Apparatus, systems and methods for control of media content event recording

• US 10,382,814 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2018
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Greene, Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, An Son P
• Application Number:
  US15/972,896
• Publication Number:
  US 20180332336A1
• Time in Patent Office: 463 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/20 Analysis of motion motion estimation for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/43, H04N19/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/46 Extracting features or characteristics from the video content, e.g. video fingerprints, representative shots or key frames
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/413 Classification of content, e.g. text, photographs or tables
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/45 Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts

Abstract

Systems and methods are operable to record a media content event at a media device. An exemplary embodiment grabs a series of subsequently received image frames from the media content event that is being recorded after a monitored real time reaches a closing credits monitor time, wherein the closing credits monitor time is a recording end time less a predefined duration. The embodiment then analyzes each of the image frames to identify an occurrence of text presented in the analyzed image frame, determines that the identified text corresponds to closing credits of the media content event if the at least one attribute of the identified text matches a corresponding predefined closing credits attribute, and initiates an end of the recording of the media content event in response to determining that the identified text corresponds to the closing credits of the media content event.

Claims

1. A method that records media content events using a media device, the method comprising:

recording, by the media device, a media content event that is being received by the media device, wherein the broadcast of the media content event is associated with at least a scheduled broadcast start time defining when the broadcast of the media content is scheduled to begin and a scheduled broadcast end time defining when the broadcast of the media content event is scheduled to end;

analyzing each image frame of subsequently received image frames from the media content event by the media device in response to detecting that time has reached a predefined closing credits monitor time, wherein the closing credits monitor time is prior to the scheduled broadcast end time, and wherein for each analyzed image frame of the subsequently received image frames, the method further comprises;

analyzing, by the media device, the image frame to identify an occurrence of an attribute in the analyzed image frame, wherein the attribute is an icon associated with one of a plurality of production companies that produce the media content events;

comparing, by the media device, the attribute in the analyzed image frame with a corresponding predefined closing credits attribute retrieved from a memory medium of the media device, wherein the attribute is an predefined icon associated with a production company that produced the media content event that is shown in the closing credits of the media content event that is being recorded, and wherein the corresponding predefined closing credit attribute is received in at least one of electronic program guide (ERG) information and information from a remote electronic device with a remote closing credits databased of predefined closing credits attributes, and wherein the received predefined closing credits attribute is stored in the memory medium prior to the analyzing each image frame of subsequently received image frames for comparing with the icon that has been identified in the analyzed image frame of the media content event being recorded;

determining, by the media device, that the analyzed image frame includes closing credits of the media content event when the attribute in the analyzed image frame matches the corresponding predefined closing credits attribute; and

initiating an end of the recording of the media content event in response to determining that the identified attribute in the analyzed image frame corresponds to the predefined closing credits attribute.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the media device, the predefined icon associated with the production company that produced the media content event that is being recorded, wherein the predefined icon associated with the production company is received prior to the analyzing each image frame of subsequently received image frames;

storing the predefined icon associated with the production company in the memory medium of the media device; and

retrieving the predefined icon associated with the production company from the memory medium of the media device to compare the identified icon in the analyzed image frame with the predefined icon associated with the production company.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predefined icon associated with the production company is received in electronic program guide (EPG) information that is periodically communicated to the media device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the memory medium of the media device is a first memory medium, and wherein the predefined icon associated with the production company that resides in the remote closing credits database is stored in a second memory medium of the remote electronic device that is remote from the media device, the method further comprising:

communicating a request from the media device to the remote electronic device, wherein the request identifies the recording media content event; and

receiving, at the media device, information comprising the predefined icon associated with the production company from the remote electronic device, wherein the predefined icon is retrieved from the second memory medium and is communicated from the remote electronic device to the media device in response to communicating the request.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the predefined icon associated with the production company is included in a portion of the broadcasting media content event that is being received and recorded by the media device, and wherein the portion with the predefined icon associated with the production company is received at the media device prior to a start of the closing credits monitor time.