HK1025454B - Epg with advertising inserts - Google Patents

Description

EPG with advertisement insertion

Technical Field

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

Technical Field

On-screen Electronic Program Guides (EPGs) are becoming increasingly indispensable due to the increasing number of television channels available over cable and satellite. Such an EPG allows the user to sort available present and future programs by topic, time and channel. Therefore, the user can more easily find a program of interest.

It is expensive to collect EPG data for display and transmit such data to a user. It is thus necessary to find a way to compensate for the expense of these actions.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an apparatus for displaying advertisements, comprising: a memory for storing EPG data and advertisement data; a display monitor having a display screen; means for accessing the memory to reproduce EPG data corresponding to a plurality of television programs; means for displaying the reproduced EPG data in lines of television program listings on a screen, each listed television program listing being displayed in a separate line; means for accessing the memory to reproduce the advertisement data; and means for inserting the reproduced advertisement data into a line on the screen in place of one of the television program listings.

In accordance with the present invention, advertisements are inserted between separate television program listings output on the screen of a display monitor. Specifically, a memory stores EPG data and advertisement data. A microprocessor is programmed to reproduce EPG data corresponding to a large number of television programs and advertisement data in a memory. The microprocessor controls the monitor to display the reproduced EPG data on the screen in the form of television program list lines, each of which is displayed in a separate line, and to display the reproduced advertisement data in a line on the screen other than one of the television program lists.

In a preferred embodiment, the EPG data and the advertisement data are displayed in a first area of the screen and a detailed window is displayed in a second area of the screen. A cursor is used to highlight a certain one of the rows of EPG data. A description of the television program listing highlighted by the cursor is inserted into the second area. When the line of advertisement data is highlighted, a description about the advertisement data is inserted into the second area.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus embodying the present invention; and

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

Detailed Description

Published U.S. patent application No. 08/475,395, filed on 7/6/1995, and application No. 08/728,614, filed on 10/1996, are both incorporated herein by reference. As illustrated in the previous application, the source of the television signal 10 shown in fig. 1, such as a terrestrial antenna or cable, is connected to a television tuner 11. The output of the tuner 11 is a modulated intermediate frequency signal comprising video and audio television information. The tuner 11 is connected via an intermediate frequency amplifier (IF AMP)12 to a PICTURE detector (PICTURE DET)13 and a SOUND detector (SOUND DET)14, which generate baseband video and audio signals, respectively. The audio signal is connected to a speaker 16 through a SOUND amplifier (SOUND AMP) 15. The video signal is connected to an output of a switch 18 via a video amplifier, not shown. The sound detector 14 and the image detector 13 are connected to the audio and video inputs, respectively, of a Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) 17. (alternatively, if a tuner and demodulation circuit internal to the VCR17 are utilized, the television signal source 10 may be directly connected to the RF input of the VCR 17.) the output of the VCR17 is connected to another input of the 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 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 listings for program listings for all available channels is stored in a program listings memory 22 for a specified duration, such as a day or week. These program listings typically include the title of each program, a program description, the day of the week, the start time of the day, the length of the program, and the channel on which the program is transmitted so that the program is available at the signal source 10. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the program listings are stored for a different length of time than the guide, depending on the viewer's priority and priority. For example, the information needed to display the TISPG and CSPG may be stored for one or two days, and the information needed to display the TSPG may be stored for one week or more. The database may be updated in a well known manner by a continuous data link during the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) of a certain television channel broadcast to the television receivers. Alternatively, it is possible to update the database with a non-intrusive memory 22 and replace it with a memory having an updated database. The memory 22 is connected to a microprocessor 24 which is programmed to control the operation of the described apparatus. The program for operating the microprocessor 24 is 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 connected to the microprocessor 24. When a viewer wishes to view a television program listing, microprocessor 24 recalls a portion of the program schedule database from memory 22 and interfaces it with video processor 30, where the program listing output is formatted for display. Preferably, the message stored by video processor 30 is a bitmap displayed on the screen of television receiver 20. Video processor 30 is connected to another input of PIP chip 19. Preferably, viewer input device 28 controls microprocessor 24 by moving a cursor on the screen of television receiver 20. To this end, both the microprocessor 24 and the video processor 30 are connected to a cursor position register 32. (alternatively, the viewer may select the information items displayed on the screen by entering the viewer input device 28 code numbers assigned to these items). Microprocessor 24 is also connected to tuner 11 for channel changing, to a VCR for play/record selection and start/stop, to switch 18 for selecting one of its inputs, and to a PIP chip for selecting the PIP mode of operation.

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

The advertisement insertion is displayed between the rows of the program listing in the program listing area 46 on the screen, and the related information and notification is displayed in the description area 44. Referring to fig. 1, commercial insertion is preferably transmitted in the VBI as part of the programming table information and stored in the television receiver in RAM, in place of the function of commercial insertion memory 34. Preferably, the insertion is sent as part of an information package about the program, i.e. SIP, with which the advertisement insertion is displayed. The device function of fig. 1 is depicted at 08/475,395 as having advertisements inserted as part of the program listings displayed in region 46 and as part of the summary program descriptions displayed in region 44.

In practice, memory 34 and memory 22 can be physically inserted into a single RAM. The address for the commercial insertion can be stored as part of a pre-established schedule of programs to be displayed with the commercial insertion. In this way, the address ties the schedule and ad insertion together, and each ad insertion is stored only once in memory. By linking the ad insertion with the time list, the displayed ad insertion becomes time independent. Thus, the content of the displayed advertisement is directed to some extent directly toward the viewer's interests. Advertisements of interest to the housewife are shown in the morning and advertisements of interest to the child are shown in the morning of the evening.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, an ad insert 50 is preferably displayed in a row below the list. "NBC 4 News" for television programs, which advertisers, such as Coca Cola, have initiated. However, depending on the circumstances, there need not be a relationship between the location of the advertiser and the television program, depending on the circumstances. To obtain more information about the subject matter of the commercial insert 50, the viewer highlights the highlight with a cursor 48; such information is then displayed in the area 44 in place of the information about the television program. For example, the notification in the field 44 can tell the viewer that the product in the advertisement is being sold at a particular price at the retailer or give a more detailed description.

Claims (3)

1. An apparatus for displaying advertisements, comprising:

a memory for storing EPG data and advertisement data;

a display monitor having a display screen;

means for accessing the memory to reproduce EPG data corresponding to a plurality of television programs;

means for displaying the reproduced EPG data in lines of television program listings on a screen, each listed television program listing being displayed in a separate line;

means for accessing the memory to reproduce the advertisement data; and

means for inserting the reproduced advertisement data into a line on the screen in place of one of the television program listings.

2. The apparatus for displaying an advertisement of claim 1, wherein the EPG data is displayed in a first area of the screen, the apparatus for displaying an advertisement further comprising:

means for highlighting a certain one of the rows of the EPG data with a cursor on the screen;

means for displaying a detailed window in a second area on the screen; and

means for inserting a description of the television program listing highlighted by the cursor into the second area.

3. The apparatus for displaying an advertisement of claim 2, further comprising:

means for displaying lines of advertising data on a screen with high light intensity; and

means for inserting information related to the cursor highlighted advertisement data into the second area.