U.S. patent application number 13/358570 was filed with the patent office on 2012-05-24 for method and apparatus for generating stereoscopic images from a dvd disc.
Invention is credited to Lurinda Chin, Bradley Thomas Collar, Christopher J. Cookson.
Application Number | 20120128321 13/358570 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40563088 |
Filed Date | 2012-05-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120128321 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Collar; Bradley Thomas ; et
al. |
May 24, 2012 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING STEREOSCOPIC IMAGES FROM A DVD
DISC
Abstract
A system and method described herein provide stereoscopic video
using standard DVD video data combined with enhancement data. In
various embodiments, the enhancement data may be stored on the same
DVD as the standard video, or provided via downloading and/or
streaming to a stereoscopic DVD player. When stored on the DVD, the
enhancement data is provided in various forms, including MPEG (-1
or -2) program Stream level; or the MPEG elementary stream
level.
Inventors: |
Collar; Bradley Thomas;
(Valencia, CA) ; Cookson; Christopher J.; (Studio
City, CA) ; Chin; Lurinda; (Northridge, CA) |
Family ID: |
40563088 |
Appl. No.: |
13/358570 |
Filed: |
January 26, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11935445 |
Nov 6, 2007 |
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13358570 |
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11875207 |
Oct 19, 2007 |
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11935445 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
386/239 ;
386/E9.011 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 13/161 20180501;
H04N 13/261 20180501 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/239 ;
386/E09.011 |
International
Class: |
H04N 9/80 20060101
H04N009/80 |
Claims
1. An apparatus generating a stereoscopic video signal comprising:
a read member receiving an optical disc and reading standard video
data, from said optical disc; a data source providing enhancement
data; and a combiner coupled to said read member and said data
source and combining said standard video data and said enhancement
data to generate said stereoscopic video signal.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said data source receives a
data file with said enhancement data.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said data source receives a
data stream, said enhancement data being part of said data
stream.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said enhancement data is
received by said data source from said optical disc.
5. (canceled)
6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an input device
coupled to said data source and selectively receiving an external
device, said external device providing enhancement data to said
data source through said input device.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said external device is a USB
data storage device.
8. A method of generating a stereoscopic video signal by a DVD
player from an optical disc comprising: retrieving from said
optical disc standard video data; receiving enhancement data by
said player; and combining the standard video data with said video
data to generate said stereoscopic video signal.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein optical disc includes a first
section with said standard video data and a second section with
said enhancement data and said step of receiving by said player
includes retrieving said enhancement data from said optical
disc.
10. (canceled)
11. The method of claim 8 wherein said enhancement data is
presented as a data file.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein said enhancement data is streamed
data.
13. An optical data disc comprising: a first section containing
standard video data; and a second section containing enhancement
data; said first section is arranged and constructed so that when
the disc is inserted into a standard player, the standard player
can play said standard video data as a standard program; and and
when the disc inserted into a stereo player, the stereo player can
play a stereo version of the standard program by combining said
standard video data and said enhanced data.
14. The optical data disc of claim 13 wherein said optical data
disc further comprises a flag transparent to the standard video
player and is used by the second player as an indication that
enhancement data is present on the disc and can be used to combine
with the standard video data to generate stereo content.
15. A stereo player rendering three-dimensional video images, said
stereo player comprising: a receiver portion that receives video
signals from an optical disc and enhanced data signals; a video
renderer adapted to receive said video signals and to generate a
standard video output in the absence of said enhanced data signals,
and to generate a stereo video output in the presence of said
enhanced data signals.
16. The player of claim 15 wherein said enhanced data signals are
stored on the optical disc.
17. The player of claim 15 further comprising a receiving device
receiving said enhanced data signals from a remote source.
18. The player of claim 17 wherein said receiving device receives
said enhanced data signals wirelessly.
19. The player of claim 17 wherein said receiving device receives
an external device with a data storage storing said enhanced data
signals.
20. The player of claim 17 wherein said external device is a USB
data storage device.
