JP2002271767A - Video distribution method and video distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and system that can efficiently distribute only a video image required for a customer to the customer. SOLUTION: A reception server 26 of a service center 24 receives video data sent from a broadcast station 22, stores the data to a RAID(redundant array of independent disk) 28 and generates an index 46. The index 46 is transmitted on the basis of program particular information from a customer 40 and a buffer server 38 stores video data designated by the index 46 designated by the customer 40. The customer 40 downloads the stores video data from the buffer server 38.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video distribution system, and more particularly to a video distribution method and a video distribution system suitable for distributing digitized video via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It has become very common to record television broadcasts with a video recording device such as a video recorder. As a normal recording method, there is a method in which a program to be recorded is determined in advance in a program table such as a newspaper or a magazine, and the recording is performed directly during the broadcast time, or a timer is reserved for recording.

[0003]

However, there have been the following problems in the prior art. If the program you want to record has already aired, it is difficult to watch the video again. When it is desired to view the broadcasted program, there are various methods, such as waiting for rebroadcasting, waiting for the program to be video-coded, or searching for a recording person. However, these methods are only for the sake of certainty and may be seen again if you are lucky. A method of negotiating directly with the broadcasting station is conceivable, but it is practically difficult. Therefore, it is considered that the above-mentioned problem can be solved if there is a company that performs recording of a television on behalf of the user. However, if a plurality of channels are recorded on a tape for many days, the amount becomes enormous, and it takes too much time to find a target video from among them, so it is unlikely that the business will be established.

[0004] In addition, even if a person watching a television program needs a video of a part of the program in the middle of the program or wants to watch only a part of the program again, conventionally, only the entire program is viewed. There is a problem that it is troublesome and troublesome because it is not possible to obtain it and it is necessary to search for necessary parts from among them. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide an image that has already been broadcast, without fail, and to extract and provide only necessary parts from the image.

[0005]

By the way, with the advance of computer technology (higher speed of CPU, larger capacity of hard disk, etc.), it has become realistic to digitize video and record and reproduce it. Since 2010, both satellite and terrestrial methods will be digitized, making it easier to transfer video data between the computer and the television. Furthermore, with the spread of high-speed networks, video data can be efficiently distributed. The present invention has been made based on such findings.

In order to achieve the above object, in a video distribution method according to the present invention, video data of broadcast contents is continuously recorded, and a broadcast station name, a broadcast date, and a broadcast time zone received from a customer can be specified. Based on the program identification information, of the index created by extracting a part from the video data every predetermined time, a plurality of indexes including at least the index created for the broadcast time zone specified by the program identification information, The video data is provided to the customer and distributed between the indexes specified by the customer.

[0007] A video distribution system according to the present invention comprises: broadcast recording means for continuously recording video data of a broadcast output by a receiving means; and index creation for taking out a part of the video data at predetermined time intervals and creating an index. Means, a customer terminal connected to a communication network, and outputting program identification information capable of identifying a broadcast station name, a broadcast date, and a broadcast time zone;
Based on the program specifying information received from the customer terminal via the communication network, at least a plurality of indices, including the index created for the specified broadcast time zone, are transmitted to the customer terminal, and the customer terminal And a video distribution unit for reading and outputting the video data from the broadcast recording unit over the index specified by the following.

[0008] In the above configuration, the video distribution means includes:
A delivery unit that reads out video data from the broadcast recording unit,
A buffer storage unit for temporarily storing the video data read by the distribution unit, wherein the distribution unit notifies the customer terminal that the video data can be received when the video data is stored in the buffer storage unit; The terminal may read video data from the buffer storage unit. Further, in the above configuration, the image processing apparatus further includes an index storage unit that stores the index created by the index creation unit, wherein the video distribution unit reads the index from the index storage unit and transmits the index to the customer terminal. May be adopted.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A video distribution method and a video distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a video distribution system 20 according to the present embodiment. The video distribution system 20 has a service center 24 which records video data broadcasted from a broadcasting station 22 and holds the recorded video data so that the recorded video data can be continuously taken out within an arbitrary time range. Is connected to a customer (customer) 40 via the Internet (communication network) 36.

The configuration of the service center 24 will be described. The service center 24 receives a video data from the broadcast station 22 and receives the video data from the broadcast station 22.
have. The receiving server 26 in the present embodiment
Has a plurality of receivers (servers) corresponding to the number of broadcast stations to receive, and the receiver receives video data from each of the broadcast stations 22. The receiving server 26
The setting of the broadcasting station to be received by can be changed as necessary.

