Program Marker File for Skipping Dead Time in Broadcast Content
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current cable and satellite television systems face challenges in allowing viewers to efficiently manage and watch long programs, as many programs include dead time and content of less interest, making it impractical to watch them in entirety, especially for sports events which have limited actual game action.
Innovation Solution
The system identifies and marks segments of greater interest within a program, allowing viewers to skip over dead time and less interesting content, using a marker file to jump directly to these segments, thereby presenting the content of interest over a shortened duration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If the entire program is presented to viewers, then complete content is provided, but the viewing time becomes excessively long and impractical
Solution Approach 1:
The program is divided into multiple segments with markers indicating points of interest. Viewers can navigate to specific segments rather than watching the entire program sequentially, reducing viewing time while accessing relevant content.
Solution Approach 2:
Markers are pre-placed in the program at significant moments or segments. This preliminary action allows viewers to quickly jump to interesting content without having to watch through dead time or less interesting portions, effectively reducing viewing time.
2Productivity
If markers are added to indicate content of interest, then viewers can access interesting segments quickly, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A marker file serves as an intermediary between the program content and the viewer. This simple text-based file contains timestamps or identifiers for interesting segments, enabling efficient content access without requiring complex processing or additional hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
A receiving system includes a communication input system to receive a program and a marker file. The program has a total duration when the program is presented in its entirety. The marker file includes a plurality of markers indicating locations of contents-of-interest in the program. The system includes a data storage system to store the program and the marker file. The system includes a user control to receive requests to present the contents-of-interest indicated by the plurality of markers. The system includes one or more processors to determine the locations of the contents-of-interest in the program from the plurality of markers. The system includes a presentation output interface to present the contents-of-interest on a user interface. The presentation of the contents-of-interest skips some content in the program. The contents-of-interest are presented over a shortened duration that is less that a duration of the program when presented in its entirety.