Patent ID: 7337111

Claim:
A system that provides an audio/visual output to each of a plurality of listeners in a manner that permits individualized audio volume adjustment for the plurality of listeners located in an audience, comprising: a video device that displays the video portion of the audio/visual output to plurality of listeners located in the audience; one or more elements of a storage medium that stores the video portion of the audio/visual output and the corresponding audio portion of the audio/visual output, wherein the audio portion comprises a first audio signal being substantially a voice signal and a second audio signal including substantially audio content other than the voice signal; a transmitter that transmits the first and second audio signals from the one or more elements of the storage medium in synchronization with the transmission of the video portion of the audio/visual output, to a plurality of personal listening devices, wherein each of the plurality of personal listening devices is associated with each of the plurality of listeners in the audience, each of the personal listening devices comprising: a first receiver that receives the first transmitted audio signal; a second receiver that receives the second transmitted audio signal; a first adjustment device that adjusts the first audio signal to provide a first adjusted audio signal based on inputs from the user; a second adjustment device that adjusts the second audio signal to provide a second adjusted audio signal based on inputs from the user; an audio signal combining device that combines the first adjusted audio signal with the corresponding second adjusted audio signal, to produce a combined audio signal; and one or more transducers that receives the combined audio signal, converts the combined audio signal to sounds, and outputs the sounds so they may be heard by each of the plurality of listeners associated with each of the plurality of personal listening devices in the audience; wherein the system permits each of the plurality of listeners to adjust the first and second audio signals independently of other ones of the plurality of listeners in the audience.