Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Tedd Dideriksen

Michael John Novak

Kipley J Olson

Geoffrey Harris

Chris Feller

Patrick Nelson

James Morris Alkove

Jonathan Marshall Cain

David M Nadalin

Richard William Saunders

Methods and systems provide a tool for assisting media players in rendering visualizations and synchronizing those visualizations with audio samples. In one embodiment, visualizations are synchronized with an audio stream using a technique that builds and maintains various data structures. Each data structure can maintain data that is associated with a particular pre-processed audio sample. The maintained data can include a timestamp that is associated with a time when the audio sample is to be rendered. The maintained data can also include various characteristic data that is associated with the audio stream. When a particular audio sample is being rendered, its timestamp is used to locate a data structure having characteristic data. The characteristic data is then used in a visualization rendering process to render a visualization.

Methods and systems for synchronizing visualizations with audio streams

Methods and systems are described that assist media players in rendering visualizations and synchronizing those visualizations with audio samples. In one embodiment, visualizations are synchronized with an audio stream using a technique that builds and maintains various data structures. Each data structure can maintain data that is associated with a particular pre-processed audio sample. The maintained data can include a timestamp that is associated with a time when the audio sample is to be rendered. The maintained data can also include various characteristic data that is associated with the audio stream. When a particular audio sample is being rendered, its timestamp is used to locate a data structure having characteristic data. The characteristic data is then used in a visualization rendering process to render a visualization.

Methods and systems assist media players in rendering visualizations and synchronizing the visualizations with audio samples. In one example, a system includes one or more audio sources configured to provide audio samples that are to be rendered by a media player. An audio sample pre-processor is communicatively linked with the one or more audio sources and is configured to receive and to pre-process audio samples before the samples are rendered. The pre-processing provides characterizing data associated with each sample and derived from the audio samples. One or more effects are configured to receive the characterizing data and use the characterizing data to render the visualization that is synchronized with an audio sample that is being rendered by the media player.

Systems and methods are described for registering a plug-in with a media player and for dynamically loading the plug-in into the media player. When a plug-in is installed for use in the media player, it calls a registration function of the media player. The registration function specifies registration parameters to be provided by the plug-in. The registration function receives the registration parameters passed from the plug-in and stores them in a registry of the operating system in a specified format in the registry that enables the media player to recognize and load the plug-in if called to do so. The media player dynamically loads plug-ins in a manner that provides a seamless media presentation experience for a user.

Media plug-in registration and dynamic loading

Methods and systems are described that assist media players in rendering different media types. In some embodiments, a unified rendering area is provided and managed such that multiple different media types are rendered by the media player in the same user interface area. This unified rendering area thus permits different media types to be presented to a user in an integrated and organized manner. An underlying object model promotes the unified rendering area by providing a base rendering object that has properties that are shared among the different media types. Object sub-classes are provided and are each associated with a different media type, and have properties that extend the shared properties of the base rendering object. In addition, an inventive approach to visualizations is presented that provides better synchronization between a visualization and its associated audio stream.

Methods, system and media players for rendering different media types

Methods, systems and media players for rendering different media types

Methods and system for enhancing user experience when rendering digital media content. Defining a visible region of the window in which a media player user interface (UI) is presented to clip undesirable portions of the window provides an improved media player UI. Further aspects are directed to enhancing user experience when rendering digital media content in full screen presentation mode.

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Woodinville, WA, United States of America

Tedd Dideriksen