MXPA01009318A - System and method for miniguide implementation - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for displaying detailed information about a currently displayed program along with a related advertisement in a miniguide overlaid on a small portion of a current television program. A viewer invokes a miniguide command using a viewer input device, such as a remote control, while watching a current television program in full screen format. In response to the miniguide command, the television system displays a portion of the television schedule information associated with the television program in an information area, and an advertisement on a panel ad window located horizontally adjacent to the information area. The advertisement, displayed on a panel ad window is based on the television program being watched or customized based on viewer profile information. The viewer may interact with the advertisement by highlighting the advertisement and activating afunction with respect to the highlighted advertisement. Such functions include, for instance, displaying information and/or a video clip about a product advertised on the panel ad window.

Description

SYSTEM. AND METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING A MINIGUIA FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to television systems, and more particularly, to television systems capable of displaying information of the programs in a mini-guide format.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As entertainment with videos has become increasingly sophisticated, consumers are provided with more extensive choice options. In addition to conventional broadcast television programs, a television observer can now access cable television programming, programming with digital satellite service, cable stereophonic broadcasting, and conventional satellite programming . In addition, each means of transmission provides consumers with an increased number and variety of programs. Although consumers benefit from a larger selection, the programming network available to consumers also presents a certain dilemma. Specifically, when the number of programs Ref.133093 available to the consumer becomes larger, the process of finding and navigating through an electronic program guide (EPG) for information regarding a particular program or channel to arrive to be increasingly annoying. As a result, novel and improved methods have been developed to provide the information of the program guide. For example, Young et al., In U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,121, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system and method for creating an electronic background program guide that occupies a portion of the screen. The background guide is superimposed over the top of a current television show. The background program allows the viewer to move up manually or automatically through the selected portions of a full screen guide without the need to fully understand the advanced navigation commands of such a full screen guide. Although the background guide displayed on Young is useful, it might also be desirable to display information from only the current program that is being observed instead of also displaying information from other programs as is done in the Young's background guide. In addition, it may be desirable to exhibit more detailed information about the present program than is available in the fund guide described in Young. Such information must be accessible without leaving the current program.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a system and method for displaying detailed information about a program currently displayed in the company of related advertising, in a mini-guide superimposed on a small portion of a current television program. Displaying such current program information without having to return to a full-screen guide is especially useful for an observer who, when giving quick touches to pass through various channels, becomes on a program about which you want a quick information. In one embodiment of the invention, the system and method for implementing the mini-guide includes displaying a television program on the screen in a full-screen format. While the television program is displayed on the full screen, the observer invokes a command of the miniguy using an observer input device, such as a remote control. In response to the command of the miniguy, the television system displays a portion of the television programming information associated with the television program that is observed in a first area of the screen (for example, an information box), and a advertising on a second area of the screen (for example a panel advertising window) located horizontally adjacent to the first area. The information in the first area and the advertising in the second area are concurrently called and superimposed on a portion of the television program. In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the advertising displayed on the second area is based on the television program that is observed or used based on the information of the observer's profile. The observer can interact with advertising by enhancing advertising and activating a function with respect to enhanced advertising. Such a function includes, for example, the display of the information and / or a "video clip" about a product that is announced on the second area. According to another aspect of the invention, the first and second areas occupy approximately 1/3 of the total area of the screen. Alternatively, the position and size of the first and second areas are those customary by the user.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of an interactive television programming system including a television and a cable junction box according to one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a more detailed schematic block diagram of the cable splice box of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a more detailed schematic block diagram of the television of Figure 1; Figure 4 is an illustration of an EPG screen displayed on the television system of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is a schematic distribution diagram of a miniguid superimposed on a current television program according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In general terms, the present system and method is directed to an interactive television programming system having a television apparatus capable of displaying a mini-guide with detailed information about a program currently displayed. The mini-guide also preferably includes an advertisement related to the television program. The user interacts with the mini-guide as it could with a full-screen EPG. In this way, the user can get quick information about the program and perform other EPG functions without navigating and having to deal with the complexities of a full-screen EPG. Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of an interactive television programming system (television system) 10 according to one embodiment of the invention. The system includes a television 50 and a VCR 15 receiving the input from a cable junction box 20 and an IRD box 25. A user of the television system 10 can subscribe to and receive broadcasting of television programs from various sources. of the television signal. The EPG data with the list information of the programs are also transmitted to the television system 10 by one or more of these signal sources. For example, the EPG data can be provided via the cable through the junction box of the cables 20 and / or by means of Direct Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) through an IRD 25 box. EPG can also be received by means of OTA broadcasting through an antenna 35 coupled to the television 50. In addition, the data can be transmitted through other inputs 30 such as conventional satellite systems, coaxial cables, telephone lines, and fiber optic cables.

