Hitachi America, Ltd.

Prime Research Alliance E., Inc.

Hitachi, Ltd.

Rca Inc.

Kroy LLC

Sarnoff Corporation

Michael Allen Plotnick

Jill MacDonald Boyce

Frank Anton Lane

Joseph Ellis Augenbraun

John G Henderson

Charles Anthony Eldering

Masuo Oku

Jack S Fuhrer

Robert F Deitrich

Douglas J Ryder

Herbert M Lustig

Hiroo Okamoto

Takaharu Noguchi

Masafumi Nakamura

Katsuo Mohri

Larry Alan Pearlstein

Charles Benjamin Dieterich

Patrick Michael Sheehan

Sharif Mohammad Sazzad

Robert N Hurst, Jr

Walter G Gibson

Richard C Palmer

Fred R Stolfi

Thomas Y Chen

Charles Weaver Christine

Jack Selig Fuhrer

Charles August Asmuth

Paul J Shapiro

Sanjay R Vinekar

Kent Charles Koping

Robert William Shideleff

Lawrence A Pearlstein

Elizabeth Annella Martina Seip

Presenting viewers with an alternative brief version of a recorded advertisement when they choose to fast-forward through or skip (or any other trick play event) the recorded advertisement. The alternative advertisement may be displayed instead of or in conjunction with the recorded advertisement (i.e., fast-forwarding advertisement is displayed in one portion of the screen (i.e., background or portion of a split screen) and the alternative brief version is displayed in another portion). The alternative brief version of the advertisement (trick play advertisement) may be a marketing message that is a static screen presenting a logo or a portion of the recorded advertisement, or may be a condensed version of the actual advertisement. The trick play advertisements may be targeted. An alternate or entirely unrelated advertisement can also be displayed as the trick play advertisement.

Alternative advertising in prerecorded media

A method and apparatus for adjusting an embedded portion of a television signal. The embedded portion is adjusted such that a downstream receiver effects no change on a displayed video upon decoding the adjusted embedded portion.

Method and apparatus for adjusting an embedded portion of a television signal

Methods and apparatus for performing signed saturation of binary numbers to arbitrary powers of two are described. Given an n-bit signed binary word, the methods and apparatus of the present invention perform a signed saturation to k-bits where the value of k can vary such that 1<k<n. Through the use of hardware circuits of the present invention the signed saturation operation is implemented in a more efficient manner than software implementations which utilize multiple compare operations. The signed saturation circuits of the present invention can be incorporated into processors, e.g., CPUs, to provide a hardware implementation within a CPU for a signed saturation processor instruction, e.g., either a SISD OR SIMD saturation command or instruction. The signed saturation circuits can accept the data value upon which the operation is to be performed, and, optionally, a value k indicating the number of bits to which individual data value are to be saturated. In MPEG-2 decoding, at the end of the inverse quantization process the quantities being processed undergo signed saturation to 12-bits. In various embodiments, one or more signed saturation circuits of the present invention are incorporated into a fixed function hardware circuit that performs, for example, MPEG-2 video decoding to perform the saturation to 12 bits.

Methods and apparatus for performing a signed saturation operation

Digital video tape recorder ('VTR') and servo circuit for supporting the display of images during trick play VTR operation. The digital VTR, in one embodiment, having a single pair of heads of alternating azimuths located on a head cylinder one track width apart. The digital VTR records data that can be used to generate images during trick play tape speeds and directions of operation in fast scan tracks defined by the paths the single pair of heads trace over the tape during trick play operation. Each fast scan track crosses multiple normal play tracks. Sync blocks and track identification information are recorded on the tape along with video data. To align the heads with the appropriate fast scan track during trick play operation, a lookup table containing information on the pattern of fast scan tracks recorded on the tape is used. The information stored in the look-up table is compared to sync block number and track number information recorded on the tape to determine haw much the position of the tape must be adjusted to align the heads with the prerecorded fast scan tracks on the tape for the any selected speed and direction of digital video tape recorder operation.

Methods and apparatus for recording digital data including sync block

Method and apparatus for controlling the position of the heads of a

A procedure for selecting and storing data elements communicated from a common database to users of the database utilizing a communication link between each transmitter and a concomitant receiver accessible by the user. The transmitted information is augmented with attributes which are used at the receiver to select and then store locally only that information of interest to each receiver's user, wherein the attributes and the user selection pattern determine the criteria for storing information locally. Attributes include: utility of each data element in time; interest categories and level of interest for each of the categories determined for the collective users; repeat time to the data element; and a hyperlink to associated data elements.

Broadcast interactive multimedia system

A device for transmitting digital packetized video and audio data is disclosed. The transmitter includes a video encoder, a prioritizer, and a packetizer. The video encoder receives video signals and encodes the video signals into a digital video data stream including codewords. The video encoder also generates motion vectors and fully intra-coded video frames for use by a video tape recorder during trick play operation. The prioritizer is coupled to the video encoder. The prioritizer receives the digital video data stream and prioritizes the video data according to a preselected prioritization scheme optimized for identifying data useful to video tape recorder trick play operation. The preselected prioritization scheme assigns the video codewords in the video data stream to a priority level according to the utility of each video codeword for video tape recorder recording and playback operation and outputs both the video codewords and a priority level signal. The video codewords and the priority level signal are supplied to a transport packetizer which packetizes the video codewords and associates a header with each packet. The headers contain information identifying the assigned priority level of the codewords in each packet. This makes it possible for a video tape recorder receiving the video packets to determine the utility of the codewords in a given packet from the priority level information in the packet headers.

Video recording device compatible transmitter

Method of operating a digital video tape recorder apparatus that receives encoded and packetized digital video data, depacketizes the received data and decodes the data to the extent necessary to select a subset of the data for use during trick play operation. In one embodiment, the digital video tape recorder includes a data prioritizer for prioritizing the video data according to a preselected prioritization scheme. The apparatus also includes an encoder and re-packetizer for forming the selected subset of received data into transport data packets. The received digital video data is recorded on a tape in tape locations from which data can be read during normal video tape recorder playback operation while the selected subset of the received data is recorded in tape locations from which data can be read during video tape recorder trick playback operation.

Method and apparatus for selecting encoded video data for use during

A digital video tape recorder ('VTR') that selects data useful for generating images during trick playback operation and records the data in trick play tape segments arranged on a tape to form fast scan tracks and multi-speed playback tracks. Each fast scan track comprises trick play tape segments located on a diagonal, relative to the length of the tape, of the same angle as the angle at which the heads of a VTR are expected to pass over the tape during trick play operation at a specific speed and direction of operation. Each multi-speed playback track comprises a plurality of trick play tape segments arranged parallel to the length of the tape. Data which is used for at least one mode of trick play operation is recorded in each trick play tape segment. Each fast scan track and multi-speed track crosses multiple normal play tracks. During playback at a wide variety of speeds and directions, the heads pass over enough trick play segments of the multi-speed playback track to generate recognizable images during trick play operation. Data is recorded in each trick play segment in a manner that optimizes the amount of data that can be routinely recovered during trick playback operation despite tracking errors.

Methods and apparatus for recording data on a digital storage medium in

Growing community of inventors

Southampton, PA, United States of America

Michael Allen Plotnick