HK1031800B - Television broadcasting apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

Television broadcasting apparatus and method

Technical Field

The invention relates to a digital television recording system.

Background

Today, television programs are recorded in low-capacity video tape storage devices using Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs) at home. Typically, conventional videocassettes store only three or four hours of good quality television programming. Therefore, in order to record many hours of programming, the user must use several video tapes.

A conventional VCR is a passive recording device because it does not determine what television material is to be recorded. Typically, a VCR must be programmed by the user to start recording, and the program options typically include only a selection of start recording time and end recording time.

When a user wants to watch a portion of a recorded television program, the user must first determine in which tape the television program is recorded because the VCR does not provide recorded content guidance. Although users can write the title of a television program recorded in each tape, most users do not remember the track of a television program recorded in their video tape. This makes it difficult to search for television programs in video tapes.

Even after the user determines which video cassette includes the desired television program, the user must rewind or advance the cassette to find the desired portion of the television program. Such operations are inconvenient and typically cause wear on several electro-mechanical parts of the video cassette and VCR, thus resulting in frequent need for repairs in the video lab.

Some VCRs also provide editing functionality that enables a user to edit recorded television programs. Editing with a VCR, however, is difficult and requires frequent rewinding or advancing of the video tape, as mentioned above, causing wear on the video tape and several electro-mechanical parts of the VCR.

Therefore, there is a need for a recording and search system that provides easy access to selected portions of stored television programs, with greater demands on easy editing of the television programs.

In published paper entitled "double agent-Presentation and Filter Agents for a digital television Recording System", Philips Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 18-23.4.1998, by Meuleman et al, a dual medium (agent) is described which studies The automatic selection of television programs and their images through a anthropomorphic interface. The dual media operates according to data recorded by an experimental digital VCR.

The concept of SMASH (storage for multimedia Applications and Systens) is described in published, 3.5.1998 Philips Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, written by Person under The heading "SMASH-a concept for advanced use of storage at home". The main purposes of this design are: on the one hand, the future possibilities offered by new digital services that are heavily entered into the client's home, and on the other hand, the storage technology of human-sensitive television programs suitable for home use.

Philips Research, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, published 5.3.1998, entitled "Mediators-guidesthioough online TV services" describes anthropomorphic guides that help users select and guide directories in interactive television services.

The following U.S. patents are directed to special effects in televisions: 4,080,626, respectively; 4,272,787, respectively; 4,768,095, respectively; 4,774,582, respectively; 4,777,531, respectively; 5,519,448, respectively; 5,621,473.

Israel patent application 121230, filed on 1997, 7/3/1997, and corresponding published PCT application WO99/01984 (both assigned to NDS Limited) describe a system for customizing electronic program guides based on user behavior using intelligent agents.

Israel patent application 120174, filed on 8/2/1997, and the corresponding published UK patent application 2,322,030 (both of which are assigned to ndslinked) describe a method for generating and recording digital data streams, in particular for protecting the recording of digital data streams comprising digital television data.

DAVIC/TC/APP/98/05/001, published by DAVIC (The Digital Audio-Visual Council) on day 5/1 of 1998, entitled "Applications for HomeStorage Based Systems", describes a number of Applications that can be implemented by providing a home storage system that is easier to use by appropriate use of directory description, tagging, linking and mediation techniques.

The disclosures of all references described above and throughout the specification are incorporated herein by reference.

Summary of The Invention

The present invention is directed to a digital television recording device having an effective yet simple user interface that enables manipulation of recorded information by the digital television recording device.

In the present invention, television programs are recorded in a high capacity memory based on a continuously modified user profile. Television programs are also presented to the viewer based on the user's profile. Television programming includes a variety of different types of television content, such as programs, commercials, clips, program guides, data, multimedia information, hypermedia links, and telexes. The high-capacity memory may include a high-capacity hard disk and a high-capacity external memory.

The user can either view the broadcast television or program retrieved from the high capacity memory or link to another network, such as the Internet. When viewing the program found in the memory, the user has various possibilities to manipulate the program, such as editing, marking and combining cueing fields in the program, marking the found program under determinable conditions, changing parental control criteria, using special features, such as picture-in-picture (PIP). The user also has additional interactive features.

The user can switch from broadcast television to stored programs in a simple way. Further, one of the features provided by the digital television recording apparatus is a program freeze in which a program is frozen when a user is required to stop watching television, and then the program is automatically recorded in the memory at that time of the freeze. When the user is again able to view the program, the program is looked up from the memory and the user can resume the program being viewed by the stop-motion moment in a delayed mode.

The storage of television programs enables processing of programs, such as computer software programs, thus bringing about a number of advantages. In addition, flexible programming tools can be modified to meet the needs of a particular television viewing. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a digital television recording method comprising playing a television program associated with a set of broadcaster parameters, which parameters enable access to a first set of predetermined parts of the program, operating a medium to determine whether to record the program and, in dependence on the recorded program, associating the program with a set of medium parameters enabling access to a second set of predetermined parts of the program, storing the program with the set of broadcast parameters and the set of medium parameters to produce an addressable program, searching for at least part of the addressable program, and displaying the at least part of the addressable program to a user; receiving a set of user parameters from a user capable of accessing the third set of predetermined portions of the addressable program, editing the addressable program to include the set of user parameters capable of accessing the third set of predetermined portions of the addressable program to produce an edited addressable program, and storing the edited addressable program.

Preferably, the set of media parameters is run to cover (override) at least part of the set of broadcast parameters. Preferably, the set of user parameters is run to cover at least part of the set of broadcaster parameters or part of the set of media parameters.

Preferably, the set of broadcaster parameters comprises a subset of parameters that cannot be covered by any set of medium parameters or set of user parameters.

Further, at least one of the broadcaster parameter set, the media parameter set, and the user parameter set may include a flag that determines at least one of a program look-up parameter and a content look-up parameter.

Still further, the set of media parameters includes a recording quality parameter that determines a recording quality of the program. The set of user parameters preferably includes a rating parameter that determines the rating of the program as provided by the user.

The television program may include commercials, and the set of broadcaster parameters may include a set of commercial parameters. Preferably, the broadcaster set of parameters includes a parameter that determines that additional information relating to at least one of commercials and programs is required. The broadcaster set of parameters also preferably includes a parameter for determining the termination of a commercial after a predetermined number of people have seen the commercial or after a predetermined number of commercials have been seen by a user.

In addition, the set of parameters of the broadcaster also includes a parameter for prohibiting fast forward/reverse browsing of the entire program.

Alternatively or additionally, the television program comprises two separate television programs displayed simultaneously in a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode on the television screen, and the set of user parameters comprises a parameter determining viewing preferences for viewing only one of the two separate television programs on the entire screen.

