Patent ID: 7865927

Claim:
A media system, comprising: a video input operable to receive video content; a metadata input operable to receive metadata from a metadata provider, the metadata being associated with the video content; a network interface operable to pull requested data from a network; a search engine interface operable to extract data from the metadata based upon user input, search the network for data related to the extracted data, and to use the network interface to pull the related data from the network; a control device operable to read timing data included in the related data; and a signature identification engine operable to: deriving a signature of a displayed frame of the video content; access an association of timing data and known signatures of frames of the video content, the association specifying a respective time for each known signature; and synchronize the related data to the video content based on the signature of the displayed frame of the video content, the timing data included in the related data, and the association of timing data and known signatures, the synchronizing comprising: comparing the signature of the currently displayed frame of the video content to the known signatures of frames; identifying a known signature of a frame that matches the signature of the displayed frame of video content; identifying the time associated with the identified known signature; determining whether the time associated with the identified known signature matches a time specified by the timing data included in the related data; and displaying the related data in substantial synchronization with the displayed frame of video content in response to determining that the time associated with the identified known signature matches a time specified by the timing data included in the related data.