Patent Application
20120159534
This disclosure pertains to digital video, device control, and television.
“Metadata” associated with video including a television programming guide which is an example of a media guidance application such as an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) or an Interactive Program Guide (IPG) is transmitted via digital television (DTV) transmissions, Internet Protocol television (IPTV), and/or a digital video delivery network such as the Internet. The metadata may include information pertaining to video content or a video asset, e.g. asset identifier, title, video or television tuning or source selector information e.g., frequency, source, channels or sub channels, rating, e.g. parental control purposes such as locked out channels, closed caption data, and/or other data, e.g. control data for Video on Demand or pay programs such as Pay Per View.
Further relating to the field of video content control and/or device control for the well known NTSC, PAL, and SECAM standard color television systems, color picture information is transmitted on a subcarrier signal. In this case of the NTSC system the subcarrier signal has a frequency of about 3.58 MHz and in the case of the PAL system a frequency of about 4.43 MHz. In both systems the precise color at any point in the picture is determined by the phase of this subcarrier signal relative to some reference phase, while the degree of saturation of the color is determined by the amplitude of the subcarrier signal.
In order for a television receiver to correctly reproduce colors, the receiver requires information concerning the above-mentioned reference phase. This information is transmitted as part of the video signal in the form of a burst of about nine cycles of the subcarrier signal following the horizontal synchronization pulse, and is referred to as the color burst. This color burst in the television receiver phase-locks a crystal oscillator circuit, thus generating a continuous subcarrier signal at the reference phase which is then used to demodulate the color information. It is normal for the phase-locked crystal oscillator circuit in the television receiver to have a fairly long time constant, on the order of a few milliseconds. The long time constant insures that the crystal oscillator circuit will ignore short term phase perturbations of the color burst signal as might be caused by noise. This color burst has been used for NTSC etc. standard television to provide copy protection, as described below.
This application relates to commonly owned and invented U.S. application Ser. No. 12/749,225 filed Mar. 29, 2010 “Content Control via Guide Data and/or Metadata” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Information transported or transmitted in the form of metadata or a portion of Interactive or Electronic Programming Guides (hereinafter referred to as programming guide) data as described above may be used to program, enable, or disable signals such as content control signals also as described above that are inserted or added to a video signal. Programming guides are examples of media guidance applications, also called media information guidance applications. One embodiment of the present invention utilizes such metadata and/or other information from programming guide signals or similar sources to subsequently command a digital Personal Video Recorder (PVR), which is an example of a digital video storage device, or provide (output) one or more types of video content control or record control signals. This metadata or programming guide also including an Electronic Service guide (ESG) or similar signal may be transported by way of the Internet or other digital delivery network (e.g. cable, DSL, radio frequency (RF), satellite, fiber optic, phone lines, wireless, Wi-Fi, WiMax, and/or the like). At least a portion of the metadata or programming guide signal is then coupled to a receiver. The receiver then extracts relevant data from the input signal to the receiver as metadata or programming guide information pertaining to control bits for enabling, disabling, and/or programming content control signal(s) or any combination of a content control signal and a copy protection signal. In an analog video signal, the metadata may be sent as pulses within one or more television lines in an overscan area, e.g. pulses in one or more portion of a vertical and/or horizontal blanking interval, or portion of a television line.
The present invention further relates to integrated circuits (ICs) of the type used in receiving (and/or playback or display) devices, which process signals from metadata, digital video stream, digital register, or a programming guide for enabling/disabling/programming content control signals. More particularly, the invention relates to an integrated circuit for use in receiving and/or playback or display devices, which include set top boxes, IP television (IPTV or Internet Protocol Television) devices, cell phones, digital media extending devices, which receive video programs via a digital signal, and/or integrated circuits that are used in such record and/or playback devices.
An integrated circuit or system in accordance with the invention receives a bit pattern from metadata, digital video stream, digital register, or a programming guide signal. For example, such a bit pattern is coupled to a circuit to provide a content control command to a recorder or to a processing circuit to generate a content control signal. In particular the bit pattern may be utilized in a manner to program, enable, or disable the generated control signal.
One embodiment of the invention provides an integrated circuit that may be used in a video signal receiver, which may include a set top box, computer, recorder, playback device, display, cell phone, Internet Protocol television device, or the like, to output a “new” content control signal which is normally playable on a television set or video display. This integrated circuit may include an encoder for providing a modified video signal with one or more content control signals and/or a detector or reader, or both encoder and reader. The reader or detector may sense certain modifications to a video signal, which may include one or more content control signals.
One embodiment of the invention includes a detector for a phase modulated signal, wherein the input of the detector receives a phase modulated signal and wherein the output of the detector confirms a minimum amount of phase modulation to provide a logical “true” or 1 signal. In this example, the logical true signal may indicate the presence of phase modulation. The output of the phase detector may be coupled to a recorder or a device to provide content control of video signals, or to provide a video signal with one or more modifications or added signals. For example, the reception of a phase modulated signal may provide or program added signals or signals inserted in a video signal, or the reception of a phase modulated signal may provide a subsequent command to a compliant device such as a recording, playback, receiving, and/or display device. An exemplary command may include: restricted duration of recording, restricted viewing period, prohibited recording or viewing, altered video/audio quality for display and/or recording.
Another embodiment of the invention includes an apparatus for programming or enabling or disabling a content control signal derived from a metadata, or programming guide signal including: a circuit to receive a metadata, or programming guide signal from a digital delivery network, wherein the metadata or programming guide signal includes a trigger or flag signal or bit pattern signal, further including coupling the trigger, flag, and/or bit pattern signal to a processing circuit and/or an encoding circuit to provide programming, enabling, or disabling the content control signal at an output of the encoding circuit, wherein the content control signal is added or inserted to a video signal to provide a content controlled video signal and wherein the content controlled video signal provides resistance to a circumvention device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,268 to Young et al, issued Dec. 26, 1995 and US Patent Application Publication US 2003/0149980 Hassell et al. published Aug. 7, 2003 pertain to programming guides such as EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) and IPG (Interactive Programming Guide), and are both incorporated by reference here in their entireties. An exemplary programming guide which may be provided or derived via an IPG or EPG signal, is for example a method or apparatus allowing a user to select one or more (favorite) video channels (sources) and includes providing to a display, e.g., via a screen, a number of cells representing a corresponding number of video channels available for viewing by a user, where each cell includes a channel number and/or a program (video asset) service name for a particular channel. Assets here include television programs, movies, portions of programs or movies and other video material such as brief videos or video clips, but this is not limiting. The user uses the display to select a channel among the number of channels; for example, changing a status of the selected channel to that of a favorite channel in response to the user selection, or displaying in cells corresponding to the favorite channels a visual indication that the selected channels are favorite channels, and providing program guide information for the subset of channels having said favorite status in response to a user indication to view the program guide information.
