Title: Video access method and video access apparatus
Abstract: Video picture access method and system capable of index manipulation for accessing a video picture without disturbing a user viewing the picture. Visual effect for allowing the user to check instantaneously whether the index manipulation conforms to user's intention. List display unit displays in superposition on a video picture a list containing reduced-size representative images for scenes included in the picture. Exhibition unit makes into appearance a display field of the list while extending stepwise the list over a time. User interface enables selection of a representative image of a scene to be next displayed from the list. Video reproducing unit provides such visual effect that reproduction of a video picture for the selected scene is started from the position of the selected image and a size thereof and makes transition gradually to a full screen picture.
Patent Number: 6,954,583 Issued on 10/11/2005 to Nagasaka, et al.
| Inventors:
|
Nagasaka; Akio (Kodaira, JP);
Miyatake; Takafumi (Hachioji, JP)
|
| Assignee:
|
Hitachi Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
797723 |
| Filed:
|
March 5, 2001 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Mar 17, 2000[JP] | 2000-081706 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
386/69; 386/68 |
| Intern'l Class: |
H04N 005/91 |
| Field of Search: |
386/69,68,67,46,55,6,124,125,45,70
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 5126851 | Jun., 1992 | Yoshimura et al.
| |
| 5974218 | Oct., 1999 | Nagasaka et al.
| |
| 2004/0218814 | Nov., 2004 | Miyatake et al.
| |
| Foreign Patent Documents |
| A-7-319901 | Aug., 1995 | JP.
| |
Primary Examiner: Chevalier; Robert
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Antonelli, Terry, Stout and Kraus, LLP.
Claims
1. A video picture access system, comprising:
representative image list display means for displaying in superposition on a
video picture being displayed on a display screen a representative image list containing
at least one representative image of a reduced size corresponding to a scene included
in said video picture;
exhibition means for making into appearance said representative image list while
extending stepwise a display field of said representative image list over a predetermined
time duration;
user interface means for enabling selection of a representative reduced-size
image of a scene by a user to be next displayed from said representative image
list; and
video picture reproducing means capable of exhibiting such visual effect that
reproduction of a video picture of the scene corresponding to the selected representative
reduced-size image is started at a display position of said selected representative
reduced-size image with a size thereof, whereon said reproduction makes transition
temporally gradually to a full screen reproduction in which said video picture
is displayed substantially over a whole surface of said display screen.
2. A video picture access system, comprising:
means for displaying a disk-like image; and
input means implemented in the form of a touch panel,
wherein a jog-and-shuttle function is realized by touching said disk-like image
and moving rotationally said disk-like image by tracing it with a finger.
3. A video picture access method, comprising the steps of;
displaying in superposition on a video picture being displayed on a display screen
a representative image list containing at least one representative image of a reduced
size which corresponds to a scene included in said video picture;
making into appearance said representative image list while extending stepwise
a display field of said representative image list over a predetermined time duration;
starting reproduction of a video picture of a scene corresponding to a representative
reduced-size image selected by an operator to be next displayed from said representative
image list at a display position of said selected representative reduced-size image
with a size thereof; and
causing said reproduction to transit temporally gradually to a full screen reproduction
in which said video picture is displayed substantially over a whole surface of
said display screen.
4. A computer implemented program for performing a video picture access method,
comprising the steps of;
displaying in superposition on a video picture being displayed on a display screen
a representative image list containing at least one representative image of a reduced
size which corresponds to a scene included in said video picture;
making into appearance said representative image list while extending stepwise
a display field of said representative image list over a predetermined time duration;
starting reproduction of a video picture of a scene corresponding to a representative
reduced-size image selected by an operator to be next displayed from said representative
image list at a display position of said selected representative reduced-size image
with a size thereof; and
causing said reproduction to transit temporally gradually to a full screen reproduction
in which said video picture is displayed substantially over a whole surface of
said display screen.
5. A video picture access system according to claim 1, further comprising:
means for displaying a disk-like image; and
input means implemented in the form of a touch panel,
wherein a jog-and-shuttle function is realized by touching said disk-like image
and moving rotationally said disk-like image by tracing it with a finger.
