SYNCHRONIZING FILTER METADATA WITH A MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus for applying and synchronizing filter information with a multimedia presentation, such as a movie provided in a video-on-demand context, to suppress objectionable content. In one example, filter information, which includes an indicia of a portion of the multimedia presentation including objectionable content and a type of suppression action, is provided on either a set-top-box or a video-on-demand server. A user selects a particular video-on-demand presentation, and the selection is transmitted to the set-top-box. Filtering may take place at the set-top-box side such that the complete video-on-demand movie is transmitted to the set-top box and then content suppression, such as skipping, muting, cropping, and blurring, takes place at the set-top-box. Alternatively, some or all suppression may take place at the server such that some or all of the objectionable content is not transmitted to the set-top-box. Additionally, whether in a video-on-demand, DVD, or other environment it may be necessary to synchronize filter with the multimedia content so that the proper objectionable content is suppressed.

IPC Classes  ?

• H04L 29/06 - Communication control; Communication processing characterised by a protocol
• H04L 29/08 - Transmission control procedure, e.g. data link level control procedure
• H04N 21/45 - Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies 
• H04N 21/845 - Structuring of content, e.g. decomposing content into time segments
• H04N 21/84 - Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors
• H04N 7/16 - Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
• H04N 21/454 - Content filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• H04N 21/258 - Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics or processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
• H04N 21/242 - Synchronization processes, e.g. processing of PCR [Program Clock References]
• H04N 7/173 - Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
• H04N 21/472 - End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification or for manipulating displayed content