Another example of a programming guide, which is derived from a programming guide signal and which is exemplary of a media guidance application referred to above, includes a method or apparatus for navigating about a television or video listing or other type of asset identifier including one or more steps of: storing in electronic or computer readable memory (storage) a number of television or video program listings (asset identifiers); each listing including title, telecast time, and/or channel (source); displaying on a monitor screen some of the titles of the program listings in a grid format of time and channel; moving a cursor or other indicator on the screen to mark one or more of the displayed titles in the grid guide format; opening to the marked title in a single or multiple format, which may be instead be of the (original) grid guide format, where the single channel format includes rows (or columns) of sequential television or video program listings for the channel (or other source) corresponding to the marked title; additionally including moving the indicator on the screen to mark a different displayed title in the single channel format; where the storing step stores programming listings and/or the displaying step displays simultaneously with the program listings the program notes corresponding to the marked title.
Such a grid pattern or cell may include straight or curved segments. Alternatively, a two dimensional grid pattern may be transformed to a three dimensional grid pattern or vice versa. Such a grid pattern may include three and/or two dimensional properties. For example, one cell to another cell in the programming guide may be represented in a curved surface and/or a solid object's sides. Cells may be of regular and/or irregular shape(s).
One embodiment of the invention provides an integrated circuit that may be used in a receiver, which may include a set top box, computer, cell phone, Internet Protocol television device, or the like, to output a “new” content control signal which is normally playable on a television set. For example this integrated circuit may receive control bit(s) to enable and/or to program one or more waveforms for content control (or for copy protection). The control bit(s) or bit pattern may be derived from a programming guide transmission, and/or a recorded medium or storage, e.g., an Electronic Control Message signal, memory device, DVD, BluRay, CD, System Operator, bit command or default bit pattern in a media player and/or media receiver. For example, the control bit or bit pattern may be used in providing/programming/controlling a phase modulated waveform in a video signal, e.g., phase modulated or phase shift keying waveform to synthesize a signal in one or more horizontal blanking intervals including “m” number of cycles of a first phase angle, and/or a “n” number of cycles of a second phase angle; where “m”=“n” or “m”<“n” or “m”>“n”.
This disclosure further relates to commonly owned and invented U.S. application Ser. No. 12/563,050 filed Sep. 18, 2009, hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, and in particular to the well known Macrovision Corp. (now Rovi Corp.) “color stripe” (CS) process which is detected by specially provided signal detectors of the type often embedded in commercially available integrated chip sets used in video recorders (storage devices) or other Rovi Corp. compliant video devices. It is known that such a color stripe detector is able to read or detect properly the Rovi Corp. color stripe copy protection signals when an entire video color burst as described above is phase modified or when a majority of the color burst is so phase modified. In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a color stripe-type content control signal or record control signal that is detectable by a standard PVR (personal video recorder) while essentially not providing any chroma (color) copy protection signal, by providing a weakened color stripe different from the usual color stripe signal.
The usual color stripe signal, known from Ryan U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,216 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, is primarily a copy protection video signal, which is generally playable on a television set, but which causes an analog recording video cassette recorder (VCR) to play back a recorded signal with color errors. In the PAL television system, synthesizing a playable color stripe signal with negligible display artifacts while providing an effective copy protection signal on a VCR or other video tape recorder is a challenge. For example, the more effective the color stripe signal is on a particular video tape recorder in preventing copying, the more likely that undesirable playability artifacts on a television display are noticeable. Some PAL color stripe processes therefore are not commercially viable because of such display artifacts, and thus not implemented.
In recent years with the decline in VCR sales and usage, newer video recorders such as digital Personal Video Recorders have replaced the older VHS (analog) video tape recorders also referred to as VCRs. These digital video recorders use a different type of recording system, which generally includes a color stripe detector as explained above for reading or detecting the incoming color stripe signal. Once a color stripe copy protection signal is detected in a video signal, a content control command is generated by the detector, such as “Prohibit Recording/Viewing”. A “compliant” digital video recorder can then accept the content control command to stop recording or to replace/mute the program video signal with another signal such as a blue screen. Brill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,873, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses how a compliant device such as a video recorder includes special detection circuit to detect the color stripe signal and producing in response a control signal which disables the recorder, to prevent further recording. The same concept is embodied in commercially available integrated circuit video decoders which detect the color stripe signal and in response issue commands to control operation (such as no recording) of a compliant device such as a video set top box, personal video recorder or other in which the video decoder is installed. Such video decoders are generally referred to in the field as “Macrovision compliant”. Examples are the Texas Instruments televisionP5146 video decoder and the Micronas AVF4910B video pixel decoder. See also Rovi Corp. patent publication WO 2005/039176A1 disclosing use of analog copy protection to encode permitted use information, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
It is also known to provide a modified or weakened color stripe signal that is so detectable, but is not necessarily effective as a copy protection signal on a VHS video tape recorder or other video tape recorder. Ryan U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,890 and Quan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,523 both incorporated by reference in their entirety, further show ways to defeat the effects of color stripe signals by removing the incorrect phase in at least a portion or the whole of a color burst envelope. Normally one would conclude that by modifying a color stripe signal so as to defeat its color copy protection effects, the color stripe signal would also be not detectable in a compliant content control system by a detector. But it has been found that one or more color stripe “defeat” aspects of Quan et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,523 can be applied to improve playability of a video signal on a television display set while defeating color stripe copy protection effects on a video tape recorder and still allowing color stripe detection in a compliant device, e.g. to cause the compliant device to prevent recording; see U.S. application Ser. No. 12/350,740, filed Jun. 8, 2009, Cloutman et al., incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure further pertains to video receivers and tuners that play video received from an external source and produce there from an analog video signal output which includes a weakened or defeated form of the color stripe process. These receivers and tuners play such video which also may include anti-copy bit(s) or signal flag(s), which when detected in the receiver or tuner, applies an appropriate analog (e.g., color stripe) content control signal. In prior implementations, receivers provided copy protection signals that were effective on downstream video recorders such as tape recorders. However, with the decline in use of analog VHS and other video tape recorders which are typically VCRs and increased use of digital recorders, such copy protection signals for analog video tape recorders become less useful. To provide an effective copy protection signal for any video recorder, playability must be taken into consideration. So generally those copy protection signals most effective on a VCR are not provided commercially because of playability problems. Thus, for a commercial process, an effective copy protection signal generally must minimize playability artifacts. Thus prior receivers or tuners provide an effective copy protection video signal while being acceptable in playability, and while being very effective on a downstream compliant content control device. A compliant content control device reads and/or senses the copy protection signal and provides commands to shut down the recorder, to limit recording use, etc. as explained above. However, an “effective” copy protection signal generally is “overkill” for such a compliant device. Thus, a “weakened” or “defeated” copy protection signal will provide optimal video playability while still providing effective content control in a compliant device, without regard to copy protection effectiveness on a “non-compliant” VCR. One such copy protection signal is the color stripe signal described above, and a variant of the color stripe modified color burst signal is used in embodiments disclosed here.
