JP2009303137A - Video display device and video display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly select contents to be subjected to multi-screen display. <P>SOLUTION: The video display device 100 includes: a display unit 107 for displaying played-back contents; a content determination unit 109 for prioritizing a plurality of contents regarding a relationship with the contents being played back on the basis of attribute information associated with the plurality of contents relating to the contents being played back; and a screen constitution unit 104 for preferentially displaying high-priority contents, among the plurality of contents, on the display unit together with the contents being played back. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a video display apparatus and a video display method for performing so-called multi-screen display for simultaneously displaying video content being played back and video content highly relevant to the video content.

In recent years, services for sharing still images or moving images using the Internet (hereinafter referred to as video sharing services) have become widespread.
The conventional video sharing service is as follows. First, a user captures a still image or a moving image (hereinafter referred to as video content) captured by an imaging device such as a digital camera into a personal computer (hereinafter PC). The user connects the PC that has captured the video content to the Internet, and uploads the video content to a specific area of the server.

  The server notifies the user of the area where the video content is uploaded and the URL of the video content by means such as e-mail. Based on this URL, the user can download video content using an Internet browser and re-view the video. The user can also notify other users of this URL and publish video content to other users.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for collecting captured video content and displaying it as a photo album or video album on a multi-screen called multi-view. Here, multi-view or multi-screen display refers to an output method for simultaneously displaying a plurality of contents on one screen.
JP 2006-180074 A

  However, according to a conventional video sharing service, a user can select and view a single content, but a plurality of content (for example, content taken by a plurality of people at the same event such as an athletic meet or a wedding) There was a problem that it was not possible to watch at the same time or watch while switching.

  In addition, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 performs multi-screen display for a plurality of contents, and a user can view a plurality of contents at the same time. There is a problem that it is not possible to select multi-screen display by selecting a content having a characteristic.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a video display device and a video display method capable of appropriately selecting and displaying content highly relevant to the content being reproduced when performing multi-screen display for a plurality of content. Objective.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the video display device according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays the content to be played back, and a content being played back based on attribute information associated with a plurality of content related to the content being played back. A content determination unit that prioritizes a plurality of contents with respect to the relevance of the content, and a screen configuration unit that preferentially displays a high-priority content among the plurality of contents together with the content being played back on the display unit It is characterized by that.

  Further, the video display method of the present invention includes a step of displaying the content to be played back, and a plurality of relevances with the content being played back based on attribute information associated with the plurality of content related to the content being played back. A step of assigning a priority to the content; and a step of preferentially displaying a high-priority content among the plurality of contents together with the content being reproduced.

  According to the present invention, even when there are many contents to be displayed on a multi-screen, content that is highly relevant to the content being played back is appropriately selected and displayed on the display unit. Convenience can be improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
The video display system which is 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a video display system according to a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The video display system includes a video display device 100, a video distribution server 200, and a network 300 to which the video display device 100 and the video distribution server 200 are connected.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the video display device 100 includes a communication unit 101, a buffer 102, a decoder 103, a screen configuration unit 104, an audio output unit 105, a video output unit 106, a display unit 107, and a speaker. 108. The video display device 100 further includes an external memory I / F 115, a content determination unit 109, a memory 110, a light receiving unit 113, a control unit 112, and a UI control unit 111. The video display device 100 further includes a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 114.

  The communication unit 101 communicates with a video distribution server 200 or the like existing outside via a LAN (Local Area Network) or a public network such as the Internet. The buffer 102 is connected to the communication unit 101, buffers the video content data and the like input from the communication unit 101, and outputs the data to the subsequent decoder 103.

  The decoder 103 decodes video data and audio data in the input video content. When a plurality of video contents are input, the decoder 103 can simultaneously decode the plurality of video contents by parallel processing.

  The image construction unit 104 receives the video data decoded by the decoder 103 and writes it into the video output unit 106. The image construction unit 104 controls the display position and performs multi-screen display called multi-view display. Multi-view display or multi-screen display refers to an output method for simultaneously displaying a plurality of videos on one screen.

  The video output unit 106 outputs the video data to the display unit 107. The audio output unit 105 receives the audio data decoded by the decoder 103 and outputs it to the speaker 108.

  The content determination unit 109 receives video content information (hereinafter referred to as content information) related to the video content being played back from the video distribution server 200 via the communication unit 101. The content determination unit 109 determines video content to be displayed on the multi-screen based on the received content information. Details regarding the content determination method will be described later.

