Patent ID: 7424204

Claim:
A video information summarizing apparatus for extracting one or more pieces of partial video information as some parts of video information from content information made of audio information and the video information and for generating digest information having a shorter time length of the video information on the basis of the partial video information extracted, the apparatus comprising: an obtaining device which obtains identification information for identifying a type of the content information; a decision device which classifies the content information into a plurality of content sections by using optimized thresholds and which decides the partial video information to be extracted on the basis of the classified content section; an optimization device which sets optimum values to one or a plurality of the thresholds used for classifying the content information into the plurality of content sections on the basis of the obtained identification information; and a generation device which generates the digest information by extracting the decided partial video information from the video information, wherein, based on whether the time length of partial video information to be extracted is within a range having a minimum time length and a maximum time length, the decision device decides one of original partial video information, partial video information having the minimum time length, and partial video information having time length within the range, wherein the minimum time length and the maximum time length are based on a total time length of the digest information to be generated, and wherein in a case where the time length of partial video information to be extracted is shorter than the minimum time length, the decision device decides partial video information having the minimum time length, in a case where the time length of partial video information to be extracted is within the range, the decision device decides original partial video information, and in a case where the time length of partial video information to be extracted is longer than the maximum time length, the decision device decides partial video information having time length within the range.