The “weakened” color stripe signal as described here may be combined with other video copy protection signal modifications such as AGC and/or pseudo synchronization pulses in a portion of the horizontal and/or vertical blanking interval, lowered portion of the front and/or back porch of a video signal, lowered portion of an active field of the videos signal, e.g., included lowered portion of one or more television lines of the program video signal, and/or lowered portion of one or more television lines of any letter boxed region, or bordered region, and/or synchronization modifications in amplitude, position, and/or width.
In one embodiment a video tuner or receiver in accordance with the invention receives from an external source a digital video signal or video file which includes, e.g., Analog Protection System (APS), bit(s) or other control bit(s) (data or information) and couples the digital video signal to a reader or bit detector also part of the tuner or receiver e.g., for Analog Protection System, control, mode, and/or configuration of content control signal. The output signal of the reader or bit detector is coupled to a generator or a programmable generator in the tuner or receiver to provide a response to the weakened color stripe signal, which is generally not effective for copy protection on a downstream non-compliant VCR but is effective when detected by a compliant downstream content control device or other compliant apparatus, e.g., an analog to digital converter, PVR and/or video display. Depending on the output of the sensing circuit or reader, the weakened color stripe signal may be enabled, disabled or modified. The weakened color stripe signal generally is synthesized in the tuner or receiver by a digital to analog converter and/or encoder circuit and for example, coupled to the analog video output terminal of the tuner or receiver for transmission to the downstream device.
Note that a tuner or receiver in accordance with the invention may be (or may be incorporated in) a television set, set top box, a mobile telephone, a PVR, a VCR, a network hub, wireless router, a modem, a storage unit linked to a network or a transmission, an Internet Protocol television device, and/or a computer with network access, e.g., via Ethernet, wireless, and/or optical link.
In one embodiment, the tuner or receiver is a digital set top box device which receives a digital video signal by coupling to a transmitted or streamed source, which is coupled to a digital to analog converter (DAC) and/or encoder, wherein a generator or programmable generator is coupled to or part of the encoder and/or Digital to Analog Converter, and wherein the output of the digital to analog converter provides the weakened color stripe signal to, e.g., a television set. In this embodiment, no control bit or Analog Protection System bit is required or needs to be read to activate the weakened color stripe signal applied at the analog output terminal of the tuner or receiver.
In another embodiment, the tuner or receiver outputs the weakened color stripe signal in video signals also including program content that conform to, e.g., the 240p, 480I, 576I, PALN, PALNC, PALM, PAL, and/or NTSC television standards but this is not limiting. The tuner or receiver may insert or add into the output video signals copy conventional protection waveforms which are, e.g., Analog Gain Control (AGC) pulses, AGC and pseudo synchronization (pseudo synchronization) pulse pair signals, lowered portion of back porch, lowered portion of front porch, lower portion of one or more lines in the active television field. The tuner or receiver, e.g., being a modification of a conventional DVD player or Blu-Ray player, when switched to the 1080I television standard and/or to a progressive television standard such as 480p, 576p, 720p, and/or 1080p, provides pseudo synchronization and/or AGC pulses, or positive going pulses in the vertical and/or horizontal blanking intervals in selected television scan lines via a Digital to Analog Converter, pulse generator, and/or encoder circuit.
In yet another embodiment of the tuner or receiver, a waveform signal generator circuit in the tuner or receiver provides waveforms including pseudo synchronization and/or horizontal synchronization pulses in a position, pulse-width, and/or amplitude modulated manner combined with a circuit or generator that synthesizes the weakened color burst signal.
Such tuners or receivers which output a weakened color stripe signal may further include conventional circuit and software and mechanisms to play conventional digital media such as CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, High Definition-DVD discs, video tape, magnetic disk, and/or solid state memory devices. Examples of the tuner or receiver may thus include modified DVD players, Blu-Ray players, hard disc players, video tape players, and/or Uniform Serial Bus (USB) accessible solid state memory, built in solid state memory, and/or flash memory players, where the memory devices can be internal and/or externally accessed. In some tuners or receivers, a combination to two or more readers or players may be present such as a video tape player in combination with a Blu-Ray or DVD player or memory device player. Such tuners or receivers may include a television tuner and/or demodulator, but not necessarily. For instance, Internet based devices such as certain mobile telephones, some Blu-Ray DVD players, and computers cannot generally receive cable or broadcast or satellite television video signals, but can receive video files over the Internet, and are a type of Internet Protocol television receiver. All such devices are generally referred to here as a tuner or receiver or video receiver apparatus.
Some such tuners or receivers allow for external coupling via a USB or IEEE1394 or similar connection, e.g., Ethernet, for receiving a digital video program from an external source (not necessarily a television transmission), which when converted to an analog video signal include the weakened color stripe signal. Another embodiment of the tuner or receiver includes an external memory connection (e.g., USB or FireWire IEEE1394), Local Area Network (LAN), and/or Ethernet to modify or update any of the analog copy protection waveforms mentioned while allowing the tuner or receiver to include at its analog video signal output a weakened color stripe signal. In yet another embodiment the tuner or receiver may reside in a computer and/or a display, which outputs an analog video output signal that includes a weakened color stripe signal.
The present modified or “weakened” also referred here to as “defeated” color stripe signal, e.g., as providing a content control signal or record control signal, may also be combined with other well known analog video copy protection waveforms such as pseudo synchronization and/or AGC pulses. Also, one may combine the weakened color stripe signal with other copy protection methods such as synchronization narrowing, level shifting a portion of the video signal such as a lowered portion of a front or back porch region or an active field, e.g., when compared to another portion of the video signal such as a portion of the vertical blanking interval.
