WO1995010916A1

WO1995010916A1 - A television receiver for providing control of television viewing

Info

Publication number: WO1995010916A1
Application number: PCT/US1994/011631
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniel S. Kwoh
Original assignee: Kwoh Daniel S
Priority date: 1993-10-15
Filing date: 1994-10-14
Publication date: 1995-04-20
Also published as: AU7978394A

Abstract

A television receiver is provided for controlling television viewing on a television monitor (45) integral to the television receiver. The television receiver includes apparatus for entering compressed codes (36), each representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program to be controlled for viewing, and apparatus for decoding and expanding for each program to be controlled for viewing, the entered compressed code for the program into the channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program. The television receiver also includes memory for storing (84) for each program to be controlled for viewing, the decoded channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program, and an apparatus (60, 400, 420) for controlling the display of programs on the television monitor, the apparatus for controlling coupled to a television signal source (39) and having a first output coupled to the television monitor, the apparatus for controlling responsive to the stored channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each program to be controlled for viewing and controlling the display of each program to be controlled for viewing.

Description

A TELEVISION RECEIVER FOR

PROVIDING CONTROL OF TELEVISION VIEWING

Background of the Invention

Field of the Invention:

This invention relates generally to television receivers and particularly to a television receiver providing for parental control of television viewing.

Description of the Related Art: Parental control is presently available in some television receivers, video cassette recorders, and cable boxes on a limited basis. In these devices, certain channels may be locked out. However, the locking out of channels does not prevent children from spending excessive time watching television instead of studying or doing other things. Other devices limit the amount of time, but do not provide for selective viewing to prevent viewing of undesirable programs.

One example of parental control at the television receiver is disclosed in U.S. Patent 4,510,623 to Bonneau et al. A local oscillator for electronically tuning the television is controlled by a phase lock loop which is responsive to the output signal from a microprocessor. The microprocessor provides the output signal only if the selected channel has not been inhibited. To inhibit a channel for a period of time, the user enters a lockout code which is stored in a non-volatile memory. The memory provides one input to the microprocessor which is compared to the input by a user selecting a channel to be viewed. The microprocessor determines whether the selected channel is one of the inhibited channels and, if it is, does not generate the necessary signal for tuning to that channel. Another prior art patent that discloses the blocking out of selected channels is U.S. Patent No. 4,718,107 to John J. Hayes. The parental control disclosed in the Hayes patent is provided in a converter box. In this system, if the access code is forgotten, the converter box has to be taken to the business office of the CATV system to have the memory purged of the blocked-out channel information and the access code, and a new access code must be entered. In the Hayes device, only selected channels can be blocked which does not allow the selected blocking of particular programs in a channel.

In general, the present state of the art concerning parental control suffers from a number of drawbacks. In particular, the control is very limited and does not provide a parent the broad control desirable for controlling the viewing or use of a television by a child. Some cable channels are scrambled and must be decoded by a cable box before being sent to a television tuned to channel 3 or channel 4. In this case, controlling the tuning of the television is ineffective, because the television is always tuned to channel 3 or 4. Even if a particular channel is blocked in the cable box or converter box, this does not provide the parent selective control over programs within a channel.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for apparatus and methods for improved parental control of television use to provide a parent broad control for both blocking unacceptable programs and/or selecting acceptable programs that are available for viewing. There is also a need in the art for improved parental control of multiple televisions attached to a common signal source.

Summary of the Invention It is an object of this invention to provide a television receiver that allows a parent to control the viewing of programs.

It is another object of the invention to provide a television receiver that allows a parent to block or enable selected programs.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide apparatus and methods for allowing the user to specify programs to be controlled for viewing by using compressed codes.

It is another object of the invention to allow blocking from viewing of specific scenes of a program.

According to an embodiment of the invention, apparatus is provided for controlling television viewing on a television monitor. The apparatus includes means for entering compressed codes, each representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program to be controlled for viewing, and apparatus for decoding and expanding for each program to be controlled for viewing, the entered compressed code for the program into the channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program. The apparatus also includes memory for storing for each program to be controlled for viewing, the decoded channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program, and means for controlling the display of programs on the television monitor, the means for controlling being coupled to a television signal source and having a first output coupled to the television monitor, the means for controlling being responsive to the stored channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each program to be controlled for viewing.

Other objects and many of the attendant features of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed descriptions and considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols designate like parts throughout the figures.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic showing apparatus including a parental control device that receives the signal source input and blocks or enables programs and attaches to a cable box according to the present invention. A remote controller is included for controlling the parental control device;

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing the details of a parental control device having a programmable multichannel filter according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic showing a programmable multiple channel filter according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is an illustration of a frequency spectrum showing channels being blocked according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of a processor for implementing the command controller and compressed code decoder according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow-chart of the operation of apparatus incorporating the parental control device in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 7 - 1 1 illustrate the different displays on the screen of the TV or the display of the VCR or remote controller employing the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic showing the details of a parental control device having a tunable channel jammer according to the present invention; FIG. 13 is a schematic of a jammer according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a frequency spectrum showing channels being jammed according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic showing the details of a parental control device having a tunable channel selector according to the present invention; FIG. 1 6 is a schematic of a tunable channel selector according to the present invention;

FIG. 17 is an illustration of the frequency spectrum at various locations in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a schematic showing a television receiver including a parental control device that receives the signal source input and blocks or enables programs according to the present invention. Compressed codes can be received via telephone and violent program scenes can be blocked according to the present invention;

FIG. 19a is a schematic showing a television receiver including a parental control device that receives the signal source input and selects channels for programs to be enabled according to the present invention. Compressed codes can be received via telephone and violent program scenes can be blocked according to the present invention;

FIG. 19b is a flow-chart of the operation of the television receiver incorporating the parental control device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19c illustrates a menu display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the timing of the vertical blanking interval lines of an interlaced television scanning raster; FIG. 21 is a schematic showing a parental control device with a power splitter that is able to provide parental control for multiple cable boxes and television receivers according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Specific Embodiments

Referring to the drawings, parental control circuity 40 is shown in FIG. 1 for providing parental control of the use of a television receiver. The parental control circuitry 40 is directly connected to the signal source input line 39 which is attached to parental control circuitry 40 through the tamper proof connector

50. The signal source input line 39 may be from one of many typical sources such as an antenna, television cable, or a satellite converter box. The signal source input line 39 is locked to the parental control circuitry 40 by the tamper proof connector 50 so that the parental control circuitry 40 may riot be easily removed from the system and simply bypassed. The output of the parental control circuitry 40 is sent to cable box 43, which converts channels for use by the VCR 44 and the television monitor 45. The cable 41 between the parental control circuitry 40 and the cable box 43 may also have tamper proof connecters on either end, such as tamper proof connector 52 and tamper proof connector 54. The purpose of the parental control circuitry 40 is to allow parents to either enable selected programs for viewing, or to block selected programs. Locating the parental control circuitry 40 between the signal source input line 39 and the cable box 43 allows the enabling or blocking of programs that are purposely scrambled and intended to be unscrambled by the cable box 43. The parental control circuity 40 can be commanded via control keys on the parental control circuitry 40 (not shown) or the remote controller 12, which is further described below. To communicate with the remote controller 12, the parental control circuitry 40 has an infrared detector 32. The parental control circuitry 40 also has an infrared emitter 46 which can communicate with infrared detector 48 in the cable box 43. For example, if parental control circuitry 40 is tuned to a particular channel associated with a selected program, then the parental control circuitry 40 can communicate via infrared emitter 46 to switch cable box 43 to the same channel via infrared detector 48. The output of cable box 43 is typically channel 3 or channel 4, and the VCR 44 and the television monitor 45 are typically tuned to the output channel of the cable box 43. FIG. 2 is a specific embodiment of parental control circuitry 40. In this embodiment, signal source input on line 39 is passed through programmable multiple channel filter 60 to form the parental control output on line 41 . Programmable multiple channel filter 60 is controlled by command controller 36. The command controller 36 receives commands from infrared detector 32 and outputs commands to cable box 43 via infrared emitter 46. Command controller 36 is coupled to/from the clock 42 and the compressed code decoder 38, which also has an input from the clock 42. The clock 42 in parental control circuitry 40 can be synchronized with a clock in VCR 44 and any other clocks in the parental control system 1 1 by downloading time encoded as audio tones from telephone

35 to microphone 34 and remote controller 12, which can then send the time to the various clocks in the system to synchronize them. The command controller also receives an input from key switch 33, which has a parental control (PC) position and a normal position. The key for key switch 33 should be kept by the parent in a secure place. If the key switch is in the normal position then any program can be watched. If the key is in the PC position, then only programs that are enabled can be watched. Outputs from command controller 36 may include input selection switch 57 and vertical blanking interval decoder 437, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 when the parental control circuitry is also connected to devices other than the cable box. For example, the parental control circuitry 40 may be located inside the television as shown in FIG. 18 or outside the television and somewhere before the input to the television.

