Abstract:
An interactive karaoke system includes a microphone developing an audio input from at least one karaoke performer; a camera producing a series of video frames including the at least one performer; and a karaoke processor system including a video environment and a related audio environment for the karaoke performer. The karaoke processor system is coupled to the camera to create extracted images of the at least one karaoke performer from the series of video frames and to composite the extracted images with a background derived from the video environment. The video environment is affected by at least one of a position and a movement of the at least one karaoke performer. A karaoke network includes a local area network, a local karaoke server coupled to the local area network and storing local karaoke content; and a number of karaoke systems coupled to the local area network, each of which can request karaoke content from the local karaoke server.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/070,626, filed Jan. 7, 1998, and is incorporated herein by reference. This application is related to copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/951,089, filed Oct. 15, 1997; Ser. No. 08/951,070, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,494; Ser. No. 09/174,491, filed Oct. 15, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,744 B1, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/062,068 and 60/062,361, both filed Oct. 15, 1997; Ser. No. 08/951,087, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,289; Ser. No. 08/943,681, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,130,677; Ser. No. 09/173,583, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,384,819 B1, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/062,361, filed Oct. 15, 1997; Ser. No. 08/950,404, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,031,934; and Ser. No. 08/951,083, filed Oct. 15, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,459; all assigned to the assignee of the present application, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to multimedia entertainment systems, and more particularly to karaoke systems. 
     Karaoke is a form of entertainment, originating in Japan, that features a live singer with pre-recorded accompaniment. Karaoke is a Japanese abbreviated compound word, where “kara” comes from “karappo” meaning empty, and “oke ” is the abbreviation of “okesutura,” or orchestra. Therefore, karaoke literally means “empty orchestra.” While originating in Japan, the karaoke boom has spread abroad, and is popular in Korea, China and other parts of Southeast Asia, as well as in the U.S. and Europe. 
     Karaoke music was originally recorded on audio tape, but quickly evolved with the advent of the compact disk, which not only allows rapid, non-serial access new songs, but which also can include multimedia effects such as video and lyrics. Therefore, the advent of the compact disk made it possible to enhance the karaoke experience with video scenes synchronized with the music and the accompanying lyrics. 
     Using technological innovations such as the video disk, laser disk, and CD graphics, karaoke has grown to be a major entertainment industry. Family-use karaoke sets are also available. However, there is an obstacle to this end of the business: since most Japanese houses stand close each other and are still built of wood, with poor soundproofing, it would be very annoying of the neighbors to sing into an amplified karaoke system at night. 
     Reacting to the opportunity created by this problem, entrepreneurs created the “karaoke box”, a roadside facility containing closed-door insulated rooms for singing. They are advertised as a place where you can “sing to your heart&#39;s content.” The first karaoke box appeared in 1984 in a rice field in the countryside of Okayama Prefecture, just west of the Kansai area. It was built from a converted freight car. Since then, karaoke boxes have been built on unoccupied grounds all over Japan, and in urban areas, karaoke rooms, which consist of compartments made by partitioning and soundproofing rooms in a building, were introduced and set up one after another. 
     Karaoke is a common form of entertainment for Japanese business people. It is not at all uncommon for workers to drop into a bar with colleagues after work, have a drink, and enjoy singing popular songs to the accompaniment of karaoke. Karaoke has been entertaining people ever since its invention 20 years ago, and has become firmly established in Japanese society. 
     Today, karaoke is available in a wide variety of formats, suitable for any venue, from a soloist rehearsing up to large crowds at community gatherings. However, a typical karaoke show includes one or two singers, and a possibly a karaoke operator to operate the karaoke equipment. Couples will often enjoy a karaoke session together. The equipment typically includes a player, an amplifier, and a television monitor for the music video. There may be an additional television monitor facing the singers to display the lyrics, or the lyrics can be displayed on the television monitory that is displaying the music video. 
     While karaoke is very popular, it may be reaching a saturation point, at least in Japan. This is because there are many thousands of karaoke boxes and bars having karaoke systems and, as such, the novelty is beginning to wear off. 
