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US 4,694,490 AGranted
Signal processing apparatus and methods
OwnerJohn C. Harvey, James W. Cuddihyinventors
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OwnerJohn C. Harvey, James W. Cuddihyinventors
Estimating the term…
Apparatus and methods for automatically controlling programming transmissions and presentations on television and radio equipment and monitoring the programming transmitted and presented. ("Programming" here means everything transmitted over television or radio intended for communication of entertainment or to instruct or inform.) The Apparatus can handle programming transmitted either over-the-air (hereinafter, "broadcast") or over hard-wire (hereinafter, "cablecast"). The apparatus receive transmissions from as many as one hundred or more channels that are sequentially scanned by one or more scanners/switches that transfer the transmissions to one or more receiver/decoders that identify signals in the programming and separate the signals from the programming transmissions. The signals may then be transferred through one or more decrypters. The separated and possibly wholly or partially decrypted signals are then transferred through one or more processors and buffers to external equipment and/or data recorders. The data recorders are adapted to output data to remote sites on predetermined instructions. In all these functions, the apparatus are governed by one or more controllers. The methods co-ordinate and instruct equipment in the transmission and presentation of radio and television programming, especially in multi-media and multi-channel presentations, and in certain other functions.
A method of communicating television program material to a multiplicity of receiver stations each of which includes a television receiver and computer, the computers being adapted to generate and transmit overlay signals to their associated television receivers, said overlay signals causing the display of user specific information related to said program material, and with at least some of said computers being programmed to process overlay modification control signals so as to modify the overlay signals transmitted to their associated receivers, each of said computers being programmed to accommodate a specific user application, comprising the steps of:
In a method of communicating television program material to a multiplicity of receiver stations each of which includes a television receiver and computer, the computers being adapted to generate and transmit overlay video signals to their associated television receivers, said overlay signals causing the display of user specific information related to said program material, and with at least some of said computers being programmed to process overlay control sigmals transmitted to their associated receivers, each of said computers being programmed to accommodate a unique user application, the steps of
In a method of communicating television program material to a multiplicity of receiver stations each of which includes a television receiver and computer, the computers being adapted to generate and transmit overlay video signals, to their associated television receivers, said overlay signals causing the display of user specific information related to said program material, and with at least some of said computers being programmed to process overlay modification control signals so as to modify the overlay video signals transmitted to their associated receivers, each of said computers being programmed to accommodate a specific user application, and wherein a video signal containing a television program signal and an instruct to-overlay signal are transmitted to said receiver stations, the steps of
Television signal processor means, comprising carrier transmission receiving means, means for demodulating the output of said receiving means to detect a video program signal, means normally coupling said video signal to a television receiver, decoder means for determining the presence or absence of an embedded instruct-to-overlay signal in said video signal at a time when the corresponding overlay is not being displayed, computer means for generating and transmitting video overlay signals, said overlay signals causing the display of user specific information related to said program material, and means connected to said computer means and responsive to said decoder means when the presence of said embedded signal is detected for coupling said overlay signals to said television receiver, the overlays displayed at a multiplicity of said receiver stations being different, with each display specific to a specific user.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.