JP2003168051A - System and method for providing electronic catalog, program thereof and recording medium with the program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an environment in which video, music, the other multimedia contents, etc., can be easily managed and utilized. <P>SOLUTION: In providing a receiver of a user side 200 with an electronic catalog of provided video contents via a prescribed network, the electronic catalog includes digest video prepared by combining moving picture clips extracted from the video contents on the basis of a prescribed keyword. The user acquires the content of the video contents on the basis of the digest video to select video contents to be purchased or rented. Also, the provided electronic catalog is provided with a function for purchasing or renting the selected video contents. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic catalog providing system, an electronic catalog providing method, a program thereof, and a recording medium recording the program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, multimedia contents such as images and music provided / sold on DVD-ROMs, video tapes, CD-ROMs, etc., or provided / sold via the Internet are used in newspapers and advertisement leaflets. Announcements and advertisements were made using catalogs and the like.

Further, in such a catalog, it is common to provide titles and still images of multimedia contents to be provided / sold.

In recent years, the use of networks has become widespread,
We that provides electronic catalogs, etc. related to multimedia contents using the Internet and public telephone lines
b-sites are appearing.

[0005]

However, the electronic catalogs used conventionally as described above merely present the contents of the multimedia contents to the user mainly in characters. For this reason, the contents of generally disclosed catalogs (including electronic catalogs) including the above-mentioned conventional techniques are difficult to understand, and multimedia contents that the user desires or likes can be selected accurately. No information was presented.

[0006] In addition, there is a case where a moving image of the extent of explaining the contents of multimedia contents is broadcast on a television broadcast or the Internet. However, since this is unilaterally broadcast from the broadcasting station side, it is not always viewed by the user. However, there is a problem that the content is not always edited according to the taste of the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an electronic catalog providing system and an electronic catalog providing method for realizing an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. , The program, and a recording medium recording the program.

[0008]

In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 is an electronic catalog providing system for delivering an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, It is characterized in that clip data created based on contents is included in the electronic catalog and transmitted to the client terminal.

As a result, according to the first aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide an environment in which video, music, other multimedia contents and the like can be easily managed and used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic catalog providing system for delivering an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, wherein a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog includes the contents. It is characterized in that the clip data is transmitted to the client terminal when a link is established to the clip data created based on the selected portion and the predetermined portion is selected.

As a result, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an environment in which video, music and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used.

Further, in a third aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of the predetermined portions are selected, clip data sequentially linked to the selected plurality of the predetermined portions are sequentially added,
It is characterized in that it is transmitted to the client terminal.

Thus, in the invention according to claim 3, in the environment where video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used, a description of a plurality of multimedia contents is sequentially provided. Is possible.

Further, in the invention according to claim 4, when the clip data is managed based on a predetermined keyword and a search key is received from the client terminal, based on the predetermined keyword and the search key, The feature is that the corresponding clip data is searched.

Thus, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, it is possible to provide the multimedia information desired by the user in an environment in which the management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. Becomes

Further, in the invention according to claim 5, a purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content is provided in the electronic catalog, and the purchase / rental application entry step is used. When the purchase or rent of the content is applied, the video content is delivered to the client terminal.

Thus, in the invention according to claim 5, in an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used, it is possible to sell and rent multimedia contents. Can be provided.

Further, the invention according to claim 6 is the purchase /
It is characterized in that the content purchased or leased by the rent application means is compressed by a predetermined compression method and transmitted.

As a result, in the invention according to the sixth aspect, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the multimedia contents provided from the environment in which the management and use of the images, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. Become.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic catalog providing method for delivering an electronic catalog of content to a client terminal via a predetermined network, which comprises a clip data creating step of creating clip data of the content. An electronic catalog transmitting step of transmitting the clip data created in the clip data creating step to the client terminal by including it in the electronic catalog.

As a result, in the invention described in claim 7, it is possible to provide an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used.

The invention according to claim 8 is an electronic catalog providing method for delivering an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, comprising a clip data creating step of creating clip data of the contents. , An electronic catalog transmitting step of transmitting to the client terminal an electronic catalog having a link to the clip data created in the clip data creating step in a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog, and sending in the electronic catalog sending step And a clip data transmitting step of transmitting the clip data to the client terminal when the predetermined portion in the created electronic catalog is selected.

As a result, in the invention according to the eighth aspect, it is possible to provide an environment in which the management and use of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc. can be easily performed.

Further, in the invention according to claim 9, in the clip data transmitting step, when a plurality of the predetermined parts are selected, the clip data which are respectively linked to the plurality of the predetermined parts are selected. It is characterized in that the data is sequentially transmitted to the client terminal.

[0025] Thus, in the invention according to claim 9, in the environment where the management, use, etc. of video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily provided, the contents explanation of a plurality of multimedia contents is sequentially provided. Is possible.

Further, the invention according to claim 10 has an index assigning step of assigning an index corresponding to the content of the content to the content, and the clip data creating step assigns a predetermined keyword and the index. Based on the content, corresponding data is extracted based on the content, and the extracted data is combined to create the clip data.

Accordingly, in the invention according to claim 10,
It becomes possible to create clip data according to the purpose in an environment in which the management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed.

Furthermore, the invention according to claim 11 is that the index assigned in the index assigning step is created based on text information generated by voice recognition of voice included in the content. It has a feature.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 11,
It is possible to reduce the labor required to create an index when creating clip data according to the purpose.

Further, in a twelfth aspect of the invention, when a search key is received from the client terminal, the clip data managed based on a predetermined keyword is based on the predetermined keyword and the search key. It is characterized in that it has a clip data searching step for searching by.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 12,
It is possible to provide multimedia information desired by a user in an environment in which management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed.

Further, the invention according to claim 13 is characterized in that the predetermined keyword is a word or phrase included in the title of the content or a keyword used when creating the clip data.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 13,
It is possible to provide an environment in which desired clip data can be accurately specified in an environment in which video, music, other multimedia contents, and the like can be easily managed and used.

Further, the invention according to claim 14 is provided with a purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the contents to the electronic catalog,
It is characterized by comprising a content distribution step of distributing the video content to the client terminal when the purchase / rental application is applied by the purchase / rental application entry step.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 14,
It is possible to provide an environment in which multimedia contents can be sold and rented in an environment in which management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed.

Further, the invention according to claim 15 is characterized in that the content distribution step compresses and distributes the content for which the purchase / rental application has been applied for purchase or rent by a predetermined compression method. .

As a result, according to the invention of claim 15,
It is possible to reduce the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment in which management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed.

Further, the invention according to claim 16 is characterized in that the electronic catalog displays the contents on the left or the top in the descending order of the number of times the clip data has been viewed.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 16,
It becomes possible to provide a more convenient electronic catalog in an environment where it is possible to easily manage and use images, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, in the invention according to claim 17, a number counting step of counting the number of times the clip data is viewed by content and / or by gender and / or age,
And a totaling result transmitting step of transmitting the results totaled in the number totaling step to a predetermined client via a predetermined network immediately or at predetermined intervals.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 17,
It is possible to provide the user who creates and provides the multimedia content with information that accurately captures the user's taste.

