US6239794B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and system for simultaneously displaying a television program and information about the program
Assignee: Adeia Guides Inc
•
Filing: 1995-06-07
•
Granted: 2001-05-29
•
Expires: 2015-06-07
Abstract
Abstract A television viewer uses a PIP format for display of program related information such as television program listings from a program schedule data base in the background and moving, real time or stored video clip images of a program selected from the displayed listings in the PIP window. All the text of the background information lies outside the PIP window. In one embodiment, as the viewer selects a particular program from the display of current television program listings by means of a cursor or a code number, the corresponding program automatically appears in the PIP window.
Inventors
- 👤 Henry C. Yuen
- 👤 Daniel S. Kwoh
- 👤 Roy J. Mankovitz
- 👤 Elsie Leung
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 11:50
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/40; H04N21/43; H04N21/431; H04N21/4312; H04N21/4316; H04N21/433; H04N21/4334; H04N21/434; H04N21/4345; H04N21/47; H04N21/472; H04N21/47214; H04N21/478; H04N21/4782; H04N21/482; H04N21/4821; H04N21/80; H04N21/81; H04N21/8126; H04N21/8133; H04N21/83; H04N21/84; H04N5/00; H04N5/76; H04N5/765; H04N5/775; H04N7/00; H04N7/08; H04N7/087; H04N7/088; H04N7/0884; H04N7/0887; H04N21/41; H04N21/422; H04N21/42204; H04N5/44; H04N5/445; H04N5/45; H04N5/78; H04N5/782
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 26
Claim 1
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising in the order recited the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification; displaying in a first area of the screen some of the program listings including a current program listing; marking the current program listing in the first area of the screen; retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing; using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing; displaying in a second area of the screen the telecast program received by the tuner; displaying a future program listing among the program listings in the first area of the screen; and marking the future program listing in the first area of the screen in place of the current program listing without changing the program displayed in the second area.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising in the order recited the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification; displaying in a first area of the screen some of the program listings including a current program listing; marking the current program listing in the first area of the screen; retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing; using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing; displaying in a second area of the screen the telecast program received by the tuner; displaying a future program listing among the program listings in the first area of the screen; and marking the future program listing in the first area of the screen in place of the current program listing without changing the program displayed in the second area.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising replacing the current program listings in the first area of the screen with future program listings for a single channel.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising replacing the current program listings in the first area of the screen with future program listings for a single time.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising replacing the current program listings in the first area of the screen with future program listings for a single theme.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 1 , in which the step of displaying in the second area displays the entire image of the program telecast on the particular channel.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising the step of displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program represented by the marked program list.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 6 , in which the marking steps mark the program listing with a cursor of a given color and the step of displaying in a third area displays a background of the given color.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
201 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs; setting the tuner to receive the program telecast on a particular channel; displaying the received program full screen; switching from the full screen display to a program guide mode; in the program guide mode simultaneously displaying in a first area of the screen the program telecast on the particular channel, displaying in a second area of the screen some of the program listings stored in the memory including the current program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area, marking the program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area with a cursor, and displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program displayed in the first area; moving the cursor to mark a future program listing displayed in the second area; and switching the display in the third area to a description of the program corresponding to the marked future program listing responsive to the cursor movement without changing the program displayed in the first area.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
201 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current and future television program listings representing telecast programs; setting the tuner to receive the program telecast on a particular channel; displaying the received program full screen; switching from the full screen display to a program guide mode; in the program guide mode simultaneously displaying in a first area of the screen the program telecast on the particular channel, displaying in a second area of the screen some of the program listings stored in the memory including the current program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area, marking the program listing corresponding to the program displayed in the first area with a cursor, and displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program displayed in the first area; moving the cursor to mark a future program listing displayed in the second area; and switching the display in the third area to a description of the program corresponding to the marked future program listing responsive to the cursor movement without changing the program displayed in the first area.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
94 words
The method of claim 8 , in which the storing step stores current program listings including a channel identification and the step of displaying in the second area displays current program listings, the method additionally comprising the steps of: retrieving from the memory the channel identification of the marked program listing; and using the retrieved channel identification to set the tuner to receive the telecast program represented by the marked program listing; and substituting on the screen for the program telecast on the particular channel the telecast program represented by the marked program listing.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 9 , in which the storing step also stores future program listings, the method additionally comprising the step of replacing the current program listings in the second area of the screen with some of the future program listings stored in the memory without changing the program displayed in the first area.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 8 , in which the storing step stores future program listings, the step of displaying in the second area displays future program listings, the step of marking a program listing marks a future program listing, and the step of displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the program represented by the marked program listing displays the description without changing the program displayed in the first area.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
