U.S. patent application number 12/546301 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-17 for systems and methods for interactive program guides with personal video recording features.
This patent application is currently assigned to United Video Properties, Inc.. Invention is credited to Joseph P. Baumgartner, Michael D. Ellis, Danny R. Gaydou, M. Scott Reichardt, William L. Thomas.
Application Number | 20090310937 12/546301 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27559485 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090310937 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ellis; Michael D. ; et
al. |
December 17, 2009 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTERACTIVE PROGRAM GUIDES WITH PERSONAL
VIDEO RECORDING FEATURES
Abstract
Methods and systems that provide enhanced personal video
recorder ("PVR") and interactive television program guide ("IPG")
functionality are provided. An interactive television application
("application") may be implemented to provide such functionality.
The application may be used to display a list of PVR recordings, to
schedule recordings to a PVR, to configure recordings, to view a
list of scheduled recordings, to configure recording settings, or
to select delete priority settings for recordings. The application
may integrate pay-per-view and PVR functionality. The application
may send user notifications for changes that are to be made to the
recording content of a PVR. Live programming may be buffered by the
application using a straight buffers that are created for each new
program. Parallel buffers for concurrent programs may be
implemented using multiple tuners. Straight buffers may be used in
managing or controlling the flow of programming. Television content
may be automatically paused when a user is engaged in using the
application. Multiple IPGs for different users of a PVR may be
implemented. Other PVR related features are also provided.
Inventors: |
Ellis; Michael D.; (Boulder,
CO) ; Gaydou; Danny R.; (Tulsa, OK) ;
Reichardt; M. Scott; (Tulsa, OK) ; Baumgartner;
Joseph P.; (Tulsa, OK) ; Thomas; William L.;
(Bixby, OK) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROPES & GRAY LLP
PATENT DOCKETING 39/361, 1211 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
10036-8704
US
|
Assignee: |
United Video Properties,
Inc.
Tulsa
OK
|
Family ID: |
27559485 |
Appl. No.: |
12/546301 |
Filed: |
August 24, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11356928 |
Feb 16, 2006 |
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12546301 |
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10105128 |
Feb 21, 2002 |
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11356928 |
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|
60270469 |
Feb 21, 2001 |
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60271809 |
Feb 27, 2001 |
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60284703 |
Apr 18, 2001 |
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60290709 |
May 14, 2001 |
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60296593 |
Jun 7, 2001 |
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60301589 |
Jun 28, 2001 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
386/291 ;
386/239; 386/E5.003 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/47217 20130101;
H04N 21/23406 20130101; G11B 27/34 20130101; H04N 5/782 20130101;
H04N 21/4532 20130101; G11B 2020/10962 20130101; H04N 21/4263
20130101; H04N 21/4782 20130101; H04N 9/7921 20130101; H04N
21/42214 20130101; H04N 21/2387 20130101; H04N 21/6587 20130101;
G11B 2220/41 20130101; H04N 21/4312 20130101; H04N 21/454 20130101;
H04N 21/4828 20130101; H04N 21/4751 20130101; H04N 21/4333
20130101; H04N 21/47 20130101; H04N 21/4755 20130101; H04N 21/84
20130101; H04N 21/2747 20130101; H04N 5/76 20130101; H04N 7/163
20130101; G11B 27/034 20130101; H04N 21/4147 20130101; H04N 21/4622
20130101; H04N 21/44004 20130101; H04N 21/4314 20130101; H04N
21/4882 20130101; H04N 21/8456 20130101; H04N 7/165 20130101; H04N
21/632 20130101; H04N 21/4335 20130101; H04N 21/812 20130101; H04N
21/4331 20130101; H04N 21/47214 20130101; H04N 21/482 20130101;
G11B 27/005 20130101; G11B 27/329 20130101; H04N 5/783 20130101;
H04N 21/478 20130101; H04N 21/485 20130101; H04N 21/4334 20130101;
H04N 21/4753 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
386/83 ;
386/E05.003 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/91 20060101
H04N005/91 |
Claims
1. A method of providing an interactive application implemented at
least partially on user equipment to manage recorded programs, the
method comprising: receiving a selection of an option to record a
program; in response to receiving the selection of the option to
record the program: storing the program on a storage device; and
adding the program to a personalized list of programs stored for a
user on the storage device; receiving a selection of an option to
delete a recorded program; and in response to receiving the
selection of the option to delete the recorded program, removing
the recorded program from the personalized list of programs without
removing the recorded program from the storage device.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding the program to
a global list of programs in response to receiving the selection of
the option to record the program.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising removing the recorded
program from the personalized list of programs without removing the
recorded program from the global list of programs.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the global list of programs
comprises programs stored on the storage device by a plurality of
users.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising automatically storing
programs based on user preferences, wherein the global list of
programs comprises programs automatically stored on the storage
device.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving a selection
of an option to record a program previously selected for deletion;
and in response to receiving the selection of the option to record
the program previously selected for deletion: determining whether
the program is currently stored on the storage device based on the
global list of programs; and in response to the determining, adding
the program to the personalized list of programs.
7. The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving a selection
of an option to record a program previously selected for deletion;
and in response to receiving the selection of the option to record
the program previously selected for deletion: determining whether
the program is currently stored on the storage device based on the
global list of programs; and in response to the determining:
storing the program on the storage device; adding the program to
the personalized list of programs; and adding the program to the
global list of programs.
8. The method of claim 2, further comprising allowing the user to
remove a recorded program from the global list of programs.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing each one of
a plurality of users with different personalized lists of programs
stored on the storage device for each one of the plurality of
users.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the user
with an option to play a recorded program.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the user
with an option to select a recording quality for a program selected
to be recorded, wherein the recording quality is selected from the
group consisting of low quality, medium quality, high quality, or
any other suitable recording quality.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the user
with an option to select a recording buffer for a program selected
to be recorded.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the user
with an option to select a delete preference setting for a recorded
program, wherein the delete preference setting is selected from the
group consisting of a setting to never delete the recorded program,
a setting to make the recorded program a preferred recording, a
setting to delete the recorded program when space is needed, a
setting to delete the recorded program after it has been viewed, or
other suitable setting.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising deleting the
recorded program based on the delete preference setting.
15. A system for managing recorded programs, comprising: a user
input device; a storage device; and an interactive application
implemented at least partially on user equipment and configured to:
receive a selection of an option to record a program; in response
to receiving the selection of the option to record the program:
store the program on the storage device; and add the program to a
personalized list of programs stored for a user on the storage
device; receive a selection of an option to delete a recorded
program; and remove the recorded program from the personalized list
of programs without removing the recorded program from the storage
device in response to receiving the selection of the option to
delete the recorded program.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to add the program to a global list of programs
in response to receiving the selection of the option to record the
program.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to remove the recorded program from the
personalized list of programs without removing the recorded program
from the global list of programs.
18. The system of claim 16, wherein the global list of programs
comprises programs stored on the storage device by a plurality of
users.
19. The system of claim 16, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to automatically store programs based on user
preferences, and wherein the global list of programs comprises
programs automatically stored on the storage device.
20. The system of claim 16, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to: receive a selection of an option to record a
program previously selected for deletion; and in response to
receiving the selection of the option to record the program
previously selected for deletion: determine whether the program is
currently stored on the storage device based on the global list of
programs; and in response to the determining, add the program to
the personalized list of programs.
21. The system of claim 16, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to: receive a selection of an option to record a
program previously selected for deletion; and in response to
receiving the selection of the option to record the program
previously selected for deletion: determine whether the program is
currently stored on the storage device based on the global list of
programs; and in response to the determining: store the program on
the storage device; add the program to the personalized list of
programs; and add the program to the global list of programs.
22. The system of claim 16, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to allow the user to remove a recorded program
from the global list of programs.
23. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to provide each one of a plurality of users with
different personalized lists of programs stored on the storage
device for each one of the plurality of users.
24. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to provide the user with an option to play a
recorded program.
25. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to provide the user with an option to select a
recording quality for a program selected to be recorded, and
wherein the recording quality is selected from the group consisting
of low quality, medium quality, high quality, or any other suitable
recording quality.
26. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to provide the user with an option to select a
recording buffer for a program selected to be recorded.
27. The system of claim 15, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to provide the user with an option to select a
delete preference setting for a recorded program, and wherein the
delete preference setting is selected from the group consisting of
a setting to never delete the recorded program, a setting to make
the recorded program a preferred recording, a setting to delete the
recorded program when space is needed, a setting to delete the
recorded program after it has been viewed, or other suitable
setting.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the interactive application is
further configured to delete the recorded program based on the
delete preference setting.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/356,928, filed Feb. 16, 2006, which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/105,128, filed
Feb. 21, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/270,469, filed Feb. 21, 2001, U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/271,809, filed Feb. 27, 2001, U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/284,703, filed on Apr. 18, 2001, U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/290,709, filed on May 14, 2001, U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/296,593, filed on Jun. 7, 2001, and
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/301,589, filed on Jun. 28,
2001. All of these prior applications are hereby incorporated
herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to interactive television
program guide ("IPG") systems and personal video recording ("PVR")
systems, and more particularly to enhanced PVR-IPG features.
[0003] Interactive television systems such as interactive
television program guide systems are now widely available to the
general public. Interactive television program guide systems may be
used to provide interactive television services such as services
for allowing a user to tune to a program, to set parental locks, to
record a program, to set reminders, etc. Interactive program guide
systems are illustratively described, for example, in Knee et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,892, and Knudson et al. U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/357,941, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which are hereby
incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
[0004] In recent years, PVRs such as those provided by companies
such as Tivo and ReplayTV have become available. Such systems and
devices may be used to provide interactive television services such
as services for recording television programs onto a digital
medium, such as a hard disk. In one known system, a PVR may use an
MPEG encoder to digitize broadcast television and then store the
digitized broadcast television for later retrieval on a hard disk
drive. In such systems, a digitized broadcast may be converted to
an analog NTSC signal for display on a television.
[0005] In conventional PVRs, a program buffer is typically used to
allow users to pause, rewind, or playback a television broadcast
that a user is watching. A PVR buffer is typically a circular
buffer that stores the most recent "n" minutes of programming that
was watched by a user. One drawback of this buffering technique is
that the buffer only allows the user to pause or rewind up to the
last "n" minutes and only on the currently tuned channel since it
was most recently tuned.
[0006] Conventional PVR systems may also provide other features
such as features for allowing users to select to record television
content. In such systems, a live program is typically recorded from
the point at which a user requests the program to be recorded. One
drawback of such systems is that portions of the live program that
were previously buffered are typically ignored.
[0007] In such systems, interactive television services are
typically provided to users through the presentation of graphics.
One drawback of such systems is that the presentation of the
graphics may undesirably cause a user to miss live television
content that the user is watching.
[0008] Another drawback of known PVR systems is that such systems
do not typically support pay-per-view television programming.
Pay-per-view ("PPV") television programs are now widely available
through cable television service providers, but are not typically
supported by PVRs for scheduling recordings or providing other
types of PVR-related functionality.
[0009] Improvements to these IPG and/or PVR systems are desirable
to alleviate these and other drawbacks and to simplify the use of
such systems while providing additional functionality to television
viewers. Accordingly, new systems and methods for interactive
program guides with personal video recording functions are
provided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In accordance with the principles of the present invention,
an interactive television application may be implemented on a
television system to provide enhanced PVR-related
functionality.
[0011] An interactive television application may be implemented to
integrate PVR and set-top box program guide features,
functionality, and information. For example, an interactive
television application may be implemented to provide PVR features,
functionality, and information in an interactive television program
guide such as an interactive television program guide running on a
cable set-top box. Other configurations for integrating such
features may also be used.
[0012] An interactive television application may display a main
menu display screen that may include options such as a program
listings option, a video-on-demand option, a pay-per-view ("PPV")
option, or a current weather option to provide interactive
services. The main menu display screen may include PVR-related
options such as a recordings option, a scheduled recordings option,
and a delete priority option.
[0013] A recordings display screen may be displayed when the user
selects the recordings option. The recordings display screen may
include a list of recordings that are available from a PVR. The
programs that are included in the list of recordings may be
programs that were manually or automatically recorded by the PVR.
The listings in the display screen may be selectable to allow a
user to access information and/or options that are related to a
selected listing. Other techniques for accessing the list of
recordings may also be provided.
[0014] A scheduled recordings display screen may be displayed when
a user selects a scheduled recordings option from a main menu
display screen. Other techniques for accessing a scheduled
recordings display screen may also be used. The scheduled
recordings display screen may include a list of programs that are
scheduled to be recorded (e.g., scheduled to be recorded by a PVR).
Programs on the list may have been scheduled to be recorded
automatically or manually. Programs that are automatically
scheduled to be recorded or that are automatically recorded may be
programs that an interactive television application selects for
recording based on some criteria such as user preferences. Programs
that are manually recorded or manually scheduled to be recorded may
be programs that a user specifically selected to be recorded.
Series recordings that are selected for recording by a user may
also be considered to be manual recordings. Listings in a scheduled
recordings display screen may be selectable to allow a user to
access information and/or options that are related to a selected
program listing. Information about series recordings may be
accessed through a scheduled recordings display screen.
[0015] An interactive television application may allow a user to
schedule and cancel one-time and/or series recordings from a
program listings screen, a browse overlay, a flip overlay, a video
of a program that is being watched, an advertisement, or any other
suitable location. A series recording may be used to schedule and
record a series of episodes in a particular program series. The
user may be provided with an opportunity to configure series
recordings based on episode type (e.g. first-run, repeat, etc.)
and/or channels.
[0016] The interactive television application may provide a user
with an opportunity to configure a recording buffer around a
program that is scheduled to be recorded. The record quality of a
recording may also be selected by a user. An interactive television
application may allow a user to schedule a recording from
practically any point in a program guide. For example, a recording
may be scheduled from a program listing bar, a program information
display screen, an advertisement display screen, or any other
suitable point in a program guide.
[0017] The interactive television application may provide a user
with the ability to record PPV programs and to schedule PPV
programs to be recorded. An interactive television application may
automatically order a PPV program that a user schedules to be
recorded. A user may be prompted to purchase a PPV program when the
user schedules a PPV program to be recorded. Recording
configuration settings for a PPV program, such as recording quality
and recording buffer time, may be selected by a user.
[0018] The interactive television application may provide VCR type
functions for watching a recorded program including pause,
fast-forward, rewind, stop, play, record, and other suitable
functions. When pausing live content, the interactive television
application may display paused video of the television content and
display a timer showing how far back the paused video is behind
live content. Program flow control options such as a play option, a
rewind option, a fast-forward option, and a record option may also
be displayed.
[0019] If desired, television programming may be recorded without
including graphics such as interactive television application
display screens and overlays as part of the recordings. If desired,
television programming may be recorded without including in the
recording changes in volume settings that a user selects during the
recording.
[0020] An interactive television application may display different
PVR related overlays at appropriate points in interactions with a
user. For example, an overlay may be displayed when a recording is
canceled, when a program starts to be recorded, when a recording is
completed, or when other events occur. A user may be permitted to
cancel a recording that is under way. For example, the user may
cancel the recording by pressing a remote control record button or
by pressing a remote control button to change the current channel.
If desired, a user may not be permitted to change the current
channel unless the user affirmatively confirms the cancellation of
the recording.
[0021] The interactive television application may provide a user
with a reminder that a scheduled recording is about to start. A
reminder may be displayed at a preset time before the start of a
scheduled recording. The reminder may include the title of the
program that is scheduled to be recorded. A user may be provided
with an opportunity to confirm that the program should be recorded,
for example, by selecting a particular item in the reminder
overlay.
[0022] The interactive television application may provide a user
with the ability to set delete priority settings for recordings.
The user may set delete priority settings for a specific program.
The user may be allowed to set general delete priority settings.
The interactive television application may provide user-selectable
options for editing the order in which individual recordings will
be deleted. A delete priority order may be set for recordings in
general based on program type or broadcast type. A delete priority
order may be set between series recordings. Options may also be
available for deleting recordings after a specified period of time
and after the program has been viewed.
[0023] An interactive television application may be implemented to
provide multiple program guides with respect to PVR information and
features. Each program guide may correspond to a different user in
a household. Information related to a specific user may be
displayed and/or updated when the program guide corresponding to
that user is accessed. The program guides may be configured to
interact differently with different users. The list of recordings
and/or list of scheduled recordings for one user may not be
available to other users in their program guides. To identify a
current user, the interactive television application may require
users to log into their program guides. If desired, users may be
required to login when they seek to access PVR related features
and/or information. Different users may use their program guides to
select different programs to be recorded. A PVR may record programs
based on the user selections. Recordings may be performed
independent of which user is currently logged into the system.
Users may be permitted to delete recordings from their list of
recordings. The interactive television application may delete
information related to a recording that a user selects to delete.
Deleting information related to a recording may remove the
recording from that user's list of recordings. The interactive
television application may delete a program from a PVR based on
user selections. If a particular recording is associated with more
than one user, the interactive television application may delete
the recording when all of the users associated with that recording
have selected that program to be deleted.
[0024] PVR users may be notified of changes that are to be made to
the recording content in a storage device. A notification may be
sent to inform a user that a particular program is about to be
recorded or deleted. In a multiple program guide environment,
notifications may be sent to users to which the upcoming change
pertains. The notification may provide the user with an opportunity
to confirm or cancel the change that is to be made. The
notification may be sent via a program guide overlay, using e-mail,
or using other suitable techniques. A notification may notify a
user that a particular program that was earlier selected by the
user to be recorded is about to be recorded. A notification may
notify a user that a particular program, which was automatically
selected to be recorded (e.g., based on user preferences), is about
to be recorded. A notification may notify a user that a particular
program is about to be deleted based on user-selected delete
priority settings. A notification may notify a user that a
particular program is about to be recorded based on automatic
delete settings.
[0025] An interactive television application may maintain a global
list of programs that are presently stored on a PVR. The list may
contain all programs that have been recorded. The list may contain
programs that were deleted (automatically or manually), but are
still available from the storage medium of the PVR. For example, in
one instance, the deletion of a recording may only delete
particular information about that recording without actually
deleting the video of the recording from the PVR.
[0026] In order to not re-record a program, an interactive
television application may check a global list of programs to
determine whether a program that has been selected to be recorded
is already available from the PVR. The interactive television
application may not record a program if that program is currently
on the global list. The currently stored program on the PVR may be
used for the selected recording. If desired, a user may be provided
with an opportunity to edit the global list. A user may be
permitted to permanently delete a program from the global list.
[0027] Stored video advertisements may be presented to users using
a storage device such as a PVR. Video advertisements may be
presented using full screen video or scaled video. A video
advertisement may be presented when a user is interacting with a
program guide. Scaled video for an advertisement may be presented
in a program guide display screen. Full screen video of the
advertisement may be presented when a user selects the scaled video
in a program guide display screen. A stored video advertisement may
be displayed when a user enters a program guide (e.g., a user
selects a guide button of a remote control while watching live
television). A stored video advertisement may be linked to a live
video advertisement that is being presented to a user. The stored
video advertisement may be presented after the presentation of the
live video. The stored video advertisement may be presented based
on user preferences or other criteria. Current television content
may be paused for a user when the stored video advertisement is
displayed. The stored video advertisement may be used replace a
live television advertisement.
[0028] A storage device such as a PVR may be used to buffer
television content to provide a user with an opportunity to control
the flow of current television content and to take other actions. A
straight buffer may be created when a user tunes a new channel or
program. The straight buffer may be used to buffer the currently
tuned program. If desired, a buffer size may be allocated to the
buffer that is suitable for holding the remainder of the current
program. Each time a user changes to viewing a new program, the
interactive television application may create a new buffer. Space
for a buffer may be allocated by allocating free space that is
available on a storage device, by deleting an existing buffer
(e.g., the oldest existing buffer), or by deleting a portion of an
existing buffer (e.g., the oldest portion of the oldest buffer). If
desired, the size of a buffer may be incrementally increased as
needed.
[0029] In the situation where a user tunes away and returns to a
particular program, a buffer that was created for that program may
combine video that was buffered before the user tuned away and
video buffered when the user returned to watching that program. The
separate portion of the program before and after the user tuned
away may be combined by concatenating the two portions, by
inserting blank video between the two portions, by inserting text
or other content between the two portions, or by using combinations
thereof. If desired, content that is inserted between the two
portions may have a duration that corresponds to the length of the
break between the portions. In a multi-tuner environment, the
buffer for a program may contain the portions of the video that the
user may have missed by tuning away. Multiple tuners may be
implemented to permit the PVR to buffer different programs in
parallel. Multiple tuners may also be used to record one program
while watching another program or to record two or more programs at
the same time.
[0030] A user may be allowed to control program flow using a
buffer. A user may be permitted to rewind a program that is playing
from a program buffer. Rewinding a current program to the top of
that program may allow the user to skip to a previous program by
selecting to rewind again. Using fast-forward to reach the end of a
program may cause the program to stop playing or may cause the next
program from the buffer to be played.
[0031] The buffer for a current program may be used as part of a
recording when the user selects to record that program. A program
that is being buffered may be recorded by recording currently
airing video of the program and saving previous portions of the
program that are buffered. An interactive television application
may retain buffers for programs that have ended. A user may be
permitted to view a list of programs that are currently stored in
program buffers. An interactive television application may save a
buffer for a program as a recording when a user selects that
program to be recorded. The selection may be made even after the
program has ended.
[0032] Storage space in a storage device may be assigned
automatically or manually to buffer programming. An interactive
television application may automatically assign all or a portion of
the storage space in a storage device to buffer programming. If
desired, a user may be provided with an opportunity to set the
total size to be used for buffering, set the total number of
buffers that can be active at one time, set the size of each
buffer, and set how often buffers should be deleted.
[0033] An interactive television application may automatically
pause television content that a user is watching when the user
interacts with the interactive television application. A current
television program or commercial that a user is watching may be
paused when a program guide display screen or a stored video
advertisement is displayed. The television content may remain
paused while the user interacts with the interactive television
application or watches the stored video advertisement. The display
of the television content may resume when the user exits the
interactive television application. The display of the television
content may resume from the point at which it was paused. If
desired, the interactive television application may provide the
user with an opportunity to select whether the television content
should be resumed from the point at which it was automatically
paused or resumed from its current point.
[0034] Other PVR related features may also be provided. An
interactive television application may display a scheduled
recording icon that changes based on the status of a scheduled
recording. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to create keyword-based recordings. The
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to set the recording priority for a program. The recording
priority settings may, for example, include a can't miss priority,
an if possible priority, a desired priority, an if space available
priority, or any other suitable recording priority. Providing a
user with three or more different recording priority levels to
chose from allows a user greater flexibility in configuring his or
her recording preferences. An interactive television application
may display recorded programs within a browse overlay, a program
listings display screen, or within other listing screens. Recorded
programs may be listed amongst regularly scheduled programs.
[0035] The interactive television application may indicate how much
memory is available on the PVR, and specifically how much memory is
available at each recording priority level and when memory will run
out based on the current recording settings.
[0036] Playback controls may be used to fast-forward and rewind a
program at different speeds. The range of different speeds may
include a range from different slow motion speeds to different
fast-forward speeds. The interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to schedule VOD programs for
recordings. The interactive television application may propose a
selection of times at which the VOD program may be recorded. The
interactive television application may propose a time for recording
a VOD program based on currently scheduled recordings and reminders
to avoid conflicts in recordings. If a VOD or PPV program is marked
as copy-protected, the interactive television application may
restrict whether a user can schedule a recording for the
copyrighted program.
[0037] VOD and PPV programs may be priced to have different prices
depending on the usage. For example, one price may be for watching
a program, another price may be for recording a program, and a
third price may be for each playback of a recording. The
interactive television application may also support
pay-per-recording and pay-per-playback of ordinary content. The
interactive television application may also support a system in
which the user pays for recording space by the amount of storage
space used on a remote server (e.g., pay for the amount of storage
in a remote server that stores personal video of a user).
[0038] An interactive television application may be implemented to
push television advertisements and other content to be locally
stored and displayed.
[0039] An interactive television application may allow a user to
set a manual recording by specifying the time, date, channel, and
duration for recording. When the interactive television application
identifies data matching the manual recording, the manual recording
may be converted to a program-based recording (a one-time
recording).
