Abstract:
Provided are an apparatus and method for supplying electronic programs for Video On Demand (VOD) services. The apparatus includes a service data receiving unit to receive service data about an image-based service, a service data sorting unit to sort the received service data according to a predetermined sorting condition, and a control unit to display the sorted service data according to the sorting condition through a predetermined graphical user interface.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0061722 filed on Aug. 5, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to supplying electronic programs for Video On Demand (VOD) services. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a system for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services, whereby these services can be easily ascertained.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Video On Demand (VOD) services refer to image-based services (e.g., movies and news) supplied through a telephone line or a cable at a service subscriber&#39;s request.  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a general VOD service system.  
         [0007]     The system comprises a service supplying unit  10  to supply a service selected by the subscriber, and a service receiving unit  20  to receive the service and allow the subscriber to use service.  
         [0008]     The service receiving unit  20  transmits the subscriber&#39;s command to the service supplying unit  10  to request a service, and the service supplying unit transmits the service requested in the command to the service receiving unit  20 .  
         [0009]     After paying a predetermined fee, the subscriber is authorized to use the received service.  
         [0010]     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the VOD service system is operated as follows.  
         [0011]     The subscriber selects a service among the services supplied by the service supplying unit  10  S 10 .  
         [0012]     At this time, the service supplying unit  10  supplies a list of services to the service receiving unit  20 , and the subscriber selects a service from the supplied service list.  
         [0013]     The subscriber pays the predetermined fee (S 20 ), and receives the service from the service supplying unit  10  (S 30 ).  
         [0014]     The VOD services are supplied in a streaming or downloading manner. With streaming, the selected service is supplied to the subscriber in real time, whereas the subscriber downloads and uses the selected service when downloading is chosen.  
         [0015]     In the streaming service, when multiple subscribers all request an identical service, as many output channels as the number of subscribers having selected the identical service should be provided.  
         [0016]     In the downloading service, even when multiple subscribers all request an identical service, it is not necessary to have as many output channels as the number of subscribers having selected the same service. For this reason, presently, most VOD services are supplied in the downloading manner.  
         [0017]     However, as described above, the VOD services are simply supplied in a list by the service providing unit  10 . When the subscriber downloads a service, it is difficult for the subscriber to ascertain the schedule for the service, thereby causing inconvenience to the subscriber.  
         [0018]     Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-0074003 discloses a method for searching for electronic program guide data and other broadcasting data for a desired date, by displaying a calendar on a TV or other displaying apparatus while receiving a broadcast. The disclosure in the &#39;003 application enables searching for electronic program data and other broadcasting data through a calendar format associated with the broadcasting. A problem with the &#39;003 application disclosure is that the schedule of when a service is supplied cannot be ascertained.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services wherein the subscriber can easily ascertain the schedule of supplied services where he/she is supplied with VOD services to use them.  
         [0020]     The present invention will not be limited to the above-described object, and other objects not described herein will be apparently apprehended by those in the art from the following disclosure.  
         [0021]     According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services including a service data receiving unit to receive service data about an image-based service, a service data sorting unit to sort the received service data according to a predetermined sorting condition, and a control unit to display the sorted service data through a predetermined graphical user interface according to the sorting condition.  
         [0022]     According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services including receiving service data on an image-based service, sorting the received service data according to a predetermined sorting condition, and displaying the sorted service data through a predetermined graphical user interface according to the sorting condition.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0023]     The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by a detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0024]      FIG. 1  illustrates a general VOD service system;  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates an operation of the general VOD service system;  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  illustrates an electronic program guide for VOD services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0028]      FIG. 5  illustrates the graphical user interface in which the order of enumerating a first data displayed on a cell of  FIG. 4  is changed;  
         [0029]      FIG. 6  illustrates a graphical user interface according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  illustrates the graphical user interface in which an advertisement and other content are displayed in a second region of  FIG. 6 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 8  illustrates a graphical user interface according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0032]      FIG. 9  illustrates a graphical user interface according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0033]      FIGS. 10 and 11  illustrate the graphical user interfaces displaying the second data on a first region of  FIG. 9 ;  
         [0034]      FIG. 12  illustrates a graphical user interface according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0035]      FIG. 13  illustrates the graphical user interface displaying content of the advertisement on a cell selected in  FIG. 12 ; and  
         [0036]      FIG. 14  illustrates a method for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0037]     Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are supplied so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined by the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.  
