Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-17
2001-04-10
Faile, Andrew I. (Department: 2711)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C348S014160, C348S014160, C709S217000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06215483
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the integration of broadcast television programming with content from the Internet, World-Wide Web, Intranet, and/or other remote or local resources. More specifically, the invention relates to the reception of logical address links in advance of a television program and the combination of such links with those that may be received in real-time during a television broadcast via the vertical blanking interval.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The World-Wide Web (the Web) is a collection of formatted hypertext pages located on numerous computers around the world that are logically connected by the Internet. The Web has become a valuable resource for information relating to almost any subject, including business, travel, education, and entertainment, to name just a few. Many Web sites include content relating to popular television programs, specific episodes, and their characters, for example. Further evidence of the Web's commercial importance is the fact that Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) have begun to appear on billboards, in newspaper and other print advertisements, and in the credits of TV programs and movies.
Traditionally, individuals have accessed Internet content from personal computers (PCs) by way of programs, such as Web browsers, that provide a graphical user interface to the Web. However, the introduction of Internet terminals, such as those pioneered by WebTV Networks, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, has made the Web accessible to a larger segment of the population by providing access to the Web without the use of a personal computer. These Internet terminals (also commonly referred to as set-top boxes) provide individuals with access to Web pages using an ordinary television (TV) set as a display and a remote control or wireless keyboard for user input.
Currently, while Internet content may be identified by a TV program or commercial, in order to view such Internet content, the TV viewer must manually key the URL into his/her Web browser or Internet terminal. It would be desirable to provide a more convenient mechanism for integrating broadcast television programming with the Web to facilitate the retrieval and viewing of Internet content concurrently with the television broadcast or at a later time at the option of the viewer. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism for notifying the viewer of the existence of Internet content relating to and/or associated with the current TV program or commercial, for example, and allowing such content to be automatically displayed upon request by the viewer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and apparatus are described for receiving logical address links in advance of a television program and combining such links with those that may be received in real-time during a television broadcast. According to one aspect of the present invention, content associated with a television (TV) program may be automatically displayed by a client system. Prior to broadcast of a TV program, TV listing information is stored in the client system. The TV listing information includes one or more logical addresses that identify content, such as Internet content. The client system alerts the viewer of the existence of an active logical address associated with the current TV program by providing a visual indication. After the visual indication has been selected by the viewer, the client system displays the content identified by the logical address.
According to another aspect of the present invention, links to Internet content relating to a TV program may be provided to an Internet terminal. TV listing information, including one or more batch mode Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) associated with a TV program, is received from a server. The TV listing information also includes one or more of the following: program start times, program end times, and times at which the one or more batch mode URLs are active. The TV listing information is stored in the Internet terminal. Subsequently, one or more real-time URLs are received embedded in a video signal associated with the TV program. The Internet terminal determines which of the one or more real-time URLs and the one or more batch mode URLs to bring to the attention of the user of the Internet terminal based upon a set of predefined rules.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.
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Bui Kieu-Oanh
Faile Andrew I.
WebTV Networks Inc.
Workman & Nydegger & Seeley
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