HK1017797B - Method and apparatus for displaying textual or graphic data on the screen of television receivers - Google Patents

Description

Method and apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on screen of television receiver

The present invention relates to displaying text or graphic data on a television screen, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for displaying programming or cue commands for a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) and/or television in various languages.

VCRs are typically provided with programming commands pre-stored in the VCR's persistent storage in the native language format that can be displayed on the TV screen during the programming operation. For example, for VCRs sold in the United states, English is the local language that is pre-stored in the VCR's persistent memory. However, this can be a difficult task to accomplish if the television viewer that programs the VCR does not understand english.

To facilitate viewer programming, VCR commands are now displayed in a variety of foreign languages. These foreign language commands, which are not pre-stored in the VCR persistent storage, are delivered to the viewer by a television signal coming into the viewer's home. According to the present invention, it is not necessary to send the VCR back to the manufacturer to replace its persistent memory each time a different language command set is required. Television signals include program signals, signal portions for transmitting TV pictures, Vertical Blanking Intervals (VBIs), signal portions for storing various data types or messages. The VBI is used to send foreign language VCR commands to the VCR, which are then stored in the VCR's temporary storage. The viewer can then select the foreign language from the options displayed on the screen so that the VCR can be programmed in his/her native language.

In accordance with the present invention, foreign language VCR and/or television commands are sent to the viewer's home in the VBI, or over other transmission links. The foreign language commands are then stored in temporary memory for later use. Each set of foreign language commands also includes a unique language identifier for generating a menu of options available to the viewer. For example, foreign language commands in Spanish, French, and Chinese are available in the VBI, and the viewer menu will display these languages on the television screen, along with English, from which the viewer can select.

During operation, the viewer uses the TV remote control to select the language he uses from a menu displayed on the television screen. The available language identifier is compared with the language identifier entered by the user, and the foreign language command corresponding to the language identifier entered by the user is stored in temporary memory and later displayed on the television screen. If no foreign language command set is stored, the local language pre-stored in persistent memory is displayed on the television screen.

Preferably, the microprocessor is programmed to seamlessly retrieve the desired foreign language commands displayed on the television screen.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver, comprising: a memory device on the television receiver side in which data representing a local language command is stored; a microprocessor electrically connected to the memory; a first means for configuring the microprocessor to display local language commands stored in the memory means on the screen; means for receiving equivalent text or graphics data corresponding to a local language command, including one or more foreign language commands, from a vertical blanking interval, VBI, of a television signal; an external memory device for storing equivalent data; and second means for configuring the microprocessor to replace the local language command with equivalent data to display the equivalent data in place of the local language command, wherein a status bit is stored in the microprocessor indicating whether the local language command or the equivalent data is to be displayed, the second configuration means issuing a command address and a memory access command when a display of a command is invoked, reading the status bit, accessing the memory means using the issued address if the status bit indicates that the local language command is to be displayed, and accessing the external memory means using the issued address if the status bit indicates that the equivalent data is to be displayed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver, characterized by comprising the steps of: transmitting equivalent data to the television receiver in the vertical blanking interval, VBI, of the television signal, the equivalent data comprising a plurality of translations or graphical representations of the local language command in the one or more foreign languages; establishing a language menu comprising a foreign language list; displaying a language menu on a screen; selecting a transmitted foreign language from a language menu on the television receiver side; and displaying a foreign language translation of the command corresponding to the selected foreign language on the screen.

The features of a specific embodiment of the best mode for carrying out the invention are described below in connection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a microprocessor controlled television receiver and/or VCR programmed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows data being transmitted in the VBI;

FIG. 3 represents equivalent data describing the operation of the present invention; and

fig. 4 is a television screen display of a menu of command languages that a viewer can select.

The invention relates to the transmission of foreign language translations of command sets, also called equivalent data, which are displayed on the screen of a television receiver in place of the native language version of the command set. The command set may represent an on-screen prompt instructing the viewer to program the VCR or perform other related tasks for the VCR or television such as initial setup or audio/visual adjustments. The transmitted equivalent data includes a plurality of foreign language translations or graphical data representations of the local language and a plurality of language identifiers, each language identifier being unique to one of the foreign language translations or graphical data representations. The invention is described below in connection with cable television services, which may also be used for satellite or broadcast television services.

A main program source or equivalent data source in a television transmission system headend is coupled to a Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) encoder to insert equivalent data into the VBI of a television signal. Alternatively, the equivalent data may be transmitted on the subcarriers of the television signal, or they may be transmitted over a telephone connection or other known means of carrying data. Preferably, the equivalent data is repeated continuously as the source transmits the television signal.

