Merging content

A method comprising:

• detecting, by a first content merging device, an event at a first communication device via a multi-party video telecommunication session, established by a service provider, with a second communication device;
• determining, in response to the detecting, whether the event corresponds to a particular type of event;
• prompting, when the event corresponds to the particular type of event and during the video telecommunication session, a user of the first communication device for user input;
• determining, by the first content merging device and during the video telecommunication session, a display layout in accordance with user input received in response to the prompting;
• receiving multiple input video streams, by the first content merging device and during the video telecommunication session, the input video streams including:
• multimedia content provided by a content provider independently of the video telecommunication session established by the service provider, and
• video content of a user captured at the second communication device for the video telecommunication session with the first communication device;
• merging, during the video telecommunication session, the video content and one or more other of the multiple input video streams into a high definition output stream in accordance with the display layout;
• merging, during the video telecommunication session, the multimedia content and one or more other of the multiple input video streams into a second output stream, wherein the high definition output stream and the second output stream differ;
• sending, during the video telecommunication session, the high definition output stream to a content presentation device associated with the first communication device;
• and
• transmitting, via a network interface of the first content merging device and during the video telecommunication session, the second output stream to a second content merging device associated with the second communication device.

A system comprising:

• media devices to send video streams that include a high bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) encoded stream, wherein at least one of the video streams includes multimedia content from a content provider;
• a first content merging device to:
• receive the video streams from the media devices, wherein at least two of the media devices comprise communication devices that capture video of users via a video telecommunication session, established by a service provider, independently of the multimedia content from the content provider;
• detect an event related to video content received from at least one of the communication devices during the video telecommunication session,
• determine, during the video telecommunication session, a different display layout, corresponding to different ones of the communication devices, in accordance with the event,
• combine, during the video telecommunication session, the video content and one or more of the received video streams into a high definition media interface (HDMI) output stream corresponding to the different ones of the communication devices, in accordance with the different display layouts,
• combine, during the video telecommunication session, the multimedia content and one or more other of the received video streams into a second output stream, wherein the HDMI output stream and the second output stream differ,
• transmit, via a network interface of the first content merging device and during the video telecommunication session, the second output stream to a second content merging device associated with the at least one of the communication devices, and
• transmit, during the video telecommunication session, the corresponding HDMI output stream to a content presentation device associated with the different ones of the communication devices;
• and
• wherein the content presentation devices display the corresponding HDMI output streams in the different display layouts during the video telecommunication session.