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
  • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
  • H04N21/426—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof
  • H04N21/42607—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof for processing the incoming bitstream
  • H04N21/4263—Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof for processing the incoming bitstream involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• • 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
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• • 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
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
  • H04N21/4312—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
  • H04N21/4316—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• • 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
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/435—Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• • 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
  • H04N21/4823—End-user interface for program selection using a channel name
• • 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
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
  • H04N5/44—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
  • H04N5/445—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards for displaying additional information
  • H04N5/45—Picture in picture, e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to electronic program guide systems and methods, and more particularly, to a system and method of providing a picture-in-guide display using a picture-in-guide generator with a digital tuner.
• An electronic program guide provides a television viewer with updatable television schedule information in the form of an on-screen graphical display.
• the EPG may provide scheduling information for current and future broadcast programs as well as summaries of television program content for a particular program.
• a PIG display includes a real-time video image of a tuned television program displayed in a small window inset in a larger graphic guide.
• the PIG display provides many options to the viewer. The viewer may continue to view the television program s/he was watching before entering the guide while browsing through the television scheduling information in the guide. Alternatively, the program displayed in the PIG window may change to correspond to a selected channel in the guide as the viewer cursors through program listings in the guide. The viewer may also pull up the PIG display to find out more information about the program s/he is currently watching, such as start/stop time or a program synopsis, while continuing to view the program in the inset PIG window.
• a PIG display is produced using an EPG generator, which includes a microprocessor, a vertical blanking interval (VBI) decoder/slicer, an on-screen display generator. a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). synchronization (synch) circuitry, and a memory on one chip, and a separate chip including a picture-in-picture (PIP) generator, a DAC, synch circuitry, and microprocessor interface circuitry.
• VBI vertical blanking interval
• DAC digital-to-analog converter
• synchronization (synch) circuitry and a memory on one chip, and a separate chip including a picture-in-picture (PIP) generator, a DAC, synch circuitry, and microprocessor interface circuitry.
• PIP picture-in-picture
• the PIP generator uses a video signal and memory to create a big background picture and a small inset picture.
• the small picture is generated by storing entire frames from the video signal into memory. Complex filtering is performed on these frames stored in memory to achieve high quality but reduced in size images.
• the use of a PIP generator is often costly. For instance, the memory in the PIP generator is relatively expensive compared to the rest of the components in the PIP generator.
• a PIG display For a PIG display, however, it is unnecessary to provide two real-time video images since the main display comprises textual and graphical information, e.g., a program guide, and not a real-time, moving video image.
• the main display comprises textual and graphical information, e.g., a program guide, and not a real-time, moving video image.
• significant cost saving is achievable.
• the addition of a dedicated tuner to a PIG generator provides additional advantages.
• a display generator feeds drive signals to the output synchronized to the television monitor.
• EPG information is extracted from the television signal and stored in memory.
• the number of pixels used to represent the television signal is reduced.
• the reduced number of pixels television signal is stored in memory.
• the EPG data and the television signal are retrieved from memory and stored in the display generator.
• the EPG data and the television signal are fed from the display generator to the output in a continuous data stream ordered to produce a picture-in- guide display on the monitor.
• the picture-in-guide generator is implemented on a single integrated circuit chip along with the circuitry generating the graphics.
• the addition of a dedicated tuner to the PIG generator chip allows the PIG generator to capture VBI data at any time whether the viewer is watching the television or not. This greatly improves the ability of the PIG generator to provide real-time data services.
• the additional tuner also improves the PIG display by allowing a main tuner, such as the television tuner, to stay on one channel. This eliminates on-screen display (OSD) "bounce" as the main tuner provides horizontal and vertical synchronization (HSYNC and VSYNC) signals that become unstable during channel changes.
• OSD on-screen display
• An alternative solution to the OSD bounce problem is for the PIG generator to include a function that will generate stable HSYNC and VSYNC at all times such as a pseudo-sync generator.
• the drawback is that an addition of a pseudo-sync generator would require additional work by a television manufacturer, for example, to incorporate pseudo-sync generator capabilities into an existing television chassis.
• a picture-in-guide generator apparatus includes a digital tuner provided on a single chip.
• the digital tuner is configured to receive a television signal and to tune the television signal received to a specific channel.
• the picture-in-guide generator apparatus also includes a video interface configured to receive a television signal tuned to a specific channel and a tuner selector coupled to the digital tuner and the video interface and configured to determine status of the video interface and the digital tuner.
• the tuner selector outputs one of the television signals received by the digital tuner and the video interface based on the determined status.
• the display controller is also included and is configured to reduce pixel size of the television signal outputted by the tuner selector and to extract electronic program guide information from the outputted television signal.
• the picture-in-guide generator includes a memory storing the extracted program guide information and the reduced pixel size television signal and a display generator retrieving the electronic program guide information and the television signal and supplying signals to a television monitor in an ordered continuous data stream to produce a picture-in-guide display on the television monitor.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a program guide display in a picture-in-guide (PIG) format
• FIG. 2 is a schematic of a PIG generator according to one embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a schematic of the organization of data in RAM according to one embodiment of the invention
• FIG.4 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the invention combined with a full-screen video display system
• FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a process of the host tuner operating with a PIG generator.
• FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process of an auxiliary tuner with a host tuner in a television operating with a PIG generator.
• a picture-in-graphics (PIG) generator for producing a PIG display on a television screen or computer monitor.
• PIG picture-in-graphics
• the first type is a full-screen video display comprising a real-time image of a broadcast television program.
• the second type, a PIG display includes background graphics and a real-time video image in a small inset window.
• the third type of display is a full-screen graphics display.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a PIG display 10 of an electronic program guide (EPG) comprising a graphics portion 12 and a picture window 14.
• the picture window 14, hereafter referred to as the PIG window contains a video image of the television program displayed in the full-screen video display, but in reduced size, generally reduced by a factor of three in both width and height, i.e., 1/9 the size of the screen.
• the graphics portion 12 of the PIG display 10 takes up a majority of the screen.
• the graphics portion generally includes text, icons, and background graphics of several different colors.
• the graphics may include highlighting of text or sections of the screen.
• the viewer can generally navigate through different guides without changing the television program displayed in the PIG window 14.
• the system automatically tunes the associated digital tuner 50, if available, or the host's tuner to the selected channel and displays the program broadcast on that channel in the PIG window 14.
• the components necessary in the present invention to generate a PIG display 10 are provided on a single chip to be incorporated into televisions, VCR's, stand-alone units, satellite receivers or the like. By providing all the components on a single chip, the overall package size can be reduced as well as the overall gate count and bus interface size of that chip.
• FIG.2 is a schematic of the components of the present invention provided on a single chip 21. These include a microprocessor 22. a memory controller or direct memory access (DMA) device 24. synchronization regenerating (synch) circuitry 28, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) 30c, automatic gain control circuitry (AGC) 30b. DC clamp circuitry 30a, a PIG window generator 32, a display generator 34, a color space converter 60 digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) circuitry 36, pixel clock 38, NTSC decoder 52, and VBI slicer ZZ.
• the microprocessor 22 is relatively slow compared to the video processing hardware, e.g., the PIG window generator 32 and the display generator 34.
• the microprocessor 22 organizes data storage in the RAM 26 and can assign addresses for both text data and video data. Preferably, there is only one RAM 26.
• the RAM 26 is accessed by four different components: the microprocessor 22, the PIG window generator 32, the display generator 34 and the VBI slicer ZZ. This places a high access load on the RAM as all four components may vie for access to the
• a multiplexing device is used to resolve the arbitration between the components. Accordingly, the microprocessor 22. PIG window generator 32, the display generator 34, and the VBI slicer ZZ each access the RAM 26 through the DMA 24.
• the DMA 24 is a multiplexing and arbitrating circuit that facilitates sharing of the RAM 26 by switching access between the four components in turn.
• the DMA 24 includes buffer memories to temporarily store data input from out-of-turn components between access cycles.
• the DMA 24 stores text and video data in the correct address in the RAM 26 and then retrieves the appropriate data from a selected address from the RAM 26 when needed.
• the system also receives a video signal from the digital tuner 50.
• the digital tuner is a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) tuner implemented in digital circuitry as opposed to analog circuitry.
• NTSC National Television Standards Committee
• One such example of a digital tuner is a NTSC tuner created as an integrated single chip and is disclosed by US Patent No. 5,737.035 issued to Rotzoll. the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
• the digital tuner 50 provides a separate data source for an EPG System for data such as VBI data or video signals.
• EPG systems rely upon the NTSC tuner available in the host system, the host system being either a TV or a VCR.
• the EPG system can collect EPG and related data while the viewer is watching the television.
• the EPG system can only collect information when the host system is off. The dependence on the NTSC tuner of the host system restricts the timeliness and hence the quality of the information provided by the EPG.
• the NTSC tuner which is part of the television or VCR provides the video signals to display the television program in a conventionally full-screen format.
• the digital tuner 50 independently supplies the video signals to the PIG generator 32 to present the PIG display.
• the PIG generator always has an available data source, whether the host system is on or off or if the NTSC tuner of the host system is otherwise occupied. Therefore, the availability of an independent NTSC tuner, i.e. the digital tuner 50, completely under the control of the EPG ensures that timely data is provided to the EPG. This further enables real-time services containing real-time or constantly updated data, such as weather or stock reports, to be provided and used by the PIG generator without disruption of the services being provided by the host system.
• the digital tuner 50 is of a lower quality and cost than a typical NTSC tuner of a host system.
• the digital tuner 50 in the PIG generator provides a low-cost and effective picture-in-picture (PIP) tuner for a TV or a VCR not otherwise equipped. This can prove to be advantageous to manufacturers of TVs and VCRs that want to provide PIP functionality or a secondary tuner but are prohibited by cost concerns.
• PIP picture-in-picture
• FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of one such implementation.
• Tuner 301 is part of the host system and digital tuner 303 is the tuner coupled with the PIG generator of the present invention. Both tuners 301 and 303 provide independent video signal to a tuner selector 305.
• the tuner selector 305 selects the video source for the PIP/PIG display that will be created by the PIG Generator system 350. Since the digital tuner 303 is less expensive and generally lower quality than the tuner 301, the digital tuner 303 would not usually be used as a main picture source.
• the PIG generation system 350 extracts EPG data from the video signal and reduces the picture size and stores the resultant text and video data in the EPG memory 309. If a digital tuner is available to the system, then the EPG system tunes the digital tuner 303; extracts EPG data; and stores the data in EPG memory 309 anytime that the EPG is not on-screen.
• FIG. 5 illustrates an overview of the host tuner operating with the PIG system.
• the process determines the state of host system.
• the state of the host system is determined by examining a series of electrical control lines such that when one or more control lines have a ''logical 1 ", the host system is powered on.
• a signal detector determines the state of the host by examining the television signals supplied by a tuner of the host system to the PIG system. When no television signals supplied by the host system is detected, the host system is powered off.
• the state of the host system is determined by a monitor program (implemented in software, hardware, or both) that transmits commands to a similarly enabled host system and receives responses from the host system.
• the state of the host system is determined by the monitor program. For example, if the monitor program sends a power on status command to the host system and no response is received within a predetermined amount of time, the host system is determined to be powered off. However, if the monitor program sends a power on status command to the host system and a successful response is sent from the host system, then the host system is determined to be powered on.
• step 413 If the host system is powered on, as determined in step 413, then the EPG does not extract data. If the host system is not powered on, as determined in step 413, then in step 419 the host tuner is tuned to a data channel to receive the television signal containing data. In step 417, the data is extracted and, in step 421, the data is sent to the EPG memory.
• the tuner 301 provides the video source for the full-screen video display that is feed from the tuner selector 305 to a display-type selector 307 which supplies full-screen video images to a display 310.
• the PIG generator system 350 provides the PIG display to the display -type selector 307 which provides the images to the display 310.
• FIG. 6 illustrates an overview process of the host tuner in a television operating in conjunction with the digital tuner acting as an auxiliary tuner.
• the process determines the state of television, similar to step 411 illustrated in FIG. 5, by examining control lines or using a monitor program. If the television is powered on, as determined in step 453, then the process determines in step 455, if the television is in full screen mode.
• Full screen mode means that the television handles full screen television images, i.e. a real-time video image of a tuned television program displayed on the entire television display. If the television is in full screen mode, then the host tuner in the television continues to handle the full screen television images for the television display in step 461.
• the auxiliary tuner is tuned to a data channel to receive the television signal and extracted data is routed to the EPG memory (step 463).
• the host tuner in the television is tuned to a data channel to receive the television signal and extracted data is routed to the EPG memory (step 457).
• the auxiliary tuner handles the television images for the television display, in one embodiment, for a PIG display to include a real-time video image of a tuned television program displayed in a small window inset in the larger graphic guide.
• the process connects a pre- assigned tuner, the auxiliary or host tuner, to handle the EPG data and the other tuner to handle the television images for the television display.
• the pre-assigned tuner is the auxiliary tuner, the digital tuner, to handle the EPG data.
• the digital tuner being of lower quality then the host tuner is pre-assigned to handle the EPG data with the television off to ensure that the host tuner is immediately available to handle the full screen television images for the television display when the television is powered on.
• horizontal and vertical (h- and v-) synchronization signals are split from the video signal provided by the host tuner and routed to the synch circuitry 28.
• the hsync and vsync signals extracted from the conventional video baseband signal (CVBS) is used in video decimation by the PIG window generator.
• the synch circuitry 28 is coupled to a pixel clock 38.
• the pixel clock determines the x- and y-coordinates of each pixel to be displayed on the screen.
