US 8,027,560 B2 · System and method for synchronizing playback of audio and video

Abstract

A system and method for providing a digital In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system in a vehicle, such as an aircraft, that is capable of presenting a video program and associated audio in a synchronized manner to a large number of individual video monitors and speakers. The system and method employ processing operations in at least one decoder of the IFE system, to perform operations such as adjusting a local clock based on a master clock, setting a delay time in relation to a master clock, and adjusting video and audio playback based on the delay, to substantially synchronize playback of the audio and video data by the audio and video players, to thus eliminate or at least minimize the negative effects of source and load based jitter, network delays, clock drifts, network errors and decoder buffering differences, on synchronizing video and audio playback.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method for synchronizing digital video and audio playback by at least two video players and at least two audio players in a system, the method comprising:

providing digital video and audio data over a digital data network to a plurality of decoders associated with the at least two video players and the at least two audio players, each of the plurality of decoders connected to the digital data network at a different location;
and
operating each of the plurality of decoders to adjust a local clock of the respective decoder based on a master clock derived from content of the data, set a system delay time in relation to the master clock, the system delay time representing a maximum delay in delivering the digital video and audio data to the plurality of decoders, and adjust video and audio playback based on their respective local clock and the system delay time to substantially synchronize playback of the audio and video data by the at least two audio players and the at least two video players associated with different ones of the plurality of decoders.

A decoder, associated with an audio player and a video player, for use in a digital system that provides digital video and audio data, the decoder comprising:

a network interface that receives the digital video and audio data;
a local clock;
a video decoder and an audio decoder that decode the received video and audio data;
a video driver and an audio driver that drive the associated video player and the associated audio player;
and
a controller to adjust the local clock based on a master clock derived from content of the data, to set a playback time for the decoded video and audio based on the master clock and a system-delay time to substantially synchronize playback of the audio and video data by the audio player and the video player with playback of the audio and video data at another audio player and another video player associated with a different decoder in the system that also receives the digital video and audio data, wherein the system delay time represents a maximum delay in delivering the digital video and audio data to the decoders, the decoders coupled to the digital system at different locations.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method for synchronizing playback of audio and video

Life of this patent

System and method for synchronizing playback of audio and video

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims18