Abstract:
A method of playing content on a digital media renderer (DMR) includes installing a virtual DMR on a computer, the virtual DMR being a software application installed to run on an operating system of the computer and executed by a processor of the computer, and associating a real DMR device with the virtual DMR. The method further includes displaying details corresponding to the real DMR device in a charm sidebar of the operating system, where the real DMR device does not have certification to be installed on the operating system and the virtual DMR does have certification to be installed on the operating system, receiving a command from a user through the charm sidebar for indicating an action to perform on the real DMR device, and the virtual DMR transferring the command from the user to the real DMR device for executing the command on the real DMR device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to a digital media renderer (DMR), and more particularly, to a method of playing content on a DMR using a virtual DMR installed on a computer. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    The soon-to-be-released Windows 8 operating system produced by Microsoft Corporation contains a “Play To” function for allowing a computer user to conveniently send photos, audio, videos, and so on directly over a local network to a television (TV) or other networked device. The networked devices can be in communication with the computer through either a wired network or a wireless network. 
         [0005]    In this way, users can share locally-stored content from the computer or share content located on the Internet to a digital media renderer (DMR) device such as a TV for playback. The content is transmitted using the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) protocol for playback. Users first select the content they wish to play, and then using a charm sidebar of the Windows 8 operating system, a desired playback DMR device is selected in order to play the content on the selected DMR device using the Play To function. According to the DLNA specifications a DMR, such as a TV, can be controlled by a digital media controller (DMC) for playing content sent from a digital media server (DMS). As an example, the computer can serve as both the DMC and the DMS, although other devices can be used instead. 
         [0006]    The charm sidebar lists all of the DMR devices connected to or in communication with the computer. The charm represent operating system settings that can be accessed by applications, such as the toolbar application. 
         [0007]    Unfortunately, in order for a DMR device to be displayed in the charm sidebar listing, it needs to have device certification for the Windows 8 operating system. For some products already being sold in the market, receiving certification after the product is released on the market is difficult. This is especially true since in order to receive Windows 8 certification, DMR devices need to support photo, audio, and video formats, which may prove to be overly strict requirements for many devices. Some DMR devices, such as the majority of TVs that can only support the Moving Picture Experts Group-2 (MPEG-2) video format and not other formats such as H.264, can not be upgraded without upgrading the hardware of the DMR devices in order to achieve such support. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    It is therefore one of the primary objectives of the claimed invention to provide a method of playing content on a digital media renderer (DMR) and a related computer system for playing content on a DMR. 
         [0009]    According to an exemplary embodiment of the claimed invention, a method of playing content on a DMR is disclosed. The method includes installing a virtual DMR on a computer, the virtual DMR being a software application installed to run on an operating system of the computer and executed by a processor of the computer, and associating a real DMR device with the virtual DMR. The method further includes displaying details corresponding to the real DMR device in a charm sidebar of the operating system, wherein the real DMR device does not have certification to be installed on the operating system and the virtual DMR does have certification to be installed on the operating system, receiving a command from a user through the charm sidebar for indicating an action to perform on the real DMR device, and the virtual DMR transferring the command from the user to the real DMR device for executing the command on the real DMR device. 
         [0010]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the claimed invention, a computer system for playing content on a DMR in communication with the computer system includes a memory, an operating system of the computer stored in the memory, and a virtual DMR being a software application installed to run on the operating system, a real DMR device being associated with the virtual DMR. The computer system also includes a display for displaying details corresponding to the real DMR device in a charm sidebar of the operating system, wherein the real DMR device does not have certification to be installed on the operating system and the virtual DMR does have certification to be installed on the operating system, a user interface receiving a command from a user through the charm sidebar for indicating an action to perform on the real DMR device, and a processor executing the virtual DMR and causing the virtual DMR to transfer the command from the user to the real DMR device for executing the command on the real DMR device. 
         [0011]    It is an advantage that the present invention utilizes a virtual DMR to communicate with real DMR devices in order to allow users to play content on the real DMR devices that the user would otherwise not be able to use through the computer running the Windows 8 operating system. The virtual DMR, which has charm certification for the Windows 8 operating system, connects to the real DMR devices and allows the user to conveniently and quickly connect to real DMR devices for playing content on the real DMR devices. In this way a wider variety of devices, including older or relatively less expensive real DMR devices, can be used for playing content via the virtual DMR. 
