| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080256570 | Method and apparatus for blocking video-on-demand and pay-per-view channels that disappear and reappear - A method of blocking a channel that disappears and reappears includes determining whether the channel that reappeared is designated as blocked by a parental control setting that was retained when the channel disappeared, and blocking the channel if the channel is designated as blocked by the parental control setting. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080303959 | Method and Apparatus for Changing Channels in a System Operating in a Recording Mode - An apparatus and a method for selecting one of a plurality of digital video channels and analog video channels in response to user selection, in particular, when operating in a digital recording mode. The user may select the channel using either a channel scan mode, in which the user selection causes the selection of the next channel in a channel sequence, or a direct channel mode, in which the user enters a specific channel number to be selected. When operating in the recording mode, and the apparatus receives a channel selection in the channel scan mode, the apparatus selects the next digital channel in the sequence and skips any intervening analog channels. When the operating in the recording mode, and the apparatus receives a channel selection in the direct channel selection mode, the apparatus selects the channels and terminates the recording mode if the selected channel is an analog channel and maintains the recording mode if the selected channel is a digital channel. The invention also provides a method for controlling the content in the buffer of a storage device as the user scans through major and minor television channels. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20090046855 | Method and apparatus for caching access information for faster digital cable tuning - A method and apparatus is presented for providing faster tuning of a digital television channel. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a digital television receiver including a tuner, at least one demodulator, a detachable security module such as a point of deployment (POD) module, a transport demultiplexer, and a microprocessor having a cache or memory device for storing “conditional access program map table” (CA_PMT) information. The cache or memory device is used to store the CA_PMT for each channel, so that upon a channel change requested by a user, the receiver may extract the stored CA_PMT from the cache rather than wait for the full program map table (PMT) to be transmitted by the broadcaster (see FIG. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20100058386 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TUNING A DIGITAL TELEVISION CHANNEL - There is provided a method and apparatus for tuning a digital television channel. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided a method comprising receiving a request to access a first digital television channel, downloading a first program map table associated with a frequency of the first digital television channel, storing the first program map table, receiving a request to access a second digital television channel, determining if the second digital television channel is associated with the frequency of the first digital television channel, and creating a conditional access program map table for the second digital television channel based on the stored program map table if the second digital television channel is associated with the frequency. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100118211 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE CONTROL OF A TELEVISION WITH A MANUALLY ACTUATABLE ELEMENT - There is provided a system and method for remote control of a television with a manually actuatable control element. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided a remote control for a television with a manually actuatable control element. The remote control may comprise a manually actuatable control element configured to generate a signal in response to an activation of the control element by a user, wherein the signal is generated at one of a plurality of different levels based on a characteristic of the activation, and a control system configured to receive the signal and to produce one of a plurality of television commands in response to the signal, wherein the command produced corresponds to the level of the signal. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100157170 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATION OF A TELEVISION WITH A REMOTE CONTROL - There is provided a system and method for a television remote control system. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided a remote control, a control element configured for vertical movement, horizontal movement and axial movement, and a television configured to activate various television features upon receiving a signal from the remote control indicating an activation direction of the control element, wherein the television is configured to activate a volume control feature when the activation direction is a first or second direction and the television is operating in a viewing mode, and wherein the television is configured to activate a television content selection feature when the activation direction is a third or fourth direction and the television is operating in the viewing mode, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth directions are each different. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20110010738 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTION OF TELEVISION CONTENT USING TAB-BASED SELECTION FEATURES - There is provided a system and method for selection of television content. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided an electronic device, comprising a processor that is adapted to receive video data from a plurality of source types and to create an on-screen content selection interface on a display, the on-screen content selection interface including a graphical tab corresponding to each of the plurality of source types of video data. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110122319 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A TELEVISION CHANNEL SCAN LIST - There is provided a system and method for configuring a television scan list. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided a method comprising determining whether a channel is potentially objectionable when the channel is selected for display, providing a prompt with an option to remove the channel if the channel is determined to be potentially objectionable, and marking the channel as deleted if the option to remove the channel is selected. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110157493 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADJUSTING TELEVISION SETTINGS BASED ON MOUNTING SCHEME - There is provided a system and method for adjusting television settings based on a detected or input mounting scheme of the television. More specifically, in one embodiment, there is provided a method, comprising determining an active mounting scheme for a television, employing a first group of settings if the active mounting scheme for the television corresponds to a first mounting scheme, and employing a second group of settings if the active mounting scheme for the television corresponds to a second mounting scheme. | 06-30-2011 |