Preferably, the broadcaster set of parameters includes at least one parameter that determines at least one of the following information fields: a program type; supplemental information accompanying the program; an associated audio channel in a language different from the language used in the original audio channel associated with the program; program deletion permission/prohibition; parental controls related to at least a portion of a program for which parental controls are required; the end time of the program; picture-in-picture availability; a program title; the time when the program is played; the length of the program; determining whether the program is encrypted; the format of the program compression; characteristics of the program; deletion of content that has been delivered in the program; selectively routing portions of the content to selected users; a context-specific tag; a media item.

Further, the set of medium parameters includes at least one parameter that determines at least one of the following information fields: the quality of the program recording; the type of program requested to be recorded; at least one title of the recorded favorite program is requested; the time and date the program was requested to be recorded; presence of reviews affiliated with the program; a context-specific tag; a media item; a program schedule.

Still further, the set of user parameters includes at least one parameter that determines at least one of the following information fields: program ratings provided by the user; a review of the program; additional information for joint purposes is required; the format of the program after the editing operation; at least one cue area in the program; a compression preference for compressing the program prior to storage; image operation; and video wallpaper selection.

Preferably, the first set of predetermined portions of the program, the second set of predetermined portions of the program, and the third set of addressable predetermined portions of the program include the same portions of the program.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a digital recording method including determining whether to record a program, and recording the program at a recording quality determined by a recording quality parameter in accordance with the recording determination.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a digital recording method including determining whether to record a program, determining to store the program based on the recording, and locating the program based on a rating given by the program.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a digital recording method including determining whether to record a program, determining to store the program based on the recording, and locating the program based on a browsing level.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a digital recording method including determining whether to record a program, recording the program in a circular buffer from a time of a first activation of a freeze selector upon the first activation of the freeze selector, conditionally accessing the program recorded in the circular buffer to seek the program from the circular buffer upon a second activation of the freeze selector, and displaying the program sought from the circular buffer from the time of the first activation of the freeze selector.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus for digitally recording a program, the apparatus including a receiver for receiving a program in association with a broadcaster set of parameters, the broadcaster set of parameters having access to a first set of predetermined portions of the program; operating in conjunction with the receiver and determining whether to record the program based on the recording operation, associating the program with a set of media parameters that enable access to a second set of predetermined portions of the program; a memory operatively associated with the media module and operative to store addressable programs, the addressable programs including programs associated with a broadcaster parameter set and a media parameter set; a display associated with the media module, the receiver, and the memory for displaying at least a portion of the addressable programs to a user; an input/output (I/O) interface operatively associated with the media module and operative to receive a set of user parameters from a user that enable access to a third set of predetermined portions of the addressable program; a user programming manager associated with the memory, I/O interface, media module, receiver and display operations, which generates the edited addressable program by editing the addressable program operation to include a set of user parameters enabling access to the third set of predetermined portions of the program, and stores the edited addressable program in the memory.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention an apparatus for digital recording of television programs, the apparatus including a processor for determining whether to record a television program, a memory associated with the processor and operative to store the television program in accordance with a recording determination received by the processor, and a recording quality selector associated with the processor and the memory and operative to select a recording quality parameter which determines a quality of storage of the television program in the memory.

In addition, the apparatus includes a freeze selector operatively associated with the processor, wherein upon a first activation of the freeze selector, the processor operates the program recorded in the memory from a time of the first activation of the freeze selector, and upon a second activation of the freeze selector, the processor operates the program recorded in the memory from a time of the first activation.

Still further, the apparatus includes a rating actuator associated with the processor and the memory and operable to input information identifying a rating of the program. The apparatus also preferably includes a NEXT key selector associated with the processor and the memory and operable to browse television programs stored in the memory.

Preferably, the NEXT selector browses the television programs stored in the memory according to a sequential operation determined by at least one of: a user; a medium; a broadcasting apparatus. In addition, the NEXT selector operates to browse the television programs stored in the memory according to the level. The rank is preferably determined by at least one of: a user; a medium; and a broadcasting device.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus for digital recording of television programs, the apparatus including a processor for determining whether to record a television program, a memory associated with the processor and operative to store the television program in accordance with a record determination received by the processor, and a rating actuator associated with the processor and the memory and operative to input rating information for the determined program.

Further, the apparatus includes a freeze selector operative in conjunction with the processor, wherein upon a first activation of the freeze selector, the processor is operative to record the program in the circular buffer from a first activation time of the freeze selector, and upon a second activation of the freeze selector, the processor is operative to display the program recorded in the circular buffer from the first activation time.

Preferably, the apparatus also includes a NEXT key selector associated with the processor and the memory and operative to browse television programs stored in the memory.

There is further provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus for digital recording of television programs, the apparatus including a processor for determining whether to record a television program, a memory associated with the processor and operative to store the television program in accordance with the record determination received by the processor, and a NEXT key selector associated with the processor and the memory and operative to browse the television program stored in the memory.

There is also provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention apparatus for digital recording of television programs, the apparatus including a processor for determining whether to record a television program, a circular buffer associated with the processor and operative to store programs in accordance with a record determination received by the processor, a conditional access module for providing conditional access to programs stored in the circular buffer, and an operable freeze selector associated with the processor, wherein upon a first activation of the freeze selector, the processor operates to record programs in the circular buffer from a first activation time of the freeze selector, and upon a second activation of the freeze selector, the processor plays programs recorded in the circular buffer from the first activation time in accordance with a condition determined by the conditional access module.

Preferably the condition determined by the conditional access module comprises inhibiting fast forward/rewind for the entire selected portion of the program.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A is a simplified pictorial illustration of a system for playing back programs stored and located by a digital television recording apparatus, the system constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a simplified block diagram of a digital television recording device of the system of FIG. 1A, constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified flow diagram of a preferred method of operation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1A and 1B;

fig. 3A and 3B together form a simplified flow chart of a preferred method of operating a television program recorded in the apparatus of fig. 1A and 1B.

Description of The Preferred Embodiment

Referring now to fig. 1A, fig. 1A is a simplified pictorial representation of a system for storing and locating programs being played back by a digital television recording apparatus, the system being constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Preferably, the apparatus 10 includes a combined receiver and media (IRA) section 11, and a memory section 12. The apparatus 10 preferably receives programs from the transport network and stores the programs in the memory portion 12.

The terms "program" and "television program" are used interchangeably throughout the specification and claims to include various types of transmission content, such as television programs, commercials, clips (clips), program guides and Electronic Program Guides (EPGs), data, multimedia information, hypermedia links, computer programs, downloadable computer data and applications, applets, and teletext.

