Printer with radio or television program extraction and formating

• US 20040181815A1
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Published: 09/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Hart, Peter E., Hull, Jonathan J.
• Application Number:
  US10/814,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20040181815A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/134
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/72 using electronic programme guides [EPG] focusing on identifying broadcast space time H04H60/39 ; menu type display of EPG in television receivers H04N21/47

Abstract

The system of the present invention includes an output device for generating media representation of media content extracted from a media receiver. The system includes an extraction module for extracting of media content from the media receiver. The output device generates a representation of media content extracted. Additionally, a media transfer interface permits communication between the output device and the media receiver. The methods of the present invention include a extracting media content from a media receiver, generating a representation of media content, and communicating with the media receiver through a media transfer interface. Methods of the system further include scheduling actions of the media receiver to occur at predefined times, recording and playing media content, and generating a schedule display of media programs by performing optical character recognition on the schedule displayed on a schedule channel.

Claims

1. A system for recording media content and for generating media representations, the system comprising:

an extraction module for extracting of media content from a media receiver;

an output device for generating a media representation of media content extracted from the media receiver, the output device being coupled to the extraction module; and

a media transfer interface for permitting communication between the output device and the media receiver, the media transfer interface being coupled to the media receiver.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising media content recognition software for recognizing features in media content.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises speech recognition software.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises optical character recognition software.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises face detection software.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises speaker detection software.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises keyframe selection software.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the media content recognition software further comprises face recognition software.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising processing logic for controlling display of a user interface, wherein the user interface permits the user to control actions of the output device.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising processing logic for controlling the generation of a media representation.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a storage medium for storing media representations in electronic format.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the media representation generated by the output device is stored on a digital storage medium.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising one or more user interaction devices that permit the user to interact with the printer and control the printer'"'"'s actions, wherein the user interaction devices are external to the printer.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the media representation is generated in paper format that includes at least one user-selectable identifier allowing a user to access and control media content.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one user-selectable identifier comprises at least one barcode printed on the media representation.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one barcode further comprises at least one record barcode that can be scanned to record an associated media program.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least one barcode further comprises at least play barcode that can be scanned to play an associated media program.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one user-selectable identifier comprises at least one numerical identifier which the user can type into an external device to access and control media content.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the media representation is a document displaying scheduling information for media programs.

20. A method for recording media content and for generating media representations, the method comprising:

extracting media content from a media receiver;

generating a media representation of the media content; and

communicating with a media receiver through a media transfer interface, wherein an output device communicates with the media receiver.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the output device using media content recognition techniques to recognize media content extracted from the media receiver.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising the output device sending commands to the media receiver to control actions of the media receiver.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising scheduling actions of the media receiver to occur at predefined times.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein scheduling actions further comprises scheduling generation of a media representation, wherein the generation is scheduled to occur at user-defined time periods.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein scheduling generation of a media representation further comprises entering scheduling preferences into a profile that controls actions of the output device which controls actions of the media receiver.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein generating a media representation further comprises generating a schedule representation of a list of media programs, wherein the schedule representation includes specific information about each media program.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a schedule representation of a list of media programs further comprises formatting the schedule representation based on a pre-defined user preferences profile.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a schedule representation of a list of media programs further comprises updating the generated schedule representation to include current schedule information.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a schedule representation of a list of media programs further comprises:

setting a media display to a channel that includes a schedule display showing media program scheduling information; and

performing optical character recognition on the schedule display of the media display to read schedule information content and generate a representation of the schedule display.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein generating a schedule representation of a list of media programs further comprises searching for specific user-defined features within the media content and displaying search results.

31. The method of claim 20, further comprising monitoring commands from an external interface, wherein the commands include a request to generate a media program schedule representation with user-defined parameters.

32. The method of claim 20, further comprising monitoring commands from an external device, wherein the commands include a request to update an internal table that stores the association between user-selectable identifiers printed on the media representation and the actions that can be executed on the output device in response to those user-selectable identifiers.

33. The method of claim 20, further comprising recording media content and storing the media content on a storage medium, wherein the stored media content can be played in response to commands received from an external device interface.

34. The method of claim 20, further comprising a web server with a common gateway interface for controlling the schedule for recording and playing of media content.

35. The method of claim 20 wherein generating a media representation further comprises printing media schedule information in a paper-based format.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising selecting a user-selectable identifier on the paper-based format of the media schedule information to record the associated media program.

37. The method of claim 35, further comprising selecting a user-selectable identifier on the paper-based format of the media schedule information to play the associated media program.

38. The method of claim 26, further comprising updating a database that stores current schedule information and associated user-selectable identifier information.

39. The method of claim 26, further comprising advancing a schedule display, wherein advancing the schedule display comprises:

capturing a first frame of the current schedule display on a schedule channel;

sending a command to the media receiver to advance the schedule display on the schedule channel;

capturing a second frame of the advanced schedule display on the schedule channel; and

comparing the first frame to the second frame to determine if the schedule has changed and the schedule display should be advanced.