The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 25, 2019
Filed:
Nov. 08, 2017
Roku, Inc., Los Gatos, CA (US);
Christopher James Tegethoff, Portland, OR (US);
Abhijit Pol, Los Gatos, CA (US);
ROKU, INC., Los Gatos, CA (US);
Abstract
Enhancements to the video playback bar, involving snapping to time markers, are described herein. The playback bar is part of a graphical user interface (GUI) for a TV or other display device, and includes a current playback time (CTI) and a plurality of scene change markers. The playback bar is sticky. The stickiness of the playback bar is based on (1) a speed of the CTI in the playback bar, while a movie or TV show (or other content) is being played in the display device, and (2) a distance of the CTI to a closest scene change marker in the playback bar, at a time a pause or stop command is received. The method operates by receiving a first command to play, fast forward, rewind, seek, or scrub through the content being played on the display device. The first command is executed, and then a second command to pause or stop is received. The second command is executed. A scene change marker in the playback bar closest to the CTI after execution of the second command is identified. Then, it is determined whether the distance from the CTI to the closest scene change marker is within a time threshold. If the distance is within the time threshold, then the CTI is snapped to the closest scene change marker. In some embodiments, the time thresholds associated with speeds of the CTI may be adjusted in a crowdsourced manner.