Methods and Apparatus for Displaying Information Regarding Interstitials of a Video Stream

• US 20090129747A1
• Filed: 11/20/2007
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dish Technologies LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Echostar Technologies Corporation (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Casagrande, Steven Michael
• Granted Patent: US 8,165,451 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/241
• 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 21/4325 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 21/44008 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 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording

Abstract

Various embodiments of apparatus and/or methods are described for presenting information regarding interstitials of a video stream. A recording of a television show may include segments of the show interspersed with interstitials (e.g., commercials). The location of the interstitials within the recording is identified, and the locations of the interstitials are presented in progress bar during presentation of the video stream. The location of the interstitials may also be utilized to determine durations of the interstitials, and provide a user with information regarding the lengths of the interstitials of a recording, and/or the length of the other content of a recording (e.g., segments of a television show).

Claims

1. A method for providing a user with locations of interstitials in a video stream of a show, the method comprising:

providing a recording of the video stream including at least one segment of the show and at least one interstitial of the show;

identifying a location of the at least one interstitial within the recording; and

presenting a progress bar during presentation of the video stream that indicates the location of the at least one interstitial within the recording and a duration of the at least one interstitial.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the recording and identifying the location of the at least one interstitial within the recording further comprises:

receiving text data associated with the video stream; and

parsing the text data to identify the location and the duration of the at least one interstitial within the recording.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein parsing the text data further comprises:

indexing the text data according to a presentation order;

receiving metadata, including a string contained in the text data, that correlates to the location of the at least one interstitial;

parsing the text data to identify a second location in the video stream corresponding to a presentation of the string; and

identifying the location of the at least one interstitial based on the second location of the string.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving metadata and identifying the location of the interstitial further comprises:

receiving an offset, relative to the second location in the video stream, that correlates to the location of the at least one interstitial; and

identifying the location of the at least one interstitial based on the second location of the string and the offset.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a duration of the at least one interstitial; and

presenting the duration of the at least one interstitial in association with the presentation of the video stream.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the progress bar further comprises:

presenting the location of the at least one interstitial using a first indicator; and

presenting a location of the at least one segment using a second indicator.

7. A method for providing a user with a progress bar during presentation of a video stream, the method comprising:

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

parsing the text data to identify a transition within the recording between the at least one segment of the show and the at least one interstitial of the show and to identify a duration of the at least one interstitial; and

presenting a progress bar during presentation of the video stream that indicates the transition within the recording between the at least one segment of the show and the at least one interstitial of the show, and that indicates the duration of the at least one interstitial.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein parsing the text data further comprises:

indexing the text data according to a presentation order;

receiving metadata, including a string contained in the text data, that correlates to a first location of the transition;

parsing the text data to identify a second location in the video stream corresponding to a presentation of the string; and

identifying the first location of the transition based on the second location of the string.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving metadata and identifying the first location of the transition further comprises:

receiving an offset, relative to the second location in the video stream, that correlates to the first location of the transition; and

identifying the first location of the transition based on the second location of the string and the offset.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein presenting the progress bar further comprises:

presenting a location of the at least one interstitial using a first indicator; and

presenting a location of the at least one segment using a second indicator.

11. A method for presenting information regarding a recorded television show, the method comprising:

providing a recording of the television show, the recording including at least one segment of the television show and at least one interstitial;

identifying the at least one interstitial of the recording;

determining a first duration of the recording;

determining a second duration of the at least one segment of the recording; and

presenting the first duration and the second duration to the user in association with a description of the recording.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the at least one interstitial of the recording further comprises identifying the at least one interstitial of the recording based on text data associated with the at least one segment of the television show.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the at least one interstitial of the recording based on the text data and determining the second duration of the at least one segment further comprises:

indexing the text data according to a presentation order;

receiving metadata, including a first string contained in the text data, that correlates to a first boundary of the at least one interstitial, and a second string contained in the text data, that correlates to a second boundary of the at least one interstitial;

parsing the text data to identify a first location of the first boundary based on the first string;

parsing the text data to identify a second location of the second boundary based on the second string; and

determining the second duration of the at least one segment based on the first boundary and the second boundary.

14. A digital video recorder comprising:

a receiver that receives 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;

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

a processing module that;

receives metadata associated with the video stream identifying boundaries of the at least one segment of the show;

indexes the closed captioning data according to a presentation order;

parses the closed captioning data associated with the video stream, to identify a transition within the recording between the at least one segment of the show and the at least one interstitial of the show, and that determines a duration of the at least one interstitial; and

presents a progress bar during presentation of the video stream that indicates the transition within the recording between the at least one segment of the show and the at least one interstitial of the show and that presents the duration of the at least one interstitial.

15. The digital video recorder of claim 14, wherein the processing module indexes the text data according to a presentation order, receives metadata, including a string contained in the text data, that correlates to a first location of the transition, parses the text data to identify a second location in the video stream corresponding to a presentation of the string, and identifies the first location of the transition based on the second location of the string.

16. The digital video recorder of claim 14, wherein the processing module receives an offset, relative to the second location in the video stream, that correlates to the first location of the transition, and identifies the first location of the transition based on the second location of the string and the offset.

17. The digital video recorder of claim 14, wherein the processing module presents the location of the at least one interstitial using a first indicator, and presents a location of the at least one segment using a second indicator.

18. A digital video recorder comprising:

a storage medium storing a plurality of recordings of television shows, some of the recordings including at least one segment of the television show and at least one interstitial;

a parsing module that identifies at least one of the recordings that includes at least one interstitial, that identifies the at least one interstitial of the at least one of the recordings, and that determines a duration of the at least one segment of the at least one of the recordings; and

a presentation module that presents a menu including the plurality of recordings to a user, the menu displaying the first duration in association with a description of the at least one of the recordings.

19. The digital video recorder of claim 18, wherein the parsing module identifies the at least one interstitial of the at least one of the recordings based on text data associated with the at least one segment of the television show.

20. The digital video recorder of claim 18, wherein the parsing module:

indexes the text data according to a presentation order,

receives metadata, including a first string contained in the text data, that correlates to a first boundary of the at least one interstitial, and a second string contained in the text data, that correlates to a second boundary of the at least one interstitial;

parses the text data to identify a first location of the first boundary based on the first string;

parses the text data to identify a second location of the second boundary based on the second string; and

determines the duration of the at least one segment based on the first boundary and the second boundary.