6. A video picture access method according to claim 3, further comprising the
steps of:
displaying a disk-like image; and
utilizing a touch panel as an input means;
wherein a jog-and-shuttle function is realized by touching the disk-like image
and moving rotationally the disk-like image by tracing it with a finger.
7. A computer implemented program according to claim 4, further comprising the
steps of:
displaying a disk-like image; and
utilizing a touch panel as an input means;
wherein a jog-and-shuttle function is realized by touching the disk-like image
and moving rotationally the disk-like image by tracing it with a finger.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for reproducing or playing
back pictures such as motion or moving pictures, those of television programs and
the like. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a method of
making access to pictures by using a storage medium susceptible to random access
such as a hard disk or the like and a system for carrying out the video picture
access method. Parenthetically, the picture stored in a storage medium such as
a hard disk, a digital video disk, a compact disk or an optical disk in general
or the like for the playback will hereinafter be referred to as the video picture
only for the convenience of description.
With the advent of hard disks of large capacity capable of storing a large volume
of video picture over several ten hours and commercially available at a relatively
low price, a video picture recording/reproducing apparatus equipped with the hard
disk as the storage medium has been developed for practical use. Besides, a video
picture recording/reproducing apparatus in which an optical storage medium such
as DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) is also finding practical applications increasingly.
An advantage common to these video picture recording/reproducing apparatuses is
found in that because of implementation of the storage medium in the form of a
disk, access to a given record can be accomplished at a very high speed. Even when
a plurality of programs are recorded on a disk-like recording medium, searching
of a given program can be realized almost instantaneously, differing from the recording
on a video tape, in which case the indexing operation is possible only after the
fast feeding or rewinding of the tape. Further, some of picture recording/reproducing
software designed to run on a personal computer or the like is so designed or programmed
as to create an index composed of leading images of plural scenes included in a
video picture by arraying them in the form of a list or array containing representative
images of reduced size so that a viewer or user can select the scene which he or
she wants to view and reproduce instantaneously a corresponding video picture starting
from the selected scene. Such combination of availability of the index information
and the high accessibility to the disk-like recording medium as mentioned above
provides excellent convenience to the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
However, the conventional techniques suffer several shortcomings. By way
of example, when a video picture is selected to be played back by making use of
or referencing the index, it is required to change over a screen image (i.e., image
on a display screen) solely of a video picture with that solely of the index or
alternatively allocate partially a field or area of the display screen to the playback
of the video picture with another field or area being assigned to the display of
the images serving as the index information. In more concrete, let's suppose that
a viewer is enjoying a video picture being reproduced or played back in a full
screen size as in the case of watching a program on a television receiver and that
he or she wants to view another part of the video picture by making use of the
index information. In that case, the full-screen image changes abruptly from the
video picture to the display of the index images, which will give an impression
of discontinuity to the viewer, impairing his or her feeling of enjoying the video
picture with absorbed interest. Additionally, because the video picture being played
back and the index images are displayed as the completely independent screen images
or separately in discrete screen fields, respectively, the user will encounter
difficulty in understanding clearly the correlation between the video picture and
the index images. In some cases, the user may feel uncertainty as to whether the
scene selected from the list of index images is being properly played back. In
this conjunction, it should also be taken into consideration that the user's action
of selection is likely to be accompanied with chattering of a designating device,
unconscious doings or the like, as a result of which the scene differing from the
intended one may unwantedly be selected.
Additionally, when the storage medium such as the hard disk which permits
the access thereto at a very high speed is made use of, changeover of the screen
image from the video picture being viewed to a new one selected for the playback
will take place instantaneously, making it difficult to clearly discern the changeover
from the transition of one scene to another which ordinarily occurs in one and
the same video picture. In the conventional tape-type VCR (Video Cassette Recorder)
in which the changeover among the scenes is effectuated after rewinding or fast
feeding of the tape, noise generated upon operation of magnetic heads as well as
noise generated upon winding of the tape can be made use of as a sign or clue suggesting
the scene change. By contrast, in the applications where the hard disk, optical
disk or the like is employed as the recording medium, such mechanical noise is
inaudible, which renders it more difficult for the user to recognize discretely
the picture changeover such as mentioned above.
