Television monitoring system with automatic selection of program material of interest and subsequent display under user control

A multimedia computer system, comprising:

• a) a central processing unit;
• b) a video capture unit for receiving broadcast television signals and generating a video signal therefrom;
• c) a video display unit capable of display said video signals under program control;
• d) means for decoding data signals embedded in said television signals and generating a program data stream representative of program content of said television signals and changing dynamically therewith;
• e) means for inputting criteria identifying program content of interest to a user,
• f) a database for storing data representing said criteria;
• g) means for storing a program segment and the program data stream associated therewith while maintaining synchronism between the program data stream and the program segment.

A method of monitoring broadcast television signals, comprising the steps of:

• a) extracting program signal streams from said broadcast television signals;
• b) generating from the broadcast television signals a program data stream separate from said program signal streams, said program data stream being representative of program content and changing dynamically therewith;
• c) comparing said program data stream with stored data identifying program content of interest to the user;
• d) storing, when said generated program data stream matches said stored data, a program segment and the program data stream associated therewith while maintaining synchronism between the program data stream and the program segment;
• and
• e) displaying and playing back in a first window video frames of said stored program segment;
• f) displaying in a second window said dynamic program data stream while identifying a portion of said displayed data stream corresponding to a displayed frame;
• g) and selecting a portion of the dymanic program data stream corresponding to a protion of interest of said stored program segment to cause video frames corresponding to said portion of interest to be played back in said first window.

A computer-readable storage medium having binary information encoded thereon, said binary information being operable when interpreted by a computer to direct the computer to monitor broadcast television signals and generate program signal streams to permit the presentation of program material carried by the broadcast signals to a user;

• analyze incoming broadcast television signals to generate a program data stream separate from said program signals, said program data stream being representative of their program content and changing dynamically therewith;
• compare said data stream with stored data identifying program content of interest;
• store, when said generated data matches said stored data, a program segment and the program data stream associated therewith while maintaining synchronism between the program data stream and the program segment;
• display and playback in a first window video frames of said stored program segment and display in a second window said dynamic program data stream;
• identify a portion of said displayed data stream corresponding to a displayed frame;
• and permit the user to select a portion of the dynamic program data stream corresponding to a portion of interest of said stored program segment and thereby cause video frames corresponding to said portion of interest to be played back in said first window.