Abstract:
A system includes one or more devices connected to a television. The television has software that displays both program information and information about the devices in an electronic program guide. Upon selecting of a program information entry in the electronic program guide, the software changes a current channel of the television to the channel associated with the program entry information. Upon selecting of one of the device entries in the electronic program guide, the software displays an exploration menu for the viewer to select content from the device for viewing (or listening to) at the television. The software performs scrolling operations on the electronic program guide responsive to directional inputs from a remote control device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is related to U.S. patent application titled “SELECTING TELEVISION INPUTS THROUGH AN ELECTRONIC PROGRAM GUIDE,” attorney docket 10 — 0016 filed even date here within. This application is also related to U.S. patent application titled “SELECTING REMOTE SERVICES THROUGH AN ELECTRONIC PROGRAM GUIDE,” attorney docket 10 — 0024 filed even date here within. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    This invention relates to the field of television devices and more particularly to a system for providing selection and manipulation of input devices from within an electronic program guide user interface of a television. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Televisions have tuners for receiving broadcast television from cable or radio frequency inputs. In the early days, only a few stations broadcast over radio waves and there was no cable or satellite service. In those days, analog transmission was used to distribute programming of only a few stations over the Very High Frequency bands (VHF). Later, additional stations were added in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands. In any given area, three to maybe 30 stations were available. In the early days, paper guides were the primary mechanism used for a viewer to determine what program was to be shown on what channel. For example, the magazine TV Guide presented a listing of what programs were on what stations in a time-sorted list (e.g., one page has listings for what programs were on each station at 7:00 PM). This was fine for a few stations such as channel 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 in the New York City suburban area in 1960, but soon became difficult to produce and cumbersome to use when the number of stations increased. It soon became difficult to manage, to produce and difficult for the viewer to find programs. Additionally, the printing cycle of such guides was often weekly and if a change to programming occurred after a cutoff point, the change was not reflected in the guide, making the guide inaccurate at times. 
         [0004]    In parallel with analog broadcast television, many viewers made the switch to cable television that offered hundreds of channels, including some of the broadcast channels. Cable added many new channels, including premium channels that require a subscription fee and pay-per-view programs in which the viewer pays a fee to watch, for example, a sporting event or movie. Early cable systems published their own weekly or monthly guide, but this was difficult to use due to the large number of stations and the limited print space. In addition, many cable systems added a dedicated station having a rolling program guide. This was a very early electronic program guide (EPG) and listed the programs for each station/channel that are currently being shown or will be shown within the next two hours or so. Because most cable systems had 50-150 stations/channels, the guide scrolled though the channels sequentially. If you wanted to know what was to be shown on Channel 10 and the display currently shows channel 20, you would have to wait for all of the channels between 20 and the last channel, then channel 1 and channel 9 to scroll by before channel 10 was displayed. Then you had a short time to focus in on channel 10 and read what was to be shown. This soon became useless as the number of channels kept increasing. 
         [0005]    Cable soon found a competitor. Satellite television providers transmitted over 100 channels to one or more geo-stationary satellites and each satellite retransmitted the channels back towards earth for reception on large satellite antennas, often six to 9 feet wide. Many subscribers were attracted to satellite television because of the breadth and type of content available, but many were alienated to satellite television because of the unsightly antenna in their back yard. Apartment dwellers, condominium owners and town home owners did not have a place for such antenna. Eventually, two major satellite television providers launched similar satellite services that required much smaller dish antenna, approximately one foot in diameter, appealing to a much greater audience. Each provider offered over 100 digital television stations, including pap-per-view programs and premium (subscription) stations. 
         [0006]    Since there was a limited bandwidth available for each satellite, the number of stations for each satellite was limited, preventing the transmission of local stations. A large number of subscribers received the same stations, so many still relied on terrestrial broadcasts for local news, traffic and weather. For example, the entire east coast of the United States received the same stations, leading to the birth of news and weather networks such as CNN and TWC. Therefore, there were very few local stations unless, for example, you lived in New York City. 
         [0007]    The satellite broadcast received by the antenna was decoded by a set-top box and down-converted to an unused broadcast station to feed an existing television (early televisions did not have external inputs such as Composite, S-Video, HDMI, etc). There needed to be a way to select one of the stations out of the many since the television was fixed to one station, usually channel 2 or channel 3, rendering the television tuner somewhat useless in selecting the myriad of stations that were available. Selecting of the stations was accomplished though a remote control that interfaced to the set-top box, having direct channel addressing (e.g. enter 1-0-1 to change to channel 101) or up/down addressing (e.g. press the up arrow to get to the next station). Early providers offered weekly paper program guides. With over 100 stations, these guides often proved difficult to use. As an improvement, satellite providers (and third-party providers) started offering what became known as an electronic program guide. In this, the providers downloaded an electronic program guide to the user&#39;s set-top box, either through the satellite system or over phone lines, then presented the guide in a menu on the user&#39;s television. The user had the ability to move ahead or back in time (right arrow/left arrow) and up and down in the station list (up arrow/down arrow), seeing what programs are on what stations at what time. Features such as page up/down and direct station addressing were also provided. 