Preferably the program may be stored in the memory portion 12 and/or retrieved from the memory portion 12 in accordance with instructions provided by an intelligent medium (generally referred to as a medium, which resides in the IRA portion 11). The instructions provided by the media are preferably determined by the media based on the user's viewing habits learned by the media.

Preferably, the programs retrieved from the memory portion 12 may be displayed on the display 13, and the display 13 may comprise any suitable type of conventional display. Preferably, the display 13 is operatively associated with the device 10. When the program retrieved by the memory section 12 is displayed on the display 13, a reminder 14 indicating that the program is a stored program is displayed on the display 13.

Referring now to fig. 1B, fig. 1B is a simplified block diagram of a digital television recording apparatus 10 of the system of fig. 1A, apparatus 10 being constructed and operative in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Preferably, the device 10 receives programming from a head-end 15 via satellite 20 or via television broadcast. Additionally, the apparatus 10 may receive programming from a cable headend (not shown).

Television programming is preferably received and provided to apparatus 10 at antenna 25 via coaxial cable 30 and connector 35 or any other suitable conventional means. In the apparatus 10, the television program is preferably received and decoded in an Integrated Receiver and Decoder (IRD)40, the integrated receiver and decoder 40 preferably including a conventional IRD.

Preferably, the television program received in IRD40 is tuned and decoded under the control of processor 45. The decoded television program is provided directly to the television 50 or to a high capacity memory 55, preferably under control of the processor 45, preferably via a data bus 60. It will be apparent that the television 50 may be a preferred type of display 13 of figure 1A.

The mass storage 55 may preferably include a conventional mass hard disk, or multiple mass hard disks, as used in conventional personal computers. Obviously, today conventional computers typically include hard disks with a capacity of 2-4 megabytes, and hard disks with a capacity of 10 megabytes are now considered to be state of the art. With a typical, e.g., 100 megabytes, hard disk having a larger capacity, it is now under development that the manufacturer says that 100 megabytes hard disk will be available in the market in the end of 1998.

Typically, a two hour high quality movie requires 4 megabytes of capacity. Thus, a 10 megabyte hard disk may typically store two to three complete movies, or several typical television shows, each having a length of 30-45 minutes. A 100 megabyte hard disk may typically store 20-25 full-length movies, or about 100 typical television shows. It is therefore apparent that for good performance of the apparatus 10, it is preferable to constitute the high capacity memory 55 from a hard disk having a capacity of at least 100 megabytes. However, the capacity of the memory 55 is not meant to be limited, and the memory 55 may be composed of a hard disk having a capacity of less than 100 megabytes.

In addition, mass storage 55 may include a plurality of 10 megabytes hard disks, such as 10 hard disks, which may be accessed together in order to efficiently provide 100 megabytes of disk space, as is well known in the art.

Preferably, some television programs may also be stored in an externally removable memory 65 under the control of the processor 45. The external removable memory 65 may include at least one of the following media: a magnetic tape; CD-ROM (compact disc read only memory); digital Video Disks (DVDs); write-many read-many optical disc or DVD many times; the hard disk is removable. The external removable memory 65 is preferably accessed by a removable memory reader and writer 70, the removable memory reader and writer 70 operating in conjunction with the data bus 60. It will be apparent that the external removable memory 65 may be used to expand the storage capacity of the apparatus 10 so that a plurality of movies may be stored in the memories 55 and 65. Preferably, the external removable memory 65 may include a recording media changer (not shown) having a plurality of removable memories stored in a case (not shown) and controlled by a changer robot (not shown).

Preferably, the mass memory 55 and the external removable memory 65 may additionally store video and audio information provided by at least one of the following sources: an external video source 75, such as a video camera, a conventional VCR, or an image storage device (not shown); a telephone network 80, which may include a mobile telephone network (not shown); and a Local Area Network (LAN) 85. It will be appreciated that the video and audio information provided by telephone network 80 and LAN85 may originate from an external source, such as the World Wide Web (WWW) (not shown), and may be transmitted to telephone network 80 and LAN85 via a network, such as the internet (not shown), and a wide area network (not shown).

Obviously, at least one of memory 55 and memory 65 may be divided into two parts: the portion of the television broadcaster that may include, for example, commercials in which the user is interested in the television broadcaster, and the portion of the user where information generated or selected by the user may be stored. It is obvious that information may be transmitted from the user part to the television broadcaster part and vice versa.

Preferably, device 10 communicates with telephone network 80 via modem 90 and with LAN85 via LAN interface 95. The video source 75 typically operates in conjunction with the processor 45 through a data bus 60. Alternatively, the video source 75 may be associated with an image processor (not shown) that may operate in conjunction with the data bus 60.

It will be appreciated that the apparatus 10 may also communicate with the head-end 15 via one of the telephone network 80 and the LAN 85. In addition, the device 10 may communicate with the head-end by employing a Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter 100, the RF transmitter 100 being used to transmit uplink information via the connector 35, the coaxial cable 30, the antenna 25, and the satellite 20. Preferably, the transmitter 100 may be driven by data provided by the processor 45 via a data bus 60.

In addition, device 10 may communicate with head-end 15 via a very small antenna earth station (VSAT) as is known in the art.

The apparatus 10 also preferably includes a compressor or/decompressor 105 that performs compression/decompression operations on data provided to/retrieved from either of the memories 55 and 65. The compressor/decompressor 105 preferably operates in conjunction with a data bus.

Preferably, a user can operate device 10 via remote control 110, or an input device, such as a keyboard or mouse (not shown), remote control 110 and the input device can communicate with device 10 via an input/output (I/O) interface 115. The I/O interface 115 preferably comprises the device 10 and operates in conjunction with the processor 45. It will be apparent that the user entering commands and selections via remote control 110 are performed by processor 45. Preferably, the remote control 110 includes function keys 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125 and 126 for operating special functions as will be described below.

The apparatus 10 also preferably includes an encryptor/decryptor 130 that performs encryption/decryption operations on data supplied to/retrieved from either of the memories 55 and 65. The encryptor/decryptor 130 preferably operates in conjunction with the data bus 60 and with a key or activation source provided by the smart card 135 via the smart card reader 140. It will be apparent that the keys or activation sources provided by the smart card 135 may be operated to provide conditional access and parental control of the data stored in the memories 55 and 65.

The term "parental control" is used throughout the specification and claims to include controls by individuals who have the right to control what programs another or people may view and/or record/delete, and/or otherwise use. For example, and without limitation to the foregoing generality, parental controls are typically used to control the viewing of programs by children that require parental consent.

The processor 45 preferably includes the following elements: a media module 145; a commercial advertising film manager 150; a user programming manager 155; an image processor 160; and a view analysis module 165.

It is obvious that at least some of the units comprised in the apparatus 10, in particular the compressor/decompressor 105, may be summarized in a general purpose processor, which may be operated to perform all functions performed by the units in the apparatus 10, which units in the apparatus 10 are comprised in.

