Television – Nonpictorial data packet in television format – Including teletext decoder or display
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-03
2003-12-16
Lee, Michael H. (Department: 2614)
Television
Nonpictorial data packet in television format
Including teletext decoder or display
C348S461000, C348S467000, C348S465000, C348S564000, C348S563000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06665017
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a television receiver for receiving a plurality of television channels, at least some of said television channels carrying a data signal representing pages of information to be displayed, said data signal being multiplexed with the television program transmitted in said channel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The transmission of data multiplexed with a television signal is well known. An example is the teletext standard in which data representing pages of information to be displayed, is sent in the vertical blanking interval of a standard analog television picture signal. In addition, with the introduction of MPEG-encoded digital television transmissions, there is provision for data signals to be multiplexed in the digital data streams. The data represents pages of information, and, in this context, a page refers to a quantity of data which is displayed at one time on a television display. Thus, normally, one page will be displayed at a time, although it is possible to have a split screen and display a number of pages simultaneously.
It has been found that typical viewers will select a small sub-set of the pages which are transmitted as being of interest to them and will access these pages much more frequently than others. As a result, television receivers have been produced which store the numbers of those pages which the user habitually accesses. When the receiver is switched on, it is arranged to automatically search for those particular pages in the transmission cycle of the data associated with the channel which is selected for viewing, so that they are acquired and stored in memory. Thus, when the viewer wants to access these favorite pages, they are already stored in memory so that it is not necessary to wait for them to occur in the transmission cycle. One of the major criticisms of the teletext system is the time required to access a particular selected page. This depends on when, in the cycle of transmission, a page is requested. The delay can be particularly significant when sub-pages or revolving pages are used, particularly if there are a large number of them.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to enable the speed of acquisition of the favorite pages of a viewer to be increased.
The invention provides a television receiver for receiving a plurality of television channels, at least some of said television channels carrying a data signal representing pages of information to be displayed, said data signal being multiplexed with the television program transmitted in said channel, said receiver comprising means for selecting each of the received channels, means for storing addresses of favorite pages of data associated with at least some of said channels, means for causing the receiver to automatically select each of the channels having associated therewith stored addresses of favorite pages in turn, to acquire the data representing the favorite pages for each channel, and to store the data, and means for selecting one or more of the stored favorite pages.
With prior art television receivers, the favorite pages which are stored are those which are associated with the channel which is currently being received. There is no means of acquiring the favorite pages associated with other television channels as only those data signals associated with the channel being viewed are presented to the acquisition circuits. Consequently, when the viewer changes channels there is a delay before the favorite pages associated with the new channel are acquired. At the same time, the favorite pages associated with the channel which was previously being watched are lost.
A television receiver in accordance with the present invention acquires and stores the data representing the favorite pages for each channel. These pages are stored in a dedicated portion of memory which is allocated for favorite pages of each of the channels. Thus, on changing channels, the data is not overwritten by new data received from teletext or other data transmissions associated with the newly received channel.
The television receiver may comprise means for causing the receiver to scan all the channels having associated therewith favorite pages to acquire and store the favorite pages each time the receiver is switched on.
By this means, the capture of the favorite pages for each channel is ensured in the fastest possible time and, frequently, the viewer will not be particularly interested in the program being transmitted when the receiver is first switched on. Thus, the viewer will not object to not being able to watch a program on a particular channel during the time taken to scan the channels and enter the favorite pages into the memory.
Alternatively, or in addition, the television receiver may comprise user operated means for instructing the receiver to scan those channels having associated favorite pages to acquire and store said favorite pages at a time determined by the user.
By enabling the user to initiate the scanning of the channels, this operation can be carried out at a time convenient to the user. For example, if the user switches on the television receiver at a time when the program being broadcast is one which is of interest to the viewer, then the interruption of the program caused by the scanning of the various channels could be annoying. If, however, the user is provided with means to choose the time at which the scanning takes place, this can be done at a time when the program being broadcast is not of interest. The receiver may be arranged, in a default state, to scan all the channels when it is switched on, but there may be an override instruction operable by the user to prevent the scanning from occurring if the user is interested in a particular program being transmitted at that time. Thus, for example, two buttons may be provided on a remote control unit, one of which is used to disable the automatic scanning when the receiver is switched on, and the other of which is used to initiate scanning at a time convenient for the user. Alternatively, a single button could be used whose function is to change the mode from scanning to non-scanning and vice versa. This is similar to the arrangement on many current remote control units for switching between text and picture where the same button is used to change in both directions.
The television receiver may comprise means for causing the receiver to select each of the channels for a period at least as long as the cycle time of the transmitted data.
Teletext data is transmitted in serial form, one page succeeding another. Consequently, it takes a finite time for any given page to appear in the transmission cycle. The transmission of teletext data is such that the pages reappear at regular intervals dependent on the number of pages which are being transmitted by the broadcaster. This cycle time is normally of the order of 30 seconds, that is, any given page will reappear in the transmission at approximately 30 second intervals. Thus, if the receiver selects each of the channels for a period somewhat in excess of that 30 seconds, the favorite pages should all be acquired during that time.
In an alternative embodiment, the television receiver comprises detection means for detecting when all of the favorite pages associated with the selected channel have been acquired and stored, and means for selecting the next channel in response to the output of the detection means.
This will ensure that all of the favorite pages are actually acquired and stored before the receiver moves on to the next channel. This has the advantage that if, for example, interference causes one of the favorite pages to be corrupted and, hence, not be acquired, then the receiver will stay tuned to the selected channel until the page is re-transmitted. In addition, this will enable rolling pages to be captured, if, for example, one of the favorite pages has a number of rolling pages associated, then the total cycle time will be increased, but by moving on to the next channel only w
Goodman Edward W.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics , N.V.
Lee Michael H.
Natnael Paulos
LandOfFree
Television receiver receiving a plurality of channels... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Television receiver receiving a plurality of channels..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Television receiver receiving a plurality of channels... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3165091