KR20040039113A - PVR Set-top box system capable of indexing, searching and editing the moving picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An STB(Set Top Box) system equipped with a PVR(Personal digital Video Recorder) function capable of indexing, retrieving and editing motion pictures is provided to use a video retrieval window so that a user easily retrieves inputted motion picture data, and to include a function to edit searched video thereby efficiently managing a great amount of data. CONSTITUTION: An input/output control unit(31) inputs and outputs data requested by a user. A controller(32) controls each unit of an STB system(30). An encoder/decoder(33) encodes and decodes input data. A motion picture processor(34) receives a video stream from the decoded data and performs a series of processing, to generate video retrieval data. A storage unit(35) stores the video retrieval data generated by the motion picture processor(34) and an edition picture. A key signal receiver(36) receives a video retrieval request signal or an edition request signal inputted from a key input unit(20). The controller(32) receives the video retrieval data generated by the video retrieval request signal from the storage unit(35) and edits the video retrieval data, to output the edited video retrieval data to a video output unit(10).

Description

Set-top box system capable of indexing, searching and editing the moving picture}

The present invention relates to a set-top-box, and more particularly, to search by indexing a search screen to search and edit a desired scene of an input image, and to search detailed screens of the indexed search screen. The present invention relates to a set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that enables video indexing, searching, and editing.

In general, a set-top box used as a terminal device of a multimedia network connects a digital / analog (D / A) communication channel with a user's multimedia to enable viewing of digital broadcasting.

Set-top boxes allow subscribers to receive video on demand (VOD), CATV, satellite and terrestrial broadcast services that deliver the video data they want at the time they want. Therefore, the subscriber used the set-top box connected to the TV and the like to watch various services. The subscriber can watch the image data requested through the set-top box through the TV monitor.

The video data from the server providing the video data is transmitted along with the video signal including various information such as contents and contents.

The use of image compression technology has emerged for the transmission of image data. The representative one is the MPEG (motion picture expert group) standard.

MPEG is a standard for compressing video and audio data. It is an improvement of JPEG image compression algorithm and H.261 video compression algorithm. In MPEG, not all frames are compressed into separate images, but by using similarities between adjacent frames. While MPEG can realize mobile multimedia applications due to its very high compression efficiency, it takes a lot of compression time to obtain a high compression rate.

Representative examples of MPEG standards include four types of MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, and MPEG7.

First of all, MPEG1 is an international standard for compressing and storing VHS-quality video and sound at 1.5Mbps in digital storage media such as CD. In other words, perfect lip sync is achieved so that the screen and sound do not deviate from each other in time. In practice, time stamps are used for temporal synchronization.

The time stamp records the video screen and the time to enter the encoder for each audio frame as a tag, transmits them together, and informs the time to be displayed on the monitor or the speaker after decoding. MPEG-1 is used to record and play back video and sound on digital storage media, such as CD-ROMs or digital audio tapes (DAT). Such MPEG1 data rate of CD-ROM is limited to within 1.5Mbps, and it is difficult to apply to multiple programs such as error correction and digital broadcasting. Thus, there is a need for a standard that realizes high picture quality at higher bit rates.

MPEG2 is a standard for realizing high quality at higher bit rates. It is a compression standard for digital video disk (DVD) and high definition TV (HDTV). Compared to the data compression ratio of MPEG1, the data compression ratio of MPEG2 is increased to 1 / 20-1 / 100. MPEG2 is used to transmit and store high-definition video in broadcasting, communication, and storage media, and has been adopted in various multimedia fields such as digital satellite broadcasting, HDTV, DVD, and VOD.

MPEG4 is intended to produce high quality video even at very low bit rates. MPEG4 is a standard for transmitting video during video conference using existing telephone lines, and various compression methods can be selectively applied. MPEG4 has an interactive function and can simultaneously encode a plurality of images with improved compression efficiency.

MPEG7 is used to search for desired audiovisual information quickly and efficiently. It is expected to be widely used in the fields of digital library, multimedia dictionary, broadcast media selection, multimedia editing, and video mail search.

The MPEG standard allows the set-top box system to be commercially available, allowing video data received from satellite, cable, or terrestrial broadcasting to be viewed. A personal digital video recorder capable of storing incoming video data is commercially available.