  The memory 110 stores content attribute information accompanying GUI data and video content data, which will be described later. The UI control unit 111 obtains various GUI data (image data, text data, etc.) from the memory 110 in accordance with operation information from the user and the operating state of the system, and performs control to superimpose the GUI on the screen configuration unit.

  The control unit 112 instructs each unit to execute a series of processes. The light receiving unit 113 receives a signal from the remote controller 114 and performs interaction with the user. The external memory I / F 115 performs data input / output processing with a connected SD card or USB device.

  Next, the configuration of the video distribution server 200 will be described. The video distribution server 200 includes a communication unit 201, a distribution processing unit 202, a search unit 204, a control unit 205, a video content database 206, and a content management database 207.

  The communication unit 201 communicates with the video display device 100 or the like existing outside via a LAN or a public network such as the Internet. The distribution processing unit 202 distributes a portal screen (HTML content) for selecting video content in response to a request from the video display device 100. The distribution processing unit 202 also acquires and distributes video content selected from the portal screen from a moving image content database and a content management database, which will be described later.

  The search unit 204 searches the content management database for video content related to the distributed video content, and transmits content attribute information as a search result to the video display device 100 via the communication unit 201. The control unit 205 instructs each unit to execute a series of processes.

  The moving image content database 206 is a storage device such as a hard disk device that stores and manages moving image content distributed by the distribution server 200 and a database engine. The content management database 207 is a database engine that saves and manages content attribute information stored in the moving image content database 206.

  2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the configuration of data held in the content management database 207 of the video distribution server 200. FIG.

  In FIG. 2A, the content ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying the registered video content. The video content in the moving image content database 206 can be referred to by the content ID.

  The user ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying a user who has registered video content in the server. The group ID is an identifier for identifying a group to which each user belongs, and is used for designating a disclosure range. The user can select the disclosure range when uploading video content. As the disclosure range, the user can select one of disclosure of the video content, non-disclosure, and disclosure only within the group.

  The shooting date and time is the date and time when the video content was shot. The shooting time is the recording time of video content. The photographing device is a value for identifying a device that records video content, and is identified by a MAC address in this embodiment.

  In FIG. 2B, the position information indicates the location where the video content was shot. The azimuth (shooting azimuth) specifies which direction the video content was shot in. Specifically, 0 °, 90 °, 180 °, and 270 ° represent north, east, south, and west, respectively. In shooting moving image content, the azimuth changes during shooting. In the first embodiment, the azimuth at the start of shooting is recorded.

  The photographing device stores the photographing time, the photographing device, the resolution, the frame rate, the position information, and the direction as content attribute information of the video content. For example, in the case of a photographing device not equipped with an orientation sensor, since the orientation is not recorded, “NA” is recorded in the content management database.

  The content management database 207 creates and holds a table in which the above-described information is collected for all registered video content. This table is used when searching for information.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing between the video display device 100 and the video distribution server 200 until the user designates video content that the user wants to view and notifies that multi-screen display is possible. Note that the control unit 112 of the video display device 100 and the control unit 205 of the video distribution server 200 all give instructions to execute the series of processes in FIG.

  With reference to FIG. 3, the basic flow up to the start of streaming playback will be described first.

  When the display unit 107 of the video display device 100 displays a portal screen for selecting video content, the user designates video content that the user wants to view using the remote controller 114 (S301). Receiving the request from the light receiving unit 113, the control unit 112 requests the video distribution server to distribute the video content specified via the communication unit 101 (S302).

  The distribution processing unit 202 of the video distribution server 200 receives the distribution request for the video content (S303). The distribution processing unit 202 of the video distribution server 200 acquires the specified video content from the moving image content database 206, and performs streaming distribution via the communication unit 201 (S304).

  The video display apparatus 100 starts streaming reception (S305, S306). The control unit 112 of the video display device 100 appropriately performs buffering using the buffer 102 according to the network communication status, etc., performs decoding by the decoder 103, and controls the screen configuration unit 104 and the video output unit 106 to stream video content. Playback is performed (S307).

  Next, an example of a flow from searching for other video content related to the video content being played back to presenting to the user that multi-screen display is possible will be described with reference to FIG.

