Second screen TV synchronization

Abstract

The combined use of broadcast and broadband networks offers the perspective of efficient delivery of a wide range of personalized TV services. Such services are particularly compelling when related content is simultaneously rendered on a personal terminal and on a TV set. As media components are transported separately over different networks, and delivered to different devices, there is a need for a technique to assure their accurate temporal alignment. This paper describes a solution for frame accurate synchronization of hybrid media components used to compose personalized second screen TV services. The approach enables content components from distributed sources to be synchronously rendered on multiple terminals, even after transport over broadcast and broadband networks using different protocols and timing models. An evaluation system has been built showing accurate lip-sync for an on-demand personalized soundtrack consumed on an IP connected handheld terminal in conjunction with broadcast video on a TV set.