CN1112804C - EPG with advertising inserts - Google Patents

Abstract

Advertisements (50) are inserted in an EPG on the screen (40) of a display monitor (20) between the individual television program listings. Specifically, a memory (22, 34) stores EPG data and advertising data. A microprocessor (24) is programmed to recover EPG data corresponding to a number of television programs and advertising data from the memory. The microprocessor controls the monitor to display the recovered EPG data on the screen in lines of television program listings, each television program listing being displayed in a separate line, and to display the recovered advertising data in a line on the screen instead of one of the television program listings. The EPG and advertising data are displayed in a first area (46) of the screen and a detail window is displayed in a second area (44) of the screen. One of the lines of EPG data is highlighted with a cursor (48). A description of the television program listing highlighted by the cursor is inserted in the second area. When the line of advertising data is highlighted with the cursor, an information relating to the advertising data is inserted in the second area.

Description

EPG with ad insertion

technical field

The present invention relates to electronic program guides which incorporate advertising messages or words.

technical background

As the number of television channels available via cable and satellite increases, on-screen electronic program guides (EPGs) are becoming increasingly indispensable. Such an EPG allows the user to sort available current and future programming by topic, time and channel. Therefore, the user can more easily find a program of interest.

Collecting EPG data for display and sending such data to users is expensive. So you need to find a way to make up for the cost of these actions.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides a device for displaying advertisements, comprising: a memory for storing EPG data and advertisement data; a display monitor having a display screen; for accessing the memory to reproduce EPG data corresponding to a large number of television programs means for displaying reproduced EPG data on a screen in rows of television program listings, each listed television program listing being displayed in a separate row; for accessing memory to reproduce advertising data and means for inserting the reproduced advertisement data into a line on the screen instead of one of the television program listings.

In accordance with the present invention, advertisements are inserted between separate television program listing outputs on the screen of a display monitor. In particular, a memory stores EPG data and advertisement data. A microprocessor is programmed to reproduce EPG data corresponding to a large amount of television program and commercial data in memory. The microprocessor controls the monitor to display the reproduced EPG data on the screen in the form of TV program list lines, each TV program list is displayed on a separate line, and the reproduced advertisement data is displayed on a line on the screen, while Not one of the TV show listings.

In a preferred embodiment, both the EPG data and the advertisement data are displayed in a first area on the screen, and a detailed window is displayed in a second area of the screen. Use a cursor to highlight one of the EPG data lines. Inserts a description of the TV program listing highlighted by the cursor into the second field. When the line of advertisement data is highlighted with the cursor, a description about the advertisement data is inserted into the second area.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of implementing the apparatus of the present invention; With

FIG. 2 is a screen format generated by the apparatus of FIG. 1 .

Detailed ways

US Patent Application Serial No. 08/475,395, filed June 7, 1995, and Serial No. 08/728,614, filed October 10, 1996, are incorporated herein by reference. A source of television signal 10 shown in FIG. 1, such as a terrestrial antenna or cable, is connected to a television tuner 11, as illustrated in the preceding application. The output of the tuner 11 is a modulated intermediate frequency signal including video and audio television information. The tuner 11 is connected with an image detector (PICTURE DET) 13 and a sound detector (SOUND DET) 14 through an intermediate frequency amplifier (IF AMP) 12, which generate baseband video and audio signals respectively. Audio signal is connected with a loudspeaker 16 through a sound amplifier (SOUND AMP) 15. The video signal is connected to an output of a switch 18 via a not shown video amplifier. The sound detector 14 and the image detector 13 are connected to the audio and video inputs of a video cassette recorder (VCR) 17, respectively. (Alternatively, if the internal tuner and demodulation circuit of VCR17 is utilized, the TV signal source 10 can be directly connected to the RF input of VCR17.) The output of VCR17 is connected to another input of switch 18. The output of switch 18 is connected to an input of a conventional picture-in-picture (PIP) integrated circuit chip 19 . The output of the PIP chip 19 is connected to the video input of a television receiver or monitor (TV) 20 having a screen (not shown).

