System, Method and Computer Program Product for Processing Video Data

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product for processing video is provided. In one embodiment, the method includes storing a plurality of transcripts in a memory along with information identifying an associated video content unit, receiving a search request comprising one or more keywords originating from a user, searching at least some of the plurality of transcripts for the one or more keywords, determining search results that comprises a plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request, wherein the plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request comprise video content units having a transcript that includes at least some of the one or more keywords, and transmitting information identifying at least some of the video content units of the search results to a remote device for presentation to the user. In addition, the method may include prompting users to rate video content units, storing an average user rating for video content units and displaying user ratings as part of the search results. In addition, advertisements may be selected, based on suggested keywords and keywords entered by the user.

1 . A method, implemented at least in party by a computer system, for processing video content, comprising:
 processing audio portions of a plurality of video content units to create a transcript for each of the plurality of video content units that comprises a textual representation of the dialogue of each video content unit;   storing a transcript in memory for each of the plurality of video contents;   receiving a search request comprising one or more keywords originating from a user;   searching at least some of a plurality of transcripts stored in memory for the one or more keywords;   identifying search results that comprises a set of video content units having transcripts that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request; and   transmitting at least a portion of the search results to a remote device for presentation to the user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content units comprise an MPEG video files compatible with an MPEG decoder. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said processing comprises extracting one of closed caption data and embedded video text from the plurality of video content units. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the search request is received from a set-top box. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 receiving a request via the set-top box for a first video content unit in the search results; and   transmitting the first video content unit to the set-top box for presentation to the user.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sorting a list of the video content units in the search results based, at least in part, on the number of keywords present in the transcript of each video content unit in the search results. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising searching only the transcripts of a subset of the plurality of video content units in accordance with at least one search criteria selected from the group comprising: genre, broadcast channel, MPAA rating, and actor identity. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of the plurality of video content units comprises live broadcast video content. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a user rating for a multitude of the video content units from a plurality of viewers;   based on user ratings, storing an average rating in memory in association with each of the respective multitude of video content units; and   sorting the search results according to the average rating.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said receiving the search request comprises receiving a plurality of textual characters, the method further comprising:
 after receiving each of a group of the textual characters, displaying a plurality of suggested keywords.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said receiving the search request further comprises receiving a selection of one of the suggested keywords. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting an advertisement based, at least in part, on the one or more keywords; and   transmitting the advertisement for display to the user.   
     
     
         13 . A method, implemented at least in party by a computer system, for processing video content, comprising:
 storing a plurality of transcripts in a memory along with information identifying an associated video content unit;   receiving a search request comprising one or more keywords originating from a user;   searching at least some of the plurality of transcripts for the one or more keywords;   determining search results that comprises a plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request;   wherein the plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request comprises video content units having a transcript that includes at least some of the one or more keywords; and   transmitting information identifying at least some of the video content units of the search results to a remote device for presentation to the user.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 selecting an advertisement based, at least in part, on the one or more keywords; and   transmitting the advertisement to the remote device for display to the user concurrently with the information identifying at least some of the video content units of the search results.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising sorting a list of the video content units in the search results based, at least in part, on the number of keywords present in the transcript of each video content unit in the search results. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising sorting a list of the video content units in the search results based, at least in part, on an average user rating associated with each video content unit. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 receiving user rating data for a multitude of video content units from a plurality of viewers; and   based on the user rating data, storing an average rating in memory in association with each of the respective multitude of video content units.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising displaying a request to rate a video content unit and wherein said user rating data is received in response to said displaying the request. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein said displaying is performed while the video content unit is being displayed. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said receiving the search request comprises receiving a plurality of textual characters, the method further comprising:
 after receiving each character of a group of the textual characters, displaying a plurality of suggested keywords.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 selecting an advertisement based, at least in part, on the one or more suggested keywords; and   displaying the selected advertisement to the user.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein said selecting and displaying is performed each time the user enters a character of at least a multitude of a plurality characters entered. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising selecting a pay per view video content unit based, at least in part, on the one or more keywords and displaying an advertisement for the selected pay per view video content unit to the user. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein in addition to one or more keywords the search request further includes at least one search criteria selected from the group of genre and MPAA rating. 
     
     
         25 . A method, implemented at least in party by a computer system, for processing video content, comprising:
 receiving a search request comprising one or more keywords originating from a user;   searching a plurality of transcripts for the one or more keywords;   wherein each of the plurality of transcripts comprises dialogue of an associated video content unit;   determining search results that comprises a plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request;   wherein the plurality of video content units that satisfy a similarity threshold with the search request comprises video content units having an associated transcript that includes at least some of the one or more keywords;   transmitting information identifying at least some of the video content units of the search results to a remote device for display to the user;   selecting a first advertisement based, at least in part, on the one or more keywords; and   transmitting the selected advertisement to the remote device for display to the user concurrently with the information identifying at least some of the video content units of the search results.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising receiving a user selection of a selected video content unit that comprises one of the video content units displayed to the user; and
 transmitting the selected video content unit to the remote device for presentation to the user.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein said receiving the search request comprises receiving a plurality of textual characters, the method further comprising:
 after receiving each character of a group of the textual characters, displaying a plurality of suggested keywords.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising:
 selecting a second advertisement based, at least in part, on the one or more suggested keywords; and   displaying the second advertisement to the user concurrently with the one or more suggested keywords.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising:
 receiving user rating data for a multitude of video content units from a plurality of viewers; and   based on the user rating, storing an average rating in memory in association with each of the respective multitude of video content units.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising displaying a request to rate a video content unit and wherein said user rating data is received in response to said displaying. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said displaying is performed while the video content unit is being presented. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising receiving a notification indicating a user response to the advertisement; and
 in response, transmitting additional information to the remote device related to a product or service advertised in the first advertisement.