Television channel selection method and apparatus

• US 6,727,960 B2
• Filed: 07/15/1998
• Issued: 04/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Seo, Young-joo
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): YENKE, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US09/115,916
• Publication Number:
  US 20020167609A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,113 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.550, H04/N.5445, 348/385.1, 348/563, 348/564, 348/569, 348/570, 348/609, 348/731, 348/732, 348/555, 348/556, 348/558, 725/40
• US Class Current: 348/731
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• 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 21/4345 Extraction or processing of SI, e.g. extracting service information from an MPEG stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4347 Demultiplexing of several video streams
• 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 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• 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 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control

Abstract

A channel selection method for simultaneously displaying video data of a plurality of virtual channels of one channel in the form of still images, in SD format broadcasting according to an ATV standard, and displaying video data of one of the virtual channels which corresponds to a cursor position in the form of a moving image, allowing easy selection of a desired channel from the displayed screen. A channel selection apparatus includes elements of a typical ATV system, i.e., an antenna, a tuner, an IF module, a channel decoder and a TS decoder. Also, the apparatus includes a memory to store video data separated from the broadcasting signals of four virtual channels received by the TS decoder, a video decoder to decode the stored video data and restore the decoded video data, a format converter to convert the format of the restored video data of each of the virtual channels to a screen size divided into four equal portions, a display for simultaneously display the video data of each of the format-converted channel broadcastings on one screen, and a host processor for controlling the operation of the elements to simultaneously display the broadcasting signals of the four virtual channels and full-screen display the channel selected using an input unit from the simultaneously displayed broadcasting signals of the four subscreens.

Claims

1. A channel selection method in virtual channel broadcasting defined by a standard definition (SD) format of an advanced television (ATV) system, comprising the steps of:

a) determining whether a received broadcasting signal of a predetermined channel is an SD format broadcasting, and if so, simultaneously displaying a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in a received channel broadcasting signal on one screen;

b) selecting a desired one from the plurality of displayed virtual channel broadcasting signals; and

c) displaying the broadcasting signal of the selected virtual channel on a full portion of the screen.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step a) comprises the substeps of:

a1) storing video data separated from the plurality of received virtual channel broadcasting signals in a memory;

a2) format-converting the stored video data to a size of the screen divided into equal portions; and

a3) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the equal portions into which the screen is divided.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said step a3) comprises the substeps of:

a31) displaying the format-converted video data in a form of still images; and

a32) displaying an image of the format-converted video data of one of the equal portions where a cursor is located in a form of a moving image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said step a) comprises the substeps of:

a1) separating video data of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel;

a2) format-converting the separated video data to a size of the screen divided in a plurality of portions corresponding to the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals; and

a3) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the plurality of portions into which the screen is divided.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said step a3) comprises the substeps of:

a31) displaying the format-converted video data in a form of still images; and

a32) displaying an image of the format-converted video data of one of the plurality of portions where a cursor is located in a form of a moving image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said step a) comprises the substeps of:

a1) determining whether the broadcasting of the received channel is an SD format broadcasting;

a2) separating video data of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel, if the broadcasting of the received channel is the SD format broadcasting;

a3) format-converting the separated video data to a size of the screen divided in a plurality of portions corresponding to the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals, if the broadcasting of the received channel is the SD format broadcasting;

a4) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the plurality of portions into which the screen is divided, if the broadcasting of the received channel is the SD format broadcasting;

a5) separating video data from the received channel, if the broadcasting of the received channel is not the SD format broadcasting; and

a6) displaying the video data separated in said step a5) on the full size of the screen, if the broadcasting of the received channel is not the SD format broadcasting.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said step a) comprises the substeps of:

a1) separating video data of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel;

a2) storing the separated video data;

a3) restoring the stored video data of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel in a form of a still image per frame unit;

a4) format-converting the restored video data to a size of the screen divided in a plurality of portions corresponding to the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals; and

a5) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the plurality of portions into which the screen is divided.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step a) comprises the substeps of:

a1) separating video of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel in a form of a still image per unit frame;

a3) storing the restored video data;

a4) format-converting the stored video data to a size of the screen divided in a plurality of portions corresponding to the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals; and

a5) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the plurality of portions into which the screen is divided.

9. A channel selection method in virtual channel broadcasting defined by a standard definition (SD) format of an advanced television (ATV) system, comprising the steps of:

a) simultaneously displaying a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in a received channel broadcasting signal on one screen, if the broadcasting of the received channel is an SD format broadcasting, wherein said step a) comprises the substeps of;

a1) separating video data of the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals from the received channel,

a2) format-converting the separated video data to a size of the screen divided in a plurality of portions corresponding to the plurality of received virtual broadcasting signals, and

a3) simultaneously displaying the format-converted video data on the plurality of portions into which the screen is divided, wherein said step a3) comprises the substeps of;

a31) displaying the format-converted video data in a form of still images; and

a32) determining whether a cursor is located in one of the plurality of portions for a predetermined amount of time; and

a33) displaying an image of the format-converted video data of the one portion where the cursor is located in a form of a moving image, if the cursor is located in the one portion for the predetermined amount of time;

b) selecting a desired one from the plurality of displayed virtual channel broadcasting signals; and

c) displaying the broadcasting signal of the selected virtual channel on a full portion of the screen.

