Abstract:
Methods and apparatus for managing audio corresponding to a video stream in an audio-visual system are disclosed. The audio-visual system includes a display capable of simultaneously displaying two or more separate video streams, and sound reproducing devices intended to deliver audio to viewers. The method includes receiving an audio-video signal comprising various channels. Two or more channels are selected for viewing. The audio associated with the selected channels are identified. The viewers who want to watch the displayed channel are identified. The sound reproducing devices associated with the intended viewers are also identified. The identified audio streams are then directed to the identified sound reproducing devices such that only the viewers associated with a given channel can hear the audio associated with that channel, to the exclusion of other viewers.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION: 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a home-entertainment system which includes a display device with an ability to display multiple videos in different portions of the display screen and specifically, a method and system for directing audio streams, corresponding to different videos, to users of such systems. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Conventional television and other audio-video systems generate audio pertaining to a video stream e.g. in a television signal. The audio from the systems can be a cause of disturbance to people other than the viewer. Additionally, though some such systems can simultaneously display multiple videos in separate windows on the display device, at any one time, they can only generate audio corresponding to a single one of the windows. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Methods and apparatus for managing audio corresponding to a video stream in an audio-visual system are disclosed. The audio-visual system includes sound reproducing devices intended to deliver audio to the required viewers. The method includes receiving an audio-video signal comprising various channels. Two or more channels are selected for simultaneous display by the viewers. The audio associated with each of the selected channels are identified. For each of the selected channels, the viewers who want to watch that channel are identified. The sound reproducing devices associated with those viewers are also identified. The identified audio stream for that channel is then directed to the identified sound reproducing devices such that only viewers associated with that channel can hear the audio for that channel, to the exclusion of other viewers. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is an exemplary set-up of the inventive system. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  shows an exemplary inventive system for generating audio corresponding to the viewed channel. 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary inventive procedure for generating audio corresponding to the viewed television channel according to one implementation. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0007]    Overview 
         [0008]    An audio-visual system is disclosed that directs audio corresponding to a channel to certain intended viewer(s) without any other viewer(s) being able to listen to the audio. 
         [0009]    These systems include sound-reproducing output and display devices e.g. conventional CRT TV, plasma TVs, LCD TVs etc. with the ability to display multiple videos in multiple windows. The system receives an audio-video signal through a wired or a wireless medium e.g. home-cable services, local television stations, Direct to Home (DTH), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player, Video Compact Disc (VCD) player, personal computer (PC) etc. The audio-video signal may include one or more channels. A plurality of viewers each selects the channels she wishes to view. The selections collectively result in the display screen being divided into smaller display regions to display the selected channels. Further, the sound reproducing devices associated with each viewer is also identified. For each selected channel, the system identifies the audio corresponding to that channel, and directs that identified audio to the sound reproducing devices associated with the viewers that selected the channel. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, the sound reproducing devices can be physically hardwired to an output terminal of the audio-visual system which receives audio generated by the system. The sound reproducing devices can be, for example, headphones, earphones or other similar devices. 
         [0011]    In another embodiment, the sound reproducing devices may be one or more directional speakers. Directional speakers employing ultrasonic sound beams, like Audio Spotlight™ from Holosonic Research Labs and Hypersonic™ Sound System (HSS™) from American Technology Corporation, have been available for sometime now. Similar directional speakers and their workings are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,908 (Tanaka, et al), which is incorporated by reference herein, and which describes a manner in which the generation of audio signals takes place using directional speakers. 
         [0012]    An Exemplary System 
         [0013]    An exemplary system, describing one of the implementations, is shown in  FIG. 1 . A system  100  consists of an audio-visual device  102  connected to a display device  104  capable of displaying at least two video streams in separate portions of the display device  104 . Specifically, each video stream can be displayed on any one of the display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n , as is done for picture-in-picture (PIP) television implementations. The video may originate from for example, a television channel, DTH, DVD player, VCD player, PC etc. being received by the system  100 . The display device  104  is functionally connected to two or more directional speakers  106 - 1  to  106 - n . Each directional speaker is intended to deliver the audio stream corresponding to the channel being displayed in the secondary display regions to either viewer A,  108 - 1  or viewer B,  108 - n  as depicted in  FIG. 1 . The system can also be extended easily by one skilled in the art so as to enable more viewers to watch the desired channel in addition to the two viewers described above. The audio generated by the directional speakers would be audible only to the viewer for whom it is intended and not to the other viewers. The emitted path lines  110  indicate the boundary of the region where the audio reproduced by the speakers  106 - 1  to  106 - n  is audible. As indicated, only the intended viewer within the emitted path lines  110  will perceive the generated audio. The display device  104  is connected to the speakers  106 - 1  to  106 - n  either through a wired or a wireless medium  112 . In one implementation, the connection  112  may be realized through Digital Infrared Audio Transmission (DIAT) Technology. DIAT is a technology which can be used for transmission of digital audio throughout a local area using infrared light signals as carriers. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the functionality of the audio-visual device  102  can be controlled through a user input device  114 . 
         [0015]    In one embodiment, the audio-visual device  102  may be incorporated in the circuitry of the display device  104 . 
         [0016]    In a preferred embodiment, the systems and methods for producing audio for the intended viewer(s) can be implemented by computer-executable instructions executed by a computing device. Program modules in the computing device generally include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Such systems and methods may also be implemented in hardware. 
