Visual communications system and method of controlling the same

• US 20050166242A1
• Filed: 12/07/2004
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Mori, Shigeki, Yamamoto, Takashi, Matsumoto, Yuichi, Kutsuna, Masaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,536,707 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/88
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

A visual communications system and a method of controlling the same for pausing the screens of two terminals at quite the same image. Video communications terminals receive the same channel in their respective broadcast program receiving units. A first video communications terminal temporarily stores the video of the received channel in the temporary storage memory. When a user pauses operation of the first terminal, it temporarily stores a screen pause time obtained by adding a predetermined time to the current time, and transmits a screen pause command and the screen pause time to a second video communications terminal. The second terminal pauses the video at the screen pause time if possible in time. Otherwise, it pauses the video immediately, and transmits a response with its own image pause time to the first terminal. The first terminal displays an image corresponding to the image pause time of the second terminal memory.

Claims

1. A visual communications system, comprising:

a plurality of communications terminals connected via a network, each of said plurality of communications terminals comprising;

a broadcast receiving unit for receiving a broadcast wave and outputting video data; and

a control unit for enabling an image display based on the video data, wherein, in response to an operation initiated by a user'"'"'s screen pause instruction, said control unit enables display of a same static image by more than one of said plurality of communication terminals.

2. A visual communications system according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of communications terminals comprises:

a network control unit for controlling a connection state with another of said plurality of connected communications terminals; and

a memory for storing video data for a predetermined period of time based on a response from another of said plurality of connected communications terminals received via said network control unit.

3. A visual communications system, comprising:

a plurality of communications terminals connected via a network; and

a plurality of video playback units, each of said plurality of playback units connected to one of said plurality of communications terminals, respectively, each of said plurality of communications terminals comprising;

a control unit for enabling an image display based on video data output from a corresponding one of said plurality of video playback units, wherein in response to a user'"'"'s playback operation, said control unit enables display of a same image as one displayed in another of said plurality of connected communications terminals.

4. A visual communications system according to claim 3, wherein each of said plurality of communications terminals comprises:

a network control unit for controlling a connection state with another of said plurality of connected communications terminals; and

a memory for storing video data for a predetermined period of time based on a response from another of said plurality of connected communications terminals received via said network control unit.

5. A visual communications system according to claim 4, wherein said control unit transmits an instruction command for giving an instruction of pausing a playback operation, and transmits pause position information indicating a playback pause position in the video data to the another of said plurality of connected communications terminals in response to the user'"'"'s playback pause operation.

6. A visual communications system according to claim 5, wherein the pause position information is a time obtained by adding a predetermined time to a current time.

7. A visual communications system according to claim 5, wherein the video data includes an identifier for identifying a frame, and the pause position information is a frame identifier.

8. A visual communications system according to claim 5, wherein the video data is recorded on a recording medium from which it can be read out, and the pause position information is position information on the recording medium.

9. A visual communications system according to claim 4, wherein at least one of said plurality of communications terminals shifts a playback start time by a time difference between a playback start time of said corresponding video playback unit and a playback start time of the video playback unit connected to said one of said plurality of communications terminals before the playback.

10. A method of controlling a visual communications system including a plurality of communications terminals connected via a network, comprising the steps of:

receiving a broadcast wave in one of the plurality of communications terminals and outputting video data therefrom;

enabling an image display based on the video data; and

enabling a display of a same static image as one displayed in another of the plurality of connected communications terminals in response to a user'"'"'s screen pause operation.

12. A computer program for causing a computer to execute the method of controlling the visual communications system according to claim 10.

11. A method of controlling a visual communications system including a plurality of communications terminals connected via a network and video playback units connected to the communications terminals, respectively, comprising the steps of:

enabling an image display based on video data output from the video playback unit in one of the plurality of communications terminals; and

enabling a display of the same image as one displayed in another of the plurality of connected communications terminals in response to a user'"'"'s playback operation.

13. A computer program for causing a computer to execute the method of controlling the visual communications system according to claim 11.