Advanced digital TV system

Abstract

A system for displaying electronic program guide information about a plurality of video items on a screen, the system including a display module to display a plurality of pages layering into the screen, each of the pages including a plurality of graphical panels associated with the video items, and a user input module to receive a user input to turn at least one of the pages such that the at least one page is peeled away from other ones of the pages in order to bring the graphical panels of the at least one page in or out of view, wherein the display module is operative to show the turning of the at least one page bringing the at least one page in or out of view. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A set-top box system comprising:
 a decoder to decode a compressed video stream into a decoded video stream; and   an alpha generator operationally connected to the decoder, the alpha generator being operative to generate an alpha channel for the decoded video stream.   
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 18 , further comprising a compositor operationally connected to the alpha generator, the compositor being operative to alpha blend the decoded video stream with another decoded video stream based on the alpha channel. 
     
     
         20 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the decoded video stream includes a plurality of video frames, the alpha generator being operative to generate the alpha channel based on at least one of the video frames. 
     
     
         21 . The system according to  claim 20 , wherein the one video frame includes a set of RGB values, the alpha generator being operative to generate the alpha channel based on the set of RGB values. 
     
     
         22 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the decoded video stream includes a plurality of video frames, the alpha channel includes a value applied to at least one of the video frames. 
     
     
         23 . The system according to  claim 18 , wherein the decoded video stream includes a plurality of video frames, each of the video frames including a plurality of pixels, the alpha channel includes a value applied to each of the pixels of at least one of the video frames. 
     
     
         24 . The system according to  claim 23 , wherein the alpha generator is operative to apply the value to each of the pixels of at least one of the video frames based on a vector based graphics system. 
     
     
         25 . The system according to  claim 23 , wherein the alpha generator is operative to apply the value to each of the pixels of at least one of the video frames based on at least one bitmap sequence. 
     
     
         26 . The system according to  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a memory arrangement having a plurality of areas, the memory arrangement being operationally connected to the alpha generator, the decoded video stream including a plurality of video frames, each of the video frames including a plurality of blocks of pixels; and   an image transform engine operationally connected to the memory arrangement, the image transform engine being operative to move the blocks between the areas of the memory arrangement.   
     
     
         27 . The system according to  claim 26 , wherein the image transform engine is a blitter. 
     
     
         28 . The system according to  claim 26 , wherein the image transform engine is operative to perform image transform operations on the pixels. 
     
     
         29 . The system according to  claim 28 , wherein the image transform engine is operative to perform at least one of scaling and shaping of at least part of least one of the video frames. 
     
     
         30 . The system according to  claim 26 , wherein the image transform engine and the alpha generator are operative to perform a video transition effect between the decoded video stream and another decoded video stream. 
     
     
         31 - 52 . (canceled) 
     
     
         53 . A set-top box system, comprising:
 a storage arrangement to store a compressed video clip formed from a plurality of sub-regions of at least one video frame, the video clip having a start and an end; and   a decoder arrangement to loop-decode the sub-regions of the at least one video frame with a seamless cut between the start and the end of the video clip.   
     
     
         54 - 60 . (canceled) 
     
     
         61 . A method for playing a video clip, comprising:
 storing a compressed video clip formed from a plurality of sub-regions of at least one video frame, the video clip having a start and an end; and   loop-decoding the sub-regions of the at least one video frame with a seamless cut between the start and the end of the video clip.