One may generate two or more types of defeated or weakened color stripe signals such that when combined with other waveforms, different types or levels of copy protection can be identified such as the well known Rovi Corp. Type 2 or Type 3 or Type n. A Type n copy protection signal can be linked to the well known Analog Protection System) trigger bits that are used in tuners or receivers such as those built into some DVD players, and/or cable or satellite television set top boxes or the like.
The tuner or receiver may provide a weakened color stripe signal that is detectable by a detection system, but does not have appreciable color copy protection effectiveness on a non-compliant video tape recorder.
The tuner or receiver may provide a weakened color stripe signal color burst modification which also has an extended color burst envelope. For example, a normal color burst includes about 8 to 10 cycles of subcarrier frequency, e.g., 4.43 MHz. Embodiments of the invention include greater than 10 cycles of subcarrier for the color burst modification.
The tuner or receiver generally may include more subcarrier cycles of substantially normal phase than cycles of incorrect phase in the weakened color stripe signal, e.g., the color stripe signal is reduced or weakened in providing the above described color copy protection effects to a PAL standard video tape recorder. In Wrobleski et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,132 incorporated by reference in its entirety, a color stripe signal with improved playability but which is copy prevention effective is provided having at least equal or more in number of subcarrier cycles of incorrect phase compared to the number of subcarrier cycles of correct or normal phase. Commercially available color stripe detectors, as referred to above, by design detect this type of color stripe signal. In one example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,132 two cycles of added incorrect phase form an extended color stripe color burst envelope to provide an effective color copy protection signal to a VCR, and to afford detection by such color stripe detectors.
Embodiments thus utilize color stripe modifications of the general type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,132 where segmented (or partial color burst modifications provide a reduced or defeated or weakened copy protection effect by generally providing a color burst with fewer cycles of incorrect color burst phase than those with correct or normal phase. One or more of this weakened type of color burst modifications is detectable by a commercially available color stripe reader/detector as described above. In an example, two subcarrier cycles of normal (correct) phase are added to the color burst to form an extended color stripe color burst envelope to provide reduced or defeated color copy protection effectiveness on a VCR, and also to still provide color stripe detection for content control purposes.
For example, in one version of a “defeated” color stripe PAL signal, e.g., a two video line color stripe color burst signal with more cycles of normal phase than incorrect phase, which was recorded, negligible color stripe effects were observed upon playback of the video by a VHS type VCR. Yet this “defeated” color stripe PAL signal was detected successfully as a color stripe signal by an available Rovi Corp. compliant video decoder.
The present weakened or defeated color stripe signal may be combined with any known copy protection enhancement signal, e.g., level shifting a portion of the video signal or any waveform described in Wonfor et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,936 incorporated by reference in its entirety, any part of a basic copy protection signal such as AGC and/or pseudo synchronization pulses, and/or any modification in one or more synchronization signals, e.g., synchronization pulse amplitude, synchronization pulse level shifting, synchronization pulse width modification, and/or synchronization pulse position modification.
Although the color stripe incorrect phase angle may be in the range of 20 degrees to 180 degrees, normal phase angle being 0 degrees, in some examples a phase of about 180 degrees for the incorrect burst phase portion is preferable to a smaller phase shift. For example, in some PAL television displays such as television sets or monitors, providing a modified phase of 90 degrees causes more noticeable playability artifacts than a modified phase of 180 degrees. When choosing an incorrect subcarrier phase from 20 to 180 degrees, intuitively it would seem that a phase angle less than 180 degrees would cause less playability artifacts also called display problems. Thus it would seem that 90 degrees of phase shift would cause fewer display problems than 180 degrees of phase shift. Experimentally, it has been found that 180 degrees of phase shift for a color stripe burst, whether for a weakened or effective copy protection color stripe, actually causes less or fewer display artifacts than a 90 degree phase shifted color burst. So preferably, a weakened version of the color stripe here has in one embodiment 180 degrees of phase shift.
In another variation of such a defeated or reduced effectiveness copy protection signal,
For example in general, the modified color burst 72 may include segments 74, 76, 78 with set or programmed amplitude, position, and/or phase angle. This means that each segment or section can be programmed in terms of amplitude, position or phase switch point, and/or phase angle such as 180 degrees. Color burst 72 represents a generic signal that can be provided in any Macrovision Corp. compliant, also called certified, integrated circuit for DVD players, etc.
Similarly, in
1) AGC pulses and/or Back Porch Pulses
2) Lowered portion of an active field or of a front or back porch region
3) Pseudo synchronization pulses and/or a narrowed synchronization pulse
4) N line color stripe signal
Similarly for a greater than two line weakened color stripe input signal that is detected, the “Command 2” signal output on terminal 120 may produce the well known Type 3 Rovi Corp. APS signal including the same or different color stripe signal as mentioned above and/or any of waveforms 1-4 listed above. An effective color stripe signal may include more cycles of incorrect phase angle than cycles of correct phase angle in a horizontal blanking interval, which may include an extended horizontal blanking interval.
Command 1 or 2 may direct a downstream device to mute, switch signal source, or shut down (e.g., upon sensing any of the “defeated” color stripe waveforms).
Typically the input signal to terminal(s) 192 is a digital component waveform having Y, Pr, Pb component video or the like. The Y component signal is denoted as the black and white video signal (B&W) which is summed by adder 200 to a modulated color signal via Pr and Pb multiplied by a carrier from modulator 198 including one or more color burst modifications to provide a composite digital television signal. A digital to analog converter (DAC) 204 then provides an analog video signal, e.g., composite video, Y/C video, or S-Video, at output terminal 208 that includes one or more color burst modifications in accordance with the invention. It is to be understood that an apparatus as in
1) Synchronization pulse modification(s) such as synchronization pulse reduction, synchronization pulse level shifting, synchronization pulse width, synchronization pulse amplitude, and/or synchronization pulse position.
2) One or more pseudo synchronization pulses in an overscan area.
3) One or more AGC pulses in an overscan area
4) Modulation (e.g., amplitude, frequency, position, and pulse-width) of AGC, synchronization, and/or pseudo synchronization pulse(s).
5) Level shifting a portion of the video signal.
The output signals of the ACP (copy protection) signal generator 226, and burst modifier, e.g., phase shift or phase generator, circuit 178 are coupled to a combining circuit 232, which outputs a digital and/or analog signal with one or more color burst modifications in accordance with the invention, and which at the output terminal 236 may include any of the copy protection signals mentioned above. Configuring, enabling, and/or disabling any of the signals mentioned copy protection and/or color burst modification may be via a control signal or bit pattern applied at terminal 240. Thus, the control signal at 240 includes one or more bits or a bit pattern, e.g., from a system operator, a memory device, storage device, media, etc.
