Apparatus for viewing television with pause capability

• US 8,428,438 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2003
• Issued: 04/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wolfe, Andrew L., Brachocki, Edward J., Maine, Stephen G., Chevalier, Christopher W., Porter, Christopher L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chevalier, Robert
• Application Number:
  US10/396,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20040128692A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,683 Days
• Field of Search: 386/1, 386/33, 386/46, 386/111, 386/112, 386/326, 386/328, 386/329, 386/353, 386/354, 386/355, 386/356, 348/571, 348/714
• US Class Current: 386/326
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42646 for reading from or writing on a non-volatile solid state storage medium, e.g. DVD, CD-ROM
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42692 for reading from or writing on a volatile storage medium, e.g. Random Access Memory [RAM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4333 Processing operations in response to a pause request
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8063 using time division multiplex of the PCM audio and PCM video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal

Abstract

A television has an encoder, a random access memory buffer, and a decoder in addition to components of a conventional television receiver. The encoder encodes television signals to a digital format and the random access memory buffer stores the encoded television signal in response to activation of a pause function. The random access memory buffer outputs the stored digital television signal and the decoder decodes the digital television signal output from the random access memory buffer in response to deactivation of the pause function.

Claims

1. A television comprising:

a receiver configured for receiving a television signal;

a delay unit configured for encoding the received television signal in digital format and storing the encoded television signal in response to an activation command input by a user to activate a pause function, and decoding the stored television signal in response to a deactivation command input by the user to deactivate the pause function; and

a display unit configured for displaying the decoded television signal.

2. The television of claim 1, wherein the digital format is MPEG-2 format.

3. The television of claim 1, wherein the delay unit comprises a random access memory buffer for storing the encoded television signal.

4. The television of claim 1, wherein the receiver, the delay unit, and the display unit are integrated into a single housing.

5. A television comprising:

a tuner configured for receiving a multi-channel television signal and outputting a single channel television signal selected from the multi-channel television signal;

a demodulator coupled to the tuner, the demodulator configured for demodulating the single channel television signal;

a random access memory buffer coupled to the demodulator, the random access memory buffer configured for temporarily storing the demodulated television signal in response to an activation command input by a user to activate a pause function and for outputting the stored television signal in response to a deactivation command input by the user to deactivate the pause function;

a decoder coupled to the random access memory buffer, the decoder configured for decoding the stored television signal output from the random access memory buffer; and

a display coupled to the decoder, the display configured for displaying the decoded television signal.

6. The television of claim 5, further comprising a controller coupled to the random access memory buffer and the decoder, the controller causing the random access memory buffer to store the demodulated television signal in response to activation of the pause function.

7. The television of claim 6, wherein the controller causes the random access memory buffer to output the stored television signal and the decoder to decode the output television signal in response to the deactivation command.

8. The television of claim 6, wherein the controller provides a fast-forward function to the random access memory buffer and the decoder.

9. The television of claim 5, further comprising an encoder coupled to the demodulator and the random access memory buffer for encoding the demodulated television signal into a digital format in response to the activation command, the random access memory buffer storing the encoded television signal in digital format.

10. The television of claim 9, wherein the digital format is MPEG-2 format.

11. The television of claim 5, further comprising:

a commercial skip module coupled to the random access memory buffer and the decoder, the commercial skip module removing commercials from the television signal output from the random access memory buffer.

12. The television of claim 5, wherein the display is one selected from the group consisting of a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display, and a plasma display panel.

13. The television of claim 5, wherein the tuner, the demodulator, the random access memory buffer, the decoder, and the display are integrated into a single housing.

14. The television of claim 5, wherein the random access memory buffer is one selected from the group consisting of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) buffer, a static random access memory buffer (SRAM), and a flash memory buffer.

15. The television of claim 5, wherein the random access memory buffer stores the television signal playable for at least half an hour.

16. A digital video disk (DVD) player comprising:

a tuner configured for receiving a multi-channel television signal and outputting a single channel television signal selected from the multi-channel television signal;

a demodulator coupled to the tuner, the demodulator configured for demodulating the single channel television signal;

an encoder coupled to the demodulator, the encoder configured for encoding the single channel television signal in digital format to generate digital television data;

a random access memory buffer coupled to the encoder, the random access memory buffer configured for temporarily storing the digital television data in response to an activation command input by a user to activate a pause function and for outputting the stored digital television data in response to a deactivation command input by the user to deactivate the pause function;

a DVD driver configured for driving a digital video disk and receiving digital DVD data from the digital video disk; and

a decoder coupled to the random access memory buffer and the DVD driver, the decoder configured for decoding the digital television data and the digital DVD data.

