METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING TEXTUAL OR GRAPHIC DATA ON THE SCREEN OF TELEVISION RECEIVERS

A local language is pre-stored in permanent memory (24). Equivalent data is transmitted in the vertical blanking interval (VBI) to television receivers (17). Each equivalent data set comprises a unique language identifier (38) and a foreign language translation (36) of, or graphical representative of, the local language pre-stored in permanent memory. The viewer selects the language to be displayed from an on screen menu with a remote controller (23). The selected equivalent data is retrieved from the VBI and stored in a RAM (18) for future display. When the microprocessor calls up the text of a command for display, the equivalent data is substituted for the local language data so the foreign language version of the command can be displayed in a seamless manner. If no equivalent data is stored in the RAM, the local language pre-stored in permanent memory is displayed on the television screen in accordance with the normal operation of the microprocessor.