Abstract:
An arrangement for the control of viewing of a video/television program in which a rating code and an alternative segment code are transmitted with the video/television signal. The codes are decoded and processed via a microcontroller. A viewer of the video signal is able to enter codes of permitted program ratings using a remote control unit. The rating codes are based upon the content of the video signal. Alternative segments for the video/television signal may be substituted for possibly objectionable content based upon a comparison of the received codes and the permitted program ratings segments of video/television signal.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The invention relates to a system and method controlling video/television program display in dependence on the program content, in particular, the method and system allow for display-control of alternative content in dependence on predetermined program content rating selections.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In the U.S., a so called “V-chip” is used monitor codes transmitted with a television signal and disable the television receiver display when the codes indicate forbidden program material including scenes of violence, sex or other matter which might be considered objectionable by some audiences or unsuitable for children. Parents, for example, can formulate their decision on the basis of ratings that are assigned to movies and TV programs by an appointed board that views them before broadcast. Broadcasters may rate their program in four censorship categories. The values for each category are then transmitted simultaneously as part of the extended data services (EDS) of the Closed Captioning (CC) system. In particular, V-chip data is sent as a packet as part of the EDS provided on line 21 field 2 data. The V-chip data is transmitted for as long as the program is on the air.  
           [0003]    The EDS are additional services that may be used/performed related to a TV program. The EDS provides the viewer information such as: current program title, type of show, length of show, and time left in show. In addition, as discussed above, EDS provides the transport mechanism to identify advisories about mature program content.  
           [0004]    An advantage of using V-Chip is that the program blocking is independent of the channel where the program is being transmitted. As long as a data packet (sent during the Vertical Blanking Interval) containing rating information is received and the blocking criterion is met, the program will be blocked irrespective of the channel.  
           [0005]    Using an access control mechanism, parent may set a predetermined threshold for each category. If a rating exceeds the pre-authorised value, the V-chip; suppresses the video and audio signals. As the reaction of the V-chip decoder is near instantaneous, the system can easily handle channel hopping. Moreover, the parent does not have to worry about missing content warnings in TV guides or at the start of programmes.  
           [0006]    The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) defines the four censorship categories and the number of data bits required to transmit the code:  
           [0007]    MPAA rating (equivalent to film classifications, e.g. 18, PG, etc.)—3 bits  
           [0008]    violence content advisory level—2 bits (which allows for a scale of 0 to 3)  
           [0009]    sexual content advisory level—2 bits  
           [0010]    mature content advisory level—2 bits.  
           [0011]    A CC decoder is used to provide subtitling on the display screen. Current CC decoders (such as the SAA5252 decoder sold by Philips Semiconductors) are capable of blanking out the TV picture when switched into full-text mode. They also have adequate display features to generate an on screen display (OSD) menu so that parents can program the censorship thresholds.  
           [0012]    The concept of enabling a parent to control viewing of a television receiver using information transmitted by the broadcaster is not new and was proposed in WO83/02208 published on Jun. 23, 1983. In that document it is proposed that a code is sent via the teletext signal transmitted with the television signal, the code being formed as a selected row number of a given teletext page. Thus the page number and row number is transmitted in the field blanking period on the occurrence of a possibly offensive event. At the receiver a teletext decoder is permanently set to look for the relevant page and identify the row number as and when transmitted. The particular row numbers indicated particular grading of sound and vision events.  
           [0013]    These arrangements, however, typically require a parent, or other responsible person, to enter an appropriate code into the television receiver and/or video recorder that is applied to all programs. The program block is all or nothing. Thus, even if only a small portion of the program is objectionable, the entire program is blocked depending on the code classification program.  
           [0014]    This type of total blocking raises questions about censorship by some. There thus exists in the art a need for improved methods and systems for providing alternatives to total blocking of program content while still allowing viewers to screen objectionable content.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0015]    One aspect of the invention is directed to a method of providing alternative information for a video program. The method includes the steps of receiving a video signal including at least one rating code representing a program classification for a segment of the video signal and at least one alt-location code and comparing the rating code with a predetermined program code. A determination is made as to whether an alternative segment is available based upon the alt-location code. The alternative segment may be substituted for the segment of the video program depending on the rating code.  
           [0016]    Another aspect of the invention is directed to a television receiver that can receive a television signal that has a rating code representing a program classification for a segment of the television signal and an alt-segment code inserted in a vertical blanking interval. The rating code and the alt-segment code are extracted. The rating code is compared with a predetermined program code. The receiver then determines whether an alternative segment is available based upon the alt-segment code and whether it should be substituted for the segment of the television signal.  
           [0017]    These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 shows a video/television system.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 shows in block schematic of a television system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 illustrates data contained in a video signal and an arrangement for providing alternative video program content in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a signal/program source  1 , a transmission medium  2 , and a plurality of receivers  3 - 1  to  3 -n. The program source  1  may be conventional television broadcast equipment, e.g., terrestrial broadcast, satellite broadcast or a cable television source. The program source  1  includes a closed caption or teletext inserter and means for entering program classification codes into the EDS data.  
         [0022]    The transmission medium  2  may take any convenient form for example it could be radio waves as broadcast by a terrestrial transmitter or a satellite transmitter or could be a cable network for a cable TV system. The receivers  3 - 1  to  3 -n are connected to the program source  1  via the transmission medium  2 .  
         [0023]    Another possible program source  1  is a video tape or disc on which a program is recorded for replay by a video tape recorder or a video disc player in which the case the transmission link  2  may be simply the tape recorder or disc player and a cable connecting the tape recorder or disc player to the television receiver.  
         [0024]    The receiver  3 - 1  to  3 -n should be equipped with extended data services (EDS) of the Closed Captioning (CC) capability or a similar functionality, e.g., teletext. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a television receiver  10  with CC and EDS capability. A data capture module  30  is configured to receive composite video signal (i.e., a TV program) from a TV control/tuner circuit  50 . Blanking signals (i.e., the content advisory packet) are extracted from line  21  of the vertical blanking interval in the composite video signal. The content advisory packet is then processed via a microprocessor executing application software.  
         [0025]    In particular, a control processor  20  controls in conventional fashion the operation of the television receiver  10 . It may receive control instructions from a remote control unit  21  which a viewer  11  uses to select a particular channel for display and selects other functions such as CC display or on screen menu displays.  
         [0026]    The control processor  20  receives from the data capture module  30  codes which are present in a received signal  40 . The received signal  40  is provided from the program source  1 . The codes represent the content of sexual matter, violent matter, distressing matter or mature language as associated with various real-time segments of the signal  40 . The control processor  20  may store the codes within a memory  22  and/or  23 . Input signals that have been entered by the viewer  11  using the remote control unit  21  may also be stored. These input signals set the levels of sexual, violent, distressing or mature language content which are acceptable for display.  
         [0027]    The control processor  20  compares the received codes with the input signal and depending on the output of that comparison will produce a signal to the TV control/tuner  50  or a display unit  24  which in appropriate circumstances will cause the display unit  24  to blank an image display and/or mute the audio.  
         [0028]    In a preferred embodiment, the functions of the receiver  10  are implemented by computer readable program code executed by the control processor  20 . The program code may be stored in the memory  23  or read/downloaded from a memory medium such as a CD-ROM or floppy disk. In other embodiments, hardware circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, software instructions to implement the invention. For example, the invention may be implemented on a digital television platform using a Trimedia processor for processing and a television monitor for display. The receiver  10  may also include a network connection  60  for interfacing to a data network, such as a variable-bandwidth network or the Internet or the public switched telephone network (PSTN).  
         [0029]    In the current US content advisory system (see EIA/CEA-608-B), a content advisory packet includes two characters that contain information about the program&#39;s MPAA rating and the TV Parental Guidelines. These two systems are mutually exclusive, so if one is included the other shall not be. The following chart indicates the contents of the characters:  
                                                           Character   b6   b5   b4   b3   b2   b1   b0                   MPAA Rating   1   D   a1   a0   r2   r1   r0       TV Parental Guidelines   1   (F) V   S   L   g2   g1   g0                  
 
         [0030]    For example, the three bits r 0 -r 2  are used to encode the MPAA picture rating if used.  
                                                           r2   r1   r0   Rating                           0   0   0   N/A           0   0   1   ″G″           0   1   0   ″ PG″           0   1   1   ″PG-13″           1   0   0   ″R″           1   0   1   ″NC-17″           1   1   0   ″X″           1   1   1   Not Rated                      
 
         [0031]    When a rating higher than the rating level selected (by the program viewer or parent) is received, blocking will take place. The entire screen will be blanked, audio will be muted and CC information will not be shown (even if it is active). Once an acceptable rating level is received, unblocking will take place. The screen will be unblanked, audio will be unmuted and CC information display will resume (if necessary). In some applications, if “No content rating data received” after waiting a predetermined amount of time, e.g., 5 seconds, the transmission is unblocked if blocked previously.  
         [0032]    One embodiment of the present invention allows for more control of what information is blocked and what is display as an alternative to the original program content. As discussed above, a content advisory packet would be sent when a rating change occurred within a program being displayed. The rating change may indicate that a portion of the program should be blocked. This embodiment allows for automatic substitution of alternative program content within the same program portion. This process would appear seamless to the viewer.  