         [0008]    Broadcast television later migrated to a digital spectrum, greatly increasing the number of stations and sub-stations (e.g. NBC, NBC1, NBC2, etc). There are often many different channels or stations of programs or content from which a viewer of the television is able to select. For example, some cable systems offer hundreds of cable channels containing content such as network television programming (ABC, NBC, CBS, etc), music channels, movie channels (HBO, SHO, MAX), and so fourth. 
         [0009]    Electronic program guides became available for cable television, satellite television and digital broadcast television. The electronic program guides provide information regarding the programs available from the content sources such as the content broadcast over the air waves, through satellites, or through cables (copper or fiber optic) and all let the viewer select the content that they wish to view. 
         [0010]    Lately, many other sources of content (audio, video, still pictures, etc) have been connected to the television in many different ways. Some sources of content are connected or interfaced directly to the television such as insertion of a disk containing pictures, video, music, etc. or connecting a disk (e.g. USB jump drive) containing pictures, video, music, etc. Some sources of content are connected to the television through a network such as content stored on network attached storage (NAS) or content on a computer system connected to the television through a local area network. Similarly, content is also provided by servers remotely connected to the television through, for example, the Internet. An example of content servers is a movie rental companies such as Netflix. 
         [0011]    Previously, access to content from these types of media, drives and servers required an external device (e.g. set-top box, disk player) and a separate user interface. Now, many television devices are connected to networks, having access to content stored locally on the network and remotely on, for example, the Internet. Additionally, many television devices provide direct connection of media through ports such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports and the like. Accessing content on the network and on connected devices often requires that the viewer perform different actions using different menu systems and/or different controls. 
         [0012]    What is needed is a system provides listing, manipulation and access to devices through the electronic program guide interface. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0013]    One or more devices are connected to a television. The television has software that displays both program information and information about the devices in an electronic program guide. Upon selecting of a program information entry in the electronic program guide, the software changes a current channel of the television to the channel associated with the program entry information. Upon selecting of one of the device entries in the electronic program guide, the software displays an exploration menu for the viewer to select content from the device for viewing (or listening to) at the television. The software performs scrolling operations on the electronic program guide responsive to directional inputs from a remote control device. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, a system for accessing content from a device that is connected to a television is disclosed. The television has a display. The system includes a mechanism for displaying in an electronic program guide on the display including program information and information regarding the device that is connected to the television. There is a mechanism for selecting the device from the electronic program guide and responsive to selecting the device, a menu for selecting content from the device is displayed on the display. 
         [0015]    In another embodiment, a method of accessing content is disclosed. The content stored on one or more devices that are connected to a television and the television has a display. The method includes (a) displaying television program information in an electronic program guide on the display, the television program information includes channel and program data for at least one television program. Next, (b) a description of the devices connected to the television are displayed in the electronic program guide and (c) a highlight selector is displayed over a current location, the current location is either at one of the television programs or at one of the descriptions of the devices. (d) A directive is received and (e) if the directive is a directional directive, the current location is changed and the method repeats from step a. (f) If the directive is a selection directive and the current location is over one of the television programs, the current channel of the television is changed to the one of the television programs. (g) If the directive is a selection directive and the current location is over one of the descriptions of the devices, an exploration menu is presented. The exploration menu provides for accessing the content stored on the device associated with the one of the descriptions. 
         [0016]    In another embodiment, a television is disclosed including a processor that has access to program information regarding content, the content available on at least one channel accessible by the television. A display is operably interfaced to the processor. Software running on the processor displays a subset of the program information and device information of at least one device in an electronic program guide on the display, the device storing content, and software running on the processor displays a highlight selector on the electronic program guide. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  illustrates a view of a television showing an exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  illustrates a view of a television showing a second view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  illustrates a view of a television showing a third view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  illustrates a view of a television showing a fourth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  illustrates a view of a television showing a fifth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  illustrates a view of a television showing a sixth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  illustrates a view of a television showing a seventh view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  illustrates a view of a television showing an eight view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  illustrates a view of a television showing a ninth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  illustrates a view of a television showing a tenth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  illustrates a view of a television showing an exemplary web content menu. 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  illustrates a view of a television showing an eleventh view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0030]      FIG. 13  illustrates a view of a television showing a twelfth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0031]      FIG. 14  illustrates a view of a television showing a thirteenth view of the exemplary electronic program guide. 
           [0032]      FIG. 15  illustrates a view of a television showing an exemplary disk content selection screen. 
           [0033]      FIG. 16  illustrates a view of a television showing a second exemplary disk content selection screen. 
           [0034]      FIG. 17  illustrates a view of a television showing a third exemplary disk content selection screen. 
