Method and system of providing a non-skippable sub-advertisement stream

• US 7,877,766 B1
• Filed: 05/04/2000
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Xenogenic Development Limited Liability Company (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: EnReach Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Lu, Bin, Wu, Bo
• Primary Examiner(s): ATALA, JAMIE JO
• Application Number:
  US09/565,561
• Time in Patent Office: 3,918 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 386/46, 386/95, 386/70, 386/82, 386/126, 386/68, 386/125, 386/83, 386/96, 386/94, 386/1, 386/52, 386/124, 725/32, 725/36, 725/22, 725/25, 725/34, 725/87, 725/104, 345/156
• US Class Current: 725/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording

Abstract

A method and system of providing a non-skippable sub-advertisement stream. The general idea of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention is that when a user of an electronic digital recording/play back device causes it to fast forward through or skip over a recorded television advertisement, an overlay screen corresponding to the skipped advertisement is displayed on a portion of a television screen once the user resumes watching the recorded television show in normal play back mode. As such, the user is exposed to content of the skipped advertisement while viewing the recorded television show. In this manner, the user of the electronic digital recording/play back device is unable to easily avoid viewing content corresponding to the skipped advertisement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a media stream with an electronic digital recording/play back device, said media stream comprising television programming and an advertisement;

digitally recording said media stream with said electronic digital recording/play back device resulting in a digitally recorded media stream, wherein said digitally recording said media stream further comprises recording an incrementing time reference in conjunction with said media stream;

after said digitally recording said media stream, beginning play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream with said electronic digital recording/play back device;

during said play back mode, outputting said digitally recorded media stream to a display device with said electronic digital recording/play back device;

during said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream, detecting when said advertisement of said digitally recorded media stream is fast forwarded through by said electronic digital recording/play back device, wherein said detecting further comprises utilizing a time table;

after said detecting, determining if said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time;

after said detecting, determining whether said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode; and

provided said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time and provided said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode, outputting a sub-advertisement stream as an overlay screen on said display device with said electronic digital recording/play back device so that said sub-advertisement stream and said digitally recorded media stream are displayed simultaneously on said display device, said sub-advertisement stream is independent from said digitally recorded media stream, said sub-advertisement stream cannot be turned off.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said outputting said sub-advertisement stream has a duration based on the length of said advertisement that was fast forwarded through.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said sub-advertisement stream is a size compressed version of said advertisement that was fast forwarded through.

4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein said time table comprises a time interval of said advertisement.

5. The method as described in claim 4 wherein said sub-advertisement stream is displayed in a side portion, a bottom portion, or a top portion of a screen of said display device.

6. The method as described in claim 4 wherein said sub-advertisement stream is displayed within a picture-in-picture overlay screen.

7. The method as described in claim 2 wherein said sub-advertisement stream corresponds to said advertisement.

8. A system comprising:

a processor;

an addressable data bus coupled to said processor;

a computer readable memory coupled to communicate with said processor for performing a method comprising;

receiving a media stream with said system, said media stream comprising television programming and an advertisement;

digitally recording said media stream with said system resulting in a digitally recorded media stream, wherein said digitally recording said media stream further comprises recording an incrementing time reference in conjunction with said media stream;

after said digitally recording said media stream, beginning play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream with said system;

during said play back mode, outputting said digitally recorded media stream to a display device with said system;

during said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream, detecting when said advertisement of said digitally recorded media stream is fast forwarded through by said system, wherein said detecting further comprises utilizing a time table;

after said detecting, determining if said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time;

after said detecting, determining whether said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode; and

provided said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time and provided said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode, stopping said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream and outputting a full screen sub-advertisement stream to said display device with said system, said full screen sub-advertisement stream is separate from said digitally recorded media stream, said full screen sub-advertisement stream cannot be turned off.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said method further comprising:

after said outputting of said full screen sub-advertisement stream is complete, continuing said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream by said system.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said full screen sub-advertisement stream is stored by said system.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said full screen sub-advertisement stream is updated by a remote source.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein said outputting said full screen sub-advertisement stream has a duration based on the length of said advertisement that was fast forwarded through.

13. A computer readable memory unit having computer readable code embodied therein for causing an electronic digital recording/play back device to perform a method comprising:

receiving a media stream with said electronic digital recording/play back device, said media stream comprising television programming and an advertisement;

digitally recording said media stream with said electronic digital recording/play back device resulting in a digitally recorded media stream, wherein said digitally recording said media stream further comprises recording an incrementing time reference in conjunction with said media stream;

after said digitally recording said media stream, beginning play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream with said electronic digital recording/play back device;

during said play back mode, outputting said digitally recorded media stream to a display device with said electronic digital recording/play back device;

during said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream, detecting when said advertisement of said digitally recorded media stream is fast-forwarded through by said electronic digital recording/play back device, wherein said detecting further comprises utilizing a time table;

after said detecting, determining if said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time;

after said detecting, determining if said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode; and

provided said play back mode of said digitally recorded media stream was for a predefined amount of time and provided said digitally recorded media stream resumes said play back mode, outputting an overlay sub-advertisement stream to said display device with said electronic digital recording/play back device so that said overlay sub-advertisement stream and said digitally recorded media stream are displayed simultaneously on said display device, said overlay sub-advertisement stream is separate from said digitally recorded media stream, said overlay sub-advertisement stream cannot be turned off.

14. The computer readable memory unit of claim 13 wherein said outputting said overlay sub-advertisement stream has a duration based on the length of said advertisement that was fast forwarded through.

15. The computer readable memory unit of claim 14 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream is updated by a remote source.

16. The computer readable memory unit of claim 14 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream is displayed within a picture-in-picture overlay screen.

17. The computer readable memory unit of claim 14 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream does not correspond to said advertisement.

18. The computer readable memory unit of claim 15 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream comprises a size compressed version of said advertisement that was fast forwarded through.

19. The computer readable memory unit of claim 15 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream corresponds to said advertisement.

20. The computer readable memory unit of claim 15 wherein said overlay sub-advertisement stream comprises a full screen display.