The system and methods described aid content delivery by providing requested content using a hybrid delivery of unicast and multicast content. A content delivery system receives, from user equipment, a request for content and identifies multicast sources for the content. The content delivery system determines a recent multicast source from the multicast sources, the recent multicast source having begun more recently relative to the other sources. The content delivery system transmits, to the user equipment, an identity of the recent multicast source and provides a beginning portion of the content to the user equipment via a unicast stream.

To provide a content generating device, content streaming server, content generating method, and content generating program for generating highly interesting video content. A content generating device according to an embodiment comprises: an acquiring portion (25) for requesting, from an accumulating portion that accumulates a plurality of video data, video data that satisfies a prescribed condition, to acquire a plurality of video data that satisfies the condition; a starting frame identifying portion (26) for identifying starting frames wherein prescribed actions start, in the video playback of the plurality of video data acquired by the acquiring portion (25); and a generating portion (27) for generating multi-video data by combining a plurality of video data with the timings of the identified starting frames synchronized.

The serving of advertisements with (e.g., on) video documents may be improved in a number of ways. For example, a system may (a) accept information defining at least one ad spot associated with at least one instance of an video document, (b) accept offers to have advertisements served in the ad spot(s), and (c) arbitrate among competing advertisements, using at least the offers, to determine at least one advertisement to be served in that ad spot(s). As another example, a system may (a) accept relevance information for an advertisement, (b) determine at least one video document using the accepted relevance information, (c) present information about the video document(s) to an advertiser associated with the advertisement, and (d) accept, from the advertiser, an offer to have its advertisement served with at least one of the video document(s) accepted. As yet another example, a system may (a) accept relevance information for an video document, (b) determine a plurality of advertisements relevant to the video document using the relevance information and serving constraints of the advertisements, and (c) select at least one of the determined relevant advertisements to be served with the video document. Examples of video documents include video files published on the Internet, television programs, live or recorded talk shows, video-voice mail, segments of an video conversation, etc.

A communal media system includes a synchronization system to: receive multimedia content for delivery to multiple user devices, a video recorded on one of the user devices, and social media content generated by the user devices; separate the multimedia content, the video and the social media content into a set of prioritized layers; and adjust simultaneous deliveries of the multimedia content, the video and the social media content to the user devices, based timestamp receipts and the fragment identifier acknowledgements received from the user devices, The multimedia content is delivered to each user devices at the same time and the social media content is delivered to the user devices at the same time while the multimedia content is being viewed on the user devices. A recording system records a communal session including the multimedia content, the video, and the social media content.

A server may receive metadata associated with specific content in a transport signal stream from a content information service. The metadata may identify a point in time of the transport signal stream. The server may instruct an encoder to insert a marker into the transport signal stream corresponding to the point in time of the transport signal stream. The marker may indicate control of a trick mode to be enforced by a delivery platform subsequent to the point in time of the transport signal stream. The server may record the marker in a data store associated with the server.

A hybrid audio and visual imagery entertainment system that combines visual imagery obtained as live visual imagery or prerecorded visual imagery with the transmission of live audio displayed on a display for therapeutic benefit to a user. Each of the visual imagery and audio of the system can be viewed or heard by the user on its own, however, it is designed to be viewed and heard simultaneously but where the audio and visual imagery streams are separate and unsynchronized and displayed on a display for viewing and hearing by a user.

A system that handles delivery of service(s) through a client device, includes an interactive service provider, a video service provider, and a client device. The interactive service provider inserts at least one of digital watermarks and digital fingerprints in non-programming media content. The video service provider transmits a media stream of the media content that includes programming media content and the non-programming media content. The client device detects at least one of the inserted digital watermarks and the digital fingerprints in the playback duration of the media content and renders overlay graphics on the media content. The client device activates at least one of input devices paired with the client device and the rendered overlay graphics. The client device further receives trigger responses over activated overlay graphics and displays an interactive view to enable delivery of service(s) in response to the trigger responses.

Provided is a system and method for publishing a disparate live media output stream that complies with distribution format regulations. The system generates a preview based on a low-latency protocol for a plurality of live input streams. Based on at least one event identified in the preview in real-time, an updated schedule is generated. In accordance with the updated schedule, a disparate live media output stream manifest is generated based on manipulation of manifests of the plurality of live input streams and pre-encoded media assets.

A mathematical model deriving apparatus includes an encoding unit that generates a plurality of deteriorated videos after encoding an original video, in accordance with a plurality of combinations of a plurality of encoding parameters for a codec setting, a quality estimation unit that calculates a quality estimation value of each of the plurality of deteriorated videos, and a deriving unit that outputs video quality in response to the plurality of encoding parameters as input and derives a coefficient of a mathematical model in accordance with the quality estimation value and the plurality of combinations of the plurality of encoding parameters. This allows for deriving a mathematical model capable of evaluating quality according to a codec setting.

Techniques described herein relate to a method for distributed data management. The method may include obtaining, by a data management agent of a data host and from an application executing on the data host, a request to access data; obtaining, by the data management agent, an information set associated with the data; making a determination, by the data management agent, that at least a portion of the data is not ready to be used by the application; and performing, by the data management agent and based on the determination, a data preparation action set.