Electronic program guide feature for AV system

• US 20040019906A1
• Filed: 07/18/2003
• Published: 01/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamada, Hisafumi, Shintani, Peter R.
• Application Number:
  US10/622,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20040019906A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/39
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/431 Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
• 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 21/47 End-user applications
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/16 Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for displaying broadcast history information of a plurality of episodes of a program on an audio-visual system, which enable a viewer to select a program for which the history information of each episode will be stored. In response to the viewer'"'"'s selection, the audio-visual system stores the history information for the episodes of the selected program that has been received by the audio-visual system. The audio-visual system can display the history information when the viewer watches the current episode of the program in a future time.

Claims

1. An electronic program guide (EPG) circuit comprising:

a) an EPG processor circuit, including a central processing unit (CPU), supplied with a video signal input, a horizontal sync input, and a vertical sync input, wherein the video signal input includes EPG program information in electronic form describing viewable programs which is extracted from the video signal by the EPG processor circuit;

b) a read only memory (ROM) connected to the EPG processor circuit for storing a program used by the EPG'"'"'s CPU; and

c) a random access memory supplied with the EPG program information by the EPG processor circuit, for storing EPG program information for a plurality of episodes of a given program.

2. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein the EPG processor circuit outputs an on screen display (OSD) signal for displaying the history information of a selected episode of a program.

3. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, further comprising a non-volatile memory for storing user specific information pertaining to the EPG circuit.

4. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein the EPG program information is extended data service data contained in the vertical blanking interval of the video signal.

5. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein video signal is a digital signal and the EPG program information is in the digital signal'"'"'s program specific information protocol (PSIP).

6. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein the EPG program information is received via the Internet.

7. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein the EPG program information is received via a public switched telephone network.

8. An EPG circuit according to claim 1, wherein the EPG program information is received via a cable system'"'"'s out of band (OOB) data stream.