Automatic program formatting for TV displays

An entertainment system, comprising:

• a media presentation device having a display;
• and
• a content receiver coupled to the media presentation device, the content receiver configured to receive multimedia content from a content provider, the content receiver including:
• an input device configured to receive program data including a sequence of video frames;
• control circuitry including a microprocessor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable memory having computer-executable auto-formatting instructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to:
• extract a current video frame from the sequence of video frames;
• analyze the current video frame to detect unused areas of the current video frame;
• display on the media presentation device the program data of the current video frame;
• while the current video frame is displayed on the media presentation device:
• extract a next video frame from the sequence of video frames;
• analyze the next video frame to detect unused areas of the next video frame;
• comparing the unused areas of the next video frame to the unused areas of the current video frame;
• and
• in response to differences between the unused areas of the next video frame and the unused areas of the current video frame, change the unused areas of the next video frame to match the unused areas of the current video frame;
• and
• display on the media presentation device the program data of the next video frame having the changed unused areas.

An entertainment system, comprising:

• a media presentation device having a display;
• and
• a content receiver coupled to the media presentation device, the content receiver configured to receive multimedia content from a content provider, the content receiver including:
• an input device configured to receive program data including a sequence of video frames in a video format characterized by an associated aspect ratio;
• control circuitry including a microprocessor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable memory having computer-executable auto-formatting instructions stored thereon that cause the microprocessor to:
• extract a current video frame from the sequence of video frames;
• transmit frame data associated with the current video frame to a remote microprocessor;
• display on the media presentation device the program data of the current video frame;
• extract a next video frame from the sequence of video frames;
• transmit frame data associated with the next video frame to the remote microprocessor to compare unused areas of the next video frame to unused areas of the current video frame;
• receive from the remote microprocessor formatting information indicating whether or not to change the video format of the program data of the next video frame to have an adjusted aspect ratio;
• when it is determined to change the video format, change the program data of the next video frame to have the adjusted aspect ratio;
• and
• display on the media presentation device the program data of the next video frame having the adjusted aspect ratio.