JP2003274384A - Video distribution system, client of the system, event processing method of the client, event processing program, and recording medium where the program is recorded - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a system, which can obtain information related to video at an arbitrary reproduction position of video distributed through a network by making a marking request at the reproduction position, to automatically make the marking request in specified timing according to previous settings of a user. <P>SOLUTION: A client 20 is provided with, an action table managing part 24 which downloads an action table wherein an event identifier indicating an event at each reproduction position of the video and action content information indicating a process to be executed corresponding to the event are specified from a server 10 and manages the table and an event processing part 26 which acquires reproduction positions from a video reproduction player 21 one after another and refers to the contents of the action table managed by the action table managing part 24 to performs processing for performing processing based upon action content information specified in the action table according to the reproduction positions. <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 event processing method in a system for delivering video through a network, and more particularly to a client (terminal) to whom video is delivered.
The present invention relates to a video distribution system capable of processing an event synchronized with this video, a client in this video distribution system, and an event processing method in such a client.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various systems and methods have been proposed for delivering video through a network such as the Internet. In video distribution via a network, generally, a server storing video is connected to a network, and the video is distributed from this server to a client (terminal) connected to the network. In such video distribution, in recent years, it has become possible not only to distribute the video from the server to the client so that the client can simply watch the video but also to enable the client to process an event synchronized with the distributed video. Being tried. For example, viewers (users) can view text information related to a certain scene in a video.
It has been put into practical use to display it in accordance with the request of.

As a method of processing an event synchronized with a distributed video, an event trigger is embedded in a distributed video stream file itself, and when the video playback player detects the event trigger during playback of the video file, the event trigger is detected. There is a method of executing the action associated with the event trigger. As a system that implements such a method, "Windows Media Playe" of Microsoft (Microsoft)
There is r ".

There is also a method of acquiring a file in which an event that occurs in synchronization with an image is described and processing the event at a timing based on the description in the file. For such a description, the description language is XML (eXt
ensible Markup Language) is commonly used,
XM for describing events that occur in synchronization with video
As an L description, W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language).
ge) is prescribed. This SMIL is primarily intended to describe multimedia streaming content in which video and other media are synchronized.
By using SMIL, it is possible to play streaming content in which various media are laid out spatiotemporally. Real Ne is a system for synchronously playing back video and other media using SMIL.
"Real" of two networks (Real Networks)
There is also a "Player". Also, as a video synchronization event processing system using event description in XML, Qinsenji, Takamori, Morinishi, Hayama, "Multimedia Synchronous Delivery System on the Internet," 2000 IEICE General Conference , D-9-20, 2000 have been developed.

Further, there is a method of processing an event synchronized with the video by pushing the event occurrence information from the server side to the client playing the distributed video. Qinsenji, Takamori, Morinishi, Hayama, "Multimedia Synchronous Delivery System on the Internet," 2000 IEICE General Conference, D-9-
In 20, 2000, HTTP (Hyper
The server provides the event information in XML format to the client by the pseudo push distribution using the Text Transfer Protocol), so that the client can realize the event processing synchronized with the video.

[0006]

However, the above-described event processing method has a problem that it is difficult to make the event to be processed different depending on the user's selection.

[0007] The following are concrete examples of services for the user to select an event to be processed. When a user views a distribution video of a drama, he or she selects an item in which he / she is interested in advance. Items to be selected include stories, talents, costumes, accessories, music, and the like. For example, in the client of the user who has selected the story, a marking request is automatically made in a scene that is important for the story of the drama while watching the video, and related information regarding the story of the scene or a pointer to the scene video itself is acquired. To be done. Also, in the client of the user who has selected a talent, a marking request is automatically made in a scene in which a new character or a new talent appears in the drama while watching, and related information about that (acting character) related information. Is obtained. The user can select multiple interest items.For example, in the client of the user who has selected the story and talent items, it is automatically marked in the scene that is important in the story of the drama and the scene where the talent appears. A request is made to get the relevant information.

In such a system, the reproduction position at which the event synchronized with the video should occur differs depending on the user's selection. Therefore, when using the method of embedding an event trigger in the delivered video stream file itself,
It is necessary to prepare a video stream file in which event triggers are embedded at different timings, and the video to be played when the user updates the selection items related to the event (that is, marking request) generation timing during viewing. There is a serious problem that it is necessary to switch the stream file and the playback is interrupted.

Even in the synchronous event processing method using the description such as SMIL, it is necessary to prepare the description different for the expected event occurrence pattern. When the number of selection items related to the marking request generation timing increases, the number of combinations of selection items also explosively increases, and the number of expected event occurrence patterns also explosively increases. Prepare a description of all patterns. It will take time and effort. Also in this method, when the user changes the selection item regarding the event occurrence timing during viewing, it is necessary to exchange the event description to be referenced.
However, in a conventional system intended to reproduce streaming contents in which a plurality of media are synchronized, a reproduction player refers to a single event description and sequentially executes events according to a scenario specified in the event description. Therefore, when changing the event description to be referenced, the procedure of stopping playback and accessing another event description file will occur, and an event trigger will be added to the delivered video stream file itself. Similar to the embedding method, there is a problem that reproduction is interrupted.

