JP2006054521A - Preview reproducing apparatus, preview reproducing method, preview reproducing program, and content providing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a preview reproducing apparatus or the like capable of providing a preview for introducing a matter of contents to a user without wasteful consumption of storage areas. <P>SOLUTION: A content provider 120 generates contents 133, index metadata 131 for designating a scene of the contents 133, and organization information 134 or the like for determining execution of the order of preview reproduction and the type of contents applied to the preview reproduction and distributes them to a terminal 100 via a transmission medium 10. A preview reproduction control section 108 of the terminal 100 extracts a scene from the designated contents 133 to generate a preview on the basis of the organization information 134 and the index metadata 131 and allows a reproduction section 110 to reproduce the preview. Thus, the preview reproduction can be realized without the need for separately preparing contents to introduce the contents 133. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a preview reproduction apparatus that reproduces a preview of content such as digitized video and audio, a preview reproduction method, a preview reproduction program, and a content providing apparatus that provides content.

  As a conventional preview playback device, an HDD recorder that automatically performs scheduled recording of a broadcast program and automatically stores stored content provided by broadcasting under the control of a broadcasting station, regardless of an instruction from a user Examples include storage broadcast compatible receiving terminals. In order to introduce the contents of the contents accumulated in this way, not only the list but also a part of the actual contents is cut out and a preview content for introduction is created on the terminal, and selected and reproduced according to instructions from the user The content which performs is disclosed (for example, refer patent document 1).

In this conventional apparatus, the broadcast wave received by the receiving unit is restored to a video / audio signal, and a part of the restored video / audio signal is saved in the storage unit as a preview.
JP 2002-335504 A

  However, in the conventional preview playback device, the preview content is partially cut out from the viewing content and is stored and played back as another preview content. Therefore, the storage capacity of the storage device such as the storage unit Had the problem of wasting wastefully.

  This is because storage storage for storing content is equivalent to a limited store space, considering storage and playback charges for selling stored items as an actual store. It is a wasteful thing that cannot be sold, and it is very inefficient from the viewpoint of selling content, which is a big problem.

  In addition, in the conventional technology, there is a description that the preview content is deleted when the storage capacity is insufficient, but if such processing is performed, a preview of all the content is viewed. There is also a problem that it will not be possible.

  The present invention solves the above-described conventional problem, and can provide a preview playback device, a preview playback method, and the like that can provide preview content that introduces the content of the content to the user without wasting a storage area. An object is to provide a preview reproduction program and a content providing apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, based on organization information that organizes a plurality of contents to be previewed and index metadata that specifies a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents, Read a part and play it as a preview.

  According to the present invention, based on organization information that organizes a plurality of contents to be previewed and index metadata that specifies a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents, a part of the contents is read out and previewed. As a result, there is no need to create and store preview content separately from the original content, and a preview that introduces the content to the user without wasting valuable storage space. Can be provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a preview providing system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, this system is configured by connecting a content provider 120 as a content providing device and a terminal device 100 as a preview reproduction device via a transmission medium 10.

  The transmission medium 10 may be various media such as satellite broadcast, terrestrial broadcast, CATV, and the Internet, and no limitation is imposed regardless of which medium is used in the present invention.

  The terminal device 100 receives and uses various data from the content provider 120, and includes a receiving unit 102, an index holding unit 103, a metadata holding unit 104, a content holding unit 105, a content management unit 106, an organization holding unit 107, A preview reproduction control unit 108, an application control unit 109, a reproduction unit 110, an operation unit 111, a content reproduction control unit 112, a composition unit 113, and a display unit 114 are provided.

  The content provider 120 is assumed to be a device or system on the content providing side such as a broadcasting station, and includes an index creating unit 121, an index holding unit 122, a metadata creating unit 123, a metadata holding unit 124, and a composition creating unit 125. A composition storage unit 126, a content registration unit 127, a content storage unit 128, a content transmission management unit 129, and a transmission unit 130.

  Next, the operation of the entire system will be described.

  First, the content provider 120 stores the content 133 provided to the user in the content holding unit 128 via the content registration unit 127. The content 133 here indicates a moving image such as a movie, music, a pseudo moving image by computer graphics, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

  Next, the metadata creation unit 123 creates metadata 132 describing what the content itself is, and stores it in the metadata holding unit 124.

  Next, the index creation unit 121 creates index metadata 131 necessary for preview reproduction processing for realizing a pseudo preview channel on the terminal device 100 and stores it in the index holding unit 122.

  Finally, composition information 134 describing in what order the composition creation unit 125 performs preview reproduction processing of the content is created and stored in the composition holding unit 126.

  The content transmission management unit 129 distributes the index metadata 131, the metadata 132, the content 133, and the organization information 134 from the transmission unit 130 to the terminal device 100 via the transmission medium 10. There are various distribution methods at this time, such as broadcast using broadcast, one-to-one data communication using communication, and one-to-N multicast using communication. In the present invention, the distribution method is used. There is no restriction on the above, and there is no problem if the information group is distributed to the terminal device 100 as a result.

  Although not shown, the data group is distributed from the content provider 120 to a device such as a server or HDD recorder in the home, and the server or HDD and the terminal device 100 exchange data, and the terminal The apparatus 100 may acquire the data group.

  On the other hand, the terminal device 100 receives the information group via the receiving unit 102, the index metadata 131 is stored in the index holding unit 103, the metadata 132 is stored in the metadata holding unit 104, and the content 133 is stored in the content holding unit 105. The knitting information 134 is stored in the knitting holding unit 107. In the first embodiment, the expression is expressed as a separate holding unit. However, this is only divided for convenience of explanation, and there is no problem even if it is managed collectively by the same database.

  Next, various data formats and data processing flows will be described. However, these formats and expression methods are merely examples for explanation, and the present invention is not limited to this description.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the index metadata 131 used for the preview reproduction process.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the index metadata 131 is set for each content and designates, for example, a scene that is a part of each content. The content ID 201, the index ID 202, the number of scenes 203, the scene ID 204, and the playback start time 205 are specified. The playback time 206 and the like.

  The content ID 201 describes to which content 133 the index metadata 131 is applied. The content ID 201 is preferably a description that can uniquely identify the content 133, and the PID, URI, and the like of the content 133 may be used.

  The index ID 202 is an ID for uniquely identifying the index metadata 131 because a plurality of index metadata 131 needs to be created for the same content ID 201 when a plurality of previews are extracted from the same content 133. is there. That is, the index metadata 131 can be uniquely specified by the content ID 201 + index ID 202.

  The number of scenes 203 describes the total number of scenes described in the index metadata 131.

  The scene ID 204 is information indicating which scene in the content corresponds, and is unique in the content.

  The reproduction start time 205 represents from which position the corresponding scene starts in the content.

  The playback time 206 represents how long the scene lasts.

  Such scene IDs 204, playback start times 205, and playback times 206 are described as a set of scene specifying information by listing the number of scenes 203.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the content 133 and the preview 300 in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the content 133 includes a plurality of scenes in the case of video content, and a preview 300 is obtained by extracting each scene from the content 133. The link information between the preview 300 and the content 133 is index metadata 131 including time information such as a scene ID 204, a reproduction start time 205, and a reproduction time 206 as shown in FIG. That is, the index metadata 131 is data for realizing playback of the preview 300 by extracting a part of the content 133 in units of scenes and performing continuous playback.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the organization information 134 in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the organization information 134 is information describing the schedule (order) of the content 133 to be preview-reproduced for realizing the preview channel, and is composed of an organization ID 401, a content ID 201, and an index ID 202. ing. The organization ID 401 is an ID that uniquely identifies the organization, the content ID 201 is an ID that uniquely identifies the content 133, and the index ID 202 is an ID that uniquely identifies the index metadata 131 in the content 133.

  As described with reference to FIG. 2, the organization information 134 identifies which index metadata 131 is to be used with the content ID 201 + index ID 202. That is, a list of information in which the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 are combined becomes the organization information 134. The preview reproduction control unit 108 reads out and reproduces the scene of the content 133 corresponding to the index metadata 131 specified by the content ID 201 + index ID 202 in the order of the list, thereby performing the preview reproduction process continuously, and performing a pseudo preview Realize the channel.

  The composition information 134 may be provided from the content provider 120 or may be generated in the terminal device 100 by adding individual information to the composition information 134 itself.

  Next, an example of the organization information list 500 that manages the organization information 134 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the organization information list 500 includes an organization ID 501, a category 502, and an update date / time 503.

  The organization ID 501 is an ID that uniquely identifies the organization information 134. The category 502 describes what policy the organization information 134 was created with. For example, it describes whether it is a collection of action genres of movies, a collection of romance, a collection of documentaries, or a collection of specific performers.

  The update date and time 503 describes when the organization itself was created. The organization information list 500 manages the information of the organization ID 501, the category 502, and the update date and time 503 as one combination for the number of organizations. By searching the organization information list 500, it is possible to grasp what organization information 134 exists. This organization information list 500 is stored in the organization holding unit 107 together with the organization information 134.

  The organization information list 500 is not essential in the present invention, and it is sufficient that the preview 300 can be extracted from the content 133 and reproduced by using the index metadata 131 and the organization information 134. The organization information 134 is displayed for each category 502. If it is not necessary to divide, the organization information list 500 may not be used.

  Next, how to actually provide a pseudo preview channel will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, in the terminal device 100, the application control unit 109 displays a menu or the like on the display unit 114 via the synthesizing unit 113, and causes the user to select an application from the menu and to select preview reproduction. This is generally a process for selecting an application.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a menu displayed according to the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 6, a menu 600 includes a preview button 610 of “What's New!” And a button 620 of another application. The user simply presses the preview button 610 and displays a pseudo preview channel. A preview playback screen 630 can be viewed. That is, although the preview 300 is not received by broadcasting or the like, it is possible to view a preview introducing content more and more in the same way as broadcasting.

  When the preview button 610 is pressed by the user and the preview function is selected, the application control unit 109 outputs an instruction for preview reproduction processing to the preview reproduction control unit 108.

  Subsequent processing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the entire preview reproduction process in the first embodiment.

  Upon receiving an instruction for preview processing from the application control unit 109, the preview reproduction control unit 108 first acquires the composition information list 500 shown in FIG. 5 and the like from the composition holding unit 107 in step S701. The organization information list 500 may be a single file in which a plurality of organization information 134 are continuously stored as shown in FIG. 5, or may be a list in which pointers to the organization information 134 are described.

  Next, in step S702, the preview reproduction control unit 108 performs a preview reproduction process using the acquired organization information list 500. When the organization information list 500 is finished, the preview is finished, but it is of course possible to loop until the end instruction is given.

  FIG. 8 shows a detailed process of the preview reproduction process of the preview reproduction control unit 108 in step S702 shown in FIG.

  First, in step S801, the preview reproduction control unit 108 acquires the first knitting information 134 from among the plurality of knitting information 134 listed in the acquired knitting information list 500 shown in FIG.

  Next, the preview reproduction control unit 108 acquires the top index metadata 131 from the acquired composition information 134 in step S802. This uses the first content ID 201 and index ID 202 in the organization information 134 configured as shown in FIG. 4 to issue a data acquisition request to the content management unit 106 to acquire the index metadata 131.

  Next, in step S803, the preview playback control unit 108 stacks the index metadata 131 acquired in step S802 in a playback queue (not shown) such as the preview playback control unit 108 or the playback unit 110.

  In step S804, the preview playback control unit 108 acquires the index metadata 131 stacked in the playback queue or the like, and the content ID 201, the index ID 202, the number of scenes 203, as shown in FIG. Based on the scene ID 204, the reproduction start time 205, and the reproduction time 206, a reproduction request is made to the reproduction unit 110.

  Then, in step S805, the playback unit 110 acquires the corresponding scene of the content 133 from the content holding unit 105 based on the content ID 201, the index ID 202, the number of scenes 203, and the scene ID 204 described in the index metadata 131. Playback is performed for a playback time of 206 minutes from the playback start time 205 instructed by the preview playback control unit.

  At that time, the preview reproduction control unit 108 determines whether or not the index metadata 131 remains in the reproduction queue in step S806, and if not, ends the preview process, while remaining. In step S804, the next index metadata 131 is read from the reproduction queue, and the reproduction start time 205 and the reproduction of the next scene are reproduced based on the read index metadata 131 before the reproduction by the reproduction unit 110 is completed. Time 206 is indicated so that the video is not interrupted. In the first embodiment, the playback unit 110 is instructed to perform playback by specifying the individual playback start time 205 and playback time 206, but the index metadata 131 itself is provided to the playback unit 110. It is also possible to perform pre-reading or the like so that the video can be continuously reproduced by being closed in the reproduction unit 110.

  In parallel with these processes, in step S807, the preview reproduction control unit 108 reads the content ID 201 of the content 133 being processed from the composition information 134 shown in FIG. 4 and determines whether or not the end of the composition information 134 has been reached. Judging. If it is still in the middle of the organization information 134, the process proceeds to step S810, where the index metadata 131 of the next content 133 is acquired from the organization information 134 in the same manner as in step S802, and the process of step S803 is performed. In this way, the preview reproduction control unit 108 sequentially acquires the index metadata 131 of the content group described in the organization information 134, stacks it in the reproduction queue, and reproduces it.

  In parallel with the acquisition processing of the index metadata 131, the reproduction processing sequentially extracts the index metadata 131 stacked in the reproduction queue from the oldest one.

  When the reproduction of the content described in one piece of composition information 134 is completed, the process proceeds to step S808, where it is determined whether or not it is the end of the composition information list 500. The next composition information 134 in the information list 500 is acquired in step S809, the process proceeds to step S802, and the same process as described above is repeated.

  When the acquisition work of all index metadata 131 of all the composition information 134 listed in the provided composition information list 500 is completed, the process proceeds from step S808 to step S806, and steps S804, S805, The process in step S806 is continued as long as there is index metadata 131 stacked in the reproduction queue.

  In step S806, if there is no index metadata 131 remaining in the reproduction queue, the process ends.

  Here, the description is given so that the preview reproduction process is terminated when all the compositions described in the composition information list 500 have been reproduced. However, after the composition information list 500 has been read, the preview reproduction process is completed again. Processing may be performed from the beginning, an infinite loop may be performed, and the contents of the organization information list 500 may be repeatedly played back and preview playback may be continued as broadcast until a stop instruction is received from the user.

  Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the preview 300 obtained by extracting the scene from the content 133 based on the index metadata 131 is created and played back. Therefore, the preview content is separated from the original content 133. This makes it possible to create the preview 300 using the index metadata 131 having a very small amount of data compared to the video, and to continuously reproduce it like a broadcast. It becomes possible to sell the content 133 to the user in a passive and extremely easy state.

  As a result, if a small amount of content is to be provided, even if content that introduces the content is prepared separately, it does not require much storage capacity, so the problem does not become obvious, but a very large amount of content is provided In this case, if you prepare a separate content that introduces the large number of contents, it requires a considerable amount of storage capacity, so this problem can be solved and the preview contents of the passive contents as described above Presentation can be a very effective means of advertising content.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in the organization information list 500 of FIG. 5, the organization information 134 of the first embodiment is created by being classified by category. However, depending on the way of viewing, a method of providing a preview 300 that does not know what category of organization information 134 will come next can be regarded as an effective advertising method. Therefore, in the terminal device 900 according to the second embodiment, the organization information 134 classified by category in the organization information list 500 and the order of the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 as the index metadata 131 are randomly organized and reproduced. It is a thing.

  FIG. 9 shows the configuration of terminal apparatus 900 according to the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the terminal device 900 according to the second embodiment is different from the terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment in that the random organization regeneration that reproduces the organization information 134 classified by category by random organization. That is, the unit 910 is newly provided. Other basic configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 10 shows a random preview reproduction process performed by the random composition regeneration unit 910 according to the second embodiment.

  As in the first embodiment, upon receiving a preview reproduction instruction from the application control unit 109, the preview reproduction control unit 108 instructs the random composition regeneration unit 910 to regenerate the composition information 134. Then, the random composition regenerating unit 910 requests the composition holding unit 107 to obtain the composition information list 500 and obtains the composition information list 500 in step S1001.

  Next, the random composition regenerating unit 910 integrates the composition information 134 classified by category included in the acquired composition information list 500 in step S1002, and generates a random number in the next step S1003 to generate the next In step S1004, based on the generated random number, the order of the content ID 201 and index ID 202 included in the composition information 134 is randomly changed to create new composition information 134. At that time, the random organization regenerating unit 910 may change the order of the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 for each category, or may of course change the order of the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 between different categories. .

  In step S1005, the reproduction unit 110 performs preview reproduction using the composition information 134 in which the order of the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 is regenerated at random by the random composition regeneration unit 910. Note that the preview reproduction processing in step S1005 is the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the random composition regeneration unit 910 randomly mixes the categorized composition information 134 originally, and the preview reproduction control unit 108 based on the randomly mixed composition information 134. Since the playback unit 110 is caused to perform preview playback, it is possible to provide a certain kind of preview 300 that is randomly organized, that is, what does not appear next.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the first embodiment, when the user wants to view a certain category in the provided organization information list, the user cannot select that category. That is, in the first embodiment, the user cannot give an instruction to view a preview of a movie genre. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the organization information 134 is displayed in a list like an EPG (electronic program guide) so that the user can select the preview 300 that the user wants to view.

  FIG. 11 shows a configuration of terminal apparatus 1100 according to the third embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the terminal device 1100 according to the third embodiment is different from the terminal device 100 according to the first embodiment in that the organization information 134 classified by category as shown in FIG. A menu generation unit 1101 is newly provided which is displayed as a menu instead of being reproduced and allows selection by the user. Other basic configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing menu selection type preview reproduction processing according to the third embodiment.

  As in the first embodiment, when receiving a preview reproduction instruction from the application control unit 109, the preview reproduction control unit 108 first acquires the composition information list 500 from the composition holding unit 107 in step S1201 to obtain composition information. The menu generation unit 1101 is requested to create a preview menu (list) of the organization information 134 from the list 500.

