BROADCAST RECEIVING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TUNING CHANNEL THEREOF

• US 20150128183A1
• Filed: 07/21/2014
• Published: 05/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: HYEON, Byeong-cheol, CHOI, Woo-suk
• Application Number:
  US14/336,618
• Publication Number:
  US 20150128183A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4383 Accessing a communication channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44213 Monitoring of end-user related data arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score

Abstract

A broadcast receiving apparatus and a method for tuning a channel of a broadcast receiving apparatus is provided. The method includes displaying contents received through a broadcast channel, changing, if a channel zapping command is received, the broadcast channel, displaying, if the channel zapping command is consecutively received a plurality of times within a predetermined amount of time, a user interface (UI) using which a user can select a broadcast channel, and tuning, if a broadcast channel is selected from the UI, the selected broadcast channel.

Claims

1. A method for tuning a channel of a broadcast receiving apparatus, the method comprising:

displaying contents received through a first broadcast channel;

changing, if a channel zapping command is received, the first broadcast channel;

displaying, if the channel zapping command is consecutively received a plurality of times within a predetermined amount of time, a user interface (UI) using which a user can select a second broadcast channel; and

tuning, if the second broadcast channel is selected from the UI, the selected second broadcast channel.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaying a UI comprises determining, if the channel zapping command is consecutively received more than a predetermined number of times within the predetermined amount of time, existence of a channel search intention based on a watching time of each zapped broadcast channel;

and displaying, if it is determined that the channel search intention exists, the UI.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the determining existence of a channel search intention comprises:

calculating an average watching time of each zapped broadcast channel; and

if the average time is shorter than a predetermined critical value, determining that the channel search intention exists, and if the average time is longer than the predetermined critical value, determining that the channel search intention does not exist.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

calculating a watching time of each zapped broadcast channel;

determining a user'"'"'s genre of interest based on the calculated watching time; and

configuring the UI by sorting contents based on the user'"'"'s genre of interest.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the contents of each zapped broadcast channel are displayed in a main screen, and

the UI is displayed as a Picture In Picture (PIP) screen within the main screen.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 further comprising:

displaying, if a select command corresponding to the PIP screen is received, the second broadcast channel selected from the UI in the main screen.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the UI is at least one of a preferred channel UI, a recommended channel UI, and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) UI.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein

displaying in the UI, if the UI is the preferred channel UI, a preferred channel list which is one of input by the user or automatically generated based on a user'"'"'s channel selection history,

displaying in the UI, if the UI is the recommended channel UI, recommended channels which are selected based on one of a user input, the user'"'"'s channel selection history, channel ratings, current events and festivals, and

displaying in the UI, if the UI is the EPG UI, a broadcast schedule which is prepared and provided by one of a manufacturer of the broadcast receiving apparatus, a broadcast company, a cable broadcast company and an EPG provider.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to calculate a watching time of each zapped broadcast channel, determine a user'"'"'s genre of interest based on the calculated watching time, and configure the UI by sorting contents based on the user'"'"'s genre of interest.

9. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising:

a broadcast receiver configured to tune a first broadcast channel and a second broadcast channel and receive contents through the first broadcast channel and the second broadcast channel;

a display configured to display the received contents;

a storage configured to store broadcast channel information;

an input unit configured to receive a channel zapping command; and

a controller configured to, if the channel zapping command is received, control the broadcast receiver to change the first broadcast channel, and if the channel zapping command is consecutively received a plurality of times within a predetermined amount of time, display a UI using which a user can select a second broadcast channel,

wherein if the second broadcast channel is selected from the UI, the controller controls the broadcast receiver to tune the selected second broadcast channel.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein if the channel zapping command is consecutively received more than a predetermined number of times within the predetermined amount of time, the controller determines existence of a channel search intention based on a watching time of each zapped broadcast channel, and if it is determined that the channel search intention exists, displays the UI.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured to

calculate an average watching time of each zapped broadcast channel,

determine, if the average time is shorter than a predetermined critical value, that the channel search intention exists, and

determine, if the average time is longer than the predetermined critical value, that the channel search intention does not exist.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the controller is further configured to display contents of each zapped broadcast channel in a main screen, and displays the UI as a Picture In Picture (PIP) screen within the main screen.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to display, if a select command corresponding to the PIP screen is received, the second broadcast channel selected from the UI in the main screen.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the UI is at least one of a preferred channel UI, a recommended channel UI, and an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) UI.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein

the controller displays in the UI, if the UI is the preferred channel UI, a preferred channel list which is one of input by the user or automatically generated based on a user'"'"'s channel selection history,

the controller displays in the UI, if the UI is the recommended channel UI, recommended channels which are selected based on one of a user input, the user'"'"'s channel selection history, channel ratings, current events and festivals, and

the controller displays in the UI, if the UI is the EPG UI, a broadcast schedule which is prepared and provided by one of a manufacturer of the broadcast receiving apparatus, a broadcast company, a cable broadcast company and an EPG provider.

17. A non-transitory recording medium including a program for executing a method for tuning a channel, the method comprising:

displaying contents received through a first broadcast channel;

changing, if a channel zapping command is received, the first broadcast channel;

displaying, if the channel zapping command is consecutively received a plurality of times within a predetermined amount of time, a user interface (UI) using which a user can select a second broadcast channel; and

tuning, if the second broadcast channel is selected from the UI, the selected second broadcast channel.

18. A method for tuning a channel of a broadcast receiving apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving a channel zapping command a plurality of times;

determining a rate of reception of the channel zapping command; and

displaying a User Interface (UI) if the determined rate of reception is greater than a threshold value.