           [0035]      FIG. 18  illustrates a view of a television showing a fourth exemplary disk content selection screen. 
           [0036]      FIG. 19  illustrates a view of a television showing an exemplary computer explorer screen. 
           [0037]      FIG. 20  illustrates a view of a television showing a second exemplary computer explorer screen. 
           [0038]      FIG. 21  illustrates a view of a television showing content from a remote source. 
           [0039]      FIG. 22  illustrates a block diagram of a typical television system interfaced through a network to various search engines. 
           [0040]      FIG. 23  illustrates a block diagram of a typical television system. 
           [0041]      FIG. 24  illustrates a flow chart of a typical television system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0042]    Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures. Although the following explanation use a typical television as an example, many other devices that have a display are anticipated, including, but not limited to, digital still cameras, digital video cameras, portable televisions, portable media players, cellular phones, etc. 
         [0043]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , views of a television  5  showing exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  10 / 14 / 16  are shown. There are many ways to portray an electronic program guide on a display of, for example, a television  5 , and the electronic program guide  10  described here within is but one example, wherein many other arrangements, formatting, highlighting, addressing mechanisms are anticipated, all of which are included here within. 
         [0044]    In the exemplary user interface  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , there is a typical channel grid with the channel indicators (e.g. numbers) organized vertically in rows ( 1000 ,  1002 , etc) and time organized horizontally in columns (e.g.  7 : 00 ,  7 : 30 , etc). In some program guides, station identification (ESP 1 , ESP 2 , etc) are provided next to the channel indicators. At each grid intersection or spanning several horizontal grid intersections are content descriptions (e.g. Baseball Rays vs. Yankees) for each station. 
         [0045]    For selecting a channel/program, a highlight selector  12  provides focus. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the highlight selector  12  is shown to be focused over the intersection of channel  1000  and the time  7 : 00 , at which is the program, “Baseball Rays vs. Yankees.” This is the current location. The typical remote control  111  (see  FIGS. 22 and 23 ) has keys or controls to move the highlight selector  12 , for example, up, down, left and right arrow keys, touch pads, etc. The viewer uses these keys to position the highlight selector  12  over a program of interest, changing the current location. Once at the desired program, one or more functions are performed such as requesting additional information (info key) or changing to the program at the current location (select key). 
         [0046]    In some systems, a fuller description of a program is provided in the user interface when the program is highlighted, for example, in an information box. In some user interfaces, pressing a different key (e.g. an “info” key) provides additional description of the program. In some user interfaces, pressing a “select” key causes the tuner to switch to the channel that is currently highlighted. For example, in the program guide  10  shown in  FIG. 1 , pressing the select key causes the television  5  (or set-top box, etc) to tune into channel  1000  to view the baseball game. 
         [0047]    In the past, horizontal lines of such exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  10  were restricted to tunable stations or channels. Many television devices  5  have alternate inputs connected to other devices such as cable/satellite receivers (set-top boxes), media players, etc. In the past, to view content from any of these devices, a different user interface was provided. For example, the remote control  111  had a dedicated key labeled “input” and, successive invocations of the “input” key transitioned the television device  5  sequentially through each of the possible inputs (e.g. Tuner→HDMI1→HDMI2→HDMI3→HDMI4→Analog→Tuner, etc). Often, the viewer becomes very accustomed to using the electronic program guide and associated remote control features and finds the input changing interfaces and finding special keys difficult to master, especially in low-lit rooms. 
         [0048]    In this embodiment, the electronic program guide interface  10  has three additional horizontal lines  11  for three different inputs, HDMI2, HDMI3 and HDMI4. Although the time slots are not necessarily used for the input port horizontal lines  11 , the position in the exemplary electronic program guide user interface  10  are populated with a description of the devices attached to each input. For example, HDMI2 is connected to a PlayStation, HDMI3 is connected to a BlueRay disk player and HDMI4 is connected to a Cable (Set-top-box). It is anticipated that the description is entered through a setup user interface or is discovered automatically through the interface (e.g. HDMI interface). It is also anticipated that, in embodiments in which the description is discovered through the interface, the description optionally includes a description of content loaded or accessible from the device. For example, if the movie “Cars” is currently loaded in the BlueRay player that is connected through HDMI3, then the description for HDMI3 is “BlueRay: Cars”. In another example, if the Cable set-top-box is currently tuned to channel  47  and the movie “Casablanca” is showing in channel  47 , then the description for HDMI4 is: “Cable: CH 47 , Casablanca”. Many variations are anticipated. 
