Re: proposal to replace dynamicFlow

thanks for the response- my comments below.
g.


On 1/28/09 9:16 PM, "Glenn A. Adams" <gadams@xfsi.com> wrote:


If I undersand this proposal correctly, it is equivalent to:

tts:dynamicFlow="in(line,jump) out(line,smooth) intra(2.31)"

which says:

(1) to jump scroll in one line at a time, at a auto determined rate;
(2) to smooth scroll out one line at a time, at a rate of 2.31 lines per second, which works out to ~0.433sec on screen time;

The way we envisioned controlling the max number of lines (or glyphs) was to define the extent of the region in cell units in order to yield a fixed number of rows (for a font that was sized at 1c). So, the example given below could be expressed now as follows:

<region>
<style tts:fontSize="1c"/>
<style tts:extent="24c 3c"/> <!-- define size of region to be 24 cells wide, and 3 cells (rows) high -->
<style tts:overflow="scroll"/>
<style tts:dynamicFlow="in(line,jump) out(line,smooth) intra(2.31)"/>
</region>

The only thing we don't have yet is language that says that <br/> or &#x000A; forces a line scroll in (when space is available).

======
GF:
i'm not sure we can assign a single timing value for all cases:  a two-row roll-up display will require different timing than four-row; if i have an audio-only presentation with a large window containing ten rows, that will be different still.  in that case, we'd have to supply timing values for 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. rows.  also, i don't know if what you describe precludes the use of timed roll-up captions (as i included in my example), but we must have the capability to support timed roll-up captions.  that's how many shows are captioned in the US today, and we need to support this for reformats of 608-captioned programming into DFXP.  simply converting these single rows of timed roll-up text into discrete pop-on captions would make them unusable- they'd be visible for too short a period, and the constant flashing of text would render them unreadable.
======


So I oppose the the proposal on the basis that we can already support it (albeit with a minor tweak regarding <br/>). It is better to handling subsetting the usage of dynamicFlow by means of specifying mandatory presentation features versus optional presentation features. Indeed, I have already done just that in the new draft I am preparing which I will publish later today, in which I had already anticipated this need, and had accordingly defined a feature "#dynamicFlow-teletext" that I mapped to a specific value combination of tts:dynamicFlow that is similar to the above (although I had defined it as "in(glyph,jump) out(line,smooth)"). We can use this feature definition (with any tweaks we think appropriate) to specify what is mandatory in terms of a presentation processor implementation. Or we can define a different combination, such as "in(line,jump) out(line,smooth) intra(2.31)" and call it #dynamicFlow-rollup. We could also define a new flow function value, if we like, !
 such as:

tts:dynamicFlow="roll(3)" where in this case 3 would be a parameter indicating maximum number of line areas generated at one time into the region.

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GF:
i would not be against modifying dynamicFlow as long as we can get useful behavior from it easily.  supplying an attribute with fixed features such as scroll rate and row depth is a good idea, but the timing problem still bothers me.  i'll have to ponder this some more.  perhaps fixed timing could be an option as long as we make it clear that it may not be appropriate for all use cases (such as reformats from timed 608 roll-up captions).  but we must support timed roll-up as well.
======


In general, I think we really should keep dynamicFlow because we have a formal semantics model for it that defines its timing and presentation behavior in a way that interoperates with the timing and layout model already defined by DFXP.

The focus of this exercise should not be on eliminating dynamicFlow, but on defining what subset of dynamicFlow is needed for supporting roll up semantics, and on clearly specifying that subset as a specific identifiable feature that can be made mandatory (while other dynamicFlow parameter combinations are made optional).

Also, regarding the proposal, I don't understand how the proposed tts:rollUp could be applied to body, div, or p. This style as described is a purely region layout oriented property.

