 |
Description  |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and process that allows
a television viewer to access on screen television program listings and
use the program listings in an easy and convenient way to control
operation of a video cassette recorder (VCR) or other recording device. In
addition, it relates to such a system and process that creates a directory
of recorded programs by title for easy retrieval and program playback.
More particularly, it relates to such a system and process in which the
VCR or other recording device is controlled by a simple selection of
program title and a record command, even for recording at a future date
and time. Most especially, it relates to such a system and process
incorporating an intuitive user interface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The difficulty of setting a VCR for automatic recording at a future date is
notorious. Even users who are technically sophisticated will often make
mistakes in the VCR programming procedure that cause them to record the
wrong program or not to record anything at all. This difficulty has even
resulted in a substantial body of humor dedicated to the subject of
programming VCRs.
The difficulty of VCR programming has been alleviated somewhat by the
development of VCRs that use a television set as a display for user
prompts and feedback to the user during the programming process. U.S. Pat.
No. 4,908,713, issued Mar. 13, 1990 to Michael R. Levine, discloses such a
VCR using the television set as a display for VCR programming with an
interactive user interface for directing the user on a step-by-step basis.
Such a user interface removes a great deal of the mystery from VCR
programming, but users still have difficulty with such a command-based
interface and encounter problems carrying out the programming without
making mistakes that cause them to miss recording programs they would like
to watch at a different time than when they are broadcast.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,121, issued Nov. 10, 1987 to Patrick
Young, discloses a system and process in which user selections from
television schedule information are used for automatic control of a VCR.
That patent also contains a description of a proposed user interface for
such a system and process. However, the provision of a highly intuitive
user interface that makes such a system and process easy and convenient to
operate is a difficult task. Further development of this system and
process has produced considerable change in the user interface as
originally proposed.
In addition to simplifying VCR programming, users who do a substantial
amount of program taping also need an improved system and process for
keeping track of their recorded programs. Commonly assigned application
Ser. No. 07/219,971, filed Jul. 15, 1988, in the name of Patrick Young,
discloses a system and process that provides indexing capability for taped
material. A user interface for a television schedule system and process
should also handle this capability on an intuitive basis.
Thus, while the art pertaining to the control of VCRs and to television
schedule systems is a well-developed one, a need still remains for a
television schedule system and process incorporating an improved user
interface. In particular, unlike most computer menus, a grid TV guide is
an array of irregular cells, where the cell size can vary from a fraction
of an hour to many hours-extending well beyond the current screen. If this
array is navigated by a cursor that goes from cell to cell, a single
cursor command can produce violent screen changes. For example, a cursor
right command may cause an abrupt jump to a cell situated several hours
from the current page. Not only is this unsettling, but may take
considerable effort to recover. Clearly, a gentler cursor motion is needed
for the irregular cells found in a grid TV guide.
Printed grid television schedule guides often include additional
information besides the program title and broadcast names. Such grids are
also typically provided in combination with a more detailed printed
schedule that contains a synopsis of each program, whether the program is
a repeat, ratings for movies, and other information. When using a
television set as a display for a schedule system, the size and resolution
of the television display limit the amount of text that can be displayed
with the grid. Improved techniques are required for conveying the most
amount of information to the user in an easily understood manner within
the limitations of the television display. When a large number of channels
are available for viewing, there is also a need to order the display of
information most conveniently for the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a television
schedule system and process with a user interface that is configured to
compensate for the particular nature of the television schedule
information.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a user interface
having a cursor operation that compensates for an irregular grid format of
the television schedule information.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a user interface in
which the schedule information is presented in a format that compensates
for limited resolution of the television display.
It is still another object of the invention to provide such a user
interface in which supplemental schedule information is presented in
overlays that obscure a minimum amount of useful other information.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide such a user
interface in which order of presentation of the schedule information is
customizable by user preference.
The attainment of these and related objects may be achieved through use of
the novel television schedule system and process user interface herein
disclosed. A television schedule system including a user interface in
accordance with this invention has a display, A means is connected to the
display for displaying the television schedule on the display as an array
of irregular cells which vary dimensionally in length, corresponding to
different television program time lengths. A means is connected to the
display for providing a cursor with the television schedule on the
display. The cursor has a variable length corresponding to the length of a
selected one of the irregular cells in which the cursor is located. A
means is connected to the means for providing the cursor for moving the
cursor in the array in a series of equal length steps. At least some of
the irregular cells have a length which is greater than the length of the
steps.
