Method and system for simultaneously displaying a television program and information about the program
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising in the order recited the steps of:
- storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification;
displaying in a first area of the screen some of the program listings including a current program listing;
marking the current program listing in the first area of the screen;
retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing;
using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing;
displaying in a second area of the screen the telecast program received by the tuner;
displaying a future program listing among the program listings in the first area of the screen; and
marking the future program listing in the first area of the screen in place of the current program listing without changing the program displayed in the second area.
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Abstract
A television viewer uses a PIP format for display of program related information such as television program listings from a program schedule data base in the background and moving, real time or stored video clip images of a program selected from the displayed listings in the PIP window. All the text of the background information lies outside the PIP window. In one embodiment, as the viewer selects a particular program from the display of current television program listings by means of a cursor or a code number, the corresponding program automatically appears in the PIP window.
1036 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising in the order recited the steps of:
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storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification;
displaying in a first area of the screen some of the program listings including a current program listing;
marking the current program listing in the first area of the screen;
retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing;
using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing;
displaying in a second area of the screen the telecast program received by the tuner;
displaying a future program listing among the program listings in the first area of the screen; and
marking the future program listing in the first area of the screen in place of the current program listing without changing the program displayed in the second area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 21)
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8. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs;
setting the tuner to receive the program telecast on a particular channel;
displaying the received program full screen;
switching from the full screen display to a program guide mode;
in the program guide mode simultaneously displaying in a first area of the screen the program telecast on the particular channel, displaying in a second area of the screen some of the program listings stored in the memory including the current program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area, marking the program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area with a cursor, and displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program displayed in the first area;
moving the cursor to mark a future program listing displayed in the second area; and
switching the display in the third area to a description of the program corresponding to the marked future program listing responsive to the cursor movement without changing the program displayed in the first area. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing; and
using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing; and
substituting on the screen for the program telecast on the particular channel the telecast program represented by the marked program listing.
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10. The method of claim 9, in which the storing step also stores future program listings, the method additionally comprising the step of replacing the current program listings in the second area of the screen with some of the future program listings stored in the memory without changing the program displayed in the first area.
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11. The method of claim 8, in which the storing step stores future program listings, the step of displaying in the second area displays future program listings, the step of marking a program listing marks a future program listing, and the step of displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program represented by the marked program listing displays the description without changing the program displayed in the first area.
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12. An entertainment system comprising:
- a television display having a screen;
a television tuner for recovering currently telecast video programs;a source of a schedule of program listings including listings for currently telecast video programs, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing;
means for displaying some of the program listings for currently telecast video programs from the source in a first area of the screen;
an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings for a currently telecast video program;
means responsive to the input device for controlling the tuner to display in a second smaller and nonoverlapping area of the screen simultaneously with the program listings the currently telecast video program corresponding to the marked program listing, such that the entire image of the video program is visible in real time;
means for displaying in a third area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and
means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
- a television display having a screen;
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13. A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing in a memory a plurality of current television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification;
setting the tuner to receive a current program telecast on a particular channel;
displaying in a first area of the screen at least some of the current program listings stored in the memory;
simultaneously displaying in a second area of the screen in real time a current television program;
successively marking on the screen current program listings displayed in the first area;
successively retrieving from the memory channel identifications of the marked program listings;
using the retrieved channel identifications to set the tuner successively to receive the current telecast programs represented by the marked program listings and successively to display such programs in the second area of the screen as program listings are marked in the first area; and
responsive to a user command, maintaining the current telecast program displayed in the second area as program listings are successively marked in the first area. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An entertainment system comprising:
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a television display having a screen;
a source of a schedule of television program listings, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing;
means for displaying some of the program listings for from the source in a first area of the screen;
an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings;
means for displaying in a second area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and
means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
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Specification