US5974218A — Method and apparatus for making a digest picture

Claim 1

Independent Claim 240 words

A digest making apparatus connected to recording means capable of recording at least a television signal of a television program received through receiving means, for generating a digest list picture constituted by a set of inter-shot transitions in the picture of said television program concurrently with recording of said television program by said recording means, comprising: an input/output interface for controlling input/output of picture signals supplied to and outputted from the apparatus; converting means for converting the input picture signal into a frame-based picture signal; detecting means for fetching said frame-based picture signal and detecting frames in correspondence to said inter-shot transitions of said television program as shot-representative pictures, respectively; storage means for storing a digest list picture constituted by a set of said shot-representative pictures; and display control means for displaying said digest list picture on external display means connected to said digest making apparatus such that at least one of said shot-representative pictures appears within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a user; wherein a number of shot-representative pictures which can appear within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum number of shot-representative pictures; and wherein said display control means selects ones of said shot-representative pictures which actually appear within said time zone from ones of said shot-representative pictures which are contained in said time zone.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 240 words

A digest making apparatus connected to recording means capable of recording at least a television signal of a television program received through receiving means, for generating a digest list picture constituted by a set of inter-shot transitions in the picture of said television program concurrently with recording of said television program by said recording means, comprising: an input/output interface for controlling input/output of picture signals supplied to and outputted from the apparatus; converting means for converting the input picture signal into a frame-based picture signal; detecting means for fetching said frame-based picture signal and detecting frames in correspondence to said inter-shot transitions of said television program as shot-representative pictures, respectively; storage means for storing a digest list picture constituted by a set of said shot-representative pictures; and display control means for displaying said digest list picture on external display means connected to said digest making apparatus such that at least one of said shot-representative pictures appears within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a user; wherein a number of shot-representative pictures which can appear within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum number of shot-representative pictures; and wherein said display control means selects ones of said shot-representative pictures which actually appear within said time zone from ones of said shot-representative pictures which are contained in said time zone.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 49 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information of said digest list picture includes header information for identifying discriminatively a relevant program recorded by said recording means, shot-representative picture information indicating said inter-shot transitions, and information of time points at which said shot-representative picture information is fetched.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 58 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display control means controls display of a list of said shot-representative pictures such that at least one of said shot-representative pictures appears within a time zone in a field which is indexed by a time point, said time zone having a predetermined width beginning with said time point.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 64 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display control means performs a control such that when a number of shot-representative pictures to be displayed within a given one of a plurality of time zones is set previously, a smaller number of shot-representative pictures than that of shots which can fall within said given one time zone are selected to be displayed.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 38 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display control means performs a control such that the shot-representative pictures belonging to a predetermined one of a plurality of time zones are excluded from objects for display.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 65 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: selecting means for selecting a given shot-representative picture from said digest list picture being displayed on said display means; and means for starting reproduction of a relevant television program from a position indicated by a time point at which said given shot-representative picture selected by said selecting means was fetched by said digest making apparatus.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 36 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: means for detecting a picture position in a television program being reproduced; and means for displaying a list of shot-representative pictures starting from said time point.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 183 words

A digest making apparatus comprising: interface means for fetching information of a time period and a television channel set previously for recording a given television program by reservation in advance; arithmetic processing means for generating digest information representative of content and composition of said given television program during reception thereof; timer means for starting and ending operation of said arithmetic processing means on the basis of said information concerning said preset time period; and display means for displaying said digest information generated by said arithmetic processing means within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a user, said time zone being included in said time period; wherein an amount of digest information which can be displayed within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum amount of digest information; and wherein said display means selects a portion of said digest information which is actually displayed within said time zone from a portion of said digest information which is contained in said time zone.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 183 words

A digest making apparatus comprising: interface means for fetching information of a time period and a television channel set previously for recording a given television program by reservation in advance; arithmetic processing means for generating digest information representative of content and composition of said given television program during reception thereof; timer means for starting and ending operation of said arithmetic processing means on the basis of said information concerning said preset time period; and display means for displaying said digest information generated by said arithmetic processing means within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a user, said time zone being included in said time period; wherein an amount of digest information which can be displayed within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum amount of digest information; and wherein said display means selects a portion of said digest information which is actually displayed within said time zone from a portion of said digest information which is contained in said time zone.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 46 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a time span of a predetermined length is interposed between a time point at which said arithmetic processing means is powered on and a time point at which an operation for generating said digest information is started.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 46 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a time span of a predetermined length is interposed between a time point at which said arithmetic processing means is powered off and a time point at which an operation for generating said digest information is ended.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 31 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said digest information includes information for displaying shot-representative pictures of individual scenes of said television program in the form of a list.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 46 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said digest information further includes information of time points at which the shot-representative pictures are fetched, respectively, said information of said time points being recorded with correspondence established between said shot-representative pictures and said time points, respectively.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 41 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said digest information further includes sound information concerning sounds received around the time points at which said shot-representative pictures are fetched, respectively, said sound information being recorded together with said digest information.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 51 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising display means for displaying an array of the shot-representative pictures of scenes of said television program in a field indexed with a time point, said shot-representative pictures appearing within a time zone having a predetermined duration beginning with said time point.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 44 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said shot-representative pictures are displayed by selectively thinning out said shot-representative pictures so that a number of shot-representative pictures to be displayed within each of said time zones falls within a predetermined range of values.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 35 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein upon displaying of the digest information, the shot-representative pictures belonging to a predetermined temporal period of said television program are excluded from the objects for display.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 17 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a printer for printing said shot-representative pictures.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 75 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 11, wherein when a plurality of shot-representative pictures are generated for a plurality of different television programs, respectively, sets each composed of a limited number of selected shot-representative pictures for each of said plurality of television programs are displayed in the form of a menu for thereby allowing a given one of said shot-representative pictures belonging to a given one of said sets to be selected for confirmation.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 50 words

