IPTV Terminal Program Selection via Directional Vector
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current IPTV services face challenges in providing a user-friendly interface for mobile information communication terminal devices, such as smartphones, due to their small screen size, making it inconvenient to display and navigate program tables like EPGs.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves an information communication terminal device with a program selection unit, a program data acquisition unit, and a display control unit that allows users to easily switch between programs by identifying directional vectors from user input operations, enabling smooth transitions between channels and time slots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If program content is delivered using RTSP based on IP multicast technology while related information is delivered under HTTP, then video/voice data and its related information can be transmitted through different delivery schemes, but the terminal device must implement complex synchronization technology to display them in a synchronized manner at predetermined timing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a synchronization mechanism that acts as an intermediary between the RTSP video/voice data delivery and HTTP related information delivery. This mediator coordinates the timing and synchronization of content delivery from both protocols, managing the complexity centrally rather than requiring complex synchronization technology throughout the entire system.
2Loss of information
If a traditional EPG interface is displayed on a mobile terminal device with a small screen, then program scheduling information can be shown, but the small screen size makes it inconvenient to display and navigate program tables
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the traditional two-dimensional EPG table navigation into a three-dimensional interactive space by introducing time-axis-based program selection. Instead of requiring users to scroll through crowded tables, the system allows selection of programs along the time dimension, with the display automatically showing program content at the selected time slot, thereby solving the small screen navigation problem.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a dynamic display interface that automatically adjusts and transitions between different program views based on user input. When a user selects a program, the system dynamically switches from the EPG table view to the program content view, providing an adaptive user experience that works efficiently on small screens without requiring complex manual navigation.
3Loss of information
If users manually navigate through EPG tables on mobile devices, then program information can be accessed, but the process becomes cumbersome and user-friendly operation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to automatically perform tasks that would otherwise require manual user navigation. When a user inputs a program selection, the system automatically retrieves the program information, synchronizes the content delivery, and displays the program without requiring the user to manually navigate through EPG tables or configure settings, thereby significantly improving operation simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
An information communication terminal device adapted for an IPTV service, which delivers program data from one of a plurality of delivery servers via a communication network, includes: a program selection unit, a program data acquisition unit, and a display control unit. The program selection unit selects a program according to EPG information in which program scheduling is defined by a plurality of channels and a plurality of delivery time slots along a time axis, the program being selected based on the channels and the delivery time slots. The program data acquisition unit requests delivery of program data of the program to a specific delivery server according to link information and a program identification code, both of which are associated with the selected program, and acquires the program data delivered from the specific delivery server in response to the request. The display control unit performs control such that program content is displayed on a screen based on the received program data. The program selection unit identifies, in response to a user's input operation on the screen, a directional vector of the input operation, and selects, if the identified directional vector represents a first direction, the single program by identifying a channel of a switching destination in the same delivery time slot in the EPG information, the same delivery time slot corresponding to the first direction.