         [0012]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer system containing a virtual DMR in communication with a real DMR device according to the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a screen showing a user accessing the charm sidebar on a non-touch computer. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a screen showing a user accessing the charm sidebar on a touch computer such as a tablet computer. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a screen showing the charm sidebar after the user has pressed the Devices option in the charm sidebar shown in  FIG. 2  or  FIG. 3 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a screen showing the charm sidebar after the user has clicked on the icon corresponding to the virtual DMR shown in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart describing the method of playing content on a real DMR device via the virtual DMR according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer system  10  containing a virtual DMR  25  in communication with a real DMR device  30  according to the present invention. The computer system  10  contains a processor  12  for controlling operation of the computer system  10 , a transceiver  14  for communicating with the real DMR device  30 , a user interface  16  for receiving commands from a user, a display  18  for displaying data to a user, and a memory  20 . The memory  20  is used to store an operating system  22 , such as the Windows 8 operating system produced by the Microsoft Corporation, as well as the virtual DMR  25 . Both the operating system  22  and the virtual DMR  25  are software instructions executed by the processor  12 . 
         [0020]    The real DMR device  30  comprises a transceiver  32 , a display  34 , and a speaker  36 . In the following description, the real DMR device  30  will be described as being a television (TV), although in practice the real DMR device  30  can be any networked DMR that can output media transmitted from the computer system  10 . The transceiver  14  and the transceiver  32  can transmit and receive data through a wired connection or a wireless connection. 
         [0021]    The present invention aims to use the virtual DMR  25  that can be added to a charm sidebar of the Windows 8 operating system, through which the user can select real DMR devices that have not received certification for the Windows 8 operating system. Additionally these real DMR devices, which would ordinarily not be able to support user content in an original file format, can be used for playing back the user content through a format conversion, also known as transcoding. 
         [0022]    The virtual DMR  25  is a service program that can be run in the Windows 8 operating system, in the Windows 7 operating system, in the Windows Vista operating system, and in the Windows XP operating system. The virtual DMR  25  appears as DMR equipment in the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) environment, and the virtual DMR  25  can provide access to one or more real DMR devices. The virtual DMR  25  has certification for the Windows 8 operating system, and can therefore be added to the charm sidebar in the Windows 8 operating system. 
         [0023]    In order to access the charm sidebar, a command is given by the user. Please refer to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a screen  50  showing a user accessing the charm sidebar  52  on a non-touch computer. On an ordinary non-touch computer, the charm sidebar  52  is accessed by dragging the mouse to the bottom-left corner of the screen, which is the same spot as the Windows start button on previous versions of the Windows operating system. In the charm sidebar  52  five options are presented to the user: a Start option, a Search option, a Share option, a Devices option  54 , and a Settings option. The Start option returns the user to the home screen. The Search option allows the user to search for keywords. Under the Share option, the user can see social network sharing apps. The Devices option  54  presents a list of connected devices. The Settings option allows the user to change settings of the computer. 
         [0024]    Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a screen  60  showing a user accessing the charm sidebar  62  on a touch computer such as a tablet computer. On a tablet computer, the user accesses the charm sidebar  62  by swiping from the right side of the screen to bring up the charm sidebar. The charm sidebar  62  contains the same five options shown in the charm sidebar  52  shown in  FIG. 2 , and the Devices option  64  can be selected for allowing the user to see a list of connected devices. 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a screen  70 A showing the charm sidebar  72  after the user has pressed the Devices option  54  or  64  in the charm sidebar  52  or  62  shown in  FIG. 2  or  FIG. 3 . After the Devices option  54  or  64  is selected, the charm sidebar  72  shows a list of devices that can be used to execute the Play To function for outputting data to a connected DMR device. In this case, the only device shown in the list of devices is an icon  75  corresponding to the virtual DMR  25 . Since the virtual DMR  25  has received certification for the Windows 8 operating system, the icon  75  corresponding to the virtual DMR  25  can be added to the list of devices that can perform the Play To function. Since the virtual DMR  25  can be associated with one or more real DMR devices such as the real DMR device  30  shown in  FIG. 1 , clicking on the icon  75  corresponding to the virtual DMR  25  will bring up a list of all associated real DMR devices. 