  In response to the request from the preview reproduction control unit 108, the menu generation unit 1101 creates a preview menu that is a menu of the organization information 134 based on the organization information list 500 in step S1202. Specifically, the menu generation unit 1101 displays a preview menu on the display unit 114 via the synthesis unit 113 so that the category 502 of the composition information list 500 is displayed as a selection item of the preview menu as shown in FIG. Let

  When the preview menu is displayed on the display unit 114, the preview reproduction control unit 108 enters a waiting state for selecting a preview menu from the user via the operation unit 111 in step S1203.

  If a certain category is selected in the preview menu by the user via the operation unit 111, the preview reproduction control unit 108 performs a preview reproduction process using the selected organization information 134 in step S1204. The preview playback mechanism is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of a preview menu displayed according to the third embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 13, first, similarly to the menu 600 shown in FIG. 6, the menu 1300 displays a preview button 1310 “What's New!” And a button 1320 of another application arranged in the same layer. Has been.

  Here, when the “What's New” preview button 1310 is pressed, for example, “action”, “romance”, “suspense”, “documentary”, etc., based on the organization information list 500 in step S1202 of FIG. A preview menu 1330 in which a button for each program category is displayed is displayed. It should be noted that the organization information 134 corresponds to each program category such as “documentary”.

  Then, when a button for each program category such as “documentary” is selected in step S1203 in FIG. 12, a preview reproduction screen 1340 on which the preview 300 is reproduced is reproduced in step S1204 in FIG.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the menu generation unit 1101 displays the preview menu 1330 on which the button for each program category is displayed based on the organization information list 500, and the program category to be previewed to the user. Since the selection is made, the user can select a program category to be viewed from a list of program categories such as EPG (Electronic Program Guide), and can view a preview channel of the category to be viewed. .

(Embodiment 4)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the first embodiment, the preview is played back in a fixed organization regardless of whether or not the user views the content. In the fourth embodiment, the content viewing history and purchase by the user are displayed. A preview channel for preview playback by referring to the history is provided.

  FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of terminal apparatus 1400 of the fourth embodiment.

  14, the terminal device 1400 according to the fourth embodiment includes a viewing history holding unit 1401 for changing the organization based on the viewing history and purchase history of the content 133 by the user, and a purchase process for managing the purchase of the content 133. Unit 1402, license ticket holding unit 1403 that holds a purchase history, preview playback control unit 1404 that controls playback of the preview by changing the playback order and method of composition information 134 based on the information, and playback of the preview A playback point holding unit 1405 for holding the state is further provided. The basic configuration and operation are the same as those in the first embodiment. In FIG. 14, the same components as those in FIG.

  Next, the operation will be described.

  FIG. 15 shows preview reproduction processing according to the fourth embodiment.

  In the fourth embodiment, as in the first embodiment, when receiving a preview reproduction instruction from the application control unit 109, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 first stores the composition information list 500 in the composition holding unit 107 in step S1501. Then, in step S1502, the playback point holding unit 1405 stores information of the preview viewing history 1600 indicating which preview organization and which content the user has viewed last, that is, the organization information 134 reproduced last. Get from.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of the preview viewing history 1600.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the preview viewing history 1600 includes the composition ID 1601 indicating the last viewed composition information 134, the last viewing date 1602 indicating the last viewed date, and the content that was played when the viewing was interrupted. The viewing interruption point 1603 indicating the content ID of the content.

  When the preview playback control unit 1404 obtains the preview viewing history 1600 as shown in FIG. 16 from the playback point holding unit 1405, the organization ID 1601 of the preview viewing history 1600 is set to the organization information as shown in FIG. 5 in step S1503. A search is made in the list 500, and it is checked whether or not the same organization information 134 as the last seen organization information 134 exists.

  If the same composition information 134 as the last viewed composition information 134 exists in the composition information list 500, the update date 503 of the corresponding composition information 134 is checked in step S1504, and the composition information 134 is updated. Judge whether or not. This is because, when the composition information 134 is updated after the preview 300 is viewed last, the preview 300 is changed and thus cannot be viewed from the same place.

  If the update date / time 503 of the composition information 134 is not updated as a result of the check, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 performs step S1506 based on the composition information list 500 and the composition information 134 reproduced last. A preview reproduction instruction is issued so that preview reproduction is performed from the content 133 indicated by the viewing interruption point 1603 of the preview viewing history 1600 or the next content 133.

  Then, in step S1507, the playback unit 110 performs preview playback processing in accordance with the viewing state.

  On the other hand, when the composition information 134 corresponding to the composition information list 500 does not exist in step S1503, and when the composition information 134 is updated in step S1504, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 displays the new composition information 134. In step S1505, an instruction is given to perform preview reproduction from the top content 133 of the first composition information 134 in the composition information list 500, and the reproduction unit 110 previews in accordance with the viewing state in subsequent step S1507. Perform the playback process.

  Next, the preview reproduction process in step S1507 will be described.

  FIG. 17 describes a flow for realizing a preview according to the viewing state in step S1507 of the fourth embodiment.

  First, in the process of step S1507, when a preview reproduction process is instructed, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 converts the composition information list 500 passed as an argument in steps S1506 and S1505 and the content ID 201 in step S1701. The designated composition information 134 is acquired based on the information. In other words, when the preview reproduction process is requested via step S1505, the first composition information 134 in the composition information list 500 is used, whereas when the preview reproduction process is requested via step S1506, the preview reproduction process is finally viewed. Since the knitting information 134 that has been instructed is indicated, the knitting information 134 is used.

  Next, in step S1702, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 acquires the index ID 202 of the content 133 instructed to be reproduced. Similarly to the selection of the organization information 134, when the processing is requested via step S1505, the content ID 201 and the index ID 202 related to the top content 133 of the organization information 134 are acquired, and the processing is requested via step S1506. In the case, the index ID 202 is acquired from the organization information 134 based on the content ID 201 related to the content 133 that was last viewed.

  Next, in step S1703, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 refers to the content contract information 1800 held in the license ticket holding unit 1403 to determine whether or not the corresponding content 133 has been purchased. To check.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the content contract information 1800 held in the license ticket holding unit 1403.

  The content contract information 1800 is created by the purchase processing unit 1402 and held in the license ticket holding unit 1403. The content contract information 1800 is a database of which content 133 has a usage right. It consists of a content ID 1801 specifying 133, a contract date and time 1802 of the content 133, a contract expiration date and time 1803 when the contract expires, and a contract condition 1804. However, this is an example of the content contract information 1800, and the present invention is not limited to this format or item. It is important that this block can manage which content has been purchased.

  The preview reproduction control unit 1404 searches the content contract information 1800 using the corresponding content ID 1801. If the corresponding content 133 is found, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 determines that the purchase has been completed and proceeds to step S1706. In step S1704, it is determined whether the corresponding content 133 has not been viewed.

  Next, in step S1704, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 refers to the content viewing history 1900 stored in the viewing history holding unit 1401, and checks whether there is viewing.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content viewing history 1900.

  This content viewing history 1900 is created by the content management unit 106 and stored in the viewing history holding unit 1401. The content viewing history 1900 identifies a content ID 1901 that identifies the content 133 and the last viewing date 1902 when the content 133 was last viewed. Is stored for each content viewed.

  In step S1704, the preview playback control unit 1404 searches whether the corresponding content ID 1901 is stored in the data of the content viewing history 1900. If not found, the preview reproduction control unit 1404 determines that the content is not viewed and proceeds to step S1706. If it is found, it is determined that it has been viewed, and the process proceeds to step S1705, where the content ID 201 of the next content 133 is acquired from the organization information 133, and a similar purchase check (step S1703) and viewing check (step S1704) are performed. Do.

  Then, in the process of step S1706, the index metadata 131 of the unviewed content 133 is acquired, and after this process, the acquired index metadata 131 is stacked in the reproduction queue, after step S803 shown in FIG. The same processing as the preview reproduction processing flow of the first embodiment is performed.

  Therefore, according to the fourth embodiment, by adding such processing, even when the user interrupts viewing of the preview 300, it is possible to resume from the content at which preview viewing is interrupted. By previewing only content that has been viewed or purchased but not viewed, more efficient content 133 can be advertised.

  Although not described or illustrated, when content purchase, preview viewing, or individual content viewing is performed, the purchase processing and viewing results are stored as content contract information 1800 and content viewing history 1900. Shall be processed.

  In the fourth embodiment, the preview channel is provided based on all the user histories such as the user's preview viewing history, the individual content viewing history, and the content purchase history. The present invention is not limited to this, and the preview channel is provided based on only the user's preview viewing history, only individual content viewing history, only content purchase history, or any combination thereof. Of course.

  Also, in the drawing, an individual encryption / decryption unit 1406, an individual encryption key holding unit 1407, and a decryption key holding unit 1408 are illustrated, but this is preliminarily keyed so that the content 133 can be purchased anytime without using communication. Is used for encryption and distribution for each terminal individually, and is not an essential component in the present invention. Similarly, the transmission unit 1409 used for performing purchase processing is not essential, and depends on a method of performing purchase processing.

