Electrical program guide system and method
US5903314A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 24, 1996 |
| Grant date | May 11, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 24, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N5/64
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention provides an electrical program guide system and method by which a desired program can be rapidly selected directly from among a large number of programs with certainty. A program selection screen as a multi-screen is formed from nine reduced screens reduced to one third in the horizontal and vertical directions from screens of programs broadcast on different broadcasting channels. A plurality of such program selection screens are transmitted to a reception side. On the reception side, the program selection screens are stored into a virtual frame memory so that reduced screens of them may make a single virtual screen. From among the reduced screens of the virtual frame, desired 3.times.3 reduced screens are read out and displayed on a multi-screen of full motion. A viewer finds and directly selects a desired program from within the 3.times.3 reduced screens of full motion displayed as the multi-screen. The array of the reduced screens can be automatically changed, based on program enjoyment histories, so that a reduced screen of a program enjoyed frequently by the viewer is disposed at a position which facilitates selection by the viewer such as the upper left position…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.