Also included in tuner or receiver 330 and coupled to video source 331 is a waveform encoding circuit or encoder and/or Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) 332 which provides a video analog output signal including one or more of the waveforms such as the copy protection signals described above which are a weakened color stripe signal, or provide improved playability in a record or content controlled (and/or copy protected) video signal in accordance with the invention. Video source 331 thus may receive signals from a wireless transmission, digital network, a wired network or cable system, and may further be coupled to receive video from a (conventional) recorded medium played on a conventional magnetic drive, e.g., tape and/or disc, a conventional solid state memory device, e.g., flash drive, compact memory card, memory card, SD card, memory chip(s), and/or conventional optical disc playback device such as a CD, DVD or Blu Ray player, not shown.
The encoder and/or Digital to Analog Converter 332 is coupled to the video source 331 and outputs an analog video signal including one or more of the record or content control and/or copy protection waveforms described above, thereby to provide an analog copy protected video signal, content control signal, and/or weakened color stripe signal at video output port 363. This record or content controlled (and/or copy protected) video signal may be “on” by default, e.g., any of the present record or content control or copy protection signals can be provided in the output signal of the media player 330 upon power up, or at all times, or turned on by one or more control bits which is a command provided from within the video source 331 or by externally provided signal(s). The DAC is used in embodiments where the digital video source 331 receives an encoded signal or other signal already containing a record or content control or copy protection signal.
Such control bit(s) or a bit pattern may select one or more record or content control (and/or copy protection) waveforms or video signal modifications at video output port 363. For instance, in a 525 or 625 scan line television system, one or more weakened color stripe signals is added to a portion of the video signal, e.g., for the apparatuses of
Such programmability, for example provided by the waveform generator 348, includes employing conventional Analog Protection System (APS) bits to implement an APS defined Type-n signal. For instance, a Macrovision Corp. Type 1 APS signal may include pseudo synchronization pulses in selected television lines. An APS command conventionally generates a Type 1 or Type n signal. So the Type 1 signal must be tied to a particular APS bit pattern. A Type 1 signal may include content control signal and/or copy protection signal such as synchronization pulse amplitude reduction in selected television lines, lowered horizontal blanking interval front porch level in selected television lines, and/or lower back porch level in selected television lines. A Type 2 content control or copy protection APS signal may include a Type 1 signal with a first type of color stripe modification (CS), e.g., partial, full or split burst weakened color stripe signal. Or an APS Type 3 signal may include a second type of color stripe modification (CS) signal which is a weakened color stripe signal along with a Type 1 signal. Note that a Type 2 signal may have an “M” television scan line weakened color stripe process. A Type 3 process may have an “N” television scan line weakened color stripe process or vice versa. For example M<=2, N>=3.
Such programmability, accomplished for example via the waveform generator 348, may include programming the television scan line assignment of the pseudo synchronization pulses, the number of pseudo synchronization pulses per scan line, the position of pseudo synchronization pulses, and/or the width of pseudo synchronization pulses. Programmability may include a negative or positive voltage level to be assigned selected television lines for front and/or back porch region(s) of video line horizontal blanking intervals. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,583,936 and 7,050,698 relate to adding or inserting an amplitude lowering signal in the front and/or back porch area; both are incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Lowering and/or raising levels in one or more selected portion of the video signal outside a horizontal blanking interval may be part of the programming capability, e.g., of the waveform generator or a biasing circuit. For example, a portion of the video signal waveform such as the blanking level, front or back porch of the video signal's vertical blanking interval may be raised (or lowered) in terms of amplitude, meaning voltage, with respect to one or more television scan lines outside the vertical blanking interval or vice versa. For a color burst modification (e.g., the above described weakened color stripe process and/or television effective color stripe process), such programmability may include selecting television scan line assignment for the modified color burst and/or unmodified color burst, phase angle, zone(s) of correct or incorrect phase, and/or duration of one or more zones of the color burst. Such modifications of the color burst are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,516,132 and 7,039,294, both incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Although not shown in
In the video receiver apparatus examples of
Part B depicts a control and billing center of those video service providers who supply record or content control signal and/or copy protection signal control software for the respective content controlled (and/or protected) programs being broadcast, to generate the commands required to activate, control and reconfigure the record or content control and/or copy protection process for each specific pay program offering. Although a single provider is depicted, it is understood that part B represents any one of a plurality of video service providers each with their respective proprietary control and tracking or billing software, in accordance with the present invention.
Part C represents the procedure of transmitting the particular record or content control (and/or copy protection) command codes of the respective providers, for the pay program offerings, via the typical broadcasting or other transmission networks. Such transmissions may be made by satellite, microwave link, phone line or cable transmission systems, as depicted.
Part D represents a subscriber's home, or other receiving facility, and includes a set-top box 370 for each subscriber. Each set-top box 370 contains record or content control (and/or copy protection) circuit including a digital color encoder integrated circuit, which is adapted to apply selected record or content control (and/or copy protection) waveforms as described above to the analog or digital video signal which is supplied there from to a television set or monitor or other video display device. Receiver or set top box 370 is also shown in
Part E represents the procedure whereby data identifying each pay program transaction, including content control or copy protection usage, is sent by the set top box 370 back through the transmission networks of station C, generally to the respective video service provider's control and billing or tracking center. The center includes billing procedures which are a subset of the system control software and which process the return transaction data to provide for billing the subscriber for the pay program transaction usage.
Part F represents the procedure whereby each video service provider reports the content control or copy protection rights usage to the asset (program) rights holder or other vendor, whereby the provider pays the record or content control and/or copy protection) fees to the rights holder, e.g., the licensor.
In the event a subscriber records the pay protected program via a conventional digital or personal video recorder (storage device) 388 to obtain a recorded copy 380 on the disk drive of the recorder 388 without authorization, the unauthorized copy 380 will be degraded or altered to the degree that it is unwatchable, as depicted by television set picture 384. In another example, video recorder 388 is a compliant device as described above, e.g., a video recorder with an installed content control system, and upon reading the video signal modifications received from set top box 370, the recorder 388 may shut down recording resulting in “no picture” at television set 384, limit recording (storage), and/or provide an altered resolution or quality of recording. However, if the subscriber subscribes to a pay to tape or pay to record transaction and to the required higher pay to tape or pay to record transaction fee, then the copy is authorized and the resulting recorded copy 380 would be readily watchable.
