Program category selection with filtered data and displayed cascaded cards
US5812124A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 10, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 22, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 10, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S715/968
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for presenting a viewer with an overall representation of the present number of entertainment programs available for selection given one week of program schedule data for 300 or more channels and one or more filtering criteria to limit the number of items represented in the overall representation. Sequentially applied filters will filter the group of program schedule data items that has at least 100,000 half hour time slots offered by 300 channels each week into a smaller subgroup where individual consideration of each item of the subgroup can be made in a reasonable time. A set top box drives the display of overall representations or results of filtering criteria on a commercial TV set. Once a reasonable sized subgroup is obtained, other displays provide specific information of the program offerings of the subgroup. Selection of the filtering criteria and selection from within a subgroup is interactively made by a viewer through the use of a controller that looks and operates very much like a TV remote control. This makes the interaction familiar, easy and predictable.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.