A mobile device responds in real time to media content presented on a media device, such as a television. The mobile device captures temporal fragments of audio-video content on its microphone, camera, or both and generates corresponding audio-video query fingerprints. The query fingerprints are transmitted to a search server located remotely or used with a search function on the mobile device for content search and identification. Audio features are extracted and audio signal global onset detection is used for input audio frame alignment. Additional audio feature signatures are generated from local audio frame onsets, audio frame frequency domain entropy, and maximum change in the spectral coefficients. Video frames are analyzed to find a television screen in the frames, and a detected active television quadrilateral is used to generate video fingerprints to be combined with audio fingerprints for more reliable content identification.

System and method for detecting and classifying direct response advertisements. The system includes a unit for generating an advertisement candidate segment for an advertisement section detected from a broadcast stream; a matching unit for determining whether the candidate segment matches each advertisement segment stored in a database (DB); a unit for, if the matching unit determines that a segment matching the candidate segment is not present, determining whether the candidate segment is a direct response advertisement; a registration unit for storing the candidate segment, determined to be a direct response advertisement, as an advertisement segment that is the direct response advertisement in the DB; and a direct response advertisement grouping unit for, if the matching unit determines that an advertisement segment matching the candidate segment is present, and the matching segment is a direct response advertisement, grouping the candidate segment with DB-stored advertisement segments that are direct response advertisements.

A mobile device responds in real time to media content presented on a media device, such as a television. The mobile device captures temporal fragments of audio-video content on its microphone, camera, or both and generates corresponding audio-video query fingerprints. The query fingerprints are transmitted to a search server located remotely or used with a search function on the mobile device for content search and identification. Audio features are extracted and audio signal global onset detection is used for input audio frame alignment. Additional audio feature signatures are generated from local audio frame onsets, audio frame frequency domain entropy, and maximum change in the spectral coefficients. Video frames are analyzed to find a television screen in the frames, and a detected active television quadrilateral is used to generate video fingerprints to be combined with audio fingerprints for more reliable content identification.

Systems and methods are presented for reducing network traffic when retrieving media guidance data. For example, a media guidance application receives a first user selection to display a group of media asset identifiers (e.g., video-on-demand listings) and retrieves detailed information from a remote server relating to the media asset identifiers to display to a user. The media guidance application then may receive a user selection to display a second group of media asset identifiers (e.g., purchased media assets). If any of the media asset identifiers are common to both groups, then the media guidance application already obtained the detailed information and the detailed information does not need to be retransmitted in order to be displayed. Thus, the media guidance application only retrieves detailed information for media asset identifiers unique to the second group of media asset identifiers (e.g., they are only on the purchased media asset list).

A method for retrieving a program data and a circuit system thereof are provided. The method that uses a dynamic packet identifier (PID) filter to retrieve the program data can be applied to a digital TV system. In the method, a master guide table is retrieved from a transport stream of digital TV signals, and a parsing method is executed to obtain a series of the PIDs. A polling method is used to obtain the program data corresponding to each of the PIDs. A filter window is applied to scan the PIDs for polling the program data corresponding to each of a group of the PIDs at once. After that, the filter window is shifted to a next group of the PIDs for polling the program data with respect to each of the PIDs, and an electronic program guide is accordingly formed.

A transcoder resource retrieves content stored in a repository. The stored content can be encoded in accordance with a first encoding format. The transcoder resource transcodes the retrieved content into a second encoding format. To increase available capacity, the transcoder resource stores the content in the second encoding format as a replacement to the content encoded according to the first encoding format. The second encoding format can support a higher compression ratio than the first encoding format. Additionally, the transcoding can be performed as one of multiple tasks executed in parallel. In such an instance, during parallel processing, a content management resource interleaves execution of the main processing task and the background task of transcoding the content into the second encoding format. The transcoding task can be assigned a lower execution priority than one or more other tasks executed in parallel.

Embodiments are disclosed for providing play/pause content. An example method includes receiving a command to play audio from a zone, the zone including one or more playback devices, wherein the zone is configured to play items from a playback queue responsive to the command to play audio. The example method also includes determining that the playback queue includes no playable items. The example method also includes automatically placing information identifying at least one playable item in the playback queue. The example method also includes, responsive to the command to play audio, causing to play the at least one playable item by the zone.

A content distribution apparatus onboard a vehicle periodically travelling within direct communicative range of other content distribution apparatuses onboard respective other vehicles has a storage interface to a local content data repository, and a mesh network interface establishing mesh network data communications links with the content distribution apparatuses. A comparator is in communication with the local content data repository over the storage interface, and a missing content segments list is generated by the comparator based upon an evaluation of a master content list against a local inventory of the segments of content data. The missing content data is retrieved from one or more upstream source content distribution apparatuses over a first mesh network data communications link. The content data in the local inventory is also transmitted to a downstream requestor content distribution apparatus over a second mesh network data communications link.

An intelligent television can provide various interfaces for providing video-on-demand (VOD). The user interfaces include unique visual representations and organizations that allow the user to utilize the intelligent television more easily and more effectively. Particularly, the user interfaces pertain to the display of VOD content and better organizations thereof. Further, the user interfaces provide unique process of transitioning between the VOD content.

Aspects of the present disclose involve a method, a device, and a system comprising a processor and a machine-readable storage medium storing at a set of instructions for identification and authentication of user profiles associated with a digital television system and displaying information related thereto. In example embodiments, the method includes identifying a user profile registered with a content presentation device based on received identification data that includes biometric data. The method further includes receiving, from a server, identifiers of a set of recently watched channels associated with the user profile and causing presentation of a recent channels interface that includes selectable elements corresponding to the set of recently watched channels.