System and Method for Capturing Video Clips for Focused Navigation within a User Interface

Abstract

A video clip is captured from a television broadcast on each of a plurality of channels. The captured video clips are provided to a display interface, which successively displays the captured video clips within a focus area of a user interface in response to an initiating action by a user. The display interface then discontinues the successive display of video clips to show a particular video clip corresponding to a selected channel in response to a terminating action by the user.

1 - 52 . (canceled) 
     
     
         53 . A computer-implemented method for facilitating access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the method comprising:
 accessing a plurality of video clips received at a set top box, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective video stream;   organizing the plurality of video clips received at the set top box into a sequence comprising a first video clip and a second video clip;   simultaneously providing a display of two or more of the plurality of video clips along an axis of the user interface from the set top box, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and   providing the user interface from the set top box to a display device, the user interface operable to scroll the sequence of video clips along the axis through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command, wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area into a different position in the user interface along the axis and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area.   
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , further comprising:
 capturing a plurality of video clips, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective video stream.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 54 , further comprising repeating the capturing of video clips for the plurality of video streams after an established time interval, wherein the interval is one of an hour and a half-hour. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein capturing comprises capturing at least one video clip for a particular video stream in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast from that video stream. 
     
     
         57 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein capturing comprises asynchronously capturing at least two video clips from different video streams in response to tags being embedded within the respective broadcasts at different times. 
     
     
         58 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein capturing comprises:
 receiving a schedule for capturing a video clip for a particular video stream; and   capturing the video clip for the video stream at a time specified in the schedule.   
     
     
         59 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the video clips are captured within a broadcast center, and wherein capturing comprises:
 packaging the video clips within an update package; and   transmitting the update package to at least one entertainment system associated with the broadcast center.   
     
     
         60 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein capturing comprises successively tuning to each of the plurality of video streams using a plurality of tuners. 
     
     
         61 . The method of  claim 54 , wherein the video clips are captured within an entertainment system. 
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 61 , wherein the entertainment system comprises a primary tuner and a secondary tuner, and wherein capturing comprises successively tuning to each of the plurality of video streams using the secondary tuner. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 53 , further comprising:
 tuning to and displaying a video stream corresponding to a video clip displayed in the focus area in response to a selection action by the user.   
     
     
         64 . A method for enabling access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the method comprising:
 receiving an update package at an entertainment system associated with a broadcast center from the broadcast center, wherein the update package comprises a plurality of video clips, each video clip representing a different video stream;   organizing the video clips into a sequence;   simultaneously displaying two or more of the video clips in the sequence along an axis of a user interface, wherein one of the two or more video clips is displayed within a focus area of the user interface, and wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and   scrolling the video clips along the axis, wherein responsive to scrolling, a video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip displayed within the user interface is scrolled into the focus area.   
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 64 , wherein the video clips are captured at the broadcast center on each of the plurality of video streams, the method further comprising:
 repeating the capturing of video clips for the plurality of video streams after an established time interval.   
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 64 , further comprising: delaying the capture of a video clip for a particular video stream until after a commercial break being broadcast on that video stream. 
     
     
         67 . A set top box operable to facilitate access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the system comprising:
 a computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of video clips organized into a sequence, wherein each video clip in the sequence comprises motion video representing a different respective video stream;   a display interface; and   a transmission component to provide the captured video clips to the display interface, wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display two or more of the plurality of video clips along a non-visible line within the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video, and to scroll the plurality of video clips along the non-visible line through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command, wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the non-visible line of the user interface and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area.   
     
     
         68 . The system of  claim 67 , further comprising a video capture device configured to capture locally at the set top box a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of video streams, each captured video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective video stream and to store the captured video clips on the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the video capture device is to repeat the capture of video clips for the plurality of video streams after an established time interval. 
     
     
         69 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the interval comprises a half hour. 
     
     
         70 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the interval comprises an hour. 
     
     
         71 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the video capture device is operable to delay the capture of a video clip for a particular video stream until after a commercial break being broadcast on that video stream. 
     
     
         72 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the video capture device is operable to capture at least one video clip for a particular video stream in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast on that video stream. 
     
     
         73 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the video capture device is operable to asynchronously capture at least two video clips from different video streams in response to tags being embedded within the respective broadcasts at different times. 
     
     
         74 . The system of  claim 68 , wherein the video capture device is to receive a schedule for capturing a video clip for a particular video stream and wherein the video capture device is to capture the video clip for the video stream at a time specified in the schedule. 
     
     
         75 . The system of  claim 68 , further comprising:
 a plurality of tuners to successively tune to each of the plurality of video streams during the capture of the video clips.   
     
     
         76 . The system of  claim 67 , wherein the user command comprises activating a first control on a remote control. 
     
     
         77 . The system of  claim 67 , further comprising a tuner operable to tune to a selected video stream in response to a selection action by the user. 
     
     
         78 . A system for enabling access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the system comprising:
 a computer-readable storage medium comprising a sequence of video clips, the sequence comprising a plurality of video clips, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective video stream;   a user interface; and   a transmission component to provide the sequence of video clips to the user interface,   wherein the user interface is operable to provide a display including three or more of the video clips along a non-visible line drawn within of the user interface, wherein the three or more video clips are actively displaying motion video, and wherein the user interface includes a fixed focus area where one of the three or more video clips is displayed, the user interface being further operable to scroll the video clips along the non-visible line in response to an action by the user, and   wherein responsive to scrolling, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the non-visible line of the user interface, a second video clip displayed at a first location within the user interface is scrolled along the non-visible line of the user interface into the focus area, and a third video clip displayed in the user interface at a second location is scrolled along the non-visible line into the first location, and a fourth video clip that was not displayed in the user interface before the scrolling is scrolled along the non-visible line of the user interface into the second location.   
     
     
         79 . The system of  claim 78 , further comprising a video capture device to capture a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of video streams and to store the captured video clips in the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the captured video clips represent different respective video streams, and wherein the video capture device is to repeat the capturing of a video clip for each of the plurality of video streams at established time intervals. 
     
     
         80 . A system for enabling access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the system comprising:
 a commercial break detection device to detect commercial breaks in at least one program being broadcast on a respective video stream, wherein the commercial break detection device is configured to detect commercial breaks without intervention by a user of the system at a set top box of the system;   a processor to initiate the capturing of a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of video streams, each captured video clip comprising motion video obtained from a different respective video stream, wherein the processor is configured to initiate the capturing of each of the captured video clips so as to avoid capturing video from a commercial break;   a tuner to tune to each video stream in response to a signal from the processor;   a video capture device to capture each video clip in response to the tuner tuning to the respective video stream;   a memory to store the captured video clips;   a display interface to display the plurality of video clips along a non-visible line within the user interface, the user interface comprising a non-moving focus area along the non-visible line, wherein the display interface is operable to simultaneously display two or more of and scroll the plurality of video clips along the non-visible line of the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video, and in response to a user command, to scroll the plurality of video clips along the non-visible line and through the non-moving focus area,   wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the non-visible line of the user interface and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area.   
     
     
         81 . An apparatus within a broadcast center coupled to a plurality of entertainment systems via a network, the apparatus comprising:
 a scheduler to initiate the capturing of a video clip comprising motion video from a broadcast on each of a plurality of video streams, each captured video clip representing a different video stream;   a video capture module operable to capture each video clip in response to a signal from the scheduler;   a clip cache within the broadcast center to store the captured video clips;   a packager to package the video clips in the clip cache into an update package;   a transmission component to transmit the update package from the broadcast center to the entertainment systems, wherein each entertainment system comprises a display interface,   wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display two or more of the video clips along a non-visible line within a user interface, the user interface comprising non-movable focus area through which the video clips are scrolled, and wherein, in response to a user command to scroll the video clips through the focus area, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip displayed in the user interface is scrolled into the focus area.   
     
     
         82 . A computer-readable medium comprising program code for performing a method for enabling access to a plurality of video streams within a user interface, the method comprising:
 organizing a plurality of video clips into a sequence, each video clip representing a different video stream;   simultaneously displaying two or more of video clips along a non-visible line within the user interface, wherein each of the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and   scrolling the sequence of video clips along the non-visible line through a nonmoving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command, wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area into another location within the user interface, and a second video clip displayed in the user interface is scrolled into the focus area   
     
     
         83 . One or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon, the one or more computer readable media, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform operations comprising:
 capturing a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of video streams, each captured video clip representing a different video stream, wherein each captured video clip lacks motion video from a commercial break;   organizing the captured video clips into a sequence;   simultaneously displaying two or more of the video clips along an axis of the user interface, a first one of the two or more video clips being displayed within a focus area of the user interface and a second one of the two or more video clips being displayed at another location within the user interface, wherein each of the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and   scrolling the sequence of video clips along the axis to progressively change the video clip within the focus area to a next video clip in the sequence in response to an action by a user,   wherein responsive to scrolling, the first video clip is scrolled out of the focus area and into another location within the user interface and the second video clip is scrolled into the focus area.