In the example of
In response to the control commands, the CPU 410 supplies control signals to the NTSC/PAL video encoder 396. Video encoder 396 includes content control or copy protection control bit storage (e.g., registers) 422, 392 for respectively receiving and storing the on/off mode bits and/or configuration control bits. Configuration bits 392 determine the form of the record or content control, e.g., location of lines with weakened color stripe signal and/or the type of weakened color stripe signal, and/or copy protection, e.g., where the pseudo synchronization and AGC pulses will be located or positions of the color stripe lines. The on/off mode bits 422 determine which components of the record or content control and/or copy protection process will be activated, see Table 1 below. The video encoder 396 also receives decompressed video from the MPEG decoder and digital decompression circuit 404. Video encoder 396 outputs a radio frequency signal, a composite video signal and/or an S-video signal via video output leads 430. The decompressed audio signal is supplied from MPEG decoder 404 to a conventional audio processing circuit 428 which, in turn, outputs left (L) and right (R) channel stereo signals and/or an AC-3 audio signal on audio output leads 432.
The following Table 1 from U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,747 shows an example of the on/off mode bits 422. Mode bits or a bit pattern or control bit(s) or N0[x] which are bits or bytes may be for example, derived or provided from at least a portion of a metadata or programming guide signal.
It is preferred that the content control or record control waveform/signal (and/or anticopy) process on/off control is achieved by setting all the individual parameter on/off and mode control bits rather than a master on/off control. This requires that the N0 (N-zero) bits in the control bit listing be set as required. Depending on the individual system, this will require the control of 1 to 8 bits.
The delivery of the mode bits, e.g., one byte of data from on/off mode bits 422 (see
Another method delivers the mode bits 422 in a user defined section of the programming guide, which however is not identified in released documentation as controlling content control or record control and/or copy protection. This method also requires additional security to keep the memory location of the mode bits 422 from being accessed for unauthorized changes and the setting of a return flag that indicates the actual status of the mode byte when transmitted to the video encoder 396. Another method may be a combination of the conditional access, ECM, programming guide, and/or metadata. The transport of the mode byte in the programming guide or metadata could be combined with one or more bits within the ECM, programming guide or metadata. For example, to activate the content control or record control and/or copy protection technology is a logical, e.g., Boolean AND/OR operation between the ECM bits and/or the programming guide bits. If either is set, the record or content control (and/or copy protection) technology, both (or either) ECM and/or programming guide, or metadata would indicate that deactivation is necessary.
In one embodiment, the content control or record control or copy protection control software (CPCS) resident in application software 416 in the set top box 370 is capable of applying and reporting content control or record control and/or copy protection usage according to the following conditions. The CPCS alternatively may be software module or set of software modules that reside with the service provider or system operator, which provides an interface to manage one or more attributes of a (pay program) content control or copy protection signal. The overall system allows the subscriber's content control or record control and/or copy protection to be turned off at the set top box 370 as permitted by the pay program rights holder or system operator as follows. In one embodiment, set top box 370 of
Two exemplary pay program modes are: A) Pay program rights holder permits viewing only. The pay to record/store to disc/storage to memory/tape or store is prohibited, hence off. An example of “pay to store” would include paying to store one or more video program files in a device such as receiver, player, set top box, etc. Storing may include writing the file onto a magnetic, optical, or electrical medium, which includes disk or solid state memory. In one embodiment all set top boxes output a content control or a record control copy protected waveform only. For example, the copy protection waveform unconditionally appears on the set top box analog video output signal or terminal. This is reported to the billing system as a “Pay Per View” copy protected transaction.
B) Pay program rights holder permits viewing and recording. The pay to record or tape or store mode (or control) bit is set for pay to record/tape/store, which is on. Under this option, when the subscriber selected the pay to record/tape option, the content control or copy protection process is turned “off” in the set top box to allow the pay program to be recorded via PVR, tape, memory, disc, or the like for a higher transaction fee than for “viewing only”. For example, the content control or record control and/or copy protection waveform will not be present on the set top box analog video output signal. This is reported to the billing system as a “pay to store” or “pay to record/tape” content control or record control (and/or copy protected) transaction.
Table 2 below, also from U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,747, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, shows an example of pay to record, store, or tape control options for pay video programs generically referred to in this table as “Pay-Per-View” or “PPV” programs. It should be noted that “Pay To Tape” may be the equivalent of “Pay To Record” or “Pay-To-Store”. Table 2 provides a summary of the control options and includes additional information. In Table 2 copy protection may be replaced by content control or record control. Alternatively, the copy protection may include a content control or record control waveform, e.g., such as any embodiment disclosed here pertaining to a weakened color stripe signal, or a weakened color stripe signal and any combination of added pulses or modified voltage levels for a video signal. Any of these signals pertaining to content control or record control (that can be combined with added pulses or modifications in a voltage level of a video signal) may be programmed or enabled or disabled by any portion or bit pattern of a metadata or programming guide signal as described above.
Examples of input signals and output signals for system 550 may include input including a video signal with no rights protection (RP) signal, with an output video signal with a new content or type of rights protection (RP) signal that is resistant to black boxes (circumvention devices) and/or a new content or type of rights protection or phase modulated color burst protection signal with improved playability. A type of rights protection (RP) signal includes negative going pulses or pseudo sync pulses (e.g., one or more (negative) pulses per video scan line) in one or more scan lines within two scan lines (e.g. less than 2 scan lines) of the last scan line having post equalizing pulses for the vertical sync signal. In a standard pseudo sync process, the pseudo sync pulses occur at 2 scan lines or more after the post equalizing pulses. Thus, there are normally two scan lines that are normally blanked or that normally have no negative going pulses after the last post equalizing pulse. Certain circumvention devices sense the absence of negative going pulses for the one or two scan lines after the post equalizing pulses to identify the start of the pseudo sync pulses in the vertical blanking interval. Once the start point is identified by these circumvention devices, the standard pseudo sync pulses are deleted by signal modification circuits in the circumvention devices. For example, in a 525 scan line system (NTSC TV) the last post equalizing pulse scan lines are at scan lines 9 and 271. In a 625 scan line system (PAL TV) the last post equalizing scan lines are at scan lines 5 and 317. A standard 625 pseudo sync pulse signal may start with pseudo sync pulses at scan lines 8 and 320, which would be deleted by certain black boxes. It was found experimentally, by providing or including one or more pseudo sync pulses in scan lines 6, 7, 318, and/or 319 for a 625 scan line format (for a first type of rights protection signal), these certain circumvention devices did not remove sufficiently the pseudo sync pulses and/or the associated AGC pulses. Similarly in a 525 scan line format, providing/including one or more pseudo sync pulses in scan lines 10, 11, 272, and/or 273 (for a second type of rights protection signal) caused certain circumvention devices to fail in removing sufficient pseudo sync pulses and/or the associated AGC pulses. In at least one 525 scan line format circumvention device, providing pseudo sync pulse(s) or negative going pulse(s) immediately after the last scan line of post equalization pulses or end or vertical sync signal causes this particular 525 scan line format circumvention device to fail.