         [0038]     Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0039]     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , an apparatus for supplying an electronic program guide for VOD services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a service data receiving unit  110  to receive data of image signal-based services, a service data sorting unit  120  to sort the received service data according to predetermined sorting conditions, a service data storing unit  130  to store the sorted service data, and a control unit  140  to display the stored service data according to specific conditions by means of a predetermined graphical user interface (GUI).  
         [0040]     This apparatus may further comprise a memory unit  150  to store the graphical user interface, a subscriber input unit  160  through which selection values of the service data selected by the subscriber through the graphical user interface are input, a service receiving unit  170  to receive a service according to the inputted selection values, a service storing unit  180  to store the received service therein, and a display unit  190  to display the service.  
         [0041]     The service data received through the service data receiving unit  110  may include the name of a desired service, the date when the service will be supplied, a still image of the service, and other relevant data.  
         [0042]     When the supplied service is a movie, the relevant data may include the director, the rating of the movie, the runtime, the year of production, the country of production, the theater release date, and the dvd release date.  
         [0043]     The service data sorting unit  120  sorts the received service data according to predetermined sorting conditions, for example, by the service delivery date.  
         [0044]     In this exemplary embodiment, the service data sorting unit  120  sorts the received service data by date, based on the date data contained in the received service data. But, the received service data may be sorted according to various conditions based on the delivery schedule of the desired service.  
         [0045]     The control unit  140  displays the sorted service data on the graphical user interface according to the predetermined sorting conditions.  
         [0046]     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the graphical user interface, according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, comprises a first region  210 , displaying first data on a desired service, and a second region  220  displaying second data linked to the first data.  
         [0047]     In this embodiment, the first data consists of the name of the supplied desired service, and the second data consists of a name of the desired service, an image linked thereto and particular data thereof. However, the first data and the second data can be modified in some cases.  
         [0048]     The first region  210  is a two-dimensional matrix of cells, and the first data is displayed in a cell of this matrix.  
         [0049]     The first data displayed on the cell may be at least one data, according to the number of services supplied.  
         [0050]     In this embodiment, the conventional x-axis represents days and the conventional y-axis represents weeks, and therefore each cell represents a particular date.  
         [0051]     The displayed date in each cell may be a date designated in advance or a date within a predetermined period of time beginning from the date when the service is available for use, or any period of time during which the service available.  
         [0052]     Axial labels and cell data may be received through the service data receiving unit  110 . When only the date data is received, the x- and y-axes and the cells can be formed using stored forms.  
         [0053]     Accordingly, the first data is displayed in cells corresponding to each date when the desired service is supplied, and the subscriber may select particular first data displayed in a cell and view the second data (linked to the selected first data) in the second region.  
         [0054]     The subscriber may have to scroll to view the first data and the second data.  
         [0055]     The subscriber input unit  160  may be comprised of a direction button and a selection button. Through the direction button, the subscriber selects a cell (in the first region  210 ) in which desired first data resides; this cell is highlighted and then the user selects the desired cell using the selection button.  
         [0056]     When desired second data displayed in the second region is selected, in addition to data selected in the first region and through the subscriber input unit  160 , the subscriber can highlight the desired second data using the direction button (in the same manner as the first data selection), and then select it using the selection button.  
         [0057]     The second data may be displaced from the center of the second region  220 .  
         [0058]     The subscriber may freely use the desired service supplied by the subscriber input unit  160 , or (s)he may use the service for a predetermined period of time through reservations.  
         [0059]     When the received reservation is outside the reservation term available for using the service, the control unit  140  may add a shading to the first data of the desired service or a “Disabled” label to indicate that the reservation is not available, whereby the subscriber can easily determine whether reservations are available.  
         [0060]     When the subscriber tries to reserve a service whose reservation term has elapsed, the control unit  140  may display a message window containing the message: “Reservation is not available”, in a pop-up format, or a similar message, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.  
         [0061]     At this time, to ascertain states of the desired services, state data of the desired service indicating the status of the service may be added to the first data.  
         [0062]     For example, a ‘{circle around (0)}’ symbol, when reserved by the subscriber, and a ‘         ’ symbol, when download of the reserved service is complete, may be added to the first information as the state data.  
         [0063]     Accordingly, the subscriber can easily ascertain whether a service is downloaded.  
         [0064]     The number of uses of the desired service by the subscriber can also be added to the state data in the form: ‘         ’(i.e. indicating that the service has been used once).  
         [0065]     As such, the subscriber can easily ascertain how many times (s)he has used the desired service.  
         [0066]     The state of the desired service may be changed through a button designated in advance by the subscriber input unit  160 .  