The command controller 36 and compressed code decoder 38 can be implemented as shown in FIG. 5 and are described in further detail below. However, before the details of FIG. 5 are described, the programmable multiple channel filter 60 of FIG. 2 and its operation are described. The programmable multiple channel filter 60 can be implemented as shown in FIG. 3. Suppose a user has specified a number of programs to be blocked from viewing on the television 45. The user can specify which programs to block by either specifying particular programs to be blocked, or by specifying that all programs on a particular channel be blocked. FIG. 3 shows a programmable multiple channel filter 60 which can filter multiple channels from the broad band television signal input 39. For example, in FIG. 3, switch 66 is shown as open which indicates that the channel 3 filter 63 will filter channel 3 from the parental control output 41 . On the other hand, switch 65 and switch 67 are closed allowing the broad band television signal input 39 to bypass channel 2 filter 62 and channel 4 filter 64. Thus, channels 2 and 4 are not filtered from the parental control output 41 . Switches 65-71 are controlled by switch interface 61 which is in turn controlled by command controller 36. If a particular program is to be blocked from viewing, then the command controller

36 opens the appropriate switch, for example, switch 66 for channel 3, at the start of the program and closes the switch 66 at the end of the program. This would block the viewing of that particular program on channel 3. To perform this function, the command controller needs to know the channel, date, time-of-

-1- day and length (CDTL) of the program to be blocked from viewing. This CDTL information can be either input as channel, date, time-of-day and length to the parental control circuitry 40 or can be entered via compressed codes, which are described below, via remote controller 12. Another method of determining when to block a program is to look for a program identifier in the signal received from the television signal source. If the received program identifier matches the program identifier of a program to be blocked that has been entered in the command controller 36, then the program is blocked. An example of this method is called VPS, which is a program identification transmitted with the television signal in European broadcasting systems. This technique can also be used to enable programs.

FIG. 4 shows an example frequency spectrum for a broad band television signal that has been filtered by programmable multiple channel filter 60. In FIG. 4 channels 3, 6, and 7 have been filtered so that programs in those channels cannot toe viewed. Because it is possible with the programmable multiple channel filter 60 to either block the viewing of an entire channel or a particular program, the frequency spectrum of the parental control output 41 will change over time as the command controller 36 sends commands for turning on and off the switches 65-71 to the switch interface 61 . The remote controller 12, shown in FIG. 1 has a number of keys, which include numerical keys 20, compressed code switch 22, function keys 24, program key 26, and power key 27. The remote controller 1 2 also includes a total parental control key 29 and an enter key 31 . The remote controller may further advantageously include a cursor control having up/down keys 17 and 21 , respectively, right/left keys 19 and 23, respectively, and an activate key 25.

There are means in the remote controller 12 that interpret each key as it is pressed, and sends the proper command signal 16 to the parental control circuity 40 via the infrared diode 28. Except for the compressed code switch 22, the total parental control key 29, menu key 37, enter key 31 and the up/down 17/21 , right/left 19/23 and activate 25 keys, the remote controller is essentially the same as any other remote controller in function. It is to be noted that the typical keys of remote controllers, such as volume control and channel selection, are not shown on the controller of FIG. 1 , but would ordinarily be present.

The total parental control key 29 and enter key 31 are used when selecting programs that are to be blocked or enabled for viewing on the television. The enter key 31 is used when entering the user's identification code that permits programming of the parental control circuitry to set up the programs to be blocked or enabled for viewing on the television receiver.

The compressed code switch 22 is provided to allow the user to lock the remote controller 1 2 in the compressed code mode while using a compressed code, which is encoded CDTL information. The compressed codes allow easy selection of a program to be enabled or blocked under parental control.

The remote controller 12 also can have a microphone 34, which can be used together with telephone 35, to download encoded CDTL information or compressed codes, as well as other information such as time and IR codes for the particular devices. The compressed codes for programs that are to be enabled for viewing or blocked from viewing are entered via audio tones from telephone 35. In one embodiment, the compressed codes or program identifiers from a preselected list of violent programs are downloaded via telephone from a central data base. The parent calls the data base and then holds the television receiver 35, near the remote controller microphone 34. The received compressed codes are then communicated from the remote controller 12 to command controller 36.

Alternatively, the violent program may be coded in a printed television guide and the parent may enter the compressed code for the selected programs by using the keypad of the remote 12.

A possible realization of the command controller 36 and the compressed code decoder 38 is shown in FIG. 5. The command controller 36 includes a microprocessor 80 for overall control and for performing the parental control functions, a read only memory 82 for program storage, a random access memory (RAM) 84, and input/output circuitry 86. This input/output circuitry 86 is adapted to receive commands from the infrared detector 32 and the key switch 33. The input/output has output interfaces to infrared emitter 46, and, when appropriate, to input selection switch 57 and vertical blanking interval decoder 437, the latter two of which are shown in FIGS. 18 and 19. The input/output circuitry 86 has a bidirectional interface to clock 42. Commands are sent from command controller 36 via input/output 86 to the programmable multiple channel filter 60, shown in FIG. 2, the tunable channel jammer 400, shown in FIG. 12, and the tunable channel selector 420, shown in FIG. 1 5. The random access memory 84 includes a section for the parental control identification code and a section of stack memory for storing the channels, dates, times-of-day, and lengths for programs selected to be enabled for viewing or, alternatively in the case of exclusion, the channels, dates, times-of-day, and lengths for programs selected to be blocked from viewing. Either the ID number section, or the stack memory may be separate from RAM 84. As noted above, the compressed code, which are encoded CDTL information, may be advantageously used to simplify the parental control operation of the television. One implementation of the compressed code decoder 38 is shown in FIG.

5. A microcontroller 90 with a random access memory 92 and a read only memory 94 has interfaces to microprocessor 80. The encoded CDTL is sent to microcontroller 90, which decodes the compressed code and returns CDTL information to microprocessor 80. In order for the compressed code to be useful, it must be decoded, and apparatus for that purpose must be provided. A compressed code decoder 38 is included in the parental control circuitry 40 of FIG. 1 and is further shown in FIGS. 2, 13, 16 and 19. If the command controller 36 determines that a compressed code has been received, then the compressed code will be sent to the compressed code decoder 38 for decoding. The compressed code decoder

38 converts the compressed code into channel, date, time and length (CDTL) information which is stored in RAM 84 and used by the command controller 36 to control the enabling and clocking of particular programs.

U.S. Patent 5,335,079, issued August 2, 1994 describes apparatus and methods for compressed code encoding and decoding and is incorporated herein by this reference as though set forth in full.

