System and method for formatting and displaying video data

Abstract

There is provided a system ( 200 ) and method ( 400 ) of displaying video content. In a method ( 400 ) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a native aspect ratio of the video content is determined ( 404 ) and an optimized viewing format is selected ( 406 ) from a plurality of viewing formats based at least in part on the native aspect ratio of the video content. The video content is displayed ( 408 ) in the optimized viewing format.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of displaying video content, the method comprising:
 determining a native aspect ratio of the video content;   selecting a viewing format from a plurality of viewing formats based at least in part on the native aspect ratio of the video content, wherein the plurality of viewing formats comprises a full viewing format in which the video content is stretched along one axis until it fills an entire display panel; and   displaying the video content in the selected viewing format.   
     
     
         2 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of viewing formats comprises a normal viewing format in which the video content is displayed in its native aspect ratio. 
     
     
         3 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is automatically selected as the viewing format if the native aspect ratio of the video content is 4:3. 
     
     
         4 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is selected as the viewing format if the video content comprises non-anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is in the range of 1.66:1 to 2.35:1. 
     
     
         5 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein a full viewing format in which the video content is stretched along one axis until it fills an entire display panel is selected as the viewing mode if the video content comprises anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is in the range of 1.66:1 to 1.85:1. 
     
     
         6 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is selected as the viewing format if the video content comprises anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is 2.35:1. 
     
     
         7 . The method recited in  claim 1 , comprising selecting the viewing format based at least in part on a characteristic of the video content other than the native aspect ratio. 
     
     
         8 . The method recited in  claim 7 , wherein the characteristic of the video content other than the native aspect ratio is whether the video content is in an anamorphic format. 
     
     
         9 . The method recited in  claim 7 , wherein the characteristic of the video content other than the native aspect ratio is whether the video content is in a non-anamorphic format. 
     
     
         10 . The method recited in  claim 1 , wherein determining the native aspect ratio of the video content comprises reading the native aspect ratio from a medium containing the video content. 
     
     
         11 . A method of displaying video content, the method comprising:
 determining a native aspect ratio of the video content;   selecting a viewing format from a plurality of viewing formats based at least in part on the native aspect ratio of the video content, wherein the plurality of viewing formats comprises a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content; and   displaying the video content in the selected viewing format.   
     
     
         12 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of viewing formats comprises a normal viewing format in which the video content is displayed in its native aspect ratio. 
     
     
         13 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is automatically selected as the viewing format if the native aspect ratio of the video content is 4:3. 
     
     
         14 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is selected as the viewing format if the video content comprises non-anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is in the range of 1.66:1 to 2.35:1. 
     
     
         15 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein a full viewing format in which the video content is stretched along one axis until it fills an entire display panel is selected as the viewing format if the video content comprises anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is in the range of 1.66:1 to 1.85:1. 
     
     
         16 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein a zoom viewing format in which the video content is stretched along two axes to magnify an area of the video content is selected as the viewing format if the video content comprises anamorphic video data and the native aspect ratio of the video content is 2.35:1. 
     
     
         17 . The method recited in  claim 11 , comprising selecting the viewing format based at least in part on a characteristic of the video content other than the native aspect ratio. 
     
     
         18 . The method recited in  claim 11 , wherein determining the native aspect ratio of the video content comprises reading the native aspect ratio from a medium containing the video content. 
     
     
         19 . A method of displaying video content, the method comprising:
 determining a native aspect ratio of the video content, wherein determining the native aspect ratio of the video content comprises reading the native aspect ratio from an information file associated with the video content;   selecting a viewing format from a plurality of viewing formats based at least in part on the native aspect ratio of the video content; and   displaying the video content in the selected viewing format.   
     
     
         20 . The method recited in  claim 19 , wherein the plurality of viewing formats comprises a normal viewing format in which the video content is displayed in its native aspect ratio.