International Business Machines Corporation

Konstantin Kupeev

Zohar Sivan

Gal Ashour

Yoram Simha Adler

Convergent playback of buffered content to real-time content play. A content viewing system is provided including a content player operative to receive a content stream from a content source, a content viewer operative to receive the content from the content player, and a buffer into which the content player may store the received content and from which the player may provide the stored content to the content viewer, where the content player is operative to buffer the content stream to the buffer responsive to a request to pause play of the content stream, and retrieve the content from the buffer for playback of the buffered content stream responsive to a request to resume play of the content stream, thereby emptying the buffer, where the buffer is emptied at a faster rate than the rate at which the content stream is buffered, and the rate at which the buffer is emptied varies.

Convergent playback of buffered content to real-time content play

Provides convergent playback of buffered content to real-time content play A content viewing system includes a content player to receive a content stream from a content source, a content viewer to receive the content from the content player, and a buffer into which the content player may store the received content and from which the player may provide the stored content to the content viewer, where the content player is operative to buffer the content stream to the buffer responsive to a request to pause play of the content stream, and retrieve the content from the buffer for playback of the buffered content stream responsive to a request to resume play of the content stream, thereby emptying the buffer, where the buffer is emptied at a faster rate than the rate at which the content stream is buffered, and the rate at which the buffer is emptied varies.

Determining image block significance based on region contrast, including partitioning an image into multiple regions of at least one pixel each, pairing any region with an unpaired, adjoining region, calculating a similarity value for any region pair, merging paired regions of any pair into a single region, where the region pair to be merged has a predefined similarity value, thereby creating a new image partition of multiple regions, repeatedly performing the preceding steps, thereby obtaining a sequence of image partitions, selecting within the image an image sub-area of a predefined size and shape, identifying a partition in the sequence in which the image sub-area is covered by any region to the extent of a predefined coverage measure, and calculating a region contrast significance value of the image sub-area as a value which is proportional to the position of the identified partition in the sequence.

Classification of image blocks by region contrast significance and uses therefor in selective image enhancement in video and image coding

A method for analyzing an image includes constructing a graph to represent an object appearing in the image, and generating a string of symbols corresponding to the graph. The string is processed so as to classify the object.

Representation of shapes for similarity measuring and indexing

A method for capture of computer screens in a sequence of frames. A first set of one or more windows appearing in a first frame in the sequence is identified, each window in the set having respective first-frame window characteristics and window contents. A description of the first set of windows is encoded, indicative of the appearance of the computer screen in the first frame. In a second frame in the sequence, a second set of one or more windows is identified, having respective second-frame window characteristics and window contents, the second set including one or more windows corresponding respectively to one or more of the windows in the first set. One or more transformations are determined, which are applied to the first-frame window characteristics of the windows in the first set to generate the second-frame window characteristics of the corresponding windows in the second set. A description of the second set of windows is encoded, including the determined transformations, for use in reconstructing the computer screen as it appeared in the second frame.

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Haifa, Israel

Konstantin Kupeev