212 words
An entertainment system comprising: a television display having a screen; a television tuner for recovering currently telecast video programs; a source of a schedule of program listings including listings for currently telecast video programs, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing; means for displaying some of the program listings for currently telecast video programs from the source in a first area of the screen; an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings for a currently telecast video program; means responsive to the input device for controlling the tuner to display in a second smaller and nonoverlapping area of the screen simultaneously with the program listings the currently telecast video program corresponding to the marked program listing, such that the entire image of the video program is visible in real time; means for displaying in a third area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
212 words
An entertainment system comprising: a television display having a screen; a television tuner for recovering currently telecast video programs; a source of a schedule of program listings including listings for currently telecast video programs, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing; means for displaying some of the program listings for currently telecast video programs from the source in a first area of the screen; an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings for a currently telecast video program; means responsive to the input device for controlling the tuner to display in a second smaller and nonoverlapping area of the screen simultaneously with the program listings the currently telecast video program corresponding to the marked program listing, such that the entire image of the video program is visible in real time; means for displaying in a third area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
185 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification; setting the tuner to receive a current program telecast on a particular channel; displaying in a first area of the screen at least some of the current program listings stored in the memory; simultaneously displaying in a second area of the screen in real time a current television program; successively marking on the screen current program listings displayed in the first area; successively retrieving from the memory channel identifications of the marked program listings; using the retrieved channel identifications to set the tuner successively to receive the current telecast programs represented by the marked program listings and successively to display such programs in the second area of the screen as program listings are marked in the first area; and responsive to a user command, maintaining the current telecast program displayed in the second area as program listings are successively marked in the first area.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
185 words
A method of channel surfing with television apparatus having a tuner and a screen, the method comprising the steps of: storing in a memory a plurality of current television program listings representing telecast programs, each program listing including a channel identification; setting the tuner to receive a current program telecast on a particular channel; displaying in a first area of the screen at least some of the current program listings stored in the memory; simultaneously displaying in a second area of the screen in real time a current television program; successively marking on the screen current program listings displayed in the first area; successively retrieving from the memory channel identifications of the marked program listings; using the retrieved channel identifications to set the tuner successively to receive the current telecast programs represented by the marked program listings and successively to display such programs in the second area of the screen as program listings are marked in the first area; and responsive to a user command, maintaining the current telecast program displayed in the second area as program listings are successively marked in the first area.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 13 , additionally comprising the step of displaying a first prompt in a third area of the screen; the maintaining step comprising the step of activating the first prompt responsive to the user command.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method of claim 14 , additionally comprising the step of displaying a second prompt in the third area of the screen; the setting and displaying steps comprising the step of activating the second prompt responsive to a user command after activating the first prompt.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 13 , additionally comprising the step of displaying a prompt in the third area of the screen; the setting and displaying steps comprising the step of activating the prompt responsive to a user command.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method of claim 16 , in which the stored program listings include themes, the method additionally comprising the step of selecting a theme and the step of displaying program listings in a first area of the screen displays program listings that meet the selected theme.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 16 , additionally comprising the step of displaying in a third area of the screen description of the program marked in the first area.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method of claim 18 , additionally comprising the steps of also storing a plurality of future television program listings in the memory, displaying one or more of the future program listings in the first area, marking one of the displayed future program listings, and changing the description in the third area to a description of the program corresponding to the marked future program listing without changing the television program displayed in the second area.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
135 words
An entertainment system comprising: a television display having a screen; a source of a schedule of television program listings, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing; means for displaying some of the program listings for from the source in a first area of the screen; an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings; means for displaying in a second area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
135 words
An entertainment system comprising: a television display having a screen; a source of a schedule of television program listings, a program description at a first level of detail for each program listing, and a program description at a second level of detail for each program listing; means for displaying some of the program listings for from the source in a first area of the screen; an input device for selectively marking one of the displayed program listings; means for displaying in a second area of the screen the program description at the first level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing; and means responsive to the input device for substituting the program description at the second level of detail corresponding to the marked program listing for the program listings displayed in the first area.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising the step of displaying in a third area of the screen a description of the current or future program corresponding to the marked program listings.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-05-28 | 2004-11-27 | 2005-05-29 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-05-28 | 2008-11-27 | 2009-05-29 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-05-28 | 2012-11-27 | 2013-05-29 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |