System and method for capturing video clips for focused navigation within a user interface

• US 7,757,253 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2002
• Issued: 07/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ARRIS Enterprises LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ARRIS Group, Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rappaport, Caryl, Tankersley, Robert H., Billmaier, James A., Rogan, Philip, Reid, Dewey, Kellum, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Saltarelli; Dominic D
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, CHENEA
• Application Number:
  US10/328,754
• Publication Number:
  US 20030221192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,759 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 725/41
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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 21/4438 Window management, e.g. event handling following interaction with the user interface
• 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

Abstract

A video clip is captured from a television broadcast on each of a plurality of channels. The captured video clips are provided to a display interface, which successively displays the captured video clips within a focus area of a user interface in response to an initiating action by a user. The display interface then discontinues the successive display of video clips to show a particular video clip corresponding to a selected channel in response to a terminating action by the user.

Claims

1. A method for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the method comprising:

using a processor to perform the steps of;

accessing a plurality of video clips, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective channel;

organizing the plurality of video clips into a sequence comprising a first video clip and a second video clip;

simultaneously displaying two or more of the plurality of video clips along an axis of the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and

scrolling the sequence of video clips along the axis through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command, wherein

responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area into a different position in the user interface along the axis and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing a plurality of video clips, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective channel.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising repeating the capturing of video clips for the plurality of channels after an established time interval, wherein the interval is one of an hour and a half-hour.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein capturing comprises capturing at least one video clip for a particular channel in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast on that channel.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein capturing comprises asynchronously capturing at least two video clips from different channels in response to tags being embedded within the respective broadcasts at different times.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein capturing comprises:

receiving a schedule for capturing a video clip for a particular channel; and

capturing the video clip for the channel at a time specified in the schedule.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the video clips are captured within a broadcast center, and wherein capturing comprises:

packaging the video clips within an update package; and

transmitting the update package to at least one entertainment system associated with the broadcast center.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein capturing comprises successively tuning to each of the plurality of channels using a plurality of tuners.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the video clips are captured within an entertainment system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the entertainment system comprises a primary tuner and a secondary tuner, and wherein capturing comprises successively tuning to each of the plurality of channels using the secondary tuner.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tuning to and displayed a channel corresponding to a video clip displayed in the focus area in response to a selection action by the user.

12. A method for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the method comprising:

receiving an update package at an entertainment system associated with a broadcast center from the broadcast center, wherein the update package comprises a plurality of video clips, each video clip representing a different channel;

organizing the video clips into a sequence;

simultaneously displaying two or more of the video clips in the sequence along an axis of a user interface, wherein one of the two or more video clips is displayed within a focus area of the user interface, and wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and

scrolling the video clips along the axis, wherein responsive to scrolling, a video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip displayed within the user interface is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the video clips are captured at the broadcast center on each of the plurality of channels, the method further comprising:

repeating the capturing of video clips for the plurality of channels after an established time interval.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

delaying the capture of a video clip for a particular channel until after a commercial break being broadcast on that channel.

15. A system for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the system comprising:

a set top box comprising;

a computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of video clips organized into a sequence, wherein each video clip in the sequence comprises motion video representing a different respective channel;

a display interface; and

a transmission component to provide the captured video clips to the display interface,

wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display two or more of the plurality of video clips along an axis of the user interface,

wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion Video, and to scroll the plurality of video clips along the axis through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a video capture device configured to capture locally at the set top box a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels, each captured video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective channel and to store the captured video clips on the computer-readable storage medium,

wherein the video capture device is to repeat the capture of video clips for the plurality of channels after an established time interval.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the interval comprises a half hour.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the interval comprises an hour.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the video capture device is to delay the capture of a video clip for a particular channel until after a commercial break being broadcast on that channel.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the video capture device is to capture at least one video clip for a particular channel in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast on that channel.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the video capture device is to asynchronously capture at least two video clips from different channels in response to tags being embedded within the respective broadcasts at different times.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the video capture device is to receive a schedule for capturing a video clip for a particular channel and wherein the video capture device is to capture the video clip for the channel at a time specified in the schedule.

23. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a plurality of tuners to successively tune to each of the plurality of channels during the capture of the video clips.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the user command comprises activating a first control on a remote control.

25. The system of claim 15, further comprising a tuner for tuning to a selected channel in response to a selection action by the user.

26. A system for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the system comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising a sequence of video clips, the sequence comprising a plurality of video clips, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different respective channel;

a display interface; and

a transmission component to provide the sequence of video clips to the display interface,

wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display three or more of the video clips along an axis of the user interface, wherein the three or more video clips are actively displaying motion video, and wherein one of the three or more video clips is displayed within a fixed focus area of the user interface, scroll the video clips along the axis in response to an action by the user, and

wherein responsive to scrolling, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface, a second video clip displayed at a first location within the user interface is scrolled along the axis of the user interface into the focus area, and a third video clip displayed in the user interface at a second location is scrolled along the axis into the first location, and a fourth video clip that was not displayed in the user interface before the scrolling is scrolled along the axis of the user interface into the second location, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a video capture device to capture a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels and to store the captured video clips in the computer-readable storage medium, wherein the captured video clips represent different respective channels, and wherein the video capture device is to repeat the capturing of a video clip for each of the plurality of channels at established time intervals.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the video capture device and transmission component are components of a broadcast center, and wherein the transmission component comprises a packaging component to package the video clips within an update package and to transmit the update package to at least one entertainment system associated with the broadcast center.