[0040] The interactive television application may provide the use
with the ability to edit recorded programs. Editing features may
include, removing sections from a recording, removing commercials
from a recording, combining recorded programs, creating playlists
of recordings, marking locations in recorded programs for quick
reference, or other suitable editing features.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0041] The principles and advantages of the present invention can
be more clearly understood from the following detailed description
considered in conjunction with the following drawings, and in
which:
[0042] FIG. 1 shows a diagram of an illustrative interactive
television program guide system in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0043] FIG. 2A shows a diagram of illustrative user television
equipment in accordance with the present invention;
[0044] FIG. 2B shows a diagram of illustrative user equipment that
includes a set-top box with an integrated personal video recorder
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0045] FIG. 2C shows a diagram of illustrative user equipment with
a remote server for storing recorded content in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0046] FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a remote control in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0047] FIG. 4 shows an illustrative process including steps that
may be used in accessing PVR-related program guide functions from a
main menu display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0048] FIG. 5 shows an illustrative main menu display screen in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0049] FIG. 6 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
selecting and configuring a recording of a program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0050] FIG. 7 shows an illustrative search program listings display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0051] FIG. 8 shows an illustrative program information display
screen for a non-PPV and non-VOD program that a user selected to be
recorded in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0052] FIG. 9 shows an illustrative program recording setup display
screen for a non-PPV and non-VOD program in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0053] FIG. 10 shows an illustrative series recording setup display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0054] FIG. 11 shows an illustrative series recording listings
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0055] FIG. 12 shows an illustrative keyword-based recording
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0056] FIG. 13 shows an illustrative sports listings display screen
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0057] FIG. 14 shows an illustrative by channel listings display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0058] FIG. 15 shows an illustrative by time listings display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0059] FIG. 16 shows an illustrative browse or flip overlay that is
displayed over current video in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention;
[0060] FIG. 17 shows an illustrative process that may be used for
setting PVR default setup options in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0061] FIG. 18 shows an illustrative PVR setup display screen in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0062] FIG. 19 shows an illustrative buffer time before/after by
channel/type display screen in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention;
[0063] FIG. 20 shows an illustrative quality of recording by
channel/type display screen in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention;
[0064] FIG. 21 shows an illustrative buffer time conflicts display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0065] FIG. 22 shows an illustrative priority level information
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0066] FIG. 23 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
selecting and configuring a recording of a PPV program in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0067] FIG. 24 shows an illustrative information display screen for
a PPV program in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0068] FIG. 25 shows an illustrative PPV recording setup display
screen for configuring a recording of a PPV program to be scheduled
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0069] FIG. 26 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
selecting and configuring a recording of a VOD program in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0070] FIG. 27 shows an illustrative information display screen for
a VOD program in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0071] FIG. 28 shows an illustrative VOD recording setup display
screen for configuring a recording of a VOD program to be scheduled
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0072] FIG. 29 shows an illustrative process that may be used when
recording a program in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0073] FIG. 30 shows an illustrative starting to record overlay
that is displayed over a video of a current program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0074] FIG. 31 shows an illustrative cancel recording overlay that
is displayed over a video of a current program in accordance with
one embodiment of the present invention;
[0075] FIG. 32 shows an illustrative finished recording overlay
that is displayed over a video of a current program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0076] FIG. 33 shows an illustrative live controls overlay that is
displayed over a video of a current program on a current channel in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0077] FIG. 34 shows an illustrative recording reminder overlay
that is displayed over a video of a current program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0078] FIG. 35 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
displaying a recording information display screen in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0079] FIG. 36 shows an illustrative PVR recording listings display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0080] FIG. 37 shows an illustrative recorded program information
display screen for a particular recording of a program in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0081] FIG. 38 shows an illustrative program delete priority setup
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0082] FIG. 39 shows an illustrative PVR playback video overlay
that is displayed over a video of a recorded program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0083] FIG. 40 shows an illustrative message overlay displayed over
a video of a program in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0084] FIG. 41 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
accessing program guide options during playback of a recorded
program in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0085] FIG. 42 shows an illustrative process that may be used in
displaying a scheduled recording information display screen in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0086] FIG. 43 shows an illustrative scheduled recording listings
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0087] FIG. 44 shows an illustrative PPV program information
display screen for a current PPV program that is being recorded in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0088] FIG. 45 shows an illustrative PPV program information
display screen for a future PPV program that has been scheduled to
be recorded in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0089] FIG. 46 shows an illustrative recording setup display screen
for changing the configuration of a scheduled recording of a PPV in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0090] FIG. 47 shows an illustrative program information display
screen for a current non-PPV and non-VOD program that is being
recorded in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0091] FIG. 48 shows an illustrative recording canceled overlay
that is displayed on a display screen in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0092] FIG. 49 shows an illustrative flow control overlay that has
a live TV option that is displayed over a video of a program
playing from a PVR in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0093] FIG. 50 shows an illustrative live controls overlay with
pause time left indicator displayed over a paused video of a
program in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0094] FIG. 51 shows an illustrative delete priority setup display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0095] FIG. 52 shows an illustrative series recording delete
priority display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0096] FIG. 53 shows an illustrative one-time recording delete
priority display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0097] FIG. 54 shows an illustrative delete priority by program
type display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0098] FIG. 55A shows an illustrative delete priority by broadcast
type display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0099] FIG. 55B shows an illustrative delete priority by channel
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0100] FIG. 56 shows an illustrative process that may be used for
pushing video advertisements and other content to local television
equipment of a user in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0101] FIG. 57 shows an illustrative online scheduled recordings
program guide window in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0102] FIG. 58 shows an illustrative process that may be used to
provide the user with the ability to edit saved programs in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0103] FIG. 59 shows an illustrative edit saved recordings display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0104] FIG. 60 shows an illustrative combine with other recordings
display screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0105] FIG. 61 shows an illustrative remove parts of a recording
overlay displayed over video that is playing from a PVR in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0106] FIG. 62 shows an illustrative playlist display screen in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0107] FIG. 63 shows an illustrative edit playlist display screen
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0108] FIG. 64 shows an illustrative create new playlist overlay
displayed over an illustrative playlist display screen in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0109] FIG. 65 shows an illustrative mark and recall overlay
displayed over video of a selected recording in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0110] FIG. 66 shows an illustrative process for providing multiple
program guides in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0111] FIG. 67 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed to permit login into a program guide in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0112] FIG. 68 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed to permit viewing of scheduled recordings in
different program guides in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0113] FIG. 69 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed to permit viewing of a user's scheduled
recordings using his or her program guide in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0114] FIG. 70 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed to permit viewing of a user's list of
recordings using his or her program guide in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0115] FIG. 71 shows an illustrative process for recording programs
based on a user selection in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0116] FIG. 72 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed when a user selects a program to be recorded
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0117] FIG. 73 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed when a user selects a program to be recorded
from an information display screen in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0118] FIG. 74 shows an illustrative process for deleting
recordings or recording related information in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0119] FIGS. 75-76 show illustrative sequences of display screens
that may be displayed when two different users are accessing their
program guides, which are local to the same user equipment, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0120] FIG. 77 shows an illustrative process for notifying users of
changes in recorded content in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention;
[0121] FIG. 78 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be displayed in notifying a user that a program is about
to be added to the recorded content in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0122] FIGS. 79-82 show illustrative notification overlays that are
displayed over video or graphics in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0123] FIGS. 83-86 show illustrative notification e-mails in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0124] FIG. 87 shows an illustrative process for generating and
using a global list of recordings in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0125] FIG. 88 shows an illustrative process for displaying stored
video advertisements that may be related to live video
advertisements in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0126] FIG. 89 shows an illustrative video presentation sequence
that may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in
FIG. 88 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0127] FIG. 90 shows an illustrative process for displaying stored
video advertisements when a user is in a program guide in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0128] FIG. 91 shows illustrative sequences of events for
displaying stored video advertisements that may be provided based
on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 90 in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0129] FIG. 92 shows an illustrative sequence of events that may be
provided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 90 in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0130] FIG. 93 shows an illustrative process for buffering
television content in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0131] FIG. 94 shows an illustrative sequence of illustrative
display screens and illustrative buffers that may be provided based
on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 93 in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0132] FIG. 95 shows an illustrative process for allocating space
for new buffers in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0133] FIG. 96 shows an illustrative process for combining separate
buffers in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0134] FIG. 97 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
and buffers that may be provided based on the illustrative process
shown in FIG. 96 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0135] FIG. 98 shows an illustrative process for inserting content
between separate buffered portions of a program in accordance with
one embodiment of the present invention;
[0136] FIG. 99 shows illustrative video presentation sequences that
may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 98
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0137] FIG. 100 shows an illustrative process for buffering two
programs in parallel in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0138] FIG. 101 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
and buffers that may be provided based on the illustrative process
shown in FIG. 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0139] FIG. 102 shows an illustrative process for rewinding to move
between buffered content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0140] FIG. 103 shows illustrative video presentation sequences
that may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in
FIG. 102 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0141] FIG. 104 shows an illustrative process for fast-forwarding
to move between buffered content in accordance with one embodiment
of the present invention;
[0142] FIG. 105 shows illustrative video presentation sequences
that may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in
FIG. 104 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0143] FIG. 106 shows an illustrative process for using a
skip-forward feature in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0144] FIG. 107 shows an illustrative video presentation sequence
that may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in
FIG. 106 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0145] FIG. 108 shows an illustrative process for recording a
program in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0146] FIG. 109 shows illustrative sequences of events that may be
provided based on the illustrative process shown in FIG. 108 in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0147] FIG. 110 shows an illustrative process for recording a
program after it has ended in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0148] FIG. 111 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be provided based on the illustrative process shown in
FIG. 110 in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0149] FIG. 112 shows an illustrative process for assigning a
portion of a storage space for buffering a program in accordance
with one embodiment of the present invention;
[0150] FIG. 113 shows an illustrative buffer configuration display
screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0151] FIG. 114 shows an illustrative process for automatically
pausing television content in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention;
[0152] FIGS. 115-121 show different illustrative sequences of video
and/or graphic presentations that may be provided based on the
illustrative process shown in FIG. 114 in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0153] FIG. 122 shows an illustrative sequence for presenting
recorded video when a current program is paused in accordance with
one embodiment of the present invention;
[0154] FIG. 123 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
for sending a recording, a reminder, or a recording request in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and
[0155] FIGS. 124-126 show illustrative techniques by which a user
may receive a recording, a reminder, or a recording request in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0156] An illustrative interactive television system in accordance
with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. For clarity and
brevity, the interactive television system of FIG. 1 is sometimes
primarily discussed in the context of an interactive television
program guide system. With reference now to FIG. 1, illustrative
interactive television program guide system 100 may include main
facility 102, distribution facility 110, and user equipment 122.
Illustrative interactive television program guide system 100 may
include multiple main facilities 102. Only one main facility 102,
however, is illustrated in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the
drawing.
[0157] Main facility 102 may include server 104 for storing and
distributing interactive television program guide information from
program guide database 106. Program guide database 106 may store
program guide information such as television program listings
information, service listings information, program-related
information, pay-per-view ordering information, promotional
information, or any other suitable program guide information. Main
facility 102 may distribute the program guide information to
distribution facility 110 via communications path 108.
[0158] Communications path 108 may be any suitable communications
path, such as a satellite link, a cable link, a fiber-optic link, a
microwave link, a telephone network link, an Internet link, or a
combination of such links. If it is desired to transmit video
signals (e.g., television programs) over communications path 108 in
addition to data signals, a relatively high bandwidth link such as
a satellite link may be preferable to a relatively low bandwidth
link such as a telephone line. Only one distribution facility 110
is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing. Multiple
distribution facilities may be involved in implementing interactive
services.
[0159] The program guide information or content transmitted by main
facility 102 to distribution facility 110 may include television
program listings data (such as program times, channels, titles,
descriptions, program type, genre, actors) or any other suitable
data.
[0160] The promotional information transmitted by main facility 102
to distribution facility 110 may include various promotional
banners, promotional ads, promotional slogans, promotional
advertisements, or any other suitable promotional material.
[0161] Distribution facility 110 may be a television distribution
facility for broadcast television, a cable system headend, a
satellite distribution facility, or any other suitable distribution
facility for distributing signals to viewers. Distribution facility
110 may distribute program guide information (or content) to user
equipment 122 via communications paths 114. Distribution facility
110 may include server 112 for distributing program guide
information. Server 112 may also handle communications for
distributing television programming, music, or any other suitable
type of media. Server 112 may include a local database 116 for
storing various program guide information. Server 112 may include
storage 117 for storing recorded programs remotely. Programs and/or
related information may be recorded and/or stored remotely or
locally at user equipment 122. A combination of local and remote
storage and/or recording may also be used. Client-server based
interactive television program guide systems with remote recording
features are illustratively described, for example, in Ellis et
al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/332,244, filed Jun. 11,
1999, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety. Additional techniques for storing programs and program
information are illustratively described, for example, in Hassell
et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,256, Sep. 17, 1998,
which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In addition, server 112 may be capable of providing other
interactive services such as near video-on-demand and
video-on-demand. Server 112 may include one or more computers.
[0162] If desired, some or all of the information distributed to
distribution facility 110 may be provided using information sources
other than main facility 102. For example, distribution facility
110 may receive information from wide area network 118 (e.g., the
Internet) via communications path 120. Communications path 120 may
be a T1 link, a digital subscriber line (DSL) link, a cable modem
link, an analog modem link, or any other suitable link.
[0163] If desired, data may be provided to user equipment 122 using
facilities other than main facility 102 and distribution facility
110. For example, user equipment 122 may receive data directly from
wide area network 118 via communications path 62. Communications
path 62 may be a T1 link, a digital subscriber line (DSL) link, a
cable modem link, an analog modem link, a radio frequency link such
as radio frequencies in a paging system, or any other suitable
link. In another example, a separate facility such as a satellite
broadcasting system (not shown) may transmit data to user equipment
122, which may receive data via a satellite receiving system (not
shown).
[0164] Communications path 114 may be any suitable type of link
that allows distribution facility 110 to distribute program guide
information, television programming, and any other suitable
information, data, or media to user equipment 122. There may be
more than one communications path 114 that couples each user
equipment 122 to distribution facility 110. For example, if
distribution facility 110 is a cable headend, user equipment 122
may receive information via a cable link and may transmit
information to distribution facility 110 via a digital serial link,
a dial-up modem connection, or any other suitable link. Each of
communication paths 114 may be unidirectional or
bi-directional.
[0165] User equipment 122 may be configured to send or receive
e-mails via communication path 62, communications path 114, or
communications path 120. User equipment 122 may receive e-mails
that were sent by distribution facility 110 or by some other
facility.
[0166] An interactive television application, in accordance with
the embodiments described herein, may be implemented on user
equipment 122 to provide interactive services to a user.
Interactive services may enable a user to interact with television
applications, for example, by setting particular channels as
favorites, by changing channels, by ordering PPV movies, by
selecting programs to be recorded, by playing recorded programs,
etc. An interactive television application may be an interactive
television program guide application, or an interactive personal
video recorder application that may be used to provide interactive
services to users.
[0167] Video capable device 124 may be video equipment that is
capable of generating or storing video such as a video camera, a
portable computer, or other suitable device. Video capable device
124 may be connected to user equipment 122 through communications
connection 126 (e.g., a firewire connection, an RS-232 connection,
etc.) or may be integrated into user equipment 122. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
transfer and store video from video capable device 124 to user
equipment 122. Transferred video may be stored in a PVR that is
part of user equipment 122. Video from video capable device 124 may
be stored on user equipment 122 and presented to a user at a later
time.
[0168] User equipment 122 may be based on a television platform
and/or a computer platform. For example, user equipment 122 may
include user television equipment (e.g., a television set, a PVR,
and a set-top box), may include user computer equipment (e.g., a
desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computing device
such as a personal digital assistant or any other small personal
computing device, etc.), or may include any other suitable user
equipment for implementing an interactive television program guide.
User computer equipment may include a computer based receiver
having integrated set-top box circuitry or a personal computer
television (PC/TV). If desired, user television equipment may
include computer equipment for receiving e-mails.
[0169] FIG. 2A shows illustrative user television equipment 200
that is based on a set-top box arrangement. User television
equipment 200 may include set-top box 202, recording equipment 204,
display device 206, and remote control 212. FIG. 2A illustrates
that set-top box 202 is connected to recording equipment 204 and
that recording equipment 204 is connected to display device 206.
These connections may be wired or wireless connections. FIG. 2A
also shows that remote control 212 may be able to communicate with
set-top box 202, recording equipment 204, and display device 206
via a wireless link 214. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate
that set-top box 202, recording equipment 204, remote control 212,
and display device 206 may be interconnected differently than that
shown in FIG. 2A and that components can be added or removed. For
example, recording equipment 204 may be integrated with set-top box
202 in a single device (see for example FIG. 2B).
[0170] Set-top box 202 may receive signals transmitted by
distribution facility 110 (FIG. 1) (e.g., audio, video, or
interactive television application data). Set-top box 202 may
include a storage device (e.g., a hard drive) or memory for storing
personal user preferences settings, for storing user-selected
reminders, or for storing other information. For illustrative
purposes, the present invention will be described in the context of
user television equipment 200, which uses set-top box 202 as its
receiver or tuner. If desired, user television equipment 200 may
include multiple tuners which may be used for simultaneously
watching one program and recording another. Illustrative
interactive television program guides with simultaneous watch and
record capabilities are illustratively described, for example in
Lemmons et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/329,850, filed
Jun. 11, 1999, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
[0171] Set top box 202 may be connected to recording equipment 204.
Recording equipment 204 may include PVR 208, VCR 210, or any other
suitable recording device. Recording equipment 204 may include one
or both of PVR 208 and VCR 210. If the user desires to record a
program, set-top box 202 may be manually or automatically tuned to
a particular channel and control signals may be sent to recording
equipment 204 to record that program.
[0172] Data link 209 may connect PVR 208 and VCR 210, and may be a
cable link or any other suitable data link. Data link 209 may be
used to transfer audio/video signals for programs between PVR 208
and VCR 210.
[0173] Set-top box 202 may send audio/video signals and signals
that are representative of graphics to display device 206 for
presentation to the user. If desired, set-top box 202 may route
signals to display device 206 through recording equipment 204. If
desired, set-top box 202, recording equipment 204, and display
device 206 may be configured in such a way that graphics generated
by set-top box 202 and volume changes that occur when recording
equipment 204 is recording are not saved as part of the recording.
Display device 206 may be a television, a computer monitor, a
computer system with a monitor and speakers, a flat panel display,
or any other suitable display device.
[0174] Set-top box 202 may be arranged in a client/server
relationship with PVR 208. In one embodiment of the present
invention, set-top box 202 may function as a server and PVR 208 may
function as a client. All requests for information received from
remote control 212 or other input devices may be routed first
through set-top box 202. If, for example, a user requests PVR
information or a PVR recording, the request may first be processed
by set-top box 202 which may communicate with PVR 208 to obtain the
information or recording. Set-top box 202 may send audio/video
signals and signals that are representative of graphics to display
device 206 based on communications with PVR 208. Other arrangements
for establishing communications and operations between PVR 208 and
set-top box 202 may also be used. Other arrangements for
establishing communications and operations with display device 206
may also be used.
[0175] Personalization information for one or more users may be
stored on set-top box 202, on personal video recorder 208, on
server 112 of FIG. 1, on combinations thereof, or on any other
suitable equipment. Personalization information may include user
profiles, preferences, viewing history, recording history, etc.
Personalization information may be used to automatically record
programs that match the personalization information. Programs may
be recorded when information related to an upcoming program matches
personalization information for a user such as a user's preferences
or may be recorded when information related to an upcoming program
compares well with stored personalization information. Illustrative
interactive television program guides having personalization
features are shown in Thomas et al., U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 09/974,646, filed Oct. 9, 2001, which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety.
[0176] A user may interact with any of the components in user
television equipment 200 and with an interactive television
application using one or more input devices, such as remote control
212. Remote control 212 may have various buttons that may be
pressed by the user to interact with portions of an interactive
television application such as an interactive television program
guide. For illustrative purposes, many aspects of the present
invention are discussed primarily in the context of an input device
that is a remote control. Other suitable input devices such as a
conventional keyboard, a wireless keyboard, a touch screen display
remote, a handheld computer, a mouse, a trackball, or a touch pad
may also be used.
[0177] An interactive television application such as an interactive
television program guide application may be implemented locally on
user equipment 200 or may be implemented using a client-server or
distributed architecture where some of the program guide
application is implemented locally on user equipment 200.
Client-server program guides are illustratively described, for
example, in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/374,043, filed Aug. 13, 1999, which is hereby incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety. If desired, an interactive
television application for providing the features and functionality
discussed herein may be partly implemented on PVR 208 and/or
set-top box 202.
[0178] FIG. 2B shows another embodiment of user television
equipment 9900 in which a personal video recorder is integrated
with a set-top box. With reference now to FIG. 2B, user equipment
9900 may include PVR integrated set-top box 9902, display device
9904, and remote control 9906. PVR integrated set-top box 9902 may
be connected to display device 9904. If desired, user television
equipment 9900 may include a recording device such as a VCR that is
arranged in between set-top box 9902 and display device 9904. Other
arrangements for connecting set-top box 9902, display device 9904,
and a recording device may also be used.
[0179] PVR integrated set-top box 9902 may receive signals
transmitted by distribution facility 110 (FIG. 1). PVR integrated
set-top box 9902 may include a storage device or memory for storing
personal user preferences settings, user-selected reminders,
recordings, program information, or other information. If desired,
the PVR that is part of set-top box 9902 may be used to store such
information. PVR hardware and/or software may be integrated with
set-top box hardware and/or software to provide set-top box 9902.
If the user desires to record a program, set-top box 9902 may tune
to a particular channel and may record that program using the
integrated PVR. If desired, the interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to transfer PVR recorded
audio/visual signals between set-top box 9902 and a recording
device that is external to set-top box 9902.
[0180] A user may interact with the components in user television
equipment 9900 and with an interactive television application using
one or more input devices, such as remote control 9906 through
wireless link 9910.
[0181] FIG. 2C shows another arrangement for providing personal
video recorder services in which a remote server is used to provide
personal video recorder services. With reference now to FIG. 2C,
user equipment 9920 may include set-top box 9922, display device
9926, and remote control 9936. User equipment 9920 may include
equipment such as set-top box 9922 for communicating with server
9908. Server 9908 may be configured to provide personal video
recorder services to user equipment 9920. Server 9908 may for
example automatically record programs for user equipment 9920 or
may record programs based on user selections. Server 9908 may
playback recordings for display on display device 9926. Other PVR
related features may also be provided. Server 9908 may be a server
located at a distribution facility such as distribution facility
110 of FIG. 1 or may be located at some other suitable
location.
[0182] If desired, user equipment may include recording equipment
9924 which may include one or more recording devices such as
personal video recorder 9928 and videocassette recorder 9930.
Recording equipment 9924 may, if desired, provide additional
recording features and/or capabilities to a user. For example,
recording equipment 9924 may be used to record or transfer programs
that are playing from or stored on server 9908. Set-top box 9922
may receive signals transmitted by distribution facility 110 (FIG.
1). Set-top box 9922 may include a storage device or memory for
storing personal user preferences settings, user-selected
reminders, or other information. If desired, server 9908 or
recording device 9924 may also be used for storing such
information.
[0183] Set-top box 9922 may send audio/video signal and signals
that are representative of graphics through recording equipment
9924 to display device 9926 for presentation to the user. A user
may interact with any of the components in user equipment 9920 and
with an interactive television application using one or more input
devices, such as remote control 9936 through wireless link 9934.
Remote control 9936 may be used interact with server 9908 through
set-top box 9922. Examples of these and other options are
illustratively shown in Rudnick et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/330,860, filed Jun. 16, 1998, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0184] FIG. 3 shows illustrative remote control 308 that may
include various function buttons. Remote control 308 may include
primary option buttons 302 that may provide a user with access to
frequently used actions in an interactive television application.
Primary option buttons 302 may include power button 320, menu
button 332, info button 310, lock button 322, exit button 324,
music button 314, and edit button 316. Menu button 332 may provide
the user with the ability to cause a menu display screen to be
displayed. Info button 310 may provide the user with the ability to
display an information display screen. Lock button 322 may provide
the user with the ability to modify access privileges to certain
programs, channels, or other television content. Exit button 324
may provide the user with the ability to exit a program guide or
other application. Music button 314 may provide the user with the
ability to listen to music channels that carry audio. Edit button
316 may provide the user with the ability to edit stored program
content, such as to remove commercials, remove pieces of a program,
or perform other editing functions.
[0185] Remote control 308 may include alphanumeric buttons 304 that
may be used for entry of alphanumeric characters. Alphanumeric
buttons 304 may further include last button 334 which may provide
the user with the ability to return to the last channel that was
watched or the last screen that was displayed.
[0186] Remote control 308 may include task buttons 306 that may
provide means for directing a task to be performed by user
equipment (e.g., user equipment 200 of FIG. 2A). Task buttons 306
may include, for example, play button 338, pause button 340, stop
button 342, rewind button 344, fast-forward button 346, record
button 336, "OK" button 312, or any other suitable task button.
[0187] Remote control 308 may include control buttons 388 that may
include volume control buttons 326, navigation buttons 330, and
channel control buttons 328. Navigation buttons 330 may provide the
user with the ability to adjust or move a desired element (e.g., a
cursor, a highlight window, etc.) vertically or horizontally in a
display screen. For example, if the desired element is a cursor in
an interactive television application display screen, navigation
buttons 330 may be used to move the cursor in the display screen.
"OK" button 312 in task buttons 306, in combination with navigation
buttons 330, may provide the user with the ability to make
on-screen selections. Remote control buttons are also sometimes
referred to herein as remote control keys.
[0188] Personal video recorder features may, for example, be
accessed through a main menu of an interactive television program
guide. FIG. 4 shows illustrative process 400 for accessing
PVR-related functions from a main menu display screen. With
reference now to FIG. 4, at step 402, the interactive television
application may display a main menu display screen (one example of
which is shown in FIG. 5). Step 402 may be performed for example
when a user presses a remote control menu button or when the user
takes other suitable actions. At step 402, the IPG application may
provide the user with the ability to access a program listings
display screen, a recordings display screen, a scheduled recordings
display screen, or any other suitable screens or options from a
main menu display screen.
[0189] At step 404, the interactive television application may
display a program listings display screen when a user for example
selects a program listings option that is displayed in a main menu
display screen.
[0190] Different types of program listings display screens may be
displayed. At step 414, the interactive television application may
display a by time program listings display screen when a user, for
example, selects a by time program listings option. At step 416,
the interactive television application may display a by channel
program listings display screen when a user, for example, selects a
by channel program listings option. At step 418, the interactive
television application may display a by type program listings
display screen when a user, for example, selects a by type program
listings option. At step 420, the interactive television
application may display a search program listings display screen
when, for example, search results from a search selected by a user
are displayed. Illustrative display screens that may be provided
based on steps 414, 416, 418, and 420 are shown in FIGS. 7 and
13-15.
[0191] At step 405, the interactive television application may
display a PVR setup display screen when a user, for example,
selects a PVR setup option that is displayed in a main menu display
screen. Illustrative steps involved in providing step 405 are shown
in FIG. 17. At step 406, the interactive television application may
display a recordings display screen when a user for example selects
a recordings option that is displayed in the main menu display
screen. Illustrative steps involved in providing step 406 are shown
in FIG. 35. At step 408, the interactive television application may
display a scheduled recordings display screen when a user for
example selects a scheduled recordings option that is displayed in
the main menu display screen. Illustrative steps involved in
providing step 408 are shown in FIG. 42. At step 410, the
interactive television application may display a delete priority
display screen when a user for example selects a delete priority
option that is displayed in the main menu display screen. At step
412, the interactive television application may display a priority
level information display screen when a user for example selects a
priority information option that is displayed in the main menu
display screen.
[0192] FIG. 5 shows illustrative main menu display screen 500 that
may be provided by an interactive television application. Display
screen 500 may include selectable advertisement 502, selectable PPV
advertisement 504, and selectable horizontal bar advertisement 520.
Display screen 500 may also include various menu headings, such as
program listings heading 508, cable showcase heading 510, and
viewer services heading 512. Program listings heading 508 may be a
heading for options for displaying program listings such as by time
option 509, by channel option 511, sports option 513, and search
option 514. Cable showcase heading 510 may be a heading for options
that are showcased by the cable provider such as PPV option 516 and
VOD option 517. Viewer services heading 512 may be a heading for
options for providing various interactive services such as PVR
services to a user. Such options may include recordings option 518,
scheduled recordings option 524, delete priority option 526, PVR
setup option 528, and priority information option 530.
[0193] Display screen 500 may include highlight window 522. An
interactive television application may provide a user with the
ability to move highlight window 522 within display screen 500
using remote control navigation buttons. A user may be provided
with the ability to select an item on display screen 500 by
pressing a data entry button, such as a remote control "OK" button
when highlight window 522 is positioned over that item.
[0194] If desired, the interactive features that are provided in
display screen 500 may be accessed through other means.