         [0049]    In  FIG. 2 , the highlight selector  12  is shown over “PlayStation.” For example, the viewer pressed the down arrow key five times to move the highlight selector  12  from “Baseball” down to “PlayStation.” At this point, the electronic program guide user interface  10 , for example, provides for the selection of this input (HDMI2), for example by pressing the “select” button on the remote control  111 . In this example, pressing the “select” key results in the input of the television  5  changing to HDMI2, to which the PlayStation is connected since the current location is at the PlayStation of the electronic program guide  10 . In embodiments in which the connection (e.g. HDMI2) provides discovery information, the electronic program guide user interface  10 , for example, provides additional information of for input (HDMI2), for example by pressing the “info” button on the remote control  111 . As an example of this, responsive to the “info” button, the user interface presents the title of a game currently loaded on the PlayStation, etc. 
         [0050]    In  FIG. 3 , the highlight selector  12  is shown over “BlueRay.” For example, the viewer pressed the down arrow key one more time to move the highlight selector  12  from “PlayStation” to “BlueRay.” At this point, the electronic program guide user interface  10 , for example, provides for the selection of this input (HDMI3), for example by pressing the “select” button on the remote control  111 . For example, pressing the “select” key results in the input of the television  5  changing to HDMI3, to which the BlueRay player is connected. In embodiments in which the connection (e.g. HDMI3) provides discovery information, the electronic program guide user interface  10 , for example, provides additional information of for input (HDMI3), for example by pressing the “info” button on the remote control  111 . In this, for example, responsive to the “info” button, the user interface presents the title and optionally a description of a disk currently loaded on the BlueRay player, etc. 
         [0051]    Scrolling is an important feature of electronic program guides because there are so many channels (and inputs) and limited real estate on the display  7  (see  FIG. 22 ) of, for example, a television  5 . Therefore, practically all electronic program guide user interfaces  10  provide scrolling features. In this example, the viewer, through the use of the “down arrow” key, has moved the highlight selector  12  from “BlueRay” to “Cable” and then pressed the “down arrow” key one more time, causing a scroll operation as shown in the electronic program guide user interface  14  of  FIG. 4 . In this example, the first horizontal line (channel  1000 ) is gone and the subsequent channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) are moved up to fill the void. In this example, the inputs section  11  (HDMI2-HDMI4) remain in a constant position, leaving a space between the channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) and the input section  11  that is filled with a next channel ( 1010 ) having a description of “News” and Weather.” This is an example of a user interface in which the input section  11  is locked in position and the other lines (e.g. channels) scroll while the input section  11  remains at, for example, the bottom of the guide  14 . 
         [0052]    In another example shown in  FIG. 5 , the viewer, through the use of the “down arrow” key, has moved the highlight selector  12  from “BlueRay” to “Cable” in the interface  10  of  FIG. 3  and then pressed the “down arrow” key one more time, causing a scroll operation as shown in the electronic program guide user interface  16  of  FIG. 5 . In this example, the first horizontal line (channel  1000 ) is erased and the subsequent channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) are moved up to fill the void. In this embodiment, the inputs section  11  (HDMI2-HDMI4) has also moved up, leaving a space below the input section  11  that is filled with a next channel ( 1010 ) having a description of “News” and Weather.” This is an example of a user interface in which the input section  11  scrolls with the other lines (e.g. channels) and, through subsequent operations of the arrow keys, eventually, the input section  11  will scroll off of the user interface  16  as did channel  1000 . These are but examples of scrolling operations within electronic program guide user interfaces  10 / 14 / 16  and many other similar or different operations are anticipated. In some embodiments, the special lines of the user interface (e.g. input section  11 ) remain in position while other lines (e.g. channel lines) scroll while on other embodiments, all lines scroll with equal priority. In some embodiments, the special lines (e.g. input selection  11 ) are assigned unused channel numbers (e.g. HDMI2 is  3000 , HDMI3 is  3001 , HDMI4 is  3002 ), enabling direct access to the inputs section  11 . For example, entering “3”, “0”, “0”, “0” directly addresses HDMI2 and the user interface line for HDMI2 is, for example, “ 3000  HDMI2 PlayStation”. 
         [0053]    Referring to  FIGS. 6-11 , views of a television  5  showing exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  30 / 32 / 34 / 36 / 38  are shown. There are many ways to portray an electronic program guide on a display of, for example, a television  5 , and the electronic program guide  30 / 32 / 34 / 36 / 38  described here within is but one example, wherein many other arrangements, formatting, highlighting, addressing mechanisms are anticipated, all of which are included here within. 
         [0054]    In the exemplary user interface  30  shown in  FIG. 6 , there is a typical channel grid with the channel indicators (e.g. numbers) organized vertically ( 1000 ,  1002 , etc) and time organized horizontally (e.g.  7 : 00 ,  7 : 30 , etc). Station identification (ESP 1 , ESP 2 , etc) are provided next to the channel indicators. At each grid intersection or spanning several horizontal grid intersections are content descriptions (e.g. Baseball Rays vs. Yankees) for each station. 
