Abstract: An arrangement for maintaining even tube burn-in. The arrangement identifies active and inactive display regions on a display unit when video content is displayed on the display unit. When inactive display regions are identified the arrangement monitors the duration that the active display regions remain active. After the active display regions become inactive and a predetermined time period has passed the arrangement displays a corrective image on the identified inactive regions. The predetermined time period may be set by a user or based on the user's viewing habits.

Abstract: An adaptive transport protocol decoder includes a source of a stream of packets, each including a payload, and having a first transport protocol, and a source of a stream of packets, each including a payload, and having a second transport protocol. A protocol decoder, coupled to the first and second packet stream sources, extracts the respective payloads from the packets from a selected one of the first and second packet stream sources.

Abstract: This invention discloses an apparatus and a method for receiving a plurality of encrypted digital video, audio and data that require an encryption key to decode before utilizing. Specifically the invention is directed toward devices such as cable and digital broadcast satellite systems that transmit multiple channel information to receivers that provide users access to the multiple channels upon particular channel selection. Such channel selection requires decrypting and formatting a new data stream through a time consuming electronic process. The invention described herein reduces channel change time, by monitoring de-scrambled data in the background, prior to a user selecting a new channel. Digital broadcast data contain input de-scrambling control words required for the decoding of N-bit de-scrambling keys for each of a multiplicity of digital data streams available. Storing the data control words or the N-bit descramble keys reduces subsequent retrieval decoding time.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is presented for providing faster tuning of a digital television channel. Specifically, the present invention is directed to a digital television receiver including a tuner, at least one demodulator, a detachable security module such as a point of deployment (POD) module, a transport demultiplexer, and a microprocessor having a cache or memory device for storing “conditional access program map table” (CA_PMT) information. The cache or memory device is used to store the CA_PMT for each channel, so that upon a channel change requested by a user, the receiver may extract the stored CA_PMT from the cache rather than wait for the full program map table (PMT) to be transmitted by the broadcaster (see FIG. 2). In this way, the time required to display a requested digital television channel is significantly reduced.

Abstract: An arrangement for maintaining even tube burn-in. The arrangement identifies active and inactive display regions on a display unit when video content is displayed on the display unit. When inactive display regions are identified the arrangement monitors the duration that the active display regions remain active. After the active display regions become inactive and a predetermined time period has passed the arrangement displays a corrective image on the identified inactive regions. The predetermined time period may be set by a user or based on the user's viewing habits.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing adaptive horizontal synchronization (sync) signal detection to identify whether a high quality television signal is being received by a television set. The method determines whether no signal is applied, whether a weak signal is applied or a strong signal is applied to the television set by sampling and processing the horizontal synchronization signal. The signals are classified by comparing the sample horizontal synchronization signals to a predefined threshold. The threshold is established based upon the type of source that produced the television signal.

Abstract: An arrangement for maintaining even tube burn-in. The arrangement identifies active and inactive display regions on a display unit when video content is displayed on the display unit. When inactive display regions are identified the arrangement monitors the duration that the active display regions remain active. After the active display regions become inactive and a predetermined time period has passed the arrangement displays a corrective image on the identified inactive regions. The predetermined time period may be set by a user or based on the user's viewing habits.