Patents by Inventor Dana A. Lasher

Dana A. Lasher has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10231032
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for electronically tagging a video component (VC) in a video package. One example method includes the steps of: (i) receiving a video package; (ii) identifying a position of each of multiple video sections (VS) in the received video package; (iii) identifying a type of at least a portion of the VSs having identified positions, wherein at least one VS is identified as having a show-segment VC type; (iv) determining a total duration of the VSs identified as having a show-segment VC type; (v) determining a total count of the VSs identified as having a show-segment VC type; (vi) responsive to determining that the determined total duration is within a threshold range of a predetermined duration, associating tagging data with the received video package, wherein the tagging data indicates the position and type of each VS identified as having a show-segment VC type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana A. Lasher
  • Patent number: 10225489
    Abstract: A method and system to facilitate identifying and recording capture location of recorded video. A computing system determines multiple locations where a first wireless communication module and second wireless communication module have lost wireless connectivity with each other, as possible locations where a video camera may be used to capture video. The computing system then outputs, for presentation to the videographer or another user, a location-selection prompt that specifies the multiple determined locations as candidate capture-locations for a video that was captured by the video camera. Further, the computing system receives, in response to the location-selection prompt, data that represents a user selection of one of the specified locations. The computing system then records the selected location as capture-location metadata for the video, such as capture-location data integrated with the video or in a database relationship with the video.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Patent number: 10178416
    Abstract: A method and system to facilitate localized replacement of one or more commercials or other instances of base content in a video feed with replacement-media delivered in a separate broadcast TV transport stream. A local TV station that broadcasts to an area covering a video program distributor (VPD) includes supplemental content, such as replacement commercials, within its broadcast in a manner that standard broadcast-TV receivers would disregard but that a equipment at the VPD will receive and process. The equipment at the VPD thus receives the local broadcast from the TV station and extracts from the broadcast the included supplemental content. And equipment at the VPD inserts the extracted supplemental content in place of one or more instances of base content in a transport stream that the VPD receives separately from a video-program source, so as to establish a modified transport stream for delivery to end-user TV receivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2019
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Patent number: 10149002
    Abstract: A video content provider may maintain its own servers for organizing and distributing its video content as digital files. The video content provider names the digital files according to its own file naming scheme and stores the digital files at particular file locations according to its own file storage scheme. A video-broadcast system analyzes a broadcast schedule to determine attributes of scheduled video content. Using the attributes, the video-broadcast system derives identifying information that the video content provider uses in the file paths and the file names of its digital files. The video-broadcast system uses this identifying information to generate the file paths and the file names for the digital files stored on the video content provider's servers. By automatically generating the file path and the file name for video content from attributes provided by the broadcast schedule, the video-broadcast system can efficiently and consistently retrieve the correct digital files.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Scott Allan Propst, Dana A. Lasher
  • Patent number: 10097746
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method for dynamically adjusting a camera setting for a video stream includes: (i) receiving, by a computing system, video content captured by a camera operating in accordance with a camera setting; (ii) generating, by the computing system, a video stream representing the video content; and (iii) while generating the video stream: (a) determining, by the computing system, an amount of packets in a memory buffer; (b) determining, by the computing system, a time period since the camera setting was last adjusted; and (c) using, by the computing system, the determined amount of packets in the memory buffer and the determined time period since the camera setting was last adjusted as a basis to adjust the camera setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Richard M. Lasher, Dana A. Lasher, Hank J. Hundemer
  • Patent number: 10097609
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method for dynamically adjusting a data rate of a video stream includes: (i) generating, by a computing system, a video stream representing video content; and (ii) while generating the video stream: (a) determining, by the computing system, an amount of packets in a memory buffer; (b) determining, by the computing system, a time period since a data rate of the video stream was last adjusted; and (c) using, by the computing system, the determined amount of packets in the memory buffer and the determined time period since the data rate of the video stream was last adjusted as a basis to adjust the data rate of the video stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Richard M. Lasher, Dana A. Lasher, Hank J. Hundemer
  • Publication number: 20180255330
    Abstract: A method and system to facilitate localized replacement of one or more commercials or other instances of base content in a video feed with replacement-media delivered in a separate broadcast TV transport stream. A local TV station that broadcasts to an area covering a video program distributor (VPD) includes supplemental content, such as replacement commercials, within its broadcast in a manner that standard broadcast-TV receivers would disregard but that a equipment at the VPD will receive and process. The equipment at the VPD thus receives the local broadcast from the TV station and extracts from the broadcast the included supplemental content. And equipment at the VPD inserts the extracted supplemental content in place of one or more instances of base content in a transport stream that the VPD receives separately from a video-program source, so as to establish a modified transport stream for delivery to end-user TV receivers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Publication date: September 6, 2018
