Television – Diverse device controlled by information embedded in video...
Patent
1996-06-14
1999-10-26
Flynn, Nathan
Television
Diverse device controlled by information embedded in video...
348468, 348906, H04N 700, H04N 1100
Patent
active
059737476
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for managing television programs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There are several systems allowing a television viewer to be informed about the programs on the different channels he can receive and eventually to easily choose the channels to record. In any case the existing systems are mainly limited to displaying on the television screen data such as the number of the channel to which the receiver is tuned or other information or messages in overlays. In general these systems do now allow an automatic selection from the choice of programs and a selection (or starting signal) of the program automatically selected based on downloaded data. in other words the current systems allow one to obtain and display information but they are incapable of automatically triggering based on this information a particular action wanted by the television viewer (see for example documents WO 91 00 670 and EP 0,572,090).
Programming systems are also known for televisions which allow one to select in advance a channel number and the starting and ending times of programs, but these programming systems only use data inputted manually by the television viewer and cannot taken into account other preexisting or external data such as the type of show or whether it is being aired simultaneously with another show of interest to the same viewer (simultaneous shows).
Other known systems using teletext are conceived only for automatic starting at the appropriate time of the recording of a show on a videocassette recorder, see for example EP 0,503,070 and EP 0,460,520. In particular these systems do not exercise any control over the television itself such that their possibilities remain limited.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to avoid the insufficiencies or inconveniences of the current systems and to supply a global television-program management system as a modular and economical system ensuring the reception and display of programs that can be received in a given place, the selection of these programs mainly as a function of the types of shows, the automatic control of the various operations of the television taking into account complementary data entered by the viewer (programming of the television), and also eventually the management of a videocassette recorder connected to the television in question.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To this end the invention is a system for managing television programs which comprises essentially, in combination: means for transmitting data relative to the programs according to a preestablished format of the teletext or similar type, means for receiving, decoding, storing, and displaying the data also of the teletext or similar type integrated into a television or associated therewith, a programmable processing unit for this data for controlling the operation of the television and/or of an associated apparatus such as a videocassette recorder based on this data, and interface means allowing selection and operations, the data about the programs being loaded into a specific memory termed the program memory connected to the receiving, decoding, and display means for this data.
The programmable processing unit is formed mainly by a specific processor which is connected with the program memory and which itself has an erasable memory allowing the downloading of variable data having to do with the programs of the television channels as well as recording of the choices effected by the viewer.
This processing unit is connected to an existing display of the teletext or similar type of which it uses the functions or even the teletext or similar functions being incorporated in the system.
This processing unit is in addition, connected to existing control means of the television for selecting the channel being watched.
The data-transmitting and data-receiving means as well as the display of this data here being of the well known teletext system, integrating them into the system of the invention offers above all extende
REFERENCES:
patent: 4977455 (1990-12-01), Young
patent: 5195130 (1993-03-01), Weiss et al.
patent: 5253066 (1993-10-01), Vogel
patent: 5486865 (1996-01-01), James
patent: 5552833 (1996-09-01), Henmi et al.
Dubno Herbert
Flynn Nathan
Henley Trading Limited
Srivastava Vivek
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