PROGRAMMES

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for accessing and displaying television programmes.

Background to the Invention

Television signals can be delivered by a plurality of different mechanisms. "A linear television service" may be broadcast using conventional analogue techniques, or in most locations using digital television (DTV) signals. Linear television services can also be delivered via satellite, by cable, or over the Internet. Some television receivers are now provided with circuitry included to receive two or more of these standards. For example, it is common for a television receiver to include an analogue receiver and also a decoder for DTTV signals.

At present, it is common for satellite, cable, and internet provided television signals to go through a set top box before being provided to a television receiver, usually through a SCART connection or more recently via an HDMI connection.

A number of set top boxes now include hard disc recorders. A user of such a device is able to display an electronic programme guide on a screen and to select programmes to record onto his local hard disc in the set top box. These programmes can then be accessed at a later date via a separate menu on the electronic programme guide. This system requires the user to know in advance of transmission the programmes that they may want to access at any point after transmission has commenced. It also requires the viewer to have the time and means to select the programmes for recording. This can prove unreliable as the user may forget completely or only remember at a time when the set top box is not accessible, e.g. whilst at work.

Some cable and Internet television services provide time deferred viewing of programmes by making programmes accessible on-demand from a remote server over either cable or internet. For example, the BBC iPlayer service enables programmes to be accessed on- demand for a period of time e.g. seven days after they were originally transmitted. Usually they are accessed via a computer but it is now possible to stream these over a bi- directional network to a device attached to a television receiver for display thereon. These types of services are known as video on demand (VOD).

One of the problems, which causes irritation when viewing real-time television broadcasts is the fact that it is very easy to miss the start of a programme. This can occur with real- time broadcasts of pre-recorded programmes such as drama series and the like or with real-time broadcast of live events such as sports fixtures or transmission of news bulletins. At present, no system exists which enables a user who misses the start of a real-time broadcast, to jump back to the start of the programme and view it from the start, whilst the programme is still being broadcast. Summary of the Invention

Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus to enable a viewer of a real-time television programme to request that his local viewing of the realtime programme be restarted, i.e. be able to access the programme via an alternative delivery mechanism. Preferably, the user is able to select this restarting of a real-time broadcast programme without having to access a separate video on demand or other menu on the electronic programme guide. That is to say the programme can be restarted by simply selecting a restart function which may be via a dedicated button on a remote control or interaction with an on-screen user interface.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for accessing and displaying a television programme comprising;

receiving a television programme via a linear television service;

indicating to a viewer during display of the television programme that a stored version of the television programme is available for viewing;

accessing the stored version of the television programme in response to a user selection made during reception of the television programme; and,

providing the stored version of the television programme for display from the beginning.

Preferred embodiments of the invention store the television programme on a local storage device and the accessing step accesses the television programme stored on the local storage device. Other embodiments of the invention enable a stored version of the television programme to be accessed from a remote source in the accessing step.

Embodiments of the invention also provide apparatus for accessing and displaying a television programme comprising;

means for receiving a television programme via a linear television service;

means for indicating to a viewer during display of the television programme that a stored version of the television programme is available for viewing;

means for accessing the stored version of the television programme in response to a user selection made during reception of the television programme;

means for providing the stored version of the television programme for display from the beginning of the television programme.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for transmitting a television programme via a linear television service including the step of; sending data during transmission of the television programme indicating that a stored version of the television programme is available for display; and,

providing user access to the stored version of the television programme in response to data received from one or more users of the linear television service, the access being provided from the beginning of the stored version of the television programme.

Embodiments also provide in accordance with the second aspect of the invention, a system for transmitting a television programme via a linear television service comprising means for sending data during transmission of the television programme indicating that the stored version of the television programme is available for display; and,

means for providing user access to the stored version of the television program me in response to date received from one or more users of the linear television service, the access being provided from the beginning of the stored version of the television

programme.

These and other aspects of preferred embodiments of the present invention are defined with more precision in the appended claims to which reference should now be made.

Brief Description of the Drawings Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail by way of advantage with reference to the drawings in which; Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a multi-standard video receiver and display;

Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the multi-standard video receiver system of Figure 1 embodying the invention;

Figure 3 shows a flow diagram of the processes which occur in an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 4 is an illustration of a screen and menu which may be displayed in an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 shows an illustration of a remote control unit which may be used in an

embodiment of the invention. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

A system of the type in which the invention may be embodied is shown in Figure 1. This comprises a television receiver 2 which is coupled to a set top box 4. The set top box is a multi-standard unit and is coupled to an antenna 6 for receiving DTTV signals. The antenna 6 is also coupled directly to the television receiver 2 which may include its own DTTV decoder. A further input to the set top box 4 comes from a satellite dish 8 and a third connection is a broad band connection to an ISP 10 from where video on demand and broadcast streamed television signals may be provided. The set top box may also include a connection to a cable TV source of signals.

