Thomson Licensing

Jobst Hörentrup

Ralf Ostermann

Hartmut Peters

Harald Schiller

Dirk Gandolph

Dirk Adolph

Carsten Herpel

Axel Kochale

Marco Winter

Hui Li

Uwe Janssen

Wolfgang Klausberger

Stefan Kubsch

Meinolf Blawat

Andrej Schewzow

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

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

Multimedia content of exchangeable storage media, such as optical discs, may be extended by bonus content that is downloaded via Internet connection and stored on a local storage device. An improved method for integration of different menu items relating to on-disc content and downloaded content provides flexibility and a simple, low cost solution. The method for integration of downloaded bonus content into a menu comprises defining one or more placeholders within a menu, determining a storage location or naming convention for bonus content, declaring for each placeholder an attribute providing a unique association to a specific type of bonus content, providing a button image, detecting presence of bonus content data, replacing the associated placeholder by the associated button image and enabling an associated action to be taken when said button is selected.

Method and device for composing a menu

Embodiments of the invention provide for the retrieval of subtitle layer data from a storage medium, the subtitle layer data containing graphic subtitle elements, the extraction of cropping information from the retrieved subtitle layer data, the cropping information including a parameter for horizontal position, a parameter for vertical position, a parameter for width and a parameter for height and the automatic cropping of rectangular parts of the subtitle elements to be displayed, where the cropped parts to be displayed are defined by the cropping information.

Method and apparatus for cropping of subtitle elements

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

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.

Method for presenting menu buttons

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, which comprises descriptors 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.

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Hannover, Germany

Jobst Hörentrup