Lawrence Welk, the bandleader who entertained millions of Americans over a generation of broadcasting his TV show, once received a patent: for a music-themed design of an ashtray.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8176517 | Automatic display of new program information during current program viewing A method and apparatus for automatic display of next or future television program information when tuned to a television channel. Acquired or received program information for a television program to be shown next or later on the currently tuned television channel is... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8134648 | Method for enabling user control of an apparatus A method is provided for enabling users to control various functions of an apparatus such as a television signal receiver in an easy and convenient manner. According to an exemplary embodiment, the method enables a user to control an apparatus via a user input devic... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8122470 | Method for providing an electronic program guide based on user preference data An apparatus such as a television signal receiver provides an electronic program guide based on user preference data collected at different time intervals in a day. According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a memory operative to store first and se... | 02/21/2012 |
| 8082050 | Method and apparatus for processing two or more initially decoded audio signals received or replayed from a bitstream In the MPEG-4 standard ISO/IEC 14496:2001 several audio objects that can be coded with different MPEG-4 format coding types can together form a composed audio system representing a single soundtrack from the several audio substreams. In a receiver the multiple audio... | 12/20/2011 |
| 8059202 | Method for controlling electronic apparatus A method is provided for enabling users to control an electronic apparatus such as a television signal receiver, multimedia device, and/or other device in an easy and convenient manner using a single key of a user input device. According to an exemplary embodiment, ... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8001300 | Method and apparatus for specifying analog connections for data bus network devices having both digital and analog outputs A method and apparatus enables users to specify analog connections for devices on a data bus network such as an IEEE 1394 network in a convenient, time-efficient manner. According to an exemplary embodiment, the method includes steps of enabling an on-screen display... | 08/16/2011 |
| 7996389 | Method and apparatus for searching a database in two search steps Search in stocks of data, particularly on optical media, is intended to be optimized in terms of the time required for the search. It is therefore proposed that the search be carried out in two steps. In a first search step, the entire database is scanned on the dis... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7982809 | Method and apparatus for providing a picture cropping function A method and apparatus for providing a picture cropping function enables users to crop pictures in a convenient and direct manner using discrete navigation keys of a user input device. According to an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes a first processor ope... | 07/19/2011 |
| 7978959 | Memory addressing method suitable for systems having a variable speed data reproduction capability A memory addressing method is suitable for systems performing data compression and/or expansion such as audio and/or video systems having a variable speed data reproduction capability. According to an exemplary embodiment, a method for processing a signal such as an... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7949958 | Method and apparatus for generating an electronic menu Optical disc players are today connectable to the Internet, and may contain local storage capability, e.g. HDD. Additional post-production content can be downloaded and locally stored. It is difficult to include downloaded additional post- production material in men... | 05/24/2011 |
| 7945930 | Method and apparatus for controlling a video signal processing apparatus A method for controlling a recording function of a video apparatus improves recording quality by preventing certain display functions of the apparatus from adversely affecting the resultant recording. A problem may arise in certain video signal processing apparatuse... | 05/17/2011 |
| 7917927 | Method for selecting a program displayed in an advertisement in an application software program A video processing apparatus may be controlled in response to selecting an advertisement displayed in connection with a productivity or communication application software program being operated on a video processing apparatus. The advertisement includes control info... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7917925 | Method and apparatus for automatically extracting data identifying a broadcast A/V program Broadcast receiving devices usually have access to an electronic program schedule or EPG. Since often the same audio/video program is broadcasted more than once within a short time range on the same channel, or simultaneously on another channel, a method is provided... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7895619 | Method for controlling display of audio-visual programmes, and receiver for displaying same The invention relates to a method for controlling of the display of audio-visual program by a receiver provided with means of receiving and recording audio-visual programs. The method comprises a step of recording a first program selected by the user; and subsequent... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7847866 | Method and apparatus for isolating IIC bus noise from a tuner in a television receiver A method and apparatus for isolating a noise intolerant device, e.g., a phase-lock loop of a tuner within a television receiver, from source of noise. In one embodiment, the apparatus isolates a phase-lock loop integrated circuit (IC) from the bus, by providing an i... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7876787 | Method for monitoring the state of a device in a network and device for carrying out said monitoring The invention relates to a method for monitoring the state of a device within a communication network comprising at least two devices, the network comprising isochronous communication channels transmitting data packets synchronized by a signal emitted by the network... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7873977 | Method for controlling a multi-tuner signal receiving apparatus A multi-tuner signal receiving apparatus enables signal distribution in a household and/or business dwelling, and can be effectively controlled by users via one or more remote control devices. According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a plurality ... | 01/18/2011 |
| 7873797 | Memory controller The present invention relates to a memory controller for an IC with an external DRAM, where the external DRAM has at least one memory bank and communicates with the IC via at least one channel. In line with the invention, the memory controller has a command schedule... | 01/18/2011 |
| 7870506 | Audit trail management for a menu system in a digital consumer product A digital consumer product having a menu system includes an audit trail system having an audit trail management system that removes screens from an audit trail triggered by the addition of a new screen to the audit trail. Menu screens and/or video screens are added ... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7853830 | Apparatus and method for providing error notification in a wireless virtual file system An apparatus (20) provides a dynamically-generated audio and/or video error file upon the occurrence of an error condition in a wireless virtual file system (100). According to an exemplary embodiment, the apparatus (20) includes a host interfac... | 12/14/2010 |
