Abstract: Steps after a user finds an attractive product until he or she buys it are successively performed so that he or she can buy it stressfreely. The user photographs an attractive product with a portable camera telephone terminal 1 and transmits image data 7 to a server 3 through Internet 2. The server 3 has a DB 4 in which images such as various types of products, persons, and logo marks are registered and a DB 5 in which related information of image data registered in the DB 4 is registered. The server 3 performs an image recognizing process for the image data 7, retrieves data that match the image data 7 with a high match rate from the image data registered in the DB 4, and extracts corresponding related information from the DB 5. The related information is provided to the user through the Internet 2. By only transmitting the image data 7, the user can obtain related information of an attractive product.

Abstract: Steps after a user finds an attractive product until he or she buys it are successively performed so that he or she can buy it stressfreely. The user photographs an attractive product with a portable camera telephone terminal 1 and transmits image data 7 to a server 3 through Internet 2. The server 3 has a DB 4 in which images such as various types of products, persons, and logo marks are registered and a DB 5 in which related information of image data registered in the DB 4 is registered. The server 3 performs an image recognizing process for the image data 7, retrieves data that match the image data 7 with a high match rate from the image data registered in the DB 4, and extracts corresponding related information from the DB 5. The related information is provided to the user through the Internet 2. By only transmitting the image data 7, the user can obtain related information of an attractive product.

Abstract: The improvement of accuracy is provided in extracting a rule in customers. A customer database DB1 is constructed by storing customer inner information concerning the mental side, which includes a value sense of each customer, and customer outer information which includes basic attributes consisting of at least sexuality and age of each customer.

Abstract: An A/D (analog-to-digital) converter circuit that controls a frequency characteristic of an input video signal in response to a sampling signal of a variable frequency to reduce distortions such as a folded distortion and so on caused by the A/D conversion.

Abstract: A frequency detector is used with a digital scanning converter that enables a monitor receiver having a particular horizontal deflection frequency to monitor various video signals having various horizontal frequencies. The frequency detector has a counter for counting a reference clock during a predetermined time interval derived from an input signal to be measured and a computing circuit for adding or subtracting a first constant to or from a setting cycle in response to a difference between a count value of the counter and the setting cycle. When the difference between the count value and the setting cycle exceeds a second constant during a predetermined number of such time intervals, the setting cycle is adjusted by an output from the computing circuit, and an approximate value of a cycle of the signal to be measured is computed, thereby detecting the approximate frequency.

Abstract: A scan converter apparatus, for converting an input video signal having a line frequency f.sub.H1 into an output video signal having a line frequency of substantially f.sub.H2, has means for generating a signal with a line frequency m/n times the horizontal synchronizing signal of the input video signal by approximating a line frequency ratio of f.sub.H1 /f.sub.H2 to n/m, where m and n are both integers, and controlling the reading operation from a memory in synchronism with the resultant line frequency signal to thereby produce the output video signal, so that even when the line frequency f.sub.H2 is not an integer multiple of the line frequency f.sub.H1, it is possible to satisfactorily obtain the output video signal of which the horizontal line frequency is f.sub.H2.

Abstract: Digital apparatus for convergence correction of a plurality of images on the screen of a television monitor includes a digital registration circuit, or an analog registration circuit using a digital attenuator; and a memory for storing data for operation of the digital registration circuit or the digital attenuator of the analog registration circuit. The memory has a plurality of pages, and the correction data corresponding to different operating conditions is stored in the respective pages of the memory. The paging of this memory is performed in accordance with the operating conditions, and the convergence correction is carried out on the basis of the correction data continuously read out of the designated page. With this apparatus, accurate convergence adjustment can be simply performed to accommodate changes in size and/or shape of the image displayed on the screen or monitor, changes in the distance of a projection screen from its projector, and changes in the screen surface, i.e.

Abstract: A plurality of images superimposed to form a composite image on the screen of a television monitor are brought into convergence (register) by forming a reference image on the screen, the reference image including a plurality of reference points, and superimposing a test image on the reference image. The test image is similar to the reference image and includes a plurality of adjustment points respectively corresponding to the reference points. The test image further includes at least one correction portion corresponding to a given portion of the reference image, the correction portion including a given subset of the adjustment points.

Abstract: A play list comprising the names of music pieces broadcasted from a broadcast station and broadcast time information are accumulated in a data base. If a user likes a music piece broadcasted from the broadcast station, he activates a book marker which stores time information representing the time at which the book marker is activated. The time information is supplied through a gateway device to a search engine which searches the data base for those broadcast stations in the user's geographic area which broadcasted music pieces or the like at a time that matches the time information. The search results are transmitted to the gateway device and displayed.