• the y-coordinate corresponds to the scan line number of the screen, and the x- coordinate corresponds to the pixel number in each scan line.
• the video portion of the input video from the digital tuner 50 is processed from a 45MHz intermediate frequency (I/F) signal to a CVBS by a demodulator XX.
• the CVBS signal is converted into a stream of digital samples by the analog to digital converter (ADC) 30c.
• ADC analog to digital converter
• CVBS signal is first processed by the DC clamp 30a and automatic gain control 30b to reduce distortion in the signal due to, for example, low frequency noise and dc bounce when switching the signal.
• the NTSC decoder 52 converts the digital sample stream to digital YUV video signals corresponding to a full screen video image.
• the PIG window generator 32 receives the digital
• the PIG window generator 32 in cooperation with the synch circuitry 28, selects, for example, one out of every three pixels and one out of every three scan lines, i.e., a 1 :3 ratio, and then sends this data to the DMA 24 for storage in RAM 26.
• Other decimation ratios are possible., e.g., 1 :4. in order to generate different sized PIG windows.
• the correct address for storing the video data from PIG window generator 32 in the RAM 26 is determined by address mapping circuitry 40 which is preferably incorporated into the DMA 24. Using the synch signal from the synch circuitry 28 and the pixel clock 38, the address mapping circuitry 40 stores video data corresponding to each pixel on the CRT in an appropriate address site in the RAM for later access for display. This process is generally referred to as "bit mapping.”
• the display generator 34 includes a graphics generator which formats fonts for the text to be displayed, icons, color and highlighting, and background graphics for the graphics portion 12 of the PIG display 10.
• the graphics data is routed to the address mapping circuitry 40 which. in cooperation with the DMA 24, stores the video data in address sites in the RAM 26 corresponding to pixel coordinates on the screen.
• Generation of the PIG display 10 (FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the present invention in FIG. 2 will now be explained.
• the microprocessor 22 accesses the appropriate text data for that display from the raw text data 31 in the RAM 26 in FIG. 3.
• the microprocessor 22 configures the text data for display and routes the text data, with appropriate addresses for display of the text, to the DMA 24 for storage as video data 33 in the RAM 26.
• All video data for generating the PIG display 10, including the text and graphics of the graphics portion 12, and the video image of the PIG window 14, is stored as video data 33 in the RAM 26 as described above.
• the display generator 34 in cooperation with the address mapping circuitry 40 and synch circuitry 28, accesses the pre-organized contents of the video data 33 in the RAM 26 to create an image for display on the screen of the CRT 62.
• the data for each pixel to be displayed on the screen is stored as video data 33 in the RAM 26 with an address corresponding to the x- and y-coordinate of that pixel on the screen.
• the display generator 34 accesses the appropriate data from the RAM 26 for each pixel in sequence as determined by the pixel clock 38 and synchronization for pixel output uses the h- and v-synch signals from the host tuner.
• the display generator 34 outputs digital YUV signals.
• the color space converter 60 digitally converts the YUV signals to digital RGB signals.
• the DAC circuitry converts the digital RGB to analog RGB signals for display on the screen of the CRT 62.
• RAM 26 is located "off chip" where it is connected by a data bus to DMA 24.
• RGB converter 60, CRT 62, and viewer commands 70 are part of the television apparatus. In other words, these components serve the dual function of helping to display the television signal in conventionally in a full screen format and to display the picture-in-guide format. The other components are unique to the picture-in-guide format.
• the design of the PIG circuitry according to the present invention on a single chip 21 provides a more economical package with a reduced size and gate count.
• the invention reduces overall gate count by requiring only a single gate array for each of the microprocessor 22, synch circuitry 28, DAC circuitry 36, digital tuner 50 and DMA 24, instead of two gate arrays for each of these components on separate PIP and EPG chips as used in known television systems to generate a PIG display.
• display generator 34 feeds both picture information and EPG information to CRT 62 under the control of pixel clock 38 and synch circuitry 28 in a continuous stream of data.
• a video (i.e., moving picture) image is created in an EPG display without a high speed switch.

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• 2000
  • 2000-08-14 CN CN00812641A patent/CN1373963A/zh active Pending
  • 2000-08-14 CA CA002381783A patent/CA2381783A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-08-14 WO PCT/US2000/022384 patent/WO2001013630A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2000-08-14 BR BR0013550-0A patent/BR0013550A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-08-14 AU AU69078/00A patent/AU6907800A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-08-14 JP JP2001517794A patent/JP2003507939A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-08-14 KR KR1020027001934A patent/KR20020025220A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
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  • 2000-08-14 EP EP00957464A patent/EP1206875A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2003
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