U.S. patent application number 11/606278 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-29 for recording medium and recording and reproducing methods and apparatuses.
Invention is credited to Byung Jin Kim, Kang Soo Seo, Jea Yong Yoo.
Application Number | 20070071411 11/606278 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36847693 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070071411 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Seo; Kang Soo ; et
al. |
March 29, 2007 |
Recording medium and recording and reproducing methods and
apparatuses
Abstract
In one embodiment, the data structure includes at least one text
subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and style
information containing user selectable style information. The style
information includes at least one set of display properties of the
text subtitle and the user selectable style information specifies
which of the display properties are allowed to be changed
Inventors: |
Seo; Kang Soo; (Anyang-si,
KR) ; Kim; Byung Jin; (Seongnam-si, KR) ; Yoo;
Jea Yong; (Seoul, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HARNESS, DICKEY & PIERCE, P.L.C.
P.O. BOX 8910
RESTON
VA
20195
US
|
Family ID: |
36847693 |
Appl. No.: |
11/606278 |
Filed: |
November 30, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10911731 |
Aug 5, 2004 |
|
|
|
11606278 |
Nov 30, 2006 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
386/244 ;
386/245; 386/336; 386/E5.064; 386/E9.041 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 9/8233 20130101;
H04N 21/4884 20130101; H04N 21/4334 20130101; H04N 21/4325
20130101; H04N 5/85 20130101; H04N 21/42646 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/095 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/00 20060101
H04N007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 6, 2004 |
KR |
10-2004-0000633 |
Claims
1. A recording medium storing a data structure, the data structure
comprising: at least one text subtitle stream including text data
for a text subtitle and style information containing user
selectable style information, the style information including at
least one set of display properties of the text subtitle and the
user selectable style information specifying which of the display
properties are allowed to be changed.
2. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the set of display
properties comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a
vertical position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the
display screen.
3. The recording medium of claim 1, wherein the user selectable
style information includes user style identification which
identifies the user selectable style information.
4. A method of reproducing text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: decoding at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and style
information containing user selectable style information, the style
information including at least one set of display properties of the
text subtitle and the user selectable style information specifying
which of the display properties are allowed to be changed.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of display properties
comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a vertical
position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the display
screen.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the user selectable style
information includes user style identification which identifies the
user selectable style information.
7. A method of recording text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: generating at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and style
information containing user selectable style information, the style
information including at least one set of display properties of the
text subtitle and the user selectable style information specifying
which of the display properties are allowed to be changed; and
storing the at least one subtitle stream on a storing device.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the set of display properties
comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a vertical
position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the display
screen.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the user selectable style
information includes user style identification which identifies the
user selectable style information.
10. A method of generating text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: generating at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and style
information containing user selectable style information, the style
information including at least one set of display properties of the
text subtitle and the user selectable style information specifying
which of the display properties are allowed to be changed.
11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising: storing
the at least one subtitle stream on a storing device.
12. An apparatus for reproducing text subtitle streams, the
apparatus comprising: a driver configured to read data, wherein the
data including at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and style
information containing user selectable style information, the style
information including at least one set of display properties of the
text subtitle and the user selectable style information specifying
which of the display properties are allowed to be changed.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the set of display
properties comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a
vertical position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the
display screen.
14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the user selectable style
information includes user style identification which identifies the
user selectable style information.
15. An apparatus of reproducing text subtitle streams, the
apparatus comprising: decoder configured to decode at least one
text subtitle stream, each text subtitle stream including text data
for a text subtitle and style information containing a user
selectable style information, the style information including a set
of display properties of the text subtitle and the user selectable
style information specifying which of the display properties are
allowed to be changed; and controller configured to control
operation of the decoder to decode the at least one text subtitle
stream using the style information.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the set of display
properties comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a
vertical position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the
display screen.
17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the user selectable style
information includes user style identification which identifies the
user selectable style information.