(Embodiment 5)
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 20 shows the configuration of terminal apparatus 2000 according to the fifth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the terminal device 2000 of the fifth embodiment is different from the terminal device 100 of the first embodiment in that a user attribute analysis unit that analyzes user attributes from a user usage history. 2004, a user attribute holding unit 2003 that stores the user attribute, a user attribute management unit 2002 that manages the user attribute, and a preview playback control unit 2001 that realizes preview playback in accordance with the user attribute. It is to select and provide one having a high degree of fitness from the organization information 134 and index metadata 131 prepared for each of a plurality of attributes. Other basic configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, the fourth embodiment, and the like, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 21 shows user attribute data 2100, FIG. 22 shows what kind of attributes each piece of organization information 134 is created for, and FIG. 23 shows the fifth embodiment. FIG. 25 shows an example of index metadata management data 2500 having a plurality of attribute-specific index metadata 131.

  As shown in FIG. 21, the user attribute data 2100 includes attributes such as a user's hobbies and preferences such as a gender 2101, an age 2102, a favorite movie genre 2103, a favorite actor 2104, a favorite sport 2105, and the like. It is shown.

  The user attribute data 2100 is statistically recorded by the user attribute analysis unit 2004 as to what kind of content 133 is viewed from the content viewing history 1900 shown in FIG. 19 held in the viewing history holding unit 1401. It was made as a result of performing a simple analysis. This analysis technique is publicly known, and various methods and attribute items are conceivable, but will not be mentioned here.

  The user attributes shown in FIG. 21 are “male” for gender 2101, “25 years” for age 2102, “action” for favorite movie genre 2103, and “sylvester starlon” (kana) for favorite actor 2104. The sport 2105 is “soccer”. In this case, the sex, age, and favorite movie genre match. In this way, each attribute data and adaptation condition are checked against all the formations, and the fitness is judged by the number of matching items.

  FIG. 22 shows an example of organization information 2200 by user attribute according to the fifth embodiment.

  The user attribute-specific composition information 2200 shown in FIG. 22 is composed of an adaptation condition and composition comprising the composition ID 2201, the target gender 2202, age 2203, favorite movie genre 2204, favorite actor 2205, etc. Management data, which describes the attributes of each organization information, that is, what kind of target was created. This may be created and provided collectively by the content provider 120, or may be provided together with the organization information as additional information of the individual organization information 134, and may be organized by the terminal.

  In FIG. 22, the adaptation condition of the organization ID 2201 “0x00000001” is that the target gender 2202 is “male”, the age 2203 is “20s”, and the favorite movie genre 2204 is “action”. The actor 2205 is “Arno Donegger”.

  The items shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 are merely examples, and there is no problem even if more detailed items are adopted. Further, in the fifth embodiment, the number of matching items is adopted to measure the degree of matching, but there is no problem even if the degree of matching is measured by another method. Based on the organization information list rearranged in the order of higher fitness for the user in this way, preview processing considering user fitness is performed.

  FIG. 23 shows an example of the organization information 134 in the fifth embodiment.

  The composition information 134 shown in FIG. 23 is different from the composition information 134 in the first to fourth embodiments shown in FIG. 4 so far, and is composed only of the composition ID 401 and the content ID 201, and the description of the index ID 202 is deleted. This is because the fifth embodiment has a plurality of index metadata 131 with respect to one content 133, and the index ID 202 cannot be specified in order to use them according to the user's attributes. However, in the case where the index metadata 131 for the individual content 133 is not selectable, that is, only the selection based on the organization attribute, the normal content ID 201 + index ID 202 is designated, and the index metadata 131 is uniquely specified and used. But it doesn't matter.

  FIG. 24 shows a reproduction image when a plurality of index metadata 131 is provided for one content 133 and previewed.

  FIG. 24 shows an image when two index metadata 131 are provided for one content 133 and the preview content 2400 for action lovers and the preview content 2410 for romance lovers are reproduced. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, one index metadata 131 is provided for one content 133 and only one preview 300 is reproduced.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, even for a single content, by preparing a plurality of index metadata 131, it is possible to introduce the content 133 with a plurality of different preview contents. It becomes.

  FIG. 25 shows an example of index metadata management data 2500 according to the fifth embodiment.

  In the fifth embodiment, since a plurality of index metadata 131 is assigned to one content 133, in this index metadata management data 2500, a plurality of index metadata 131 corresponding to one content 133 is index ID2501. , Sex 2502, age 2503, favorite movie genre 2504, favorite movie actor 2505, and the like.

  Next, the operation will be described.

  FIG. 26 shows the entire preview process according to the fifth embodiment.

  First, in the same way as in the first embodiment, when the preview reproduction control unit 2001 receives a preview reproduction instruction from the application control unit 109, the preview reproduction control unit 2001 performs the process shown in FIG. 26, and first, the composition information list 500 is organized and retained in S2601. Acquired from the section 107, and in S2602, it is checked how much the composition information 134 is suitable for the user, and the composition information 134 is rearranged in the order of the goodness of fit.

  The determination of the suitability in S2602 is performed by comparing the user attribute data 2100 shown in FIG. 21 with the adaptation conditions of the user attribute-specific organization information 2200 shown in FIG.

  In step S2603, the preview reproduction control unit 2001 performs preview processing adapted to the user based on the organization information list 500 in which the organization information 134 is rearranged.

  FIG. 27 shows details of the user adaptive preview process in step S2603 of FIG.

  First, the preview reproduction control unit 2001 acquires the content ID 201 described in the organization information 134 as shown in FIG. 23 in S2701, checks whether or not there is a purchase in the next S2702, and further checks whether or not there is a viewing in S2703. Check. Note that S2702 and S2703 perform the same processing as steps S1703 and S1704 of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.

  Next, in step S2704, the preview reproduction control unit 2001 determines which index metadata 131 of the specified content 133 is to be used, and acquires the index metadata 131 suitable for the user. This process includes gender 2101 of user attribute data 2100 shown in FIG. 21, age 2102, favorite movie genre 2103, etc., gender 2502 which is an adaptation condition of index metadata management data 2500 shown in FIG. 25, and age 2503. The preview reproduction control unit 2001 employs the index metadata 131 having the most matching items in comparison with a favorite movie genre 2504 and the like.

  Here, the user attribute data 2100 shown in FIG. 21 is similar to the rearrangement of the organization information 134 in step S2602 of FIG. 26, the gender 2101 is “male”, the age 2102 is “25 years old”, and the favorite movie The genre 2103 is “action”, the favorite actor 2104 is “Sylvester Stallon (a pseudonym)”, and the favorite sport 2105 is “soccer”.

  On the other hand, in the example of the index metadata management data 2500 shown in FIG. 25, the index metadata 131 whose index ID 2501 is “0x00000005” is gender 2502, age 2503, favorite movie genre 2504, favorite actor 2505, all. Therefore, it can be seen that the degree of matching is higher than that of the other index metadata 131.

  Therefore, the preview reproduction control unit 2001 acquires the index metadata 131 of the content ID 201 “0x00000005” and the index ID 2501 “0x00000001” for the content 133 via the content management unit 106, and performs the reproduction queue in the next step S803. Stack to. The processing after step S803 is the same processing as the reproduction processing after step S803 shown in FIG. 8 in the first embodiment.

  Note that, similarly to the determination of the user adaptability of the composition, an example of the determination of the applicability of the index metadata 131 is also an example, and is not limited to this method and item.

  Therefore, according to the fifth embodiment, by adding such preview processing in consideration of user adaptability, it is possible to first select an organization that is likely to be of interest to the user, and The contents of the individual preview 300 can also provide a collection of scenes in which the user is interested.

  As a result, there is a higher possibility of being interested in the content, and as a result, it is possible to increase the advertising effect of increasing the possibility of sale.

  In addition, since it is possible to reproduce a large number of previews from the original content 133 in this way, it is not necessary to prepare a large amount of redundant content 133, thereby preventing wasteful storage area consumption. It becomes possible.

(Embodiment 6)
Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the sixth embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the organization information 134 created and distributed by the content provider 120 and the index metadata 131 are created on the terminal device 100 side.

  FIG. 28 shows the configuration of the preview providing system of the sixth embodiment.

  In the preview providing system of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 28, unlike the content provider 120 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the index creating unit 121, the index holding unit 122, the composition creating unit 125, the composition from the content provider 120 The holding unit 126 disappears, and instead, a composition creation unit 2801 and an index creation unit 2802 are provided on the terminal device 100 side. Since other configurations and operations are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  According to the sixth embodiment, with this configuration, independent organization information 133 and index metadata 131 for preview playback processing are displayed only on the terminal device 2800 side regardless of the content provider 2820. It is possible to provide a necessary and sufficient service by the terminal rather than creating a plurality of organizations and index metadata 131 so as to meet various conditions in the content provider 120.

  Next, the operation will be described.

  First, the composition creation unit 2801 of the terminal device 2800 acquires the metadata 132 regarding the content 133 held by the content management unit 106.

  FIG. 29 shows an example of the metadata 2900 of the content 133 according to the sixth embodiment.