In the light of the state of the art described above, it is an object of the
present
invention to provide a video picture access method and a system therefor which
are capable of carrying out the scene selecting or indexing operation in the course
of reproduction or playback of a video picture without impairing or disturbing
user's comfortableness of viewing continuously the video picture without being
disturbed by interruption or interception.
Another object of the present invention is to provide visual effect presentation
facility which allows the user or viewer to recognize instantaneously whether the
indexing operation has been performed in conformance with his or her intention.
In view of the above and other objects which will become apparent as the description
proceeds, there is provided according to a general aspect of the present invention
a video picture access system which includes a representative image list display
function for displaying in superposition on a video picture being displayed on
a display screen a representative image list containing at least one representative
image of a reduced size corresponding to a scene included in the video picture,
an exhibition function for making into appearance the representative image list
while extending stepwise a display field of the representative image list over
a predetermined time duration, a user interface function for enabling selection
of a representative reduced-size image of a scene intended by a user to be next
displayed from the representative image list, and a video picture reproducing function
capable of exhibiting such visual effect that reproduction of a video picture corresponding
to the selected scene is started at a display position of the selected representative
reduced-size image with a size thereof, whereon the reproduction makes transition
temporally gradually to a full screen reproduction in which said video picture
is displayed substantially over a whole surface of the display screen.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will
become more apparent in view of the following detailed description of the embodiments
of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the course of the description which follows, reference is made to the drawings,
in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing generally and schematically an exemplary configuration
of a system for realizing the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram for illustrating exemplarily flows of video
data in the system shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C are views for illustrating pictorially an
index displaying method according to which index images are caused to make appearance stepwise;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart for illustrating, by way of example, a processing procedure
for displaying index image(s) without interrupting display of a video picture;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart for illustrating, by way of example, a processing procedure
for displaying the index images through scrolling without involving stagnation
or interruption in the playback of a video picture;
FIGS. 6A6B and 6C are views for illustrating pictorially a method
of starting playback of a video picture with a scene represented by a selected
index image being gradually extended; and
FIG. 7 is a view for illustrating, by way of example, a method of emulating
a jog-and-shuttle function with a touch panel.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will be described in detail in conjunction with what is
presently considered as preferred or typical embodiments thereof by reference to
the drawings. In the following description, like reference characters designate
like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing generally and schematically an exemplary configuration
of a system for realizing the concept contemplated with the present invention.
In the figure, reference numeral
1 denotes a display device which may be
constituted by a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device
or the like and which is designed for displaying video pictures outputted from
a computer
4. Instructions or commands for the computer
4 can be
inputted by using an input device
5 such as a keyboard, a pointing device
typified by a mouse, a touch panel or the like. A video apparatus
10 is
comprised of a tuner device designed for receiving broadcasting programs such as
of ground wave broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, cable television facility
and/or the like. Alternatively, the video apparatus
10 may be constituted
by an apparatus designed for reproducing video pictures recorded on an optical
disk, a video tape or the like recording media. Video signals
2 outputted
from the video apparatus are sequentially converted into digital image data and
digital audio data by means of a video input device
3 to be subsequently
supplied to a computer. In the computer, the digital image data is transferred
to a memory
9 by way of an interface
8 to undergo processings by
a CPU (Central Processing Unit)
7 in accordance with a program(s) stored
in the memory
9. Various information and data can be stored in an external
information storage
6 as the processing requires. Furthermore, there are
stored in the memory
9 a variety of data generated through the processings
described below, which data can be referenced as the need arises.
FIG. 2 is a schematic functional block diagram for illustrating in detail flows
of the video data in the system of the structure described above. The image data
and the audio data digitalized by the video input device
3 as mentioned
previously are stored in the memory
9 which can be managed by the CPU
7.