29. A system for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the system comprising:

a commercial break detection device to detect commercial breaks in at least one program being broadcast on a respective channel, wherein the commercial break detection device is configured to detect commercial breaks without intervention by a user of the system at a set top box of the system;

a processor to initiate the capturing of a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels, each captured video clip comprising motion video obtained from a different respective channel, wherein the processor is configured to initiate the capturing of each of the captured video clips so as to avoid capturing video from a commercial break;

a tuner to tune to each channel in response to a signal from the processor;

a video capture device to capture each video clip in response to the tuner tuning to the respective channel;

a memory to store the captured video clips;

a display interface to display the plurality of video clips along an axis of the user interface, the user interface comprising a non-moving focus area along the axis, wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display two or more of the plurality of video clips along the axis of the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video, and in response to a user command, to scroll the plurality of video clips along the axis and through the non-moving focus area,

wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the processor is to periodically initiate the capture of video clips at an established time interval.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the processor is to capture at least one video clip for a particular channel in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast on that channel.

32. An apparatus within a broadcast center coupled to a plurality of entertainment systems via a network, the apparatus comprising:

a scheduler to initiate the capturing of a video clip comprising motion video from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels, each captured video clip representing a different channel,

a video capturer to capture each video clip in response to a signal from the scheduler;

a clip cache within the broadcast center to store the captured video clips;

a packager to package the video clips in the clip cache into an update package;

a transmission component to transmit the update package from the broadcast center to the entertainment systems, wherein each entertainment system comprises a display interface,

wherein the display interface is to simultaneously display two or more of the video clips along an axis of a user interface, the user interface comprising non-movable focus area through which the video clips are scrolled, and wherein, in response to a user command to scroll the video clips through the focus area, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip displayed in the user interface is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the scheduler is to periodically initiate the capture of video clips at an established time interval.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the scheduler is to cause the video capturer to capture at least one video clip for a particular channel in response to a tag being embedded within the broadcast on that channel.

35. A system for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the system comprising:

a processor;

means operable on the processor for organizing a plurality of video clips into a sequence, each video clip comprising motion video representing a different channel;

means operable on the processor for concurrently displaying two or more of the plurality of video clips along an axis of the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and

means operable on the processor for scrolling the plurality of video clips along the axis through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command,

wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area along the axis of the user interface and into a different position within the user interface and a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

36. A system for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the system comprising:

a processor;

means operable on the processor for detecting commercial breaks in at least one program being broadcast on a respective channel, wherein the means for detecting is configured to detect commercial breaks without intervention by a user of the system at a set top box of the system;

means operable on the processor for capturing a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels, each captured video clip representing a different channel,

wherein each captured video clip lacks motion video from a commercial break;

means operable on the processor for organizing the captured video clips into a sequence;

means operable on the processor for displaying two or more of the video clips in the sequence along an axis of the user interface, one video clip being displayed within a focus area of the user interface, wherein the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video;

means operable on the processor for scrolling the video clips along the axis to progressively change the video clip within the focus area to a next video clip in the sequence in response to an initiating action by a user;

means operable on the processor for discontinuing the scrolling of video clips to show a particular video clip within the focus area corresponding to a selected channel in response to a terminating action by the user,

wherein, responsive to the scrolling, the video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area, a second video clip is scrolled into the focus area, and a third video clip that was not displayed within the user interface before the scrolling is scrolled into the user interface along the axis, and wherein after the terminating action, the second video clip and the third video clip are actively displaying motion video within the user interface, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

37. A computer-readable medium comprising program code for performing a method for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the method comprising:

organizing a plurality of video clips into a sequence, each video clip representing a different channel;

simultaneously displaying two or more of video clips along an axis of the user interface, wherein each of the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and

scrolling the sequence of video clips along the axis through a non-moving focus area of the user interface in response to a user command,

wherein responsive to the user command, a first video clip displayed in the focus area is scrolled out of the focus area into another location within the user interface, and a second video clip displayed in the user interface is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.

38. A computer-readable medium comprising program code for performing a method for enabling access to a plurality of channels within a user interface, the method comprising:

capturing a video clip from a broadcast on each of a plurality of channels, each captured video clip representing a different channel, wherein each captured video clip lacks motion video from a commercial break;

organizing the captured video clips into a sequence;

simultaneously displaying two or more of the video clips along an axis of the user interface, a first one of the two or more video clips being displayed within a focus area of the user interface and a second one of the two or more video clips being displayed at another location within the user interface, wherein each of the two or more video clips are actively displaying motion video; and

scrolling the sequence of video clips along the axis to progressively change the video clip within the focus area to a next video clip in the sequence in response to an action by a user,

wherein responsive to scrolling, the first video clip is scrolled out of the focus area and into another location within the user interface and the second video clip is scrolled into the focus area, wherein if the video clip is displayed in the focus area for a predetermined amount of time, the respective live television channel is automatically tuned and displayed.