Method, apparatus and program products for retrieving moving image

Abstract

An apparatus for retrieving moving image according to the present invention has an extracting unit for extracting the information of the feature quantity of the moving image from the fixed moving image data, an extracting unit for extracting the information of the unique identification of the moving image to identify the moving image according to the information of the feature quantity of the moving image, and a retrieving unit for retrieving and identifying the fixed moving image from the object moving image for retrieving by comparing the information of the unique identification of the moving image with the information of the unique identification of the moving image beforehand extracted from the object moving image. Therefore, the information of the unique identification of the moving image for retrieving the moving image depends on the content of the moving image can be extracted, consequently, the identical moving image can be retrieved and identified from the moving image by using the information of the unique identification of the moving image at high speed.

1 - 57 . (canceled)  
     
     
         58 . An apparatus for retrieving a moving image to retrieve a pre-determined moving image from an object moving image, comprising: 
 first extracting means for extracting information of the feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    second extracting means for extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis; and    retrieving means for retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image.    
     
     
         59 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , further comprising: 
 detecting means for detecting cut points of the moving image from the pre-determined moving image and dividing the pre-determined moving image into a plurality of shots at each of the cut points, wherein:    the second extracting means extracts the information of the unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity at each of the shots divided by the detecting means; and    the retrieving means retrieves the pre-determined moving image from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image.    
     
     
         60 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the second extracting means extracts the information of the unique identification created by arranging one or more expanded or reduced physical quantities of the information of the physical quantity on a time axis.    
     
     
         61 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the first extracting means extracts the information as a block unit of M×N pixels, where M and N are natural numbers, from the pre-determined moving image data, as the information of the feature quantity.    
     
     
         62 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity are arranged on the time axis making a horizontal line of a graph represent time.    
     
     
         63 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image is a certain time duration.    
     
     
         64 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the retrieving means compares an expanded or reduced value of the information of the unique identification which is extracted from the pre-determined moving image, with an expanded or reduced value of the information of the unique identification which is prepared in accordance with the object moving image, on the time axis.    
     
     
         65 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the second extracting means extracts a value as the information of the unique identification of pre-determined moving image by arranging all information of the feature quantity, or some information of the feature quantity extracted by uniform or irregular intervals, on the time axis, from the pre-determined moving image.    
     
     
         66 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the second extracting means extracts a value as the information of the unique identification of object moving image prepared in accordance with the object image by arranging all information of the feature quantity, or some information of the feature quantity extracted by uniform or irregular intervals, on the time axis, from the object moving image.    
     
     
         67 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is physical information of the feature quantity obtained from information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         68 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 67 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is one or more transformed values obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         69 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 68 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         70 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 68 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of weighted physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is one or more of the value, the mean value, the total value, and the difference value of the weighted physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         71 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 69 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is a quantified value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame, or a quantified value obtained by transforming the physical information of the feature quantity from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is a quantified value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame, or a quantified value obtained by transforming the physical information of the feature quantity from the information of the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         72 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the first extracting means extracts information of a feature quantity of a compressed moving image of each frame by executing a Discrete Cosine Transform operation or from a coded stream.    
     
     
         73 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 72 , wherein 
 the first extracting means extracts Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame or information of motion compensation of each frame, as the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image.    
     
     
         74 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 73 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is one of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of physical information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image obtained from the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, and a vector or a value of the vector which is at least one of a motion vector, a mean motion vector between frames before and after, a total motion vector, a difference motion vector, and a motion vector on a whole frame obtained from the information of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         75 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 73 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is one of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of weighted physical information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image obtained from the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, and a vector or a value of the vector which is at least one of a motion vector, a mean motion vector between frames before and after, a total motion vector, a difference motion vector, and a motion vector on a whole frame obtained from weighted information of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         76 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 72 , wherein 
 the first extracting means extracts only a direct current element of the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, as the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image.    
     
     
         77 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 73 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is a quantified value of one of the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients, a value of the motion compensation, and a value obtained from the value of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         78 . The apparatus for retrieving the moving image of  claim 58 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the first extracting means is the combination of physical information of the feature quantity of each frame which is obtained from information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or information of color (R, G, B) of each frame, and information of a feature quantity of a compressed moving image which is obtained by executing a Discrete Cosine Transform operation or by extracting from a coded stream.    
     
     
         79 . An apparatus for monitoring television commercials to retrieve a pre-determined moving image such as a television commercial from an object moving image such as the television broadcast and a stored moving image, comprising: 
 first extracting means for extracting information of a feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    second extracting means for extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis;    retrieving means for retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image; and    displaying means for displaying a result of retrieving by the retrieving means.    
     
     
         80 . The apparatus for monitoring television commercials of  claim 79 , further comprising storing means for storing the result of retrieving by the retrieving means, wherein 
 the displaying means displays the stored result stored by the storing means.    
     
     
         81 . A method for retrieving a moving image to retrieve a pre-determined moving image from an object moving image, comprising: 
 (A) extracting information of a feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    (B) extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis; and    (C) retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image.    
     
