EP0725539A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electrical program guide system and method
Assignee: Sony Corp
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Filing: 1996-02-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-02-06
Abstract
Abstract The invention provides an electrical program guide system and method by which a desired program can be selected rapidly with certainty, intuitively and directly from among a large number of programs. 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 in 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 3x3 reduced screens are read out and displayed on a multi-screen of full motion. A viewer finds out and directly selects a desired program from within the 3x3 reduced screens of full motion displayed as the multi-screen. The array of the reduced screens can be automatically changed, based on enjoyment program 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 left upper position of the screen. The array may be customized such that it is changed to an arbitrary array based on a desire of the viewer.
Inventors
- 👤 Makoto c/o Sony Corporation Niijima
- 👤 Hiroaki c/o Sony Corporation Nakano
- 👤 Yumie c/o Sony Corporation Sonoda
- 👤 Yoshiaki c/o Sony Corporation Kumagai
- 👤 Junichi c/o Sony Corporation Nagahara
- 👤 Tatsushi c/o Sony Corporation Nashida
- 👤 Hirofumi c/o Sony Corporation Tamori
- 👤 Hiroyuki c/o Sony Corporation Hanaya
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 07:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N21/00; H04N21/40; H04N21/47; H04N21/472; H04N21/47202; H04N5/00; H04N5/44; H04N5/445; H04N5/45; H04N21/20; H04N21/23; H04N21/234; H04N21/2343; H04N21/234363; H04N21/41; H04N21/426; H04N21/43; H04N21/431; H04N21/4312; H04N21/4314; H04N21/45; H04N21/4508; H04N21/4532; H04N21/482; H04N21/4821; H04N21/60; H04N21/65; H04N21/658; H04N21/6581; H04N21/80; H04N21/83; H04N21/84; H04N7/00; H04N7/08; H04N7/0806; H04N7/12; H04N7/16; H04N7/162; H04N7/165; H04N5/50; H04N5/64
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
126 words
A reception apparatus for receiving a program selection screen for selection of a plurality of programs of different broadcasting channels, comprising: reception means for receiving a plurality of program selection screens in each of which reduced screens reduced from screens of the plurality of programs are arranged on a single screen; storage means for storing the plurality of program selection screens received by said reception means in a condition wherein the program selection screens are developed on a virtual screen which is greater than one of the program selection screens; and outputting means for reading out an array of a plurality of ones of the reduced screens from the virtual screen of said storage means and outputting the thus read out array of the reduced screens.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
36 words
A reception apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying a program selection screen formed from the array of the plurality of ones of the program selection screens outputted from said outputting means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
A reception apparatus according to either one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said reception means receives the plurality of program selection screens from a same transmission channel.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
41 words
A reception apparatus according to any one of the preceeding claims, further comprising area designation means for designating an area of the virtual screen of said storage means from within which said outputting means is to read out the reduced screens.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
A reception apparatus according to any one of the preceeding claims, further comprising array control means for arbitrarily changing an array of those of the reduced screens which are to be displayed.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A reception apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said array control means reads out the reduced screens from said storage means after re-arranging the reduced screens for individual categories of the programs.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
A reception apparatus according to either one of claims 5 or 6, further comprising array designation means for designating array positions of said storage means when the reduced screens are to be stored into said storage means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
A reception apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising changing means for changing array positions of the reduced screens stored in said storage means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
A reception apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said changing means changes the array positions of the reduced screens stored in said storage means in accordance with enjoyment histories of the corresponding programs.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
112 words
A reception method for receiving a program selection screen for selection of a plurality of programs of different broadcasting channels, comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of program selection screens in each of which reduced screens reduced from screens of the plurality of programs are arranged on a single screen; storing the received plurality of program selection screens in a condition wherein the program selection screens are developed on a virtual screen which is greater than one of the program selection screens; and reading out an array of a plurality of ones of the reduced screens from the virtual screen and outputting the thus read out array of the reduced screens.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
169 words
A broadcasting system wherein a program selection screen for selection of a plurality of programs of different broadcasting channels is transmitted from a transmission apparatus and received by a reception apparatus, comprising: transmission means provided in said transmission apparatus for multiplexing and transmitting a plurality of program selection screens in each of which reduced screens reduced from screens of the plurality of programs are arranged on a single screen; reception means provided in said reception apparatus for receiving the plurality of program selection screens; storage means provided in said reception apparatus for storing the plurality of program selection screens received by said reception means in a condition wherein the program selection screens are developed on a virtual screen which is greater than one of the program selection screens; and outputting means provided in said reception means for reading out an array of a plurality of ones of the reduced screens from the virtual screen of said storage means and outputting the thus read out array of the reduced screens.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
148 words
A broadcasting method wherein a program selection screen for selection of a plurality of programs of different broadcasting channels is transmitted from a transmission apparatus and received by a reception apparatus, comprising the steps of: multiplexing and transmitting, by said transmission apparatus, a plurality of program selection screens in each of which reduced screens reduced from screens of the plurality of programs are arranged on a single screen; receiving, by said reception apparatus, the plurality of program selection screens; storing, by said reception apparatus, the received plurality of program selection screens in a condition wherein the program selection screens are developed on a virtual screen which is greater than one of the program selection screens; and reading out, by said reception apparatus, an array of a plurality of ones of the reduced screens from the virtual screen and outputting the thus read out array of the reduced screens.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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