The image data undergoes conversion through a color space converter
20 into
a color space format capable of easy handling by the program running on the CPU
or alternatively into a color space format which facilitates display, as the case
may be. By contrast, in the case where the video signal is straightforwardly available
as the digital data as in the case of digital broadcasting or the like, the video
input device
3 is designed to play a role for converting the digital data
into an image data format which can easily be handled by the program running on
the CPU or which is easy to handle for the display. On the other hand, digital
video data stored in the external information storage
6 such as a hard disk
in the format based on MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) or the like is converted
into an image data format easily susceptible to the handling by the program on
the CPU or for the display and then transferred to the memory
9. In this
conjunction, it should however be mentioned that in the case where the digital
video data is already stored in a data format easy to handle such as non-compressed
data, the video decoder
21 can be spared.
An index decoder
22 is provided for converting the data stored in the
external
information storage
6 into a data format for the image destined for index
generation. When both the video data and the index image data are stored in the
external information storage
6 in a same data format or when a part of the
video data is made use of as the index image data, the functions of the two decoders
21,
22 mentioned above can be implemented by a single decoder. The
video decoder
21 and the index decoder
22 may be realized either
by hardware or softwarewise by a descriptive program. The image data stored in
the memory
9 is synthesized combinatorially into a single screen image on
a video memory
23 by means of the CPU
7. To this end, a RAMDAC (Random
Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter)
24 reads out sequentially and
orderly the contents of the video memory
23 periodically at a predetermined
interval to thereby generate a signal which can be displayed on the display device
1. On the other hand, the audio data is supplied to a speaker
26
by way of an audio D/A (Digital-to-Analog) converter
25.
Now, description will be made in detail of the flow of processings (software)
executed by the hardware described above and by the CPU
7 among others for
solving the subject matter contemplated with the present invention.
In the first place, description will be directed to a method or procedure which
makes it possible to display picture-relevant information (i.e., information relevant
to a video picture being displayed) such as index image data or the like without
calling away or disturbing the attention of a viewer who is absorbed in watching
or viewing the picture. As the major factors which disturb or impair the viewer's
comfortableness of viewing the video picture with absorbed interest and which are
ascribable to the display of the index images, there may be mentioned such situations
that index image(s) is constantly displayed on a same display screen together with
an intrinsic video picture by occupying partially a field or area of the display
screen with a result that the video picture is displayed forcibly in a reduced
size, a video picture having been viewed heretofore is abruptly changed over to
the display of an index image or that image(s) irrelevant to the video picture
being viewed such as background image of the operating system, windows of other
application programs or the like makes appearance. For excluding such disturbing
factors as mentioned above, it is required to allow the intrinsic video picture
to be displayed on a full screen as in the case of the conventional television
display, whereas when display of the index images is demanded, the index images
are caused to make appearance stepwise in succession without intercepting discontinuously
the video picture having been viewed heretofore while eliminating any room for
the irrelevant image(s) to be displayed.
FIGS. 3A,
3B and
3C are views showing schematically a sequence
of index images for illustrating an index displaying method proposed by the present
invention for achieving the object thereof mentioned hereinbefore. Referring to
the figures, a video picture is displayed on a display screen
100 of the
display device
1 through the medium of the video input device
3 mentioned
previously on the presumption that the picture on the display screen
100
as a whole changes sequentially as a function of time lapse in the order of FIGS.
3A,
3B and
3C. As can be seen in these figures, the display area
for the index data (i.e., index images)
102 is extended or stretched stepwise
in the direction from the top toward the bottom until the display area has ultimately
occupied one fourth of the whole screen area at a left-hand side thereof, as illustrated
in FIG.
3C. In the index image display in the final stage (FIG.
3C),
a representative image of a scene which can be selected is ornamented with a frame
104 for emphasis. In the index image displaying state illustrated in FIG.