     
         82 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , further comprising: 
 (D) detecting cut points of the moving image from the pre-determined moving image and dividing the pre-determined moving image into a plurality of shots at each of the cut points, wherein:    the step (B) extracts the information of the unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity at each of the shots divided by the step (D); and    the step (C) retrieves the pre-determined moving image from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image.    
     
     
         83 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the step (B) extracts the information of the unique identification created by arranging one or more expanded or reduced physical quantities of the information of the physical quantity on a time axis.    
     
     
         84 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the step (A) extracts the information as a block unit of M×N pixels, where M and N are natural numbers, from the pre-determined moving image data, as the information of the feature quantity.    
     
     
         85 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity are arranged on the time axis making a horizontal line of a graph represent time.    
     
     
         86 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image is a certain time duration.    
     
     
         87 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the step (C) compares an expanded or reduced value of the information of the unique identification which is extracted from the pre-determined moving image, with an expanded or reduced value of the information of the unique identification which is prepared in accordance with the object moving image, on the time axis.    
     
     
         88 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the step (B) extracts a value as the information of the unique identification of pre-determined moving image by arranging all information of the feature quantity, or some information of the feature quantity extracted by uniform or irregular intervals, on the time axis, from the pre-determined moving image.    
     
     
         89 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the step (B) extracts a value as the information of the unique identification of the object moving image prepared in accordance with the object image by arranging all information of the feature quantity, or some information of the feature quantity extracted by uniform or irregular intervals, on the time axis, from the object moving image.    
     
     
         90 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of each frame extracted by the step (A) is physical information of the feature quantity obtained from information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         91 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 90 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of each frame extracted by the step (A) is one or more transformed values obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         92 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 91 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         93 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 91 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of weighted physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is one or more of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of weighted physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         94 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 92 , wherein 
 the transformed value obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame is a quantified value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame, or a quantified value obtained by transforming the physical information of the feature quantity from the information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) of each frame; and    the transformed value obtained from the information of the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame is a quantified value of the physical information of the feature quantity obtained from the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame, or a quantified value obtained by transforming the physical information of the feature quantity from the information of the information of color (R, G, B) of each frame.    
     
     
         95 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 step (A) extracts the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame by executing a discrete Cosine Transform operation or extracting from a coded stream.    
     
     
         96 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 95 , wherein 
 step (A) extracts the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame or the information of motion compensation of each frame, as the information of the feature quantity of compressed moving image.    
     
     
         97 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 96 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the step (A) is one of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of the physical information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image obtained from the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, and a vector or a value of the vector which is at least one of a motion vector, a mean motion vector between frames before and after, a total motion vector, a difference motion vector, and a motion vector on a whole frame obtained from the information of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         98 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 96 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of compressed moving image of each frame extracted by step (A) is one of a value, a mean value, a total value, and a difference value of weighted physical information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image obtained from Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, and a vector or a value of the vector which is at least one of a motion vector, a mean motion vector between frames before and after, a total motion vector, a difference motion vector, and a motion vector on a whole frame obtained from the weighted information of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         99 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 95 , wherein 
 step (A) extracts only a Direct Current element of the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients of each frame, as the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image.    
     
     
         100 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 96 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by step (A) is a quantified value of one of the Discrete Cosine Transform coefficients, a value of the motion compensation, and a value obtained from the value of the motion compensation.    
     
     
         101 . The method for retrieving the moving image of  claim 81 , wherein 
 the information of the feature quantity of the compressed moving image of each frame extracted by the step (A) is the combination of the physical information of the feature quantity of each frame which is obtained from information of luminance and color difference (Y, Cb, Cr) or information of color (R, G, B) of each frame, and information of a feature quantity of a compressed moving image which is obtained by executing a Discrete Cosine Transform operation or by extracting from a coded stream.    
     
     
         102 . A method for monitoring television commercials to retrieve a pre-determined moving image such as a television commercial from an object moving image such as a television broadcast and stored moving image, comprising: 
 (A) extracting information of a feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    (B) extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis;    (C) retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image; and    (E) displaying the result of retrieving by step (C).    
     
     
         103 . The method for monitoring television commercials of  claim 102 , further comprising a step (F) of storing the result of retrieving by step (C), wherein step(E) displays the stored result stored by step (F).  
     
     
         104 . Program products for retrieving a moving image to retrieve a pre-determined moving image from an object moving image, which is executed by a computer system, comprising: 
 (A) extracting information of a feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    (B) extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis; and    (C) retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image.    
     
     
         105 . Program products for monitoring television commercials to retrieve a pre-determined moving image such as a television commercial from an object moving image such as the television broadcast and a stored moving image, which is executed by computer system, comprising: 
 (A) extracting information of a feature quantity of each frame from the pre-determined moving image;    (B) extracting information of a unique identification created by arranging one or more physical quantities of the information of the feature quantity on a time axis;    (C) retrieving a position of the pre-determined moving image on the time axis from the object moving image by comparing the arrangement of the information of the unique identification of the pre-determined moving image, with that of the information of the unique identification prepared in accordance with the object moving image; and    (E) displaying the result of retrieving by step (C).