System and method for video navigation and client side indexing

• US 20020075572A1
• Filed: 12/14/2000
• Published: 06/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Girgensohn, Andreas, Wilcox, Lynn, Schilit, William N., Boreczky, John
• Granted Patent: US 7,401,351 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/722
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234363 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for clients with a lower screen resolution
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234381 by altering the temporal resolution, e.g. decreasing the frame rate by frame skipping
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6587 Control parameters, e.g. trick play commands, viewpoint selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8455 involving pointers to the content, e.g. pointers to the I-frames of the video stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 Handling of requests in head-ends

Abstract

A system is provided where a number of representative video snapshots are displayed on a timeline indicating a position to jump to in a video using control buttons, such as fast forward, reverse, or a timeline scroll bar. The video snapshots are obtained by opening a low resolution connection to a video server to receive forward looking video segments. The forward looking video segments are summarized and the representative video snapshots are selected and displayed to provide a reference frame for the user to select a timeline position, or snapshots directly linked to positions in the higher resolution video. Backward looking video segments may be similarly summarized from the low resolution connection, or alternatively from video previously played. As the video progresses, new forward looking video segments are received and new representative video snapshots are summarized and displayed in close proximity with the video being played.

Claims

1. A method for providing video data, comprising the steps of:

opening a main connection for receiving transmissions of a data flow;

opening a second connection for transmission of at least one look-x data stream comprising data from said data flow;

indexing at least one point of the look-x data stream to at least one corresponding point in said data flow; and

providing control of a playback position of said data flow based on the indexed points in the look-x data stream.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

displaying a timeline corresponding to the indexed look-x points, the timeline having at least one of said indexed look-x points displayed so as to reference a position on said timeline.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of providing control includes the step of:

displaying at least one of a skip forward and a skip back button configured to step a play position of said data flow to a position corresponding to a respective one of a next and a previous of said look-x data points relative to the current play position of said data flow.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying a timeline having representations of the indexed points;

selecting at least one of the indexed points; and

displaying said data flow at a point beginning with the selected indexed point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said data flow is a video and said look-x points are frames of said data flow retrieved from one of said main connection and said second connection.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said second connection is a low resolution connection relative to the main connection.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

selecting a predetermined number of said indexed look-x points;

displaying the predetermined number of indexed points to provide reference for a playback control mechanism; and

updating the selected predetermined number of indexed look-x points based on an update criteria.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said step of selecting includes the step of:

selecting said predetermined number of look-x points such that each of the look-x points is within a predetermined distance of a first play position of said data flow.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said update criteria comprises a change of the playback position a predetermined amount from the first play position during the selection step.

10. A device for client side video indexing, comprising:

a video player comprising;

a main data stream for receiving transmissions of a data flow;

a look-x data stream connection for receiving transmissions of the data flow; and

a controller for indexing at least one point of the look-x data stream to a corresponding at least one point in said data flow; and

a display for displaying at least one of the indexed look-x points.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the video player further comprises:

a skip forward button and a skip back button that each step a play position of said data stream to a respective one of a next and a previous of said look-x points relative to the current play position of said data stream.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the display further displays a timeline referenced to the data flow and at least one of said indexed look-x points, the indexed look-x points each displayed so as to reference a position on said timeline.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the video player device further comprises:

a select button for providing a user the capability to select at least one of the indexed points enabling display of the data flow to begin at the selected indexed point.

14. The device of claim 10, wherein said look-x data stream connection is a low resolution data stream relative to the main data stream connection.