WO2009136327A1

WO2009136327A1 - Television and method for providing a graphical user interface using user-selectable graphical skin layout that allows access to programs from devices connected to the television

Info

Publication number: WO2009136327A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/051757
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eric V. L. Marchand; Frédéric BELOUIN
Original assignee: Nxp B.V.
Priority date: 2008-05-06
Filing date: 2009-04-30
Publication date: 2009-11-12

Abstract

A television and method for providing a graphical user interface uses a user- selectable graphical skin layout to produce the graphical user interface, which can be used for program selection. The user-selectable graphical skin layout is selected from a plurality of available graphical skin layouts, some of which may be provided by connected external devices that provide programs to the television. The graphical user interface allows access to a plurality of available programs for a user to watch and/or record the programs and reduces complexity of connecting new devices by making them transparent to the end user.

Description

Television and method for providing a graphical user interface using user-selectable graphical skin layout that allows access to programs from devices connected to the television

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

There are various devices for receiving and/or recording multimedia programs, including television programs. These receiving/recording devices include Internet TV set-top boxes, Cable set-top boxes, Satellite dish set-top boxes, Digital Video Broadcasting- Terrestrial (DVB-T) receivers, Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) devices and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) recorders. When one or more of these external receiving/recording devices are connected to a television, programs provided by the different receiving/recording devices can be viewed on the television, which increases the number of programs available for viewing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

However, the process of finding a particular program to watch on the television can be challenging when programs are being provided by the different receiving/recording devices connected to the television. Each of the receiving/recording devices connected to the television usually provides an electronic program guide that shows the available programs for the television from that receiving/recording device. Consequently, a user may have to switch between the different receiving/recording devices and select a program available from one of the receiving/recording devices using the electronic program guide from that device. Thus, the process of finding a particular program to watch on the television may involve switching to several receiving/recording devices and searching through several electronic program guides to find the desired program.

Furthermore, if there is more than one receiving/recording device capable of recording programs connected to the television, the process of selecting one of those receiving/recording devices to record a particular program provided by any one of the receiving/recording devices can also be challenging. This process may involve finding the desired program on one of the receiving/recording devices and then switching to one of the recording-capable receiving/recording devices, which is used to record the desired program provided by the other receiving/recording device. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-described challenges, there is a need for a television that is user- friendly with respect to selecting programs provided by a number of different receiving/recording devices connected to the television and that is also user- friendly with respect to recording programs on one or more of the receiving/recording devices having a recording capability.

A television and method for providing a graphical user interface uses a user- selectable graphical skin layout to produce the graphical user interface, which can be used for program selection. The user-selectable graphical skin layout is selected from a plurality of available graphical skin layouts, some of which may be provided by connected external devices that provide programs to the television. For instance, graphical skin layouts can be provided by the television itself, an Internet TV set-top box, a Cable set-top box, a Satellite dish set-top box, a DVB-T receiver, a DVD recorder, DVB-H device or any electronic device that can communicate with the television. A television in accordance with an embodiment of the invention comprises a display device, and a graphical user interface renderer operably connected to the display device to provide a graphical user interface to be displayed on the display device. The graphical user interface is configured to allow program selection. The graphical user interface includes a user-selected graphical skin layout with program preview regions to display program preview data (e.g., still or animated picture) relating to available programs and program information regions to display program identifiers relating to the available programs. The user-selected graphical skin layout of the graphical user interface is selected from a plurality of available graphical skin layouts. The graphical user interface renderer is configured to receive the program preview data and the program identifiers from external devices connected to the television to produce the graphical user interface using the graphical skin layout.

A method for displaying a graphical user interface on a television in accordance with an embodiment of the invention comprises displaying a plurality of available graphical skin layouts on a display device of the television, assigning a user-selected graphical skin layout selected from the plurality of available graphical skin layouts for the graphical user interface, the user-selected graphical skin layout including program preview regions to display program preview data relating to available programs and program information regions to display program identifiers relating to the available programs, receiving the program preview data and the program identifiers from external devices connected to the television, producing the graphical user interface using the user-selected graphical skin layout, the program preview data and the program identifiers, and displaying the graphical user interface on the display device of the television for user selection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of the principles of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a television connected to various external devices in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of components of the television of Fig. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a diagram of a graphical skin layout of a graphical user interface that can be used in the television of Fig. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 4 is a process flow diagram of a process of generating a graphical user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a process flow diagram of a method for providing a graphical user interface of a television in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