The television 50 is configured with an interactive EPG 45 to display a combined television programming information of the broadcasting of the television programs from the various signal sources and subscribed by the user. The user interacts with the television 50 and EPG 45 by means of an input device 40 for the viewer, preferably taking the form of an IR 40 remote control, in accordance with conventional methods. Other input devices 40 for the observer could also be used, such as a keyboard, numeric keypad, joystick, mouse, trackball, touchpad, and the like. Figure 2 is a more detailed schematic block diagram of the junction box of the cables 20 of Figure 1 to provide the EPG data to the television system 10. As illustrated in Figure 2, the junction box of the cables 20 includes a processor 60 and a memory 65. The memory 65 of the junction box of the cables 20 stores the program 70 to receive, organize, and display the EPG data. The memory 65 also stores the EPG data itself. However, the EPG data is preferably stored in a memory of the television unit 50 as described below in conjunction with Figure 3.

The memory 65 can further store the data related to the profile of the observer and the like. In an embodiment of the invention, a portion of the data stored in the memory 65 is obtained by means of the Internet through a modulator-demodulator 75 for cable. Another portion of data is generated by the processor from the data received from one end of the cable head. Figure 3 is a more detailed block diagram of the television 50 of Figure 1. With reference to Figure 3, a television signal source 100 such as the antenna 35, a cable junction box 20, the box IRD 25, or other inputs 30 carrying the television signals, are connected to a television tuner 105. The output of the tuner 105 is a modulated intermediate frequency signal 110 that contains audio and video television information. The tuner 105 is connected by an intermediate frequency amplifier (FM AMP) 110 to an image detector (DETECT OF THE IMAGE) and a sound detector (SOUND DET) 120, which produces the signals of audio and video of the base band, respectively. The audio signal is coupled or connected by a sound amplifier (SOUND AMP) 125 to a loudspeaker 130. The video signal is coupled by a video amplifier (not shown) to an input of a switch 135. The detector 120 and the image detector 115 are connected to the audio and video inputs, respectively, of the VCR 15. Alternatively, the television signal source 100 could be connected directly to the RF input of the VCR 15 if its tuner internal and demodulation circuits will be used. The output of the VCR 15 is connected to the other input of the switch 135. The output of the switch 135 is connected to an input of a conventional picture-in-picture (PIP) chip 140. The output of the PIP chip 140 is connected to the video input 142 of the television 50 for display on a television screen (not shown). According to one embodiment of the invention, the television 50 illustrated in Figure 3 includes an EPG memory 145 for storing the updatable databases that include the list information of the combined television programs and the information referred to news, sports, and local events and businesses. The databases can be updated in any of many conventional methods, including by a continuous data link in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a broadcast from the television channel to the television system 10.

The memory 145 of the EPG is connected to a microprocessor 150 which is programmed to control the operation of various system devices including the television 50. An operating program for the microprocessor 150 is stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 155. The The input device 40 of the observer is coupled to the microprocessor 150 to provide the commands of the observer and interact with the EPG. A video processor 160 is also coupled to the microprocessor 150. When the observer calls a mini-watch command while watching a current television program, the microprocessor recalls or recalls a portion of the information from the list of broadcast programs. television associated with the television program from the EPG memory 145 and couples or joins the video processor 160. The video processor formats the information for the display on a portion of the screen that overlays the currently observed program. Preferably, the information stored in the video processor 160 is a bitmap of what is displayed on the television screen 50. The video processor 160 is additionally connected to another input of the PIP chip 140. Preferably, the The input device 40 of the observer controls the microprocessor 150 by the movement of the cursor on the screen of the television 50. For this purpose, the microprocessor 150 and the video processor 160 are coupled to a register 165 of the cursor position. Alternatively, the observer may select the information points displayed on the screen by selecting the particular keys on the observer input device 40. A VBI decoder 111 placed at the output of the tuner 105 extracts the data detected in the VBI and connects this data to the microprocessor 150 for processing. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the VBI lines transmit the channel mapping information to relate the channel numbers to the television stations available to the user. The microprocessor 150 includes a channel mapping function that examines the channel mapping information and downloads the channel maps applicable to the user. Referring again to the memory 145 of the EPG, the information of the list of the television programs is stored in a database of the list of programs of the EPG memory. The database of the list of programs preferably includes the EPG data of the broadcasting of the television programs by the sources of the signal. The EPG data corresponding to these signal sources are then used to create a combined EPG guide for the display on the television screen. The combined EPG guide includes lists of broadcast programs of television programs by various sources during a prescribed period of time, for example a day or a week. These program listings typically include for each program the title, a description of the program, the day of the week, the start time of the day, the duration of the program, and the channel over which the program is broadcast and therefore that is available for reception at the source 100. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the period of time for which the program listings are stored is different for the guides, depending on the priorities and preferences of the observer. For example, the information can be stored for one or two days, or for a week or more. The information that relates to the news stored in a news database of the EPG memory 145 includes but is not limited to the news categories, the news headings, the articles that refer to the headings of the news. the news, the graphic images associated with the articles, and links to television programs, Internet network sites, and local guide information associated with each article. Information relating to sports stored in a sports database of the EPG memory 145 includes but is not limited to sports categories, sports events in each sports category, team information , bookmarks, statistics, variation or extension of points, and links to television programs, "video clips", Internet sites, news articles, and local guide information associated with each event sports. The information that relates to local events, businesses, products, and services (home town information) stored in a hometown database of EPG memory 145, includes but is not limited to the categories of such information of the hometown (for example, cinemas, theaters, restaurants), the description of hometown information, businesses, addresses, phone numbers, graphic images related to hometown information, and links to programs television, Internet network sites, and news articles.

According to one embodiment of the invention, links to television programs stored in news, sports, and hometown databases include channel information, date, time, and duration of a linked television program, or a pointing device for an entry of such a program in the database of the program lists. The links to the Internet network sites include the URL information to the particular network pages. Links to news articles and information from the local guide include the pointing devices to such entries in news databases and hometowns. A memory 146 of the advertising coupled or connected to the microprocessor 150 stores the advertising data to be displayed on the EPG as well as on the mini-guide. Such advertising data may include text, graphics, video clips, and the like. If an advertisement is for a future scheduled television program, the advertising data includes a pointing device for an entry in the EPG memory that stores the data from the corresponding program list. The advertising data can be updated in any of many conventional methods, including by a continuous data link in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television channel broadcasting to the television system 10. Although in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, EPG data and advertising data are stored in separate memory devices, a person skilled in the art should understand that a single memory device can be used to store both types of data, either in a single database or in separate databases. Figure 4 is an illustration of an EPG screen 170 generated by the video processor 160 under the control of the microprocessor 150. The observer calls an EPG guidance mode to display the EPG screen 170 by pressing a "guide" key on the observer input device 40. The observer returns to a full-screen television mode by the same key or by invoking a linked television program. The EPG screen 170 is divided into a number of different display areas. A PIP window 172, a first window 174 for panel advertising, and a second window 176 for panel advertising are distributed along the left side of the screen 50. The remainder of the EPG screen 170 is typically occupied by an action key bar 178, a navigation bar 180, a grid or grid guide 182, and an information box 184. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the position of the windows, and other interconnection characteristics with the user, including the action key bar 178, the navigation bar 180 and the grid or grid guide 182, are fixed. In another embodiment of this invention, the position and size of the windows and the other interconnection characteristics with the user are adaptable by the observer. The PIP window 172 displays the real-time broadcast programs or the pre-recorded "video clips" produced by the PIP chip 140. A translucent overlay of the PIP window 172 may display a title, channel (local number and / or station name), and state (joined or disconnected) of the IP window 172. The first and second advertising windows 174 and 176 of the panel display advertisements for future broadcast programs or products and services. An advertisement for a future broadcast program is linked to a program time and channel that allows the observer to automatically record or observe the program by enhancing the advertisement and pressing an observation action button 178a or a registration action button 178b, respectively . The enhancement of an advertisement for a product or service allows the observer to read one or more pages about the product or service from the information box 184. Alternatively, the advertisement is linked to a time and channel of a telepromotion that allows the observer to record or observe the telepromotion by means of advertising enhancement and to press the observation action button 178a or the registration action button 178b, respectively. The observer has access to the information of the list of television programs by actuating a grid button 180a of a list of menu buttons listed on the navigation bar 180. During the actuation of the grid button 180a, the grid guide 182 displays a list of television programs with their respective channel 182a designations in a series of tiles or boxes of the program. According to one embodiment of the invention, the designations of channels 182a indicate the source of the corresponding signal (eg, cable, OTA, etc.), or the geographical region represented by the channel (eg, the station of the local network) . In addition to the tiles or boxes of the program, the grid guide 22 includes the