The most widespread medium for distributing motion pictures is the videocassette. Because of the different television industry standards used throughout the world, there are an equal number of videocassette standards. An NTSC videotape sold in the United States, for example, will not play on most videocassette players to be found in England. To a far lesser extent, motion pictures are also distributed on optical disk media. These media are for the most part analog recordings, and once again media designed to play on players of one type are incompatible with players of another.
Further complicating the need to publish a given motion picture in multiple standards is the fact that there are often two versions of the same motion picture. Typically, the versions may be what are termed R-rated and PG-rated, the former, because of its violence or sexual content, being suitable primarily for adults. Motion picture companies will often produce two different versions of the same film. For example, adult-rated films are generally not shown on airplanes. There are many consumers who will not purchase an adult-rated motion picture, especially if it will be viewed by children in the household. The multiple-standards problem is compounded by the fact that a motion picture may have to be released in two versions, and each of those versions will in turn have to be distributed in multiple standards.
Digitally encoded optical disks are in theory far superior for the distribution of motion pictures and other forms of presentation. Especially advantageous is the use of "compressed video," by which it is possible to digitally encode a motion picture on a disk no larger than the present-day audio CD. Especially in the case of compressed video, where there is no real-time analog video signal on a disk, it should be possible to play the same disk throughout the world--the players in any given territory will generate an analog signal of the appropriate standard from the same digitally encoded video source information. It would be highly desirable if the same disk could store two versions of the same motion picture; such a "universal" disk would obviate the need for releasing a motion picture in multiple disk forms.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a system and method in which multiple versions of the same motion picture are stored on the same software carrier, without requiring multiple full video tracks each devoted to one of the versions.
It is another object of this invention to provide a system and method for representing information pertaining to the versions available on the disk, and a player for controlling which version is played.
It must be understood that the principles of the present invention are not limited to any particular types of carriers or any particular kinds of software. It is true that the most widespread use foreseen for the invention is by the motion picture industry, and the storage of R-rated and PG-rated versions of the same motion picture on a single disk. However, the invention is not limited to the provision of just two versions on the carrier: the principles of the invention are equally applicable to three or more versions of the same program material. (A practical application of this would be the provision of multiple versions of a tutorial on a single disk, with each version being geared for a different level of expertise.) Not only is the invention not limited to a particular number of versions, but it is not limited to a particular medium--for example, it is applicable to tape carriers and all digital storage media. Thus it is to be understood that the term "software publisher" embraces much more than a motion picture company, and the term "carrier" embraces much more than a digitally encoded optical disk.