With reference to Fig. 1, a television 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is described. The television 100 is connected to a number of different external receiving/recording devices 102A-102F. In Fig. 1, the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F include an Internet TV set-top box 102A, a Cable set-top box 102B, a Satellite dish set-top box 102C, a DVB-T receiver 102D, a DVD recorder 102E and a DVB-H device 102F. However, in other embodiments, the receiving/recording devices connected to the television 100 may include other types of receiving/recording devices that can provide programs to the television for viewing, such as a Blu-ray recorder. These other types of receiving/recording devices may include multimedia centers, which can provide content without receiving the content from an external source (i.e., no descrambling), such as multimedia storage devices (basically external hard drive for the television 100), personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), cameras, camcorders, flash memory device, etc. The receiving/recording devices can even include an Internet server, which manages storage of recorded data. The number of receiving/recording devices connected to the television 100 can vary. As used herein, a program is any type of a multimedia that can be played on a television. As an example, a program could be a television show, a personal recorded video, a movie, a video segment, or any audio/visual content. The television 100 is also connected to audio output devices 104A and 104B, which may include a wireless headset 104A and an audio system 104B. As described in more detail below, the television 100 is configured to generate and provide a user- friendly graphical user interface 106, which shows programs that are available from the different receiving/recording devices 102A-102F for program selection and allows the user to control on which receiving/recording device a program is to be recorded. The graphical user interface 106 of the television 100 also allows the user to control on which audio output device, which may be the television or one of the audio output devices 104 A and 104B, an audio portion of a program is to be played. Thus, the television 100 is designed so that a user can control the different devices connected to the television to select, watch, listen and/or record programs using the graphical user interface 106 of the television, which may be accessed using a remote control 108 of the television. Turning now to Fig. 2, various components of the television 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustrated. As shown in Fig. 2, the television 100 includes a display device 208 and a display driver 210. The display device 208 can be any type of an electronic display device that can visually display image data, such as a cathode- ray tube (CRT) display device, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a plasma display device or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display device. The display device 208 can be used to display visual portions, e.g., videos, of programs supplied to the television 100 from the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F. The display device 208 is connected to the display driver 210, which drives the display device.

As shown in Fig. 2, the television 100 also includes speakers 212A and 212B, and a speaker driver 214. The speakers 212A and 212B are used to convert audio signals to sound, which may be audio portions of programs supplied to the television 100 from the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F. The speakers 212A and 212B are connected to the speaker driver 214, which drives the speakers.

The television 100 also includes a remote control (RC) interface 216 and an input/output (I/O) interface 218. The RC interface 216 is configured to receive commands from the remote control 108 using, for example, infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) technology. In some embodiments, the RC interface 216 may also be configured to transmit signals to the remote control 108. The I/O interface 218 is used to connect various external devices, such as the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F and the audio output devices 104A and 104B, to the television 100 in order to exchange signals, which may include multimedia data. In an embodiment, the I/O interface 218 is also used to connect to the Internet so that the television 100 has access to the Internet.

The television 100 also includes a processor 220, memory 221, a graphical user interface renderer 222, an automatic program source selector 224, a recording manager 226 and an audio output manager 228. The processor 220 is connected to different components of the television 100, such as the video driver 210 and the speaker driver 214, to control those devices. The processor 220 is connected to the video driver 210 to control the display of visual information, i.e., image data, on the display device 208. The processor 220 is also connected to the speaker driver 214 to control the play of audio information, i.e., audio data, on the speakers 212A and 212B. The processor 220 is also connected to the I/O interface 218 to transmit and receive signals to and from connected external devices via the I/O interface. The processor 220 is also operably connected to the graphical user interface renderer 222, the automatic program source selector 224, the recording manager 226 and the audio output manager 228 to control operations performed by these components. The processor 220 may be a general-purpose digital processor such as a microprocessor or microcontroller. In other embodiments, the processor 220 may be a special-purpose processor such as a digital signal processor. In other embodiments, the processor 220 may be another type of controller or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The processor 220 is also connected to the memory 221 to access any data stored in the memory 221. The memory 221 can be any type of a storage device that is capable of storing digital data.

