GB2447072A

GB2447072A - Promotional trailer recording

Info

Publication number: GB2447072A
Application number: GB0703771A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Arthur Simon Waller; Timothy Edmunds
Original assignee: Sony United Kingdom Ltd
Current assignee: Sony Europe Ltd
Priority date: 2007-02-27
Filing date: 2007-02-27
Publication date: 2008-09-03
Also published as: GB0703771D0

Abstract

A television recording apparatus receives television signals delivered in a format in which promotional trailers are delivered as part of the programs, the trailers having content for promoting other programs and being accompanied by signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer. The television recording apparatus detects the promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs, and records the detected promotional trailers and, associated with each recorded trailer, the signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer. This allows the trailers to be displayed to the user, for example based on the promoted programs being present in an electronic program guide or a recording list.

Description

Promotional Trailer Recording The present invention relates to digital

television and in particular to a television recording apparatus capable of recording television signals representing programs.

Promotional trailers having content for promoting other programs have long been used in the television and film industries. To support the use of promotional trailers in digital television there has recently been proposed the delivery of television signals with promotional trailers forming part of the programs, and with each trailer being accompanied by signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer.

This has been proposed for example as part of the DVB and TV-Anytime specifications of the TV-Anytime Forum. In this case, the promotional trailers form part of the programs (or events) but are accompanied by signalling data which indicates when the television signal represents the trailer and also identifies the program or group of programs promoted by the trailer by including the Content Reference Identifier (CRID) of that promoted program or group of programs.

The intended purpose of the signalling data identifying the promoted program is to facilitate reception or recording of the promoted program following viewing of the promotional trailer. For example a television reception apparatus or recording apparatus may allow the viewer to provide user-input indicating a desire to receive or record the promoted program, in response to which the television reception apparatus or recording apparatus is able to provide reception or recording of the correct program by reference to the signalling data accompanying the trailer. This technical measure makes it easier for the promotional trailer to achieve its primary purpose of prompting viewers to watch a particular program.

The present invention however allows such a promotional trailer and accompanying signalling data to achieve a different, new purpose. In particular, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided television recording apparatus comprising a recording unit capable of recording television signals representing programs, which television signals are delivered with promotional trailers forming part of the programs, the trailers having content for promoting other

S

programs, each trailer being accompanied by signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer, the television recording apparatus is arranged to detect said promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs, and to record the detected promotional trailers on the recording unit and to record, in association with each recorded trailer, the signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a corresponding method.

Thus the apparatus automatically detects and records trailers, together with the signalling data identifying the program promoted by each trailer. This allows the recording apparatus to make use of the recorded trailers in connection with the programs, for example by displaying the trailer on the basis of the program appearing in an electronic program guide or a recording list generated in the apparatus. This improves the functionality of the recording apparatus because the display of the trailer is used to give the user additional content allowing the user to better appreciate the nature of the programs contained in, for example, the electronic program guide or recording list.

In such a situation, the program is already known and the signalling data is used to identify the appropriate promotional trailer from those recorded in the recording apparatus. This contrasts with the previously intended purpose of the signalling data, as discussed above, in which the promotional trailer is already known and the signalling data is used to identify the appropriate program to be received or recorded in the future, To allow better understanding, an embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. I is a diagram of a recording apparatus; Fig. 2 is a time line of two events and trailers in a broadcast service; and Fig. 3 is a picture of an EPG or a recording list allowing display of a recorded promotional trailer.

Fig. 1 shows a recording apparatus 1 comprising a receiver-decoder circuit 2 capable of receiving and decoding broadcast television signals in accordance with the DVB standards and a recording unit 3 capable of recording the decoded television signals. The decoded television signals may also be supplied to an output interface 4 for supply to a television apparatus 5 which displays an image on a display device 6.

As an alternative, the display device 6 could be integrated in the recording apparatus 1.