21. The player of claim 20 wherein one decoder reads left-eye
images and the second detector reads images corresponding to a
difference between left- and right-eye images, on a pixel-by pixel
basis.
22. The player of claim 20 further comprising a flag-detector
detecting a 3D flag indicative of whether a disc contains only 2D
signals, or 3D signals.
23. The player of claim 20 wherein said enhancement signal is
preprocessed before storage on the disc and wherein one of said
decoders performs an inverse process on said enhancement signal to
reverse said preprocessing.
24. The player claim 23 wherein said one decoder includes a lookup
table for said inverse process.
25. A player capable of playing discs with either 2D or 3D signals
comprising: two decoders reading data from a disc and generating
from said disc a standard and an enhanced signal, respectively;
wherein said enhancement signal is preprocessed before storage on
the disc and wherein one of said decoders performs an inverse
process on said enhancement signal to reverse said
preprocessing.
26. The player claim 25 wherein said one decoder includes a lookup
table for said inverse process.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 11/935,445
filed Nov. 6, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser.
No. 11/875,207 filed Oct. 19, 2007, and related to U.S. Ser. No.
11/748,695, all incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A. Field of Invention
[0003] A stereoscopic or 3D program is generated by a player and
displayed using standard video content from a DVD combined with
additional information. The player receives the additional
information from a remote server through a network interface, or
from a different portion of the DVD.
[0004] B. Description of the Prior Art
[0005] Displays currently available commercially can present only
two-dimensional (2-D) flat images and almost all content being
distributed today to the general public, using for example, optical
discs (e.g., standard DVDs, as well as Blu-ray DVDs and HD-DVDs)
are configured for presentation on these 2-D displays. Technology
has been developed for presenting 3-D or stereographic images, and
it is believed that there will be an increasing demand for content
in this format. However, since most displays presently available
are 2-D displays, at least for the foreseeable future, content will
have to be distributed in both formats.
[0006] One solution to this problem is to create two different DVDs
for each video program (e.g., one DVD that is configured for
standard players and 2-D displays and a different DVD configured
for stereoscopic systems). In most instances, the 2-D content can
be provided on a single layer of a disc. However, the stereoscopic
version of the same content may require the full capacity of both
physical layers of one side of a DVD, thereby increasing the cost
of manufacturing the disc.
[0007] Another solution would be to provide both formats on the
same disc, one format on each side. However, this solution may
still not be ideal because this process is even more expensive per
disc then the previous solution.
[0008] Furthermore, until a large number of stereoscopic DVD
players are sold in the marketplace, the cost of creating a small
number of stereoscopic DVDs or players may be too high.
[0009] Therefore, a system is needed that allows both a standard
version of a video program and a stereoscopic version of the same
program to be efficiently distributed while continuing to use a
single DVD. It would further be desirable to avoid rendering
obsolete the large number of existing standard DVDs and players in
the possession of consumers. In addition, it would be desirable to
provide a means of distributing stereoscopic video that is
relatively resistant to piracy.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,725 describes a method and apparatus
wherein content is provided on two layers of a DVD. On one layer,
the content is provided in a standard format and definition. The
second layer is used for additional information over and above what
is needed for a standard presentation of the content for enhancing
the experience of watching the content in standard definition. For
example, the information may include a second camera angle and
scenes from this second camera angle can be used to replace scenes
from a first camera angle. Alternatively, the information on the
second layer may be high definition information that is combined by
a player with the content in the standard definition format to
render it into content in a high definition format.
[0011] In U.S. Patent Publication 2004/0240860 an apparatus for
reproducing video data signals is described with input means for
receiving encoded video data signals and processing means for
decoding the encoded video data signals. The encoded video data
signals includes a base stream of signals representing a standard
resolution portion of the video data signals and at least one
enhancement stream of signals representing a high-resolution
portion of the video data signals. The apparatus is capable of
reproducing high-resolution video data by decoding and combining
those streams.
[0012] However, the preceding documents do not address the issue of
storing stereoscopic video on a DVD. Furthermore, they do not
address the issue of providing stereoscopic video without the need
for consumers to replace their existing standard DVDs or players.