The invention according to claim 18 is a program for causing a server to distribute an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, the clip data being created based on the contents. Causes the server to execute an electronic catalog transmission process of transmitting the electronic catalog including the information to the client terminal via the predetermined network.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 18,
It is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that facilitates management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a server to deliver an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, wherein the contents are stored in a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog. Electronic catalog transmission processing for transmitting an electronic catalog linked to clip data created based on the above to the client terminal via the predetermined network, and linking to a predetermined portion selected by the client terminal The server is caused to execute a clip data transmission process of transmitting the clip data with the extension to the client terminal.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 19,
It is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that facilitates management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, the invention according to claim 20 is characterized in that the clip data transmitting process causes the clip data linked respectively to the plurality of selected predetermined parts to be sequentially transmitted to the client terminal. I am trying.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 20,
In a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents, it is possible to realize a program that sequentially provides a description of a plurality of multimedia contents.

Further, the invention according to claim 21 is a clip data search process for searching the clip data managed based on a predetermined keyword based on a search key received from the client terminal, and the clip data. A search result electronic catalog creating process for creating an electronic catalog based on the list of clip data searched by the search process; and the electronic catalog sending process created by the search result electronic catalog creating process. The transmitted electronic catalog is transmitted.

As a result, according to the invention of claim 21,
It is possible to realize a program that provides multimedia information desired by a user in a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, the invention according to claim 22 is further provided with a purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content to the electronic catalog,
The server is caused to execute a content distribution process of distributing the content purchased or rented by the purchase / rental application entry stage to the client terminal.

Accordingly, in the invention of claim 22,
It is possible to realize a program that provides an environment in which it is possible to sell and rent multimedia contents in a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents. Becomes

Further, the invention according to claim 23 is characterized in that the content distribution processing compresses the content for which the purchase / rental application means has applied for the purchase or the rent, and transmits the compressed content. There is.

As a result, in the invention of claim 23,
It is possible to provide a program for reducing the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment where the management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed.

The invention described in claim 24 is a program for operating a client terminal for receiving an electronic catalog of contents from a server via a predetermined network, the clip data being created based on the contents. An electronic catalog receiving process for receiving the electronic catalog containing the electronic catalog from the server via the predetermined network; and an electronic catalog displaying process for displaying the electronic catalog received by the electronic catalog receiving process. Make the terminal execute.

Accordingly, in the invention of claim 24,
It is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that facilitates management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

The invention according to claim 25 is a program for operating a client terminal which receives an electronic catalog of contents from a server via a predetermined network, wherein the contents are stored in a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog. An electronic catalog receiving process for receiving an electronic catalog linked to clip data created based on the above from the server via the predetermined network, and the electronic catalog received by the electronic catalog receiving process. An electronic catalog display process for displaying, a clip data receiving process for receiving clip data linked to a predetermined portion selected in the electronic catalog displayed in the electronic catalog display process from the server, and the clip data Plays back the clip data received by the data reception process And clip data reproduction process that, is allowed to execute said client terminal.

Accordingly, in the invention of claim 25,
It is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that facilitates management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, in the twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, the clip data receiving process sequentially receives from the server clip data in which links are respectively linked to the plurality of selected predetermined parts, and the clip data is received. When a plurality of clip data are received in the reception process, the received clip data is sequentially reproduced.

As a result, in the invention of claim 26,
In a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents, it is possible to realize a program that sequentially provides a description of a plurality of multimedia contents.

Further, in the invention of claim 27, a search key transmitting process for transmitting a search key for searching the clip data managed on the basis of a predetermined keyword to the server, and the search in the server. A search result electronic catalog receiving process of receiving an electronic catalog created based on a list of the clip data from the server, and the electronic catalog displaying process is performed by the search result electronic catalog receiving process. It is characterized by displaying the received electronic catalog.

Accordingly, in the invention of claim 27,
It is possible to realize a program that provides multimedia information desired by a user in a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, in the invention according to claim 28, a purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the contents is provided in the electronic catalog,
Purchase / rental application transmission processing for transmitting to the server the purchase / rental application input by the purchase / rental application means, and the content for which purchase / rental application is applied in the purchase / rental application transmission processing. , The content receiving process of receiving from the server, and the client terminal.

Accordingly, the invention according to claim 28 also sells and rents multimedia contents in a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents. It is possible to realize a program that provides an environment in which it is possible.

Further, the invention according to claim 29 is characterized in that the content received in the content receiving process is compressed by a predetermined compression method.

Thus, the invention according to claim 29 provides a program for reducing the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment in which video, music and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. It becomes possible.

According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, any one of the above programs is recorded on a recording medium.

As a result, the invention as set forth in claim 30 can provide a recording medium on which the above-mentioned programs are recorded.

[0068]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION [Characteristics of the present invention] The present invention provides an environment in which multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. In order to realize this, the present invention provides an edited / aggregated version of multimedia contents (also multimedia contents). Hereinafter, the edited and aggregated multimedia content is referred to as a digest. However, in the following description, video content will be described as an example of multimedia content. Further, the digest in the following description is a digest video in which video contents are aggregated.

In the present invention, such digest video is used for the following purposes. -Catalogs of recording media on which video contents are recorded, such as DVD (Digital Video Disk) ROMs, or catalogs of video contents that are sold / distributed via a predetermined network such as the Internet-Video contents such as video tapes of individual users Table of Contents of Recording Medium on which is Recorded (Used as Substitute for Thumbnail) Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment First, a first embodiment in which the present invention is preferably implemented will be described below. The present embodiment is an example when the digest video is applied to an electronic catalog. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an electronic catalog is provided that makes it easy to understand the contents of the video content.

(System Configuration) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the system configuration of this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic catalog providing system according to the present embodiment is provided by a video content sales company 140 which provides / sells video contents (may be music contents) and a video contents sales company 140. Based on the video content acquired from the video content sales company 140 and the index acquired from the index creation station 110.
Digest video creation station 1 to create digest video
And 20.

Further, the video content sales company 140
Create an electronic catalog of video contents to be provided / sold, and create an electronic catalog for the specified network (network 1, 2,
It is provided to the user side 200 via 3).

In the present embodiment, the digest video acquired from the digest video creation station 120 or a link to the digest video is attached to the electronic catalog provided by the video content sales company 140. As a result, on the user side 200, video contents are displayed in an electronic catalog displayed on a mobile phone (including a next-generation mobile phone) 201, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) 202, a television (hereinafter referred to as TV) 203, and the like. It is possible to easily grasp the contents of.

However, in the above configuration, the TV 203 includes a transceiver capable of bidirectional data communication. Further, the PC 202 includes various terminals (small portable information terminals (PDA / PM) regardless of tower type, disk top type, laptop type, notebook type, palm top type, etc.
(Including C)) can be applied. Further, the PC 202 may include the above-mentioned transceiver, TV tuner, or the like.

Each database in the following description is assumed to be a relational database. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and various modifications may be performed.

Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the video content sales company 140, the index creation station 110, and the digest video creation station 120 are described as individual configurations, but the present embodiment is not limited to this. Alternatively, each configuration may be configured by the same one (system, server, database).

Video Content Sales Company 140 More specifically, the video content sales company 140 creates or purchases video content and sells it via a storage medium such as a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM or a video tape. Alternatively, it is sold through a predetermined network such as the Internet. Further, the video content sales company 140 provides the video content to the index creating station 110 and the digest video creating station 120 via a predetermined network such as a public telephone line or the Internet before selling the video content to general users. However, the video content may be compressed in a predetermined compression method by the video content sales company 140, for example, MPEG-4 or Motion JPEG-2.
It may be configured to be coded with 000 or the like.

Further, the video content sales company 140
An electronic catalog of video contents to be sold is created, and this is stored in a predetermined network (1, 2, 3: user side 20).
It is applied with various modifications according to the receiving device in 0)
It is provided to the user side 200 via.

When transmitting the video content to each station (110, 120), information such as the title of the video content and the genre to which it belongs (genre will be described below) is also transmitted. However, the genre may be determined by the receiving side, as will be touched below. Also, in the following, a title may be used as a configuration for identifying video content,
Apart from the title, an identifier for uniquely identifying the video content may be used. In the following description, each video content is identified using a title. Furthermore, in this description, the video content includes
The time code is also included.

The other structure of the video content sales company 140 will be described later in the video content sales company 140 (2).

Index Creation Station 110 The index creation station 110 creates an index to be added to the video content based on the video content received from the video content sales company 140. This is for example MP
This is performed by using a means for adding metadata as a search key to the video content, as represented by EG-7 (formal name: multimedia content description interface; hereinafter referred to as MPEG-7). FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the index created by the index creation station 110, the video content, and the digest video.

In FIG. 2, (a) is a diagram showing the structure of the index created for the video content,
(B) is a figure which shows the structural example of the video content divided | segmented into several video clips by the index, (c)
For example, the video content shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the structural example of the digest video selected and produced by B, C, and D. Here, each of the video contents divided by the index is called a moving image clip.

.. Functional Configuration of Index Creating Station 110 FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the index creating station 110. Referring to FIG. 3, the index creation station 110 according to the present embodiment stores, for example, a video content DB 111 that stores the video content received from the video content sales company 140 in association with the received title and genre, and the video content DB 111. Content reproduction means 112 for converting the stored video content into a reproduction signal, display means 116 for outputting / displaying video / audio based on the reproduction signal, and storing a keyword as a candidate for an index to be added to the video content. A keyword database 114, a keyword specifying unit 113 for specifying a keyword that is an index candidate according to, for example, a genre of video content, and an input unit 115 for the index creator to input a keyword selection or other instructions. Configured to include an indexing means 117 to index based on the input selection and instruction from the input means 115, an index storage unit 118 for temporarily storing the index created, a.

With this configuration, the index creation station 11
A terminal for creating an index at 0 (hereinafter,
The display etc. of the index creation terminal)
The video content received from the video content sales company 140 is displayed. Also, the content reproduction means 112
Performs processing such as reproduction, stop, pause, rewind, and fast forward of the video content according to the instruction input from the input means 115. Further, in the present embodiment, the input unit 115 may be configured as a GUI (graphical user interface) using a mouse, a keyboard or the like.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the keyword database 114. Referring to FIG. 4, the keyword database 114 according to the present embodiment has a data structure in which items of genre, category, and keyword are stored in the same record.

Here, the genre is a genre to which the contents of the target video content belong, and for example, movies are classified into "Japanese movies" and "Western movies", "sports", "music programs", and "action movies". "," Home drama "," Documentary ", etc. are classified according to the contents. This genre includes video content sales company 140, indexing station 11
0 or the digest video creation station 120 may be used. However, regardless of which configuration is determined, the stations (110, 120, 140) are configured to share or manage the same.

The keywords are words and phrases such as names and terms of actors, musicians, athletes, hobbies, travel areas, cooking, politics, economy, etc., and are metadata added to video contents as indexes. For example, if it is a keyword belonging to the genre of "action movie", it is the name of the actor, the name of the building or car that appears in each scene, the words that express the characteristics of that scene, etc.
Names and terms used in the genre. This keyword may also be determined by any of the configurations of the video content sales company 140, the index creation station 110, and the digest video creation station 120. However, regardless of which configuration is determined, the stations (110, 120, 140) are configured to share or manage the same.

Further, the classification is a classification for easily selecting the above keywords. This could be, for example, an actor, an actress, or
Which country is the actor? As described above, by assigning the categories to the respective keywords, the index creator of the index creating station 110 can easily narrow down the keyword list and easily set the target keywords.

From the keyword database 114 configured as described above, the keyword specifying means 113 is stored in association with the video content or based on the genre input by the index creator via the input means 115. And identify candidates for the corresponding category.
Further, the candidates of the identified section are displayed as a list on the display unit 1.
16 is displayed. However, the sections listed in this list may be configured to also function as options by the input unit 115 each configured by a GUI.

Further, when the selection of the section is input from the input means 115 based on the display on the display means 116,
The input selection information is the keyword specifying means 113.
The keyword candidates corresponding to the selected category are specified by the keyword database 114. Further, the keyword identifying means 113 displays the identified keyword candidates as a list on the display means 116. However,
The keywords listed in this list may be configured to also function as options by the input unit 115 each configured by a GUI.

Further, from the input means 115, selection of a keyword to be added to the video content, "IN" information, and "O".
An instruction to add the UT "information is input. Further, the input selection information and instruction information are output to the index creating means 117.

Further, in the index creating means 117, the position on the time axis of the video or audio currently being reproduced / displayed on the display means 116 (how many hours, minutes and seconds from the beginning of the video contents: This is hereinafter referred to as scene information), and is always or as required, the content reproduction means 11
Input from 2.

Therefore, the index creating means 117
Selection information and instruction information input from the input means 115,
Based on the scene information input from the content reproduction unit 112, an index including "IN" information, "OUT" information, a keyword, etc. is added to the corresponding portion of the video content. The index thus created is temporarily stored in the index storage means 11
8 and then the digest video creation station 120
Sent to. However, at this time, the video content corresponding to the index is also designated and transmitted.

.. Index Creation Screen FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen for creating an index displayed on the display means 116 in this configuration.

Referring to FIG. 5, the index creation screen exemplified in this embodiment is configured to include a video content display area, a genre designation area, a division / keyword display area, and an hourly additional keyword display area.

In the above structure, the video content display area is an area for displaying and reproducing the video content.

Further, the genre designating area is an area for displaying or selecting / designating the genre to which the video content to be indexed belongs. In this area, the genre associated with the video content is displayed at the time of start-up or when the video content is designated, or a list of selection candidate genres is displayed.
It is preferable that it is configured so that it can be selected and input by 15.

The division / keyword display area displays the division specified by the keyword database 114 based on the genre displayed in the genre designation area, and when any one of these divisions is selected, This is an area for displaying a list of keywords classified in this category. Further, when the keyword is displayed, it is preferable to provide a button (“display of category”) for returning to the display of category.