  The metadata 2900 of the content 133 includes a content ID 2901 that uniquely identifies the content 133 and information related to the content 133. The title 2902, the genre 2903, the description 2904 of the work, the performer 2905, the director 2906, the production date 2907, the distribution date 2908 And the like, the contract information for purchasing the content 133 includes a price 2909, viewing conditions 2910, an expiration date 2911, and the like. The example given here is an example in the sixth embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to these items.

  Next, the composition creation unit 2801 creates composition information 134 by determining which content 133 corresponds to the composition policy by searching the metadata 2900 based on the composition creation policy. This organization creation policy may be fixed (for example, by genre, by age, etc.) as the terminal device 2800, or may be created, changed, and held by the user. In addition, the order in which the content 133 is streamed is also introduced from a new work in consideration of the production date 2907 of the content 133, conversely, introduced from an old work, rearranged in the same way at the distribution date 2908, and the contract of the content 133 Various organization patterns may be considered, such as introduction in ascending order of information price 2909, introduction in descending order, introduction in order of expiration date 2911, introduction by contract condition. The composition information 134 created in this way is sent to and stored in the composition holding unit 107.

  Next, creation of index metadata 131 in the index creation unit 2802 will be described.

  The creation of the Index metadata 131 uses scene metadata 3000 that indicates what scene the content 133 is composed of.

  FIG. 30 shows an example of scene metadata 3000.

  The scene metadata 3000 includes a content ID 3001 that uniquely identifies the content 133, a scene number 3002 that indicates how many scenes the content is composed of, a scene ID 3003 that identifies a scene in the content as individual scene information, Playback start time 3004 in the content of the corresponding scene, playback time 3005 which is the length of the scene, genre 3006 indicating what genre the scene corresponds to, main performer 3007, preview availability 3008, etc. It is configured.

  In the genre 3006, even if the content itself is an action object, each individual scene is composed of various scenes, such as action and romance, so the genre 3006 is a scene of any genre. It is the information showing.

  The main performer 3007 is information on who is the most in the scene and who is the main character at that moment.

  When the preview is used as a trailer, the use of the preview 3008 sets the flag to “impossible” for a scene including a portion that should never be shown because the important part of the content 133 cannot be shown absolutely for business. Is.

  As for the creation of the index metadata 131, as with the creation of the composition information 134, the creation policy of the index metadata 131 may be fixed as a terminal (for example, by genre or by age), or created by the user. It does not matter if it is held.

  Based on such a creation policy, the index creating unit 2802 selects a corresponding scene using the scene metadata 132 of the content 133 shown in FIG. 30, and creates the index metadata 131 based on the selected scene. At this time, how long it takes as a whole and how many scenes are included may be determined in advance or may be set as a setting item from the user.

  In addition, since the preview 300 can be expected before the content is viewed and the content 133 is interesting when actually viewed, the index metadata 131 is used to change the order of the scenes to be intentionally reproduced. Of course, you may make it.

  The index metadata 131 created in this way is sent to the index holding unit 103 and stored. These processes may be performed periodically, each time the content 133 is updated, or may be performed at a timing when the content is replaced to some extent. Implementation of the preview 300 using the composition information 134 and the index metadata 131 created in this way can be realized by the same processing as the processing of the embodiment.

  Therefore, according to the sixth embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, the composition creation unit 2801 and the index creation unit 2802 are provided on the terminal device 2800 side, and the composition information 134 created and distributed by the content provider 120 is provided. Since the index metadata 131 is created on the terminal device 2800 side, the original composition information 134 and the index metadata 131 for preview reproduction processing can be created on the terminal device 2800 side. It is possible to provide necessary and sufficient services suitable for the user on the terminal device 2800 side, compared to the case where the content provider 120 creates a plurality of organizations and index metadata 131 so as to meet various conditions. Become.

(Embodiment 7)
Next, Embodiment 7 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 31 shows the configuration of terminal apparatus 3100 according to the seventh embodiment.

  The seventh embodiment is different from the sixth embodiment in that the terminal device 3100 side includes a composition creation unit 3101 that creates composition information 134 according to the user's attributes, viewing history, and purchase history, and the user's An index creation unit 3102 that creates index metadata 131 according to the attribute, viewing history, and purchase history, a user attribute analysis unit 3103 that analyzes user attributes from the user's usage history, and stores user attributes A user attribute holding unit 3104 for managing the user attributes, a user attribute management unit 3105 for managing the user attributes, a viewing history holding unit 3106 for holding the user viewing history, and a purchase processing unit 3107 for managing user purchases. And a license ticket holding unit 3108 for holding the purchased license ticket are newly provided, and the terminal device 3100 has composition information 134 and index metadata suitable for the user. It is to create a data 131. In addition, since the other structure and operation | movement are the same as Embodiment 1-6 mentioned above, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same structure and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Specifically, when the composition creation unit 3101 creates the composition information 134, in the sixth embodiment, the composition 133 is created by selecting the content 133 based on the content-dependent composition creation policy. In the seventh embodiment, the criteria are user-dependent such as user attributes, user viewing history, user purchase history, etc., and the organization information 134 and index metadata 131 are determined based on these criteria. create.

  As described above, examples of the user-dependent organization creation policy according to the seventh embodiment include, for example, “only unpurchased content”, “only unviewed content”, “already purchased” Only content that has already been matched ”,“ only content that fits some of the user ’s attributes ”,“ only content that does n’t fit some of the user ’s attributes ” ”Prompt for new discovery”), “Target only the content where the user has inserted the bookmark (the bookmark will be described later)”, and the like.

  As a method for determining the fitness of the content 133 for the user, the same method as that described in the fifth embodiment is used.

  Similarly, in the index creation unit 3102, a user-dependent creation policy can be set instead of the content-dependent creation policy as in the creation of the organization information 133. For example, “Target only scenes that match user attributes to some extent”, “Target only scenes that do not match user attributes to some extent (recommend what you do not normally see and encourage new discoveries)”, etc. An example is given. These creation policies may be fixed as a terminal, or may be created and held by a user.

  The reproduction of the preview using the composition information 134 and the index metadata 131 created in this way can be realized by the same processing as the processing in the above-described embodiment.

  Therefore, according to the seventh embodiment, by creating the user-dependent composition information 134 and the index metadata 131 on the terminal device 3100 side, a preview useful for the user only on the terminal device 3100 side. Can be provided.

(Embodiment 8)
Next, an eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The eighth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that in addition to the processing of actually reproducing the preview video, that is, the processing in steps S804 and S805 shown in FIG. 8, additional information is displayed on the preview screen. In addition to adding a display process, a process for overlaying additional information on the preview screen is added. Since the other basic configuration and operation are the same as those of the first to seventh embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  Therefore, the configuration of the preview providing system according to the eighth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the processing steps shown in FIG. 8 for reproducing the preview video in the first embodiment are also shown. Only display determination processing S3201 to S3204 as to whether or not to display additional information is added between S804 and S805. Note that the display determination processing S3201 to S3204 adds only the number of additional information to be displayed.

  Therefore, only the characteristic operation will be described with reference to the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Further, in the description of the eighth embodiment, it is assumed that additional information is displayed with respect to presence / absence of preview viewing and presence / absence of purchase.

  FIG. 32 shows a processing procedure of overlay information-added preview reproduction processing according to the eighth embodiment.

  In the case of the eighth embodiment, after the processing step S804 shown in FIG. 8, in S3201, whether or not this content has been seen in the preview, that is, whether or not the preview 300 of the corresponding content 133 has been viewed is shown. Determination is made with reference to the individual content preview viewing history 3300 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 33 shows an example of the individual content preview viewing history 3300.

  As shown in FIG. 33, the individual content preview viewing history 3300 includes a content ID 3301 that uniquely identifies the organization information 134 and a last viewing date 3302 that is information related to preview viewing of the user. By referring to the individual content preview viewing history 3300, the viewing history of the user's preview can be known.

  Here, although the method of holding the individual content preview viewing history 3300 is not shown, it is information for recording which content 133 is viewed during previewing. It is desirable to perform recording in the process of step S805, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Returning to FIG. 32, the preview reproduction control unit 108 determines whether or not the preview 300 has been viewed in S3201, and as a result, the content state shown in FIG. A flag “1” indicating that the management flag 3400 is the first preview is set.

  Next, in S3203, the preview reproduction control unit 108 checks whether or not the content 133 has been purchased, for example, by making an inquiry to the purchase processing unit 3107 shown in FIG. The flag “0” of the purchased item of the content state management flag 3400 shown in FIG. 34 is set. This is the same as the process in step S1703 of FIG. 17 in the second embodiment or the same process in step S1703, and the content state management flag purchased flag “0” is processed as in S3204. May be performed.

  As described above, in the eighth embodiment, by providing the display determination process of S3201 to S204 between steps S804 and S805, the user's preview viewing history and content purchase history can be obtained, After the display determination process for determining whether or not to display these additional information, the process proceeds to the actual display process after step S805.

  Thereafter, as in the embodiment, normal preview video playback processing is performed in step S805, and in the eighth embodiment, whether additional information should be displayed with reference to the content status management flag 3400 in step S3205. Determining whether or not to display additional information, and when displaying additional information on the video reproduced in step S805, overlay the additional information by the combining unit 113, for example, Display is performed as shown in the screen example of FIG.

