Methods and apparatus for filtering content in a video stream using text data

• US 8,165,450 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2007
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Inventors: Casagrande, Steven Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): POWERS, WILLIAM S
• Application Number:
  US11/942,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20090133092A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,618 Days
• Field of Search: 386/241, 386/249, 386/251
• US Class Current: 386/241
• 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: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 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 21/4545 Input to filtering algorithms, e.g. filtering a region of the image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47214 for content reservation or setting reminders; for requesting event notification, e.g. of sport results or stock market stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; notification of incoming messages in packet switching networks H04L51/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4884 for displaying subtitles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0885 for the transmission of subtitles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 the additional signal being a character code signal

Abstract

Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for skipping and/or filtering content from a video stream using text data associated with the video stream. The text data is parsed using metadata to identify portions of the video stream to skip during presentation, and/or to identify portions of the video stream to present to a user. The portions of the video stream that are to be skipped are filtered from the video stream, and the filtered video stream is presented to a user.

Claims

1. A method for filtering a video stream, the method comprising:

receiving a video stream including at least one segment of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the video stream;

receiving metadata referencing the closed captioning data to identify first and second anchor frames within the video stream, the metadata comprising first and second displayable text strings included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider;

parsing the closed captioning data associated with the video stream to locate the first anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the first displayable text string located in the closed captioning data recorded;

determining that the first displayable text string is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processing the closed captioning data recorded to locate the second anchor frame corresponding with the presentation the second displayable text string in the closed captioning data recorded;

identifying the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the second anchor frame and the metadata;

filtering the at least one interstitial from the video stream based on the identified boundaries to generate a filtered video stream; and

presenting the filtered video stream to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein parsing the closed captioning data associated with the video stream further comprises:

indexing the closed captioning data according to a presentation order;

parsing the closed captioning data to identify the second anchor frame in the, video stream corresponding to a presentation of the second displayable text string; and

creating at least one bookmark, identifying at least one boundary of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame in the video stream.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving metadata, and creating at least one bookmark further comprises:

receiving a first offset, relative to the second anchor frame in the video stream, that identifies a beginning of the at least one segment;

receiving a second offset, relative to the second anchor frame in the video stream, that identifies an ending of the at least one segment;

creating a beginning bookmark, identifying the beginning of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the first offset; and

creating an ending bookmark, identifying the ending of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the second offset.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second displayable text strings is unique within the text data.

5. A digital video recorder comprising:

a receiver that receives a video stream, receives closed captioning data associated with the video stream, and receives metadata referencing the closed captioning data to identify first and second anchor frames within the video stream, the metadata comprising first and second displayable text strings included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider;

a recording module that stores the video stream on a storage medium for subsequent presentation to a user;

a parsing module that parses the closed captioning data to locate the first anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the first displayable text string located in the closed captioning data recorded, determines that the first displayable text string is not located within the closed captioning data recorded, processes the closed captioning data recorded to locate the second anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the second displayable text string in the closed captioning data recorded, identifies the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the second anchor frame and the metadata; and

a presentation module that filters the at least one interstitial from the video stream based on the identified boundaries, and that presents the filtered video stream to the user.

6. The digital video recorder of claim 5, wherein:

the metadata further includes a first offset relative to the second anchor frame in the video stream, that identifies a beginning of the at least one segment, and a second offset relative to the second anchor frame in the video stream, that identifies an ending of the at least one segment; and

the parsing module parses the closed captioning data to identify the second anchor frame in the video stream corresponding to a presentation of the second displayable text string, creates a beginning bookmark, identifying the beginning of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the first offset, and creates an ending bookmark, identifying the ending of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the second offset.

7. The digital video recorder of claim 5, wherein the second displayable text string is unique within the closed captioning data.

8. The digital video recorder of claim 5, wherein the presentation module presents an indicator to the user that the at least one interstitial was skipped during the presentation of the filtered video stream.

9. A method for filtering a video stream, the method comprising:

recording a video stream including at least one segment of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the at least one segment of the show;

receiving metadata associated with the video stream, the metadata comprising first and second displayable text strings included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider;

parsing the closed captioning data recorded to locate the first of the displayable text string associated with a first anchor frame;

receiving a first offset, associated with the first displayable text string, that is relative to a first anchor frame, the first offset identifying a beginning of the at least one segment; and

receiving a second offset, associated with the first displayable text string, that is relative to the first anchor frame, the second offset identifying an ending of the at least one segment;

determining that the first displayable text string is not located in the closed captioning data recorded;

parsing the closed captioning data recorded to locate the second displayable text string associated with the second anchor frame;

receiving a third offset, associated with the second displayable text string, that is relative to the second anchor frame, the third offset identifying the beginning of the segment;

receiving a fourth offset, associated with the second displayable text string, that is relative to the second anchor frame, the fourth offset identifying the ending of the segment;

filtering the at least one interstitial from the recorded video stream, based on the second anchor frame, the third offset, and the fourth offset, to generate the filtered video stream; and

outputting the filtered video stream for presentation to the user.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

creating a beginning bookmark, identifying the beginning of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the third offset;

creating an ending bookmark,identifying the ending of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the fourth offset; and

presenting the at least one segment of the video stream between the beginning bookmark and the ending bookmark.