The operation of the apparatus 10 in fig. 1A and 1B will now be briefly described. Preferably, apparatus 10 may be employed to digitally record television programs provided by headend 15 in one of memories 55 and 65. If IRD40 includes multiple tuners (not shown), apparatus 10 may be operated to simultaneously record several programs while viewing any of the programs displayed on any of the channels, where the programs may be transmitted on different channels.

It is apparent that programs may be delivered during off-peak hours for later display. The program preferably transmitted during off-peak hours may be associated with at least one of the following codes: determining a time zone code of a zone; a user identification code identifying the digital television recording device; a blacklist code identifying the user in the signal fade area field in which the program must be displayed at a later time.

Further, programs such as previews, commercials and clips with logos and themed music, or content to be displayed according to certain conditions, which are scheduled to be displayed multiple times a day, may be transferred only once, or preloaded into memory, and located according to instructions sent by headend 15. Thus, in addition to delivering a program that is scheduled to be displayed multiple times a day, the program may be delivered once, instructions to display the program may be delivered multiple times, or instructions detailing the number of plays may be delivered once. This may save transmission bandwidth.

In addition or alternatively, the video and audio control words of a single program need not be transmitted together. For example, if a program is scheduled to be transmitted using two related audio channels, a first audio channel comprising an English version and a second audio channel comprising a Spanish version, the video portion of the program may be transmitted once and stored in memory 55. When a particular version is to be broadcast, such as the english version, the television broadcaster may transmit a first audio channel, look for instructions from the video portion of memory 55 and associate the first audio channel with the video portion.

The term "control word" is used throughout the specification and claims to include a packet of control words or any suitable control data/software stream that is associated with a program or with a portion of a program.

Similarly, a program may be associated with several control words, each corresponding to a different set of on-screen displays (OSDs), where the OSDs may include information such as in different languages, or information with different pricing information depending on when the pay-per-view program preview is displayed. It is preferable that programs can be displayed at different times with different OSDs.

In addition, the video portion, the audio portion, and/or the control word portion of the program may be played separately. For example, a video portion from the end of a program may be played in a different order than a video portion from the audio portion and the control word portion with content from another program in between before the video portion from the front portion of the program. In addition, the separate play part may be stored in a separate location in the memory 45 to enhance security against hackers decoding the program by detecting the location of the program in the memory 55.

Still further, different portions of the video portion, the audio portion and the control word portion included in the program may be transmitted using different transmission sources. This may increase the efficient use of bandwidth and enhance security by making it difficult for hackers to access programs from a separate delivery source.

Preferably, the apparatus 10 may also be employed to record programming provided by the video source 75, over the LAN85 and/or the telephone network 80. It will be appreciated that the apparatus 10 may also operate as a home server for recording/deleting and displaying programs and information generated at various terminals of the home and/or provided by a network, such as the internet.

Further, the apparatus 10 may be used to transfer the programs recorded in the memories 55 and 56 to other users, either through a user management system (not shown) or directly to the user's address. Preferably, the program transmitted to the other user may be transmitted by at least one of: a LAN 85; a telephone network 80; transmitter 100 or VSAT. It will be apparent that conditional access may be required for the delivery of the program to other users or for any other user to receive the program, the conditional access preferably being provided by the smart card 135.

Obviously, operations such as program recording, searching for programs stored in memories 55 and 65, deletion of programs stored in memories 55 and 65, and the like, are preferably controlled by processor 45. The apparatus 10 also preferably has various other features, such as editing of the programs stored in the memories 55 and 65 to include only the portions of interest to the user.

Additional features available in the apparatus 10 include freeze frames for playing television programs. In this case, when the user freezes the program, the program is recorded in the memory 55, for example, by operating the key 121 on the remote control 110. When the user unfreezes the program, the apparatus 10 may resume playing the program from the memory 55 instead of from the current program. Preferably, the apparatus 10 uses the portion of memory 55 as a circular buffer to recover the program from the point in the buffer where the program freezes. It is apparent that from this point the program is played from memory 55 in a mode with a delay in operation. Thus, the user may also stop watching the program, for example, to return the call, and may resume the television program being watched without losing any part of the program.

It will be apparent that the program may also include a tag with which to tag parts of the television program stored in the circular buffer so that if the user were to skip certain parts of the program to catch up with the television broadcast, the user may enter the desired tag and jump to the tagged part with the desired tag.

It will be apparent that the circular buffer may be controlled by a smart card 135, or any other conventional conditional access module, which provides conditional access to the programs stored in the circular buffer. Preferably, the smart card 135 is operable to disable fast forward/rewind operations on programs stored in the circular buffer so that the user cannot skip portions of the program that are valuable to the television broadcast, such as commercials.

Obviously, the key 121 can also be operated in a configuration in which the circular buffer is always operated so that a part of the program, for example, most of the program received in the last five minutes, is always stored in the circular buffer. This enables the storage of the hint area that might otherwise be lost and not seen.

Other features available in the apparatus 10 preferably include the simultaneous display of multiple programs on the screen of the television 50. This feature, referred to as picture-in-picture (PIP), can be employed by a user if he does not want to miss a program, but has a limited time to watch television. Preferably, when viewing two programs in the PIP mode, the user can switch between the two programs if he decides to view only one program on the entire television screen. The program currently being viewed is preferably determined by the currently playing audio feed.

Additionally or alternatively, in the PIP mode, the user may view premium programming without accompanying audio on a portion of the television screen and other programming with accompanying audio on the remainder of the television screen. In order to view the pay program with accompanying sound on the whole screen, the user is required to pay for the pay program. Payment is preferably made by conventional means, such as by operating keys 123 on remote control 110 to receive the program. Payment is preferably handled by the smart card 135.

It will be apparent that at least a portion of the content received by the device 10 may be compressed and encrypted. In such a case, decompression is performed in the compressor/decompressor 105 and decryption is performed in the encryptor/decryptor 130, preferably under control of the smart card 135, as is known in the art.

Preferably, the program received by the apparatus 10 is associated with a set of television broadcast parameters enabling access to a predetermined portion of the program. The set of television broadcast parameters preferably determines the following information (which may characterize the program and/or the label associated with the program and which characterizes the program):

(1) types of programs, such as movies, television shows, commercial commercials, programs offered by the WWW.

(2) Supplemental information accompanying the program, such as a program review provided by a reviewer, product details given about the program, notes accompanying the program, tagged portions of the program, a rating of the program currently being viewed;

(3) an associated audio channel in a language different from the language used in the original audio channel associated with the program;

(4) program deletion enable/disable;

(5) parental controls related to at least a portion of a program for which parental controls are required;

(6) the end time and/or number of times the program is to be viewed;

(7) special features such as PIP thousand available;

(8) general information, such as program title, program playing time, program length, whether the program is encrypted or not and program compression format;

(9) quality and characteristics of the content transferred, such as data rate, deletion of already transferred content (e.g., E-mail), user selected routing of content portions;

(10) special marking of context for using and/or enhancing the transmitted program.