18. An apparatus for recording text subtitle streams, the apparatus
comprising: a driver; and a controller configured to generate at
least one text subtitle stream from the recording medium, the at
least one text subtitle stream including text data for a text
subtitle and style information containing a user selectable style
information, the style information including a set of display
properties of the text subtitle and the user selectable style
information specifying which of the display properties are allowed
to be changed and for controlling the driver to store the at least
one text subtitle on a storage device.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the set of display
properties comprises at least one of a horizontal position, a
vertical position, and a font size of the text subtitle within the
display screen.
20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the user selectable style
information includes user style identification which identifies the
user selectable style information.
21. An apparatus for generating text subtitle streams, the
apparatus comprising: controller configured to generate at least
one text subtitle stream from the recording medium, the at least
one text subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle
and style information containing a user selectable style
information, the style information including a set of display
properties of the text subtitle and the user selectable style
information specifying which of the display properties are allowed
to be changed.
22. An apparatus of the claim 21, the apparatus further comprising:
a driver(recording unit) for storing the at least one text subtitle
on a storage device.
23. A recording medium storing a data structure, the data structure
comprising: at least one text subtitle stream including first and
second style information, the first style information indicating
display properties of text data included in the text subtitle
stream and the second style information indicating changeable value
of at least one of the display properties included in the first
style information.
24. The recording medium of claim 23, wherein the changeable value
includes direction and variation associated with at least one of
the position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
25. A method of reproducing text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: decoding at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including first and second style information, the
first style information indicating display properties of text data
included in the text subtitle stream and the second style
information indicating changeable value of at least one of the
display properties included in the first style information.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the changeable value includes
direction and variation associated with at least one of the
position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
27. A method of recording text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: generating at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including first and second style information, the
first style information indicating display properties of text data
included in the text subtitle stream and the second style
information indicating changeable value of at least one of the
display properties included in the first style information; and
storing the at least one subtitle stream on a storing device.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the changeable value includes
direction and variation associated with at least one of the
position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
29. A method of generating text subtitle streams, the method
comprising: generating at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including first and second style information, the
first style information indicating display properties of text data
included in the text subtitle stream and the second style
information indicating changeable value of at least one of the
display properties included in the first style information.
30. The method of claim 29, the method further comprising: storing
the at least one subtitle stream on a storing device.
31. An apparatus for reproducing text subtitle streams, the
apparatus comprising: a driver configure to read data, wherein the
data including at least one text subtitle stream, each text
subtitle stream including a data area storing at least one text
subtitle stream including first and second style information, the
first style information indicating display properties of text data
included in the text subtitle stream and the second style
information indicating changeable value of at least one of the
display properties included in the first style information.
32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the changeable value
includes direction and variation associated with at least one of
the position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
33. An apparatus of reproducing text subtitle streams, the
apparatus comprising: decoder configured to decode data including
at least one text subtitle stream, each text subtitle stream
including first and second style information, the first style
information indicating display properties of text data included in
the text subtitle stream and the second style information
indicating changeable value of at least one of the display
properties included in the first style information; and controller
configured to control operation of the decoder to decode the at
least one text subtitle.
34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the changeable value
includes direction and variation associated with at least one of
the position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
35. An apparatus for recording text subtitle streams, the apparatus
comprising: a driver; and a controller configured to generate at
least one text subtitle stream, each text subtitle stream including
first and second style information, the first style information
indicating display properties of text data included in the text
subtitle stream and the second style information indicating
changeable value of at least one of the display properties included
in the first style information.
36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the changeable value includes
direction and variation associated with at least one of the
position and font size for being allowed to be changed.
37. A apparatus for generating text subtitle streams, the apparatus
comprising: controller configured to generate at least one text
subtitle stream first and second style information, the first style
information indicating display properties of text data included in
the text subtitle stream and the second style information
indicating changeable value of at least one of the display
properties included in the first style information.
38. An apparatus of the claim 37, the apparatus further comprising:
a driver(recording unit) for storing the at least one text subtitle
on a storage device.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/911,731 filed on Aug. 5, 2004, the entirety
of which hereby is incorporated herein by reference.
[0002] This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 10-2004-0000633, filed on Jan. 6, 2004, which is
hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] 1. Field of the Invention
[0004] The present invention relates to a recording medium having
at least one text subtitle stream for reproduction of images
recorded thereon as well as methods and apparatuses for
reproduction and recording.
[0005] 2. Discussion of the Related Art
[0006] Optical discs are widely used as an optical recording medium
for recording mass data. Presently, among a wide range of optical
discs, a new high density optical recording medium (HD-DVD), such
as the Blu-ray Disc (hereafter referred to as "BD"), is under
development for writing and storing high definition video and audio
data for a long period of time.
[0007] Currently, global standard technical specifications of the
Blu-ray Disc (BD), which is known to be the next generation HD-DVD
technology, are under establishment as a next generation optical
recording solution that is able to have data significantly
surpassing the conventional DVD, along with many other digital
apparatuses. Accordingly, optical reproducing apparatuses having
the Blu-ray Disc (BD) standards applied thereto are also being
developed. However, since the Blu-ray Disc (BD) standards are yet
to be completed, there have been many difficulties in developing a
complete optical reproducing apparatus.
[0008] Most particularly, in order to effectively reproduce the
data from the Blu-ray Disc (BD), not only information on a
structural data file of the data recorded in the Blu-ray Disc (BD),
but also information for effectively forming and managing the data
file should be systemized and provided. However, in the present
Blu-ray Disc (BD) standards, since the standards of the auxiliary
data, particularly the subtitle information, are not completely
consolidated, there are many restrictions in the full-scale
development of a Blu-ray Disc (BD) basis optical reproducing
apparatus. And, such restrictions cause problems in reproducing the
data stream and providing the data stream to the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention relates to a recording medium storing
a data structure.
[0010] In one embodiment, the data structure includes at least one
text subtitle stream including text data for a text subtitle and
style information containing user selectable style information. The
style information includes at least one set of display properties
of the text subtitle and the user selectable style information
specifies which of the display properties are allowed to be
changed.
[0011] Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a
method of generating text subtitle streams.
[0012] In one embodiment, the method includes generating at least
one text subtitle stream. Each text subtitle stream includes text
data for a text subtitle and style information containing user
selectable style information. The style information includes at
least one set of display properties of the text subtitle and the
user selectable style information specifies which of the display
properties are allowed to be changed
[0013] A still further embodiment relates to an apparatus for
reproducing text subtitle streams.
[0014] In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a driver
configured to read data. The data includes at least one text
subtitle stream. Each text subtitle stream includes text data for a
text subtitle and style information containing user selectable
style information. The style information includes at least one set
of display properties of the text subtitle and the user selectable
style information specifies which of the display properties are
allowed to be changed.
[0015] The present invention relates to additional embodiments of
the recording medium and method and apparatus of reproducing the
recording medium.
[0016] Furthermore the present invention relates to methods and
apparatuses for generating or creating test subtitle streams,
and/or recording test subtitle streams.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of the files that manage
data recorded in an optical disc according to the present
invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates data storage areas of an optical disc
volume according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 3A illustrates a table indicating subtitle display
functions that are controllable by a user according to the present
invention;
[0021] FIG. 3B illustrates the fundamental concepts of changing the
position and font size of a subtitle according to the present
invention;
[0022] FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate various examples of changing the
position and font size of a subtitle according to the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of changing the position and
font size of a subtitle according to the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of changing the position and
font size of a subtitle at the same time according to the present
invention;
[0025] FIG. 7 illustrates an apparatus of reproducing data streams
recorded in an optical disc according to the present invention;
[0026] FIG. 8A illustrates a user operation mask table stored in an
optical disc according to the present invention;
[0027] FIG. 8B illustrates the subtitle setting information stored
in an optical disc according to the present invention; and
[0028] FIG. 9 illustrates an apparatus for recording and
reproducing text subtitle streams according to the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0029] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred
embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the
same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to
refer to the same or like parts.
