Importance

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Abstract

A system interactively controlled by a TV viewer remote control transmitter displays, on demand by the viewer and on the viewer's display screen, descriptive data and a video clip related to a program identified on the program guide. A tuner receives TV radio frequency or optical transmission signals in a plurality of cable channels and passes a viewer usable signal of any selected one of the channels to a signal combiner. A computer receives any of a plurality of control signals from the TV viewer remote control transmitter. It also controls the tuner to pass the viewer usable signal of any selected channel in response to one of the control signals from the TV viewer remote control transmitter. It also receives and stores an input picture image signal containing local program guide data and descriptive data and video clips related to selected ones of the programs identified in the program guide data. The computer also generates an output picture image signal consisting of at least a portion of the input picture image signal. The viewer, by use of the remote, controls the computer to select the content of the output picture image signal to include the descriptive data and video clip of a selected program. The signal combiner combines the viewer usable signal of any selected channel from the tuner with the output picture image signal from the computer to provide a display signal with the selected descriptive data and video clip superimposed over the channel programming display for input to the viewer's display screen.

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First Claim