EFFICIENT APPLICATION OF VIDEO MARKING TECHNOLOGIES

• US 20070291979A1
• Filed: 05/16/2007
• Published: 12/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verimatrix Incorporated (Verimatrix SA)
• Original Assignee: Verimatrix Incorporated (Verimatrix SA)
• Inventors: Thorwirth, Niels
• Granted Patent: US 7,738,677 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00144 involving a user identifier, e.g. a unique customer ID
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00884 involving a watermark, i.e. a barely perceptible transformation of the original data which can nevertheless be recognised by an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2020/10537 Audio or video recording
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/3027 used signal is digitally coded
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91335 the copy protection signal being a watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/835 Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 for scrambling ; for copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for rendering information to be embedded in media content at a first location and for embedding the rendered information into the media content at a second location. In many embodiments, the embedding process is less processor intensive than the rendering process and can be performed on a consumer electronics device such as a set top box, using existing processing mechanisms. One embodiment of the invention includes rendering the information into an image at a first location and embedding the image in the media at a second location in order to achieve efficient marking of the media content.

Claims

1. A method of embedding information in media content, comprising:

rendering the information into an image at a first location; and

embedding the image in the media at a second location in order to achieve efficient marking of the media content.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the information embedded in media content is transformed from a frequency domain to a rendered image.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is modified according to perceptual characteristics of the media content.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the perceptual characteristics of the media content are determined from a compressed electronic file.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the information comprises metadata related to the media content.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the information identifies a time and location of media content playback.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the information identifies a copyright owner or recipient of the media content.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the information represents a database index.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the embedding of the image is accomplished using an on-screen display of a set top box.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first location is a video delivery head end and the second location is a consumer electronics set top box receiving the video.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the image created in the first location is stored for repeated or subsequent use.

12. A system for embedding information in media content, comprising:

a server configured to render the information at a first location and to communicate the rendered information to a device connected to the server via a network;

wherein the device is configured to embed the image in the media content at a second location.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the network is a cable network and the device is a digital set top box.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is configured to transform the information that is to be embedded in the media content from the frequency domain to create the rendered image.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the server is configured to determine the perceptual characteristics of the content; and

the server is configured to modify the information according to the perceptual characteristics of the media content.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the server is configured to determine the perceptual characteristics of the media from a compressed electronic file.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein:

the device includes hardware configured to generate on screen displays on an output device;

the device is configured to embed the rendered information in the media content by displaying the rendered information as an on screen display.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the first location is a video delivery head end and the second location is a user site.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the server is configured to store the rendered image for subsequent use.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the device is configured to receive the media content via the network.