KR100463064B1 - Bookmarking television program and channel selections - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for displaying broadcast programs and channels in combination with broadcast signals and television sets, such as television signals. The device displays the broadcast program on the selected channel to the viewer, marks one or more programs in response to the first signal from the viewer, and also marks one or more channels in response to the second signal from the viewer and , The marked programs and channels are sequentially displayed in response to a third signal from the viewer. The device displays a plurality of icons 51 to 58 on the screen, sequentially moves the icon cursor from one icon to another in response to the first signal from the television viewer to designate one icon at a time, Display only text related to the specified icon.

Description

Broadcast program and channel marking device and method thereof {BOOKMARKING TELEVISION PROGRAM AND CHANNEL SELECTIONS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the selection of broadcast signals, and more particularly to the convenient selection of broadcast signals such as television programs and channels by viewers.

Since the early days of television, the number of available channels has gradually increased. The opening of the UHF band for broadcast use, the development of cable television infrastructure, and the introduction of readily available direct satellite reception have increased the number of available channels and programs. At the end of the 20th century, hundreds of channels are expected to exist in the private broadcast market in the United States (the number of programs is also increasing). These broadcast signals may be television signals or may be other forms of broadcast media.

The proliferation of these channels and programs has broadened the range of choices. However, viewers must not only learn how to use a specific time frame and a specific channel, but also perform a difficult task of simply finding a program to watch. Most television viewers turn on the television set and flip the channel to find the program they are interested in. For example, if you have ten channels, the time to run them is short. However, if there are hundreds of programs available, the time required to view all channels becomes very long. Unless the viewer knows exactly what channel he or she wants to watch, turning the channel will be enjoying the television itself.

The invention can be better understood by reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

1A is a diagram illustrating a settop unit and a television set suitable for implementing the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing the internal circuit structure and general operation of the settop unit of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a remote control unit suitable for use with the set top unit and television set of FIG. 1A;

3A and 3B show television displays representing program and channel bookmarking icons, respectively.

4A-4K illustrate television display images of exemplary programs and channels when viewers bookmark programs and channels according to embodiments of the present invention.

5A-5C illustrate recalled television display images of bookmarked programs and channels of FIGS. 4A-4K;

6A-6D illustrate the description and operation of an icon bar displayed in accordance with the present invention.

In order to overcome these problems, the present invention is coupled to a television set and a broadcast signal, such as a television signal, so as to display a broadcast program and channel on a screen of the television set, and a program and channel on a screen of the television set. The present invention provides a method for displaying a broadcast signal. The apparatus comprises means for displaying a broadcast program of a selected channel to a viewer, means for marking one or more programs in response to a first signal from the viewer, one or more in response to a second signal from the viewer. Means for marking more channels, means for storing signals corresponding to the marked program and channel, and means for sequentially displaying marked programs and signals in response to a third signal from the viewer. do.

The present invention also provides an apparatus and method for displaying broadcast information such as a television signal on a screen of a television. The apparatus includes means for displaying a plurality of icons on a screen, to sequentially move the icon cursor from one icon to another in response to a first signal from a television viewer to designate one icon at a time. Means for displaying, and means for displaying only text associated with the designated icon.

The present invention can be best understood from the viewer's point of view of the set top unit 12 and the television set 16 shown in FIG. 1A and the remote control unit 10 shown in FIG. 1B.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the set top unit 12 is connected to the broadcast signal input of the broadcast medium (not shown) and the television set 16. As shown in FIG. The set top unit 12 operates to select a particular channel received and to display the program of that channel via the television set 16. The set top unit 12 preferably includes an infrared ray (IR) receiver 18 operative to receive a remote control signal from the remote control unit. Thus, the viewer can select the particular channel received by commanding the set top unit 12 via a remote control or by operating a controller (not shown) on the set top unit 12. The set-top unit 12 generates its own display to be shown on the screen of the television 16, extracts electronic program guide (EPG) information from a signal received from the outside, and internal memory (not shown). Includes a circuit for storing this signal. The signal of the electronic program guide information is transmitted through all broadcasting bands such as the current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band, television cable, and direct satellite broadcasting.

