Method and apparatus for re-using black border regions of a digital TV screen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11134302-B2
Application number	US-201716489205-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2017
Priority date	Feb 27, 2017
Publication date	Sep 28, 2021
Grant date	Sep 28, 2021

Abstract

A method and apparatus are described including detecting, if any, black border regions surround a received frame of video program content and determining a size of the detected black border regions and if the sum of the determined size of the top and bottom black border regions surrounding the received frame of video program content is greater than a value, copying to a frame buffer, a video decoder buffer having a decoded frame of video program content stored therein and copying a secondary insertion decoder buffer to the frame buffer.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A method, said method comprising:
detecting, if any, black border regions at least partially surrounding a received frame of video program content;
determining a size of each said detected black border region; and
if a sum of the determined size of two opposing black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content is greater than a value, adjusting the two opposing black border regions to create a larger black border region and inserting secondary information into the larger black border region.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising rendering the video program content and the larger black border region with the inserted secondary information on a display.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining said size of said detected black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content further comprises:
analyzing black frame edge positions according to a Y luminance information matrix to determine said black border regions of said received frame of video program content;
setting a black level luminance threshold; and
determining whether the black border regions of said received frame of video program content are sufficient for information insertion.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein said determining said size of said detected black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content further comprises, prior to analyzing said black frame edge positions:
reading resolution information of said received frame of video program content;
reading pixel information of digital television output;
converting said pixel information into YUV image space;
caching a Y luminance information matrix; and
reading resolution information of said digital television output.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein further comprising receiving video program content of said received frame from one of a cable provider, a satellite provider, a broadcast provider, or an IPTV provider.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein receiving the video program content comprises using a tuner to receive the video program content of said received frame from one of said cable provider, said satellite provider, or said broadcast provider and using an IP connection to receive the video program content of said received frame from the IPTV provider.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said secondary information comprises one of secondary video content, advertisements, information and alerts.

8. The method according to claim 7 ,
wherein the secondary information comprises secondary video content, and
wherein the method further comprises receiving said secondary video content from one or more of a cable provider, a satellite provider, a broadcast provider, and an IPTV provider.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein receiving said secondary video content comprises using a tuner to receive each unit of the secondary video content from one of said cable provider, said satellite provider, or said broadcast provider and using an IP connection to receive each unit of said secondary video content from the IPTV provider.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the size comprises area.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the size comprises at least one of area and height.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the value comprises a predefined number of pixels.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein adjusting the two opposing black border regions to create a larger black border region and inserting secondary information into the larger black border region comprises:
copying to a frame buffer, a video decoder buffer having a decoded frame of video program content stored therein; and
copying a secondary insertion decoder buffer having the secondary information to said frame buffer.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein adjusting the two opposing black border regions to create a larger black border region and inserting secondary information into the larger black border region comprises relocating the video program content to create the larger black border region.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two opposing black border regions comprise the top and bottom black border regions.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two opposing black border regions comprise the left and right black border regions.

17. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor, said processor configured to:
detect, if any, black border regions at least partially surrounding a received frame of video program content;
determine a size of each said detected black border region; and
if a sum of the determined size of two opposing black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content is greater than a value, adjust the two opposing black border regions to create a larger black border region and inserting secondary video content into the larger black border region.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 , further comprising:
a user interface; and
a display configured to render the video program content and the larger black border region with the inserted secondary information on the display.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein determining said size of said detected black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content further comprises:
analyze black frame edge positions according to a Y luminance information matrix to determine said black border regions of said received frame of video program content;
set a black level luminance threshold; and
determine whether the black border regions of said received frame of video program content are sufficient for information insertion.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19 , wherein said determining said size of said detected black border regions at least partially surrounding said received frame of video program content further comprises, prior to analyzing said black frame edge positions:
reading resolution information of said received frame of video program content;
reading pixel information of digital television output;
converting said pixel information into YUV image space;
caching a Y luminance information matrix; and
reading resolution information of said digital television output.

21. The apparatus according to claim 17 ,
further comprising at least one of a tuner and an IP connection,
wherein video program content of said received frame is received from one of a cable provider, a satellite provider, a broadcast provider, or an IPTV provider,
wherein the tuner is configured to receive the video program content of said received frame from one of said cable provider, said satellite provider, or said broadcast provider, and
wherein the IP connection is configured to receive video program content from the IPTV provider.

22. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein said secondary information comprises one of secondary video content, advertisements, information and alerts.

23. A method comprising:
detecting a black border region at least partially surrounding a received frame of video program content;
determining a sum of a size of a top portion of the detected black border region and a size of a bottom portion of the detected black border region; and
responsive to determining the sum of the size of the top and bottom portions of the de

Assignees

• Interdigital Ce Patent Holdings Sas
• Interdigital Madison Patent Holdings Sas

Inventors

• Wu Qiangsheng
• Yang Yong
• Pei Kaijun

Classifications

• H04N21/8133

  specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video programme · CPC title

• H04N21/4312

  involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations · CPC title

• H04N21/44008

  involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream (arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59) · CPC title

• H04N21/812

  involving advertisement data (advertising per se G06Q30/02) · CPC title

• H04N21/4316 Primary

  for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window · CPC title