Process for displaying broadcast and recorded transmissions possessing a common characteristic and associated receiver

• US 20010023498A1
• Filed: 03/14/2001
• Published: 09/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Madison Patent Holdings (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Houeix, Pierre, Chevallier, Louis, Cosmao, Michel
• Granted Patent: US 7,167,632 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape

Abstract

The invention relates to the receiving and displaying of short audiovisual transmissions broadcast by a transmitter to digital television receivers. The receivers are furnished with a large recording capacity. The short audiovisual transmissions are typically advertising spots. According to the invention, the short audiovisual transmissions are, upon reception in the receiver, automatically replaced by transmissions of the same type previously recorded in the receiver. The receiver resumes normal displaying of the transmissions at the end of the broadcasting of the audiovisual transmissions of a certain type.

The recording of the transmissions can be performed according to the preferences of the user. The preferences of the user are defined during a configuration phase.

The invention also relates to the receiver for implementing the process.

Claims

1. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions in a digital television receiver, the said transmissions being broadcast from a broadcasting center, the receiver being furnished with a means for displaying the transmissions, wherein it comprises:

a step of receiving audiovisual transmissions and at least one service information item, which are broadcast by the broadcasting center,

a first step of displaying an audiovisual transmission received,

a step of reading an audiovisual transmission recorded,

a second step of displaying the said audiovisual transmission read while replacing at least part of the said audiovisual transmission received, the second step being triggered at a moment defined by the service information item.

2. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 1

, wherein it comprises a step of recording in a nonvolatile storage means at least one transmission broadcast prior to the second displaying step, the said transmission possessing a characteristic in common with the transmission or transmission part replaced in the second displaying step.

3. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 2

, wherein the recording of the transmissions is conditioned by the result of a comparison between a criterion written in the memory of the receiver and a data item broadcast in a service information item characterizing the transmission to be recorded.

4. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 3

, wherein the recorded transmissions are identified by a topic, the written criterion corresponds to a user profile, and that the condition of recording of the said transmissions is the correspondence between this topic and the written data.

5. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 4

, wherein it comprises a prior step of selecting a user profile from among a plurality of specified profiles.

6. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 2

, wherein it comprises a third step consisting in recording in a temporary memory of the receiver the non-recordable transmission broadcast immediately after a recordable transmission and in displaying the content of this memory, the displaying and the broadcasting of the transmission being shifted by a certain time.

7. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 6

, wherein a new second displaying step commences when the content of the temporary memory has been completely displayed.

8. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 2

, wherein it comprises a prior step of recording a minimum specified quantity of recordable broadcast transmissions, before the execution of the second step.

9. Process for displaying audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 2

, wherein new recordings are prohibited as long as none of the current recordings has been read, the reading of a recording giving rise to its erasure from the nonvolatile storage means.

10. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions comprising a means of receiving transmissions transmitted from a broadcasting center, a memory containing at least one audiovisual transmission and a means of displaying the transmissions, wherein the transmissions broadcast by the center are of two types, the type of the transmissions being identified by a characteristic contained in a service information item transmitted by the broadcasting center, and in that the decoder furthermore comprises a first means of detecting the change of type of the transmissions received by the reception means, a means of selecting the transmissions so as to display either transmissions of a first type currently being broadcast or transmissions recorded in the memory, the selecting means is controlled by the detecting means in such a way that the broadcasting of a transmission of a second type causes the displaying of a recorded transmission.

11. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 10

furnished with a means of recording in the memory at least one broadcast audiovisual transmission, wherein the first detecting means authorizes the activation of the means of recording a transmission of the second type upon the detection of the broadcasting of the said transmission of the second type, and in that the selecting means allows the displaying of the said transmission of second type previously recorded.

12. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 10

, wherein it furthermore comprises a temporary storage memory for recording transmissions of the first type broadcast by the center, and a second means of detecting the end of the displaying of a recorded transmission, the first detecting means detecting the reception of a transmission of the first type activates the second means and causes the recording in temporary storage memory of the said transmission of the first type, the second detecting means detecting the end of the displaying of a recorded transmission causes the displaying of the content of the temporary storage memory.

13. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 11

, wherein it comprises a means of selecting the transmissions of the second type broadcast according to criteria stored in the receiver, only the selected transmissions are recorded in the memory.

14. Receiver of digital audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 13

, wherein the memory of the receiver contains profile data entered by at least one user, the transmissions of the second type comprise topic identification data for the transmission and in that the filter comprises a comparator between the profile data and the topic identification of the transmission, the transmission of the second type being recorded if the topic data item of the transmission corresponds to the profile data.

15. Receiver of audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 11

, wherein the transmissions of the second type are broadcast on a different communication channel from that of the transmissions of the first type and in that the receiver possesses a second reception means for receiving transmissions from the communication channel broadcasting transmissions of the second type.

16. Receiver of audiovisual transmissions according to

claim 10

, wherein it comprises a memory capable of previously recording a block of audiovisual transmissions, and a means of reading this block, upon display, the reception means is replaced by the reading means.