As described in U.S. Patent 5,335,079 the compressed code encoding and decoding can be made a function of time read from clock 42. This makes it very difficult for the key and therefore the coding technique to be duplicated or copied. It is also possible to have the decoding and encoding techniques dependent on any other predetermined or preprogrammable algorithm.

The clock 42 is also used for the timing of the operation of the command controller 36. When the proper date and time-of-day is read from clock 42, then the command controller 36 controls the parental control circuitry 40 to block or enable programs going to the cable box 43.

The operation of the parental control device 40 of FIG. 1 may be better understood by reference to the flow chart set forth in FIG. 6. The TV is turned on at step 300, and any other ancillary apparatus, such as parental control circuitry 40 in FIG. 1 , is also turned on. If the key lock 33 is in the position for normal TV viewing, then the normal viewing of step 301 will be available. After completion of viewing, the TV is shut off (step 302). If the key lock 33 is in the parental control position, then upon turning on the TV, the selections that are enabled or blocked for viewing will be displayed on the screen as shown in step

303. A representative display of programs to be enabled in step 303 is shown in FIG. 7. A similar display is used to display blocked programs. The user of the apparatus may then select one of the programs that is enabled for viewing in step 304 and, upon completion of viewing, the TV is then shut off in step 305.

If the programs to be blocked or enabled are to be modified, then the total parental control key, such as key 29 in FIG. 1 , is pushed in step 307.

The pushing of the total parental control key 29 will cause a message to appear on the screen of the TV such as the one shown in FIG. 8 wherein the user is requested to enter his or her identification (ID) code or number. Following the display of the message in step 308, the user enters his or her ID in step 309 by using the numbers of the key pad 20, for example, as shown in the remote controller of FIG. 1. The authorized user ID codes will have been previously stored in the parental control ID section of the RAM 84, as illustrated in FIG. 3. A typical user ID might be 6823 which, when entered, is compared in the verify step 310 under the control of the microprocessor 80 with the authorized parental control IDs stored in the RAM 84. The ID code number is entered by pressing keys numbered 6, 8, 2 and 3 and then the enter key 31 . If the ID number that is entered is not an authorized number stored in RAM 84, then the user will be advised in step 31 1 by a message, such as the message of FIG. 9, displayed on the TV screen that the ID number is incorrect and the entry of another ID number will be requested. Steps 309 and 310 will, again, take place upon the entry of the new ID number and, if this ID number is again incorrect, the user will again be advised in step 31 1. Upon the entry of a number of incorrect ID numbers, such as 3, which are monitored in step 312, then the user will be advised in step

313 by a message such as the one shown in FIG. 10 that the ID numbers that have been entered are not authorized ID numbers and that the TV will be disabled for a period of time. The period of time may, for example, be 30 minutes or one hour or whatever may be selected during set up by the authorized user of the equipment.

If in the verification step 310 the user ID code that has been entered is an authorized ID, then in step 31 5 a menu will be displayed on the TV screen, such as shown in FIG. 1 1 . The menu displayed in step 315 as shown in FIG. 1 1 has choices for enabling programs, blocking programs, and enabling V-block, which is a choice that allows the blocking of scenes in programs or entire programs that have objectionable violence, nudity, or language. One or more of the possible selections set forth in the menu of FIG. 1 1 may be selected in step 316. The user may also select entry 6 on the menu to override the parental control operation by pushing number 6 on, for example, the remote controller 12 of FIG. 1 , for normal TV viewing. This will cause the override of step 317 to permit normal TV viewing (step 318) after which the TV will be shut off in step 319 or the menu of FIG. 1 1 may again be displayed in step 320 by pushing the

MENU key 37 shown in FIG. 1 .

With the menu displayed on the screen of the television in step 315 or 320, the user need only push one of the numbered keys on key pad 20 to set up the mode for selecting one of the possible selections as shown in the menu of FIG. 1 1. The pushing of button 1 will permit the selection of programs to be enabled, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Upon pushing button key 1 , for example, (step 321 ), the previous selections that have been made will be displayed along with instructions for making deletions or additional selections.

If programs are to be deleted in step 322, the user activates the cursor by pressing button 25 (FIG. 1 ), and then moves the cursor on the TV screen displaying the available programs, e.g., as shown in FIG. 7, by use of the up/down keys 17 and 21 and the right/left keys 19 and 23 to the program that is to be deleted. With the cursor highlighting the program to be deleted, the enter key 31 is depressed to complete the deletion of the program from programs that may be viewed. In step 322, programs may, alternatively, be deleted by entering a compressed code for a program, as shown in FIG. 7. For example, if it is desired to delete the program FAMILY TIES, it is only necessary to enter on the keypad 20 the numbers "1 -5-6-5-7" and thereafter press the ENTER key 31 . This will complete the deletion of FAMILY TIES from the programs available for viewing.

Similarly, to add one or more programs for viewing in step 323, the compressed codes that appear with the programs listed in the printed TV schedules may advantageously be employed. The user, on deciding which of the programs listed in the TV schedule to make available for viewing, enters the compressed code for each of these programs by using the keypad 20 on the apparatus or on the remote controller, as shown in FIG. 1 , and the enter key 31 . The TV schedule may also be made available on a floppy disk, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07/882,291 filed May 13, 1992 and incorporated herein by this reference as though set forth in full. A floppy disk drive may be incorporated into the parental control circuitry, the VCR, or the television for reading the TV schedule and displaying same on the screen of the TV. If a floppy disk is used, then programs to be added may be selected by use of the cursor keys shown in FIG. 1 or by entry of the compressed code that is listed in the TV schedule retrieved from the floppy disk. Additionally, the TV schedule may be available as part of the TV broadcast signal in the vertical blanking interval of the TV signal or as the video program. When the vertical blanking interval is used to carry the TV scheduling information, the schedule information may be retrieved from the TV broadcast signal by a vertical blanking interval decoder 437, as shown in FIGs. 18 and 19 and displayed on the TV monitor 442 of FIGs. 18 and 19, for example. Again, the programs to be added may be selected by use of the cursor keys as shown in FIG. 1 , or by entry of the compressed code as described above.

The user may also select programs to be blocked from viewing on the TV by pushing button 2 when the menu is being displayed on the TV screen in step 31 5. Steps 321 ', 322', and 323' operate in an analogous manner to steps 321 , 322, and 323. The V-block mode may be selected by pushing button 3 when the menu is being displayed on the TV screen in step 316. The V-block mode enables the automatic blocking of programs or scenes in programs that have objectionable violence, nudity, or language. The V-block operation is described further below.

During the selection process, each selection to be added is stored in RAM 84 and at the completion of the selection process transferred to the stack memory portions of RAM 84 for storage in temporal order. Upon the completion of each selection from the menu, the menu key 37 is depressed to return to step 31 5 for display of the menu shown in FIG. 1 1 . At any time in the selection process, the key 7 may be depressed while the menu is being displayed to compare the selections that have been made for possible inconsistencies, which is done in step 354. For example, if programs have been both enabled and blocked this will be noted as an inconsistency. If there are no inconsistencies, then the microprocessor 80 causes the selections to be stored in step 356 in the stack memory portion of the RAM 84. If inconsistencies do exist in step 354, then the program, channel, date, or time that is to be deleted to avoid the inconsistency is selected in step 355 by depressing the appropriate key 1 , 2 or 4 and going through the delete step 322 or 322'. Once there are no inconsistencies in the selections and the selections are stored in the stack memory portion of RAM 84, then the TV is shut off in step 357. Another specific embodiment of the parental control circuitry 40 is shown in FIG. 12. Most of the elements of FIG. 12 are the same as those shown in FIG. 2 so an explanation of those will not be repeated. However, a key difference is tunable channel jammer 400 which is imposed between signal source input line 39 and parental control output line 41 . The purpose of tunable channel jammer 400 is to block the viewing of particular channels, or programs. Implementing the programmable multiple channel filter of FIG. 3 might be fairly expensive, because each channel filter would have to be fairly precise in order to not interfere with adjacent channels and the number of components involved would result in a high cost. Rather than filtering a channel as in FIG. 3, tunable channel jammer 400 instead has the purpose of jamming a channel or multiple channels. If a channel is selected to be blocked from viewing, then the jamming on that channel can be continuous. If particular programs have been selected to be blocked from viewing, then the respective channels for those programs will be jammed on that date starting with the time of day for that program and end after the program has ended. The start and end time for the programs can be obtained from the CDTL information in the G codes. FIG. 13 shows an apparatus for implementing tunable channel jammer

