Electronic television program guide schedule system and method

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-08-29
UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES +1
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Collectively, the prior electronic program systems may be difficult to implement and cumbersome to use.
They also fail to provide viewing capabilities that address in a more realistic manner the viewing habits of the users of these electronic program systems.
Moreover, many of these systems are complex in their design and are expensive to implement.
And, as the number of television channels available to a user increases dramatically with the advent of new satellite and cable-based technologies, the utility of these prior systems substantially diminishes.
These prior-art systems also fail to provide the user with sufficient information, for example pricing and the like, about pay-per-view events, premium services or other packaged programming to which the user does not subscribe, nor do they provide the user with the capability to automatically purchase such programming on demand or impulse.
Moreover, these prior-art systems are deficient in that they fail to provide an efficient and automatic method of updating or replacing the application software programs that implement the electronic guide at the user sites, relying instead on manual or other cumbersome forms of revision or replacement or hardware-based systems that can not be updated without physical replacement of integrated circuits and/or other parts.
Nor do these prior electronic guide systems have the capability of linking the user to other applications or information systems which are no

Method used

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Examples

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Comparison scheme
Effect test

Example

[0082]A second embodiment of the remote controller 40 is shown in FIG. 4. This embodiment of the remote controller also includes a power key 41, numeric digit keys 42, direction arrow keys 43A and 43B, information key 48, ENTER key 44, volume control 45 and mute keys 46. It also includes pound sign and star keys.

[0083]This embodiment of the remote controller further includes a number of icon keys 47A and 47B, which correspond to different submenus or modes of the program schedule system. The icons 47A and 47B may also be displayed on the TV screen when the program schedule system is operating. The icon keys essentially replace the MODE key 38 used in the embodiment of the remote controller shown in FIG. 3. Using these keys, the user can move from one mode to another simply by depressing the icon key corresponding to the desired mode of operation of the program schedule system. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the icons 47A and 47B are shown as graphic symbols situated directly above a corr

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PUM

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Abstract

An electronic program schedule system which includes a receiver for receiving broadcast, satellite or cablecast television programs for a plurality of television channels and a tuner for tuning a television receiver to a selected one of the plurality of channels. A data processor receives and stores in a memory television program schedule information for a plurality of television programs to appear on the plurality of television channels. A user control apparatus, such as a remote controller, is utilized by a viewer to choose user control commands and transmit signals in response to the data processor which receives the signals in response to user control commands. A television receiver is used to display the television programs and television program schedule information. A video display generator receives video control commands from the data processor and program schedule information from the memory and displays a portion of the program schedule information in overlaying relationship with a television program appearing on a television channel in at least one mode of operation of the television programming guide. The data processor controls the video display generator with video control commands, issued in response to the user control commands, to display program schedule information for any chosen one of the plurality of television programs in overlaying relationship with at least one television program then appearing on any chosen one of the plurality of channels on the television receiver.

Description

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Claims

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Application Information

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Owner UNITED VIDEO PROPERTIES
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