KR20010104547A - Reproducing apparatus and method for image signal using additional information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for reproducing a video signal using additional information. Techniques applied for content identification and retrieval for an image (program), such as an 'index search' or an 'easy index', include a start of a program. In addition to finding parts and moving quickly, the search for the entire contents had to be performed by the user. In contrast, the more advanced 'navigation' technology also recorded the tape, such as recording date, total recording time, and title. Only shows a little more information throughout the program recorded in the program, there is a problem that the search of the overall content must also be performed directly by the user. Therefore, the present invention provides a recording / reproducing unit for recording or reproducing video and additional information; A scene change detector for detecting a scene change of a program; An image buffer unit for storing an image detected by the scene change detection unit; An image output adjusting unit for smoothly displaying the images stored in the image buffer unit; By including a control unit for controlling the components to ensure smooth operation of the device, by automatically searching for the main scene change part in the video program content-based retrieval and video without the need for additional editing It has the effect of being able to watch the plot.

Description

Apparatus and method for reproducing video signal using additional information {REPRODUCING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMAGE SIGNAL USING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording and reproducing technique of a video signal, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for reproducing a video signal using additional information for detecting a main scene change part of a video program so that content can be easily retrieved.

In recent years, with the explosive increase in the number of images and the increase in the spread of image reproducing and recording apparatuses, user demands for efficient retrieval and content grasp of recorded images (programs) have increased.

In order to meet the needs of users, technologies such as 'Index search' and 'Video Navigation' are used for the program.

This technology provides the user with the ability to identify the starting position of programs stored on the tape and to easily move the user to the starting position of the program on the tape.

In particular, the 'Navigation' function is equipped with a separate memory inside the VDeck, assigning IDs to each video cassette and explaining the date, total recording time, title, and text for each recorded program. When a cassette is stored in a memory and a cassette is inserted into a deck, an advanced type of search service is provided in which corresponding information is read from the memory and provided to a user.

On the other hand, in case of digital storage media such as DVD (Digital Video Disc), the creators initially provide text line information about the program, title screens, and services that can categorize and access programs by chapter. .

Then, the technique applied to the conventional V-Cal as described above in more detail as follows.

Among the currently available DVHS V-R products, Panasonic's products include 'Index Search', Hitachi's 'Easy Index', and Jive's 'Navigation'. General information about the recorded program is provided to the user.

In this case, the 'index search' and 'easy index' functions are provided to the user by finding the beginning of each program recorded on the tape, and have the advantage of allowing the user to easily move to the beginning of each program. have.

However, it does not show the information about the program recorded in the tape as a whole, and the content search in the program after finding the beginning of the program has a limitation that depends entirely on the user.

On the other hand, the 'navigation' function is more advanced than the 'index search' in that it shows information on the entire program recorded in the tape, such as the date when the program is recorded, the total recording time, and the title. .

However, this also did not overcome the limitations of program content search.

In addition, the DVD has a function of showing the text plot information input at the time of production and selected images, and also provides a service in which chapters can be accessed by classifying the program into several chapters. Again, there is no function to show the plot of the image center.

As described above, technologies applied for content identification and search for an image (program), such as a conventional 'index search' or an 'easy index', allow the user to quickly move to find the beginning of the program, The search had to be done directly by the user, and the more advanced 'navigation' technology only shows a little more information about the program recorded on the tape such as the recording date, total recording time, and title. However, there is a problem that the search of the entire contents must be performed directly by the user.

Therefore, the present invention was created in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by automatically searching for the main scene change part in the video program and providing the user, the content-based search and the separate editing work are not performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for reproducing a video signal using additional information for viewing a plot by the user.

1 is a schematic diagram showing components of a general video program.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video signal reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a video signal reproduction process using scene change information according to the present invention.

4 is an exemplary diagram of a data structure for recording scene change information according to the present invention;

*** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings ***

10: recording / playback section 20: scene change detection section

30: image buffer unit 40: image output control unit

50 control unit 60 display unit

The present invention for achieving the above object, the recording / reproducing section for recording or reproducing the video and the additional information; A scene change detector for detecting a scene change of a program; An image buffer unit for storing an image detected by the scene change detection unit; An image output adjusting unit for smoothly displaying the images stored in the image buffer unit; It characterized in that it comprises a control unit for controlling each component to enable a smooth operation of the device.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing components of a general video program. The most basic video content is an R-frame, and they are gathered together to form a shot.