400. One implementation, a narrow band noise source 402 is mixed with a tunable frequency generator 404 in mixer 406 and then combined with signal source input line 39 in combiner 408 to produce the parental control output on line 41. The tunable frequency generator 404 would be tuned to place the narrow band noise inside the channel to be jammed. Multiple channels can be jammed by time sharing the circuity of FIG. 13. For example, if channels, 2, 3, 5, and 10 are to be jammed at the same time then the tunable frequency generator 404 would be tuned to each of those channels for a set period of time and then would skip to the next channel to be jammed and so on. If the duty cycle of the jamming on any particular channel is high enough, then the channel will be unwatchable. By time sharing the apparatus in this manner considerable costs can be saved.

In another implementation, instead of having a narrow band noise source 402, a low frequency generator 402 is supplied. Again, tunable frequency generator 404 is used to place the low^" frequency within the channel to be jammed. Tests have shown that a noise generator with a 1 kilohertz bandwidth centered at 55 megahertz is sufficient to block the viewing of channel 2. The circuity of FIG. 13 may be time shared between as many as 10 channels at a time which results in a 10 percent jamming duty cycle on any particular channel. FIG. 14 is an illustration of a frequency spectrum showing jamming occurring in channels 2, 4, and 7. The programmable multiple channel filter 60 of FIG. 2 and the tunable channel jammer 400 of FIG. 1 2 both have the purpose of blocking a channel or a program from viewing by a user of a television. FIG. 1 5 is a specific implementation of parental control circuitry 40 which allows particular channels or programs to be enabled for viewing on a television. Again, most of the elements of FIG. 1 5 are similar to those in FIG. 2, however, tunable channel selector 420 is different and has the purpose of enabling certain channels or programs for viewing.

FIG. 16 shows an implementation of tunable channel selector 420. In FIG. 1 6, the signal on signal source input line 39 is frequency down converted by mixing this signal with the output of tunable local oscillator 422 in frequency down-converter 424. The output of frequency down-converter 424 is then filtered by intermediate frequency filter 426 to pass only the channel to be enabled for viewing. This channel is then frequency up converted by frequency up-converter 428, which mixes the output of intermediate frequency filter 426 with the output of tunable local oscillator 422. The amount of frequency down conversion in frequency down-converter 424 is equal to the amount of frequency up conversion in frequency up-converter 428. The tunable local oscillator 422 is the same for frequency down-converter 424 and frequency up-converter 428. FIG. 17 illustrates the frequency spectrum at signal source input line 39, the frequency down-converter 424 output, the intermediate frequency filter 426 output, and the output on parental control output line 41 of FIG. 16. As shown in FIG. 17, the result is that on parental control output line 41 only the selected channel is remaining which is channel 10 in FIG. 17. Since at any one time only one channel is enabled for viewing, the command controller 36 must command the cable box 43 to tune itself to the proper channel. This is done by communicating through infrared emitter 46 to infrared detector 48 on cable box 43.

A parental control television 430 is shown in FIG. 18. The parental control television 430 has parental control circuitry 40 incorporated into it. The parental control circuitry 40 inside the parental control television 430 can be implemented as previously discussed to either block certain programs and channels from viewing or enable certain programs and channels for viewing. Specifically, parental control circuitry 40 can be implemented as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 12, or FIG. 1 5. By incorporating the parental control circuitry 40 inside the parental control television 430, the extra cost and inconvenience of a separate unit is avoided. The signal source input line 39 is connected to the parental control television 430 by a tamper proof connector 432 to prevent tampering. The cable box 43 and VCR 44 can be located outside of the parental control television 430. The parental control output on line 41 can be sent directly to the cable box 43, or can bypass the cable box 43 via line 444. The input selection switch 57 within the parental control television 430 selects either an input from VCR 44 or cable box 43 for viewing on television monitor 442.

In this implementation, a normal tuner 438 and video circuits 440 are provided.

Another capability that can be provided within the parental control television 430 is the feature previously referred to as "V-Block," which allows the blocking of programs or scenes in programs that have objectional violence, nudity or language. V-block is implemented by in the VBI of a program a code indicating the presence of possibly objectionable matter and decoding the vertical blanking interval of a television raster scan to retrieve the code for controlling the viewing on the television. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating the timing 447 of the vertical blanking lines 1 -20 of field 1 and vertical blanking lines 263-283 of field 2 of a video frame. As shown, each vertical blanking interval line 448 occupies a portion of the time span. A scene V-Block indication 449 can be put into one of the vertical blanking intervals lines. The vertical blanking lines is then decoded by vertical blanking interval decoder 437. If vertical blanking interval decoder 437 detects a scene V-block indication 449 in the vertical blanking interval lines, and if the V-block mode has been enabled by parental control circuitry 40 via line 441 , then the vertical blanking interval decoder 437 will open the V-block switch 439. This will block the offending scene from the television monitor 442. After the offending scene is finished, the vertical blanking internal decoder 437 detects the absence of scene V-block indication 449 in the vertical blanking lines and closes the V-Block switch 439, which reconnects the television monitor 442 to the video circuits 440. If all the scenes in a program have scene V-block indications, then the entire program is blocked. The V-Biock feature will also operate to block offending scenes from any programs played on the VCR which have a scene V-Block indication in the vertical blanking interval. This provides parental control for programs that are recorded with a scene V-block indication.

A specific embodiment of a parental control TV 430 is shown in FIG. 19a. Again, the signal source input line 39 is attached to parental control television

430 through a tamper proof connector 432. The broad band signal on line 39 is shifted in frequency by frequency down-converter 424 and then band-pass filtered by intermediate frequency filter 426 and then up-converted in frequency by frequency upconverter 428. The frequency down-conversion in frequency down-converter 424 and the frequency up-conversion in frequency upconverter 428 are the same and determined by the setting of tunable local oscillator 422. The frequency shifting and filtering operation is the same as described for FIGS.

16 and 17. The local oscillator 422 is controlled by command controller 36 and is tuned to select only enabled programs for viewing. As shown FIG. 19a, command controller 36 is coupled to compressed code decoder 38 and clock 42 as well as infrared detector 32 and infrared emitter 46. Command controller 36 and compressed code decoder 38 can be implemented as shown in FIG. 5. The output of frequency upconverter 428 is sent to cable box 43 which is attached to parental control television 430 via tamper proof connectors 446. The cable box 43 must be tuned to the same channel that is selected by command controller 36. This is accomplished by command controller 36 sending via infrared emitter 46 and infrared detector 48 a command to the cable box 43 to switch to the channel that has been selected. The cable box 43 converts the cable channel and performs an unscrambling of any scrambled channels and then outputs onto channel 3 the selected program. A VCR 44 can also be connected to a parental control television 430 via connectors 447. The selection between VCR 44 or cable box 43 is performed by input selection switch 57 which is controlled by command controller 36.

In FIG. 19a, line 444 indicates that it is possible to send the output of frequency upconverter 428 directly to the VCR 44. This would be useful if cable channels did not need to be descrambled by cable box 43. The output of input selection switch 57 is sent to frequency down-converter 445 which downshifts the television signal according to local oscillator 443 for input to the video circuits 440. Note that the input to frequency down-converter 445 has already been band-limited by intermediate frequency filter 426, so it is not necessary to further filter the signal. Also shown in FIG. 19a is line 436 from intermediate frequency filter 426 to video circuits 440. In a normal television, the intermediate frequency filter 426 output can be sent to the video circuits 440 directly, because the frequency down-converter 424 and the intermediate frequency filter 426 perform the tuning function. However, if a cable box or a VCR is used, then by using the frequency upconverter 428 the output is at the frequencies expected by those appliances.