In fig. 1, the television signal is delivered to the viewer's home via a cable subscriber drop 17. The television signal containing the transmitted equivalent data is supplied to the VBI decoder 30 through the tuner and demodulator 19. The decoder 30 separates the equivalent data transmitted in the VBI from the television signal and feeds it to the microprocessor 22. Microprocessor 22 includes temporary storage in the form of RAM 18. Equivalent data is stored in RAM 18. The program signal portion of the television signal is sent to television screen 21.

The remote control 23 is coupled to the microprocessor 22 by an infrared transmission link. The microprocessor 22 accesses a system memory 24 in which a native language version of the command set is stored. The system memory 24 is typically a ROM or other non-volatile data storage device. The native language version of the command set is loaded into system memory 24 at the factory, typically during manufacture. Microprocessor 22 determines what data is displayed, whether in the local language stored in system memory 24 or equivalent data stored in RAM 18. The microprocessor 22 in the video processor 26 combines the data to be displayed in a known manner and then sends them to the television screen 21 for display.

FIG. 2 depicts the equivalent data 32 carried in the VBI. The header field 34 is used to indicate the start of the equivalent data and to control the operation of the decoder 30 through clock and framing code information. Following the title field 34 is a foreign language translation or graphical data representation of the command set represented by encoded text data 36a, 36b, … 36n, each preceded by a unique language identifier field 38a, 38b, … 38n, respectively. As described in detail below, each command preferably has an address that identifies the location on the screen where such command is to be displayed. The same address is then used for a given command in each language. The language identifier represents a foreign language option, such as French, Spanish, Chinese, and so forth.

During operation, the viewer presses a set up key on the remote control 23, initiates the set up mode, and then keys in his or her foreign language preferences. Specifically, the viewer selects a foreign language from the on-screen menu shown in fig. 4. The default selection marked with the cursor 50 is the local language, e.g., english. To select a different language, the viewer moves the cursor 50 by operating the arrow keys on the remote control 23 and then presses the enter key on the remote control 23. The microprocessor 22 retrieves the corresponding language identifier for comparison with the language identifier sent in the VBI. When the microprocessor detects that they match each other, it "fetches" the corresponding language text data from the VBI and downloads it to RAM 18. For example, the viewer may wish to select a Spanish equivalent data set, and he or she may move the cursor 50 and enter the selection into the remote control 23. In this case, the microprocessor displays the command in the selected language. If no equivalent data set is stored in RAM18, i.e., if the viewer has not selected a foreign language, microprocessor 22 displays a local language version of the command stored in system memory 24.

While it is preferred that only one foreign language command set be stored in RAM18 to minimize the amount of data storage, all, at least more than one, of the foreign language command sets can be downloaded into RAM18 and, after download, the viewer can select the desired foreign language for display.

The equivalent data for each language identifier is shown in fig. 3. For example, if the local language commands include "time, channel, hour, day", Spanish command set 44 includes "tiempo, canal, hora, dia", and French command set 46 includes "times, channel, heure, jour". The individual commands of each command set also have an address indicating where on the screen they are to be placed to produce the desired message. For example, command set 44 has address 44a and command 44b, "tiempo"; the command set 46 has an address 46a and a command 46b, "temps". The same address is used for a given command regardless of the language, e.g., "001" for tiempo and temps, because the address identifies the location on the screen where the command is displayed. The same address may also be used for the local language command set stored in system memory 24, e.g., "001" for "temperature". In other words, the address of each local language command in system memory 24 is the same as the address of the corresponding foreign language command in RAM 18.

Alternatively, a different address structure may be used for the local language command set so that each television manufacturer can select its own address structure. In this case, after the viewer types an identification code relating to his/her television model and brand, a table is downloaded in the VBI into RAM18, associating the address in the native language with the address in the foreign language.

The microprocessor 22 is programmed to operate seamlessly regardless of the language selected by the viewer. The status bits are stored in the microprocessor 22. If the foreign language command set is downloaded into RAM18, i.e., the downloaded foreign language is to be displayed, the status bit is a value, such as a binary "1"; if the foreign language command set is not selected, i.e., the local language is to be displayed, the status bit is another value, such as a binary "0". When the microprocessor 22 invokes a command during operation, it sends an address indicating the location on the screen where the command is to be displayed. The microprocessor 22 checks the status bit to determine its value. If the status bit is a binary "1", the address is sent to RAM18, the foreign language command is retrieved, and it is displayed at the screen location specified by the address. (if a table is stored in RAM18, the transmitted address is converted by reference to the table to an address indicating the location on the screen where the foreign language command will be displayed.) if the status bit is a binary value of "0", the address is sent to system memory 24, the local language command is retrieved, and it is displayed at the screen location specified by the address.