  FIG. 35 shows an example of a preview screen with overlay information in the eighth embodiment.

  In the preview screen with overlay information 3500 shown in FIG. 35, one additional information such as “immediate deadline”, “recommended !!”, “20% discount now” is displayed on one screen. However, a plurality of additional information may be displayed on one screen. Further, the wording to be displayed may be stored in the terminal device 3100 in advance, or may be given and distributed as one piece of metadata relating to the content. As additional information, in addition to the specific example shown in FIG. 35, “Is the content introduced for the first time?” “Is it already purchased?” “Is the purchase due soon?” “Is it recommended?” Various additional information such as “?” Can be considered.

  For example, in FIG. 35, there is additional information “recommended” in the preview screen 3500 with overlay information, but this is recommended as attribute information of the content 133, and the selling phrase is also set as metadata. This is determined and displayed by display determination processing S3201 to S3204. As shown in FIG. 35, various information can be displayed as additional information.

  In order to realize these displays, the above-described display determination processes S3201 to S3204 are set between step S804 and step S805 for the type of information to be displayed, and a corresponding content status management flag 3400 is prepared. The preview reproduction control unit 108 can retrieve the corresponding information from the metadata holding unit 104 via the content management unit 106 and obtain the information.

  In this way, not only the introduction preview of the content 133 with only video and audio but also the additional information is displayed on the same screen, so that the sales of the content 133 can be promoted more efficiently.

  Therefore, according to the eighth embodiment, when the preview video is reproduced, determination processing S3201 to S3204 for determining whether or not to display the additional information is added so that the additional information is also displayed. In addition to the introduction preview screen of the content 133, the preview screen 3500 with overlay information in which additional information is displayed on the same screen is provided, so that the sales of the content 133 can be promoted more efficiently.

  In the eighth embodiment, a preview channel is provided based on all user histories and attributes such as a user's preview viewing history, content viewing history, content purchase history, and user attributes. However, in the present invention, not limited to this, only the preview viewing history of the user, only the viewing history of the individual content, only the purchase history of the content, the attribute of the user, or any combination thereof Of course, a preview channel may be provided based on this.

(Embodiment 9)
Next, a ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the eighth embodiment, additional information related to the current content 133 itself is displayed, whereas in the ninth embodiment, information of the previous content 133 is displayed.

  In other words, since the preview of the eighth embodiment continuously introduces the content 133, if it is noticed, it immediately moves to the introduction of the next content 133, and it is possible to know what the previous content 133 was. There wasn't.

  Therefore, in the ninth embodiment, the user's convenience is improved by always presenting what the previous content 133 is. Since the basic configuration is the same as that of the first to eighth embodiments, the same reference numeral is given to the same configuration, and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing the preview display-added preview reproduction process according to the ninth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 36, in the ninth embodiment, preview playback processing steps S804, S805, and S806 perform the same processing as the preview playback processing in the first embodiment shown in FIG. The processes of S3601, S3602, and S3603 peculiar to the form 9 are added to the preview reproduction process.

  That is, in the case of the first preview 300, the index metadata 131 is acquired from the reproduction queue by the process of step S804, and the preview reproduction process of the content 133 is performed based on the acquired index metadata 131 by the process of step S805. In both cases, since the previous program does not exist, the processing of S3601 is not performed, and the current content information is acquired and displayed on the screen by being overlaid by the processing of step S3602, as in the eighth embodiment. If the index metadata 131 remains, the index metadata 131 of the content 133 that has been reproduced is stored in the temporary area in S3603.

  Then, when playback of the next content 133 is started, the index metadata 131 is acquired from the playback queue by the process of step S804, and the preview of the content 133 is obtained based on the acquired index metadata 131 by the process of step S805. At the same time as performing the reproduction process, the process of displaying the information of the current content 133 by the process of S3602, and simultaneously acquiring the content ID 201 from the index metadata 131 stored in the temporary area by S3601, The information of the previous content 133 is acquired via the content management unit 106, and is displayed with an overlay on the screen in the same manner as in the eighth embodiment.

  FIG. 37 shows an example of a preview screen with title information 3700 displayed according to the ninth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 37, on the displayed preview screen 3700, the title “Lucky 3” as the current content information and the title “Lucky 2” as the previous content information are overlaid on the preview video. Is displayed. Note that the actual video output processing is not sequential processing as described above, but after data is input to the video buffer or the like, processing such as acquisition of the next data is performed sequentially, so that the video is not interrupted and is sequentially processed. Can be done.

  Therefore, according to the ninth embodiment, not only the additional information related to the current content itself but also the information of the previous content 133 is displayed on the preview screen 3700 in an overlay manner. Even if the content 133 is introduced, it is always shown what the previous content is, so that it is possible to know what the previous content was and improve the convenience for the user. it can.

(Embodiment 10)
Next, Embodiment 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 38 and 39. FIG.

  The tenth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the first embodiment in which a plurality of organizations are reproduced in order and appear to the user as a single channel. 10, when a plurality of organization information 134 is present, the preview 300 is presented to the user so that logically separate channels exist, thereby making it possible to present a more TV-like preview. It is.

  That is, in the tenth embodiment, the preview viewing history 1600 shown in FIG. 16 of the second embodiment is expanded, and the viewing history, that is, the viewing pause point for each organization information, that is, for each organization information is left. A preview viewing history 3800 is stored. Since the basic configuration and operation are the same as those of the first to ninth embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 38 shows an example of preview viewing history 3800 for each composition according to the tenth embodiment.

  In the preview viewing history 3800 for each composition according to the tenth embodiment, as described above, the last viewing date and time 3802 and the viewing interruption point (content ID) 3803 are set for each composition ID 3801 in order to leave the viewing history for each composition information. is doing.

  FIG. 39 shows transition of viewing points when a user walks through each channel (organization) in the tenth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 39, in the tenth embodiment, the user can skip the displayed content 133 in the front-rear direction of the time axis using the left and right keys displayed by the operation unit 111 and the like. That is, according to the tenth embodiment, if the content is not of interest, it is possible to view the next content, the next content,...

  Similarly, the composition of the preview 300 can be switched using the up and down keys displayed on the operation unit 111. This is when you switch channels, but you can walk across various formations. This assignment of functions to the left and right keys and the up and down keys is an example, and the up and down and left and right key assignments may be reversed from this example, and special keys and operations on the screen, for example, left and right with a touch pen Functions may be assigned to actions such as tracing and tracing up and down, which do not limit the present invention.

  A state in which the contents of each preview are specifically moved will be described with reference to FIGS. 38 and 39. FIG.

  First, for example, as an initial state, a user who is viewing the content 133 of the channel Chff [composition ID 0X000000ff] inputs an instruction to move to Ch1 [composition ID 0X00000001] using the down key. At that time, when the preview reproduction control unit 108 checks the organization-specific preview viewing history 3800 shown in FIG. 38, the last viewed time of Ch1 can be grasped from the last viewing date 3802, and the content 133 is viewed at the viewing interruption point ( It can be seen from content ID) 3803 that it is content 3. Therefore, the terminal starts reproduction from the content 3 of Ch1 (the process (1) in FIG. 39).

  Since the user pressed the down key as it is, it moves to the next channel. When the next channel Ch2 [organization ID 0X00000002] is checked for each organization preview viewing history 3800 shown in FIG. Therefore, the terminal reproduces Ch2 from the beginning of the composition (the process (2) in FIG. 39).

  Thereafter, the user continues to view Ch2 (the process (3) in FIG. 39).

  Further, since the user inputs the up key, the user moves to Ch1. In Ch1, since it is known from the viewing interruption point that is the viewing history of the preview preview history 3800 for each composition shown in FIG. 38 that the content 3 has been viewed halfway when visited previously, playback is performed again from the content 3 (FIG. 39). (Process of (4)).

  At this time, playback may be started from the point at which it was actually interrupted. However, in the tenth embodiment, it is assumed that playback is performed from the beginning of the content 133 in view of the preview for introducing the content 133. .

  However, in some cases, it is possible to start playback from the exact interruption point. In that case, in the preview preview history 3800 for each composition shown in FIG. 38, it is necessary to hold not only the content ID 201 but also information that can specify the position of the preview 300 as the viewing interruption point.

  Next, when viewing of the channel Ch1 is continued (the process (5) in FIG. 39) and the channel is again moved to the channel Chff with the up key (the process (6) in FIG. 39), each organization shown in FIG. Viewing the viewing interruption point, which is the viewing history of the preview viewing history 3800, playback is started from the content 6 (process (7) in FIG. 39).

  As described above, in the tenth embodiment, how far each organization (channel) has been viewed is centrally managed by the organization-specific preview viewing history 3800 shown in FIG. 38, and the channel movement traces the viewing point. To.

  As a result, in normal broadcasting, content flows through each channel in parallel in time series, and the content 133 that is moving to another channel cannot be viewed, but according to the tenth embodiment. For example, even in the case where the content 133 is simulated and reproduced continuously in the same manner as in broadcasting, the preview content that the user does not view is not skipped, so the preview of the content 133 is reliably provided to the user. It becomes possible to do.