  The search unit 204 of the video distribution server 200 searches the content management database for content highly relevant to the video content being played back (S308). Here, “content with high relevance” is video content whose shooting date / time, shooting time, and shooting position information are the same as or similar to the content being played back.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the relationship between shooting time and position information between video contents. The cube 401 shows the shooting time and shooting position (latitude and longitude) of the content with content ID1. Specifically, the Z axis represents the shooting time, the X axis represents the latitude, and the Y axis represents the longitude. The height of the content ID 1 in the Z-axis direction is set according to the shooting time. The center of the content ID1 is determined based on the position information of the content ID1, and a certain error is set for the latitude and longitude from this center. Similarly, the cube 402 shows the shooting time and shooting position of the content ID2. “Highly relevant content” in the first embodiment refers to content in which cubes 401 and 402 overlap.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the search unit 204 searches for highly relevant content in S308, and the control unit 205 of the video distribution server 200 determines whether there is highly relevant content (S309). In S309, when there is no highly relevant content, a series of processing related to multi-screen display ends. On the other hand, if there is highly relevant content in S309, the control unit 205 collects attribute information of the existing highly relevant content from the content management database 207, and the video display device via the communication unit 201 100 (S310).

  The video display apparatus 100 receives the attribute information of the related content via the communication unit 101 (S311). The control unit 112 of the video display device 100 temporarily stores the attribute information in the memory 110. The content determination unit 109 determines video content to be displayed on a multi-screen based on the attribute information and the playback position of the currently played content.

  The content determination unit 109 displays the playback position (t = t) and end time (t = T1e) of the currently played content, the start time (t = T2s) of each related content received in the memory 110, and the end time (t = T2e). When the following conditions are satisfied, the user is notified that there is video content to be displayed on the multi-screen (S312 to S314).

Formula 1: T2e-t> ΔT
Formula 2: T1e-T2s> ΔT
Condition: Formula 1 and Formula 2
Here, ΔT is a positive value indicating a temporal width, and is 30s (30 seconds) as a reference in the first embodiment.

  When content that satisfies the above-described conditions exists, the content determination unit 109 presents to the user that there is video content that can be displayed on multiple screens. On the other hand, when a plurality of contents satisfying the above conditions are found, the content determination unit 109 gives priority to the contents based on the following conditions.

Condition 1: Content with much temporal overlap with an unreproduced part of the content being reproduced Condition 2: Content having a frame rate close to that of the content being reproduced Condition 3: Content having a resolution close to that of the content being reproduced Condition 4: Content and position being reproduced・ Contents taken from the opposite direction from the direction

  Hereinafter, an example of a content determination method for performing a specific multi-screen display will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows an example of a specific multi-screen display.

  In FIG. 5, it is the figure which showed the shooting time of the content in reproduction | regeneration, and the shooting time of the related content found by S313 of FIG. 3 with the length of the horizontal axis direction. The content ID corresponds to the content ID of the content attribute information temporarily stored in the memory, and corresponds to the content IDs 0 to 6 in FIG.

  It is assumed that the user is playing content whose content ID is “3” (hereinafter, content 3), and the current playback position is tp. Ts represents the shooting start time of the content being played back. Te represents the photographing end time. tp represents the time when the attribute information of the related content is received from the search unit 204 of the video distribution server 200. Content IDs 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 are highly relevant to the content 3. The hatched portion of each content explicitly indicates a temporal overlap with an unreproduced portion of the content being reproduced.

  With reference to FIG. 6, screen display examples 601 to 607 when viewing the content shown in FIG. 5 will be described.

  A screen display example 601 is a screen display example of the display unit 107 at the reproduction start time Ts of the content 3, and the display unit 107 displays the content 3 on one screen. A screen display example 602 is a screen display example when the reproduction position t is tp. In the screen display example 602, upon receiving notification that there is related content from the video distribution server 200, the display unit 107 displays a message “multi-view is possible” at the bottom of the screen, and displays the multi-screen to the user. Is informed that it is possible.

  The contents that can be displayed on the multi-screen at the reproduction position tp are the contents 0 to 2. When the playback position advances and the condition of Formula 1 is not satisfied, the content determination unit 109 excludes the content. For example, when the playback position advances, the content determination unit 109 excludes the content 1. Since the content 1 is excluded, the video display device 100 requests the video distribution server 200 to distribute the remaining related content 0 and 2.

  The user sees the notification that multi-screen display is possible in the screen display example 602, and operates the remote controller to instruct multi-screen display. The screen configuration unit 104 displays a screen display example 603 that is a multi-screen display on the display unit 107. In the screen display example 603, the screen configuration unit 104 displays the content 3 in the upper center portion, displays the content 0 in the lower left portion, and displays the content 2 in the lower right portion.

  A screen display example 604 is a screen display example at the reproduction position T2. Similar to the screen display example 602, the display unit 107 notifies the user that there is content capable of multi-screen display. In the first embodiment, the upper limit of the number of contents that can be displayed simultaneously is set to four.

  At the playback position T2, the contents 4 and 5 are candidates for multi-screen display, but since three contents have already been displayed, the candidate contents are narrowed down. That is, the content determination unit 109 determines one candidate content according to the above-described conditions 1 to 4.

