JP2003189207A - Method and device for displaying program list - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and a device for displaying a program list which enables a user to easily select programs as viewing objects from a program list showing programs broadcast from a broadcasting station. <P>SOLUTION: Program rating data representing ratings of respective broadcast programs is acquired, and program information, obtained by adding information representing ratings to program names of respective broadcast programs, is displayed as a list. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program list display device for displaying a list of broadcast programs and a program list display method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, video tape recorders and DV recorders are used as recording devices for recording programs broadcast from TV broadcasting stations.
D recorders, hard disk recorders, etc. have been commercialized. In such a recording device, a recorded program list table in which program names of all recorded programs are listed so that the user can select and reproduce a desired program from a plurality of recorded programs. It has a display function. Here, in a hard disk recorder equipped with a large-capacity magnetic disk as a recording medium, not only a program desired by the user is recorded by timer reservation recording, but a broadcast program for one day is randomly recorded. There is a case in which a recording to perform is performed. At this time, the user has only to select and reproduce the programs which are likely to be of interest from the recorded program list. However, the user cannot determine whether or not the program should be a reproduction target based on only the program name included in the recorded program list.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a program to be watched by a user from a program list including a plurality of programs is to be viewed. There is provided a program list display device and a program list display method capable of easily selecting a program.

[0004]

A program list display device according to the present invention is a program list display device for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station, and shows the program names of the respective programs. Program information acquisition means for acquiring program information data, audience rating acquisition means for obtaining audience rating data indicating the audience rating for each of the programs, and the program name indicated in the program information data by the audience rating data. Display means for displaying the program information added in association with the rating shown.

A program list display method according to the present invention is a program list display method for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station on a screen of a display device. A program information acquisition step of acquiring program information data indicating a program name, an audience rating acquisition step of acquiring audience rating data indicating an audience rating for each of the programs, and the viewing of the program name indicated by the program information data. And a display step for displaying the program information added in association with the audience rating indicated by the rating data on the screen of the display device.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration (a portion surrounded by a broken line portion) of a broadcast program recording device equipped with a program list display device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a TV tuner 1 broadcasts from a television broadcast wave (hereinafter, simply referred to as a broadcast wave) supplied via an antenna or a cable from a broadcasting station corresponding to a channel designated by a channel designation signal CS. Select only waves. Then, the TV tuner 1 obtains the received television signal RXV by demodulating the broadcast wave and outputs it. At this time, the received television signal RX
V bears an information block corresponding to each program broadcast from the broadcasting station. The recording unit 2 is equipped with a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magnetic tape, a semiconductor memory or the like as a built-in recording medium, and records the television signal RXV in response to a recording start command signal supplied from the system controller 10. Store on media.
Further, when the reproduction start command signal and the reproduction start address are supplied from the system controller 10, the recording unit 2 reads out the television signal from the position (position in the recording medium) indicated by the reproduction start address, This is supplied to the selector 3 as a reproduction television signal RPV. The selector 3 selects one of the received television signal RXV and the reproduced television signal RPV according to the selection signal supplied from the system controller 10, and uses this as the television signal TS as the video / audio data separation circuit 4 And to the system controller 10. The video / audio data separation circuit 4 separates the television signal TS into video data and audio data, and supplies the video data to the video signal processing circuit 5 and the audio data to the audio signal processing circuit 6, respectively. Audio signal processing circuit 6
Outputs an audio signal obtained by subjecting the audio data to a predetermined audio demodulation process. Video signal processing circuit 5
Supplies the video signal VS obtained by subjecting the video data to a predetermined video demodulation process to the video synthesizing circuit 7.

IEEE 1394 interface circuit 11
Is responsible for transmission / reception to / from various information devices connected to the IEEE 1394 bus. IEEE 1394
The interface circuit 11 is the system controller 10
A television signal (including MPEG-formatted one) supplied from the device is packetized and sent to the IEEE1394 bus. In addition, the IEEE1394 interface circuit 11
Captures audio data, video data, and various operation command signals provided from an information device connected to the IEEE 1394 bus, and outputs them to the system controller 10
Supply to. At this time, the system controller 10 causes the recording unit 2 to record the audio data and the video data. Furthermore, the IEEE 1394 interface circuit 1
1 takes in the operation state data provided from the information device connected to the IEEE 1394 bus and stores it in the connected device information memory 12. The operation status data includes the type of each information device connected to the IEEE 1394 bus, information indicating the current operation status, and the like. At this time, the information indicating the operation state is, for example,
Information indicating whether each information device connected to the IEEE 1394 bus is in a recording, reproducing, or stopped state, and information indicating the name of the currently recorded content or the name of the content being reproduced. Is.
The type of each information device connected to the IEEE 1394 bus is, for example, a digital video camera, a personal computer, a DVD recorder, or the like.

The EPG information acquisition circuit 13 extracts the EPG information data from the reception television signal RXV when the EPG information data is superimposed on the reception television signal RXV output from the TV tuner 1. ,
This is stored in the EPG information memory 14. Incidentally, EP
The G information data includes a program name, a broadcast date, a channel number, a program genre, a broadcast time zone, a program content, a keyword related to the program content, a rating of each program currently being broadcast, etc. Is included. At this time, the program genre classifies the content of the program, and includes, for example, news, sports, dramas, movies, music, children's, anime, education, entertainment, and the like. The keywords related to the program content include, for example, performers, authors,
Director, series name, song title, region, etc. On the other hand, when the EPG information data is not superimposed on the received television signal RXV, the EPG information acquisition circuit 13 sends an EPG request command to the internet connection modem 15. The Internet connection modem 15 uses the EPG.
In response to the request command, the WEB server SB connected to the Internet IT is accessed. WEB server S
In B, EPG information indicating a program name, a broadcast date, a channel number, a program genre, a broadcast time zone, a program content, a keyword for the program content, a rating of each program currently being broadcast, etc. The data is saved. Further, in this WEB server SB, program audience rating data representing the audience rating investigated for each of the broadcasted programs is stored. The WEB server SB receives the above-mentioned EP from the above-mentioned access from the Internet connection modem 15.
The G information data is sent to the internet connection modem 15 via the internet IT. The Internet connection modem 15 receives the EPG information data sent via the Internet IT and supplies it to the EPG information acquisition circuit 13. At this time, the EPG information acquisition circuit 13
The EPG information data supplied from the Internet connection modem 15 is stored in the EPG information memory 14.

The audience rating information acquisition circuit 33 periodically sends a program audience rating data request command to the Internet connection modem 15. Internet connection modem 15
In response to such a program audience rating data request command, the WEB server SB connected to the Internet IT is accessed. As a result, the audience rating information acquisition circuit 33 causes the WE
The program audience rating data stored in the B server SB is fetched and stored in the audience rating information memory 34.

An OSD (On Screen Display) signal generation circuit 16 generates an OSD image signal OS for displaying an image carried by the display data on the screen of the display device 50 based on various display data supplied from the system controller 10. It is generated and supplied to the video composition circuit 7. The video synthesizing circuit 7 adds the O signal to the video signal VS according to the video synthesizing control signal supplied from the system controller 10.
Superimposed SD image signal OS or video signal V
Either the S or the OSD image signal OS is supplied to the display device 50 as a final video signal. The display device 50 displays an image based on the image signal on the screen.

The operation surface of the remote control 8 is provided with various operation buttons for receiving various command operations from the user. 2 shows the remote control 8
It is a figure which shows a part of operation surface of. In FIG. 2, a numeric button group NG for designating a channel or inputting various numerical values for the TV tuner 1 and a cursor key CK for moving the cursor displayed on the screen of the display device 50 to an arbitrary position are shown on the operation surface. It is provided. Further, on this operation surface, a reproduction button P for accepting various recording / reproducing operations by the recording unit 2, a fast-forward button Q, a rewind button R, a pause button PS, a stop button S, and a recording button RE are provided. There is. Further, on the operation surface, a recording list button RL for displaying a list of recorded programs on the recording unit 2 and a broadcasting list button CL for displaying a list of programs currently being broadcast are provided. There is.

The remote control 8 generates an operation signal corresponding to the various operation buttons pressed by the user and sends the operation signal to the operation signal receiving circuit 9. The operation signal receiving circuit 9 receives the operation signal transmitted from the remote control 8 and sends it to the system controller 10
Supply to. The system controller 10 executes control according to various operation signals transmitted from the remote control 8 via the operation signal receiving circuit 9.

The recording and reproducing operations of the broadcast program performed by the system controller 10 will be described below. First, when the user presses a desired number button in the number button group NG provided on the remote control 8, the system controller 10 selects the broadcasting station of the channel indicated by the pressed number button. The designation signal CS is supplied to the TV tuner 1. At this time, the TV tuner 1 uses the channel designation signal C
By selecting the broadcast wave from the broadcast station of the channel designated by S and demodulating it, the reception television signal RXV corresponding to the program broadcast by this broadcast station is obtained. Next, when the user presses the recording button RE provided on the remote control 8, the system controller 10 supplies a recording start command signal to the recording unit 2. In response to this, the recording unit 2 records the received television signal RXV output from the TV tuner 1 on the built-in recording medium. Next, the system controller 10
Is the EPG information data corresponding to the program to be recorded
(Program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, broadcast time zone, etc.) is read from the EPG information memory 14 and stored in the recorded program information memory 20. That is, every time a program is recorded, the program information data indicating the program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, broadcast time zone, etc. of the program to be recorded corresponds to each program as shown in FIG. Recorded program information memory 20
Is stored in.

