Apparatus and method for improved parental control of television use

• US RE41,993 E1
• Filed: 11/20/2003
• Issued: 12/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gemstar Development Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Gemstar Development Corporation (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Mankovitz, Roy J., Kwoh, Daniel S., Yuen, Henry C.
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIA, SHERRIE Y
• Application Number:
  US10/720,006
• Time in Patent Office: 2,574 Days
• Field of Search: 725/28, 725/27, 725/25, 725/29, 725/30, 725/116, 348/569, 348/563, 348/564, 348/567
• US Class Current: 725/28
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/107 of operating tapes
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/14 for the transfer of light or images, e.g. for video-surveillance, for television or from a computer screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/42 characterized by the control of the jamming frequency or wavelength
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/825 by jamming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/441 Acquiring end-user identification , e.g. using personal code sent by the remote control or by inserting a card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/782 on tape
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0887 for the transmission of programme or channel identifying signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/166 Passage/non-passage of the television signal, e.g. jamming, band suppression scrambling and descrambling H04N7/167

Abstract

An apparatus and method for parental control of television programs. Program schedule information including program titles are stored in a memory and displayed on a monitor. Compressed code is entered for the programs to be blocked. Alternatively, one or more program titles are selected from the displayed program schedule information for blocking by a parental control circuitry connected to a controller.

Claims

1. A system for exercising access control over a television program comprising:

a memory for storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

a monitor for displaying some of the schedule information including program titles;

an input device for selecting one of the displayed program titles for viewing a television program represented by the selected program title; and

a parental control circuit for blocking the selected television program from being viewed as a function of the television program schedule information.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the television program schedule information comprises a telecast channel, a telecast time and a length of telecast for each of the television programs, and wherein the control circuit acquires control of a channel of a television signal corresponding to a telecast channel of one of the television programs when a telecast time of the television program equals current time, and blocks the channel for a duration equal to the length of the telecast of the television program.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the control circuit further comprises a second memory for storing the television program schedule information for the selected program title.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the television program schedule information for the selected program title are stored in a second memory in temporal order.

5. The system of claim 1 further comprising a blocking circuit for blocking a plurality of program scenes from being viewed wherein, an indication of a program scene to be blocked is retrieved from a television signal.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising blocking circuit for blocking the display of schedule information on the display monitor for a blocked channel.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the input device comprises a remote controller having at least a first key for selectively positioning a cursor on a television program displayed on the monitor, and a second key for selecting the displayed program title.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a vertical blanking interval decoder for extracting the television program schedule information from a vertical blanking interval portion of a television signal and storing the television program schedule information to the memory.

9. A method for controlling access to television programs comprising the steps of:

displaying television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs on a monitor;

marking a program title from the displayed schedule information; and

blocking a television program represented by the marked program title from being displayed on the monitor as a function of the television program schedule information for a selected title.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of blocking a plurality of program scenes from being viewed wherein, an indication of a program scene to be blocked is retrieved from a television signal.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the marking step further comprises the step of selectively positioning a cursor on a displayed television title, and activating an input device for entering the marked program title into a memory.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of extracting the television program schedule information from a vertical blanking interval portion of a television signal and storing the extracted television program schedule information in a memory.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of selectively tuning to a channel of a television signal, and wherein the blocking step further comprises the step of controlling a tuner to block the selectively tuned channel from the monitor.

14. A system for exercising access control over a television program comprising:

a memory for storing television schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

a monitor for displaying some of the schedule information including program titles;

an input device for selecting one of the displayed program titles for viewing a television program represented by the selected program title; and

a parental control circuit for blocking a plurality of program scenes from the selected television program from being viewed as a function of information retrieved from a television signal.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a vertical blanking interval decoder for retrieving information from a vertical blanking interval portion of the television signal and storing the retrieved information in the memory.