(11) Media items such as WWW content, advertising indicators, and WWW site indicators.

It will be apparent that the above-mentioned set of television broadcast parameters is not meant to be limiting and that it may include additional parameters.

Obviously, further, all the parameters mentioned above are not necessarily related to each program. For example, the program may be delivered in a different language, without supplemental information or additional audio channels.

The enabling/disabling of the deletion parameter is preferably used primarily with commercials, as described below, or generally with any type of program. All other parameters are transmitted as necessary.

Obviously, parameters determining the quality and characteristics of the transmitted content may be used, for example, in order to improve the transmission efficiency by transmitting selected information or programs having a higher data rate than other programs, which are transmitted at regular or reduced data rates. It is apparent that programs delivered at regular or reduced data rates and programs delivered at higher rates can be stored in either of the memories 55 and 65, and that programs can be displayed in a conventional frame rate form according to the look-up memory 55 or 65.

To use and/or enhance the transmitted program, the parameter determining the contextual special mark may be used to determine special parts of the program that are of special interest to the user, e.g., parts of favorite performers, possibly parts of special interest to the television broadcast, e.g., parts of a particular product being played.

Parameters that determine the media item, such as WWW content, advertisement indicators, and WWW site indicators, may be used to provide the user with direct access to the media item, such as by indicating in the media item.

Preferably, in the apparatus 10, the media resident in the module 145 is operated according to a program to determine whether to record a program, for example, in the memory 55 and associated with a program media parameter that enables access to a predetermined point of the program. The medium preferably learns the user's viewing habits by tracking the user's favorite programs and other preferences, such as favorite channels, main viewing times. Once the user's preferences are determined, the medium preferably determines: if the characteristics of the program are consistent with the user's preferences, the program must be recorded.

Preferably, if the medium determines that the program must be recorded, the medium may record the program with a set of medium parameters, which may be different from the set of television broadcast parameters. It is clear that the medium may preferably comprise an intelligent medium, such as the above mentioned israel patent application 121230 and the corresponding published PCT application WO99/01984, which learns the user's preferences based on observed user habits, determines the user's preferences, organizes the user's preferences in a directory based on a user profile (profile), and determines the preferences based on continuously changing user's viewing habits. It will be appreciated that further the medium may be programmable, and the user may determine preferences by entering information that may be used as input to the medium.

Preferably, multiple media may reside in the media module 145, each associated with a family member of the user. Preferably, each medium identifies a family member to which the user family member corresponds based on a code entered by the user family member or a biometric parameter of the user family member. In addition, each family member of the user may select the corresponding media by using a different key on remote control 110 or by using a different remote control.

Still further, each user's family member has a personalized smart card, and each media may be associated with a corresponding smart card. Preferably, the medium may be stored in or activated by a corresponding smart card, which may include user family member viewing preferences.

It is clear that for the sake of simplicity only one medium is referred to in the following, but that the number of media is not meant to be limited.

Preferably, the set of medium parameters may cover at least a part of the set of (override) television broadcast parameters. For example, if the program is a television broadcast with two audio channels along with video, the medium may determine that one of the video-only audio channels must be recorded. In addition, the medium may record only part of the supplementary information accompanying the program. The medium may also determine additional portions of the program that may require parental control and may override options such as "delete allow" and expiration time if the program is deemed to be the favorite program.

Obviously, the medium may also be operable to determine attributes that are not provided by the set of television broadcast parameters. Thus, the media parameter set may preferably additionally determine some or all of the following information (which may characterize the program and/or the mark associated with the program before and during recording, characterizing the program):

(1) the quality of the program recording;

(2) the type of program requested to be recorded;

(3) the title of the favorite program requested to be recorded;

(4) the time and date at which the program is requested to be recorded;

(5) a review exists that is appended to the program;

(6) other context-specific indicia and/or media related to the program, such as WWW page indicators, game indicators, and advertisement indicators; and

(7) program directories such as sports, music, and comedies.

Obviously, it is not meant to be limited to the set of parameters of the medium mentioned above, and it may include other parameters.

It is further apparent that the medium can typically determine the values of parameters in the medium parameter set by knowing the user's preferences based on observed habits of the user.

Preferably, the medium determines the quality of the recorded program prior to recording the program, preferably based on the amount of storage space remaining in memories 55 and 65. Alternatively, the user may select the recording quality by pressing key 126 on remote control 110. Obviously, the parameters determining the recording quality may also preferably include routing parameters that route the program to a selected one of the memories 55 and 65.

The parameters indicating the type of program to be recorded, the title of the program desired to be recorded, the time and date at which the program is desired to be recorded, may be either programmed by the user or determined by the medium based on the viewing habits of the user as known by the medium.

Preferably, the information stored after the media operation includes programming associated with a current parameter set, the current parameter set including a combination of a television broadcast parameter set and a media parameter set that has not been altered by the media parameter set. The programs associated with the current set of parameters form addressable programs, which are addressed by the user.

Preferably, the user may search at least some of the addressable programs from memory 55 based on the settings of the current set of parameters. It will be appreciated that the smart card 135 provides conditional access to at least some of the programs stored in the memory 55 by searching at least some of the addressable programs from the memory 55 under the control of the smart card 135. The at least partially addressable program retrieved from memory 55 may preferably be selected by the user via remote control 110, and may be displayed for the user on television 50, or any other conventional display, if access to the selected partially addressable program is allowed by smart card 135.

Preferably, the user can edit at least part of the addressable program by entering a set of user parameters that enable access to a predetermined portion of the program. Thus, the user can browse the programs and all programs of the deleted portion of the program, mark and combine favorite cue areas, add information and marks representing features of the program. It is apparent that during editing, the set of user parameters is associated with the addressable programs to produce edited addressable programs. Preferably, once the program editing is complete, the user may store the edited addressable programs, preferably in memory 55.

Obviously, the user parameter set may cover at least a part of the television broadcast parameter set and a part of the medium parameter set. For example, at the time of editing, the user may decide not to record part of the supplementary information accompanying the program, or to change the termination time. In addition, the user may also enter additional criteria for parental control, or eliminate certain parental control criteria transmitted by the television broadcaster. Additionally or alternatively, the user may specify parental controls for at least a portion of the television program that require parental controls so that the child may view television programs other than at least the portion determined by the user.