When the user presses the recording list button RL provided on the remote control 8, the system controller 10 causes the program information data of all the recorded programs stored in the recorded program information memory 20 to be recorded. Read out. Then, the system controller 10
Is the program information (program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre,
The display data to be displayed on the screen of the display device 50 is generated by listing the information indicating the broadcast time) and supplied to the OSD signal generation circuit 16. This allows
A recorded program list as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen of the display device 50. Here, the user selects the cursor key C provided on the remote control 8.
By operating K, the selection frame SW is moved to the program desired to be reproduced from the recorded program list shown in FIG. 4, and the reproduction button P provided on the remote control 8 is pressed. In response to such an operation, the system controller 10 supplies the reproduction start address and the reproduction start command signal of the program enclosed by the selection frame SW to the recording unit 2 as shown in FIG. As a result, the program enclosed by the selection frame SW is reproduced from among the programs recorded in the recording unit 2, and this is displayed on the screen of the display device 50.

By the operation as described above, so-called simultaneous recording / reproduction is performed in which the program currently being broadcast is recorded in the recording unit 2 and the recorded desired program is reproduced and displayed. On the other hand, when performing such playback display, when the user clicks on the audience rating search button VS displayed in the recorded program list shown in FIG. 4 by the cursor key CK provided on the remote control 8, the system is displayed. The controller 10 moves to execution of the audience rating search subroutine as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 5, the system controller 10 first refers to the program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, and broadcast time zone for each recorded program from the EPG information data stored in the recorded program information memory 20. Is extracted and fetched (step S
1). Next, the system controller 10 fetches the program audience rating data from the audience rating information memory 34 (step S2), and searches the program audience rating data for information indicating the audience rating of each recorded program (step S3). next,
The system controller 10 displays a recorded program list in which the program information of each of the recorded programs fetched in step S2 is added in association with the audience rating information retrieved in step S2 in order of audience rating. Data is generated and supplied to the OSD signal generation circuit 16 (step S4).

By executing step S4, program information indicating the program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, broadcast time zone, and audience rating of each recorded program is displayed on the screen of the display device 50 in the order of audience rating. The arranged recorded program list as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. Therefore, the user can easily select a program to be reproduced symmetrically by referring to the audience rating information attached to each recorded program in the recorded program list.

Next, the system controller 10 operates the cursor key CK provided on the remote control 8.
Thus, it is determined whether or not the search narrow-down button SS displayed in the recorded program list shown in FIG. 6 has been clicked (step S5). When it is determined in step S5 that the search refinement button SS has not been clicked, the system controller 10 determines whether or not the user has performed an operation other than the click operation on the search refinement button SS. Perform (step S6). When it is determined in step S6 that no operation other than the click operation on the search narrowing button SS is performed,
The system controller 10 returns to step S5 and repeatedly executes the above-described determination operation.

Here, the user operates the remote control 8
When the search narrow-down button SS is clicked by operating the cursor key CK provided on the system controller 10, the system controller 10 proceeds to execute the following step S7. That is, the system controller 10 supplies the OSD signal generation circuit 16 with display data for superimposing the narrowing selection frame SSW at a predetermined initial position (for example, the center position of the screen) in the recorded program list as shown in FIG. Do
(Step S7). By executing step S7, a narrowing-down selection frame SSW as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. Next, the system controller 10 uses the cursor key C
The determination as to whether or not the click operation by K is performed is repeatedly executed until this click operation is performed (step S8).

During this time, the user can move the cursor key CK.
By operating, the keyword of the narrowed search should be selected from among the program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, and broadcast time zone of each program listed in the recorded program list as shown in FIG. On the character (or symbol) string,
The selection frame SSW is moved. For example, when only the news programs are to be extracted and displayed as a list from the programs recorded in the recorded program list, the user may select "news" displayed in the recorded program list of FIG. The narrow selection frame SSW is moved onto the character string. To display a list of program information indicating a desired drama of a series, the user moves the selection frame SSW to the position where the program name of the drama is described. Then, after moving the selection frame SSW as described above, the user clicks the cursor key CK.

If it is determined that the click operation has been performed with the cursor key CK, the system controller 10 proceeds to execute step S9 below. That is,
The system controller 10 regards the content of the character (or symbol) string selected in the selection frame SSW as a search keyword, and generates display data to be displayed as a list of only program information corresponding to the program corresponding to the content. And supplies it to the OSD signal generation circuit 16 (step S9). By executing step S9, the program information (program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, etc.) of each program corresponding to the content of the character string selected in the selection frame SSW is displayed on the screen of the display device 50. A narrowed-down program list in which only the broadcast time zone and the information indicating the audience rating) are arranged in the audience rating order as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. It should be noted that the example shown in FIG. 7 shows a narrowed-down program list displayed when the program name "Drunken (1st)" is selected by the selection frame SSW. That is, when "Drunken-Dog (1st)" is selected as the item for the narrowed search, the program information for each broadcast time of the program named "Drunken-Drug" is displayed in the recorded program list. It is displayed in the order of audience ratings as shown in.