A digest making apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said digest information includes information concerning time points at which a television program is started and ended, respectively, and information concerning a channel through which said television program is received, both of said information being recorded together with said digest information.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 250 words

A video recording apparatus equipped with interface means for loading time information for television program recording by reservation in advance and a tuner for receiving broadcast television programs, comprising: interface means for setting a time period for a given television program and a channel through which said given television program is received, for thereby allowing said given television program to be recorded by reservation in advance; digest making means for generating digest information representative of contents and composition of said given television program; timer means for starting and ending operation of said digest making means at time points predetermined by said time period; digest display mode changing means for changing between a plurality of digest display modes; and display means for displaying said digest information in a form of a list including a plurality of fields indicating time zones set in accordance with a digest display mode designated by said digest display mode changing means, wherein digest information generated in a time zone is displayed in a field indexed by said time zone, said time zone having a width which depends on said digest display mode designated by said digest display mode changing means; wherein an amount of digest information which can be displayed in said field is limited to a specified maximum amount of digest information; and wherein said display means selects a portion of said digest information generated in said time zone which is actually displayed in said field from said digest information generated in said time zone.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 250 words

A video recording apparatus equipped with interface means for loading time information for television program recording by reservation in advance and a tuner for receiving broadcast television programs, comprising: interface means for setting a time period for a given television program and a channel through which said given television program is received, for thereby allowing said given television program to be recorded by reservation in advance; digest making means for generating digest information representative of contents and composition of said given television program; timer means for starting and ending operation of said digest making means at time points predetermined by said time period; digest display mode changing means for changing between a plurality of digest display modes; and display means for displaying said digest information in a form of a list including a plurality of fields indicating time zones set in accordance with a digest display mode designated by said digest display mode changing means, wherein digest information generated in a time zone is displayed in a field indexed by said time zone, said time zone having a width which depends on said digest display mode designated by said digest display mode changing means; wherein an amount of digest information which can be displayed in said field is limited to a specified maximum amount of digest information; and wherein said display means selects a portion of said digest information generated in said time zone which is actually displayed in said field from said digest information generated in said time zone.

Claim 24

Independent Claim 184 words

A method of making a digest for a television program, comprising the steps of: fetching a television program for generating a digest by activating a programmable timer; generating a digest representative of content and composition of a given television program in conformance with a time point at which said given television program is started by means of said programmable timer; ending the generation of said digest in conformance with a time point at which said given television program is terminated by means of said programmable timer; and displaying the generated digest within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a users; wherein a portion of the generated digest which can be displayed within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum portion of the generated digest; and wherein said displaying step includes the step of selecting a portion of the generated digest which is actually displayed within said time zone from a portion of the generated digest which is contained in said time zone.

Claim 25

Independent Claim 184 words

A method of making a digest for a television program, comprising the steps of: fetching a television program for generating a digest by activating a programmable timer; generating a digest representative of content and composition of a given television program in conformance with a time point at which said given television program is started by means of said programmable timer; ending the generation of said digest in conformance with a time point at which said given television program is terminated by means of said programmable timer; and displaying the generated digest within a time zone arranged in a field indexed by a time point, said time zone beginning at said time point and having a width selected by a users; wherein a portion of the generated digest which can be displayed within said time zone is limited to a specified maximum portion of the generated digest; and wherein said displaying step includes the step of selecting a portion of the generated digest which is actually displayed within said time zone from a portion of the generated digest which is contained in said time zone.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 187 words

A digest making method according to claim 21, wherein said step of generating a digest includes the steps of: fetching a frame picture of said television program every time a synchronizing signal contained in a television signal for said television program is detected; affixing serial numbers to said frames in a sequential order in which said frame pictures are fetched; generating color histograms (H n ) for the frame pictures as fetched, respectively; determining a difference (R1 n ) between the color histogram (H n ) for an n-th one (f n ) of said frame pictures and the color histogram (H n-1 ) for the (n-1)-th frame picture (f n-1 ) preceding said n-th frame (f n ); comparing the difference (R1 n-1 ) with a threshold value (th1); deciding an inter-shot transition when said difference exceeds said threshold value; and recording said n-th frame picture in a file as at least one part of digest information together with information of a time point at which said inter-shot transition takes place as well as information concerning correspondence between said n-th frame picture and said time point.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2002-10-25	2003-04-26	2003-10-26	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2006-10-25	2007-04-26	2007-10-26	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2010-10-25	2011-04-26	2011-10-26	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method and apparatus for making a digest picture

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