[0195] An interactive television application may permit users to
schedule and configure recordings for PPV and non-PPV programs from
a listings screen, a browse overlay, a flip overlay, program video,
an advertisement, or any other suitable location. FIG. 6 shows
illustrative process 600 for selecting and configuring a non-PPV
and non-VOD program to be recorded. At step 612, an interactive
television application may allow a user to select a program to be
recorded by selecting a record button for a program. The record
button may be selected from practically any suitable display
screen, overlay, or video that a user is watching. The record
button may be pressed for a program listed in a program listings
display screen, in a browse overlay, in a flip overlay, in a grid,
in an advertisement, or in any other suitable video or graphic. A
user may select a program to be recorded by pressing a record
button when a user is watching that program. A user may highlight a
program in an overlay or display screen and press a record button
to select that program to be recorded. In a display screen that
does not support the use of highlight windows, a user may simply
press a record or "OK" button to select the record feature. An
information option may be selected for example by moving a
highlight window over a program listing and pressing a remote
control info button. At step 618, in response to the user pressing
a remote control record button for a particular program, the
interactive television application may schedule that program for a
one-time recording with default settings.
[0196] At step 632, a program information display screen may be
displayed when a user selects an information option for a
particular program. The program information display screen may
include information describing that program. The interactive
television application may provide a user with related program
guide options at step 634. Related program guide options may
include last, watch/remind, lock, other air times, and other
suitable program guide options. Examples of these and other options
are illustratively shown in Rudnick et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/356,268, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. At step 638, a
record option may be displayed in the program information display
screen to provide the user with the ability to select a record
option for the program that is described in the information display
screen.
[0197] If the user selects a record option, the interactive
television application may proceed to step 606. At step 606, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to setup a recording. Step 606 may include steps 646, 648,
650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, 656, and 657. At step 648, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to select the recording quality that will be used for the
recording. For example, the user may select low quality, medium
quality, high quality, or any other suitable recording quality. At
steps 652 and 654, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to respectively set the length of
the recording buffers that will be used before and after the
scheduled broadcast time of a program that is to be recorded. The
length of a recording buffer may, for example, be set to one
minute, two minutes, or any other suitable length of time. Examples
of interactive television program guides that have features for
setting recording buffers are shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/821,005, filed Mar. 29, 2001, which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Other
examples of interactive television program guides that have
features for setting recording buffers are shown in Ellis et al.,
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/924,239, filed Sep. 5, 1997
which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety.
[0198] At step 651, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to set the recording priority for
a program. The recording priority options may, for example, include
a can't miss priority, an if possible priority, a desired priority,
an if space available priority, or any other suitable recording
priority. A can't miss recording priority may indicate that the
program must be recorded, in preference to all other programs
airing simultaneously, and recordings may be deleted to clear space
for the program. An if possible priority may indicate that the
program should be recorded if at all possible, unless there are
conflicts with can't miss programs airing simultaneously, or unless
any can't miss programs that are recorded would have to be deleted.
A desired priority may indicate that the user would like the
program to be recorded, unless there are conflicts with can't miss
priority programs or with if possible priority programs, or unless
any can't miss priority programs or if possible priority programs
that are recorded would have to be deleted. An if space available
priority may indicate that the program should be recorded if there
is space to do so and if it does not conflict with any higher
priority programs.
[0199] At step 650, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select a series setup option.
A series setup option may only be available if the selected program
is part of a series. At step 646, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select a save
option to schedule the currently selected program to be recorded
and to save the recording settings to be used for that recording.
In response to a selection of a save option at step 646, the
interactive television application may also set a reminder for the
scheduled recording.
[0200] At step 656, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to cancel and exit to the
previous display screen. At step 653, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select an
option to not record a program if that program is not actually an
episode of a series that has been selected for a series recording.
At step 655, the interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to select an option to not record a
particular episode of a series that has been selected for series
recording, but to continue to record other episodes of the series.
At step 657, the interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to select to not record any further episodes
of a series that was selected to be series recorded.
[0201] If the user selects the series setup option, the interactive
television application may proceed to step 608. At step 608, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to setup a series recording based on a currently selected
program. A series recording allows the user to record a series of
episodes in a particular program series. Step 608 may include steps
662, 664, 666, 668, 670, 672, 674, 676, 678, 680, 682, 684, 686,
and 688. At step 664, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select a save option to have
the interactive television application schedule a series of
recordings and to save the series setup settings that the user
selected. At step 666, the interactive television application may
provide type of episode options that may include steps 680, 682,
and 684. At step 680, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select whether the interactive
television application should record programs seen before. At step
682, the interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select whether the interactive television
application should record series programs that are repeats. At step
684, the interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select to record syndicated episodes, first-run
episodes, or both syndicated and first-run episodes for a series
recording.
[0202] At step 668, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to choose the maximum number of
series episodes to save on a PVR. For example, the user may choose
to save one episode, two episodes, three episodes, all episodes, or
any other suitable number of episodes. If the user selects a
specific number of episodes to save, the interactive television
application may automatically delete a previously recorded episode
when a new episode is recorded to maintain the total number of
saved episodes at the number selected by the user. Previously
recorded episodes may be deleted based on the age of a recording,
based on the viewing status with respect to one or more users, or
based on other criteria. If the user selects the total number of
episodes to be all recorded episodes, programs other than episodes
in that series may be deleted first in order to free storage space
for recordings.
[0203] At step 670, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to limit the channels on which
programs in a series will be recorded. For example, the user may
choose the recording channel(s) for a series recording to be the
original channel from which the current series recording was
scheduled, to be all possible channels, to be a user-selected
selection of channels, or to be any other suitable selection of
channels. At step 672, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select to view a list of
episodes or programs in the series. If the user selects to view the
list of programs in the series, the interactive television
application may proceed to step 674 to have the list of programs
displayed.
[0204] At step 676, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to limit on which days the
program may be recorded. For example, the user may choose to record
episodes that air on the same day of the week as the selected
episode, that air on any day of the week, or that air on some other
combination of days. At step 678, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select at
which time of day a program may be recorded. For example, the user
may choose to have a program recorded at prime time, late night,
early morning, day time, same time of day as the selected episode
(i.e., episode for which record option was selected), or any other
time, or combination of times. At step 686, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
exit a series recording setup display screen and schedule the
program as a one-time recording. At step 688, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
save the settings for a series recording as a series reminder
without scheduling any recordings.
[0205] PVR related functionality may be integrated into a program
listings display screen or any screen that shows one or more
programs or information about one or more programs. FIG. 7 shows
illustrative program listings display screen 700 that may be
provided by the interactive television application. Display screen
700 may be displayed in response to the use of a search option.
Display screen 700 may include a list of program titles that are
presented in listing bars 702. A program listing in listing bars
702 may include recorded content icon 704 that indicates that a
recording for that listing is currently available for playback.
Recorded content icon 704 may permit users to distinguish between
programs that are available for playback from a PVR and programs
that will be airing in the future. Future programs may include VOD
programs, PPV programs, broadcast television programs, or other
programming that is available through a source other than a
PVR.
[0206] A program listing may include scheduled recording icon 706
to indicate that a program that is identified in that listing is
scheduled to be recorded. Scheduled recording icon 706 may be
displayed for a particular program for example, when a user has
selected a record option for that program, or when an interactive
television application schedules that program to be recorded based
on user profile information. A program listing may include a
cancelled recording priority icon 703 to indicate that a program
that was scheduled to be recorded may not be recorded due to a
conflict that the interactive television application resolved by
canceling the scheduled recording based on recording priorities.
Priorities are discussed in more detail in connection with FIG. 9.
Display screen 700 may include content rating icon 708 to indicate
program content ratings.
[0207] Display screen 700 may include parental control icon 710 to
indicate that a program is parentally locked. In display screen
700, the program Cosby may be parentally locked and may also be
scheduled for recording. A listing for Cosby includes both parental
lock icon 710 and scheduled recording icon 706. Despite the lock
status of the program, the interactive television application may
still record the program. If a user desires to watch a locked
program while it is being recorded, the user may be required to
enter a parental control code. Parental locks may always be
enforced on playback, in that the parental control code may be
required for playback of any program that has a locked title,
rating, or channel. Examples of parental control locks and other
related options are illustratively shown in Herrington et al., U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 09/635,596, filed Aug. 9, 2000, which
is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0208] Series recording icon 714 may be included in a listing to
indicate that a series recording has been set for that particular
listing. Scheduled recordings and series recordings may be
intermixed with other listings in display screen 700. If there are
recorded episodes or upcoming episodes for a particular program or
series that is listed in display screen 700, only one listing for
that program or series may be included in display screen 700.
Selecting that program in display screen 700 may cause the display
of an information display screen for an oldest recorded episode of
that program and may cause the display of a times option in the
information display screen that may allow a user to access
information on other recorded and upcoming episodes of that
program.
[0209] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select a record option for a particular program
by moving highlight window 712 over a listing bar such as listing
bar 702 for a particular program and pressing remote control record
button. In response to the selection of the record option, the
interactive television application may set a particular program to
be recorded. The interactive television application may schedule a
one-time recording for that program using default recording
configuration settings. If a user presses a record button a second
time, the interactive television application may schedule a series
recording based on a currently highlighted program when the
currently highlighted program is part of a series. If a user
presses a remote control record button a third time, the
interactive television application may cancel a series recording.
If a currently highlighted program is not part of a series,
pressing a remote control record button may toggle the record
setting for that program.
[0210] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select an information option for a particular
listing by moving highlight window 712 over a listing bar such as
listing bar 702 and pressing a remote control info button. Program
information display screen 800 of FIG. 8 may be displayed in
response to the selection of an information option for a particular
listing.
[0211] An interactive television application may display program
information display screens that are configured differently for
different programs based on whether programs are PPV programs,
whether programs are available for playback from a PVR, whether
programs are programs that are scheduled to be recorded, whether
programs are currently airing, whether programs are VOD programs,
etc. FIG. 8 shows illustrative program information display screen
800 for a non-PPV program that may be provided by the interactive
television application. With reference now to FIG. 8, display
screen 800 may include title display bar 806 and may include
program video 840 for a program that is currently airing on a tuned
channel.
[0212] Display screen 800 may include record option 830. In
response to a selection of record option 830 or a user pressing a
remote control record button, the interactive television
application may display program recording setup display screen 900
shown in FIG. 9.
[0213] FIG. 9 shows illustrative program recording setup display
screen 900 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 900 may provide the user with the
ability to set or modify various recording settings, including the
ability to schedule one-time and series recordings. Save option
902, quality option 904, series setup option 910, buffer time
before option 912, buffer time after option 914, recording priority
option 916, not an episode option 922, cancel this episode option
924, and cancel all episodes option 926 may be provided based on
illustrative steps 646, 648, 650, 651, 652, 653, 654, 655, and 657,
shown in FIG. 6. Other options may be shown if desired. Series
setup option 910, not an episode option 922, cancel this episode
option 924, and cancel all episodes option 926 may be displayed
when display screen 900 is displayed for a program that is part of
a series or part of a series recording. To schedule a recording for
the program for which record option 830 of FIG. 8 was selected, a
user may select save option 902, which will schedule the recording
with the default recording settings or with any recording settings
that are selected by the user in display screen 900. If desired,
the application may allow a user to select a record option for a
program that already has a recording scheduled. In this case, the
application may display a screen such as display screen 900 to
allow the user to modify or cancel the recording.
[0214] If desired, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to schedule a manual recording by
specifying a channel, date, time, and duration. Recordings may be
scheduled for example for at least two weeks in advance by entering
the channel, date, time, and duration. When the interactive
television application identifies data matching the manual
recording, the manual recording may be converted to a program-based
recording (a one-time recording).
[0215] An interactive television application may also save content
that is related to a program that is being recorded. Related
content may include program information, Advanced Television Forum
("ATVEF") content, Wink Content, Advanced Compatible Television
("ACTV") streams, or other video, graphics, software, or text
content. The interactive television application may allow a user to
record a digital music channel when a user is listening to a
channel or to record a digital music channel by manually selecting
a date, time, channel, and duration for a recording. The
interactive television application may record the title, track,
artist and other music information related to the digital music
recording.
[0216] Series setup option 910 may only be available if the
selected program is an episode of a series. The interactive
television application may not present a series setup option for
PPV programs, and may not allow a user to configure series
recordings for PPV programs. However, if a PPV program is part of a
package (e.g., a recurring PPV program), the interactive television
application may allow a user to configure a series recording for
all programs in a package. To configure a series recording for a
PPV package, the interactive television application may require a
user to purchase a package before a series recording may be
configured. If desired a package purchase option may be provided to
a user as part of a recording setup screens.
[0217] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 918 over quality option
904 and to scroll through quality settings to set the recording
quality to be used for a recording. The quality level may be set to
low quality, medium quality, high quality, or some other suitable
quality. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to move highlight window 918 over buffer time
before option 912 or buffer time after option 914 and to use remote
control navigation buttons to set the recording buffer time before
and after to be used for a scheduled broadcast time of a program
that is to be recorded. The recording buffer time may be set to no
buffer time, one minute, two minutes, or any other suitable
duration.
[0218] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select not an episode option 922 by moving
highlight window 918 over not an episode option 922 and pressing a
remote control "OK" button. In response to a selection of not an
episode option 922, the interactive television application records
programs that are episodes in a series but does not record programs
that actually are not episodes in that series. For example, in
situations where a particular program has a title that matches a
particular series, that program may not be recorded because that
program may not actually be part of that series. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select cancel this episode option 924 by moving highlight window
918 over cancel this episode option 924 and pressing a remote
control "OK" button. In response to a selection of cancel this
episode option 924, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select to not record this
episode of a series, but to continue to record other episodes of a
series. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select cancel all episodes option 926 by moving
highlight window 918 over cancel all episodes option 926 and
pressing a remote control "OK" button. In response to a selection
of cancel all episodes option 926, the interactive television
application may cancel the recording of any further episodes in a
series and may cancel the series recording. Save option 902 may be
used to schedule a recording and save the recording settings that
were selected by that user.
[0219] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select series setup option 910 by moving
highlight window 918 over series setup option 910 and pressing a
remote control "OK" button. The interactive television application
may display a series recording setup display screen in response to
the selection of series setup option 910. Space available indicator
920 may be shown, and may be updated as options are changed on this
screen. Indicator 920 may indicate or estimate how much recording
time is available for future programs. If desired, it may be based
on the priority of the selected program. For example, it may
indicate how much space is available for recording programs that
have the currently specified priority (e.g., a can't miss priority,
an if possible priority, a desired priority, an if space available
priority, etc.) in recording priority option 916.
[0220] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 918 over recording
priority option 916 and to scroll through recording priority
settings to set the recording priority for a recording. Recording
priority may be set to can't miss priority, if possible priority,
desired priority, if space available priority, or any other
suitable priority. Recording priority option 916 may be used to set
the recording priority for a specific recording or a series
recording.
[0221] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select series setup option 910 by moving
highlight window 918 over series setup option 910 and pressing a
remote control "OK" button. The interactive television application
may display a series recording setup display screen in response to
the selection of series setup option 910. A series setup option may
only be included in display screen 900 when the selected program is
part of a series. FIG. 10 shows illustrative series recording setup
display screen 1000 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 1000 may provide the user
with the ability to set or modify settings for series recordings.
Save setup option 1002, number of episodes option 1004, channels to
record option 1006, see all episodes option 1008, days to record
option 1012, time to record option 1014, record programs seen
before option 1016, record repeats of programs option 1018, episode
type option 1020, save as one-time option 1022, and save as
reminder option 1024 may be provided based on illustrative steps
664, 668, 670, 672, 676, 678, 680, 682, 684, 686, and 688 shown in
FIG. 6. Other options may be shown if desired.
[0222] A user may be permitted to configure a series recording
using display screen 1000. The interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 1010
over number of episodes option 1004 and to scroll through the
numbers to set the number of episodes for the series recording to
be saved on the PVR at one time. The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 1010 over channels to record option 1006 and to use remote
control navigation buttons to scroll through to select which
channels are to be used for the series recording. The series
recording channel selections may include for example the original
channel for a program that was used to set a series recording, all
possible channels, a user-selected selection of channels, a
specific type of channel such as broadcast or premium channel, or
any other suitable selection of channels. In response to a
selection of see all episodes option 1008 (e.g., by moving a
highlight window over option 1008 and pressing a remote control
"OK" key), the interactive television application may display a
series recording listings display screen. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 1010 over days to record option 1012 and to
use remote control navigation buttons to scroll to select on which
days programs in the series are to be recorded. A user may select a
specific day, all days, or any other suitable combination of days.
The interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to move highlight window 1010 over time to record
option 1014 and to use remote control navigation buttons to scroll
to select at what time programs in a series recording will be
recorded. A user may select to record the program during prime
time, late night, early morning, day time, same time of day as the
selected episode, or any other time or combination of times. By
default if a user does not select a time, the interactive
television application may choose to only record episodes that air
during the same time of day as the selected program.
[0223] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 1010 over record programs
seen before option 1016 and scroll between yes or no to select
whether the interactive television application should record
programs seen by the user before. The interactive television
application may maintain a log of all programs viewed by a
particular user in order to make this determination. The
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to move highlight window 1010 over record repeat programs
option 1018 and scroll between yes or no to select if the
interactive television application should record programs that are
repeats. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to move highlight window 1010 over episode
type option 1020 and scroll through episode type settings to select
which episode types should be recorded. The types for episodes in a
series recording may include syndicated episodes, first-run
episodes, both syndicated episodes and first-run episodes, or any
other suitable type of episode. The episode type may also include a
specification indicating during which season or seasons the desired
episodes originally aired.
[0224] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 1010 over save as
one-time option 1022 to exit display screen 1000 and schedule the
program as a one-time recording only. This switch from a series
recording to a one-time recording may deselect the series recording
feature for this program. The interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 1010
over save as reminder option 1024 to exit display screen 1000 and
save the configured settings as a series reminder without
scheduling recordings. A user may select save setup option 1002 to
save the settings that the user selects in display screen 1000.
[0225] An interactive television application may display a list of
all scheduled programs that may be episodes in this series. FIG. 11
shows illustrative series listings display screen 1100 that may be
provided by the interactive television application. Display screen
1100 may be displayed in response to a selection of see all
episodes option 1008 in display screen 1000 of FIG. 10. With
reference now to FIG. 11, display screen 1100 may list all programs
that are in this series and may include upcoming programs, recorded
programs, or programs that are scheduled to be recorded. Programs
in the list that are scheduled to be recorded may have been
scheduled for recording based on the recording options and series
options selected by a user in FIGS. 9 and 10. Examples of
interactive television program guides that have series recording
features are illustratively shown in Knudson et al., U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/330,792, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Display
screen 1100 may include listing bars such as bar 1102, that may
include dates, times, and channels for scheduled recordings for
episodes in a programs series. Icon 1104 may be included in listing
bar 1102 to indicate that a particular program may have been
scheduled to be recorded as a series recording. Display screen 1100
may include delete this episode option 1108. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 1106 over delete this episode option 1108 to
select to delete the particular listed episode that is associated
with delete this episode option 1108. Following this selection, the
scheduled recording for that episode may be deleted.
[0226] The user may also select an individual listing to see the
program information screen for that episode. The individual episode
may be deleted from the series recording from that screen. The user
may also select episodes that are not scheduled to be recorded, and
the user may cause the interactive television application to
schedule them to be recorded as well. The interactive television
application may also display additional information on this screen
about the highlighted episode, or about all episodes on this
screen. The information may include a series episode title, an
episodic description, guest actors, or any other information of
interest.
[0227] FIG. 12 shows illustrative keyword-based recording display
screen 1150 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 1150 may provide the user with the
ability to add and remove keyword-based recordings. Display screen
1150 may include search parameter 1152, add keyword option 1154,
list of keywords 1156, and remove option 1160. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to use
remote control alpha-numeric buttons to enter a keyword into search
parameter 1152.
[0228] Display screen 1150 may provide the user with the ability to
select add keyword option 1154 to setup a keyword-based recording
based on search parameter 1152. In response to an addition of a
keyword, the interactive television application may automatically
schedule recordings based on that keyword. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
scroll keywords in list 1156 so that keywords are positioned in
highlight window 1158. Highlight window 1158 may be held stationary
while listings in list 1156 are scrolled. To remove a current
keyword in highlight window 1158, a user may press a remote control
right navigation button to position highlight window 1158 over
remove option 1160 and then press remote control "OK" button. The
interactive television application may also allow the user to
select a keyword from the keyword list and view a list of matching
programs from a database of upcoming programs or from a database of
recorded programs.
[0229] FIG. 13 shows illustrative sports listings display screen
230 that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Display screen 230 may be displayed in response to a selection of
sports option 513 of FIG. 5. Display screen 230 may be a display
screen for a sports program type, but the characteristics described
below with respect to display screen 230 may also be for listings
display screens that are displayed for other program types, such as
movies, children, comedy, PPV, and any other types. If desired, a
similar screen may be displayed for a subcategory of programs, such
as comedy movies. Display screen 230 may include listing bars, such
as listing bar 232. Highlight window 236 may be used to make
selections in display screen 230. Listing bar 232 may include
recorded content icon 234 to indicate that the program identified
in listing bar 232 may be available from a PVR. In listing by type
display screen 230, recorded programs may be included on the list
before other programs (e.g., before listing upcoming programs). If
desired, the recorded programs in the list may be sorted first by
priority and then by the date recorded.
[0230] FIG. 14 shows illustrative by channel listings display
screen 240 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 240 may be displayed in response to a
selection of by channel option 511 of FIG. 5. Display screen 240
may display a list of programs that are on a particular channel.
Display screen 240 may include change channel option 242 that may
provide the user with the ability to scroll through the different
channels provided by a user's television service provider to view
listings on those channels. A list of recorded programs may be a
particular channel choice that is in the list of channels available
using channel change option 242. The list of recorded programs may
be positioned as a channel choice between the highest number
channel and the lowest numbered channel. Display screen 240 may
list recorded programs within listing bars, such as listing bar
244. The recorded programs may be sorted by priority and then by
date and time.
[0231] In another embodiment, recorded programs may be listed with
the listings for the channel that the program was recorded from.
Recorded programs may be listed first, followed by current and
upcoming programs. Highlight window 246 may be used to make
selections in display screen 240.
[0232] FIG. 15 shows illustrative by time listings display screen
250 that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Display screen 250 may be displayed in response to a selection of
by time option 509 of FIG. 5. Display screen 250 may display a list
of programs available to be viewed by the user at a particular
time. Recorded programs may also be included in this list of
programs. Recorded programs may be included in this list between
the highest and lowest numbered channels.
[0233] Display screen 250 may include change time option 252 that
may be provide the user with the ability to scroll through listings
by time. Display screen 250 may include listing bars for recorded
programs, such as listing bar 254. Highlight window 259 may be used
to make selections in display screen 250. If desired, as the user
scrolls through different times using change time option 252, the
recorded program or programs listed may be changed. Display screen
250 may also include listing bars for current or upcoming programs,
such as program listing bar 258. As shown in display screen 250,
the recorded programs are listed between the highest and lowest
numbered channels. If desired, channel zero may be designated for
accessing listings of recorded programs. For example, in response
to a selection of channel zero, the interactive television
application may quickly show listings for recorded programs in
display screen 250. If desired, there may be a quick access option
to provide access to a complete list of all recorded programs. If
desired, the by time display screen may show multiple half hours of
programming, for example in a grid format.
[0234] FIG. 16 shows illustrative browse or flip overlay 260 that
may be provided by the interactive television application. Examples
of interactive television program guides with browse and flip
features are illustratively shown in Boyer et al., U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/330,793, filed Jun. 11, 1999, which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Overlay
260 may include change channel option 262. When the interactive
television application is in a browse mode, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
scroll through channels using change channel option 262. In
response to a change of a channel, title 264 may change to be the
title of the current program on the new channel. A title for a
recorded program may be displayed when a user changes the channel
to a channel choice that has been designated for recorded programs.
Recorded programs may be designated between the highest and lowest
numbered channel.
[0235] In response to pressing a remote control right or left arrow
keys, the interactive television application may display titles, in
title 264, for later or earlier programs on a currently selected
channel when the currently selected channel is a regular television
channel. In response to pressing a remote control right or left
arrow key, when a title of a recorded program is being displayed,
the interactive television application may display the title of
other recorded programs. Titles of recorded programs may be sorted
by priority, date, or any other suitable criteria. In response to
pressing a remote control "OK" button, when the title of a current
program on a different channel is displayed, the interactive
television application may change to that channel. In response to
pressing a remote control "OK" button, when the title of a recorded
program is displayed in title 264, the interactive television
application may play that recorded program. In response to pressing
a remote control info key, the interactive television application
may display an information display screen for a program that is
identified in title 264. The information display screen may be
displayed for a program that is currently airing, upcoming, or
recorded.
[0236] When the interactive television application is in a flip
mode, a user may change the channel to change the current channel
that is being displayed and to change title 264 of the current
program on that channel in overlay 260. A channel choice for
recorded programs may not be available in flip mode. Alternatively,
a channel may be available during flip mode to view recorded
program. The interactive television application may start to play a
recorded program when a user flips to the recorded program. If the
program had previously been partially viewed, flipping to the
recorded program may the interactive television application to
start to play the program from the point at which viewing most
recently ended. Flip mode may be made to be available when a user
is watching a live television program that is playing from a buffer
for that program. As used herein, a live television program refers
to a program that is being viewed at the same time it is
broadcast.
[0237] An interactive television application may permit users to
set PVR setup options. FIG. 17 shows illustrative process 430 that
may be used for setting PVR setup options. At step 432, the
interactive television application may display a PVR setup display
screen. At step 432, PVR setup options may be provided to the user
and may include steps 434, 436, 438, 440, 442, 444, 446, 448, 450,
452, 454, 456, 458, 466, 468, and 470.
[0238] At step 434, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to edit the recording buffer time
that is to be used before and after programs that are scheduled to
be recorded on a particular channel or programs that have a
particular program type. If the user selects to edit the recording
buffer time before and after, the interactive television
application may display a recording buffer time before/after by
channel/type display screen at step 460. At step 436, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to set the default quality for a recording. At step 438,
the interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to edit the quality of a recording based on the program
channel or program type. If the user selects to edit the quality of
a recording by channel or type, the interactive television
application may display an edit quality of recording by
channel/type display screen at step 462. At step 440, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to set the quality of a series recording. At steps 442 and
444, the interactive television application may respectively
provide the user with the ability to set a default for the
recording buffer time before and the recording buffer time after to
be used for scheduled recordings.
[0239] At step 446, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to set the default recording
priority for a program. The recording priority option may, for
example, include a can't miss priority, an if possible priority, a
desired priority, an if space available priority, or any other
suitable priority. At step 448, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to set buffer
options, which may include steps 466, 468, and 470. It is to be
understood that the word buffer is sometimes used herein to refer
to a recording buffer that will be used to record television
content before or after a scheduled recording to prevent cutoffs
due to schedule variations and at some other times to refer to
buffering live television to allow for features such as pause of
live television.
[0240] At step 466, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to set the maximum size (or
maximum time) to be used for buffering live television. At step
468, the interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to set the quality of a buffer for live
television. If desired, the user may choose different buffer
qualities for different channels, different channel types, or
different program types. At step 470, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select an
option to resolve recording buffer time conflicts. If the user
selects to resolve recording buffer time conflicts, the interactive
television application may display a buffer time conflicts display
screen at step 464.
