Systems and methods for immersive viewing experience

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9271048-B2
Application number	US-201314106242-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2013
Priority date	Dec 13, 2013
Publication date	Feb 23, 2016
Grant date	Feb 23, 2016

Abstract

Described herein are methods and systems that may help to provide selectable viewing options for a television program. An exemplary method involves: (i) receiving a television video transport stream comprising video content associated with a particular television program, wherein the television video transport stream comprises focal-point metadata regarding at least one focus point, wherein the at least one focus point corresponds to a sub-frame within at least one frame of the video content, (ii) receiving focal-point input data indicating a zoom request, (iii) processing video content in response to the focal-point input data, and (iv) generating a television video output signal comprising video content that is zoomed to the sub-frame, wherein the television video output signal is configured to be displayable on a graphic display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a television video transport stream comprising video content associated with a particular television program, wherein the television video transport stream comprises focal-point metadata indicating at least one dynamic focus point for a zoom function in the video content, wherein the at least one dynamic focus point corresponds to a first sub-frame within a first frame of the video content and a second sub-frame within a second frame of the video content that is subsequent to the first frame;
receiving focal-point input data indicating a zoom request for a particular dynamic focus point; and
in response to receiving the focal-point input data:
processing the video content, based on the focal-point metadata and the movement metadata, to generate a television video output signal, wherein the movement metadata comprises a motion vector indicating movement of the at least one focus point between the first frame and the second frame, and wherein processing the video content comprises: (a) generating, based on a comparison of the first sub-frame to the second sub-frame, the motion vector indicating movement of the at least one focus point between the first frame and the second frame, wherein the motion vector comprises both a directional component and a magnitude component; and (b) determining, based on the motion vector that indicates movement of the at least one dynamic focus point between the first frame and the second frame, a third subframe that corresponds to an estimated location of the dynamic focus point in a third frame of the video content that is subsequent to the second frame; and
outputting the television video output signal to a graphic display, wherein the television video output signal comprises video content that is zoomed to the particular dynamic focus point in the first, second, and third frames of the video content.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the focal-point input data indicating the zoom request is received via a graphical user interface that facilitates a selection of the particular dynamic focus point.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the television video transport stream is configured to be displayed at an Ultra HD resolution.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the focal-point metadata is provided in separate packets of the standard television video transport stream.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the separate packets are provided via an advanced program guide or through MPEG-2 private section packets.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the focal-point metadata is provided in a packet header section of a packet.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a display format of the television video output signal is a picture-in-picture arrangement, a split-screen arrangement, or a full screen display.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving video content associated with a plurality of different camera views of the particular television program, wherein the video data from at least one of the plurality of different camera views comprises focal-point metadata regarding the at least one dynamic focus point;
receiving camera selection input data indicating a camera selection request;
processing the video content in response to the camera selection input data; and
generating a television video output signal comprising video content that is associated with one of the camera selection input data, the focal-point input data, and the camera selection input data and the focal-point input data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one of the camera selection input data, the focal-point input data, and the camera selection input data and the focal-point input data is obtained by way of a graphical user interface that facilitates a selection of one of the camera selection input data, the focal-point input data, or the camera selection input data and the focal-point input data.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the focal-point metadata further comprises a focal-point type.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the focal-point input data is associated with the focal-point type.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving focal-point type input data indicating a focal-point type request, wherein the focal-point type input data is obtained by way of a graphical user interface that facilitates a selection of the focal-point type, wherein the input data indicating the zoom request is obtained by way of a graphical user interface that facilitates a selection of the at least one focus point;
processing the video content in response to the focal-point type input data; and
generating a television video output signal comprising video content that is associated with the focal-point type input data, wherein the television video output signal is configured to be displayable on a graphic display.

13. An apparatus, comprising:
a receiver configured to:
receive a video transport stream comprising video content associated with a particular television program, wherein the television video transport stream comprises focal-point metadata indicating at least one dynamic focus point for a zoom function in the video content, wherein the at least one dynamic focus point corresponds to a first sub-frame within a first frame of the video content and a second sub-frame within a second frame of the video content that is subsequent to the first frame;
receive focal-point input data indicating a zoom request for a particular dynamic focus point; and
in response to receipt of the focal-point input data:
process the video content, based on the focal-point metadata and the movement metadata, to generate a television video output signal, wherein the movement metadata comprises a motion vector indicating movement of the at least one focus point between the first frame and the second frame, and wherein processing the video content comprises: (a) generating, based on a comparison of the first sub-frame to the second sub-frame, the motion vector indicating movement of the at least one focus point between the first frame and the second frame, wherein the motion vector comprises both a directional component and a magnitude component; and (b) determining, based on the motion vector that indicates movement of the at least one dynamic focus point between the first frame and the second frame, a third subframe that corresponds to an estimated location of the dynamic focus point in a third frame of the video content that is subsequent to the second frame; and
output the television video output signal to a graphic display, wherein the television video output signal comprises video content that is zoomed to the particular dynamic focus point in at least the first, second, and third frames of the video content.

14. A method, comprising
receiving a plurality of television video transport streams comprising video content for a particular television program, wherein the plurality of television video transport streams comprises video content associated with a plurality of different camera views of the particular television program, wherein one or more of the plurality of television video transport streams further comprises focal-point metadata indicating at least one dynamic focus point for a zoom function in the video content, wherein the at least one dynamic focus point corresponds to a first sub-frame a first frame of the video content and a second sub-frame within a second frame of the video content that is subsequent to the first frame;
identifying the plurality of different camera views;
receiving camera selection input data indicating a camera selecti

Assignees

• Directv Group Inc

Inventors

• Yee Woei-Shyang
• Yang Christopher
• Huie Wesley W
• Talatinian Gerard V

Classifications

• H04N21/485 Primary

  End-user interface for client configuration · CPC title

• H04N21/84

  Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors {(systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73)} · CPC title

• H04N21/21805 Primary

  enabling multiple viewpoints, e.g. using a plurality of cameras · CPC title

• H04N21/6587

  Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection · CPC title

• H04N21/4728

  for selecting a Region Of Interest [ROI], e.g. for requesting a higher resolution version of a selected region · CPC title