Further, in the conventional synchronous event processing system using the description such as SMIL, the dedicated video reproducing player itself reads and processes the description. Therefore, since various kinds of general-purpose video reproduction player components other than the dedicated ones cannot be used as the video reproduction player or the video reproduction player means by software or the like, the video reproduction player can be reproduced by the dedicated video reproduction player. Only video files can be handled. When considering a system configured to use various video reproduction player components other than dedicated video reproduction player means, the event processing means for processing an event synchronized with a distribution video using an event description sequentially reproduces the video reproduction. From the player means, the reproduction position is acquired during the current reproduction, and when the reproduction position associated with the event is reached, the process associated with the event is executed. However, in this method, in order to improve the accuracy of the event occurrence timing, it is necessary to extremely frequently execute the process of acquiring the reproduction position currently being reproduced from the video reproduction player means. For this reason, the processing load becomes high, and in a client (terminal device) having a low processing capacity, it may be a factor of causing image distortion and the like.

Further, in a method in which event information is pushed from the server side to a client that is reproducing a distributed video and the client processes an event synchronized with the video based on this event information, the event from the server When the information is received as a trigger, the client executes a process corresponding to the event. Therefore, if there is a transmission delay in the network that transmits the event information, the problem occurs that the event occurrence timing is delayed from the desired timing by the transmission delay. In a packet communication network such as the Internet, since the transmission delay is not constant, it is difficult to take a measure such as predicting the transmission delay and sending event information to the client side as early as the predicted transmission delay. This method can be used to realize processing that is synchronized with events that occur dynamically in relation to live relay video, but since it is affected by transmission delay, which event has already been detected at which playback position. This is suitable for the case of a stored image whose occurrence is known, and is not suitable for the purpose of realizing event processing at more accurate timing.

Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is: Kento Miyaoku, Hiroki Shigeyoshi, Akito Akutsu, Yoshinobu Tonomura, "Media cooperation method for information management system for personal use," The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, 2001 Society Conference, Basics・ Boundary, p. 218, 20
Regarding the system with the configuration as described in 01.9.18-21, in particular, by making a marking request at an arbitrary playback position of the video distributed / broadcast via the network, the video (image) at that playback position is displayed. In a system capable of acquiring related information, a video distribution system capable of automatically making a marking request at a predetermined timing according to a user's advance setting, and a client used in this video distribution system, And providing an event processing method at the client.

[0013]

A video distribution system of the present invention has a server for distributing a video and a client for communicating with the server via a network, and a video distribution system for processing an event synchronized with the distributed video. And
The server holds a plurality of action tables in which an event identifier indicating an event at each reproduction position of the video and action content information indicating a process executed corresponding to the event are designated, and the client is the video to be distributed. A video reproduction player means for reproducing the video, a player control means for controlling the video reproduction player means, an action table selection means for selecting one or a plurality of action tables among a plurality of action tables held by the server, The playback position is sequentially obtained from the action table management means for downloading and managing the selected action table and the video playback player means, and the playback position is referenced by referring to the content of the downloaded action table managed by the action table management means. Depending on that Having an event processing means for performing processing for executing the processing based on the specified action content information in action table, a. In this video distribution system, the application table management means can download and manage the action table specified in advance from the server regardless of the user's selection.

The client of the present invention is a client which processes an event in which a video is distributed from a server which distributes the video via a network and which is synchronized with the distributed video, and video reproduction player means for reproducing the distributed video. A player control means for controlling the video reproduction player means, an action table selection means for selecting one or a plurality of action tables among a plurality of action tables held by the server, and at least a selected action table The action table management means for downloading and managing the action table from the server and the reproduction position from the video reproduction player means are sequentially acquired, and the contents of the downloaded action table managed by the action table management means are referred to for the reproduction position. Having an event processing means for performing processing for executing the processing based on the specified action content information in the action table according to.

In the video distribution system and the client of the present invention configured as described above, an action table management means for comprehensively managing a plurality of action tables is provided, and the process of merging the action tables sequentially acquired on the client side is performed. Although the action table management means is used to use the action table that is the event description, it is not necessary to prepare different action tables as many as the number of expected event occurrence patterns. As a result, on the server side, it is only necessary to prepare action tables for the number of selection items related to the event occurrence timing.

According to the present invention, the event processing means first acquires control information from the player control means and processes the event described in the action table managed by the action table management means in order to process the event first at the reproduction start time. The reproduction position where the event occurs, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information are obtained from the action table management means, and the timer up to the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event first occurs is started,
At the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event occurs, processing is performed to execute the process based on the action content information corresponding to that event, and the playback position at which the event next occurs and the event of that event. The identifier and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management means, a process for starting the timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event next occurs is executed, and the processing corresponds to the reproduction position where the event occurs. It is preferable to repeat this process each time the time is reached.

With this configuration, the event processing means performs the processing corresponding to the event every time the event occurs by the timer processing, and operates to acquire the information of the next event. As a result, even if the user changes the selection items related to the event occurrence timing at any point during viewing and the action table to be referenced is updated, the action table managed by the action table management means is only updated. , The subsequent event occurrence timing corresponds to the changed selection item. Therefore, even if the user changes the selection item regarding the event occurrence timing at an arbitrary point during viewing, the problem that the video reproduction is interrupted unlike the conventional system does not occur.