In addition, they do not address possible piracy issues.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The system and method described herein provides a
stereoscopic video signal using standard DVD video data combined
with enhancement data. In one embodiment, the enhancement data is
provided via downloading and/or streaming to a stereoscopic DVD
player.
[0014] In a second embodiment, the enhancement data may be burned
on the same DVD as the standard video. In other embodiments, the
enhancement data is provided as a single file and as a data stream.
Both types of data are combined with the standard video data to
obtain the stereoscopic video signal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a DVD player for combining
video data from a standard DVD and enhancement data from a file to
generate a stereoscopic video signal;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a DVD player for combining
standard video data and enhancement data to generate a stereoscopic
video signal;
[0017] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DVD player for combining
video data from a standard DVD and enhancement data from a stream
to generate a stereoscopic video signal;
[0018] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a DVD player for combining
video data from a standard DVD and enhancement data from both a
file and a stream to generate a stereoscopic video signal; and
[0019] FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a high definition DVD player
for combining data from a DVD with enhanced data from the disc, an
external data storage device or a network server to generate
stereoscopic video signals.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The present invention takes advantage of the concept that a
stereoscopic video signal can be generated by combining a standard
video signal (SD) with additional information in the form of
enhanced data (ENH) required for the stereoscopic video signal
(SSVS). One possible technique for implementing this approach is to
interleave the data at the level of video object units (VOBUs) as
known from the DVD standard. Multi (camera) angle pointers or
multi-path pointers may be used for this purpose. For example the
SD data may be comprised of a default camera angle track and
additional or ENH data for an alternate camera angle track.
[0021] Every DVD player has a so-called track-buffer of X Mbits.
The encoding and multiplexing of the SSVS stream must be done in
such a way that at every separation point (i.e., a point in time
separating SD sectors and SSVS sectors) there are enough bits in
the track-buffer to bridge the gap in time it takes to jump over a
block of enhancement sectors. Suppose it takes T.sub.0 seconds for
a jump before new SD sectors are read again and data is supplied to
the decoder at an average bit rate of BR.sub.ay. This means that at
least T.sub.0*BR.sub.av bits must be present in the buffer as the
jump starts.
[0022] The peak rate at which a DVD player can read data can be
designated as BR.sub.pk. Reading of data should be performed at a
rate as close as possible to BR.sub.pk. During the decoder must be
supplied with the needed SD bits. Therefore the content of the
track-buffer increases at a rate BR.sub.pk-BR.sub.av . Generally,
the number of bits collected in the buffer while the SD sectors are
read is, T1*(BR.sub.pk-BR.sub.av1) and this number must be equal to
or exceed the number of bits, needed during the jump phase
(,T.sub.0*BR.sub.av). This puts an additional constraint on the SD
encoder.
[0023] The DVD disc will also contain a 3D flag (3DF) located in
the navigation data of the disc which indicates that the disc
contains two camera angles, each containing one eye-view of the
SSVS. When this flag is set, normal DVD players will not recognize
the flag and only decode the first camera angle. In addition, the
disc can be authored to mask the angle-change user operation
control, thus preventing the user from accessing the second angle
manually via the remote control. A 3D-enabled DVD player must
recognize the flag and subsequently combine the two video angles
into the SSVS signal.
[0024] In another embodiment the control circuit of a 3-D DVD
player reads a block of SD data (e.g., for 1 second of video) data
very fast and stores it in a memory, then jump to the enhancement
data area and reads a block of ENH data very quickly (again, for 1
second of video) stores the data in memory. In this way the control
unit of the player keeps reading the SD and ENH sectors in an
alternating sequence. The base decoder and the enhancement decoder
read the respective data from this memory. The control unit has or
is associated with input buffers and the memory are made
sufficiently fast and large so that SD and ENH decoders never run
out of data and thus are able to deliver an uninterrupted
continuous video data signal. In this embodiment, for the interval
of 1 second about 2 MB of memory is required. Furthermore, the
control unit can be adapted to recognize signaling bits which do
not affect regular DVD players, but can be used to direct the
apparatus to reproduce the combined stereoscopic video data.