[0011] The receiving server 26 is provided with a RAID (Redundant Arrays of RAID) serving as broadcast recording means.
Inexpensive Disks) 28. The RAID 28 stores a large amount of data by arranging a plurality of low-cost hard disks and distributing and recording data on each of the hard disks, thereby managing the plurality of hard disks as one hard disk. Is possible. In the present embodiment, one week of video data from each of the broadcasting stations is recorded along with the time in the RAID 28, and data before that is sequentially overwritten and deleted. In the RAID 28, the video data recorded as described above can be taken out at regular intervals. The period of the video data to be recorded is 1
Not limited to weeks, but can be changed as needed.

The RAID 28 is connected to the processing server 30. The processing server 30 serves as an index creation unit, and can create an index 46 (see FIG. 3) for extracting video data recorded in the RAID 28 at regular intervals (for example, every 5 minutes) and displaying it as a list. . The indexes 46 are arranged in chronological order, and the recorded times are also displayed. Therefore, if one is specified from a plurality of indexes 46,
The time of the video data recorded on the RAID 28 can be specified. Also, by specifying two from the index 46, the range of the video data recorded in the RAID 28 can be specified.

In the processing server 30, when a time range is designated by two images in the index 46,
The video data in the time range can be extracted from the RAID 28. In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the data amount, the video of the index 46 is created with video data of a small screen having a smaller number of pixels than the original video data. In the present embodiment, each index 46 can be reproduced as a moving image for several seconds to several tens of seconds.

The index 46 created by the processing server 30 is recorded in the RAID 28. As described above, the RAID 28 is an index storage unit that stores the index 46 created by the index creation unit (processing server) 30. As a result, the index 46 can be promptly distributed to the customer 40 as described in detail below. In the present embodiment, the index 46 is stored in the index storage means. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The index 46 may be created at a stage designated by the user and transmitted to the customer 40.

The processing server 30 is connected to an order receiving server 32 and a delivery server 34. The order receiving server 32 is connected to the delivery server 34. The order receiving server 32 instructs the processing server 30 to send the designated index 46 and video data to the delivery server 34, and sends delivery data such as the mail address of the customer 40 to the delivery server 34.
The delivery server 34 is connected to the customer 40 via the Internet 36 so that the data sent from the processing server 30 can be sent to the customer 40. As described above, the processing server 30, the order receiving server 32, and the delivery server 34 constitute a video distribution unit 39 that reads out video data of the designated index 46 from the broadcast recording unit (RAID) 28 and outputs the video data.

Further, the service center 24 has a buffer server 38 capable of taking video data in and out.
The buffer server 38 is connected to a customer 40 via the Internet 36. The order receiving server 32 of the service center 24 is connected to the Internet 36.
Is electrically connected to a personal computer (customer terminal) 42 of the customer 40 via the. Further, the order receiving server 32 provides a homepage on a network of the Internet 36, through which the customer 40 can be registered and order items inputted on the homepage can be received. Thereby, the customer 40 can communicate with the service center 24 by accessing the homepage, filling in the order items on the homepage and transmitting the information. In the present embodiment, the customer registration is performed on the homepage, and the registered customer 40 is registered.
Issue an ID (identification number) and a PW (password). As a result, the customer 40 itself can be specified, and unauthorized use by anyone other than the authorized customer 40 can be prevented. The method of accessing the order receiving server 32 by the customer 40 is not limited to this, and the order details may be sent by fax or the like through a telephone line.

The delivery server 34 is connected to a buffer server 38, and transmits video data from the delivery server 40 to the buffer server 38 so that the video data can be stored in the buffer server 38. As described above, the buffer server 38 is connected to the personal computer 42 of the customer 40 via the Internet 36, so that the data stored in the buffer server 38 can be taken in by the customer 40. The personal computer 42 of the customer 40 is connected to the television 44 of the customer 40 so that data can be exchanged between the personal computer 42 and the television 44.

The video distribution system 2 configured as described above
The operation of 0 is as follows. FIG. 2 is a flowchart in the video distribution system 20 according to the present embodiment. At this time, it is assumed that the customer 40 has registered with the service center 24 and has obtained an authentication ID and PW. In the service center 24, the television broadcast from each broadcasting station 22 is received by the corresponding receiver (server) (S100). The received video data is stored in RAID 28
Is stored together with the broadcast date and time as digital data (S101). Then, the processing server 30 creates an index 46 from the digital data at regular intervals, and stores each index 46 in the RAID 28 in a time series. Note that the processing server 30 may be connected to the receiving server 26 and create the index 46 directly from the video data received by the receiving server 26.

On the other hand, if the customer 40 has a desired scene in the broadcast video (S103), the service center 24 via the Internet 36
Is accessed (S104). And
In the homepage, the ID and P of customer 40
Enter W. The entered ID and PW are stored in the order receiving server 32.
Is collated. If they do not match, access to the service center 24 is denied, and if they match, an order receiving screen is displayed. The customer 40 transmits the program specifying information (for example, NH
K comprehensive television, February 5, 7:15, etc.) is transmitted from the homepage to the order receiving server 32 together with authentication information such as an ID (S105).