In the process of operating a television schedule system with the user
interface of this invention, the television schedule is displayed as an
array of irregular cells which vary dimensionally in length, corresponding
to different television program time lengths. A cursor is provided with
the television schedule on the display, the cursor has a variable length
corresponding to the length of a selected one of the irregular cells in
which the cursor is located. The cursor is moved in the array in a series
of equal length steps, with at least some of the irregular cells having a
length which is greater than the length of the steps.
In another aspect of the invention, a control system for a video recording
machine has a controller for starting and stopping the video recording
machine, for recording video information on recording media, and for
playing recorded video information on recording media. A display generator
provides display image generation signals. A means supplies information to
the display generator for generation of display images relating to
operation of the video recording machine. The means for supplying
information includes means for generating a recording media position
indicator graduated as segments corresponding to programs recorded on the
recording media.
In a process for controlling a video recording machine, a recording media
position indicator is graduated as segments corresponding to programs
recorded on the recording media. The recording media position indicator is
displayed as position of a selected one of the recording media in the
video recording machine is changed.
In a further aspect of the invention, a television schedule system a
display and means connected to the display for displaying the television
schedule on the display. The means for displaying a schedule is configured
to allow selection by a user of a first number of desired channels for
display of schedule information which is less than a second number of
available channels. A programmable tuner is connected to the means for
displaying a schedule. The programmable tuner is configured to follow the
first number of desired channels when the television schedule is shown on
the display in response to a channel up or channel down command. The
programmable tuner is configured to follow the second number of available
channels in the absence of the television schedule on the display in
response to a channel up or channel down command.
In a process for operating a television schedule system, a first number of
desired channels is selected for display of schedule information, which is
less than a second number of available channels. The schedule information
is displayed on a display. The first number of desired channels is
followed when the schedule information is shown on the display in response
to a channel up or channel down command. The second number of available
channels is followed in the absence of the television schedule on the
display in response to a channel up or channel down command.
The attainment of the foregoing and related objects, advantages and
features of the invention should be more readily apparent to those skilled
in the art, after review of the following more detailed description of the
invention, taken together with the drawings, in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1-3 are diagrammatic representations of a television schedule grid
incorporating the user interface for the system and process of this
invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a screen display used in the
system and process of the invention.
FIGS. 5-7 are additional diagrammatic representations of the television
schedule grid incorporating the user interface for the system and process
of the invention.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart for understanding the operation of the FIG. 7
diagram.
FIGS. 9-10 are additional diagrammatic representations of screen displays
of the user interface for the system and process of the invention.
FIG. 11 is a flow chart for understanding the operation of the FIGS. 9-10
diagrams.
FIGS. 12-13 are diagrammatic representations of taping and tape index
screen displays of the user interface for the system and process of the
invention.
FIG. 14-17 are diagrammatic representations of program selection by
category screen displays of the user interface for the system and process
of the invention.
FIG. 18 is a flow chart for understanding operation of the FIGS. 14-18
diagrams.
FIG. 19 is a flow chart for understanding operation of the FIG. 20 diagram.
FIG. 20 is a diagrammatic representation of a channel customization screen
display of the user interface for the system and process of the invention.
FIG. 21 is a diagrammatic plan view of a control panel for the system of
the invention.
FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a television schedule system in accordance
with the invention.
FIG. 23 is a diagramatic representation of a screen showing the use of
program linking in recording for the system and process of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Turning now to the drawings, more particularly to FIGS. 1-7, there are
shown a series of menu screens 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22 used in
operation of the system and carrying out the process of the invention.
Screens 10, 12, 14, 18 and 20 each consists of an array 24 of irregular
cells 26, which vary in length, corresponding to different television
program lengths of one half hour to one-and-one half hours or more. The
array is arranged as three columns 28 of one-half hour in duration, and
twelve rows 30 of program listings. Some of the program listings overlap
two or more of the columns 28 because of their length. Because of the
widely varying length of the cells 26, if a conventional cursor used to
select a cell location were to simply step from one cell to another, the
result would be abrupt changes in the screens 10, 12, 14, 18 and 20 as the
cursor moved from a cell 26 of several hours length to an adjacent cell in
the same row. Such abrupt changes disorient a user of the system.