For example, to fail in a circumvention device in general means the circumvention device passes to its output port content control or copy protection pulse(s) or signal(s) and/or removes at least a portion of the active field, or color burst signal. A portion of the active field may include one or more portions of one or more scan lines outside the vertical blanking interval. The input may include a video signal with a standard rights protection signal that is not resistant to a black box, with an output video signal with a new rights protection signal that is resistant to black boxes and/or a new protection signal with improved playability. The input may include a video signal with a content or type of rights protection signal that is resistant to a black box, e.g., a black box or circumvention device that fails to sufficiently remove pseudo sync pulses and/or associated AGC pulses for circumventing content control or copy protection, with an output video signal with a rights protection signal not resistant to black boxes, and/or a new rights protection signal with improved playability. One or more type of rights protection signal is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/711,834, Method and Apparatus for Receiving Metadata, EPG, or IPG Signals in an Integrated Circuit for Control Purposes to a Recorder, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Other combinations of input or output signals are possible for system 550. For example, the input signal may be a copy protected video signal with improved playability while the output provides a (content) protected video signal without improved playability where the improved playability signal includes any of the (content) protection signals with improved playability, or vice versa. For example, the input signal may include a weakened color stripe content control signal with improved playability, while the output signal of system 550 includes a color stripe signal with less improved playability or vice versa.
A signal provided on an input port 568 from a radio frequency source, a wireless source, Internet or digital delivery network, phone line, cable, fiber, optical, or satellite, is coupled to a source selector or tuner or receiver 563. Source selector tuner or receiver 563 may include a player, which plays back digital signals. An output port of tuner or receiver 563 optionally may be coupled to an input of the recorder or processor 562, or to the programming guide or metadata signal processor 564. An output signal of processor 564 may then contain information from programming guide or metadata signal(s) to control processing or recording for example, for recorder or processor 562 or to program/enable/disable content or Type RP or weakened color stripe protection signal(s) provided from the encoder/DAC 565. The programming guide or metadata may be transmitted or added or inserted in a baseband video signal or may be provided via a digital delivery system e.g., from a system operator, or as a digital data signal. For example, at least a portion of a signal including programming guide or metadata, may be used to control a video processing device or recording device, or may be used for programming/enabling/disabling one or more content control signals or content or Type RP or weakened color stripe protection signals, and/or for providing a (content) protection signal that provides resistance to a black box or provides improved playability.
Programming guide data may be used as a command to pass or block a video program signal, and/or to alter video quality of the program video signal via a video processor 579. A signal designated OUT3 on output port 580 then includes for example a video signal with a content or type of rights protection or weakened color stripe signal, e.g., triggered or flagged by a bit pattern from a metadata or programming guide signal via for example a digital delivery network that provides resistance to a black box, or that provides improved playability.
Thereby one or more embodiments of the invention includes a content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signal supplied by an integrated circuit that improves video picture geometric distortion for better playability, a content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signal that reduces or defeats the function of a circumvention device, and/or a content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signal from an integrated circuit that triggers or causes a circumvention device to enhance protection effect(s). Such content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signals may be utilized in an integrated circuit including a digital to analog converter coupled to a source of digitally recorded material or digital video for providing a baseband video signal from a digital signal, a signal sensing or reader circuit for detecting or reading protection bit, a bit pattern or content control bit(s), and a signal generator for generating a content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signal at the output of the digital to analog converter in response to the protection bit, bit pattern, or content control bit(s).
Embodiments of the invention include any of the following. The protection signal is supplied via an output of the integrated circuit to an input of the circumvention device, where the output of the circumvention device passes at least part of the protection signal sufficiently for a rights protection or content control effect, and/or where the output of the circumvention device provides a signal to further distort or blank a portion of an active television field. The protected video signal from the integrated circuit is coupled to an input of the circumvention device, where the output of the circumvention device supplies a signal that is substantially effective in terms of rights protection or content control for a video recorder or for a content control system. A circuit for inserting or adding in at least one television line one or more pseudo synchronization pulses or one or more pseudo synchronization pulse or AGC pulse pair signals immediately after or less than two or two and a half lines after a vertical synchronization signal or post equalizing pulse, e.g., in an odd field, even field, or both fields, to for example provide resistance to a circumvention device.
Another embodiment includes method of providing a different number of pseudo synchronization pulses from one video scan line to another video scan line and/or different pseudo synchronization pulse widths from one video scan line to another, generating at least two scan lines consecutively with substantially the same number of pseudo synchronization pulses and/or substantially the same pseudo synchronization pulse width, e.g., for improved playability.
In another embodiment a content or rights protection or weakened color stripe protected video signal is supplied to a television set or other video display via an output of the receiving device, wherein improved playability is achieved e.g., via reduced “hooking” on a top portion of the television picture, e.g., by shifting the pseudo synchronization line locations closer to the vertical synchronization signal, or reducing pseudo synchronization pulse(s) near the beginning of the active field, or if the number of pseudo synchronization pulses alternates from scan line to scan line, provide two or more consecutive scan lines with the same or substantially the same number of pseudo synchronization pulses.
Another embodiment includes a method of starting or providing pseudo synchronization pulses immediately after or less than 2 or 2½ lines after a vertical synchronization signal or post equalizing pulse to provide the content or rights protection signal at an output of the integrated circuit, and may include one or more of the following: a color burst modification of whole or segmented portions of one or more color burst envelopes which includes one or more cycle of incorrect color burst, a weakened color stripe signal, level shifting of a portion of the video signal including lowering or raising one or more portions of the video signal, modifying synchronization location, amplitude, and/or pulse width in selected video lines, providing back porch pulses of different video levels from one video line to another, providing pseudo synchronization and/or AGC pulses of different pulse widths from one video line to another, providing pseudo synchronization and/or AGC pulses of different numbers from one video line to another.
The rights protection signal is supplied via an output of the integrated circuit receiver to an input of the circumvention device, wherein the output signal of the circumvention device passes at least part of the rights protection signal sufficiently for a rights protection or content control effect, and/or wherein the output of the circumvention device provides a signal to further distort or blank a portion of an active television field.
