Patent ID: 7536078

Claim:
Apparatus for identifying a blank segment in a set of visual recording data, comprising: a blank frame detector, the blank frame detector adapted to evaluate a frame of visual recording data to determine whether the frame of visual recording data is a snow-static frame, wherein the blank frame detector is adapted to: determine if a specified maximum variation from pure gray at each pixel is less than a specified magnitude; determine if the average numerical value of each color component for all of the pixels of the frame is within a specified range and/or has a specified relationship with the average numerical value of one or more other color components; and determine if the vertical and horizontal correlation coefficients are within corresponding specified ranges and/or have a specified relationship with one another, wherein: if the specified maximum variation from pure gray at each pixel is less than a specified magnitude, the average numerical value of each color component for all of the pixels of the frame is within a specified range and/or has a specified relationship with the average numerical value of one or more other color components, and the vertical and horizontal correlation coefficients are within corresponding specified ranges and/or have a specified relationship with one another, then the frame is a snow-static frame; and a blank segment detector, the blank segment detector adapted to receive input from the blank frame detector regarding a plurality of frames of visual recording data and to evaluate a characteristic of the plurality of frames of visual recording data to determine whether the plurality of frames of visual recording data is a blank segment that does not correspond to recorded visual content.