Interactive system and method for the control of video playback devices

A video tape playback system comprising:

• a video tape having at least one video track and one audio track with a plurality of program segments recorded on at least one of said tracks at prearranged tape locations and a control track having control track signals recorded thereon at regular intervals throughout the length of said tape, each of said program segments including at least one recorded control word comprising a precise tape location address of said program segment;
• a video tape playback device adapted to respond to a set of input function control signals either to play said prerecorded video tape or to fast scan said prerecorded tape in either a forward or reverse direction, said playback device including means for recovering video signals from said video track and audio signals from said audio track in said play mode and means for recovering said control track signals from said control track during play and fast scan modes;
• and
• control circuit means coupled to said playback device for receiving said recovered video signals and control track signals and for communicating function control signals thereto, said control circuit means including data recovery means for recovering said digital control words;
• storage means for storing a tape location address;
• means responsive to said control track signals to continuously update said storage means to contain an approximate current tape location address;
• means responsive to a recovered control word comprising a precise tape location address to update said storage means with said precise current tape location address;
• means for deriving a target tape location address corresponding to the tape location of a different program segment;
• and means for supplying function control signals to said playback device to drive said video tape to said next program segment tape location based on the control track signal displacement between said target tape location address and said current tape location address.

A video tape playback system comprising:

• a video tape having at least one video track and an audio track with a plurality of program segments recorded thereon at prearranged tape locations and a control track having control track signals recorded thereon at regular intervals throughout the length of said tape, each of said program segments including at least one recorded control word comprising a precise tape location address of said program segment;
• a video tape playback device adapted to respond to a set of input function control signals either to play said prerecorded video tape or to fast scan said prerecorded tape in either a forward or reverse direction, said playback device including means for recovering video signals from said video track in said play mode and means for recovering said control track signals from said control track during play and fast scan modes;
• a data recovery means for recovering said digital control words;
• control track circuit means receiving said recovered control track pulses and being operative during said fast scan and play modes to produce interrupt signals in response thereto;
• and
• a computer system coupled to said data recovery means, said control track circuit means and said video playback device for controlling said video playback device to provide random access to said program segments, said microcomputer system comprising a central processing unit, an operating program memory coupled to said central processing unit to provide operating program instructions thereto, storage means for storing a tape location address, first interface circuit means coupling said central processing unit to said data recovery means, second interface circuit means coupling said central processing unit to said video playback device, and means for supplying to said central processing unit a target tape location address corresponding to the tape location of a different program segment, said central processing unit operating in response to operating program instructions from said operating program memory to respond to said interrupt signals from said control track circuit means to store a continuously updated approximate tape location address when said video playback device is in play or fast scan modes, to store a precise tape location address in response to a corresponding control word received from said data recovery circuit, and to respond to a target tape location address to supply function control signals to said playback device to drive said video tape to said target tape location address based on the displacement between said target tape location address and said current tape location address.

A user interactive video display system comprising, in combination:

• a video playback device adapted to respond to respective ones of a set of input control function commands either to produce a play mode scanning between a program medium and a signal pickup means to recover signal information recorded on a video signal track thereon or to produce a fast forward or reverse scanning between said video signal track on said program medium and said signal pickup means;
• a program medium adapted to be played on said playback device to recover program material recorded thereon, said program medium having at least one video signal track thereon containing prerecorded program material including a plurality of live video program segments and a plurality of data dumps recorded at predetermined video signal track locations with each live video program segment being associated with at least one of said data dumps, said data dumps including software control instructions with at least some software control instructions in some data dumps including instructions for interpreting sets of user selected inputs to control branching to one of a plurality of preselected other data dumps associated with other live video program segments, said program medium also having prerecorded thereon medium location control signal information enabling computer controlled random access to selected video signal track locations;
• data recovery means coupled to the output of said video playback device to recover data in said data dumps;
• video display means coupled to the output of said video playback device for displaying said live video program segments;
• control signal means adapted to signal user selected inputs;
• and
• programmable digital computer means interfaced to said video playback device, said data recovery means, and said control signal means, including memory means containing prearranged operating program instructions and random access memory means for storing said software control instructions as they are recovered by said data recovery means from one of said data dumps while clearing from said random access memory means at least some software control instructions recovered from previous data dumps;
• said digital computer means being time sequentially programmed by a combination of said stored software control instructions including said branching instructions and sets of user selected inputs to provide control function commands to said video playback device to scan sequentially to video signal track locations associated with particular data dump segments and associated live video program segments utilizing said medium location control signal information.

A method of providing random access playback of program segments recorded on one or both of the video and audio tracks of a video tape which also includes a control track having control track signals recorded thereon at regular intervals throughout the length of the tape, using a video tape playback device which is responsive to input function control signals either to play a video tape or to fast scan said tape in either forward or reverse directions and which includes means for recovering video and audio signals from respective video and audio tracks during said play mode and means for recovering said control track signals from said control track during play and fast scan modes, said method comprising:

• recording said program segments at precisely defined predetermined tape locations on said video tape;
• recording on said tape as part of each program segment a precise tape location address corresponding to said defined tape location of said program segment;
• tracking approximate tape location in a tape location address memory during play and fast scan of said playback device by using control track signals received from said control track to continuously update said tape location address memory to an approximate current tape location address;
• supplying a target tape location address corresponding to the target tape location of a different program segment;
• supplying function control signals to said playback device to drive said video tape to said target tape location based on the displacement between said target tape location address and said approximate current tape location address;
• recovering said precise tape location address as said different program segment is played;
• and
• updating said tape location address memory with the recovered precise tape location address.

A method of providing a user interactive video display system using a program medium having at least one video signal track thereon and having track location signals recorded thereon, a video playback device which is responsive to input function control signals either to play said program medium to recover video signals on said video track or to fast scan said medium in a forward or reverse direction, a video display device coupled to said video playback device, a control signal means for signaling user selected inputs, and a computer system, including a data recovery means and a random access memory means, interfaced to said playback device for recovery of data on said video signal track and for supplying function control signals thereto and interfaced to said control signal means to receive said user selected inputs, said computer system further including an operating system program which includes at least a medium location search routine enabling said computer system to utilize said track location signals to drive said video playback device to a specific video track location on said program medium;

• the method comprising:
• recording on said video signal track of said program medium a plurality of data dumps and a plurality of live video program segments at predetermined video signal track locations with each live video program segment being associated with at least one of said data dumps for control of the playing of said live video program segment, said data dumps each including predefined software control instructions with at least some of said data dumps including instructions for automatically branching to a predefined different data dump and at least one of said data dumps including instructions for conditional branching to one of a plurality of predefined different data dumps in response to a predefined set of user selected inputs;
• playing said program medium on said playback device to recover information on said video signal track;
• recovering said data dumps as they are encountered on said video signal track;
• storing said data dumps in said random access memory means as they are recovered by said data recovery means while clearing at least some stored data from prior data dumps;
• executing said stored instructions in said data dumps, including responding to a set of user selected inputs in connection with said data dumps which include said conditional branching instructions, to produce a controlled sequence of function control signals to said video playback device and to cause said live video program segments to be recovered and displayed on said video display device in a user interactive sequence.