KR20010093198A - Television receiver and method of using same for displaying information messages - Google Patents

Abstract

A receiver and a method of use thereof are provided for controllably displaying information messages, display device data for receiving first data corresponding to main programming content and second data corresponding to messaging information, and changes in main programming. And a controller for receiving an input relating to and, upon receipt of such input, adjusts a gradual or fractional visual transition to and from the messaging information displayed in the time interval between each main program image. The present invention provides for example zooms, wipes, dissolves or puzzles / constructions, etc. of an information message introduced by launching portal applications during channel synchronization. Provides smooth visual transitions between main programs and information messages such as commercial advertisements.

Description

Television receiver and method of using the same for displaying information messages {Television receiver and method of using same for displaying information messages}

Conventional television broadcast systems transmit commercials of commercials for broadcast during breaks in regular defined programming transmitted on a given broadcast channel. The previously shown program image is suddenly frozen and replaced by the audiovisual content of the commercial images, and at the end of the commercial message (s) it is suddenly stopped again and replaced by another program image.

Automatic insertion of commercial advertisements as viewers switch between different programming channels has also been proposed. In conventional broadcasting involving encrypted and compressed data transmissions used in digital television (DTV), channel changes are not made immediately because of the transient delays associated with tuning and processing the received encrypted and compressed signals. . Therefore, while channel tuning by the viewer, i.e. changing from one channel to another, a visually distinct blank screen will cause the tuner to display a new channel for display after a new channel selection has been made by the user. Appears on the television display for a short but distinct time interval until accepting and finishing the selection process. Blank screen intervals, which are distinct and embarrassing for the viewer, are typically about 1 second or less in duration. The prior art has proposed to fill these short blank screen interludes with advertising messages.

For example, EPO patent application 0 712 242 proposed to insert a commercial on a television display during the blank screen time interval mentioned above, referred to in the application as "zapping time". When a cable subscriber switches to a new channel, the display of regular cable programming on that channel is stopped, advertisements, pre-stored on the receiver and supplied simultaneously and continuously through the cable network, are tuned to the newly selected channel and Until it is accepted, as a result the display of the advertisement is stopped and the programming associated with the new channel is displayed. Respective advertisements may be associated with respective channels, default advertisements may be displayed, or the advertisements may target any subscriber. The processor is included in the tuner and receiver which may process the messages as needed or as indicated. EPO patent application 0 712 242 thus describes an approach to fill the "zapping time" with the audiovisual content of an advertising message, and abrupt changes within the advertising message are reported by the user during or from a short advertisement intervening therebetween. Will occur in the image.

EPO patent application 0 554 577 describes the generation of advertisements in a television receiver by storing commercial advertisements locally in the television receiver as original or updatable content, which is displayed in a time-dependent manner, or powered on ( It may be started by the operation of the control function of the television receiver, such as powering on, changing channel, changing volume, and the like. Processing and memory storage capabilities are provided to manage the display of multiple advertisements and user programmable information. The display of advertisements may fill the screen for a predetermined period of time, such as during a channel change, and if useful, with an on-screen channel display, as a small insert, or across a portion of the screen. It can be displayed as a banner or as a picture-in-picture (PIP).

As described above, blank screen intervals occur when changing the channel during television viewing, which is accompanied by encrypted and / or digital transmission signals. Therefore, full screen insertion or arbitrary insertion, and running of small images or banners or PIP functions, for advertising during channel changes according to EPO patent application 0 554 577, provides the viewer with a seamless audiovisual It will not be perceived as involving enemy transitions.

U.S. Patent 5,805,974 describes how to synchronize commercial advertisements across multiple communication channels such that the advertisement may exist in a "partial road block" or even in a complete "road block" form to viewers requiring channel changes. A method and apparatus for the same will be described.