An effective way of taming the motion is to assume that behind every array
24 is an underlying array of regular cells. By restricting cursor
movements to the regular cells, abrupt screen changes will be avoided.
However, there is now a potential ambiguity between the underlying cell
which governs cursor movement and a visible cell 26 which holds the
program title.
Viz.: if the cursor moves in half hour steps, and the cell length is, say
four hours, should the cursor be 1/2 hour long or four hours long? If the
cursor only spans the interval of the underlying cell (1/2 hour), the
cursor appears to be highlighting a segment of the cell, which is
misleading. On the other hand, if the cursor spans the entire four hours
of the TV listing, the cursor underlying position will be obscure. In this
case, cursor right/left commands will appear inoperative while traversing
a long cell. The absence of feedback following a cursor command is
befuddling to users. Therefore, an innovative cursor 32 (FIG. 1) for the
irregular array 24 is required which satisfies several conflicting
requirements.
With the cursor 32, the entire cell 26 is 3-D highlighted, using a
conventional offset shadow 34. The offset shadow 34 is a black bar that
underlines the entire cell and wraps around the right edge of the cell. To
tag the underlying position--which defines where the cursor 32 is and
thus, where it will move next--portions 36 of the black bar outside the
current underlying position are segmented, while the current position is
painted solid.
For an half hour cell 26, the offset shadow's underline bar will always be
solid black. FIGS. 2 and 3 show the cursor 32 as it appears for a
half-hour program. For programs that go beyond 1/2 hour, only the current
1/2 hour position will be solid black. All remaining positions will be
stripped. If the cursor is moved left or right, the solid section will
move accordingly, providing complete visual feedback. Thus, this modified
3D offset shadow cursor 32 satisfies the demands stated above: it spans
the entire cell, yet clearly highlights the current underlying position.
Movement of the cursor 32 will always be visible even for cells 26 that
are much longer than the underlying cell.
A grid continuity icon 38 is shown in FIG. 1. Printed grid television
schedule guides often include parenthetical comments, (such as "cont'd")
to indicate program continuity. In an electronic guide displayed on a TV
screen, limited text space precludes parenthetical comments. To conserve
space, an icon 38 will be used to indicate cell 26 continuity. At the
border of a cell 26 that is continued to the next screen, an arrow icon 38
pointing to the right will be overlaid. The arrow direction always points
to right, which is the direction of program elapse.
FIGS. 2 and 3 show recording status representations. When a program has
been selected for recording, its listing cell 26 will be outlined or
highlighted in red, as indicated at 40. If guard time has been added or
deleted, the cell will be stretched or shrunk to reflect the change. Cell
26 continuity will be treated the same as above. There are four other
record status representations:
If the cell is actively being recorded, the outline 40 will blink off and
on.
A recorded cell will be displayed with a solid red background 42 (Note: Not
shown in drawing).
A mis-recorded cell will be indicated by red hash
marks 44 over the title. A mis-recording can be the result of insufficient
tape, VCR loss of power, stopped before completion, etc.
A program linking icon 46 is shown in FIG. 5.
After each schedule update, the schedule system examines the new listings
for the occurrence of any titles that match a title in Linked Titles (FIG.
23). If a title matches, it will automatically be tagged for recording.
When a linked program is displayed in the guide, it will have two
identifiers: a red outline 40 indicating that the title has been selected
for recording, and a link icon 46 appended to the title to indicate that
this title was link-selected. After a linked program has been recorded, it
will be treated like any recorded program with the title shaded in red. To
differentiate this recording from others, the link icon will remain
appended to the title.
Further details on the linking feature are given in screen 19 of FIG. 23.
1) A linked program 47 may be suspended by the user (perhaps to avoid
conflict with a pending recording), by de-selecting the link title in the
Link List screen, under the Record Memo command. A suspended link program
will still be identified by a link icon, but the red-outline will be
suppressed since the program will not be recorded. 2) A smart link process
is used to tame the matching of titles when there is a likelihood of
excessive candidates for recording. The Lucy show, for example, is often
syndicated on several channels. Untamed linking of Lucy may result in a
plethora of recordings. For such series, the link list will include the
channel and time as well as the link title. For the avid Lucy-phile, the
user can locate each series individually for linking. If there is more
than one link title of the same name, the series will be numbered, in the
order of acquisition. Thus, the second Lucy will be identified as Lucy
(Two), at 47.