Further, by operating the event processing means in a timer manner as described above, it is possible to generate an event at an accurate timing without frequently acquiring the reproduction position from the video reproduction player means during the current reproduction.

Further, according to the present invention, the event processing means uses the player control means as control information indicating that any one of control of pause (playback suspension), fast forward, rewind, and reproduction position change has occurred during video reproduction. At the time of notification, the timer is reset, and when the reproduction of the video is started again, the reproduction position at which the reproduction is started is acquired, and the reproduction position at which the next event occurs is determined from the reproduction position. It is preferable to acquire the event identifier of the event and the corresponding action content information from the action table management means, and start the timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event occurs next time. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the event occurrence timing from shifting when the user controls playback position changes such as pause (playback suspension), fast forward, and rewind for video playback. , To ensure that the event occurs at the correct timing.

Further, according to the present invention, the action table management means, when the action table selection request is notified from the action table selection means, the action table selection request including information on selection of another action table or change of the already selected action table, Depending on that change,
Download the required action table from the server, delete the unnecessary action table, and set the event processing means at that point according to the updated content of the action table to be managed. The next event occurs. It is preferable to update the playback position, the event identifier, and the corresponding action content information to be updated, and to update the timer corresponding to the updated playback position at which the event occurs next. With this configuration, when the user changes the selection items related to the event occurrence timing by the action table selecting means at any point during viewing, and the action table to be referred to is changed, the change occurs at the time when the change occurs. The event to be processed next by the event processing means corresponds to the action table before the change. Therefore, by updating this, the events after that time are made to correspond to the changed action table. This is because.

In the present invention, the server is further provided with a related information database for holding related information related to each reproduction position in the video, and related information providing means for searching and providing the related information, and further for the client. , When the marking is requested by the event processing means, the related information providing means is requested to obtain the related information related to the reproduction position where the event of which the marking is designated as the action content information of the video has occurred. The event processing means is provided with a marking processing means and a mark selection means for additionally displaying a mark added by the marking processing means and presenting corresponding related information when the displayed mark is selected. If marking is specified as action content information corresponding to the event described in As a process for executing a process based on the content information, a marking request is sent to the marking processing unit, and the marking processing unit selects a mark for selecting and browsing the related information when the related information is acquired. It is preferable to add it to.

With such a configuration, in the system that can obtain the related information of the video (image) at the reproduction position by issuing the marking request at the arbitrary reproduction position of the distribution video, according to the user's advance setting. Thus, a system for automatically making a marking request at a predetermined timing and utilizing the obtained related information is realized.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video distribution system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This video distribution system is designed by Kento Miyaoku, Hiroki Shigeyoshi,
Akito Akutsu, Yoshinobu Tonomura, "Media cooperation method for information management system for personal use," IEICE 20
2001 Society Conference, Foundations / Boundaries, p. 218, 2001.
A system having a configuration as described in 9.18-21, in particular, by making a marking request at an arbitrary reproduction position of a video distributed / broadcast via a network or the like, a video (image) at that reproduction position It is a system capable of acquiring information related to, and here, a marking request is automatically made at a predetermined timing according to a user's advance setting.

As shown in FIG. 1, this system is composed of a server 10 that distributes video and holds and provides information about the video, and a client 20 that communicates with the server 10 via a network 40. .
Here, the server that distributes the video and the server that holds and provides the information regarding this video do not necessarily have to be the same server. The server in this system may actually be configured to realize its function by a plurality of servers. That is, the server 10 may be composed of a plurality of server devices that are physically separated from each other.

The server 10 includes an action table holding unit 11 that holds a plurality of action tables, and a video file storage unit 12 that stores video files to be distributed.
And a related information database 13 that holds related information related to each playback position of the video and a related information database 13 in response to a related information request from the client 20 side, and provides the related information to the client 20 side. And a related information providing unit 14 that does. Here, the action table designates an event identifier indicating an event at each reproduction position of the video and action content information indicating a process executed corresponding to the event. The action table held in the action table holding unit 11 can be downloaded by the client 20 via the network 40. The video file stored in the video file storage unit 12 is distributed to the client 20 via the network 40. Here, the related information providing unit 14 corresponds to a related information providing means. In such a server, a general-purpose computer called a computer for a server is provided with a computer program that realizes the functions of the action table holding unit 11, the video file storage unit 12, the related information database 13, and the related information providing unit 14 described above. It can be realized by reading the program and executing the program on the general-purpose computer.

On the other hand, the client 20 is typically a network 4 such as the Internet, as will be described later.
A personal computer or the like connected to 0,
It is realized by a software program executed on this personal computer. The client 20 includes a video reproduction player 21 that reproduces a video distributed from the server 10 side via the network 40,
Player control unit 22 for controlling the video reproduction player 21
An action table selection unit 23 for selecting one or more action tables from the plurality of action tables held in the server 10, an action table designated in advance, and one or more selected action tables. An action table management unit 24 that downloads and manages an action table from the server 10, an action table holding unit 25 that holds the downloaded action table, and a video playback player 21 that sequentially acquires the playback position and manages the action table management 24. An event processing unit 26 for performing processing for referring to the downloaded content of the action table and performing processing based on the action content information specified in the action table according to the acquired playback position. That. Here, the video reproduction player 2
1, player control unit 22, action table selection unit 2
3, the action table management unit 24 and the event processing unit 26 correspond to video reproduction player means, player control means, action table selection means, action table management means, and event processing means, respectively.

