Method and system to share a snapshot extracted from a video transmission
The present invention refers to the field of television experience in particular the simultaneous use of the portable computing device and a television to share a user's experience. The present disclosure proposes a method to create a snapshot from a video transmission received by a receiver, said receiver being connected with a portable computing device and having a screen output, said method comprising the steps of receiving a video transmission by the receiver, converting by the receiver, the video transmission into a lower-bandwidth video transmission, sending the lower-bandwidth video transmission to the portable computing device, receiving from the portable computing device to the receiver, a command to execute a snapshot, producing by the receiver a snapshot from the video transmission, sending the snapshot to the portable computing device.
1. A method of creating one or more snapshots, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first device, a video having a first quality level, the first device including a receiver device;
buffering, by the first device, the video in a buffer, the buffer containing a portion of the video during a predefined time;
converting, by the first device, the video into a lower-quality video having a second quality level, the second quality level being associated with a lower quality than the first quality level;
sending, by the first device, the lower-quality video to a second device;
receiving, by the first device from the second device as the second device presents the lower-quality video, a command to produce a snapshot using the video having the first quality level;
based on the command received by the first device, producing a plurality of downsampled snapshot images from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, each of the plurality of downsampled snapshot images representing a different portion of the video at a different time;
sending the plurality of downsampled snapshot images to a network;
receiving, from the second device, a selection of at least one snapshot image from the plurality of downsampled snapshot images; and
producing, by the first device at least based on the at least one selected snapshot image, a snapshot from the video having the first quality level.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the snapshot is posted to a third party server, a location of the third party server being specified by a link address.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing the snapshot comprises extracting, from the video, metadata identifying the snapshot, the method comprising:
sending the metadata to the network.
4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
including comments with the snapshot posted to the third party server.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lower-quality video is in compressed form having a plurality of GOP (group of pictures), each group of pictures starting with an Intra-coded frame (I Frame), and wherein the buffer stores a plurality of I Frames of the compressed form of the lower-quality video, and wherein the plurality of downsampled snapshot images are produced by extracting and downsampling each of the plurality of I Frames from the buffer.
6. The method claim 1 , wherein the snapshot is a video snapshot, the method comprising:
producing, from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, a downsampled video extract; and
producing, by the first device, the video snapshot from the buffer using a starting point and an ending point of the downsampled video extract selected by the second device.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
buffering, in an adjustable length synchronization buffer, the video, wherein an adjustable length of the adjustable length synchronization buffer is adjusted to synchronize display of the lower-quality video on the second device.
8. The method claim 1 , further comprising:
extracting, from the video, metadata related to the video;
extracting, from the metadata, banner information; and
visually adding the banner information to the snapshot.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device includes one of a desktop computer, a television, a set-top box, a gaming console, a multimedia streaming device, a digital video recorder, a mobile phone, a laptop, a personal data assistant (PDA), a tablet device, or a portable gaming device.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device includes a mobile device.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the snapshot is one of a video or an image.
12. A first device configured to create one or more snapshots, the first device including a receiver device and comprising:
an input configured to receive a video having a first quality level;
a buffer containing a portion of the video during a predefined time;
a conversion module configured to convert the video into a lower-quality video having a second quality level, the second quality level being associated with a lower quality than the first quality level;
an interface configured to send the lower-quality video to a second device; and
a snapshot module configured to:
receive, from the second device as the second device presents the lower-quality video, a snapshot instruction;
based on the snapshot instruction, produce a plurality of downsampled snapshot images from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, each of the plurality of downsampled snapshot images representing a different portion of the video at a different time;
send the plurality of downsampled snapshot images to a network;
receive, from the second device, a selection of at least one snapshot image among the plurality of downsampled snapshot images; and
generate a snapshot from the video having the first quality level at least based on the at least one selected snapshot image.
13. The first device according to claim 12 , wherein the video is in compressed form having a plurality of GOP (group of pictures), each group of pictures starting with an Intra-coded frame (I Frame), and wherein the buffer stores a plurality of I Frames of the compressed form of the lower-quality video, the snapshot module is configured to produce the plurality of downsampled snapshot images by extracting and downsampling each of the plurality of I Frames from the buffer.
14. The first device according to claim 12 , wherein the snapshot is a video snapshot, and wherein the snapshot module is further configured to:
produce, from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, a downsampled video extract; and
produce the video snapshot from the buffer using a starting point and an ending point.
15. The first device according to claim 12 , further comprising:
a synchronization buffer of adjustable length configured to delay the video sent to a screen output in order to synchronize with the output of the lower-quality video.
16. The first device of claim 12 , wherein the first device includes one of a desktop computer, a television, a set-top box, a gaming console, a multimedia streaming device, a digital video recorder, a mobile phone, a laptop, a personal data assistant (PDA), a tablet device, or a portable gaming device.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium of a first device having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive a video having a first quality level;
store the video in a buffer, the buffer containing a portion of the video during a predefined time;
converting the video into a lower-quality video having a second quality level, the second quality level being associated with a lower quality than the first quality level;
send the lower-quality video to a second device;
receive, from the second device as the second device presents the lower-quality video, a command to produce a snapshot using the video having the first quality level;
based on the command received by the first device, produce a plurality of downsampled snapshot images from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, each of the plurality of downsampled snapshot images representing a different portion of the video at a different time;
send the plurality of downsampled snapshot images to a network;
receive a selection of at least one snapshot image from the plurality of downsampled snapshot images; and
produce a snapshot from the video having the first quality level at least based on the at least one selected snapshot image.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the lower-quality video is in compressed form having a plurality of group of pictures (GOP), each group of pictures starting with an Intra-coded frame (I Frame), and wherein the buffer stores a plurality of I Frames of the compressed form of the lower-quality video, and wherein the plurality of downsampled snapshot images are produced by extracting and downsampling each of the plurality of I Frames from the buffer.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the snapshot is a video snapshot, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
produce, from the portion of the video stored in the buffer, a downsampled video extract; and
produce, by the first device, the video snapshot from the buffer using a starting point and an ending point of the downsampled video extract selected by the second device.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the snapshot is a snapshot image, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
store, in an adjustable length synchronization buffer, the video, wherein an adjustable length of the adjustable length synchronization buffer is adjusted to synchronize display of the lower-quality video on the second device.