Disclosed are methods and systems for controlling the playback and recording of television programming containing interactive applications. In particular, the disclosed methods and systems detail how trick modes can be handled when playing applications that are distributed with the television programming.

A tile selection and bandwidth optimization scheme for effectuating optimized 360 immersive video viewing experience. Stream manifest files describing characteristics of tile groupings per frame for each tile-encoded bitstream corresponding to a particular one of a plurality of bitrate representations of a media input stream are retrieved. Each bitrate representation is encoded having a separate video quality that is related to a corresponding QP value used for the bitrate representation. Each frame of a tile-encoded bitstream comprises an array of tiles, with a plurality of frames forming a GOP structure of the tile-encoded bitstream. Tile weights based on respective tile positions and variant weights corresponding to the plurality of tile-encoded bitstreams of the media input stream are used in determining adequacy metrics for each tile/GOP combination, based on which tiles having different bitrate qualities are selected from corresponding tile-coded bitstreams in an iterative process for effectuating knapsack optimization with respect to an overall bandwidth allocation.

Systems and methods for rewinding a video to a point before the video was first viewed. Video transmitted by a media source is cached by a remote server. Upon a trick-play request for the video, the server generates a rewind stream that includes the video that was transmitted by the media source before the user started to view the video. Upon receiving the rewind stream, the user's equipment may cache the rewind stream in a rewind buffer and rewind or play from the rewind buffer. The server may also generate and transmit a forward stream of the video that the media source has not yet transmitted. The user's equipment may cache the forward stream in a forward buffer. To perform trick-play operations with the video, the user's equipment may migrate the playback of the video to the rewind and forward buffers and rewind or fast-forward the video from the buffers.

A method performed by a viewing device includes receiving a request for an operation to be performed by the viewing device. The request includes trigger criteria for performing the operation. The viewing device receives content from a content provider including content related metadata. A detection is made of a condition that the trigger criteria for the operation to be performed has been met. As a result, the viewing device performs the requested operation. The detection made be accomplished by the viewing device or by a service provider.

Particular embodiments provide a system to determine ad segments in a video asset to enable subsequent ad replacement in video programs. The system is included in a multiple service operator (MSO) system that broadcasts video programs via a broadcast schedule. The MSO may not know the location of the ad segments in the video asset. To determine the ad segments, the MSO uses a classifier to classify video program segments and advertisements in the video asset. The classifier may be integrated with an nDVR system. By integrating with the nDVR system, particular embodiments may determine user behavior information, such as trick play commands, from the nDVR system. The classifier may use the user behavior information to detect ad segments in the video asset. In one embodiment, the classifier may fuse outputs from different detectors to detect and validate ad segments in the video program.

An interactive television program guide system is provided. An interactive television program guide provides users with an opportunity to select programs for recording on a remote media server. Programs may also be recorded on a local media server. The program guide provides users with VCR-like control over programs that are played back from the media servers and over real-time cached copies of the programs. The program guide also provides users with an opportunity to designate gift recipients for whom programs may be recorded.

Systems and methods for rewinding a video to a point before the video was first viewed. Video transmitted by a media source is cached by a remote server. Upon a trick-play request for the video, the server generates a rewind stream that includes the video that was transmitted by the media source before the user started to view the video. Upon receiving the rewind stream, the user's equipment may cache the rewind stream in a rewind buffer and rewind or play from the rewind buffer. The server may also generate and transmit a forward stream of the video that the media source has not yet transmitted. The user's equipment may cache the forward stream in a forward buffer. To perform trick-play operations with the video, the user's equipment may migrate the playback of the video to the rewind and forward buffers and rewind or fast-forward the video from the buffers.

A system and method for intelligent content searching is disclosed herein. The system saves all searches executed by the user and periodically re-executes one or more of the previously saved searches and display the subsequent search results to the user at an appropriate time without any user intervention. In one aspect, the system periodically re-executes one or more of the previously saved searches upon the occurrence of a trigger event, which may be trending events, news events, type of menus and/or screens accessed, new content being added on one or more service providers, a boot event, passage of time since last search, etc. In this way, users do not need to set alert or follow any search topic.

Systems and methods are disclosed for enabling Internet users to schedule recordings of electronic programming content. One method includes displaying on a web page, over the Internet, a user interface element associated with an advertisement for electronic programming content; wherein selection of the user interface element, by a user of a web browsing device, initiates a recording device of the user, separate from the web browsing device, to schedule a recording of the electronic programming content. Another method for enabling Internet users to request television content includes displaying on a web page, over the Internet, a user interface element associated with an advertisement for television content; wherein a user's selection of the user interface element initiates a request for the advertised television content from a carrier that provides television service to the user.

A special network device and method for using the same are described. In one embodiment, the device is for use in a network arrangement comprising a plurality of access points that are part of one or more existing networks and operable to individually address and communicate with each other to form a local area network (LAN) to transfer data between two or more of the plurality of access points using point-to-point links independent of their function in the one or more first existing networks, and the client device comprises: a first communication interface; a second wireless communication interface; a cache to store content; and connection logic coupled to the first and second communication interfaces, and the cache, to initiate a wireless connection with one or more access points in the plurality of access points by itself using the second wireless communication interface to transfer desired content cached by individual access points of the plurality of access points, the wireless connection used to request at least one of the one or more of the plurality of access points to transfer the desired content via one or more direct point-to-point transfers with one or more access points in the plurality of access points.