Set top boxes are very common for the reception of television signals although to date most of these have been arranged only to receive one type of signal, e.g. a DTTV signal, a satellite signal, a cable signal, or a broadband ISP signal. The arrangement of figure 1 shows a set top box which has multiple different inputs.

A schematic diagram of the arrangement of figure 1 is shown in figure 2. There are four input terminals 20, 22, 24 and 32. These comprise a satellite input 20 connected to the satellite dish 8 of figure 1 , a DTTV input 22 coupled to the antenna 6 of figure 1 , a broadband internet input 24 coupled to the ISP broadband connection of 10 of figure 1 , and a cable input 34. The satellite input is coupled to a satellite decoder 26, the DTTV input is coupled to a DTTV decoder 28, the broadband internet input is connected to a broadband video on demand decoder 30, and a video streaming decoder 32 is coupled to the cable television input 34.

Each of the decoders, 26, 28, 30 and 32 has an output coupled to a source selector 36 which receives signals from a control unit 38 to cause it to select one of the decoder outputs or a local hard disc 40 as the source of video signals to provide to a video output 42 coupled to the television receiver 2 of figure 1. The four outputs of the decoders 26, 28, 30 and 32 are also coupled to a storage selector 44 which receives signals from a control unit 38 to cause it to select signals from one of the decoders for storage on the local hard disc.

A user remote control 46 is used to send signals to an infrared detector 48 which is coupled to the control unit 38. The control unit 38 decodes signals received from the infrared detector 48 to interpret control signals provided by the user selection on the remote control 46. The control unit also has a connection to the video output 42. This enables menus to be overlaid on an output video signal so that a user may view the menus and make appropriate selections. The menus may be navigated using various highlighting techniques controllable via the remote control 46.

When a user wishes to view a real-time television programme the television receiver 2 is switched on, as is the set top box 4. The user can then select a menu display using the remote control 46 via the infrared detector 48 and the control unit 38, and a video output 42. In this, he can select between the inputs, the satellite input, the DT TV input, the broadband internet input, and the cable input. Thus, a number of different sources of television signals may be selected between. Once the source has been selected, menus (electronic programme guides) can be provided with the different channels viewable via that source and the programmes available on each channel. A selection is made via the remote control unit, the infrared detector 48, the control unit 38, and the source selector 36 to enable a real-time television programme to be provided to the video output 42 via a linear television device. Using the broadband internet input 24 and video on demand decoder 30, time shifted programmes may be selected and displayed via the video output. Thus, programmes which are known to be available via video on demand can be viewed at any time. Preferably, the user is able to control the set top box to store selectively real-time programmes received e.g. via a linear television service the satellite input or DTTV input 22, for storage on the local hard disc 40 for time shifted viewing at a later time or date.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the user is able to view a broadcast programme in real-time received in a linear television service e.g. via the satellite input 20 or the DTTV input 22. In the event that he has switched on the real-time broadcast after its

commencement, and wishes to view it from the beginning, a function for selecting "start again" of the programme is provided. When a user selects this, the control unit 38 causes the source selector 36 to select a stored version of the programme. This stored version may be available via the broadband Internet input 24 and video on demand decoder 30, via the local hard disc 40, or via the cable input 34, or from other storage available via a home network.

When using start again functionality, users require that access to a stored version of the programme be available without having to navigate the full menu structure of the set top box to access e.g. video on demand signals available via the broadband input and the video on demand decoder 30 or a user selected stored version of the programme from the hard disc 40. The start again functionality enables a user to view the programme which he has commenced watching in real-time part way through, from the beginning without previously having had to select that programme as one which he wished to record on his local hard disc 40, and without having to navigate to a video on demand menu. That is to say a user can select start again, preferably using one or two key presses and the programme displayed will automatically be restarted and the user will be able to view it from the beginning.

Thus, there are two potential sources for a start again programme. The first is a local hard disc 40 which can be used to store selectively programmes which a user may wish to watch in start again mode, the second is a remote source of stored programmes such as the broadband input 24 and video on demand decoder 30. This is usually for operational practicality because there are time delays between broadcast and the encoding and publication required for video on demand. Typically, video on demand systems only make programmes available for video on demand after the time of their real-time broadcasts has past. Start again may also take advantage of programmes that the viewer recorded but not with start again in mind, and also programmes speculatively acquired by the device without the viewer's direct involvement due to being likely candidates for start again viewing. Therefore, for start again functionality to work with remote video on demand systems, broadcasters will need to make

programmes available on demand from the time of transmission. Preferably, the broadcaster will provide that a programme which has start again functionality is only available after a predetermined amount of the programme has elapsed, e.g. five minutes. Start again functionality can then be accessed via the video on demand decoder at any time after five minutes with the programme being viewable from its beginning. Once start again functionality has been selected by the user with the remote control 46, the source selected will automatically switch to the video on demand decoder 30 at the appropriate time to commence accessing of the programme from its beginning.

