WO2007132961A1

WO2007132961A1 - Digital indoor drive-in image system

Info

Publication number: WO2007132961A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/002151
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dae-Hoon Lee
Original assignee: Dae-Hoon Lee
Priority date: 2006-05-12
Filing date: 2006-06-05
Publication date: 2007-11-22

Abstract

There is provided a digital indoor drive-in image system for allowing an audience to get movie files within each of drive-in theaters, which may be disposed in several regions, and to select and see movies in his/her independent space of the drive-in theater. The digital indoor drive-in image system comprises a central management and control booth including a database for storing movie files and a central server connected to the database for providing the movie files; an operation booth including an individual server directly accessing the central server via the Internet network and storing shared movie files, and a monitor connected to the individual server and an indoor viewing space including a plurality of viewing booths for receiving video and audio signals from the operation booth and outputting the signals, the viewing booth being formed of a partition having a size which can accommodate one automobile, and disposed in the partitioned space.

Description

Description DIGITAL INDOOR DRIVE-IN IMAGE SYSTEM

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a digital indoor drive-in image system, and more particularly, to a digital indoor drive-in image system for allowing an audience to get movie files within a drive-in theater, which may be disposed in several regions, and to select and see movies in anindependent space of the drive-in theater. Background Art

[2] In recent years, people's preference for convenience and progressive population of automobile culture lead to the spread of drive-in theaters which enable an audience withinan automobile to see movies on a gigantic screen.

[3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional drive-in theater.

[4] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional drive-in theater includes a screen 22, and an outdoor viewing space 20 in which automobiles 300 can park. The outdoor viewing space 20 is a wide empty space and partitioned so that the automobiles 300 park in their prescribed place. The audience in the automobiles 300 parked in the outdoor viewing space 20 sees movies on the single screen 22, which is disposed on a front side of the outdoor viewing space 20.

[5] The outdoor viewing space 20 is connected to an image system of a projection booth via a cable for allowing an image to be displayed on the screen 22 and an audio signal at a commercial frequency to be output. Accordingly, language and sound can beprovided to the audience in the automobile 300 through a radio system of the automobile 300. A subtitle is recorded on a movie film and projected on a left or right side of the screen 22 together with a scene.

[6] In such a drive-in theater, since an operator visits a distribution company, gets a movie film therefrom, and reproduces the movie film through his/her image system, it takes a time to get the movie film and there is a difficulty in managing the movie films. In addition, the single gigantic screen 22 requires a wide space and a high cost.

[7] In the drive-in theater, the automobiles 300 are arranged at small intervals and opened to one another so that behavior of one audience is exposed to other audience. Since the audience uses the single screen 22, only one movie is played at a scheduled time and the audience cannot select other movies. As a result, the audiencecannot see other movies and a theater owner may miss future audience desiring to see the other movies.

[8] Furthermore, since movie reproduction is performed at the outdoor, the movie can be reproduced after sunset and not in rainy and snowy seasons. The automobiles 300 simultaneously attempt to exit from the theater after a movie ends, causing traffic congestion and jam. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[9] The present invention provides a digital indoor drive-in image system in which each independent space is formed for an automobile parked in a space partitioned as a parking lot in an indoor viewing space, viewing booths are disposed, each comprising a set-top box, a beam projector, a FM transmitter, and a screen for movie reproduction and formed of a partition, and an operation booth is disposed at one side of the indoor viewing space for transmitting a selected movie to each viewing booth, which makes it possible to reduce space and cost, reproduce a movie irrespective of time and weather, and allow an audience to see a movie.

[10] The present invention also provides a digital indoor drive-in image system in which a central management and control booth can store data encoded into a movie file in a database and a server connected to the database can supply a movie file to indoor viewing spaces which can be disposed at several regions through web service, which makes it possible to reduce a time to get a movie film and easily manage movie files by storing movies in a file form in each server. Advantageous Effects

[11] As described above, the present invention comprises a number of viewing booths having movie reproducing equipment, and an operation booth transmitting an image to each image booth so that audience selects and sees a movie in his/her independent space using an automobile in an indoorviewing space. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce space and cost, reproduce a movie irrespective of time and weather, allow an audience tosee a movie without being exposed to others, allow the audience to see a desired movie at a desired time, and reduce traffic congestion by preventing automobiles from exiting from a theater at one time.

[12] In addition, the central management and control booth provides movie files in a converted file form, and the operation booth accessesthe central server via the Internet network to store the movie file in an individual server of each indoor viewing space. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce a time to get a movie and avoid inconvenience from visiting a distribution company to get movies, and easily manage a movie file by storing movies in a file form in each individual server. Brief Description of the Drawings

[13] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional drive-in theater

[14] FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention; [15] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention; and

[16] FIG. 4 is a side sectional view illustrating a viewing booth for an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[17] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the specification.

