MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING A CHANNEL MAP AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

• US 20120210386A1
• Filed: 02/09/2012
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KIM, Uniyoung, Jang, Saehun, Lee, Gangseub, Lee, Hyungnam, Rathinavel, Raja, Ranganathan, Mohan Krishna, Challagali, Samavarthy
• Granted Patent: US 8,887,203 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/148
• 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 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72

Abstract

A multi-functional display device having a channel map and a method for controlling the same are disclosed herein. The multi-functional display device may include a display, an input interface, a network interface for communicating with at least one second multi-functional display device, and a controller for controlling a display of the channel map and content associated with a channel selected in the channel map. The channel map may include a first channel number associated with a broadcast channel and a channel name for the first channel, and a second channel number associated with a social network service (SNS) account for an individual or entity and an SNS channel name for the second channel.

Claims

1. A multi-functional display device having a channel map comprising:

a display;

an input interface;

a network interface for communicating with at least one second multi-functional display device; and

a controller for controlling a display of the channel map and content associated with a channel selected in the channel map, wherein

the channel map includes a first channel number associated with a broadcast channel and a channel name for the first channel, and a second channel number associated with a social network service (SNS) account for an individual or entity and an SNS channel name for the second channel.

2. The multi-functional display device of claim 1, wherein the display includes a first region configured to display content for at least one of a broadcast content, SNS account content or an application content, and a second region configured to display the channel map.

3. The multi-functional display device of claim 2, wherein the channel map displayed in the second region of the display includes a first area displaying identifying information for the selected channel, a second area displaying a type of channel, and a third area displaying a list of channels corresponding to the type of channel selected in the second area.

4. The multi-functional display device of claim 3, wherein the type of channel includes one or more of a broadcast channel type, an SNS channel type or an application channel type.

5. The multi-functional display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to display the channel map to be a full screen image.

6. The multi-functional display device of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to detect selection of the second channel number, determine an address associated with the second SNS account, retrieve content associated with the second SNS account using the address, and display the received content.

7. The multi-functional display device of claim 1, wherein the channel map includes at least one indicator associated with the second channel that indicates an online state of the individual or entity.

8. The multi-functional display device of claim 7, wherein the at least one indicator indicates whether the individual or entity is logged in at the SNS account on a server or whether the individual or entity is logged in at a second multi-functional display device associated with the SNS account.

9. The multi-functional display device of claim 1, wherein the content corresponding to the second channel associated with the SNS account includes at least one of a broadcast program being displayed on a second multi-functional display device associated with the individual or entity or SNS content associated with the SNS account.

10. A method for displaying a channel map in a multi-functional display device comprising:

displaying content on a display;

displaying a first channel map on the display;

detecting a first request to change the displayed channel map; and

changing the displayed first channel map to a second channel map in response to the first request,

wherein at least one of the first channel map or the second channel map includes channels associated with a social network service (SNS) account for an individual or entity.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first request is generated in response to a selection of a key on a remote controller.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the second channel map associated with the SNS account includes a channel number and a channel name associated with the SNS account.

13. The method of claim 10, further including

detecting a selection of the channel number or the channel name in the second channel map;

changing the channel in the multi-functional display device to the selected channel associated with the SNS account; and

displaying content associated with the SNS account on the display.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the displaying content associated with the SNS account includes

reading one or more SNS account addresses associated with the selected channel;

acquiring an address for a second multi-functional display device based on the read SNS account addresses;

retrieving the content associated with the SNS account from the second multi-functional display device; and

displaying the retrieved content associated with the SNS account on the display.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting a second request to change the displayed channel map; and

changing the displayed second channel map to a third channel map in response to the second request.

16. The method of claim 10, further including

detecting a third request to display the channel map in a full screen mode;

and displaying the channel map in the full screen mode in response to the third request, wherein the full screen mode includes the channels associated with the SNS account.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the channel map in the full screen mode further includes at least one broadcast channel and at least one application channel.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the channel map in the full screen mode includes a plurality of tabs corresponding to a plurality of pages, each page displaying a channel map associated with at least one of a broadcast content, SNS content, or application programs.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of tabs include markings indicating a type of content, the plurality of tabs associated with different types of content.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

detecting a third request for a channel map for recently viewed channels; and

displaying the channel map for recently viewed channels includes a broadcast channel, a human channel and an App channel displayed within a prescribed time period in response to the third request.