The graphical user interface renderer 222 operates to generate the graphical user interface 106, which shows programs available from the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F for viewing on the television 100. The graphical user interface 106 is generated by the graphical user interface renderer 222 using a graphical skin layout, which is user- selectable. As used herein, a graphical skin layout of a graphical user interface is a graphics theme of the graphical user interface, which defines the look and feel of the graphical user interface. The graphical skin layout contains all the static parts of the graphical user interface. The graphical skin layout defines a background of the graphical user interface and colors and fonts (size and type) used in the graphical user interface. In an embodiment, the graphical skin layout also defines how programs available from the receiving/recording devices 101A- 102F are presented in the graphical user interface 106 for a user to view the available programs and select one of the available programs for viewing on the television 100. Turning now to Fig. 3, a graphical skin layout 300 of the graphical user interface 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is shown. The graphical skin layout 300 includes a number of program preview regions 302. These program preview regions 302 are used to display preview images, which are sometimes referred to herein as preview data, relating to programs available from the receiving/recording devices 102A- 102F. In some embodiments, live videos of the available programs may be displayed in the program preview regions 302. In other embodiments, still images related to the available programs may be displayed in the program preview regions 302. These still images may be image frames of the available programs or graphical representations of the available programs. The graphical skin layout 300 also includes a number of program information regions 304, which are positioned near the corresponding program preview regions 302 to display information regarding the available programs. As an example, the information displayed in the program information regions 304 may be channel names, names of the available programs and/or any other alphanumeric identifiers regarding the available programs.

The graphical skin layout 300 for the graphical user interface 106 can be selected from a number of possible graphical skin layouts by the user. These graphical skin layouts may be provided by the television 100 and/or the external receiving/recording devices 102A-102F. As an example, the television 100 may include a default graphical skin layout, which can be selected by the user to generate the graphical user interface 106 for the television. However, the user may select a different graphical skin layout, which may be provided by one of the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F connected to the television 100. In some embodiments, a graphical skin layout for the graphical user interface 106 may be downloaded from the Internet. The different possible graphical skin layouts for the graphical user interface 106 are presented to the user for selection, and then the user-selected graphical skin layout is used to generate the graphical user interface 106, as described in more detail below. The various graphical skin layouts may be stored in the memory 221 so that the skin layouts are readily available for selection when a user wants to use a different skin layout. Alternatively, the graphical skin layouts are downloaded to the television 100 from the various sources each time when the television is turned on.

In some embodiments, the graphical user interface 106 may be configured to only display preview images and information of programs on live transmission channels, or only display preview images and information of recorded programs. Thus, in these embodiments, the user can select a desired program from similar types of programs. In other embodiments, the graphical user interface 106 may be configured to only display preview images and information of programs based on other parameters.

A process of generating the graphical user interface 106 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to a process flow diagram of Fig. 4. At block 402, a number of possible graphical skin layouts for the graphical user interface 106 are displayed on the display device 208 for user selection during a setup phase by the graphical user interface renderer 222. Next, at block 404, one of the presented graphical skin layouts is selected by the user to be used for the graphical user interface 106 by sending a message to the device containing the selected skin layout. Next, at block 406, request messages are sent from the television 100 to the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F by the graphical user interface renderer 222 for information and preview images of programs available from the receiving/recording devices. Next, at block 408, the program information and the program preview images are transmitted to the television from the receiving/recording devices. The program preview images can be transmitted in any form of image data. Next, at block 410, the received program information and the program preview images are added to the user-selected graphical skin layout by the graphical user interface renderer 222 to generate the graphical user interface 106. If the same program is available from more than one receiving/recording device, the information and preview image(s) for that program from only one of these may be added to the user-selected graphical skin layout by the graphical user interface renderer 222. Next, at block 412, the generated graphical user interface 106 is rendered and displayed on the display device 208 of the television 100 by the graphical user interface renderer 222 so that the user can select a desired program from the available programs.

