Embedded commericals within a television receiver using an integrated electronic billboard

• US 5,233,423 A
• Filed: 11/26/1990
• Issued: 08/03/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: North American Philips Corp. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: North American Philips Corp. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Jernigan, Forest E., Bingham, Joseph P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Groody, James J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Murrell, Jeffrey S.
• Application Number:
  US07/618,349
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 358/181, 358/188, 358/22 PIP, 358/22, 358/183, 358/85, 358/84, 358/908, 358/86
• US Class Current: 348/564
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42653 for processing graphics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• 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 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44016 involving splicing one content stream with another content stream, e.g. for substituting a video clip
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44504 Circuit details of the additional information generator, e.g. details of the character or graphics signal generator, overlay mixing circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence

Abstract

A television receiver is equipped with a graphics generator which is capable of generating a single or multiple graphic images from data representing commercial advertisements stored in a memory device. The elements of this arrangement include a micro-controller, a memory device, a graphics and memory controller, a pallet controller and a video switch. The images corresponding to the commercial advertisements are displayed to the consumer when a control function of the television receiver is activated. Alternatively, the images may be displayed in response to an internal clock. The images presented may be static or animated and may occupy a small portion of the screen or the full screen.

Claims

1. An arrangement in a television receiver for locally generating commercial advertising for display, said television receiver having a display, conventional receiver circuits for receiving and processing television signals and for applying video signals corresponding to said television signals to said display, and a receiver controller having a plurality of user operable control switches for controlling various standard operating functions of said television receiver, said arrangement comprising:

means for storing data representing a plurality of separate commercial advertisements;

means for converting said stored data into commercial video signals for display;

control means coupled to said storing means for selectively applying data representing a selected one of said plurality of separate commercial advertisements to said converting means;

switching means for switching said commercial video signals to the display of said television receiver for a predetermined period of time, said switching means being controlled by said control means, wherein said switching means effectively superposes said commercial advertisements over a portion of a displayed picture; and

means for sensing the operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches, said sensing means being coupled to said control means whereby said control means effects the display of said commercial video signals corresponding to said selected one of said commercial advertisements in response to said sensing means sensing operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said arrangement further comprises means for updating said data stored in said storing means.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said storing means comprises a read-only memory.

4. An arrangement in a television receiver for locally generating commercial advertising for display, said arrangement comprising:

means for storing data representing said commercial advertising;

means for converting said stored data into video signals for display;

control means coupled to said storing means for selectively applying said data to said converting means;

switching means for switching said video signal to the display of said television receiver for a predetermined period of time, said switching means being controlled by said control means;

means for sensing whether said arrangement has been disconnected from said television receiver; and

disabling means connected to said television receiver for disabling the operation of said television receiver in response to said sensing means.

5. A method of advertising on a television receiver, said television receiver having a display, conventional receiver circuits for receiving and processing television signals and for applying video signals corresponding to said television signals to said display, and a receiver controller having a plurality of user operable control switches for controlling various standard operating functions of said television receiver, said method comprising the steps:

locally storing in said television receiver data representing a plurality of separate commercial advertisements;

converting data representing a selected one of said plurality of separate commercial advertisements into commercial video signals;

sensing the operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches; and

selectively switching said commercial video signals to the display of said television receiver for a predetermined period of time in response to sensing the operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches, wherein said step of selectively switching said commercial video signals effectively superposes said commercial advertisements over a portion of a displayed picture.

6. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 5, wherein said method further comprises periodically updating said data to represent different commercial advertisements.

7. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 5, wherein said commercial advertisements consist of static images.

8. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 5, wherein said commercial advertisements consist of animated images.

9. A method of advertising as claimed in claim 5, wherein said commercial advertisements consist of a combination of static and animated images.

10. A method of advertising on a television receiver, said television receiver having a display, conventional receiver circuits for receiving and processing television signals and for applying video signals corresponding to said television signals to said display, and a receiver controller having a plurality of user operable control switches for controlling various standard operating functions of said television receiver, said method comprising the steps:

locally storing in said television receiver data representing a plurality of separate commercial advertisements;

converting data representing a selected one of said plurality of separate commercial advertisements into commercial video signals;

sensing the operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches;

selectively switching said commercial video signals to the display of said television receiver for a predetermined period of time in response to sensing the operation of each and every one of said plurality of control switches; and

selectively switching said commercial video signals to the display of said television receiver for a predetermined period of time, wherein said commercial video signal are selectively switched to said display at regular time intervals, wherein said steps of selectively switching said commercial video signals effectively superposes said commercial advertisements over a portion of a displayed picture.