| 7830968 | Apparatus for providing a video lip sync delay and method therefore A digital receiver for processing one of a packetized input data stream and a digitized standard definition input signal is provides a delay in the processing of the standard definition audio input signal to maintain synchronism with the processing of a correspondin... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7810119 | Method for searching of an electronic program guide A method for assisting a user in selecting a program for viewing or listening comprising periodically receiving and storing electronic program guide information comprising records for forthcoming programs, the records having a plurality of fields; receiving a user s... | 10/05/2010 |
| 7805637 | Network equipment and a method for monitoring the start up of such equipment The invention concerns a network equipment for connection to a local network and a method for monitoring the start up of a such an equipment. This equipment comprises a persistent memory for storing software and advantageously also comprises: ... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7783156 | Method and system for reading information recorded in an audio-visual apparatus This invention relates on a method and a system for reading a set of recorded information that is applicable to a reading system making it possible to read sequential information. In a first step, the user marks a first information sequence currently being read trig... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7769939 | Apparatus and method for interfacing electronic devices An interface apparatus (20) such as a docking station interfaces various electronic devices (30, 40, 50) and reduces the number of required connector pins and input/output (I/O) ports. According to an exemplary embodiment, the interface apparatus (2... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7734874 | Method and system for caching data using future access request information A method and system for caching data such as audio, video and/or other data uses information including future access request information for improved caching performance. According to an exemplary embodiment, a cache system includes a cache operative to cache a plur... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7734140 | Video processing apparatus which can respond to non-native remote commands and method of operation thereof A recorder, method, device, and interpretation apparatus for executing code commands. The invention is a device which functions in response to code commands comprising: means to execute a function in response to a code command having a format for the device; and mea... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7715685 | Recording media maintenance support The handling of large amounts of data on storing media shall be simplified. Therefore, a method for maintaining a storage media by generating, editing or reading log data related to the content and usage of a data item stored or to be stored on a storage medium is p... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7714940 | Method and apparatus for selecting devices on a data bus A method and apparatus enables a user to assign a given key on an input device to any specific device on a data bus network connected to the apparatus, and thereby enables the user to quickly select the specific device for control using the given key. According to a... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7693935 | Method for providing a user interface for controlling an appliance in a network of distributed stations, as well as a network appliance for carrying out the method The invention relates to the field of domestic network technology. The control of an appliance in the network via a central appliance for the network and having a display unit is normally simplified with the aid of user interfaces. When an audio-video datastream has... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7679680 | Apparatus in a TV receiver for automatically detecting the type of keyboard attached thereto A television apparatus includes a front panel keyboard having first and second keys, and a controller for detecting a type of operational logic of the front panel keyboard. The controller applies a keyboard operational voltage to the front panel keyboard according t... | 03/16/2010 |
| 7653882 | Method for representing animated menu buttons Optical storage media often contain data structures for a menu suitable for selection of a title, a chapter, a parameter or others. Such menus usually comprise a number of buttons to be displayed, with each button having a state. Possible states of buttons are “un... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7653656 | Method for splitting a data stream In the DVR or Blu-ray application format, a clip consists of a clip information file, through which it can be accessed from playlists, and an audio-visual data stream file. The data stream includes data units, which in turn include multiple source packets. When such... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7647447 | Data bus connection for memory device A data bus of a DVD+RW recorder between a DSP and a SDRAM usually needs a multilayer wiring board. In order to simplify the layout of the wiring board of the data bus there is provided a method for connecting at least a first and a second integrated circuit by provi... | 01/12/2010 |
| RE40960 | Switched signal processing circuit An expander circuit for decoding audio signals which were encoded in accordance with the BTSC multichannel sound system standard including DBX commanding is presented. A wideband expander circuit is utilized and a DBX expander can be accommodated. The wideband expan... | 11/10/2009 |
| 7599603 | Upgradable on-screen display system A digital television receiver comprises a receiving means having selectable first and second inputs. The first input receives a broadcast digital television signal and the second input receives a digital television signal from a reproduction apparatus, and generates... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7599412 | Method and electronic circuit for controlling of a supply voltage of a laser diode The invention relates to a method for initializing a control of a supply voltage of a light source, such as a laser diode, the light source being arranged in a first circuit configuration having an associated first reference voltage level or the light source being a... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7590938 | Method for navigation within a set of audio documents by means of a graphic interface and receiver for navigation by said method The present invention relates to a method of navigation within a collection of sound documents accessible from a receiver furnished with a display device. The method comprises a first step of analysis of the documents so as to determine audio parameters termed | 09/15/2009 |
| 7570598 | Communication devices capable of wireless interfacing and methods for associating said devices A method and device for implementing a method for associating communication devices capable of wireless interfacing. The method includes producing a relation between communication devices capable of wireless interfacing enabling dialogue among them exclusively. The ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7561121 | Priming method in a plasma panel The present invention relates to a priming method in the cells of a plasma display panel and a device implementing said method. In a plasma display panel, each cell is provided with at least two electrodes and one type of phosphor out of at least two types is associ... | 07/14/2009 |