Digital video recording device ticker playback system and method

• US 7,697,820 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2005
• Issued: 04/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dolph, Blaine H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thai
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHIO, TAT CHI
• Application Number:
  US11/249,941
• Publication Number:
  US 20070086728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,643 Days
• Field of Search: 386/98, 386/95, 386/108, 386/48, 386/92
• US Class Current: 386/262
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs

Abstract

A system and method of controlling the playback of the event stream information of a particular television channel by a digital video recorder (DVR). The DVR is a computer system configured with a hard drive and video decoder/encoder devices. The hardware environment of DVR (100) includes an input interface (102), tuner (105), MPEG-2 encoder (120), MPEG-2 decoder (110), external mass storage device (125), and a central processing unit (CPU) (135), internal memory (127), operating system (140), and event stream generator (250). The system and method of controlling the playback function of the present invention is primarily implemented within event stream generator (250). Event stream generator (250) generates a new video stream for playback onto the television by incorporating the broadcasted event stream information into the selected recorded video stream.

Claims

1. In a digital video recording system configured with a processor and at least one mass storage device, a method of incorporating a current event data stream from a television broadcasted video signal onto a pre-recorded video stream for playback on the television, the method comprising:

generating a user recording profile of a user, said user recording profile identifying a television program;

receiving, on a television channel, a first digital video stream comprising the television program identified in the user recording profile;

recording onto the at least one mass storage device the received first digital video stream, based upon playback requirements of the user for the first digital video stream;

said processor detecting an attempt to playback the recorded first digital video stream;

responsive to said detecting, said processor retrieving the recorded first digital video stream;

said processor determining that the retrieved first digital video stream contains a first event data stream and that the first event data stream includes a first event;

responsive to said determining that the first event data stream includes the first event, said processor ascertaining whether a current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel;

if said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel, then

replacing the first event data stream with the current event data stream in the retrieved first digital video stream to generate a composite video stream containing the television program and the current event data stream,

generating a first analog signal for playback of the television program and the current event data stream on a television set by feeding the composite video stream into an encoder which generates the first analog signal from the composite video stream, and

after said generating the first analog signal, playing back on a screen of the television set the television program concurrently with the current event data stream, said television program and said current event data stream being concurrently visible on the screen during said playing back;

if said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is not located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel, then

retaining the retrieved first digital video stream without replacing the first event data stream in the retrieved first digital video stream;

generating a second analog signal for playback of the television program on the television set by feeding the retained first digital video stream into the encoder which generates the second analog signal from the retained first digital video stream, and

after said generating the second analog signal, playing back on the screen of the television set the television program in the retained first digital video stream.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is not located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a screen of the television set consists of a first portion and a second portion, wherein said playing back comprises playing back the television program on the first portion of the screen and concurrently playing back the current event data stream on the second portion of the screen, and wherein the first portion and the second portion are mutually exclusive.

5. A digital video recording system, said system comprising a processor, a mass storage device coupled to the processor, and a computer readable memory unit coupled to the processor, said memory unit containing instructions configured to be executed by the processor to implement a method for incorporating a current event data stream from a television broadcasted video signal onto a pre-recorded video stream for playback on the television, the method comprising:

generating a user recording profile of a user, said user recording profile identifying a television program;

receiving, on a television channel, a first digital video stream comprising the television program identified in the user recording profile;

recording onto the at least one mass storage device the received first digital video stream, based upon playback requirements of the user for the first digital video stream;

detecting an attempt to playback the recorded first digital video stream;

responsive to said detecting, retrieving the recorded first digital video stream;

determining that the retrieved first digital video stream contains a first event data stream and that the first event data stream includes a first event;

responsive to said determining that the first event data stream includes the first event, ascertaining whether a current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel;

if said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel, then

replacing the first event data stream with the current event data stream in the retrieved first digital video stream to generate a composite video stream containing the television program and the current event data stream,

generating a first analog signal for playback of the television program and the current event data stream on a television set by feeding the composite video stream into an encoder which generates the first analog signal from the composite video stream, and

after said generating the first analog signal, playing back on a screen of the television set the television program concurrently with the current event data stream, said television program and said current event data stream being concurrently visible on the screen during said playing back;

if said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is not located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel, then

retaining the retrieved first digital video stream without replacing the first event data stream in the retrieved first digital video stream;

generating a second analog signal for playback of the television program on the television set by feeding the retained first digital video stream into the encoder which generates the second analog signal from the retained first digital video stream, and

after said generating the second analog signal, playing back on the screen of the television set the television program in the retained first digital video stream.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is not located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein said ascertaining ascertains that said current event is located in the current event data stream in the television broadcasted video signal being received on the television channel.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein a screen of the television set consists of a first portion and a second portion, wherein said playing back comprises playing back the television program on the first portion of the screen and concurrently playing back the current event data stream on the second portion of the screen, and wherein the first portion and the second portion are mutually exclusive.