Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing – Local trick play processing – With randomly accessible medium
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-22
2004-11-16
Tran, Thai (Department: 2616)
Motion video signal processing for recording or reproducing
Local trick play processing
With randomly accessible medium
C358S908000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06819863
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed, in general, to a system and method for locating the boundaries of segments of a video program within a video data stream and, more specifically, to a system and method for locating boundaries of video programs and boundaries of commercial messages by using audio categories such as speech, music, silence, and noise.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A wide variety of video recorders are available in the marketplace. Most people own, or are familiar with, a video cassette recorder (VCR), also referred to as a video tape recorder (VTR). A video cassette recorder records video programs on magnetic cassette tapes. More recently, video recorders that use computer magnetic hard disks rather than magnetic cassette tapes to store video programs have appeared in the market. For example, the ReplayTV™ recorder and the TiVO™ recorder digitally record television programs on hard disk drives using, for example, an MPEG video compression standard. Additionally, some video recorders may record on a readable/writable, digital versatile disk (DVD) rather than a magnetic disk.
Video recorders are typically used in conjunction with a video display device such as a television. A video recorder may be used to record a video program at the same time that the video program is being displayed on the video display device. A common example is the use of a video cassette recorder (VCR) to record television programs while the television programs are simultaneously displayed on a television screen.
Video recorders rely on high level Electronics Program Guide (EPG) information in order to determine the start times and the end times of television programs for recording purposes. Unfortunately, the EPG information may often be inaccurate, especially for live television broadcasts. There is a need in the art for an improved system and method for locating the boundaries of video programs. However, broadcasters are not motivated to insert any metadata information about the boundaries of commercial messages (“commercials”) in video programs.
Various methods exist to detect the start times and the end times of segments of video programs. These methods are typically used to detect commercials so that the commercials may be automatically skipped over when a video program is being recorded in a video recorder. Several well known methods involve the detection of a “black frame.” A black frame is a black video frame that is usually found immediately before and after a commercial. Other methods for detecting the boundaries of a commercial include using cut rate change, super histograms, digitized codes with time information, etc.
Another prior art method for detecting the boundaries of a program or a commercial involves inserting a special code or signal in the video signal to designate the beginning and the end of the program or commercial. Special circuitry is needed to detect and identify the special code or signal.
In addition, there are presently existing television standards that insert program identification information in the video signal. The program identification information uniquely identifies the beginning and the end of the program. This information can also be used to detect the boundaries of programs.
These prior art methods all involve the insertion and detection of special codes, special signals, or special program identification information within a video data stream. There is a need in the art for an improved system and method for locating the boundaries of video programs and commercials within a video data stream without using special codes, special signals, or special program identification information.
There is also a need for an improved system and method for automatically locating the boundaries of video programs and the boundaries of commercials in computerized personal multimedia retrieval systems. Computerized personal multimedia retrieval systems exist for identifying and recording segments of a video program (usually from a television broadcast) that contain topics that a user desires to record. The desired segments are usually identified based upon keywords input by the user. In a typical application, a computer system operates in the background to monitor the content of information from a source such as the Internet. The content selection is guided by the keywords provided by the user. When a match is found between the keywords and the content of the monitored information, the information is stored for later replay and viewing by the user. The downloaded information may include links to audio signals and to video clips that can also be downloaded by the user.
A computerized personal multimedia retrieval system that allows users to select and retrieve portions of television programs for later playback usually meets three primary requirements. First, a system and method is usually available for parsing an incoming video signal into its visual, audio, and textual components. Second, a system and method is usually available for analyzing the content of the audio and/or textual components of the broadcast signal with respect to user input criteria and segmenting the components based upon content. Third, a system and method is usually available for integrating and storing program segments that match the user's requirements for later replay by the user. Fourth, users prefer to record/playback only program segments and not commercials.
A system that meets these requirements is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/006,657 filed Jan. 13, 1998 by Dimitrova (a co-inventor of the present invention) entitled “MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH STORY SEGMENTATION CAPABILITY AND OPERATING PROGRAM THEREFOR INCLUDING FINITE AUTOMATON VIDEO PARSER.” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/006,657 is hereby incorporated herein by reference within this document for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/006,657 describes a system and method that provides a set of models for recognizing a sequence of symbols, a matching model that identifies desired selection criteria, and a methodology for selecting and retrieving one or more video story segments or sequences based upon the selection criteria.
A significant improvement in the operation of video signal processors, such as video recorders and computerized personal multimedia retrieval systems, can be obtained if the locations of the boundaries of the video programs and commercials are known. There is therefore a need in the art for an improved system and method for locating the boundaries of video programs and the boundaries of commercials within a video data stream.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for locating the boundaries of video programs and the boundaries of commercials within a video data stream by using the audio content of the program. Specifically, is it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for locating the boundaries of video programs and the boundaries of commercials within a video data stream by using audio categories such as speech, music, silence, and noise.
It is also a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved system and method for automatically locating the boundaries of video programs and the boundaries of commercials within a video data stream without requiring the use of special codes, special signals, or special program identification information inserted in the video data stream.
The system of the present invention comprises an audio classifier controller that categorizes sequential portions of audio signals into audio categories such as speech, music, silence, and noise. The audio classifier controller also categorizes sequential portions of audio signals into audio categories such as speech with background music, speech with background noise, speech with background speech, etc. The audio classifier controller ident
Dagtas Serhan
Dimitrova Nevenka
Duggins Alicia M
Goodman Edward W.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Tran Thai
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