Combining pseudo synchronization and/or pseudo synchronization and automatic gain control (AGC) pulses immediately after a vertical synchronization signal or less than two or two and a half video lines after a vertical synchronization signal or post equalizing pulse, with the color burst modification, e.g. color stripe, partial color stripe, weakened color stripe, which in combination is generated at an output of the integrated circuit, where the color burst modification includes cycles of incorrect phase or frequency in selected video lines, wherein the baseband, composite, and/or component output of the integrated circuit is coupled to an input of the circumvention device, and wherein outputting via the circumvention device a content or type of rights protection or weakened color stripe protection signal which produces color distortions in the modified color burst of the copy protection signal and extra color distortion due to blanking or modifying of color burst envelopes in an active video field caused by the circumvention device.
It should be noted that such an integrated circuit by default may provide one or more protection or content control signal as previously mentioned when power is applied to the device. In another embodiment of the invention an integrated circuit may produce a partial or no protection or content control signal upon power-up, until a network signal (e.g., Internet Protocol television, WiMax, WiFi, phone, radio frequency, television, digital television, High Definition television, optical, Internet, router signal, signal from a computer, or the like), or transmission, is received in the integrated circuit. Here for example, one or more content or type of rights protection or weakened color stripe protection or content control signal is provided e.g., to provide a more complete or effective protection or content control signal by a video signal upon reception of a signal by the integrated circuit.
Control circuit 604 may be based on any suitable processing circuit 606 such as processing circuit based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, programmable logic devices, etc. In some embodiments, control circuit 604 executes instructions for a programming guide or any other applications stored in memory, e.g., storage 608. In client-server based embodiments, control circuit 604 may include a communications circuit suitable for communicating with networks or servers. The communications circuit may include a cable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, a digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment. Such communications may involve the Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths. In addition, communications circuit may include circuit that enables peer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communication of user equipment devices in locations remote from each other.
Memory, e.g., random-access memory, read-only memory, or any other suitable memory, hard drives, optical drives, or any other suitable fixed or removable storage devices, e.g., DVD recorder, CD recorder, video cassette recorder, or other suitable recording device may be provided as storage 608 that is part of control circuit 604. Storage 608 may include one or more of the above types of storage devices. For example, user equipment device 600 may include a hard drive for a digital video recorder (DVR) (also called a personal video recorder, or PVR) and a DVD recorder as a secondary storage device. Storage 608 may be used to store various types of media and data described herein, including program information, widget settings, user preferences or profile information, or other data. Nonvolatile memory may also be used, e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions.
Control circuit 604 may include video generating circuit and tuning circuit, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2 decoders or other digital decoding circuit, high-definition tuners, or any other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of such circuits. Encoding circuit, e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog, or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage, may also be provided. Control circuit 604 may also include scaler circuit for upconverting and downconverting media into the preferred output format of the user equipment device 600. Circuit 604 may also include digital-to-analog converter circuit and analog-to-digital converter circuit for converting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encoding circuit may be used by the user equipment to receive and to display, to play, or to record media content. The tuning and encoding circuit may also be used to receive data. The circuit described herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating, encoding, decoding, scaler, and analog/digital circuit, may be implemented by software running on one or more general purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may be provided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and record functions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording, etc). If storage 608 is provided as a separate device from user equipment device 600, the tuning and encoding circuit (including multiple tuners) may be associated with storage 608.
A user may control the control circuit 604 by using user input interface 610. User input interface 610 may be any suitable user interface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard, touch screen, touch pad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognition interface, or other user input interfaces. Display 612 may be provided as a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of user equipment device 600. Display 612 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images and display a user controlled cursor or the like. In some embodiments, display 612 may be High Definition television capable. Speakers 614 may be provided as integrated with other elements of user equipment device 600 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component of videos and other media content displayed on display 612 may be played through speakers 614. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to a receiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers 614.
User equipment device 600 of
User video equipment 630 may be a television set-top box, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellite television, a television set, a digital storage device, a DVD recorder, a video-cassette recorder (VCR), a local media server, or other user video equipment. User computer equipment 634 may include a personal computer (PC), a laptop, a tablet, a Web television box, a personal computer television (PC/television), a PC media server, a PC media center, or other user computer equipment. Wireless user communications device 638 may include a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a portable video player, a portable music player, a portable gaming machine, or other wireless devices.
Each of user video equipment 630, user computer equipment 634, and wireless user communications device 638 may utilize at least some of the system features described above in connection with
User equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 620 via communications paths 628, 632, and 636, respectively. Communications network 620 may be one or more networks including the Internet, a mobile phone network, mobile device (e.g., Blackberry) network, cable network, public switched telephone network, or other types of communications network or combinations of communications networks. Path 636 is drawn with dotted lines to indicate it is a wireless path and paths 628 and 632 are drawn as solid lines to indicate they are wired paths.
System 620 includes media content source 616 and media guidance application data source 618 coupled to communications network 624 via communication paths 620 and 622, respectively. Paths 620 and 622 may include any of the communication paths described above.
Media content source 616 may include one or more types of media distribution equipment including a television distribution facility, cable system headend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g., television broadcasters), intermediate distribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demand media servers, print media distributors, radio broadcasters, satellite broadcasters and other media content providers.
Media delivery system 600 may illustrate a number of approaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devices and sources of media content and guidance data may communicate with each other for the purpose of accessing media and providing media guidance.
Media guidance applications (e.g., programming guides) may be, for example, stand-alone applications implemented on user equipment devices. In other embodiments, media guidance applications may be client-server applications where only the client resides on the user equipment device. For example, a media guidance application may be implemented partially as a client application on control circuit 604 of user equipment device 600 and partially on a remote server as a server application, e.g., media guidance data source 618. Guidance application displays, e.g., the illustrative screen depicted in
A media guidance application may be implemented with any suitable architecture. For example, a media guidance application may be a stand-alone application wholly implemented on user equipment device 600. In such an approach, instructions of the application may be stored locally, and data for use by the application may be downloaded on a periodic basis, e.g., from the vertical blanking interval of a television channel, from an out-of-band feed, or by another suitable approach. In another embodiment, the media guidance application may be a client-server based application.
Media guidance applications may be used to provide one or more of media listings, media information, media content, media access and transaction opportunities to users.
The media information and media access account configuration functions of a media guidance application may be interrelated. For example, advertisement 646 of
Options region 648 may allow the user to access different types of media content, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidance application features. Options region 648 may be part of display 640, or may be invoked by a user by selecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignable button on a user input device. The selectable options within options region 648 may concern features related to program listings in grid 644 and may include options available from a main menu display.
This disclosure is illustrative and not limiting. Further modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61362643 | Jul 2010 | US |