======
GF:
i didn't do a good job defining how it actually can be used in body, div or p, so i'll just state that i want it applicable to these elements.  there are 608-captioned programs that move roll-up captions from, say, rows 14 and 15 to rows 12 and 13 to dodge an on-screen graphic, and then move back to rows 14 and 15.  that really can't be done easily by limiting dynamicFlow to <region>, true?  and there are endless cases where roll-up captions move from the lower-third to the upper-third and back to dodge on-screen activity.  broadcasters are going to want to convert their 608 data to DFXP as is, with zero fuss, and that means they'll expect the same visible behavior as they had with 608 captions.  can we give them that if we don't allow dynamicFlow to be applied to the content?
======





Glenn

On 1/28/09 9:51 PM, "Geoff Freed" <geoff_freed@wgbh.org> wrote:


Partly in support of Andrew's message  at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-tt/2008Dec/0137.html, partly as a counter-proposal to Sean's proposal at http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-tt/2008Dec/0142.html, and partly as a way to rethink the way DFXP supports pre-produced roll-up captions/subtitles, I submit the following proposal for the replacement of dynamicFlow.  This is a base proposal; I expect it to receive a severe beating and, I hope, many improvements while remaining as simple as possible.

PROPOSAL:  Delete <tts:dynamicFlow> from DFXP.  Replace it with a new element, <tts:rollUp>, which governs only the behavior of roll-up text.  Other dynamic displays, such as crawls, should be defined separately.

Here are the basic properties of <tts:rollUp>:

1.  Has at least two attributes:
    -- enable, with the values "on" and "off". Initial value is "off".
    -- depth, which specifies the maximum number of rows that are displayed at one time.  Values are any non-negative integer.  Initial value is "3".

Andrew's message includes a feature which could be very useful if applied to <region>:  "Leverage the proposed upperThird/middleThird/lowerThird region tag to allow for the rollup caption area to be positioned appropriately on the screen. Software that converts 608/708 captions to timed text can inspect the line positioning and infer the appropriate screen region."  I'm not sure how to handle this, however.

2.  Can be applied to <region>, <body>, <div> or <p>.

3.  Has fixed timing and scrolling behavior which emulates that specified in EIA-608:  "... the text in the top row of the window is erased from memory and from the display or scrolled off the top of the window. The remaining rows of text are each rolled up into the next highest row in the window, leaving the base row blank and ready to accept new text. This roll-up must appear smooth to the user, and must take no more than 0.433 second to complete."   (excerpted from "Closed Caption Decoder Requirements for Analog Television Receivers"; full doc at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/octqtr/47cfr15.119.htm)

4.  A row of text does not paint horizontally or "unroll" into the region when it appears; it simply scrolls up in its entirety.

5.  The currently displayed bottom row of text need not be full in order to force the display to roll up.  That is, if the bottom row ends with a linefeed or a <br />, the next row will roll up regardless of the length of the current row.


Example usage:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<tt xml:lang="en"
    xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1"
    xmlns:tts="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#style"
    xmlns:ttm="http://www.w3.org/2006/10/ttaf1#metadata">
  <head>
    <metadata>
      <ttm:title>Example: rollUp</ttm:title>
      <ttm:desc>xx</ttm:desc>
      <ttm:copyright>xx</ttm:copyright>
    </metadata>
    <layout>
        <region xml:id="r1">
            <style tts:backgroundColor="black"/>
            <style tts:color="white"/>
            <style tts:fontSize="14px"/>
            <style tts:origin="0px 240px"/>
            <style tts:extent="320px 150px"/>
            <style tts:displayAlign="after"/>
            <style tts:rollUp="enable(on) depth(2)"/>
        </region>
    </layout>
  </head>
  <body>
    <div>
          <p region="r1">
            <span begin="00:00:01.00">How doth the little crocodile</span>
            <span begin="00:00:03.00">Improve its shining tail;</span>
              <span begin="00:00:05.00">And pour the waters of the Nile</span>
              <span begin="00:00:07.00">On every golden scale!</span>
              <span begin="00:00:09.00">How cheerfully he seems to grin,</span>
              <span begin="00:00:11.00">How neatly spreads his claws,</span>
              <span begin="00:00:13.00">And welcomes little fishes in</span>
              <span begin="00:00:15.00">With gently smiling jaws!</span>
              <span begin="00:00:17.00"><br /></span>
              <span begin="00:00:19.00"><br /></span>
          </p>
    </div>
  </body>
</tt>

g.