FIGS. 1-3 show the columns 28 headed by half-hour header status indicators.
The 1/2 hour header strip across the top of the grid TV guide has two
auxiliary functions: 1) as an indicator 48 of pending or in-progress
recording scheduled at that time, and 2) as a time-bar 50 to delineate the
past from the future. The past is darkened, while the future is lightly
shaded. If there is an in-progress recording, the 1/2 hour header will be
red-outlined at 48 in the same manner as a pending recording title cell
26.
FIG. 6 shows a television schedule grid screen 20 with a program note
overlay 52. With limited text capacity on TV displays, it is preferable to
display as many lines of TV listings as feasible. To handle program notes,
which are text intensive, on-demand overlays 52 are used. Program note
overlays 52 may include any or all of the following information:
A program genre
Program description
Stars and personalities
Year of release
Episodic subtitles
Run-time of program
Elapse time of the program
Critique (Star Ratings)
Rating (PG, G, etc.)
Call letter, channel markers
Closed caption, stereo.
Program notes for a selected program are overlaid over the grid guide upon
request. The program note can be toggled off/on using a SELECT command.
The program note 52 overlays and hides 3 or 4 listings of a guide. To
minimize concealment of the guide, an auto-roving note is used. The
program note will overlay either the top half or bottom half of the
screen, as necessary to avoid masking the title of the selected listing.
If the cursor 32 is in the upper half of the screen, the note will appear
in the bottom half, and vice versa. If the cursor 32 is moved to the lower
half of the screen, the note will automatically position itself in the
upper half of the screen.
FIGS. 1-3 and 5-6 show a channel column 54 in the television schedule grid
24. Favorite stations and cable channels may be listed together to create
a personalized grid guide. The channel column 54, unlike most printed TV
guides, has a mix of over-the-air station names and cable services names.
The grid 24 guide lists channels by favorite combinations of station number
and cable names, and not in the usual numerical order. When viewing the
grid 24 guide, a Tuner Up/Down channel command will be mapped according to
the channels and order listed on the screen. When not viewing the guide,
the tuner sequence will revert back to the usual numerical order. When the
last channel on a page is reached, the next Tuner command will change the
channel to the channel listed at the beginning of the following page.
When a channel to which the tuner is tuned is displayed on the grid 24, it
is highlighted, as shown at 56. A grid 24 page may be changed by either a
page command or by entering a channel Up/Dn command as described above. If
a page is turned using the page command, the current channel is now
located in the previous page, and will not be seen in the new page.
Therefore, the new page must suppress the highlighting of a channel, since
that indicates the current channel. Note that information about the
current channel will still be presented in the channel information boxes
58 at the bottom of the screen.
When is the highlighting re-enabled? Once into the new page, the first
channel up/down command will cause the tuner to automatically change to
the channel listed in the last or first row 30 respectively of the new
page. Since the tuner channel is now located on the new page, the current
channel will be highlighted again.
If the channel highlighting is not suppressed after a page is selected, by
definition, the tuner must be changed to track the highlighted channel.
This is undesirable since casual paging should not cause the channel to
change.
When a guide is first opened, as shown in FIG. 2, both the cursor 32 and
the current channel 56 are situated on the same row 30 of the grid 24.
When the channel 56 is changed, it is desirable to drag the cursor 32
along with the channel in unison. In doing so, the cursor 32 will be ready
for a Select command (to retrieve the program note) or for a Record It
command. Cursor dragging by the channel command takes place whenever the
channel 56 and cursor 32 are united on the same row. If they are not
united, the cursor 32 is disengaged from the channel command. Note that
dragging is not reciprocal; moving the cursor 32 does not affect channel
selection.
FIG. 7 shows a screen 22, showing a program list 58 for a single channel,
generated by toggling a user What's On TV command, which switches between
the grid 24 and the list 58. The list 58 consists of rows 60 of sequential
program listings on the channel and a channel information field 62.
Program notes are overlaid on the list 58 in the same manner as shown in
FIG. 6 for the grid 24.
Each What's On TV command alternates between the grid guide 24 and the
What's Next on Channel row guide 58. While viewing the grid guide 24, the
next What's On TV command will replace the grid guide 24 with a
single-channel row guide 58. FIG. 8 is the flow diagram for the What's On
TV command.
