Patent ID: 7042525

Claim:
A video segmentation system comprising: a video source that provides a video sequence that includes a plurality of frames each including multiple pixels; a frequency decomposer connected to said video source that generates a low frequency signature for each of said plurality of frames and a high frequency signature for each of said plurality of frames, where the low frequency signature having a first set of x by y coefficients for each of said plurality of frames and the high frequency signature having a second set of x by y coefficients for each of said plurality of frames; a cut detector connected to said video source and said frequency decomposer that identifies a cut transition between two adjacent frames using said low frequency signature; a fade detector that identifies a fade transition using said high frequency signature for a sequence of adjacent frames of said video sequence that are located between said first and second cut transitions; a linear signal generator that assigns a fade threshold value for each of said frames that are located between said first and second cut transitions; a summing signal generator that provides a sum signal for each of said frames located between said first and second cut transitions by adding said second set of x by y coefficients in said high frequency signature; and a comparing circuit connected to said linear signal generator and said summing signal generator that compares said sum signal with said fade threshold value for each of said frames located between said first and second cut transitions and declares a fade transition when said sum signal and said fade threshold are approximately equal for each of said frames located between said first and second cut transitions.