Turning back to Fig. 2, the automatic program source selector 224 of the television 100 operates to select the receiving/recording device that will provide a selected program with the best quality with respect to visual and/or audio content. In some situations, a particular program can be provided to the television 100 by more than one of the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F. As an example, the Internet TV set-top box 102 A and the Satellite set-top box 102C may both provide "channel 1." Thus, in this example, programs on channel 1 can be provided by either the Internet TV set-top box 102 A or the Satellite set-top box 102C. When the user selects a program on channel 1, the automatic program source selector 224 evaluates the Internet TV set-top box 102A and the Satellite set- top box 102C and determines which source can provide the selected program with better quality with respect to visual and/or audio content. In this example, if the Satellite set-top box 102C is a little bit noisy, the automatic program source selector 224 may select the Internet TV set-top box 102A to provide the user-selected program on channel 1. That is, the automatic program source selector 224 sets the Internet TV set-top box 102 A to receive channel 1 so that the user-selected program is streamed from the Internet TV set-top box to the television 100 for viewing.

In some embodiments, the automatic program source selector 224 may be configured to provide information about the current program on the television 100 using a different source than the source of the program. As an example, if the current program is being provided by the Satellite set-top box 102C and the user has requested additional information about the program, the automatic program source selector 224 may provide the requested information using the Internet TV set-top box 102A. In this example, when the user requests the information about the current program, the automatic program source selector 224 requests the information from the Internet TV set-top box 102A, which provides the information in response to the request. The information can then be presented to the user, e.g., displayed on the display device 208.

The recording manager 226 of the television 100 operates to control on which receiving/recording device a user-selected program is recorded. The recording manager 226 maintains a list of receiving/recording devices connected to the television 100 that are capable of recording programs. This list may be created by sending request messages from the television 100 to the receiving/recording devices 102A-102F by the recording manager 226 and receiving reply messages from the receiving/recording devices regarding their recording capabilities. As an example, the Internet set-top box 102A has a hard drive to record programs and the DVD recorder 102E is capable of recording programs onto DVDs. When the user enters a command to record a particular program, e.g., by pressing a record button on the remote control 108, the receiving/recording device(s) where the program can be recorded is/are displayed on the display device 208 as part of the graphical user interface 106. The user can then select the receiving/recording device on which the program is to be recorded. The recording manager 226 then controls the recording of the program on the selected receiving/recording device having a recording capability. This process may involve transmitting the program data to the selected receiving/recording device and/or controlling the selected receiving/recording device to record the program. As an example, if the program to be recorded is from the Internet TV set-top box 102A and the DVD recorder 102E is selected to record the program, the program data is transmitted from the Internet TV set-top box to the DVD recorder via the television 100 and the DVD recorder can be instructed to record the program by the recording manager 226. During this recording process, the television 100 may be switched to a standby mode. However, if the program to be recorded is from the Internet TV set-top box 102A and the Internet TV set-top box is selected to record the program, the program is directly recorded at the Internet set-top box under the instruction of the recording manager 226 without having to retransmit the program data back to the Internet TV set-top box.

The audio output manager 228 of the television 100 operates to control on which audio output device an audio portion of a program is played. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the television 100 may be connected to a number of audio output devices, which may include, for example, the wireless headset 104 A and the audio system 104B. In some embodiments, the audio output manager 228 maintains a list of audio output devices available to the television 100, including the speakers 212A and 212B of the television. When the user enters a command for audio output selection, e.g., by pressing an audio output selection button on the remote control 108, the audio output manager 228 displays the available audio output devices on the display device 208 as part of the graphical user interface 106 for user selection. The user can then select the desired audio output device to play the audio portion of the current program on the television 100. The audio output manager 228 then controls the playing of audio signals of the program at the selected audio output device, which may involve transmitting the audio signals to the selected audio output device.

The graphical user interface renderer 222, the automatic program source selector 224, the recording manager 226 and the audio output manager 228 may be implemented in the television 100 as software, hardware and/or firmware. In some embodiments, the functions of the graphical user interface renderer 222, the automatic program source selector 224, the recording manager 226 and/or the audio output manager 228 may be performed by the processor 220. In these embodiments, the graphical user interface renderer 222, the automatic program source selector 224, the recording manager 226 and/or the audio output manager 228 may be considered to be functional part of the processor 220. The television 100 includes other components commonly found in a television, which are not described herein so as to not obscure the inventive features of the television.