EPO patent application 0 663 769 describes smooth fading transitions when switching from one channel to another. To achieve this, the video image of the previous channel transmission is frozen or stored so that a smooth fading transition can be made to the newly selected live transmission image. Alternatively, two respective receivers are provided to simultaneously process two separate live transmission feeds to perform the image transition. In the former case, simply displaying a frozen picture or a stored still picture from the previous channel on the screen may cause something to be visually desired while the new live feed image appears on the screen. . In the latter case, the need to provide two separate receiver units would put a significant burden on the price of the television receiver.

PCT International Publication No. WO 98/30025 executes interactive broadcast programs and advertisements using a receiver, arranged to receive a multiplexed data stream comprising one or more main programs and a plurality of different advertisements. The method and system for doing this are demonstrated. During the commercial break, a selection or menu of different commercials available and the viewer can select is displayed on the television monitor. If the viewer does not make his or her own choice of advertisement within a given time period, a default advertisement may appear. None of the references discussed above satisfactorily addresses the problem of visually discontinuous sudden transitions between regular programming and advertising times.

What is needed is a higher production quality, a smoother and more seamless transition between general programming and commercial advertising. Thus, more aesthetic appeals, stimuli, effective instructions and deviations from commercial advertisements or other messages presented during or between programming choices will produce a larger and more effective visual or audiovisual effect for the viewer. Is required. The present invention meets the above or other needs in the art.

The present invention generally relates to an arrangement and method for displaying information messages in a television receiver.

The foregoing and other objects, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings shown.

1 illustrates the basic components of a digital receiver in accordance with the present invention, having the ability to launch and display portal applications informing timely and special visual transition effects in or from information messages in a timely and synchronized manner. Generalized block diagram.

2A-2J graphically represent a sequence of video screens showing a gradual transition from a main program image to a commercial advertisement and back to another main program image in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

According to the invention, a television receiver arrangement is provided for carrying out visually enhanced transitions into or out of an information message.

In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a digital television receiver for controllably displaying information messages, which is associated with a display device and advertisements or other information messages during breaks or interruptions in main programming. A message controller for managing their presentation. The display device is used to display data corresponding to main programming content and also data corresponding to information message content. The controller is used to receive an input regarding changes in the main programming, when such an input is received, it receives a progressive or fractional visual transition into or from an information message displayed in the time interval between each main program image. Adjust

In particular, an information message comprising at least one information message picture frame is inserted between each main program picture, where the message picture replaces the portions of the current main program picture until the message picture is fully assembled. It is constructed progressively on the screen. When the information message is terminated, the message picture is gradually disassembled from the picture screen, while the other main program picture is gradually removed from the picture screen at positions where the message picture disappears until the end of the assembly of the new main program picture. Fill it. In this way, when an information message is present and instead provides a more visually interesting and stimulating viewing experience, the viewer will not see sudden changes in the video screen. Information messages embedded with special visual effects according to the present invention may, for example, be used for commercial advertisements (still frames or videos), logos (ie logos of new channel selections), closed caption text. ), And so on.

In one advantageous implementation, the digital television receiver of the present invention comprises a television single demultiplexer for receiving multiplexed data streams, wherein the demultiplexer is configured to transmit audiovisual content data corresponding to main programming to information message content and presentation protocols. Act to separate from the corresponding multimedia data. Information message transitions are used in conjunction with triggering of portal applications. By this term, this means a class of software applications such as JAVA or JAVA called to represent informational messages. These software applications may occur in the event of any user controlled actions detected by the receiver, such as whenever a user synchronizes to a specific or new channel, or alternatively, an advertisement time or video cut. When any events occur in the same main program as detected by the receiver, it is started. These portal applications execute some form of information, which is mapped to transitions. Portal applications are generally transmitted as part of a continuous multiplexed data stream sent to a television receiver. For example, the private data section of the transport stream portion of the multiplexed data stream containing the digital signal can be used to allow portal applications to engage information messages with the receiver. Since digital TV allows data to be transmitted with audio and video, binary files of the portal application as well as related content (eg graphics, sound files) can be broadcast as data streams.

