Method and apparatus for generating television program guides with category selection overlay
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of generating an on-screen television program guide, said method comprising the steps of:
- generating a main menu of a program guide, said main menu comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources; and
generating navigation menus for allowing a viewer to modify the program guide, said navigation menus generated so as to overwrite only a portion of said main menu of said program guide;
wherein said navigation menus allow the viewer to select specific categories of programming.
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Abstract
An apparatus for generating an on-screen television program guide. The apparatus generates a main menu of a program guide, which includes program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources, and further generates navigation menus for allowing a viewer to modify the program guide. The navigation menus are generated so as to over-write only a portion of the main menu of the program guide.
383 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of generating an on-screen television program guide, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating a main menu of a program guide, said main menu comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources; and generating navigation menus for allowing a viewer to modify the program guide, said navigation menus generated so as to overwrite only a portion of said main menu of said program guide;
wherein said navigation menus allow the viewer to select specific categories of programming. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An apparatus for generating an on-screen television program guide, said apparatus comprising:
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means for generating a main menu of a program guide, said main menu comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources; and means for generating navigation menus for allowing a viewer to modify the program guide, said navigation menus generated so as to over-write only a portion of said main menu of said program guide; wherein said navigation menus allow the viewer to select specific categories of programming to be included in the program guide. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of generating an on-screen television program guide, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a signal comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources, said program event information comprising a plurality of classification tags, each of said program events having at least one corresponding classification tag; storing said program source information and said program event information in memory; providing a user input means with predefined buttons, each of which corresponds to one of said plurality of classification tags; generating a main menu of a program guide, said main menu comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources; generating a navigation menu for allowing a viewer to select, using said user input means, specific categories of programming to be included in a category-specific program guide, said navigation menu generated so as to over-write only a portion of said main menu; and generating a category specific on-screen television program guide in response to depression of one of said predefined buttons on said user input means, said category specific on-screen television program guide comprising only program events having a classification tag corresponding to the classification tag associated with the selected predefined button. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for generating an on-screen television program guide, said apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving a signal comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources, said program event information comprising a plurality of classification tags, each of said program events having at least one corresponding classification tag; memory means for storing said program source information and said program event information; user input means comprising predefined buttons, each of which corresponds to one of said plurality of classification tags; means for generating a main menu of a program guide, said main menu comprising program source information and program event information for a plurality of program sources; means for generating a navigation menu for allowing a viewer to select, using said user input means, specific categories of programming to be included in a category-specific program guide, said navigation menu generated so as to over-write only a portion of said main menu; and a system controller coupled to said memory means and said user input means, said system controller operative for generating a category specific on-screen television program guide in response to depression of one of said predefined buttons on said user input means, said category specific on-screen television program guide comprising only events having a classification tag corresponding to the classification tag associated with the selected predefined button. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification