Television – Diverse device controlled by information embedded in video...
Patent
1996-06-14
1998-09-08
Kostak, Victor R.
Television
Diverse device controlled by information embedded in video...
348465, 348468, 348732, 348 10, H04N 710
Patent
active
058052305
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for automatic programming of a television tuner and/or video tape recorder by making use of information broadcast by cable or by terrestrial or satellite transmission. The invention also includes a device implementing the method.
2. Discussion of the Background
When a television of video recorder is installed somewhere for the first time, the user must program the machine. In the case of radio transmission, TV programs are broadcast according to a frequency allocation plan composed of numbered channels each using a predetermined carrier frequency. To avoid interference it may be necessary to broadcast the same program on different channels in different geographic areas. It is therefore impossible to program TV tuners and recorders definitively and always in the same manner during fabrication. Programming of the receiver must be carried out after installation. To do this, the user must regulate the tuner to the channels used, recognize the stations and associate a channel number with each channel. This operation can be long and far from simple, especially in view of the ever-increasing number of channels. For this reason, manufacturers of televisions and video recorders use various systems to help the user during programming.
A first solution is to equip the tuner with a device that lock automatically onto the channels used. The user then only has to recognize each station and choose a corresponding number. Another solution is to equip the receiver with a receiver/decoder complying with the European CEEFAX teletext standard. Data transmitted by teletext enable a tuner to automatically associate a station's channel with the given number of the station. However, this system can work efficiently only if each station has its own teletext, which is not generally the case. To overcome these problems, another solution that has been suggested is to download by telephone the data representing the correspondence tables between the channels and the sequential numbers of the stations, that are identified by their corresponding postal (ZIP) code. The drawback of this system is that the television or its remote controller must incorporate a modem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides for totally automatic programming of a television tuner or video recorder, applicable whatever its geographic location, by making use of a method used in a very simple device that, compared with present-day machines, requires only the addition of a rewriteable memory and the transmission of some special signals.
The invention is therefore a method for automatic programming of a television tuner and/or video recorder, applicable whatever the geographic location of the device, making use of an analog or digital composite videofrequency signal transmitted by cable, or terrestrial or satellite radio, characterized in that it includes the following steps: stream of said videofrequency signal, or at least part of the signal not used for video information, these digital signals representing an identification code and at least the channel tables each corresponding to a transmitting station and identifiable by one or more postal ZIP codes; memorized code; geographic location of the tuner, by making use of the ZIP code of this location input by the user; code;
The digital data carried by the signal are preferably teletext-type data complying with the CEEFAX standard. The present invention also includes a device implementing the programming method described above and used for automatic programming for a television tuner and/or video recorder that includes a transmitter, a tuner, a CEEFAX decoder, a microprocessor and a user interface.
During installation of the television, the programming of the receiver using the method according to the invention requires no operation by the user, other than the input of his ZIP code via the keypad of the remote controller.
Another advantage of the invention is that it can adapt to all changes or reorganization
REFERENCES:
patent: 4805020 (1989-02-01), Greenberg
patent: 5432542 (1995-07-01), Thibadeau et al.
patent: 5446919 (1995-08-01), Wilkins
patent: 5515173 (1996-05-01), Mankovitz et al.
Kostak Victor R.
Thomson Multimedia
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