  The contents 4 and 5 are the same with respect to the conditions 1 and 2. Regarding condition 3, the resolution of content 4 is 1280 × 768, whereas the resolution of content 5 is 1920 × 1080, so the resolution of content 5 is equivalent to the resolution of content 3 being played back. Accordingly, the content determination unit 109 determines the content 5 as a candidate for multi-screen display.

  A screen display example 605 is a screen display example when the user who has seen the notification in the screen display example 604 desires multi-screen display. In the screen display example 605, the screen configuration unit 104 displays the content 3 in the upper center portion and performs multi-screen display in which the contents 0, 2, and 5 are displayed in the lower portion.

  Screen display example 606 shows display at time T4 when content 5 ends, and screen composition unit 104 performs multi-screen display of remaining contents 0, 2, and 3. Here, the content 6 is also a candidate for multi-screen display, but since the reproducible time of the content 6 is 30 seconds or less of a predetermined time, the user 6 is not notified.

  In the screen display example 606, if the content 0 and 2 continues to be played for 30 seconds or more and another candidate for multi-screen display (for example, content 7) appears in the meantime, the control unit 112 The display area is left blank, and the content 7 is displayed in the display area at the timing when the playback start time of the content 7 is reached.

  The screen display example 607 is a screen display example at the time when the content 3 that was originally reproduced ends. In the screen display example 607, the control unit 211 indicates to the user whether to continue watching the user as it is, to display the content 0 or 2 on the full screen, or to end the reproduction of the video content itself. Let them choose.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, even when there are many contents to be displayed on a multi-screen, content that is highly relevant to the content being played back is appropriately selected and displayed on the display unit. Since it is displayed, the convenience for the user can be improved.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the user can view related contents at the same time, or can simultaneously see events that have occurred near in time or space from different angles.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, the description according to the second embodiment will be described only with respect to differences from the first embodiment, and the same configuration and operation as those of the first embodiment are the same as those described in the first embodiment. The detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the second embodiment, a photographing apparatus 800 having a communication function uploads photographed video content to the video distribution server 700 sequentially. The video display device 100 displays the video content uploaded sequentially as a live broadcast.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration of a video display system according to the second embodiment to which the present invention is applied. This video display system includes a video display device 100, a video distribution server 700, a photographing device 800, and a radio base station 900. The difference from the first embodiment is that an imaging device 800 having a communication function and a wireless base station 900 for relaying video content transmitted by the imaging device 800 to the video distribution server 700 are added.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the video distribution server 700 includes a communication unit 201, a search unit 204, a control unit 205, and a content management database 207, and further includes a transfer processing unit 701. The transfer processing unit 701 transfers the video content to the video display device 100 among the video content and additional information received from the imaging device 800 described later, and temporarily stores the additional information in the content management database 207. The period in which the content management database 207 stores additional information is a period during which target video content is received. Based on the accumulated content additional information, the transfer processing unit 701 creates a portal screen (for example, HTML content) for selecting video content to be presented to the user.

  The imaging apparatus 800 includes a communication unit 801, a distribution processing unit 802, an imaging unit 803, a control unit 804, an additional information generation unit 805, an external memory I / F 806, and a UI / display unit 807. . Note that the imaging apparatus 800 may be single or plural.

  The communication unit 801 notifies video content and attribute information related to the video content to an external video distribution server 700 via a wireless base station communicated by a wireless LAN or the like. The distribution processing unit 802 performs processing for distributing the content photographed by the imaging unit 803 and the content attribute information created by the additional information generation unit via the communication unit 101.

  The imaging unit 803 is a storage medium such as a CCD, and records content captured by the user in a memory (not shown). The control unit 804 is a processing execution unit for comprehensively controlling each unit of the imaging apparatus 800. The additional information generation unit 805 generates additional information as attribute information of the photographed content and stores it in a memory (not shown) together with the photographed content. The generated additional information includes shooting start date / time, resolution, frame rate, position and orientation information.

  The external memory I / F 806 performs input / output with a removable nonvolatile memory card. The external memory I / F 806 is used when recording video content and content attribute information temporarily stored in a memory (not shown) on the memory card, and when reading the recorded video content from the memory card. The UI / display unit 807 includes a display device such as an organic EL and buttons attached to the main body. The user operates the UI / display unit 807 to check the video content captured by the imaging unit 803 or upload the captured video content to the server.

  The operation of the video display system according to the second embodiment will be described below. First, the user uses the remote controller 114 of the video display device 100 to select specific content from the portal screen displayed on the display unit 107. The distribution server 700 starts distributing the specified content.

