Program information display terminal device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10841641-B2
Application number	US-201816102901-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2018
Priority date	Aug 21, 2017
Publication date	Nov 17, 2020
Grant date	Nov 17, 2020

Abstract

A program information display terminal device includes a communication component, a display component and a controller. The communication component receives data of an electronic program guide from an external server. The display component displays the electronic program guide based on the data of the electronic program guide received by the communication component. The controller divides the data of the electronic program guide for each of a plurality of sections. The controller performs display control of the electronic program guide by using divided data of the electronic program guide that corresponds to one of the sections including program information that is displayed on the display component.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A program information display terminal device comprising:
a communication component that receives data of an electronic program guide from an external server, the electronic program guide being a table that lists program information of programs in a time axis direction and in a channel axis direction;
a display component that displays a table area within the electronic program guide on a screen of the display component based on the data of the electronic program guide received by the communication component, the table area listing program information of a selected part of the programs in the time axis direction and in the channel axis direction; and
a controller that divides the data of the electronic program guide into a plurality of sets of divided data that corresponds to a plurality of divided areas of the electronic program guide, respectively,
the controller performing display control of the table area to scroll the table area within the electronic program guide by using a set of the divided data of the electronic program guide that corresponds to one of the divided areas in which the table area is currently located while the table area scrolls within the one of the divided areas,
the controller performing the display control of the table area by using a different set of the divided data of the electronic program guide that corresponds to a different one of the divided areas when a divided area in which the table area is currently located is switched from the one of the divided areas to the different one of the divided areas by scrolling, and
an entirety of the table area within the electronic program guide being simultaneously displayed on the screen, and the entirety of the table area within the electronic program guide being smaller than the divided areas of the electronic program guide in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide and in the channel axis direction of the electronic program guide.

2. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller produces and manages management data for each of the divided areas, the management data including position information indicating a position at which the program information is displayed on the display component and size information indicating a size of a program cell in which the program information is displayed.

3. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller performs the display control of the table area by using the management data that corresponds to the one of the divided areas in which the table area is currently located.

4. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
when the table area of the electronic program guide that is simultaneously displayed on the screen spans at least two of the divided areas, the controller performs the display control of the table area based on a plurality of sets of the management data that correspond to the at least two of the divided areas.

5. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
when the one of the divided areas is switched to the different one of the divided areas by scrolling, the controller performs the display control of the table area based on the management data that corresponds to the different one of the divided areas.

6. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller produces and manages the management data for each of the divided areas that are formed by dividing the electronic program guide in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide.

7. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller produces and manages the management data for each of the divided areas that are formed by dividing the electronic program guide in the channel axis direction of the electronic program guide.

8. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller produces and manages the management data for each of the divided areas that are formed by dividing the electronic program guide in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide and in the channel axis direction of the electronic program guide.

9. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller divides the data of the electronic program guide for each of the divided areas such that each of the divided areas extends along a scrolling direction.

10. The program information display terminal device according to claim 9 , wherein
the controller changes a direction in which each of the divided areas extends in response to the scrolling direction changing.

11. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
when the data of the electronic program guide is divided for each of the divided areas, the controller determines a size of each of the divided areas based on a size and an orientation of the screen of the display component.

12. The program information display terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein
the controller divides the data of the electronic program guide for each of the divided areas such that when the screen of the display component is taller than it is wide, each of the divided areas is taller than it is wide, and when the screen of the display component is wider than it is tall, each of the divided areas is wider than it is tall.

13. The program information display terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein
the controller changes an aspect ratio of the divided areas in response to the orientation of the screen of the display component changing.

14. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , further comprising
a storage component that stores information about an operation position in the electronic program guide,
the controller referring to the information about the operation position stored in the storage component and deciding each of the divided areas based on an operation frequency at each position in the electronic program guide.

15. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller divides the electronic program guide into the divided areas such that at least some of the divided areas are substantially equal in size.

16. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller reduces a size of the divided areas in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide in a first time period of the electronic program guide and increases the size of the divided areas in the time axis direction in a second time period of the electronic program guide.

17. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the display control of the table area by the controller includes display control for scrolling and zooming in the electronic program guide.

18. The program information display terminal device according to claim 2 , wherein
the controller updates the management data in response to the controller performing the display control of the table area.

19. The program information display terminal device according to claim 18 , wherein
the controller updates the management data in response to the controller performing zooming operation of the electronic program guide.

20. The program information display terminal device according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller p

Assignees

• Funai Electric Co

Inventors

• Nakata Eiji

Classifications

• H04N21/47 Primary

  End-user applications · CPC title

• H04N21/4312

  involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations · CPC title

• H04N21/26283 Primary

  for associating distribution time parameters to content, e.g. to generate electronic programme guide data · CPC title

• H04N21/4821

  using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time · CPC title

• H04N21/42216

  for quick navigation, e.g. through an EPG · CPC title