Title of Invention	METHOD FOR ADDITION OF VIDEO THUMBNAIL IN A VIDEO FILE
Abstract	The invention describes a method and system to generate to generate a static or an animated thumbnail for a digital video on a handeld divice. According to the method the first frame of the video is displayed as the static thumbnail and certain periodic of the digital video are displayed as the animated thumbnail.

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FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention, in general, relates to the field of multimedia. The invention applies to the Multimedia technology domain and is targeted at handheld devices. The invention proposes to add a static thumbnail and a dynamic thumbnail to a video recorded in MP4 format with specific use-cases and advantages for each. More particularly the present invention, relates to a method and system for addition of video thumbnail. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 1. Static Thumbnail - Video-based applications that need the first frame of the video to display (static thumbnail) require the video to be decoded. On a handheld device (with limited processor speed and memory capabilities), typically this process involves the following steps in general: a. Parse the entire mpeg4 video file to get the various atoms. b. Decode and calculate the location of the video data stream (which starts with an l-frame). c. Pass the Video data stream to the Decoder (usually a DSP or a backend processor in a handheld device) d. Obtain the first video frame from the Decoder and pass it to the application. e. Stop the Decoder. The above steps (explained through a flowchart in Figure 1 in a later section) require a lot of time especially on low power handheld devices. Further, the video decoding requires hardware support leading to additional battery life getting used up to get the first frame alone. 2.Animated thumbnail Currently there is no concept of an animated video thumbnail in a MP4 file. LIMITATIONS Based on the current prevalent technology as described above, the limitations are as follows: 1. Thumbnail display of video (by decoding and getting the first frame method) takes more time compared to the invention being proposed. In devices where lots of thumbnails need to be displayed on a particular screen, the time can be considerable. 2. On handheld devices, Video Decode requires additional hardware/DSP support. To get the first frame alone, the hardware needs to be initialized, run and shutdown again - leading to consumption of additional power and battery drain. 3. User doesn't have an option to preview the video by playing back only a few selected frames. For very long videos, user doesn't have an option but to play back or doing a fast forward manually. 4. User experience is not very good when he/she is made to wait until all the video thumbnails are displayed (in the example mentioned in [1]). SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The MP4 file format requires data to be encapsulated in the form of 'atoms' where each atom holds specific information. The format supports 'user defined' atoms too. While decoding the video, if the video decoder/parser doesn't understand the signature of an atom, that atom is completely ignored. This feature is made use of in the invention being proposed below: 1. The invention proposes to add a static thumbnail in an MP4 video file during/after encode for quick decode and display in a handheld device. 2. The invention proposes to add an animated thumbnail in an MP4 video file that'll display an animated preview of the video with a few chosen frames. The static video thumbnail will be used to display the first frame of the video and the animated thumbnail will be used to do a preview of a video by playing back few select frames only. Accordingly this invention explains a method of adding video thumbnail in a video file comprising the steps of: adding a static thumbnail in the video file during or after encoding for quick decode and display in a handheld device; and adding an animated thumbnail for displaying an animated preview of the video with a plurality of chosen frames. Accordingly the invention also explains a method of accessing a video thumbnail comprises the steps of: parsing the video file for the "thumb" atom; extracting the data from the "thumb" atom based on the value of thumbnail size; and accessing a thumbnail header and finding the type of thumbnail; passing the data to an image decoder based on the type of thumbnail. Accordingly the invention explains a system for adding video thumbnail in a video file comprising: means for adding a static thumbnail in the video file during or after encoding for quick decode and display in a handheld device; and means for adding an animated thumbnail for displaying an animated preview of the video with a plurality of chosen frames. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS Figure 1 depicts the current method to get the static thumbnail from an MP4 video file. Figure 2 depicts steps to get static video or animated video thumbnail. Figure 3 illustrates Adding the static/animated thumbnail to the Video File during Encode. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. As described in an earlier section, displaying the first frame of a video (static thumbnail) in a handheld device using available technology has a number of disadvantages. There's also no option to preview the video by just playing back a few selected frames alone), giving the user an overview of the video). Figure 1 in Section 5 explains the steps involved in getting the first frame of the video. The invention proposes to add thumbnails to a MP4 video file during recording/encoding and use this thumbnail for decoding the first frame or for video preview. This section explains in detail the procedure and steps involved and thereby elucidate the claims of the invention. Figure 3 explains the steps involved in adding a video thumbnail during recording. As explained earlier, there can be 2 types of thumbnails. The steps involved in adding thumbnail to the video for each type and accessing the thumbnail from an MP4 file are as follows: 1. Static Thumbnail: a. When the recording is initiated and the MP4 file is created, add a special thumbnail atom "thumb" with suitable amount of data space to the file. The size of the data space allocated would depend on the encoder format chosen for the thumbnail and the dimension of the encoded data. The value of the dimension to be chosen should be such that the decoding the thumbnail frame should not take any considerable time at all. b. Video recording in a handheld device typically involves the camera/encoder module giving a raw frame for display/preview followed by an encoded frame for storage. When the first raw frame is received by the application, store it in RAM. c. Continue with the video recording/encoding. d. When the recording is completed, encode the raw frame saved earlier using either a JPEG encoder or GIF encoder, and with a very small resolution so that decode and display can be very quick (consider the memory restrictions of the handheld device). e. Add a 4-byte header to the encoded raw frame with the following details: i. Byte 1: Thumbnail size - size of the video thumbnail - header + data space. ii. Byte 2: Thumbnail encode format - The values 1. 0 - JPEG 2. 1 - GIF 3. 2 - Animated GIF 4. 3-PNG 5. 4-BMP iii. Byte 3: Thumbnail Width iv. Byte 4: Thumbnail Height This is the video thumbnail's header. f. Add the thumbnail with the header to the "thumb" data space defined in the MP4 file. g. Save the video file with the static video thumbnail. 2. Animated Thumbnail: a. When the recording is initiated and the MP4 file is created, add a special thumbnail atom "thumb" with suitable amount of data space to the file. The size of the data space allocated would depend on the encoder format chosen for the thumbnail, the number of frames in the animated thumbnail and the dimension of the encoded data. b. Video recording in a handheld device typically involves the camera/encoder module giving a raw frame for display/preview followed by an encoded frame for storage. For an animated thumbnail, store periodic raw frames from the camera module in RAM. Limit the number of raw frames stored to a maximum of 100 since the animated thumbnail size will shoot up otherwise. c. When the recording is complete, encode the raw frames that were stored in RAM using a GIF encoder into an animated GIF data. d. As explained in the previous section, add a header for the animated thumbnail data with the format as '2' (animated GIF) and with the width and height specified. e. Add the thumbnail with the header to the "thumb" data space defined in the MP4 file. f. Save the video file with the animated video thumbnail. 3. Accessing a video thumbnail: Figure 2 gives the steps involved in accessing and decoding a video thumbnail: g. When the thumbnail needs to be accessed, either for displaying the first frame or for video preview, parse the video file for the "thumb" atom. h. Extract the data from the "thumb" atom based on the value of Thumbnail size. i. Access the Thumbnail Format byte to know the type of thumbnail. j. If the thumbnail format is static, pass it to the image decoder (GIF or JPEG) based on the Thumbnail format found in c. k. If the thumbnail format is animated, pass the data to an image decoder that'll display the animated GIF image. As explained in the sections above, video preview and static video thumbnail (using the method described in this invention) can increase the user experience a big way. Further, the features can be realized without the OEMs worrying about additional hardware, power drain, performance, etc. ADVANTAGES 1. Decoding of first frame for getting a static thumbnail is very fast compared to the original method of decoding the video to get the frame. 2. No hardware decoders need to be employed for video preview and getting first frame. This saves battery life too - considering that the target is a handheld device. 3. Video Preview is a new feature that can be done without employing a video decoder - fast, efficient and user friendly. 4. The overall user experience increases manifold. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a microchip, microprocessor, handheld communication device, computer, rendering device or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS JPEG - Joint Photography Experts Group, a photo compression standard. MPEG4, MP4 - Moving Pictures Expert Group - 4, the de-facto standard being used for storing digital videos. GIF - Graphical Interchange Format, an encoded image format that can store both single as well as multiple image frames. Video atom - The MP4 file format specifies data to be stored in WE CLAIM 1. A method of adding video thumbnail in a video file comprising the steps of: adding a static thumbnail in the video file during or after encoding for quick decode and display in a handheld device; and adding an animated thumbnail for displaying an animated preview of the video with a plurality of chosen frames. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein adding static thumbnail in video file comprises the steps of: recording the video; adding a special thumbnail atom "thumb" with data space to the file when a recording is initiated and the video file is created; giving a raw frame for display/preview followed by an encoded frame for storage; storing in memory when a raw frame is received by an application; encoding the raw frame saved earlier when the recording is complete; adding a header to the encoded raw frame; adding the thumbnail with the header to the "thumb" data space defined in the video file; and saving the video file with the static video thumbnail. 3. A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein the size of the data space allocated depends on the encoder format chosen for the thumbnail and the dimension of the encoded data. 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein adding animated thumbnail in video file comprises the steps of: adding a special thumbnail atom "thumb" with data space to the file when a recording is initiated and the video file is created; storing periodic raw frames from to memory; encoding the raw frames that were stored in memory when the recording is complete; adding a header to the encoded raw frame; adding the thumbnail with the header to the "thumb" data space defined in the video file; and saving the video file with the animated video thumbnail. 5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the size of the data space allocated depend on the encoder format chosen for the thumbnail, the number of frames in the animated thumbnail and the dimension of the encoded data. 6. A method of accessing a video thumbnail comprises the steps of: parsing the video file for the "thumb" atom; extracting the data from the "thumb" atom based on the value of thumbnail size; and accessing a thumbnail header and finding the type of thumbnail; passing the data to an image decoder based on the type of thumbnail. 7. A system for adding video thumbnail in a video file comprising: means for adding a static thumbnail in the video file during or after encoding for quick decode and display in a handheld device; and means for adding an animated thumbnail for displaying an animated preview of the video with a plurality of chosen frames. 8. A method of adding video thumbnail in a video file substantially described and explained with reference to the drawings. 9. A system for adding video thumbnail in a video file substantially described and explained with reference to the drawings.

Documents:

1127 -chep- 2006 correpondance - others.pdf

1127 -chep- 2006 description (provisional).pdf

1127 -chep- 2006 drawings.pdf

1127 -chep- 2006 form 1.pdf

1127 -chep- 2006 form 26.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 AMENDED CLAIMS 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM-1 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM-13 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM-3 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 1 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 POWER OF ATTORNEY 10-06-2013.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 ABSTRACT.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 CLAIMS.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

1127-CHE-2006 DRAWINGS.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM 1.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM 18.pdf

1127-CHE-2006 FORM 5.pdf