Further, the additional keyword display area for each hour is
This is an area showing the position on the time axis of the scene currently being displayed / reproduced with respect to the target video content. Also,
In addition to this, for the area showing how the video content was divided, and for the scene currently being displayed and played,
Alternatively, it is preferable to provide an area or the like indicating which keyword is added to which part of the video content.

In this index creation screen, "I
When "N" is selected by clicking or the like, this information is input to the index creating means 117 from the input means 115. In the index creating means 117, the scene information input from the content reproducing means 112 and the input "I".
An index indicating "IN" is generated for a given scene based on the N "information.

When a keyword in the keyword display area is clicked, the selected keyword is input to the index creating means 117, and this keyword is added to the scene after the "IN" information is added. However, a plurality of keywords may be added.

After that, when "OUT" is selected by clicking on the index production support screen, this information is input to the index creating means 117 from the input means 115. The index creating unit 117 creates an index indicating “OUT” for a predetermined scene based on the scene information input from the content reproducing unit 112 and the input “OUT” information.

By operating in this manner, the area created by the index creator in 2 "IN" and "OUT" is
An index is created that associates the selected keywords.

The area selected by the above "IN" and "OUT" is the hourly additional keyword display area (see FIG. 12).
Then, this is achieved by the bar graph)),
It should be configured so that it can be changed. This may be realized by moving the boundaries of each area (displayed by lines) in the time axis direction with a mouse or the like. Here, the information regarding the position on the time axis of the movement destination of the boundary line is configured to be determined by the content reproducing unit 112 based on the information input from the input unit 115. Further, the determination result is input to the index reproducing means 117, and the input means 1
From 15, information regarding the target boundary line is input.
The index creating unit 117 changes the index regarding the boundary based on the information thus input.

Further, it is preferable that the keyword can be added to the area delimited by the "IN" information and the "OUT" information.

.. Imported moving image clip Further, in the present embodiment, a configuration is provided to prevent the digest image created by combining a plurality of moving image clips from becoming too large in terms of data.

To realize this structure, in this embodiment, "IN" information and "OUT" in the index are used.
The moving image clip divided by the information is further divided into the importance levels. Here, the degree of importance is the value (evaluation) of each scene included in the moving image clip as an image, which is determined by the index creator. The relationship between this moving image clip and the index is shown in FIG.

With reference to FIG. 6, the index according to the present embodiment exemplifies A to D as the importance levels for dividing a moving image clip, where A is the highest and D is the lowest.

The assignment of importance to such content clips is added in the index creation station 110. Further, in order to support the addition of the importance, it is preferable to provide an area for selecting and inputting the importance on the index creation screen. This is G
It is realized by displaying it as an option by the input means 115 configured by a UI or the like.

However, in the present embodiment, the digested video to be created is extracted with the video topics (video clips) that are interesting according to the genre thereof, and the keywords and the importance are important so that they may be combined so as to be connected. It is good to set the degree.

Digest video creation station 120 As described above, the video content is input from the video content sales company 140, and the index creation station 11
After the index is input from 0, the digest video creating station 120 creates the digest video based on a predetermined keyword.

The structure of the digest video creating station 120 is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 7, the digest video creating station 120 includes a video content database 122 and a digest video creating server 121.

The video content database 122 stores the video content received from the video content sales company 140 via a predetermined network such as a public telephone line or the Internet, and the index creation station via a predetermined network such as the public telephone line or the Internet. The video contents received from 110 are stored in association with each other. The association at this time is performed based on the title added to the video content or the index and received.

Also, the digest video creation server 121
Creates a digest video from the corresponding video content and index based on the digest video creation key received from the video content sales company 140 via a public telephone line or a predetermined network such as the Internet. It is transmitted to the video content sales company 140 via a predetermined network such as the Internet.

Further, in this embodiment, the digest video creation server 121 creates a digest video when the video content sales company 140 requests the creation of the digest video together with the video content designation and the digest video creation key. The operation may be performed, or the operation may be performed when it is detected that both the video content and the index are stored in the video content database 122.

Here, the digest video creation key is
It is used as a search key for searching a portion (moving image clip) associated with a predetermined keyword from the target video content. The digest video creation key is selected and set by the video content sales company 140 according to the video content. Further, the digest video creation key is stored in the keyword database 114,
Alternatively, it may be configured such that a keyword is selected and created from a database in which similar contents are stored.

An example of the digest video created by the digest video creation server 121 will be described with reference to FIG. However, in the present embodiment, the digest video created is configured to have a predetermined time length such as 1 minute or 30 seconds (hereinafter, referred to as a desired time length). Therefore, in the present embodiment, the moving image clip has the configuration shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the present description, it is assumed that a total of five moving image clips (C1 to C5) as shown in FIG. 8 are searched by the digest image creation key. The desired time length is also the length shown in the figure.

Here, the digest video creation server 12
1 calculates the time length of the digest video created for each importance setting by using the time length of each of the searched moving image clips.

In the example shown in FIG. 8, for example, the time length ((d) of FIG. 8) of the digest video created including the scenes up to the importance D and the scenes up to the importance C (importance D
Of the digest video created by including the scenes of (No. of scenes) is included, and the digest created by including the scenes up to importance B (scenes of importance D and C are excluded) The time length of the video ((b) in FIG. 8) and the time length of the digest video created in the scene of only importance A ((a) in FIG. 8) are calculated.

Next, the digest video creation server station 12
1 identifies the one having the time length closest to the desired time length among these, and creates the digest video accordingly.
That is, in the example shown in FIG. 8, a digest video is created including scenes up to importance B.

In the above description, the importance to be included is selected so as to be close to the desired time length, but it is possible to select the importance so as to be less than or equal to the desired time length.

With the above configuration, in the present embodiment, it is possible to control the time length of the importance to be created, the contents including the high viewing value are included, and the data amount is set as necessary. It becomes possible to provide the user with the reduced digest video.

The digest video thus created is transmitted to the video content sales company 140 via a predetermined network such as a public telephone line or the Internet. However, at this time, a title (or an identifier) is also transmitted in order to specify the corresponding video content.

Video Content Sales Company 140 (2) FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of the video content sales company 140 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 9, the video content sales company 140 includes the electronic catalog providing server 141.
And a digest video database 142 and an electronic catalog database 144.

The digest video database 143 is
The digest video received from the digest video creation station 120 is stored. This database 143
The data structure of is shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 10, the digest video database 143 stores the received digest video,
The title of the video content corresponding to this is stored in association with each other. Furthermore, this database 143
The index for searching for the digest video is stored in association with.

As an example of this index, it was used in creating a digest video of a video content production company, genre, musician, actor, athlete, hobby, travel area, cooking, politics, economy, etc. It is preferable to apply a keyword, a title of the video content, a phrase extracted from the title, a sales start date of the video content, or the like. Further, this index may be configured such that when the digest video is stored, the electronic catalog providing server 141 automatically specifies and creates the digest video creation key and the like. As a result, it is possible to provide a configuration for efficiently searching the digest video stored in the digest video database 143.

