DATA STRUCTURE AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING AN INTERACTIVE PROGRAM

• US 20160353177A1
• Filed: 08/12/2016
• Published: 12/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TiVo Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Comcast IP Holdings I LLC (Comcast Corporation)
• Inventors: Gordon, Donald F., Ludvig, Edward A., Osborn, Nathan W., Edmonds, Jeremy S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,924,234 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4821 using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/488 Data services, e.g. news ticker systems specially adapted for using meteorological information in broadcast systems H04H60/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8133 specifically related to the content, e.g. biography of the actors in a movie, detailed information about an article seen in a video program

Abstract

A program guide in which a video layer includes a plurality of video objects including title objects, each title object having associated with it a channel and at least one time slot, the video layer being formed in response to a received video stream and a graphics layer comprising a plurality of graphics objects including title overlay objects, each of the title overlay objects selectively imparting at least a visual de-emphasis to a respective title object in the video layer, the visual de-emphasis being imparted to title objects not being associated with a desired time slot.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more memories storing software instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to;

receive, from a network, data comprising imagery indicating programming offered by each of a plurality of sources, the imagery comprising a plurality of data objects;

receive, from the network, a transmission comprising a plurality of graphic overlay objects;

output first modified data, the first modified data comprising the imagery overlayed with the plurality of graphic overlay objects;

modify a graphic overlay object of the plurality of graphic overlay objects to generate a modified graphic overlay object, in response to receiving a user command; and

generate second modified data comprising the imagery overlayed with the modified graphical overlay object and the plurality of graphic overlay objects, wherein the modified graphic overlay object selectively emphasizes or deemphasizes a data object of the plurality of data objects.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the software instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

receive second data comprising second imagery indicating programming offered by each of a second plurality of sources, the second imagery comprising a second data object;

modify a second graphic overlay object of the plurality of graphic overlay objects to generate a second modified graphic overlay object; and

generate third modified data comprising the second imagery overlayed with the second modified graphic overlay object and the plurality of graphic overlay objects, wherein the second modified graphic overlay object emphasizes or deemphasizes the second data object.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the data object of the plurality of data objects comprises a moving image.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the software instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

output the first modified data for display with and without the emphasizing or the deemphasizing of the data object of the plurality of data objects.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to modify the graphic overlay object, the software instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

adjust at least one of a chrominance and a luminance parameter of the graphic overlay object.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more memories further store software instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to output the second modified data for display.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of graphic overlay objects corresponds to a corresponding data object of the plurality of data objects, and user interaction with each of the graphic overlay objects selectively emphasizes or deemphasizes a corresponding data object.

8. A method comprising:

receiving, at a terminal from a network, data comprising imagery indicating programming offered by each of a plurality of sources, the imagery comprising a plurality of data objects;

receiving, from the network, a transmission comprising a plurality of graphic overlay objects;

generating first modified data comprising the imagery overlayed with the plurality of graphic overlay objects;

outputting the first modified data;

modifying a graphic overlay object of the plurality of graphic overlay objects in response to receiving a user command to generate a modified graphic overlay object; and

generating second modified data comprising the imagery overlayed with the modified graphic overlay object and the plurality of graphic overlay objects, wherein the modified graphic overlay object selectively emphasizes or deemphasizes a data object of the plurality of data objects.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving second data comprising second imagery indicating programming offered by each of a second plurality of sources, the second imagery comprising a second data object;

modifying a second graphic overlay object of the plurality of graphic overlay objects; and

generating third modified data comprising the second imagery overlayed with the plurality of graphic overlay objects, wherein the modifying the second graphic overlay object emphasizes or deemphasizes a second data object of the plurality of data objects.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the data object comprises a moving image within the data.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

outputting the first modified data for display with and without the emphasizing or the deemphasizing of the data object.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the modifying includes adjusting at least one of a chrominance and a luminance parameter of the graphic overlay object.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising outputting the second modified data for display.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the plurality of graphic overlay objects corresponds to a corresponding data object of the plurality of data objects, and user interaction with each of the graphic overlay objects selectively emphasizes or deemphasizes a corresponding data object.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, from a network and at a terminal, a data transmission, the data transmission comprising images of a user interface screen indicating programming offered by each of a first plurality of channels, the data transmission further comprising a plurality of data objects corresponding to interactive elements of the user interface screen;

retrieving, from the network, a graphic overlay comprising a plurality of graphic objects, each of the plurality of graphic objects having a predefined display position visually cooperative with a display position of a corresponding data object of the plurality of data objects in the data transmission, each of the graphic objects being user interactive to selectively emphasize or deemphasize the corresponding data object;

outputting first modified data for display, the first modified data for display comprising the images overlayed with the plurality of graphic objects;

in response to a user interaction with one of the plurality of data objects, modifying, by the terminal, a graphic object corresponding to the one of the plurality of data objects to generate a modified graphic object; and

generating second modified data comprising the images overlayed with the modified graphic object and the plurality of graphic objects.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a second data transmission comprising second imagery indicating programming offered by each of a second plurality of sources, the second imagery comprising a second plurality of data objects;

modifying a second graphic object of the plurality of graphic objects to generate a second modified graphic object; and

generating third modified data comprising the second imagery overlayed with the plurality of graphic objects and the second modified graphic object, wherein the second modified graphic object emphasizes or deemphasizes a corresponding data object.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the one of the plurality of data objects comprises a moving image within the data transmission.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

displaying the first modified data with and without the emphasizing or the deemphasizing of the one of the plurality of data objects.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the modifying includes adjusting at least one of a chrominance and a luminance parameter of the graphic object.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising outputting the second modified data for display.