Since not all television receivers have the local language stored in their system memory 24, all equivalent data including the local language may be transmitted and stored in the microprocessor RAM 18. In this case, without a default language selection, the viewer must select from the menu of FIG. 4.

The embodiments of the invention described above are merely preferred for illustrating the inventive concept. The scope of the invention is not limited to these examples. Many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims (14)

1. An apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver, comprising:

a memory device on the television receiver side in which data representing a local language command is stored;

a microprocessor electrically connected to the memory device;

a first means for configuring the microprocessor to display local language commands stored in the memory means on the screen;

means for receiving equivalent text or graphics data corresponding to a local language command, including one or more foreign language commands, from a vertical blanking interval, VBI, of a television signal;

an external memory device for storing equivalent data; and

a second means for configuring the microprocessor to replace the local language command with equivalent data, to display the equivalent data in place of the local language command,

wherein a status bit is stored in the microprocessor indicating whether the local language command or the equivalent data is to be displayed, and when a display of a command is invoked, the second configuration means issues a command address and a memory access command, reads the status bit, accesses the memory device using the issued address if the status bit indicates that the local language command is to be displayed, and accesses the memory device using the issued address if the status bit indicates that the equivalent data is to be displayed.

2. Apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the receiving means comprise a decoder for extracting equivalent data from the vertical blanking interval VBI of a television signal transmitted to the television receiver.

3. The apparatus for displaying textual or graphical data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 2, characterized in that the received equivalent data comprises a unique language identifier corresponding to a foreign language command.

4. The apparatus for displaying textual or graphical data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 3 further characterized by additionally comprising input means for coupling a viewer selected language identifier to the microprocessor, said second configuring means comparing the language identifier in the transmitted equivalent data with the viewer selection and storing the corresponding transmitted foreign language command in the external memory means when there is a match.

5. Apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver as set forth in claim 4 wherein the local language command has an address in the memory device indicating the location on the screen where the command is displayed and the corresponding foreign language command has the same address in the memory device.

6. Apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the external memory means are a random access memory RAM.

7. Apparatus for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the memory means are a read-only memory ROM.

8. A method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver, characterized by the steps of:

transmitting equivalent data to the television receiver in the vertical blanking interval, VBI, of the television signal, the equivalent data comprising a plurality of translations or graphical representations of the local language command in the one or more foreign languages;

establishing a language menu comprising a foreign language list;

displaying a language menu on a screen;

selecting a transmitted foreign language from a language menu on the television receiver side; and

a foreign language translation of the command corresponding to the selected foreign language is displayed on the screen.

9. The method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 8, characterized by additionally comprising the steps of:

appending a plurality of language identifiers to the transmitted equivalent data, each of the plurality of language identifiers uniquely corresponding to a foreign language translation or graphical data representation;

inputting a selection of a language identifier;

comparing the input selection with the language identifier attached to the equivalent data; and

when the result of the comparison in the comparing step is a match, the equivalent data is stored.

10. The method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 9, characterized by additionally comprising the steps of: transmitting the television signal from the head end equipment to each of the television receivers, the step of transmitting the equivalent data comprising the step of inserting the equivalent data into the television signal of the head end equipment.

11. Method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the inserting step inserts the equivalent data into the vertical blanking interval VBI of the television signal.

12. The method for displaying textual or graphical data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 11, characterized in that the step of transmitting the equivalent data further transmits a native language command and a native language identifier.

13. A method for displaying textual or graphical data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 8, additionally comprising assigning an address to the local language command indicating its location on the screen, assigning an address to the substitute equivalent data which is associated with the local language command address, configuring the microprocessor or displaying the command according to the address of the command, and storing a status bit indicating whether the local language command or a foreign language command translation is to be displayed.

14. Method for displaying text or graphic data on a screen of a television receiver according to claim 13, characterized in that it additionally comprises the steps of: the microprocessor is configured to issue an address indicating a screen location when a command call is made, and to display the retrieved command in response to the status bit and the transmitted address retrieval command.