Deutsche Thomson-brandt Gmbh

Ingo Hutter

Carsten Herpel

Dirk Adolph

Dietrich Westerkamp

In a further development of the CD, the so-called DVD, a data format was chosen which is upwards compatible with the CD. As a result, existing audio CDs can also be played on a DVD player. If complete error correction is not possible during the reproduction of a CD by an audio CD player, then simple measures for error concealment are additionally taken, but they are not always adequate. However, for cost reasons more complicated methods are not used in an audio CD player, since they would require a more powerful processor and a larger memory. However, a DVD player has this more complex hardware in any event, in order to enable the outstanding video quality that is intended. According to the invention, therefore, during the reproduction of an audio CD on a DVD player, one of various error concealment methods is carried out in dependence on the error rate that occurs, with a low error rate it being possible to effect error concealment that is considerably more accurate in comparison with a conventional CD player.

Method and apparatus for the processing and outputting of data

A device to reproduce data stored on a recording medium 1 in sectors 14, each sector containing an address area 15 and a data area 16 being encoded in a different way. Address areas are decoded and checked by an address checking means 4 which stores data having an incorrect address into a first memory means 5 and data having a correct address into a second memory means 6. Data contained in the second memory means 6 is decoded by a data decoding means 7 in order to be reproduced. Data contained in the first memory means 5 is permitted to be reproduced in case that the number of successive sectors having incorrect address exceeds by one the difference between newly read correct address and the last correct address before the succession of incorrect addresses.

Device for reproducing encoded data with a low reproduction error rate

The coding or decoding of video data with the associated audio and/or other data can be performed, for example, on the basis of the standards ISO/IEC 11172 (MPEG1) or ISO/IEC 13818 (MPEG2). Such coding and decoding can include the conversion of a primary bit stream coded on the basis of such standards into a secondary bit stream with a different data rate. Since the information content of the motion vectors from the primary bit stream retain their validity in the secondary bit stream, it is not necessary to recalculate motion vectors for transcoding. Instead, encoding of the secondary bit stream is performed with the aid of the motion vectors from the primary bit stream which are reused. In such a case, the encoding of the secondary bit stream is carried out in a restricted prediction mode, i.e. only those prediction modes which are described by respective block type or the motion information of the primary bit stream are allowed in the secondary bit stream.

Method and apparatus for transcoding bit streams with video data

A system is disclosed for the compatible transmission of a 16:9 progressive scan television signal by means of a letterbox formatted line interlaced signal. The letterbox edge bands contain a vertical helper signal representing the difference between a predicted progressive line and adjacent interlaced lines. Improved resolution of a progressive image at a progressive 16:9 receiver is facilitated by specially arranged half band filters in the transmitter/coder and inverse half band filtering in the receiver. Alternatively, when ordinary low pass filtering is used in the coder prior to interlaced subsampling, the fidelity of a reproduced image is improved using, an approximate simulation of such coder low pass filtering in the decoder together with a correction signal derived therefrom. An image reproduced at the progressive 16:9 receiver can more closely resemble the transmitter source signal by interative processing of the receiver correction signal.

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Celle, Germany

Ingo Hutter