         [0055]    To select, for example, a program, a highlight selector  12  provides focus. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the highlight selector  12  is shown to be focused over the intersection of channel  1000  and the time  7 : 00 , at which is the program, “Baseball Rays vs. Yankees.” The typical remote control  111  (see  FIGS. 22 and 23 ) has keys or controls to move the highlight selector  12 , for example, up, down, left and right arrow keys. The viewer uses these keys to position the highlight selector  12  over a program of interest. In some systems, a fuller description of a program is provided in the user interface when the program is highlighted. In some user interfaces, pressing a different key (e.g. an “info” key) provides additional description of the program. In some user interfaces, pressing a “select” key causes the tuner to switch to the channel that is currently highlighted. For example, in the program guide  30  shown in  FIG. 6 , after pressing the select key, the television  5  (or set-top box, etc) tunes to channel  1000  to view the baseball game. 
         [0056]    In the past, horizontal lines of such exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  30  were restricted to tunable stations or channels. Many television devices  5  are connected to, for example, the Internet and have access to services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, YouTube and Netflix. In the past, to view content from on of these services, a different user interface was provided. For example, the viewer was required to access a computer, access the service and download a movie either to their computer or to the television  5  before the movie could be viewed. 
         [0057]    This embodiment of a new electronic program guide interface  30  has three additional horizontal lines  31  showing an example of three services, Pandora, Rhapsody and Netflix. Although the time slots are not necessarily used for the services  31  horizontal lines, the positions in the electronic program guide user interface  30  are populated with a description of the services available. For example, the first horizontal line describes Pandora, the second Rhapsody and the third Netflix. It is anticipated that the description is entered through a setup user interface or is discovered automatically through the network (e.g. Internet). It is also anticipated that, in embodiments in which the description is discovered through the network, the description optionally includes a description of the service. For example, the description next to “Netflix” indicates that it is a “Movie Rental Service.” Many variations are anticipated. 
         [0058]    In  FIG. 7 , the highlight selector  12  is shown over “Netflix.” For example, the viewer pressed the down arrow key seven times to move the highlight selector  12  from “Baseball” down to “Netflix.” At this point, the electronic program guide user interface  30 , for example, provides for the selection of this service (Netflix), for example by pressing the “select” button on the remote control  111 . In this, after pressing the “select” key, the television  5  connects to the provider server  84 / 94  (see  FIG. 23 ) and displays, for example, a provider (e.g. Netflix) web page or a Netflix web page specifically formatted for a television interface (see  FIG. 11 ). It is anticipated that some services will provide web pages specifically formatted for display on televisions  5 . 
         [0059]    Again, scrolling is an important feature of electronic program guides because there are so many channels (and inputs) and limited real estate on the display of, for example, a television  5 . Therefore, practically all electronic program guide user interfaces  30  provide scrolling features. In this example, the viewer, through the use of the “down arrow” key, has moved the highlight selector  12  from “Baseball” to “Netflix” and then pressed the “down arrow” key one more time, causing a scroll operation as shown in the electronic program guide user interfaces  32 / 34 / 36  of  FIGS. 8 ,  9  and  10 . 
         [0060]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , the viewer, through the use of the “down arrow” key, has moved the highlight selector  12  from “Baseball” to “Netflix” and then pressed the “down arrow” key one more time, causing a scroll operation as shown in the electronic program guide user interface  32 . In this embodiment, the first horizontal line (channel  1000 ) is gone and the subsequent channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) are moved up to fill the void. The services section  31  (Pandora . . . Netflix) has also moved up, leaving a space below the services section  31  that is filled with either a channel (not shown), an input (e.g. HDMI2) or another service (Amazon). This is an example of a user interface in which the services section  31  scrolls with the other lines (e.g. channels) and, through subsequent operations of the arrow keys, eventually, the services section  31  will scroll off of the user interface  32  as did channel  1000 . These are but examples of scrolling operations within electronic program guide user interfaces  30 / 32 / 34  and many other similar or different operations are anticipated. In some embodiments, the special lines of the user interface (e.g. input selectors  11  or services  31 ) remain in position while other lines (e.g. channel lines) scroll (as shown in  FIG. 9 ) while on other embodiments, all lines scroll with equal priority. In some embodiments, the special lines (e.g. input selectors  11  or services  31 ) are assigned unused channel numbers (e.g. Pandora is  3000 , Rhapsody is  3001 , Netflix is  3002 ), enabling direct access to the services section  31 . For example, entering “3”, “0”, “0”, “0” directly addresses Pandora and the user interface line for Pandora is, for example, “ 3000  Pandora”. 
         [0061]    In the example shown in  FIG. 9 , the first horizontal line (channel  1000 ) is gone and the subsequent channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) are moved up to fill the void. The services section  31  remain constant leaving a space between the channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) and the services section  31  that is filled with a next channel ( 1010  ABC) having a description of “News” and Weather.” This is an example of a user interface  34  in which the services section  31  is locked in position and the other lines (e.g. channels) scroll while the services section  31  remains at, for example, the bottom of the electronic program guide user interface  34 . 
