JP2001157135A - External input associated with video switching television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television receiver capable of notifying reception in a display mode desired by a user when a signal is received at an external input, during the time video from an internal tuner is being displayed on the screen. SOLUTION: One mode from among a plurality of display modes is set in each of external inputs 1 to 4, and its set information is stored in a nonvolatile memory 6. These display modes include a PIP display mode, an OSD display mode or a full screen display mode. In the case the signal is received at tan external input, while the video of an internal tuner 2 is displayed on the screen, the video of the external input is displayed on the screen in the set display mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television receiver for automatically switching an image displayed on a screen in conjunction with reception of an external input signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional product, when an image from a tuner provided inside a television receiver is displayed on a television screen, when the image is switched to an image from an external input,
Some are designed so that a target input system is selected by pressing an input switching button several times. That is, in such a television receiver, the input system is switched one by one each time the input switch button is pressed. This is because the direct selection button for directly switching the input by one operation is omitted in order to reduce the number of buttons on the operation unit such as a remote controller. Therefore, in order to display the image of the target external input on the screen, the input switch button must be pressed several times. Also, JP-A-9-
No. 8,388,1 discloses an apparatus for automatically switching a video displayed on a screen when a signal is received by an external input.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a conventional input signal switching device. The signal detector 22 constantly monitors whether a video signal is received at the external inputs 1 to 4. The input selector section 21 receives signals from the external input switch button 24 such as a remote controller and the signal detection section 22 and outputs signals from the tuner 20.
And one of the external inputs 1-4. Priorities are added to the external inputs 1 to 4, respectively. External input 1
When a video signal is received at any one of the terminals No. to No. 4, the video on the screen is switched based on the priority of the external input receiving the signal.

[0006] When an externally input image is displayed on the screen, the screen displays a symbol or character string indicating the current input mode on an OSD (On Screen Display). A specific example is shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows that the video 1 of the external input is selected, and the video of the video 1 is displayed on the screen. Since such a display merely indicates the current input mode, the user cannot know the state of the external device (recording, etc.) or the like as it is. In other words, in the conventional apparatus, when displaying the signal from the tuner 20 on the screen, when confirming what kind of operation state of the externally connected device is, the user needs to check the front of the external device. There was no other way but to look at the panel.

[0005]

In a television receiver having a large number of external input systems, the number of times the input switch button is pressed necessarily tends to increase in proportion to the number of input systems.
For example, when a target external device is connected to the n-th input terminal in a television receiver having n input terminals, the input selector selects the target external device by pressing the input switching button n times. In such a television receiver having a large number of input terminals, there is a trouble that the user must press the input switch button several times to switch the input.

[0006] Further, in the device disclosed in the above publication, the input signal is simply monitored and the input is automatically switched.
The input switching will not be bothersome, but the screen will automatically switch to the video that is being recorded by the VTR timer, and if the user does not need to watch the recorded video, cancel the input mode. This is inconvenient because it requires more labor.

Further, when displaying the image from the internal tuner on the screen, when checking what kind of operating state of the device connected to the external input is present, the user is required to operate the front of the external device. I had to look at the panel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to receive a signal from an external input when an image from an internal tuner is displayed on a screen. An object of the present invention is to provide a television receiver that can notify a user in a desired display mode.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a television receiver capable of displaying the operating state of a device connected to an external input on a screen together with a currently displayed image.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A television receiver according to the present invention has a plurality of external inputs, selects one input from the plurality of external inputs, and provides the input with a received video signal. A selector section, a signal detection section for detecting the presence or absence of a reception signal at each external input, and a video signal provided from the input selector section to a video of one display mode selected from a plurality of video display modes. A conversion unit for converting, a mode setting unit for setting one display mode among the plurality of video display modes for each external input, and displaying an image from an internal tuner on a screen while the signal detection unit detects the external mode. When the reception signal is detected at the input, the conversion unit controls the conversion unit to convert the image of the reception signal into the image of the display mode set by the display mode setting unit, and displays the converted image on the screen. table And a control unit for.

[0011] The plurality of display modes include a PIP display mode in which a sub-screen is synthesized in the screen, and an external input image receiving the signal is displayed in the sub-screen. OSD display mode for displaying information on the screen as character information in the screen.

A priority is added to each of the plurality of display modes, and while the image of the external input is being displayed on the screen,
When the signal reception of another external input is detected by the detection unit, the control unit compares the display mode priority of the currently selected external input with the display mode priority of the other external input. When the priority of the other external input is high, the video of the other external input is displayed on the screen in the display mode set by the mode setting unit.

According to the present invention, when a user uses a device connected to the outside of the television receiver, the input mode is automatically switched just by setting the external device to an output state,
The trouble of manually switching the input can be omitted. Further, by providing four display modes for each input system and setting priorities to the display modes, it is possible to have a certain degree of freedom in external input automatic switching.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an external input-linked display television receiver 1 according to the present invention. The television receiver 1 includes a tuner 2, an input selector 3, a signal detector 4, and an MPU (central processing unit: Micro Processing Unit).
5, a non-volatile memory 6, an OSD multiplexing unit 7, a PIP (Picture In Picture) generating unit 8, and an operation unit 9.

A tuner 2 is an internal tuner provided in the television receiver 1, which receives an RF signal via an antenna (not shown), and outputs a video signal and an audio signal of a television channel selected by a user. (Hereinafter referred to as a video signal or simply a signal). The input selector 3 is M
Under the control of the PU 5, one signal is selected and output from the signal from the tuner 2 and the signal from the external input terminals 1 to 4. A VTR, a video game machine or the like is connected to the external input terminals 1 to 4.

The signal detector 4 constantly monitors whether external input signals are received at the external input terminals 1 to 4. When detecting the external input signal, the signal detection unit 4 transmits a signal indicating that the external input signal has been detected to the MPU 5. MPU5
Stores the contents set in advance by the user in the nonvolatile memory 6.
From the selector 3 and the PIP according to the setting.
The generator 8 and the OSD multiplexer 7 are controlled. PIP generator 8
Generates a small screen and combines the small screen with the television screen.
The OSD multiplexing unit 7 displays character or symbol information on a television screen.

The television receiver 1 displays (1) a full screen display of a video signal received by an external input.
There are four display modes: (2) PIP display, (3) OSD display, and (4) ignore detection. The user sets in advance one of the four display modes for each of the external input terminals 1 to 4, and
Stores the contents in the nonvolatile memory 6.

The "full screen" display is a mode in which an externally input image is displayed using all of the currently viewed screens, in other words, the same as when an external input is selected in a conventional system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the "PIP" display is a mode in which the currently viewed screen is displayed as a parent screen and the input video is displayed as a child screen. In the present invention, as will be described later, for example, when an image from the tuner 2 is displayed on a television screen and a signal is received at an external input terminal set to the PIP display mode, a sub-screen is displayed in the television screen. And
The image of the external input that has received the signal is displayed on the child screen. That is, the PIP generating unit 8 converts the externally input video that has received the signal into a small-screen video.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the operation unit 9 for explaining operations related to PIP display. Buttons for setting various functions are arranged on the operation unit 9.
Buttons related to P display are arranged in the PIP operation button group 10. The "ON / OFF" button 10a turns on / off the PIP display. When the PIP display is displayed, the PIP display can be canceled by pressing this button. The “input switching” button 10b switches the input source of the child screen. The “screen switching” button 10c is a button for switching the parent screen and the child screen. Press this button when you want to view the source displayed in the sub screen as the main screen. The "position" button 10d can change the position of the child screen.

Returning to the description of the display mode. "OSD" above
As shown in FIG. 4, the display mode is a mode in which the image of the external input is not displayed on the screen, but the state of the external device is displayed on the OSD. In the present invention, as described later, for example, the tuner 2
When a video is displayed on a TV screen and a signal is received at an external input terminal set to the OSD display mode, for example, recording is in progress or an external tuner is executing a viewing reservation. For example, character information indicating the state of the external input signal, that is, the status, is displayed in the image on the television screen. However, this is limited to an environment where the status information of the external device can be read. If the status information cannot be read, only the fact that a signal is being input is displayed as shown in FIG.

The above-mentioned "ignore detection" is a mode in which the image input to the external input is ignored, and the current image is not affected. These display modes 1-4 are shown in FIG.
Are set. In the case where external signal inputs overlap, if there is an input from a device having a lower priority than the currently displayed one, only the state is displayed on the OSD. Conversely, when there is an input from a device with a higher priority, the content of the external input is displayed on the screen according to the set display mode.

Hereinafter, the operation of the external input-linked video switching television receiver 1 according to the present invention will be specifically described.

First, the user selects one of four display modes for each input terminal on an external input setup screen as shown in FIG. When the product is shipped, it should have an initial state, and a recommended example of connection should be described to the user in an instruction manual or the like. Here, a case where the user connects an external device to the television receiver 1 as shown in FIG. 8 will be described as an example. That is, a DVD player 11 is connected to the external input 1, a VTR 12 is connected to the external input 2, an external tuner 13 such as a CS tuner is connected to the external input 3, and a game machine 14 is connected to the external input 4. Have been.

It is further assumed that the display mode is set by the user as shown in FIG. That is, D of external input 1
The VD 11 is set to the “full screen”, the VTR 12 of the external input 2 is set to the “OSD” display, the external tuner 13 of the external input 3 is set to the “PIP” display, and the game machine 14 of the external input 4 is set to the “full screen”. I have.

Since the game machine 14 and the DVD 11 are used only when the user wants to watch them, it is considered that the currently-viewed television receiver 1 will be used as it is on the “full screen”. Therefore, the display mode is set to “full screen” for these two.

