Obtaining metadata program information during channel changes

• US 8,438,589 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2007
• Issued: 05/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Candelore, Brant L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pendleton, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alcon, Fernando
• Application Number:
  US11/729,461
• Publication Number:
  US 20080244637A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,232 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/9
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• 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 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

One embodiment provides a method and apparatus for obtaining metadata program information during channel changes. The method includes the capture of an on-screen display that is rendered by a rendering device such as, for example, a digital television system. The on-screen display may be generated by an access device such as a set-top box in response to a program selection event. Once captured, the on-screen display may be decoded to determine metadata for a program selected by the program selection event. In one embodiment, decoding may be provided using pattern matching, optical code recognition (OCR) or other like decoding technique for decoding a video frame to determine metadata for a program selected by the program selection event. In one embodiment, a copy of the program in conjunction with the captured metadata are stored within the persistent memory of a digital television device. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

capturing from the digital television (DTV) an on-screen display being rendered by the DTV device, the on-screen display generated by an access device in response to a program selection event, wherein the access device is a target of a detected remote control command that triggered the program selection event and is separate from the DTV device, the captured on-screen display being a video frame included in a program selected by the program selection event;

decoding, by the DTV device, the captured on-screen display to generate metadata for the program selected by the program selection event, wherein metadata is provided for the selected program by a service provider and is restricted to the access device by the service provider of DTV programming;

storing, by the DTV device, the metadata in a database included in the DTV device; and

generating, by the DTV device, a user interface using the metadata stored in the database that is different from the user interface generated by the access device.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

recording, by the DTV device, the program selected by the program selection event in conjunction with the determined metadata for the program selected by the program selection event.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to the capturing of the on-screen display, the method further comprising:

monitoring remote control commands issued to the access device to detect an activate command that activates a mode of operation having potential for selection of the selected program;

upon receipt of the activate command, further monitoring remote control commands for a selection command that selects the selected program; and

detecting a program selection event if the selection command is identified that selects the selected program.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein decoding the captured on-screen display further comprising:

optical character recognition (OCR) processing a video frame of the captured on-screen display containing the metadata related to the selected program to extract the metadata associated with the selected program.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein decoding the captured on-screen display further comprising:

determining one or more of a program name, a start time and an end time of the program selected by the program selection event; and

searching a network to determine additional program information according to the one or more of the program name, start time and end time of the program selected by the program selection event.

6. The method according to claim 3, carried out in the DTV device, wherein the DTV device is not a target device of at least one of the activate and selection commands.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

issuing, by the DTV device, an information command that causes the access device to generate a video frame containing additional metadata associated with the selected program; and

optical character recognition (OCR) processing the video frame containing the metadata relating to the program to extract additional metadata associated with the program.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the access device comprises a television set top box that is a target of a remote control selection command, and wherein the process is carried out on the DTV device.

9. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed on a programmed processor, carry out a process according to claim 1.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the program selection event is one of a channel tuning event, a selection from a list of recorded programs on a personal video recorder (PVR), a selection from a list of Video on Demand (VOD) programs, a selection to play package media, a selection from a list of content stored on portable media, a selection from a list of content stored on portable devices.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the metadata is at least one of a program name, a parental rating, a program duration, a channel number program was recorded from, channel name program was recorded from, current data and time and the current list of favorites which is active.

12. A method comprising:

detecting, by a digital television (DTV) device, a remote control command that selects a program, wherein an access device is a target of the detected remote control command and is separate from the DTV device;

capturing a video frame that is rendered by a digital television (DTV) device, the video frame generated by the access device that is the target of the detected remote control command; and

decoding, by the DTV device, the captured video frame to generate metadata regarding the selected program, wherein metadata is provided for the selected program by a service provider and is restricted to the access device by the service provider of DTV programming;

storing, by the DTV device, the metadata in a database included in the DTV device;

generating, by the DTV device, a user interface using the metadata stored in the database that is different from the user interface generated by the access device; and

issuing, by the DTV device, an information command that causes the access device to generate a video frame containing additional metadata associated with the selected program.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the DTV device is not a target of the detected remote control command.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the remote control command further comprises:

monitoring, by the DTV device, remote control commands issued to the access device that is separate from the DTV device to detect an activate command that activates a mode of operation having potential for selection of a program;

upon detection of the activate command, further monitoring remote control commands issued to the access device that is separate form the DTV device to detect a selection command that selects a program; and

upon detection of the selection command, issuing an information command that causes the access device to generate a video frame containing additional metadata associated with the program.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising recording, by the DTV device, the metadata in association with recording a copy of the program.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating, by the access device that is a target of the detected remote control command, an on-screen display including metadata regarding the selected program; and

optical character recognition (OCR) processing the on-screen display containing the metadata relating to the program to extract the metadata associated with the program.

17. A system comprising:

a digital television (DTV), including a remote control command receiver to detect a remote control command that selects a program, and a video receiver;

decode logic to capture a video frame that is rendered by the video receiver that receives the video frame from an access device that is a target of the detected remote control command and is separate from the DTV, the decode logic to decode the captured video frame to generate metadata regarding the selected program, wherein metadata, provided for the selected program by a service provider, is restricted to the access device by the service provider of DTV programming; and

a network coupled to the digital television, the digital television to request additional program information regarding the selected program according to the generated metadata regarding the selected program,

wherein the DTV is further to, upon detection of the remote control command that selects the program, issue an information command that causes an access device to generate an on-screen display containing additional metadata associated with the selected program,

wherein the DTV device is further to store the metadata regarding the selected program in a database included in the DTV device and to generate a user interface using the metadata stored in the database that is different from the user interface generated by the access device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein an access device to generate a video frame containing metadata associated with the program in response to the remote control command that selects the program.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the access device comprises a set-top box that is a target of the remote control command that selects a program.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the decode logic further comprises:

optical character recognition (OCR) logic to process a video frame of the captured on-screen display containing the metadata related to the selected program to extract the metadata associated with the selected program.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the DTV is not a target of the remote control command that selects the program.