[0241] At step 450, the interactive television application may
provide default series recordings options that may include steps
452, 454, 456, and 458. At step 452, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select
whether, by default, the interactive television application should
record programs that a user has seen before. At step 454, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to select whether the interactive television application
should, by default, record programs that are reruns. At step 456,
the interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to select which channels the interactive television
application should use, by default, to record series episodes. At
step 458, the interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to select, by default, to record syndicated
episodes, first-run episodes, or both syndicated and first-run
episodes for a series recording. All of the options set in this
process may be stored in memory, and used as defaults when a new
recording is scheduled. Any of these settings may be overridden
when a recording is scheduled. If desired, individual settings of
PVR defaults may be entered for each user.
[0242] FIG. 18 shows illustrative PVR setup display screen 540 that
may be provided by the interactive television application. PVR
setup display screen 540 may be displayed when a user selects to
configure a specific recording or when a user selects to configure
default recording settings. Display screen 540 may provide the user
with the ability to set various settings for a PVR. If desired, PVR
setup display screen 540 may be displayed to include options for
configuring a specific recording without including options for
setting system defaults. Conversely, PVR setup display screen 540
may be displayed to include options for configuring system defaults
without including options for configuring a specific recording.
[0243] Display screen 540 may include buffer time before/after by
channel/type option 542, default quality option 544, quality by
channel/type option 546, series recording quality option 548,
default buffer time before option 550, default buffer time after
option 552, recording priority option 554, record programs seen
before option 556, record repeated programs option 558, series
recording channel selection option 560, series recording type
option 562, buffer time conflicts option 563, size of live TV
buffer option 570, and quality of live TV buffer option 572, which
may be provided based on illustrative steps 434, 436, 438, 440,
442, 444, 446, 452, 454, 456, 458, 466, 468, and 470 as shown in
FIG. 17. Other setup options may be provided if desired.
[0244] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select buffer time before/after by channel/type
option 542 by moving highlight window 568 over buffer time
before/after by channel/type option 542 and pressing a remote
control "OK" button. The interactive television application may
display a buffer time before/after by channel/type display screen
in response to a selection of buffer time before/after by
channel/type option 542. The interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 568 over
default quality option 544 and to scroll through quality settings
to select a default recording quality that may be used for all
recordings except recordings that have been specifically configured
by a user to have a particular quality setting, or unless
overridden by options such as options 546 and 548. Display screen
1400 of FIG. 25 may, for example, be used to set a recording
quality for a specific recording. If desired, display screen 540
may include an option for setting a recording quality for a
specific recording.
[0245] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select quality by channel/type option 546 by
moving highlight window 568 over quality by channel/type option 546
and pressing a remote control "OK" button. The interactive
television application may display an edit quality of recording by
channel/type display screen in response to a selection of quality
by channel/type option 546.
[0246] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over series recording
quality option 548 and to scroll through the default quality
setting to be used for series recordings. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 568 over default buffer time before option
550 or default buffer time after option 552 and to scroll through
available buffer time settings to respectively set the default
recording buffer time before a scheduled recording and the default
recording buffer time after a scheduled recording. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 568 over recording priority option 554 and
scroll through the priority settings to set the default recording
priority to be used for recordings. The recording priority options
may include, a can't miss priority, an if possible priority, a
desired priority, an if space available priority, and other
suitable recording priority settings.
[0247] If desired, a recording priority that has been set for a
program may be converted to be a delete priority for a recording of
that program. An example of this conversion may be that a program
whose recording priority was set to be a can't miss priority may be
converted to a delete priority of never delete when that program is
recorded. The remaining recording priority options may also have
corresponding delete priority options.
[0248] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over record programs
seen before option 556 and scroll between yes or no to set a
default value for whether the interactive television application
may record programs seen by the user before. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 568 over record repeated programs option 558
and scroll between yes or no to set a default value for whether the
interactive television application should record programs that are
reruns. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over series recording
channel selection option 560 and scroll through series recording
channel selection settings to select which channels may be used by
default for performing series recordings. The channel selections
may include only the original channel, all possible channels, a
user-selected selection of channels, or any other suitable
selection of channels.
[0249] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over series recording
type option 562 and to scroll through series episode type settings
to set which type of episodes of a program may be recorded by
default. The series recording types for episodes may include
syndicated episodes, first-run episodes, both syndicated episodes
and first-run episodes, or any other suitable type of episode, such
as whether to record all seasons, current season only, or other
types of episodes. The interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select buffer time conflict
option 563 by moving highlight window 568 over buffer time conflict
option 563 and pressing a remote control "OK" button. The
interactive television application may display a buffer time
conflict display screen in response to a selection of buffer time
conflict option 563. Buffer time conflict option 563 may be used to
resolve conflicts in recording buffer times. Save option 564 may be
used to save any PVR settings that may have been selected by the
user in display screen 540. In response to a selection of cancel
option 566, the interactive television application may exit display
screen 540 without saving any of the selections made by the user
and may return the user to a previous display screen.
[0250] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over size of live TV
buffer option 570 and scroll through size options to set how many
hours of storage space on a PVR may be used to record live
television. Size of live TV buffer option 570 may include a time
element and a percent element that may indicate how much storage
space on a PVR will be designated for buffering live television.
The interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to move highlight window 568 over quality of live TV
buffer option 572 and scroll through quality options to set the
quality of the live television buffer that may be used by the PVR
to buffer live television.
[0251] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 568 over activate
recompression option 574 and scroll between yes or no to set
whether to activate recompression for recorded programs. When
option 574 is selected by a user, the interactive television
application may recompress recorded programs again through
background processing using a more efficient digital video
compression technique, such as MPEG-4. Recompressing a recording
may reduce the storage space that is consumed for that particular
recording.
[0252] If desired, the application may allow the user to choose
different buffer sizes based on channel, channel type, program
type, or other factors. For example, one or more display screens or
overlays may be displayed that include an option to assign
different live television buffer sizes to different channels, an
option to assign different live television buffer sizes to
different programs types (e.g., movies, sports, documentary, talk
show, new, or other program category or genre), an option to assign
different live television buffer sizes to different channels types
(e.g., cable channel, network, broadcast, or other channel type),
or an option to assign different buffer sizes to other factors. The
interactive television application may allow a user to move a
highlight window within these display screens or overlays to make
selections for the default settings (e.g. buffer size) for the live
television buffer. A display screen, such as that shown in FIG. 19
for setting default recording buffer time before/after, may be used
to implement these live television buffer settings. These options
may be accessed by a user through a PVR setup display screen or
through other suitable means.
[0253] If desired, the application may allow the user to choose
different buffer qualities based on channel, channel type, program
type, or other factors. For example, one or more display screens or
overlays may be displayed that include an option to assign
different live television buffer qualities to different channels,
an option to assign different live television buffer qualities to
different programs types (e.g., movies, sports, documentary, talk
show, new, or other program category or genre), an option to assign
different live television buffer qualities to different channels
types (e.g., cable channel, network, broadcast, or other channel
type), or an option to assign different buffer qualities to other
factors. The interactive television application may allow a user to
move a highlight window within these display screens or overlays to
make selections for the default settings (e.g. buffer quality) for
the live television buffer. A display screen such as that shown in
FIG. 20 for setting default recording quality by content type may
be used to implement these live television buffer settings. These
options may be accessed by a user through a PVR setup display
screen or through other suitable means.
[0254] FIG. 19 shows illustrative buffer time before/after by
channel/type display screen 720 that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Display screen 720 may provide
the user with the ability to set default recording buffer times
before and after scheduled recordings of programs on a particular
channel or programs of a particular type. Examples of interactive
television program guides that may have features for reducing
recording cut-offs are illustratively shown in Ellis et al., U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 09/881,005, filed Mar. 29, 2001, which
is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0255] Until a user manually sets the default recording buffer
before and after a scheduled recording by channel or by program
type, the interactive television application may set the recording
buffer time for a program based on options 550 and 552 of FIG. 18
that are used to set the recording default buffer time before and
after programs that are to be recorded. In display screen 720, a
user, for example, may set the recording buffer time after sports
programs to be 15 minutes to account for the tendency of sports
program to run longer than scheduled.
[0256] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 742 over recording buffer
time before by channel option 722 and to scroll through channels
and to select a particular channel of interest. Highlight window
742 may be moved over buffer time before time option 724 to scroll
through a selection of times and to set the recording buffer time
to be used before programs on that channel. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 742 over recording buffer time after by
channel option 726 and to scroll through channels and to select a
particular channel of interest. Highlight window 742 may be moved
over buffer time after time option 728 to scroll through a
selection of times and to set the recording buffer time to be used
after programs on that channel.
[0257] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 742 over recording buffer
time before by program type option 730 and to scroll through
program types to select a particular program type of interest.
Highlight window 742 may be moved over buffer time before time
option 732 to scroll through a selection of times and to set the
buffer time before to be used for programs of a particular program
type. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 742 over buffer time
after program type option 734 and to scroll through program types
to select a particular program type of interest. Highlight window
742 may be moved over buffer time after time option 736 to scroll
through a selection of times and to set the buffer time after to be
used for all programs of a particular program type. If desired,
options 724, 728, 732, and 736 may each include a "default" setting
that will set that feature to use a related default setting chosen
in options 550 and 552 of FIG. 18.
[0258] The interactive television application may allow a user to
define the default buffer time before and buffer time after based
on channel type. The interactive television application may provide
the user with the ability to move highlight window 742 over buffer
time before by channel type option 6912 and to scroll through
channel types to select a particular channel type of interest.
Highlight window 742 may be moved over buffer time before time
option 6914 to scroll through a selection of times and to set the
default buffer time before to be used for programs on a particular
type of channel.
[0259] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 742 over buffer time
after by channel type option 6918 and to scroll through channel
types to select a particular channel type of interest. Highlight
window 742 may be moved over buffer time after time option 6920 to
scroll through a selection of times and to set the default buffer
time after to be used for programs on a particular type of
channel.
[0260] Save option 738 may be used to save the settings for buffer
time before and buffer time after that were selected by a user in
display screen 720. In response to a selection of cancel option
740, the interactive television application may exit display screen
720 without saving any of the user selections and may return the
user to a previous display screen.
[0261] FIG. 20 shows illustrative quality of recording by
channel/type display screen 750 that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Display screen 750 may provide
the user with the ability to set default recording qualities for
programs on a particular channel or program type. Until a user
manually sets the default recording quality for programs on a
particular channel or for a particular program type, the
interactive television application may set each recording quality
based on option 544 of FIG. 18, which is a general default
recording quality option.
[0262] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 764 over channel option
752 and to scroll through channels to select a particular channel
of interest. Highlight window 764 may be moved over channel quality
option 754 to scroll through the recording quality options and to
select a recording quality for that channel. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 764 over program type option 756 and to
scroll through program types to select a particular program type of
interest. Highlight window 764 may be moved over program type
quality option 758 to scroll through the recording quality options
and to set the recording quality for that program type. If desired,
the default quality for any channel or program type may be set to
"default" in which case programs of that type or on that channel
will by default use the settings chosen in option 544 of FIG. 18.
If desired, the default recording quality for series recordings
(option 548 of FIG. 18) may also be set on screen 750 by setting
program type option 756 to "series" and using program type quality
option 758 to select a desired recording quality.
[0263] If desired, the interactive television application may allow
a user to define the default recording quality based on channel
type. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 764 over channel type
option 6824 and to scroll through channels types (e.g., sports,
movie, network, public access, premium, news, etc.) to select a
particular channel type of interest. Highlight window 764 may be
moved over channel type quality option 6826 to scroll through the
recording quality options and to set the default recording quality
that will be used based on channel type.
[0264] Save option 760 may be used to save the settings for the
recording quality that are selected by a user. In response to a
selection of cancel option 762, the interactive television
application may exit display screen 750 without saving any of the
selections made by the user and may return the user to a previous
display screen.
[0265] FIG. 21 shows illustrative buffer time conflicts display
screen 770 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 770 may provide the user with the
ability to select settings for resolving recording conflicts
between recording buffers and programs and also resolve conflicts
between different recording buffers. The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 772 over recording buffer priority option 774 and to scroll
between yes or no to select whether recording buffers before and
after should have a lower priority than programs that are to be
recorded. If the user selects yes for option 774, conflicts between
programs and recording buffers may be resolved in favor of
programs.
[0266] The interactive television application may also provide the
user with the ability to select option 778 and option 780 to
resolve recording conflicts between buffers. If the user selects
"yes" for option 778, the interactive television application may
resolve conflicts between buffers based on the recording priority
of a scheduled recording that is associated with each buffer.
[0267] If the user selects "no" for option 778, option 780 may be
used to assign different priorities to buffer times before and
buffer times after. For example, option 780 may be used to assign
buffer times after to have a higher priority than buffer times
before. Save option 784 and cancel option 786 may be used to either
save settings selected by a user or to exit without saving the
settings.
[0268] FIG. 22 shows illustrative priority level information
display screen 870 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 870 may display the amount
of free memory (total hours) remaining on a PVR. Display screen 870
may also display a list of how much memory remains for use for each
priority level and indicate when free memory for recordings will
run out based on recordings that are currently scheduled.
[0269] Display screen 870 may include memory usage information
section 872. Memory usage information section 872 indicates the
total PVR memory space, the total memory used, and how much memory
remains. The hours available and hours remaining numbers may be
based on any suitable assumptions about recording quality, such as
average recording quality of current recordings, the default
recording quality, the recording quality for upcoming recordings,
or any other suitable method. Display screen 870 may include
priority level information list 874. Priority level information
list 874 may include a list of each priority level, an indicator of
how much memory is currently used for each priority level, and
information on when the guide may start deleting programs to make
room for new scheduled recordings that have a particular priority
level.
[0270] An interactive television application may be implemented to
provide PVR features for PPV programming. FIG. 23 shows
illustrative process 1200 that may be used in selecting and
configuring a PPV program. At step 1216, the interactive television
application may display a PPV information display screen for
example when a user selects an information option for a particular
PPV program from a listing screen or from any other location at
which a user may be allowed to indicate an interest in a particular
PPV program. The interactive television application may provide
related program guide options at step 1218. Related program guide
options may include last, order/watch, remind, lock, times, and any
other suitable program guide options. At step 1224, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select a record option to set and/or configure a PPV recording. A
record key on a remote control may also be used to set a PPV
program to be recorded.
[0271] If the PPV program has not previously been ordered, the
interactive television application may walk the user through the
ordering process before scheduling the recording. The user may set
a recording priority for the PPV program. A step for setting a
recording priority such as step 651 of FIG. 6 may also be included
in process 1200. Options or steps that are related to series
recordings such as steps 608, 653, 655, and 657 may also be
included in process 1200 for example when a PPV program that is
scheduled to be recorded is part of a package. If desired, some of
the series setup options may not be offered for PPV packages, such
as first-run/syndicated.
[0272] If the user chooses to record a PPV program, the interactive
television application may require the user to order the PPV
program before scheduling a recording for that program. If desired,
the interactive television application may automatically order a
PPV program when the user selects to record the PPV program. In
another embodiment, the interactive television application may
automatically display the PPV order screens as part of the
recording setup process. A recording may not be scheduled if the
user does not complete the order for a desired PPV program. If the
PPV program is not an impulse order PPV program (e.g., an Automatic
Number Identification PPV program), the interactive television
application may allow the user to schedule a recording before
placing an order for the program.
[0273] If the user selects a record option for a PPV program, the
interactive television application may proceed to step 1206. At
step 1206, PPV record related options may be provided to the user.
Step 1206 may include steps 1232, 1234, 1236, 1238, 1240, and 1242.
At step 1234, the interactive television application may provide
the user with the ability to select when the PPV program should be
recorded. For example, the user may select a particular broadcast
from a list of PPV broadcast times. At step 1236, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select the recording quality for the PPV program. At steps 1238 and
1240, the interactive television application may respectively
provide the user with the ability to set a recording buffer time
before and a recording buffer time after the scheduled broadcast of
a desired PPV program. At step 1232, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select a save
option to schedule the PPV program to be recorded and to save the
settings that have been selected by the user. At step 1242, the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to cancel and exit to a previous display screen without
scheduling a recording.
[0274] FIG. 24 shows illustrative program information display
screen 1300 for a PPV program that has not yet been scheduled to be
recorded. Display screen 1300 may be displayed in response to a
selection of a remote control info button when, for example,
listing bar 702 of display screen 700 of FIG. 7 is positioned over
a PPV program. With reference now to FIG. 24, display screen 1300
may include title display bar 1306. Display screen 1300 may include
program video 1340 for a program that is currently airing on a
tuned channel. Display screen 1300 may include information on a PPV
program that is listed in display bar 1306 and may include PPV
program related program guide options.
[0275] Display screen 1300 may include record option 1330. In
response to a user selecting record option 1330, the interactive
television application may display PPV recording setup display
screen 1400 as shown in FIG. 25.
[0276] With reference now to FIG. 25, PPV recording setup display
screen 1400 may include save option 1402, select time option 1410,
quality option 1404, buffer time before option 1412, buffer time
after option 1414, cancel recording option 1416, and recording
priority option 1420. These options may be provided based on
illustrative steps 1232, 1234, 1236, 1238, 1240, and 1242 shown in
FIG. 23. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to move highlight window 1418 over select
time option 1410 and to use remote control navigation buttons to
scroll through scheduled times of a particular PPV program to
select a recording time. The interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 1418
over quality option 1404 and to use remote control navigation
buttons to scroll through recording quality settings to select a
quality for the recording. The interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to move highlight window 1418
over buffer time before option 1412 or buffer time after option
1414 and to use remote control navigation buttons to set the buffer
time before and after to be used for a recording. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 1418 over recording priority option 1420 and
to use remote control navigation buttons to set the recording
priority for a recording. The selection of save option 1402 may
schedule the desired recording and related recording settings. In
response to the selection of cancel option 1416, the interactive
television application may exit the current display screen and
return to a previous display screen without scheduling the PPV
program to be recorded, or if desired, cancel option 1416 may
cancel the scheduled recording of the PPV program. Other suitable
options may be provided. If desired, the application may allow a
user to select a record option for a PPV program that already has a
recording scheduled. In this case, the application may display a
screen such as display screen 1400 to allow the user to modify the
recording settings or cancel the scheduled recording. Thus, PVR
functionality may be provided for PPV programs.
[0277] An interactive television application may be implemented to
provide PVR features for VOD programming. FIG. 26 shows
illustrative process 1250 that may be used in selecting and
configuring a recording of VOD program. At step 1252, the
interactive television application may display a VOD information
display screen for example when a user selects an information
option for a particular VOD program from a listing screen or any
other suitable location in which a user may indicate an interest in
a VOD program. The interactive television application may provide
related program guide options at step 1254. Related program guide
options may include last, order, remind, lock, and any other
suitable program guide options. At step 1256, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select a record option, a remote control record button, or a record
option from a live control overlay to set and/or configure a VOD
recording.
[0278] If the user chooses to record a VOD program, the interactive
television application may require the user to order the VOD
program before scheduling a recording for that program. If desired,
the interactive television application may automatically order the
VOD program when the user selects to record the VOD program. In
another embodiment, the interactive television application may
automatically display VOD order screens as part of the recording
setup process. If desired, the recording may not be setup if the
user does not complete an order for a VOD program.
[0279] If the user selects a record option for a VOD program, the
interactive television application may proceed to step 1258. At
step 1258, VOD record related options may be provided to the user.
Step 1258 and may include steps 1260, 1262, 1264, 1266, 1268, and
1270. At step 1262, the interactive television application may
propose a selection of times at which the VOD program may be
recorded. The interactive television application may propose a time
based on currently scheduled recordings and reminders to avoid
conflicts in recordings. The interactive television application may
propose a recording time and allow a user to scroll to other
possible recording times. At step 1264, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select a
recording quality for the VOD program. At steps 1266 and 1268, the
interactive television application may respectively provide the
user with the ability to set a recording buffer time before and a
recording buffer time after the scheduled recording time of a VOD
program. Selecting a buffer time before or buffer time after for a
recording of a VOD program may be beneficial for example in
situations where the playback of a VOD program extends beyond the
specified duration for that program. The playback of a VOD program
may for example extend beyond a specified duration when there are
interruptions in the delivery of the VOD program. However, a
recording buffer time before or after a VOD program should not
typically be necessary. At step 1260, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select a save
option to schedule the VOD program to be recorded and to save the
settings that have been selected by the user. The user may set a
recording priority for the VOD program. A step for setting a
recording priority such as step 651 of FIG. 6 may also be included
in process 1250 to allow a user to set a recording priority for a
VOD program. Other options from process 600 of FIG. 6 may also be
included as appropriate. At step 1270, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to cancel and
exit to a previous display screen without scheduling a
recording.
[0280] If a VOD or PPV program is marked as copy-protected, the
interactive television application may restrict whether a user can
schedule a recording for the copyrighted program. If desired, the
interactive television application may not automatically buffer
live video of PPV or VOD programs that are copy-protected.
[0281] VOD and PPV programs may be priced to have different prices
depending on the usage. For example, one price may be for watching
a program and another price may be for recording a program. The
price for recording a program may be displayed when the user
selects to record a program. If desired, VOD and PPV programs may
be marked with three different prices--the first two prices being
the same type of prices as the two prices described above and a
third price that is for each playback of a recording. The
interactive television application may also support
pay-per-recording and pay-per-playback of ordinary content. The
interactive television application may also support a system in
which the user pays for recording space by the amount of storage
space used on a remote server (e.g., pay for the amount of storage
in a remote server that stores personal video of a user).
[0282] FIG. 27 shows illustrative program information display
screen 1280 for a VOD program that has not yet been scheduled to be
recorded. Display screen 1280 may be displayed in response to a
selection of a remote control info button when, for example,
listing bar 702 of display screen 700 of FIG. 7 is positioned over
a VOD program. With reference now to FIG. 27, display screen 1280
may include title display bar 1282. Display screen 1280 may include
information on a VOD program that is listed in display bar 1282 and
may include VOD program related program guide options.
[0283] Display screen 1280 may include record option 1284. In
response to a user selecting record option 1284, the interactive
television application may display VOD recording setup display
screen 1350 as shown in FIG. 28.
[0284] With reference now to FIG. 28, VOD recording setup display
screen 1350 may include save option 1352, proposed recording times
option 1362, quality option 1354, buffer time before option 1356,
buffer time after option 1358, cancel recording option 1360, and
recording priority 1366. These options may be provided based on
illustrative steps 1260, 1262, 1264, 1266, 1268, and 1270 shown in
FIG. 26.
[0285] As mentioned above, buffer time before option 1356 and
buffer time after option 1358 may not be necessary for recording
VOD programs and may not be selectable by the user.
[0286] The interactive television application may propose a
recording time for a VOD program based on currently scheduled
recordings and reminders. The interactive television application
may also determine what recording times are available to record the
VOD program and may create a list of proposed recording times.
[0287] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 1364 over proposed
recording times option 1362 and to use remote control navigation
buttons to scroll through proposed times to select a recording
time. The proposed times may include the current time in order to
allow the user to immediately record the VOD program. The
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to move highlight window 1364 over quality option 1354 and
to use remote control navigation buttons to scroll through
recording quality settings to select the quality for a recording.
The interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to move highlight window 1364 over recording priority
option 1366 and to use remote control navigation buttons to set the
recording priority for a recording. The selection of save option
1352 may schedule the desired recording based on the related
recording settings that have been set by the user. In response to
the selection of cancel option 1360, the interactive television
application may exit the current display screen and return to a
previous display screen without scheduling the VOD program to be
recorded, or if desired, cancel option 1360 may be used to cancel
the scheduled recording of the VOD program. If desired, display
screen 1350 may be shown if the user selects a record option for a
VOD program that already has a recording scheduled, in which case
the application may allow the user to modify recording settings or
cancel the scheduled recording.
[0288] While a VOD program is being recorded, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
only control the playback of the VOD program locally using typical
PVR flow control options. For example, the user may not be
permitted to control playback from a VOD server when the VOD
program is being recorded. However, the user may be permitted to
control the playback of the VOD program through the user's local
PVR. User playback control for a VOD program may be available up to
the point in the VOD program that has been recorded by the PVR.
[0289] A PVR may be used to record, play, or buffer television
content. FIG. 29 shows illustrative process 1500 that may be
involved in using a PVR. At step 1520, the interactive television
application may display a reminder overlay for a scheduled
recording that is displayed shortly before the scheduled recording.
The recording may have been scheduled by the user or by the
interactive television application. The reminder overlay may
include one or more options. The overlay may allow the user to
cancel the recording (if a series recording is configured this
would only cancel the recording of a single episode). The overlay
may provide the user with the ability hide the overlay so that the
user may finish watching the current program and start the
recording at the scheduled time. The overlay may allow the user to
end viewing of the current program and start recording the program
immediately. The overlay may allow the user to tune to the program
but cancel the recording, which allows the user to watch the
program, but not save a copy. In response to no activity by the
user, the overlay may be removed after a predetermined amount of
time and the interactive television application may tune the
channel airing the scheduled program, and recording may begin. At
step 1510, the interactive television application may start to
record a program and may display a starting to record overlay.
[0290] At step 1512, following step 1510, the interactive
television application may display live video of a program that is
being recorded and may monitor user activity to determine if the
user has selected to cancel the recording. For example, the user
may be permitted to select to cancel a recording by pressing a
remote control record button or by pressing a different remote
control button to change the current channel (the channel that is
be used for the recording) when the recording is in progress. If
the user does not select to cancel the recording, the interactive
television application may continue to step 1514. Otherwise, step
1516 may be performed when the user selects to cancel the
recording. At step 1516, the interactive television application may
display a cancel recording overlay. If desired, the cancel
recording overlay may provide the user with the ability to select
to confirm that the recording should be canceled. If the user
chooses not to cancel the recording, then the interactive
television application may return to step 1512. If the user chooses
to cancel the recording, then the interactive television
application may continue to step 1518. During a recording, a user
may select to pause, rewind, fast-forward, or take some other
playback control action without affecting the recording of the
program. The user may fast-forward to the "live" point in the
program, the time at which new content is currently being recorded.
If desired, the application may allow a user to watch a previously
recorded program while a current program is being recorded.
[0291] The interactive television application may continue to step
1518 following step 1514. At step 1514, the interactive television
application may display a finished recording overlay, which may
show a message indicating that a recording is complete. The
recording, whether completed or partly completed (e.g., partly
completed because the user canceled the recording), may be
available to the user for playback for example, from a recording
listings display screen (see FIG. 36).
