Video viewing assisting method and a video playback system therefor

A video playback assisting method in a video playback system having a storage device for storing a plurality of video programs, an input device operable by a user, and a display device for displaying one of said plurality of video programs for said user, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying one of said plurality video programs on said display device, in response to a video playback request entered from said input device and requesting said video program;
• interrupting said displaying of said video program, in response to a stop request entered from said input device during said displaying of said video program;
• generating a digest image of said video program interrupted, in response to a subsequent video playback request which is entered from said input device after said interrupting and requests playback of a same video program as said video program interrupted, said digest image indicating an outline of a portion of said video program interrupted, preceding to an interrupted position at which said video program interrupted was interrupted;
• displaying said generated digest image on said display device;
• and
• displaying a portion of said video program interrupted, succeeding to said interrupted position as stored in said storage device, onto said display device, after said displaying of said generated digest image.

A video playback assisting method in a video playback system having a storage device for storing a plurality of video programs and a plurality of groups of representative images, each group corresponding to one of said plurality of video programs, representative images of each group being representative of a corresponding one of said plurality of video programs, an input device operable by a user, and a display device for displaying said video programs and said representative images for said user, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying one of said plurality of video programs requested by a video playback request onto said display device, in response to said video playback request entered from said input device;
• interrupting said displaying of said video program, in response to a stop request entered from said input device during said displaying of said video program;
• generating a digest image of said video program interrupted, in response to a subsequent video playback request which is entered from said input device and requests playback of a same video program as said video program interrupted, said digest image indicating an outline of a portion of said video program interrupted, preceding to an interrupted position at which said video program was interrupted, said digest image being generated from one group of representative images stored in said storage device corresponding to said video program interrupted among said plurality of groups of representative images;
• displaying said generated digest image on said display device;
• and
• displaying a portion of said video program interrupted succeeding to said interrupted position as stored in said storage device, onto said display device, after said displaying of said generated digest image.

A video playback system, comprising:

• a storage device for storing a plurality of video programs;
• an input device operable by a user;
• a display device for displaying a video program for said user;
• and
• a video control device, connected to said storage device, said input device, and said display device, for controlling supply of said plurality of video programs from said storage device to said display device;
• wherein said video control device has;
• a first computer, and
• a first memory for storing a first computer program to be executed by said first computer;
• wherein said first computer program is programmed so as to execute the steps of;
• supplying one of said plurality of video programs from said storage device to said display device, in response to a video playback which is entered from said input device and requests playback of said video program, and displaying said video program on said display device;
• interrupting said supplying of said video program, in response to a stop request entered from said input device during said supplying of said video program;
• generating a digest image of said video program interrupted, in response to a subsequent video playback request entered by said input device after said interrupting and requesting playback of a same video program as said video program interrupted, said digest image indicating an outline of a portion of said video program interrupted, preceding to an interrupted position at which said video program was interrupted;
• supplying said generated digest image of said video program interrupted, from said video server to said display device;
• and
• supplying a portion of said video program interrupted succeeding to said interrupted position, from said storage device to said display device, after supplying of said digest image.

A video server for a video playback system which includes a display device for displaying a video program supplied from said video server, an input device operable by a user for inputting a request to be supplied to said video server, comprising:

• a storage device for storing a plurality of video programs;
• and
• a video control device connected to said storage device for controlling supply of said plurality of video programs from said storage device to said display device;
• wherein said video control device has;
• a computer, and
• a memory for storing a computer program to be executed by said computer;
• wherein said computer program is programmed so as to execute the steps of;
• supplying one of said plurality of video programs from said storage device to said display device, in response to a video playback request which is entered from said input device and requests playback of said video program, and displaying said video program on said display device;
• interrupting said supplying of said video program, in response to a stop request entered from said input device during said supplying of said video program;
• supplying a digest image of said video program interrupted, from said video server to said display device, in response to a subsequent video playback request which is entered by said input device after said interrupting and requests playback of a same video program as said video program interrupted, said digest image indicating an outline of a portion of said video program interrupted, preceding to an interrupted position at which said video program was interrupted;
• and
• supplying a portion of said video program interrupted succeeding to said interrupted position, from said storage device to said display device, after supplying of said digest image.

A terminal device for a video playback system which includes a video server for supplying a plurality of video programs to said terminal device, comprising:

• a display device for displaying a video program supplied from said video server;
• an input device operable by a user for inputting a request to be supplied to said video server;
• a terminal control device connected to said input device and said video server for controlling transfer of a request entered from said input device to said video server;
• wherein said terminal control device has;
• a computer, and
• a memory for storing a computer program to be executed by said computer;
• wherein said computer program is programmed so as to execute the steps of;
• supplying said video server with a video playback request entered from said input device;
• supplying said video server with a stop request entered from said input to interrupt a video program requested by said video playback request, in response to inputting of said stop request from said input device during said requested video program is being supplied from said video server to said display device;
• storing information for identifying said video program interrupted and information for identifying an interrupted position at which said video program interrupted has been stopped, in response to said stop request,
• determining whether a video program requested by a subsequent video playback request matches said video program interrupted, based on said stored information for identifying said video program interrupted, in response to entering of said subsequent video playback request after said interrupting from said input device, and
• transmitting to said video server, a video playback request for reproducing said video program interrupted from said interrupted position, if said video program requested by said subsequent video playback request has been found matching said video program interrupted.