JP2002016900A - Video distributing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video distributing system which makes the URL of a video data distributing side invisible so that the URL may not be displayed on the screens of viewers. SOLUTION: When a viewer 14 selects a program, a display frame is transmitted from a distributing server 11 to the viewer 14 and displayed on the screen of the viewer 14. The display frame has a video displaying window for displaying distributed video and the window is provided with a shutter that is programmed to make the program visible and invisible. The distributed video displayed on the screen of the viewer 14 is prepared by embedding animation transmitted from an animation server 12 in the video displaying window of the display frame by means of the server 11 and distributed to the viewer 14 in a state where the animation is made undisplayable by closing the shutter. At the time of showing the video to the viewer 14, the video is distributed in a state where the shutter is opened. Since the URL of the video distributing side displayed when, for example, a program error occurs, and so on, in this state, is only the URL of the server 11, the URL of the animation server 12 is not known to the viewer 14.

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 system in which a source of video data is hidden from a viewer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, live programs,
2. Description of the Related Art Systems for distributing video information including moving images such as movies and still images such as paintings and photographs have been actively developed. With such a video distribution system, there is no need to go to movie theaters and museums, and there are no regional restrictions,
The advantage is that the viewer can view the video information using a personal computer from anywhere in the world.

[0003] In a system for distributing images via the Internet, which is currently being put into practical use, a viewer first accesses a management server and performs registration and other procedures there. After registration, the viewer selects his / her desired program from the list, and the management server notifies the video server which program has been selected by the viewer. The video server distributes the video of the program to the viewer based on the notification from the management server.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional system, the video is directly delivered to the viewer's personal computer. For example, when a program error occurs, the URL (URL) of the video delivery source is used. uniform resource locator)
May be displayed on the viewer's screen. In such a case, since the viewer can know the URL of the video server of the distribution source, it is possible to directly receive the video distribution from the video server from the next time without accessing the management server. Therefore, the viewer can watch the video by unauthorized means without paying a fee and avoiding the management by the management server.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image which is made invisible so that a URL of a video data distribution source is not displayed on a viewer's screen. It is to provide a distribution system.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a video distribution system comprising: a video server for transmitting video data; and a video frame transmitted from the video server for a display frame having a video display window. And a distribution server that creates distribution video data by embedding the distribution video data into the viewer in response to a request from the viewer.

In the video distribution system according to the present invention, the video data is not directly distributed to the viewer, but is transmitted once to the distribution server, where it is embedded in the video display window of the display frame to generate the distribution video data. . This distribution video data is distributed to the viewer. With such a configuration, for example, the URL of the video distribution source displayed when a program error occurs is only the URL of the distribution server that manages the distribution, and thus the URL of the video server is known to the viewer. Never.

[0008] In the video distribution system of the present invention, the video display window is provided with shutter means for making the video display window visible and invisible when the distribution video data is distributed to a viewer. It can be configured. The shutter means can be realized by an ordinary program technique. With such a configuration including the shutter means, it is possible to start and end the display of the distribution video from the distribution server, and it is possible to easily manage the distribution of the video to the viewer.

In the above configuration, transmission of the video data from the video server to the distribution server and distribution of the distribution video data to a viewer may be performed via the Internet. By transmitting video data and distributing video data via the Internet in this manner, it is possible to construct a video distribution system using an existing infrastructure without providing a special transmission path.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a moving image distribution system that distributes moving images composed of movies and live programs will be described as an example of a video distribution system. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the moving image distribution system of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the moving image distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a distribution server 11 that distributes a moving image to a viewer 14 and a moving image server 12 that transmits moving image data to the distribution server 11.
And a billing server 13 that authenticates and charges the viewer 14. In the present embodiment, the moving image server 12 functions as the video server. In the distribution server 11,
A management computer 11a for database management is connected. The video server 12 is connected to an encoder 15a of a video source 15 that provides video data. In the present embodiment, the distribution server 11, the management computer 11a, the moving image server 12, the billing server 13, and the viewer 14 are all connected to the Internet 10.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure when the viewer 14 in FIG. 1 accesses the moving picture distribution system of the present embodiment and watches a moving picture program. As shown in FIG. 2, the process starts in step 40, and the viewer 14 shown in FIG. 1 accesses the distribution server 11 via the Internet 10 as shown by an arrow 21 (step 4).
1). When the distribution server 11 is accessed, a program guide (not shown) is displayed from the distribution server 11 to the viewer 14.

Next, in step 42, when the viewer 14 selects a desired program from the program table, the viewer 14
The display frame 30 shown in FIG. 3 is sent from the distribution server 11 and displayed. As shown in FIG. 3, the display frame 30 has a video display window 31 for displaying a program, and the video display window 31 has a shutter (not shown) by a program for making the video display window 31 visible and invisible. ) Is provided. Viewer 14
Is created by embedding the moving image data sent from the moving image server 12 into the image display window 31 of the display frame 30 in the distribution server 11, and at this time, the shutter is Distribution to the viewer 14 is performed in a closed state (step 43). Therefore, only the display frame 30 is displayed on the screen of the viewer 14, and nothing is displayed on the video display window 31.

Next, the viewer 14 is urged to input an ID and a password into the ID input section 32 and the password input section 33, respectively, in the display frame 30 shown in FIG. When the ID and the password are input (step 44), the distribution server 11 records the viewer's ID and password for the program selected by the viewer, and records the time at which the viewer selected the program at the entry time. Record as Thus, the viewer 14 is registered as a spectator of the program. Although not shown in FIG. 2, at this point, as shown by arrow 23, the ID and the password are transmitted from distribution server 11 to billing server 13 via Internet 10, and viewer 14 is eligible for access. Whether or not this is the case is confirmed, and the viewer 14 is charged for the fee of the selected program.

When the registration of the viewer 14 is completed, the program proceeds to step 46 until the start time of the program selected above is reached.
Is repeated. If it is determined in step 46 that the program start time has come, or if it is determined that the program start time has elapsed, then in step 47, the distribution server 11 closes the video display window 31 and When the program is displayed in the video display window 31, the distribution video to the viewer 14 is started. Thus, the viewer 14 can view the distribution video 34 (FIG. 3) via the video display window 31 of the display frame 30.

Next, when the program ends in step 48,
In step 49, the shutter is closed to make the image display window 31 invisible. And step 50
The process is terminated at.

As described above, by performing the visualization and the invisibility by the shutter in the distribution server 11, the control of the distribution of the video to the viewer 14 is controlled.
Can be performed at

[0017]

According to the video distribution system of the present invention, since the distribution video from the video server is not directly distributed to the viewer, the URL of the video server can be changed even if a program error occurs. Will not be displayed on the screen. Therefore, a situation in which the viewer knows the URL of the video server can be avoided, and illegal access to the video server can be prevented.

Further, by providing shutter means for visualizing and invisible the video display window of the display frame, it is possible to control the video distribution from the distribution server. It is possible to manage how much the viewer has watched, and it is possible to manage the system by the metering system for each viewer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a moving image distribution system according to an embodiment of a video distribution system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure when a viewer in FIG. 1 accesses a moving image distribution system and watches a moving image program.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display frame transmitted from a distribution server to a viewer and displayed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Internet 11 Distribution server 11a Management computer 12 Video server 13 Billing server 14 Viewer 15 Video supply source 30 Display frame 31 Video display window 34 Distribution video

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A video server for transmitting video data, and for a display frame having a video display window, video data transmitted from the video server is embedded in the video display window to create distribution video data and to distribute the video data. A video distribution system comprising: a distribution server that distributes video data to a viewer in response to a request from the viewer. 2. The video display window is provided with shutter means for visualizing and making the video display window invisible when the distribution video data is distributed to a viewer. 2. The video distribution system according to 1. 3. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission of the video data from the video server to the distribution server is performed via the Internet. 4. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the distribution video data to the viewer is performed via the Internet. 5. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the video data is moving image data.