         [0062]    In the example shown in  FIG. 10 , the channel section lines (channel  1000 - 1008 ) remain in position during one scroll operation. The services section  31  scrolls, by using, for example, a different up and down key. In this example of a user interface  36  in which the services section  31  scrolls independently, the first service (Pandora) is erased and the other two are moved up to replace it (Rhapsody and Netflix) and a next service (Amazon) is added at the bottom. Again, there are many ways to scroll in user interfaces  30 / 32 / 34 / 36 , all of which are included here within. 
         [0063]    In  FIG. 11 , the highlight selector  12  was placed over Netflix (as in  FIG. 9 ) and, for example, the select function was operated. In this, the television  5  accesses the Netflix web site and displays web pages in, for example, a browser as shown in  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 11  shows a very simplified Netflix web page for brevity purposes. It is anticipated that, due to the capabilities of some input devices (e.g. remote  111 ) of televisions  5 , mirror web pages are accessible at such service web sites, for example, addressing a URL for Netflix.tv instead of Netflix. This simplified user interface  38  provides for searching the Netflix service for movies. In some embodiments, after finding a desired movie, the movie is streamed directly to the television  5  and shown to the viewer. In some embodiments, the movie/content is stored or cached on storage  101  (see  FIG. 23 ) local to the television  5 . 
         [0064]    Referring to  FIGS. 12 and 13 , views of a television  5  showing exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  50 / 52  are shown. There are many ways to portray an electronic program guide on a display of, for example, a television  5 , and the electronic program guide  50 / 52  described here within is but one example, wherein many other arrangements, formatting, highlighting, addressing mechanisms are anticipated, all of which are included here within. 
         [0065]    In the exemplary user interface  50  shown in  FIG. 12 , there is a typical channel grid with the channel indicators (e.g. numbers) organized vertically ( 1000 ,  1002 , etc) and time organized horizontally (e.g.  7 : 00 ,  7 : 30 , etc). In some program guides, station identification (ESP 1 , ESP 2 , etc) are provided next to the channel indicators. At each grid intersection or spanning several horizontal grid intersections are content descriptions (e.g. Baseball Rays vs. Yankees) for each station. 
         [0066]    For selecting a channel/program, a highlight selector  12  provides focus. As shown in  FIG. 12 , the highlight selector  12  is shown to be focused over the intersection of channel  1000  and the time  7 : 00 , at which is the program, “Baseball Rays vs. Yankees.” The typical remote control  111  (see  FIGS. 22 and 23 ) has keys or controls to move the highlight selector  12 , for example, up, down, left and right arrow keys, touch pads, etc. The viewer uses these keys to position the highlight selector  12  over a program of interest. In some systems, a fuller description of a program is provided in the user interface when the program is highlighted. In some user interfaces, pressing a different key (e.g. an “info” key) provides additional description of the program. In some user interfaces, after a “select” key is pressed, the television tunes to the channel that is currently highlighted. For example, in the program guide  50  shown in  FIG. 12 , after pressing the select, the television  5  (or set-top box, etc) tunes to channel  1000  to view the baseball game. 
         [0067]    In the past, horizontal lines of such exemplary electronic program guide user interfaces  50  were restricted to tunable stations or channels. Many television devices  5  have alternate inputs connected to other devices such as cable/satellite receivers (set-top boxes), media players, etc. In the past, to view content from any of these devices, a different user interface was provided. For example, the remote control  111  had a dedicated key labeled “input” and, successive invocations of the “input” key transitioned the television device  5  sequentially through each of the possible inputs (e.g. Tuner→HDMI1→HDMI2→HDMI3→HDMI4→Analog→Tuner, etc). Often, the viewer becomes very accustomed to using the electronic program guide and associated remote control features and finds the input changing interfaces and finding special keys difficult to master, especially in low-lit rooms. 
         [0068]    This exemplary electronic program guide interface  50  has, for example, three additional horizontal lines  51 , one for an input selection (HDMI2) and two for access to content stored on, for example external storage referred to as “I:” and “J:”. Although the time slots are not necessarily used for the input port horizontal lines  11 , the position in the exemplary electronic program guide user interface  50  are populated with a description of the devices attached to each input. For example, HDMI2 is connected to a PlayStation, “I:” has a folder for music and “J:” has a folder for video. It is anticipated that the description is entered through a setup user interface or is discovered automatically through the interface (e.g. HDMI interface). It is also anticipated that, in embodiments in which the description is discovered through the interface, the description optionally includes a description of content loaded or accessible from the device. For example, if the movie “Cars” is currently loaded in the PlayStation that is connected through HDMI2, then the description for HDMI2 is “PlayStation: Cars”. Many variations are anticipated. 
         [0069]    In  FIG. 13 , the viewer pressed the down arrow key enough times to move the cause scrolling. In this exemplary user interface  52 , the first horizontal line (channel  1000 ) is gone and the subsequent channels ( 1002  to  1008 ) are moved up to fill the void. The input (HDMI2) and connected storage devices (“I:”, “J:”)  51  move up and a new line is added at the bottom, for example “K:” having on it “Pictures”. Any form and combination of scrolling, including scrolling as described above are anticipated and included here within. 
