Method and apparatus for deferred selective viewing of televised programs

Claim 3

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for creating a new complementary video index entry comprises: execution means for executing programs; video index builder means executed by said execution means for building the each new complementary video index entry.

Claim 4

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for receiving and recording the televised program.

Claim 5

The apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for receiving and recording the televised program comprises: means for receiving and digitizing the televised program; and means for storing the digitized televised program.

Claim 6

The apparatus as set forth in claim 4, wherein said means for receiving and digitizing the televised program comprises an Intel Smart Video Recorder (ISVR).

Claim 7

The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for selective play back of the recorded televised program for selected characters using the complementary video index entries.

Claim 8

The apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said means for selective play back of the digitized televised program comprises: execution means for executing programs; index retrieving means executed by said execution means for retrieving complementary video index entries corresponding to the selected characters; and video viewing means executed by said execution means, and in cooperation with said index retrieving means, for selective play back of scenes indexed by the retrieved complementary video index entries.

Claim 9

The apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein said means for selective play back of the digitized televised program further comprises driving means executed by said execution means for providing said video viewing means with the selected characters.

Claim 10

The apparatus as set forth in claim 8, wherein said means for selective play back of the digitized televised program further comprises user interface means displayed by said execution means for soliciting and communicating character selections to said driver means.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the starting and ending frame numbers are either both frame numbers or one frame number and one offset number.

Claim 14

The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the decoding further comprises receiving and recording the televised program.

Claim 15

The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein receiving and recording the televised program comprises receiving and digitizing the televised program, and storing the digitized televised program.

Claim 16

The method as set forth in claim 11, wherein the method further comprises selectively playing the recorded televised program for selected characters using the complementary video index entries.

Claim 17

The method as set forth in claim 14, wherein the selectively playing comprises retrieving complementary video index entries corresponding to the selected characters and playing back scenes indexed by the retrieved complementary video index entries.

Claim 18

The method as set forth in claim 15, wherein the selectively playing further comprises receiving the selected characters.

Claim 19

The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the selectively playing further comprises soliciting character selections from a user and sending the character selections.

Claim 20

The method of claim 11 wherein the starting and ending frame numbers are either both frame numbers or one frame number and one offset number.

Claim 21

A computer system comprising: decoding means for decoding closed caption embedded in a current frame of a televised program being recorded; identifying means for identifying from zero to N characters present in the current frame based on the closed caption; execution means coupled to the decoding means for executing programs; indexing means to be executed by the execution means for creating a new complementary video index entry for each character, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame for which a complementary video index entry does not exist in association with a frame immediately prior to the current frame in the televised program, each new complementary video index entry comprising a respective character identifier, and a starting frame number and an ending frame number both equivalent to a frame number of the current frame, and for updating an ending frame number for characters, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame, as well as additional characters, if any, identified within a particular number of frames prior to the current frame, for which a complementary video index entry does exist in association with the frame immediately prior to the current frame.

Claim 22

A computer system comprising: decoding means for decoding closed caption embedded in a current frame of a televised program being recorded; identifying means for identifying from zero to N characters present in the current frame based on the closed caption; execution means coupled to the decoding means for executing programs; indexing means to be executed by the execution means for creating a new complementary video index entry for each character, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame for which a complementary video index entry does not exist in association with a frame immediately prior to the current frame in the televised program, each new complementary video index entry comprising a respective character identifier, and a starting frame number and an ending frame number both equivalent to a frame number of the current frame, and for updating an ending frame number for characters, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame, as well as additional characters, if any, identified within a particular number of frames prior to the current frame, for which a complementary video index entry does exist in association with the frame immediately prior to the current frame.

Claim 23

The computer system as set forth in claim 19, wherein the computer system further comprises recording means coupled to the execution means for receiving and recording the televised program.

Claim 24

The computer system as set forth in claim 20, wherein said recording means comprises: digitization means coupled to the execution means for receiving and digitizing the televised program; and second storage means coupled to the digitization means for storing the digitized televised program.

Claim 25

The computer system as set forth in claim 17, wherein the computer system further comprises playback means to be executed by the execution means for selectivelyplay back the recorded televised program for selected ones of the intra-program indexing keys using the complementary video index entries.

Claim 26

The computer system as set forth in claim 19, wherein the computer system further comprises playback means to be executed by the execution means for selective play back of the recorded televised program for selected characters using the complementary video index entries.

Claim 27

The computer system as set forth in claim 23, wherein said playback means comprises: index retrieving means to be executed by said execution means for retrieving the complementary video index entries for one or more selected characters; and video viewing means to be executed by said execution means, and in cooperation with said index retrieving means, for selective play back of scenes indexed by the complementary video index entries.

Claim 28

The computer system as set forth in claim 24, wherein said playback means further comprises driving means to be executed by said execution means for providing said video viewing means with the selected characters.

Claim 29

The computer system as set forth in claim 25, wherein said playback means further comprises user interface means displayed by said execution means for soliciting and communicating character selections to said driver means.

Claim 32

The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the starting and ending frame numbers are either both frame numbers or one frame number and one offset number.

Claim 33

An article comprising: a storage medium; and a plurality of instructions stored on the storage medium that, when executed by a processor, result in decoding closed caption embedded in a current frame of a televised program being recorded; identifying from zero to N characters present in the current frame based on the closed caption; creating a new complementary video index entry for each character, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame for which a complementary video index entry does not exist in association with a frame immediately prior to the current frame in the televised program, each new complementary video index entry comprising a respective character identifier, and a starting frame number and an ending frame number both equivalent to a frame number of the current frame; and updating an ending frame number for characters, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame, as well as additional characters, if any, identified within a particular number of frames prior to the current frame, for which a complementary video index entry does exist in association with the frame immediately prior to the current frame.

Claim 34

An article comprising: a storage medium; and a plurality of instructions stored on the storage medium that, when executed by a processor, result in decoding closed caption embedded in a current frame of a televised program being recorded; identifying from zero to N characters present in the current frame based on the closed caption; creating a new complementary video index entry for each character, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame for which a complementary video index entry does not exist in association with a frame immediately prior to the current frame in the televised program, each new complementary video index entry comprising a respective character identifier, and a starting frame number and an ending frame number both equivalent to a frame number of the current frame; and updating an ending frame number for characters, if any, among the zero to N characters identified in the current frame, as well as additional characters, if any, identified within a particular number of frames prior to the current frame, for which a complementary video index entry does exist in association with the frame immediately prior to the current frame.

Claim 35

The article of claim 29 wherein the starting and ending frame numbers are either both frame numbers or one frame number and one offset number.