In this case, the term 'shot' generally refers to a set of R-frames connected without disconnection from one camera.

In such an image structure, 'index search', 'easy index', and 'navigation' are to provide the user with information about each sequence, that is, the beginning of the program.

However, as described in the problem, since the above techniques have a limitation in searching for the contents of the program, the present invention records "scene change information" together with the video medium as shown in Table 1 below, whereby By implementing the "Content Search" and "Program Plot View" functions, it provides the user with even the image information of the sequence within the sequence, so that the user can quickly understand the entire program and provide the user with an efficient 'navigation' function centered on the image information. The purpose is to make it possible.

Search method function Index search, easy index ① Quick move to the beginning of the program navigation ① + ②Provide brief information such as total recording time, title, description of contents Detection of scene change signal ① + ② + ③ Content search and plot view by main video

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video signal reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, and as shown therein, a recording / reproducing section 10 for recording or reproducing video and additional information; A scene change detector 20 for detecting whether a scene change of a program is performed; An image buffer unit 30 for storing an image (Scene) detected by the scene change detection unit 20; An image output controller 40 for smoothly displaying the images stored in the image buffer unit 30; The controller 50 is configured to control each component to enable a smooth operation of the device.

The display unit 60, which has not been described above, is a means for displaying an image output from the image buffer unit 30.

Hereinafter, the operation and operation of the device configured as described above will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the scene change detection unit 20 is a means for detecting a scene change part from an image reproduced by the recording / reproducing unit 10. The scene change detection unit 20 is divided into detection in a large compressed image and detection in a general image. can see.

First, the detection of a scene change portion in a general image such as playing a videotape compares the temporal correlation of each image, and determines that a scene change has occurred when the value exceeds the reference range. Is defined by Equation 1 using a difference in brightness between each image pixel or a difference in the histogram value of the image.

Difference in Brightness Value: IDn = ∑ (Im (x, y) -lm + i (x, y)) / N

Difference in histogram values:

Here, ID is a difference between brightness values between images,

Im (x, y) is the brightness value of the pixel at the (x, y) coordinate of the mth image,

N means the total number of pixels in the image,

Hm (i) is the histogram value of the mth image,

K means a range of brightness values that a pixel can have.

The above equation is to measure the difference in brightness value and the change in histogram distribution in two consecutive images. If the value of two equations is large, it means that the difference between each image is large and scene transition between images occurs. You can judge.

Next, the detection of a scene change portion in a compressed image such as a DVD differs only in the inspection object due to the characteristics of compression, and the basic principle is the same as the detection method in the general image.

In other words, for example, image compression by MPEG-2, which is a representative image compression standard, has already been compressed using the correlation of each image in the compression step, so that only the I-pictures are used for each of the I-pictures. If the difference is larger than the reference value, it may be determined that the scene change has occurred.

When the scene change information is recorded on the storage medium together with the image in the program production step by using the above method, the user can immediately perform the content search or the plot view function by using the information when playing the image.

In addition, when the program is not used when the program is produced or when the user directly records the program, the scene change information is automatically detected and recorded on a specific portion of the storage medium, or when the recording is not possible. By recording in the memory, this information is made available for later playback.

In other words, when the scene change image is detected as described above, information about the image is recorded at an appropriate position in the medium with an appropriate data structure according to the image producer and the type of the storage medium. When selecting 'view image plot' for a program in which information is recorded, the image buffer unit 30 automatically finds the image of the location where the information is recorded and temporarily stores the image in the image output control unit 40. The output time is controlled by this and is output to the display unit 60.

At this time, since the scene change image is not distributed at regular time intervals in the program, the time taken to lead the scene change image is also naturally different. There is a problem that many differences occur.

Therefore, the image output control unit 40 serves to solve the above problems by displaying the image stored in the image buffer unit 30 at regular time intervals. As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 3, the adjustment is made in consideration of at least the time required to obtain each scene information and the moving time to lead the next scene change image.

That is, after moving to the position of the scene change image in the program, if it is not the final scene change image, the time required to move to the position of the next scene change image is calculated, and the image information as much as the time required for the movement is calculated. After reading from the position of the scene change image and storing it in the image buffer unit 30, the process is repeated until the next scene change position moves to the position of the final scene change image.