The recording unit 3 may be of any type and capable of recording on any type of storage medium which may be integral or replaceable. Typically the recording unit 3 will be a hard drive that is integral to the apparatus or a drive for recording on an optical or magneto-optical recording medium such as a DVD.

The receiver-decoder circuit 2 is arranged to receive broadcast television signals in accordance with the DVB standard. The nature of these broadcast television signals will be now described.

According to the DVB standard, what a user might normally call a "channel" is known as a "service". For example, in the United Kingdom, BBC1 would be one service and BBC2 would be another service. Also according to the DVB standard, what a user might normally call a "program" is known as an "event". These occupy individual time slots within a service. For example, in the UK, an episode of "Newsnight" would represent one event and an episode of "University Challenge" would represent another event. Each service is therefore a concatenation of television events. Although the invention is defined using the generic term "program", this description of the recording apparatus 1 will use the term "event" to refer to programs.

According to the DVB standard, the broadcast television signal comprises a stream of packets of data multiplexed together and carried modulated onto a radio frequency (RF) carrier signal in a single RF channel. The stream is sometimes referred to as a channel because it corresponds to a transmission channel. The stream contains packets of video signal data, packets of audio signal data and packets of signalling data. Each packet of signalling data is associated with a particular table, the arrangement and content of which is in accordance with those defined in EN 300 468.

As defined in ISO/IIEC 13818-1 and EN 300 468, each of the signalling data packets has a packet identifier (PD) which designates it as a packet of signalling data, rather than a packet of audio or visual data. The signalling data is arranged in packets, and each packet of signalling data is associated with a particular table, the arrangement and content of which is in accordance with those defined in ISO/IIEC 138 18-1 and EN 300 468. Each signalling data packet has a table identifier, which designates which table the packet belongs to. Each signalling data packet also contains a "payload", which contains data about, for example, the network, the services andlor the events. The precise items of data that are stored in a packet depend on which table the packet belongs to, and details of which items of data are given in packets belonging to a particular table can be found in ISOIIEC 138 18-1 and EN 300 468. For present purposes it is noted that the signalling data includes the following EPG signalling data which as described further below can be extracted for use as the content of an EPG: a Service Description Table (SDT) which gives information on services which are being transmitted, including the names of the services; and an Event Information Table (EIT) which gives information on the events in respect of each service, including the names and times of the respective events.

The signalling data is in accordance with the DVB and TV-Anytime specifications of the TV-Anytime Forum, and identifies events using a Content Reference Identifier. CRIDs represent unique program content. Therefore, a repeated event has the same CRID as the original event. CRIDs can include nested information, so that a CRID may also identify a group of events to which the specific event belongs. The group of events might for example be a series of television programs of which the specific event is one episode.

The broadcast television signals may also include promotional trailers having content promoting a particular event or group. The promotional trailers are not broadcast as separate events within a service and so are not identified as events in the EPG signalling data, for example in the LIT. Instead, the promotional trailers are simply broadcast as a part of a larger event which is identified in EPG signalling data. This is shown for example in Fig. 2 which graphically illustrates two events 20 along a timeline and the boundary 2! between the events 20. Forming part of one the events 20 is a promotional trailer 22. Due to the purpose of a promotional trailer to promote new events to the user, the promoted event will typically be a different event from the event of which the promotional trailer forms part.

However, during the period of the promotional trailer, signalling data is broadcast accompanying the trailer, which indicates that the trailer is being broadcast and which also identifies the event promoted by the trailer by including the Content Reference Identifier (CRuD) of that promoted event.

The receiver-decoder circuit 2 of the recording apparatus 1 will now be described in detail. In this example, the broadcast digital television signal is a terrestrial signal transmitted on a radio frequency (RF) carrier. The recording apparatus 1 is connected to an external antenna 7 through a connector 8 in a conventional manner.

The receiver-decoder circuit 2 comprises a receiver circuit 9 to which the RF television broadcast signal received by the antenna 7 is supplied. The receiver circuit 9 comprises an RF tuner 10 which extracts the desired broadcast signal and a demodulator 11 which demodulates the broadcast signal to extract a multiplexed signal of a single broadcast channel.