Further, the created electronic catalog is stored in the electronic catalog database 144. The electronic catalog stored in the database 144 is a receiver (201, 202, 2) of the user side 200 via a predetermined network (1, 2, 3) in response to a request from the user.
03). However, the predetermined description in the electronic catalog provided to the user is linked to the digest video database 143, the digest video is selected from the electronic catalog in response to a request, read from the digest video database 143, and the user side 200 Sent to.

This request is generated when the electronic catalog is distributed, for example, when the digest video is reproduced on the electronic catalog screen, and when a link to the digest video is set in a predetermined area of the electronic catalog. This occurs when this predetermined area is selected. However, in the present embodiment, when a TV that does not have a bidirectional communication function is used as the TV 203, a digest video is also delivered to the TV 203 at the same time as the delivery of the electronic catalog, and a link is established on the TV 203. .

Also, the video contents sales company 140
The digest video creation key for creating the digest video is transmitted to the digest video creation station 120. The digest video creation key is previously determined by the video content sales company 140 based on the content of the video content. Further, it is assumed that the video content sales company 140 manages the digest video creation key in a predetermined database in advance.

The digest video creation key is
It may be configured to be determined by the digest video creation station 120. However, in this case, the digest video creation key is transmitted to the video content sales company 140,
The video content sales company 140 is configured to be managed by a predetermined database. This is because it is necessary to provide the user with the function of searching the digest video.

Further, in the present embodiment, in order to manage which user has played back which digest video, how many times, etc., the video content sales company 140
A video content access count management database 14 that stores this count (called the access count in the following description)
5 is provided. A detailed description of this configuration will be given below.

User Side 200 Further, in the present embodiment, as the receiver of the user side 200, the electronic device as mentioned above is applied. In addition, the TV 203 internally or externally stores a device for recording video content, such as a VTR or a DVD-.
A RAM (RW), a hard disk, or the like may be provided so that the video content received via the predetermined network 3 can be recorded.

(Example of Electronic Catalog Screen) Next, an example of the screen of the electronic catalog displayed on the receiver of the user side 200 according to this embodiment will be described with an example.

Electronic catalog screen example (PC202 or T
V203) FIG. 11 shows an example of an electronic catalog screen when the PC 202 or TV 203 is applied as a receiver.

Further, in FIG. 11A, in the electronic catalog provided by this embodiment, a list of video contents included in the genre selected by the user is displayed, and one or more digest videos are selected from the list. , Configured to be continuously played.

In this electronic catalog screen example, as an example, D
In the video contents (software) to be sold on the VD-ROM, a list of video contents corresponding to the case where “home drama” is selected as the genre is displayed.

In this display, "digest video selection" in the video content desired by the user is displayed on the GUI.
Etc., and select the "Digest video viewing" button with a mouse or the like, a new screen is launched in the receiver, and digest videos are continuously played.

Further, in this configuration, before continuously playing back the selected digest video, the time required for completing the playback of all the selected digest videos may be displayed on the screen of the receiver. . This can be realized by the video content sales company 140 managing the reproduction time of each digest video, calculating the total reproduction time when selected, and transmitting this to the receiver.

Furthermore, when the "Purchase" column is checked on this screen, a screen for entering various items (name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, payment method, etc.) for purchasing the receiver Is displayed, and it is good to configure so that you can move smoothly to the purchase procedure.

FIG. 11B shows another screen example of the electronic catalog. In this screen example, the digest video for each video content is configured to be played back at the same time.

Electronic catalog screen example (mobile phone 201
In addition, FIG. 12 shows an example of an electronic catalog screen when the mobile phone 201 is applied as a receiver.

Referring to FIG. 12, the example of the electronic catalog screen according to the present embodiment is configured so that video contents can be selected for each genre.

FIG. 12A is a screen example (genre selection screen) for selecting a genre. When the user accesses the electronic catalog providing server 141 using the mobile phone 201 and requests the electronic catalog screen, the mobile phone 201 first displays the genre selection screen. On this screen, the user selects which genre to acquire the list of video contents belonging to.

When any genre is selected on the genre selection screen shown in FIG. 12A, the mobile phone 201 displays the content list screen shown in FIG. 12B. In this content list, a button "digest video available" for viewing (reproducing) digest video for each video content is provided.
Therefore, when the user selects this button, the digest display screen as shown in FIG. 12C is displayed on the mobile phone 201, and the corresponding digest video is reproduced and displayed.

However, it is assumed that various selections on the mobile phone 201 are made by the ten keys, the direction keys, and the selection key.

By displaying the electronic catalog incorporating the digest video on the receiver, the user can
It is possible to easily determine the content of the video content, and it is possible to accurately select and purchase the desired video content.

Further, in each of the above screen examples, a predetermined search key designated by the user is used to register in the electronic catalog or the digest video database 143.
It may be configured to provide a function of searching the digest video registered in. At this time, it is preferable to provide a list of candidates that can be set as a search key on the search screen.

Management of program access frequency Further, in order to configure the electronic catalog screen as shown in FIG. 11 or 12 so as to be convenient for the user, the genres frequently used by the user are displayed on the left side (or the upper side) of the screen. ), It is good to be configured to display from. This is because the video content sales company 140 counts the number of times digest videos are reproduced or video contents are purchased (hereinafter referred to as the number of accesses) for each genre, for each user, or for all users. Based on the genre or video content that is frequently accessed by each user or by all users based on the right side (or upper side)
It can be realized by configuring so as to be displayed in. The access count counted as described above is stored and managed in the video content access count management database 145 of the video content sales company 140.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the data structure of the video content access count management database 145 according to this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 13, the video content access count database 145 manages user information, digest video playback count, and video content purchase count in association with each other.

Here, the user information is information such as the user's name, address, telephone number, electronic mail address, sex, age, residence area, hobbies and occupation.

The digest video playback count and the video content purchase count may be configured to store information about when and which moving picture clip or video content was used for counting.

The access count stored in the video content access count management database 145 is the number of accesses for each reproduced digest video, each purchased video content, each genre to which the video content belongs, and user information. Separately, the production company that provided the target video content and the companies that utilize this aggregated information (video content usage information management) in real time or periodically (daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.) It may be configured to be provided to the company 150). This makes it possible to easily obtain information on which program is used by which user in each configuration. However, the user information is information such as sex, age, residence area, hobby, occupation, and the like. In addition, this user information is obtained when the contract for using the service of providing the electronic catalog according to the present embodiment is concluded with the video content sales company 140, the items entered in a predetermined questionnaire, or the video content is purchased. At this time, it is assumed that the user is registered in the video content sales company 140 and managed in the video content access count management database 145, for example.

[Second Embodiment] In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the digest video provided in the first embodiment is created based on a keyword designated by the user.

In the case of such a configuration, the video content sales company 140 in FIG.
From (receivers 201, 202, 203), a keyword for creating a digest video according to the user's preference is input, and this is used as a digest video creation key.
It is input to the digest video creation server 121 of the digest video creation station 120.

Here, it is preferable that the video content sales company 140 provides the user side 200 with a list of keyword candidates that the user can specify. This is to create a list of keyword candidates based on the keywords managed by the video content sales company 140, and when the user side 200 requests the creation of the digest video, provide this list and specify the keywords. It is realized by configuring to specify.