Further, in this client 20, when marking is designated as action content information,
The related information of the reproduced video (image) at the event occurrence timing that requires the marking is acquired from the server, and the user can access the acquired related information. Therefore, the client 20
When the event processing unit 26 requests marking, the server 10 uses the related information relating to the reproduction position where the event for which the marking is designated as the related information request.
The marking processing unit 27 that requests the related information providing unit 14 of the above and acquires such related information and the mark for selecting and viewing the related information are displayed, and corresponds to the case where the mark is selected by the user. And a mark selection unit 28 for presenting relevant information to the user. Here, the marking processing unit 27 and the mark selection unit 28 correspond to marking processing means and mark selection means, respectively. When the marking processing unit 27 and the mark selection unit 28 are not provided in the client 20, the related information database 13 and the related information providing unit 1 in the server 10 are provided.
4 may not be provided. Also, in order to allow the user to manually issue the marking request directly, the client 2
0, a marking requesting unit 29 may be provided.

Such a client 20 is generally
It is composed of a personal computer connectable to the network 40. The client 20 has a display device 31 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display panel.
And an input device 32 typified by a pointing device such as a mouse are connected, and a GUI (graphical user interface) using the display device 31 and the input device 32 allows a user to reproduce images, marks, and related images. Information is displayed, and an input for selecting an action table or mark, controlling the player, and the like is accepted. The user can use such a GUI to
You will be required to refer to the distribution video and perform various operations.

Prior to the description of the operation of the system of this embodiment, a concrete concept of the video distribution service to be realized by this system will be described. Here, consider a case where the user views the distribution video of the drama.

When the user views the distribution video of the drama, he or she selects the item in which he is interested in advance.
Items that can be selected are story (of the drama), talent (acting), costume (wearing characters),
These include accessories (carried on by the characters) and music (used as background music for the drama). For example, in the client of the user who has selected the story, a marking request is automatically made in a scene that is important for the story of the drama while watching the video, and related information regarding the story of the scene or a pointer to the scene video itself is acquired. To be done. Also, in the client of the user who has selected the talent, when a new talent appears in the drama while watching,
A marking request is automatically made in that scene,
Relevant information about that talent is obtained. The user can select multiple interest items.For example, in the client of the user who has selected the story and talent items, it is automatically marked in the scene that is important in the story of the drama and the scene where a new talent appears. A request is made and relevant information is obtained.

FIG. 2 shows a display device 31 connected to the client 20 in order to realize the service as described above.
7 shows an example of a GUI displayed on the screen. Display device 31
In the display screen 50, the video reproduction display window 51 is opened by the video reproduction player 21 of the client 20, and the video distributed by the server 10 and reproduced by the video reproduction player 21 is displayed therein. The player control unit 22 displays on the display screen 50 a player control panel 53 having control buttons 52 for playing (playing), fast-forwarding, pausing (pausing), increasing the volume, lowering the volume, etc. Pointing device) 32
The video playback player 21 is controlled in response to the operation (click, etc.) of these control buttons 52 by. Similarly, the action table selection unit 23 displays an action table selection panel 55 having selection buttons 54 such as “story” and “talent”, and in response to the user designating these selection buttons 54 by the input device 32. Select the action table. Similarly, the mark selection unit 28 displays a mark selection window 57 in which a mark (icon) 56 corresponding to the marked related information is displayed in the display screen 50, and the user uses the input device 32 to display these marks 56. The related information is selected in accordance with the designation of, and is displayed on the display screen 50 to present the selected related information to the user. FIG. 3 shows an example of the related information presented (profile information of talent). Although not shown in FIG. 2, when the user clicks on a person or an object in the image reproduced in the image reproduction display window 51, the marking request unit 29 issues a marking request.

Next, the operation of this video distribution system will be described.

First, prior to viewing the distributed video, the user wants to know what kind of information should be automatically marked while viewing the video.
The selection is made in the action table selection panel 55 shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the selection items are “story”,
Since there are five “talents”, “costumes”, “accessories”, and “music”, at this time, on the server side, action tables A to E in which event occurrence patterns corresponding to at least these five selection items are described. Are held in the action table holding unit 11. Now here,
It is assumed that the user selects the item of "talent" on the action table selection panel 55 of FIG. Then, the action table selection unit 23 notifies the action table management unit 24 that the action table corresponding to the item “talent” has been selected, as an action table selection request, and the action table management unit 24 responds accordingly. , The corresponding action table B is downloaded from the server 10, and the action table holding unit 25
Hold in. Similarly, when the user selects the "story" item on the action table selection panel 55, the action table selection unit 23 notifies the action table management unit 24 of the action table corresponding to the "story" item. The selection is notified as an action table selection request, and the action table management unit 24 accordingly downloads the corresponding action table A from the server 10 and holds it in the action table holding unit 25.

