Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/475—End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
  • H04N21/4756—End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data for rating content, e.g. scoring a recommended movie
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/475—End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/4508—Management of client data or end-user data
  • H04N21/4532—Management of client data or end-user data involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/466—Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies
  • H04N21/4667—Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/45—Management operations performed by the client for facilitating the reception of or the interaction with the content or administrating data related to the end-user or to the client device itself, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies, resolving scheduling conflicts
  • H04N21/466—Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies
  • H04N21/4668—Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies for recommending content, e.g. movies
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/47—End-user applications
  • H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
  • H04N21/4826—End-user interface for program selection using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/84—Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors

Definitions

• the subject invention concerns a video program guide apparatus and method, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for allowing a user to rate a selected program.
• RCA® DSS® direct broadcast satellite receivers provide as many as 150 channels to choose from.
• a user who wanted to see "what's on” could merely consult a television schedule printed in his local newspaper in the hope that he would eventually find a program which sparked his interest.
• An Electronic Program Guide may partially alleviate the above problem.
• An EPG is an interactive, on-screen display feature that displays information analogous to TV listings found in local newspapers or other print media.
• an EPG also includes information necessary for collating and decoding programs.
• An EPG provides information about each program within the time frames covered by the EPG which typically ranges from the next hour up to seven days.
• the information contained in an EPG includes programming characteristics such as channel number, program title, start time, end time, elapsed time, time remaining, rating (if available), topic, theme, and a brief description of the program's content.
• EPGs are usually arranged in a two-dimensional table or grid format similar to the printed TV guide, with time information on one axis and channel information on the other axis.
• EPGs allow viewers to select any channel at any time during some period into the future, e.g., up to seven days forward.
• Further EPG features include the ability to highlight individual cells of the grid containing program information. Once highlighted, the viewer can perform functions pertaining to that selected program. For instance, the viewer could instantly switch to that program if it is currently being aired. Viewers could also program one touch video cassette recording (VCR) or the like if the television is properly configured and connected to a recording device.
• VCR video cassette recording
• a system and a related method for selecting a program for viewing is described.
• a plurality of programs and associated program information are received from a remote source.
• a program from said plurality of programs is first selected in response to a user input. Rating information for this selected program is inputted by a user locally. Another program may then be selected, based on the input rating information and the associated program information.
• FIGURE 1 is an illustration of a screen display showing an
• FIGURE 2A and 2B are illustrations of an exemplary screen display for a user to rate a selected program.
• FIGURE 3 is a flowchart useful in understanding the invention.
• FIGURE 4 is an illustration in block diagram form of an apparatus suitable for use with the invention.
• FIGURE 1 shows an Electronic Program Guide screen display 110 which may be produced, for example, by an RCA® DSS® direct broadcast satellite receiver system, manufactured by Thomson Consumer Electronics, Inc.
• a user selects a television program from a Program Guide for viewing, by moving a cursor (via operation of, for example, up, down, right, and left, direction control keys, on a remote control device 450R of FIG. 4) to a cell of the program guide screen display which contains the name of the desired program.
• a SELECT key for example, of the remote control 450R is pressed, the current x and y position of the cursor is evaluated to derive virtual channel and program time information.
• a particular television show, CINE SATURDAY NIGHT MOVIE: ZULU in cell 105 has been highlighted for selection by use of the cursor keys on a remote control unit (e. g., 450R of FIGURE 4).
• auxiliary text display 120 provides additional program data relating to the highlighted television program. A further use for the data provided by channel guide screen 1 10 and auxiliary text display 120 will be described below according to aspects of the present invention.
• a user may also press a RATING key on remote control unit 450R, for example, to provide evaluation input for a particular show he or she has been watching, according to an aspect of the invention.
• This exemplary RATING key may also be pressed during program viewing as shown in FIGURE 2A. Once this key is pressed, the user is allowed to input how much the user has enjoyed the program. As shown in FIGURE 2A, an exemplary embodiment is shown in which the phrase "I LOVED this program" is first displayed. This may be, for example, the highest rating a user can give to a program. If the user agrees with this rating, then the user may press, for example, the RATING key again to confirm the rating for this program. The user can also enter a different rating for this program by selecting the left arrow 205 or right arrow 206. The rating displayed will be changed, for example, to "I HATED this program", as shown in FIGURE 2B.
• FIGURE 3 shows an exemplary flow diagram of a subroutine program which may be executed by an exemplary microprocessor 415R (shown in FIGURE 4) for implementing the features of the present invention.
• the program is entered at step 300.
• the microprocessor determines whether the "Rating Mode" has been requested by an user in step 305 for a selected program. Again, as described previously, the "Rating Mode" may be invoked by pressing a key such as RATING on a user entry device, such as remote control unit 450R. Once the user has requested to rate a program, the microprocessor 415R will facilitate the entry of the user rating.
• one exemplary embodiment for obtaining the user rating information is by displaying a first rating such as "I LOVED this program" as shown in FIGURE 2A.
• the subroutine will also display another rating for the user to select, if the user request another rating as shown in FIGURE 2B.
• Steps 310 - 320 show one embodiment of user entry of rating information.
• Another exemplary embodiment may include prompting the user to enter a number such as 1 to 5 with 5 as either the highest or the lowest rating.
• Another embodiment allows the user to enter a letter such as A, B, C, D.with A as the highest or lowest rating, for example.
• the program allows the user to confirm the rating information in step 323, for example, by pressing a key, such as the RATING key as discussed previously.
• a key such as the RATING key as discussed previously.
• this information is then stored in, for example, memory 421R of FIGURE 4, along with the other programming information associated with the selected program, as shown, for example, in block 120 of FIGURE 1.
