Regular Sampling and Presentation of Continuous Media Stream

• US 20080152299A1
• Filed: 06/29/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ubillos, Randy
• Granted Patent: US 7,984,385 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/52
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• 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

A computer-implemented method includes displaying, within a user interface of a digital media system, a bounded region representing at least a portion of a media item, the media item comprising a plurality of frames, determining a position of a cursor within the bounded region, and displaying within the bounded region a frame from among the plurality of frames based on the determined cursor position.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

displaying, within a user interface of a digital media system, a bounded region representing at least a portion of a media item, the media item comprising a plurality of frames;

determining a position of a cursor within the bounded region; and

displaying, within the bounded region, a frame from among the plurality of frames based on the determined cursor position.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that the cursor has moved to a new position within the bounded region; and

updating the bounded region to display a new frame corresponding to the detected new position.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, within the user interface, a preview pane; and

displaying simultaneously within the preview pane the same frame that is displayed within the bounded region based on the determined cursor position.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

detecting that the cursor has moved to a new position within the bounded region; and

updating the preview pane to display the same frame that is displayed within the bounded region based on the detected new position.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising displaying a default frame within the preview pane when the cursor is located away from the bounded region, the default frame comprising a frame related to the media item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a default frame within the bounded region when the cursor is located away from the bounded region, the default frame comprising a frame related to the media item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the bounded region comprises one or more thumbnails that collectively represent the media item.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a thumbnail is assigned a time period.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a number of thumbnails in the bounded region is determined based on a total time duration of the media item and the time period.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a portion of a thumbnail containing no frames is displayed different from a portion of the thumbnail containing frames when the cursor is placed at a position within the portion of the thumbnail containing no frames.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the thumbnail has a uniform horizontal dimension and a uniform vertical dimension.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the time period is altered based on user input.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a position of the cursor is altered based on user input.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, within the user interface, a media pane encompassing one or more bounded regions, each bounded region corresponding to a different media item.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the bounded region has a starting edge and an ending edge, the ending edge displaced from the starting edge by a first distance corresponding to a total time duration of the media item, and wherein the particular frame to be displayed in the bounded region is selected based on a second distance between the starting edge and the cursor position.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the starting edge of the bounded region corresponds to a starting frame of the media item, the ending edge of the bounded region corresponds to an ending frame of the media item, and the frames corresponding to times from a start to a finish of the media item are positioned from left to right in the horizontal direction within the bounded region.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first distance corresponding to total time duration has a scale that can be varied by a user.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the bounded region has a length corresponding to a total time duration of the media item, and wherein the particular frame to be displayed in the bounded region corresponds to an interim time represented by the cursor position within the bounded region.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the media item comprises a video clip.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the cursor, when placed on the bounded region, is displayed as a vertical line within the bounded region.

21. A medium bearing instructions to enable one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

displaying, within a user interface of a digital media system, a bounded region representing at least a portion of a media item, the media item comprising a plurality of frames;

determining a position of a cursor within the bounded region; and

displaying within the bounded region a frame from among the plurality of frames based on the determined cursor position.

22. The medium of claim 21, further comprising:

detecting that the cursor has moved to a new position within the bounded region; and

updating the bounded region to display a new frame corresponding to the detected new position.

23. The medium of claim 21, further comprising:

displaying, within the user interface, a preview pane; and

displaying simultaneously within the preview pane the same frame that is displayed within the bounded region based on the determined cursor position.

24. The medium of claim 23, further comprising:

detecting that the cursor has moved to a new position within the bounded region; and

updating the preview pane to display the same frame that is displayed within the bounded region based on the detected new position.

25. The medium of claim 23, further comprising displaying a default frame within the preview pane when the cursor is located away from the bounded region, the default frame comprising a frame related to the media item.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising displaying a default frame within the bounded region when the cursor is located away from the bounded region, the default frame comprising a frame related to the media item.

27. The medium of claim 21, wherein the bounded region comprises one or more thumbnails that collectively represent the media item.

28. The medium of claim 27, wherein a thumbnail is assigned a time period.

29. The medium of claim 28, wherein a number of thumbnails in the bounded region is determined based on a total time duration of the media item and the time period.

30. The medium of claim 29, wherein a portion of a thumbnail containing no frames is displayed different from a portion of the thumbnail containing frames when the cursor is placed at a position within the portion of the thumbnail containing no frames.

31. The medium of claim 30, wherein the thumbnail has a uniform horizontal dimension and a uniform vertical dimension.

32. The medium of claim 28, wherein the time period is altered based on user input.

33. The medium of claim 21, wherein a position of the cursor is altered based on user input.

34. The medium of claim 21, further comprising displaying, within the user interface, a media pane encompassing one or more bounded regions, each bounded region corresponding to a different media item.

35. The medium of claim 21, wherein the bounded region has a starting edge and an ending edge, the ending edge displaced from the starting edge by a first distance corresponding to a total time duration of the media item, and wherein the particular frame to be displayed in the bounded region is selected based on a second distance between the starting edge and the cursor position.

36. The medium of claim 35, wherein the starting edge of the bounded region corresponds to a starting frame of the media item, the ending edge of the bounded region corresponds to an ending frame of the media item, and the frames corresponding to times from a start to a finish of the media item are positioned from left to right in the horizontal direction within the bounded region.

37. The medium of claim 35, wherein the first distance corresponding to total time duration has a scale that can be varied by a user.

38. The medium of claim 21, wherein the bounded region has a length corresponding to a total time duration of the media item, and wherein the particular frame to be displayed in the bounded region corresponds to an interim time represented by the cursor position within the bounded region.

39. The medium of claim 21, wherein the media item comprises a video clip.

40. The medium of claim 21, wherein the cursor, when placed on the bounded region, is displayed as a vertical line within the bounded region.