         [0070]    Referring to  FIGS. 15-17 , views of a television  5  showing an exemplary disk content selection screen  54 / 56  is shown. In this example, the highlight selector  12  was focused over “&lt;Picture&gt;” (“K:”) and, for example, the select function was invoked resulting in an exploration user interface  54  as shown in  FIG. 15 . This is a much abbreviated exploration user interface  54  and many other features and capabilities are anticipated as known in the business. In this example, there are eight files (Pict 001 -Pict 008 ) and one folder (Trip) stored on the “K:” storage device. The storage device (“K:”) is, for example, a USB jump drive  8  (see  FIG. 22 ) interfaced to a USB port of the television  5  or a network attached storage device (NAS)  4  (see  FIG. 22 ). As shown in  FIG. 16 , the highlight selector  12  is positioned over “Trip” and the selection function was again invoked. This results in the exploration user interface  56  as in  FIG. 17  being displayed. In this, the highlight selector  12  is positioned over a picture (Pict 101 ). Invoking the selection function at this point results in the picture (Pict 101 ) displayed on the television  5 , similar to that in  FIG. 21 . 
         [0071]    Referring to  FIGS. 18-21 , views of a television  5  showing exemplary content selection screens  60 / 62 / 64 / 66  will be described. In this, the bottom line of the electronic program guide user interface  60  shows an external device (“K:”) with a description of “My Computer”. This represents a simplified example of an external device such as a personal computer  2 / 6  (see  FIG. 22 ), cellular phone, etc. In this example, the highlight selector  12  is positioned over “My Computer” and the selection function is invoked resulting in the exploration user interface  62  as in  FIG. 19 . In this, the viewer has access to several components of a networked computer system such as storage folders (Program Files, Program Data, Users, Windows) and two drives that are local to that computer  2 / 6  (Drive D: and Drive E:). Again this is greatly simplified. It is anticipated that devices such as the television  5  only have access to certain computer resources such as a shared folder, etc. The computer  2 / 6  is, for example, directly connected to the television  5  or connected to the television  5  through a local area network  3  or through a wide area network  80  (see  FIG. 22 ). 
         [0072]    The highlight selector  12  is positioned over one of the disk drives (Drive-D) local to the computer  2 / 6  and the select function is invoked, bringing up an exploration user interface  64  as shown in  FIG. 20 , depicting the contents of storage media in the local disk drive. In this simplified example, there are three picture files (Pict 0  , Pict 1 , and Pict 2 ) and two sub-folders (Sunsets and Trees). The highlight selector  12  is positioned over the first picture (Pict 0 ) and the select function is invoked, accessing the storage media in the disk drive (Drive D) of the computer  2 / 6  and displaying the first picture  66  as shown in  FIG. 21 . 
         [0073]    Referring to  FIG. 22 , a block diagram of a typical television  5  system interfaced to various devices  2 / 4 / 6 / 8  and/or services is described. The television  5  is shown with a wireless remote control  111  (e.g. infrared or radio frequency) and, in this example, is connected to a network  3 , for example an Ethernet local area network  3 , through any known network interface. This is an example of one network and the type of network is not limited and includes, for example, Ethernet (e.g. 802.3), WiFi (e.g 802.11), wireless adapters/routers, routers, bridges, phone lines networks, cable networks, fiber optic networks, etc. Likewise, other computers  2 / 6  are also connected to the network  3  through similar networking infrastructures. In this example, a network attached storage device  4  is also interfaced to the network  3 . 
         [0074]    As shown, one or more servers  84 / 94  are also operatively connected to the television  5  through the network  3 , a modem  98  and wide area network  80  (e.g. Internet) as known in the industry. The devices  2 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 84 / 94  on the network  3  and wide-area network  80  (e.g. Internet) have addresses (e.g. MAC addresses URLs, etc) for establishing connections. 
         [0075]    Some devices are directly connected to the television  5  as depicted by two USB jump drives  8  connected directly to USB ports of the television  5 . Any known device is anticipated to be directly connected to the television  5  through any known connection (e.g. USB), including, but not limited to, backup storage devices, USB jump drives  8 , DVD drives, Bluetooth Drives, etc. 
         [0076]    The provider servers  84 / 94 , for example, provide services as described above such as Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon. This is a simplified view of systems  82 / 92  that include one or more servers  84 / 94  and storage  86 / 96  for storing, for example content. 
         [0077]    Referring to  FIG. 23 , a schematic view of exemplary televisions  5  is described. This figure is intended as a representative schematic of a typical monitor/television  5  and in practice, some elements are not present in some monitors/televisions  5  and/or additional elements are present in some monitors/televisions  5  as known in the industry. In this example, a display panel  7  for content is connected to a processing element  100 . The display panel  7  is representative of any known display panel including, but not limited to, LCD display panels, Plasma display panels, OLED display panels, LED display panels and cathode ray tubes (CRTs). 