     One attempt to increase the interest in karaoke is the use of “blue screen” technology which allows a video camera to capture the image of one or more persons standing in front of a blue screen, and inserting the images of those persons into the music video. However, this technology is somewhat cumbersome in that it requires a specialized stage including the blue screen, and in that the karaoke customers are merely superimposed upon a background image of the music video without any interactivity with that background scene. 
     What would therefore be desirable is a karaoke system which allows new, enhanced, and interactive participation of karaoke customers with their karaoke experience. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one embodiment of the interactive karaoke system of the present invention, a personal computer (PC) is paired with a karaoke audio/video system and a video camera to provide interactivity between the karaoke customers (i.e. the karaoke performers) and the karaoke system. In one aspect of the present invention, images of the karaoke customers are captured with a video camera, processed in the personal computer, and composited into the musical video presentation. However, unlike prior art “blue screen” technologies, no special blue screen is required, and the user can interact with the karaoke content as portrayed on the TV monitor. For example, the karaoke customer may make gestures which to cause the images on the TV monitor to change. 
     A process for providing interactive karaoke entertainment includes the acts of determining if there is a user initiation and, if so, whether the request of content is local. If not, the content is retrieved. Next, a “frame” of video information is received by the video camera, and background subtraction is performed. Then, there is a tracking analysis, with the results being put into a tracking buffer. A gesture analysis is then performed. Next, the image is “composited” based upon the tracking and gesture analysis and the request of content. The resulting multimedia content is then outputted and, preferably, recorded. The next frame is then retrieved from the video camera and the process is repeated. 
     The interactive karaoke entertainment system is designed so that it can form a part of a larger network of karaoke entertainment systems. More particularly, a number of interactive karaoke entertainment systems are adapted to coupled to a local area network (LAN) which is served by a local PC server. The local PC server can communicate with an Internet based content server to download content that is not locally available and to upload accounting information. 
     The local PC server includes the acts of determining whether it has been polled by a content server and, if so, accounting information is transferred to the contents server and other information or software or content can be uploaded or downloaded with the content server. If there has been no polling, the local PC server then determines whether there is a request from a local PC that is coupled to the local area network. If there is, it is determined whether the content is locally available and, if not, the local PC server communicates with remote content server to obtain the desired content. The content is then downloaded to the requesting PC over the local area network and an accounting entry is created at the local PC server reflecting the karaoke customers use of that content. 
     It will therefore be appreciated that the interactive karaoke system of the present invention will add a new dimension of enjoyment to the karaoke experience. The interactive nature allows the karaoke to transcend a simple performance and take on aspects of an interactive game. This increases the enjoyment and therefore the use of the interactive karaoke systems of the present invention. 
     These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a representation of interactive karaoke entertainment system in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a portion of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of the personal computer (PC) portion of the system of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the computer implement operations performed by the personal computer of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4A is a illustration of the compositing act of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 4B is an illustration of the compositing act of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 5 is a representation of a networked karaoke entertainment system of the present invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating computer implemented acts performed by the local PC server of FIG. 5; 
     FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation illustrating one implementation of the interactive karaoke entertainment system of the present invention; 
     FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate illustrating another, more integrated, implementation of the interactive karaoke entertainment system of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a more detailed view of the karaoke module used in the DVD and VCD player of FIG. 8B; 
     FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the vision processor of the karaoke module illustrated in FIG. 9; 
     FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate preferred integrated circuit package arrangement for the vision processor of FIG. 10; 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a typical set-up of an interactive karaoke entertainment system of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 12 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that utilizes a digital television system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In FIG. 1, an interactive karaoke entertainment system  10  in accordance with the present invention includes karaoke audio and video equipment  12 , a personal computer (PC)  14 , a TV monitor  16 , and a video camera  18 . Associated with the karaoke audio and video equipment  12  is an input microphone  20  and a remote control  22 . An optional photo-printer  24  can be coupled to the PC  12 . 