         [0033]    Illustratively, FIG. 3 show a program  100  which has been segmented into 9 segments. The number and real time lengths of each segment may vary depending on the content of the program  100 . Each segment or portion thereof has an associated content rating code  101  (e.g., G, PG-13 and R). The content rating codes  101  are associated/inserted in the program  100  based upon the program content. For example, in segments  1 - 4 , the content of the program  100  is rated G for general audiences. As discussed above, the content rating codes  101  are extracted by the data capture module  30  and processed accordingly.  
         [0034]    Also shown are three alternatives (alt 1 -alt 3 ) for particular segments of the program  100 . In particular, in this example, the program content provider  1  has provided three alternative segments  101 ,  102  and  103  for the “R” rated portion of the program  100 . As noted, alternative segment  103  is a commercial or advertisement that may be substituted for the R rated segment as a filler rather than blanking. In addition, the program content provider  1  has provided an “R” alternative segment  104  for the “PG-13” rated portion of the program  100 .  
         [0035]    These alternative segments are selected depending on the rating the viewer  11  has set and predetermined selection rules, e.g.,:  
         [0036]    choose the next lower rating category until an appropriate content segment is found (e.g., R, then PG-13, then PG, then G);  
         [0037]    always choose a predetermined rating (e.g., always G);  
         [0038]    always choose the highest rating category available for that program segment;  
         [0039]    always choose an alternative commercial or advertisement as a filler.  
         [0040]    These selection rules are merely examples and it should be understood that other predetermined selection rules may also be used.  
         [0041]    A storage medium, e.g., RAM  22  in FIG. 2, may be used in the receiver  10  to buffer some or all of the program  100  and alternatives  101 - 104 . Initially, several seconds of the program  100  and any alternatives, if any, may be stored. This will allow the receiver  10  to display the information with a slight time delay. This time delay will allow the program content provider  1  to transmit the alternative content within the same bandwidth as the program  100  to be display. The selection of which version of the program content is displayed is based upon the rating the viewer has selected as discussed above.  
         [0042]    In another embodiment, the alternative segments  101 - 104  may be separately transmitted via another medium. For example, the alternative segments  101 - 104  may be transmitted via another channel frequency (UHF or VHF), transmitted via an unused cable channel or provided from a memory medium such as a CD-ROM or floppy disk.  
         [0043]    In another embodiment, the alternative segments  101 - 104  may be obtained via the network connection  60 . The network connection  60  allows the receiver  10  to communication with to a remote database  61  such as TV network website. This would allow the receiver  10  to download the alternative segments  101 - 104  as needed.  
         [0044]    To provide the receiver  10  an indication as to whether an alternative segment is available and where to fine the alternative segments, alternative segment location information (e.g., one or more data bytes) is included in EDS packet. The alternative segment location information contains synchronization information as well as information as to where to find the alternative segments. For example, the content advisory packet may indicate that alternative segments are available and where to find them.  
         [0045]    The following table is an example of the alternative segment location byte (ASLB)code format.  
                                                                   ASLB byte   s7   s6   s5   s4   13   12    a1   a0                  
 
         [0046]    Bits a 0  and a 1  are used to indicate the number of alternative segments. Bits  12  and  13  are used to indicate the location/source of the alternative segments. Bits s 4 -s 7  are used to indicate the program  100  segment (e.g., segments  1  through  16  in this example with four bits).  
                                                                     a1   a0                                        0   0   zero alt segments           0   1   one alt segment           1   0   two alt segments           1   1   three alt segments                      
 
         [0047]    [0047]                                                 12   13                                 0    0   alt segments sent with program        0    1   alt segments available at content provider remote database        1    0   alt segments available from UHF channel XX        1    1   alt segments available from cable channel YY                    
         [0048]    Of course, multiple ASLB bytes and other byte formats may be used. For example, ASLB like information may be contained within the content advisory packet of the EDS. Alternatively, the ASLB code need only be sent once. The receiver  10  would then obtain all necessary information for the alternative segments  101 - 104  from the source indicated by the ASLB code. In this case, the ASLB code would essentially point to an alternative segment map for the entire program  100 . The ASLB byte(s) may also include a rating code for each alternative segment.  
         [0049]    In addition, the alternative segments  101 - 104  may also include a header containing information to synchronize and link the segments to the appropriate program  100  segment as well as a rating code for the alternative segment  101 - 104  (if not provided in the ASLB byte). Preferably, the alternative segments  101 - 103  for each segment of the program  100  are arranged in a predetermined order (e.g., highest content rating to lowest).  
         [0050]    As discussed, the various embodiments of the invention allow viewers the ability to watch higher rated programs (e.g., R or PG-13) and selectively substitute alternative segments for those portions of the program display which may be objectionable. Rather than viewing a blank screen, the alternative content segments are substituted seamlessly for the objectionable program segments.  
         [0051]    While the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be confined or limited to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the present invention is intended to cover various structures and modifications thereof included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.