  Therefore, according to the tenth embodiment, when a plurality of pieces of organization information 134 are present, the preview 300 is presented to the user so that logically separate channels exist, thereby making the television-like display more. Since the preview is presented, the preview content that the user does not view is not skipped even when the content 133 is continuously previewed and reproduced in the same manner as in the broadcast. A preview can be provided to the user.

(Embodiment 11)
Next, an eleventh embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The difference between the eleventh embodiment and the sixth embodiment is that an importance level is added to each scene of the preview 300, and playback can be controlled based on the importance level. Since the basic configuration and operation are the same as those of the above-described first to tenth embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 40 shows an example of scene metadata 4000 to which importance is added according to the eleventh embodiment.

  Compared with the scene metadata 3000 of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. 30, the content ID 3001, the number of scenes 3002, the scene ID 3003, the playback start time 3004, the playback time 3005, the genre 3006, the main performers 3007, and the preview The importance 4001 is newly added to the availability 3008. This importance 4001 is assigned to each scene, and a higher importance 4001 is assigned to a scene that is more important for grasping the details of the content 133. The other contents are the same as the scene metadata 3000 of the sixth embodiment shown in FIG. Here, in the eleventh embodiment, the importance level 4001 is indicated by five levels of 1 to 5, but the present invention is not limited to these five levels. Further, although the method for creating the index metadata 131 by the index creation unit 2802 is described in the sixth embodiment, in the case of the eleventh embodiment, the importance 4001 is added to the index metadata 131 in addition to that. To describe.

  FIG. 41 shows an example of the index metadata 4100 in the eleventh embodiment.

  The index metadata 4100 of the eleventh embodiment is apparently compared with the index metadata 131 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, but the content ID 201, the index ID 202, the number of scenes 203, the scene ID 204, the playback start time 205, the playback In addition to time 206, importance 4101 is newly added.

  FIG. 42 shows an example of the preview level management table 4200.

  The preview level management table 4200 is data for managing which level and which level of importance scenes are used. For example, as shown in FIG. Reproduction of scenes with importance 2 or higher, Level 2 indicates importance 3 or higher, Level 3 indicates importance 4 or higher, and Level 4 indicates that importance 5 or higher is reproduced.

  FIG. 43 shows the playback state management table 4300 when the preview level management table 4200 is determined.

  As shown in FIG. 43, the reproduction state management table 4300 is composed of an organization ID 4301, a content ID 4302, and a preview level 4303, and the content 133 of which organization ID 4301 and the content 133 of which organization ID 4301 are stored. It manages which preview level 4303 is being reproduced.

  Next, processing according to the eleventh embodiment in which preview reproduction is performed using the index metadata 4100 will be described.

  FIG. 44 shows preview playback processing corresponding to the preview level according to the eleventh embodiment.

  This flowchart is a process corresponding to the reproduction process based on the index metadata in step S805 in FIG. 8 of the first embodiment.

  That is, in the eleventh embodiment, the preview reproduction control unit 108 first acquires scene information such as the content ID 201, index ID 202, and scene ID 204 described in the index metadata 4100 shown in FIG. In the next step 4402, the reproduction state management table 4300 shown in FIG. 43 is referred to.

  Then, it is determined whether the scene described in the Index metadata 4100 has an importance level that satisfies the preview level specified in the preview level management table 4200 shown in FIG. The scene is reproduced in S4403.

  Specifically, the preview reproduction control unit 108 determines that the importance 4101 of each scene ID 204 described in the Index metadata 4100 shown in FIG. 41 is the importance of the preview level 4303 of the reproduction state management table 4300 shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the above is satisfied. The relationship between the preview level and the importance is as shown in the preview level management table 4200 shown in FIG.

  If the scene does not have an importance level that satisfies the preview level specified in the playback state management table 4300 shown in FIG. 43, the process returns to S4401, while if the scene level has an importance level that satisfies the specified preview level, In step S4403, the preview reproduction control unit 108 performs reproduction for the reproduction time 206 from the reproduction start time 205 described in the index metadata 4100 shown in FIG.

  Finally, in step S4404, the preview playback control unit 108 determines whether or not a scene is still described in the Index metadata 4100. If a scene is still described, the process of S4301 is performed. On the other hand, if the scene is no longer described, the preview reproduction process is terminated.

  As described above, in the eleventh embodiment, the preview reproduction control unit 108 refers to the preview level 4303 set in the reproduction state management table 4300 shown in FIG. 43 by the user, and is assigned to each scene of the original preview. Only when the scene is suitable for the level, the scene is reproduced, and the preview content is changed for each preview level 4303 and reproduced.

  FIG. 45 is a conceptual diagram of preview level reproduction according to the eleventh embodiment.

  In FIG. 45, importance levels 1 to 5 are set for a plurality of scenes constituting the original preview 4500, respectively. In preview level 1, level 1 is extracted from the original preview 4500 by extracting only scenes having an importance level of 2 or higher. Level 2 has an importance level of 3 or higher, level 3 has an importance level of 4 or higher, and level 4 has an importance level of 5 or higher. It is shown that only the scene of the above is extracted and reproduced as a preview. In the playback state management table 4300 in FIG. 43, it is shown that only the scene of level 3 or importance 4 or higher is played back as the preview level.

  Note that this level may be fixed or variable according to an instruction from the user. For example, a level change instruction from the user, or a long press of a fast-forward (skip) button or the like can be used to increase the level by one step, or to increase the level step by step according to the amount of time that the button is pressed for a long time. But of course. However, this is only specified as a user interface, and it can be instructed by various methods such as a level up button, a menu on the screen, and an operation on the touch panel, and there are restrictions on the method. It is not a thing.

  In this way, only the scene corresponding to the preview level that is the designated preview condition can be reproduced. In the description of the eleventh embodiment, the preview level is evaluated between scenes. However, if the user changes the level during scene playback, key input is performed. It is desirable to devise methods such as interrupting the playback process and performing playback at a new preview level by using the interrupt process.

  Therefore, according to the eleventh embodiment, since importance level information is added to each scene constituting preview content and playback is performed based on the importance level information, only important scenes are selected in view of the importance level. Can be played.

  As a result, scenes that are unnecessary in normal fast-forward playback can only be viewed in fast-forward, and it is also difficult to hear the sound, which makes it difficult to grasp the contents. For example, when a fast-forward (skip) button or the like is pressed for a long time, the level increases by one step with a long press, or by increasing the level step by step for a long time, the importance is high Only accurate scenes can be provided, and the content can be understood in a shorter time, which can lead to sales promotion.

(Embodiment 12)
Next, a twelfth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the twelfth embodiment, what can be used for an action that occurs when a user is viewing a preview will be described. Since the basic configuration and operation are the same as those of the above-described first to eleventh embodiments, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  That is, the preview reproduction process of the twelfth embodiment is realized by using the index metadata 4100 shown in FIG. 41 similar to that of the eleventh embodiment, and the currently reproduced content 133 is grasped using the content ID 201. can do. That is, various things can be performed by specifying the content 133.

  For example, based on the content ID 201, the metadata 133 of the content 133 is acquired from the content management unit 106, the detailed information of the program is viewed, and the purchase of the content 133 is performed via the purchase processing unit 3107 based on the content ID 201. By grasping the situation, instead of the purchase process, it is displayed that it can be viewed immediately because it has already been purchased. If the user likes the content 133 by viewing the preview, the content ID 201 can be notified to an acquaintance, or the content ID 201 can be sent to another device and viewed on the device. .

  In this case, even if the content is the same, if you do not want to see the high-compression / low-quality version for PDAs and other portable terminals, you can order the high-quality version and make the delivery destination an AVC server that can display high-quality images. How to use is considered. If the program information related to the detailed information of the program, such as series information, is provided, it is possible to refer to previews of other related programs based on the information.

  FIG. 46 shows an example of a preview screen 4600 according to the twelfth embodiment.

  For example, in the case of the preview screen 4600a, “purchase”, “bookmark”, and “return” buttons are displayed together with the program detailed information. In the case of the preview screen 4600b, “already purchased” has been substituted for the program detailed information. In the case of the preview screen 4600e, “view on AVC server” and “return” buttons are displayed together with the program detail information in the case of the preview screen 4600e. Has been.

  In particular, in the twelfth embodiment, the “bookmark” button can be selected on the preview screen, and if the user likes the preview screen, even if it does not result in immediate purchase, the “bookmark” is inserted to look back later. Also, this content ID 201 can be used.

  FIG. 47 shows an example of bookmark management data 4700 according to the twelfth embodiment.

  This bookmark management data 4700 includes content ID 4701, viewing information of the last viewing date 4702 and bookmark point 4703, and can be set for each content 133.

  Further, the bookmark management data 4700 is stored, for example, in the reproduction point holding unit 1405 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 47, the bookmark management data 4700 can make a note of which point of which content 133 is worried about in the bookmark point 4703.

  Therefore, by combining the twelfth embodiment with, for example, the seventh embodiment, a composition creation unit 3101 that creates composition information 134 according to the user's attributes, viewing history, and purchase history, and index metadata 131 The index creation unit 3102 to create creates the organization information 134 and the index metadata 131 by using the bookmark management data 4700 set by the user as the attribute of the user, etc., thereby organizing only the contents sandwiching the bookmark. It can also be made.