1B shows the internal circuit configuration and general operation of the set top unit 12. The set top unit 12 includes a tuner / decoder 28, a control unit 21, a remote control receiver 23, an electronic program guide information extraction unit 25, a display generating unit 36, and a presentation circuit. (38). The remote control receiver 23 is coupled to the IR receiver 18 and converts the received IR signal into an electrical command signal input to the control unit 21. The control unit 21 controls the general operation of the set top unit 12. The control unit 21 preferably comprises a microprocessor or microcontroller. One function of the control unit 21 is to generate a channel select control signal for the tuner / decoder 28. The tuner / decoder 28 receives an external broadcast video signal and separates a desired channel according to the channel selection control signal.

The electronic program guide information extraction unit 25 separates the EPG information from the received signal. In one embodiment, this information is extracted from the blanking interval of the currently selected channel. Of course, in other ways, the EPG information may be multiplexed into video information for display. In another embodiment, tuner / decoder 28 may be shifted to a specific electronic program guide information channel that transmits only EPG information.

In addition, the control unit 21 instructs to generate an electronic program display and a prompt in response to the EPG information made available by the electronic program guide extraction unit 25 and the user command received through the remote control receiver 23. do. In addition, the control unit 21 instructs the display generating unit 36 to generate various displays and prompts such as icons representing various functions as described below. This function according to the present invention will be described below. An electronic memory space is also included in the control unit 21 to hold various electrical signals in response to user commands and to guide the control unit 21 through its operation.

The presentation unit 38 combines the program guide display generated by the display generating unit 36 with the video signal received from the tuner / decoder 28 to generate a video signal for display. Certain prompts and displays may be superimposed on the video programming of the selected channel. Another display may occupy the entire screen, which will completely replace the selected channel.

A more detailed description of the internal design of the set top unit 12 will not be further described as it will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Any combination of hardware or software may be used to implement the functionality of the set top unit 12.

Of course, the separate set-top unit is only one viable device for the implementation of the present invention. For example, some or all of the set top unit may be located within the television 16 itself, or it may be located within an interactive television network coupled with the set top unit 12.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the remote control unit 10 for operating the set top unit 12 and the television set 16 of FIG. 1A. Of course, the remote control unit 10 is not represented on the same scale as the television set 16 of Fig. 1A. The remote control unit 10 includes the numeric keypad 13, the volume control unit 14, the channel control unit 15, the up and down arrow keys 17A and the left and right arrow keys 17B, the on / off switch 18, the TV. And a button 20, a guide burnt 22, a select button 24, and an option button 26. The on / off switch 18 turns on / off the set top unit 12. The numeric keypad 13 and / or the channel controller 15 are used for channel selection. The volume control unit 14 adjusts the volume of the television set 16. The TV button 20, the guide button 22, the select button 24, and the option button 26 are used to select a program from the EPG information signal. An example of such an operation is described in US patent application "ELECTRONIC PROGRAM GUIDE WITH ENHANCED PRESENTATION", filed and filed November 10, 1995 by the inventor and its agents.

In accordance with the present invention, at any time watching television set 16, a viewer can quickly go back and "bookmark" a program or channel that he or she wishes to watch or watch later. In its simplest form, the invention acts like a "recall" in many television sets, allowing viewers to toggle between the two most recently watched channels. For example, in the present invention 32 channels (and programs) may be marked and recalled. When a viewer hasn't decided what to watch, they can create a list of channels they like to watch and flip them, or track the progress of a particular program while watching something else. To make it possible.

The bookmark is characterized by a toggle between a Mark Program, a Mark Channel, and an Unmark. If the viewer wants to "bookmark" while watching an unmarked program, the viewer only needs to press the select button 24 on the remote control unit 10. As shown in Fig. 3A, a hollow checkmark icon is displayed at the top right of the screen, indicating that the current program is marked. Of course, other icons may be used. In order to avoid visual confusion, the broadcasting image that is the background is not shown. This bookmark is remembered only while the program is running. When the program exits, the bookmark is automatically removed.

When the select button 24 is pressed again on the marked program, as shown in FIG. 3B, the common checkmark is converted to a filled checkmark icon representing the channel rather than the program. Similarly, other icons can be used for this function. The marked channel is permanently remembered even after the section you are currently watching or the television is turned off until the viewer removes the bookmark.

When the viewer presses the select button 24 again, the channel bookmark icon 31 is removed and the icon disappears. As the user switches channels, the bookmark icon 30 or 31 is only displayed for a few seconds so as not to disturb the broadcast image of the television set 16.

Signals for recalling bookmarked programs and channels are stored in the set top unit 12. The bookmarked programs and channels are stored even when the television set 16 is turned off. However, as described above, as indicated by the EPG signal received by the set top unit 12, it is removed when this program ends.

The viewer can then sequentially rotate the bookmarked programs and channels at any time during normal viewing using the recall button 27 on the remote control unit 10. The viewer can still navigate all channels using the up and down buttons 15 of the channel. If no program or channel is marked at all, the last channel visited by the set-top unit 12 is recalled so that each time the viewer presses the recall button 27, the television set 16 toggles between the last two visited channels. .

4A-4K illustrate the present invention that may be used by the viewer. Each figure shows an example of a broadcast image on television set 16 as a viewer bookmarks a program and channel. 4A shows an image of the first channel. In Fig. 4B, the select button 24 has been pressed twice to bookmark the channel. This is indicated by a shade icon 33 in the upper right corner of the television set 16. The channel is then switched to the other image of Figure 4c. 4D shows that the viewer changed the channel again. 4E also shows another channel. The viewer then bookmarks the broadcast program by pressing the select button 24 once. 4F shows a bookmarked program icon 34 in the upper right corner of the image. 4G and 4H show that the viewer changed the channel twice. The shaded bookmark channel icon in Fig. 4i indicates that the viewer pressed the select button 24 twice to select the channel shown in Fig. 4h. The viewer then changed the channel twice, as shown in Figures 4J and 4K.

As a result, after changing eight channels, the viewer bookmarked two channels and one program. When the recall button 27 is pressed, the set top unit 12 recalls the first bookmark channel as shown in Fig. 5A. When the recall button 27 is pressed again, the bookmarked program appears as shown in Fig. 5B. When the recall button 27 is pressed for the third time, the second bookmark channel comes out as shown in FIG. 5C. As mentioned above, the bookmarked program of Fig. 5B is recalled only when it is being aired. When the viewer presses the recall button 27, if the program has ended, the set top unit 12 will only recall the bookmarked channel.

All television set 16 images in the figure have information on the television set. As mentioned above, bookmarking of programs and channels and their recall may be performed while the set top unit 12 is in a single broadcast reception mode. The screen of television set 16 simply displays the broadcast image of the selected channel (also displays a transient program and a channel bookmark icon). The bookmarking of programs and channels and their recall can also be performed well in other modes of the set top box.

3A to 3B, 4A to 4K, and 5A to 5C, the set top unit 12 is in an EPG display mode in which electronic program guide information can be obtained and displayed on the television set 16. In this mode, an icon bar 40 and some electronic program guide information are displayed. This example is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. In this mode and other EPG display modes, as detailed in the patent application described above, the viewer can view the schedule of the broadcast program, and the program can be selected for present and future viewing.

According to one aspect of the invention, a viewer can bookmark programs and channels in the EPG display mode by selecting these programs from the EPG information. This program will be broadcast in the future or at a chosen time. Bookmarking of the program is performed by moving the icon cursor 42 onto the marking / unmarking icon 54 on the icon bar 40. When the select button 24 is pressed, the program selected for later recall is bookmarked until the broadcast program ends.

As part of the present invention, the set top unit 12 creates an icon bar for display on the screen of the television set 16 at the viewer's request. The icon bar consists of a series of icons that identify the functions that a viewer can perform in the context of the icon bar. The viewer can move the icon cursor box 42 from one icon to the next using the arrow buttons 17B of <-and-> on the remote control unit 10. If the icon cursor box 42 is over the selected function, the function is selected by pressing the select button 24 on the remote control unit 10. As shown in the example shown in Figs. 6A to 6C, the icon bar 40 including the marking / unmarking icon 54 has icons 51 and 52.

The number of available icons is not limited to the size of the screen. The viewer can access more icons by moving the icon cursor box 42 to the left end or the right end of the icon bar. The icon cursor box 42 shows the appropriate left and right arrows with arrow buttons when available. In addition, some icons are shown at the end of the bar to emphasize the fact that there are more functions in that direction. For example, if there are no more icons left, the icon cursor box 42 only shows the right arrow.

As shown in FIGS. 6A-6D, the icon cursor box 42 is accompanied by a text bar 43 that describes the function of the icon where the icon cursor box 42 is located. By providing text only for the icon on which the icon cursor is placed, it is possible to provide more choices than to provide a text menu in the space of the same screen. At the same time, the text bar 43 provides a large amount of text space for international translation of each function of the icon. The example shown in FIG. 6D shows an example of the German phrase for "Record".

Using an icon bar and an icon cursor makes it easy for the viewer to create a list of identifiable viewers. For example, the icon bar 40 shown in FIG. 6A has a viewer icon 53 that directs the icon to identify or add viewers from the viewer list. For example, in the electronic program guide information 41 shown in Figs. 3A and 3B, the viewer "BOB" is identified. Once the "Add Viewer" function is selected, the arrow buttons 17A and 17B and the select button 24 are the names of the viewers to add from the letters of the on-screen table of letter. Allow this to be entered.

According to the present invention, there is provided a bookmark program list and a submark channel list separated for each viewer identified. By identifying itself from the set top unit 12 via the remote control unit 10 as prompted by the display on the television set 16, the viewer has a personalized bookmark program and bookmark channel. Viewers will have personally bookmarked shows and channels. Thus, each viewer does not have to waste time running channels and programs that the viewer does not want.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention may be variously changed and modified. It is clear that the present invention can be applied by appropriately modifying the above embodiments. The foregoing description, therefore, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the selection of broadcast signals for televisions, and in particular, it can be used in the field of conveniently selecting broadcast signals such as television programs and channels by viewers.

Claims (23)

An apparatus, coupled to a broadcast signal and a television set, for displaying broadcast programs and channels on a screen of the television, the apparatus comprising: Means for displaying the broadcast program of the selected channel to the viewer; Means for marking one or more of the broadcast programs in response to a first signal from the viewer; Means for marking one or more of said channels in response to a second signal from said viewer; Means for storing signals corresponding to the marked program and channel; And Means for sequentially displaying the marked program and channel in response to a third signal from the viewer Device comprising a. The method of claim 1, Further coupled to the broadcast electronic program guide information signal, The storage means removes a signal corresponding to the marked program in response to the broadcast electronic program guide information signal indicating the end of the marked program. Device. The method of claim 1, Means for displaying a first icon on the screen in response to the program marking means for marking the program Device further comprising. The method of claim 1, Means for displaying a second icon on the screen in response to the channel marking means for marking the channel Device further comprising. The method of claim 1, Means for unmarking a marked program or marked channel in response to a fourth signal from the viewer Device further comprising. The method of claim 5, Remote control unit associated with the viewer More, The remote control unit includes a first button that, when pressed first sequentially generates a first, second or fourth signal. Device. An apparatus for displaying broadcast signal information on a television screen, the apparatus comprising: Means for displaying a plurality of icons on the screen; Means for sequentially moving an icon cursor from one icon to another in response to a first signal from a television viewer to designate one icon at a time; And Means for displaying only text associated with the designated icon Device comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The icon display means further comprises means for arranging the plurality of icons in a horizontal bar on the screen. Device. The method of claim 8, Said text display means for displaying said text in said bar adjacent said designation icon; Device. The method of claim 9, The text display means for displaying the text bar under the designation icon. Device. The method of claim 7, wherein The text display means displays the text indicating a function associated with the designated icon. Device. A method of displaying broadcast programs and channels on a television screen, the method comprising: Displaying to the television viewer a broadcast program on a selected channel on the television screen; Marking one or more programs in response to a first signal from the television viewer; Marking one or more channels in response to a second signal from the television viewer; Storing signals corresponding to the marked programs and channels; And Sequentially displaying the marked programs and channels on the television screen in response to a third signal from the television viewer How to include. The method of claim 12, The storing step further includes the step of removing a signal corresponding to the marked program in response to a broadcast electronic program guide information signal indicating the end of the program. Way. The method of claim 12, The marking the program further includes displaying a first icon. Way. The method of claim 12, The channel marking step further includes displaying a second icon. Way. The method of claim 12, Unmarking a marked program or marked channel in response to a fourth signal from the viewer How to include more. A method of displaying broadcast signal information on a television screen, Displaying a plurality of icons on the screen; Sequentially moving an icon cursor from one icon to another in response to a signal from a television viewer to select one icon at a time; And Displaying only text associated with the selected icon How to include. The method of claim 17, The icon displaying step includes arranging the plurality of icons in a horizontal bar on the screen. Way. The method of claim 18, The text displaying step includes displaying the text in the bar adjacent to the selected icon. Way. The method of claim 19, The text displaying step includes displaying text in the bar below the selected icon. Way. The method of claim 17, The icon cursor includes a box around an icon to which the cursor is moved. Way. The method of claim 17, In the text display step, the text describes a function of the selected icon. Way. The method of claim 22, The text is adjacent to the selected icon Way.