Detecting known video entities taking into account regions of disinterest

• US 20060195859A1
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Published: 08/31/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: MGS Modular Galley Systems AG, Video Identification Discoveries LLC
• Original Assignee: Video Identification Discoveries LLC
• Inventors: Lienhart, Christine, Konig, Richard, Lienhart, Rainer W.
• Application Number:
  US11/067,003
• Publication Number:
  US 20060195859A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/785 using colour or luminescence
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/40 in video content extracting overlay text G06V20/62; video retrieval G06F16/70; processing of video elementary streams in video servers H04N21/234; processing of video elementary streams in video clients H04N21/44
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/10 Arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or the distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/59 of video recognising characters or patterns in general G06F18/00, G06V20/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/65 for using the result on users' side
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2143 located in a single building, e.g. hotel, hospital or museum arrangements specially adapted for plural spots in a confined site in broadcast systems H04H20/63; adaptations for transmission by electric cable for domestic distribution in television systems H04N7/106
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• 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 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

In general, in one aspect, the disclosure describes a method for specifying regions of interest for video event detection. The method includes receiving a video stream and identifying a region of interest in a video stream. The region of interest is a portion of at least one image of the video stream. The region of interest in the video stream is analyzed to detect a video event in the region of interest.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a known video entity within a video stream, the method comprising:

receiving a video stream;

identifying a region of disinterest in the video stream, wherein the region of disinterest is a portion of images within the video stream; and

creating statistical parameterized representations of the video stream;

comparing the statistical parameterized representation of the video stream to a plurality of fingerprints, wherein each of the plurality of fingerprints includes a plurality of associated statistical parameterized representations of a known video entity, and wherein said comparing does not include the region of disinterest; and

detecting a known video entity in the video stream when a particular fingerprint of the plurality of fingerprints has at least a threshold level of similarity with the video stream.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said comparing is done based on a sliding window that only proceeds to a next window for a subset of the plurality of fingerprints that do not meet or exceed a maximum level of dissimilarity for a current window.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sliding window is for less than an entire image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical parameterized representations are color coherence vectors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the statistical parameterized representations are color histograms.

6. The method of claim 1, where the statistical parameterized representations are an evenly or randomly highly subsampled representation of an image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the known video entities are advertisements.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the known video entities include at least some subset of advertisement intros, advertisement outros, channel idents, and sponsorship messages.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of disinterest is excluded from said creating statistical parameterized representations of the video stream.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of disinterest is an overlay.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of disinterest is a banner.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of disinterest is a channel display.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the region of disinterest includes at least some subset of channel logo, network logo, clock, scoreboard, timer, program information, EPG screen, promotions, weather reports, special news bulletins, close captioned data, and interactive TV buttons.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of fingerprints do not include the region of disinterest.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein images within the incoming video stream are segregated into a plurality of regions and a set of regions associated with the region of disinterest are excluded from said comparing.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering out fingerprints having more then a maximum level of dissimilarity with the statistical parameterized representation window.

17. A system for detecting a known video entity within a video stream, the system comprising:

a receiver to receive a video stream; and

a processor to

identify a region of disinterest in the video stream, wherein the region of disinterest is a portion of at least an image within the video stream; and

create statistical parameterized representations of the video stream;

compare the statistical parameterized representation of the video stream to a plurality of fingerprints, wherein each of the plurality of fingerprints includes a plurality of associated statistical parameterized representations of a known video entity, and wherein said comparing does not include the region of disinterest; and

detect a known video entity in the video stream when said comparing indicates that a particular fingerprint of the plurality of fingerprints has at least a threshold level of similarity with the video stream after comparing at least a defined number of windows of the particular fingerprint.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said processor compares based on a sliding window that only proceeds to a next window for a subset of the plurality of fingerprints that do not meet or exceed a maximum level of dissimilarity for a current window.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein said processor creates statistical parameterized representations that are at least some subset of color coherence vectors, color histograms, and evenly or randomly highly subsampled representations of an image.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the known video segments are at least some subset of advertisements, advertisement intros, advertisement outros, channel idents, sponsorship messages, channel changes, programs and scenes.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein said processor excludes the region of disinterest when creating the statistical parameterized representations of the video stream.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the region of disinterest is at least some subset of an overlay, a banner, a channel display.

23. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for detecting an advertisement opportunity within a video stream, when enabled by a computer readable instruction the computer program:

receiving a video stream;

identifying a region of disinterest in the video stream, wherein the region of disinterest is a portion of images within the video stream;

creating statistical parameterized representations for windows of the video stream;

comparing the statistical parameterized representation windows to windows of a plurality of fingerprints, wherein each of the plurality of fingerprints includes associated statistical parameterized representations of a known video entity, and wherein said comparing does not include the region of disinterest; and

detecting a known video entity in the video stream when a particular fingerprint of the plurality of fingerprints has at least a threshold level of similarity with the video stream.

24. The computer program of claim 23, further comprising filtering out fingerprints having more then a maximum level of dissimilarity with the statistical parameterized representation window.

25. The computer program of claim 23, wherein the statistical parameterized representations are at least some subset of color coherence vectors, color histograms or highly subsampled representations of an image.

26. The computer program of claim 23, wherein the known video segments are at least some subset of advertisements, advertisement intros, advertisement outros, channel idents, sponsorship messages, channel changes, programs and scenes

27. The computer program of claim 23, wherein the region of disinterest is at least some subset of an overlay, a banner, and a channel display.