Closed caption support with timewarp

Abstract

Method of providing closed captioned data to a television viewer comprised of detecting closed captioned data signals transmitted in conjunction with a television signal, decoding the data signals to caption display signals, and displaying the caption display signals on an auxiliary screen separate from a screen displaying the television signals.

1. A method of providing closed captioned data to a television viewer comprising:
 (a) detecting closed captioned data signals transmitted in conjunction with a television signal,    (b) decoding said data signals to caption display signals,    (c) displaying said caption display signals on an auxiliary screen separate from a screen displaying said television signals,    (d) providing said caption display signals to a computer microprocessor,    (e) providing said television signal to a computer video display circuit,    (f) processing said caption data signals to control at least the location of display of said decoded signal,    (g) displaying said television signal on a display screen and displaying said caption display signals at said location on said display screen,    (h) said television screen being a window displayed on a computer screen,    (i) said decoded data being contained in a window on said display screen and constituting said auxiliary screen.    
     
     
       2. A The A method of  claim 1 ,  for providing closed captioned data and video data on a display, the method comprises the steps of:
   a )  receiving a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data;    
   b )  decoding the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;    
   c )  digitizing the video data to produce digital video data;    
   d )  associating the digital video data in a first window on the display;    
   e )  associating the decoded closed captioned data in a second window for subsequent presentation on the display, wherein the first and second windows, when presented, are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein, when presented, locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;    
 wherein the control input is at least one of: a control code contained in the closed captioned data and a control signal, wherein the control input further controls at least one of size of the first window, size of the second window, size of text of the decoded closed captioned data, color of the text of the decoded closed captioned data, background of the second window and display mode of the decoded captioned data.  
 
     
     
       3. The method of claim  1   2 , wherein the display comprises a computer display or a television, and wherein the second window is located above, below, or to a side of the first window on the display. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim  1    2  further comprises:
 locking a phase locked loop to a run-in signal of the closed captioned data,  
 obtaining data bits of the closed caption data by sampling the data bits and computing an average value of several samples of each data bit and determining whether each of the data bits is a zero or a one based on the average value being above or below a predetermined threshold.  
 
     
     
       5. A The method of  claim 4 , for providing captioned data and video data on a display, the method comprises the steps of:
   a )  receiving a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data;    
   b )  decoding the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;    
   c )  digitizing the video data to produce digital video data;    
   d )  associating the digital video data in a first window on the display;    
   e )  associating the decoded closed captioned data in a second window for subsequent presentation on the display, wherein the first and second windows, when presented, are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein, when presented, locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;    
   locking a phase locked loop to a run - in signal of the closed captioned data, and    
   obtaining data bits of the closed caption data by sampling the data bits and computing an average value of several samples of each data bit and determining whether each of the data bits is a zero or a one based on the average value being above or below a predetermined threshold   
 wherein the data bits comprise a pair of bytes of data representing at least one of characters and captioning code, further including passing the bytes of data to a computer microprocessor, determining whether the bytes of data are captioning code and if so controlling at least one of a display cursor position on said auxiliary screen, character color, and style of subsequent characters to be displayed by means of said microprocessor, determining whether the bytes of data are character data and if so displaying corresponding characters in sequence on the second window starting at either of a default cursor position or at a cursor position designated by the captioning code if preceded by a cursor position indicating captioning code.  
 
     
     
       6. The method of claim  1    2  further comprises storing the decoded closed captioned data such that, at a subsequent time, a transcript of the closed captioned data may be obtained. 
     
     
       7. A method of providing closed captioned data to a television viewer comprising:
 (a) detecting closed captioned data signals transmitted in conjunction with a television signal,  
 (b) decoding said data signals to caption display signals,  
 (c) displaying said caption display signals on an auxiliary screen separate from a screen displaying said television signals,  
 (d) providing said caption display signals to a computer microprocessor,  
 (e) processing said caption display signals to control at least one of font and size of said caption display signals,  
 (f) in which the closed captioned data signal includes an initial sinusoidal run-in signal followed by data bits, and  
 (g) in which the detection step includes locking a phase locked loop to the run-in signal, locating the data bits and obtaining closed captioned data bits by sampling the data bits and computing the average value of several samples in the location of each data bit and determining whether each data bit is a zero or a one based on the average value being above or below a predetermined threshold.  
 
     
     
       8. A method defined in  claim 7  in which the data bits comprise a pair of bytes of data representing at least one of characters and captioning code, further including passing the bytes of data to a computer microprocessor, determining whether the bytes of data are captioning code and if so controlling at least one of a display cursor position on said auxiliary screen, character color, and style of subsequent characters to be displayed by means of said microprocessor, determining whether the bytes of data are character data and if so displaying corresponding characters in sequence on said auxiliary screen starting at either of a default cursor position or at a cursor position designated by the captioning code if preceded by a cursor position indicating captioning code. 
     
     
       9. A method for providing closed captioned data and video data on a display, the method comprises the steps of:
   a )  receiving a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data;        b )  decoding the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;        c )  digitizing the video data to produce digital video data;        d )  associating the digital video data in a first window on the display;        e )  associating the decoded closed captioned data in a second window for subsequent presentation on the display, wherein the first and second windows, when presented, are non-obscuring of each other, and wherein, when presented, locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;        wherein the step  ( d )  further comprises:      storing the digitized video data in video memory to produce stored video data;        retrieving the stored video data from memory to produce retrieved video data;        scaling and timing the retrieved video data to be contained within the first window to produce scaled video data; and        converting the scaled video data to analog video data, wherein the analog video data is presented on the display in the first window.       
     