A method for providing a graphical user interface on a television in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is described with reference to a process flow diagram of Fig. 5. At block 502, a plurality of available graphical skin layouts is displayed on a display device of the television. Next, at block 504, a user-selected graphical skin layout selected from the available graphical skin layouts is assigned for the graphical user interface. The user-selected graphical skin layout includes program preview regions to display program preview data relating to available programs and program information regions to display program identifiers relating to the available programs. Next, at block 506, the program preview data and the program identifiers are received from external devices connected to the television. Next, at block 508, the graphical user interface is produced using the user-selected graphical skin layout, the program preview data and the program identifiers. Next, at block 510, the graphical user interface is displayed on the display device of the television for user selection.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A television comprising: a display device; and a graphical user interface renderer operably connected to the display device to provide a graphical user interface to be displayed on the display device, the graphical user interface being configured to allow program selection, the graphical user interface including a user-selected graphical skin layout with program preview regions to display program preview data relating to available programs and program information regions to display program identifiers relating to the available programs, the user-selected graphical skin layout of the graphical user interface being selected from a plurality of available graphical skin layouts, the graphical user interface renderer being configured to receive the program preview data and the program identifiers from external devices connected to the television to produce the graphical user interface using the graphical skin layout.

2. The television of claim 1 wherein at least one of the available graphic skin layouts is provided by the external devices.

3. The television of claim 1 wherein at least one of the external devices is a device selected from a group consisting of Internet television set-top box, a Cable set-top box, a Satellite dish set-top box, a Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial receiver, a Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld device, a Digital Versatile Disc recorder a Blu-ray recorder, a multimedia center, an external hard drive, a flash memory device, a camera, a camcorder and an Internet server.

4. The television of claim 1 wherein at least one of the program preview data received from the external devices is video data of a program.

5. The television of claim 1 wherein at least one of the program preview data received from the external devices is a program preview data of a recorded program stored in one of the external devices.

6. The television of claim 1 wherein the graphical skin layout defines locations of the program preview regions and the program information regions in the graphical user interface displayed on the display device.

7. The television of claim 1 wherein the graphical skin layout defines size and type of fonts used in the graphical user interface displayed on the display device.

8. The television of claim 1 further comprising an automatic program source selector configured to automatically select one of the external devices that can provide a particular program based on quality of the particular program from the external devices in response to user selection of the particular program using the graphical user interface.

9. The television of claim 1 further comprising a recording manager configured to control recording of a program on a user-selected external device selected from the external devices having recording capability using the graphical user interface regardless of which external device is providing the program to the television.

10. The television of claim 1 further comprising an audio output manager configured to control playing of audio signal on a user-selected audio output device selected from a plurality of available audio output devices using the graphical user interface.

11. A method for providing a graphical user interface on a television, the method comprising: - displaying a plurality of available graphical skin layouts on a display device of the television; assigning a user-selected graphical skin layout selected from the plurality of available graphical skin layouts for the graphical user interface, the user-selected graphical skin layout including program preview regions to display program preview data relating to available programs and program information regions to display program identifiers relating to the available programs; receiving the program preview data and the program identifiers from external devices connected to the television; and producing the graphical user interface using the user-selected graphical skin layout, the program preview data and the program identifiers; and displaying the graphical user interface on the display device of the television for user selection.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein at least one of the available graphic skin layouts is provided by the external devices.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein at least one of the external devices is a device selected from a group consisting of Internet television set-top box, a Cable set-top box, a Satellite dish set-top box, a Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial receiver, a Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld device, a Digital Versatile Disc recorder, a Blu-ray recorder, a multimedia center, an external hard drive, a flash memory device, a camera, a camcorder and an Internet server.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein at least one of the program preview data received from the external devices is video data of a program.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein at least one of the program preview data received from the external devices is a program preview data of a recorded program stored in one of the external devices.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the user-selected graphical skin layout defines locations of the program preview regions and the program information regions in the graphical user interface displayed on the display device.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the user-selected graphical skin layout defines size and type of fonts used in the graphical user interface displayed on the display device.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising automatically selecting one of the external devices that can provide a particular program based on quality of the particular program from the external devices when the particular program is selected using the graphical user interface using the graphical user interface.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising controlling recording of a program on a user-selected external device selected from the external devices having recording capability using the graphical user interface regardless of which external device is providing the program to the television.

20. The method of claim 11 further comprising controlling playing of audio signal on a user-selected audio output device selected from a plurality of available audio output devices using the graphical user interface.