[0292] Live television programming may be buffered when a recording
is canceled or completed. For example, a tuner that was being used
for the recording may be used for buffering live television program
on a PVR when the recording is canceled or completed. If desired,
the system may use multiple tuners to allow multiple programs to be
recorded simultaneously, or to allow a user to watch one program
while one or more programs are being recorded. At step 1518, the
interactive television application may display and buffer live full
screen video. Also, at step 1518, the interactive television
application may display a live control overlay when the user
invokes the overlay. The live control overlay may be invoked, for
example, by pressing particular remote control buttons such as a
play button, a rewind button, a pause button, a fast-forward
button, or a stop button. A dedicated button for invoking the
overlay may also be used. The live control overlay may include
PVR-related task options such as play, pause, rewind, fast-forward,
record, and other suitable task options. Options in the live
control overlay may be used to play, rewind, pause, or fast-forward
live television programming. The live control may be automatically
removed if left unused for a certain period of time. The
interactive television application may remain at step 1518 until a
record option is selected for a live television program or until
step 1520.
[0293] Step 1520 may be repeated to start process 1500 when the
interactive television application displays another remind/record
overlay for a scheduled recording. Step 1510 may be repeated to
start process 1500 when for example a record option is selected
when a user is watching a live television program.
[0294] If desired, a recording may be made without displaying any
overlays. For example, a set-top box may be turned off when a
recording is scheduled to begin. The application may tune to the
selected program and begin recording to local storage without
turning on user equipment. Alternatively, a program may be recorded
on a remote server without any user notification.
[0295] A starting to record overlay may be displayed when a PVR
starts to record a program. FIG. 30 shows illustrative starting to
record overlay 1602 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Overlay 1602 may be displayed by the
interactive television application when the interactive television
application starts to record a program (e.g. starts to record a
program at step 1510 of FIG. 29). Overlay 1602 may indicate that a
current program is now being recorded. Overlay 1602 may be
displayed over video 1604 for the current program playing in the
background. Overlay 1602 may be removed from view after a specified
period of time or when the user selects a remote control exit
button. The interactive television application may record the
current program without including overlay 1602 as part of the
recording. If desired, television programming may be recorded
without including display screens and overlays as part of the
recording.
[0296] A user may also be allowed to take other actions when a
program is being watched and recorded without those interactions
being reflected in the recording. For example, a user may be
permitted to mute or change the volume of a program that is being
recorded without such changes being included as part of the audio
of the recorded program. A user may be permitted to pause, rewind,
or perform other program flow control options as a program is being
recorded, without affecting the recording of the program. A user
may be allowed to watch a previously recorded program when a new
program is being recorded, without affecting the recording of the
new program.
[0297] FIG. 31 shows illustrative stop recording overlay 1702 that
may be provided by the interactive television application. Overlay
1702 may be displayed over current video 1704 for a program in
response to the user attempting to change a current channel while
video 1704 is being recorded. Overlay 1702 may be an example of
step 1516 of process 1500 of FIG. 29. If desired, the application
may allow the user to change channels without affecting a recording
that is in progress, if, for example, the system includes multiple
tuners or if the program is being recorded on a remote server.
[0298] Overlay 1702 may include "no" option 1706 and "yes" option
1708. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to use highlight window 1710 to select "no" option
1706 or "yes" option 1708. In response to a selection of "no"
option 1706, the interactive television application may continue to
record and display current video 1704 for the current program. In
response to a selection of "yes" option 1708, the interactive
television application may stop the recording and allow the user to
change the channel. If there is no response to overlay 1702, the
interactive television application may remove overlay 1702 and
continue the recording. If desired, a passive stop recording
overlay or cancel recording overlay may be displayed when a user
selects to cancel a current recording.
[0299] FIG. 32 shows illustrative finished recording overlay 1804
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Overlay 1804 may be displayed when a scheduled recording is
completed. Overlay 1804 may include keep recording option 1806 and
delete recording option 1808. The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 1810 over keep recording option 1806 to select that option.
A user may select option 1806 to remove overlay 1804 and keep the
recording of the program on the PVR. The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 1810 over delete recording option 1808 to select that option
(e.g., by pressing a remote control "OK" button). A user may select
option 1808 to remove overlay 1804 and delete the recording of the
program from the PVR. In response to inactivity by a user after a
specified period of time the interactive television application may
automatically select to keep the recording and remove overlay 1804.
Overlay 1804 may be displayed over current video 1802 for a
particular program. If desired, overlay 1804 may not be displayed
if, for example, a recording or reminder is scheduled immediately
following the recording that just completed.
[0300] A PVR may be used to buffer live television program and to
control the flow of live television programming (e.g., to pause a
live program). FIG. 33 shows illustrative live control overlay 1904
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Overlay 1904 may be displayed when a user invokes program flow
control options, for example, by pressing a particular remote
control button such as a pause button, a rewind button, a dedicated
button for invoking the overlay, or another suitable remote control
button. Overlay 1904 may include options for controlling the flow
of a live television program. Overlay 1904 may be provided based on
step 1518 of process 1500 of FIG. 29. Overlay 1904 may be displayed
over current video 1902 for a particular program. Overlay 1904 may
include selectable advertisement 1906, rewind option 1908, play
option 1910, record option 1912, pause option 1914, program title
1916, and fast-forward option 1918.
[0301] In response to a user selecting rewind option 1908, the
interactive television application may display buffered video 1902
that is rewinding. In response to the selection of pause option
1914, the interactive television application may display buffered
video 1902 of the current program that is paused. In response to
the selection of play option 1910, buffered video 1902 may resume
playing at normal speed. Overlay 1904 may also provide an option to
advance video 1902 frame-by-frame (e.g., by repeatedly selecting
pause option 1914). In response to the selection of fast-forward
option 1918, the interactive television application may display
buffered video 1902 of the current program in fast-forward. In
response to the selection of record option 1912, the interactive
television application may record the current program. Rewind
option 1908 and fast-forward option 1918 may be used to
fast-forward and rewind a program at different speeds. The range of
different speeds may include a range from different slow motion
speeds to different fast-forward speeds. Switching between
different speeds may be performed through successive selections of
the same option (e.g., successive selections of fast-forward option
1908 or successive selections of rewind option 1908). To stop
recording a current program or to stop playback of a recording, the
interactive television application may require the user to press a
remote control stop button once or more than once to confirm the
desired action. Stopping a PVR from recording may cancel that
scheduled recording. If desired, a stop option may be displayed in
overlay 1904 when appropriate.
[0302] A remote control stop button may further function in the
same way as a pause option when a user is watching live television
(i.e., live television of a program that is not being recorded is
being buffered.)
[0303] Techniques for buffering and recording programs are further
discussed below. Overlay 1904 may also be displayed to allow a user
to control the flow of a recording that is playing from a PVR.
Overlay 1904 may be displayed without including record option 1912
when overlay 1904 is being used to control a recording. See for
example FIG. 39.
[0304] FIG. 34 shows illustrative recording reminder overlay 2004
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Overlay 2004 may be provided based on step 1520 of process 1500 of
FIG. 29. Overlay 2004 may be displayed over current video 2002 for
a particular program. Overlay 2004 may include reminder tab 2008,
reminder information 2010, record option 2012, hide option 2014,
cancel option 2016, and watch and cancel option 2018.
[0305] Overlay 2004 may be displayed at a specified period of time
before a scheduled recording. The specified period of time may be
fixed by the application, may be defined by a user in a setup
screen, or may be configured by the user for an individual
recording when that recording is scheduled. Reminder tab 2008 may
include a list of other reminders for scheduled recordings. In
response to a selection of record option 2012 the interactive
television application may end viewing of the current program and
may start to record the scheduled recording immediately. The
interactive television application may dismiss reminder overlay
2004 and maintain the recording at the scheduled time in response
to a selection of hide option 2014. If desired, after hiding
reminder overlay 2004 using hide option 2014, a user may press a
remote control button to cause the application to redisplay
reminder overlay 2004. The interactive television application may
cancel the recording in response to a selection of cancel option
2016. In response to a selection of watch and cancel option 2018
the interactive television application may tune to the program but
cancel the recording, allowing the user to watch the program, but
not save a copy. In response to no activity by the user, overlay
2004 may be automatically removed and the interactive television
application may tune the channel for the scheduled recording and
begin recording. Once a recording that is scheduled starts,
starting to record overlay 1602 of FIG. 30 may be displayed to
indicate that the program is being recorded.
[0306] The interactive television application may display a
particular program information display screen for programs that are
available for playback from a PVR. FIG. 35 shows illustrative
process 2100 that may be used in displaying a PVR recording
information display screen. At step 2110, the interactive
television application may display a PVR recording listings display
screen and provide a user with the ability to select to play a
recording that is listed in the listings display screen or select
an information option for a particular listing. If desired, the
user may select to play a recording or view information about a
recorded program from any location in which the program is listed
such as a program type listings display screen, a search listings
display screen, a by time listings display screen, a by channel
listings display screen, a browse overlay, a flip overlay, or any
other suitable screen. If the user selects to play a recording for
example by pressing a remote control "OK" button or a remote
control play button, the interactive television application may
proceed to step 2136. If the user selects an information option for
a recording, the interactive television application may proceed to
step 2120.
[0307] At step 2120, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to view information on a
particular recording. At step 2122, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to return to the
last screen that was displayed. At step 2124, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
play a recording (e.g., a recorded program). If the user selects to
play the recording, the interactive television application may play
the recording at step 2136. If desired, there may be multiple play
options, for example to resume playing from the most recent point
at which playing ended, or to restart playing from the beginning of
the recorded program. At step 2125, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to delete a PVR
recording. At step 2126, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to edit delete priority settings
for a recording. If the user selects to edit delete priority
settings, the interactive television application may proceed to
step 2132. At step 2132, the interactive television application may
display a delete priority display screen for configuring delete
priority settings for a PVR recording.
[0308] At step 2128, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to modify access privileges to a
recording (e.g., lock a recording). At step 2130, a user may be
provided with an opportunity to select to have a recording copied
to a VCR or other external recording device. The interactive
television application may display a VCR setup display screen at
step 2134 when a user selects to copy a PVR recording to a VCR. If
desired, at step 2134, the interactive television application may
copy a PVR recording to a VCR based on user selections in a VCR
setup display screen. At step 2135, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to modify series
recordings settings if the PVR recording is part of an active
series recording. If the PVR recording was not recorded as part of
a series recording or is not part of a currently active series
recording, the interactive television application may allow a user
to schedule a new recording or new series recordings based on the
PVR recording. A recorded program information display screen may
also include a preview option. Selecting this option may display a
partial-screen scaled video version of the program that is embedded
in the program information display screen.
[0309] At step 2136, the interactive television application may
display full screen video of a recording that a user has selected
to play. A PVR control overlay may also be displayed that includes
PVR playback-related task options.
[0310] FIG. 36 shows illustrative PVR recording listings display
screen 2200 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 2200 may be displayed in response to a
selection of recordings option 518 in display screen 500 of FIG. 5.
Display screen 2200 may include program titles within listing bars
such as listing bar 2202. Display screen 2200 may include delete
icon 2206 in a listing bar indicating that the program related to
delete icon 2206 may be deleted in the amount of time specified in
icon 2206. Delete icon 2206 may appear in display screen 2200 or in
any other suitable display screen or overlay. If desired, listing
bar 2202 may explicitly include a recorded content icon (e.g.,
recorded content icon 704 of FIG. 7) that may explicitly indicate
that a PVR recording is associated with the program listed in
listing bar 2202.
[0311] A user may select to play a recording by moving highlight
window 2212 over listing bar 2202 and pressing a remote control
"OK" button or remote control play button. The interactive
television application may play the recorded program from the
beginning or from a current playback location, if desired. In
response to the selection of a remote control "OK" button or a
remote control play button, the interactive television application
may display a PVR playback video overlay. See for example FIG.
39.
[0312] In response to a user moving highlight window 2212 over a
particular listing of a recording and pressing a remote control
info button, the interactive television application may display a
recording information display screen.
[0313] A recording, such as the recording in listing bar 2202, may
have been automatically recorded as part of a series recording or
as a keyword recording. If a particular recording has been
scheduled for recording by both a series recording and a keyword
recording, the interactive television application may only save one
copy of the recording.
[0314] Recordings on this screen may be sorted based on any
suitable criteria. This may include, for example, alphabetical, by
recording date, by recording priority, by delete priority, by
viewing status, whether recorded automatically or as specified by a
user, or any other criteria or combination of criteria.
[0315] FIG. 37 shows illustrative recorded program information
display screen 2300 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 2300 may include title
display bar 2306 that may contain recorded content icon 2312.
Recorded content icon 2312 may indicate that a PVR recording is
available for the program that is identified in title display bar
2306. Playback counter 2314 may indicate up to what position in the
program a user has viewed.
[0316] Display screen 2300 may include play option 2326, delete
option 2328, delete priority option 2330, to VCR option 2334,
series setup option 2336, and times option 2338. These options may
have been provided based on illustrative steps 2124, 2125, 2126,
2130, and 2135, shown in FIG. 35. In response to a selection of
play option 2326, the interactive television application may play a
recording of the program that is identified in title display bar
2306. If desired, there may be more than one play option to allow a
user to play a recording from the beginning of the recorded program
or to play the recording from the position of playback counter
2314. In response to a selection of delete option 2328, the
interactive television application may delete the recording of the
program and/or delete information about that particular recording.
In response to a selection of delete priority option 2330, the
interactive television application may display a delete priority
display screen and may provide the user with options for
configuring delete priority settings.
[0317] In response to a selection of to VCR option 2334, the
interactive television application may display a to VCR setup
display screen and may allow the user to transfer the recorded
program from the PVR to a VCR or other devices. A to VCR setup
display screen may provide a user with options for configuring the
transfer of the recorded program from the PVR to a VCR. In response
to a selection of series setup option 2336, the interactive
television application may display a series setup display screen,
such as that shown in FIG. 10. A series setup display screen may
provide the user with the ability to modify recording settings for
an active series recording corresponding to the selected program or
create a new series recording if one does not exist for the
selected program. In response to a selection of times option 2338,
the interactive television application may display a list of other
recordings of that program and list upcoming episodes of that
program. Examples of interactive television program guides with
interactive information display screens are illustratively shown in
Rudnick et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,268, filed
Jul. 16, 1999, which is mentioned above.
[0318] Display screen 2300 may include preview option 2340. In
response to a selection of preview button 2340, the interactive
television application may play scaled video of the recorded
program in video window 2342. If desired, the application may
display a control panel with control keys to stop, fast-forward,
pause, rewind, etc., or the user may control the video using keys
on the remote control. The control panel may displayed in or over
display screen 2300. If desired, a current program that was playing
in video window 2342 may be automatically paused when the recorded
program is being previewed.
[0319] An interactive television application may automatically
delete programs to manage storage space. Delete priority settings
may be used to manage which recordings are deleted by an
interactive television application. FIG. 38 shows illustrative
program delete priority setup display screen 930 that may be
provided by the interactive television application. Display screen
930 may provide the user with the ability to set delete priority
settings for a program. Display screen 930 may be displayed in
response to a user selecting delete priority option 2330 of FIG.
37. Display screen 930 may include delete preferences option 932
and edit delete order option 942.
[0320] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select a delete preference for a recording
using delete preferences option 932. A user may scroll through
different delete preference setting using option 932. A delete
preference setting that may be set for a recording may include a
setting to never delete, a setting to make a recording a preferred
recording, a setting to delete a recording when space is needed, a
setting to delete the program after it has been viewed, or other
settings. If a never delete setting is selected, the interactive
television application may delete a recording only when a user
specifically requests that recording to be deleted. If a preferred
recording setting is selected, the interactive television
application may delete recordings that do not have preferred
recording settings before deleting recordings that have preferred
recording settings. If a delete a recording when space is needed
setting is selected, the interactive television application may
delete the program when space to record a program is needed. If
desired, the interactive television application may first check the
priority of recordings and then the age of the recording to
determine which programs to delete. If desired, a program may have
two delete priorities, one that is used before the program has been
viewed and one that is used after the program has been viewed.
[0321] Delete program on date option 934 may be made available to a
user when a delete preference other than a never delete setting has
been selected for the current program. Delete program on date
option 934 may include delete on month option 936, delete on day
option 938, and delete on year option 940. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 942 over delete on month option 936, delete
on day option 938, and delete on year option 940 and respectively
scroll through month, day, and year to select the date to delete
the program. When a user selects edit delete order option 944, the
interactive television application may display a list that shows
the order in which currently stored recordings may be deleted. See
for example display screen 3600 of FIG. 53.
[0322] FIG. 39 shows illustrative PVR playback video overlay 2404
displayed over video 2402 of a program that the interactive
television application is playing from a recording on a PVR.
Overlay 2404 may be an example of step 2136 of process 2100 of FIG.
35.
[0323] Overlay 2404 may be used to control the flow of video 2402.
Overlay 2404 may include rewind option 2408, play option 2410,
fast-forward option 2412, pause option 2414, stop option 2416,
program title 2418, and playback time 2420. Playback time 2420 may
inform the user of the length of the recording and inform the user
how much video 2402 has been viewed. Playback video overlay 2404
and the flow control options contained therein are similar to live
controls overlay 1904 of FIG. 33 and options contained therein.
Stop option 2416 may function in the same way as a pause option
while watching live television that is not being recorded. If a
recording has been scheduled and is being recorded, stop option
2416 may function to cancel the scheduled recording.
[0324] If desired, the interactive television application may also
allow the user to skip video 2402 forward or back a specified
period of time in a recording or buffered television program by
pressing particular remote control buttons such as page up or down
buttons that are typically included in remote controls.
[0325] If during the playback of video 2402, a user attempts to
change the channel, an overlay with a message may appear. FIG. 40
shows illustrative message overlay 952 displayed over video 950 of
a program that the interactive television application may be
playing from a recording on a PVR. Overlay 952 may include an "OK"
option 954 for selecting to remove overlay 952. Overlay 952 may
also be removed automatically by the interactive television
application after a specified period of time. The message within
overlay 952 indicates that the user should press a remote control
stop button to cancel the playback of the video so that the user
can change the channel. If desired, video 950 may be automatically
paused when the user decides to watch another recorded program or
change to live television. Video 950 may be paused to be resumed at
a later time without including an overlay in video 950.
[0326] FIG. 41 shows illustrative process 960 that includes steps
that may be involved in accessing interactive television
application options while watching a recording. At step 962, the
interactive television application may play a recorded program. At
step 964, the interactive television application may provide
program guide functions, such as browse, menu, guide, or other
options while a user is watching a recording. For example, the
interactive television application may provide a user with the
ability to press a remote control menu button when video for a
recorded program is playing in order to view a main menu display
screen. If desired, the interactive television application may
automatically pause the playback of the recording when a user
accesses a main menu display screen or when other display screens
or overlays are displayed.
[0327] A user may be permitted to access or modify settings for
recording programs that have been scheduled to be recorded. FIG. 42
shows illustrative process 2500 that shows illustrative steps that
may be involved in displaying information display screens for
programs that are scheduled to be recorded. Step 2502 shows
illustrative steps involved in providing a user with the ability to
perform a task with respect to a listing in a scheduled recordings
display screen.
[0328] At step 2514, the interactive television application may
display a scheduled recordings display screen or other graphic that
includes a listing such as a browse overlay, a by time listings
display screen, a by channel listings display screen, a by type
listings display screen, or a search listings display screen. The
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to view information on a listing by selecting an
information option for a listing. At step 2514, the interactive
television application may also allow the user to cancel a
scheduled recording of a program by pressing a remote control
record button in connection with a listing of that program. In
response, a recording canceled overlay may be displayed at step
2522. If desired, pressing a record button may convert a one-time
recording to a series recording with default settings if the
program is an episode in a series. An overlay may be displayed to
inform the user of the conversion.
[0329] If the user selects an information option, for example by
using a remote control "OK" button or a remote control info button,
the interactive television application may display an information
display screen for a program that is scheduled to be recorded.
[0330] If an information option is selected for a program that is a
PPV or VOD program, the interactive television application may
determine at step 2528 if that program is currently being recorded.
If the program is a PPV or VOD program, which is currently being
recorded, the interactive television application may proceed to
step 2510. A VOD program that is scheduled to be recorded may be
currently recording because a user may have scheduled the recording
for the VOD program to be at the current time. If the program is a
PPV or VOD program, which is not currently being recorded, the
interactive television application may proceed to step 2508. If the
program is not a PPV or VOD program, the interactive television
application may proceed to step 2506.
[0331] Step 2510 may be performed for a PPV or VOD program when the
PPV or VOD program is being recorded. Step 2510 may include steps
2530, 2532, 2536, and 2540 for providing a scheduled program
information display screen for a PPV or VOD program that is
currently being recorded. At step 2530, the interactive television
application may display a scheduled program information display
screen. The interactive television application may provide related
program guide options at step 2532. Related program guide options
may include last, watch, lock, and other suitable program guide
options. At step 2536, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select stop recording option.
In response to the selection of stop recording button, the
interactive television application may stop recording the PPV or
VOD program and display a stop recording overlay at step 2540.
[0332] Step 2508 may include steps 2542, 2544, 2546, 2550, and 2554
for providing a scheduled program information display screen for a
PPV or VOD program that is not currently being recorded. At step
2542, a scheduled program information display screen for a PPV or
VOD program that is not currently being recorded may be displayed.
The interactive television application may provide related program
guide options at step 2544. Related program guide options may
include last, lock, and any other suitable program guide options.
At step 2546, the interactive television application may provide
the user with the ability to select a cancel order option. In
response to the selection of a cancel order option, the interactive
television application may exit the current scheduled program
display screen and may display a recording canceled overlay at step
2554. If desired, an order for a PPV or VOD program may be
automatically canceled when a user selects to cancel a scheduled
PPV or VOD recording at step 2546. At step 2550, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select to edit recording settings.
[0333] Step 2506 may include steps 2572, 2574, 2578, 2580, 2582,
2586, 2588, and 2590 for providing a program information display
screen for a non-PPV and non-VOD program that is scheduled to be
recorded.
[0334] At step 2572, a scheduled program information display screen
for the non-PPV and non-VOD program may be displayed. The
interactive television application may provide related program
guide options at step 2574. Related program guide options may
include last, watch (if the program is currently on), lock, and
other suitable program guide options. At step 2578, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
select a stop recording option. In response to the selection of a
stop recording option, the interactive television application may
determine if the scheduled recording is currently being recorded at
step 2586. If the program is being recorded, the interactive
television application may display an overlay to request whether
the user wants to stop recording the program at step 2588. If the
program is not currently being recorded, the interactive television
application may cancel the scheduled recording and display a
recording canceled overlay at step 2590. At step 2580, a user may
be provided with an opportunity to select and configure a series
recording. At step 2582, a user may be provided with an opportunity
to edit recording settings that will be used for the scheduled
recording. Step 2582 may be the same as step 606 of process
600.
[0335] An interactive television application may display a list of
scheduled recordings in a scheduled recording listings display
screen. FIG. 43 shows illustrative scheduled recording listings
display screen 2600 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 2600 may be displayed in
response to the selection of scheduled recordings option 524 in
display screen 500 of FIG. 5. Display screen 2600 may be an example
of step 2514 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.
[0336] Display screen 2600 may include listing bars such as listing
bar 2602 and date bars such as date bar 2604. Display screen 2600
may display a list of the titles of programs scheduled for
recording. Display screen 2600 may list scheduled programs based on
their scheduled start times with date bar 2604 separating programs
that are scheduled on different days. Display screen 2600 may be
used to list each program that is currently scheduled to be
recorded. The list may include one-time recordings as well as
recordings that are part of a series recording. Multiple listing
bars may be included for series recordings. If desired, episodes
for programs that are scheduled to have reminders may also be
listed in display screen 2600.
[0337] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 2610 over listing bar
2602 and select a remote control info button, a remote control "OK"
button, a remote control record button, or any other suitable
remote control button in order to modify the recording/reminder
settings for the program. Display screen 2600 may include delete
episode option 2606, delete all episodes option 2608, and see other
scheduled recordings option 2612. A user may be permitted to scroll
through scheduled recordings listings using remote control up and
down navigation keys and permitted to move between the listings and
options 2606, 2608, and 2612 using remote control right and left
navigation keys. For example, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 2610 over listing bar 2602 and to mark that listing by
pressing a predetermined remote control button. Remote control
right/left navigation keys may then be used to move highlight
window 2610 over delete episode option 2606. The marked listing may
then be removed from display screen 2600 and the scheduled
recording for that listing may be canceled by pressing a remote
control "OK" button. A delete episode function may also be
available for example by pressing a remote control record key to
convert a one-time recording to a series recording and then by
pressing a remote control record key again to delete a scheduled
recording. A delete episode or delete series recording option may
also be available from a program information display screen. The
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to move highlight window 2610 over delete all episodes
option 2608 (e.g., using right/left arrow buttons) to delete all
scheduled episodes by pressing remote control "OK" button.
[0338] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 2610 over see other
scheduled recordings option 2612 (e.g., using remote control
right/left navigation keys). In response to a user selecting see
other scheduled recordings option 2612 in connection with a marked
listing, the interactive television application may display a list
of other scheduled recordings that match the program name in the
marked listing. The list of other recordings may include series
recordings, keyword-based recordings, or recordings defined using
time and channel on an on-going basis. A list of episodes in a
series may also be available from the see all episodes option 1008
of series recording setup display screen of FIG. 10.
[0339] If a scheduled recording is a VOD program, display screen
2600 may display a listing for the VOD program in the scheduled
recordings list in the same manner as a regularly scheduled program
with an associated time and day that the VOD program is to be
recorded. Display screen 2600 may provide the user with the ability
to select a scheduled VOD recording. In response to a selection of
a scheduled VOD recording, the interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to view program information
and to edit recording information using a display screen such as
that shown in FIG. 28.
[0340] FIG. 44 shows illustrative information display screen 2700
for a PPV program that is currently being recorded. Display screen
2700 may be displayed in response to a user pressing a remote
control info button or a remote control "OK" button for a PPV
listing in FIG. 43 or on any other screen from which the PPV
program may be accessed. Display screen 2700 may be provided based
on step 2510 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.
[0341] Display screen 2700 may include stop recording option 2730
that may be provided based on step 2536 shown in FIG. 42. In
response to a user selecting stop recording option 2730, the
interactive television application may show stop recording overlay
1702 of FIG. 31.
[0342] FIG. 45 shows illustrative information display screen 2800
for a PPV program that is not currently being recorded. Display
screen 2800 may be displayed in response to a user pressing a
remote control info button or a remote control "OK" button for a
listing of a PPV program that is scheduled to be recorded, but is
not yet airing. Display screen 2800 may be provided based on step
2508 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.
[0343] Display screen 2800 may include cancel recording option
2828, cancel order option 2830, and edit option 2832 that may be
provided based on steps 2546 and 2550 shown in FIG. 42. In response
to a selection of cancel recording option 2828, the interactive
television application may show cancel recording overlay 3110 of
FIG. 48. In response to a selection of cancel order option 2830,
the interactive television application may cancel the PPV order. If
desired, the canceling of a PPV order may also cancel the
recording. Edit option 2832 may be used to access a display screen
to allow a user to modify a recording that is already
scheduled.
[0344] In response to a selection of edit option 2832, the
interactive television application may display PPV recording setup
display screen 2900 of FIG. 46. FIG. 46 shows illustrative modify
PPV recording setup display screen 2900 that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Display screen 2900 may provide
the user with the ability to edit recording options for a
particular scheduled recording. Display screen 2900 may include
save option 2910, time option 2912, quality option 2916, buffer
time before option 2916, buffer time after option 2918, and cancel
option 2920. Change time option 2912 may allow the user to select a
different airing of the PPV program to be used for the scheduled
recording. These options may have been provided based on
illustrative steps 1232, 1234, 1236, 1238, 1240, and 1242 shown in
FIG. 23. Save option 2910 may be selected to save the new settings
that are selected by the user. If the changes that were selected by
a user included changing the time of the PPV program, the selection
of save option 2910 may cause the recording to be scheduled for
that new time and may cause the PPV program that is airing at that
new time to be ordered. Options 2912, 2914, 2916, 2918, and 2920
may operate in the same way as options 1410, 1404, 1412, 1414, and
1416 of FIG. 25, respectively. If desired, display screen 1400 of
FIG. 25 may be shown instead of display screen 2900.
[0345] Illustrative display screens and options that have described
in connection with PPV programs such as display screen 2900 of FIG.
46 may be used for VOD programs.
[0346] FIG. 47 shows illustrative scheduled recording program
information display screen 3000 that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Display screen 3000 may be
displayed in response to a user pressing a remote control info
button for a listing in FIG. 43 (or on any other screen from which
the program may be accessed) of a scheduled recording of a non-PPV
and non-VOD program. Display screen 3000 may be provided based on
step 2572 of process 2500 of FIG. 42.
[0347] Stop recording option 3030, setup option 3032, and series
option 3028 may be provided based on illustrative steps 2578, 2582,
and 2580 shown in FIG. 42. In response to the selection of stop
recording option 3030, the interactive television application may
display a stop recording overlay if the program is currently being
recorded. The stop recording overlay may request whether a user
wants to stop the recording of the program. In response to a
selection of setup option 3032, the interactive television
application may display program recording display screen 900 of
FIG. 9.
[0348] FIG. 48 shows illustrative cancel recording overlay 3110
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Overlay 3110 may be displayed when a user selects to cancel a
scheduled recording. Recording canceled overlay 3110 may appear
over display screen 3100.
[0349] FIG. 49 shows illustrative live controls overlay 3204
displayed over a video of a program that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Overlay 3204 may be displayed
while buffered video 3202 for a program is playing in the
background. As in live control overlay 1904 of FIG. 19, overlay
3204 may also include rewind option 3208, play option 3210, record
option 3212, pause option 3214, fast-forward option 3222, and
program title 3216. Overlay 3204 may further include live TV option
3218 and time behind live TV indicator 3220.
[0350] Time behind live TV indicator 3220 may indicate how far back
buffered video 3202 is behind live television. The interactive
television application may allow the user to select live TV option
3218 to return the user to watching live video that is currently
airing.
[0351] The interactive television application may allow the user to
set the size of the buffer for pausing live television in size of
live TV buffer option 570 of FIG. 18. If desired, the application
may allow the user to set different buffer sizes and record
qualities for different channels, channel types, and program types.
FIG. 50 shows illustrative live controls overlay 3304 with pause
time left indicator 3306 displayed over a paused video of a program
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Overlay 3304 may be displayed over paused video 3302 for a current
program. Overlay 3304 may include pause time left indicator 3306
which may indicate how much time is left in the buffer for pausing
live television. If desired, pause time left indicator 3306 may not
be displayed if the size of the buffer is large enough to hold the
entire remainder of the current program.
[0352] A user may be permitted to set delete priority settings for
recordings in general. For example, with reference now to FIG. 51,
illustrative delete priority setup display screen 3400 may be
displayed by an interactive television application to allow a user
to select delete priority settings. Display screen 3400 may be
displayed when a user selects delete priority option 526 of main
menu display screen 500 of FIG. 5. Alternatively, display screen
3400 may be accessible from PVR Setup screen 540 of FIG. 18.
Display screen 3400 may provide the user with the ability to set
various delete priority settings. Display screen 3400 may include
edit one-time recording delete priority option 3402, edit series
recording delete priority option 3404, delete by program type
option 3406, delete by broadcast type option 3408, delete by
channel option 3409, recording expiration option 3410, and delete
after viewed option 3414.
[0353] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select edit one-time recording delete priority
option 3402. In response to such a selection, the interactive
television application may display a one-time recording delete
priority order display screen (see FIG. 53). A one-time recording
delete priority display screen may allow a user to change the order
in which individual recordings will be deleted.
[0354] Managing delete priority settings for individual recordings
that are part of a series recording may be time consuming. A series
recording delete priority order display screen (see FIG. 52) may be
used to speed the process for setting delete priority for series
recordings. A series recording delete priority order display screen
may be displayed in response to a selection of edit series
recording delete priority option 3404.
[0355] Other types of parameters may also be used to set delete
priority settings. If the user selects program type delete by
option 3406, the interactive television application may display a
delete by program type display screen (see FIG. 54). If the user
selects delete by broadcast type option 3408, the interactive
television application may display a delete by broadcast type
display screen (see FIG. 55A). If the user selects delete by
channel option 3409, the interactive television application may
display a delete by channel display screen (see FIG. 55B).
[0356] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 3416 over recording
expiration option 3410, and the ability to use remote control
navigation buttons to select the length of time that a recording
will be stored on the PVR. The settings for this option may include
never delete, one week, two weeks, or any other suitable
duration.
[0357] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 3416 over delete after
viewed option 3414 and to use remote control navigation buttons to
select to have recordings deleted after they have been viewed.
Selecting this option may cause recordings to be deleted
immediately after being viewed. Alternatively, it may cause the
priority of the viewed program to be reduced so that it may be
deleted in preference to a program that has not yet been
viewed.
[0358] FIG. 52 shows illustrative series recordings delete priority
display screen 3500 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 3500 may be displayed in
response to a selection of series recording delete priority option
3404 of FIG. 51. Other means for reaching display screen 3500 may
also be implemented. With reference now to FIG. 52, display screen
3500 may display listing bars for recordings such as listing bar
3502 that are displayed in the priority order that recordings in
one series are given over recordings in another series. One listing
bar may be displayed for each scheduled series recording. If
desired, keyword-based recordings may also be included on this
screen. Display screen 3500 may include move up option 3508 and
move down option 3510. The interactive television application may
allow the user to use move up option 3508 or move down option 3510
to change the delete priority for a series. The delete priority
order in display screen 3500 may be used by the interactive
television application to determine the priority of individual
series recordings with respect to all recordings.
[0359] In FIGS. 52-55B, a user may be permitted to switch between
listings and move up/down options using remote control right/left
navigation keys. For example, when a user has positioned a
highlight window over a desired listing, the user may press
right/left navigations keys to access move up or move down options,
which may be selected by the user by, for example, pressing a
remote control "OK" key. The listing from which move up or move
down options are accessed may be moved up or down in priority in a
delete priority list when a user selects move up or down
options.
[0360] Screens similar to those shown in FIGS. 52-55B may be used
to set relative default recording priorities for series, individual
programs, program types, and channel types. If desired, recording
priorities may be converted to delete priorities after a program
has been recorded.
[0361] FIG. 53 shows illustrative one-time recording delete
priority display screen 3600 that may be provided by the
interactive television application. Display screen 3600 may be
displayed in response to a selection of edit one-time recording
delete priority option 3402 of FIG. 51. With reference now to FIG.
53, display screen 3600 may display listing bars, such as listing
bar 3602, which are displayed in the order that will be used to
delete recordings. The delete order for the recordings may have
been determined based on delete priority settings that a user
selected for specific programs (e.g., never delete, preferred
recording, etc.) or based on delete priority settings that a user
selected for recordings in general (e.g., delete priority for
series recordings, delete priority by program type, delete priority
by broadcast type, etc.). This screen may include a listing bar for
each scheduled one-time recording. Display screen 3600 may include
move up option 3606 and move down option 3608. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to use
move up option 3606 or move down option 3608 to change the order in
which listed recordings will be deleted. By moving the position of
a recording up or down, the user manually changes the delete
priority of that recording with respect to the other
recordings.
[0362] FIG. 54 shows illustrative delete priority by program type
display screen 3700 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 3700 may be displayed in
response to a selection of delete by program type option 3406 of
FIG. 51. With reference now to FIG. 54, display screen 3700 may
display listing bars such as listing bar 3702. The order of the
listing bars shows the priority that the interactive television
application will give to different types of programs when the
interactive television application selects programs to delete.
Program types may include sports, movies, children, adult, sitcom,
or other suitable program types. A listing bar may be included for
each program type supported by the application. Display screen 3700
may include move up option 3706 and move down option 3708. The
interactive television application may allow a user to select move
up option 3706 or move down option 3708 to change the delete
priority order of the program types. The interactive television
application may use this delete priority order in specifying the
order in which individual recordings will be deleted.
[0363] FIG. 55A shows illustrative delete priority by broadcast
type display screen 3800 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 3800 may be displayed in
response to a selection of delete by broadcast type option 3408 of
FIG. 51. With reference now to FIG. 55A, display screen 3800 may
display listing bars, such as listing bar 3802, that list the
delete priority that will be given to recordings based on the
broadcast type that was used for the recording. Types of broadcasts
may include PPV, VOD, broadcast, cable, local access, and other
suitable broadcast types. Display screen 3800 may include move up
option 3806 and move down option 3808 that may be used to change
the delete priority that is associated with broadcast types. This
delete priority order may also be used in selecting the order in
which individual recordings will be deleted.
[0364] FIG. 55B shows illustrative delete priority by channel
display screen 3810 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 3810 may be displayed in
response to a selection of delete by channel option 3409 of FIG.
51. With reference now to FIG. 55B, display screen 3810 may display
listing bars, such as listing bar 3812, that list the delete
priority that will be given to recordings based on the channel on
which a program was recorded. Display screen 3800 may include move
up option 3816 and move down option 3818 that may be used to change
the delete priority of the channels. This delete priority order may
also be used in selecting the order in which individual recordings
will be deleted.
[0365] An interactive television application may be implemented to
push television advertisements and other content to be locally
stored and displayed. FIG. 56 shows illustrative process 9500
involved in pushing television advertisements and other content to
user equipment. An interactive television application may store a
limited amount of program listing information or other information
on a set-top box and/or a PVR. With reference now to FIG. 56, at
step 9502 the interactive television application may determine
during which hours of the day a user typically does not watch
television. This may be performed by asking the user to specify
time periods that the user does not typically watch television or
by monitoring when a user watches television. At step 9504, the
interactive television application may push video advertisements
(e.g., short video advertisements) and other video content (such as
editorial content) to a user's set-top box. The advertisements and
other content may be based on user-specified or automatically
generated profile information. The transfer of content may be
performed during a time period in which a user typically does not
watch television. In configurations in which multiple tuners are
provided for user equipment, video content may be pushed when the
equipment is not using all of the tuners.
[0366] If a user chooses to watch television during a time period
in which the interactive television application is pushing content
to user equipment, the interactive television application may
proceed to step 9506. At step 9506, the interactive television
application may cancel pushing content to the local equipment of
the user. The interactive television application may then attempt
to resume pushing content during another time period that the user
does not typically watch television or may attempt to resume again
during the same time period the following day. If desired, content
that is fully or partially downloaded before the interactive
television application cancels pushing content may be retained
until the next attempt. After the advertisements and other content
have been transferred to the local equipment of a user, the user
may access these interactive advertisements from practically any
location in the interactive television application at step
9508.
[0367] FIG. 57 shows illustrative online scheduled recordings
program guide window 9530 that may be provided by an interactive
television application. Examples of online program guide systems
are illustratively described in Boyer et al. U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 08/938,028, filed Sep. 18, 1997, which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Window
9530 may be an online program guide window for accessing
information relating to scheduled events and other system
information for a user's PVR. If desired, an online program guide
may provide the same functionality through the Internet as is
illustratively described herein primarily in the context of cable
television based program guides.
[0368] Online scheduled recordings program guide window 9530 may
provide the user with the ability to have online access to that
user's scheduled recordings. Window 9530 may include menu bar 9532
which may contain a menu of features available from the online
program guide. Menu bar 9532 may have similar functionality to main
menu display screen 500 of FIG. 5.
[0369] Window 9530 may also have all the same functionality as
scheduled recordings display screen 2600 of FIG. 43. Online program
guide window 9530 may include date region 9534, program listings
9536, and checkbox 9538. There may be one checkbox for each
scheduled recording that is listed in window 9530. The online
program guide may also include option buttons 9550, such as info
button 9540, record button 9542, series button 9544, delete episode
button 9546, and delete all episodes button 9548. Option buttons
9550 may perform the same functionality as remote control buttons
or options that are available for listings in a scheduled
recordings display screen such as scheduled recordings display
screen 2600 of FIG. 43. The online program guide may provide the
user with the ability to select a checkbox for a scheduled
recording such as checkbox 9538 and to select an option button in
option buttons 9550 to perform a particular function. The online
guide may allow a user to select only one scheduled recording at a
time to allow the selection of option buttons 9550 to be only for
the currently selected scheduled recordings.
[0370] The online program guide may record a program to a server
and provide the user with the ability to select to view the program
after it has been recorded through the online program guide. The
online program guide may provide the user with the ability to tune
to a program through a tuner card in a personal computer. The
online program guide may further provide the user with the ability
to store the program on a hard disk connected to the personal
computer. The online program guide may send instructions to user
equipment, such as a set-top box or personal video recorder, to
record a program. The online program guide may send programs
recorded on a server or on a personal computer to user equipment,
such as a set-top box or personal video recorder. Examples of
interactive program guides that have remote access are
illustratively described in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/354,344, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0371] FIG. 58 shows illustrative process 9552 that may be used to
provide the user with the ability to edit saved programs. Examples
of these and other options are illustratively shown in Rudnick et
al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17,
1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its
entirety. At step 9554, the interactive television application may
display an edit stored program display screen, for example, when a
user selects a remote control edit button or an on-screen edit
option in connection with a recording. The recording may be
selected to be edited from practically any location in the
interactive television application.
[0372] At step 9556, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to remove commercials from a
recording. At step 9558, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to combine a selected recording
with other recordings. If the user selects to combine recordings,
the interactive television application may display a combine with
other recordings display screen at step 9560.
[0373] At step 9568, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to remove parts of a selected
recording. If the user selects to remove parts of a recording, the
interactive television application may display a remove overlay
with a time bar indicator over a video at step 9570. Step 9570 may
include steps 9572, 9574 and 9576. At step 9572, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
place a marker in the time bar indicator. If the user selects to
place one or more markers, the first marker may function as a
beginning marker and the second marker may function as an end
marker. At step 9574, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to remove a part of the recording
that may be between a beginning marker and an end marker or before
or after a single marker. At step 9576, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to clear any
markers that may appear on a time bar indicator.
[0374] At step 9578, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to add a selected recording to a
playlist. If the user selects to add a selected recording to a
playlist, the interactive television application may display a
playlist display screen at step 9580. Step 9580 may include steps
9582, 9584, 9586, 9588, and 9590. At step 9582, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
mark and unmark a recording that may be added to a playlist. At
step 9584, the interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to add more recordings to a playlist. At step
9586, the interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to create a new playlist. If the user selects to
create a new playlist, the interactive television application may
display a create new playlist overlay in step 9588. At step 9590,
the interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to order a playlist and remove a recording from a
playlist.
[0375] At step 9592, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to mark locations for reference
and to also recall references that may have been previously marked
for a selected recording. If the user selects to mark locations for
reference or to recall references that may have been previously
marked, the interactive television application may display a
location overlay with a time bar indicator at step 9594, which may
include steps 9596, 9598, and 9600. At step 9596, the interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
place a marker in the time bar indicator. At step 9598 the
interactive television application may provide the user with the
ability to skip to the next marker or skip to the previous marker.
At step 9600, the interactive television application may provide
the user with the ability to clear all markers in the time bar
indicator.
[0376] FIG. 59 shows illustrative edit saved recordings display
screen 9602 that may be provided by the interactive television
application. Display screen 9602 may be displayed in response to a
selection of a remote control edit button when a recording
(referred to herein in this context as "selected recording") in a
recordings display screen or some other suitable display screen or
overlay is selected. Alternatively, display screen 9602 may be
displayed in response to a selection of an edit option that may
have been shown, for example, on a recorded program information
screen. Display screen 9602 may include remove commercials from
recording option 9604, combine with other recordings option 9606,
remove parts of a recording option 9608, add to playlist option
9610, and mark and recall location option 9612, which may be
provided based on illustrative steps 9556, 9558, 9568, 9578, and
9592 shown in FIG. 58.
[0377] With reference now to FIG. 59, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to move highlight
window 9614 over remove commercials from recording option 9604 and
to select that option to remove the commercials from the selected
recording. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to move highlight window 9614 over combine
with other recordings option 9606 to select that option (e.g., by
pressing a remote control "OK" button). The interactive television
application may display a combine with other recordings display
screen in response to a selection of combine with other recordings
option 9606. The interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to move highlight window 9614 over remove
parts of a recording option 9608 to select that option (e.g., by
pressing a remote control "OK" button). The interactive television
application may display a remove parts of a recording overlay in
response to a selection of remove parts of a recording option 9608.
The interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to move highlight window 9614 over add to playlist
option 9610 to select that option (e.g., by pressing a remote
control "OK" button). The interactive television application may
display an add to playlist display screen in response to a
selection of add to playlist option 9610. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 9614 over mark and recall location option
9612 to select that option (e.g., by pressing a remote control "OK"
button). The interactive television application may display a mark
and recall location overlay in response to a selection of mark and
recall location option 9612. Display screen 9602 may also include
information about the selected program, such as its title and
length. As the recording is edited, the displayed length may change
accordingly.
[0378] FIG. 60 shows illustrative combine with other recordings
display screen 9616 that may be provided by the interactive
television application. Display screen 9616 may be displayed in
response to a selection of combine with other recordings option
9606 of FIG. 59. With reference now to FIG. 60, display screen 9616
may provide the user with the ability to combine a selected
recording with other recordings. Display screen 9616 may also
provide the user with the ability to determine in what order
recordings may be combined (e.g., whether program A may be
positioned before or after program B).
[0379] Display screen 9616 may include recording listings 9618
which may contain a list of PVR recordings. Display screen 9616 may
include combine after option 9620 and combine before option 9622.
Display screen 9616 may provide the user with the ability to move
highlight window 9632 over a listing bar in recording listings 9618
and to select combine after option 9620 or combine before option
9622 for the recording identified in that listing bar. A user may
be permitted to move a highlight window between listings 9618 and
options 9620 and 9622 using right and left remote control
navigation keys. A user may be permitted to move highlight window
9632 over a particular listing (e.g., Sports Center) and to combine
a recording of that particular listing with a currently selected
recording by adding the recording of that particular listing before
or after the currently selected recording. By using remote control
right and left navigation keys, a user may access combine after
option 9620 or combine before option 9622 for that particular
listing. Pressing a remote control "OK" key will then cause the
recording for that particular listing to be combined with currently
selected recording. Display screen 9616 may also include the title,
length, and other information related to the currently selected
recording. The combined recording may have the name of the
originally selected program, the name of the program selected to be
combined with it, the user may be able to choose which name to use,
or the user may be allowed to enter a new name for the combination.
If desired, neither, either or both of the original recordings may
be deleted when the combination is created.
[0380] FIG. 61 shows illustrative remove parts of a recording
overlay 9636 displayed over video 9634 that is playing from a PVR.
Overlay 9636 may be displayed in response to a selection of remove
parts of a recording option 9608 of FIG. 59 for a selected
recording. With reference now to FIG. 61, overlay 9636 may provide
the user with the ability to remove portions of a recording.
Overlay 9636 may include program counter 9638 and time bar
indicator 9640 which may provide a numerical and visual display of
the playback position of the selected recording. The interactive
television application may provide the user with the ability to
move through a recording by using a remote control fast-forward
button, a remote control rewind button, a remote control play
button, a remote control pause button, a remote control stop
button, a remote control skip forward or back button, an on-screen
option to perform any of the above by selecting a marker, such as
marker 9646 or 9648, or any other suitable remote control button or
action. Program counter 9638 and time bar indicator 9640 may
reflect a user's movements in the selected recording.
[0381] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to navigate to a location within a recording that
the user may want to mark as a beginning point of a section of a
recording to be removed. When the user reaches a desired location,
the interactive television application may provide the user with
the ability to select place marker option 9650. In response to a
selection of place marker option 9650, the interactive television
application may place beginning marker 9646 at the selected
location with a time stamp indicating the exact time location of
beginning marker 9646.
[0382] The interactive television application may fill time bar
indicator 9640 with a criss-crossed fill pattern in playback
section 9642 before beginning marker 9646. Playback section 9642
may be filled with a pattern to show the elapsed playback time.
Once beginning marker 9646 is placed at a desired location, the
interactive television application may modify time bar indicator
9640 to include a slashed fill pattern to show how much of the
program may be removed by the user. The user may then use a remote
control fast-forward button, a remote control play button, a remote
control pause button, on-screen options, arrow keys, and any other
suitable remote control buttons to navigate to another location in
the recording where the user may place an end marker. In response
to a selection of place marker option 9650, the interactive
television application may place end marker 9648 at the selected
location with a time stamp indicating the exact location of end
marker 9648.
[0383] The placement of end marker 9648 would thus define section
9644 that a user may select to remove from the recording. In order
to remove section 9644, the interactive television application may
provide the user with the ability to select remove option 9652. If
the user does not want to remove section 9644 or if the user wants
to edit a section to be removed, the interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select clear
markers option 9654. The selection of clear markers option 9654 may
cause beginning marker 9646 and end marker 9648 to be removed from
overlay 9636.
[0384] If desired, a user may enter only a beginning marker, in
which case all content after the marker may be removed. Similarly,
a user may enter only an end marker, in which case all content
prior to the marker may be removed.
[0385] A user may be provided with the ability to create a list of
recordings in a desired order, such as a playlist. FIG. 62 shows
illustrative playlist display screen 9656 that may be provided by
the interactive television application.
[0386] Display screen 9656 may provide the user with the ability to
move highlight window 9658 over playlist listing bar 9660 to select
a playlist to which a recording may be added. Display screen 9656
may include recording listings 9662. A user may add a particular
recording to a current playlist identified in playlist bar 9660 by
moving highlight window 9658 over one of add to playlist options
9670 that is positioned adjacent to a listing of a recording that
is desired to be added to the current playlist and by pressing a
remote control "OK" button.
[0387] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to select edit playlist option 9672 to change the
order of recordings within a playlist and remove recordings from a
playlist. In response to a selection of edit playlist option 9672,
the interactive television application may display an edit playlist
display screen (see FIG. 63). The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select create
new playlist option 9674 to create a new playlist. In response to a
selection of create new playlist option 9674, the interactive
television application may display a create new playlist overlay
(see FIG. 64).
[0388] FIG. 63 shows illustrative edit playlist display screen 9676
that may be provided by the interactive television application.
Display screen 9676 may provide the user with the ability to change
the order of recordings within a playlist and remove recordings
from a playlist. Display screen 9676 may include playlist recording
listings 9678, move up option 9680, move down option 9682, remove
option 9684, and cancel option 9688. A user may access options
9680, 9682, and 9684 for a particular listing in listings 9678 by
pressing a right or left remote control navigation buttons when
highlight window 9690 is positioned over that particular listing.
The right or left navigation buttons may move highlight window 9690
from that particular listing to options 9680, 9682, and 9684 to
allow the user to select one of these options for the listing. The
selection of move up option 9680 or move down option 9682 may move
a recording up or down within a playlist. The selection of remove
option 9684 for a particular listing may cause that recording to be
removed from a playlist, although the recording itself may not be
deleted. In response to a selection of cancel option 9688, the
interactive television application may cancel changes made to a
playlist and exit display screen 9676.
[0389] FIG. 64 shows illustrative create new playlist overlay 9702
displayed over playlist display screen 9700 that may be provided by
the interactive television application. Overlay 9702 may provide
the user with the ability to create a new playlist and to provide
the user with the ability to edit the name of the playlist. Overlay
9702 may include playlist name 9704, edit name option 9706, and
"OK" option 9708. Overlay 9702 may provide the user with the
ability to select edit name option 9706 to edit the name of a new
playlist. A user may use remote control alpha-numeric keys to edit
the name of the playlist. Once the user is satisfied with playlist
name 9704, the interactive television application may provide the
user with the ability to select "OK" option 9708.
[0390] FIG. 65 shows illustrative mark and recall overlay 9804
displayed over video 9802 of a selected recording that the
interactive television application may be playing from a PVR.
Overlay 9804 may be displayed in response to a selection of mark
location option 9612 of FIG. 59 for a selected recording. The
functions of this overlay may also be available from a control
overlay such as overlay 2404 of FIG. 39. With reference now to FIG.
65, overlay 9804 may provide the user with the ability to mark and
recall locations within a recording. Overlay 9804 may include
program counter 9806 and time bar indicator 9808.
[0391] The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to navigate to a location within a recording that
the user would like to mark to be a reference point. When the user
reaches a desired location, the interactive television application
may provide the user with the ability to select place marker option
9812. In response to a selection of place marker option 9812, the
interactive television application may place marker 9810 at that
particular location with a time stamp indicating the exact location
of place marker 9810.
[0392] Overlay 9804 may include skip to previous marker option
9814, skip to next marker option 9816, and clear markers option
9818. The interactive television application may provide the user
with the ability to move highlight window 9820 over skip to
previous marker option 9814 and skip to next marker option 9816. In
response to a selection of skip to previous marker option 9814, the
current playback location in indicator 9808 may be moved to a
previous marker (if one exists) and the application may play the
corresponding video at that location in video 9802. In response to
a selection of skip to next marker option 9816, the current
playback location in indicator 9808 may be moved to a next marker
(if one exists) and the application may play the corresponding
video at that location in video 9802. The interactive television
application may provide the user with the ability to select clear
markers option 9818. In response to a selection of clear markers
option 9818, the interactive television application may remove all
markers associated with a selected recording. The interactive
television application may save all existing markers when a user
exits overlay 9804 and may recall the markers the next time a user
accesses this option for the selected recording. If desired, the
user may be given the opportunity to name or number the individual
markers within a program, and to jump to a marker by name or
number. If desired, keys on the remote control (such as page up and
page down) may be used to quickly navigate to markers while
watching a recording without having to display an overlay. Markers
may be maintained when recordings are combined, when parts of a
recording are removed, and when a playlist is created.
