Howard
Crook John A.
Diep Nhon T.
Hughes Electronics Corporation
Sales Michael W.
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