Apparatus and method for displaying additional information

Abstract

An apparatus and method for displaying additional information on a TV program is disclosed. In the present invention, both a detail information included in the additional information transmitted by a broadcasting station or detail information obtained from an external source such as the Internet may be displayed to a user, it requested.

1. An apparatus for displaying additional information in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the apparatus comprising:
 a selector which receives a program selection input from a user and which includes a key for requesting detail information on a selected object in a selected program; 
 a data processor which receives broadcasting signals, selects and demodulates from the received broadcasting signals the selected program, and separates additional information from the demodulated signal; 
 a Media Object Description Table (MODT) decoder which detects from the additional information, detail information on each of certain objects in the selected program being displayed, and decodes the detail information into a plurality of object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information; 
 a storage which stores the plurality of object information; 
 a display which displays an object information stored in the storage when the user, through said key on the selector, requests to view detail information on a particular object being displayed in the selected program and selected by the user from the objects displayed in the selected program, where said object information corresponds to the object being displayed and selected by the user; 
 a controller which controls the separation of the additional information, the decoding of the detail information, the storing of the plurality of object information, and the display of the object information; and 
 a connector through which the controller connects to an external source to obtain detail information in response to a request from the user to view detail information, 
 wherein the controller connects to a network to search for the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       2. An apparatus for displaying additional information in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the apparatus comprising:
 a selector which receives a program selection input from a user and which includes a key for requesting detail information on a selected object in a selected program; 
 a data processor which receives broadcasting signals, selects and demodulates from the received broadcasting signals the selected program, and separates additional information from the demodulated signal; 
 a Media Object Description Table (MODT) decoder which detects from the additional information, detail information on each of certain objects in the selected program being displayed, and decodes the detail information into a plurality of object information; 
 a storage which stores the plurality of object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information; 
 a display which displays an object information stored in the storage when the user, through said key on the selector, requests to view detail information on a particular object being displayed in the selected program and selected by the user from the objects displayed in the selected program, where said object information corresponds to the object being displayed and selected by the user; 
 a controller which controls the separation of the additional information, the decoding of the detail information, the storing of the plurality of object information, and the display of the object information; and 
 a connector through which the controller connects to an external source to obtain detail information in response to a request from the user to view detail information, 
 wherein the controller connects directly to a host or a server in a program provider to obtain the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       3. An apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of object information are stored in an object table according to object names and wherein each object name has a corresponding characteristic table which includes detailed information. 
     
     
       4. An apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the characteristic table includes media type, a number of frames, positions, sizes and states of an object. 
     
     
       5. An apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller indicates to the user that there is detail information on objects in addition to the program being displayed. 
     
     
       6. An apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the controller indicates to the user that there is detail information on objects by displaying an item list in a form of a menu on the display at a predetermined position. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the selector is one of a panel key attached to the display, a remote control, a keyboard or a mouse. 
     
     
       8. A method for displaying additional information in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the method comprising:
 receiving a program selection input from a user through a selector which includes a key for requesting detail information on a selected object in a selected program; 
 receiving broadcasting signals, selecting and demodulating from the received broadcasting signals a program selected by the user through the selector, and separating additional information from the demodulated signal; 
 detecting from the additional information, detail information on each of certain objects in the selected program being displayed, and decoding the detail information into a plurality of object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information; 
 storing the plurality of object information; 
 displaying an object information stored when the user requests to view detail information on a particular object being displayed in the selected program and selected by the user from the objects displayed in the selected program, where said object information corresponds to the object being displayed and selected by the user, and 
 connecting to an external source to obtain detail information in response to a request from the user to view detail information, 
 wherein the connecting step connects to a network to search for the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       9. A method of  claim 8 , wherein said detail information not included in additional information is requested by inputting characters through the selector. 
     
     
       10. A method for displaying additional information in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the method comprising:
 receiving a program selection input from a user through a selector which includes a key for requesting detail information on a selected object in a selected program; 
 receiving broadcasting signals, selecting and demodulating from the received broadcasting signals a program selected by the user through the selector, and separating additional information from the demodulated signal; 
 detecting from the additional information, detail information on each of certain objects in the selected program being displayed, and decoding the detail information into a plurality of object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information; 
 storing the plurality of object information; 
 displaying an object information stored when the user requests to view detail information on a particular object being displayed in the selected program and selected by the user from the objects displayed in the selected program, where said object information corresponds to the object being displayed and selected by the user; and 
 connecting to an external source to obtain detail information in response to a request from the user to view detail information, 
 wherein the connecting step connects directly to a host or a server in a program provider to obtain the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       11. A method of  claim 8 , wherein the storing step stores the plurality of object information in an object table according to object names and wherein each object name has a corresponding characteristic table which includes detailed information. 
     
     
       12. A method of  claim 11 , wherein the characteristic table includes media type, a number of frames, positions, sizes and states of an object. 
     
     
       13. A method of  claim 8 , further comprising informing a user that there is detail information on objects in addition to the program being displayed. 
     
     
       14. A method of  claim 13 , wherein the informing step indicates to the user that there is detail information on objects by displaying an item list in a form of a menu on the display at a predetermined position. 
     
     
       15. A method of  claim 8 , wherein the selector is one of a panel key attached to the display, a remote control, a keyboard or a mouse. 
     
     
       16. An apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the selected object is a person or an item displayed as part of the selected program being displayed. 
     
     
       17. A method of  claim 8 , wherein, in the displaying step, the selected object is a person or an item displayed as part of the selected program being displayed. 
     
     
       18. An apparatus for displaying information on objects of a program in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the apparatus comprising:
 a user input unit to receive a user's selection of a program; 
 a processor to receive broadcast signals, obtain the selected program and additional information from the broadcast signals, detect from the additional information any detail information on each of certain objects of the selected program, and decode the detail information into object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information; 
 a storage to store the object information; 
 a display unit to display the selected program; and 
 a controller to receive the user's selection of a particular object of the selected program and the user's request to view detail information on the selected particular object, and to control the display unit to display an object information stored in the storage unit and corresponding to the selected particular object when the user requests to view detail information on the selected particular object, 
 wherein the controller connects to a different source to obtain the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       19. The apparatus  claim 18 , wherein the different source is a communication network, or a host in a program provider. 
     
     
       20. A method for displaying information on objects of a program in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the method comprising:
 receiving a user's selection of a program; 
 receiving broadcast signals, obtaining the selected program and additional information from the broadcast signals, detecting from the additional information any detail information on each of certain objects of the selected program, and decoding the detail information into object information; 
 storing the object information; 
 displaying the object information stored when in response to the user's selection of a particular object of the selected program and the user's request to view detail information on the selected particular object, displaying an object information stored and corresponding to the selected particular object; and 
 connecting to a different source to obtain the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information. 
 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20 , wherein, in the connecting, the different source is a communication network, or a host in a program provider. 
     
     
       22. An apparatus for displaying information on objects of a program in an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), the apparatus comprising:
 a user input unit to receive a user's selection of a program;   a processor to receive broadcast signals, obtain the selected program and additional information from the broadcast signals, detect from the additional information any detail information on each of certain objects of the selected program, and decode the detail information into object information, wherein the object information includes an object table including program information;   a storage to store the object information;   a display unit to display the selected program; and   a controller to receive the user's selection of a particular object of the selected program and the user's request to view detail information on the selected particular object, and to control the display unit to display an object information stored in the storage unit,   wherein the controller connects to a different source to obtain the detail information requested by the user when said detail information is not included in the additional information.   
     
     
       23. The apparatus claim 22, wherein the different source is a communication network, or a host in a program provider.