IMAGE RETRIEVAL ASSISTING METHOD, IMAGE RETRIEVAL ASSISTING APPARATUS, AND BROADCAST RECEIVING SET

• US 20110081091A1
• Filed: 12/15/2010
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ayako Nakayama, Hidetoshi Ichioka, Keiichi Yoshioka, Koji Fujita, Shigeharu Kondo, Shingo Utsuki, Shinichi Wakai, Takagi Hiroshi, Yoshiaki Arishima
• Original Assignee: Ayako Nakayama, Hidetoshi Ichioka, Keiichi Yoshioka, Koji Fujita, Shigeharu Kondo, Shingo Utsuki, Shinichi Wakai, Takagi Hiroshi, Yoshiaki Arishima
• Inventors: ICHIOKA, Hidetoshi, YOSHIOKA, Keiichi, NAKAYAMA, Ayako, WAKAI, Shinichi, ARISHIMA, Yoshiaki, TAKAGI, Hiroshi, FUJITA, Koji, KONDO, Shigeharu, UTSUKI, Shingo
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,860 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/224
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/216 Rewritable discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2516 Hard disks
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2562 DVDs [digital versatile discs]; Digital video discs; MMCDs; HDCDs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2575 DVD-RAMs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/455 said record carriers being in one device and being used as primary and secondary/backup media, e.g. HDD-DVD combo device, or as source and target media, e.g. PC and portable player
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• 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 21/4325 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 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4828 for searching program descriptors retrieval of video data G06F16/739
• 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

Abstract

The present invention enables a user to retrieve his or her desired one of a number of image programs easily and to view it quickly.

An image retrieval assisting apparatus (100) for assisting retrieval of broadcast contents in a broadcast-contents-recording/reproducing apparatus or a broadcast receiving set comprises a classification criterion information storage portion (21) for storing classification criterion for classifying broadcast contents into a plurality of categories, program information acquisition means (23) for acquiring program information of said broadcast contents, program information classification means (27) for classifying said program information into said categories according to said classification criterion, an HDD (29) for storing said classified program information, and display means (31) for displaying said categories defined by said classification criterion horizontally on a monitor screen in a selectable manner and displaying only the program information fallen in a selected category vertically on said monitor screen in a selectable manner.

Claims

1-18. -18. (canceled)

19. A method for assisting retrieval of contents, comprising the steps of:

classifying the contents into a plurality of categories;

displaying a content category in a first area on a screen;

displaying a title list associated with the content category in a second area on the screen;

selecting a title included in the title list, and

reproducing and displaying content associated with the title in a fast-forwarding manner in a third area on the screen.

20. The method according to claim 19,

wherein a selected title is displayed at a fixed position on the screen.

21. The method according to claim 19,

wherein the contents comprise recorded content and live content.

22. An apparatus for assisting retrieval of contents comprising:

classifying means for classifying the contents into a plurality of categories;

first displaying means for displaying a content category in a first area on a screen;

second displaying means for displaying a title list associated with the content category in a second area on the screen;

selecting means for selecting a title included in the title list, and

reproducing means for reproducing and displaying content associated with the title in a fast-forwarding manner in a third area on the screen.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22,

wherein a selected title is displayed at a fixed position on the screen.

24. The apparatus according to claim 22,

wherein the contents comprise recorded contents and live contents.

25. The apparatus according to claim 22 further comprising remote control means,

wherein the remote control means is equipped with a cross key, and

wherein by operating the cross key horizontally or vertically, categories or titles in the title list is retrieved respectively.