• step 335 the user may then request the system to suggest programs based on the user entered ratings information.
• the user may request this, for example, by highlighting an icon SUGGEST 106, as shown in FIGURE 1.
• the system will suggest programs by comparing the user entered rating information with the program guide information as shown in step
• a simple suggestion algorithm may be, for example, to suggest to a viewer all the programs which have the same characteristics as a program which has received the highest user rating, based on the program information from the program guide.
• the system may suggest to the viewer all the programs which may have the same actor, producer, and/or theme, for example.
• Another method may comprise concentrating on one particular aspect of programming information such as THEME.
• the user ratings may then be used to create a histogram for each THEME type to see if there is any preference trend for that viewer. If a preference trend is detected, then a program having that particular theme is then suggested.
• Other suggestion methods may include having some weighting factors for each programming characteristic of a rated program.
• One skilled in the art can readily recognize that many methods may be developed to take advantage of both the user input rating information of programs viewed the received program guide information to suggest new programs to user.
• FIGURE 4 shows such a satellite television communication system in which, a satellite 400S receives a signal representing audio, video, or data information from an earth-based transmitter 400T.
• the satellite amplifies and rebroadcasts this signal to a plurality of receivers 400R, located at the residences of consumers, via transponders operating at specified frequencies and having given bandwidths.
• Such a system includes an uplink transmitting portion (earth to satellite), an earth-orbiting satellite receiving and transmitting unit, and a downlink portion (satellite to earth) including a receiver located at the user's residence.
• the television program selection information comprises a set of data known as a Master Program Guide (MPG), which relates television program titles, their start and end times, a virtual channel number to be displayed to the user, and information allocating virtual channels to transponder frequencies and to a position in the time-multiplexed data stream transmitted by a particular transponder.
• MPG Master Program Guide
• a master program guide is preferably transmitted on all transponders with the television program video and audio data, and is repeated periodically, for example, every 2 seconds.
• the master program guide once received, is maintained in a memory unit in the receiver, and updated periodically, for example every 30 minutes. Retention of the master program guide allows instantaneous television program selection because the necessary selection data are always available. If the master program guide were to be discarded after using it to select a television program, then a delay of at least two seconds would be incurred while a new program guide was acquired, before any further television program selections could be performed.
• the data packets containing the audio and video information for that program can be selected from the data stream received from the transponder by examining the data packets for the proper SCID (Service Component Identifier) 12 bit code. If the SCID of the currently received data packet matches the SCID of the desired television program as listed in the program guide, then the data packet is routed to the proper data processing sections of the receiver. If the SCID of a particular packet does not match the SCID of the desired television program as listed in the program guide, then that data packet is discarded.
• SCID Service Component Identifier
• a transmitter 400T processes a data signal from a source 401 (e.g., a program signal source) and transmits it to a satellite 400S which receives and rebroadcasts the signal to a receiving antenna 400A which applies the signal to a receiver 400R.
• Transmitter 400T includes an encoder 410T, a modulator (i.e., modulator/forward error corrector (FEC)) 420T, and an uplink unit 430T.
• Encoder 410T compresses and encodes signals from source 401 according to a predetermined standard such as MPEG.
• MPEG is an international standard developed by the Moving Picture Expert Group of the International Standards Organization for coded representation of moving pictures and associated audio stored on digital storage medium.
• An encoded signal from unit 410T is supplied to modulator/Forward Error Corrector (FEC) 420T, which encodes the signal with error correction data, and Quaternary Phase Shift Key (QPSK) modulates the encoded signal onto a carrier.
• Uplink unit 430T transmits the compressed and encoded signal to satellite 400S, which broadcasts the signal to a selected geographic reception area.
• the signal from satellite 400S is received by an antenna dish 400A coupled to an input of a so-called set-top receiver 400R (i.e., an interface device situated atop a television receiver).
• Receiver 400R includes a demodulator
• demodulator/Forward Error Correction (FEC) decoder 41 OR to demodulate the signal and to decode the error correction data
• an IR receiver 412 for receiving IR remote control commands
• a microprocessor 415R which operates interactively with demodulator/FEC unit 41 OR
• a transport unit 420R to transport the signal to an appropriate decoder 430R within unit 400R depending on the content of the signal, i.e., audio or video information.
• An NTSC Encoder 440R encodes the decoded signal to a format suitable for use by signal processing circuits in a standard NTSC consumer VCR 402 and standard NTSC consumer television receiver 403.
• Microprocessor 415R receives infrared (IR) control signals such as key presses SELECT, RATING as discussed above, from remote control unit 450R, and sends control information to VCR 402 via an IR link 418R.
• IR infrared
• Microprocessor 415R also generates the on-screen display (OSD) signals needed for presenting the interactive or confirmation EPG display screen shown for example in FIGURES 1, 2 A or 2B, to the user.
• Microprocessor 415R also receives and interprets cursor key X and Y information in order to control the highlighting and selection of user choices in the on-screen display screens.
• Microprocessor 415R executes the program subroutine as represented by flow chart of FIGURE 3 to provide the features according to aspects of the present invention.
• the invention was described with reference to a satellite television system, it is equally applicable to ground based television broadcast systems, both digital and analog, a settop box receiver, or any other electronic devices capable of receiving and processing electronic program guide information.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Software Systems (AREA)
• Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
• Television Systems (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22097453

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Families Citing this family (18)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1999
  • 1999-01-08 JP JP2000528086A patent/JP2002501343A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-01-08 EP EP99904056A patent/EP1046286A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 1999-01-08 AU AU24540/99A patent/AU2454099A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-01-08 CN CNB998020893A patent/CN1163062C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1999-01-08 KR KR1020007006311A patent/KR100553598B1/ko not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1999-01-08 WO PCT/US1999/000409 patent/WO1999035830A1/en active IP Right Grant

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events