System and method for transmitting and displaying interactive TV content
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Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for preloading interactive content before it is to be displayed, thereby avoiding any unwanted delays due to download times. According to the invention, ITV data is embedded into the signal at some predetermined time before the corresponding segment will be broadcast. The ITV data is received by the ITV receiver, which then accesses an interactive site (web site or other server) and makes a request for the interactive content. The server determines the location of the content, and the content is then retrieved and transmitted to the ITV receiver. At the appropriate time (e.g., when the corresponding TV segment is being displayed), the content is displayed on the user'"'"'s display, thereby reliably providing simultaneous display of the segment and corresponding interactive content.
125 Citations
54 Claims
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1-36. -36. (Cancelled)
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37. A method for synchronizing display of interactive content downloaded from a remote computer, where time taken for downloading the interactive content is inconstant, the method comprising:
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receiving at a receiver a first command and a second command transmitted in a television signal, the first command being inserted at a temporal location of the signal that is received a predetermined amount of time before receipt of the second command;
automatically pre-loading from the remote computer into a data store coupled to the receiver, in response to receipt of the first command, at least a portion of the interactive content, wherein the automatic pre-loading effectively avoids delays in displaying the portion of the interactive content due delays in downloading the interactive content; and
displaying the pre-loaded portion of the interactive content in response to receipt of the second command. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54)
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52. A system for synchronizing display of interactive content, the system comprising:
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an end user device receiving a television signal including a first command;
a first server coupled to the end user device over a communications network; and
a plurality of second servers coupled to at least one of the first server and the end user device, characterized in that the end user device retrieves the first command from the television signal and in response, transmits a first request to the first server, the first server identifying in response to the first request interactive content stored in one of the plurality of the second servers, the second server being responsive to a second request transmitted by at least one of the first server and the end user device in response to the interactive content being identified by the first server, and transmitting the identified interactive content to the end user device for display at an appropriate time. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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Specification