While the user is watching television, the audiovisual processor receives audiovisual content data from the demultiplexer, decodes the audiovisual content data to produce decompressed audiovisual data, and outputs the decompressed audiovisual data to the display. The application manager receives multimedia data corresponding to the information messages from the demultiplexer and also receives inputs regarding changes in the main programming. In response to receiving such change information, the application manager adjusts progressive live transitions in the display, first from the main program picture to the information message and then secondly from the information message picture to another main program picture.

In this way, the construction and disassembly content and timing of advertisements or other information messages with regular programming can thus be controlled by the broadcaster via instructions contained in the broadcast data stream. These instructions may be extracted from the data stream in real time by the receiver in the case of message inserts made during the same program or departure messages relating to the current programming during channel tuning. Alternatively, to avoid any possible delays in cases where message insertions have content related to new channel selection during channel synchronization, the instructions are pre-downloaded and can be easily accessed by the application manager when needed. In the memory of the icon. For those channel synchronization applications where it is required to associate an information message with a new channel selection, portal applications and instructions can be received for later (eg, next day) execution when any channels are synchronized by the viewer. Can be downloaded periodically (eg, every night).

In addition, the receivers of the present invention may also be provided with the user the ability to allow some degree of control and tampering of information message settings, such that the user may use any message presentation (such as with regard to the visual effects of message transitions). The presentation settings can be adjusted and preset, which is then stored on the receiver and now applied to user preferences.

The present invention represents an important advance over the conventional state of the television experience. The present invention conveniently utilizes a digital TV technology framework to enhance the experience of channel synchronization. As can be appreciated, the present invention creates an advanced and complex new technology for trading goods and providing information messages during television broadcasts.

Referring to FIG. 1, a transport stream (TS) is transmitted by a receiver 100 from a transmitter source 19 (eg, a cable TV station, a DBS satellite, a multimedia server, or other source of multimedia program material). Is received. Transmitter 19 is a data stream, such as, for example, a multiplexed MPEG-encoded multimedia data stream, via any suitable transmission medium (eg, air, coaxial cable, or fiber optic cable) via the named broadcast channel. Broadcast 10. The digital television receiver 100 is programmed to carry out the method of the present invention as described herein. The digital video receiver can generally be an ATV or HDTV receiver, which is MPEG or ATSC decoding for decoding a broadcast digital video stream, such as, for example, MPEG-2 or ATSC digital video data streams, among others described herein. Includes abilities.

In any case, the transport stream 10 is received as input to the demultiplexer 15, which in turn separates the audiovisual data content 11 of the stream from the information message data 12. Audiovisual content 11 is processed by audiovisual processor 16 and visual content 13 is displayed on monitor 24 (eg, a TV monitor or other suitable display device). The information message data 12 may include not only management information (e.g., temporary information about the launch time of the application) for the portal application, but also related images (raw data) and transition applications (e.g. , JAVA bytecodes). That is, because digital TV allows data to be transmitted along with audio and video data, the binary files of the portal application, as well as the associated content (eg, graphics, sound files, etc.), are received by the receiver 100. It can be broadcast as captured and executed data streams.

The information message data may have content related to one or more commercial advertisements, a logo identifying a channel selection (current or new selection), or other information delivered to viewers in addition to regular programming. To make the description of the present invention easier, the term "main program" is used herein to refer to a main program that is interesting to the viewer, namely regular programming. In this connection, in a typical television program, a television show or movie may be a main program, with interruptions in the main program or advertisements that are broadcast during commercial hours. In the following, the described embodiment will often regard the content of data 12 as a commercial, but it will be understood that the invention is not so limited.

The commercial advertisement data 12 is processed by the application manager 18, which, upon detecting a triggering event, launches the portal application and the main program as an overlay 14 on the monitor 24. Display the transition from the image to the advertisement. Based on the size and schedule of the portal application, the application manager 18 may optionally use a memory unit 17 for temporarily storing and retrieving other informational messages about application components, or commercial advertisements. In the case of portal applications launched on a channel change according to an embodiment of the invention, the application manager 18 will receive an input from a tuner (not shown), ie a receiver according to the invention. During the operation of a television with a tuner, the tuner unit of the receiver synchronizes the channel in response to the selection made by the viewer (user). The viewer may select by operating a keypad installed on the receiver or remote control unit. Then, the DTV presentation engine, i.e. the event manager's event and startup mechanisms, can be used to launch the portal application in a timely and synchronized manner.

