Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and distribution media
First Claim
1. An apparatus for processing a television signal, wherein the television signal comprises frames of programs and commercials, the apparatus comprising:
- receiving means for receiving a television signal;
commercial candidate block detecting means for detecting a commercial candidate block comprising one or more commercial candidate sections in the television signal;
measuring means for measuring a length of the commercial candidate block;
judgement means for making a first judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate block is within a predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length; and
determining means for determining whether the commercial candidate block is a commercial block according to the first judgement;
wherein the measuring means measures the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections; and
the judgement means makes a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within an intermediate section length range.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An information processing apparatus capable of accurately detecting commercials included in a television broadcast. A commercial candidate section detector detects a commercial candidate section based on the characteristics of transitions between a program and a commercial and based on the characteristics of commercials. Transitional criteria include quiet sections, scene change points and changes in the audio multiplex mode. A commercial block detector detects a commercial block, which is composed of a plurality of commercial sections and is interposed between program portions, in conformity with the number of frames of the individual commercial candidate sections detected by the commercial candidate section detector, and then outputs to a switch a control signal based on the result of such commercial block detection.
51 Citations
87 Claims
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1. An apparatus for processing a television signal, wherein the television signal comprises frames of programs and commercials, the apparatus comprising:
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receiving means for receiving a television signal;
commercial candidate block detecting means for detecting a commercial candidate block comprising one or more commercial candidate sections in the television signal;
measuring means for measuring a length of the commercial candidate block;
judgement means for making a first judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate block is within a predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length; and
determining means for determining whether the commercial candidate block is a commercial block according to the first judgement;
whereinthe measuring means measures the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections; and
the judgement means makes a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within an intermediate section length range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for processing a television signal, comprising:
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signal receiving means for receiving a television signal;
commercial candidate section detecting means for detecting a commercial candidate section in the television signal;
a first measuring means for measuring a length of the commercial candidate section;
a first judgement means for making a first judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate section is within a first predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length;
a second measuring means for measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections;
a second judgement means for making a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within a second predetermined range; and
commercial block determining means for determining a commercial block of one or more commercial candidate sections according to the first judgement and the second judgement.
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18. An apparatus for processing a television signal, comprising:
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signal receiving means for receiving a television signal;
commercial extracting means for extracting a commercial based on a reference criterion indicative of a commercial characteristic;
alteration detecting means for detecting an alteration of the commercial characteristic; and
changing means for changing the reference criterion according to the alteration of the commercial characteristic detected by the alteration detecting means. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An apparatus for processing a television signal, wherein the television signal comprises frames of programs and commercials, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a television signal;
a first detector for detecting a commercial candidate block comprising one or more commercial candidate sections in the television signal;
a measuring circuit for measuring a length of the commercial candidate block;
a comparitor for making a comparison of whether the length of the commercial candidate block is within a predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length; and
a second detector for determining whether the commercial candidate block is a commercial block according to the comparison;
whereinthe measuring circuit measures the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidates; and
the comparitor makes a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within an intermediate section length range. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An apparatus for processing a television signal, comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a television signal;
a detector for detecting a commercial candidate section in the television signal;
a timer for measuring a length of the commercial candidate section and for measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections;
a first comparitor for making a first comparison of whether the length of the commercial candidate section is within a first predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length;
a second comparitor for making a second comparison of whether the length of the intermediate section is within a second predetermined range; and
a commercial block detector for detecting a commercial block of one or more commercial candidate sections according to the first comparison and the second comparison.
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40. An apparatus for processing a television signal, comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a television signal;
a commercial extracting circuit for extracting a commercial based on a reference criterion indicative of a commercial characteristic;
a detector for detecting an alteration of the commercial characteristic; and
an updating circuit for updating the reference criterion according to the alteration of the commercial characteristic detected by the detector. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
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44. A method of processing information in an information processing apparatus for detecting commercials included in a television broadcast, the method comprising:
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receiving a television signal;
detecting a commercial candidate block comprising one or more commercial candidate sections in the television signal;
measuring a length of the commercial candidate block;
making a judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate block is within a predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length; and
determining whether the commercial candidate block is a commercial block according to the judgement;
whereinthe measuring step comprises measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidates; and
the judgement step comprises making a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within an intermediate section length range. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A method for processing a television signal, comprising:
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a signal receiving step of receiving a television signal;
a commercial candidate section detecting step of detecting a commercial candidate section in the television signal;
a first measuring step of measuring a length of the commercial candidate section;
a first judgement step of making a first judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate section is within a first predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length;
a second measuring step of measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections;
a second judgement step of making a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within a second predetermined range; and
a commercial block determining step of determining a commercial block of one or more commercial candidate sections according to the first judgement and the second judgement.
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61. A method for processing a television signal, comprising:
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a signal receiving step of receiving a television signal;
a commercial extracting step of extracting a commercial based on a reference criterion indicative of a commercial characteristic;
an alteration detecting step of detecting an alteration of the commercial characteristic; and
a changing step of changing the reference criterion according to the alteration of the commercial characteristic detected in the alteration detecting step. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65)
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66. A provision medium for providing a program which is readable by a computer to control an apparatus to execute a detection routine for detecting commercials included in a television broadcast, the detection routine comprising the steps of:
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receiving a television signal;
detecting a commercial candidate block comprising one or more commercial candidate sections in the television signal;
measuring a length of the commercial candidate block;
making a judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate block is within a predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length; and
determining whether the commercial candidate block is a commercial block according to the judgement;
whereinthe measuring step comprises measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidates; and
the judgement step comprises making a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within an intermediate section length range. - View Dependent Claims (67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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82. A provision medium for providing a program which is readable by a computer to control an apparatus to execute a detection routine for detecting commercials included in a television broadcast, the detection routine comprising:
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a signal receiving step of receiving a television signal;
a commercial candidate detecting step of detecting a commercial candidate section in the television signal;
a first measuring step of measuring a length of the commercial candidate section;
a first judgement step of making a first judgement of whether the length of the commercial candidate section is within a first predetermined range of an integral multiple of a standard length;
a second measuring step of measuring the length of an intermediate section between commercial candidate sections;
a second judgement step of making a second judgement of whether the length of the intermediate section is within a second predetermined range; and
a commercial block determining step of determining a commercial block of one or more commercial candidate sections according to the first judgement and the second judgement.
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83. A provision medium for providing a program which is readable by a computer to control an apparatus to execute a detection routine for detecting commercials included in a television broadcast, the detection routine comprising:
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a signal receiving step of receiving a television signal;
a commercial extracting step of extracting a commercial based on a reference criterion indicative of a commercial characteristic;
an alteration detecting step of detecting an alteration of the commercial characteristic; and
a changing step of changing the reference criterion according to the alteration of the commercial characteristic detected in the alteration detecting step. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87)
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Specification