16. A method for controlling access to television programs comprising the steps of:

storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

displaying the television program schedule information including program titles on a monitor;

selecting a program title from the displayed schedule information; and

blocking a program scene from a television program represented by the selected program title from being displayed on the monitor as a function of the information retrieved from a television signal.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of extracting the information for blocking program scenes from a vertical blanking interval portion of the television signal and storing the extracted television program schedule information in a memory.

18. A system comprising:

a television tuner that supplies video signals to a video display; and

a processor configured to block the television tuner from supplying video signals of television programs that meet one or more user selected program content rating criteria to the video display;

said processor being further configured to allow a user to override the blocking of the video signals of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria until the system is shut off.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the one or more user selected program content rating criteria comprise a plurality of program content rating criteria.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the processor is configured to override the blocking of one or more of the plurality of program content rating criteria.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor is configured to override the blocking of the display of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria if the user enters a predetermined code.

22. The system of claim 18 further comprising:

a memory in which is stored television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein the processor is configured to block the television tuner based on the television schedule information stored in the memory.

23. The system of claim 18 further comprises a filter wherein the processor is configured to block the television tuner by controlling the operation of the filter.

24. A system comprising:

a television tuner that supplies video signals to a video display; and

a processor configured to block the television tuner from supplying video signals of television programs that meet one or more of a plurality of user selected program blocking criteria to the video display;

said processor being further configured to allow a user to override the plurality of user selected blocking criteria from being used to block the display of television programs until the system is shut off.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises ratings criteria.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises channels.

27. The system of claim 24 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time and channel.

28. The system of claim 24 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time, channel and length.

29. The system of claim 24 further comprising:

a memory in which is stored television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein processor is configured to block the television tuner based on comparisons between the user selected blocking criteria and the television schedule information stored in the memory.

30. The system of claim 24 wherein the processor is configured to override the blocking of the display of television programs that meet the plurality of user selected blocking criteria if the user enters a predetermined code.

31. The system of claim 24 further comprises a filter wherein the processor is configured to block the television tuner by controlling the operation of the filter.

32. A system comprising:

one or more memories that store television program schedule information for a plurality of television programs and one or more viewing restrictions;

a display generator that supplies signals for a display of information for at least one of the television programs from the program schedule information to a video display; and

a processor configured to accept selections of displayed television program information, determine if one or more of the viewing restrictions is met for the selected television program and block the display of the selected television program based on the determination;

said processor being further configured to allow a user to override the blocking of the display of television programs based on one or more of the viewing restrictions and subsequently allowing the user to restore the blocking of the display of television programs based on the overridden viewing restrictions.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein processor is configured to subsequently allow the user to restore the blocking of the display of television programs by the system being shut off.

34. The system of claim 32 wherein processor is configured to subsequently allow the user to restore the blocking of the display of television programs by pressing one or more predetermined button on control.

35. The system of claim 32 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise one or more television programs selected by a user.

36. The system of claim 32 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise program content rating criteria.

37. The system of claim 32 wherein the processor is configured to override the blocking of the display of television programs if the user enters a predetermined code.

38. A system comprising:

means for supplying selective video signals to a video display; and

means for blocking the means for supplying from supplying video signals of television programs that meet one or more user selected program content rating criteria to the video display; and

means for overriding the blocking by the means for blocking of the video signals of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria until the system is shut off.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the one or more user selected program content rating criteria comprise a plurality of program content rating criteria.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein the means for overriding further comprise means for the blocking of one or more of the plurality of program content rating criteria.

41. The system of claim 38 wherein the means for overriding further comprises means for overriding the blocking of the display of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria if a user enters a predetermined code.

42. The system of claim 38 further comprising:

means for storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein the means for blocking blocks the means for supplying based on the television schedule information stored in the memory.

43. A system comprising:

means for supplying selective video signals to a video display;

means for blocking the means for supplying from supplying video signals to the video display of television programs that meet one or more of a plurality of user selected program blocking criteria; and

means for overriding the blocking by the means for blocking of the video signal of television programs that meet the plurality of user selected blocking criteria from being used to block the display of television programs until the system is shut off.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises ratings criteria.

