AU2011269717B2

AU2011269717B2 - Pause live TV display

Info

Publication number: AU2011269717B2
Application number: AU2011269717A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Fred Richard Hopley
Original assignee: Fetch TV Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Fetch TV Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2010-06-22
Filing date: 2011-06-21
Publication date: 2014-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 2031-06-21
Also published as: AU2011269717A1; WO2011160165A1

Abstract

This invention concerns digital interactive live television. It comprises a receiver for receiving and decoding live streaming television programs. A frame store where image frames are assembled before being output to a display device for display. And, a processor that operates under the control of software to assemble a series of frames in the frame store. Each frame comprises a television program picture; a first graphical timeline indicating past, present and future programs including the boundary in time between successive programs; and a second graphical timeline that indicates the period of past programming, relative to the first graphical timeline, that has been recorded and is therefore available to be viewed. In other aspects the invention concerns a method, software and a computer readable medium.

Description

Tite Pause Live TV Display Technical Field This invention concerns digital interactive live television, Throughout this specification the word "comprise" or variations such as 'comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer 10 or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any 15 or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application, Disclosure of the Invention 20 In a first aspect the invention is digital interactive live television equipment, comprising: a receiver for receiving and decoding live streaming television programs; a frame store where image frames are assembled before being output to a 25 display device for display; and a processor that operates under the control of software to assemble a series of frames in the frame store, wherein each frame comprises. a television program picture; a first graphical timeline indicating past, present and future programs 30 including the boundary in time between successive programs; a second graphical timeline that indicates the period of past programming, relative to the first graphical timeline, that has been recorded and is therefore available to be viewed. 35 The second graphical timeline could appear, for instance, whenever display of the live streaming television programs is paused by the user. it could also appear when the info' button is pressed in any event the second graphical timeline may include a dynamic bar that starts aligned with the first graphical timeline at the location I a corresponding to the time pause commences, and grows as time passes to extend front the start to the location in the graphical timeline that corresponds to the current time, An icon, for instance a pause icon, may be visible at the time pause commenced. In addition, the second graphical timeline may extend into the past, for instance, who a 5 buffer of past programming has been automatically recorded. In a second aspect the invention is a method for displaying digital interactive live television programs, the method comprising: receiving and decoding live streaming television programs; 10 assembling image frames before the frames are output to a display device for display, each of which frames comprise: WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 2 a television program picture; a first graphical timeline indicating past, present and future programs including the boundary in time between successive programs; a second graphical timeline that indicates the period of past 5 programming, relative to the first graphical timeline, that has been recorded and is therefore available to be viewed. In a third aspect the invention is a computer software to perform the method. 10 In a fourth aspect the invention is a computer readable medium to store the software. In this way the user is able to monitor the amount of elapsed time by which their viewing is behind the live program. 15 The user may pause the pause facility to do other things, including to switch channels and watch another television program, a video or to access the Internet. Upon return to the paused program's channel, the graphical icon will appear showing the elapsed time. 20 The processor may also be programmed to automatically record the live streaming program during a period of pause. It may also record the entire past part of the program from the beginning. Further, the processor may also be programmed to selectively record, or not record, 25 programs that commence while the live streaming programs are paused. When the user begins watching the paused material the entire dynamic bar may move forward as time passes to indicate the programming to be caught up. However, the user may select to view one or more programs later, or not at all, which will cause the 30 start of the bar to skip to the end of those programs when it reaches them. The graphical icon may include a start marker or an end marker or both to indicate the limits of the bar included in the graphical icon. 35 The graphical icon may include a position marker. The program may be paused/un-paused, the processor may be programmed and the channels may be switched by the use of a hand held controller.

WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 3 Brief Description of the Drawings An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 5 Fig. I is a schematic diagram of a digital interactive live television receiver. Fig. 2 is a representation of a frame of live television including a timeline and a graphical icon indicating recording progress while a program is paused. Fig. 3 is a representation of a frame of live television after switching to a 10 different channel while a program is paused. Fig. 4 is a representation of a frame of live television after switching back to the paused channel and resuming the display of the program. Fig. 5 is a representation of a frame of live television including the timeline and the graphical icon indicating that an entire program may be skipped. 15 Fig. 6 is a representation of a frame of live television that illustrates the feature of rewinding and forwarding while watching recorded program. Fig. 7 is a representation of a frame of live television that illustrates the option for the user to selectively record, or not record, programs. Fig. 8 is a representation of a frame of live television that illustrates the feature 20 of browsing all recorded programs and selecting one to be displayed. Best Modes of the Invention Fig. I shows a digital interactive live television receiver 100, a hand held controller 110 and an user 120. The interactive receiver comprises an antenna 101, an antenna 25 cable 102, a receiver 103, a first data connection 104, a processor 105, a frame store 106, a second data connection 107, a display 108, a HDMI cable 109. The controller 110 comprises a numeric keypad 1 11, a delete button 112, a right button 113, a left button 114, a record button 115, a pause button 116, a play button 117, a backward button 118, and a forward button 119. Antenna 101 receives a TV signal such as 30 DVB-T and this signal is transmitted via antenna cable 102 to receiver 103. The TV signal may also be a satellite signal received by a satellite dish, a cable signal, an IP based internet TV signal, or any other TV signal. The receiver 103 decodes live streaming television programs from the TV signal and transmits the live stream of television program pictures to processor 105 via first data connection 104. Processor 35 105 is further connected to frame store 106 via second data connection 107 and to the display 108 via HDMI cable 109. Processor 105 operates by receiving the live stream via data connection 104, storing program pictures into the frame store 106, WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 4 assembling frames as described below, and transmitting the assembled frames to the display 108 via HDMI cable 109. Receiver 103, processor 105, and frame store 106 may be designed as separate 5 devices, as integrated circuits assembled on a printed circuit board, or as components on a single chip. These components may be housed inside a set-top box or directly integrated into the display 108. Depending on how these parts are designed, the connections between the receiver 103, processor 105, frame store 106, and display 108 may change as apparent to a person skilled in the art. The frame store may be a 10 volatile memory, a solid state disk, a hard drive, or a general storage device or service connected to the processor by USB, firewire, LAN, wireless LAN, or the internet. The user 120 can use the controller 110 for switching channels by pressing buttons of the numeric keypad 111, pausing the program by pressing the pause button 116, and 15 resuming the program by pressing the play button 117. These and other interactive features are described in detail in the following. Fig. 2 shows a frame 200 displayed on the display 108 of Fig. 1. The frame 200 comprises a television program picture 201, a graphical timeline 202 indicating 20 programs 203 including boundaries 204 between the programs. With each boundary 204 is also associated a time 205. Also shown is a graphical icon 206 including a bar 207, a start marker 208, and an end marker 209. The position of the markers on the timeline may be indicated by the respective time displayed near each marker (not shown). The frame 200 also includes a channel name 210. 25 The current time of frame 200 is 8pm. The user 120 had been watching a soccer game on Channel Sport from 5pm. At 6pm the user was interrupted and paused the display of the program by pressing the pause button 116. The program has been paused from 6pm to 8pm. The timeline 202 shows that after the news, soccer was 30 broadcast from 5pm until 7pm succeeded by rugby and other programs as shown. When the user 120 pressed the pause button 116 at 6pm the icon 206 appeared. The Fig. shows a frame two hours later, at 8pm. The start marker 208 has remained at the position on the timeline where the user pressed the pause button 116 while the end marker 209 indicates the current position in the timeline and progresses further to the 35 right as time moves on. The bar 207 between the two markers therefore grows with time to indicate the total time the display was paused for. While the display is paused, the program is stored so it can be viewed later and the user 120 may do other things, WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 5 including to switch channels and watch another television program, a video or to access the Internet. Fig. 3 shows another frame 300 after the user 120 switched channel. This example 5 frame shows the program picture 301 and the name of the selected channel 310, Channel Nature, at 8pm. The soccer match on Channel Sport is still paused and is therefore still being recorded which is indicated by the presence of the timeline 202 including the past, current, and future programs of Channel Sport and the graphical icon 206. The end marker keeps progressing to the right as more of the program on 10 Channel Sport is recorded. The interactive receiver may be configured so that the timeline 202 and graphical icon 206 disappears when the user switches to a different channel and re-appears as soon as the users switches back to the channel which was paused. 15 Fig. 4 shows another frame 400 after the user switched back to Channel Sport and resumed the display of the recorded program by pressing the play button 117. The user has been watching the recoded program for 30 minutes. The Fig. shows how the graphical icon 406 has moved. The start marker 408 progresses to the right as the recorded program is displayed. When the user presses the pause button 116 again, the 20 start marker 408 remains at the current position until the user presses the play button 117 to resume the display of the recorded program. The end marker 409 continuously moves to the right over time and as a result, the bar 407 between the start marker 405 and the end marker 409 grows while the display is paused and moves to the right with a constant length while the display of the stored program is resumed. 25 Fig. 5 shows yet another frame 500. The user has now reached the end of the soccer program. Graphical icon 506 spans the entire rugby program and the end marker 509 is located in the soccer program after the rugby program. By pressing the forward button 119 the user skips the rugby program and resumes the display of the soccer 30 program. If the bar 507 spans several programs, the user may skip all these programs or only some of them. Whenever the user skips a program, the start marker 508 skips to the next boundary 504 and closer to the end marker 509. If the display is paused for a long time, the frame store 106 in Fig. 1 may not be of 35 sufficient capacity for storing the program pictures. In this case, the end marker 209 in Fig. 2 stops moving and the program is not further recorded.

WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 6 The interactive receiver may be configured to automatically record from the beginning of each program without any user action. As a result, the user can rewind the program by pressing the backward button 118 even if the display was not paused. The current program will be recorded while the user watches past parts of the 5 programs. This is particularly useful if the user has missed an important part of the program or simply wishes to watch some parts again. This feature of automatic recording is illustrated by Fig. 6. The Fig. shows a frame 600 including timeline 202 and graphical icon 406. As before, the graphical icon 10 comprises bar 407, start marker 408, and end marker 409. In addition, now the graphical icon 406 includes a position marker 605. This position marker 605 indicates the position of the program picture currently displayed within the time line. The graphical icon 406 indicates that the soccer program has been recorded from the beginning, as indicated by the start marker 408 and is still being recorded as indicated 15 by the end marker 409. The position marker appears as soon as the user presses the backward button 118 to watch a recorded part of the program. The user may direct the position marker to the left or right on the timeline 202 by pressing the backward button 118 or the forward button 119 respectively. Thereby, the user may direct the interactive receiver to a position to resume watching the recorded program. Then, the 20 display of the recorded program from this position may be started by pressing the play button 117. The interactive receiver may be configured to pause or to resume the display of the recorded program as soon as the user releases the backward button 118 or the forward button 119. While the user keeps the backward button 118 or forward button 119 pressed, the position marker 605 moves and the interactive receiver may 25 display the picture which was recorded at the time of the current position of the position marker 605. As a result, an accelerated backward or forward version of the recorded program is displayed. When one or more programs are recorded and stored into the frame store 106, the user 30 may decide to keep them to watch them later or to discard them. The user may also program the system to selectively record, or not record, programs that commence while the live streaming programs are paused. Fig. 7 illustrates this feature of selecting programs for recording. The Fig. shows a 35 frame 700 comprising timeline 202 including programs 203. It also shows two graphical icons 406 and 706, a selection marker 710 above the timeline 202, two record symbols 711 and 712 and a deletion symbol 713. Referring also to Fig. 1, the user directs the selection marker 710 to one of the programs on the timeline by WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 7 pressing right and left buttons 113 and 114 respectively. The user then presses either the delete button 112 or the record button 115. Pressing the delete button 112 directs the interactive receiver to not record the program under the selection maker 710, whereas pressing the record button directs the processor to record this program. In the 5 example of Fig. 7, the user has pressed the pause button 117 at 5pm and has then selected the current soccer program for recording resulting in the record symbol 711 to appear next to the program. The user has then chosen to not record the rugby program by directing the selection marker 710 over the rugby program and pressing the delete button resulting in the delete symbol 713 to appear at the rugby program. 10 The user has then selected the succeeding soccer program for recording. The frame 700 shows the display at 10pm. The two graphical icons 406 and 706 indicate that the first soccer program has been fully recorded and the second soccer program has been partly recorded and the recording is still in progress. The rugby program, however, has not been recorded. The user may now direct the selection marker 610 back to the 15 first soccer program and press the play button to watch the recorded program. The user may use the backward button 118 and forward button 119 to rewind or fast forward the recorded program as illustrated by Fig. 6. If various different programs have been recorded, the user can watch any of these programs or delete them by directing the selection marker 610 over them and pressing the play button 117 or the 20 delete button 112 respectively. The selection marker 610, the record symbols 611 and 612 and the delete symbol 613 may be replaced by the use of a change in background colour, font colour, font size, or other visually distinctive features. 25 Fig. 8 shows a selection screen 800 generated by the processor 105 and displayed on display 108. The selection screen 800 shows programs 801 and 802, a selection marker 803 and times 811 and 812. The two programs 801 and 802 were previously recorded and stored on the frame store 106 and are now available to be watched by 30 the user. The times 811 and 812 display the recording times of the programs 801 and 802 respectively. The date of the recordings may also be displayed but this is not shown. The user may now move the selection marker 803 to one of the programs by pressing the left button 114 or right button 113 and then direct the interactive receiver to display the selected recorded program by pressing the play button 117. The user 35 may also delete a selected recorded program by pressing the delete button 112. The advantage of the current invention over existing personal video recorders is that the timeline including the past, current, and future programs is shown while the user WO 20111160165 PCT/AU2011/000746 8 pauses the display. The user can see how the recording of the program progresses and how the recording proceeds with respect to the borders in time between the programs. This yields an additional information for controlling this interactive receiver which was not possible previously. With existing PVRs the user was not able to determine 5 whether the recording has reached the boundary of the current program. Neither was the user able to skip a recorded program and proceed to the next one. The display of the timeline together with the program picture and the graphical icon indicating the current status of the recording is a benefit for the usability of TV recording. 10

Claims

1. Digital interactive live television equipment, comprising: 5 a receiver for receiving and decoding live streaming television programs; a frame store where image frames are assembled before being output to a display device for display; and a processor that operates under the control of software to assemble a series of frames in the frame store, wherein each frame comprises: 10 a television program picture; a first graphical timeline indicating past, present and future programs including the boundary in time between successive programs; a second graphical timeline that indicates the period of past programming, relative to the first graphical timeline, that has been recorded and is 15 therefore available to be viewed.

2. Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 1, wherein the second graphical timeline appears whenever display of the live streaming television programs is paused by the user. 20

3. Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim I or 2, wherein the second graphical timeline appears whenever the 'inf/ button is pressed.

4. Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 1, 2 or 31 25 wherein the second graphical timeline includes a dynamic bar that starts aligned with the first graphical timeline at the location corresponding to the time pause commences, and gro ws as time passes to extend from the start to the location in the graphical timeline that corresponds to the current time. 30

5. Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 4, wherein an icon is visible at the time pause commenced.

6. Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 5 wherein the icon is a pause icon. 35

7, Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 5 or 6. wherein in addition, the second graphical timeline extends into the past, 10

8, Digital interactive live television equipment according to claim 7, wherein the second graphical timeline extends into the past, when a buffer of past programming has been automatically recorded. 5

9. A method for displaying digital interactive live television programs, the method comprising: receiving and decoding live streaming television programs; assembling image frames before the frames are output to a display device for display, each of which frames comprise: 10 a television program picture; a first graphical timeline indicating past, present and future programs including the boundary in time between successive programs; a second graphical timeline that indicates the period of past programming, relative to the first graphical timeline, that has been recorded and is 15 therefore available to be viewed,

10. A computer software to perform the method according to claim 9.

11. A computer readable medium to store the software to perform the method 20 according to claim 9.

12. Digital interactive live television equipment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings 25 11 A method for displaying digital interactive live television programs substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.