That is, instead of displaying only one image at the scene change position immediately, in order to lead the image at the next scene change position, the image is read as much as the time it takes to move and stored in the image buffer unit 30. By putting it on and displaying it, it is possible to convey the entire story more clearly without disconnecting the video.

In this case, the method for recording the scene change information can be largely divided into the case where the image producer records with the image when the program is produced and the case where the user directly records the image, and the recording is also possible according to the type of the storage medium. It can be further subdivided into media and non-writable storage media.

An example of the data structure for recording the scene change information will now be described with reference to the structure diagram of FIG.

First, the data structure includes: a header unit for recording an ID of a scene change image, a first start position and an end position of the scene change image, and a total number of scene change images indicating that the data structure has information about the scene change image; It may be divided into a data unit for recording the position of the current scene and the connection information and additional information (Text, Image, Sound, etc.) for the total transition scene.

Therefore, if the program maker records the scene change information having the structure as described above in the program together with the image, the scene change information is already detected and can be recorded at the beginning of the program. In the case of direct recording, since the recording is always started at an arbitrary position, it is not possible to record all of the information about the scene change image at the beginning of the storage medium, so that the recording is divided into the media.

In addition, when a program is recorded on a read-only medium, an ID is assigned to each program, information about the program is stored in the internal memory of the device, and when a medium having a program ID is inserted, data is read from the memory and played back. Done.

In addition, although the above description has been mainly given by referring to VR and DVD, it is obvious that the present invention may be applied to other storage media capable of storing an image such as a hard disk.

As described above, the apparatus and method for reproducing a video signal using the additional information of the present invention automatically searches for a main scene change part in a video program and provides the user with a content-oriented search and video without any additional editing work. By watching the plot is effective.

In addition, from the program producer's point of view, it is possible to automatically produce a program for advertisement or distribution by drawing only the plot without incurring the cost of producing the trailer, thereby reducing the production cost required for this.

In addition, when providing a database service that specializes in the introduction of new video data by recording only the plot information separately in the rapidly growing internet content market, it is possible to reduce related costs and create new added value. It works.

Claims (8)

A recording / reproducing section for recording or reproducing video and additional information; A scene change detector for detecting a scene change of a program; An image buffer unit for storing an image detected by the scene change detection unit; An image output adjusting unit for smoothly displaying the images stored in the image buffer unit; And a control unit configured to control the components to enable smooth operation of the apparatus. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scene change detector detects a scene when a distribution of a difference in brightness value or a difference in a histogram value of an image exceeds a predetermined reference range when playing a general image such as a videotape. An apparatus for reproducing a video signal using additional information, characterized in that it is determined that a switching has occurred. The method of claim 2, wherein the difference between the brightness value and the histogram value between the image pixels is determined by the following equation 1 when the values of the two equations are large. An apparatus for reproducing a video signal using additional information. (Equation 1) Difference in brightness value: Difference in histogram values: Here, ID is a difference between brightness values between images, Im (x, y) is the brightness value of the pixel at the (x, y) coordinate of the mth image, N means the total number of pixels in the image, Hm (i) is the histogram value of the mth image, K is the range of brightness values a pixel can have. The scene changer of claim 1, wherein the scene change detector detects a video compressed in an MPEG format, such as a DVD, when the difference between each I-picture is greater than a reference value only for I-pictures. And a video signal reproducing apparatus using the additional information, which is determined to have occurred. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the scene change information is a rewritable or recordable medium according to a type of a video storage medium, and is directly recorded on an arbitrary portion of the medium. An apparatus for reproducing video signals using additional information, characterized in that the recording is performed separately on the built-in memory means. The method of claim 1, wherein the scene change information includes information about an ID of a scene change image, a first start position and an end position of the scene change image, and the total number of scene change scenes. A header portion for; The video signal using the additional information comprising a data unit for recording the current scene position and the connection information and the additional information (Text, Image, Sound, etc.) for the location of the total transition scene Playback device. A first step of detecting scene change information recorded together when the program is reproduced; A second process of moving to a scene change position corresponding to the scene change information and reading an image; Buffering the read image in memory means; And a fourth process of displaying the buffered image. The image of claim 7, wherein the image buffered in the memory means of the third process is an image corresponding to the time in consideration of the time required to obtain each scene information and the time to move to lead the next scene change image. And reproducing the video signal from the current scene change video position.