An updatable database of program listings for all available channels is stored in a program listing memory 22 for a specified duration, such as a day or a week. These program listings typically include the title of each program, a description of the program, the day of the week, the start time of the day, the length of the program, and the channel on which the program was delivered, such that the program is available at source 10. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the stored duration of the program list is different from that of the guide, depending on the priority and priority of the viewer. For example, the information required to display TISPG and CSPG may be stored for one or two days, and the information required to display TSPG may be stored for a week or more. The database may be updated in a known manner by a continuous data link during a vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television channel broadcast to the television receiver. Alternatively, it is possible to update the database with the non-intrusive memory 22 and replace it with a memory with the updated database. Memory 22 is connected to a microprocessor 24 programmed to control the operation of the described apparatus. Programs for operating the microprocessor 24 are stored in a read only memory (ROM) 26 . A viewer input device 28, preferably in the form of a remote IR controller, is connected to a microprocessor to provide commands from the viewer. A video processor 30 is coupled to the microprocessor 24 . When a viewer desires to see television program listings, microprocessor 24 recalls a portion of the program schedule database from memory 22 and interfaces it with video processor 30, which formats the program listing output for display. Preferably, the message stored by the video processor 30 is a bitmap displayed on the screen of the television receiver 20 . The video processor 30 is connected to another input of the PIP chip 19 . Preferably, the viewer input device 28 controls the microprocessor 24 by moving a cursor on the screen of the television receiver 20 . Finally, both the microprocessor 24 and the video processor 30 are connected to a cursor position register 32 . (Alternatively, the viewer may select items of information displayed on the screen by entering the viewer input device 28 code numbers assigned to those items). Microprocessor 24 is also connected to tuner 11 for channel change, to VCR for play/record selection and start/stop, to switch 18 to select one of its inputs, and to PIP chip In order to select the way of PIP operation.

Shown in Figure 2 is the format of the electronic program guide. The format has a background area 40 and an overlapping PIP window 42 in the upper left corner of the screen. The real time, ie 5:11p.m is displayed in the sub-area 42a of the PIP window 42 . Background area 40 includes a title and message prompt area 43 at the top of the screen, a program description area 44 adjacent to the PIP window in the upper right corner of the screen, and a program schedule area 46 below areas 42 and 44 . The program description area 44 includes the start time and length (duration) of the program being described. In area 46, the EPG data retrieved from memory 22 is displayed in rows, with each program listing displayed in a separate row. The viewer can vertically move the cursor to a certain line of the program list displayed in the highlighted display area 46 . The highlighted background of cursor 48 and the background of program description area 44 are preferably the same color or shade. All moving real-time and current images of a currently broadcast television program are displayed in the PIP window 42, and the audio portion of the television program displayed in the PIP window 42 is reproduced by the sound system of the monitor 20.

Advertisements are inserted between the lines of the program listings displayed in the on-screen program schedule area 46, and related information and notifications are displayed in the description area 44. Referring to FIG. 1, the ad insertion is preferably sent in the VBI as part of the program schedule information and stored in the television receiver in RAM, replacing the function of the ad insertion memory 34. Preferably the insertion is sent as part of the information packet about the program, ie SIP, with which the advertising insertion is displayed. The device function of FIG. 1, described in 08/475,395, treats advertisement insertion as part of the program listing displayed in area 46 and as part of the summary program description displayed in area 44.

In fact, it is physically possible to insert memory 34 and memory 22 into a single RAM. The address for the ad insertion can be stored as part of a pre-established schedule of programs that are displayed with the ad insertion. In this way, the address links the scheduler and the ad insertion, and each ad insertion is stored in memory only once. By linking the ad insertions to the time list, the displayed ad insertions become time independent. In this way, the content of the displayed advertisement is directed to the interest of the viewer in a way. Ads of interest to housewives are shown in the morning, while ads of interest to children are shown early in the evening.

As illustrated in Figure 2, an ad insert 50 is preferably displayed on a row below the list. The "NBC 4 News" of the television show, which was sponsored by advertisers such as Coca-Cola. However, there is not necessarily a relationship between the advertiser's location and the television program, depending on the circumstances. To obtain more information about the subject of ad insertion 50, the viewer highlights the line with cursor 48; such information is then displayed in area 44 in place of the information about the television program. For example, a notification in area 44 could tell the viewer that the product in the ad is being sold at a retailer at a particular price or give a more detailed description.

Claims (3)

1. device that is used for display ads comprises:

A memory that is used to store EPG data and ad data;

Display monitor with display screen;

Be used for reference to storage to reproduce the device with a large amount of corresponding EPG data of TV programme;

Be used for showing at the row of TV program list on screen the device of the EPG data of being reproduced, each listed TV program list all is to show with independent row;

Be used for reference to storage to reproduce the device of ad data; With

The ad data that is used for being reproduced is inserted into the delegation on the screen, replaces the some devices in the TV program list.

2. the device of the display ads of claim 1, wherein the EPG data are presented at first zone on the screen, and the device of this display ads also comprises:

Be used on screen showing the device of certain delegation of the row of EPG data with a cursor high brightness;

The device that is used for the detailed window of second zone demonstration on screen; With

A description that is used for TV program list that the cursor high brightness is shown is inserted into the device in second zone.

3. the device of the display ads of claim 2 also comprises:

The device that is used for the row of usefulness light absolute altitude brightness advertisement data on screen; With

Be used for will the information relevant being inserted into the device in second zone with the ad data that the cursor high brightness shows.

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