In the case of parental control television 430, the output of intermediate frequency filter 426 is frequency upshifted by frequency upconverter 428 and the television signal from the cable box 43 or the VCR 44 must then be downshifted by frequency down-converter 445 in order to be at the correct frequency for the video circuits 440. The amount of frequency shift in frequency down-converter 445 is not the same as the amount of frequency shift related to tunable local oscillator 422. However, another local oscillator 443 is provided which can be coupled if desired, to tunable local oscillator 422.

The V-block feature described for FIG. 18 is also incorporated into the parental control television 430 of FIG. 19a.

The programs to be enabled for viewing can be selected via remote controller 12 and are communicated from remote controller 12 via infrared emitter 28 to infrared detector 32. The remote controller 12 can also have a microphone 34, which can be used together with telephone 35, to download encoded CDTL information (compressed codes) or program identifiers. The compressed codes for programs that are to be enabled for viewing or blocked for viewing are entered via audio tones from telephone 35.

The parental control television 430 can also have a key lock 33, which can be used by the parent to place the parental control television 430 into either a normal mode or a parental control mode for controlling viewing on the television. The operation of the parental control television 430 of FIG. 19a may be better understood by reference to the flow chart set forth in FIG. 19b. The TV is turned on at step 500. If the key lock 33 is in the position for normal TV viewing, then the normal viewing of step 501 will be available. After completion of viewing, the TV is shut off (step 502). If the key lock 33 is in the parental control position, then upon turning on the TV, the selections that are enabled or blocked for viewing will be displayed on the screen as shown in step 503. A representative display of programs to be enabled in step 503 is shown in FIG. 7. The user of the apparatus may then select one of the programs that is enabled for viewing in step 504 and, upon completion of viewing, the TV is then shut off in step 505. If the programs to be enabled are to be modified, then the total parental control key, such as key 29 in FIG. 1 , is pushed in step 507.

The pushing of the total parental control key 29 will cause a message to appear on the screen of the TV such as the one shown in FIG. 8 wherein the user is requested to enter his or her identification (ID) code or number. Following the display of the message in step 508, the user enters his or her ID in step 509 by using the numbers of the key pad 20, for example, as shown in the remote controller of FIG. 1. The authorized user ID codes will have been previously stored in the parental control ID section of the RAM 84, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

A typical user ID might be 6825 which, when entered, is compared in the verify step 510 under the control of the microprocessor 80 with the authorized parental control IDs stored in the RAM 84. The ID code number is entered by pressing keys numbered 6, 8, 2 and 5 and then the enter key 31 . If the ID number that is entered is not an authorized number stored in RAM 84, then the user will be advised in step 51 1 by a message, such as the message of FIG. 9, displayed on the TV screen that the ID number is incorrect and the entry of another ID number will be requested. Steps 509 and 510 will, again, take place upon the entry of the new ID number and, if this ID number is again incorrect, the user will again be advised in step 51 1 . Upon the entry of a number of incorrect ID numbers, such as 3, which are monitored in step 512, then the user will be advised in step 513 by a message such as the one shown in FIG. 10 that the ID numbers that have been entered are not authorized ID numbers and that the TV will be disabled for a period of time. The period of time may, for example, be 30 minutes or one hour or whatever may be selected during set up by the authorized user of the equipment.

If in the verification step 510 the user ID code that has been entered is an authorized ID, then in step 515 a menu will be displayed on the TV screen, such as shown in FIG. 19c. The menu displayed in step 515 as shown in

FIG. 19c has choices for enabling programs and enabling V-block, which is a choice that allows the blocking of scenes in programs or entire programs that have objectionable violence, nudity, or language. One or more of the possible selections set forth in the menu of FIG. 19c may be selected in step 51 6. The user may also select entry 4 on the menu to override the parental control operation by pushing number 4 on, for example, the remote controller 12 of FIG. 1 , for normal TV viewing. This will cause the override of step 517 to permit normal TV viewing (step 518) after which the TV will be shut off in step 519 or the menu of FIG. 19c may again be displayed in step 520 by pushing the MENU key 37 shown in FIG. 1 .

With the menu displayed on the screen of the television in step 515 or 520, the user need only push one of the numbered keys on key pad 20 to set up the mode for selecting one of the possible selections as shown in the menu of FIG. 19c. The pushing of button 1 will permit the selection of programs to be enabled, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Upon pushing button key 1 , for example, (step

521 ), the previous selections that have been made will be displayed along with instructions for making deletions or additional selections. If programs are to be deleted in step 522, the user activates the cursor by pressing button 25 (FIG. 1 ), and then moves the cursor on the TV screen displaying the available programs, e.g., as shown in FIG. 7, by use of the up/down keys 17 and 21 and the right/left keys 19 and 23 to the program that is to be deleted. With the cursor highlighting the program to be deleted, the enter key 31 is depressed to complete the deletion of the program from programs that may be viewed. In step 522, programs may, alternatively, be deleted by entering a compressed code for a program, as shown in FIG. 7. For example, if it is desired to delete the program FAMILY TIES, it is only necessary to enter on the keypad 20 the numbers "1 -5-6-5-7" and thereafter press the ENTER key 31 .

This will complete the deletion of FAMILY TIES from the programs available for viewing.

Similarly, to add one or more programs for viewing in step 523, the compressed codes that appear with the programs listed in the printed TV schedules may advantageously be employed. The user, on deciding which of the programs listed in the TV schedule to make available for viewing, enters the compressed code for each of these programs by using the keypad 20 on the apparatus or on the remote controller, as shown in FIG. 1 , and the enter key 31 . Additionally, the TV schedule may be available as part of the TV broadcast signal in the vertical blanking interval of the TV signal or as the video program. When the vertical blanking interval is used to carry the TV scheduling information, the schedule information may be retrieved from the TV broadcast signal by a vertical blanking interval decoder 437, as shown in FIGs. 18 and 19a and displayed on the TV monitor 442 of FIGs. 18 and 19a, for example. Again, the programs to be added may be selected by use of the cursor keys as shown in FIG. 1 , or by entry of the compressed code as described above.

The V-block mode may be selected by pushing button 2 when the menu is being displayed on the TV screen in step 516. The V-block mode enables the automatic blocking of programs or scenes in programs that have objectionable violence, nudity, or language, as described above.

During the selection process, each selection to be added is stored in RAM 84 and at the completion of the selection process transferred to the stack memory portions of RAM 84 for storage in temporal order. Upon the completion of each selection from the menu, the menu key 37 is depressed to return to step 515 for display of the menu shown in FIG. 19c. At any time in the selection process, the key 5 may be depressed while the menu is being displayed to compare the selections that have been made for possible inconsistencies, which is done in step 554. If there are no inconsistencies, then the microprocessor 80 causes the selections to be stored in step 556 in the stack memory portion of the RAM 84, as shown in FIG. 5 which shows an implementation of command controller 36. If inconsistencies do exist in step 554, then the program, channel, date, or time that is to be deleted to avoid the inconsistency is selected in step

555 by depressing key 1 and going through the delete step 522. Once there are no inconsistencies in the selections and the selections are stored in the stack memory portion of RAM 84, then the TV is shut off in step 557.

Then at the date and time of an enabled program, the viewer may use steps 503 and 504 to view a program.

