System and method for grazing television channels from an electronic program guide
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a screen and a tuner for selecting the channel displayed on the screen, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing in a listings memory a plurality of television program listings representing telecast programs, each stored program listing including an associated channel designation;
setting the tuner to receive a particular channel in a television viewing mode;
displaying on the screen a program being telecast on the particular channel in a full screen format;
changing to a program guide mode in which television program listings including title are displayed;
storing the particular channel in a channel memory as a last channel designation when changing to the guide mode;
displaying the last channel designation with the program listings in the guide mode;
selecting either the channel designation of one of the displayed program listings or the last channel designation in the guide mode;
setting the tuner to the channel of the selected designation; and
returning to the television viewing mode to display a program being telecast on the channel to which the tuner is set.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A television program guide the uses a picture-in-picture (PIP) setup to allow the user to view an active television channel while browsing the channel guide.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a screen and a tuner for selecting the channel displayed on the screen, the method comprising the steps of:
-
storing in a listings memory a plurality of television program listings representing telecast programs, each stored program listing including an associated channel designation; setting the tuner to receive a particular channel in a television viewing mode; displaying on the screen a program being telecast on the particular channel in a full screen format; changing to a program guide mode in which television program listings including title are displayed; storing the particular channel in a channel memory as a last channel designation when changing to the guide mode; displaying the last channel designation with the program listings in the guide mode; selecting either the channel designation of one of the displayed program listings or the last channel designation in the guide mode; setting the tuner to the channel of the selected designation; and returning to the television viewing mode to display a program being telecast on the channel to which the tuner is set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
8. A method for navigating between a normal television viewing mode and an electronic program guide (EPG) in a television system comprising the steps of:
-
tuning a television tuner to a channel having a channel designation; displaying a program telecast on the channel on a screen; selecting the EPG; storing the channel designation in a channel memory; creating a last channel listing for the channel designation; displaying the EPG simultaneously with the last channel listing in a designated portion of the screen; marking the displayed last channel listing; retrieving the channel designation from the channel memory; and re-displaying the program telecast on the channel on the screen. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A system for grazing television channels from an electronic program guide (EPG), the system comprising:
-
means for storing EPG data, the data representing listings of television programs, each program listing being associated with a television channel; means for receiving a particular channel in a television viewing mode; means for displaying the program telecast on the particular channel in a full screen format; means for selecting a program guide mode; means for storing a channel designation for the particular channel; means for generating a last channel listing for the channel designation of the particular channel; and in the program guide mode, means for displaying real-time images of a currently broadcast program simultaneously with a program list including at least a portion of the stored program listings, and the last channel listing in a designated position of the screen. - View Dependent Claims (13)
-
-
14. A television system for navigating between a normal television viewing mode and an electronic program guide (EPG), the system comprising:
-
means for tuning to a channel having a channel designation; means for displaying a program telecast on the channel; means for selecting the EPG; means for storing the channel designation; means for creating a last channel listing for the channel designation; means for displaying the EPG simultaneously with the last channel listing; means for marking the displayed last channel listing; means for retrieving the channel designation from the storage means; and means for re-displaying the program telecast on the channel. - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
Specification