Selective Audio Playback During Fast-Forward Video Review
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing playback solutions during trick play operations, such as fast-forward and rewind, often result in distorted or absent audio due to increased speed, preventing users from hearing important audio portions like dialogue.
Innovation Solution
Selective playback of audio at normal speed during trick play operations by identifying and buffering important audio portions based on metadata importance levels and user preferences, while advancing video at increased speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If fast-forward or rewind operation is performed during content playback, then the playback speed is increased to skip or review portions quickly, but the audio becomes distorted or absent due to the increased speed
Solution Approach 1:
The audio track is segmented into multiple portions with different importance levels (e.g., dialogue portions, music portions, sound effect portions). During trick play operations, only the important audio portions are played back at normal speed while less important portions are played back at the increased trick play speed. This segmentation allows the system to maintain audio quality for critical content while still achieving fast playback for other content.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the audio track are assigned different playback qualities based on their importance. Important audio portions (such as dialogue) are played back at normal speed with high quality, while less important portions are played back at the increased trick play speed. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by ensuring audio reliability only where it matters most.
2Productivity
If fast-forward or rewind operation is performed during content playback, then the user can quickly skip or review content, but important audio portions such as dialogue cannot be heard clearly
Solution Approach 1:
Before the trick play operation begins, the system performs preliminary analysis of the audio track to identify and mark important audio portions (such as dialogue segments) using metadata. This preliminary action allows the system to pre-determine which portions require normal speed playback, ensuring that no important audio information is lost during the subsequent fast-forward or rewind operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The audio track is divided into segments based on importance, with important segments (dialogue, key narrative elements) separated from less important segments (background music, ambient sounds). During trick play, the system selectively plays back only the important segments at normal speed, preserving audio information where it matters while maintaining fast playback efficiency for the overall operation.
3Reliability
If all audio portions are played back at normal speed during trick play, then audio clarity is maintained, but the time required to skip or review content increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of applying uniform normal speed playback to the entire audio track during trick operations, the system applies normal speed playback only to locally identified important portions. This localized approach maintains audio clarity for critical content while allowing the rest of the content to be played back at the increased trick play speed, thus minimizing the overall time required for skipping or reviewing content.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies normal speed playback partially, only to the extent necessary for important audio portions, rather than applying it excessively to the entire track. This partial action approach maintains sufficient audio clarity for key information while avoiding the time penalty of playing back all content at normal speed, achieving a balanced compromise between clarity and efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are described herein for selective playback of portions of audio at normal speed during a fast-forward operation. Upon receiving a command to perform a fast-forward operation, a current playback position is identified, as well as a plurality of portions of audio of the content item that will be subject to the fast-forward operation. A subset of the audio portions that will be subject to the fast-forward operation are selected. The fast-forward operation is initiated, and video of the content item is played back at the increased speed while the selected portions of audio of the content item are played back at normal speed.