Automatic signature-based spotting, learning and extracting of commercials and other video content

A method for processing a video signal, the method comprising the steps of:

• identifying a plurality of segments of the video signal that are likely to be associated with a particular type of video content;
• and
• extracting a signature from each of at least a subset of the one or more identified segments, wherein the extracted signatures are utilized to determine which of the identified segments are associated with the particular type of video content,
• wherein the signature extracted from a given one of the video segments comprises a visual frame signature based at least in part on a visual characteristic of a frame of the video segment, and
• wherein the visual frame signature is extracted using information based on DC and AC coefficients of the frame.

A method for processing a video signal, the method comprising the steps of:

• identifying a plurality of segments of the video signal that are likely to be associated with a particular type of video content;
• extracting a signature from each of at least a subset of the one or more identified segments, wherein the extracted signatures are utilized to determine which of the identified segments are associated with the particular type of video content;
• and
• utilizing program identification information from an electronic programming guide in conjunction with the extracted signatures to determine which of the identified segments are associated with the particular type of video content.