A transmitting device for communicating via a multimedia communication link includes a compression circuitry that receives blanking period data corresponding to blanking states of video blanking periods. The compression circuitry compresses the blanking period data into compressed blanking period data. The transmitting device also includes an interface that transmits signals corresponding to the compressed blanking period data via one or more multimedia channels of the multimedia communication link.

Methods, systems, and media for generating an advertisement from a video stream are provided. In accordance with some embodiments, the method comprises: receiving, from a first user device, advertisement parameters associated with an advertisement campaign for placing an advertisement based on the advertisement parameters, wherein the advertisement parameters include one or more keywords; associating the advertisement parameters with an identifier of the first user device; receiving, from the first user device, a live video stream; receiving, from a second user device, a request to present an advertisement; identifying the live video stream based at least in part on the one or more keywords; generating the advertisement using the live video stream and the advertisement parameters; and causing the advertisement to be presented on the second user device as the advertisement.

Systems and methods that effectuate synchronized advertisement playback across navigation experiences and transitional states, are provided. In an aspect, a system includes an advertisement component configured to play a pre-roll media advertisement associated with a first media item prior to playing of the first media item, a request component configured to receive a request play a second media item prior to completion of the pre-roll media advertisement, and a streaming component configured to initiate playing of the second media item in response to the request, wherein the advertisement component is configured to continue to play the pre-roll media advertisement prior to playing of the second media item.

A method in control equipment for synchronizing audio and video acquires an identifier of playback equipment. Information as to audio and video formats for the playback equipment is acquired playback and a first time delay data corresponding to the audio data and video data from the cloud server is set according to the identifier, the audio format information and the video format information. A first delay time between the audio data and video data according to the first time delay data acquired from the cloud server is set for the implementation of audio and video synchronization.

A method in control equipment for synchronizing audio and video acquires an identifier of playback equipment. Information as to audio and video formats for the playback equipment is acquired playback and a first time delay data corresponding to the audio data and video data from the cloud server is set according to the identifier, the audio format information and the video format information. A first delay time between the audio data and video data according to the first time delay data acquired from the cloud server is set for the implementation of audio and video synchronization.

A method and system are disclosed for automatic insertion of interactive television (TV) triggers into a broadcast data stream. The automatic insertion of the Interactive TV trigger can be based on recognition of one or more elements within the broadcast data stream. In particular, a recognized element can trigger the insertion of the interactive TV trigger into the broadcast data stream. Furthermore, the interactive TV trigger can be pre-inserted into the stored broadcast content having the recognized element prior to being broadcast.

The subject matter of this specification can be embodied in, among other things, a method that includes identifying metadata related to television programming. The method further includes sending search requests that include the identified metadata to a search system for selecting at least one portable program module. The method further includes in response to a first one of the search requests, receiving first search results from the search system that identify the selected portable program module and outputting a representation of the selected portable program module to a display device for presentation concurrently with the television programming. The method further includes in response to a second one of the search requests, receiving second search results from the search system that no longer identify the selected portable program module and ceasing the output of the representation of the selected portable program module.

The disclosure includes a system and method selecting advertisements for users based on image capturing patterns across different media. A media application receives a captured image including information about a product from a user, identifying an indexed image matching the captured image including information about the product, retrieving metadata describing the captured image including information about the product responsive to identifying the indexed image, retrieving a user profile stored for the user, identifying an advertisement from a set of advertisements based on the user profile and the metadata describing the captured image including information about the product and providing the user with the advertisement based on the user profile.

A method is implemented on a server system for initiating by voice display of closed captions (CC) for media content. The server system receives a voice message recorded by an electronic device, and determines that the voice message is a first CC initiation request including a user voice command to initiate closed captions and a user voice designation of a display device playing the media content for which closed captions are to be activated. The server system identifies in a device registry a cast device associated in a user domain with the electronic device and coupled to the designated display device, and sends a second CC initiation request to the cast device, thereby enabling the cast device to execute a media play application that controls the designated display device to turn on and display the closed captions of media content currently displayed on the designated display device.

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided in order to playback video and/or audio files wherein a desired segment is selected and played back based on its spatial audio content. In the context of a method, playback of media data is provided. The method may include generating one or more spatial seek points for the media data and causing display of information corresponding to the one or more spatial seek points. The method may further include performing the generation of the one or more seek points based on receiving a request for spatial seek points, automatically upon receiving the media data or upon starting playback of the media data, or based on the format of the media data. The method may further include receiving a selection of one of the one or more spatial seek points and providing for playback of the media data from a time point corresponding to the selected spatial seek point. A corresponding apparatus and a computer program product are also provided.