Patent ID: 8259624

Claim:
A method of video conferencing comprising: receiving conferencing signals from plural sites connected in a conference, the conferencing signals including video signals and control signals, the video signals including at least a first video signal at a 4:3 aspect ratio and a second video signal at a 16:9 aspect ratio; after receiving the video signals, defining a composite image layout by deriving at least the 4:3 aspect ratio of the first video signal and the 16:9 aspect ratio of the second video signal derived from the received video signals, and causing said composite image layout to include a 16:9 sub-picture area and 4:3 sub-picture area for the second video signal at the 16:9 aspect ratio and the first video signal at the 4:3 aspect ratio, respectively, wherein the defining includes selecting the composite image layout from a plurality of options including CP4w+4 referring to four displayable 4:3 video signals and four displayable 16:9 video signals, CP2w+3 referring to three displayable 4:3 video signals and two displayable 16:9 video signals, and CP1w+4 referring to four displayable 4:3 video signals and one 16:9 video signal; processing the received video signals to provide a composite video signal according to the defined composite image layout, wherein a 16:9 sub-picture and 4:3 sub-picture are simultaneously included in their corresponding sub-picture areas without letterboxing; and transmitting the composite video signal to at least one of the connected sites.