Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing – Local trick play processing – With randomly accessible medium
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-15
2002-11-26
Tran, Thai (Department: 2615)
Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing
Local trick play processing
With randomly accessible medium
C386S349000, C348S500000, C375S240010, C711S113000, C369S275100, C369S275300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06487365
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to the generation of audio signals during play of a software (e.g., motion picture) carrier, and more particularly to a technique by which multiple dialog languages may be recorded on separate audio tracks of the same carrier without requiring a full track for each language version.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The most widespread medium for distributing motion pictures is the videocassette. The conventional practice is to provide only one language soundtrack on each videocassette. This means that different versions of the same motion picture must be prepared for distribution in different countries. Rather than to dedicate a different version of the same motion picture to each of several different languages, it would be far more advantageous to provide all desired sound tracks, containing different dialog languages, on the same carrier; this would require the production of far fewer versions of the same motion picture. Because of the large storage requirements, however, this has not proven to be practical. In fact, the only practical consumer use of multiple sound tracks on the same carrier is the provision of annotated and non-annotated soundtracks in some laserdisc releases. (It is possible, for example, to store different soundtracks in the digital and analog audio channels of a laserdisc.)
Despite the fact that it has occurred to others in the prior art to provide multiple soundtracks on the same software carrier, certainly the provision of perhaps a dozen different soundtracks, in different dialog languages, all on the same consumer software carrier, is not to be found anywhere. Not only are there no consumer players capable of selecting one from among so many different soundtracks, but software publishers have just not found it practical to store so much audio information on a single carrier. The traditional approach is to publish different versions of the same motion picture for distribution in different territories where different languages are spoken.
Digitally encoded optical disks are in theory far superior for the distribution of motion pictures and other forms of presentation. Especially advantageous is the use of “compressed video,” by which it is possible to digitally encode a motion picture on a disk no larger than the present-day audio CD. While much effort has been expended in developing compressed video systems, less work has been devoted to the provision of multiple soundtracks on the same software carrier. The conventional thinking is to pack as much video as possible on any given disk, but still to provide a different soundtrack version carrier for each required dialog language.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a system and method for a software publisher to record on a software carrier, such as an optical disk, a motion picture accompanied with multiple soundtracks, in different dialog languages, while at the same time eliminating redundant information so that the storage is as efficient as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A key to the understanding of the present invention is that there are sections of many video programs in which no dialog occurs. In the absence of dialog, there is no reason to provide a language-specific track. During any “no dialog” sequence, all that are available, if even that, are music and effects. Thus a music and effects (M&E) track is really all that is necessary—for all language versions—during much of the total running time of a motion picture. In fact, an M&E track is all that is required in the usual case for far more than half the running time. Obviously, a Shakespearean movie will have more dialog, and hence more language-specific dialog, than an action-adventure movie. Nevertheless, most present-day releases have far more non-dialog M&E than they do the spoken word
Before summarizing the invention, it is to be appreciated that the present invention contemplates data-efficient storage and recovery of various audio versions, and not just different language movie soundtracks. For example. multiple soundtracks could include teaching and testing versions of the same material, and there could perhaps be teaching and testing versions for multiple levels of expertise. The multiple soundtracks that would be provided in such a case might even have some dialog in common, not only M&E. Thus, it is to be understood that the object of.the invention is to provide a plurality of audio tracks synchronized with a motion picture, and not necessarily audio tracks which differ only in terms of language. It is also to be understood that the invention is not limited to a particular medium, and it is applicable to tape carriers and all digital storage media, not just the optical disks of the illustrative embodiment of the invention. Nor is the invention limited only to the distribution of motion pictures. For example, in an extreme case, the invention is applicable to the distribution of a library of still pictures, in which case there is no “motion” at all. The term “audio tracks” thus embraces much more than audio tracks with different dialog languages, the term “software publisher” thus embraces much more than a motion picture company, and the term “carrier” embraces much more than a digitally encoded optical disk.
The illustrative embodiment of the invention is an optical disk which includes multiple audio tracks synchronized with a motion picture track. At least one of the audio tracks is a mixing master or a switching master. A mixing master is a track which includes M&E, but for the most part no dialog. A switching master is a track which includes M&E, together with dialog in a particular language. Other tracks on the disks are specific to respective languages and include material that is language specific. Where no language-specific material is required for a particular audio track, nothing is recorded so that there is no wasted “real estate,” as will be described below. Consider the case of a mixing master M&E track, and three language-specific audio tracks in English, Spanish and French. For a two-hour movie, the M&E track might have recorded close to two hours of audio. (Where there is no sound at all, there is no need to store any data, once again in order to avoid wasting any storage capacity.) The three language-specific tracks have dialog recorded in them, but no music and no effects—and each of the three tracks his data recorded in it only where it is necessary for dialog. The user selects one of the three tracks, the French track, for example, if he wants to hear the French version of the movie. The mixing master audio track and the French audio track are the only ones which are read by the player, and he digital information recorded in the two tracks is mixed, so that the net result is a conventional soundtrack, in French. To play the Spanish version of the same movie, the user would simply select the Spanish-soundtrack instead of the French.
A switching master, on the other hand, would typically include dialog. Consider a motion picture which is originally shot with the actors speaking English. The switching master audio track would include the original motion picture soundtrack. To play the English version of the release, the switching master audio track would be played by itself from beginning to end. But suppose that it is desired to play the French version of the motion picture. In this case, the French audio track would include not only French dialog, but French dialog together with music and effects. All that is necessary to derive the French version of the motion picture is to play the switching master audio track most of the time, but to switch from it to the French audio track—and to play the French audio track alone—where there is French dialog. The major difference between using mixing and switching masters is that the former is mixed with one of the language-specific tracks so that M&E can be (although does not necessarily have to be) recorded only on the master track, while in a switching system only one track is played at any given time so that M&E has to be record
Cookson Christopher J.
Lieberfarb Warren N.
Ostrover Lewis S.
Gottlieb Rackman & Reisman P.C.
Time Warner Entertainment Co. L.P.
Tran Thai
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