System and method for providing information of selectable objects in a television program

Abstract

A system and method for providing information of selectable objects in a television program as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for communicating television program information, the method comprising:
 by a television or television receiver:
 receiving, by the television or television receiver, moving picture information for a television program; 
 receiving, by the television or television receiver, user-selectable object information corresponding to a user-selectable object in the television program; and 
 combining, by the television or television receiver, the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into a completed moving picture data set that is formatted for communicating the television program with information describing user-selectable objects in the television program, the completed moving picture data set is formatted in accordance with a moving picture standard; 
 
 wherein:
 said receiving moving picture information for the television program comprises receiving an initial combined television program data set comprising initial moving picture information and initial user-selectable object information corresponding to user-selectable objects in the television program; and 
 said combining comprises modifying the initial user-selectable object information of the initial combined television program data set in accordance with the received user-selectable object information by inserting the received user-selectable object information in data fields of the completed moving picture data set that are not assigned by the moving picture standard. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , comprising communicating the combined data set in at least one serial data stream over a communication network to at least one recipient, the at least one serial data stream comprising a serial data stream that comprises moving picture information and user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , comprising storing the combined data set on a computer readable medium, the combined data set comprising user-selectable object information interleaved with moving picture information. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the moving picture information for the television program is formatted for communicating the television program without information describing user-selectable objects in the television program. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said modifying comprises changing at least a portion of the initial object information in accordance with the received user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received user-selectable object information corresponding to the user-selectable object in the television program comprises customized user-selectable object information that is customized to a particular set of one or more users. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received user-selectable object information corresponding to the user-selectable object in the television program comprises information describing location of the user-selectable object in a frame of the television program. 
     
     
       8. A television receiver comprising:
 at least one processor in the television receiver operable to, at least:
 receive moving picture information for a television program; 
 receive user-selectable object information corresponding to a user-selectable object in the television program; 
 combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into a combined data set, the combined data set is formatted in accordance with a moving picture standard; and 
 communicate the combined data set comprising interleaved moving picture information and user-selectable object information; 
 wherein: 
 the at least one processor is operable to receive the moving picture information for the television program by, at least in part, operating to receive an initial combined television program data set comprising initial moving picture information and initial user-selectable object information corresponding to user-selectable objects in the television program; and 
 the at least one processor is operable to combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into the combined data set by, at least in part, operating to modify the initial user-selectable object information of the initial combined television program data set in accordance with the received user-selectable object information by inserting the received user-selectable object information in data fields of the combined data set that are not assigned by the moving picture standard. 
 
 
     
     
       9. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to communicate the combined data set in at least one serial data stream over a communication network to at least one recipient, the at least one serial data stream comprising a serial data stream that comprises moving picture information and user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       10. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to store the combined data set on a computer readable medium, the combined data set comprising user-selectable object information interleaved with moving picture information. 
     
     
       11. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein the moving picture information for the television program is formatted for communicating the television program without information describing user-selectable objects in the television program. 
     
     
       12. The television receiver of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information in the combined data set by, at least in part, operating to insert the received user-selectable object information in the completed moving picture data set to create the combined data set comprising a moving picture data set and the received user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       13. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein said at least one processor is operable to receive moving picture information for the television program by, at least in part, operating to receive moving picture information for the television program prior to the moving picture information being formatted into a completed moving picture data set for communicating the television program. 
     
     
       14. The television receiver of  claim 13 , wherein said at least one processor is operable to combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into the combined data set by, at least in part, operating to combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into the completed moving picture data set that is formatted for communicating the television program with information describing user-selectable objects in the television program. 
     
     
       15. The television receiver of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is operable to modify the initial user-selectable object information of the initial combined television program data set in accordance with the received user-selectable object information by, at least in part, operating to change at least a portion of the initial object information in accordance with the received user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       16. The television receiver of  claim 8 , where the received user-selectable object information corresponding to the user-selectable object in the television program comprises customized user-selectable object information that is customized to a particular set of one or more users. 
     
     
       17. The television receiver of  claim 8 , where the received user-selectable object information corresponding to the user-selectable object in the television program comprises information describing location of the user-selectable object in a frame of the television program. 
     
     
       18. The television receiver of  claim 8 , where the received user-selectable object information corresponding to the user-selectable object in the television program comprises information identifying at least one action to be performed upon user-selection of the user-selectable object. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising communicating the combined data set in parallel data streams, each of the parallel data streams comprising interleaved moving picture information and user-selectable object information. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising aggregating the user-selectable object information received from a plurality of data sources into a single user-selectable object data set prior to the combining. 
     
     
       21. A method for communicating television program information, the method comprising:
 by a television or television receiver system:
 receiving, by the television or television receiver, moving picture information for a television program; 
 receiving, by the television or television receiver, user-selectable object information corresponding to a user-selectable object in the television program; 
 combining, by the television or television receiver, the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into a combined data set, the combined set is formatted in accordance with a moving picture standard; and 
 communicating, by the television or television receiver, the combined data set in parallel data streams, each of the parallel data streams comprising interleaved moving picture information and user-selectable object information; 
 
 wherein:
 the at least one processor is operable to receive the moving picture information for the television program by, at least in part, operating to receive an initial combined television program data set comprising initial moving picture information and initial user-selectable object information corresponding to user-selectable objects in the television program; and 
 the at least one processor is operable to combine the received moving picture information and the received user-selectable object information into the combined data set by, at least in part, operating to modify the initial user-selectable object information of the initial combined television program data set in accordance with the received user-selectable object information by inserting the received user-selectable object information in data fields of the combined data set that are not assigned by the moving picture standard. 
 
 
     
     
       22. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein modifying the initial user-selectable object information comprises changing information defining the user-selectable object presented in the television program. 
     
     
       23. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein modifying the initial user-selectable object information comprises changing information regarding an action performed upon selection of the user-selectable object. 
     
     
       24. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein modifying the initial user-selectable object information comprises deleting information regarding the user-selectable object. 
     
     
       25. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein modifying the initial user-selectable object information comprises encrypting information regarding the user-selectable object. 
     
     
       26. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the initial combined television program data set comprising initial moving picture information and initial user-selectable object information corresponding to user-selectable objects in the television program is received in a single serial data stream.