Electronic catalog screen example (PC202 or T
In the case of V203) Here, an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed on the receiver (202, 203) in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 14, in this example of the electronic catalog screen, when the "Create digest video" button is clicked on the electronic catalog screen provided to the receiver,
First, a list of keyword candidates (keyword candidate list) is displayed on the receiver. This is because the video content sales company 140 is provided with a database that manages a list of words that are keywords for each video content, and the corresponding list stored in the database is transmitted to the user terminal as needed. Can be realized.

The designated (selected) keyword notified from the user terminal is transmitted from the video content sales company 140 to the digest video creating station 120 as a digest video creating key.

Therefore, the digest video created by the digest video creation station 120 based on the input digest video creation key is the video content sales company 14
0, and is transmitted from the video content sales company 140 to the user terminal via a predetermined network.

Electronic catalog screen example (mobile phone 201
In addition, an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed on the receiver when the receiver is the mobile phone 201 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 15, (a), (b), (d)
Is the same as (a) to (c) of FIG. However, in FIG.
The button "Digest video available" in (b) of 2 corresponds to "Create digest video" in (b) of FIG.
Button.

When the "Digest video creation" button is selected on this electronic catalog screen, the mobile phone 201 displays the keyword selection screen shown in FIG. 15C, and a list of selectable keywords is displayed. Is displayed. When any one or more keywords are selected from this list and the "digest video viewing" button is selected, the selected keywords are transmitted to the video content sales company 140, and the video content sales company 140 is selected.
Is transmitted as a digest video creation key to the digest video creation station 120.

Therefore, the digest video created by the digest video creation station 120 based on the input digest video creation key is the video content sales company 14
0 from the video content sales company 140 to the mobile phone 201 via a predetermined network.

As described above, in this embodiment, the user can select a keyword that matches the program content, obtain a digest video according to his / her taste, and reproduce it.

[Third Embodiment] In the present embodiment, the keyword candidates included in the index by the index creation station 110 in the configuration of the first embodiment are
A case will be described in which the audio information included in the video content is configured to be generated by performing the recognition process.

That is, in this embodiment, the index creation station 110 in FIG. 1 has the configuration shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 16, the index creation station 110 according to the present embodiment is a video content sales company 1.
A voice recognition server 1 for recognizing the video content database 111 storing the video content received from the video content 40 and the voice information of the video content stored in the video content database 111, and generating a keyword or phrase.
10-2, a keyword database 114 'for storing keywords generated by the voice recognition server 110-2 for each title (or identifier), the content reproducing means 112, the keyword specifying means 113, and the input means 115 of FIG. , An index creating terminal 110-1 composed of display means 116 and an index creating terminal 110
-1 and an index storage unit 118 that temporarily stores the index created in 1.

The keyword database 114 'according to this embodiment has a data structure as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 17, the keyword database 114 'stores the keywords generated by the voice recognition server 110-2 in association with the title (or identifier) of the video content.

In this configuration, when requesting a list of keywords from the index creation terminal 110-1, the index creator specifies a title (or identifier).
Therefore, the display means 1 of the index creation terminal 110-1
In 16 is displayed a list of corresponding keywords acquired from the keyword database 114 ′.

With this configuration, the index creation station 11
At 0, an index is created for the target video content. Further, in this configuration, a database in which a predetermined glossary or the like is registered is connected to the voice recognition server 110-2 to search for a phrase matching or similar to the recognized phrase and set as a keyword. It may be configured to proofread the phrase to be performed.

Further, the contents of the keyword database 114 'according to the present embodiment are as follows:
0 or transmitted to the video content sales company 140 or shared. As a result, it becomes possible to realize a digest video search function for the user side 200 and a configuration for creating a digest video according to the user's preference.

[Fourth Embodiment] In each of the above embodiments, the station that provides the electronic catalog is configured as the video content sales company 140. However, this may be used, for example, in a rental video store, a rental DVD store, or a rental CD. It may be a company (video content rental company) that rents out video content in a store or the like.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the user side 200 refers to the electronic catalog provided by the video content rental company and selects the video content to be rented.

-System configuration FIG. 18 shows an example of the system configuration of this embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 18, in the system according to the present embodiment, the video content sales company 140 in the system according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with the video content rental company 160. Other configurations are similar to those of the first embodiment. However, the index creation station 110 and the digest video creation station 120
The video content input to the video content may be input from the video content rental company 160, or may be input from another configuration, such as a video content production company or its intermediary.

When the video content is rented, the user of the video content rental company 20
To 0, a predetermined key (hereinafter, this key is a rental key)
Is given. Further, this rental key is held in a predetermined memory area of the receiver (201, 202, 203) on the user side 200.

This rental key is used by the user side 200
It is a key that is required when playing the rented video content in. That is, when playback of the rented video content is executed on the user side 200, the receiver (201, 202, 203) determines whether the user has the right to use the rental key (for example, illegality). It is determined whether or not the video content is copied to (1), and the target video content is reproduced only when the right to use exists.

Further, it is preferable that the rental key has an expiration date. This makes it impossible to reproduce the video content whose expiration date has passed.

Here, as a configuration and method for determining whether or not the user side 200 has the right to use the video content, for example, when a playback command of the video content is input, the receiver is the video content rental company 16
0, and based on this, a predetermined server in the video content rental company 160 determines whether or not the user has the right to use. Further, as a result, when the user has the right to use, the above-mentioned predetermined server transmits the use permission to the receiver on the user side 200, and the target video content is reproduced in the receiver.

As another configuration, it is also possible to determine the right used by the receiver itself.
This is because, for example, the ID and password are set in advance for the user, and after the user is authenticated using the input ID and password and the rental key in the receiver, the current date (hour) is set. By comparing with the date (hour) attached to the rental key, and if it is within the expiration date, it can be realized by a configuration such as decoding and reproducing the video content using the rental key.

Furthermore, a serial number or the like may be set in the video content and the rental key may be used to determine the right to use.

However, in the above configuration, the digest video can be played back by any receiver. In addition, the expiration date of the distributed digest video may be set to limit the reproduction period.

Further, the digest video provided by this embodiment may be used only once or plural times.

[Fifth Embodiment] The digest video according to the present invention is used as information (movie thumbnail: hereinafter referred to as thumbnail movie) for indicating the contents of a videotape, a DVD-RAM, etc. managed by the user, for example. Can also be used.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the configuration of a screen listing the contents recorded using this thumbnail moving image. FIG. 19
Referring to this screen example, a thumbnail moving image relating to the recorded video content is reproduced and displayed along with information such as the title of each video content, recording date and time, and genre.

Also, when the "Play" button is clicked on this screen, the target video content is played back.

With such a configuration, the index is provided to the user side 200 in association with the video content, and the digest image is created by the receiver of the user side 200. Even if the digest video is attached to the user and provided, the predetermined station (for example, the digest video creation station 120 or the video content sales company 140) connected to the user side 200 via the predetermined network is designated. It can also be implemented by providing a digest video.

However, these configurations can be realized by combining the configurations described in the above embodiments.