FIG. 21 is a schematic showing a parental control device with a power splitter that is enabled to provide parental control for multiple cable boxes and television receivers. The signal source input line 39 is attached to the parental control circuitry 40 via a tamper proof connector 432. The output of parental control circuitry 40 and parental control output line 41 is sent to power splitter

460, which then distributes the signals out to multiple cable boxes 43 or televisions 45. In this case, because the parental control circuity is common for a household or possibly an entire apartment building, the parental control circuitry 40 is most likely remote from the location of the parents or the authorities that will exercise control over the parental control circuitry. Thus, a remote controller with an infrared link to the parental control circuity may be inadequate. FIG. 21 shows a remote control 452 that is similar to the remote controller 12 except that remote control 452 has an RF detector 455 and a RF emitter 456. Similarly, the parental control circuitry 40 has a RF emitter 453 and a RF detector 458. The remote control 452 sends commands to the parental control circuitry 40 via RF emitter 456 and RF detector 458. The parental control circuitry 40 responds with a list, for example, of programs to be enabled to the remote control 452 via RF emitter 453 and RF detector 455. A display (not shown) on remote control 452 or on a television monitor near remote control 452, displays the list of enabled programs. The users at each location have their own remote controller 462 which is used to tune cable boxes 43 or televisions 45, as required. However, if the user is tuned to a channel that has not been enabled, then viewing of that channel is effectively blocked by the parental control circuity 40. The described embodiments of the invention are only considered to be preferred and illustrative of the inventive concept, the scope of the invention is not to be restricted to such embodiments. Various and numerous other arrangements may be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and ail such applications, modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1 . A television receiver for providing control of television viewing on a television monitor integral to the television receiver, the television receiver comprising: means for entering compressed codes, each representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program to be controlled for viewing; means for decoding and expanding for each program to be controlled for viewing, the entered compressed code for the program into the channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program; means for storing for each program to be controlled for viewing, the decoded channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program; and means for controlling the display of programs on the television monitor; the means for controlling coupled to a television signal source and having a first output coupled to the television monitor, the means for controlling responsive to the stored channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each program to be controlled for viewing.

2. The television receiver of claim 1 further comprising a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time coupled to the means for controlling the display of programs; wherein the means for controlling comprises means for controlling the display of programs each having a date, time-of-day, and length as a function of the clock output.

3. The television receiver of claim 2 wherein the clock is coupled to the means for decoding and expanding and wherein the means for decoding and expanding a compressed code into channel, date, time-of-day and length comprises means for performing the decoding and expanding as a function of the clock output.

4. The television receiver of claim 1 further comprising a means for comparing authorized identification numbers to an entered identification code, the means for comparing coupled to the means for controlling.

5. The television receiver of claim 3 wherein the means for decoding and expanding the compressed code into channel, date, time-of-day and length comprises: means for converting the compressed code into a binary number; means for reordering the bits in the binary number to obtain a reordered binary compressed code; means for grouping the reordered binary compressed code into channel, date, time and length priority numbers; and means for using the channel, date, time and length priority numbers to derive the channel, date, time-of-day and length.

6. The television receiver of claim 1 further comprising a receiver for receiving commands from a remote controller; and wherein the means for entering compressed codes for programs to be controlled comprises a remote controller having a transmitter for transmitting commands to the receiver in the television receiver.

7. The television receiver of claim 1 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for filtering from the first output the stored channel for a program to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of a pre-determined relationship of the stored date and time-of-day for the program to the clock output.

8. The television receiver of claim 7 wherein the means for filtering comprises a plurality of filter means, each for controlling viewing of a channel in the television signal source.

9. The television receiver of claim 1 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for jamming a channel for the selected program to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of the pre-determined relationship of the stored date and time-of-day for the program to the clock output.

10. The television receiver of claim 9 wherein the means for jamming comprises means for time multiplexing the means for jamming among a plurality of channels for selected programs to be simultaneously controlled for viewing.

1 1 . The television receiver of claim 10 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a noise generator having an output added to a channel to be blocked.

12. The television receiver of claim 10 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a low frequency signal generator having an output added to a channel to be blocked.

13. The television receiver of claim 1 wherein the means for controlling comprises a key lock coupled to the means for controlling for choosing between controlling the viewing of programs and not controlling the viewing of program.

14. The television receiver of claim 1 further comprising a first tamper proof connector for coupling the television signal source to the means for controlling.

15. The television receiver of claim 1 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal from the television signal source an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from the television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

1 6. The television receiver of claim 15 wherein the means for retrieving comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

17. The television receiver of claim 1 wherein the means for controlling comprises: means for frequency down-converting a television signal from the television signal source by a first frequency; and means for filtering all channels but the channel corresponding to a program to be controlled for viewing from the down-converted television signal coupled to the means for frequency down-converting.

18. The television receiver of claim 17 further comprising means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering.

19. The television receiver of claim 18 wherein the means for frequency down-converting comprises: a first mixer coupled to the television signal source; and a local oscillator coupled to the first mixer.

20. The television receiver of claim 19 wherein the means for filtering comprises a band-pass filter coupled to the first mixer.

21 . The television receiver of claim 20 wherein the means for frequency up-converting comprises a second mixer coupled to the band-pass filter and to the local oscillator.

22. The television receiver of claim 6 further comprising a transmitter means for transmitting commands to appliances for controlling channel selection by the appliance, the transmitter means coupled to the means for controlling.

23. A method for controlling the viewing of a program on a television, the method comprising the steps of: providing a television receiver having a television monitor and a means for controlling the display of programs on the television monitor coupled to a television signal source and having a first output coupled to the television monitor; entering an user identification code; verifying that the entered code is an authorized code; entering compressed codes, each representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program to be controlled for viewing; decoding and expanding for each program to be controlled for viewing, the entered compressed code for the program into the channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program; storing for each program to be controlled for viewing, the decoded channel, date, time-of-day, and length for the program; and controlling the display of programs on the television monitor in response to the stored channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each program to be controlled for viewing.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of controlling the display of programs includes the steps of: determining that the stored date and time-of-day for a program to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output; and filtering the channel for a program to be controlled for viewing from television signals from the television signal source.

25. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of controlling the display of programs includes the steps of: determining that the stored date and time-of-day for a program to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output; and jamming the channel for a program to be controlled for viewing on television signals from the television signal source.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the step of jamming comprises the step of time multiplexing one jamming source among a plurality of channels for programs to be simultaneously controlled for viewing.

27. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of controlling the display of programs includes the steps of: determining that the stored date and time-of-day for a program to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output; frequency down-converting by a first frequency the television signals from the television signal source; and filtering the down-converted television signal to retain the channel corresponding to the program to be controlled for viewing.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising the step of frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency.

29. The method of claim 23 further comprising the steps of: retrieving from a television signal from the television signal source an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and controlling the viewing of the program scene whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from the television signal.

30. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of decoding and expanding for each program to be controlled for viewing further comprises the steps of: converting the compressed code into a binary number; reordering the bits in the binary number to obtain a reordered binary compressed code; grouping the reordered binary compressed code into channel, date, time and length priority numbers; and using the channel, date, time and length priority numbers to derive the channel, date, time-of-day and length for a program to be controlled for viewing.

31 . An apparatus for parental control of television viewing, the apparatus comprising: means for controlling the viewing of a program or channel, each program having a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length, coupled to a television signal source, the means for controlling having a first output; means for decoding and expanding an entered compressed code, representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program or channel to be controlled for viewing coupled to the means for controlling; means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing coupled to the means for decoding and expanding; a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time coupled to the means for decoding and expanding, wherein the means for decoding and expanding a compressed code into channel, date, time-of-day and length performs the decoding and expanding as a function of the clock output; and processor means for controlling the means for controlling the viewing of a program or a channel and for comparing authorized identification numbers stored in a memory in the processor means to an entered identification code and for determining that a decoded and expanded compressed code for a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output, the processor means coupled to the means for controlling.

