PROGRAM VIEWING APPARATUS AND METHOD
First Claim
1. In-home television program control apparatus, comprising:
- a first television tuner configured to receive a 30 minute long first television program including video data and audio data;
a second television tuner configured to receive a 30 minute long second television program including video data and audio data;
processing structure coupled to said first and second television tuners and configured to receive the first and second television programs from said first and second television tuners, respectively;
memory structure coupled to said processing structure and configured to store the received first and second television programs; and
remote control structure configured to control said processing structure;
said processing structure also configured to, in response to one or more signals from said remote control, (i) simultaneously store the received first television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the received second television program for use by a television display without passing said received second television program to said memory structure, (ii) simultaneously store the received second television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the received first television program for use by the television without passing said received first television program to said memory structure, (iii) simultaneously store the received first television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the second television program for use by the television from said memory structure, and (iv) simultaneously store the received second television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the first television program for use by the television from said memory structure.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Improvements in program viewing apparatus and methods, some of which are now commonly referred to as personal video recorder (PVR) and program guide features in television sets, set top boxes and other video devices. The invention provides for a user display such as a flat panel program display device, a user remote for the user to control operations and features, program data storage for storing programs and related information, removable data storage for storing programs and related information on removable storage media. Also included is a data manager which functions include response to the user'"'"'s desires via the user remote to control receiving and storing programs and select received or stored programs to be displayed on the user display device. The data manager may also be responsive to receive, store and display other services such as programming guide services to provide enhanced program viewing and storage management as directed by the user.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. In-home television program control apparatus, comprising:
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a first television tuner configured to receive a 30 minute long first television program including video data and audio data; a second television tuner configured to receive a 30 minute long second television program including video data and audio data; processing structure coupled to said first and second television tuners and configured to receive the first and second television programs from said first and second television tuners, respectively; memory structure coupled to said processing structure and configured to store the received first and second television programs; and remote control structure configured to control said processing structure; said processing structure also configured to, in response to one or more signals from said remote control, (i) simultaneously store the received first television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the received second television program for use by a television display without passing said received second television program to said memory structure, (ii) simultaneously store the received second television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the received first television program for use by the television without passing said received first television program to said memory structure, (iii) simultaneously store the received first television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the second television program for use by the television from said memory structure, and (iv) simultaneously store the received second television program in said memory structure and output the video and audio data of the first television program for use by the television from said memory structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification