US 7,050,603 · Granted 2006-05-23

Watermark encoded video, and related methods

Watermarks in video signals or the accompanying audio track are used to associate video objects in a video sequence with object specific actions or information. A video object refers to a spatial and temporal portion of a video signal that depicts a recognizable object, such as a character, prop, graphic, etc. Each frame of a video signal may have one or more video objects. The auxiliary information is embedded in video or audio signals using “steganographic” methods, such as digital watermarks. By encoding object specific information into video or an accompanying audio track, the watermarks transform video objects into “watermark enabled” video objects that provide information, actions or links to additional information or actions during playback of a video or audio-visual program. A similar concept may be applied to audio objects, i.e. portions of audio that are attributable to a particular speaker, character, instrument, artist, etc.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team