32. The apparatus of claim 31 where in the means for decoding and expanding the compressed code into channel, date, time-of-day and length comprises: means for converting the compressed code into a binary number; means for reordering the bits in the binary number to obtain a reordered binary compressed code; means for grouping the reordered binary compressed code into channel, date, time and length priority numbers; and means for using the channel, date, time and length priority numbers to derive the channel, date, time-of-day and length.

33. The apparatus of claim 31 where in the means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing comprises: a remote controller; and means for receiving compressed codes via a telephone coupled to the remote controller.

34. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for filtering from the first output a channel for the selected program or channel to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of the pre¬ determined relationship to the clock output.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the means for filtering comprises a plurality of filter means, each for controlling viewing of a channel in a television signal from the television signal source.

36. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for jamming a channel for the selected program or channel to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of the pre-determined relationship to the clock output.

37. The apparatus of claim 36 wherein the means for jamming comprises means for time multiplexing the means for jamming among a plurality of channels for selected programs or channels to be simultaneously controlled for viewing.

38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a noise signal added to a channel to be blocked.

39. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a low frequency signal added to a channel to be blocked.

40. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the means for controlling comprises a key lock coupled to the processor means for choosing between controlling for viewing the selected programs and channels or not controlling for viewing the selected programs and channels.

41. The apparatus of claim 40 further comprising a first tamper proof connector for coupling the television signal source to the means for controlling.

42. The apparatus of claim 31 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

43. The apparatus of claim 42 wherein the means for retrieving comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

44. The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the means for controlling comprises: means for frequency down-converting the television signal from the television signal source by a first frequency; means for filtering all channels but the channel for a selected program or channel from the down-converted television signal coupled to the means for frequency down-converting; and means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering.

45. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the means for frequency down- converting comprises: a first mixer coupled to the television signal source; and a local oscillator coupled to the first mixer.

46. The apparatus of claim 45 wherein the means for filtering comprises a band-pass filter coupled to the first mixer.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 wherein the means for up-converting comprises a second mixer coupled to the band-pass filter and to the local oscillator.

48. The apparatus of claim 44 further comprising a television receiver means for containing the means for controlling, the means for decoding and expanding, the clock, and the processor means.

49. The apparatus of claim 44 wherein the means for controlling comprises a key lock coupled to the processor means for choosing between controlling for viewing the selected programs and channels or not controlling for viewing the selected programs and channels.

50. The apparatus of claim 49 further comprising a first tamper proof connector for coupling the television signal source to the means for controlling.

51. The apparatus of claim 44 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

52. The apparatus of claim 51 wherein the means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

53. The apparatus of claim 44 further comprising: means for broadcasting within the television signal an indication of an offensive scene to be subject to parental control, the indication of the offensive scene being broadcast adjacent to the offensive scene in the vertical blanking interval.

54. The apparatus of claim 53 further comprising: means for detecting within a received television signal an indication of an offensive scene to be subject to parental control, the indication of the offensive scene being broadcast adjacent to the offensive scene in the vertical blanking interval; and means for blanking the offensive scene being broadcast from a television monitor upon the detection of the indication of the offensive scene.

55. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising: means for blanking the offensive scene being broadcast from an audio output of a television upon the detection of the indication of the offensive scene.

56. A method of controlling the viewing of a program or channel on a television, the method comprising the steps of: entering a user identification code; verifying that the entered code is an authorized code; selecting a program or channel for which viewing is to be controlled; entering a compressed code, representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; decoding and expanding an entered compressed code, representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; and controlling the viewing of the selected program or channel, upon determining that a decoded and expanded compressed code for a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output.

57. The method of claim 56 wherein the step of controlling the viewing of the selected program or channel, upon determining that a decoded and expanded compressed code for a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output, comprises the step of filtering the selected program or channel from the television signals.

58. The method of claim 56 wherein the step of controlling the viewing of the selected program or channel, upon determining that a decoded and expanded compressed code for a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output, comprises the step of jamming a channel corresponding to the selected program or channel.

59. The method of claim 56 wherein the step of controlling the viewing of the selected program or channel, upon determining that a decoded and expanded compressed code for a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output, comprises the steps of frequency down-converting by a first frequency the television signals to be sent to the cable box means, filtering the down-converted television signal retaining the channel corresponding to the selected program or channel, and frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency.

60. The method of claim 57, 58 or 59 further comprising the steps of: retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and controlling the viewing of the program scene whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from the television signal.

61. The method of claim 60 wherein the step of retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing further comprises the step of decoding a vertical blanking interval.

62. An apparatus for parental control of television viewing, the apparatus comprising: means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time; means for frequency down-converting a television signal from a television signal source by a first frequency; means for filtering all but the channel for a selected program or channel from the down-converted television signal coupled to the means for frequency down-converting; means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering; and processor means for controlling the means for frequency down- converting and the means for frequency up-converting and for comparing authorized identification numbers stored in a memory in the processor means to an entered identification code and for determining that a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output, the processor means coupled to the means for frequency down- converting, the means for frequency up-converting, the means for selecting and the clock.

63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the means for frequency down- converting comprises: a first mixer coupled to the television signal source; and a local oscillator coupled to the first mixer.

64. The apparatus of claim 63 wherein the means for filtering comprises a band-pass filter coupled to the first mixer.

65. The apparatus of claim 64 wherein the means for up-converting comprises a second mixer coupled to the band-pass filter and to the local oscillator.

66. The apparatus of claim 62 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

67. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein the means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

68. A system for parental control of television viewing, the system comprising: means for broadcasting within the television signal an indication of an offensive scene to be subject to parental control, the indication of the offensive scene being broadcast adjacent to the offensive scene in the vertical blanking interval.

69. The system of claim 68 further comprising: means for detecting within a received television signal an indication of an offensive scene to be subject to parental control, the indication of the offensive scene being broadcast adjacent to the offensive scene in the vertical blanking interval; means for blanking the offensive scene being broadcast from a television monitor upon the detection of the indication of the offensive scene; and means for blanking the offensive scene being broadcast from an audio output of a television upon the detection of the indication of the offensive scene.

70. An apparatus for parental control of television viewing, the apparatus comprising: means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time; means for filtering a program or channel for a length of time for the selected program or channel to be controlled for viewing upon the occurrence of a pre-determined relationship to the clock output; and processor means for controlling the means for filtering the viewing of a program or a channel and for comparing authorized identification numbers stored in a memory in the processor means to an entered identification code and for determining that a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output, the processor means coupled to the means for filtering, the means for selecting and the clock.

71. The apparatus of claim 70 wherein the means for filtering comprises a plurality of filter means, each for blocking a channel in the television signal from a television signal source upon the occurrence of the pre-determined relationship.

72. The apparatus of claim 70 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

73. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein the means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

74. An apparatus for parental control of television viewing, the apparatus comprising: means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time; means for jamming a program or channel for a length of time for the selected channel or program to be controlled for viewing upon the occurrence of a pre-determined relationship to the clock output; and processor means for controlling the means for jamming the viewing of a program or a channel and for comparing authorized identification numbers stored in a memory in the processor means to an entered identification code and for determining that a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a pre-determined relationship to the clock output, the processor means coupled to the means for jamming, the means for selecting and the clock.--

75. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for jamming comprises means for time multiplexing the means for jamming among a plurality of channels for selected channels or programs to be simultaneously controlled for viewing upon the occurrence of the pre-determined relationship.

76. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the means for jamming comprises a noise signal added to a program or channel to be controlled for viewing.

77. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the means for jamming comprises a low frequency signal added to a program or channel to be controlled for viewing.

78. The apparatus of claim 74 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor whenever and indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

79. The apparatus of claim 74 wherein the means for retrieving from a television signal an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.

80. A method of recording television programs on a video cassette recorder tape comprising the step of recording within the television signal recorded on the tape an indication of an offensive scene to be subject to parental control, the indication of the offensive scene being recorded adjacent to the offensive scene on the video cassette recorder tape.

