Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

The production of synchronization scripts and associated annotated multimedia streams for servers and client computers coupled to each other by a diverse computer network which includes local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs) such as the internet. Annotated multimedia streams can include a compressed video stream for display in a video window, an accompanying compressed audio stream and annotations. Synchronization scripts include annotation streams for synchronizing the display of video streams with annotations, e.g., displayable events, such textual/graphical data in the form of HTML pages with Java applets to be displayed in one or more event windows. The producer includes a capture module and an author module for capturing video streams and generating annotation streams, respectively. The capture module compresses the video stream using a suitable compression format. Annotation streams include annotation frames which provide either pointer(s) to the event(s) of interest or include displayable data embedded within the annotation stream. Accordingly, each annotation frame includes either an event locator or an event data. In addition, each annotation frame includes an event time marker which corresponds to the time stamp(s) of associated video frame(s) within the video stream. Embedded displayable data include ticker tape data embedded within the annotation stream. Examples of event locators to displayable events include URL addresses pointing to HTML web pages. The video/audio streams and annotation streams are stored in stream server(s) for subsequent retrieval by client computer(s) in a coordinated manner, so that the client computer(s) is able to synchronously display the video frames and displayable event(s) in a video window and event window(s), respectively. In one implementation, annotation streams include a flipper stream for locating HTML pages and a ticker stream which include ticker (tape) data.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim