Method of menu-driven control of an external connected device in an audio/video apparatus

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of menu-based control of an external device connected to a digital audio/video apparatus. According to the present invention, a main menu is displayed including menu items for selecting functions or operations of the external device and a menu item for obtaining a detailed menu of the external device, the main menu image being stored in a memory of the audio/video apparatus. When one of the menu items associated with the functions or operations is selected, command data corresponding to the selected menu item are transmitted to have the external device perform the corresponding operation. When a menu item for obtaining the detailed menu of the external device is chosen, a menu image of the detailed menu is read out from the memory and is then displayed. Information provided by the external device is requested from the detailed menu. This invention allows a user to conveniently, centrally examine and execute various operations or functions of external devices such as a DVD player that are connected to a central digital audio/video apparatus without the direct access to the external devices.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.