Patent ID: 7295757

Claim:
In an entertainment system that is capable of playing back stored video data, wherein the video data is characterized by parameters that vary as a function of time within the video data, a method of skipping the playback of video data to a location selected to approximate a segment transition between segments of the video data, the method comprising the acts of: playing back stored video data, wherein the video data includes information identifying a plurality of positions in the video data that are candidates for segment transitions by quantifying a rate of change in a value of a parameter of the video data at the plurality of positions in the video data, the candidates for segment transitions having been identified based on a comparison of values representing the change of the value of a parameter of the video data at a plurality of positions in the video data; wherein quantifying the rate of change includes: calculating for each of the plurality of positions, a preceding local average value of the parameter in a portion of the video data preceding the position; calculating a following local average value of the parameter in a portion of the video data following the position; and generating a local average difference value by calculating the absolute value of the difference between the preceding local average value and the following local average value; skipping the playback of the video data to a location in the video data designated to approximate a segment transition between segments of the video data, by performing the acts of: selecting one of the candidates for segment transitions as the location to which the playback is to be skipped; and skipping the playback to the selected location and resuming playing back of video data from the selected location.