Sony Corporation

Zeta Bridge Corporation

Naotaka Ando

Yoshihito Fujiwara

Kazuhiko Takabayashi

Yuichiro Deguchi

Akiko Matsuoka

Shigeto Funado

Deguchi Yuichiro

Steps after a user finds an attractive product until he or she buys it are successively performed so that he or she can buy it stressfreely. The user photographs an attractive product with a portable camera telephone terminaland transmits image datato a serverthrough Internet. The serverhas a DBin which images such as various types of products, persons, and logo marks are registered and a DBin which related information of image data registered in the DBis registered. The serverperforms an image recognizing process for the image data, retrieves data that match the image datawith a high match rate from the image data registered in the DB, and extracts corresponding related information from the DB. The related information is provided to the user through the Internet. By only transmitting the image data, the user can obtain related information of an attractive product. When the user accesses a sitefor the product corresponding to the related information, he or she can obtain detailed information and buy the product.

Information retrieving system, information retrieving method, information retrieving apparatus, information retrieving program, image recognizing apparatus image recognizing method image recognizing program and sales

A play list comprising the names of music pieces broadcasted from a broadcast station and broadcast time information are accumulated in a data base. If a user likes a music piece broadcasted from the broadcast station, he activates a book marker which stores time information representing the time at which the book marker is activated. The time information is supplied through a gateway device to a search engine which searches the data base for those broadcast stations in the user's geographic area which broadcasted music pieces or the like at a time that matches the time information. The search results are transmitted to the gateway device and displayed.

System for searching a data base for information associated with broadcast segments based upon broadcast time

The improvement of accuracy is provided in extracting a rule in customers. A customer database DB is constructed by storing customer inner information concerning the mental side, which includes a value sense of each customer, and customer outer information which includes basic attributes consisting of at least sexuality and age of each customer.

Customer information retrieving method, a customer information retrieving apparatus, a data preparation method, and a database

An A/D (analog-to-digital) converter circuit that controls a frequency characteristic of an input video signal in response to a sampling signal of a variable frequency to reduce distortions such as a folded distortion and so on caused by the A/D conversion.

A/D converter circuit for video signals having different time frequencies

A frequency detector is used with a digital scanning converter that enables a monitor receiver having a particular horizontal deflection frequency to monitor various video signals having various horizontal frequencies. The frequency detector has a counter for counting a reference clock during a predetermined time interval derived from an input signal to be measured and a computing circuit for adding or subtracting a first constant to or from a setting cycle in response to a difference between a count value of the counter and the setting cycle. When the difference between the count value and the setting cycle exceeds a second constant during a predetermined number of such time intervals, the setting cycle is adjusted by an output from the computing circuit, and an approximate value of a cycle of the signal to be measured is computed, thereby detecting the approximate frequency. This process goes through as many iterations as necessary to bring the difference between the count value of the counter and the setting cycle to a value less than the second constant. Even when the frequency of a signal to be measured has a value selected from a number of values that differ greatly from one another, the frequency detector thus homes-in on the period of the signal to be measured and enables detection of the frequency with high accuracy. Also, even when pulse dropouts or time base fluctuations occur in the signal to be measured, the frequency detector can obtain a stable detected value.

Apparatus for detecting frequency of input signal with a digital

A scan converter apparatus, for converting an input video signal having a line frequency f.sub.H1 into an output video signal having a line frequency of substantially f.sub.H2, has means for generating a signal with a line frequency m/n times the horizontal synchronizing signal of the input video signal by approximating a line frequency ratio of f.sub.H1 /f.sub.H2 to n/m, where m and n are both integers, and controlling the reading operation from a memory in synchronism with the resultant line frequency signal to thereby produce the output video signal, so that even when the line frequency f.sub.H2 is not an integer multiple of the line frequency f.sub.H1, it is possible to satisfactorily obtain the output video signal of which the horizontal line frequency is f.sub.H2.

Scan converter apparatus

Digital apparatus for convergence correction of a plurality of images on the screen of a television monitor includes a digital registration circuit, or an analog registration circuit using a digital attenuator; and a memory for storing data for operation of the digital registration circuit or the digital attenuator of the analog registration circuit. The memory has a plurality of pages, and the correction data corresponding to different operating conditions is stored in the respective pages of the memory. The paging of this memory is performed in accordance with the operating conditions, and the convergence correction is carried out on the basis of the correction data continuously read out of the designated page. With this apparatus, accurate convergence adjustment can be simply performed to accommodate changes in size and/or shape of the image displayed on the screen or monitor, changes in the distance of a projection screen from its projector, and changes in the screen surface, i.e., flat, concave, cyindrical, etc.

Digital apparatus for convergence correction

A plurality of images superimposed to form a composite image on the screen of a television monitor are brought into convergence (register) by forming a reference image on the screen, the reference image including a plurality of reference points, and superimposing a test image on the reference image. The test image is similar to the reference image and includes a plurality of adjustment points respectively corresponding to the reference points. The test image further includes at least one correction portion corresponding to a given portion of the reference image, the correction portion including a given subset of the adjustment points. An adjustment point is selected within such subset, the position of the selected adjustment point is adjusted with respect to the reference point corresponding thereto, and the positions of the other points within the correction portion are simultaneously and proportionally adjusted, thereby establishing a substantial convergence of the correction portion with respect to the given portion of the reference image. The process is repeated for other corresponding image portions as necessary to establish substantial convergence of all corresponding portions of the two images. In the same manner convergence of a third image with the first two is established.

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Saitama, Japan

Naotaka Ando