Further, it is assumed that the user terminal side is provided with a software or hardware configuration for creating a digest video or storing the digest video as a thumbnail.

[Other Embodiments] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof. It is possible.

[0196]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, it is possible to provide an environment in which the management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. .

According to the second aspect of the invention, management / management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It becomes possible to provide an environment that can be easily used.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 3, management / management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
In an environment where it can be easily used, it is possible to sequentially provide a description of a plurality of multimedia contents.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It is possible to provide multimedia information desired by the user in an environment where the user can easily use the information.

[0200] Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 5, management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It is possible to provide an environment in which multimedia contents can be sold and rented in an environment where it can be easily used.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, management / management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It is possible to reduce the amount of multimedia content data provided from an environment where it can be easily used.

[0202] According to the invention of claim 7, management of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It becomes possible to provide an environment that can be easily used.

According to the invention of claim 8, management / control of video, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
It becomes possible to provide an environment that can be easily used.

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, management / control of images, music, other multimedia contents, etc.
In an environment where it can be easily used, it is possible to sequentially provide a description of a plurality of multimedia contents.

Furthermore, according to the tenth aspect of the invention, it is possible to create clip data according to the purpose in an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. Become.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 11, it is possible to reduce the labor required for creating the index when creating the clip data according to the purpose.

Further, according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide multimedia information desired by a user in an environment where video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. It will be possible.

Further, according to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in an environment in which video, music, other multimedia contents, etc. can be easily managed and used, an environment for accurately specifying desired clip data is provided. It becomes possible.

[0209] Furthermore, according to the invention described in claim 14, it is possible to sell and rent multimedia contents in an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. It becomes possible to provide the environment.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 15, it is possible to reduce the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment in which the management and use of images, music and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. Becomes

Further, according to the sixteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a more convenient electronic catalog in an environment where video, music, other multimedia contents, etc. can be easily managed and used. Become.

Furthermore, according to the seventeenth aspect of the present invention, it becomes possible to provide the multimedia content creation / providing side with information that accurately captures the user's preference.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment in which video, music, other multimedia contents and the like can be easily managed and used.

According to the nineteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used.

According to the twentieth aspect of the invention, the contents of a plurality of multimedia contents are explained in a program that realizes an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. It becomes possible to sequentially realize the provided programs.

Further, according to the invention of claim 21, in a program that realizes an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used, information of multimedia desired by a user is displayed. It is possible to realize the provided program.

[0217] Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 22, multimedia contents are sold and rented in a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of images, music, and other multimedia contents. It becomes possible to realize a program that provides a possible environment.

[0218] Further, according to the invention of claim 23, there is provided a program for reducing the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment in which the management and use of images, music and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. It becomes possible to do.

According to the twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

According to the twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a program that realizes an environment that allows easy management and use of video, music, and other multimedia contents.

Further, according to the invention of claim 26, in a program for realizing an environment in which video, music, other multimedia contents and the like can be easily managed and used, the contents of a plurality of multimedia contents are explained. It becomes possible to sequentially realize the provided programs.

According to the twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in a program for realizing an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used, multimedia information desired by a user can be displayed. It is possible to realize the provided program.

[0223] Further, according to the invention of claim 28, multimedia contents are sold and rented in a program that realizes an environment in which video, music, and other multimedia contents can be easily managed and used. It becomes possible to realize a program that provides a possible environment.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 29, there is provided a program for reducing the data amount of multimedia contents provided from an environment in which the management and use of images, music and other multimedia contents can be easily performed. It becomes possible to do.

According to the thirtieth aspect of the invention, it is possible to provide a recording medium on which the above programs are recorded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic catalog providing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining a relationship among an index, video contents, a digest video, and a video clip according to the present invention. Fig. 2A shows an example of a structure of the index, and Fig. 2B is an index divided into video clips. FIG. 3C shows a configuration example of the created video content, and FIG. 7C shows a configuration example of a digest video created by combining the video clips extracted with a predetermined keyword.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an index creating terminal in the index creating station 110 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a table showing a data structure example of a keyword database 114 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an index creation screen displayed on a display unit 116 of the index creation terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between an index with importance and a moving image clip according to the first embodiment of the present invention,
(A) shows a configuration example of an index with importance,
(B) shows a configuration example of a moving image clip divided by an index with importance.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digest video creation station 120 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

8A and 8B are diagrams showing digest videos created by the present invention, FIG. 8A shows an example of a digest video created by extracting a scene (video clip) having only importance A, and FIG. An example of the digest video created by extracting the scenes of importance A and B is shown, (c) shows an example of the digest video created by extracting the scenes of importance A to C, and (d) is An example of a digest video created by extracting scenes of importance A to D will be shown.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a video content sales company 140 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a table showing a data structure example of a digest video database 143 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed on the PC 202 or the TV 203 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) shows a new area when a predetermined area on the electronic catalog screen is clicked. An example of a case where a different screen is launched and a digest video is played back,
(B) shows an example of the configuration when the digest video is included in the electronic catalog screen and played back.

FIG. 12 is a mobile phone 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a diagram showing an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed in 01,
(A) is an example of a genre selection screen for selecting a genre of video content included in the electronic catalog, and (b) is an example of a content list screen showing a list of video contents included in the genre selected in (a). And (c) shows an example of the digest display screen for reproducing and displaying the digest video.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a video content access count management database 145 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed on the PC 202 or TV 203 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a mobile phone 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
It is a diagram showing an example of an electronic catalog screen displayed in 01,
(A) is an example of a genre selection screen for selecting a genre of video content included in the electronic catalog, and (b) is an example of a content list screen showing a list of video contents included in the genre selected in (a). (C) shows an example of a keyword selection screen for selecting and inputting a keyword, and (d) shows an example of a digest display screen for reproducing and displaying a digest video.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an index creation station 110 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of a keyword database 114 ′ according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a system configuration example according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a video tape or DVD-R displayed on the PC 202 or TV 203 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the example of the screen which displays the content list of the video content recorded on OM etc.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,3 network 110 Indexing Bureau 110-1 Index production terminal 110-2 Speech recognition server 111, 122 Video content database 112 Content Playback Means 113 Keyword specifying means 114,114 'keyword database 115 input means 116 display means 117 Index creating means 118 index storage means 120 Digest Making Bureau 121 Digest video creation server 140 Video Contents Sales Company 141 Electronic Catalog Providing Server 143 digest video database 144 Electronic Catalog Database 145 Video Content Access Count Management Database 150 Video content usage information management company 160 Video content rental company 200 user side 201 mobile phone 202 PC 203 TV

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/30 170 G06F 17/30 170B 19/00 140 19/00 140 H04N 7/173 640 H04N 7/173 640A F term (reference) 5B075 ND08 UU38 5C064 BA07 BB07 BB10 BC18 BC23 BD02 BD08