[0393] An interactive television application may be implemented to
provide a PVR with multiple user accounts. FIG. 66 shows
illustrative steps involved in providing multiple program guides
for PVR users in a household. With reference now to FIG. 66, at
step 3902, user equipment that includes a PVR may be provided in a
household. If desired, some of the functionality may be provided
using equipment that is not in the user's home. For example,
programs may be recorded to a server in a distribution facility. At
step 3904, an interactive television application may be implemented
on the user equipment to provide multiple program guides. Each
program guide may correspond to one of the household members.
[0394] At step 3906, an interactive television application may
associate different household member specific PVR information with
different household members. The member specific PVR information of
each household member may be associated with that user's program
guide. PVR information may include configuration settings for
recordings, user preference information, scheduled recordings
information, recording information or other PVR related
information. If desired, steps 3904 and 3906 may be combined. If
desired, the size of the storage space to be used for configuration
settings, user preferences, program information, buffers, stored
programs, and other user-specific data may be specified for the
multiple program guides. Alternatively, storage space may not be
pre-allocated, and memory may be allocated from available memory as
each user needs it. At step 3908, an interactive television
application may allow household members to interact with respect to
the PVR and/or with respect to their PVR information using their
corresponding program guides. For example, a household member may
use his or her program guide to record a program on a PVR, to
schedule a PVR to perform a recording, or to view or manipulate his
or her list of PVR recordings.
[0395] Step 3908 may include step 3910. At step 3910, the
interactive television application may display PVR information that
is associated with a particular household member when that
household member uses their corresponding program guide. At step
3912, the interactive television application may cause the PVR to
record or delete programs based on the PVR information that is
associated with the household members. The PVR information may be
updated when a program is recorded or deleted. Thus, the
interactive television application may provide a unique program
guide for each member of a household.
[0396] A household member may begin to use his or her program guide
by logging into his or her program guide. For example, with
reference now to FIG. 67, the interactive television application
may display user-login display screen 4002. User-login display
screen 4002 may include options 4004 for allowing users to select
their login identification. User-login display screen 4002 may also
include data entry area 4006. Area 4006 may be used to enter a
personal identification code that is associated with a login
identification. Once a user has logged in to access one feature,
the user may not be required to login to access additional
features. For example, there may be a "change user" or "login"
button on the main menu screen or a key on the remote control. If
desired, a user may be automatically logged out after a period of
inactivity, or when the system is turned off.
[0397] Personalized main menu display screen 4008 may be displayed
when a user selects a particular login identification using options
4004 and enters a valid personal identification code. Main menu
display screen 4008 may include text 4014 identifying the current
user and may include options for providing interactive services.
For example, main menu display screen 4008 may include recordings
option 4010 and scheduled recordings option 4012 that the user may
select to access PVR related information and features. User
preferences and PVR setup options accessed from this main menu
screen may be specific to the logged in user.
[0398] A user may access his or her list of scheduled recordings
when that user logs into their program guide. For example, with
reference now to FIG. 68, user-login display screen 4102 may be
displayed to provide users with an opportunity to login. In this
instance, display screen 4102 identifies the users to be Tom and
Jerry.
[0399] Scheduled recordings display screen 4104 may be displayed
after a user logs into their program guide and selects to access
his or her list of scheduled recordings. As mentioned above, a user
may log in by selecting a user login and entering a personal
identification code. Scheduled recordings display screen 4104 may
include list 4106 containing listings for programs that Jerry
selected to be recorded. Tom's list of scheduled recordings may be
displayed in scheduled recordings display screen 4108 upon user
request after Tom logs in to his program guide. Scheduled
recordings display screen 4108 may include list 4110 containing
listings for programs that Tom selected to be recorded. An
interactive television application may associate different programs
to be recorded with different users. For example, as shown, list
4110 that is displayed for Tom is different from list 4106 that is
displayed for Jerry.
[0400] If desired, a user may be required to login when the user
selects to access PVR related information and/or features. For
example, with reference now to FIG. 69, main menu display screen
4202 may be displayed for example when a user presses a main menu
remote control button. Access to main menu display screen 4202 may
be provided without requiring user login. From main menu display
screen 4202, a user may be permitted to access general program
guide features such as program listings, weather information,
etc.
[0401] Main menu display screen 4202 may contain recordings option
4204 and scheduled recordings option 4206. User-login display
screen 4208 may be displayed when a user selects scheduled
recordings option 4206 in main menu display screen 4202. If
desired, user-login display screen 4208 may be presented as an
overlay. User-login display screen 4208 may contain login
identification options 4210 and data entry area 4212.
[0402] Personalized scheduled recordings display screen 4214 may be
displayed when a particular user, in this case, Jerry logs into his
program guide. Scheduled recordings display screen 4214 may contain
list 4216 for Jerry's scheduled recordings list for Jan. 18, 2002,
and list 4218 for Jerry's scheduled recordings for Jan. 20, 2002.
Scheduled recordings display screen 4212 may contain interactive
advertisement 4220. Examples of interactive television program
guide systems with interactive advertisements are illustratively
shown in Knudson, et al, which is mentioned below.
[0403] Features for managing recordings may be implemented in a
similar way. For example, with reference now to FIG. 70, main menu
display screen 4302 may be displayed for example when a user
presses a remote control menu button. Main menu display screen 4302
may contain recordings option 4304. User-login display screen 4307
may be displayed when a user selects recordings option 4304. At
user-login display screen 4306, a user may use options 4308 to
select their login identification and may enter their personal
identification code using data entry area 4310. Personalized
recorded programs display screen 4312 may be displayed when a user,
in this case Calvin, logs into the system using display screen
4307. Recorded programs display screen 4312 may contain list 4314
that lists programs that have been recorded for Calvin.
[0404] Illustrative steps involved in recording programs in a
multiple program guide environment are shown in FIG. 71. With
reference now to FIG. 71, at step 4402, a user may be provided with
an opportunity to log into his/her program guide. Multiple program
guides may be provided that each correspond to a different user.
The multiple program guides may be implemented to be available
through local user equipment (e.g., user equipment used by members
in a household) and may also be implemented using remote equipment,
such as a remote server. The user equipment or server may include a
storage device such as a PVR. A user may be permitted to log into
their program guide to interact with respect to the storage device.
At step 4404, a user who is currently logged into their program
guide may be permitted to select programs to be recorded on the
storage device (e.g., on a local recording device or on the
server). At step 4406, the user equipment may record programs based
on which programs were selected to be recorded by the users while
they were in their program guides. The interactive television
application that provides the multiple program guides may record
programs based on the user-selections irrespective of which user is
currently logged into their program. Therefore, a program may be
recorded for one user when a program guide for another is in use.
Step 4406 may include updating user-specific information regarding
recordings so that the new information may be reflected when a user
logs into the system. If multiple users select to record the same
program, the system may only record one copy.
[0405] Different techniques may be implemented to allow users in a
multiple program guide environment to select programs to be
recorded. For example, with reference now to FIG. 72, program
listings display screen 4502 may be displayed when a particular
user logs into their program guide and selects to access program
listings. If desired, program listings display screen 4502 may
contain text identifying the current user, which in this case is
Jerry. Display screen 4502 may contain program listings 4510. The
current user may be permitted to select a program to be recorded by
moving highlight window 4504 over a program listing such as the
listing for program A and pressing a remote control record key.
Icon 4506 may be displayed in association with program A when the
user has selected to record program A. Thus, icon 4506 indicates
that Jerry has selected to record program A, and program A is part
of his list of scheduled recordings.
[0406] Another technique for selecting a program to be recorded may
involve requesting user identification when a recording related
action is sought to be taken by a current user. For example, with
reference now to FIG. 73, program information display screen 4602
may be displayed when a user selects to obtain information on a
particular program. A user may be permitted to access information
display screen 4602 without having to log into their program guide.
Information display screen 4602 may contain record option 4604 that
a user may select to have the current program recorded (e.g.,
recorded using a PVR). Overlay 4606 may be displayed when the
current user selects record option 4604. Overlay 4606 may include
identification option 4608 that the user may scroll to select their
login identification, may include data entry area 4610 that may be
used to enter a personal identification number ("PIN"), OK option
4618 that may be used to log in, and cancel option 4616 that may be
selected to cancel overlay 4606. Icon 4612 may be displayed in
information display screen 4602 when the current user enters the
appropriate information in overlay 4606. Icon 4612 may indicate
that the program is now selected to be recorded. Information
display screen 4602 may now contain cancel recording option 4614
that the user may select to cancel the scheduled recording. The
cancellation of the recording may require that the user select a
login identification and enter a PIN again.
[0407] In a multiple program guide environment, recordings may be
manually deleted by individual users. Illustrative steps involved
in deleting recordings are shown in FIG. 74. With reference now to
FIG. 74, at step 4702, an interactive television application may
associate a recording with one or more users. More than one user
may be associated with a particular recording when more than one
user selects the same program to be recorded from within their
guides. At step 4704, users who are associated with the recording
may be provided with an opportunity to delete the recording when
they are in their program guide. At step 4706, the recording may be
deleted when all of the users that are associated with that
recording have selected to delete the recording. Step 4706 may
include step 4708. At step 4708, information that associates a
recording with a user may be deleted when the user selects to
delete the recording. Step 4708 may be used to remove the
association of that user with the program that the user selected to
delete (e.g., removes the program name for the recording from the
user's list of recordings). Information on the program may be
deleted without actually deleting the recording itself, e.g., if
other users have selected the program for recording.
[0408] FIGS. 75 and 76 show an illustrative sequence of display
screens that may be provided based on the illustrative steps shown
in FIG. 74. With reference now to FIG. 75, login display screen
4802 may be displayed when a user seeks to login to their program
guide. If desired, login display screen 4802 may be an overlay. In
this example, there are two users that are identified in display
screen 4802 as Tom and Jerry. Recordings display screen 4804 for
Jerry's recordings may be displayed when Jerry logs into his
program guide using login display screen 4802 and selects to access
his list of recordings. Recordings display screen 4810 for Tom's
recordings may be displayed when Tom logs into his program guide
using login display screen 4802 and selects to access his list of
recordings. As shown, the recordings contained in list 4806 in
display screen 4804 for Jerry and in list 4812 in display screen
4810 for Tom are different except for one program. The program
Living in Peace is listed in both lists 4806 and 4812.
[0409] Information display screen 4814 that contains information
and options for the program Living in Peace may be displayed when
Jerry moves highlight window 4808 in recordings display screen 4804
over the listing for the program Living in Peace and presses a
remote control "OK" key. Information display screen 4814 may
include delete option 4816. The program guide may allow Jerry to
select delete option 4816 and to subsequently return to his updated
list of programs, which are displayed in recordings display screen
4818. As shown, a listing for the program Living in Peace is no
longer included in list 4806 of Jerry's recordings. Recordings
display screen 4820 for Tom's recordings may be displayed after the
program Living in Peace is selected to be deleted by Jerry.
Recordings display screen 4820 may include list 4812 of Tom's
recordings, which still contains listing 4822 for the program
Living in Peace. Thus, one user may delete a recording of a program
from his or her guide without changing the program guides of the
other users.
[0410] FIG. 76 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that continues the sequence shown in FIG. 75. With reference now to
FIG. 76, recordings display screens 4918 and 4920 repeat recordings
display screens 4818 and 4820 of FIG. 75. Recording display screen
4920 for Tom's recordings may include listing 4926 for the program
Living in Peace. Information display screen 4928 containing
information and options for the program Living in Peace may be
displayed when the current user (Tom) selects listing 4926.
Information display screen 4928 may include delete option 4930. A
recording of the program Living in Peace and/or information related
to that program may be deleted when delete option 4930 is selected.
After delete option 4930 is selected for the program Living in
Peace, the interactive television application may display
recordings display screen 4932 that shows that the deleted program
is no longer on Tom's list of recordings.
[0411] The interactive television application may include features
for handling differences between recording settings that two
different users have selected for recording the same program. The
interactive television application may record the program to based
on both settings (e.g., using the highest setting that is set by
each user). For example, if the two users select different
before/after buffer times, the application may use the longer of
the two. If the two users select different record qualities, the
application may select the highest quality. If two users select
different record priorities, the application may use the highest
specified priority.
[0412] Accordingly, multiple program guides may be provided that
correspond to different users that share the same user
equipment.
[0413] A notification feature may be another feature that may be
provided with respect to recording activity. Illustrative steps
involved in providing notifications for upcoming changes in
recording content are shown in FIG. 77. At step 5002, an
interactive television application may provide a user with an
opportunity to select a program to be recorded. At step 5004, a
user may be provided with an opportunity to select delete priority
settings for a particular recording.
[0414] At step 5006, an interactive television application may
automatically select a program to be recorded or deleted. A
particular program may be automatically selected to be recorded
based on stored user preferences or other suitable criteria. A
recording may be deleted automatically for example when the
recording is one that was created over a certain number of days ago
or when the recording has not been viewed in a given period.
[0415] At step 5008, a notification may be sent that describes a
change that is to be made to the recorded content. For example, the
notification may state that a particular program is about to be
recorded or deleted. The change that is to be made may be
determined based on steps 5002, 5004, and 5006. Step 5008 may
include step 5010. At step 5010, in a multiple program guide
environment, a notification may be sent to specific users to which
the content of the notification is related. For example, the
notification may be sent only to users who used their program
guides to select a particular program to be recorded. This may be
achieved by sending one notification using an e-mail and sending
another notification via a program guide overlay. Other techniques
may involve waiting to send a notification to a particular user
until that user logs into his or her program guide. At step 5014,
an opportunity to cancel or confirm the change identified in the
notification may be provided to the recipient of the
notification.
[0416] In a multiple program guide environment, each user that is
notified of the change in the recorded content may be provided with
an opportunity to confirm or cancel the change at step 5012.
Information associated with each user's program guide will reflect
whether that user selected to confirm or cancel the change. Step
5012 may be a substep of step 5014.
[0417] FIG. 78 shows an illustrative display sequence that may be
provided based on the illustrative steps shown in FIG. 77. With
reference now to FIG. 78, information display screen 5102 may
contain information 5104, which describes an upcoming program, and
may contain related program guide options such as record option
5106. An upcoming future program may be a program that will air in
about a week. That program may be set to be recorded when record
option 5106 is selected. If that program is set to be recorded,
notification overlay 5108 may be displayed over video 5110 or other
content shortly before that program is about to air. Notification
overlay 5108 may contain text notifying the user that the selected
program is about to be recorded. Notification 5108 may include
confirm option 5112 and cancel option 5114 to allow the user to
select to confirm or cancel the recording of the program. Video
5110 may be video of a program that is airing shortly before the
airing time of the program that was selected to be recorded.
[0418] Notifications may be sent using a number of different
communications techniques such as using a program guide overlay, an
e-mail message, or other communications technique. A notification
may specify information about a particular change that is to be
made. FIGS. 79-86 are illustrative of different notification
techniques. FIG. 79 shows notification overlay 5202 that is
displayed over video or graphic 5404 that is generated by an
interactive television application. Notification overlay 5202
includes text 5206 that informs a viewer that program XYZ is about
to be recorded and also informs the viewer that program XYZ is a
program that was manually selected to be recorded (i.e., the
program was specifically selected to be recorded by a user).
[0419] FIG. 80 shows notification overlay 5302 that is displayed
over video or graphic 5304. Overlay 5302 includes text 5306 that
informs a viewer that program XYZ is about to be deleted and also
informs the viewer that program XYZ is being deleted based on
delete priority settings. Overlay 5302 may include confirm deletion
option 5308 that may be selected to confirm the deletion of program
XYZ and may include cancel deletion option 5310 that may be
selected to cancel the deletion of program XYZ.
[0420] FIG. 81 shows notification overlay 5402 that is the same as
notification overlay 5202 of FIG. 79 except that the text
information contained in overlay 5402 is different. Text 5406 in
overlay 5406 of FIG. 81 informs that program XYZ is about to be
recorded and informs that program XYZ was automatically selected to
be recorded. The program may have been automatically selected based
on user preferences. Examples of interactive television program
guide systems with user preference features are illustratively
shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/034,934,
filed Mar. 4, 1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference
herein in its entirety. The program may have also been
automatically selected for recording based on user viewing or
recording activity that has been monitored, or based on other
criteria.
[0421] FIG. 82 shows notification overlay 5502 that is the same as
notification overlay 5302 of FIG. 80 except that the text
information contained in overlay 5502 is different. Text 5506 in
overlay 5502 of FIG. 82 informs that program XYZ is about to be
deleted and informs that program XYZ was automatically selected to
be deleted based on the automatic delete settings of the system.
Automatic delete settings may be settings that are not under user
control. Automatic delete setting may be configured to delete a
program based on the date on which the program was recorded. Other
techniques may also be used. A notification such as those
illustratively shown in FIGS. 78-82 may be displayed for a
particular user in a multiple program guide environment when that
user is currently logged into his or her guide. If that user is not
currently logged into his or her guide, the interactive television
application may delay sending the notification until that user logs
into his or her guide. If desired, the interactive television
application may avoid such delays by sending an e-mail notification
to that user.
[0422] FIGS. 83-86 illustratively demonstrate e-mail versions of
the notifications shown in FIGS. 79-82. FIG. 83 shows e-mail 5602
that includes addressee information 5604, addressor information
5606, subject information field 5610, message region 5608, and
reply region 5612. Addressee information 5604 may identify an
e-mail address for the recipient of e-mail 5602. The e-mail address
may be a general e-mail address used by one particular household to
receive e-mail notifications regarding program guide activity or
may be an e-mail address for a specific user in a household that
was provided by that user to receive e-mails regarding his or her
program guide. Addressor information 5606 may identify the address
of a facility that sent e-mail 5602. Subject information field 5610
may inform the user of the general nature of e-mail 5602 or may
provide specific information describing activity that is about to
occur. Message region 5608 may include text that informs the
recipient that a particular program is to be recorded and informs
the recipient that the program was manually selected to be
recorded. If desired, message region 5608 may include reply region
5612. Reply region 5612 may include interactive e-mail content that
the recipient may select to confirm or cancel the recording of the
program (e.g., a link to a particular Internet Web page may be
displayed). If desired, reply region 5612 may contain instructions
on how the recipient can confirm or cancel the described activity
(e.g., informs the recipient to send an e-mail to a particular
address to cancel a recording).
[0423] FIG. 84 shows an illustrative e-mail embodiment in which
e-mail 5702 is sent to inform an e-mail recipient that a particular
program is to be deleted based on delete priority settings. The
content of e-mail 5702 may include reply region 5704 that may
include interactive content that the recipient may use to confirm
or cancel the deletion. FIG. 85 shows an illustrative e-mail
embodiment in which e-mail 5802 is sent to inform an e-mail
recipient that a particular program is to be recorded at a
particular time and that the program was automatically selected to
be recorded. E-mail 5802 may include reply region 5804 that may be
used to reply to e-mail 5802. Reply region 5804 may be used to
confirm or cancel the recording of the program. FIG. 86 shows an
illustrative e-mail embodiment in which e-mail 5902 is sent to
inform an e-mail recipient that a particular program is to be
deleted based on automatic delete settings. An interactive reply
region may be included in e-mail 5902 to allow a user to confirm or
cancel the deletion of the program.
[0424] In a single or multiple program guide environment, an
interactive television application may maintain a global list of
programs that are available from a PVR. For example, with reference
now to FIG. 87, at step 6002, a global list of programs that may
currently be stored on a PVR may be generated and stored on user
equipment or on a remote server. The global list may include
programs that are in the recordings list(s) of the current users.
Recordings may be included in the global list irrespective of
whether they were recorded manually and automatically. At step
6004, programs that users deleted, but that are still available
from the PVR may be kept on the global list. Step 6004 may be a
substep of step 6002. If desired, programs that have been deleted
and are no longer available may be included on the list.
[0425] At step 6006, an interactive television application will not
record a program that is selected to be recorded (either
automatically or manually) when that program is already on the
global list. If desired, at step 6008, users may be permitted to
edit the list. For example, a user may be provided with an
opportunity to permanently delete a program that contains offensive
materials. As another example, a user may remove a program from the
list that was recorded, viewed, and deleted in the past, so that
another copy of the program may be recorded and viewed.
[0426] A PVR or an integrated PVR-IPG may integrate content from a
variety of platforms. For example, a PVR may store content from
broadcast television, from pay-per-view, from video-on-demand, from
the Internet, from radio, from multimedia devices (e.g., video and
still cameras), from personal computers, etc. This content may be
gathered based upon the same criterion or criteria. The content may
be made available to the viewer through any suitable interactive
television application such as a program guide. Examples of
interactive television program guides that have integrated content
are illustratively shown in Walker et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/829,856, filed Apr. 10, 2001, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0427] A PVR may be accessed and/or controlled remotely. PVRs or
integrated PVR-IPGs may be connected to other equipment, including
other PVRs (or integrated PVR-IPGs), via any suitable connection,
such as a wired or wireless network to enable control of the PVRs
and/or to enable content from PVRs to be accessed at other
equipment. Examples of other equipment may include web phones,
personal digital assistants, two-way pagers, ebooks, etc. Examples
of interactive television program guides that provide remote access
are illustratively shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/354,344, filed Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby
incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
[0428] Promotions such as advertisements may be stored on a PVR for
presentation to users. Such stored advertisements may be related to
advertisements that are airing to be viewed by television viewers.
For example, with reference now to FIG. 88, at step 6102, a live
video advertisement (e.g., an advertisement airing during a local
station break) may be received for presentation and/or may be
presented to a user. At step 6104, a locally stored advertisement
that is related to the live advertisement may be presented to the
user. The stored advertisement may be automatically selected for
display based on user preferences or may be selected for display
based on user selections. At 6106, a live video advertisement that
is about to be presented to a user may be replaced with a
particular recorded video advertisement. The recorded video
advertisement may be automatically selected for display based on
user information.
[0429] For example, with reference now to FIG. 89, video 6204 may
be used to extend or replace live video 6202 for an automobile
advertisement. Live video 6202 containing an advertisement for an
automobile manufacturer may be displayed during a station break.
Video 6204 presenting an advertisement for a particular automobile
model manufactured by that manufacturer may be displayed to a user
from a local PVR following the presentation of video 6202. The
stored advertisement may be selected for presentation based on user
preferences. The stored advertisement may have been selected from
among a number of different advertisements.
[0430] If desired, a user may be allowed to view an extension of
live video 6202 for a current advertisement. The interactive
television application may display overlay 6206 over live video
6202 that provides the user with an opportunity to view an
extension of the current advertisement. Video 6204 of a related
advertisement that is an extension of the current advertisement may
be displayed when a user selects to view an extension of the
current advertisement from overlay 6206. In another technique, an
interactive television application may replace a current live
advertisement with video 6204 of a recorded advertisement from a
PVR. The recorded advertisement may be related to the current live
advertisement and may be selected for display based on user
information. If desired, the PVR may pause live television content
when video 6204 is being displayed to a user.
[0431] A video advertisement that is stored on a PVR may be
presented to a user when the user enters a program guide. FIG. 90
shows illustrative steps that may be involved in displaying video
advertisements in a program guide. With reference now to FIG. 90,
at step 6302, video advertisements may be stored on a recording
device such as PVR for later presentation in an interactive
television application. The video advertisements may be loaded
during off-hours when user equipment is not likely to be used or
loaded using any other suitable technique. At step 6304, an
advertisement that was stored at step 6302 may be displayed when a
user is using a program guide.
[0432] FIG. 91 illustratively shows two different sequences for the
presentation of video advertisements. With reference now to FIG.
91, an interactive television application may display program
listings display screen 6402 that contains video advertisement 6404
and interactive graphic advertisement 6406. Video advertisement
6404 may contain scaled video of an advertisement that is being
presented using a PVR. Video advertisement 6404 may be selectable.
Video 6412 may be displayed when a user selects video advertisement
6404. Video 6412 may present video advertisement 6404 in full
screen.
[0433] Interactive graphic advertisement 6406 may be a graphic that
is generated by the interactive television application to present a
particular advertisement. Examples of interactive television
program guides that include interactive graphic advertisements are
illustratively described in Knudson et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/034,939, filed Mar. 4, 1998, which is hereby
incorporated herein in its entirety. Video 6408, which presents a
video advertisement that is related to graphic advertisement 6406,
may be displayed when a user selects graphic advertisement 6406. If
desired, related options overlay 6410 may be displayed over video
6408 to allow the user to further interact with respect to the
advertisement.
[0434] A stored advertisement may be displayed when a user enters a
program guide. For example, with reference now to FIG. 92, video
6504, which presents an advertisement that is stored on a PVR, may
be displayed when a user who is watching video 6502 presses a
remote control guide button. Main menu display screen 6506 may be
displayed when video 6504 for the advertisement ends. If desired,
video 6504 may be supplemented with text, graphics, interactive
options, or other video.
[0435] Such video advertisements may be available not only from a
local PVR, but also from remote storage devices, such as a remote
storage device that is available in a client-server based program
guide system. Examples of client-server based program guide systems
are illustratively shown in Ellis et al., U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 09/332,244, which is mentioned above. Remotely stored
advertisements may be transmitted on demand, as part of a carousel,
continuously, or using combinations thereof.
[0436] Buffer management techniques may be implemented with respect
to television programming to enhance interactive services that are
available to users. Buffer management techniques may be implemented
to create new buffers based on current user activity. For example,
with reference now to FIG. 93, at step 6602, user equipment that
includes a PVR may be provided. The PVR may also be based on a
remote server. At step 6604, a new straight buffer may be created
on the PVR when a new channel or a new program is viewed by a
current user.
[0437] An interactive television application may allocate a portion
of the storage space on the PVR to a new buffer when that buffer is
created. If desired, at step 6606, the interactive television
application may allocate the size of the buffer to be a size that
is suitable to hold the size of the program. If desired, buffer
size may be increased incrementally to fit a program that is being
buffered. At step 6608, video and/or audio from a program or
channel currently tuned to may be stored to the buffer that is
created when that channel or program is first tuned. For clarity
and brevity, television content that is buffered is primarily
referred to herein as video. The television content that is
buffered may not only contain video, but also contain audio,
graphics, data, or other material.
[0438] With reference now to FIG. 94, first buffer 6702 may be
created when a user first tunes to a first channel to view video
6704 of a first program. First buffer 6702 may have been allocated
a size that is suitable to hold the remainder of the first program,
which may, for example, be fifty minutes. Second buffer 6706 may be
created when the user tunes to a second channel to watch video 6708
of a second program. The second channel may have been tuned to
after the user watched the first program for ten minutes. Dashed
region 6710 shown in first buffer 6702 represents what was buffered
for the ten minutes that the first program was watched. The second
program may have been watched to its completion, and the user may
have stayed on the same the channel to watch the following program.
Dashed lines 6716 are shown in second buffer 6706 to represent that
second buffer 6706 holds the portion of second program that was
watched by the user. Third buffer 6712 may be created when video
6714 of a third program commences following the end of the second
program. Third buffer 6712 may have been allocated a size that is
suitable to hold the length of the third program.