Preferably, the set of television broadcaster parameters may comprise a subset of parameters that cannot be overridden by any of the set of medium parameters and the set of user parameters. Obviously, the parameters in the subset of parameters that cannot be overwritten may include, for example, the program type, conditional access information associated with the program and determining conditional access to the program, a basic parental control rating in the case where the program is a commercial or where the program is a program for which deletion is not allowed, and a "delete inhibit" option. It is further apparent that the television broadcaster may determine additional parameters in the subset of parameters that cannot be overridden.

The user parameter set may preferably include, in addition to at least some of the set of television broadcaster parameters and the set of media parameters, parameters that determine some or all of the following information (which may characterize the program and/or indicia associated with the program and characterize the characteristics of the program):

(1) program ratings provided by the user;

(2) program review-selected from a list of available reviews, or printed by the user;

(3) additional information for the purpose of the project, such as hypermedia links to local and/or remote local, information in different multimedia formats, E-mail, commercial commercials, information about advertisements;

(4) the form of the program after the editing operation, such as a mixed part of the program, a recorded part of the program, a deleted part of the program;

(5) preferred cueing areas, such as goals in a football match;

(6) a compression preference to compress the program prior to storage;

(7) image processing; and

(8) and selecting video wallpaper.

Obviously, it is not meant to be limited to the set of user parameters mentioned above, and additional parameters may be included.

It is further apparent that the program ratings may be programmed by the user by entering rating parameters from a list of available rating parameters. In addition, the user may operate function keys 120 on remote control 110 to enter program ratings.

Preferably, the user selected program review may be related to the program so that the user entered review is recorded as part of the program. In addition, the user may look for programs with a review selected from a list of available reviews. Typically, after viewing the review, the user may decide whether to view the program.

Preferably, a request for additional information about the program is transmitted to headend 15, and preferably headend 15 may transmit the additional information a short time after receiving the request.

In addition, additional information for programs may be transmitted together with the program and stored in the memory 55. When the user enters a request for additional information, the additional information may be retrieved from memory 55 and displayed on television 50.

Still further, the additional information may be scheduled for transmission at some time after the user enters the additional information request. In such a case, it is preferable to transmit the additional information according to a schedule, rather than immediately upon request of the user. Obviously, the additional information may also be transmitted on a different channel, such as a callback signal channel or an E-mail channel. This is particularly suitable in case the additional information comprises a WWW indicator.

Preferably, the format of the program after editing may be used instead of the original format of the program as in the memory 55 arrangement. Thus, after reformatting, the edited addressable programs may occupy less capacity than the addressable programs. It will be apparent that the user may reformat the addressable program to store only the preferred program prompt field and delete the remainder of the program.

Compression preferences may be employed prior to storage to employ different compression procedures for the program prior to storage. If, for example, the transmitted program is compressed using a conventional MPEG-2 compression program, the user may decide to compress the program using a higher compression program, such as MPEG-4.

Preferably, the parameters defining the image manipulation may be generated based on a user's manipulation of the video image of the program. For example, a television broadcaster may transmit two programs in PIP mode. In this case, when the user selects only one program, the image processor 160 displays the program on the entire screen of the television 50.

Obviously, image management may include rotation and movement of the image, as well as scaling of the image. Preferably, image management is performed in the image processor 160 using conventional image processing methods.

The video images, or series of still video images, may be selected using parameters that determine the selection of the video wallpaper, and the audio channel selected for accompanying audio. For example, a user may select a sunset image from a video image library with a song accompaniment provided through an audio channel.

It will be apparent that the user's editing operations and inputs may be handled in the user programming manager 155. Preferably, the user's responses to the programs and program ratings are analyzed in a view analysis module 165, which preferably performs operations and functions similar to those performed in a conventional Nielsen box.

It is obvious that at least one of the set of parameters of the television broadcaster, the set of parameters of the medium, and the set of parameters of the user may preferably comprise at least one tag for determining a program search parameter, by selecting the tag for searching for the program. In addition, information residing in the program, such as teletext and video images, may be used to generate tags from the program that may be located and managed.

Preferably, at least one flag may be generated that determines the program look-up parameters, the at least one flag being associated with the program when the program is stored in the external removable memory 65. In such a case, the at least one marker may comprise a tag containing a reference number that may be used to manage the external storage library and enable the user to locate the local program in the external storage. Preferably, when the user wants to view the program stored on the external storage device, the user is prompted to insert the external storage device with the appropriate tag. It will be apparent that programs stored in memory 55 may be similarly marked.

Preferably, the user can use the key 124 on the remote control 110 as a conventional "ENTER" key to perform an operation or series of operations prior to operation of the "ENTER" key 124. When the key 124 is pressed after a series of editing operations are performed on the program, a series of editing operations are input, and the program is stored in an edited form.

The user may preferably use the key 125 on the remote control 110 as a "NEXT" button to browse forward through the programs stored in either of the memories 55 and 65. If, for example, the user views a program located in memory 55, button 125, processor 45 preferably accesses the starting point of the program, which follows the program in memory 55. It is apparent that the "NEXT" button can be used to follow the program according to the order or level of selection. The order and level of selection is preferably determined by at least one of: a user; a medium; a television broadcasting apparatus.

Preferably, the "NEXT" key 125 can include a plurality of "NEXT" buttons (not shown), wherein each "NEXT" button can be used to associate a level. The ratings may include, for example, a first rating of a story in the program, a second rating of a portion of the program, and a third rating of a similar type of program.

When a user browses a first level of stories by pressing one of a plurality of "NEXT" buttons, for example, the user may go from a first story in a news program to a second story in the news program.

When the user browses the second level of the section by pressing another one of the plurality of "NEXT" buttons, the user may, for example, move from a politically related news section of the program to a sports related news section of the program.

When the user browses a third level of similar type programs by pressing yet another of the plurality of "NEXT" buttons, the user may, for example, switch from a first comedy program to a second drama program.

It will be appreciated that the "NEXT" button may also include a plurality of "PREVIOUS" buttons (not shown), each associated with one of the plurality of "NEXT" buttons, each performing an operation to browse back through the programs stored in either of the memories 55 and 65.

Alternatively or additionally, the "NEXT" button can be used to browse a program catalog provided through the EPG.

Obviously, at least some of the programs may be encrypted. In such a case, the user must insert the smart card 135 in the smart card reader 140 to allow conditional access to the encrypted program and/or conditional access to the lookup. It is apparent that accessing and/or locating the encrypted program via the smart card 135 is preferably performed by one of the methods known in the art. It is further apparent that programming delivered in clear format does not require the presence of a smart card 135 unless the smart card is required for purposes other than encryption.

Additionally or alternatively, the user may be required to provide authentication, such as by way of a smart card 135, to allow access to programs that are played in clear format. In such a case, if the user does not provide proper authentication, or the user is not authorized to view the program in clear format, processor 45 will generate an alert indicating that the user is not entitled to access the program and display it on television 50.