Although it is possible to store and play video in a set-top box equipped with the existing personal digital video recorder function, it was inconvenient for the user to search for the desired scene effectively, and there was no function to edit the desired video scene.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to use a video search window to search for the desired scene of the video desired by the user among the vast amount of video data received and stored in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the video index having an editing function of the searched screen It also provides a set-top box system with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that can be searched and edited.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function capable of indexing, searching, and editing a video according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a detailed block diagram of a video processing unit of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

3 is a view illustrating a structure of data input to a video processing unit;

4 is a screen state diagram of a display unit of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

5 is a control flowchart of a control unit for editing a video;

6 is a screen state of the display unit during the editing process of FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: TV 11: display unit

20: key input unit 30: set-top box (STB)

31: input and output control unit 32: control unit

33: encoder / decoder 34: video processing unit

35: storage unit 36: key signal receiving unit

341: cut extracting section 342: shot sorting section

343: shot processing unit 344: search screen setting unit

345: search screen feature extraction unit 346: search screen index unit

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a set top box system connected to a video output means such as a TV and a key input unit for a user to input an image search request signal, an input / output control unit for inputting / outputting data requested by the user; Control unit for controlling each configuration of the set-top box system, encoder / decoder for encoding and decoding the input data, and a video processing unit for receiving the video stream of the decoded data to perform a series of processing to generate the image search data And a storage unit for storing the image search data and the edit screen generated by the video processing unit, and a key signal receiving unit for receiving the image search request signal and the edit request signal input from the key input unit. Image search data generated according to the search request signal from the storage unit Power received edit the picture search data, and wherein the control so as to output to the image output means.

Also, in the present invention, the video processing unit may include a cut extracting unit for extracting a cut from an input video stream, a shot classification unit for classifying shots based on the extracted cut, a shot processing unit for integrating and separating the classified shots; And a search screen setting unit for setting a search screen of each shot, a search screen feature extraction unit for extracting features of the set search screen, and a search screen index unit for indexing based on the extracted search screen features. It features.

In the present invention, the image retrieval data is characterized by having a storyboard form.

In addition, in the present invention, when the edit request signal is input from the key input unit, the control unit outputs the edit screen index window through the image output means, and when the edit screen selection signal is input, the controller stores the selected edit screen and displays it. It is characterized by controlling.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying Figures 1 to 6 will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function capable of indexing, searching, and editing a video according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image output means including a display unit 11, for example, a TV 10, is connected to display an output signal from the set top box 30. The key input unit 20 is connected to output a key signal for controlling the set top box 30. The set-top box 30 connected to the TV 10 and the key input unit 20 includes an input / output control unit 31 for inputting / outputting data requested by a user, a control unit 32 for controlling each component of the set-top box, and an input. Encoder / decoder 33 for encoding and decoding the moving image data, a moving image processing unit 34 for receiving a video stream from the decoded data and performing a series of processing, and a storage unit 35 storing the processed data It includes. The set top box 30 also includes a key signal receiver 36 for receiving a key signal input from the key input unit 20.

The operation of the video search and editable set-top box system of FIG. 1 configured as described above will be described in detail.

In FIG. 1, the input / output controller 31 receives the video data selected by the user and outputs the video data to the controller 32. The controller 32 outputs the input video data to the encoder / decoder 33. The encoder / decoder 33 decodes the input video data and restores the video output. In addition, the encoder / decoder 33 converts an input analog video into a digital video. The encoder / decoder 33 outputs the video stream of the decoded data to the video processing unit 34. The video processor 34 receives a video stream and performs indexing, searching, and editing functions.

The processing of the video processor 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

2 is a detailed block diagram of the video processing unit 34 of the apparatus of FIG.

The video processing unit 34 of FIG. 2 receives a video stream, a cut extracting unit 341 for extracting a cut, a shot classifying unit 342 for classifying shots, and a shot integrating and separating the shots. The shot processing unit 343, a search screen setting unit 344 for setting a search screen, a search screen feature extraction unit 345 for extracting the features of the set search screen, and indexing according to the features of the extracted search screen are performed. The search screen index unit 346 is included.

In FIG. 2, the cut extractor 341 receives a video stream from the encoder / decoder 33. This video stream has the data structure shown in FIG. Although the video stream shown in FIG. 3 is illustrated as an example for convenience of description, the video stream includes audio data (not shown).

The portion of the video stream where the transition is made is called a cut, and the set between the cuts is called a shot. In one shot, there are several frames, smaller video units.

3, it can be seen that the order of the input video streams is A, A ', A ", B, B', B", C, C '. Here, it is the time when the scene is switched between A ″ and B, and the scene is switched. Also, it is the time when the scene is changed between B ″ and C, and the scene is changed again. When the extraction of the cut is completed, a plurality of shots existing for each cut may be classified. In Fig. 3, A, A ', A "is the first shot, and B, B', B" is the second shot.