  Thereafter, the search unit 204 searches for content related to the content being distributed. That is, the search unit 204 searches the content management database 207 for content having the same or similar shooting start time and shooting position information. When the search unit 204 finds related content, the search unit 204 transmits attribute information of the related content from the content management database 207 to the video display device 100.

  When the video display apparatus 100 receives attribute information of a plurality of related contents, the content determination unit 109 gives priority to the contents based on the following conditions.

Condition 1: Content that is close in frame rate to the content being played back Condition 2: Content that is close in resolution to the content being played back Condition 3: Content that is taken from a diagonal position from the content being played and the position / orientation Content is determined based on the above conditions Unit 109 determines the content to be displayed on the multi-screen.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, even when there are a large number of contents to be displayed on a multi-screen, they are highly relevant to the content being played back. Since the content is appropriately selected and displayed on the display unit, the convenience for the user can be improved.

  Further, according to the second embodiment, the user can view the video content shot by the shooting device 800 as a live broadcast on the video display device 100.

(Modification)
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the content determination unit 109 sets Expression 1 and Expression 2 as determination criteria for presence / absence of contents that can be displayed on multiple screens, and ΔT is set to 30 seconds (30 s). However, ΔT is not limited to this. For example, several percent of the recording time of the content being played back may be set.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, a plurality of conditions are used as conditions when the content determination unit 109 determines content. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a face recognition unit may be provided on the video distribution server side to detect and recognize the face of the subject of the content being played back, and to preferentially present the content captured by the same subject.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the display position of the content to be displayed on the multi-screen is fixed. It may be determined whether to display in any of the areas.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the content being reproduced is distributed from the video distribution server 200. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the content read from the external memory I / F 115 is reproduced, and the content attribute information being reproduced is transmitted to the video distribution server 200 via the communication unit 101. You may search and perform multi-screen display.

  The present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof. Accordingly, the above-described embodiment is merely an example in all respects and should not be interpreted in a limited manner.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a video display device and a video display system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the data which the content management database of the video delivery server in 1st Embodiment hold | maintains. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the data which the content management database of the video delivery server in 1st Embodiment hold | maintains. It is a flowchart which shows the basic operation | movement flow of the basic delivery process between the video display apparatus and video delivery server in 1st Embodiment, and a related content search process. It is the figure which showed typically the relevance of the related content in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the process until it determines the content displayed on a multiscreen from the some related content in 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of a screen display at the time of carrying out the multiscreen display in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the video display apparatus and video display system which are 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Video display apparatus 101 Communication part 102 Buffer 103 Decoder 104 Screen structure part 105 Audio | voice output part 106 Video | video output part 107 Display part 108 Speaker 109 Content determination part 110 Memory 111 UI control part 112 Control part 113 Light receiving part 114 Remote control 115 External memory I / F
200, 700 Video distribution server 201 Communication unit 202 Distribution processing unit 204 Search unit
205 Control Unit 206 Video Content Database 207 Content Management Database 800 Imaging Device 801 Communication Unit 802 Distribution Processing Unit 803 Imaging Unit 804 Control Unit 805 Additional Information Generation Unit 806 External Memory I / F
807 UI / display unit

Claims (9)

A display for displaying the content to be played,
A content determination unit that prioritizes the plurality of contents for relevance with the content being reproduced based on attribute information associated with the plurality of contents related to the content being reproduced;
A screen configuration unit that preferentially displays the high-priority content among the plurality of contents together with the content being reproduced;
A video display device comprising: The video display device according to claim 1,
The video display device, wherein the content determination unit determines a higher priority for a content having a large temporal overlap with an unreproduced portion of the content being reproduced. The video display device according to claim 1,
The video display device, wherein the content determination unit determines a higher priority for a content with a nearer frame rate than the content being reproduced. The video display device according to claim 1,
The video display device, wherein the content determination unit determines a higher priority for a content closer in resolution to the content being reproduced. The video display device according to claim 1,
The video display device, wherein the content determination unit determines a higher priority for a content closer to a shooting position than the content being reproduced. The video display device according to claim 1,
The video display device, wherein the content determination unit determines a higher priority for a content whose shooting direction is closer to the diagonal with respect to the content being reproduced. Displaying the content to be played,
Prioritizing the plurality of contents with respect to relevance to the content being reproduced based on attribute information associated with the plurality of contents related to the content being reproduced; Preferentially displaying high content together with the content being played;
A video display method comprising:   A computer program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 7. A computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program according to claim 8.

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