Media Processor Synchronizes Alternate Audio Streams
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia presentation systems struggle to provide non-disruptive, synchronized alternate audio streams during shared multimedia presentations, where multiple users can experience the same video content with different audio portions without interfering with each other.
Innovation Solution
A media processor decodes video and multiple audio streams simultaneously, using synchronization markers to ensure that different audio portions are synchronized with the video, allowing different users to receive and experience their respective audio streams independently, which can be forwarded to shared or personal sound systems via wired or wireless connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple audio streams are decoded and distributed simultaneously, then user personalization and audio variety are improved, but system complexity and synchronization difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates audio processing into independent streams, with each user receiving their own decoded audio portion through individual presentation devices. This segmentation allows multiple audio streams to be processed simultaneously without interfering with each other, reducing the complexity of managing mixed audio signals while maintaining audio personalization.
Solution Approach 2:
The presentation device acts as an intermediary between the encoded data stream and multiple users, performing simultaneous decoding of multiple audio portions and distributing them to respective output devices. This intermediary role simplifies the system architecture by centralizing the complex multi-stream processing in one device rather than requiring complex coordination between multiple devices.
2Reliability
If multiple audio streams are processed simultaneously, then audio synchronization with video is improved, but processing time and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary decoding of multiple audio streams before video rendering, using the presentation device to decode all audio portions in advance. This preliminary action ensures that audio streams are ready for immediate playback when video is displayed, maintaining synchronization without adding processing delays during the actual presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The presentation device maintains continuous processing of multiple audio streams simultaneously, decoding and buffering audio data in real-time as video data flows through the system. This continuous processing ensures that audio and video remain synchronized without interruption, while the persistent buffering capacity allows the system to handle processing loads efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, decoding first and second encoded audio portions extracted from a digitally encoded data stream to obtain first and second decoded audio portions. The digitally encoded data stream includes an encoded video portion, multiple encoded audio portions including the first and second audio portions and a reference marker. The first and second decoded audio portions are synchronized to a decoded video portion based on the reference marker. The first decoded audio portion is forwarded to equipment of a first user and the second decoded audio portion is forwarded to equipment of a second user. Presentations of the first decoded audio portion by the equipment of the first user and the second decoded audio portion by the equipment of the second user are synchronized to a presentation of the decoded video portion. Other embodiments are disclosed.