Broadcast receiver

• US 20040250278A1
• Filed: 02/27/2004
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Imai, Shigeru, Miura, Shin
• Application Number:
  US10/487,914
• Publication Number:
  US 20040250278A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04895 Guidance during keyboard input operation, e.g. prompting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42212 Specific keyboard arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42226 Reprogrammable remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• 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 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control

Abstract

A broadcast receiver, referring to program information obtained by a program information acquiring section (9), identifies icons associated with programs, and displays the icons on a user interface screen with establishing correspondence with the arrangement of a ten-digit keypad (21) of a remote control (13).

Claims

1. A broadcast receiver comprising:

program information acquiring means for obtaining program information about currently broadcast programs or to-be-broadcast programs;

icon display means for identifying icons associated with the programs referring to the program information obtained by said program information acquiring means, for displaying the icons on a user interface screen with establishing correspondence of the icons with an arrangement of channel selection buttons of a remote control, and distributing, when the number of the icons to be displayed exceeds the number of the channel selection buttons, the icons to a plurality of user interface screens; and

program selection means for selecting, when a user operates any one of the channel selection buttons, a program associated with the icon corresponding to the channel selection button.

2. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein when a program has been stored and its program information has been recorded, said icon display means identifies the icon associated with the program referring to the program information, and displays the icon on the user interface screen with establishing correspondence of the icon with the arrangement of the channel selection buttons of the remote control.

3. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein when a retrieval condition is given to the program information, said icon display means, referring to the program information satisfying the retrieval condition, identifies the icons associated with the programs.

4. The broadcast receiver according to claim 3, wherein even when said icon display means identifies the icons associated with the programs referring to the program information satisfying the retrieval condition, if the number of icons identified is less than the number of the channel selection buttons, said icon display means, referring to the program information not satisfying the retrieval condition, identifies the icons associated with the programs.

6. (Previous Presented) The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein said program selection means switches the user interface screen to be displayed in response to an operation of a page shift key by a user.

7. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the icons identified by said icon display means consist of an image symbolizing a genre of the program.

8. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the icons identified by said icon display means consist of a motion picture of the program.

9. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the icons identified by said icon display means consist of a still picture constituting part of a motion picture of the program.

10. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the icons identified by said icon display means are associated with a character string in the program information obtained by said program information acquiring means.

11. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the icons identified by said icon display means are associated with a bit string in the program information obtained by said program information acquiring means.

13. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein said icon display means displays symbols, which are written on the channel selection buttons of a remote control, near the corresponding icons.

14. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein said icon display means displays a motion picture of a currently selected program on the user interface screen.

15. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein said icon display means displays program information about a currently selected program on the user interface screen.

21. The broadcast receiver according to claim 2, wherein said icon display means displays a specific symbol on the icon corresponding to the program recorded.

22. The broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein when a user temporarily designates one or more icons, said icon display means displays only the icons designated by the user.

5. (canceled)

12. A broadcast receiver comprising:

program information acquiring means for obtaining program information about currently broadcast programs or to-be-broadcast programs;

icon acquiring means for acquiring a still picture from a motion picture of a currently broadcast program or recorded program at a timing designated by a user, and stores the still picture in connection with a character string specified by the user as an icon used to select the program; and

icon display means for identifying, when the character string registered by the user via said icon acquiring means is found in the program information acquired by said program information acquiring means when the program information is referred to, the icon connected to the character string by the user in advance, and for displaying the icon on a user interface screen with establishing correspondence of the icon with an arrangement of channel selection buttons of a remote control.

23. The broadcast receiver according to claim 12, wherein when said icon display means identifies the icon associated with the program, and if an icon, which is registered in the system in advance in addition to the icon registered by the user via said icon acquiring means, is associated with the program information of the program, said icon display means assigns the icon, which is registered by the user via said icon acquiring means, to the program preferentially.

24. The broadcast receiver according to claim 12, wherein when said icon display means identifies the icon associated with the program, and if a plurality of character strings, which are registered by the user via said icon acquiring means, are present in the program information of the program, said icon display means assigns the icon, which is closest to the present time, to the program preferentially.

25. The broadcast receiver according to claim 12, wherein when a request to capture an icon is input by a user watching a motion picture, said icon acquiring means displays a still picture, which constitutes part of the motion picture displayed at the request, on the motion picture currently displayed, and wherein said icon acquiring means further displays on the same screen a word which the user wishes to associate with the still picture.

16. (Canceled)

17. (Canceled)

18. (Canceled)

19. (Canceled)

20. (Canceled)