Here, the case where the action table is downloaded from the server 10 by using the user's selection operation on the action table selection panel 55 as a trigger has been described, but the action table management of the client 20 does not depend on the user's selection. The unit 24 may automatically download a pre-specified action table (so-called default action table). This function, for example, when the provider of the distribution video wants to mark the predetermined advertisement information regardless of the user's preference, the action table that describes the event occurrence pattern intended by the provider is always displayed. It is used for applications such as automatically downloading and referencing when video playback starts.

The action table selecting operation by the user is not limited to before the start of the video viewing, and may be performed at any point during the video playback. The operation when the user selects an action table at an arbitrary point during video reproduction will be described separately.

After that, the user operates the player control panel 53 shown in FIG. 2 to reproduce the video and start viewing. Alternatively, the reproduction may be automatically started when the user accesses the video. In any case, at the playback start point, the event processing unit 26 of the client 20 acquires the control information from the player control unit 22, and firstly, the playback position at which the event occurs, the event identifier for identifying the event, and the corresponding action content. The information is acquired from the action table management unit 24, and the timer up to the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event first occurs is started. Next, the event processing unit 26 performs processing for executing processing based on action content information corresponding to the event at the time when the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event first occurs, and The playback position where the event occurs, its event identifier,
Also, the corresponding action content information is acquired from the action table management unit 24, and the timer up to the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event next occurs is started. Next, the event processing unit 26 performs processing for executing processing based on action content information corresponding to the event at the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event occurs next, and Further, the reproduction position at which the event occurs next, the event identifier, and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management unit 24, and similarly, up to the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event occurs next. Start the timer.

As described above, the event processing unit 26 repeats the same operation as described above at the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the next event occurs, thereby downloading the action table. The events described in one or a plurality of action tables managed by the management unit 24 are processed one after another.

Incidentally, the event processing section 16 pauses (playback is temporarily stopped) during the above-mentioned operation.
When the player control unit 22 notifies that control such as fast-forwarding, rewinding, and changing the reproduction position has occurred as control information, the timer is reset at that time, and the reproduction is started when the reproduction is restarted. The playback position at which the next event occurs, which is determined from the newly acquired playback position, and the event identifier,
Also, the corresponding action content information is acquired from the action table management unit 24, and the timer operates until the time corresponding to the reproduction position where the event occurs next time.

Next, the operation when a user selects an action table at an arbitrary point during video reproduction will be described.

Until the action table selecting operation occurs during video reproduction, the player control unit 22, the action table selecting unit 23, the action table managing unit 24, the event processing unit 26, etc. of the client 20 operate as described above. is doing. Here, in the action table holding section 25, the selection item “STORY” on the action table selection panel 55 shown in FIG.
It is assumed that action tables A and B corresponding to "talents" are held. At this time when the video is playing
The user further selects the action table selection panel 55.
When the item “Costume” is selected in, the action table selection unit 23 displays the action table management unit 24.
Is notified as an action table selection request that the action table corresponding to the item of “costume” has been selected. As a result, the action table management unit 24 accordingly responds to the corresponding action table C from the server.
Is downloaded and held in the action table holding unit 25. Then, the action table management unit 24
Depending on the contents of the updated one or more action tables to be managed, the event processing unit 2 at that time
The playback position at which the event occurs next, the event identifier, and the corresponding action content information set to 6 are updated, and the event processing is performed corresponding to the updated playback position at which the event next occurs. The timer of the section 26 is updated.

Further, here, it is assumed that the user deselects the selection item of "talent" on the action table selection panel 55. As a result, the action table selection unit 23 determines that the action table management unit 2
4 is notified that the selection of the action table corresponding to the item of “talent” is released as an action table selection request, and the action table management unit 24 accordingly responds to the corresponding action in the action table holding unit 25. Delete table B. Then, the action table management unit 24, according to the content of the updated one or more action tables to be managed,
The playback position at which the event will occur next, the event identifier, and the corresponding action content information set in the event processing unit 26 at that time are updated, and the playback position at which the event will occur next is updated in this way. Corresponding to
The timer of the event processing unit 26 is updated.

In this way, the action table management unit 24
Is notified from the action table selection unit 23 of an action table selection request including information on the selection of another action table or the change of the already selected action table, the action required by the server according to the change. Download the table and delete unnecessary action table. And
Depending on the contents of the one or more action tables to be managed thus updated, the playback position at which the event will occur next, which is set in the event processing unit 26 at that time, its event identifier, and The corresponding action content information is updated, and the event processing unit 2 corresponding to the updated playback position at which the event occurs next time.
6 timer is updated.

Next, when the user selects the mark 56 in the mark selection window 57 by automatically marking and acquiring the related information of the video being reproduced, the related information corresponding to the selected mark 56 is displayed. The operation for realizing the presented function will be described.