     
       10. A method for providing closed captioned data and video on a display, the method comprises the steps of:
   a )  receiving a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data;        b )  decoding the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;        c )  digitizing the video data to produce digital video data;        d )  associating the digital video data in a first window on the display;        e )  associating the decoded captioned data in a second window for subsequent presentation on the display, wherein the first and second windows, when presented, are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein, when presented, locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;        wherein step  ( e )  further comprises:      storing the decoded closed captioned data in video memory to produce stored closed captioned data;        retrieving the stored closed captioned data from memory to produce retrieved closed captioned data;        scaling and timing the retrieved closed captioned data to be contained within the second window to produce scaled closed captioned data; and        converting the scaled closed captioned data to analog closed captioned data, wherein the analog closed captioned data is presented on the display in the second window.       
     
     
       11. An apparatus for displaying closed captioned data and video data comprises:
   video interface circuit operably coupled to receive a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data, wherein the video interface circuit digitizes the video data to produce digital video data and decodes the closed captioned data or produce decoded closed captioned data; and        a graphics control circuit operable to generate a first and second windows, wherein the graphics control circuit associates the digital video data with the first window and associates the decoded closed captioned data with the second window, wherein the first and second windows are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;        wherein the control input is a control signal, wherein the control input further controls at least one of: size of the first window, size of the second window, and size of text of the decoded closed captioned data, color of the text of the decoded closed captioned data, background of the second window and display mode of the decoded closed captioned data.     
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprises video memory operably coupled to the video interface and the graphics control circuit, wherein the video memory store the digital video data and the decoded closed captioned data prior to being placed in the first and second windows. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus for displaying closed captioned data and video data comprises:
   video interface circuit operably coupled to receive a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data, wherein the video interface circuit digitizes the video data to produce digital video data and decodes the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;        a graphics control circuit operable to generate a first and second windows, wherein the graphics control circuit associates the digital video data with the first window and associates the decoded closed captioned data with the second window, wherein the first and second windows are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein location of the first and second windows are based on control input; and        a random access memory digital to analog converter operably coupled to the graphics control circuit, wherein the random access memory digital to analog converter converts the digital video data and the decoded closed captioned data in to analog video signals and analog closed captioned signals, respectively, that are provided to a display, such that the display presents the first and second windows.     
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the display comprises a computer display or a television, and wherein the second window is located above, below, or to a side of the first window on the display. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the graphics control circuit associates the digital video data with the first window by:
   storing the digitized video data in video memory to produce stored video data;        retrieving the stored video data from memory to produce retrieved video data;        scaling and timing the retrieved video data to be contained within the first window to produce scaled video data; and        providing the scaled video data to the random access memory digital to analog converter to produce the analog video data, wherein the analog video data is presented on the display in the first window.     
     
     
       16. An apparatus for displaying closed captioned data and video data comprises:
   video interface circuit operably coupled to receive a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data, wherein the video interface circuit digitizes the video data to produce digital video data and decodes the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data; and        a graphics control circuit operable to generate a first and second windows, wherein the graphics control circuit associates the digital video data with the first window and associates the decoded closed captioned data with the second window, wherein the first and second windows are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein locations of the first and second windows are based on control input;        wherein the graphics control circuit associates the decoded closed captioned data with the second window by:      storing the decoded closed captioned data in video memory to produce stored closed captioned data;        retrieving the stored closed captioned data from memory to produce retrieved closed captioned data;        scaling and timing the retrieved closed captioned data to be contained within the second window to produce scaled closed captioned data; and        providing the scaled closed captioned data to the random access memory digital to analog converter to produce the analog closed captioned data, wherein the analog closed captioned data is presented on the display in the second window.       
     
     
       17. A digital storage medium that stores programming instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to provide non- obscuring closed captioned data, the digital storage medium comprises:      a first storage means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to receive a video signal that includes the closed captioned data and the video data;        a second storage means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to decode the closed captioned data to produce decoded closed captioned data;        a third storage means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to digitize the video data to produce digital video data;        a fourth storage means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to associate the digital video data in a first window on the display;        a fifth storage means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to associate the decoded closed captioned data in a second window for subsequent presentation on the display, wherein the first and second windows, when presented, are non - obscuring of each other, and wherein, when presented, locations of the first and second windows are based on control input.     
     
     
       18. The digital storage medium of  claim 17 , further comprises means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to identify the control input as at least one of: a control code contained in the closed captioned data and a control signal, wherein the control input further controls at least one of: size of the first window, size of the second window, size of text of the decoded closed captioned data, color of the text of the decoded closed captioned data, background of the second window and display mode of the decoded closed captioned data. 
     
     
       19. The digital storage medium of  claim 17  further comprises means for storing programming instructions that cause the computer to provide the first and second windows to a computer display or a television, wherein the second window is located above, below, or to a side of the first window on the display. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the control signal is user controllable. 
     
     
       21. The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the control signal is user controllable.