If the program is a commercial, it is preferably processed in the commercial manager 150. Preferably, the commercials receive additional attributes that can be used to control the distribution and display of the commercials to provide feedback to the advertiser.

In addition, the commercial may receive an attribute that avoids skipping the commercial without seeing the commercial. In addition, the user may be required to view a predetermined number of commercials during a predetermined time, the commercials may receive an attribute that determines whether the user has viewed the commercials, and the number of times the user has viewed the commercials.

Preferably, the commercials are assigned additional attributes by the television broadcaster by associating with the commercial parameter sets in addition to the television broadcast parameter sets mentioned above.

The commercial parameter set may preferably determine the following additional information and/or indicia that particularly characterize the commercial:

(1) the time and date of commercial film viewing;

(2) a termination after a predetermined number of people have seen the commercial;

(3) fast forward/fast reverse inhibit;

(4) product additional information provided by the commercial;

(5) and (4) target information.

It is clear that it is not limited to the above mentioned commercial parameter set, but it may comprise other parameters.

Preferably, the television broadcaster may charge a fee for playing the commercials based on time and date when viewing the commercials. For example, if a user watches a commercial in prime time, the television broadcaster may receive higher revenues from the commercial. Thus, the time and date of commercial viewing may be associated with different revenue rates, wherein the revenue rate experienced by the television broadcaster varies with the time of day and the date on which the commercial was viewed by the user.

It will be appreciated that information regarding the time and date of commercial viewing is preferably analyzed in processor 45 and communicated to headend 15 via the uplink or VSAT provided by switch 100. It will be appreciated that further, the processor 45 may also delete commercials after the user has viewed the commercials for a predetermined time.

The parameter for determining termination after a predetermined number of people have viewed the commercial can be transmitted to and employed by the television broadcaster through the callback signal channel to know the number of people viewing the commercial in near real-time and to delete the commercial after the predetermined number of people have viewed the commercial. The television broadcaster may also employ parameters that determine termination after a predetermined number of people watch the commercial to provide evidence of commercial exposure, with the television broadcaster typically being charged against the evidence advertiser.

Preferably, a parameter that disables the "fast forward/rewind" selection may be used when a commercial is played to avoid a situation where the user watches a movie and skips the commercial, which is preferably related to the movie. When this parameter is used, the processor 45 prevents viewing and the user can either watch the commercial or go to another program.

Preferably, the parameter that inhibits the "fast forward/rewind" selection may be used when a commercial is played until the user has viewed the commercial for a predetermined time period (e.g., one week), or a predetermined number of commercials during a predetermined time period. Obviously, the predetermined time that the user must look at the commercials may vary from user to user. Similarly, the predetermined number of commercials that a user must view may vary from user to user.

Obviously, the parameter disabling fast forward/rewind selection cannot be used in a mode where the user simply views available programs.

In addition, if the user does not watch a predetermined number of commercials every predetermined period of time (e.g., one month), the user may be required to pay more money to initiate the fast forward and rewind operations.

Preferably, during fast forward and fast reverse of a program, even if the program is a commercial, a specially prepared meaningful reduced version of the entire commercial may be displayed on the television 50. Preferably, each entire commercial segment downscaled version may last for 3 seconds, and other downscaled versions of other commercial segments may follow until the fast forward/rewind ends. Obviously, the reduced version of the entire commercial is characterized and considered to be the entire commercial.

Preferably, the user can react to the commercial by asking for additional information about the product provided by the commercial. The request for additional information is preferably entered by operating function keys 122 in remote control 110.

The targeting information is preferably employed to determine the likely interest area fields of the user or the user's profile. The commercials are preferably delivered to the user only if they are within the field of interest of the user or are consistent with the user's profile. In addition, commercials are always delivered, but are only stored if they are in a region of interest to the user or consistent with the user profile. It is obvious that the target criteria may be stored in the smart card 135.

Additionally and additionally, the targeting information may include a payment requirement so that the user may be required to pay for viewing the commercial if the commercial is provided as a fee-based advertising service, or pay less or more for viewing a video with or without the commercial. If the commercials are not provided as a premium service, the commercials may be played during off-peak hours.

It will be appreciated that the commercials manager 150 may also include a statistics manager (not shown) that may provide statistics such as the number of times a user viewed a commercial, and that the commercials manager 150 may display commercials and delete commercials based on the statistics. Preferably, the statistical information is communicated to headend 15 via a callback signal channel. Further, at least part of the statistical information may be displayed to the user.

Preferably, a commercials manager may be employed to control a commercials inventory including individually customized custom advertisements.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a simplified flow diagram of a preferred method of operation of the apparatus 10 of FIGS. 1A and 1B.

Preferably, the television broadcaster associates a set of television broadcaster parameters to a program and plays the program to a plurality of users. It is clear that the television broadcaster can link different sets of television broadcaster parameters to different programs, each of which can receive a separate set of television broadcaster parameters. Each set of television broadcaster parameters preferably has access to predetermined portions of each different program.

Preferably, the program is received in the digital television recording device on the premises of the user. In the apparatus, the media is made on an EPG comprising program connections. Preferably, the media is personalized according to the viewing habits of the user.

Preferably, the medium determines whether the program is recorded, for example in a memory, and the set of medium parameters enables access to the predetermined portion of the program in accordance with the recording to program association. Obviously, it is preferable to store the programs together with the set of television broadcaster parameters and the set of media parameters, so that the addressable programs are addressed and accessed through the EPG.

Preferably, the EPG adoption medium can be contacted to provide the user's program for viewing based on the user's mood or preferences compiled based on the user's history of viewing habits. The provided programs for viewing may include broadcast programs and programs recorded in a memory. Preferably, the provided programs for viewing may also include programs not seen by the user scheduled according to a viewing priority determined by at least one of the medium and the user.

Obviously, the medium may also be used in connection with an EPG to control the recording and deletion of programs and to determine programmed recording and deletion. Programmed recording and deletion may include recording/deletion of programs already viewed, recording of programs currently displayed, and scheduling of recordings of programs to be played in the future. Obviously, the user can view a list of all recorded programs through the EPG. Preferably, the user may also search the recorded program listings based on different criteria, such as program type and title.

Preferably, the user can locate at least some of the addressable programs and view at least some of the addressable programs on the television. The user may then edit the addressable program, typically by input due to a set of user parameters that enable access to a predetermined portion of the program. The set of user parameters is preferably received in a processor included in the device, and the addressable program is edited when the user presses an "ENTER" key on the remote control to produce an edited addressable program including the set of user parameters enabling access to the predetermined portion. Preferably, the edited addressable programs replace the addressable programs stored in the memory.

