Digital living network alliance (DLNA) client device with thumbnail creation

1. A method of allowing a user of a Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) client device to choose a thumbnail image to associate with an item of content stored within a home network, comprising:

identifying an item of audio and video (A/V) content stored in association with a DLNA server that does not have an associated thumbnail image, where identifying the item of A/V content stored in association with a DLNA server that does not have an associated thumbnail image comprises: browsing available A/V content items stored within the DLNA server, analyzing A/V content information associated with the available A/V content items; where presence or absence of a thumbnail image associated with the item of A/V content is determined by presence or absence of a uniform resource identifier (URI) in the A/V content information; and determining that an item of A/V content information associated with the item of A/V content does not have a uniform resource identifier identifying a thumbnail image associated with the item of A/V content in order to determine that the A/V content does not have an associated thumbnail image;

streaming the item of A/V content at a DLNA client device;

detecting scenes in the item of A/V content;

selecting a plurality of intra-coded frames (I-Frames) from the streamed A/V content, where at least one I-Frame is selected for each detected scene of the item of A/V content;

presenting the plurality of selected I-Frames to a user of the DLNA client device;

receiving a selection from the user identifying one of the plurality of selected I-Frames; and

storing the identified I-Frame in association with the item of A/V content as an identifier of the item of A/V content.

2. The method according to claim 1 , where streaming the A/V content at the DLNA client device further comprises:

requesting the item of A/V content from the DLNA server;

receiving the item of A/V content; and

searching for I-frames within the A/V content.

3. The method according to claim 1 , where selecting a plurality of I-Frames from the streamed A/V content further comprises selecting at least one I-Frame from each minute of playtime of the streamed A/V content.

4. The method according to claim 1 , where selecting a plurality of I-Frames from the streamed A/V content further comprises selecting I-Frames at random intervals during playtime of the streamed A/V content.

5. The method according to claim 1 , where presenting the plurality of selected I-Frames to a user of the DLNA client device further comprises presenting the plurality of selected I-Frames within a non-hierarchical pool on a display associated with the DLNA client.

6. The method according to claim 1 , where storing the identified I-Frame in association with the item of A/V content further comprises storing the identified I-Frame as a thumbnail image at the DLNA client.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

creating a thumbnail uniform resource identifier (URI) that links to the stored I-Frame; and

storing the thumbnail URI in association with A/V content information representing the associated item of A/V content.

8. The method according to claim 7 , further comprising:

presenting the stored I-Frame in association with the thumbnail URI to the user as part of an A/V content browsing activity of the user;

receiving a selection associated with the thumbnail URI;

retrieving a content URI that links to the associated item of A/V content from the A/V content information;

retrieving the associated item of A/V content from the DLNA server using the content URI; and

rendering the associated item of A/V content for viewing by the user.

9. A Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) audio and video (A/V) client device for allowing a user to choose a thumbnail image to associate with an item of content stored within a home network, comprising:

a memory adapted to store representations of A/V content distributed within a home network environment; and

a processor programmed to:

identify an item of audio and video (A/V) content stored in association with a DLNA server that does not have an associated thumbnail image by browsing available A/V content items stored within the DLNA server, analyzing A/V content information associated with the available A/V content items; where presence or absence of a thumbnail image associated with the item of A/V content is determined by presence or absence of a uniform resource identifier (URI) in the A/V content information; and

determine that an item of A/V content information associated with the item of A/V content does not have a uniform resource identifier identifying a thumbnail image associated with the item of A/V content in order to determine that the A/V content does not have an associated thumbnail image;

stream the item of A/V content at a DLNA client device;

detect scenes in the item of A/V content;

select a plurality of intra-coded frames (I-Frames) from the streamed A/V content, where at least one I-Frame is selected for each detected scene of the item of A/V content;

present the plurality of selected I-Frames to a user of the DLNA client device on a display;

receive a selection from the user identifying one of the plurality of selected I-Frames; and

store the identified I-Frame in association with the item of A/V content as an identifier of the item of A/V content to the memory.

10. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to:

request the item of A/V content from the DLNA server;

receive the item of A/V content; and

search for available I-frames within the A/V content.

11. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to select at least one I-Frame from each minute of playtime of the streamed A/V content.

12. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to select I-Frames at random intervals during playtime of the streamed A/V content.

13. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to present the plurality of selected I-Frames within a non-hierarchical pool on the display.

14. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to store the identified I-Frame as a thumbnail image to the memory.

15. The device according to claim 9 , where the processor is further programmed to:

create a thumbnail uniform resource identifier (URI) that links to the stored I-Frame; and

store the thumbnail URI in association with A/V content information representing the associated item of A/V content in the memory.

16. The device according to claim 15 , where the processor is further programmed to:

present the stored I-Frame in association with the thumbnail URI to the user as part of an A/V content browsing activity of the user;

receive a selection associated with the thumbnail URI;

retrieve a content URI that links to the associated item of A/V content from the A/V content information;

retrieve the associated item of A/V content from the DLNA server using the content URI; and

render the associated item of A/V content on the display for viewing by the user.

17. A Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) audio and video (A/V) client device for allowing a user to choose a thumbnail image to associate with an item of content stored within a home network, comprising:

a memory adapted to store representations of A/V content distributed within a home network environment;

a display device for displaying information; and

a processor programmed to:

browse available A/V content items stored within a DLNA server;

analyze A/V content information associated with the available A/V content items;

determine that an item of A/V content information associated with an item of A/V content does not have a uniform resource identifier (URI) identifying a thumbnail image associated with the item of A/V content;

request the item of A/V content from the DLNA server;

receive the item of A/V content from the DLNA server;

stream the item of A/V content;

detect scenes in the item of A/V content;

search for available I-frames within each of the detected scenes in the item of A/V content;

select a plurality of intra-coded frames (I-Frames) from the streamed A/V content, where at least one I-Frame is selected for each scene of the item of A/V content;

present the plurality of selected I-Frames to a user of the DLNA client device on the display;

receive a selection from the user identifying one of the plurality of selected I-Frames; and

store the identified I-Frame in association with the item of A/V content as an identifier of the item of A/V content to the memory.