11. A digital video recorder comprising:

a receiver that receives a video stream ;

a recording module that stores a portion of the video stream that is received during a time interval on a storage medium for subsequent presentation to a user, the recorded portion of the stream including at least one segment of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the at least one segment of the show; and

a processing module configured to;

receive metadata referencing the closed captioning data to identify a video location within the video stream, the metadata comprising first and second displayable text strings included within the closed captioning data as originally transmitted by a content provider, each of first and second displayable text strings associated with an anchor frame of the video stream;

index the closed captioning data according to a presentation order;

parse the closed captioning data associated with the video stream, to locate a first anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the first displayable text string located in the closed captioning data recorded;

determine that the first displayable text string is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

parse the closed captioning data recorded to locate a second anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the second displayable text string in the closed captioning data recorded;

identify the boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the second anchor frame and the metadata;

filter the at least one interstitial from the recorded video stream based on the metadata and the identified boundaries; and

output a filtered video stream for presentation to the user.

12. The digital video recorder of claim 11, wherein the metadata further comprises:

a first offset, associated with the second displayable text string, that is relative to the second anchor frame, the first offset identifying a beginning of the segment; and

a second offset, associated with the second displayable text string that is relative to the second anchor frame, the second offset identifying an ending of the segment.

13. The digital video recorder of claim 12, wherein the processing module is configured to:

create a beginning bookmark, identifying the beginning of the at least one segment based on the second anchor frame and the first offset;

create an ending bookmark, identifying the ending of the at least one segment, based on the second anchor frame and the second offset; and

present the at least one segment of the video stream between the beginning bookmark and the ending bookmark.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the displayable text strings are unique within the closed captioning data.

15. A method for skipping interstitials in a video stream, the method comprising:

recording a video stream including first and second segments of a show, at least one interstitial of the show, and closed captioning data associated with the first and second segments of the show;

receiving metadata associated with the video stream, identifying boundaries of the first and second segments of the show, the metadata comprising first and second displayable text strings located in the closed captioning data when originally transmitted by a content provider, the first displayable text string associated with a first anchor frame in the first segment and the second displayable text string associated with a second anchor frame in the second segment, the metadata further comprising first and second offsets, specified relative to the first anchor frame, that identify a first beginning and a first ending of the first segment, and third and fourth offsets, specified relative to the second anchor frame, that identify a second beginning and a second ending of the second segment;

processing the closed captioning data to locate the first anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the first displayable text string located in the closed captioning data;

creating a first beginning bookmark, identifying the first beginning of the first segment, based on the first anchor frame and the first offset associated with the first anchor frame;

creating a first ending bookmark, identifying the first ending of the first segment, based on the second anchor frame and the second offset associated with the first anchor frame;

processing the closed captioning data to locate the second anchor frame corresponding with the presentation of the second displayable text string located in the closed captioning data;

creating a second beginning bookmark, identifying the second beginning of the second segment, based on the second anchor frame and the third offset associated with the second anchor frame;

creating a second ending bookmark, identifying the second ending of the second segment, based on the second anchor frame and the fourth offset associated with the first anchor frame;

filtering the video stream to remove the interstitial based on the second ending bookmark and the second beginning bookmark to generate a filtered video stream; and

outputting the filtered video stream for presentation to a user.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving the metadata including a third displayable text string, associated with a third anchor frame in the first segment, the metadata further including fifth and sixth offsets, specified relative to the first anchor frame, that identify the first beginning and the first ending of the first segment;

determining that the first displayable text string is not located within the closed captioning data recorded;

processing the closed captioning data recorded to locate the third anchor frame corresponding with the presentation the third displayable text string in the closed captioning data recorded;

creating the first beginning bookmark based on the third anchor frame and the fifth offset associated with the third anchor frame; and

creating the first ending bookmark based on the third anchor frame and the sixth offset associated, with the third anchor frame.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first and second displayable text strings are unique within the closed captioning data.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

indexing the closed captioning data according to a presentation order.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

outputting an indicator to the user that the at least one interstitial was skipped during the presentation of the filtered video stream.