Method for displaying an electronic program guide on a screen of a digital television

• US 20030070171A1
• Filed: 10/04/2002
• Published: 04/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alticast Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alticast Corporation
• Inventors: Jeon, Won-Geun, Jeong, Deok-Hee
• Application Number:
  US10/265,034
• Publication Number:
  US 20030070171A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4221 Dedicated function buttons, e.g. for the control of an EPG, subtitles, aspect ratio, picture-in-picture or teletext
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for displaying an electronic program guide on a screen of a digital television. A hundred of channels are classified by category, and representative functions of the EPG are classified into few categories. When searching the classified channels and programs, a time axis and a channel axis are arrange on the screen by being displayed in a vertical direction of the screen. By storing the searched channel once time in a predetermined device, the stored information can be used when searching the searched channel again.

Claims

1. A method for displaying an electronic program guide on a screen of a digital television by using a predetermined graphic processing block when the electronic program guide information is received at a preset time interval through a receiving section of the digital television and stored in a predetermined memory block in the digital television, and the stored electronic program guide information is used for a user to tune a specific channel, and/or search a plurality of information of the programs by a timeline and/or channels, the method comprising the steps of:

i) displaying a main menu having at least one subtitle as an aggregate of channels which are classified by predetermined categories on the screen of the digital television;

ii) displaying the channels belong to the subtitle at left-sided area of the screen by being listed in vertical direction when the subtitle is selected by using a channel selecting means; and

iii) when one of the channels is selected, listing time and titles of the programs of the channel within a box shaped layout at the vertical direction by time order simultaneously displaying marks for manipulating a up and down arrows and a right and left arrows of the channel selecting means as four directional keys at a side of the layout.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

a) searching programs by moving to a program area arranged right side of the screen by means of the right arrow key among the four direction keys; and

b) searching a program corresponding the channel listed by timeline by using the up and down arrow keys.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising c) searching a channel area arranged at a left-sided portion of the screen by using the up and down arrow keys among the four directional keys.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selected channel is colored in a specific color.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the subtitles belong to the main menus are displayed on the screen in the vertical direction, a banner title in which a predetermined advertisement is inserted is displayed at a lower side of the subtitles, a description on which a phrase for describing key input of the channel selecting means is written is displayed at a lower side of the banner title, and a short icon indicating section for performing movement between the main menu and the subtitles and the channels and displaying short icons to view information related to the program broadcasted by the channel.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the short icons have identical colors and names same as the short keys of the channel selecting means.

7. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 though 6, wherein when a specific information with respect to a corresponding program of the selected channel is existed, a specific information identifying icon is automatically displayed and the specific information of the corresponding program is displayed through a predetermined key input of the channel selecting means.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein when a charged channel is selected, a specific information identifying icon for settlement for the corresponding program of the selected channel is automatically displayed, and a settlement window in which a fee and a password are inputted is displayed so that the program is settled by inputting the fee and the password.

9. The method as claimed in any one of claim 1 through 6, wherein when a channel registered by a user by using the channel information stored in the predetermined memory block, a channel storing indicating icon is automatically displayed.