- Number
- 11463784
- Published
- 2022-10-04
- Filed
- 2020-07-20
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Comito; Keith, Lefler; Nathan, Corrigan-Colville; James A.
- CPC
- G11B27/10; H04N21/6543; H04N5/76; H04N5/783; H04N21/2387; H04N21/239; H04N21/242; H04N21/43076; H04N21/437; H04N21/4532; H04N21/4788; H04N21/632; H04N21/64738; H04N21/6547; H04N21/6587; H04N21/8547
- Verdict
- Set aside content delivery coordination, plumbing
- Source
- Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline
Abstract
A system for synchronizing media content playout includes a computing platform having a hardware processor and a system memory storing a software code. The hardware processor executes the software code to receive a first state message from a first media player playing a first media content and a second state message from a second media player playing a second media content, the first media content and the second media content being the same media content. The software code further determines a coordination state for playout of the first media content and the second media content based on one or more of the first and second state messages, and transmits a first coordination message including the coordination state to the first media player and a second coordination message including the coordination state to the second media player to synchronize playout of the first media content and the second media content.
Background
BACKGROUND (1) The demands of work and schooling, as well as romantic attachments, all tend to disperse childhood friends and nuclear families as young people mature into adulthood. As a result, and further due at least in part to the cost and inconvenience of long distance travel, it may be desirable to share group entertainment experiences with family and friends without leaving home. For example, a married couple with young children may wish to watch a holiday movie from home while sharing that viewing experience with the children's grandparents living in another state, or a group of college friends may want to collectively watch a sporting event involving their alma mater. (2) Conventional solutions for enabling remote group participation in a shared media consumption experience suffer from shortcomings including poor audio/video quality and poor synchronization. These prior solutions tend to fall into one of several categories. One conventional category of solutions requires that remote viewers manually coordinate their inputs to their media players by, for example, pushing “play” at the same time. However, those solutions typically suffer from lack of playout synchronization due to human error, or desynchronization over time due to frame rate and buffering issues. (3) Another conventional category of solutions relies on third party services that capture and rebroadcast media content to the members of the remote group. However, those conventional solutions typically prov
Claims
1. A computer server for synchronizing media content playout, the computer server comprising: a system memory storing a software code; and a hardware processor configured to execute the software code to: receive a first state message from a first media player playing a first media content; receive a second state message from a second media player playing a second media content, the first media content and the second media content being a same media content; determine a coordination state for playout of the first media content by the first media player and for playout of the second media content by the second media player, based on at least one of the first state message or the second state message; and transmit a first content coordination message including the coordination state to the first media player, and a second content coordination message including the coordination state to the second media player to synchronize, using the coordination state, playout of the first media content and the second media content by the first media player and the second media player, respectively; wherein the first content coordination message instructs the first media player to use the coordination state to change a playout rate of the first media content or change a position of a playhead of the first media player, while the first media content is continuously played out by the first media player, and wherein the second content coordination message instructs the second media player to use the coordination state to change a playout rate of the second media content or change a position of a playhead of the second media player, while the second media content is continuously played out by the second media player. ||
9. A method for use by a computer server for synchronizing media content playout, the computer server including a hardware processor and a system memory storing a software code, the method comprising: receiving, by the software code executed by the hardware processor, a first state message from a first media player playing a first media content; receiving, by the software code executed by the hardware processor, a second state message from a second media player playing a second media content, the first media content and the second media content being a same media content; determining, by the software code executed by the hardware processor, a coordination state for playout of the first media content by the first media player and the second media content by the second media player based on at least one of the first state message or the second state message; and transmitting, by the software code executed by the hardware processor, a first content coordination message including the coordination state to the first media player, and a second content coordination message including the coordination state to the second media player to synchronize, using the coordination state, playout of the first media content and the second media content by the first media player and the second media player, respectively; wherein the first content coordination message instructs the first media player to use the coordination state to change a playout rate of the first media content or change a position of a playhead of the first media player, while the first media content is continuously played out by the first media player, and wherein the second content coordination message instructs the second media player to use the coordination state to change a playout rate of the second media content or change a position of a playhead of the second media player, while the second media content is continuously played out by the second media player. ||
17. A method for use by a first media player for synchronizing playout of a first media content with playout of a second media content by a second media player, the first media content and the second media content being a same media content, the method comprising: starting to play the first media content; transmitting a first state message to a coordinating device while the first media player is playing the first media content, the first state message including a first latency estimate; in response to transmitting the first state message to the coordinating device, receiving a first content coordination message from the coordinating device, the first content coordination message including a coordination state for playout of the first media content by the first media player, the coordination state being based on the first state message; and synchronizing, by the first media player using the first content coordination message, playout of the first media content with playout of the second media content by the second media player.