[0025] Yet another embodiment stores the base data representing a
standard resolution portion of the video data signals and
enhancement data representing the alternate eye-view portion of the
video data signals on different physical layers on the DVD. In this
case the control unit is adapted to receive encoded video data
signal from this multi-layer optical disc. In addition to the
above, there are other ways to separate SD and ENH data in a
backward compatible way at the MPEG stream level, such as the
MPEG-2 Program Stream level; or the MPEG-2 (or MPEG-1) elementary
stream level.
[0026] At the MPEG-2 Program Stream level, the enhancement data is
preferably provided as a private data stream, or is multiplexed
with other data to form a private data stream. Alternatively, the
enhancement data can be included directly into the MPEG-2 video
elementary stream containing various other segments such as
`extension_and_user_data` segments, a sequence, a group of pictures
or at the picture level. A drawback of including the enhancement
data directly into the MPEG stream is that the DVD standard
requirement restricts the maximum data rate to 10.08 Mbps. Although
the target average for the total data stream is about 8 Mbps
(allowing for recording 135 minutes on a dual-layer DVD disc), peak
rates can be well above the target average. Legacy players may be
unable to function normally if this maximum bit rate is exceeded.
Therefore, the allocation rule for the ENH data must be adjusted in
such a way that the excess data near the peak rates are more evenly
spread over a wider area in the stream. This can be accomplished by
defining the size of the separate buffer, which is required for the
ENH data stream in the MPEG-2 system target decoder model, to be
big enough to handle the vast majority of streams. In exceptional
cases peak bit rate problems can be solved by proper preprocessing
(filtering) and/or by adjusting the compression rate locally. After
readout by the control unit the prefetched ENH data is kept in an
ENH data memory until it is needed by the enhancement decoder. Even
when the average prefetch time offset is by as much as 1 minute,
the corresponding memory size is still not excessive (in the order
of 60 seconds*2 Mbps<16 MB). In a particular embodiment, a
faster than 1.times. drive and optional SD data memory may be
used.
[0027] Separating the SD and the enhancement data streams at the
MPEG level has a number of advantages. For example, authoring is
relatively simple as the two streams are combined immediately after
coding. Other stages of the authoring process are hardly affected.
Another advantage is that the jump noise in the apparatus is kept
low (compared with other embodiments in which the streams are at a
greater physical distance). Moreover, the MPEG stream including the
ENH data can be redistributed without additional processing, using
existing standards.
[0028] In a first embodiment, a system and method is provided in
which a stereoscopic program is displayed using content obtained
from a standard DVD and a separate file containing enhancement
data. The system further includes a player with means for decoding
the enhancement data and the video data from the DVD, and combining
them to generate stereoscopic video data. More specifically, as
illustrated in FIG. 1, a system 10 receives a first DVD 12 that
contains standard content. Data from DVD 12 is obtained by a read
electronics member 14 which includes a read head (not shown).
Member 14 decodes the data from the DVD and generates a standard
video data SD signal 16.
[0029] The system 10 also receives a stereoscopic data file 18 that
includes enhancement or ENH data 19 necessary to convert the
standard video data 16 into a stereoscopic video signal SSVS. This
stereoscopic video signal may comprise alternate video lines or
fields intended for the viewer's left and right eyes, respectively,
e.g., one displayed line may contain left eye video and the next
line may contain right eye video, or may use some other scheme of
providing stereoscopic video images. The enhancement data 19 is
combined by a combiner 20 with the standard video data to generate
the stereoscopic video signal 22. This signal 22 is fed to a
display device 24 for presentation to one or more viewers. The
viewers may need some special equipment, such as stereoscopic
eyewear 26 to see the presentation properly. The eyewear 26 may be
coupled by a controller (not shown) and a control link 28 that may
control shutters in the eyewear (not shown) such that when the left
eye video is displayed a left eye shutter in the eyewear is open
and a right eye shutter is closed, and vice versa when the right
eye video is displayed. The shutter control link may comprise an
infrared radiation (IR) link or a radio-frequency link, or any
other suitable communication medium, although, preferably, a
wireless medium.
