Internet information displaying apparatus

• US 6,367,080 B1
• Filed: 08/01/1997
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hase, Yuji, Kuchiki, Nobuo, Enomoto, Mitsunobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Faile, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, RUEBEN M
• Application Number:
  US08/905,218
• Time in Patent Office: 1,705 Days
• Field of Search: 348/564, 348/568, 348/565, 348/566, 348/567, 348/588, 725/111-113, 725/133-138
• US Class Current: 725/112
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42676 for modulating an analogue carrier signal to encode digital information or demodulating it to decode digital information, e.g. ADSL or cable modem
• 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 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• 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 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0122 the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

An Internet information displaying apparatus, comprising: a video intermediate frequency detector (11) for extracting a first picture signal from a video signal and outputting it; a gate array (36) for converting the digital data taken in from the Internet into a second picture signal, and for compressing the second picture signal in the horizontal direction of the screen of a CRT (17); a TV picture horizontal compression unit (18) for compressing the first picture signal in the horizontal direction of the screen of the CRT (17); the gate array (36) for compressing the second picture signal in the horizontal direction of the screen of the CRT (17); a picture right and left composing unit (19) for composing the picture signals compressed by the unit (18) and the gate array (36), respectively, in a row; and switching units (14, 23) for switching the picture signal to be displayed on the screen of the CRT (17) into any of the first picture signal, the second picture signal, and the picture signal composed by the picture right and left composing unit (19). Television program and the Internet screen are displayed simultaneously.

Claims

1. An internet information displaying apparatus, comprising:

picture signal outputting means for extracting a first picture signal from a video signal and outputting it;

data converting means for converting digital data including character information taken in from the Internet through a communication line into a second picture signal;

a displaying apparatus for displaying a picture signal on a screen;

first horizontal direction compressing means for compressing said first picture signal in said horizontal direction of the screen of said displaying apparatus;

second horizontal direction compressing means for compressing said second picture signed in the horizontal direction of the screen of said displaying apparatus;

picture composing means for composing the picture signals compressed by said first horizontal direction compressing means and said second horizontal direction compressing means, respectively, in a row;

switching means for switching the picture signal to be displayed on the screen of said displaying apparatus into any of said first picture signal, said second picture signal, and said picture signal composed by said picture signal composing means;

storing means for storing said digital data as the second picture signal taken in from the Internet corresponding to the picture signal of at least one frame;

second horizontal direction compressing means compressing said digital data as the second picture signal stored in said storing means in the horizontal direction of the screen of said displaying apparatus;

displaying means for displaying the picture signal from said picture composing means on the screen of said displaying apparatus;

judging means for judging whether the first picture signal extracted from said video signal is non-interlace or interlace; and

controlling means for controlling in a manner to output the digital data stored in said storing means to said second horizontal direction compressing means by adjusting with the field of said first picture signal when judged to be interlace by said judging means, and to output the digital data stored in said storing means to said second horizontal direction compressing means on each field when judged to be non-interlace by said judging means,

wherein said judging means judges by comparison as to whether the present field and the preceding field of the picture signals are the same fields of odd number or even number or the different fields, and

wherein said controlling means, when said judging means judges to be non-interlace, controls to output the digital data of the different field on the field of said second picture signal respectively to said second horizontal direction compressing means from the digital data stored in said storing means.

2. The Internet information displaying apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein

said first horizontal direction compressing means and said second horizontal direction compressing means both have line memories which store the picture signals in the unit of the scanning line,

in said first horizontal direction compressing means, said first picture signal is written in by the write clock of the multiple frequency of the horizontal synchronizing signal extracted from said second picture signal, and the first picture signal is read out by the read clock of the double frequency of said write clock,

in said second horizontal direction compressing means, said second picture signal is written in by carrying out DMA (Direct Memory Access) with the timing based on the horizontal synchronizing signal and vertical synchronizing signal extracted from said second picture signal, and

in said storing means, said second picture signal is read out by carrying out DMA (Direct Memory Access) with the timing based on the horizontal synchronizing signal and vertical synchronizing signal extracted from said second picture signal.