The information message here relates to the selection of a new channel, and in general the multimedia data managing the portal application is periodically downloaded onto the receiver (eg every night). This downloading can be done with scanning all channels and downloading updated portal application information to the memory unit 17. The update information is transmitted from the transmitter source 19, such as a cable TV station, a DBS satellite, a multimedia server, or other suitable source of multimedia program material.

However, the present invention also launches portal applications in information messaging during broadcasts of a single main program, such as during advertising times or when launched by a detectable change in a single main program being broadcast such as a video cut. It can be applied to launch. That is, a mapping application to transitions can also be used in the same program. For example, the above-mentioned transitions to launch portal applications can be used to link video cuts (eg, different scenes or camera views) or "instant ads" during a program. Can be used during the advertising times of the program shown to make). Another implementation of the present invention is to display immediately each time a user enters a new channel and introduce the next channel by its logo in the embedded message. Once formed, this logo can remain a static or still image for the duration of the message, otherwise it enhances visual effects such as flashing on or off during the duration of the message. Would have done. Conventional means and methods are well known to those skilled in the art to perform detections within such a modified receiver when changes occur during main programming, for example in response to information learned from a P frame. Alternatively, the URL may be inserted into the transmitted signal TS 10, which will retrieve the portal application from the server via a return channel when the user performs a command such as channel synchronization.

2A-2J diagrammatically depict a sequence of image screens showing a gradual transition from a first main program image 20 to a commercial advertisement and back to another main program image 23 according to the present invention. 2A indicates the main program image 20 currently being viewed. When a channel change command is issued by the viewer, for example, the application manager 18 (FIG. 1) is notified of the change immediately. Based on the data and data instructions already provided as a portal application stored in the receiver 100, the application manager 18 starts to form a small area of the advertising image 21 via the main program image 20 to display an appropriate advertisement. Run immediately.

As can be seen in Figures 2B-2E, it is generally known that within a given amount of time (e.g., after a channel change command is given until the completed advertising image 21d completely or substantially fills the entire image area available). By constructing in a visually perceivable manner, the overlapping advertising area gradually increases through areas 21a, 21b, 21c. It is not required that the complete advertising picture 21d fill the entire video screen area of the display, but it will be preferred in many cases. For it allows a smoother visual transition to be achieved in the new main program.

At the end of the construction of the advertisement image 21d, the advertisement can be represented as a still frame advertisement, or a moving image for a short clip. If a still frame advertisement is used, the advertisement image 22a will be the same as the image 21d after the advertisement time of the preselected period has elapsed. For example, an animated description of an advertisement or merchandise, such as a static (still frame) poster and a magazine, can be made in a puzzle-like way on the screen during the transition, after which the commercial image is ultimately visually It may be resolved or may be progressively eliminated via special effects that otherwise change to a program of new channels that the user has synchronized. If a dynamic advertisement appears, then the final advertisement image 22a will typically not be the same as the initial image 21d. In either case, at the end of the advertisement, image 22a is progressive in size in a visually perceived manner through the areas 22b, 22c, and 22d shown in FIGS. 2G-2I until the second main program fills the entire screen. By shrinking (eg, in seconds or less), it will be dismantled according to such portal application instructions.

The tuner is controlled by the microprocessor in the receiver to delay showing the newly selected channel until the commercial advertisement or other information message is completed, such as when the static image is fully constructed and displayed for a given period of time. At that time, the channel transmission path is reopened and the advertisement or other information message is broken up as discussed above. Advertisements and other messages may be displayed in accordance with the present invention as programmed to associate with a new channel selection or a departing channel selection. Alternatively, a default advertisement or other message may be displayed each time the channel changes, or some other criteria may be implemented.

As can be appreciated, the present invention constructs an information message image via the main program image and then disassembles the information message image at the conclusion of the message in a transitional manner. It will be appreciated that the present invention involves the implementation of algorithms that can recognize many different kinds of transitions into and from commercial advertisements and other information messages. Thus, various visual effects, such as zooms, wipes, dissolves, puzzle-like image composition and disassembly, etc. can be used to enhance the user's visual experience. The construction and disassembly of such commercial advertisements and other informational messages is possibly assembled and then decomposed by fragmenting as zooms / fading or as geometric shapes such as squares, triangles, circles, ellipses, etc. . Further, transitions in progress and leaving a given information message may be the same or different in the scope of visual effects. For example, as suggested above, a "poster-like" or "magazine-like" advertisement of some merchandise (eg, Coca Cola brand) may be made on a display screen in a puzzle-like manner, during transition, and then Dissolve turns into the program of the channel the viewer synchronized with.

Depending on the implementation (s) contemplated, the software (application) for implementing the method of the present invention may be properly transmitted in the broadcast channel, and / or it may be preset by the receiver manufacturer, and / Or it may be downloaded periodically to be present in the digital video receiver 100. For example, the composition and teardown content and timing of other information messages and advertisements with regular programming can be adjusted by the broadcaster via instructions contained within the broadcast data stream. These instructions may be extracted from the data stream in real time by the receiver, in the case of message inserts made during the same program, and departure messages regarding current programming during channel synchronization. Alternatively, in order to avoid any possible delays if message insertions have content regarding new channel selection during channel synchronization, the instructions are pre-downloaded and stored in memory on the receiver which can be easily accessed by the application manager when needed. Stored. For those channel synchronization applications that require an information message to be associated with a new channel selection, portal applications and commands are periodically sent to the receiver for later execution (e.g., the next day) when any channels are synchronized by the viewer. Can be downloaded (eg, every night).

Preferably, each advertisement of data D 12 such that advertisement packets corresponding to the advertisement selected by the software (application) for presentation to the viewer can be identified and separated in stream D derived from the multiplexed data stream TS. The packet is supplied with an individual Packet Identification (PID) code or other suitable identification code, if possible, and then reassembled and displayed as a continuous image with transient special effects on a television screen or monitor. The transition application itself may also be present on a user preferences module (not shown) of the receiver 100, in which case the module will be applied to the original advertising data controlled and downloaded by the user. That is, the user may be provided with control means for controlling any aspects of the visual effects associated with the transition according to the user's own preferences and settings. In such an embodiment, the continuous memory capabilities of the receiver will be utilized. That is, if the receiver provides local storage devices (eg, memory 17), transition applications may be stored and present on receiver 100.

As can be appreciated from the above descriptions, the present invention provides zooms, wipes, dissolves, or puzzle configurations of commercial advertisements introduced by launching portal applications, for example, during channel synchronization. Using constructions / deconstructions and the like, provide smooth visual transitions between main programs and information messages.

Although the present invention has been described herein with reference to exemplary embodiments for specific applications, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art and having access to the instructions provided herein are aware of additional variations, applications, and embodiments within the scope of the present invention and its additional fields. something to do.

For example, the particular embodiments described above are particularly suitable for systems used in the MPEG-2 or ATSC specification for compression-encoding of video and related audio data, including transmitted data streams, but the present invention may be any It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is equally applicable to systems using other suitable multimedia data encoding schemes.

In addition, although the present invention is referred to as using a digital television receiver, it will be apparent that any other suitable apparatus having the ability to receive, process, and display encoded multimedia data may be employed as well. For example, a personal computer (PC) connected to a service provider or broadcaster via a modem may be used. In addition, conventional NTSC (or PAL / SECAM) analog television receivers equipped with suitable digital set-top boxes can also be used in the practice of the present invention.

