Object Time Frame

The object time frame determines how the elements of a structured object are related to each other with respect to time (temporal synchronization). Two kinds of synchronization can be distinguished: loose and tight synchronization. The first deals with the sequence in which objects should be displayed i.e. it determines when to start displaying/transferring a certain monomedia stream while the second maintains a more continuos relation between two or more streams of data e.g. lips synchronization [Synchronization reference]. For each time frame a monomedia object is chosen as the origin of the time frame i.e. the first object to be displayed. Relative to this object the playing time of the rest of the objects is determined. For the tight synchronization the two streams must have a colliding period on the time frame and a synchronization granularity is associated with each relation.