45. The system of claim 43 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises channels.

46. The system of claim 43 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time and channel.

47. The system of claim 43 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time, channel and length.

48. The system of claim 43 further comprising:

means for storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein the means for blocking blocks the means for supplying based on the television schedule information stored in the memory.

49. The system of claim 43 wherein the means for overriding the display of television programs that meet the plurality of user selected program content rating criteria overrides if a user enters a predetermined code.

50. A system comprising:

means for storing television program schedule information for a plurality of television programs and one or more viewing restrictions;

means for generating a display of information for at least one of the television programs from the program schedule information for display on a video display;

means for accepting selections of displayed television program information, determining if one or more of the viewing restrictions is met for the selected television program and blocking the display of the selected television program based on the determination; and

means for overriding the blocking of the display of television programs based on one or more of the viewing restrictions and subsequently allowing the user to restore the blocking of the display of television programs based on the overridden viewing restrictions.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein the means for overriding further subsequently allows the restoration of the blocking of the display of television programs by the system being shut off.

52. The system of claim 50 wherein the means for overriding further subsequently allows the restoration of the blocking of the display of television programs by pressing one or more predetermined button on control.

53. The system of claim 50 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise one or more television programs selected by a user.

54. The system of claim 50 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise program content rating criteria.

55. The system of claim 50 wherein the means for overriding further comprises means for overriding the blocking of the display of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria if a user enters a predetermined code.

56. A method comprising:

supplying selective video signals to a video displays;

blocking the supplying of video signals to the video display of television programs that meet one or more user selected program content rating criteria;

overriding the blocking of television programs that meet the user selected program content rating criteria until the shutting off of a system that displays the television programs.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein the one or more user selected program content rating criteria comprise a plurality of program content rating criteria.

58. The method of claim 57 wherein the overriding further comprise blocking of one or more of the plurality of program content rating criteria.

59. The method of claim 56 wherein the overriding is performed after a user enters a predetermined code.

60. The method of claim 56 further comprising:

storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein the blocking blocks the supplying based on the television schedule information stored in the memory.

61. A method comprising:

supplying selective video signals to a video displays;

blocking the supplying video signals to the video display of television programs that meet one or more of a plurality of user selected program blocking criteria to the video display; and

overriding the blocking of television programs that meet the plurality of user selected blocking criteria from being used to block the display of television programs until the shutting off of a system that displays the television programs.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises ratings criteria.

63. The method of claim 61 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises channels.

64. The method of claim 61 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time and channel.

65. The method of claim 61 wherein the program blocking criteria comprises combinations of time, channel and length.

66. The method of claim 61 further comprising:

storing television program schedule information including program titles for a plurality of television programs;

wherein the blocking blocks the supplying based on the television schedule information stored in the memory.

67. The method of claim 61 wherein the overriding is performed after a user enters a predetermined code.

68. A method comprising:

storing television program schedule information for a plurality of television programs and one or more viewing restrictions;

generating a display of information for at least one of the television programs from the program schedule information for display on a video display;

accepting selections of displayed television program information, determining if one or more of the viewing restrictions is met for the selected television program and blocking the display of the selected television program based on the determination;

overriding the blocking of the display of television programs based on one or more of the viewing restrictions and subsequently allowing the user to restore the blocking of the display of television programs based on the overridden viewing restrictions.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein the overriding further subsequently allows the restoration of the blocking of the display of television programs by the shutting off of a system that performs the displaying television programs.

70. The method of claim 68 wherein the overriding further subsequently allows the restoration of the blocking of the display of television programs by pressing one or more predetermined button on a control.

71. The method of claim 68 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise one or more television programs selected by a user.

72. The method of claim 68 wherein at least one of the viewing restrictions comprise program content rating criteria.

73. The method of claim 68 wherein the overriding is performed after a user enters a predetermined code.