The page relationship between the two guides 24 and 58 are tightly coupled.
The single channel guide will open to the channel and schedule time that
was selected by the cursor 32 on the grid 24. While viewing the single
channel guide 58, the Up/Down channel command may be used to change the
channel to be listed. When exiting the single channel guide 58 and
returning to the grid guide 24, the grid cursor 32 will be pointed to the
channel and schedule time last selected on the single channel guide 58.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show channel grazing overlays 64 and 66 that provide
information on current programs when switching channels while watching
television. In the overlay 64, when scanning channels, the title of each
program is overlaid at 68, along with the name of the TV service (HBO, ABC
etc. ), the cable channel number, and the current date, day of week, and
time in the channel information field 62. The overlay 66 is the same as
the overlay 64 except that this overlay includes a program note 70, which
is similar to the program note 52 in FIG. 6, but contains information
pertinent to a program currently being broadcast on the selected channel.
To access program notes, press the Select key. In addition to the program
note 70, elapsed time is indicated by a percentage calibrated time bar 72.
The bar is bracketed by S for start, and F for finish. By default, titles
will appear automatically when channels are scanned. Grazing Titles may be
de-activated using the CANCEL key. To restore auto-titles, press Select
while viewing TV. The flow diagram governing titles/program notes, while
viewing TV, is shown in FIG. 11.
An express recording screen 74 is shown in FIG. 12. The express recording
screen includes the following information:
Title of Program
Length of Program
Tape Time Remaining
Recording Speed.
FIG. 13 shows a tape index screen 76. Locating a recorded segment is often
an arduous task when several programs have been recorded on the tape.
Without a table of contents, the VCR users muddle through stretches of
recording trying to find what's recorded on the tape, where the beginning
of the desired program is, and where the tape is now. Some premium VCRs
provide tape indexing that automatically finds the start of each
recording. However, while the viewer can find the start of a recording,
the indexing VCRs do not record titles. The net result is about as useful
as a having a table of contents without chapter titles. Considerable
searching is still required to find what is recorded at each index.
The tape index screen 76 provides a virtual tape directory, giving the
equivalent function of a table of contents for a tape recording. There is
a list 78 of titles of recorded programs, a pointer 80 to the start of the
program, and a current position indicator cursor 82 showing the "chapter"
location on the tape. The virtual directory is automatically compiled,
revised and stored in off-tape memory as the user records over the tape.
The What's on Tape command will display a list of titles of programs
recorded on the tape. The title of the selected program (the segment of
tape that is positioned over tape head) is highlighted by the cursor 82.
The tape position pointer 80 dynamically tracks the current tape position.
All searching is done simply by title, bypassing the need for index
numbers. The tape directory is equivalent to a table of contents showing
titles, but not page number. It automatically opens to the starting page
by simply pointing to the title of the program. In addition to the tape
directory 78 of recorded programs, the screen 76 includes a program
duration field 84, a recorded speed of each title field 86, a remaining
time left on tape field 88, a remaining time left on program field 90 and
a next scheduled recording time field 92.
The virtual tape directory is generated as follows. It is difficult to
implement a competent self-contained tape directory for a non-random
access storage such as a video tape. No matter where the directory is
stored on the tape, the latent access time to locate the directory and
return to current position (for a standard six hour tape) is excruciating
slow, in the order of 6 to 10 minutes.
If redundant directories are recorded uniformly across the tape to minimize
latency time, the problem of sluggishness is merely shifted from playback
to updating the multiple directories. After each video program is
recorded, the entire tape must be scanned to update each directory. Even
if this update process is automated, there is a question of excessive wear
on tapes and the VCR itself. Viz: each recording, no matter how short,
results in high-speed scanning of the entire tape in order to revise all
directories.
Even more troubling is the question of when to perform the update, since
there is no "safe" period for the VCR to take control. For example, the
user may have stopped the tape momentarily, perhaps to skip commercials,
only to find that the VCR has commandeered control and place the tape in a
high speed update mode. The safest update is one that is user-initiated.
Unfortunately, few VCR users will follow a regimented procedure of
updating after each recording session. Clearly, an on-tape directory based
on existing technology is not satisfactory.