As is conventional for broadcast digital television, each broadcast channel carries a multiplexed signal in which a plurality of video streams and associated audio and data streams, commonly referred to as services, are multiplexed together.

The video stream extracted by the demodulator 11 is supplied to a demultiplexer 12.

The demultiplexer 12 demultiplexes the packets of data in the video stream to extract one or more video signals, one or more audio signals and signalling data.

The video signal extracted by the demultiplexer 12 is supplied to a decoder 13 for decoding the video stream in accordance with the MPEG-2 standard. The decoder 13 outputs an uncompressed video signal which is output as the output of the receiver-decoder circuit 2.

As an alternative, the receiver-decoder circuit 2 may be absent from the recording apparatus 1. In this case an equivalent receiver-decoder circuit is implemented in a separate apparatus such as a set-top box, and the received, decoded televison signal is supplied to the recording apparatus 1.

The recording apparatus I includes a controller 14 which controls the operation of the components of the recording apparatus 1. For example, the controller 14 controls the receiver-decoder circuit 2 to select the broadcast video signal of a desired service.

The controller 14 is implemented by a microprocessor running an appropriate computer program. The controller 14 has associated therewith a RAM 15 and a non-volatile memory 18 such as a flash memory. The computer program may be stored in the recording unit 3 or the non-volatile memory 18. The computer program may be pre-installed or may be transmitted to the recording apparatus I as a broadcast signal, this being a known technique for upgrading of software of a television receiving equipment.

The recording apparatus 1 also has an IR (infra-red) receiver unit 16 capable of receiving signals from a remote commander 17. The remote commander 17 is operated by a user to provide user-inputs to the recording apparatus 1.

One of the functions of the controller 14 is to generate and cause display of an electronic program guide (EPG) as will now be described.

The content of the EPG in respect of the broadcast television signals which may be received by the receiver-decoder circuit 2 is derived from the EPG signalling data output by the demultiplexer 12. The controller 14 extracts this EPG signalling data from the signalling data packets output by the demultiplexer 12 and uses it to populate the EPG. Thus the EPG includes a list of services available for reception by the receiver-decoder circuit 2 and events in respect of those services. Such content is conventional for an EPG. The controller 14 stores data representing the EPG in the memory 15.

The decoder 13 includes a graphics generator 19. In response to a user-input from the remote commander 17 selecting the EPG, the controller 14 controls the

S

graphics generator 19 to generate a video signal representing the EPG stored in the memory 15. The EPG may be superimposed on or mixed with the video signal output by the decoder 13, so that they are displayed on the display device 6 of the television apparatus 5. In response to user-inputs generated by the remote commander 17, the controller 14 allows the user to navigate the EPG and to select individual services and events.

Another of the functions of the controller 14 is to control the recording operation of the recording unit 3. The controller 14 accepts user-inputs indicating events in the EPG selected by the user for recording. In response to such user-inputs, the controller 14 controls the operation of the recording apparatus 1 at the time of the event to cause the receiver-decoder circuit 2 to receive and decode the event and to cause the recording unit 3 to record the event.

The controller 14 maintains a recording list of events which are scheduled to be recorded in the future and a recoding list of events which have already been recorded. Data representing the recording lists is stored in the memory 15 and/or the recording unit 3. The controller 14 controls the graphics generator 19 to generate a video signal representing the recording lists, in a similar manner to the EPG. The recording lists may be superimposed on or mixed with the video signal output by the decoder 13, so that they are displayed on the display device 6 of the television apparatus 5.

Another of the functions of the controller 14 is to detect promotional trailers in the broadcast television signals as will now be described. To perform the detection, the controller 14 monitors the signalling data packets of received television signals output by the demultiplexer 12 to detect signalling data which indicates that the current broadcast signal on a service is a promotional trailer. This may involve the controller 14 monitoring the currently received stream. In addition, when the received television signal is not being viewed, this may also involve the controller 4 controlling the receiver-decoder circuit 2 to switch between different streams.

