Audio Video Stream Segmentation for Commercial Skipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital video recorders (DVRs) and personal video recorders (PVRs require manual user intervention to skip commercial breaks during recording and playback, leading to inaccuracies and inconvenience, as users must manually fast-forward and rewind to watch desired content and commercials separately.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that process audio/video streams to identify boundaries between show segments and interstitials, allowing for selective presentation of segments at non-real time rates during initial playback, with interstitials presented subsequently at real-time rates after the main program has concluded.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual fast forwarding is used to skip commercial breaks, then the user can watch the program without interruptions, but the user must also manually rewind to view commercials later, increasing operation complexity and time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the video content into program portions and commercial portions using metadata tags. The system automatically identifies and separates these segments, allowing the program to be played back without commercials while commercials are stored separately for later viewing, eliminating the need for manual fast-forwarding and rewinding operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary processing of the recorded video to identify and tag program and commercial segments before playback. This preliminary segmentation allows the system to automatically handle commercial skipping and retrieval during playback without requiring real-time manual user intervention.
2Productivity
If manual fast forwarding is used to skip commercials, then the program can be watched continuously, but the user may fast forward past desired portions or resume during portions to skip, reducing accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses metadata-based segmentation to precisely delimit program and commercial portions. This segmentation provides accurate boundaries that prevent the system from fast-forwarding past desired program content or resuming during portions the user intended to skip, ensuring precise playback control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses metadata tags as feedback to automatically identify segment boundaries. This feedback mechanism ensures accurate recognition of where programs start and end, preventing playback errors that occur with manual fast-forwarding.
3Ease of operation
If commercials are skipped during initial viewing, then the user experience is improved, but the user must manually rewind to view commercials, increasing time consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments commercials separately from the program content during recording. This segmentation allows commercials to be automatically retrieved and played back after the program without requiring manual rewinding, saving the user time while still allowing commercial viewing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary segmentation and tagging of commercial content during recording. This preliminary action enables automatic commercial retrieval and playback after the program, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual rewinding operations.
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a method for processing an audio/video stream includes providing an audio/video stream including at least one segment of a show and at least one interstitial of the show, receiving location information to identify a video location within the audio/video stream, and processing the audio/video stream to identify boundaries of the at least one segment of the show based on the location information. Further, the method includes outputting the segment of the show for presentation by a display device without outputting the interstitial and outputting the interstitial for presentation by the display device subsequent to outputting the segment of the show.