     The karaoke audio and video equipment can be provided by any number of vendors. In this embodiment of the entertainment system  10 , only the audio portion of the karaoke equipment  12  is used. In other words, as a karaoke customer sings into the microphone  20 , the karaoke equipment  12  will amplify and process the sound and play it from speakers (not shown) and/or the TV monitor  16 . However, the image for the TV monitor  16 , in the present embodiment, is provided by the PC  14  via a video input line  26  to the karaoke equipment  12 . Karaoke equipment, such as karaoke equipment  12 , typically have an external video input to receive external video information. The combined video and audio is then provided by the karaoke equipment  12  to the TV monitor  16  as illustrated by arrow  28 . 
     In addition, the karaoke equipment  12  typically includes a control and data port (often a serial port) which is coupled to the PC by a bus  30 . The output of the video camera  18  is coupled to the PC  14  by a cable  32  and, in alternate embodiments of the invention, may be coupled to the PC by a control cable to allow specialized software and utilities to be loaded into the camera  18  from the PC  14 . The photo-printer  24  allows the capture of images that are displayed on the TV monitor that can be printed as photographs, photographic buttons, rubber stamps, etc. There are several vendors for such photo-printers. Preferably, the PC  14  is coupled to a local network server by a local area network (LAN) cable  34 . 
     In FIG. 2, the PC  14  and some peripheral components connected thereto are illustrated in block diagram form. The PC  14  is preferably a standard microcomputer available from a variety of sources including a microprocessor  36  that is coupled to dynamic random access memory (DRAM)  38  and to read only memory (ROM)  40 . The microprocessor  36  is also coupled to one or more I/O buses  42  to which peripherals, such as peripheral  44  is coupled. For example, peripheral  44  can be a CD-ROM drive, a DVD drive, a hard disk drive, or any number of input/output (I/O) interfaces. The voice input from the microphone  20  is coupled to the karaoke audio video equipment  12  via a cable  46  and, optionally, to the I/O bus  42  by an audio input card  48 . The image input from the video camera  18  is input to a video input card  50  which, also, is coupled to I/O bus  42 . The LAN  34  is coupled to the I/O bus  42  by a network card  52 . A video output card  54  is coupled to the I/O bus and produces NTSC (and possibly stereo) output for the karaoke audio visual system  12  on the line  26 . A parallel card  56  is coupled to the I/O bus  42  and produces photo-printer output signals for the photo-printer  24 . An audio card  58  produces an audio output for a power amplifier (not shown) that may be hooked up to loudspeakers (also not shown). A control card  60  an be provided for purposes such as lighting control. 
     In FIG. 3, a preferred physical implementation of the PC  14  as illustrated. In the present embodiment, the PC  14  is of a “tower” design which provides a multiplicity of I/O slots for he various cards of the present invention. More particularly, a memory expansion board  62 , a video card  54 , the audio card  58 , the camera interface card  50 , the network interface card  52 , the control card  60 , and the parallel card  58  are preferably plugged into I/O slots within the PC tower  14 . A keyboard  64  and a mouse  66  are coupled to the PC tower  14  in a conventional manner. Likewise, the PC tower  14  is preferably provided with a CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, and a pair of hard disks in a conventional fashion. It is preferred to have two hard disks operating in parallel (i.e. “mirroring” each other) for redundancy, since this is the most common area of failure in the PC. By having redundant hard disks drives, the karaoke operator can be virtually assured that the karaoke entertainment system will be continuously operable. 
     In FIG. 4, the computer implemented process running on the PC  14  is illustrated in flow-diagram. More particularly, the process  68  begins at  70  and, in a decision operation, it is determined whether a user (i.e. a “karaoke customer”) is initiating the use of the karaoke entertainment system. This is typically accomplished by using the remote control  22  to activate the selection of a karaoke song. If there is no user initiation, the operation  72  cycles until an initiation is detected. Once an initiation is detected, the process  68  determines whether the requested content is local. By “content” it is meant the requested music video, along with any accompanying multi-media affects and software required for the interactivity with the karaoke entertainment system. If the content is not local, an operation  76  retrieves the content. 