In addition, the operating system may or may not have a return channel useful for retrieving portal applications. If a return channel is present, it may be in the form of a cable return channel (e.g. in a cable system with upstream cable modems) or multimedia via a reference telephone line or a high speed data transmission line (e.g. ISDN or T-3 line). It may be in the form of a modem connected to the server or to the WWW. If a reverse channel is useful, a browser program residing on the receiver or a peripheral device connected to the receiver can be used to directly access data from the server or the WWW.

Therefore, by the appended claims, it is intended to cover any and all such applications, modifications, and embodiments within the scope of the invention.

The present invention relates generally to arrangements and methods for displaying information messages in a television receiver.

Claims (10)

In the receiver 100 for controllably displaying an information message 21d, A display device 12 for receiving first data 11 corresponding to the main programming content and second data 12 corresponding to the information message; A controller for receiving an input relating to changes in the main programming and, if there is a receipt of such an input, adjusting the change from the first main program image 20 to the second main program image 23 different from the first. (18), at least one information message 21d is inserted between the first main program images and the second main program images 20, 23, and progressive live transitions 21a-21d, 22a-22d. Controller 18 is provided as a first information message image 21d in the first main program image 20 and as a second main program image 23 in a second information message image 22a, respectively. Receiver 100 characterized in that. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the change comprises switching from a first channel displaying the first main program image 20 to a second channel displaying the second main program image 23. , Receiver 100. The method of claim 1, wherein the change comprises a second program image different from the first program image showing a second camera angle different from the first camera angle from a first program image 20 showing a scene of a first camera angle. Receiver (100), comprising a transition on the same channel). A receiver (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the information message (21d) comprises a commercial advertisement. A receiver (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the information message (21d) comprises a channel logo (logo). In the digital television receiver 100, A television display 24; A television signal demultiplexer (15) for receiving a multiplexed data stream (10), the multiplexer converting the audiovisual content data (11) corresponding to different main programs into a multimedia data (12) corresponding to an information message (21d). A television signal demultiplexer (15), which can be operable to decouple; For receiving audiovisual content data 11 from demultiplexer 15, decoding audiovisual content data to produce decompressed audiovisual data, and outputting the decompressed audiovisual data 13 to display 24, An audiovisual processor 16; Receive the multimedia data 12 corresponding to the information message 21d from the demultiplexer 15, receive an input relating to the changes in the main programming, and in response to the change, display the first program image 20 An application manager 18 for adjusting a change from a first channel to a second channel displaying a second program image 23, comprising a first message image 21d and a second message image 22a. At least one information message is inserted between the first program image and the second program images 20, 23, so that progressive live transitions 21a-21d, 22a-22d are inserted into the first program image 20. The number of digital televisions characterized by the application manager 18 provided respectively as a first message image 21d and as a second program image 23 in the second message image 22a. (100). 7. Digital television receiver according to claim 6, characterized in that the multimedia data (12) corresponding to the information message (21d) comprises a portal application which is started in response to the change. 7. Digital television receiver according to claim 6, characterized in that the multimedia data (12) corresponding to the information message (21d) comprises a JAVA application which is started in response to the change. 7. The memory according to claim 6, wherein the memory (17) communicates with the application manager (18) to periodically receive and store updated information about the multimedia content (12), wherein the adjustment is directed to the first program image (20). Further comprising transitions (21a-21d, 22a-22d) from the first channel to display to a second channel different from the first channel to display a second program image (23) different from the first program image. Characterized in digital jelly receiver. A method of displaying an information message 21d during television viewing, Receiving a multiplexed data stream 10 in a television receiver 100, the data stream 10 corresponding to audiovisual data 11 and at least one information message 21d corresponding to at least one main program. A receiving step comprising multimedia data 12; By inserting at least one information message including the first information message image 21d and the second information message image 22a between the first main program image and the second main program image, interruption is eliminated. Adjusting to a change from the first main program image 20 present at the beginning to the second main program image 23 appearing at the end of the interruption, thus gradual transitions 21a-21d, 22a. -22d) are provided from the first main program image 20 to the first information message image 21d and from the second information message image 22a to the second main program image 23, respectively. Displaying an information message (21d) based on said multimedia data (12) during an interruption in at least one main program Law.