Electronic program guide with support for rich program content
First Claim
1. A method for having an interactive television program guide arrange television content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, wherein black areas are present either on the top and bottom, or the left and right of a displayed program that is broadcast in an aspect ratio that does not match the aspect ratio of the display of the user television equipment, comprising:
- placing content in the black areas such that the amount of space occupied by the black areas decreases by the amount of space occupied by the new content, wherein the content that is placed in the black areas is provided by at least one digital television feed.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic program guide that assists a user to navigate through a variety of digital and analog feeds made available by digital television technology is provided. Features such as allowing the user to purchase items, allowing the user to choose the content of the display screen, enabling more efficient use of black areas, among others are provided. Default settings based on prior user settings is provided to allow for an automatically customized environment. This automatic customization may entail, for example, the automatic resizing of windows based on the user'"'"'s prior preferences. Also provided is a feature that allows for the automatic activation of a local or remote application through the user'"'"'s set-top box based on the content currently being viewed.
345 Citations
214 Claims
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1. A method for having an interactive television program guide arrange television content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, wherein black areas are present either on the top and bottom, or the left and right of a displayed program that is broadcast in an aspect ratio that does not match the aspect ratio of the display of the user television equipment, comprising:
placing content in the black areas such that the amount of space occupied by the black areas decreases by the amount of space occupied by the new content, wherein the content that is placed in the black areas is provided by at least one digital television feed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for arranging television content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, wherein black areas are present either on the top and bottom, or the left and right of a displayed program that is broadcast in an aspect ratio that does not match the aspect ratio of the display of the user television equipment, comprising:
placing content in the black areas such that the amount of space occupied by the black areas decreases by the amount of space occupied by the new content, wherein the content that is placed in the black areas is provided by at least two digital television feeds. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for having an interactive television program guide display information regarding digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, comprising:
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displaying a list on the display of the user television equipment of content that is available on one or more digital feeds that are carried on an analog carrier, wherein the list contains elements, at least a majority of which are related to a single subject, and wherein the elements of the list include information on at least one digital television feeds; and
allowing the user to select one or more of the elements of the list. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for having an interactive television program guide display content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, comprising:
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displaying multiple windows on the display of the user television equipment, wherein the windows contain television content provided by the digital television feeds, wherein at least a majority of the windows contain content that relates to a single subject, and wherein the content of the windows is provided by at least one digital television feed; and
allowing a user to move and resize the windows. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for adjusting user settings used in an interactive television program guide for digital television feeds, implemented using user television equipment, comprising:
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using manufacturer-defined default user settings for the initial use of the user television equipment by a particular user;
automatically changing the user settings to correspond to preferences the user exhibits in the use of the interactive television application; and
storing the changed user settings for future use. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A system for having an interactive television program guide arrange television content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, wherein black areas are present either on the top and bottom, or the left and right of a displayed program that is broadcast in an aspect ratio that does not match the aspect ratio of the display of the user television equipment, comprising user television equipment configured to:
place content in the black areas such that the amount of space occupied by the black areas decreases by the amount of space occupied by the new content, wherein the content that is placed in the black areas is provided by at least one digital television feed. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A system for arranging television content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, wherein black areas are present either on the top and bottom, or the left and right of a displayed program that is broadcast in an aspect ratio that does not match the aspect ratio of the display of the user television equipment, comprising user television equipment configured to:
place content in the black areas such that the amount of space occupied by the black areas decreases by the amount of space occupied by the new content, wherein the content that is placed in the black areas is provided by at least two digital television feeds. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. A system for having an interactive television program guide display information regarding digital television feeds on-user television equipment having a display, comprising user television equipment configured to:
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display a list on the display of the user television equipment of content that is available on one or more digital feeds that are carried on an analog carrier, wherein the list contains elements, at least a majority of which are related to a single subject, and wherein the elements of the list include information on at least one digital television feed; and
allow the user to select one or more of the elements of the list. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
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98. A system for displaying content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, comprising user television equipment configured to:
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display multiple windows on the display of the user television equipment, wherein the windows contain television content provided by the digital television feeds, wherein at least a majority of the windows contain content that relates to a single subject, and wherein the content of the windows is provided by at least two digital television feeds; and
allow a user to move and resize the windows. - View Dependent Claims (99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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124. A system for adjusting user settings used in an interactive television application implemented using user television equipment, comprising user television equipment configured to:
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use manufacturer-defined default user settings for the initial use of the user television equipment by a particular user;
automatically change the user settings to correspond to preferences the user exhibits in the use of the interactive television application; and
store the changed user settings for future use. - View Dependent Claims (125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132)
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133. A method for displaying content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, comprising:
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displaying multiple windows on the display of the user television equipment, wherein the windows contain television content provided by the digital television feeds, wherein at least a majority of the windows contain content that relates to a single subject, and wherein the content of the windows is provided by at least two digital television feeds; and
allowing a user to move and resize the windows. - View Dependent Claims (134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141)
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142. A system for displaying content retrieved from digital television feeds on user television equipment having a display, comprising user television equipment configured to:
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display multiple windows on the display of the user television equipment, wherein the windows contain television content provided by the digital television feeds, wherein at least a majority of the windows contain content that relates to a single subject, and wherein the content of the windows is provided by at least two digital television feeds; and
allow a user to move and resize the windows. - View Dependent Claims (143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150)
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151. (New) A method for providing interactive television features using an interactive television application at least partially implemented on user equipment having a display, the method comprising:
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receiving with the user equipment at least one digital feed that is specific to a particular broadcast provider, the at least one digital feed providing program listings data comprising at least one title of a television program; and
using the interactive television application to display the program listings data on the display, wherein at least a majority of the program listings data is associated with the particular broadcast provider. - View Dependent Claims (152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166)
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167. (New) User television equipment for use in a system that provides interactive television features using an interactive television application at least partially implemented on the user television equipment, the user television equipment configured to:
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receive at least one digital feed that is specific to a particular broadcast provider, wherein the at least one digital feed comprises program listings data comprising at least one title of a television program; and
use the interactive television application to display the program listings data on a display, wherein at least a majority of the program listings data is associated with the particular broadcast provider. - View Dependent Claims (168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182)
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183. (New) A system for providing interactive television features using an interactive television application, the system comprising:
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means for receiving at least one digital feed that is specific to a particular broadcast provider, wherein the at least one digital feed comprises program listings data comprising at least one title of a television program; and
means for using the interactive television application to display the program listings data on a display, wherein at least a majority of the program listings data is associated with the particular broadcast provider. - View Dependent Claims (184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198)
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199. (New) A machine-readable storage medium for a system that provides interactive television features using an interactive television application at least partially implemented on user equipment having a display, the machine-readable storage medium comprising program logic recorded thereon for:
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receiving with the user equipment at least one digital feed that is specific to a particular broadcast provider, the at least one digital feed providing program listings data comprising at least one title of a television program; and
using the interactive television application to display the program listings data on the display, wherein at least a majority of the program listings data is associated with the particular broadcast provider. - View Dependent Claims (200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214)
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Specification