     Next, in an operation  78 , a “frame” of video data is retrieved from the video camera  18 . Once the frame has been retrieved and buffered in the memory of the personal computer  14 , a background subtraction is performed. A preferred process for background subtraction is described in co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 08/951,089 which has been incorporated herein by reference. Next, a tracking analysis operation  82  is performed and the results are placed in a tracking buffer of the PC  14  and an operation  84 . Preferred processes for tracking are described in one or more of the co-pending patent applications that have been incorporated by reference. Next, a gesture analysis operation  86  is performed. The preferred gesture analysis process as described in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 08/951,070 which has been incorporated by reference. Subsequently, the images composited based upon the tracking and gesture analysis of operations  82  and  86 , respectively, and by the content requested by the karaoke customer. Preferred methods for compositing are described in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 08/951,089 which has been incorporated herein by reference. Finally, in operation  90  the resulting composited multi-media content is outputted and, preferably, recorded in a suitable recording device such as a video cassette recorder, recordable CD-ROM, recordable DVD disk, etc. It is the determined in operation  92  if the karaoke customer is done with their particular karaoke session. If so, process control is returned to operation  72  and if not, process control is returned to operation  78  to retrieve a new frame from the video camera. 
     In FIG. 4A, the operation of the process  68  is illustrated. More particularly, a “frame”  94  of video derived from the camera  18  is loaded into the memory  62  of the PC  14 . Those skilled in the art of digital video are well acquainted with the concept of frames. The frame  94  includes the “true” background image  96  and the images of two karaoke customers or “players” or “performers”  96  and  98 . The frame is retrieved by operation  78  and a background subtraction is performed by operation  80  to remove all but the karaoke customers  96  and  98 . It should be noted that this background subtraction is accomplished without the use of the awkward blue screen apparatus of the prior art. With the background subtracted, the operation  82  performs the tracking analysis operation  82  to provide a tracked image  100 . The compositing operation  88  then composites the karaoke customers  96  and  98  into an interactive environment  102 . 
     The aforementioned technologies permit the karaoke customers  96  and  98  to interact with the environment  102 . For example, when karaoke customer  96  raises her hands above her head, animated sparks  104  can be caused to fly from her fingertips. As another example, the grasping of the hand of the karaoke customer  96  by the karaoke customer  98  can be used a gesture which produces the images of hearts  106  in the interactive environment  102 . Other gestures or body positions can also interact with various objects  108  in the interactive environment, or change the scene of the interactive environment. Therefore, with the technology of the present invention, karaoke becomes a truly interactive activity, somewhat akin to a game, wherein the multi-media, enhanced reality, and virtual reality effects are possible. It should also be noted that this is a true multi-media experience for the karaoke customers. In addition to video and audio outputs, there are the lyrics  110  of the song, animation effects, etc. 
     In FIG. 4B, some of the activities of the compositing operation  88  are illustrated in a conceptual form. The operation  88  includes a “media merging” engine  112  which has input, lyrics, audio (e.g. such as from the microphone), sound effects, graphics, animation, camera images, alpha images (as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Ser. No. 08/951,089), tracking information, and gestures. The output is a video stream which provides the video signals for a television monitor, and an audio stream which provides the audio signals for the television monitor and/or separate loudspeakers. 
     In FIG. 5, a network configuration for the interactive karaoke entertainment system  10  is illustrated. More particularly, a karaoke entertainment system  10  is shown in the lower left hand corner of the page, while a number of other similar systems  10 A,  10 B,  10 C, etc. are also illustrated. Each of the interactive karaoke entertainment systems  10  are coupled to a local area network (LAN) backbone or hub  114  to communicate with a local PC server  116 . Preferably, the local PC server  116  is simply a powerful personal computer system. 