         [0078]    The processing element  100  accepts video inputs and audio inputs selectively from a variety of sources including an internal television broadcast receiver  102 , High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI 2-4), USB ports and an analog-to-digital converter  104 . The analog-to-digital converter  104  accepts analog inputs from legacy video sources such as S-Video and Composite video and converts the analog video signal into a digital video signal before passing it to the processing element. At least one of the video inputs has provisions to include metadata either embedded in the video data or provided in alternate input channels or any way known in the industry. For example, metadata is received by the processing element  100  of the television  5  in packets within digital data. 
         [0079]    In some embodiments the television  5  has local storage  101  is such as a hard disk or flash memory. This is useful for storing/caching content such as movies from services such as Netflix. 
         [0080]    The processing element  100  accepts video inputs and audio inputs selectively from a variety of sources including an internal television broadcast receiver  102 , High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), USB ports and an analog-to-digital converter  104 . The analog-to-digital converter  104  accepts analog inputs from legacy video sources such as S-Video and Composite video and converts the analog video signal into a digital video signal before passing it to the processing element  100 . The processing element  100  controls the display of the video on the display panel  7 . 
         [0081]    Audio emanates from either the broadcast receiver  102 , the legacy source (e.g., S-Video) or a discrete analog audio input (Audio-IN). If the audio source is digital, the processing element  100  routes the audio to a digital-to-analog converter  106  and then to an input of a multiplexer  108 . The multiplexer  108 , under control of the processing element  100 , selects one of the audio sources and routes the selected audio to the audio output and an internal audio amplifier  110 . The internal audio amplifier  110  amplifies the audio and delivers it to internal speakers  134 / 136 . 
         [0082]    The processing element  100  accepts commands from a remote control  111  through remote receiver  113 . Although IR is often used to communicate commands from the remote control  111  to the remote receiver  113 , any known wireless technology is anticipated for connecting the remote control  111  to the processing element  100  including, but not limited to, radio frequencies (e.g., Bluetooth), sound (e.g., ultrasonic) and other spectrums of light. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the wireless technology be either one way from the remote  111  to the receiver  113  or two way. 
         [0083]    In a preferred embodiment, the television  5  connects to the network/Internet  3  through a wireless network interface  120  having an antenna  20  or a local area network using a local area network adapter  124  for connecting to, for example, an Ethernet local area network or a power line local area network, as known in the industry. Any known network connection is anticipated. The processor  100  communicates to the Internet-based services (e.g. servers  84 / 94 ) through the wireless network interface  120  or the local area network  124 . 
         [0084]    Referring to  FIG. 24 , a flow chart of a typical television system will be described. This exemplary flow depicts a typical program operating on a processor  100  of the television  5 . In this, the program displays  200  one or more lines of programming information such as the television programs of  FIGS. 1-14  and  18 . The program also displays  202  one or more other lines. The other lines consist of any combination of input ports as in  FIGS. 1-5 , services as in  FIGS. 6-10  and/or local or remote devices as in  FIGS. 12-14  and  18 . Next, the program waits for an input from, for example, the remote control  111 . If the input is an arrow key  204  (e.g. up-arrow or down-arrow), the program changes focus of the highlight selector  12  or scrolls  208 , then updates the display, for example, repeating the previous steps. 
         [0085]    If the input is the select function  206  (e.g. the “select key of the remote control  111  was pressed), the next action depends upon the location of the highlight selector  12 . If the highlight selector  12  is at a television program  210 , then the channel of that television program is addressed by the television and the view will see that television program displayed on the display  7  of the television  5 . Note, that other actions are anticipated as known in the industry, this being an example of which. For example, if the highlight selector  12  is at a television program that hasn&#39;t yet started, a record dialog is presented to, for example, record the television program when it begins and/or set a reminder to change to that channel when that television program begins. 
         [0086]    If the highlight selector  12  is at an input port  220 , then the current input of the television  5  is switched to that port  222 . For example, if the highlight selector  12  is at “HDMI2”, then the current input of the television  5  is switched to the second HDMI input. 
         [0087]    If the highlight selector  12  is at a device  230 , then an exploration program is run  232  to explore content on the device. For example, if the highlight selector  12  is at a storage device (e.g. a connected jump drive  8 , a network attached storage device  8  or connected computer  2 / 6 ), the exploration program  232  displays content from that connected storage device  8 / 4 (or computer  2 / 6 ). 
         [0088]    If the highlight selector  12  is at a service  240 , then a browsing program is run  242  to explore services available on the service. For example, if the highlight selector  12  is at a movie rental service (e.g. Netflix), the browsing program  242  displays screens or web pages related to that service. 
         [0089]    Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result. 
         [0090]    It is believed that the system and method and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.