Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1996-11-12
2001-01-30
Powell, Mark R. (Department: 2779)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C348S553000, C348S569000, C348S564000, C348S901000, C345S215000, C345S158000, C455S001000, C455S001000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06181333
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to television (TV) systems, and in particular, to a novel TV graphical user interface (GUI) that enables users to arrange TV channels and programs in a prescribed order.
BACKGROUND ART
The growing availability of TV broadcast and interactive services creates a need for a new type of a TV control system that would facilitate user access to options offered by TV program providers. For example, direct broadcast satellite services require users to make their selection among about a thousand TV channels with various TV programs and services. Direct television satellite broadcasting is provided via direct broadcast satellites at an uplink frequency of 17.3 to 17.9 GHz and a downlink frequency of 12.2 to 12.7 Ghz.
A digital satellite television system for direct television broadcasting includes a transmitter for transmitting television signals including video and audio components to a satellite. The satellite retransmits the received television signals to an outdoor antenna assembly that includes a dish-like antenna and a block converter. The dish-like antenna directs the received television signals to the block converter that converts the frequencies of the received television signals to respective lower frequencies.
The television signals produced by the block converter are connected via a coaxial cable to an indoor satellite receiver coupled to a TV set. The satellite receiver tunes, demodulates and otherwise processes the received television signals to provide video and audio signals with a NTSC, PAL or SECAM format suitable for processing by the TV set that produces an image on a display screen in response to the video signals, and an audible response by means of speakers in response to the audio signals.
Within the transmitter, analog video and audio signals are converted to respective digital signals compressed according to the Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) encoding standard. The resultant digital signals are represented by a stream of packets including error correction data. The type of packets is identified by a header code. Packets corresponding to control data may also be added to the packet stream.
In the MPEG standard, the video information may be transmitted in the form of a luminance (Y) component and two color difference (U and V) components. For example, the first color difference component may represent the difference between the red image information and the luminance image information (R-Y), and the second color difference component may represent the difference between the blue image information and the luminance image information (B-Y). In addition, the color information is compressed because the two color difference components correspond to more than one picture element. The use of color difference components and the sharing of the color difference components between picture elements reduces the transmission bandwidth.
The digital information resulting from the compression and error correction encoding is modulated on a carrier using Quaternary Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation and transmitted to a satellite for retransmission.
The satellite receiver comprises a tuner for selecting the appropriate carrier signal retransmitted by the satellite and for converting the frequency of the selected carrier to an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. A QPSK demodulator demodulates the IF signal and supplies it to an error-correcting decoder to correct demodulated packets representing video and audio information. An MPEG decoder decodes and decompresses video and audio packets to form digital video and audio signals supplied to a TV set. A TV set-top box serves to deliver compressed digital video and audio signals in real time usable form to one or more TV sets.
A TV guide presenting a list of available channels and programs may be displayed on a TV screen to facilitate user access to TV programs and services. In conventional TV guides, TV channels are arranged in order of their numbers. However, as the digital satellite television system may provide about 1,000 TV channels with various TV programs and services, it may be difficult to find a required channel or program if a user does not know the number of the required channel, or the number of the channel that carries the required program. Thus, it would be desirable to sort TV channels and programs so as to present them in a manner that is easily searched and a desired program promptly located by a user.
Furthermore, it may be inconvenient for the user to adapt to various formats of channel or program lists. Thus, it would be desirable to present sorted TV channels and programs in a common format.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one advantage of the present invention is in providing a TV GUI that enables users to sort TV channels and programs so as to present them in a prescribed order based on their names.
Another advantage of the present invention is in providing a TV GUI that presents sorted TV channels and programs in a common format.
The above and other advantages of the invention are achieved, at least in part, by providing a television system that comprises a CPU, and a TV monitor controlled by the CPU for displaying a TV program guide including a graphical channel changer having channel objects for indicating TV channels In a first mode of operations, the channel objects are arranged according to channel numbers of the TV channels.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, in a second mode of operations, the channel objects are rearranged according to names of the TV channels.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, in a third mode of operations, the channel objects are arranged according to names of TV programs carried by the TV channels.
Preferably, the graphical configuration of the channel changer remains unchanged in the second and third modes compared to the first mode.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, in a fourth mode of operation, the TV program guide comprises a menu having a first option for switching into the first mode, a second option for switching into the second mode, and a third option for switching into the third mode. The graphical configuration of the channel changer may remain unchanged in the fourth mode compared to the first mode.
In the second mode, the channel objects may indicate the names of the TV channels sorted in alphabetical order. In the third mode, the TV programs are arranged in alphabetical order.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, in the second mode, the TV program guide comprises a direct access object having a graduated scale representing names of TV channels. When a user directs a pointing device at an area of the scale representing selected TV channel names, the channel objects indicate the selected names.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, in the third mode, the TV program guide comprises a direct access object having a graduated scale representing names of TV programs carried by the TV channels. When a user directs a pointing device at an area of the scale representing selected program names, the channel objects indicate the TV channels that carry the TV programs with the selected names.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the channel changer automatically returns from the second or third mode to the first mode after the user makes a selection.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, in the first, second and third modes, the TV program guide comprises an arrange guide object for switching the TV program guide into the fourth mode.
In accordance with a method of the present invention, the following steps are carried out for arranging a graphical program guide displayed on a TV monitor:
displaying a graphical channel selector having channel objects arranged to identify a plurality of TV channels in order of channel numbers, and
rearranging the channel objects to identify the plurality of TV channels in order of channel names so as to maintain configuration of the graphical channel selector unchanged.
Furth
Blonstein Steve
Chaney Jack
Gillespie Donald
Leung Fai-To
Aiello Jeffrey P.
Kenneth L. Sherman, Esq.
Powell Mark R.
Sajous Wesner
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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