     Also preferably, the local PC server  116  and the interactive karaoke entertainment systems are in fairly close proximity, e.g. within the same building. For example, each of the interactive karaoke entertainment systems  10  can be located in its own, soundproofed room, while the local PC server can be provided in a server or operator room in the same building. The implementation of local area networks are well known to skilled in the art. Preferably, the local PC server is coupled to a content server  118  by a telephone line  120 . The content server  118  includes karaoke “content”, which is defined as musical video accompanied by lyrics and any data or software programs required for the interactive use of the “content.” The telephone line connecting the local PC server to the content server can be a standard analog telephone line (with the use of appropriate modems at both the local PC  16  and the content server  118 ), or can be a digital line such as an ISDN line, T1 line, etc. digital line. The advantage of the digital lines are, of course, a significantly higher data transfer rate, with the disadvantage of higher cost. Other data transmission medium are also well known to those skilled in the art. 
     In the present example, the content server  118  is a “mirror site” that is coupled to a remote content server  122  by, for example, the Internet  124 . As is well known to those skilled in the art, a “mirror site” is a site which is updated on a periodic basis, to reflect or “mirror” the contents of another or “master” site, such as content server  122 . The purpose of the mirror site  118  is to prevent unnecessary communication delays, especially when transferring large amounts of data, over a relatively slow transmission media such as the Internet  124 . For example, one or more content servers can be provided in various cities in Japan while a single content server can be provided in Palo Alto, Calif. A number of content development systems  124  can then be used to load new content on content server  22  which, as explained previously, creates a mirror image of itself at the content server mirror site  118  via the Internet  124  on a periodic basis. 
     In FIG. 6, a computer implemented process  126  running on the local PC server  116  begins at  128  and, in an operation  130 , it determines whether it has been polled by the content server mirror site  118 . It should be noted here that the mirror sites  118  are not required, as the local PC server could communicate directly with the content server  122  via the Internet  124 . However, for purposes of efficiency, it is often more desirable to access a local mirror site  118 . 
     If the local PC server  116  determines that it has been polled, it connects with the appropriate content server and transfers accounting information in an operation  132 . This accounting information can include the number of times a particular karaoke video has been played and what the appropriate charge for the karaoke operator should be. In addition, an operation  134  can be used to upload and download other information, content, software, etc. Process control is then returned to operation  30 . 
     If operation  130  does not detect a polling from a content server, an operation  136  determines whether here is a request from a local PC, i.e. one of the interactive karaoke entertainment systems  10 . If not, process control is returned to operation  130 . If there is a request from a local PC, an operation  138  determines whether the requested content is locally available. If not, the content is retrieved from the content server in an operation  140 . It should be noted that the local PC server  116  can be connected to the content server mirror site  118  either on a continuous basis (such as with a ISDN line) or on an “on demand” basis, such as with dial-up modem access. Next, an operation  142  downloads the requested content to the requesting local PC, and in operation  144  creates an accounting entry at the local PC server  116 . This accounting entry, along with other data, is what is transferred to the content server in the operation  132 . 
     In FIG. 7, an alternative interactive karaoke entertainment system  10 ′ includes a DVD and VCD player  146 , a karaoke adapter  148  of the present invention, a recorder  150 , a binocular camera  18 ′, and a television monitor  16 . Preferably, the player  146  and adapter  148  are controlled by a remote control  152 . In this embodiment, a microphone  20  is coupled to the player  146 , and a number of DVD and/or VCD disks  154  are inserted to the player  146 . The output of the player  146  goes into the adapter  148 , as does the output of the camera  18 ′. 
     In this embodiment of the present invention, the adapter  48  performs the functionality described previously with regards to the PC  14  running the computer implemented process  68  of FIG.  4 . However, the advantage of this systems is that a separate, dedicated personal computer  14  is not required, since that functionality has been integrated into the adapter  148 . The output of the adapter  148  is input into the television monitor and/or loudspeakers (not shown). In addition, a VCR, recordable CD-ROM or recordable DVD recorder  150  can be used to record the output of the adapter  148 . 