         [0017]    These and other aspects for producing audio for the intended viewer(s) are now described in greater detail. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows the exemplary system  100  for producing audio corresponding to an audio-video signal, for the intended recipient. According to one embodiment, system  100  further includes an audio-visual device  102  which further comprises a processor  204 , coupled to a system memory  206 . The processor  204  may be a single processing entity or a plurality of processing entities such as one or more central processing units (CPUs). The system memory  206  may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. The system memory  206  includes, for example volatile memory (e.g., RAM) and non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, flash memory, etc.). The operational instructions stored in the system memory  206  are executed by the processor  204 . 
         [0019]    The system memory  206  includes program modules  208  and program data  210 . The program modules  208  are responsible for causing the audio-visual device  104  to direct audio of the relevant video channel to the intended viewer through sound reproducing devices(s)  106 - 1  to  106 - n . The sound reproducing devices can be for example, headphones/earphones, directional speakers or combinations thereof. The audio produced would thus be heard only by the intended viewer. The program data section  210  has stored data which are required and/or generated by the action of the program modules  208 . 
         [0020]    The program module  208  comprises a PIP module  214 , an audio identification module  216 , an audio routing module  218 , and miscellaneous program module  220 . The miscellaneous program module  220  includes submodules for carrying out basic system functions, and can include the operating system (OS) for the audio-visual system  102 . 
         [0021]    The program data section  210  of the system memory comprises a plurality of datasets. These include dataset(s) for storing the input signal  222 , identified audio(s)  224 , video data(s)  226 , selection data  228  and other dataset(s)  230 . The selection data  228  contains the information in relation to the user input provided by a user input device  114 . The other datasets  230  store various other data generated by the program modules  208 . 
         [0022]    The PIP module  214  receives the input signal. The input signal includes one or more video streams. Operation of the PIP module  214  is initiated based on the input provided by a user input device  114 . The user input device  114  e.g. a remote control, is under the control of one of the intended recipients referred to as primary viewer. On initiation through the user input device  114 , the PIP module  214  divides the display area of the display device  104  into secondary display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n . It would be noted that the primary viewer may view one of the video streams in the an audio-video signal being displayed in the secondary display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n  of the display device  104 . The PIP module  214  displays selected video streams in the secondary display region  104 - 1  to  104 - n  based on the selection data  228  obtained through the user input device  114 . The audio identification module  216  identifies the audio associated with the video streams as the identified audio(s)  224 . The primary viewer, through the user input device  114 , selects the sound reproducing devices  106 , through which the identified audio is to be generated. The sound reproducing devices  106 , in order to produce the identified audio(s)  224 , have to be set-up to give the desired performance. 
         [0023]    In one implementation, a one time set up of the sound reproducing devices can be performed by manually setting up the sound reproducing devices  106 . Manual setting up of the sound reproducing devices  106  involve adjusting the direction of the speakers. In another possible implementation, the sound reproducing devices  106  might be adjusted through a separate remote controlled device. 
         [0024]    The primary viewer allocates different selection numbers for different sound reproducing devices  106 . In one implementation, the selection numbers can be allocated on the basis of selection data  228 . The different selection numbers in selection data  228  are then associated with the identified audio(s)  224 . The audio routing module  218  based on the association established between the identified audio(s)  224  and the sound reproducing devices  106 , directs the identified audio(s)  224 , to the desired sound reproducing devices  106 , for sound generation. In another exemplary implementation, the association between the sound reproducing devices  106  and identified audio(s)  224  can be established either manually, automatically or a combination thereof in a manner known in the art. The sound generated can thus be heard by only the intended viewer and not by the other viewers. 
         [0025]    In another implementation, the viewers other than the primary viewer may also be provided with secondary input devices to allow them to choose the audio/video associated with the television channels being displayed in the secondary display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n.    
         [0026]    In another embodiment, the sound reproducing devices can be headphones/earphones, directional speakers or combinations thereof. 
         [0027]    In another embodiment, the sound reproducing devices  106 - 1  to  106 - n  may be connected to the device  102  through wireless means like Digital Infrared Audio Transmission technology and other wireless technologies. 
         [0028]    In yet another implementation, the input audio-video signal corresponds to television signals being received by the audio-visual device  102 . 
         [0029]    An Exemplary Procedure 
         [0030]    According to one implementation  FIG. 3  shows an exemplary procedure  300  for generating audio corresponding to the viewed channel. For purposes of exemplary illustration and description, the operations of the procedure are described with respect to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . 
         [0031]    At step  302 , the PIP module  214 , divides the display area of the display device into secondary display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n  based on the selection data  228  entered by the user input device  114 . At step  304 , the PIP module  214  receives the input signal  222 . The input signal contains a plurality of television channels being received. At step  306 , on the basis of the selection data  228 , some channels are selected which are displayed in the secondary display regions  104 - 1  to  104 - n  of the display device  104 . At step  308 , the audio streams pertaining to the channels being displayed in the secondary display regions of the display device  104 , are identified by the audio identification module  216 . At step  310 , based on selection through the user input device  114 , the sound reproducing devices  106 - 1  to  106 - n  are selected for reproducing the audio 
         [0032]    At step  312 , the audio routing module  216 , routes the identified audio stream corresponding to the video stream being displayed in secondary display regions of the display device  104 , to the specified sound reproducing devices  106 - 1  to  106 - n . The sound output generated by the said device will be audible only to the intended viewer(s) and will not be audible to the other viewer(s). 
         [0033]    The above procedure for implementation has been described with respect to one embodiment of the system. It can be appreciated that the system can be implemented by other embodiments as well. 
       CONCLUSION 
       [0034]    Although the systems and methods for managing audio pertaining to a video portion of an audio-video signal, have been described in language specific to structural features and/or operations or actions, it is understood that the implementations defined in the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described. Rather, the specific features and operations of this invention are disclosed as exemplary embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein.