JP2002252812A - Channel block setting unit for television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set and register a block channel through simple operation of a controller. SOLUTION: Through operation of a specified key 19b of a controller 19, a block designation signal is delivered to a control circuit 18, channel information of a channel under view is written in a nonvolatile memory 20 and that channel is registered as a block channel. Furthermore, a control signal for automatically selecting other channel is delivered from the control circuit 18 to a channel selection circuit 13 thus switching the channel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for restricting reception of a broadcast program which is considered inappropriate for children, for example, for blocking the program. The present invention relates to a channel block setting device for a television receiver that can be realized.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of the systems for restricting the viewing of broadcast programs, such as violent programs, which are considered unsuitable for children to watch, the viewing of the broadcast channel itself which broadcasts the programs is limited. Channel block devices have been put into practical use.

This channel block device displays a menu screen for setting on a display screen of a television receiver, and uses a remote control hand unit (hereinafter referred to as a controller) or the like to interactively block channel information to be blocked. And write it to memory to prevent the channel from being tuned in, or when the channel is tuned,
It is configured to mute video and audio.

The operating procedure for the setting is shown in FIGS.
It will be described based on FIG.

First, for example, a menu key of a controller (not shown) is pressed to display a menu for setting shown in FIG. 4A on a screen, and "6. Lock" is selected.

[0006] As a result, a password input screen shown in FIG. 4B is displayed, and an input of a password registered in advance is requested.

When the password is entered, the screen shown in FIG. 4C is displayed. When "2. Channel lock" is selected, the screen shown in FIG. 4D is displayed. Here, "1. Channel number" is displayed. Is selected, the channel number to be blocked is input, and finally the registration key of the controller is pressed, whereby the input channel number is registered and the operation is completed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a series of operations for setting the channel block shown in FIG.

After the start, in step 51, a menu is displayed by operating the controller, and in step 52,
Select “Lock” from the menu by operating the controller. In step 53, a password for displaying a menu for performing a "lock" operation is input. In step 54, "channel lock" is selected from the "lock menu". In step 55, "input channel number" is selected. , And input the "channel number" to be blocked in step 56, confirm the "channel number" to be registered on the screen in step 57, and finally press the "ENTER" key of the controller to end the process.

To cancel the registration of the registered channel number, select "2. Delete" on the screen of FIG. 4D, display the registered channel number on the screen, and select the channel number to be canceled. Can be executed by selecting and pressing "ENTER".

In FIG. 5, in a step 58, which is separated from the step 54, "delete" of the "channel lock" menu is selected, and in a step 59, the registered "channel number" is displayed. A channel number to be deregistered is selected from the "channel number" displayed in step 60, and the "ENTER" key of the controller is pressed to end the process.

In this way, it is possible to set a channel to be blocked.
The user has to operate the keys of the controller to input the target data while watching the screen display, and it cannot be said that the device is always operable.

[0013]

As described above, in the conventional block channel setting device, in order to register a channel to be blocked, a controller is operated to display a setting menu on a screen, and then an interactive mode is set. It is necessary to input the specified data in, and there is a problem that it is not possible to perform the setting easily and quickly when the user wants to make an immediate setting, such as when registering the currently viewed channel as a block channel immediately. Was.

[0014] It is an object of the present invention to provide a channel block setting device of a television receiver, which can register a currently viewed channel as a block channel with a very simple operation.

[0015]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A channel block setting device for a television receiver according to the present invention includes a tuner for receiving a television signal and outputting an intermediate frequency signal, and a tuning for selecting a reception channel of the tuner. Means,
A video signal demodulating unit for demodulating a video signal from an intermediate frequency signal output from the tuner, a video output unit for outputting the demodulated video signal for display by a video display unit, and controlling the tuning unit. Control means for controlling the switching of the reception channel of the tuner, and a controller for outputting a signal for instructing at least the control means to switch the channel by driving the tuning means,
A memory in which information for specifying a channel is stored in advance, and when the controller switches the channel of the tuner, the control unit controls the control unit so as to prevent a channel corresponding to the channel information stored in the memory from being selected. The controller comprises channel block input means for outputting a block signal for giving an instruction to the control means to block a channel being received by the tuner, wherein the control means comprises: Receiving the block signal, and writing the channel information corresponding to the channel received when the block signal was input to the memory as channel information to be blocked,
The channel selecting means is controlled so that a channel different from the channel to be blocked is selected.

According to the present invention, the channel being received can be set as it is as the channel to be blocked, and in conjunction with the setting, the reception channel is set to a viewable channel different from the block channel. , Good operational performance can be exhibited.

The channel block setting device for a television receiver according to the present invention comprises: a tuner for receiving a television signal and outputting an intermediate frequency signal; a tuner for selecting a reception channel of the tuner; A video signal processing unit for demodulating and processing a video signal from an intermediate frequency signal output from the tuner, a display unit for displaying the video signal, and controlling the tuning unit to switch and control a reception channel of the tuner. Control means, a controller that outputs a control instruction signal including a signal that instructs the control means to switch the channel by driving the tuning means, and a memory in which information for specifying a channel is stored in advance, When the channel of the tuner is switched by the controller, the channel corresponding to the channel information stored in the memory is changed. Channel block means for controlling the control means so as to prevent channel selection; and a menu screen display signal source displayed on the display means, wherein the menu screen is displayed on the display means by an instruction signal from the controller. In a device having a block channel setting means for displaying and setting channel information to be stored in the memory based on the menu screen, the controller sets a channel being received by the tuner without using the block channel setting means. Channel block input means for outputting a block signal for giving an instruction to block to the control means, wherein the control means receives the block signal and outputs the block signal to a channel which was being viewed when the block signal was input. Block the corresponding channel information It writes the channel information in the memory, wherein the the channel to be blocked so as to control the tuning means so that different channel is selected.

According to the present invention, the channel being received can be set as it is as a channel to be blocked, and the reception channel is changed to a viewable channel different from the block channel in conjunction with the setting. Since the switching is performed, good operation performance can be exhibited.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a channel block setting device of a television receiver according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a television broadcast signal received by an antenna 11 is guided to a tuner 12, which selects a channel based on a tuning signal from a tuning circuit 13. The tuner 12 converts the broadcast signal of the selected channel into an intermediate frequency (IF) signal, outputs the intermediate frequency (IF) signal to the IF amplification / demodulation circuit 14, and outputs the IF signal to the IF amplification / demodulation circuit 14.
After amplifying the input IF signal, it demodulates the video signal and outputs it to the video signal processing circuit 15. The video signal processing circuit 15 processes the demodulated video signal and outputs the processed signal to the video output circuit 16. The video signal is displayed on the video display means 17 composed of a color cathode ray tube or the like by the video output circuit 16.

The tuning circuit 13 is controlled by the control circuit 18 and supplies a tuning signal to the tuner 12. The control circuit 18 receives a signal from the controller 19 and outputs a signal for controlling the tuning circuit 13. The control circuit 18 includes:
A non-volatile memory 20 is connected, and the non-volatile memory 20 stores block channel information.

An OSD (On Screen Display) signal generation circuit 21 is connected to the control circuit 18 and outputs a signal for displaying a menu for setting on the image display means 17.

The controller 19 can be configured as a so-called remote control hand unit, and can use the one attached to the television receiver. Therefore, the controller 19 includes an input key 19a for controlling general operations of the television receiver and a specific input key 1 for the present invention.
9b is provided.

Therefore, the control circuit 18 is configured as a computer for controlling the general operation of the television receiver, in addition to the above-described channel switching and control of the OSD signal generation circuit 21, and includes a CPU, It includes a ROM in which programs are stored, and a working RAM.

The control circuit 18 stores the channel information currently being tuned and received by the tuner 12 and at least the channel information which has been tuned and received before switching to that channel, in its own RAM or in the nonvolatile memory 2.
It is set to be stored in 0.

The signals for controlling the general operation of the television receiver include, for example, signals for controlling the luminance, contrast, saturation, and hue of the video signal,
These are set using a menu setting screen displayed on the image display means 17 by a signal output from the OSD signal generation circuit 21 under the control of the control circuit 18. Further, other control signals output from the control circuit 18 and controlled circuits controlled by the control signals are not directly related to the present invention, and thus description thereof is omitted.

In the description of the block diagram of FIG.
Although the term video signal is used, it can be considered as including a luminance signal and a chrominance signal. The television receiver also includes a deflection circuit for driving the video display means, an audio signal processing circuit, and audio output means such as a speaker, but these are omitted in the block diagram of FIG.

The operation of the embodiment of the apparatus for setting a channel block of a television receiver according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

Now, it is assumed that the channel A is selected by the tuner 12, the program video is displayed by the video display means 17, and the sound is reproduced by the speaker (not shown). When the program on channel A is a program that cannot be watched and the user wants to register channel A as a block channel, the user presses a specific key 19 b of controller 19.

Thus, the control circuit 18 recognizes that the block instruction signal has been input, and receives the channel A signal.
Reads out the information indicating the channel B that has been selected before the channel is selected from the nonvolatile memory 20 or its own RAM, and outputs a control signal for selecting the channel B to the channel selection circuit 13; The channel selected by the tuner 12 is switched to B.

Next, the control circuit 18 writes, into the nonvolatile memory 20, information for specifying the channel A which has been selected up to now, as block channel information.

After the setting of the block channel is completed, and channel A is to be selected after this setting, the channel selected until switching to channel A is selected. I can't do that.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the process of setting a block channel in the apparatus shown in FIG.

After the start, in step 21 the information of the channel currently being viewed and the information of the channel being viewed before selecting the channel are stored. When the specific key 19b of the controller 19 is pressed in step 22, the channel information being viewed at the time of pressing the specific key is written and registered in the nonvolatile memory as block channel information in step 23. Next, in step 24, the channel information that was stored in step 21 and was viewed before selecting the channel registered in step 23 is read, and in step 25, the channel is switched to the channel of the read channel information, and the process is terminated. I do.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining actual channel switching in the video display means 17 shown in FIG.

While watching the program on channel 999 shown in FIG. 3A, the controller 19 determines whether the program is violent and the channel block should be executed.
Pressing the specific key 19b automatically switches to the channel 333 which broadcasts many programs for children, which were viewed before the channel 999, as shown in FIG.
At this time, the channel 999 is registered and stored as a block channel.

As described above, according to the channel block setting device for a television receiver of the present invention, the channel being viewed at that time can be registered and set as a block channel only by pressing the specific key 19b of the controller 19. In addition, since the channel selection of the tuner is automatically switched to the channel being viewed before viewing the registered block channel, the channel block can be set very easily and efficiently.

In the above description, when a specific key of the controller is pressed to register and set the channel being viewed at that time as a block channel, the channel that was viewed before viewing the block channel is set. Although it is assumed that the channel is automatically switched, a channel such as a public broadcast, which is unlikely to be set as a block channel, is registered in advance, and the channel is switched when the block channel is set. You may.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), for example, while watching a nonsense program that has been skipped over the channel 888, the program may be vulgar and adversely affect children, so that the channel block should be executed. When the specific key 19b of the controller 19 is pressed based on the judgment of the above, the channel is automatically switched to the channel 111 which broadcasts many news programs.

In a series of processing for registering and setting a block channel, when the specific key 19b of the controller 19 is pressed, the channel being viewed at that time is registered as a block channel. The message may be displayed on the screen once, and then the channel may be switched. For example, the screen displays "Channel A
AA has been registered as a block channel ".

Although the controller 19 has been described as a remote control hand unit, it may be an operation panel provided on a front panel of a television receiver.

Further, the specific key has been described as a dedicated key. However, if the controller is capable of selecting a channel by one operation of a numeric key, the numeric key for selecting a channel being viewed is used. The control circuit may be configured to be able to determine that the channel is blocked by pressing the button continuously for a predetermined time or more. Alternatively, when a key that is not operated at the same time, such as an up key and a down key of a channel, is simultaneously pressed, the processing may be performed such that the viewing channel at that time is blocked. When the channel information registered as a block channel is deleted, a menu can be displayed on the screen and the configuration can be performed in an interactive manner, similarly to the conventional apparatus. Further, the present invention can be applied to a so-called set-top box that does not include a video display unit.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The channel being watched can be registered and set as a block channel with one operation of the controller, and after setting and registering, another channel is automatically selected. It can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a channel block setting device for a television receiver according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram for explaining a procedure of setting a channel block of a conventional television receiver.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure of setting a channel block of a conventional television receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Tuner 13 ... Tuning circuit 18 ... Control circuit 19 ... Controller 19b ... Specific key 20 ... Non-volatile memory

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C025 AA23 AA25 BA10 CA02 CA09 CB01 CB05 CB10 DA10 5C056 AA01 BA01 CA01 CA20 DA01 DA09 DA11 EA02 EA05 EA09 EA11

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A tuner for receiving a television signal and outputting an intermediate frequency signal, a channel selecting means for selecting a reception channel of the tuner, and demodulating a video signal from the intermediate frequency signal output from the tuner. Video signal demodulation means, video output means for outputting the demodulated video signal to be displayed by video display means, control means for controlling the channel selection means to switch and control the reception channel of the tuner, and at least the A controller for outputting a signal for instructing the control means to switch the channel by driving the tuning means; and a memory in which information for specifying a channel is stored in advance, and when the controller switches the channel of the tuner, In order to prevent a channel corresponding to the channel information stored in the memory from being selected. A channel block setting device for a television receiver, comprising: a channel block unit that controls the control unit; and a controller that outputs a block signal that gives an instruction to the control unit to block a channel being received by the tuner. Channel block input means for outputting, the control means receiving the block signal, as the channel information to be blocked, the channel information corresponding to the channel received when the block signal was input A channel block setting device for a television receiver, wherein the channel selection unit controls the channel selection unit so that a channel different from the channel to be blocked is selected while writing in the memory. 2. A tuner for receiving a television signal and outputting an intermediate frequency signal, a channel selecting means for selecting a reception channel of the tuner, and demodulating a video signal from the intermediate frequency signal output from the tuner. Signal processing means for performing processing by means of a tuner, display means for displaying the video signal, control means for controlling the tuning means to switch the receiving channel of the tuner, and driving the tuning means to the control means A controller for outputting a control instruction signal including a signal for giving an instruction to switch channels, and a memory in which information for specifying a channel is stored in advance. A channel for controlling the control means so as to prevent selection of a channel corresponding to the channel information stored in the channel. Channel information to be displayed on the display means in response to an instruction signal from the controller, and to be stored in the memory based on the menu screen. A channel block setting device for a television receiver, comprising: a block channel setting unit for setting a channel, wherein the controller issues an instruction to block a channel being received by the tuner without using the block channel setting unit. Channel block input means for outputting a block signal to be supplied to the control unit. The control means, upon receiving the block signal, blocks channel information corresponding to a channel viewed when the block signal was input. Channel information that should be Writes to the memory, the channel block setting device of a television receiver, characterized in that for controlling the tuning means so that different channel is selected from the block to be channel. 3. The control means includes a reception channel storage memory for storing at least current reception channel information and channel information received before receiving the channel. 3. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein when receiving, the television receiver controls the channel selection unit to switch to a channel that was received before receiving the blocked channel. Channel block setting device. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the controller has a plurality of keys for outputting the instruction signal, and the channel block input means is configured to operate the block by operating one of the plurality of keys dedicated to inputting a channel block. 3. The channel block setting device for a television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the device outputs a signal to the control unit. 5. The controller has a plurality of keys for outputting the instruction signal, and the channel block input means continuously operates a key for selecting a channel being received by the tuner for a predetermined time. And outputting an instruction signal when the instruction signal is continuously input for a predetermined period of time, the control means interpreting the instruction signal as the block signal. 3. A channel block setting device for a television receiver according to item 1. 6. The block channel setting means further displays a video signal from the menu screen signal source and channel information stored in the memory on a screen,
3. The channel block setting device for a television receiver according to claim 2, wherein the stored channel information is deleted based on the displayed channel information. 7. The remote control transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the controller is a remote control transmitter that outputs an instruction signal to the control unit from a position distant from the television receiver. Channel block setting device for television receiver. 8. The channel block setting device for a television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the controller is an operation panel provided on the television receiver.