[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates data files for reproduction of images
recorded in a Blue-ray (BD) disc according to the present
invention. Referring to FIG. 1, at least one BD directory (BDMV) is
included in a root directory (root). Each BD directory includes an
index file (index.bdmv) and an object file (MovieObject.bdmv),
which represent general files that are used to interact with one or
more users. Each BD directory further includes three additional
file directories that include information required for reproducing
the data recorded in the disc. For example, the index file contains
an index table which includes information regarding a plurality of
selectable menus and titles.
[0031] The file directories included in each BD directory are a
stream directory (STREAM), a play-list directory (PLAYLIST), and a
clip information directory (CLIPINF). The stream directory includes
video and audio (AV) stream files having a particular format. For
example, the AV stream files may be in the format of MPEG2
transport packets, which are often named as "*.m2ts" as shown in
FIG. 1. In addition, the AV stream files included in STREAM are
also called clip stream files in the BD industry standards.
[0032] The stream directory further includes at least one subtitle
stream, which includes text data for a text subtitle and a set of
style information corresponding to a set of user-selectable styles,
respectively, may be multiplexed with the AV stream files within
the stream directory, or it could exist as independent files within
the same directory (STREAM). In the latter case, such independent
files may be named as "*.tst". Each style information includes a
unique set of display properties required for displaying the text
subtitle within a display screen, and the unique set of display
properties included in each style information includes at least one
of a horizontal position, a vertical position, and a font size of
the text subtitle within the display screen. The text subtitle
further includes style information corresponding to a default
style. This default style information includes a default set of
display properties required when initially displaying the text
subtitle within the display screen by default. More details to
these will be explained later with reference to FIG. 6.
[0033] Next, the clip information directory (CLIPINF) includes clip
information files (e.g., 01000.clpi and 02000.clpi shown in FIG. 1)
that correspond to the AV stream files, respectively. Each clip
information file includes property and timing information of a
corresponding AV stream file, where the timing information includes
information that maps Presentation Time Stamp (PTS) with Source
Packet Number (SPN) using Entry Point Map. In the industry
standards, each pair of an AV stream file and its corresponding
clip information file is often designated as "a clip". For example,
01000.clpi included in CLIPINF includes property information and
timing information of 01000.m2ts included in STREAM, and the pair
of 01000.clpi and 01000.m2ts forms a clip.
[0034] Referring back to FIG. 1, the play-list directory (PLAYLIST)
includes one or more play-list files (*.mpls), where each play-list
file includes at least one play-item which designates the time for
play-back of a clip. A play-item includes information designating
beginning and ending times (In-Time and Out-Time) for play-back of
a clip, which is designated by "Clip_Information_File_Name" within
the play-item. Therefore, a play-list file represents basic
information required for play-back of one or more clips designated
by a combination of play-items. In addition, the play-list file may
further include one or more sub-play-items, which may or may not be
synchronized with the play-items within the play-list file.
[0035] According to the present invention, a subtitle represents
caption information of images represented in a predetermined
language. For example, when a user selects one of available
subtitles while viewing images on a display screen, corresponding
caption information is displayed on a predetermined portion of the
display screen. When a subtitle is text information, the subtitle
is called a text subtitle. One of the essential features of the
present invention is to allow one or more users to change display
properties of a subtitle when playing-back AV streams prerecorded
in a high-density optical disc. More details to such change in
display properties of the subtitle will be described later in this
section.
[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates data storage areas of an optical disc
volume, in which the data files shown in FIG. 1 are prerecorded. As
shown in the figure, the disc volume includes a file system
information area occupying the inmost portion of the disc volume,
an AV stream area occupying the outmost portion of the disc volume,
and a database area between the file system information area and
the AV stream area. In file system information area system
information that manages the entire data files is prerecorded.
Next, audio-video data (AV streams) and at least one subtitle
stream are prerecorded in the AV stream area. The general files,
play-list files, and clip-information files are prerecorded in the
database area of the disc volume. As discussed above, the general
files include index and object files, and the play-list files and
clip-information files include information required for play-back
of the AV streams prerecorded in the AV stream area. A user is able
to select a specific play-back mode and to play-back desired AV
streams in the selected play-back mode using the information stored
in the database area.
[0037] FIG. 3A illustrates a table indicating subtitle display
properties (display functions) selected to be controlled by a user
according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3A, a list of
subtitle display properties include fade-in or fade-out, change
position, scrolling, font size, font color, font type (e.g., Gothic
and etc.), font style (e.g., Bold and etc.), background color, text
flow, text alignment, and line space functions. Basically, all the
subtitle display properties listed in FIG. 3A are changeable by an
author (who records data in a disc), and they are then classified
into user-changeable and user-unchangeable display properties.
[0038] According to the present invention, the user-changeable
subtitle display properties are limited to at least one of a
position and a font size of a subtitle. The position and font size
of a subtitle significantly affect the user's view of the images on
a display screen. Therefore, it would be very convenient for any
user to be able to change the position and the font size of the
subtitle. Any change of other subtitle display properties such as
scrolling and font color parameters may rather seriously impair the
display quality of the whole images being displayed.
[0039] However, the user's control of the position and font size of
the subtitle may be limited during a specified play-back time by
limiting the user operation (UO). One of the main reasons for
limiting the user's control is that the position and font size of
the subtitles may not be properly changed when playing-back a
certain type of AV streams. The information allowing or limiting
the user's control of the position and font size of the subtitles
is included in the disc, and more details to this will be described
later with reference to FIG. 8A.
[0040] In addition, changes of the position and font size of the
subtitle must be within the permitted ranges. For example, the
position and font size of the subtitles must be limited such that
the displayed subtitle must be within a predefined area within a
display screen. In another example, the font size must be chosen
such that the entire texts are included within a subtitle area of
the screen. The permitted ranges of the position and font size of
the subtitles can be predefined by the author and be stored in the
disc, or they can be manually set and be changed by a user.
[0041] FIG. 3B illustrates the fundamental concepts of changing the
position and font size of the subtitles according to the present
invention. The first example illustrated in FIG. 3B shows the
change of the position of the subtitle only, but both of the
position and font size are changed in the second example. Although
it is not illustrated in FIG. 3B, it is also possible to change the
font size of the subtitle without changing the subtitle position.
As explained earlier, the changes of the position and/or font size
of the subtitle must be limited such that the changes are within
permitted ranges.
[0042] FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate various examples of changing the
position of a subtitle according to the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 4A, the predefined positions of a subtitle are
bottom position (position No. 1), center position (position No. 2),
and top position (position No. 3) within a display screen. The
position of the subtitle may be changed between the predefined
positions when a request is made by a user. Referring to FIG. 4B,
the predefined positions of a subtitle are right position (position
No. 4) and left position (position No. 5). Similarly, the position
of the subtitle shown in FIG. 4B may be changed between the
predefined positions each time a request is made by a user.
[0043] Reference will now be made in detail to some of the specific
methods of changing the subtitle position within an effective area
of a display screen. In one method, information indicating a set of
predefined positions of a subtitle such as those shown in FIGS. 4A
and 4B may be prestored within a disc. Each time a request for
changing the subtitle position (e.g., selection of a menu option)
is made by a user, the subtitle, which is initially positioned at
an initial position (default position), is moved between the
predefined positions in a predefined order. The initial position
may or may not be any one of the predefined positions. For example,
a subtitle may move in the order of the bottom position (position
No. 1), center position (position No. 2), top position (position
No. 3), right position (position No. 4), and left position
(position No. 5). Considering the order of the positions preferred
by many users in general, the subtitle may also move in the order
of the bottom position (position No. 1), top position (position No.
3), right position (position No. 4), left position (position No.
5), and center position (position No. 2). The number of the
predefined positions described above may be predefined by defining
the maximum number of the predefined positions, which will be
described in more detail later with reference to FIG. 8B.
[0044] In another method of changing the subtitle position within
the display screen, a desired position of a subtitle may be
manually selected by a user by using a user interface unit,
examples of which are a mouse, a remote control, and a control
panel provided at a display device. For example, the user may
manually select his or her desired subtitle position by using a
cursor which may be controlled by the user interface unit.
Alternatively, the user may input coordinate information of a
desired subtitle position by pressing the button keys included in
the user interface unit.