3C, the frame
104 can be shifted to another representative image for another
scene in response to a corresponding user's (viewer's) command inputted through
the keyboard or the like for displaying the selected index image with the frame
for emphasis. Incidentally, when there exist too many representative images to
be displayed on the screen area, these representative images may be displayed in
succession to one another by making use of a scroll display function or the like.
In order to realize smoothly the display procedure described above, reading or
fetching of the index image data and the display thereof as well as combination
or synthesization of the index image data with the video picture data supplied
from the video input device
3 has to be carried out smoothly without stagnation.
More specifically, when the processing is concentrated onto reading or fetching
of the index image data, there may arise, for example, such situation that the
display of the video picture is stopped or interrupted during the processing period,
disturbing comfortableness of the user who is viewing the video picture with absorbed
interest. As mentioned hereinbefore, the primary object of the present invention
is to ensure comfortableness for the user viewing a video picture regardless of
displaying the index images representing the scenes included in the video picture.
In view of this, the present invention teaches that the index data read processing
be stepwise or gradually executed a few at a time to thereby prevent such display
stagnation or interruption as mentioned above. The concept underlying the invention
will be elucidated below by reference to a flow chart shown in FIG.
4.
For displaying the video picture, the CPU
7 executes at first various
initialization processings as required in a step
200, whereon one image
frame of a video picture is fetched from the video input device
3 in a step
202. At that time point, it is checked in a step
204 whether or not
the display of the index image is commanded. Unless the index display is commanded,
the frame image as inputted or fetched is simply transferred to the video memory
23 in a step
216, whereon the processing step
202 is resumed.
The video image data transferred to the video memory is read out through the RAMDAC
24 to be displayed on the display screen. On the other hand, when the index
display command has been issued, it is then checked in a step
206 whether
or not all the index images to be displayed as a single or unit screen image have
been fetched, i.e., whether or not all the relevant index data exist availably.
When all the index data are available (i.e., when the decision step
206
results in affirmation "Yes"), then the index data are synthesized or combined
with the frame image data fetched in the step
202 to be subsequently transferred
to the video memory
23 (step
214). In that case, when all the index
data are wholly available, only a part of the index data is initially synthesized
with the video frame data, and then the index data to be synthesized is gradually
increased so that the whole index is ultimately embedded in the video frame image
to be finally transferred to the video memory
23. Through the procedure
described above, the stepwise or progressive index display such as illustrated
in FIGS. 3A,
3B and
3C is realized. On the other hand, when the index
data is incomplete or insufficient, a request for reading supplementary representative
image data constituting the index is issued. The processing for this read request
is not executed as the task included in the main loop now under discussion but
executed as another task. The task of the read request processing is imparted with
priority lower by one rank than the main loop illustrated in FIG.
4 and
thus executed on a part-by-part basis by taking advantage of spare time occurring
in execution of the main loop. Through the read request processing, the index data
requested is read out from the external information storage
6 to undergo
the decode processing as the occasion demands. In this manner, the index data for
the representative images for the scenes included in the video picture being displayed
can be acquired.
On the other hand, in a processing step
210 which succeeds to the processing
step
208, it is checked whether the processing for the request for reading
the index image data executed last time has been completed or not. Unless the read
request was issued in the past or when the processing for the read request has
not been completed yet, the processing step
202 is intactly resumed. By
contrast, when the processing mentioned above has been completed, the representative
image data as read is written in an index-dedicated working memory. The index information
is ordinarily composed of plural representative images. Accordingly, unless all
of the plural index images have been formed on the working memory with all the
representative image data having been written, decision to the effect that the
index information has been completed can not be obtained in the processing step
206.
The procedure described above may also be adopted for displaying the index through
scrolling. In that case, the scroll display can be realized without being accompanied
with stagnation in the playback of the video picture. This will be described by
reference to a flow chart shown in FIG.