81 . An apparatus for parental control of a television viewing, the apparatus comprising: means for selecting a program or channel to be controlled for viewing; a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time; means for controlling viewing of a program or channel; processor means for controlling the means for controlling and for comparing authorized identification numbers stored in a memory in the processor means to an entered identification code and for determining that a program or a channel selected to be controlled for viewing has a predetermined relationship to the clock output, the processor means coupled to the means for controlling, the means for selecting and the clock; and a power splitter means for driving a plurality of cable box means and/or television receivers coupled between an output of the means for controlling and the plurality of cable box means and/or television receivers.

82. An apparatus for parental control of television viewing on a television receiver, the apparatus comprising: means for controlling the enabling of programs, each having a program identifier, integral to the television receiver; means for decoding and expanding a compressed code, representative of, and compressed in length from, the combination of a channel, a date, a time-of-day, and a length for a program coupled to the means for controlling and integral to the television receiver; first means for frequency down-converting a television signal by a first frequency coupled to a television signal source and coupled to the means for controlling and integral to the television receiver; means for filtering all but the channel for a program to be enabled from the down-converted television signal coupled to the first means for frequency down-converting and integral to the television receiver; means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering and integral to the television receiver; means for converting the down-converted, filtered and up- converted television signal coupled to the means for frequency up-converting; second means for frequency down-converting the converted television signal by a second frequency coupled to the means for converting and integral to the television receiver; means for retrieving an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing coupled to second means for frequency down-converting an integral to the television receiver; and means for blocking the program scene from a television monitor integral to the television receiver whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved, coupled to the means for retrieving and integral to the television receiver.

83. The apparatus of claim 82 wherein the means for controlling the enabling of programs further comprises: remote controller means for entering the compressed codes.

84. The apparatus of claim 83 wherein the means for controlling the enabling of programs further comprises: means for receiving compressed codes via a telephone coupled to the remote controller.

85. The apparatus of claim 82 further comprising: a clock for providing an output as a function of time coupled to the means for decoding and expanding integral to the television receiver; and the means for decoding and expanding a compressed code into channel, date, time-of-day and length performs the decoding and expanding as a function of the clock output.

86. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein the means for controlling the enabling of programs further comprises: processor means for controlling the enabling of programs; a memory for authorized identification numbers coupled to the processor means; means coupled to the processor means for comparing the authorized identification numbers to an entered identification code; a memory for storing the channels, dates, times and lengths of selected programs to be enabled coupled to the processor means; means for ordering the selected programs, having a channel, date, and time and length into temporal order coupled to the processor means; a clock with an output as a function of time coupled to the processor means; and means for comparing a stored selected program with a date and time that is earliest in time to the output of the clock for a pre-determined relationship.

87. The apparatus of claim 86 further comprising a first tamper proof connector for coupling the television signal source to the television receiver, the first tamper proof connector coupled to the television receiver.

88. A television receiver for providing control of television viewing on a television monitor integral to the television receiver, the television receiver comprising: means for entering a data for a program to be controlled for viewing, the program data comprising a channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each entered program data; means for storing the entered program data; means for reordering each stored program data comprising a channel, date, time-of-day, and length for each stored program data into temporal order from an earliest in time to a latest in time; and means for controlling the display of programs on the television monitor, the means for controlling coupled to a television signal source and having a first output coupled to the television monitor, the means for controlling responsive to the reordered stored program data comprising channel, date, time- of-day, and length for each program to be controlled for viewing.

89. The television receiver of claim 88 further comprising: a clock for providing a clock output as a function of time coupled to the means for controlling the display of programs; means for comparing the earliest in time program data to the clock; means for displaying a program for the length of the program as indicated by the stored length when the earliest in time program data compares in date and time-of-day to the clock output; and means for erasing the stored earliest in time program data when the program is displayed.

90. The television receiver of claim 88 further comprising: means for comparing authorized identification numbers to an entered identification code, the means for comparing coupled to the means for controlling; and means for controlling the viewing of programs and not controlling the viewing of program, depending on the comparison of an authorized identification number to the entered identification code.

91 . The television receiver of claim 88 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for filtering from the first output the stored channel for a program to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of a predetermined relationship of the stored date and time-of-day for the program to the clock output.

92. The television receiver of claim 91 wherein the means for filtering comprises a plurality of filter means, each for controlling viewing of a channel in the television signal source.

93. The television receiver of claim 88 wherein the means for controlling comprises means for jamming a channel for the selected program to be controlled for viewing upon an occurrence of the predetermined relationship of the stored date and time-of-day for the program to the clock output.

94. The television receiver of claim 93 wherein the means for jamming comprises means for time multiplexing the means for jamming among a plurality of channels for selected programs to be simultaneously controlled for viewing.

95. The television receiver of claim 94 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a noise generator having an output added to a channel to be blocked.

96. The television receiver of claim 94 wherein the means for jamming further comprises a low frequency signal generator having an output added to a channel to be blocked.

97. The television receiver of claim 88 wherein the means for controlling comprises: means for frequency down-converting a television signal from the television signal source by a first frequency; means for filtering all channels but the channel corresponding to a program to be controlled for viewing from the down-converted television signal coupled to the means for frequency down-converting; and means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering.

98. The television receiver of claim 97 wherein the means for frequency down-converting comprises: a first mixer coupled to the television signal source; and a local oscillator coupled to the first mixer; wherein the means for filtering comprises a band-pass filter coupled to the first mixer; and wherein the means for frequency up-converting comprises a second mixer coupled to the band-pass filter and to the local oscillator.

99. An apparatus for controlling the programs, channels, dates, and times available for viewing on a television receiver, the apparatus comprising: means for entering a user identification code; means for verifying that the entered user identification code is an authorized code; means for displaying a menu from which program channels, dates, and times may be selected for inclusion in a list of programs, channels, dates, and times available for viewing on the television receiver; means for selecting one or more of the programs, channels, dates, and times for establishing each of the programs, channels, dates, and times for which the television receiver is available; means for entering the selected programs, channels, dates, and times for any inconsistencies in the selected programs, channels, dates, and times; means for removing any inconsistencies; means for storing the selected programs, channels, dates, and times for controlling the availability of the television receiver; means for frequency down-converting a television signal from a television signal source by a first frequency; means for filtering all channels but the channel corresponding to a program selected for viewing from the down-converted television signals coupled to the means for frequency down-converting; and means for frequency up-converting the down-converted and filtered television signal by the first frequency coupled to the means for filtering.

100. The apparatus of claim 99: wherein the means for frequency down-converting comprises: a first mixer coupled to the television signal source; and a local oscillator coupled to the first mixer; and wherein the means for filtering comprises a band-pass filter coupled to the first mixer.

101. The apparatus of claim 99 wherein the means for frequency up- converting comprises a second mixer coupled to the band-pass filter and to the local oscillator.

102. The apparatus of claim 99 wherein the means for selecting programs further comprises: means for entering compressed codes, each having at least one digit and each representative of the combination of channel, date, time of day, and length commands for a program; means for decoding each compressed code to obtain channel, date, time of day, and length commands; and means for storing each such channel, date, time of day, and length command into the temporary storage.

103. The apparatus of claim 102 further comprising: means for retrieving compressed codes for selected categories of programs; and means for entering one or more of the category compressed codes for selecting categories of programs for viewing on the television receiver.

104. The apparatus of claim 99 further comprising a receiver for receiving commands from a remote controller.

105. The television receiver of claim 99 further comprising: means for retrieving from a television signal from the television signal source an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing; and means for blocking the program scene from the television monitor whenever an indication of a program scene to be concealed from viewing is retrieved from a television signal.

106. The television receiver of claim 105 wherein the means for retrieving comprises a vertical blanking interval decoder.