Graphical user interface for still image capture from video footage

• US 8,413,054 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2009
• Issued: 04/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kaplan, Jonathan, Ben-Yaakov, David, Korman, Jonathan Benjamin, Kim, Philip C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lo, Weilun
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHUONG, TRUC T
• Application Number:
  US12/422,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20100262911A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 715222-723
• US Class Current: 715/719
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• 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 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00469 with enlargement of a selected area of the displayed information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47205 for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/632 for displaying or modifying preview images prior to image capturing, e.g. variety of image resolutions or capturing parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

A graphical user interface includes a first display area configured to display a first image. The first image is associated with a capture time. The graphical user interface also includes a second display area configured to display a second image and a third display area configured to display a third image. The graphical user interface further includes a user input device.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising:

one or more computer processors;

a memory, containing a program, which when executed by the one or more computer processors, performs an operation to output a graphical user interface to a display, the operation comprising;

displaying a first image from a video stream in a first display area of the display, the first image having an associated capture time;

displaying a first plurality of images from the video stream in a second display area of the display wherein each image of the first plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time prior to the capture time of the first image;

displaying a second plurality of images from the video stream in a third display area of the display, wherein each image of the second plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time subsequent to the capture time of the first image;

and

displaying a user input element operable to capture the first image as a snapshot image, the snapshot image being a still image of the first image in the first display area, the snapshot image being displayed in a fourth display area of the display.

2. The display device of claim 1, wherein the second display area is positioned above the first display area.

3. The display device of claim 2, wherein the third display area is positioned below the first display area.

4. The display device of claim 3, wherein the one or more snapshot images comprise a stack of images arrayed in a temporal order.

5. The display device of claim 4, further comprising a user selection box, wherein a snapshot image is displayed in the fourth display area in response to actuation of the user selection box.

6. The display device of claim 5, wherein the fourth display area is positioned horizontally to the side of the first display area.

7. The display device of claim 1, further comprising a first user input element comprising a scrollbar.

8. The display device of claim 7 wherein the scrollbar comprises a scroll box and a timestamp associated with a position of the scroll box.

9. The display device of claim 1, further comprising:

programmatically scanning and capturing one or more snapshot images corresponding to respective images selected from the video stream based on one or more image attributes; and

displaying the one or more snapshot images in the fourth display area of the display.

10. The display device of claim 9, wherein the one or more image attributes are selected from at least one of:

(i) user input;

(ii) a computed quality metric of the one or more respective images of the video stream; and

(iii) an audio element from the video stream.

11. The display device of claim 10, wherein the quality metric is computed based on a plurality of attributes of the respective images of the video stream, the plurality of attributes comprising:

(i) an image sharpness;

(ii) an image brightness;

(iii) an image contrast;

(iv) an image color;

(v) a presence of at least one human face; and

(vi) a number of open human eyes.

12. A computer-implemented method for generating graphical user interface of a display device, the method comprising:

displaying a first image from a video stream in a first display area of a display, the first image having an associated capture time;

displaying a first plurality of images from the video stream in a second display area of the display, wherein each image of the first plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time prior to the capture time of the first image;

displaying a second plurality of images comprising a plurality of images from the video stream in a third display area of the display, wherein each image of the second plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time subsequent to the capture time;

displaying a user input element operable to capture the first image as a snapshot image, the snapshot image being a still image of the first image in the first display area, the snapshot image being displayed in a fourth display area of the display;

programmatically scanning and capturing, based on at least one image attribute and by operation of one or more computer processors, one or more snapshot images corresponding to respective images selected from the video stream; and

displaying the one or more captured snapshot images in the fourth display area of the display.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 wherein the first side is a top side of the first display area and the second side is a bottom side of the first display area.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 wherein the fourth display area is adjacent to a third side of the first display area.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising a user input button configured to display the first image in the fourth display area in response to actuation of the user input button.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 wherein the plurality of sequential images associated with capture times subsequent to the capture time are characterized by decreasing image size as a function of capture time.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the one image attributes are selected from at least one of:

(i) user input;

(ii) a computed quality metric of the one or more respective images of the video stream; and

(iii) an audio element from the video stream.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the quality metric is computed based on a plurality of attributes of the respective images of the video stream, the plurality of attributes comprising:

(i) an image sharpness;

(ii) an image brightness;

(iii) an image contrast;

(iv) an image color;

(v) a presence of at least one human face; and

(vi) a number of open human eyes.

19. A computer program product to generate a graphical user interface on a display device, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising;

computer-readable program code configured to display a first image from a video stream in a first display area of a display, the first image having an associated capture time;

computer-readable program code configured to display a first plurality of images from the video stream in a second display area of the display, wherein each image of the first plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time prior to the capture time of the first image;

computer-readable program code configured to display a second plurality of images comprising a plurality of images from the video stream in a third display area of the display, wherein each image of the second plurality of images is associated with a corresponding capture time subsequent to the capture time;

computer-readable program code configured to display a user input element operable to capture the first image as a snapshot image, the snapshot image being a still image of the first image in the first display area, the snapshot image being displayed in a fourth display area of the display;

computer-readable program code configured to programmatically scan and capture, based on at least one image attribute, one or more snapshot images corresponding to respective images selected from the video stream; and

computer-readable program code configured to display the one or more captured snapshot images in the fourth display area of the display.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the second display area is positioned above the first display area and the third display area is positioned below the first display area.

21. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the one or more snapshot images comprise a stack of images arrayed in a temporal order.

22. The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the fourth display area is positioned horizontally to the side of the first display area.

23. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the one or more image attributes are selected from at least one of:

(i) user input;

(ii) a computed quality metric of the one or more respective images of the video stream; and

(iii) an audio element from the video stream.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the quality metric is computed based on a plurality of attributes of the respective images of the video stream, the plurality of attributes comprising:

(i) an image sharpness;

(ii) an image brightness;

(iii) an image contrast;

(iv) an image color;

(v) a presence of at least one human face; and

(vi) a number of open human eyes.