Computer readable storage media providing a program guide viewed with a perceived transparency over a television program

Abstract

A system interactively controlled by a TV viewer remote superimposes portions of a scroll program guide over a basic programming signal for display on the viewer's display screen. A tuner has an input for receiving TV signals in a plurality of cable channels and an output for passing a signal of any selected one of said channels. A computer has an input for receiving any of a plurality of control signals from the TV viewer remote and an output for controlling the tuner to pass the signal of the selected one of the channels in response to one of the plurality of control signals from the TV viewer remote. The computer receives and stores a scroll input picture image signal containing local program guide data and generates a scroll output picture image signal consisting of at least a portion of the scroll input picture image signal. A combiner superimposes output picture image signal over the passed signal to provide a display signal for input to the viewer's display screen. The computer is responsive to control signals from the remote to cause the combiner to change the weight of the output picture image signal in relation to the passed signal.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . Computer readable storage media comprising: 
 instructions for superimposing an interactive program guide with a perceived partial transparency over a television program such that the television program can be at least partially perceived by a television viewer through the interactive program guide.    
     
     
         2 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions allow variability of a weight of the transparency relative to a display image.  
     
     
         3 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions allow a display of the percentage of the weight of the transparency.  
     
     
         4 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions allow a user to vary the weight of the transparency.  
     
     
         5 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions allow automatic setting of the weight of the transparency upon program guide activation to the weight set at the time of most recent program guide deactivation.  
     
     
         6 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions present the program guide so that portions of the program guide are opaque relative to the display image.  
     
     
         7 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions present the program guide in a grid.  
     
     
         8 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions present one dimension of the grid corresponding to television channels.  
     
     
         9 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 7 , wherein the instructions present one dimension of the grid corresponding to broadcast times.  
     
     
         10 . The computer readable storage media of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions present the program guide as a scrolling program guide.  
     
     
         11 . Computer readable storage media comprising: 
 instructions for superimposing an interactive program guide with a perceived partial transparency over a television program, wherein the instructions allow:    variability of a weight of the transparency relative to a display image; and    a display of the percentage of the weight of the transparency.    
     
     
         12 . Computer readable storage media comprising: 
 instructions for superimposing an interactive program guide with a perceived partial transparency over a television program such that the television program can be at least partially perceived by a television viewer through the interactive program guide while the user interacts with the interactive program guide.