When the marking is designated as the action content information corresponding to the event described in the action table, the event processing means 26 marks the marking processing unit 27 as the processing for executing the processing based on the action content information. Send a request. When the event processing unit 26 requests the marking, the marking processing unit 27 provides the relevant information providing unit of the server 10 with the relevant information relating to the reproduction position of the event in which the marking is designated as the action content information of the video. Request to 14. The related information providing unit 14 searches the related information database 13 in response to the request for related information, and sends the corresponding related information to the marking processing unit 27. Marking processing unit 27
Acquires the related information in this manner, and sends the related information to the mark selecting unit 28 together with a mark for selecting and browsing the acquired related information. The mark selection unit 28 additionally displays the mark 56 added by the marking processing unit 27 on the mark selection window 57, and when the displayed mark 56 is selected by the user, presents corresponding corresponding information.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which the action table used in the system of the present embodiment for processing the event synchronized with the above-mentioned distribution video is described in the XML format.

In the XML description example shown in FIG. 4, <event
> What is described by the tag is the event identifier. For example, the event identifier <event position = "1000"> ... </ event> indicates an event at the playback position 1000 milliseconds after the playback start position. In this description, it is assumed that there is no event at the playback position where the description using the <event> tag is not described.

The action content information is described in the <event> tag. In the example of FIG. 4, <marking loc is used as the description of the action content information that specifies the marking.
The tag "ation =" 100,100 "/> is described. Here, <marking location = "100,100"> is the coordinate (10) when the coordinate of the upper left corner of the reproduced video image is (0,0).
0, 100) is designated.

Although only the tag for designating the marking has been described here, as action content information,
Tags that specify various actions that can be executed on the client can be described. Further, it is possible to associate a plurality of action content information with one event identifier. In this case, in the above XML description example, a plurality of action content information tags are described in one <event> tag.

Using the example of the action table shown in FIG. 4, the operation in which the marking processing unit 26 acquires the related information will be described.

When an event occurs, the event processing unit 26 specifies a video reproduction position (that is, the position attribute of the event tag) corresponding to the event as a marking request to the marking processing unit 27 for executing marking. Value) and the coordinate value at which the marking occurred (ie,
The value specified in the location attribute of the marking tag) is transmitted, and the marking processing unit 27 transmits the video reproduction position and the coordinate value to the server 10 related information providing unit 14 as a related information request. When the server 10 manages related information about a plurality of videos, in addition to these pieces of information, information for identifying the video currently being played (for example,
The URL (uniform resource locator) of the distributed video is included in the related information request.

The related information database 13 provided in the server 10 manages each reproduction position of each video and what kind of related information is associated with which range of the image frame at that reproduction position. . The related information providing unit 14 refers to the related information database 13 and
The related information corresponding to the reproduction position and the coordinate value included in the information received as the related information request is specified and returned to the client 20.

Through the above procedure, the marking processing unit 27 of the client 20 acquires the marked related information.

FIG. 5 shows, as an example of the description of the action table, description of related information in the <marking> tag in the action table. here,"["
Values and character strings corresponding to actual related information are described in a portion surrounded by "]". When an action table in which relevant information is described as shown in FIG. 5 is used, the relevant information providing unit 14 need not be provided in the server 10. In this case, the marking processing unit 27 directly acquires the related information from the action table instead of requesting the related information from the related information providing unit and acquiring the related information, and adds the mark to the mark selection unit 28.

The implementation of the client 20 in the system of this embodiment will be described below.

The client 20 can be composed of a personal computer or the like connectable to the network 40. In a personal computer, various kinds of application software (programs) are generally executed on an OS (operating system), but the client 20 also has each function of the client 20 as described above on the OS. It can be implemented as an application to be executed. For example, Win provided by Microsoft Corporation as the OS
It can be implemented as an application created using a language such as C ++ or Basic using dows (registered trademark).

On the personal computer, Mi
Internet Exp provided by Microsoft
A video reproduction player 21, a player control unit 22, an action table selection unit 23, an action table management unit 24, an action table storage unit 25, which executes browser software such as lore and constitutes the client 20.
The event processing unit 26, the marking processing unit 27, the mark selection unit 28, and the marking request unit 29 include a Java applet functioning on a browser, an ActiveX component, and a Java Script, VB Script.
pt function and HTML (HyperText Markup
Language) can be implemented as a page described by. Specifically, the video reproduction player 21 is set to J
ava applet or Windows Media
Implemented as an ActiveX component such as a Player. Also, the action table management unit 2
4, the event processing unit 26, the marking processing unit 27, etc. are Java Script or VB Script.
It is implemented as a function of t, and the other components of the client 20 are configured as a page described in HTML with respect to GUI, and internal processing is performed by Java Scr.
It can be implemented as a function of ipt or VB Script. Further, in such a configuration, it is possible to dynamically change the video playback player to be used depending on the format of the video file to be played back.

The software for implementing the client 20 has been described above, but from the viewpoint of hardware, the client 20 is configured as follows. That is, the personal computer that constitutes the client 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a hard disk device for storing programs and data, a main memory, a communication interface for connecting to the network 40, a magnetic tape and a CD. -A reading device for reading a recording medium such as a ROM is provided, and a display device 31 and an input device 32 are connected. The hard disk device, main memory, communication interface, reading device, display device 31, and input device 32 are all CPUs.
Connected to. In this personal computer, a recording medium storing application software (program) for mounting the client 20 is mounted on a reading device, the program is read from the recording medium and stored in a hard disk device, and the program stored in the hard disk device is loaded. Is executed by the CPU, or such a program is downloaded from the network 40 into the hard disk device via the communication interface, and the program downloaded in the hard disk device is executed by the CPU, whereby the client 20 is executed. Will work.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, action table management means for comprehensively managing a plurality of action tables is provided, and processing for merging action tables sequentially acquired on the client side is performed by this action table management. Although the method uses the action table that is the event description, there is an effect that it is not necessary to prepare different action tables for the number of expected event occurrence patterns. That is, in the video distribution system of the present invention, it suffices to prepare as many action tables on the server side as the number of selection items related to the event occurrence timing. It has the effect of significantly reducing it.

Also, by configuring the event processing means to perform processing corresponding to an event every time an event occurs by timer processing and to obtain information of the next event, the user can view the event at any point during viewing. Even if you change the selection items related to the timing of occurrence and the action table to be referenced is updated accordingly,
Only by updating the action table managed by the action table management means, the subsequent event occurrence timing corresponds to the changed selection item. Therefore, even if the user changes the selection item regarding the event occurrence timing at any point during viewing, there is no problem that the video reproduction is interrupted unlike the conventional system.

Further, by making the event processing means operate by a timer type, it is possible to obtain the reproduction position from the video reproduction player means during the current reproduction without frequent acquisition.
Event can be generated at an accurate timing.

Furthermore, the client in the video distribution system of the present invention can be implemented using a so-called general-purpose browser, and can be used as a highly versatile service system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a video distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[FIG. 2] G on the client side in the system of FIG.
It is a figure which shows an example of UI (graphical user interface).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of related information when a mark is selected.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which an action table is described in XML format.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example in which an action table is described in XML format.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 servers 11,25 Action table holder 12 Video file storage 13 Related information database 14 Related Information Department 20 clients 21 Video player 22 Player Control Unit 23 Action table selection section 24 Action Table Management Department 26 Event processing section 27 Marking processing section 28 Mark selection section 29 Marking request section 31 Display 32 input device 40 networks 50 display screen 51 Video playback display window 52 control button 53 Player Control Panel 54 Select button 55 Action table selection panel 56 mark 57 Mark selection window

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroki Shigeyoshi             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Tonomura             2-3-1, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F-term (reference) 5C053 FA29 GB01 GB06 GB12 JA16                       JA21 JA22 JA24 KA24 LA14                 5C064 BA01 BB03 BB10 BC16 BC23                       BC24 BC25 BD02 BD03 BD05                       BD08 BD09

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A video distribution system having a server for distributing video and a client communicating with the server via a network, for processing an event synchronized with the distributed video, wherein the server is The client holds a plurality of action tables in which an event identifier indicating an event at each reproduction position and action content information indicating a process executed corresponding to the event are specified, and the client reproduces a video to be distributed. Video reproduction player means, player control means for controlling the video reproduction player means, action table selection means for selecting one or a plurality of action tables among a plurality of action tables held by the server, Action to download and manage the selected action table The reproduction position is sequentially acquired from the table management unit and the video reproduction player unit, and the contents of the downloaded action table managed by the action table management unit are referred to, and the action table is displayed according to the reproduction position. An image processing system comprising: an event processing unit that performs a process for executing a process based on specified action content information. 2. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the application table management means also downloads and manages an action table designated in advance from the server regardless of a user's selection. 3. The event processing means acquires control information from the player control means, and processes the event described in the action table managed by the action table management means, at the beginning of reproduction, first. The playback position where the event occurs,
The event identifier of the event and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management means, the timer up to the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event first occurs is started, and the playback position at which the event occurs is handled. When the time comes, the process for executing the process based on the action content information corresponding to the event is performed, and the playback position at which the event next occurs, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information. Is obtained from the action table management means, a process for starting a timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event next occurs is executed, and the processing is executed each time the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event occurs is reached. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the processing is repeated. 4. The event processing means notifies from the player control means that control of any of pause (playback suspension), fast forward, rewind, and playback position change has occurred in the playback of the video as control information. The timer is reset at the point of time when the video is played back, and when the playback of the video is started again, the playback position at which the playback is started is acquired and judged from the playback position. The position, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management means, and a timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event occurs next is started.
Video distribution system described in. 5. The action table management means changes the action table when the action table selection request is notified from the action table selection means, the action table selection request including information on selection of another action table or change of the already selected action table. In accordance with the above, the necessary action table is downloaded from the server, the unnecessary action table is deleted, and the event processing means is set at that point in time according to the content of the updated action table to be managed. 5. The playback position at which the event occurs next, the event identifier, and the corresponding action content information are updated, and the timer is updated according to the updated playback position at which the event next occurs. Video distribution system described in. 6. The server further includes a related information database holding related information related to each reproduction position in the video, and related information providing means for searching and providing the related information, the client Further, when the event processing means requests the marking, the related information providing means requests the related information relating to the reproduction position of the event in which the marking is designated as the action content information of the video. A marking processing unit that acquires the related information, and a mark selection unit that additionally displays a mark added by the marking processing unit and presents corresponding related information when the displayed mark is selected. However, the event processing means stores as action content information corresponding to the event described in the action table. When the marking is specified, as a process for executing the process based on the action content information, a marking request is sent to the marking processing means, and the marking processing means selects the related information when the related information is acquired. The video distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the mark for browsing is added to the mark selecting unit. 7. A client which processes an event in which a video is distributed from a server for distributing the video via a network and which is synchronized with the distributed video, the video reproduction player means for reproducing the distributed video, and the video reproduction. Player control means for controlling the player means, action table selection means for selecting one or a plurality of action tables among the plurality of action tables held by the server, and an action including at least the selected action table An action table management means for downloading and managing a table from the server, and a reproduction position sequentially acquired from the video reproduction player means, and referring to the contents of the downloaded action table managed by the action table management means, Previous Having an event processing means for performing processing for executing the processing based on the specified action content information in the action table in accordance with the reproduction position, the client. 8. The event processing means obtains control information from the player control means, and processes the event described in an action table managed by the action table management means, at the beginning of reproduction, first. The playback position where the event occurs,
The event identifier of the event and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management means, the timer up to the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event first occurs is started, and the playback position at which the event occurs is handled. When the time comes, the process for executing the process based on the action content information corresponding to the event is performed, and the playback position at which the event next occurs, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information. Is obtained from the action table management means, a process for starting a timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event next occurs is executed, and the processing is executed each time the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event occurs is reached. The client according to claim 7, wherein the process is repeated. 9. The event processing means notifies from the player control means that control of any of pause (playback suspension), fast-forward, rewind, and playback position change occurs during playback of the video as control information. The timer is reset at the point of time when the video is played back, and when the playback of the video is started again, the playback position at which the playback is started is acquired and judged from the playback position. The position, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the action table management means, and a timer until the time corresponding to the reproduction position at which the event occurs next is started.
Clients listed in. 10. The action table management means,
At the time when an action table selection request including information on the selection of another action table or the change of the already selected action table is notified by the action table selection means, the necessary action table is sent from the server according to the change. A reproduction position and an event identifier, which are set in the event processing means at that point in time, according to the content of the updated action table that is downloaded and the unnecessary action table is deleted , And the corresponding action content information is updated, and the timer is updated in response to the updated playback position at which an event occurs next. 11. When a marking is requested by the event processing means, the server is requested to provide related information related to a reproduction position where an event in which the marking is designated as action content information of the video has occurred. Marking processing means for obtaining the related information, and additionally displaying the mark added by the marking processing means, when the displayed mark is selected, and has a mark selection means for presenting the corresponding related information, When the marking is designated as the action content information corresponding to the event described in the action table, the event processing unit sends a marking request to the marking processing unit as a process for executing a process based on the action content information. When the marking processing means acquires the related information, The client according to claim 7, wherein the mark for selecting and browsing the related information is added to the mark selecting unit. 12. An event processing method for processing an event synchronized with a distribution video in a client, the video being distributed from a server for distributing the video via a network, the method comprising: reproducing the distributed video. Receiving an input for selecting one or a plurality of action tables among a plurality of action tables held in a server; downloading an action table including at least the selected action table from the server and managing the action table; Event processing for sequentially acquiring the playback position in video playback, referring to the content of the downloaded action table, and executing processing based on action content information specified in the action table according to the playback position is performed. The stages to do To, event processing method. 13. The step of performing the event processing includes the steps of acquiring control information for reproducing the video, and processing the event described in the downloaded action table at a reproduction start point, The playback position where the event first occurs, the event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the downloaded action table, and the timer up to the time corresponding to the playback position where the event first occurs is started. And at the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event occurs, while performing the processing for performing the process based on the action content information corresponding to the event, the playback position at which the event next occurs, The event identifier of the event and the corresponding action content information are downloaded as above. Acquires from the loaded action table, executes the process to start the timer until the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event occurs next, and performs the process each time the time corresponding to the playback position at which the event occurs is reached. 13. The event processing method according to claim 12, further comprising: 14. The step of performing the event processing is performed when control is notified as control of any one of pause (playback suspension), fast forward, rewind, and playback position change in playback of the video. Then, at the step of resetting the timer and when the reproduction of the video is started again, the reproduction position at which the reproduction is started is acquired, and the reproduction position at which the next event occurs is determined from the reproduction position. , The event identifier of the event, and the corresponding action content information are acquired from the downloaded action table,
The event processing method according to claim 13, further comprising: starting a timer until a time corresponding to a reproduction position at which the event occurs next time. 15. A necessary action table is downloaded from the server according to the change at the time of being notified of an action table selection request including information on the selection of another action table or the change of the already selected action table. And the unnecessary action table is deleted, and the playback position at which the next event occurs, the event identifier, and the event position, which are set at that time, according to the content of the updated action table to be managed. 15. The event processing method according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising: updating the corresponding action content information and updating the timer corresponding to the updated playback position at which an event occurs next time. 16. When the marking is designated as the action content information corresponding to the event described in the action table, it relates to the reproduction position where the event of which the marking is designated as the action content information occurs in the video. Requesting related information from the server and acquiring the related information; additionally displaying a mark for selecting and browsing the related information when the related information is acquired; and displaying the displayed mark. The event processing method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, further comprising: presenting corresponding related information when the event occurs. 17. A program for causing a computer, which constitutes a client to which an image is delivered from a server for delivering an image via a network, to execute the event processing method according to any one of claims 12 to 16. 18. A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 17 is stored.