tiles or advertising boxes 190 with advertisements for the virtual channels. A virtual channel advertisement can promote, for example, a current or future television program. Such virtual channel advertising for a television program is linked to a program time and channel that allows the observer to register or observe the program automatically. The observer can access news articles by operating a 180b button for news from navigation bar 180. Similar buttons can also be provided to access information about past, present and future sports events, and the local information guide for a particular geographic area. Figure 5 is an automatic distribution diagram of a mini-guide 200 superimposed on a small area of a current television program 202 according to one embodiment of the invention. The mini-guide includes at least one panel advertising window 200a and one information area 200b. The panel advertising window 200a occupies the lower left hand corner of the screen and is usually filled with paid advertising for products / services or future programs. The information area 200b is located adjacent to the advertising window 200a of the panel and occupies the lower right hand corner of the screen. The information area 200b provides detailed information of the current program that is being observed. Together, the panel advertising window 200a and the information area 200b occupies the bottom 1/3 of the screen. The 2/3 upper parts of the screen are occupied by the current television program 202. According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, a user can customarily adapt the display of the mini-guide in an adjustment window. In this regard, the user specifies various display settings such as the position and size of the mini-guide, as well as other display criteria. The observer invokes the mini-guide 200 while watching the television program 202 in the full-screen format by issuing a miniguide command using the observer's input device 40. This can be done, for example, by pressing an "INFO" key on the observer input device 40 while watching the current television program 202. The command is transmitted to the microprocessor 150 which initiates a miniguid program stored in the memory. The miniguide program retrieves from the EPG memory 145 the title and brief description of the current program 202, as well as the start time and duration. The retrieved information is then displayed in the information area 200b of the miniguide. The information displayed is considered to be at a first level of information when multiple levels of information, each level with additional program information, are available for the current program 202. The existence of additional information levels is preferably indicated by an information icon 208 in the information area 200b. Additional levels of information can be observed by pressing the "INFO" key again. The miniguide program retrieves more detailed information about the current program 202 from the EPG memory 145 and displays it in the information area 220b, in a partial screen window over the top of the actual television program, or a window full screen that replaces the television program. The user may further establish a program to observe or record future retransmissions of the current television program 202 directly from the miniguja 200. the user selects an observation action button 240 to program the observation, or a record action button 206 to record the future rebroadcast. In addition to the above, information related to the program displayed on the information area may also contain links to a public network such as the Internet, and to other information available through the EPG. For example, mini-guide 200 can provide links to related news articles in the news database, information related to sports in the sports database, and local events and business information in the database. of hometown data. A user is alerted about a link by means of visual or audio indicators provided in the information area 200b. For example, a news article icon 210 may be inserted in the information area to alert the user regarding the existence of a related news article. The linked article is then displayed to the user in the information area 200b, in a separate partial screen window over the top of the current television program, or in a full-screen window that replaces the television program. The mini-guide 200 also retrieves the advertisement data from the advertisement memory 146 and displays it on the panel advertising window 200a. According to one embodiment of the invention, advertising is based on the current program that is observed. For example, if the observer is observing a football game, a sports-related advertisement is displayed on the panel's 200th advertising window. In an alternative mode, the advertisement is adapted in the usual way based on the information of the observer's profile. The creation and analysis of the observer profile information are described in detail in the U.S. Serial No. 09 / 120,488, the content of which is incorporated herein for reference. Briefly, each time the observer interacts with the television, mini-guide, EPG, Internet, and any other sources of information external to the EPG, the EPG records the observer's actions and the circumstances surrounding these actions. For example, when the observer changes the channels, the EPG records, among other things, the information about the first channel, the channel to which it was changed, the time the change was made, the identification of the programming that was displayed on the channel. first channel, the identification of the programming that was exhibited on the channel to which it was changed, the time of the change, the identification of any publicity that was exhibited on the first channel at the time of the change, the identification of any advertising that was exhibited over the channel to which it was changed, and if the observer changed the channels while in one of the EPG modes, as opposed to being in television mode. The EPG also records each instruction by the observer to record or observe a program. The EPG also records if the observer changes the volume of the television audio, and if so, what circumstance surrounded the change in volume.