[18] FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side sectional view illustrating a viewing booth for an indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention.

[19] Referring to FIGS. 2 and.3, a digital indoor drive-in image system according to the present invention includes a central management and control booth 100, and indoor viewing spaces 200.

[20] The central management and control booth 100 manages movie films to be provided to the indoor viewing spaces 200, which may be disposed at several regions. The central management and control booth 100 comprises a database and a central server 110 for supplying movie films even though the indoor viewing spaces 200 as branches are located at any regions.

[21] Movie distributing processes are all performed in the central management and control booth 100. More specifically, the central management and control booth 100 gets movie films from movie production companies, encodes the movie films using a separate machine associated with a computer mounted to the central server 110 and a program installed in the central server 110, and converts them to movie files, such as avi, mod, vod, wai, dvd, dvix, or jpg. The converted movie file includes image data and sound data with a subtitle, which are stored in a database associated with the central server 110 through a program. Data of movie files may be composed to be distributable through a web service.

[22] The monitor connected to the central server 110 allows a user to check a list of the stored movie files by means of a program, determine whether audience, in an operation booth 210 of the indoor viewing space 200 which will be described later, who desires to access the central server 110 via an Internet network or a local area network (LAN) in order to download, i.e., copy a desired movie file is an authorized member (branch), and accept the downloading, and also allowsthe operator to check and manage a sharing state of stored movie files and a state of member-copied movie files so that security is maintained on the Internet and movie files arerapidly transferred to each branch (indoor viewing booth).

[23] The central server 110 further includes a security program for separately managing a download state of authorized members, the number of downloading a same data, an access IP, virus infection, and the like.

[24] As described above, the indoor viewing space 200 comprises an operation booth

210 for allowing an audience to directly access the central server 110 via the Internet network, select a desired movie, and copy a movie file and a plurality of viewing booths 220 where the audience can see movies. The indoor viewing space 200 is partitioned in the form of a parking lot so that the audience parks their automobiles therein and uses facility in place.

[25] The operation booth 210 comprises an individual server 211 having a program with which copied files from the central server 110 are stored, and a monitor 212connected to the individual server 211 for allowing an audience to check a list of stored movie files and a state of reproduced movie with the naked eye. The operation booth 210 is disposed at a proper locationof the space partitioned into parking lots. Preferably, the operation booth210 is located near an entrance of the indoor viewing space 200 for guiding an audience entering the indoor viewing space 200 toward the viewing booth 220and billing a facility use fee.

[26] In addition, a mouse and a keyboard are connected to the individual server 211. The individual server 211 receives a command from the mouse and keyboard which instructs to transmit a movie file to a specified one of the viewing booths 220 by means of its program, such that the audience sees a moving image containing information about reproducible movies and selectsa desired movie. The individual server 211 receives information about selected movies from the viewing booth 220 and allows the operator to check a list of stored movies in a hit order on the monitor 212 and to record an income from charged fees.

[27] Each viewing booth 220 is located in an independent space which is partitioned as a parking lot. In order to form the independent space, the viewing booth 220 has a partition 221, which is preferably formed in a size that can accommodate one automobile 300. An opening and shutting pavilion 221a is disposed at an entrance portion of the partition 221 for allowing the automobile 300 to be completely accommodated in the independent space. In a summer season, the opening and shutting pavilion 221a may be fixed to a ceiling of the entrance of the partition 221 to prevent from going down.

[28] The partition 221 is formed in a width that can accommodate one automobile 300, allowing the audience to see a movie in the independent space. The viewing booth 220 includes a set-top box 225 for receiving a video signal and an audio signal containing a subtitle from the operation booth 210 and outputting the signals, a beam projector 223, a screen 222, a Bluetooth and FM transmitter 224.

[29] FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing states where an automobile 300 is parked in the viewing booth 220 and not in the viewing booth 220. The viewing booth 220 includes thepartition 221 having a size that can accommodate one automobile 300. The viewing booth 220 further includes the screen 222 attached to a front side of the partition 221, and a beam projector 223 disposed on a ceiling of the partition for projecting an image by outputting a received video signal onto the screen 222. Preferably, a screen capable of displaying an image with a high definition (HD) quality of image at a liquid crystal display (LCD) level and well absorbing light projected by the beam projector 223 is selected as the screen 222, such that audience's eyes are protected from fatigue and a clear image is provided.