To reduce the load on the controller 14, the monitoring is preferably performed in periods of predetermined size adjacent boundaries between events, as in the example of Fig. 2 in the periods 23 on either side of the boundary 21 between the events 20. This is effective because in practice promotional trailers are most usually broadcast near the beginning or end of an event so as to minimise interference with the main part of the event.

When promotional trailers are detected, the controller 14 causes the entire promotional trailer to be received and to be recorded on the recording unit 3. In addition, the controller 14 detects, from the signalling data accompanying the promotional trailer, the CRJD which identifies the event promoted by the trailer. The controlleT 14 causes this CRID to be recorded. The recording of the CRID may occur cithcr on the recording unit 3, or in the non-volatile memory 18. The CRID is recorded in association with the recorded trailer so that the CR1D may be used to locate the recorded trailer. For example the CRIDs of recorded trailers may be stored in a table indexing the locations of the stored trailers in the recording unit 3.

As promotional trailers are detected and recorded in an ongoing manner, over time they will fill the capacity of the recording unit 3. To combat this, the controller 14 implements a strategy for deleting promotional trailers for prevent over-fill. A variety of strategies are possible. Trailers 3 may be deleted on a first-in, first-out basis to maintain the number or amount of data of the trailers below a limit. Trailers may be deleted after a predetennined time. The deletion of trailers may be varied dynamically having regard to the spare capacity of the recording unit 3.

The controller 14 uses the recorded promotional trailers as follows. When generating and displaying the EPG and the recording lists, the controller 14 compares the CRIDs of the events in the EPG and the recording lists with the CRIDs of the recorded promotional trailers. A match indicates that the recording apparatus I has the trailer for the event available in the recording unit 3 for display. Thus on identifying a match, the controller 14 causes the trailer to be displayed in association with the event in the EPG or the recording list. This allows the user to better appreciate the content of the event than would otherwise be possible from the information in the EPO or the recording list.

Various techniques for displaying the trailer may be implemented. One option is to display the trailer, when available, in an on-screen display when the event is selected by the user moving a cursor over the event. Another option is to display the event in response to a user-input which indicates a desire to do so. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 which shows an example of an EPG or a recording list as displayed on the display device 6 and consisting of three events 30. The controller 14 has identified trailers in respect of the first and third events only and thus these events are given a mark 31 to show this. On movement of a cursor onto the first or third event, then the promotional trailer in respect of the event is retrieved from the recording unit 3 and inserted into the video signal for display on the display device 6 in an area 32 as an an-screen display. In addition, in response to the user pressing a predetermined button on the remote commander 17 while the cursor is on the first or third event, then the promotional trailer in respect of the event is retrieved from the recording unit 3 and output as the output video signal so that it is displayed on the display device 6 across the full image area.

Although the recording apparatus I uses signals in accordance with the DVB standard, the invention could equally be applied to alternative standards, such as the ARIB standard (for example, in Japan), or the ATSC standard (for example, in the United States).

Although the recording apparatus 1 is arranged to receive a terrestrial radio frequency television broadcast signal, it may be modified to receive any type of broadcast television signal. It may receive a satellite broadcast signal. It may receive a television signal delivered over a cable, commonly referred to as cable-TV. In this case the recording apparatus I has basically the same structure as shown in Fig. 1 except that the connection to the external antenna 3 is replaced by a connection to the cable. Another alternative is a television signal delivered over a network which may be a wired network such as the internet or a LAN or may be a wireless network. For example in the case of delivery over the internet, the television signals may be IPTV (Internet Protocol television). In this case the recording apparatus I has basically the same structure as shown in Fig. 1 except that the receiver circuit 4 is replaced by a network interface arranged to receive data from the data network and to extract a video stream therefrom.

Although the recording apparatus I is arranged to receive a broadcast television signal, it can equally be applied to television signals which are delivered at the request of a user, sometimes referred to as "on-demand" television.

Claims

Claims 1. A television recording apparatus comprising a recording unit

capable of recording television signals representing programs, which television signals are delivered with promotional trailers forming at least part of the programs, the trailers having content for promoting other programs, each trailer being accompanied by signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer, wherein the television recording apparatus is arranged to detect said promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs, to record the detected promotional trailers on the recording unit and to record, in the recording apparatus in association with each recorded trailer, the signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer.
2. A television recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the television recording apparatus includes EPG generation means for extracting EPG signalling data delivered with the television signals to populate an electronic program guide identifying programs available for reception, and for outputting a signal for display of the electronic program guide on a display device, the EPG generation means being arranged to identify, from a comparison of the EPG signalling data and said recorded signalling data, programs in the electronic program guide for which a trailer is recorded, and to display the recorded trailers so identified.
3. A television recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the television recording apparatus includes recording list means for maintaining a recording list of recording programs, being programs which have already been recorded andlor programs which have been selected for recording, and, associated with each recording program, signalling data identifying the recording program, and for outputting a signal for display of the recording list on a display device, the recording list means being arranged to identify, from a comparison of the EPG signalling data and said signalling data associated with each recording program, programs in the recording list for which a trailer is recorded, and to display the recorded trailers so identified.
4. A television recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the television recording apparatus is arranged to detect said promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs by monitoring the delivered programs in periods adjacent boundaries between programs.
5. A television recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the television signals are delivered by being broadcast.
6. A television recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the television recording apparatus further comprises a receiver-decoder circuit capable of receiving and decoding the television signals.
7. A television recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the signalling data is structured in tables which are in accordance with the Digital Video Broadcasting standard.
8. A television recording apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the signalling data is in accordance with the specifications of the TV-Anytime Forum, and identifies programs by a Content Reference Identifier.
9. A method of operating a television recording apparatus having a recording unit capable of recording television signals representing programs, which television signals are delivered with promotional trailers forming at least part of the programs, the trailers having content for promoting other programs, each trailer being accompanied by signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer, the method comprising: detecting said promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs;

S

recording the detected promotional trailers on the recording unit; and recording, in the recording apparatus in association with each recorded trailer, the signalling data identifying the program promoted by the trailer.
10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising: extracting EPG signalling data delivered with the television signals to populate an electronic program guide identifying programs available for reception; outputting a signal for display of the electronic program guide on a display device; and identifying, from a comparison of the EPG signalling data and said recorded signalling data, programs in the electronic program guide for which a trailer is recorded, and displaying the recorded trailers so identified
ii. A method according to claim 9 or 10, further comprising: maintaining a recording list of recording programs, being programs which have already been recorded andlor programs which have been selected for recording, and, associated with each recording program, signalling data identifying the recording program; and outputting a signal for display of the recording list on a display device, the recording list means being arranged to identify, from a comparison of the EPG signalling data and said signalling data associated with each recording program, programs in the recording list for which a trailer is recorded, and displaying the recorded trailers so identified.
12. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising detecting said promotional trailers delivered as part of the programs by monitoring the delivered programs in periods adjacent boundaries between programs.
13. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the television signals are delivered by being broadcast.
14. A method according to anyone of claims 9 to 13, wherein the television recording apparatus further comprises a receiver-decoder circuit capable of receiving and decoding the television signals.
15. A method according to anyone of claims 9 to 14, wherein the signalling data is structured in tables which are in accordance with the Digital Video Broadcasting standard.
16. A method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the signalling data is in accordance with the specifications of the TV-Anytime Forum, and identifies programs by a Content Reference Identifier.
17. A computer program capable of execution by a television recording apparatus and arranged on execution to cause the television recording apparatus to perfonn a method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.
18. A storage medium storing a computer program according to claim 17.
19. A broadcast signal representing a computer program according to claim 17.
20. A television recording apparatus constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
21. A method of operating a television recording apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.