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AssigneeTime Warner Entertainment Co., L.P.
InventorsChristopher J. Cookson, Lewis S. Ostrover, Warren N. Lieberfarb
Estimating the term…
A system for playing a selected one of multiple audio tracks recorded in synchronized fashion with a motion picture on an optical disk. The optical disk has encoded on it a mixing master music and effects ("M&E") track, or a switching master M&E track. Individual audio tracks are provided for language-specific versions of the same motion picture, but these tracks have data recorded in them only where there is dialog. In this way, for many a motion picture, all tracks but masters will have data recorded for well less than half of the running time of the motion picture. When a mixing master is used, it is mixed with a language-specific track when the latter has dialog; the mixing master contains no dialog. If a switching master is used, it may contain dialog recorded with the M&E; when a language-specific track has dialog recorded in it, it also contains M&E and the track is played to the exclusion of the switching master.
A system for controlling play of the audio tracks of a digital software carrier, said software carrier having recorded thereon a plurality of synchronized audio tracks, each audio track being made up of a plurality of data blocks, and a code for each of said audio tracks identifying its use as either a switching master, including music and effects and dialog language, or a track to be switched with the switching master, comprising means for selecting a switching master of predetermined length and a shorter track containing audio segments to be switched with said switching master, and means for reading codes in the data blocks and for automatically switching between the selected tracks in accordance with said codes.
A method for controlling play of the audio tracks of a digital software carrier, said software carrier having recorded thereon a plurality of synchronized digital audio tracks, each audio track being made up of a plurality of data blocks, and a code for each of said digital audio tracks identifying its use as either a switching master, including music and effects and dialog language, or a track to be switched with said switching master, comprising the steps of selecting a switching master of predetermined length and a shorter track containing audio segments to be switched with said switching master, reading codes in the data blocks, and switching between the selected tracks in accordance with said read codes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.