     In FIGS. 8A and 8B, yet another alternate embodiment of the present invention integrates the functionality of the player  146  with the adapter  158  of FIG.  7 . More particularly, a combination DVD/VCD karaoke player  156  is shown in a front elevational view in FIG. 8A and a top plan view with the top lid removed in FIG.  8 B. 
     With primary reference to FIG. 8B, the combined unit  156  includes a VCD and DVD logic module  158 , a disk loader  160 , a VCD and DVD drive  162 , and a karaoke module  164 . A power supply  166  is coupled to a source of AC power by a cord and plug  68 . The unit  156  has, as inputs, an input  170  from the server, and an input  172  from the camera. The unit  156  has, as outputs, an output  174  to the television monitor  16  and an output  176  to recorder  150 . The advantaged of integrating the karaoke module  164  into a DVD and VCD player includes both size and cost reductions. 
     In FIG. 9, the interactive video karaoke module  164  is shown in a conceptual form. It includes, as inputs, an input  174  for receiving video input from the disk player, and an input  180  for receiving input from the camera  18 ′. In addition, the module  164  includes an output  182  to the television monitor  16  and an optional output  184  to the camera  18 ′. It is therefore contemplated that the camera  18 ′ being used with the interactive karaoke entertainment system  10 ′ may be a “smart” camera which can receive programs, data, and commands from the karaoke module  164 . The karaoke module  164  includes a vision processor  186  and an ASIC  188  to handle data communications between the karaoke module  164  and the rest of the unit  156 . 
     In FIG. 10, a block diagram of the major components of the vision processor  186  is illustrated. More particularly, the vision processor  186  includes a digital video interface  190 , the color processing unit  192 , a microcontroller  194 , a vision algorithm core  196 , a compression unit  198 , an ASIC  200  to handle various glue logic functions, memory  202 , a Universal Serial Bus (USB) module  204 , a memory controller  206 , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) controller  208 , and a PAL/NTSC module  210 . J-Tag circuitry can be included to provide boundary scan capabilities. The input signals (at the digital video interface  190 ) are processed by the vision processor  186  under microcontroller  194  control. A first output  212  is provided by the USB, and a second output, either for European (PAL) or U.S. (NTSC) video formats is provided at an output  214 . External DRAM  216  is coupled to the memory controller  206 , and an external FTGA  218  is coupled to the FPGA controller  208 . A top plan view of a preferred packaging for the vision processor  186  is shown in FIG. 10A, with a side elevational view taken along line  10 B— 10 B is shown in FIG.  10 B. 
     In FIG. 11, an exemplary use of an interactive karaoke entertainment system  10  is illustrated. The camera  18  of the unit is aimed toward a play area  220  where the karaoke customers may sing and otherwise perform. It is preferred that the customer stay within the play area  220  so as to remain within the “field of sight”  222  of the camera  18 . A wired or wireless microphone  20  can be used by the karaoke customers as they sing, and a remote control can be used to activate the system and to select the karaoke music video they wish to accompany. As the karaoke customers moves about in the play area  220  and make pre-determined gestures and poses, they can interact with the video and other content displayed on the television monitor  16 . 
     While the present invention has been described primarily with reference to standard television (analog) monitors, an embodiment of the present invention utilizes the new digital television standards. More particularly, in FIG. 12 a digital television  224  is used as the display unit an interactive karaoke entertainment system  10 ″. The real time video interaction and vision technologies  226 , as disclosed herein provide an interaction between the digital television and a number of peripheral sources. More particularly, the real time video interaction vision technologies provide an interaction with a computer  228 , a digital camera  230 , a DVD player  232 , a VCD player  234 , a game console  236 , a digital broadcast receiver  238 , a video telephone  240 , a “set top” box  242 , a satellite receiver  244 , or a camcorder  246 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the functionality of the interactive karaoke entertainment systems  10  as described with reference to the analog television monitor are quite transportable to the digital television system as well. 
     While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are may alternative ways of implementing both the process and apparatus of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present.