[0045] FIG. 4C illustrates another example of changing the position
of a subtitle according to the present invention, where the
subtitle is for images displayed in a window (e.g., a
picture-in-picture window), which occupies only a portion of the
display screen. In this case, the subtitle is displayed at a
position outside of the window (e.g., position No. 6 shown in FIG.
4C) but within an effective area of the display screen. The
specific methods of changing the subtitle position described above
with reference to FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are also applicable in this
case.
[0046] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of changing the position and
font size of a subtitle at the same time according to the present
invention. In one method, information indicating a set of
predefined font sizes (font_size No. 1, font_size No. 2, and
font_size No. 3) and a set of predefined positions (position No. 1,
position No. 2, and position No. 3), such as those shown in FIG. 5,
may be prestored in a disc. Each time a request for changing
display setting of the subtitle (e.g., selection of a menu
operation) is made by a user, the font size of a subtitle, which is
initially displayed at a default font size, is changed between the
predefined font sizes in a predefined order. At same time, the
subtitle, which is initially positioned at a default position, is
also moved between the predefined positions in a predefined order.
For example, the font size of the subtitle may change in the order
of font_size No. 1, font_size No. 2, and font_size No. 3, and the
position may change in the order of position No. 1, position No. 2,
and position No. 3, as shown in FIG. 5.
[0047] In another method, a desired font size and position of a
subtitle may be manually selected by a user using a user interface
unit (e.g., a remote control and a control panel provided at a
display device). For example, the user may manually enter a desired
font size and position by using the user interface unit. The number
of the predefined positions and font sizes may be predefined by the
user by defining the maximum number of positions and the maximum
number of font sizes, which will be described in more detail later
with reference to FIG. 8B.
[0048] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of changing the style of a
subtitle according to the present invention. A set of a position
and a font size of a text subtitle are defined as a style, and a
subtitle is initially displayed at a default style (e.g., style No.
1 shown in FIG. 6) when the subtitle streams recorded in a disc are
preloaded by a disc player. The default style represents a set of a
default position and font size previously determined by an author
of the disc, and the information indicating the default style is
recorded in the disc.
[0049] In one specific method of changing the subtitle style
according to the present invention, style information indicating a
set of predefined user-selectable styles (e.g., Styles No. 2 to N
shown in FIG. 6) are stored in an optical disc. When a user selects
one of the set of user-selectable styles, the position and font
size of the subtitle automatically change to particular position
and font size that correspond to the selected style. Alternatively,
each time a request for changing the subtitle style (e.g.,
selection of a menu option) is made by a user, the position and
font size of a subtitle is changed between the set of predefined
styles in a predefined order. For example, the position and font
size of a subtitle may change in the order of style No. 2, style
No. 3, style No. 4, . . . , and style No. N, as shown in FIG.
6.
[0050] In another method, a desired style representing a desired
position and font size may be manually defined by a user using a
user interface unit as described above in detail. In both methods,
the number of user-selectable styles may be limited by defining the
maximum number of the styles, which will be described in detail
later in this section with reference to FIG. 8B.
[0051] FIG. 7 illustrates an apparatus of reproducing data streams
for reproduction of images recorded in an optical disc according to
the present invention. When the optical disc is preloaded, AV
streams and at least one subtitle text stream are read from the
optical disc. The subtitle stream includes text data for a text
subtitle, and display information indicating various display
property values set by default for initially displaying the
subtitle within a display screen. These display property values set
by default include menu language, audio language, subtitle
language, subtitle position, subtitle font size, and style. The
memory 15 initially stores the style identification of the default
style and all other display properties in corresponding
registers.
[0052] The subtitle stream further includes a set of style
information corresponding to a set of user-selectable styles. When
a user selects one of the user-selectable styles, the memory 15
stores the style identification of the selected style is stored in
a corresponding register.
[0053] For example, the default subtitle position, font size, and
style values preloaded from the optical disc are position No. 1,
font size No. 1, and style No. 1, and these values are stored in
their corresponding registers within the memory 15. In addition,
the memory 15 also includes registers for storing user-updated
display information when a request for changing the subtitle
setting is received. For example, the user-updated subtitle
position, font size, and style values are position No. 3, font size
No. 2, and style No. 5, and these values are stored in
corresponding registers within the memory 15. The updated subtitle
setting information are used in the font engine 18 and the AV
decoder 17 when playing-back the preloaded subtitle data on a
display screen, and these operations are controlled by a controller
12. The memory 15 may be any one of various storages including a
RAM and a buffer, all of which could be easily equipped within the
disc player.
[0054] FIG. 8A illustrates a user operation mask table stored in an
optical disc according to the present invention. The information
included in the table indicates whether to allow a user to change
the subtitle setting. The user operation mask table (UO_mask_Table)
shown in FIG. 8A may be included in any one of ApplnfoPlayList ( ),
PlayItem ( ), ICS ( ), TextSubtitlelnfo ( ) of the play-list files,
respectively. Herein, the user operation mask table includes
subtitle_position_change_mask field indicating whether to allow
changes of the subtitle position, subtitle_font_size_change_mask
field indicating whether to allow changes of the subtitle font
size, and Subtitle_style_change_mask indicating whether to allow
changes of the subtitle style. When any one of these fields is set
to "0," the changes are permitted. On the other hand, when it is
set to "1," the changes are not permitted (prohibited). Therefore,
an author could easily set various options for playing-back a
subtitle by permitting or prohibiting users to change the position,
font size, or style of a subtitle.
[0055] FIG. 8B illustrates the subtitle setting information stored
in a clip information file (*.clpi) according to the present
invention. A clip information file includes property and timing
information of a corresponding AV stream file, and it includes
information such as Cliplnfo ( ), Sequence Info ( ), Programlnfo (
), CPI ( ), ClipMark ( ), and etc. StreamCodingInfo ( ) included in
Programlnfo ( ) contains information indicating the coding type of
the corresponding AV stream. Also, StreamCodinglnfo ( ) also
includes the subtitle setting information, examples of which are
the maximum number of available subtitle positions
(Maximum_number_of_positions), the maximum number of available
subtitle font sizes (Maximum_number_of_font_sizes), and the maximum
number of the user-selectable subtitle styles
(Maximum_number_of_styles), all of which may be set by an author.
Preferably, the maximum number of the user-selectable styles may be
less than or equal to 25 due to the limited data storage space in
an optical disc. Therefore, when a user makes a request for
changing the subtitle setting into values that are not supported by
these limitations, a warning message indicative of "out of
supported range" could be provided or the setting could be set to
values close to the supported values.
[0056] FIG. 9 illustrates an optical disc player according to the
present invention. The disc player shown in FIG. 9 includes a
pickup unit 11 that reads AV stream data and subtitle setting data
prerecorded in an optical disc, a servo 14 which controls operation
of the pickup unit 11, a signal processor 13 which restores a
signal received from the pickup unit 11 or modulates a signal into
a recordable signal, a memory 15 which stores control information
including the subtitle setting data, and a microprocessor 16 which
control operations of the servo 14, the signal processor 13, and
the memory 15.
[0057] In addition, the optical disc player further includes an AV
decoder 17 that decodes the AV signal received from the signal
processor 13, and an AV encoder 18 which converts an input AV
signal into a certain signal, such as MPEG2 transport streams, and
transmits the converted signal to the signal processor 13. In
addition, the disc player further includes a controller 12, which
basically controls operations of each unit included in the disc
player. When a request for a change in the subtitle setting is
made, the controller 12 determines whether the requested change is
within the permitted setting ranges. For example, it determines
whether a requested change in the position or font size of a
subtitle is within the permitted ranges, or it determines whether
such change is within an effective area of the display screen. The
controller 12 changes the setting of a subtitle based on these
determinations. In addition, the controller 12 also uses the user
operation mask table (UO_mask_Table) information when determining
whether a change in the subtitle setting for a particular play-back
time is permitted or prohibited.
[0058] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made in the present invention
without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus,
it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications
and variations of this invention provided they come within the
scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
* * * * *