Patent ID: 6981275

Claim:
A television receiver comprising: a connection interface for connection to an external mail server; electronic mail means having an electronic mail function of sending and receiving electronic mail via said connection interface; display means for displaying a television picture; a random access memory; a central processing unit for downloading a plurality of electronic mail from the mail server and storing the downloaded electronic mail in the random access memory; a keyboard connected to the central processing unit for entering commands by a user; a display memory, wherein the central processing unit reads out from the random access memory only the name of the sender and the subject of each of the electronic mail for storage in the display memory; a television receiving unit for reading out data from the display memory and superimposing only the name of the sender and the subject of the electronic mail read out from said display memory at a predetermined position on a portion of the television picture displayed on said display means so that the television picture is not substantially obscured upon the entry of an electronic mail check command by the user of the keyboard, wherein said central processing unit controls an operation of said superimposing means, so that only information of the name of the sender and the title are horizontally scrolled for each successive electronic mail in said portion on said display means, and wherein said central processing unit controls an operation of said television receiving unit, so that upon entry of a full screen display command by the user of the keyboard, a text of the electronic mail is read out from said random access memory and is written into said display memory, thereby displaying the text of the electronic mail along with the information of the name of the sender and the title on the entire display screen of the display means.