Referring now to fig. 3A and 3B, fig. 3A and 3B together form a simplified flow chart of a preferred method of replicating a television program recorded in the apparatus of fig. 1A and 1B.

Preferably, the user may select to view a television program broadcast, or a television program stored in memory, by the headend.

If the user watches a broadcast television program, the user can select a freeze program by pressing a freeze key on the remote control at any time during the broadcast. In such a case, the program begins to be recorded in a circular buffer (not shown) that may be included in memory and used to overcome the freeze delay, at the time the freeze key is pressed by the user. The circular buffer is preferably loaded and emptied continuously so that when the user presses the freeze key again, the program is looked up by the buffer, which is loaded cyclically by the memory, and the user can watch the program from the moment the program freezes.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the selection of stop-motion programs may be implemented separately, not necessarily in combination with other features of the invention described herein.

If the user watches a stored television program, the user can edit the program at any time the program is played. Preferably, the editing of the program may include deletion of portions of the program, combination of portions of the program, and reordering of the program. In addition, the user may combine some programs with other programs to generate new programs.

Preferably, when the user views the program by using a remote control or other suitable input device, at least one of the following operations may also be performed:

(1) inputting a grade by pressing a grade key on a remote control or typing in the grade;

(2) entering a program review or looking up a program review;

(3) receiving a premium program in a PIP mode;

(4) switching to one of the played programs in the PIP mode;

(5) browsing recorded programs and portions of recorded programs by pressing the "NEXT" key on the remote control;

(6) selecting a program from a menu or an EPG;

(7) selecting a language for playing audio, i.e., selecting one of a plurality of audio channels;

(8) selecting a plurality of programs by pressing a key on the remote control;

(9) changing the parental control standard and determining the program part as blocked under the condition of the password;

(10) programming the medium and/or specifying the particular recorded data, i.e. the channel via which the data is recorded, the recorded data and the time, simultaneously or separately;

(11) a reminder area to save the program, for example, by pressing an "ENTER" key on the remote control;

(12) selecting a compression format for storing the program;

(13) programming an expiration time for deleting the program when the memory is full;

(14) operating on the image on the television screen, for example, zooming the image;

(15) selecting video wallpaper; and

(16) the program is marked with the selected information.

Furthermore, if the program is a commercial, the user may also perform at least one of the following operations when viewing the commercial using a remote control or other suitable input device:

(1) requesting additional information about the product or program provided by the commercial by pressing a key on the remote control; and

(2) the user profile of the targeted advertising information is changed.

It is clear that different features of the invention, which are described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment for the sake of clarity. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is not limited to those shown and described above. The scope of the invention is to be determined solely by the following claims.

Claims (19)

1. A television broadcast system comprising:

a headend for applying a set of television broadcaster parameters to a program content being broadcast; and

a plurality of receiver-decoders at a user location, each of said receiver-decoders receiving said program content being broadcast and comprising:

a media module for applying a set of media parameters to the program content received by said receiver-decoder; and

a user programming manager for applying a set of user parameters to said program content received by said receiver-decoder in accordance with a user's actions.

2. A receiver-decoder for use in a television broadcast system, the system comprising a headend for applying a set of television broadcaster parameters to a program content being broadcast, and a plurality of receiver-decoders at user locations for receiving said program content being broadcast, said receiver-decoders comprising:

a media module for applying a set of media parameters to the program content received by said receiver-decoder; and

a user programming manager for applying a set of user parameters to said program content received by said receiver-decoder in accordance with a user's actions.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein said receiver-decoder is located within a set-top box.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said medium parameter set covers at least one parameter of a television broadcaster parameter set.

5. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said set of user parameters covers at least one of: at least one parameter of a set of television broadcaster parameters; at least one parameter of the set of medium parameters.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one parameter of the set of television broadcaster parameters cannot be overridden by any one of: a set of medium parameters; a set of user parameters.

7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the set of television broadcaster parameters, the set of media parameters, the set of user parameters comprises indicia identifying at least one of:

searching parameters for programs; a content lookup parameter.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the set of media parameters comprises a recording quality parameter determining the quality of the recorded program content.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the set of user parameters comprises a rating parameter determining the rating of the programme as provided by the user.

10. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the programme content comprises commercials, and

the set of television broadcaster parameters includes at least one of:

at least one commercial parameter;

determining a parameter requiring additional information on at least one of: a commercial advertising sheet; a program; and

determining a parameter for commercial termination after an event comprising at least one of: a predetermined number of people who have viewed the commercial; the user views the commercial a predetermined number of times.

11. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the set of television broadcast parameters includes a flag to disable one of:

fast forward browsing at least a portion of the program content; and

browsing at least part of the program content in reverse.

12. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the programme content comprises two separate television programmes being played simultaneously in a picture-in-picture (PIP) mode on the television screen, the user parameter set comprising indicia identifying a viewing choice for viewing only one of the two separate television programmes on the whole television screen.

13. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the set of television broadcaster parameters includes at least one parameter determining at least one of the following information fields: the type of the program content, and supplementary information accompanying the program content; an associated audio channel in a language different from the language used in the original audio channel associated with the program content; program content deletion enable/disable; parental controls related to at least a portion of the programming content; a program content expiration time; picture-in-picture availability; a program title; the time of the program content playing; a program content length; determining whether the program content is to be encrypted; a program content compressed form; a program content characteristic; deletion of already transmitted content in the program content; selectively routing portions of the program content to selected subscribers; a special token of context; a media item.

14. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the set of media parameters comprises at least one flag determining at least one of the following information fields: recording the quality of the program content; the type of program content that is requested to be recorded; identification information identifying a favorite program to be recorded; the time and date at which the program content is requested to be recorded; the existing review section that is appended to the program content; a context-specific token; a media item; a program content directory.

15. The apparatus according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the set of user parameters comprises at least one flag identifying at least one of the following information fields: a user-provided program rating; program review; a request for additional information about the program; the format of the program after the editing operation; at least one cue area in the program; a compression preference for compressing the program prior to storage; image operation; and selecting video wallpaper.

16. A television broadcasting method, comprising:

operating the headend to apply television broadcaster parameters to the programming content being broadcast; and

causing a plurality of receiver-decoders at the user location to receive said program content being broadcast and to apply the set of media parameters and the set of user parameters to said program content received by at least one of said receiver-decoders.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one of said receiver-decoder is located within a set-top box.

18. A television broadcast receiving method using a headend which applies a set of television broadcaster parameters to program content being broadcast, the method comprising:

causing a receiver-decoder at a user location to receive programming content being played and to apply a set of media parameters and a set of user parameters to the programming content received by the receiver-decoder.

19. The television broadcast receiving method of claim 18, wherein the receiver-decoder is located within a set-top box.