The following innovative solution, the "virtual tape directory", stores
directory information in off-tape memory and does not require an on-tape
directory or any augmentation of the video cassette. Since the directory
is held in external memory instead of the tape, it is best suited for
tapes that have recently been played and recorded, the "working tapes".
When a program is recorded, the title of the program is written to the data
(control track) channel of the tape and, at the same time stored in a
non-volatile (NV) memory. Other information about the recorded program,
such as length of program, theme category, date recorded, and tape
identifier code may be written to the data channel, as well as stored in
the NV memory. The NV memory is adequate to support a number of working
tapes.
When a tape is first loaded, the tape data channel will be scanned for a
few seconds to identify the recorded program under the tape head. This
data will be matched against the directories stored in NVmemory. If there
is a match, the directory of the working tape will be displayed
immediately when the What's On Tape key is pressed. The "virtual" tape
directory appears to have been read from the tape, but is actually
obtained from NVmemory.
If there is no match, a new directory for the tape will be created. During
playback and recording of this tape, a virtual directory will be generated
for that tape. Directories of inactive tapes will be automatically purged
from memory as new working tapes are introduced.
It is relatively easy to estimate remaining time of a scheduled televised
program with the assist of a clock and a TV schedule. In contrast, there
are few clues as to current location during playback of a recorded
program, particularly when there are several recorded segments on a tape.
Tape index counters or running-time clocks require diligent bookkeeping
before the start of a recorded segment. Few consumers will tinker with 5
or 6 digit numbers when a "ballpark" indicator is adequate, such as, "is
the program about over?", or "about when does the next segment starts?".
Clearly, there is need to provide a location indicator without the burden
of bookkeeping.
To provide an at-a-glance indicator of relative tape location, an on-screen
tape position gauge 94 has been devised. The tape position gauge 94
consists of a vertical bar 96 with the arrow pointer 80 located on the
left edge of the screen 76. The arrow 80 dynamically tracks the current
tape position as the tape is advanced or rewound.
The gauge 94 is graduated, not in linear units, but in units of recorded
segments 98 with each segment labelled with its program title. Thus, a 10
minute program or a 6 hour program is represented as one vertical unit
corresponding to the width of a segment 98. However, the gauge 94 is
linear within each segment 98. If the arrow is pointing at the upper 25%
of the program segment 98, it indicates that the tape head is positioned
over the first 25% of the program. If a conventional linear gauge were
displayed, a far more complicated gauge would be required, that would
likely confuse rather than clarify.
Thus, this tape gauge 94 provides a quick capsule indication of the where
the tape head is currently positioned, relative to the current program,
and relative to other programs or the tape, and the title of other
programs.
The tape index screen 76 includes a tape motion indicator field 100. When
the tape is undergoing high speed repositioning, the What's On This Tape
(WOT) screen 76 will be displayed. During high speed search of a long
program, the tape gauge 94 will appear to be dormant, since the gauge is
relatively coarse for programs of long duration. To supplement the tape
gauge 94, the tape indicator 100 is included. During high speed
positioning, one of these messages will be displayed in the space above
twin-hub tape icon 102: GO PLAY, GO RECORD, FORWARDING, REVERSING, PAUSE,
and STOP.
GO PLAY is displayed while the tape is repositioning to the selected title.
When the title is reached, the WOT screen 76 will be displaced by the
playback video. GORECORD is displayed while the tape is positioning to the
selected program segment 98, where the new recording will be written.
FIGS. 14-17 show Theme function screens 104. The Theme function allows the
viewer to quickly sort the downloaded schedule and display a subset
schedule based on a subject of interest. The user has the freedom to
select listings sorted first by major themes, second by topic(s) within a
theme, and/or by topic qualifiers. All guides sorted by theme, topic and
qualifier will be displayed in a row-tabulated format and begins by
listing programs nearest to the current half-hour. The theme function
screens 104 have the following attributes: Rotating Themes. There are four
theme categories, with each theme title enclosed in horizontally-arranged
selection boxes 106. From left to right, the themes are: [Movies] [Sports]
[Specials] [TV Fare] FIG. 18 is a flow diagram defining the Theme command.
Topic Selection. There are up to 16 topics 108 for each theme arranged in
an 8 row by two column field 110. Any number of topics may be selected
under a selected theme. Topics is a logical OR function, meaning that each
listing that meets the definition of the topic will be displayed. For
example under the theme of Movies, if the topic titles Comedy and Satire
are selected, a subset schedule of both comedy movies and satire movies
will be displayed.