[0030] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the stereoscopic data
file 18 is downloaded via a network interface 30 from a remote
network (not shown). The file 18 may be stored in any type of
internal memory such as a magneto-optical hard drive, a RAM, or an
external or removable memory such as a thumb drive.
[0031] Alternatively, the contents of this file may be downloaded
from a second DVD with the enhancement data. The second DVD may be
a read-only type, or, alternatively, a read-write (RW) type. If the
second DVD is a RW type, the enhancement data may be downloaded via
the network interface and written to the RW DVD. In this variation
of the invention, the network interface 30 and stereoscopic file 18
are replaced by a second DVD and a corresponding read electronics
member (not shown). The enhancement data from the second DVD is
combined by combiner 20 with the standard video signal as described
above.
[0032] A Digital Rights Management (DRM) subsystem 25 may be
incorporated into the player 10 to insure that the player 10 is
authorized to decode the SD video signal. The DRM system may also
limit the number of times that the file may be decoded for each
payment. A payment/authorization subsystem 27 may also be included
in the player to allow additional plays of the content in exchange
for additional payments to the content provider.
[0033] In a second embodiment, shown in FIG. 2, a single DVD 42
includes both a standard video program data and enhancement data.
The player 40 includes a read electronics member 44 that reads from
the DVD 42 both the standard video data 46 and the enhancement data
48 to generate stereoscopic video data. The two are combined in
combiner 20 which then generates a stereoscopic or 3D image as
discussed above. It should be understood that in FIG. 2 for the
purpose of logical clarity, the two data streams 46, 48 are shown
separately, but in many physical implementations a single data
stream 22 containing both standard video data and enhancement data
is recovered by the read electronics member 44, and the standard
data and enhancement data portions are first extracted or
de-multiplexed from the single stream by the read electronics
member 44 before being separately decoded and combined to form the
stereoscopic video, as necessary.
[0034] In a third embodiment, a system and method are provided in
which the enhancement data is received in a stream rather then as a
single data file stored in a memory. As shown in FIG. 3, in this
system 60, a DVD 62 is read by a read electronics member 64. Member
64 then generates the standard video data stream 66 to combiner 68.
Enhancement data with the information required for stereoscopic
presentation is received from a remote server (either via an Inter-
or Intra-net, not shown) through a network interface 70. The stream
of enhancement data 72 is required to generate the stereoscopic
video signal 22 and is supplied to the combiner 68.
[0035] The source of the enhancement data stream may be a data
server operated by the provider of the DVD content, or any other
party authorized by the content provider. A payment beyond the
original cost of the DVD may be required to authorize the player to
decode the stream using e.g. a payment subsystem 73.
[0036] A Digital Rights Management (DRM) member 74 may also be
included with the player. The member 74 controls the generation of
stream of enhancement data 72 to insure that the stream may be
decoded only by authorized players. The DRM member 74 may also
limit the number of times that the stream may be decoded for each
payment. Alternatively, either or both the DRM member and the
subsystem 73 may control the operation of combiner 68 and may
disable said combiner 68 under certain conditions, including DRM
failure or failure to pay for additional copies of the stereoscopic
content. The network interface 70 has sufficient bandwidth to
support the relatively high data rate needed to supply the
enhancement data 72 to the combiner 68 such that real time
generation of stereoscopic video signal 22 may be sustained.
[0037] In a fourth embodiment, a player receives the enhancement
data in both a file and a stream. FIG. 4 illustrates a player 80
receiving a first DVD 82 that contains only standard video data.
The read electronics member 84 generates from the DVD 82 the
standard video data stream 86. The enhancement data required to
generate stereoscopic video is supplied by both a file 87 and
separate stream 88 from a remote network via a network interface
90. The file 87 is stored in an appropriate memory and is provided
together with the enhancement data stream 88 in combiner 92. The
enhancement data 87, 88 is decoded and combined with the decoded
standard video data 86 by the combiner 92 to form the stereoscopic
video 22.