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. An electronic catalog providing system for delivering an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, wherein the client terminal includes clip data created based on the contents in the electronic catalog. An electronic catalog providing system characterized by sending to. 2. An electronic catalog providing system for delivering an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, wherein clip data created based on the contents is added to a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog. The electronic catalog providing system, wherein the clip data is transmitted to the client terminal when the link is established and the predetermined portion is selected. 3. The electronic catalog providing system according to claim 2, wherein when a plurality of the predetermined parts are selected, clip data sequentially linked to the selected plurality of the predetermined parts are sequentially output. An electronic catalog providing system, characterized in that the electronic catalog is transmitted to the client terminal. 4. The electronic catalog providing system according to claim 1, wherein the clip data is managed based on a predetermined keyword, and when the search key is received from the client terminal, the predetermined keyword An electronic catalog providing system characterized by searching corresponding clip data based on the search key. 5. The electronic catalog providing system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic catalog includes purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content. An electronic catalog providing system, wherein the video content is distributed to the client terminal when the purchase or rent of the content is applied by the purchase / rental application entry step. 6. The electronic catalog providing system according to claim 5, wherein the content purchased or leased by the purchase / rental application unit is compressed by a predetermined compression method and transmitted. Electronic catalog providing system. 7. An electronic catalog providing method for delivering an electronic catalog of content to a client terminal via a predetermined network, comprising: a clip data creating step of creating clip data of the content; and a clip data creating step. An electronic catalog transmitting step of transmitting the clipped clip data to the electronic terminal by including the clipped clip data in the electronic catalog. 8. An electronic catalog providing method for delivering an electronic catalog of content to a client terminal via a predetermined network, comprising: a clip data creating step of creating clip data of the content; and a predetermined part of the electronic catalog. An electronic catalog sending step of sending to the client terminal an electronic catalog linked to the clip data created in the clip data creating step, and the predetermined one in the electronic catalog sent in the electronic catalog sending step. And a clip data transmitting step of transmitting the clip data to the client terminal when a part is selected, the electronic catalog providing method. 9. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 8, wherein in the clip data transmitting step, when a plurality of the predetermined parts are selected, a link is made to each of the plurality of the predetermined parts selected. An electronic catalog providing method, characterized in that extended clip data is sequentially transmitted to the client terminal. 10. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, further comprising an index assigning step of assigning an index corresponding to the content of the content to the content, wherein the clip data creating step comprises: An electronic catalog providing method, characterized in that corresponding data is extracted from the content based on a predetermined keyword and the index, and the extracted data is combined to create the clip data. 11. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 10, wherein the index assigned in the index assigning step is based on text information generated by voice recognition of voice included in the content. An electronic catalog providing method characterized by being created by 12. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, wherein, when a search key is received from the client terminal, the clip data managed based on a predetermined keyword is returned to the predetermined key. An electronic catalog providing method comprising a clip data search step of searching based on a keyword and the search key. 13. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined keyword is a phrase included in the title of the content or a keyword used when creating the clip data. A method of providing an electronic catalog. 14. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, wherein the electronic catalog includes purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content. A method of providing an electronic catalog, comprising a content distribution step of distributing the video content to the client terminal when the purchase or lease of the content is applied by the purchase / rental application step. 15. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, wherein in the content distribution step, the content purchased or leased by the purchase / rental application unit is compressed by a predetermined compression method. A method of providing an electronic catalog, which is characterized in that the information is distributed by distribution. 16. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, wherein the electronic catalog displays the contents on the left or the top in the descending order of the number of times the clip data has been viewed. A method of providing an electronic catalog. 17. The electronic catalog providing method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of totaling the number of times the clip data has been viewed by content and / or by gender and / or age. An electronic catalog providing method comprising: a total result transmitting step of transmitting the results totaled in the number totaling step to a predetermined client via a predetermined network immediately or at predetermined intervals. 18. A program for causing a server to distribute an electronic catalog of content to a client terminal via a predetermined network, the electronic catalog including clip data created based on the content, A program for causing the server to execute an electronic catalog transmission process of transmitting to the client terminal via the predetermined network. 19. A program for causing a server to distribute an electronic catalog of contents to a client terminal via a predetermined network, the clip data being created based on the contents in a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog. An electronic catalog with a link to, an electronic catalog transmission process of transmitting to the client terminal via the predetermined network, and clip data linked to a predetermined portion selected by the client terminal, A program for causing the server to execute a clip data transmission process for transmitting to the client terminal. 20. The program according to claim 19, wherein the clip data transmission process sequentially transmits clip data in which links are respectively linked to the selected plurality of predetermined portions to the client terminal. A program characterized by that. 21. The clip data search process according to claim 18, wherein the clip data managed based on a predetermined keyword is searched based on a search key received from the client terminal. And a search result electronic catalog creating process for creating an electronic catalog on the basis of the list of clip data searched by the clip data searching process, the electronic catalog sending process, A program for transmitting the electronic catalog created in a catalog creation process. 22. The program according to claim 18, wherein the electronic catalog includes a purchase / rental application unit for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content. / A program for causing the server to execute a content distribution process of distributing the content purchased or rented by the renting application to the client terminal. 23. The program according to claim 22, wherein in the content distribution processing, the content purchased or leased by the purchase / rental application unit is compressed by a predetermined compression method and transmitted. A program characterized by. 24. A program for causing a client terminal to receive an electronic catalog of content from a server via a predetermined network, the electronic catalog including clip data created based on the content, A program for causing the client terminal to execute an electronic catalog receiving process for receiving from the server via the predetermined network, and an electronic catalog displaying process for displaying the electronic catalog received by the electronic catalog receiving process. 25. A program for causing a client terminal to receive an electronic catalog of contents from a server via a predetermined network, the clip data being created in a predetermined portion of the electronic catalog based on the contents. An electronic catalog receiving process of receiving an electronic catalog linked to the electronic catalog from the server via the predetermined network, and an electronic catalog displaying process of displaying the electronic catalog received by the electronic catalog receiving process. A clip data receiving process of receiving clip data linked to a predetermined portion selected in the electronic catalog displayed in the electronic catalog display process from the server, and the clip data receiving process received by the clip data receiving process. Clip data playback process to play back clip data Program for executing the, to the client terminal. 26. The program according to claim 25, wherein the clip data receiving process sequentially receives clip data in which links are respectively linked to the selected plurality of predetermined parts from the server, A program, wherein when a plurality of clip data are received in the clip data receiving process, the received clip data are sequentially reproduced. 27. The program according to claim 24, further comprising: a search key transmission process for transmitting a search key for searching the clip data managed based on a predetermined keyword to the server. A search result electronic catalog receiving process of receiving from the server an electronic catalog created based on a list of clip data searched for in the server, and causing the client terminal to execute: A program for displaying an electronic catalog received by an electronic catalog receiving process. 28. The program according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the electronic catalog is provided with purchase / rental application means for inputting an application for purchasing or renting the content. / A purchase / rental application transmission process for transmitting to the server an application for purchasing or renting the content entered by the renting application unit, and the content for which purchase / rental application is applied in the purchase / rental application transmission process, A program for causing the client terminal to execute a content reception process received from a server. 29. The program according to claim 28, wherein the content received in the content receiving process is compressed by a predetermined compression method. 30. A recording medium on which the program according to any one of claims 18 to 29 is recorded.