User managed internet links from TV

• US 20100037264A1
• Filed: 10/13/2009
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brant L. Candelore, Robert L. Hardacker
• Original Assignee: Brant L. Candelore, Robert L. Hardacker
• Inventors: Candelore, Brant L., Hardacker, Robert L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,079,055 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4355 involving reformatting operations of additional data, e.g. HTML pages on a television screen optimising the visualization of content for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/9577; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/066; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440236 by media transcoding, e.g. video is transformed into a slideshow of still pictures, audio is converted into text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8146 involving graphical data, e.g. 3D object, 2D graphics
• 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 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

A method of obtaining metadata associated with an element of television programming involves instructing an access device to generate and communicate a signal to a control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains metadata suitable for rendering on a display device in a visual representation; receiving the signal and storing a representation of the video frame; processing the video frame using OCR to extract enough information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame; processing the video frame to extract sufficient information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame; and retrieving metadata associated with the identified element of television programming content from a television programming content source of metadata. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining metadata associated with an element of television programming, wherein the method is carried out in a control device that does not have direct access to the metadata, comprising:

instructing an access device to generate and communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains metadata suitable for rendering on a display device in a visual representation;

receiving the signal and storing a representation of the video frame;

processing the video frame using optical character recognition (OCR) to extract enough information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;

processing the video frame to extract sufficient information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame; and

retrieving metadata associated with the identified element of television programming content from a television programming content source of metadata.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined using optical character recognition (OCR) processing the video frame in order to identify the element of television programming.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined by information in at least one of an electronic program guide, a program watermark, and channel change information in order to identify the element of television programming.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the television program element is carried out by accessing a specified web site that contains a database of said metadata.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the retrieving of the metadata is carried out over the Internet.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the method is carried out in a television remote controller.

7. A method of obtaining metadata associated with an element of television programming, wherein the method is carried out in a control device that does not have direct access to the metadata, comprising:

at a television remote controller, generating a signal instructing an access device to generate and communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains metadata suitable for rendering on a display device in a visual representation;

receiving the signal and storing a representation of the video frame;

processing the video frame using optical character recognition (OCR) to extract enough information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;

wherein at least one of a selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined using optical character recognition (OCR) processing the video frame in order to identify the element of television programming;

processing the video frame to extract sufficient information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;

retrieving metadata associated with the identified element of television programming content from a television programming content source of metadata.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined by information in at least one of an electronic program guide, a program watermark, and channel change information in order to identify the element of television programming.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein identifying the television program element is carried out by accessing a specified web site that contains a database of said metadata.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the retrieving of the metadata is carried out over the Internet.

11. A method of obtaining metadata associated with an element of television programming, wherein the method is carried out in a control device that does not have direct access to the metadata, comprising:

at a television remote controller, generating a signal instructing an access device to generate and communicate a signal to the control device suitable for driving a display, wherein the signal contains metadata suitable for rendering on a display device in a visual representation;

receiving the signal and storing a representation of the video frame;

processing the video frame using optical character recognition (OCR) to extract enough information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;

wherein at least one of a selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined using optical character recognition (OCR) processing the video frame in order to identify the element of television programming, wherein identifying the element of television programming is carried out by accessing a specified web site that contains a database;

processing the video frame to extract sufficient information to identify an element of television programming content from the video frame;

retrieving metadata associated with the identified element of television programming content from a television programming content source of metadata from the database over the Internet.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the selected channel, date, time, service provider and approximate physical location is determined by information in at least one of an electronic program guide, a program watermark, and channel change information in order to identify the element of television programming.