         [0067]     For example, reservation of the desired service can be changed through left and right direction buttons of the subscriber input unit  160 .  
         [0068]     In particular, where the current state of the desired service is reserved, the subscriber may cancel the reservation by means of the left button of the subscriber input unit  160 , or (s)he may re-reserve the cancelled service by means of the right button.  
         [0069]     The sequence of the first data displayed in a predetermined cell may be changed according to a state of the first data.  
         [0070]     For example, the first data displayed in the predetermined cell  211  of  FIG. 4  may be displayed in the sequence of the service downloaded, the service reserved, and the service neither downloaded nor reserved.  
         [0071]     When the downloaded service is used, the service may be displayed later than the reserved service(s) in the cell  211 , as depicted in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0072]     When more than one downloaded service is used, they may be sequentially displayed beginning from the service less frequently used.  
         [0073]     A service that has been used many times is less likely to be re-used by the subscriber, and thus, other services are displayed earlier.  
         [0074]     The graphical user interface according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention may only display the second data (selected through the first region) in the second region  220 , as depicted in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0075]     Even when the subscriber selects a cell displaying no first data, an advertisement and/or other content may be displayed in the second region  220 , as depicted in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0076]     The graphical user interface according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention displays the second data in the first region  210 , as illustrated in  FIG. 8 .  
         [0077]     The second data displayed in the second region  220  can be displayed in the first region  210 .  
         [0078]     When the second data selected in the second region  220  is displayed in the first region  210 , the second data displayed in the first region  210  and the second region  220  may be identical, or they may be selectively displayed.  
         [0079]     For example, the second data displayed in the first region  210  is an image and relevant data of the desired service, and the second data displayed in the second region  220  is an image and a service name thereof.  
         [0080]     The graphical user interface according to a fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention displays only the first region  210  at an initial stage, as depicted in  FIG. 9 . If the subscriber selects first data displayed in a predetermined cell through the subscriber input unit  160 , the second data is overlaid and displayed on a predetermined position of the first region  210 , as depicted in  FIGS. 10 and 11 .  
         [0081]     When multiple data is displayed in the cell selected by the subscriber, the second data linked is displayed, and the subscriber can view the second data using a scroll bar.  
         [0082]     The graphical user interface according to a fifth exemplary embodiment of the present invention may separately display an advertisement and/or other content in cells  212  and  213  in the first region  210  that display no first data, as depicted in  FIG. 12 .  
         [0083]     If the subscriber selects cell  212  or  213 , the advertisement and/or other content in the cell is overlaid and displayed as depicted in  FIG. 13 .  
         [0084]     In an electronic program guide supplying method for VOD services according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as depicted in  FIG. 14 , data regarding services supplied are received by the service data receiving unit  110  S 110 .  
         [0085]     The service data may be received on a term basis, such as a predetermined period of time, or a period of time during which the service is available for subscriber.  
         [0086]     The service data sorting unit  120  sorts the received service data according to predetermined sorting conditions S 120 .  
         [0087]     In this exemplary embodiment, the service data may be sorted on a date basis, according to the date data included in the received service data.  
         [0088]     The sorted service data is stored in the service data storing unit  130  (S 130 ), and the control unit  140  determines whether the service data has been requested by the subscriber (S 140 ).  
         [0089]     As a result, if it is determined that the subscriber has requested the service data, the control unit  140  displays the service data stored in the service data storing unit  130  according to the sorting conditions and using the graphical user interface stored in the memory unit  150 .  
         [0090]     The subscriber graphical user interface used at this time may be formed as depicted in any of  FIGS. 4 through 11 , and the control unit  140  may determine the form of the graphical user interface in advance or randomly.  
         [0091]     The subscriber highlights the cell in the first region  210  of the graphical user interface that displays the first data using the direction button of the subscriber input unit  160 , and then (s)he can select the cell using the selection button.  
         [0092]     The subscriber may also highlight data, among the first data displayed in the selected cell, through the direction button, and may select it using the selection button.  
         [0093]     At this time, the second data may be displayed as in any of  FIGS. 4, 6 ,  8 ,  10  and  11 .  
         [0094]     The subscriber ascertains the service that (s)he desires to view through the displayed second data, and uses the desired service in real-time or through reservations.  
         [0095]     As described above, the present invention provides an electronic program guide supplying apparatus and method for VOD services, wherein, when a subscriber uses a VOD service, (s)he can easily ascertain the schedule for delivery of the services, and he/she can easily use a desired service.  
         [0096]     The electronic program guide supplying apparatus and method for VOD services according to the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various replacements, modifications and changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.