[0439] Storage space on a PVR may be selected to be allocated to a
buffer in a number of different ways. For example, with reference
now to FIG. 95, an interactive television application may be
prompted to create a new buffer (e.g., a straight buffer) in step
6802. At step 6804, storage space that is not allocated to an
existing buffer or is not allocated to a recording may be allocated
to create the new buffer. If desired, at step 6806, one or more
existing buffers (e.g., the oldest existing buffer) may be deleted
to make room for the new buffer. At step 6808, space from the
deleted buffer(s) may be allocated to create the new buffer. Steps
6806 and 6808 may be performed simultaneously since allocating
space to a new buffer may cause the deletion of the existing
buffer. If desired, at step 6810, a portion of an existing buffer
(e.g., the oldest portion of the oldest buffer) may be deleted to
make room for the new buffer. At step 6812, space from the deleted
portion may be allocated to the new buffer. Steps 6810 and 6812 may
be repeated to increase the size of the newly created buffer. For
example, in some instances, new buffers may initially be assigned
to have a fixed length that may be incremented thereafter.
[0440] If desired, separate buffers that are for the same program
may be combined into a single buffer. Illustrative steps involved
in combining such buffers are illustratively shown in FIG. 96. With
reference now to FIG. 96, at step 6902, a new buffer may be created
when a user changes the current channel. At step 6904, separate
buffers may be combined when the separate buffers contain video
from the same program. In another implementation, an interactive
television application may not create a new buffer when a user
returns to viewing a program for which a buffer already exists. The
interactive television application may simply store the program to
the existing buffer.
[0441] FIG. 97 shows an illustrative buffering sequence that may be
provided based on the steps shown in FIG. 96. With reference now to
FIG. 97, first buffer 7002 may be created when a user changes the
current channel to view video 7004 of a first program on a first
channel. Second buffer 7006 may be created when the user changes
the channel to watch video 7008 on a second channel. The user may
have changed the channel after watching the first program for ten
minutes. The ten minutes of video 7004 that was buffered by first
buffer 7002 is represented by dashed region 7010. After viewing
video 7008 for the second program to its completion, the user may
switch back to the first channel to watch video 7002 of the first
program. Dashed region 7012 in first buffer 7002 represents video
7004 of the first program that has been buffered since the user
returned to watching the first program. Thus, video that is
buffered when a user returns to viewing a recent program is
combined with what was buffered when the user first watched that
program. Line 7014 in first buffer 7002 may mark the point at which
the buffered video in dashed region 7012 was added to first buffer
7002. If desired, first buffer 7002 may include a gap at line 7014
that corresponds to the length of time that the user switched away
from the current program.
[0442] Buffers that are for the same program may be combined in a
number of different ways. For example, with reference now to FIG.
98, at step 7102, an interactive television application may buffer
separately watched or tuned portions of the same program. For
example, two separate portions of a program may be buffered when a
user switches away and switches back to watching a particular
program. At step 7104, the buffered portions of the program may be
concatenated. The concatenated buffer may not include any
indicators to show that there is a break in buffered video. If
desired, at step 7106, the buffered portions may be combined by
inserting blank video or other content in between the buffered
portions. Step 7106 may include step 7108. At step 7108, the
interactive television application may insert blank video, a stored
advertisement, or other content that corresponds to the length of
the gap in the video for a program between separately buffered
portions. If desired, short content (such as blank video, text, or
a graphic) may be inserted between the gaps, along with an
indication of the length of time to display the content, so that
buffer storage is not required for the entire missed timed
period.
[0443] FIG. 99 shows three illustrative video presentation
sequences that may be performed based on the steps shown in FIG.
98. Each sequence addresses how buffered video for nonadjacent
portions of a program may be presented to a user. A user may be
provided with an opportunity to rewind a program from a buffer.
Video 7202 may be presented to a user when a user selects to play
the program after rewinding the program to a first buffered portion
of a particular program. Blank video 7204 may be displayed when the
first buffered portion ends. Other content such as an advertisement
stored on a PVR may also be used. Blank video 7204 may have been
inserted to fill a break in the buffer. Video 7206 containing a
second buffered portion of the program may be displayed when blank
video 7204 has been displayed for a certain period of time (e.g., a
time equal to the length of the gap in the program between the two
portions).
[0444] In the next sequence shown in FIG. 99, the interactive
television application displays text 7208 to inform the user of the
existence of the break in the buffered video portions when video
7202 for the first buffered portions ends. Text 7208 may be
presented over blank video or may be presented as part of a
graphic. Text 7208 may be displayed briefly, or it may be displayed
for a period of time corresponding to the gap in the programming.
In the final sequence that is shown in FIG. 99, video 7210 for a
second buffered portion of a program is displayed immediately
following video 7212 for the first buffered portion (e.g., the
portions are concatenated). In this case, both video 7210 and 7212
may be displayed without displaying blank video or text to inform
the user of a break in the buffer.
[0445] Gaps in buffers of program may be avoided by buffering
programs in parallel. With reference now to FIG. 100, at step 7302,
a user may be provided with an opportunity to change channels to
watch different programs. At step 7304, programs may be buffered in
parallel by implementing multiple tuners to buffer two programs at
the same time. Multiple tuners may be implemented as part of a
user's local user equipment. If desired, one or more of the
multiple tuners may be implemented remotely. At step 7306, an
interactive television application may record one program on a
storage device (e.g., PVR) while a current user is watching a
different program on a different channel. This simultaneous
watch/record feature may be provided when multiple tuners have been
implemented. The multiple tuners may also allow the interactive
television application to record two programs at the same time.
Additionally, this implementation may allow the user to watch two
or more programs at the same time, for example, by switching
channels between the two programs and rewinding on each channel
change to see the programming that was missed.
[0446] FIG. 101 shows an illustrative sequence of video and
buffered management events that may be provided based on the steps
shown in FIG. 100. First buffer 7402 may be created for a first
program when a user changes the channel to watch video 7404 of the
first program airing on a first channel. Second buffer 7406 may be
created for a second program when the user changes the channel to
watch video 7408 of the second program. Dashed region 7410 in first
buffer 7402 represents video 7404 that was buffered before the user
changed the channel. After watching the second program for ten
minutes, the user may change the channel back to the first channel
to return to the first program and may press a rewind key to rewind
buffered video of the first program. The portion of the first
program that was missed by the user may have been buffered while
the user was watching the second channel. Dual tuners may be used
to buffer both programs. Dashed region 7412 in first buffer 7402
shows that the interactive television application continues to
buffer the first program after the user changes the channel. Thus,
when the user returns to the first program and rewinds the first
program, video 7410 containing the missed portions of the first
program may be presented to the user.
[0447] A user may be permitted to access additional buffer content
when the user rewinds a current buffer to the top of the buffer.
The top of the buffer may refer to the earliest recorded content
for the program. For example, with reference now to FIG. 102, at
step 7502, a user may be allowed to rewind a video for a program
using a buffer that was created for that program. At step 7504, the
rewinding may be stopped and the program may be automatically
played when the user rewinds to the top of the buffer. At this
point, a user may select to rewind again from the top of the
current buffer. In response, the interactive television application
may skip to the end of the previous program and rewind the previous
program from the end of that program. A previous program may be a
program that was previously watched by the user. In another
example, a previous program may be a program that was previously
recorded by the system but that may not have been watched by the
user. Alternatively, at step 7508, the interactive television
application may skip to the beginning of a previous program and may
start to play that program when the user selects to rewind again
after rewinding a current program to the top of the buffer for that
program.
[0448] In the context of moving between programs that are available
from program buffers, the movement may be based on the
chronological order in which the buffers for the program were
created.
[0449] FIG. 103 shows illustrative video presentation sequences
that may be provided based on the steps shown in FIG. 102. With
reference now to FIG. 103, video 7602 of a program rewinding may be
displayed when a user selects to rewind a current program. When the
user rewinds the current program to the top of the buffer for the
current program, the interactive television application may stop
the rewinding and may play video 7604 of the current program. If
the user selects to rewind again from the top of the current
program or buffer, the interactive television application may
display video 7606 that shows video of a previous program
rewinding. Alternatively, the interactive television application
may play video 7608 for the previous program starting from the top
of the buffer for the previous program.
[0450] A user may be permitted to fast-forward a program that is
buffered. With reference now to FIG. 104, at step 7702, a user may
be allowed to fast-forward video for a program that is buffered. At
step 7704, the video for the program that the user has selected to
fast-forward may be automatically stopped when the end of that
program or the end of the buffer for that program is reached.
Alternatively, at step 7706, when the end of a program or the end
of a buffer for a program is reached by fast-forwarding the
program, the interactive television application may begin playing a
following program using a buffer for the following program. In
another alternative, the video for the following program may be
fast-forwarded when the end of the first program is reached. The
fast-forward and rewind techniques discussed herein may also apply
to situations where buffers for a previous, current, or following
program do not contain an entire program, but contain a portion of
a program.
[0451] FIG. 105 shows an illustrative interactive sequence for
presenting video that may be provided based on the steps of FIG.
104. As shown, video 7802 may contain video for a current program
that is playing in fast-forward based on a user selection. A
program buffer for the current program may be used to present video
7802. When the end of the current program is reached, the
interactive television application may stop playing video 7802.
Video 7804 from a currently tuned channel or a still frame from the
stopped program may be displayed when the video 7802 is stopped.
Alternatively, when the end of the current program is reached,
video 7806 containing video for a following program may displayed.
Video 7806 may be video that is presented from a buffer. Video 7806
may play in fast-forward.
[0452] A user may be allowed to skip-forward when viewing buffered
video for a program. For example, with reference now to FIG. 106,
at step 7902, a user who is watching a program that is playing from
a program buffer may be allowed to skip-forward to a next program.
At step 7904, the interactive television application may skip to
the top of the next program when the user selects to skip-forward.
Similarly, a user may be allowed to skip backward between program
buffers. With reference now to FIG. 107, video 8002 may contain
video for a current program that is being presented from a program
buffer for that program. Video 8004 for a next program in the
buffer space may be displayed when the user selects to skip-forward
past video 8002 of the current program.
[0453] Buffered programming may be saved as part of recording. FIG.
108 shows illustrative steps involved in recording a current
program. For example, with reference now to FIG. 108, at step 8102,
a current program that a user is watching may be buffered. At step
8104, the user may be provided with an opportunity to select to
record the current program. At step 8106, the current program may
be recorded by recording video that is currently airing and that is
to air for that program and by saving video for that program that
was recorded and is available from the buffer as part of the
recording.
[0454] FIG. 109 shows an illustrative sequence of events for
recording a current program that is provided based on the steps of
FIG. 108. With reference now to FIG. 109, video 8202 containing
video for a current program on channel 2 may be displayed when the
user selects to switch away from a program that the user was
watching on channel 5. A buffer for the program on channel 5 may
have existed when the user changed the channel to channel 2. After
watching video 8202 for a period of time, the user may decide to
switch back to channel 5. Video 8204 containing current video of
the program on channel 5 may be displayed when the user selects to
change the channel back to channel 5.
[0455] Overlay 8206 may be displayed when the user selects to
record the current program on channel 5. The user may select to
record the program on channel 5 by pressing a remote control record
key when the user is watching video 8204 of that program. Overlay
8206 may inform the user that the current program on channel 5 is
being recorded and that the recording for the program will contain
portions of that program that were previously tuned. In a
multi-tuner environment, the recording may include both previously
tuned portions and portions that were missed by the user (e.g.,
missed because the user changed the channel to view another
program). If desired, information in overlay 8206 may reflect the
additional content that will be recorded in a multi-tuner
environment.
[0456] A buffered program may be saved as a recording even after
the completion of that program. FIG. 110 shows illustrative steps
that may be involved in saving a buffered program as a recording.
With reference now to FIG. 110, an interactive television
application may keep a buffer for a program after the program ends.
At step 8304, a user may be provided with an opportunity to have
the program saved as a recording. At step 8306, the program may be
saved as a recording from the buffer.
[0457] FIG. 111 shows an illustrative sequence of display screens
that may be presented based on the steps shown in FIG. 110. Program
buffer display screen 8402 may be displayed when a user selects a
buffer listing option from an appropriate display screen (e.g., a
main menu display screen) in a program guide. Program buffer
display screen 8402 may include list 8404 identifying programs that
are presently available from a buffer.
[0458] Information display screen 8408 may be displayed when a user
selects listing 8406 for a documentary from list 8404. Information
display screen 8408 may include information about the documentary
and may include program-related options such as record option 8410.
Record option 8410 may be selected to have the program buffer for
the documentary saved as a recording. Recordings display screen
8416 may be displayed when the user later accesses the list of
recordings that are currently available. List 8412 in recordings
display screen 8416 may contain listing 8414 for the buffered
program (the documentary) that the user selected to save as a
recording. If desired, list 8404 in program buffer display screen
8402 may identify how much of a particular program was buffered. If
desired, list 8404 in program buffer display screen 8402 may be
modified to remove listing 8406 when a user selects that program to
be recorded from the buffer. The buffer memory may be converted to
program recording memory, or the program may be copied into program
recording memory.
[0459] In another example of recording a program that has ended,
the guide may allow a user to rewind or skip back to a previous
program, as described previously. While watching a previous
program, the user may be allowed to press a remote control info key
to display program information screen 8408, or to press a remote
control record key to record the program from the buffer.
[0460] The size of the storage space that is used to buffer
programs may be set manually or automatically. For example, with
reference now to FIG. 112, at step 8502, a storage device such as a
PVR may be provided as part of a user's local equipment. At step
8504, a portion (or all) of the storage space on the storage device
may be assigned to buffering television content. Step 8504 may
apply to single or multiple tuner environments. At step 8504, the
size of the buffer space may be set automatically when the system
is configured by a system operator or be set manually by the user.
An example of setting the size of the buffer space automatically is
automatically using all free storage space for program buffers. If
desired, a minimum size of buffer space may be allocated
automatically, even if that reduces the amount of programming that
can be recorded.
[0461] With reference now to FIG. 113, buffer configuration display
screen 8602 may be displayed when a user selects a buffer setup
option from an appropriate display screen such as a main menu
display screen or a PVR setup display screen. Buffer configuration
display screen 8602 may include buffer space option 8604 that the
user may use to select the total storage space that will be
allocated to creating buffers, may include number of buffers option
8606 that may be used to select the maximum number of buffers that
will be active at the same time, may include buffer size option
8608 that may be used to specify a fixed or maximum buffer size,
and may include option 8610 for selecting when buffers will be
deleted (e.g., deleted every day, every week, every month, etc.).
If desired, there may not be an option to select when buffers are
deleted, as older buffers may be deleted when space is needed for
newer buffers. Buffer size for each buffer may be set to a fixed
size, may be set automatically based on program size, or may be set
using other suitable techniques.
[0462] A recording device such as a PVR may be used to
automatically pause television content when a user interacts with
an interactive television application. Illustrative steps involved
in pausing television content are shown in FIG. 114. With reference
now to FIG. 114, at step 8702, television content such as video for
a program or commercial may be presented to a user. The television
content may be content that is currently airing, may be content
that was previously recorded, or may be content that is playing
from a buffer. At step 8704, the user may be provided with an
opportunity to interact with an interactive television application.
The interactive television application may for example be an
interactive television application that has been implemented on a
television system to provide interactive services to the user. At
step 8706, the current television content that the user is watching
may be automatically paused when the user starts to interact with
the interactive television application. The current television
content may be live television content or may be other television
content such as a recorded program that a user is watching, a VOD
program that a user is watching, etc. The user may start to
interact with the interactive television application by for example
pressing a remote control button. At step 8708, the display of the
television content may resume when the user exits the interactive
television application. The television content may be resumed from
the point at which was automatically paused.
[0463] FIGS. 115-120 show illustrative video and display screen
sequences that may be provided based on the steps shown in FIG.
114. With reference now to FIG. 115, video 8802 of a television
program that a user is currently watching may be automatically
paused when the user enters a program guide by selecting a remote
control guide button to display program listings display screen
8804. Program listings display screen 8804 may include listings
8806, which may be scrolled to find listings. If desired, the user
may take further actions to display other display screens after
program listings display screen 8804 is displayed. Video 8808 of
the television program, which the user was watching before entering
the program guide, may be resumed from the point at which it was
paused. The television program may be resumed when the user exits
the program guide. Thus, a recording device such a PVR may be used
to automatically pause content when a user interacts with an
interactive television application.
[0464] With reference now to FIG. 116, video 8902 of a television
commercial that a user is currently watching may be paused
automatically when a user selects a remote control button such as
an info button to display advertisement information display screen
8904. Advertisement information display screen 8904 may contain
information about the commercial that the user was watching. The
user may interact with display screen 8904 and may further use
other features in the interactive television application before
exiting to video 8906. Video 8906 may contain video of the
commercial that the user was watching when advertisement
information display screen 8904 was displayed. Video 8906 may
resume playing the commercial from the point at which the
interactive television application was used to display information
display screen 8904.
[0465] With reference now to FIG. 117, interactive advertisement
display screen 9004 may be displayed for example when a user
presses a remote control info key while watching video 9002 of a
television commercial. Interactive advertisement display screen
9004 may contain information 9008 that is related to the television
commercial that the user was watching, along with selectable
options related to the advertisement. Interactive advertisement
display screen 9004 may continue playing the television commercial
that the user was watching using scaled video 9006 of the
commercial. When the user exists interactive advertisement display
screen 9004, video 9010 may be displayed that resumes the
commercial in full screen from the point at which interactive
advertisement display screen 9004 was displayed. The video may be
resumed from that earlier point because the user may have not
devoted his/her full attention to the video when the user was
interacting with interactive advertisement display screen 9004.
[0466] With reference now to FIG. 118, recordings display screen
9104 may be displayed when a user presses a particular remote
control button to view which recordings are currently available to
that user. The user may have selected to view recordings display
screen 9104 while watching video 9102 of a current television
program. Recordings display screen 9104 may include scaled video
9106 of the program that the user was watching when the user
selected to view display screen 9104. Recordings display screen
9104 may include listings 9108 that identify the recordings that
are currently available to the user for playback. Video 9110 may be
displayed when the user exits recordings display screen 9108. Video
9110 may be video of the television program that the user was
watching paused at the point where display screen 9104 was
displayed. The user may press a remote control key to play the
television program.
[0467] With reference now to FIG. 119, video 9204 of a locally
stored video commercial may be displayed when a user selects to
enter a program guide while watching video 9202 of a particular
television program. When the user exits the program guide, video
9206 of that particular television program may resume automatically
from the point at which the presentation of video 9202 was halted
by the display of video 9204. FIG. 120 shows an illustrative
sequence that is the same the sequence shown in FIG. 119 except
that video 9302 is for a television commercial that is
automatically paused and later resumed by displaying video 9306
when the user exits the program guide.
[0468] A user may be given the option to resume the television
content from the point at which it was automatically paused or from
its current point. For example, with reference now to FIG. 121,
overlay or display screen 9402 may be displayed to request whether
the television content should be resumed from the point at which
the user entered the program guide. Overlay or display screen 9402
may include confirm option 9404 and cancel option 9406. Video 9408
of the television content at its current point (e.g., live
television) may be displayed when the user selects cancel option
9406. If confirm option 9404 is selected, the television content
may be resumed from the point at which the user entered the program
guide.
[0469] Video or other stored content may be displayed when a
program is paused. For example, with reference now to FIG. 122, a
user may select to pause video 9420 for a program that is being
presented to a user. Recorded video or other content 9422 (e.g.,
from a PVR) may be displayed when the program is paused. Recorded
video or other content 9422 may be displayed as a full-screen type
display. If desired, recorded content or other content 9426 may be
displayed over paused video 9424 when a user selects to pause a
current program. Recorded content or other content 9426 may for
example be displayed as an overlay. The recorded video may be a
video advertisement or other video content. Other content that may
be displayed may be still content, animation, a still image,
etc.
[0470] A user may be allowed to send a recording, a reminder, or a
recording request to another user (e.g., another user in the same
household or to other users in other households). For example with
reference now to FIG. 123, information display screen 9440 may be
displayed when a user selects to receive information on a
particular program. Information display screen may be for an
upcoming program or for a program that has already aired and been
recorded (e.g., recorded at least in part). Information display
screen 9440 may include send option 9442. Send display screen 9446
may be displayed when send option 9442 is selected. Send display
screen 9446 may provide a user with an opportunity to send a
recording, send a reminder, or send a recording request for a
program to another user. Send display screen 9446 may allow a user
to send a recording when information display screen 9440 is
displayed for a program that has an associated recording. Send
display screen 9446 may allow a user to send a reminder or send a
recording request when information display screen 9446 is displayed
for an upcoming program. Send display screen 9446 may be displayed
specifically for the particular program for which information
display screen 9440 is displayed. Send display screen 9446 may
include data entry area 9448 to allow a user to enter the name or
address of an intended recipient of a recording, reminder, or
recording request. Send option 9450 may be included in send display
screen 9446 that a user may select to send a recording, reminder,
or recording request to a particular user. If desired, send display
screen 9446 may include an option to allow the user to select the
messaging technique (e.g., e-mail messaging) that will be used.
[0471] FIG. 124 shows e-mail 9460 to a particular user that
provides the user with an attached recording, a reminder for an
upcoming program, or a recording request for an upcoming program
depending on whether the particular program that is the subject of
e-mail 9460 is a recording or an upcoming program. E-mail 9460 may
be sent using a wide area network such as the Internet. FIG. 125
shows message listings display screen 9462 that a user may access
from within a guide. Message listings display screen 9462 may
provide a list of messages that have been received for the current
user. Listing 9462 shows that a recording from sender XYZ has been
received for the current user. Listing 9466 shows that a current
user has received a reminder for a particular program from sender
XYZ. Listing 9468 shows that a current user has received a
recording request for a particular program from sender XYZ. The
current user may select each listing to view additional information
related to that message. FIG. 126 shows overlay 9470 that may be
displayed to inform a current user of a reminder or recording
request that has been sent to the current user. Overlay 9470 may
include related options 9472 that may allow a user to take
particular actions in connection with the reminder or recording
request. Related options 9472 may allow a user to select to record
or tune a program that is the subject of overlay 9470. If desired,
the interactive television application may automatically process
the content of the message. For example, on receiving a recording,
the recording may be added to the list of recordings available to
the receiving user. On receiving a reminder, the interactive
television application may set a reminder locally. On receiving a
record request, the interactive television application may
automatically schedule a local recording for the program. Examples
of television messaging systems are illustratively shown in
McKissick et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,245 filed
Jul. 16, 1999, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety. If desired and as mentioned above, copy protection
schemes may be provided for users with PVRs. Programming or other
content that can be displayed on user equipment may be copy
protected. Copy protection information that is associated with
programming or other content may be provided to user equipment to
support copy protection schemes. Copy protection schemes may be
implemented that use the copy protection information to prevent
users from copying programming or other content without
authorization. For example, an interactive television application
may block a program from being recorded to a PVR when that program
is copy-protected. The recording of the program may be blocked by
preventing the recording from being scheduled. A graphic (e.g., an
overlay or display screen) may be displayed that informs a viewer
that a particular program or other content that was selected to be
recorded cannot be recorded due to copyright protections. The
MPEG-4 standard may be used to transmit programs with information
on copyright protections. Other standards that support such
activity may also be used.
[0472] As mentioned above, a PVR may automatically record programs
based on user preferences. Other inference engines may use
information such as user demographics or keyword searches
(mentioned above) to select programs to automatically record.
Examples of interactive television program guides that use
demographics are illustratively shown in Knee et al., U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/139,777, filed Aug. 25, 1998, which is
hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Programs
may be recorded automatically based on keywords that a user has
entered into the system.
[0473] If desired and as mentioned above, conflict resolution
schemes may be provided to support mechanisms for the viewer to
resolve scheduling conflicts. An interactive television application
may present options, configuration settings, or prompts that may be
used by a user to resolve scheduling conflicts. Conflicts may be
resolved by allowing a user to interact with the interactive
television application to resolve each conflict as it arises. The
interactive television application may also allow the user to set a
conflict resolution scheme (e.g., set the interactive television
application to resolve scheduling conflicts in favor of one type of
recording such as a series recording).
[0474] As mentioned above, personal video recorders and other
digital recording devices record television programs onto a digital
medium, such as a hard disk. The amount of programming that can be
stored by such a device is limited by the capacity of the storage
medium. A typical unit might store 30 hours of video programming,
compressed at the maximum level.
[0475] Systems today use digital video compression methods such as
MPEG-2, which are practical in real-time. An incoming audio/video
program can be digitized, compressed, and stored as the signal is
received. More efficient compression methods are available, such as
MPEG-4. However, these methods are much more computationally
intensive. Hardware that is inexpensive enough to be widely
deployed may not be capable of compressing video using more
efficient compression methods (e.g., using the MPEG-4 standard) in
real-time.
[0476] The computational tasks associated with a digital video
recorder are not in general excessive. A processor in such a device
typically has spare processor cycles available. These spare cycles
may be used to compress stored audio/video programs more
efficiently.
[0477] For example, the system may record programs using the MPEG-2
standard, the same as other existing systems. However, in the
background, using processor cycles that are not needed for storing,
managing, and retrieving programs, the processor may scan through
previously stored programs and compresses them in a more efficient
format. After compressing a program in a more efficient format,
such as MPEG-4, the less efficient version can be deleted, freeing
up storage space for additional programs.
[0478] Programs may also be compressed in multiple passes. For
example, it may make one pass through an audio/video file to reduce
it in one way, and another pass to reduce it further. Each pass may
eliminate a specific type of redundancy, for example. As each
compression pass is completed, the previous version may be
deleted.
[0479] The user, network operator, or programmer may be allowed to
set parameters as to what types of compression are allowed, either
in general or for a specific program. For example, a specific
"lossy" type of compression may be optional. The more lossy types
of compression may also be reserved for programs that are archived
for a longer period of time, or which have already been viewed.
[0480] An advantage of this technique is that it allows many more
hours of programming to be stored in the same amount of storage.
For example, most or all of the program currently in progress may
be stored in the least efficient format. Programs recorded recently
may be stored in a more efficient format. And programs that have
been stored for a longer period of time may be stored in the most
efficient format.
[0481] A more advanced compression standard such as MPEG-4 may also
allow for new features. For example, MPEG-4 allows objects in the
video to be explicitly defined. A web address or commerce
application could be linked to one of these objects. MPEG-4
supports management of intellectual property. These new features
may be limited to programs that were originally broadcast in the
MPEG-4 standard, or may be provided with other formats by
translating the information received into MPEG-4.
[0482] If desired, a computer readable medium such as a floppy
disk, optical disk, etc. may be used to store machine executable
code for implementing an interactive television application for
providing PVR and/or IPG features. If desired, equipment such the
equipment discussed in FIGS. 1-2C may be configured to provide
features, options, or techniques that are illustratively described
herein.
[0483] Thus, interactive television systems and methods that
provide enhanced PVR and interactive television application
features are provided. One skilled in the art will appreciate that
the present invention can be practiced by other than the described
embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration and
not of limitation, and that the present invention is limited only
by the claims which follow.
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