Video-signal recording and playback apparatus, video-signal recording and playback method and recording medium

• US 7,200,322 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2001
• Issued: 04/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hamada, Toshimichi, Chotoku, Koichi, Ohta, Masashi
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HUY THANH
• Application Number:
  US09/903,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20020006268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,092 Days
• Field of Search: 386/46, 386/83, 386/95, 386/111, 386/120
• US Class Current: 386/291
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42661 for reading from or writing on a magnetic storage medium, e.g. hard disk drive
• 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 21/4325 by playing back content from the storage medium reproduction of recorded television signals H04N5/76; reproduction of recorded television signals H04N9/79
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• 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 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• 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 21/8549 Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/445 for displaying additional information H04N5/50 takes precedence
• 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 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction

Abstract

Disclosed is a video-signal recording & playback apparatus and method for recording and playing back a video signal of a television-broadcast program and a recording medium for storing a computer-readable program for controlling the video-signal recording & playback apparatus. A video-signal recording & playback apparatus includes a detection element for detecting relevant information related to a program being recorded and a modification element for automatically modifying an algorithm of detecting a program-representing picture in dependence of the relevant information.

Claims

1. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback apparatus comprising:

a detection means for detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded;

a modification means for automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information; and

an evaluation means for attaching an evaluation value representing a degree of importance to the program representative picture.

2. A video-signal recording and playback method adopted in a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback method comprising steps of:

detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded;

automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information; and

attaching an evaluation value, representing a degree of importance, to the program representative picture.

3. A recording medium for storing a computer-readable program, executable by a computer, for controlling a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, wherein said program causes said recording and playback apparatus to perform steps comprising:

detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded;

automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information; and

attaching an evaluation value, representing a degree of importance, to the program representative picture.

4. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus configured to record and play back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback apparatus comprising:

a detector unit configured to detect program-genre information related to a program being recorded;

a modification unit configured to automatically modify an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information; and

an evaluation unit configured to attach an evaluation value, representing a degree of importance, to the program-representative picture.

5. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback apparatus comprising:

a detection means for detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded; and

a modification means for automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information,

wherein the program-representative picture with a largest evaluation value among program-representative pictures detected for the program being recorded is displayed as representing the program being recorded,

said evaluation value representing a degree of importance of the program representative picture.

6. A video-signal recording and playback method adopted in a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback method comprising steps of:

detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded; and

automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information,

wherein the program-representative picture with a largest evaluation value among program-representative pictures detected for the program being recorded is displayed as representing the program being recorded,

said evaluation value representing a degree of importance of the program representative picture.

7. A recording medium for storing a computer-readable program, executable by a computer, for controlling a video-signal recording and playback apparatus for recording and playing back a video signal of an audio-video program, wherein said program causes said recording and playback apparatus to perform steps comprising:

detecting program-genre information related to a program being recorded; and

automatically modifying an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information,

wherein the program-representative picture with a largest evaluation value among program-representative pictures detected for the program being recorded is displayed as representing the program being recorded,

said evaluation value representing a degree of importance of the program representative picture.

8. A video-signal recording and playback apparatus configured to record and play back a video signal of an audio-video program, said video-signal recording and playback apparatus comprising:

a detector unit configured to detect program-genre information related to a program being recorded; and

a modification unit configured to automatically modify an algorithm for detecting a program-representative picture dependent on said detected program-genre information, wherein

the program-representative picture with a largest evaluation value among program-representative pictures detected for the program being recorded is displayed as representing the program being recorded,

said evaluation value representing a degree of importance of the representative picture.