Remote pointers for interactive televisions

An improved remote control to provide easy interface between a human user and a television having a cursor displayed on the television screen, comprising:

• a remote control;
• a conventional control button fixed on said remote control, and the function of said conventional control button being independent of where the cursor appears on the television screen, and said conventional control button being used to perform a frequently used television control function selecting from a group consisting of volume up, volume down, channel up, channel down, power on and off, and mute;
• a light scope having a lens for defining a narrow filed of view and a photo detector for detecting the light signal passing through the lens, and said light scope being fixed on said remote control and having the narrow filed of view defined by the lens aligned in the same direction as pointed by said remote control;
• electronic circuitry for using the light signal measured by the photo detector in said light scope to determine the position on the television screen pointed by said remote control, whereby the television can display the cursor at the position on the television screen pointed by said remote control;
• and
• an unconventional control button fixed on said remote control, and the function of said unconventional control button being depend on where said cursor appear on the television screen;
• whereby the human user can easily and intuitively control the cursor position on the television screen from a distance and also perform conventional remote control functions at the same time.