Thomson Licensing

Interdigital Ce Patent Holdings

Thomas Licensing

Thomson Licensing S.a.

Jobst Hoerentrup

Ralf Ostermann

Dirk Gandolph

Hartmut Peters

Carsten Herpel

Marco Winter

Andrej Schewzow

Harald Schiller

Uwe Janssen

Hui Li

Dirk Adolph

Axel Kochale

Markus Schlosser

Uwe Jannsen

Optical storage media often contain data structures for a menu suitable for selection of a title, a chapter, a parameter or others. Such menus usually comprise a number of buttons to be displayed, with each button having a state. Possible states of buttons are 'unselected', 'selected' or &#x201c;activated&#x201d;. According to the invention, the representation of a menu button may vary, depending on its state. An image or an image sequence, e.g. cartoon, may be associated to a buttons state, providing user animation. Further, a sound or sound sequence, e.g. melody or click, may be associated to a buttons state, and may be played back when the button enters this state. A data structure is disclosed which allows storage of such menu data e.g. on a Blu-ray disc.

Method for representing animated menu buttons

A scene graph suitable for defining stereoscopic graphical objects, a method and an apparatus for creating such scene graphs, and a method and an apparatus for rendering graphical objects based on such scene graphs are described. The scene graph describes a spatial or a temporal arrangement of the stereoscopic graphical object and comprises information about image data for a base image for the stereoscopic graphical object, image data for a dependent image for the graphical object, and the spatial or the temporal arrangement of the base image and the dependent image. For a 3D rendering mode the graphical object is composed of the base image and the dependent image. For a 2D rendering mode the graphical object is composed of the base image only.

Scene graph for defining a stereoscopic graphical object

Embodiments of the invention include a subtitling format encompassing elements of enhanced syntax and semantic to provide improved animation capabilities. The disclosed elements improve subtitle performance without stressing the available subtitle bitrate. This will become essential for authoring content of high-end HDTV subtitles in pre-recorded format, which can be broadcast or stored on high capacity optical media, e.g. the Blue-ray Disc. Embodiments of the invention include abilities for improved authoring possibilities for the content production to animate subtitles. For subtitles that are separate from AV material, a method includes using one or more superimposed subtitle layers, and displaying only a selected part of the transferred subtitles at a time. Further, colors of a selected part of the displayed subtitles may be modified, e.g. highlighted.

Method and apparatus for composition of subtitles

A method and an apparatus for authoring stereoscopic 3D video information comprising a 3D video stream and 3D overlay graphics are described. A depth range in z-space for the stereoscopic presentation of the 3D video stream is determined for a plurality of time codes. A reference plane in z-space for placing the 3D overlay graphics is then determined such that depth conflicts between the 3D video and the reference place are reduced. A comfort zone surrounding a display screen plane and comprising the reference plane is defined, wherein the comfort zone specifies a depth range in z-space for preferable presentation of the stereoscopic 3D video information. It is then determined whether a depth conflict between the reference plane and the 3D video stream remains for the respective time codes and/or whether a depth conflict exists between the comfort zone and the 3D overlay graphics for the respective time codes. In this way a set of conflict intervals is generated, which is stored on a media source comprising the 3D video stream and the 3D overlay graphics. The set of conflict intervals is used during playback to adapt a presentation of the 3D video stream or a presentation of the 3D overlay graphics.

Method and apparatus for authoring stereoscopic 3D video information, and method and apparatus for displaying such stereoscopic 3D video information

A method for generating an on-screen menu comprising menu buttons and other menu items, e.g. help text, is characterized in that one or more groups of menu buttons or menu items are defined, wherein a group comprises one or more menu buttons or menu items and has associated a defined area on the screen. A state is assigned to a button, the state being 'enabled' or 'disabled', wherein only an enabled button or item may be displayed, and wherein within a group not more than one button or item may be enabled. The state of a button can be changed by commands associated with other buttons.

Method for generating an on-screen menu

Consumer electronic devices, such as e.g. high-definition movie players for removable storage media such as optical discs, may provide possibilities for advanced interactivity for the user, implemented as software applications. A question arising generally with such software applications is what the life cycle of such an application is, and who may control it. The invention provides a method for executing software applications within a playback device for audio-video data, wherein data from a first removable storage medium are read for a software application to be executed within said playback device, and the data comprise an indication defining a termination condition for the application. Based on said termination code and depending on how the medium holding the application is ejected, the application is terminated or may survive.

Method and apparatus for executing software applications

Several data streams contain video, audio and/or other data. Some of the data streams are pre-recorded in a multiplex on a storage medium while other data streams are located out of the data stream multiplex on the storage medium. The data streams are synchronized using a navigation file (List_of_PlayItems), which comprises descriptors (PlayItems, SubPlayItems) pointing to parts of said data streams, wherein said descriptors define the arrangement in time for said data streams by means of data sub stream paths.

Method and apparatus for synchronizing data streams containing audio, video and/or other data

Local storage on player instruments provides the ability for adding further amendments and most recent supplements to the optical disc content. A problem arising with this technically applicable possibility is the protection of copyrights bound to disc and supplement data. The present invention describes a technique to ensure a security framework that is able to handle this, by creating a virtual file system (VFS) by merging optical disc data and local storage data based upon a common identifier.

Bonding contents on separate storage media

Optical storage media often contain data structures for a menu suitable for selection of a title, a chapter, a parameter or others. Such menus usually comprise a number of buttons to be displayed, with each button having a state. Possible states of buttons are; e.g., 'unselected', 'selected' or &#x201c;activated&#x201d;. According to the invention, the menu may contain buttons that can be selected through the keys on the remote control, but that don't have any images or text associated. This allows creating &#x201c;invisible buttons&#x201d; that automatically execute commands upon selection. Further, a sound or sound sequence; e.g., melody or click, may be associated to a buttons state, and may be played back when the button enters this state. Such menu data may be stored; e.g., on a Blu-ray disc.

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Wennigsen, Germany

Jobst Hoerentrup