Method for synchronizing HDTV format change with on screen display

• US 6,384,870 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2000
• Issued: 05/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kempisty, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIA, SHERRIE Y
• Application Number:
  US09/541,017
• Time in Patent Office: 767 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.5445, H04/N.550, H04/N.546, 348/569, 348/558, 348/553, 348/563, 348/564
• US Class Current: 348/569
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• 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 5/46 for receiving on more than one standard at will deflecting circuits of multi-standard receivers H04N3/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0122 the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios

Abstract

A decoder of a digital television signal includes apparatus for synchronizing changes in the format of the digital television signal to corresponding changes in the format of an on-screen display. The apparatus includes a video decoder that receives the digital television signal, determines the format of the digital television signal and whether this format represents a format change. When the decoder identifies a format change, it generates an output signal indicating the format change and assigns a unique identifier to the format change. This output signal is sent to an on-screen display processor and to a user interface processor. The user interface processor is coupled to the video decoder and to the on-screen display processor to receive the output signal and to generate commands for the on-screen display processor. With one of these commands, the user interface sends the unique identifier received from the decoder to the on-screen display processor. The on-screen display processor is disabled by the decoder when a format change is identified. The on-screen display processor monitors the identifiers received from the decoder and from the user interface and enables the display of on-screen display messages only when the two identifiers are the same.

Claims

1. A method for synchronizing an on screen display processor with a format of a digital television signal, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a new format of the digital television signal;

disabling the on-screen display processor;

assigning an identifier to the format;

providing the identifier to a user interface processor and an on-screen display processor;

providing to the on-screen display processor a further identifier from the user interface processor based on the identifier sent to the user interface processor;

comparing the identifier and the further identifier; and

enabling the on-screen display processor based on the comparison.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the on-screen display processor is enabled if the identifier and the further identifier are equal.

3. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of displaying a blank image when the on-screen display processor is disabled.

4. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of displaying a message when the on-screen display processor is disabled.

5. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of displaying a predetermined image when the on-screen display processor is disabled.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a new format for the digital television signal recovers the new format from the digital television signal.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the new format for the digital television signal includes the step of receiving the new format from the user interface processor.

8. A method for synchronizing an on-screen display processor to a decoder and a user interface processor in a digital television receiver, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) determining, in the decoder, a current format of a digital television signal;

(b) comparing the current format with a previous format;

(c) disabling the on-screen display processor based on the comparison in step (b)

(d) providing a notification to a user interface processor and an on-screen display processor based on the comparison of step (b);

(e) assigning an identifier to the current format based on the comparison of step (b);

(f) providing the identifier to the user interface processor and the on-screen display processor;

(g) providing the identifier sent to the user interface processor, as a further identifier to the on-screen display processor;

(h) comparing the identifier and the further identifier; and

(i) selectively enabling the on-screen display processor based on the comparison of step (h).

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the on-screen display processor remains disabled if the identifier and the further identifier are not equal.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the on-screen display processor is enabled if the identifier and the further identifier are equal.

11. Apparatus for use with a digital television receiver comprising:

a video decoder which receives a digital television signal, determines a format change of the digital television signal, and provides an output signal including a unique identifier indicating the format change;

a user interface processor coupled to the video decoder and to an on-screen display processor to receive the output signal and propagate the output signal to the on-screen display processor as a further output signal; and

the on-screen display processor coupled to the video decoder and the user interface processor to receive the output signal and the further output signal, respectively,

wherein the on-screen display processor compares the unique identifiers of output signal and the further output signal and enables on-screen message displays based on the comparison.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the on-screen display processor enables the display of on-screen messages when the output signal and the further output signal are equal.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the user interface processor further comprises means for allowing a user to specify the format of the digital television signal and means for providing the specified format to the video decoder as the format change.

14. Apparatus for synchronizing a digital television signal and an on-screen display, the apparatus comprising:

a decoding processor coupled to receive the digital television signal, to determine whether the format of the digital television signal represents a format change, and to generate an output signal based on the format change;

a user interface processor, coupled to the decoding processor and to the on-screen display to receive the output signal and provide the output signal as a further output signal;

an on-screen display processor, coupled to the decoding processor and to the user interface processor to receive the output signal and the further output signal, wherein the on-screen display processor compares the output signal and the further output signal, and enables the on-screen display based on the comparison.