Display of television program information using dynamically-adjusted scroll rate

• US 6,721,953 B1
• Filed: 02/11/2000
• Issued: 04/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TiVo Solutions Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Day, Paul Reuben, Bates, Cary Lee, Santosuosso, John Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shang, Annan Q.
• Application Number:
  US09/502,394
• Time in Patent Office: 1,523 Days
• Field of Search: 725/52, 725/37, 345/745, 345/784, 345/786, 345/785, 345/765, 345/721, 345/720
• US Class Current: 725/39
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44222 Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity monitoring of user selections in data processing systems G06F11/34; arrangements for monitoring the user's behaviour or opinions in broadcast systems H04H60/33
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• 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 21/4667 Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

An apparatus, program product and method dynamically adjust the scroll rate used to scroll through the program information for various television programs available to a television viewer to provide a variable rate of scroll for program information presented to the television viewer. The scroll rate may be varied, for example, to emphasize certain program information relative to other program information, e.g., by slowing down the scroll rate to increase the visibility for important program information and speeding up the scroll rate to decrease the visibility of less important program information. Dynamic scroll rate adjustment may be utilized in a number of situations, including in connection with non-interactive electronic program listings, interactive electronic program guides, and electronic overlays, among others. Furthermore, dynamic scroll rate adjustment may be based upon a number of different characteristics of the television programs associated with the displayed program information, including for example, the frequency of access of different television programs, or sponsorship of certain television programs.

Claims

1. A method of displaying television program information, the method comprising:

(a) displaying program information for a first television program from a plurality of television programs on a display;

(b) scrolling the display to display program information for a second television program from the plurality of television programs; and

(c) dynamically adjusting a scroll rate at which the display is scrolled based upon a predetermined characteristic of the first television program.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying at least a first portion of a list of program information for at least a portion of the plurality of television programs, and wherein scrolling the display includes scrolling through the list of program information to display a second portion of the list.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the list includes program information for television programs on multiple channels and shown at multiple time slots, with the program information therefor arranged into a two-dimensional array.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein scrolling the display is performed continuously.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein scrolling the display is performed responsive to user input.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein scrolling the display includes moving a user-manipulated cursor from the displayed program information for the first television program to that of the second television program, and wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate at which the display is scrolled includes controlling a delay before moving the user-manipulated cursor from the displayed program information for the first television program to that of the second television program.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the program information for the first television program includes displaying only the program information for the first television program in an overlay, wherein scrolling the display includes updating the overlay to display only the program information associated with the second television program, and wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate at which the display is scrolled includes controlling a delay before updating the overlay to display the program information associated with the second television program.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of television programs is associated with a stored scroll rate, and wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate at which the display is scrolled includes setting the scroll rate based upon the stored scroll rate for the first television program.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate is based upon sponsorship information associated with the first television program.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring viewing habits of a user, wherein dynamically adjusting a scroll rate at which the display is scrolled is based upon the monitored viewing habits.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein monitoring the viewing habits of the user includes accumulating the number of times television programs are viewed in excess of a predetermined threshold.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein monitoring the viewing habits of the user further includes generating a list of favorite television programs from the plurality of television programs based upon the viewing habits of the user, the method further comprising displaying the program information for at least a portion of the list of favorite television programs.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein monitoring the viewing habits of the user further includes sorting the list of favorite television programs based upon frequency of access.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein monitoring the viewing habits of the user further includes sorting the list of favorite television programs by timeslot, wherein sorting the list of favorite television programs based upon frequency of access includes sorting favorite television programs viewed in the same timeslot based upon frequency of access.

15. A method of displaying television program information, the method comprising:

(a) monitoring user viewing habits;

(b) scrolling through displayed program information associated with a plurality of television programs; and

(c) dynamically adjusting a scroll rate used when scrolling through the displayed program information associated with the plurality of television programs based upon the user viewing habits.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein scrolling through the displayed program information associated with the plurality of television programs includes continuously scrolling through a list of program information.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein scrolling through the displayed program information associated with the plurality of television programs is performed in response to user input, the method further comprising selecting a selected television program among the plurality of television programs in response to user input directed to the displayed program information.

18. A method of displaying television program information, the method comprising:

(a) continuously scrolling through a list of program information for a plurality of television programs;

(b) dynamically adjusting a scroll rate used when continuously scrolling through the list of program information; and

(c) monitoring user viewing habits to determine that a first television program has a higher frequency of access than a second television program, and wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate is performed in response to the user viewing habits such that the scroll rate is slower when scrolling through the program information associated with the first television program relative to the scroll rate when scrolling through the program information associated with the second television program.

19. A method of displaying television program information, the method comprising:

(a) continuously scrolling through a list of program information for a plurality of television programs;

(b) dynamically adjusting a scroll rate used when continuously scrolling through the list of program information; and

(c) receiving sponsorship information indicating that a first television program is a sponsored program and that a second television program is not a sponsored program, and wherein dynamically adjusting the scroll rate is performed in response to the sponsorship information such that the scroll rate is slower when scrolling through the program information associated with the first television program relative to the scroll rate when scrolling through the program information associated with the second television program.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

(a) a memory; and

(b) a program resident in the memory, the program configured to display program information for a first television program from a plurality of television programs on a display, scroll the display to display program information for a second television program from the plurality of television programs, and dynamically adjust a scroll rate at which the display is scrolled based upon a predetermined characteristic of the first television program.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the program is further configured to display at least a first portion of a list of program information for at least a portion of the plurality of television programs, and to scroll the display by scrolling through the list of program information to display a second portion of the list.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of television programs is associated with a stored scroll rate, and wherein the program is configured to dynamically adjust the scroll rate at which the display is scrolled by setting the scroll rate based upon the stored scroll rate for the first television program.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the program is configure to dynamically adjust the scroll rate based upon sponsorship information associated with the first television program.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the program is further configured to monitor viewing habits of a user, and to dynamically adjust the scroll rate at which the display is scrolled based upon the monitored viewing habits.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the program is configured to monitor the viewing habits of the user by generating a list of favorite television programs from the plurality of television programs based upon the viewing habits of the user.

26. A program product, comprising:

(a) a program configured to display program information for a first television program from a plurality of television programs on a display, scroll the display to display program information for a second television program from the plurality of television programs, and dynamically adjust a scroll rate at which the display is scrolled based upon a predetermined characteristic of the first television program; and

(b) a signal bearing medium bearing the program.

27. The program product of claim 26, wherein the signal bearing medium includes at least one of a transmission medium and a recordable medium.