    Inventors: Hank Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Patent number: 10021433
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method includes (i) receiving, by a computing system, a data stream representing a media content item followed by a social media (SM) content item, (ii) performing, by the computing system, an analysis of a data rate of the data stream, (iii) determining, by the computing system based on the analysis, a demarcation point in the data stream between the media content item and the SM content item, and (iv) integrating, by the computing system using the demarcation point, the SM content item without the media content item into a video program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Patent number: 10003832
    Abstract: A method and system to facilitate localized replacement of one or more commercials or other instances of base content in a video feed with replacement-media delivered in a separate broadcast TV transport stream. A local TV station that broadcasts to an area covering a video program distributor (VPD) includes supplemental content, such as replacement commercials, within its broadcast in a manner that standard broadcast-TV receivers would disregard but that a equipment at the VPD will receive and process. The equipment at the VPD thus receives the local broadcast from the TV station and extracts from the broadcast the included supplemental content. And equipment at the VPD inserts the extracted supplemental content in place of one or more instances of base content in a transport stream that the VPD receives separately from a video-program source, so as to establish a modified transport stream for delivery to end-user TV receivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Patent number: 9998778
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method includes (i) receiving, by a computing system, first data indicating a first extent of temporal portions of video content that have a particular characteristic; (ii) receiving, by the computing system, second data indicating a second extent of temporal portions of the video content that have the particular characteristic; (iii) determining, by the computing system, that the received first data lacks a threshold extent of similarity with the received second data; and (iv) responsive to determining that the received first data lacks the threshold extent of similarity with the received second data, performing, by the computing system, an action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Scott Allan Propst, Dana A. Lasher
  • Patent number: 9992445
    Abstract: Presently disclosed are systems and method for identifying a video aspect-ratio frame attribute of a current frame. One example embodiment takes the form of a frame-processing device including a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause a set of steps to be carried out, the set of steps including: (i) receiving a frame of video from a video source device; (ii) defining a region of the received frame, wherein the region is associated with a plurality of pixels of the received frame; (iii) using a plurality of luma values associated with the plurality of pixels as a basis to identify the received frame as having a particular video aspect-ratio attribute; and (iv) storing in a memory an indication that the received frame has the identified particular video aspect-ratio frame attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana A. Lasher
  • Patent number: 9992524
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method includes (i) accessing, by a computing system, a broadcast schedule, which indicates that a broadcast of a first media content item is scheduled to be followed by a broadcast of a second media content item, wherein the computing system can operate in a schedule mode or a breakout mode; (ii) switching from operating in the schedule mode to operating in the breakout mode; and (iii) while operating in the breakout mode: (a) simulating a broadcast of the first media content item; (b) making a determination that a particular signal is embedded in the first media content item; (c) responsive to making the determination, simulating a switch from broadcasting the first media content item to broadcasting the second media content item; (d) based on the simulated broadcast of the first and second media content items, generating a simulation log; and (e) presenting the generated log.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Scott Allan Propst, Dana A. Lasher
  • Publication number: 20180103279
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes: receiving an instruction to apply a particular digital video-effect (DVE) of a particular DVE type to a temporal portion of a video segment based, at least in part, on the temporal portion of the video segment being suitable for having a DVE of the particular DVE type applied thereto, wherein the particular DVE corresponds to a duration; making a determination that no particular temporal portion of the video segment satisfies each condition in a set, the set comprising (i) a first condition that the particular temporal portion of the video segment has been identified as being suitable for having a DVE of the particular DVE type applied thereto, and (ii) a second condition that the particular temporal portion of the video segment is of at least the duration; and based, at least in part, on the received instruction and the determination, outputting an alert.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Publication date: April 12, 2018
    Inventors: Scott Allan Propst, Dana A. Lasher
  • Publication number: 20180048855
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for generating a video clip and associated closed-captioning (CC) data. An example method involves accessing a first video clip demarcated into frames; accessing CC data demarcated into CC blocks, identifying a starting frame from among the frames; determining a first set of frames that are within a range of the starting frame; determining a first set of CC blocks that correlate to the first set of frames; receiving a selection of a starting position from among the first set of CC blocks; identifying an ending frame among the frames; using the ending frame to identify an ending position; and generating a second video clip and associated CC data, wherein the second video clip includes the frames spanning from the starting frame to the ending frame, and wherein the generated CC data includes the CC blocks spanning from the starting position to the ending position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2017
