Data block format for software carrier and player therefor

摘要

A system using an optical disk format for representing several synchronized signals, e.g. multiple versions of motion pictures and multiple soundtracks which is made up of an optical disk (23), signal processors (67, 71), buffer circuitry (53, 55, 57, 59) and audio (91) and video (94) output devices. All signals are represented digitally, and the bits are arranged in data blocks. Each data block may contain a variable number of bits for each signal, ranging from none to many (relative to the other signals). This allows each signal to be represented by a variable rate bit stream, without one signal necessarily constraining another as far as bit representation is concerned. Multiple buffers are provided to insure that there are a sufficient number of bits available for each signal as required for immediate needs. When any buffer is full, reading of the data blocks stops temporarily so that no bits are lost.