The VTR 12 is set to the "OSD" display because there is a possibility of back recording or dubbing, and only the information is multiplexed on the OSD. As a result, information on the external device can be transmitted to the user without greatly affecting the currently viewed video. In addition, such O
The SD display is limited to an environment in which advanced information exchange between the television receiver and the external device is possible as described above.

When the external tuner 13 outputs an image, in addition to the case where the user himself turned on the power intentionally,
There are cases where "viewing reservation" is made and "VTR reservation" is made. By setting the display to "PIP" display, the viewer can confirm it.

Next, the operation of the external input-linked video switching television receiver 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in the present embodiment, the display mode of each external input is set as shown in FIG. 7, and an on-air image, that is, a video signal from the tuner 2 is selected by the input selector unit 3 and projected on the television screen. Assume that

When the user turns on the power of the DVD player 11, the signal detection section 4 detects that a video signal has been input to the external input 1 (step S1), and determines that the MPU 5 has detected the video signal.
Known to. The MPU 5 reads out the priority of the external input to which the video signal has been input from the memory 6 (Step S2). Since the display mode of the external input 1 stored in the memory 6 is "full screen" (step S7), the MPU 5 controls the input selector 3 to select the external input 1, and the DV
The image of the D player 11 is displayed on the entire surface of the television screen (steps S8 and S9).

When the VTR 12 of the external input 2 starts timer recording in this state, the "OSD" display of the external input 2 has a lower priority than the "full screen" of the external input 1 (step S5). Displayed in the “OSD” display mode. That is, while the screen of the television receiver 1 remains the image of the external input 1, the MPU 5 displays that the video signal is input to the external input 2 by the OSD multiplexing unit 7 as character data on the television screen (step S6). , S1
2, S14). At this time, if the status information can be obtained, the status is displayed as shown in FIG. 4 (step S13).

Further, when the external tuner 13 automatically outputs a video signal due to a viewing reservation or the like, the MPU 5
A sub-screen is provided on the screen of the player 11, and the image of the external input 3 is projected on the sub-screen (step S11). This allows the user to confirm that the external tuner 13 has operated. In this case, while the video of the external input 3 is being displayed on the child screen, the fact that a video signal is being input to the external input 2 may be displayed by OSD.

Next, when the power of the game machine 14 is turned on, since the external input 4 is set to the “full screen”, the MPU 5 judges that the external input 1 and the external input 4 currently displayed on the screen are the same, The video of the external input 4 input later is displayed with priority.

[0035]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the user can save the trouble of switching the input only by setting the device connected to the television receiver to the output state. In addition, by using four display modes with priorities and an information display function using the OSD, a flexible automatic input switching function that does not significantly affect the currently viewed video is used instead of uniform automatic input switching. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, power can be saved. Because, for example, when a playback image or an on-air image is received from an external input from a VTR and the user watches the on-air image from the tuner 2 without noticing it, the user can turn on the VTR 12 by the OSD display on the screen. Is recognized and the power of the VTR 12 can be turned off, so that wasteful power consumption can be suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining PIP display.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an operation unit 9.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating OSD display.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating OSD display.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the priority of a display mode.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an external input setup screen.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of connection of an external input device to a television receiver.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the television receiver according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional input signal switching device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example by a conventional OSD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... TV receiver 2 ... Internal tuner 3 ... Input selector part 4 ... Signal detection part 5 ... Microprocessor unit 6 ... Non-volatile memory 7 ... OSD multiplexing part 8 ... PIP generation part 9 ... Operation part 11 ... DVD player 12 ... VTR 13 ... External tuner 14 ... Game machine

Claims (5)

[Claims] An input selector unit having a plurality of external inputs, selecting one input from the plurality of external inputs, and providing a video signal received to the input; A signal detection unit that detects presence / absence, a conversion unit that converts a video signal provided from the input selector unit into a video in one display mode selected from a plurality of video display modes, and the plurality of video display modes One of the display modes,
A mode setting unit for setting each external input, and, while displaying an image from the internal tuner on a screen, when the signal detection unit detects the reception signal at the external input, the image of the reception signal is set to the display mode. A control unit that controls the conversion unit to convert the image into a display mode image set by the unit, and displays the converted image on the screen.
A television receiver comprising: 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein a priority is added to each of the plurality of display modes, and when the externally input image is displayed on the screen while a signal reception of another external input is detected by the detection unit, the control is performed. The unit compares the display mode priority of the currently selected external input with the display mode priority of the other external input, and when the priority of the other external input is higher, the other external input 2. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the image is displayed on the screen in a display mode set by the mode setting unit. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the conversion unit includes a PIP generation unit that synthesizes a sub-screen in the screen and displays an externally input image that has received the signal in the sub-screen. 3. The television receiver according to 1 or 2. 4. An OS for displaying information relating to an external input which has received a signal as character information in the screen.
3. The television receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a D multiplexing unit. 5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the display mode priority of the other external input receiving the signal is lower than the priority of the currently displayed external input.
5. The television receiver according to claim 4, wherein an SD multiplexing unit multiplexes the externally input video being displayed at present.