5. Referring to this flow chart
which is essentially similar to the one shown in FIG. 4, a scrolling request is
issued by the operator or user in a step
240, which is then followed by
a step
242 where the representative image to be newly displayed through
scrolling is determined, whereupon a request for reading data of the index image
as determined is issued. The processing for this read request is executed as a
task assigned with priority lower by one rank, as described hereinbefore. Thus,
this read request processing can be executed in such a manner that no interruption
occurs in the reproduction of the video picture. Upon completion of this read processing
(step
210), the index stored and developed on the working memory is scrolled
for allowing the read or fetched index image data to be newly written in the working
memory, for thereby constituting a new index. Ordinarily, as the representative
image to be newly displayed through scrolling, the representative image of the
immediately succeeding or preceding scene is selected. In this connection, it should
however be noted that the representative image of the scene which precedes or succeeds
by several scenes may be selected as the representative image to be newly displayed
in the index field in response to a corresponding command inputted by the user.
By way of example, when the scrolling command is inputted by pressing a key(s),
the representative image of the scene remote by a distance which corresponds to
a time period during which the key is continuously held in the pressed or pushed
state. In this way, pushing of the key for a short duration allows a fine scrolling
control to be realized, while as the key pushing duration increases, the scrolling
speed is correspondingly accelerated, which makes it possible for the user to grasp
speedily all the representative images even when a large number of representative
images are presented available. Further, when a jog-and-shuttle manipulator which
is employed in many video editors or the like is used as the input device, it is
possible to display the representative image of the scene remote by a spatial or
temporal distance which corresponds to a rotation speed of a jog dial or an angle
of rotation of a shuttle ring of the jog-and-shuttle manipulator.
The scroll displaying method described above can be applied for searching the
scenes bearing similarity to each other in the video picture. By way of example,
the television program includes similar scenes in a repetitive fashion in many
cases. Suppose, for example, a news program. In this sort of program, there usually
exists such a stereotyped portion that a newscaster makes appearance to read aloud
headlines of news upon every changing of news items. Accordingly, if the search
for similar scenes can be carried out upon finding a representative image of the
newscaster reading the headlines in the index field by making use of that representative
image as the key image, then only the headlines can be surveyed swiftly. For realizing
this procedure, a given representative image is selected from the index for executing
the search for the similar scenes in response to a corresponding command inputted
through the keyboard or manipulation of the pointing device. Subsequently, request
for reading or fetching the representative image for the scene as found is issued
as in the case of the scroll display, whereupon the representative image as found
is additionally written in the index for display. Of course, instead of effecting
the scroll display, the index may wholly be so updated that a list of the representative
images for the scenes preceding and succeeding to the found one can be made available.
For the similar scene search, various conventional search methods may selectively
be employed. By way of example, such method may be adopted that histograms are
determined for all the representative images one after another to thereby determine
square sums between these histograms and that of the representative image selected
as the key image. Then, the representative image for which the square sum is smaller
than a predetermined threshold value is outputted as the result of the similar
scene search. When a plurality of similar scenes for which the square sum is smaller
than the threshold value are found as the result of the similar scene search, then
the scene which is located temporally closest to the scene selected as the key
image in the index may be displayed as the ultimate similar scene. In this conjunction,
such arrangement may also be adopted which allows the user to select a temporally
forward search or a temporally backward search. In that case, the index display
can be updated when the scene located temporally closest to the scene selected
as the key image is found in the search direction designated by the user. In this
conjunction, when it is expected that a lot of time is involved in executing the
similar scene search processing, the task therefor may be imparted with priority
of lower level so that the video reproduction is protected from being interruption
due to the similar scene search processing.
By making use of the index information displayed in the manners described above,
the user can select a given one of the representative images being displayed as
the index information by inputting a corresponding command through the keyboard
or manipulation of the pointing device or scrolling the index to thereby start
the playback or reproduction of the video picture from the scene which corresponds
to the selected representative image. In this conjunction, FIGS. 6A
6B and
6C illustrate, by way of example, a method of starting the playback of a
video picture. Referring to the figures, a video picture inputted through the video
input device
3 mentioned previously is being displayed on the display screen
100 of the display device
1. The video picture changes stepwise in
the sequential manner illustrated in FIGS. 6A,
6B and
6C in this
order as the time lapses. More specifically, these figures show that the area of
a representative image selected by the user through the key input operation or
manipulation of the pointing device and displayed with frame for emphasis as described
hereinbefore is gradually extended stepwise, starting-from the index position,
in response to the playback start command inputted by the user until the selected
representative image has ultimately occupied the whole area of the display screen.
In that case, the index representative images not selected are caused to scroll
or move leftward and disappear from sight of the user, as can be seen in the figures.
The display method described above can be realized by changing gradually the ratio
of synthesization of the three images, i.e., the video picture inputted through
the video input device
3, the picture for reproduction or playback stored
in the external information storage
6 and the index image. By adopting the
scheme of displaying the index in superposition on the video picture serving as
the base, reproduction of the video picture can be started while allowing the user
to recognize explicitly which of the scenes in the index has been selected.
Although the foregoing description has been made, only by way of example,
on the presumption that the video picture supplied through the video input device
3 and the index image(s) are synthesized for the concurrent display, it
goes without saying that the teachings of the present invention can equally be
applied to the synthesization of the video picture stored in the external information
storage
6 with the index image(s). In particular, when the video picture
is supplied through the medium of the video input device, the video picture display
and the index picture display may be generated individually and separately on respective
drawing planes or layers and superposed by resorting to hardware facilities. Furthermore,
the video picture supplied through the video input device may be transferred via
DMA (Direct Memory Access) or the like independently from the CPU. In that case,
interruption of the video picture can effectively be suppressed without need for
positive control of the CPU. However, in the case where the video picture is read
out from the external information storage for display, the CPU plays a major role.
Thus, the control by the CPU in the manner described above bears great importance.
Additionally, in the foregoing description of the illustrated embodiments of the
present invention, it has been assumed that the user's commands are inputted with
the aid of a keyboard and/or a pointing device such as a mouse used widely in personal
computers. However, a remote controller employed conventionally in AV (Audio and
Visual) equipment and a touch panel may be used substantially to the same effect.
Among others, the touch panel which the user can directly touch provides an interface
which is easy to understand intuitively even by the beginners. Accordingly, the
touch panel can serve as the especially effective interface for an intelligent
multi-function video system which incorporates a lot of functions when compared
with the conventional single function video system and which is apt to be complicative
in manipulation. By way of example, when the touch panel is employed, a concerned
representative image of the index being displayed can be selected very simply and
easily merely by touching directly that representative image for thereby commanding
the start of reproduction of the video picture relevant thereto. Additionally,
various input devices employed heretofore in the conventional video equipment can
be emulated. By way of example, the jog-and-shuttle function is a handy function
for reproduction of a video picture with special effect. To this end, a jog-and-shuttle
may be displayed as a graphic on a screen
300 as illustrated in FIG. 7 by
way of example. In that case, by tracing the jog-and-shuttle graphic
302
on the screen
300 with a finger of the user as if it were a real jog-and-shuttle
manipulator, the very functions thereof can be reenacted. Referring to FIG. 7,
the jog-and-shuttle graphic is basically composed of a large circle and a pair
of small circles positioned along the circumference of the former. The small circle
represents a symbol of representative image list and functionally corresponds to
a revolving handle of a real jog-and-shuttle manipulator. By moving the graphic
jog-and-shuttle by tracing it with a finger of the user, the big circle rotates
in the direction in which it is jogged by the finger while indicating magnitude
of the rotation. By emulating various devices in this way, numerous different input
functions can be realized only with the touch panel. In other words, only with
the touch panel, substantially all the functions as demanded can be implemented.
According to the teachings of the present invention, the video picture
can continuously be displayed together with the index images making appearance
on a same display screen without impairing the viewer's attention concentrated
onto the video picture. Furthermore, since reproduction of the video picture can
be started, being extended gradually from the position of the selected index image,
the start of reproduction of the selected video picture as well as correctness
of the selection can be confirmed straightforwardly.
While the present invention has been described above in conjunction with the
embodiments, one having the ordinary knowledges in the art would be enabled by
this disclosure to make various modifications to this embodiment and still be within
the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
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