Digital television (DTV) including a smart electronic program guide (EPG) and operating methods therefor

A digital television (DTV) system comprising:

• a remote controller which generates a plurality of different electromagnetic signals occupying a predetermined beam pattern;
• a sensor array which determines X- and Y-axis position data responsive to the relative position of the sensor array within the beam pattern;
• and
• an electronic program guide (EPG) controller provided within said DTV device which receives and accumulates position data responsive to the X- and Y-axis position data to form data structures capable of forming characters, and recognizes character data responsive to the data structures, and searches EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results, and which outputs the search results to the screen of the DTV as on-screen display characters, wherein the position data varies responsive to movement of the remote controller.

A method for operating a digital television (DTV) system storing electronic program guide (EPG) data responsive to X- and Y-axis position data generated by a remote controller, comprising:

• receiving X- and Y-axis position data at a DTV and accumulating position data corresponding to the X- and Y-axis position data to thereby form data structures capable of forming characters;
• recognizing character data included in the data structures;
• searching the stored EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results;
• and
• displaying the search results on the DTV as on-screen display characters.

A method for operating a digital television (DTV) system storing electronic program guide (EPG) data responsive to X- and Y-axis position data generated by movement of a remote controller, comprising:

• transmitting a plurality of electromagnetic signals from the remote controller;
• sensing the beam pattern of the electromagnetic signals relative to a sensing array to thereby generate the X- and Y-axis position data;
• converting the X- and Y-axis position data into position data;
• accumulating position data corresponding to the X- and Y-axis position data to form data structures capable of forming characters;
• recognizing character data included in the data structures;
• searching the stored EPG data for character strings approximating the character data to thereby generate search results;
• and
• displaying the search results on the DTV.