    Publication date: February 15, 2018
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana A. Lasher
  • Patent number: 9883212
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes: receiving an instruction to apply a particular digital video-effect (DVE) of a particular DVE type to a temporal portion of a video segment based, at least in part, on the temporal portion of the video segment being suitable for having a DVE of the particular DVE type applied thereto, wherein the particular DVE corresponds to a duration; making a determination that no particular temporal portion of the video segment satisfies each condition in a set, the set comprising (i) a first condition that the particular temporal portion of the video segment has been identified as being suitable for having a DVE of the particular DVE type applied thereto, and (ii) a second condition that the particular temporal portion of the video segment is of at least the duration; and based, at least in part, on the received instruction and the determination, outputting an alert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Scott Allan Propst, Dana A. Lasher
  • Publication number: 20180018078
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes (a) accessing, by a computing system, a social media (SM) platform, (b) selecting a SM content item published on the SM platform, (c) responsive to the selection, accessing a webpage of the SM platform, (d) detecting that the webpage contains a nested link object, (e) selecting the nested link object to display the hidden SM content item(s) on the webpage, (f) responsive to selecting the nested link object, evaluating the displayed hidden SM content item(s) on the webpage to determine whether the selected SM content item is displayed on the webpage, (g) repeating acts (d)-(f) until the computing system determines that the selected SM content item is displayed on the webpage, and (h) responsive to determining that the selected SM content item is displayed on the webpage, retrieving the selected SM content item via the webpage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Publication date: January 18, 2018
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Publication number: 20180020034
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method of retrieving a social media (SM) content item by a computing system operable to access a plurality of SM platforms. The computing system stores multiple sets of platform-specific rules for retrieving SM content items from multiple SM platforms. Each set corresponds to a respective one of the SM platforms. The method includes (i) accessing, by a computing system, one of the SM platforms, (ii) selecting, by the computing system, a SM content item published on the accessed SM platform, (iii) responsive to selecting the SM content item, selecting, by the computing system, from among the sets of platform-specific rules, a set of platform-specific rules corresponding to the accessed SM platform, (iv) using, by the computing system, the selected set of platform-specific rules to retrieve the selected SM content item, and (v) integrating, by the computing system, the retrieved SM content item into a video program.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Publication date: January 18, 2018
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana Lasher
  • Publication number: 20180007251
    Abstract: In one aspect, an example method for dynamically adjusting a camera setting for a video stream includes: (i) receiving, by a computing system, video content captured by a camera operating in accordance with a camera setting; (ii) generating, by the computing system, a video stream representing the video content; and (iii) while generating the video stream: (a) determining, by the computing system, an amount of packets in a memory buffer; (b) determining, by the computing system, a time period since the camera setting was last adjusted; and (c) using, by the computing system, the determined amount of packets in the memory buffer and the determined time period since the camera setting was last adjusted as a basis to adjust the camera setting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2016
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Inventors: Richard M. Lasher, Dana A. Lasher, Hank J. Hundemer
  • Patent number: 9838644
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and methods for generating a video clip and associated closed-captioning (CC) data. An example method involves accessing a first video clip demarcated into frames; accessing CC data demarcated into CC blocks, identifying a starting frame from among the frames; determining a first set of frames that are within a range of the starting frame; determining a first set of CC blocks that correlate to the first set of frames; receiving a selection of a starting position from among the first set of CC blocks; identifying an ending frame among the frames; using the ending frame to identify an ending position; and generating a second video clip and associated CC data, wherein the second video clip includes the frames spanning from the starting frame to the ending frame, and wherein the generated CC data includes the CC blocks spanning from the starting position to the ending position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC
    Inventors: Hank J. Hundemer, Dana A. Lasher
  • Publication number: 20170302971
    Abstract: In one aspect, a bonded cellular system includes a client in communication with a transmitter having a number of cellular modems and a server in communication with a receiver. A file can be transmitted from the client to the server by parsing the file into data packets and dividing transmission of the packets among the number of cellular modems. One of the cellular modems can act as an internet access point for the client, through which the client can send metadata associated with the file to the server. Based on the received metadata, the server can perform various operations on the received file. In one embodiment, the file can include media content, and, based on the metadata, a server of a media-broadcasting system can associate the media content with a particular story of a rundown for a television news broadcast.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2017
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Inventors: Hank J. HUNDEMER, Dana A. LASHER