Television signal processing device for automatically selecting and indicating the beginning of television program of interest to the user

• US 6,473,128 B1
• Filed: 05/21/1999
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Berger, Gerald
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US09/316,781
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: H04/M 1.100, H04/M.700, 348/465, 348/563, 348/564, 348/569, 348/570, 348/906, 348/861, 348/461, 348/468, 348/553, 725/53, 725/39.61, 345/721
• US Class Current: 348/461
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals

Abstract

A television signal processing device (12) has a receiver for receiving a television signal (F) and an information signal (I) which contains television program information (FPI), for example, title information about future television programs. The television signal processing device (12) can automatically display a display signal (A) which is reproducible on a display screen (3) and which indicates the title of a currently or shortly starting television program and the receiving channel (E) or the television station from which this television program is or will be receivable, when the receiver (4) of the television signal processing device (12) currently receives the television signal (F) from another television station in another receiving channel (E) and when the title of this television program contains at least one given keyword.

Claims

1. A television signal processing device comprising:

receiving means for receiving at least one television signal in at least one receiving channel receivable by the receiving means, and for receiving at least one information signal;

television program information determining means for determining and storing television program information contained in one or more information signals and relating to television programs of at least one receivable receiving channel;

display signal generating means for automatically generating a display signal containing detected television program information of a television program whose television signal is currently received by the receiving means; and

selection means for selecting at least one television program having title information, contained in the detected television program information, containing at least one given keyword and being currently receivable or will be shortly receivable by the receiving means as a television signal in another than the currently received receiving channel, wherein said display signal generating means automatically generates a display signal containing television program information of the at least one selected television program, characterized in that said television signal processing device further comprises;

keyword detection means for detecting at least one item of title fragment information of title information of a television program received by the receiving means as a keyword, said keyword detection means providing at least one detected keyword to said selection means for use as said given keyword.

2. The television signal processing device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said television signal processing device further comprises:

a keyword memory for storing at least one keyword detected by the keyword detection means.

3. The television signal processing device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the keyword memory further stores a recurrence count for each keyword, said recurrence count being incremented upon each further detection of this keyword by the keyword detection means, and in that the selection means applies only those keywords whose recurrence counts have values which exceed a selection threshold value depending on at least one other value of a recurrence count stored in the keyword memory.

4. The television signal processing device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that said keyword detection means periodically erases from the keyword memory keywords having recurrence count values below a minimum threshold value.

5. The television signal processing device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the keyword detection means detects only title fragment information having a minimum number of characters as keywords.

6. The television signal processing device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said television signal processing device further comprises:

an exclusion memory for storing at least title fragment information which is to be excluded as a keyword by the keyword detection means.

7. A television signal processing device comprising:

receiving means for receiving at least one television signal in at least one receiving channel receivable by the receiving means, and for receiving at least one information signal;

television program information determining means for determining and storing television program information contained in one or more information signals and relating to television programs of at least one receivable receiving channel;

display signal generating means for automatically generating a display signal containing detected television program information of a television program whose television signal is currently received by the receiving means; and

selection means for selecting at least one television program having title information, contained in the detected television program information, containing at least one given keyword and being currently receivable or will be shortly receivable by the receiving means as a television signal in another than the currently received receiving channel,

wherein said display signal generating means automatically generates a display signal containing television program information of the at least one selected television program, characterized in that the receiving means receives an information signal in blanking intervals of a received television signal, said information signal containing teletext information displayable on display means, and in that at least title fragment information of the teletext information can be marked manually and can thus be defined as a keyword.

8. A recording arrangement comprising:

recording means for recording a processed received television signal of a television program;

a television signal processing device comprising;

receiving means for receiving at least one television signal in at least one receiving channel receivable by the receiving means, and for receiving at least one information signal;

television program information determining means for determining and storing television program information contained in one or more information signals and relating to television programs of at least one receivable receiving channel;

display signal generating means for automatically generating a display signal containing detected television program information of a television program whose television signal is currently received by the receiving means; and

selection means for selecting at least one television program having title information, contained in the detected television program information, containing at least one given keyword and being currently receivable or will be shortly receivable by the receiving means as a television signal in another than the currently received receiving channel,

wherein said display signal generating means automatically generates a display signal containing television program information of the at least one selected television program; and

keyword detection means for detecting at least one item of title fragment information of title information of a television program received as a processed received television signal recorded by the recording arrangement as at least one keyword, said keyword detection means applying at least one detected keyword to said selection means for use as said given keyword.

9. The recording arrangement as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that said display signal generating means is activatable manually to generate a display signal representing television program information of selected television programs, and in that the display signal is applicable to display means for displaying a list of recording suggestions containing television program information of at least one selected television program, and in that television program information of one of the selected and displayed television programs can be marked manually by recording programming means and the recording arrangement is thereby programmable to record the television program thus marked.