[30] The viewing booth 220 further includes front cameras 227 spaced apart from bothsides of a bottom of the screen for imaging a front side of the automobile, and rear cameras 227 disposed at both sides of a lower portion of the opening and shutting pavilion 221a for imaging a rear side of the automobile. A parking stateimaged by the cameras is displayed on the screen 222 through the beam projector 223. This makes it possible for the audience to park the automobile safely.

[31] The viewing booth 220 further includes an audio signal transmitter 224 disposed on an inner wall of the partition 221 for transmitting a received audio signal as a bluetooth and FM signal, and a set-top box 225 connected to the beam projector 223 and the audio signal transmitter 224 for converting a digital video signal from the individual server 211 of the operation booth 210 to a decoded video signal, transmitting it to the beam projector 223, and outputting an audiosignal to the audio signal transmitter 224.

[32] In addition, the partition 221 has a fixing knoll formed at its bottom for allowing the automobile 300 to be parked at a proper location.

[33] The audio signal transmitter 224 outputs sound at an individual frequency so that the audience tunes a specified frequency inside the automobile 300 and receives the audio signal through the automobileradio system.

[34] Further, a bluetooth or FM signal from the audio signal transmitter 224 is received by the automobile radio system, but may not be received when the radio system is out of order or the automobile is made in another country. Accordingly, an audio receiving device 226 for receiving theseparate bluetooth or FM signal is lent to the audience and mounted to his/her automobile. [35] The operation booth 210 sets a unique frequency for each movie or specifies a frequency to each viewing booth 220 in order to output the audio signal. The operation booth 210 uses internetwork packet exchange (IPX) or user datagram protocol (UDP) in order to share movie files stored in the individual server 211 with the viewing booths 220.

[36] The viewing booth 220 further comprises a remote keypad 226 having a selection button unit detachably disposed at a proper position of an internal wall of the partition 221. The remote keypad 226 allows the audience checking movie reproduction information from the operation booth 210 on the screen 222 to press a selection button corresponding to a desired movie and transmit selection information to the individual server 211 of the operation booth 210, so that the operating booth 210 transmits a fileof the movie to the corresponding viewing booth 220.

[37] Alternatively, a wired telephonemay be substituted for the remote keypad 226, allowing the audience to select a movie and then notify the operation booth of the selected movie.

[38] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

[1] A digital indoor drive-in image system comprising: a central management and control booth 100 including a database for storing movie files encoded by a program and a central server 110 connected to the database for providing the movie files through web service, the central management and control booth checking and managing a sharing state and copying state of the movie files; an operation booth 210 including an individual server 211 directly accessing the central server 110 via the Internet network and having a program for enabling shared movie files to be individually copied and stored, and a monitor 212 connected to the individual server 211 for allowing a user to check a list of stored images and a movie reproduction state with the naked eye, the operation booth 210being disposed at a proper location of a space which is partitioned as a parking lot; and an indoor viewing space 200 including a plurality of viewing booths 220 for receiving video and audio signals from the operation booth 210 and outputting the signals, each viewing booth being formed of a partition 221 having a size which can accommodate one automobile 300 so that the audience sees a movie in an independent space, and disposed in the partitioned space.

[2] The system of claim 1, wherein the viewing booth 220 comprises: a screen 222 attached to a front side of the partition 221 ; a beam projector 223 disposed on a ceiling of the partition 221 for outputting a received video signal onto thescreen 222 to project an image; an audio signal transmitter 224 mounted on an inner wall of the partition 221 for transmitting a received audio signal as a bluetooth and FM signal; a set-top box 225 disposed in the viewing booth 220 for transmitting a digital video signal from the individual server 211 of the operation booth 210 to the beam projector 223 as a decoded video signal, and outputting an audio signal to the audio signal transmitter 224; and front and rear cameras 227 respectively disposed at both sides of a bottom of the screen 222 and an opening and shutting pavilion 221a for imaging and displaying front and rear sides of the automobile on the screen 222.

[3] The system of claim 1, wherein the viewing booth 220 comprises a remote keypad 226 having a selection button unit detachably disposed at a fixed location on an inner wall of the partition 221 for allowinga user to check movie information on the screen 222, select a desired movie, and transmit selection information to the individual server 211 of the operation booth 210.

[4] The system of claim 1, further comprising an audio signal receiving device 226 for receiving a bluetooth or FM signalfrom the viewing booth 220, the audio signal receiving device 226 being selectively lent and mounted to the automobile.

[5] The system of claim 1, wherein the indoor viewing space 200 uses IPX or UDP for sharing files therein.