If the observer changes the channels while in one of the EPG modes, the EPG records the information about what was displayed in each of the EPG windows before and after the change. The EPG also records the information when there is an absence of interaction between the observer and the television or the EPG. For example, the EPG records whether an observer continues to observe an advertisement instead of changing the channels. The EPG calculates and records the entire duration of the time the television is turned on on any particular day. The EPG also records the information surrounding the observer's interaction with external sources of information, such as the Internet. For example, the EPG records each search request criteria initiated by the observer, the Search Device used to search, the points selected by the observer from the search response, the user interaction with the sites of Internet, and the interactions of the observer with the EPG during the same time frame when the observer interacts with the Internet. The EPG accumulates and analyzes the information of the observer's profile and selects an advertisement for the exhibition on the panel's advertising window. The observer preferably interacts with the advertisement directly from the miniguide 200 as he could from the full screen guide while observing the current television program 202. For example, the observer can enhance the advertising by leading to an automatic display of information related to advertising in the information area 200b. For example, for advertising related to the product, the enhancement of advertising may trigger the display of information about the product and / or cause the display of a "video clip" of the product. The observer can purchase the product in the enhanced advertisement by transmitting a purchase command from the entry device of the observer 40. In one embodiment of the invention, the purchase information is transmitted by means of a return channel to a collection house. or specific retail seller who processes the purchase request and supplies the product to the observer. In another embodiment of the invention, the enhancement of an advertisement causes the display of a link to a related Internet site in the information area 200b. The selection of the link causes the television system 10 to connect it to the Internet through the telephone line by means of the modulator-demodulator, by the modulator-demodulator of the cable, or by any other conventional method of communication with the Internet, including a modulator-demodulator wireless The advertising displayed on the panel advertising window 200a may also be related to a current broadcast or future broadcast television program. An observer can directly tune to the current broadcast program advertised on the panel advertising window by enhancing the advertisement and transmitting an Entry / Selection command from the entry device of the observer 40. The observer can also register or place the program in a list of observation by selecting the observation action button 204 or the registration action button 206, respectively, directly from the miniguid. Although this invention has been described in certain specific embodiments, many modifications and additional variations may be apparent that would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that this invention can be practiced other than specifically described. Thus, the present embodiments of the invention should be considered in all aspects as illustrative and not as limiting, of the scope of the invention that is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (17)

1. CLAIMS Having described the invention as above, priority is claimed as contained in the following claims: 1. A method for displaying the television programming information in a television system that includes a television that has an exhibition screen, the method is characterized in that it comprises: displaying a television program on the screen in a full screen format; displaying a portion of the television programming information associated with the television program on a first area of the screen; and displaying an advertisement on a second area of the screen located horizontally adjacent to the first area; wherein the portion of the information in the first area and the advertising in the second area are called at the same time and superimposed on a portion of the television program in response to a user command. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second areas occupy approximately 1/3 of a total area of the screen. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the position and size of the first and second areas are those customary by a user. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the information of the television programming is organized in a plurality of levels of detail, and the first area of the screen initially exhibits a first level of detail. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that additional layers or levels of detail are displayed in the full screen form. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the advertising is based on the television program. 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the advertising is customary based on an observer profile. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises: enhancing the advertising; and activate a function with respect to enhanced advertising. 9. A television system for displaying the information of the television programming, the system is characterized in that it comprises: a television screen including a first area and a second area located adjacent horizontally with respect to the first area; means for calling a first mode to display a television program on the screen in a full-screen format; and means for invoking a second mode for displaying a portion of the television programming information associated with the television program on the first area and advertising on the second area, the portion of the information and advertising being superimposed upon a portion of the television program and exhibited concurrently with the television program. 10. The system according to claim 9, further comprising means for customarily adapting the position and size of the first and second areas. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that it also comprises means for selecting advertising based on the television program. 12. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that it also comprises means for customarily adapting advertising based on an observer profile. 13. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises: means for enhancing advertising; and means to activate a function with respect to enhanced advertising. 14. A television system for displaying television programming information, the system is characterized in that it comprises: a television screen including a first area and a second area located adjacent horizontally with respect to the first area; a tuner coupled to the television screen to display a television program in a full-screen format; a memory coupled to the television screen for storing television programming information; an observer input device to provide user commands; a processor coupled to the observer's input device and memory, the processor is operative to execute the instructions of the program including the display in response to the user's command of a portion of the television programming information associated with the program of the television about the first area and an advertisement about the second area, the portion of the information and the publicity are superimposed on a portion of the television program and exhibited concurrently with the television program. 15. The system according to claim 14, characterized in that the program instructions also include the selection of advertising based on the television program. 16. The system according to claim 14, characterized in that the instructions of the program further include customizing advertising based on an observer profile. 17. The system according to claim 14, characterized in that the instructions of the program further include: enhancing advertising; and activate a function with respect to enhanced advertising.