Apparatus and Method for Playback of Multiple Panoramic Videos with Control Codes

A system for viewing a plurality of panoramic videos through any of a plurality of time, playback speed and direction, viewing angles and windows contained within at least one of the panoramic videos, comprising:

• providing a plurality of panoramic video capture devices;
• at least one processor communicatively connected to each said capture device and configured to execute a plurality of modules, said modules comprising:
• a capture module for capturing frames from individual sensors in the panoramic video capture device;
• a processing module for at least one of demosaicing, coloring, and seam blending;
• a splicing module for generating a panoramic image
• a slicing module for slicing the panoramic image into multiple slices for processing and transfer efficiency;
• a time stamp module for receiving a time code from a time code generator and applying a time stamp to each slice;
• a compression module for compressing the slice into a smaller data package for broadcast and distribution;
• a time code generator providing the time code for each of the panoramic video capture devices (this is required in only two of the three options);
• at least one distribution device for distributing the plurality of processed images or plurality of compressed video streams to client processors;
• at least one client process communicatively connected to said distribution device and configured to execute a plurality of modules, said modules comprising:
• a receiving module for receiving the plurality of videos and images from the distribution device;
• a plurality of storage memory buffers for storing the plurality of video or image data;
• a user input module for allowing a user to select one of the plurality of video or image data as the one to be viewed and controlled at any specific time (selected video);
• a user input module for allowing a user to select the portion of the said selected video in time to be viewed, the viewing speed (slow normal fast), the viewing direction (forward in time or backward);
• said user input module configured to simultaneously allow a user to select a portion of the said selected panorama to view by choosing pan, tilt and zoom values within the panorama;
• a synchronizing module configured to synchronize the plurality of said buffers with the current display time, viewing speed, and viewing direction (forward or backward);
• said synchronizing module allowing the synchronization during switching of the selected video or image feed so that the new selected video feed is displayed with the same current display time, viewing speed, and viewing direction (forward or backward) as the previous selected feed at the time of switching;
• and
• a display module configured to retrieve the appropriate image from the buffer and display to the viewer.