EFFICIENT VIDEO SKIMMER
Disclosed are a system, method, apparatus, and computer readable media containing instructions for displaying video files for rapid searching. In two different types of exemplary embodiments, a standalone video skimming system, and a video skimming system includes a server and a client system are disclosed, where the video file may be locally or remotely stored, or can be obtained from a live feed. The system displays many small windows simultaneously, in which different parts of the video chosen by the user are shown at the same time to shorten the skimming time. The video file is encoded using layered encoding to display smaller versions using lower layers, and without needing any processing to generate smaller versions of the video from the original full screen version. A video extractor is described for extracting the necessary bitstreams from a local video database containing layered encoded video files according to user specified window sizes, and distributing the signals over the electronic communications network channel. The system also includes a skimming control logic which can receive control commands from clients and invoke the video extractor to extract appropriate audio-visual signals there from for each command.
1 . A system for simultaneous display of a plurality chapters of a full length video file, wherein the full length video file comprises video in a layered coding format.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises:
a first layer representing a first spatial resolution; and
at least one enhancement layer based on the first layer representing at least one second spatial resolution.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the first layer comprises a base layer.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises:
a first layer representing a first temporal resolution; and
at least one enhancement layer based on the first layer representing at least one second temporal resolution.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the first layer comprises a base layer.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises one or more video files located in a local database.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a live feed.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a digital video storage interface.
9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a remote video database.
10 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an input, coupled to the display system, adapted for permitting a user to control the simultaneous display of a plurality of chapters through at least one user preference.
11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a number of windows.
12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a duration for a video chapter.
13 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a start time for a video chapter.
14 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to assign at least one chapter to at least one window.
15 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more skimming control logic modules configured to control at least one aspect of a display system.
16 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising one or more skimming control logic modules configured to control at least one aspect of a display system.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the skimming control logic further comprises logic adapted to translate one or more user preferences into video extraction commands.
18 . A method of video skimming, comprising:
a. extracting a plurality of chapters of a full length video file, wherein the chapters are coded in a layered bitstream format,
b. decoding the plurality of chapters, and
c. simultaneously displaying each of the decoded plurality of chapters.
19 . The method of claim 18 wherein the layered bitstream format comprises a first layer representing a first spatial resolution and at least one enhancement layer based on the first layer representing at least one second spatial resolution, the decoding further comprises:
a. decoding the first layer of the plurality of chapters; and
b. decoding at least one of the enhancement layers of the plurality of chapters.
20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising extracting the full length video file from a local database.
21 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising receiving a full length video file content from a live feed.
22 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising receiving the full length video file content from a digital video storage interface.
23 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising receiving the full-length video file from a remote video database.
24 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises receiving a user input to control the simultaneous display of a plurality of chapters through at least one user preference.
25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a number of windows.
26 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a duration for a video chapter.
27 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a start time for a video chapter.
28 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to assign at least one chapter to at least one window.
29 . The method of claim 24 , further comprising translating the at least one user preference into at least one video extraction command.
30 . A computer readable media having computer executable instructions included thereon for performing a method of video skimming, comprising:
a. extracting a plurality of chapters of a full length video file, wherein the chapters are coded in a layered bitstream format, and
b. decoding the plurality of chapters, and
c. simultaneously displaying each of the decoded plurality of chapters.
31 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the layered bitstream format comprises a first layer representing a first spatial resolution and at least one enhancement layer based on the first layer representing at least one second spatial resolution, the decoding further comprises:
a. decoding the first layer of the plurality of chapters; and
b. decoding at least one of the enhancement layers of the plurality of chapters.
32 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the method further comprises extracting the full length video file from a local database.
33 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the method further comprises receiving a full length video file content from a live feed.
34 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the method further comprises receiving the full length video file content from a digital video storage interface.
35 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the method further comprises receiving the full-length video file from a remote video database.
36 . The computer readable media of claim 30 , wherein the method further comprises receiving a user input to control the simultaneous display of a plurality of chapters through at least one user preference.
37 . The computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a number of windows.
38 . The computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a duration for a video chapter.
39 . The computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to specify a start time for a video chapter.
40 . The computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein the at least one user preference comprises a preference to assign at least one chapter to at least one window.
41 . The computer readable media of claim 36 , wherein the method further comprises translating the at least one user preference into at least one video extraction command.
42 . A video skimming server for preparing and distributing a plurality of chapters of a full length video file, wherein the full length video file comprises video coded in a layered bitstream format, comprising:
(a) a video extractor for extracting a plurality of encoded audio-visual signals from a full length video file;
(b) a streaming server for distributing the extracted audio-visual signals; and
(c) skimming control logic server, coupled to the video extractor, adapted for receiving at least one control message from a video skimmer client and instructing the video extractor to extract the audio-visual signals.
43 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the full length video file comprises one or more video files located in a local video database.
44 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a live feed.
45 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a digital storage interface.
46 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the full length video file comprises content received from a remote database.
47 . The video skimming server of claim 46 , further comprising a transcoder, coupled to the video extractor and to the remote database, for transcoding the content received from the remote database.
48 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the video extractor comprises at least a portion of a distributed server.
49 . The video skimming server of claim 42 , wherein the skimming control logic server comprises at least a portion of a distributed server.
50 . A video skimmer client for preparing a customized display of a plurality of chapters of a full length video file, wherein the full length video file is coded in a layered bitstream format, comprising:
(a) at least one streaming client module configured to receive a plurality of chapters, wherein the chapters are in a layered bitstream format;
(b) one or more decoders configured to decode the chapters;
(c) a graphical user interface for receiving user input, wherein the graphical user interface is accessed through a video display; and
(d) a skimmer control logic client for sending at least one control message to a video skimmer server.
51 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said video display comprises a television.
52 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said video display comprises a computer monitor.
53 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said video skimmer client comprises at least a portion of a television.
54 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said receiver comprises at least a portion of a general purpose computer.
55 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said video skimmer client comprises at least a portion of a set-top box.
56 . The video skimmer client of claim 50 , wherein said video skimmer client comprises at least a portion of a gaming console.