Interactive television application with navigable cells and regions
View Patent ↗An interactive television application with mosaic browsing is provided. Selectable cells that may be associated with entities are used to display information corresponding to the entities. Information may include brand marks such as logos or any other suitable entity identifier. A cell may be in focus or it may not be in focus. When a cell is in focus the information displayed in the cell may be different than the information displayed when the cell is not in focus. Users may navigate among cells. The cells may be grouped into regions based on, for example, their association with similar entities.
1. A method for presenting a video mosaic display, the method comprising:
displaying, in an interactive display, a brand mark in each of a plurality of cells, wherein each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with an entity;
receiving a first user command to change the entity associated with at least one cell of the plurality of cells to a new entity;
in response to receiving the first user command to change the entity associated with the at least one cell to a new entity, displaying a new full-motion video in the at least one cell, the new full-motion video related to the new entity;
determining if at least one cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the same type of entity as the new entity; and
displaying a region highlight around the cells of the plurality of cells that are determined to be associated with the same type of entity as the new entity.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a particular television channel, a program guide, a program guide service provider, a program guide operator, a program guide programmer, a television service provider, a product, a service, a company, a digital music programmer, a radio station, and a website.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the type of entity is selected from the group consisting of television channels, advertisements, website providers, and program guide brands.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a first user command to change the entity associated with at least one cell comprises receiving a user selection of the at least one cell.
5. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a second user command to navigate the region highlight to a new region, the new region comprising at least two cells of the plurality of cells.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying a region highlight around the cells of the plurality of cells that are associated with the same type of entity as the new entity comprises displaying a region highlight around at least two non-contiguous cells in the interactive display.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a third user command to re-associate the at least one cell of the plurality of cells with a previous entity; and
in response to receiving a third user command, displaying a new full-motion video in the at least one cell, the new full-motion video related to the previous entity.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a user selection of one cell of the plurality of cells; and
in response to receiving the user selection, invoking a function.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein invoking a function comprises displaying a website or a link to a website within the selected cell.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein invoking a function comprises displaying a television channel associated with the selected cell in full screen.
11. A system for presenting a video mosaic display, the system comprising:
a user input device; and
control circuitry configured to:
display a brand mark in each of a plurality of cells, wherein each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with an entity;
receive, from the user input device, a first user command to change the entity associated with at least one cell of the plurality of cells to a new entity;
in response to receiving the first user command to change the entity associated with the at least one cell to a new entity, display a new full-motion video in the at least one cell, the new full-motion video related to the new entity;
determine if at least one cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the same type of entity as the new entity; and
display a region highlight around the cells of the plurality of cells that are determined to be associated with the same type of entity as the new entity.
12. The system of claim 11 wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a particular television channel, a program guide, a program guide service provider, a program guide operator, a program guide programmer, a television service provider, a product, a service, a company, a digital music programmer, a radio station, and a website.
13. The system of claim 11 wherein the type of entity is selected from the group consisting of television channels, advertisements, website providers, and program guide brands.
14. The system of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry is configured to receive a first user command to change the entity associated with at least one cell by receiving a user selection of the at least one cell.
15. The system of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to receive, from the user input device, a second user command to navigate the region highlight to a new region, the new region comprising at least two cells of the plurality of cells.
16. The system of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry is configured to display a region highlight around the cells of the plurality of cells that are associated with the same type of entity as the new entity by displaying a region highlight around at least two non-contiguous cells in the interactive display.
17. The system of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive, from the user input device, a third user command to re-associate the at least one cell of the plurality of cells with a previous entity; and
in response to receiving a third user command, display a new full-motion video in the at least one cell, the full-motion new video related to the previous entity.
18. The system of claim 11 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
receive a user selection of one cell of the plurality of cells; and
in response to receiving the user selection, invoke a function.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein the function comprises displaying a website or a link to a website within the selected cell.
20. The system of claim 18 wherein the function comprises displaying a television channel associated with the selected cell in full screen.