Television receiver with deferred transmission of moving image sequences

• US 5,555,463 A
• Filed: 08/30/1994
• Issued: 09/10/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Thomson Consumer Electronics Incorporated (Vantiva SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Consumer Electronics Incorporated (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Staron, Alain
• Primary Examiner(s): Kostak, Victor R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Miller, John W.
• Application Number:
  US08/290,781
• Time in Patent Office: 742 Days
• Field of Search: 348/559, 348/560, 348/714, 348/715, 348/716, 348/717, 348/718, 348/719, 358/908, 358/311, 358/312, 358/313, 358/335, 360/13, 360/14.1, 360/11
• US Class Current: 348/560
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47217 for controlling playback functions for recorded or on-demand content, e.g. using progress bars, mode or play-point indicators or bookmarks specific graphical features in visual interfaces H04N21/4312
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/4448 for frame-grabbing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8047 using transform coding

Abstract

A television receiver equipped with an internal device produces a deferred source signal in order to alter the amount (X) of deferment in order to allow for a replay or skipping of a portion of a program being viewed. The change in deferment is followed automatically by a resumption of the initial value of deferment. This allows for instant replay or fast forward and subsequent return to the initial condition in an automatic manner.

Claims

1. Device including means for the deferred transmission of a sequence of moving images via a buffer memory associated with write and read addressing means, said deferment undergoing an abrupt change of value on request and automatically resuming its initial value in order to satisfy a subsequent request, said buffer memory having a sufficient capacity to contain several images of the said sequence, characterized in that the said abrupt change of value is by choice positive or negative, so as to offer the possibility of repeating and that of skipping a portion of the said sequence.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said deferred transmission means comprise:

a writable and erasable information medium, means effecting the paying out of the said medium past a recording head and past a read head and means for displacing the said read head, in order to modify its position within that region of the said medium scanned by the said recording head.

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that said information medium includes a magnetic recording material.

4. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that means are provided for digitizing said source signal prior to its writing to the said medium.

5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said heads are magnetic heads furnished with air-gaps.

6. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said heads and said medium form a write/read system of magneto-optical type.

7. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the write addressing of the said memory is incremented image by image, as is the read addressing;

the disparity between the write and read addresses being modified by several units so as to change the value of the said deferment in one direction and then in the opposite direction, unit by unit, at a rate which is a sub-multiple of the rate of reading of the said images, so as to return to the initial disparity.

9. Device according to either one of claims 8 or 1, characterized in that said buffer memory is a microprocessor-managed random access memory.

10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the signals representative of the said images are subjected to a compression processing prior to their writing to the said memory and in that the signals resulting from the reading of said memory undergo an inverse processing before being applied to the said display means.

11. Device according to either one of claims 8 or 1, characterized in that a non-deferred source signal is used in a phase of normal operation, whilst means are provided for substituting it with the deferred source signal in a transient phase ending in the resumption of said normal operation.

12. Device according to either one of claims 8 or 1, characterized in that said buffer memory is a semiconductor memory.

13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that said memory can be extended by adding modules.

8. A device for deferring transmission of a sequence of moving images, said device comprising:

write addressing circuitry for incremental writing on an image by image basis of said sequence of moving images to a buffer memory wherein said buffer memory has sufficient capacity to contain several of said images;

read addressing circuitry for reading said images in said buffer memory wherein said read addressing circuitry is incremented image and wherein said read addressing of said sequence of moving images is deferred from said write addressing and wherein said deferring has a deferment value which is subject an abrupt change on a request followed by an automatic and gradual return to an initial deferment value;

wherein a disparity between said read and write addressing is modified by a plurality of units in order to change the value of the said deferment in one direction and then in the opposite direction, image unit by unit, at a rate which is a sub-multiple of the rate of reading of said images, so as to return to an initial disparity.