         [0026]    Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a screen  70 B showing the charm sidebar  72  after the user has clicked on the icon  75  corresponding to the virtual DMR  25  shown in  FIG. 4 . In this example, the charm sidebar  72  displays two real DMR devices  74  and  76  associated with the virtual DMR  25 . These two real DMR devices  74  and  76  are labeled “Dad&#39;s office TV” and “Living room TV”, respectively. The user can then select one of these two real DMR devices  74  and  76  for outputting content from the computer system  10 . Please note that instead of the user manually selecting a real DMR device associated with the virtual DMR  25 , the virtual DMR  25  can automatically select a preset real DMR device for the user. 
         [0027]    The virtual DMR  25  will map to each real DMR device in a one-to-one mapping, and the virtual DMR  25  will use a name, icon, and other descriptive information corresponding to the real DMR device. This will allow the user to clearly understand which real DMR device the listing corresponds to. Since the virtual DMR  25  has already received Windows 8 operating system certification, these listings corresponding to the real DMR devices will be automatically added to the charm sidebar  72  when the virtual DMR  25  is selected by through the icon  75 . The user can then select a real DMR device through the charm sidebar  72  in order to execute the Play To function on the selected real DMR device. 
         [0028]    When the virtual DMR  25  receives a control command from the user, such as specifying the content to be played, a play command, a pause command, a stop command, and so on, the virtual DMR  25  will send the control commands to the associated real DMR device through the DLNA protocol. 
         [0029]    The virtual DMR  25  will continuously monitor the condition of the real DMR device used for to play user content, which is accomplished by the real DMR device providing feedback to the virtual DMR. When there is a status change in the real DMR device, the virtual DMR  25  will send out a DLNA-based broadcast regarding the status change. All devices connected through the DLNA network will receive the broadcast. As a result, the Play To program in the Windows 8 operating system will also receive an update about the status change of the playback device, and can react or respond accordingly. 
         [0030]    When a real DMR device does not support the playback of the original content that the user wishes to play on the real DMR device, the virtual DMR  25  will transcode original content into a format that the real DMR device is able to and then transmit the transcoded content to the real DMR device for playback. For instance, if the original content is in the H.264 video format, which the selected real DMR device does not support, the virtual DMR  25  can transcode the original content into the MPEG-2 format that the selected real DMR device does support. After transcoding, the virtual DMR  25  will transfer to the transcoded content in the MPEG-2 format to the selected real DMR device for playback. 
         [0031]    The virtual DMR  25  will determine whether the selected real DMR device can support playback of the content to be played according to the properties of the selected real DMR device stored in the virtual DMR  25 . If the selected real DMR device can support playback of the original content, the virtual DMR  25  will transmit the original content to the selected real DMR device directly. If not, the virtual DMR  25  will select another format that is supported by the selected real DMR device, transcode the content into the supported format, and then transmit the transcoded content to the selected real DMR device. In this way, the selected real DMR device will be able to properly play the content even despite not supporting the format that the original content was in. 
         [0032]    Please refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  is a flowchart describing the method of playing content on a real DMR device via the virtual DMR  25  according to the present invention. Steps in the flowchart will be explained as follows. 
         [0033]    Step  100 : Start. 
         [0034]    Step  102 : Add at least one real DMR device to the charm sidebar of the Windows 8 operating system by associating the real DMR device with the virtual DMR  25 . 
         [0035]    Step  104 : Select a real DMR device in the charm sidebar that will be used for receiving content when the user executes the Play To function on the computer for playing original content. 
         [0036]    Step  106 : Determine if the selected real DMR device supports the format of the original content. If so, go to step  108 . If not, go to step  110 . 
         [0037]    Step  108 : Transfer the original content from the virtual DMR  25  to the selected real DMR device and play the original content on the selected real DMR device directly. Afterwards go to step  114 . 
         [0038]    Step  110 : The virtual DMR  25  transcodes the original content into a format that the selected real DMR device supports. 
         [0039]    Step  112 : The virtual DMR  25  transfers the transcoded original content to the selected real DMR device for playback on the selected real DMR device. 
         [0040]    Step  114 : End. 
         [0041]    In summary, the present invention uses a virtual DMR to communicate with real DMR devices in order to allow users to play content on the real DMR devices that the user would otherwise not be able to sent content to through the computer running the Windows 8 operating system. The virtual DMR has charm certification for the Windows 8 operating system, and connects to the real DMR devices for allowing the user to conveniently and quickly connect to real DMR devices to play content on the real DMR devices. In this way a large number of real DMR devices can be used for playing content through the virtual DMR installed on the computer. 
         [0042]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.