The cut extractor 341 receives the video stream and extracts a cut. The cut extracting unit 341 may be any method such as difference comparison of color histograms or change comparison of edges in the input image data. When the cut is extracted in this way, the shot classification unit 342 classifies and stores the shots for each cut. The shot processor 343 performs a shot processing by integrating similar shots again using the classified shots and separating back similar shots.

When the shot processing is completed in this way, the search screen setting unit 344 sets the initial screen of the shot. That is, a search screen that can be used for searching is set. Here, the search screen is set as the first screen of the shot. That is, in Fig. 3, the search screen of A, A ', A "shot is set to A which is the first screen, and the search screen of B, B', B" shot is set to B which is the first screen.

As such, when setting of the search screen is completed, the search screen feature extraction unit 345 extracts the features of the search screens. The search screen index unit 346 finally classifies each search screen using the features of the search screen extracted from the search screen feature extraction unit 345 to form a story board.

Referring back to FIG. 1, a user outputs an image search request signal to search for a desired scene of an input image. Then, the key signal receiver 36 receives the image search request signal and outputs it to the controller 32.

The control unit 32 outputs an initial screen to the display unit 11 of the TV 10 as shown in FIG. 4 based on the image search data stored in the storage unit 35.

4, the right side of the screen outputs a search screen index window for searching for a desired image, that is, A, B, and C, and the left side is a main screen for outputting the selected screen. The lower part has a detail screen index window indicating a detail screen associated with each of the selected search screens A, B, and C.

The user selects screen A from the search screen by using the key input unit 20. Then, the screen A1, A2, A3, etc. related to A appears on the detail screen, and when the user selects the desired screen A2, the main screen starts the video from A2. The user can watch the screen A and then select and view his detail screen again.

The case where the detailed screen of the stored video is edited will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

5 is a control flowchart of a control unit for editing a video.

If you want to edit the video, the user inputs the editing request signal using the key input unit 20 (step 501). When the edit request signal is input, the controller 32 controls to display the edit screen index window. Then, the display unit 11 displays the edit screen index window at the bottom end as shown in FIG. 6 (step 502). The user looks at the detail screen index window and selects the desired edit screen, and inputs an edit screen selection signal (step 503). That is, when the user selects A1 and A3 as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 32 stores the selected edit screen in the storage unit 35 and outputs it to the display unit 11 (step 504). Then, the display unit 11 displays the edit screen A1 and A3 selected among the search screens in the edit screen index window. You can also save A1 and A3 edit screens as separate videos.

In this way, the user can also edit using the detailed screen of the selected screen among the search screens for searching.

According to the set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that can index, search, and edit the video of the present invention, the user can easily search the input video data by using a video search box. Including the ability to edit video, it has the advantage of providing a more efficient management of a large amount of data.

In the above description, the technical details of the set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function capable of video indexing, searching, and editing according to the present invention have been described together with the accompanying drawings. It does not limit the invention. In addition, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and imitations can be made without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

Claims (4)

In the set-top box system 30 connected to the image output means 10 such as a TV and the key input unit 20 for the user to input the image search request signal, An input / output control unit 31 for inputting / outputting data requested by a user; A control unit 32 for controlling each configuration of the set top box system 30; An encoder / decoder 33 for encoding and decoding input data; A video processor 34 which receives a video stream from the decoded data and performs a series of processing to generate image search data; A storage unit 35 storing image search data and an edited screen generated by the video processor 34; And It comprises a key signal receiver 36 for receiving the image search request signal and the edit request signal input from the key input unit 20, The control unit 32 receives the image search data generated according to the image search request signal from the storage unit 35 and controls the image search data to be edited and output to the image output means 10. Set-top box system with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that can index, search, and edit video. The method of claim 1, wherein the video processing unit 34 A cut extractor 341 extracting a cut from an input video stream; A shot classification unit 342 for classifying shots based on the extracted cuts; A shot processor 343 for integrating and separating the classified shots; A search screen setting unit 344 for setting a search screen of each shot; A search screen feature extractor 345 for extracting features of the set search screen; A set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function for indexing, searching, and editing a video, comprising: a search screen index unit 346 for indexing based on the extracted search screen feature. The method of claim 2, The image search data is a storyboard type set-top box system equipped with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that can index, search and edit video. The method of claim 1, When the edit request signal is input from the key input unit 20, the control unit 32 outputs an edit screen index window through the video output means 10, and when an edit screen selection signal is input, the selected edit screen is displayed. A set-top box system with a personal digital video recorder (PVR) function that can be indexed, searched, and edited, characterized in that it stores and controls the display.