Method and system for replaying video images

• US 20030086691A1
• Filed: 11/07/2002
• Published: 05/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Yu, Young Dal
• Granted Patent: US 7,356,244 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/69
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/65 wherein solid state memory is used for storing indexing information or metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/007 reproducing continuously a part of the information, i.e. repeating
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/11 by using information not detectable on the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D

Abstract

The present invention relates to method of replaying video images by placing a bookmark on the particular thumbnail image of the broadcast content using thumbnail method and replaying it from the position a user wants. The method of the present invention extracts a plurality of thumbnail images from a broadcast content, placing a bookmark on a thumbnail image being most recent one before the user'"'"'request for stopping replaying the broadcast content that is being replayed. Accordingly, the user is allowed to understand roughly the broadcast content watched by the user using the thumbnail image that a bookmark is placed on, and the broadcast content can be replayed.

Claims

1. A method of placing a bookmark using thumbnail images, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving and storing a video stream of a broadcast content requested by a user;

(b) extracting a plurality of thumbnail images from the video stream, and indexing and storing the extracted thumbnail images

(c) replaying the video stream of the broadcast content in response to a request for a replay of the broadcast content selected by the user; and

(d) placing a bookmark on a thumbnail image in response to the user'"'"'s request for a placing of the bookmark on the current video stream, the thumbnail image being a most recent one before receiving the request for the placing of the bookmark.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of (e) adding the broadcast content to a recording list, the broadcast content including the thumbnail image on which the bookmark is placed.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail images are at least one of cuts, scenes, key frames and histograms.

4. A method of replaying a video image, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a request for a replay of a broadcast content selected by the user so as to replay a same video stream again after stopping the video stream of the broadcast content;

(b) checking whether a bookmark is placed on a thumbnail image of the broadcast content selected by the user, the thumbnail image being a most recent one before stopping replaying the broadcast content; and

(c) if it is checked that the bookmark is placed on the most recent thumbnail image, replaying the broadcast content successively from the thumbnail image of the broadcast content selected by the user.

5. A method of replaying a video image, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) extracting a plurality of thumbnail images from a video stream of a broadcast content requested by a user to replay a video image, and storing indices representative of each of the thumbnail images;

(b) if a request to place a bookmark is received from the user who is replaying the video stream of the broadcast content, placing the bookmark on a thumbnail image among the plurality of thumbnail images, the thumbnail image being most recent one before receiving the request for placing a bookmark;

(c) if a request for a replay of the broadcast content selected from a recording list by the user is received, checking whether the bookmark is placed on the broadcast content selected by the user; and

(d) if it is checked that the bookmark is placed on the broadcast content, replaying the broadcast content successively from the thumbnail image of the broadcast content selected by the user.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the extraction of the thumbnail images in the step (a) is performed using one of a scene extraction, a key frame extraction, and an arbitrary extraction based on a time period.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of:

(f) displaying a recording list in response to a user'"'"'s request, the recording list including at least one broadcast content deliberately recorded by the user.

8. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of:

(g) if it is checked that the bookmark is not placed on the broadcast content, replaying the broadcast content successively from the beginning of the broadcast content selected by the user.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the user'"'"'s request for placing a bookmark is a stop command to stop replaying the broadcast contents that is being replayed.

10. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of:

(h) moving the bookmark onto a corresponding thumbnail image in response to the user'"'"'s request to change the bookmark.

11. A system for replaying video images, the system comprising:

means for extracting a plurality of thumbnail images from a video stream of a broadcast content requested by a user to replay a video image;

means for placing a bookmark on a thumbnail image among the plurality of thumbnail images, the thumbnail image being most recent one before receiving a request for placing the bookmark;

means for checking whether the bookmark is placed on the broadcast content selected by the user;

means for successively replaying the broadcast content from the thumbnail image of the broadcast content selected by the user; and

means for inputting a request for receiving the video stream of the broadcast content, a request for placing the bookmark, and the user'"'"'s request for replaying the broadcast content selected by the user.

12. The system according to claim 11, further comprising means for storing the video stream of the broadcast content, an index to the thumbnail image and a bookmark index.