[0038] Any alternatives discussed in relation to the previous
embodiments are equally applicable to this fourth embodiment. For
example, the source of the file may alternatively be a second DVD
and the source of the stream may be a third party (neither the
consumer nor the content owner).
[0039] Added security against piracy may be provided in this
embodiment by, for example, only authorizing the stream for the
duration of a single playing of the content, so that no permanent
copy of at least part of the enhancement data is ever available at
the player. At the same time, part of the additional content can be
provided by the file, easing bit rate requirements on the network
interface.
[0040] In a fifth embodiment, shown in FIG. 5, a single high
definition disc (HD DVD or Blu-ray) includes a standard video
program data, additional video representing the alternate eye view,
and a 3D flag set to indicate its 3D capabilities. The player 80
includes a disc manager 82 that directs a read electronics member
86 that reads from the disc 84 a single data stream containing both
the standard video data and the enhancement data to generate
stereoscopic video data.
[0041] The player further includes a data manager 100 with a
network manager 102, a data storage manager 104, and a disc manager
82. The data access manager also exchanges information and data
with an external network server 106 through a network gate 108.
Various control data including applications associated with various
functions of the player are stored in a main or fixed data storage
element 110. Additional information and/or control commands can be
received from a removal or external data storage device 112.
[0042] The data stream from the disc 84 is passed to the
presentation engine 88 of the player 80 and as directed by the
navigation manager 90. As described in the parent application
described above, normally, the presentation engine processes the
data from the disc 84 under the control of commands from the data
access manager and the navigation manager 90. As part of this
processing, the data stream is demultiplexed and the video data is
fed to the main video decoder and presented to the video renderer
116 as a stream of standard video data 91. Other information,
including a private video stream, and the like is decoded by a
sub-video decoder 96 and presented to the video renderer 116. Data
cache 114 is used to store data temporarily as needed.
[0043] Importantly, the read electronics member 86 detects the 3D
flag from the disc and sends it to the data access manager and,
subsequently, to the navigation manager to indicate that the disc
84 contains enhancement data. In response the navigation manager
modifies the operation of player 80 so that the player can
generated SSVS signals. More particularly, the presentation engine
88 demultiplexes the stream from disc manager 82 into two separate
video streams: which are then fed to the decoders 94 and 96
respectively. The decoded signals are the main video stream 91
containing the standard video program (e.g. the left eye view of
the program) and a sub video stream 93 containing the additional
video data (e.g. the right eye view) and are passed to the video
renderer module 116. The video renderer module contains a 3D
combiner module 118 which combines the two video streams and
generates a corresponding SSVS signal as an output.
[0044] It is important to note that the only difference between a
normal high definition player (HD DVD or Blu-ray) and the 3D
enabled high definition player 90 shown in FIG. 5 is the addition
of the 3D combiner module 118. When a normal high definition player
receives a 3D enabled disc 84 that has the 3D flag set, its
navigation manager ignores the 3D flag altogether and therefore
only the main video will be rendered to the screen by the video
renderer. Therefore the content from the disc 84 is presented as a
standard video signal. The player can be changed to operate as
described for generating SSVS signals by upgrading the firmware of
the player thereby affecting the operation of the data access
manager, the presentation engine and the video rendering module as
discussed above. Similarly a DVD player implemented in a PC may be
upgraded by providing a new video card.
[0045] Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, enhancement data
representing the alternate eye view can be streamed from a network
server 106 to the player's streaming buffer (data cache 114) and
subsequently to the sub video decoder 96.
[0046] Alternatively the enhancement data can be downloaded from
network server 106 and stored into the player's fixed storage 110
and subsequently played back in conjunction with the standard video
content located on the disc.
[0047] Alternatively the enhancement data can be played back from
external device (e.g., USB hard drive) 112 as discussed above with
respect to enhancement data from the network server 106.
[0048] Numerous modifications and alternations may be made to this
invention without departing from its scope as defined in the
appended claims.
* * * * *