10. A channel selection apparatus in virtual channel broadcasting defined by a standard definition (SD) format of an advanced television (ATV) system, comprising:

tuner to select reception of a channel broadcasting signal;

a transfer stream (TS) decoder which separates video data of a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals of respective virtual channels contained in the received channel broadcasting signal and outputs the separated video data, if the received channel broadcasting signal is determined to be an SD format broadcasting;

a memory which stores the video data separated by the TS decoder;

a video decoder which restores the separated video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels stored in the memory;

a format converter which converts a format of the video data restored by the video decoder into a size of a screen divided into a predetermined number of portions;

a display which simultaneously displays the format-converted video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels on the screen;

an input unit which enables selection of a desired one of the displayed virtual channel broadcasting signals of the virtual channels; and

a host processor which controls operation of the TS decoder, memory, video decoder, format converter and display according to the selection of the displayed virtual channel broadcasting signal broadcasting signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the input unit moves a cursor on the screen to enables the selection of the desired one virtual channel broadcasting signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the video decoder reads the video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of the virtual channels stored in the memory, to restore the read video data in a form of still images, and restore video data of the desired one virtual channel broadcasting signal selected by the input unit in a form of a moving image, under control of the host processor.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the video decoder restores the video data corresponding to a position of the curser on the screen under control of the host processor in the form of the moving image.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the predetermined number of portions are of equal size to each other.

15. A channel selection apparatus in virtual channel broadcasting defined by a standard definition (SD) format of an advanced (ATV) system, comprising:

a tuner to select reception of a channel broadcasting signal;

a transfer stream (TS) decoder which separates video data of a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals of respective virtual channels contained in the received channel broadcasting signal and outputs the separated video data, if the received channel broadcasting signal is determined to be an SD format broadcasting;

a video decoder which restores the separated video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels output from the TS decoder;

a memory which stores the restored video data;

a format converter which converts a format of the video data restored by the video decoder into a size of a screen divided into a predetermined number of portions;

a display which simultaneously displays the format-converted video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of each of the virtual channels on the screen; and

input unit which enables the selection of a desired one of the displayed virtual channel broadcasting signals of the virtual channels; and

a

host processor which controls operation of the TS decoder, memory, video decoder, format converter and display according to the selection of the displayed virtual channel broadcasting signal broadcasting signal.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the input unit enables the selection of the desired one virtual channel broadcasting signal by moving a cursor on the screen.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the video decoder reads the video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals of the virtual channels stored in the memory, to restore the read video data in a form of still images, and the video data of the desired one virtual channel broadcasting signal selected by the input unit in a form of a moving image, under control of the host processor.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the video decoder restores the video data corresponding to a position of the cursor on the screen under control of the host processor in the form of the moving image.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of the predetermined number of portions are of equal size to each other.

20. A channel selection apparatus to receive and display broadcasting channels on a display screen, comprising:

a tuner to select one of the broadcasting channels; and

a processing circuit to separate and simultaneously display a plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals contained in the selected broadcasting channel on the display screen, enable selection of one of the plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals, determine whether a received broadcasting signal of a predetermined channel is a standard definition (SD) format broadcasting, and subsequently displaying the selected one virtual channel broadcasting signal on a full size of the display screen, if the selected broadcasting channel is a standard definition (SD) format.

21. The channel selection apparatus of claim 20, wherein said processing circuit determines whether the selected broadcasting channel is of the SD format, and displays the selected broadcasting channel on the full size of the display screen if the selected broadcasting channel is not of the SD format.

22. The channel selection apparatus of claim 20, wherein said processing circuit comprises:

a transfer stream (TS) decoder to separate video data of the plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals;

a video decoder to restore the separated video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals;

a format converter to convert a format of the restored video data into the full size of the display screen divided into a plurality of portions;

an input unit to enable selection of the one virtual channel broadcasting signal by a user; and

a processor to control operation of said TS decoder, video decoder and format converter based upon the selection by the user through said input unit.

23. The channel selection apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein said processor controls said video decoder to restore the separated video data of the virtual channel broadcasting signals in a form a still image per unit frame to simultaneously display the plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals on the display screen, determines an indicator of one of the plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals simultaneously displayed, controls said video decoder to restore the video of the indicated one virtual channel broadcasting signal in a form of a moving image to display the indicated one virtual channel broadcasting signal as the moving image in the corresponding portion of the display screen which simultaneously displays the plurality of virtual channel broadcasting signals, and controls said format convert to convert a format of the selected one virtual channel broadcasting signal selected by the user to display the selected one virtual channel broadcasting signal on the full size of the display screen.

24. The channel selection apparatus as claimed in claim 23, wherein the indicator is a cursor positioned in one of the plurality of portions of the screen for a predetermined amount of time.