Apparatus and method for playing back a recorded video signal in a time compressed manner

• US 6,636,271 B1
• Filed: 11/06/2000
• Issued: 10/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Magnolia Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing SA (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Megeid, Magdy
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): DESIR, JEAN WICEL
• Application Number:
  US09/582,252
• Time in Patent Office: 1,079 Days
• Field of Search: 348/559, 348/564, 348/563, 348/565, 348/567, 348/568, 348/705, 348/715, 386/46, 386/109, 386/120, 386/39, 386/35, 386/27
• US Class Current: 348/559
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440281 by altering the temporal resolution, e.g. by frame skipping television signal recording using magnetic recording on tape for reproducing at a rate different from the recording rate H04N5/783
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/4448 for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/57 Control of contrast or brightness
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/602 for digital sound signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver

Abstract

A signal processing method and apparatus provides a capability of storing a portion of an input signal representing a received program and accessing the stored information to provide a signal component representing a time-compressed version of the portion of the program during a playback mode of operation. When viewed, the time-compressed signal produced during playback provides the portion of the program in a fraction of the original time duration of the portion of the program. Playback occurs at a rate faster than the rate at which new data is stored and, as a result, there will be point in time at which the “past” signal produced during playback and the received signal, or original input video signal, coincide in time. This point in time is detected and the output signal is automatically switched back to the received program signal.

Claims

1. A method of processing a received video signal representing a video program, comprising the steps of:

processing digital data representing a portion of the video program occurring during a first interval for producing a first signal component, the first signal component representing the portion of the video signal compressed in time;

providing an output signal having the first signal component during a second interval; and

replacing the first signal component in the output signal with a second signal component representing an input video signal at the end of the second interval, the first signal component not including any time related information added thereto, the replacing step including

counting fields of video information occurring in the input video signal, determining when a count of fields of video information corresponds to a predetermined count, and decoupling the first signal component from the output signal and coupling the second signal component to the output signal when the count of fields of video information corresponds to the predetermined count.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing the digital data comprises the steps of:

receiving digital data representing a plurality of fields of video information included in the portion of the video programs;

writing a fraction of the plurality of fields of video information to a memory at a first rate;

reading the stored fraction of the plurality of fields of video information from the memory at a second rate; and

processing the fields of video information read from the memory to produce the first signal component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second rate is faster than the first rate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of writing to the memory occurs simultaneously with the step of reading from the memory and wherein data is read from a memory location before data is written to a memory location.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the fraction of the plurality of fields of video information is ½

.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the output signal is suitable for coupling to a display device for producing an image having first and second regions, the first region displaying an image in response to the first signal component and the second region displaying an image in response to the second signal component.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second display region displays a main image and the first display region displays an auxiliary image inset into the main image or outside of the main image.

8. Apparatus for processing a received video signal representing a video program, comprising:

means for processing digital data representing a portion of a video program occurring during a first interval for producing a first signal component, the first signal component representing the portion of the video signal compressed in time, the first signal component not including any time related information added thereto;

means for providing an output signal having the first signal component during a second interval, and for replacing the first signal component in the output signal with a second signal component representing an input video signal at the end of the second interval, the providing means including

means for counting fields of video information occurring in the input video signal,

means for determining when a count of fields of video information corresponds to a predetermined count, and

means for decoupling the first signal component from the output signal and for coupling the second signal component to the output signal in response to the count of fields of video information corresponding to the predetermined count; and

means for detecting the end of the second interval.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing means includes:

means for receiving digital data representing a plurality of fields of video information included in the portion of the video programs;

means for writing a fraction of the plurality of fields of video information to a memory at a first rate;

means for reading the stored fraction of the plurality of fields of video information from the memory at a second rate; and

means for processing the fields of video information read from the memory to produce the first signal component.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the providing means provides an output signal suitable for coupling to a display device for producing an image having first and second regions, the first region displaying an image in response to the first signal component and the second region displaying an image in response to the second signal component.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second display region displays a main image and the first display region displays an auxiliary image inset into the main image or outside of the main image.