Electronic programming guide with movie preview

Abstract

A preview system activated from an on-screen programming guide displays a video preview of a selected particular program on the display screen. The video preview is displayed on less than the full screen so that the video can be highly-compressed to save bandwidth.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of providing preview information to assist in selecting video programming, said method comprising: 
 displaying schedule information on a display screen including source and identification information about one or a plurality of available shows;    receiving user input to select a particular show from said plurality of shows;    receiving user input to initiate a preview operation; and    displaying a preview including a video preview of the particular show on the screen.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving said video preview in compressed form; and  
 decompressing said video preview to displaying the video preview.  
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said step of selecting comprises the steps of: 
 highlighting a particular show with a cursor or pointer.  
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a preview bit stream in the form of an endless loop of a plurality of preview packets, each preview packet including header information and compressed video information; and  
 utilizing said header information to identify a particular preview packet in said endless loop that is associated with the particular show selected.  
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a preview bit stream in the form of an endless loop of a single preview packet repeated a plurality of times, said preview packet including header information and compressed video information; and  
 utilizing said header information to identify a particular preview packet in said endless loop that is associated with the particular show selected.  
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 , or  5  further comprising the step of: 
 displaying said preview in window that is smaller than the display screen.  
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4  or  5  further comprising the step of: 
 displaying said preview on the entire display screen.  
 
     
     
         8 . A method of providing preview information to assist in selecting video programming, said method comprising: 
 displaying schedule information on a display screen including source and identification information about one or a plurality of available shows;    receiving user input to select a particular show from said plurality of shows and self-activate the initiation of a preview operation; and    displaying a preview including a video preview of the particular show on the screen.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving said video preview in compressed form; and  
 decompressing said video preview to displaying the video preview.  
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8  wherein said step of selecting comprises the steps of: 
 highlighting a particular show with a cursor or pointer.  
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a preview bit stream in the form of an endless loop of a plurality of preview packets, each preview packet including header information and compressed video information; and  
 utilizing said header information to identify a particular preview packet in said endless loop that is associated with the particular show selected.  
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a preview bit stream in the form of an endless loop of a single preview packet repeated a plurality of times, said preview packet including header information and compressed video information; and  
 utilizing said header information to identify a particular preview packet in said endless loop that is associated with the particular show selected.  
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 , or  12  further comprising the step of: 
 displaying said preview in window that is smaller than the display screen.  
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 ,  9 ,  10 ,  11 , or  12  further comprising the step of: 
 displaying said preview on the entire display screen.  
 
     
     
         15 . A system for previewing selected programs comprising: 
 a television system for displaying video signals provided as baseband video signal or RF signals;    a decoder for receiving digital signals, providing selected bit streams encoded by the digital signals, and converting a selected bit stream into a video signal, with one of the bit streams being a preview bit stream including preview packets in form of a header identifying the preview and compressed preview video bits;    a preview controller, coupled to the decoder to receive the preview bit stream, for inspecting said headers to identify a selected preview packet and for controlling the decoder to convert the preview video bits in the selected packet to an auxiliary video signal;    a display controller, coupled to receive primary and auxiliary video signals, for displaying the primary video signal on a first portion of the display screen and the auxiliary video signal on a second portion of the display screen;    an EPG system for providing an EPG video signal for displaying an electronic guide as a primary signal, for providing a user interface that receives user input selecting a particular program displayed in an EPG, for controlling the preview controller to select a particular preview packet corresponding the particular signal so that the auxiliary signal will display a preview of the particular channel on the second portion of the display screen.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein said digital signal is a DBS signal.