In order to ensure that playback of a video on demand programme which is currently being transmitted as a linear service is not compromised, e.g. drama plotline spoiler or quiz answers, features such as skip ahead and fast forward are preferably disabled on any programme selected via start again. Fast forward and skip ahead could be provided up to the point the programme has reached in its real-time transmission, although this would require further communication between the real-time DTTV programme receiver and the video on demand decoder 30.

A broadcaster may designate a predetermined number of programmes as being start again programmes and enable them to be accessed as discussed above. These programmes could be, the most popular programmes, which could include news bulletins and live sports transmission. One option would be to provide a limited number of start again time points in a programme so that if many users select start again, they would all receive restarted VOD at the same time.

It should be noted that "live" television programmes, such as news and sports or programmes with viewer voting, will require a rapid turnaround by the broadcaster to make them available via a video on demand system for start again functionality. It will also require the use of encoding, packaging and delivery technology that allows the programme to be made available for on-demand access before it is published in its entirety.

Alternatively, a broadcaster may provide additional data, say as part of the linear television service or by some other means such as an via an Internet connection, indicating that it is desired to provide start again functionality with that programme based on a locally stored copy. Therefore, a set top box may be configured to monitor such signalling and in response to this will cause the control unit 38 to select such a programme for temporary local storage. This may occur with or without the viewer's knowledge. When this happens, and a user subsequently starts to view the programme after its commencement and then selects start again, a locally stored version of the programme from the hard disc can be selected for display. Providing a copy of the programme for access from local storage in this manner may be based on acquisition of the instance of the programme forming part of the linear television service during which start again functionality will be offered. In this scenario, it will inherently not be possible for a user to fast forward or skip ahead beyond the point of the real-time programme currently being transmitted since the end of the stored data will correspond to the point in time that linear transmission and local storage has reached.

Alternatively, in the case of pre-recorded content, this may be based on the acquisition of a previous transmission instance of the programme broadcast on the same or some other linear television service. In this scenario specific controls would be required to prevent a user from fast forwarding or skipping ahead beyond the point of the real-time programme currently being transmitted since the end of the stored data should correspond to the end of the programme, i.e. ahead of the point in time that linear transmission has reached

A set top box may monitor and store data about programmes which a user frequently views and this data may be used by the set top box or, where a return path connection is available, by some backend service operated by the broadcaster, to select programmes to acquire in this manner on a per user or group of users basis. Thus, when a programme has been identified as one which a user frequently views and may wish to start again, the set top box automatically stores a received version of that on the local hard disc 40 so that if a user commences viewing of that programme after its start and then selects start again, the locally stored version can be accessed for display. To avoid the local hard disc 40 becoming full of programmes acquired in this manner to support start again functionality the local copy will be deleted. If start again has been selected then after the programme has been viewed then preferably the local copy will be deleted and if start again is not selected the programme may be deleted after a

predetermined time period. A menu selection to store the programme may be provided in addition to the start again functionality if the user so desires.

Figure 3 shows a flow diagram of start again functionality as experienced by a user. At time T1 , a real-time broadcast of a programme commences 50. At time T2 a user selects a real-time broadcast to view 52. A start again icon is preferably displayed on the television possibly in one of the corners. Alternatively, a menu may be selected by the remote control indicating whether or not start again is available. As a further alternative, a button, or in the case of a free-field remote a gesture, for start again may be provided on the remote control and pressing of this will cause the set top box to either go to start again mode, preferably providing a message on the screen that it is doing this, or to indicate via a message on the screen that start again functionality is not available. Start again is selected at time T3 54. If start again is available then at time T4 the stored programme is accessed 56. This may require time to elapse before start again can be commenced via e.g. the broadband connection 24 or it may be virtually straightaway if a locally stored version of the programme is available via hard disc 40. At T5 the real-time broadcast will stop at 58 and the start again playback will start again at T6, 60. Figure 4 shows a television display with a menu bar along its bottom and a start again menu item in the bottom left hand corner. This menu bar may be selected via a remote control and then by start again may be selected for the menu. A start again icon may be displayed in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, indicating that start again is available, before a user tries to select it. Figure 5 shows alternatively a remote control unit adapted for use with start again functionality. A start again button is provided to enable a user to easily select start again functionality.

When a programme has been viewed using start again functionality, then the set top box will revert to reception and display of the live broadcast signal after the end of the programme. If the next programme in the live broadcast signal has start again functionality then it will be available from the start if the viewer selects this option.

In a further embodiment of the invention, when a user navigates an electronic programme guide, any programme for which start again is available may be provided with a visual indication of this. Then the user may select from the EPG a start again version of a programme which has already commenced. The various different embodiments described above require modification to a users set top box. It is conventional for set top boxes to be periodically reprog rammed, usually via an over-the-air upgrade or via a broadband input. In order to implement start again functionality in a set top box appropriate reprogramming of the control unit 38 can be performed. All of the above embodiments can be implemented by software in the set top box, although dedicated hardware may of course be provided where appropriate.

Similarly at a broadcaster, embodiments which require a broadcaster to insert data into a television signal for a broadcast programme to indicate start again functionality may be implemented using appropriate software modification or with dedicated hardware.