17. The digital video disk player of claim 16, further comprising a controller coupled to the random access memory buffer, the controller causing the random access memory buffer to store the digital television data in response to activation of the pause function.

18. The digital video disk player of claim 17, wherein the controller causes the random access memory buffer to output the digital television data and the decoder to decode the digital television data in response to the deactivation command.

19. The digital video disk player of claim 17, wherein the controller provides a fast-forward function to the random access memory buffer and the decoder.

20. The digital video disk player of claim 16, further comprising:

a display coupled to the decoder for displaying the decoded television video data and the decoded DVD video data.

21. The digital video disk player of claim 20, wherein the display is one selected from the group consisting of a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display, and a plasma display panel.

22. The digital video disk player of claim 16, wherein the tuner, the demodulator, the random access memory buffer, the DVD driver, and the decoder are integrated into a single housing.

23. The digital video disk player of claim 16, wherein the digital format is MPEG-2 format.

24. The digital video disk player of claim 16, wherein the random access memory buffer is one selected from the group consisting of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) buffer, a static random access memory (SRAM) buffer, and a flash memory buffer.

25. The digital video disk player of claim 16, wherein the random access memory buffer stores digital television data playable for at least half an hour.

26. The digital video disk player of claim 16, further comprising:

a commercial skip module coupled to the random access memory buffer and the decoder, the commercial skip module removing commercials from the television data output from the random access memory buffer.

27. The digital video disk player of claim 16, wherein a video cassette recorder is combined with the digital video disk player.

28. A video cassette recorder comprising:

a video head configured for reading video data recorded on a video tape;

a tuner configured for receiving a television signal; and

a delay unit coupled to the tuner, the delay unit configured for encoding the television signal in digital format and storing the digitally encoded television signal in response to an activation command input by a user to activate a pause function, and for decoding the digitally encoded television signal and outputting the decoded television signal in response to a deactivation command input by the user to deactivate the pause function, the video cassette recorder outputting either the video data read from the video head or the decoded television signal.

29. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, further comprising a selection unit that selects as an output of the video cassette recorder either the video data read by the video head or the television signal output from the delay unit.

30. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, further comprising a controller coupled to the delay unit, the controller causing the delay unit to store the television signal in digital format in response to the activation command.

31. The video cassette recorder of claim 30, wherein the controller causes the delay unit to output the stored television signal in response to the deactivation command.

32. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, wherein the digital format is MPEG-2 format.

33. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, wherein the delay unit comprises one selected from the group consisting of a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) buffer, a static random access memory (SRAM) buffer, and a flash memory buffer.

34. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, wherein the delay unit stores the television signal in digital format playable for at least half an hour.

35. The video cassette recorder of claim 28, wherein a digital video disk player is combined with the video cassette recorder.

36. A method of providing a pause function in an apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving a pause function activation command;

pausing display of television scenes in response to receipt of the pause function activation command input by a user;

encoding television signals received by the apparatus in digital format in response to receipt of the pause function activation command; and

storing the encoded television signal in the apparatus.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

determining whether a pause function deactivation command was received; and

responsive to receipt of the pause function deactivation command, deactivating the pause function.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein deactivating the pause function comprises:

outputting the stored television signal; and

decoding the television signal.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein deactivating the pause function further comprises:

determining whether a change of television station occurred; and

responsive to change of the television station, displaying television signals as they are received.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein deactivating the pause function further comprises:

determining whether a manual reset command was received; and

responsive to receipt of the manual reset command, displaying television signals as they are received.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein deactivating the pause function further comprises:

determining whether the amount of television signal stored in the apparatus is less than a predetermined threshold; and

responsive to the amount being less than the threshold, displaying television signals as they are received.

42. A receiver for receiving a television signal, the receiver comprising:

a delay unit, wherein the delay unit is configured to encode the received television signal in digital format and store the encoded television signal in response to an activation command input by a user to activate a pause function, and decode the stored television signal in response to a deactivation command input by the user to deactivate the pause function.

43. The receiver of claim 42, wherein the digital format is MPEG-2 format.

44. The receiver of claim 42, wherein the delay unit comprises a random access 2 memory buffer for storing the encoded television signal.

45. The receiver of claim 42, wherein the receiver and the delay unit are integrated into a single housing.