Default All Selection. When the Theme screen 104 is first opened, the first
slot (upper left most topic 108) will be highlighted. This is the ALL
function, which is the sum of all topics 108 for the selected theme. The
ALL function was created to minimize key stroking. Without an all topic
category, the user must enable all 16 topics 108 individually. Conversely,
if the user wishes to go from an all topics to an individual topic, the
user must cursor to and deselect each of the other 15 topics.
Qualifiers. Each theme includes a group of search attributes or qualifiers
112. The qualifiers for each theme 106 are shown in the respective one of
FIGS. 14-17 for each theme 106. Any number of qualifiers can be enabled at
one time. These qualifiers perform a logical OR functions; they will
select for display all listings (sorted first by theme and topic) that
satisfy the qualifiers.
The qualifiers 112 are positioned for easy selection. The selection of
qualifiers is made using the usual cursor commands. When a theme 106 is
initially opened, by default, the cursor is located near the top of the
screen. To minimize cursor commands, the qualifiers are also located near
the top of the screen. In contrast, placing the qualifiers at the bottom
of the screen would require a round trip of up to 16 key strokes.
The complete theme sorting strategy is defined as follows:
Listings=(Topic A+Topic B+etc.)*(Qualifier A+Qualifier b+etc.)
This may be read as listing all Topic A that also meets Qualifier A or
Qualifier B, plus all Topic B that also meets Qualifier A or Qualifier B,
etc.
Qualifiers, topics and themes are rooted in relational database operations
and allow logical sorting of the schedule. To support these higher order
of sorting, auxiliary data must be delivered to the VCR. In contrast,
simple sorting operations, such as sorting by time and by channel are
inherent in the fundamental information of a TV guide, and do not require
auxiliary search data.
The keystroke sequence for using the themes screens 104 are as follows.
While watching TV, the first Theme key command will summon the opening
theme screen with the left most theme, Movies, highlighted. Further theme
commands will rotate the theme selection from left to right. Each theme
screen will be initialized to the all (topics) selection. If no topic
selection is made, an all topics guide for the selected theme will be
displayed upon depressing the Select/Goto command.
To additionally sort the theme by a single topic, position the cursor key
to the desired topic and depress the Select/Goto key. Use the cursor to
return to a topic.
To sort by more than one topic, position the cursor over each desired topic
and depress the Select key. When finished, press Select/Goto to display a
multiple-topic guide.
To sort by one or more attributes, position the cursor over each desired
attribute and press the Select key. When finished, move the cursor to a
topic and press Select/Goto to retrieve the theme/attribute-sorted TV
guide.
Other than express recording, all recording activities are controlled with
the Record Memo screen 16 of FIG. 4. The Record Memo screen 16 is accessed
with a Record Memo key. When the Record Menu key is depressed, the
following titles enclosed in horizontally-arranged selection boxes 114
will appear at the top of the opening screen. From left to right: [Pending
[Recorded [Linked [On-Grid Recordings] Programs] Titles] Prog.] Each
Record Memo key command will highlight a new selection, rotating from left
to right, and wrapping around to Pending Recordings after the right most
position. FIG. 19 is a flow diagram defining the Record Memo command.
FIG. 20 shows a Channel Customization screen 116. The screen 116 allows the
user to customize channels to match viewing interest, providing a compact
listing as well as eliminating undesired channels during up down scanning.
During schedule update, a list of all cable channels available at the
subscriber's cable system (or broadcast stations for over-the-air
subscribers) is also delivered to the VCR. This unabridged set of channels
may be customized using screen 116.
The channel customization screen 116 has two fields, a 3 column field 118
listing up to 36 unabridged channels and a single column field 120 listing
12 favorite MY channels. The latter is a replica of the channel descriptor
column 122 (FIG. 1) of the opening grid guide. Additional pages are
available (using the page key to swap between the pages) to accommodate
systems with more than 36 channels. Each cell 124 in the 3 column field
118 contains the following information: Channel number and program service
name (such as HBO or station KTVU, 2). The cell 124 is color-coded to
indicate the following states:
ON, default state before any customization, with the cell 124 in light
green background.
MY, favorite channels liste | | |