  As described above, various information such as the bookmark management data 4700 can be linked and transmitted using the content ID 201 of the index metadata 131 as a key, and a more comfortable preview environment can be provided.

  In the first to twelfth embodiments described above, description has been given mainly taking video (movie) content as an example, but the same can be applied to content such as music. That is, it is possible to assign parts and partial metadata to each piece of music, grasp intro, rust, repeated parts, etc., and determine what kind of player is playing them. In many cases, unlike the movie, the user recognizes the tune as the most prominent chorus part, so it is possible to deal with it by listening mainly to it.

  Recently, content that reproduces computer graphics in time series and realizes pseudo moving image content 133 has also appeared. These also use the concept of a scene to realize preview in the same manner. It is possible. In this case, it is necessary to implement a method for identifying a scene, a method for selecting and reproducing a scene, and the like for the computer graphics reproduction program.

  In the first to twelfth embodiments described above, the content provider 120 as a content providing device provides the metadata 132, the index metadata 131, and the organization information 134 together with the content 133 to the terminal device 100 and the like. As described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and a service providing device or the like other than the content provider 120 that provides the content 133 provides the index metadata 131 and the organization information 134 to the terminal device 100 or the like. Is of course good.

  According to the preview playback apparatus, preview playback method, preview playback program, and content providing apparatus according to the present invention, it is not necessary to create and store a preview content separately from the original content. It is possible to provide previews, which are promotional activities for various contents, to users without consuming a large amount of storage capacity, and it is particularly useful for content distribution to portable terminals with a relatively small storage capacity. is there. In addition, a large amount of content such as video and audio content that has been digitized in server-type broadcasts, which are expected to increase in the future, is stored in the terminal and can be played after purchase processing. In the storage / reproduction billing service that performs the above, even when a large amount of content is advertised by preview, the storage capacity for useless preview is not consumed, which is very useful. In addition, it is very effective for browsing content that is not paid content, but was recorded by the user using a video recorder, and is very useful for terminals that use an unmatched amount of content. It can be applied.

The figure which shows the structure of the preview provision system of Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the index metadata in Embodiment 1 The figure which shows the relationship between the content and preview content in Embodiment 1 The figure which shows an example of the data of the organization information in Embodiment 1 The figure which shows an example of the organization information list in Embodiment 1 The figure which shows the terminal operation image in Embodiment 1. Flowchart showing the entire preview reproduction process in the first embodiment Flowchart showing details of preview reproduction processing in the first embodiment FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal device according to a second embodiment. The figure which shows the random preview reproduction | regeneration processing by Embodiment 2 The figure which shows the structure of the terminal device of Embodiment 3. Flowchart illustrating menu selection type preview processing according to the third embodiment The figure which shows an example of the preview menu displayed by Embodiment 3. Block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device according to the fourth embodiment Flowchart showing the entire preview process in the fourth embodiment The figure which shows the preview viewing-and-listening history in Embodiment 4. Flowchart showing details of preview reproduction processing in embodiment 4 The figure which shows an example of the content contract information in Embodiment 4 FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a content viewing history in the fourth embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device according to a fifth embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the user attribute data in Embodiment 5 The figure which shows an example of the organization information classified by user attribute in Embodiment 5 The figure which shows an example of the organization information in Embodiment 5. The figure which shows the relationship between the content in Embodiment 5, and a preview content The figure which shows an example of the index metadata management data in Embodiment 5 Flowchart showing the entire preview process in the fifth embodiment Flowchart showing details of preview processing in embodiment 5 The figure which shows the structure of the preview provision system of Embodiment 6. FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of content metadata in the sixth embodiment The figure which shows an example of the metadata of the scene in Embodiment 6 FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device according to a seventh embodiment. A flowchart showing a processing procedure of preview reproduction processing according to the eighth embodiment. The figure which shows the separate content preview viewing history in Embodiment 8. The figure which shows the content status management flag in Embodiment 8 FIG. 18 shows an example of a preview screen with overlay information in the eighth embodiment Flowchart showing preview playback processing according to Embodiment 9 FIG. 18 shows an example of a preview screen according to the ninth embodiment FIG. 18 shows an example of the preview viewing history for each composition in the tenth embodiment The figure which shows the preview channel transition in Embodiment 10 The figure which shows the metadata of the scene in Embodiment 11 The figure which shows an example of the index metadata in Embodiment 11 FIG. 18 shows an example of a preview level management table in the eleventh embodiment A diagram showing an example of a playback state management table in the eleventh embodiment Flowchart showing preview playback processing according to Embodiment 11 The figure which shows the reproduction | regeneration concept of the preview level in Embodiment 11 FIG. 18 shows an example of a preview screen in the twelfth embodiment FIG. 20 shows an example of bookmark management data in the twelfth embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Transmission medium 100 Terminal device 102 Receiving part 103 Index holding part 104 Metadata holding part 105 Content holding part 106 Content management part 107 Composition holding part 108 Preview reproduction control part 109 Application control part 110 Reproduction part 111 Operation part 112 Content reproduction control part 113 Composition unit 114 Display unit 120 Content provider 121 Index creation unit 122 Index holding unit 123 Metadata creation unit 124 Metadata holding unit 125 Composition creation unit 126 Composition holding unit 127 Content registration unit 128 Content holding unit 129 Content transmission management unit 130 Transmission Part 131 index metadata 132 metadata 133 content 134 organization information

Claims (15)

A preview playback device for playing back a preview of content,
A preview that reads out a part of the plurality of contents and reproduces it as a preview based on organization information that organizes the plurality of contents to be previewed and index metadata that specifies a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents Playback controller,
A preview playback device comprising: further,
A random organization regeneration unit that randomly replaces the organization order of the plurality of contents included in the organization information;
The preview reproduction control unit is configured to determine the content of the plurality of contents based on the composition information obtained by randomly changing the composition order of the plurality of contents by the random composition reproduction unit and the index metadata of the plurality of contents. Play preview,
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
A menu generation unit that displays the organization information by category in a menu,
The preview reproduction control unit reads out the organization information of the selected category when a certain category displayed on the menu by the menu generation unit is selected by the user, and reads the organization information and the index metadata. Playing a preview of the plurality of content based on,
The preview playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
A viewing history holding unit that holds a user's past viewing history of content,
Or, at least one of the purchase processing unit that processes the purchase of the content of the user and holds the purchase history,
The preview reproduction control unit
Based on at least one of the viewing history or purchase history of the past content of the user, the content to be preview-played and the index metadata are selected, and the preview is played back based on the selected content and the index metadata. ,
The preview playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
A user attribute analysis unit that analyzes user attributes from the user's past usage history;
A user attribute holding unit for holding the user attribute,
The preview reproduction control unit
Select the content to be previewed based on the user attribute and the index metadata, and play the preview based on the selected content and the index metadata.
The preview playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
An index creation unit that creates index metadata that identifies a part of the content with reference to metadata about the content;
An organization creation unit for creating organization information that organizes a plurality of contents to be previewed,
The preview reproduction control unit reproduces a preview of the content based on the index metadata and the organization information;
The preview playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
A viewing history holding unit that holds a user's past viewing history of content,
Or a purchase processing unit that processes purchases of user content and maintains a purchase history;
Or, it comprises at least one of a user attribute analysis unit that analyzes a user attribute from a user's past usage history, and a user attribute holding unit that holds the user attribute,
The index creation unit creates the index metadata based on at least one of the user's past viewing history, purchase history, or user attribute with reference to content metadata.
The organization creation unit creates organization information that organizes the content based on at least one of the user's past viewing history, purchase history, or user attribute,
The preview reproduction control unit reproduces a preview of the content based on the index metadata and the organization information;
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 6. The preview reproduction control unit displays information on the currently reproduced content on the preview reproduction screen when performing preview reproduction.
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: When the preview reproduction is performed, the preview reproduction control unit displays information on the content immediately before the content currently reproduced on the preview reproduction screen.
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The preview reproduction control unit, when there is a plurality of the organization information, moves between the contents of the plurality of organization information, and reproduces the preview of the content;
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The preview playback control unit reads a part of the content based on the index metadata, and when the preview playback control unit receives a preview fast-forward instruction from a user, the preview playback control unit adds the part to the part of the content. Select and play some of them based on their importance,
The preview reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: further,
A playback point holding unit that holds a viewing point for each content when a user requests to hold a bookmark to the previewed content during preview playback,
The preview playback apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A preview playback method for playing back a preview of content,
A preview that reads out a part of the plurality of contents and reproduces it as a preview based on organization information that organizes the plurality of contents to be previewed and index metadata that specifies a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents Playback method.   Based on organization information that organizes a plurality of contents to be previewed and index metadata that specifies a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents, a part of the contents is read out and reproduced as a preview A program for preview playback that causes a computer to execute. A content providing apparatus that provides a plurality of contents to a terminal device,
Providing the plurality of contents to the terminal device, specifying organization information for organizing the plurality of contents to be previewed by the terminal device, and specifying a part of each content for each of the plurality of contents to be previewed by the terminal device A content providing device that provides index metadata to the terminal device.

Images