When the customer 40 designates a program, all the indexes 46 created for the program are transmitted. When the program specifying information and the authentication information are received by the order receiving server 32, a command is sent to the processing server 30 and the delivery server 34 based on the program specifying information and the authentication information (S106). That is, the processing server 30 reads the index 46 before and after (for example, 15 minutes before and after) the designated time based on the program specifying information from the RAID 28 and sends it to the delivery server 34 (S107). Further, the delivery server 34 transmits the index 46 to the customer 40 based on the authentication information (S108). The customer 40 displays the index 4 on the screen of the personal computer 42.
6 is displayed.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the index 46 in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG.
On the screen of No. 2, a plurality of indexes 46 (46a to 4a)
6f) are arranged in chronological order. Each index 46 can be reproduced as a moving image. The customer 40 selects an index (for example, 46b) indicating the start time and an index (for example, 46e) indicating the end time from the transmitted indexes 46, and transmits them to the order receiving server 32 as a necessary video time file. (S109). The order receiving server 32 selects the selected index 46b, 4
Based on 6e, a command is sent to the processing server 30 and the delivery server 34 (S110). The processing server 30 cuts out the video data according to the time file from the RAID 28 based on this command, and transmits the video data to the delivery server 34 (S112). The delivery server 34 transmits the video data transmitted from the processing server 30 to the buffer server 38 (S114), and temporarily stores the video data in the buffer server 38 (S116). Then, the order receiving server 32 notifies the customer 40 that the preparation for providing the video data has been completed (S118). After receiving this notification, the customer 40 downloads the video data from the buffer server 38 at an arbitrary time (S12).
0). Note that the fee charged to the customer 40 may be transmitted as data together with the notification in S118.
This charge is preferably set according to the amount of data exchanged between the customer 40 and the service center 24 and the time of connection to the service center 24.

As described above, in the video distribution system 20 of the present embodiment, only the video required by the customer 40 can be efficiently distributed, and even if the program has already been broadcast, Customer 40
Can be obtained. Further, the customer 40 does not need to record a large amount of data for a long time, and does not need a large-capacity hard disk. In addition, it is possible to distribute high-quality video images compatible with digital broadcasting.

In the present embodiment, the video data is preferably digital data used in Hi-Vision or the like. Can be applied. In addition, service center 24
The buffer server 38 and the buffer server 38 may be configured separately. For example, the buffer server 38 may be outsourced to another service center 24.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently distribute only the video necessary for the customer, and to reliably transmit the program to the customer even if the program has already been broadcast. Can be obtained. Further, the customer does not need to record a large amount of data for a long time, and a large-capacity hard disk is not required. In addition, it is possible to distribute high-quality video images compatible with digital broadcasting.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a video distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart in the video distribution system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of an index according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

20: video distribution system, 22: broadcasting station, 24
……… Service center, 26 …… Reception server, 28
... RAID, 30 ... Processing server, 32 ... Order receiving server, 34 ... Delivery server, 36 ... Internet, 38 ... Buffer server, 39 ... Video distribution means, 40 ... ... Customer, 42 ... PC,
44 ... TV, 46 ... Index.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tasuku Murata 5-6-4 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C052 AA01 AB04 AC08 CC01 DD04 5C064 BA07 BB07 BC01 BC07 BC18 BC23 BC25 BD02 BD03 BD08 BD09

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for continuously recording video data of broadcast contents, and for each predetermined time from said video data based on program identification information which can identify a broadcast station name, a broadcast date, and a broadcast time zone received from a customer. A plurality of indices created by extracting a part of the indices, including at least the indices created for the broadcast time zone specified by the program identification information, are provided to the customer, and the video data between the indices specified by the customer is provided. And a video distribution method. 2. A broadcast recording means for continuously recording broadcast video data output by a receiving means, an index creation means for extracting a part of the video data at predetermined time intervals and creating an index, A customer terminal that is connected and outputs program identification information capable of identifying a broadcast station name, a broadcast date, and a broadcast time zone; and at least identification based on the program identification information received from the customer terminal via the communication network. A video distribution for transmitting a plurality of indexes including the index created for the broadcast time zone to the customer terminal, reading and outputting the video data from the broadcast recording means over the indexes specified by the customer terminal, Means, and a video distribution system. 3. The video distribution unit has a distribution unit that reads video data from the broadcast recording unit, and a buffer storage unit that temporarily stores the video data read by the distribution unit. The video distribution system according to claim 2, wherein when the video data is stored in the buffer storage unit, the customer terminal is notified of the receivability, and the customer terminal reads the video data from the buffer storage unit. . 4. The video distribution system according to claim 2, further comprising: an index storage unit configured to store the index created by the index creation unit, wherein the video delivery unit stores the index from the index storage unit. A video distribution system for reading out and transmitting the data to the customer terminal.