After execution of step S9, or when it is determined in step S6 that an operation other than the click operation on the search narrowing button SS has been performed, the system controller 10 exits this audience rating search subroutine. Return to main routine processing (not explained). still,
In the above embodiment, the audience rating information is added to the recorded program list showing the programs recorded in the recording unit 2. However, the on-air program list showing the programs currently being broadcast is displayed, It is also possible to add and display the audience rating for each program in the list.

At this time, the user presses the on-air list button CL provided on the operation surface of the remote control 8 as shown in FIG. As a result, the system controller 10 reads the EPG information data corresponding to the program currently being broadcast from the EPG information memory 14. And
The system controller 10 creates a list of program information indicating the program name, channel number, program genre, and broadcast time of each program indicated by the EPG information data, and generates display data to be displayed on the screen of the display device 50. Then, this is supplied to the OSD signal generation circuit 16. Thereby, on the screen of the display device 50,
A broadcast program list as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. Here, when the user operates the cursor key CK provided on the remote control 8 to click the audience rating search button VS displayed in the program list on the air, the system controller 10 displays Then, the process proceeds to the execution of the audience rating search subroutine as shown in 9.

In FIG. 9, first, the system controller 10 extracts audience rating information indicating the current audience rating of each program currently being broadcast from the EPG information data.
(Step S21). Next, the system controller 10
Shows the program information (program name, channel number, program genre, broadcast time zone) for each program currently being broadcast displayed as shown in FIG. 8 with audience rating information corresponding to that program added. Display data to be arranged in order of ratio and displayed is generated and supplied to the OSD signal generation circuit 16 (step S22).

By executing step S22, program information indicating the program name, broadcast date, channel number, program genre, broadcast time zone, and audience rating of each program currently being broadcast is displayed on the screen of the display device 50. , A program list on the air which is arranged in the order of audience ratings is displayed. Therefore, the user can refer to the audience rating as an index when selecting the program to be viewed from the programs currently being broadcast, so that the selection of the program to be viewed can be easily performed. become.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, in displaying the program list of the programs broadcast from the broadcasting station,
The audience rating of each program is acquired through the Internet or EPG information, and the program information in which the audience rating corresponding to the program is added to the program name of each program is arranged and displayed in the audience rating order.

Thus, according to the present invention, the user can refer to the audience rating displayed for each program as an index when selecting a viewing program, so that the user can view from among a plurality of programs listed in the program list. It becomes possible to easily select a program to be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast program recording device equipped with a program list display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of an operation surface of a remote control 8.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of program information stored in a recorded program information memory 20.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of a recorded program list.

5 is a diagram showing an audience rating search subroutine executed by the system controller 10. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a recorded program list with audience rating information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a narrowed-down program list.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a program list during broadcasting.

9 is a diagram showing an audience rating search subroutine executed by the system controller 10. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of a broadcasted program list with audience rating information.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 TV tuner 2 recording unit 10 system controller 13 EPG information acquisition circuit 14 EPG information memory 15 Internet connection modem 20 Recorded program information memory 33 audience rating information acquisition circuit 34 Rating information memory

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 17/00 (72) Inventor Go Hasebe 4-2610 Hanazono, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama Pioneer Co., Ltd. Tokorozawa factory (72) Yoshitaka Tanaka, 426-10 Hanazono, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Tokorozawa Plant, Pioneer Co., Ltd. (72) Yasuo Kinosaki 4-2610, Hanazono, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, Tokorozawa Plant, Pioneer Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kunihiro Minoshima 4-2610 Hanazono, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Tokorozawa Plant, Pioneer Co., Ltd. (72) Manabu Yamamura 4-2610 Hanazono, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture Tokorozawa Plant, Pioneer Co., Ltd. (72) Masaru Higuchi Live 426-10 Hanazono, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Pioneer Co., Ltd. Tokorozawa Plant (72) Inventor Ryuichiro Morioka Sai Tokorozawa City, Tokorozawa Prefecture 2626 Pioneer Co., Ltd. Tokorozawa Plant (72) Inventor Victory Inagaki Victory Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture 4 2610 Tokorozawa Factory F Term (reference) 5C025 CA04 CA09 CB08 DA05 DA08 5C052 AA01 AC08 CC20 DD04 DD08 EE03 5C061 BB13 CC05 5C063 AC10 DA03 DA20 EB32 EB33

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A program list display device for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station, the program information acquiring means acquiring program information data indicating the program names of the respective programs, Audience rating acquisition means for acquiring audience rating data indicating an audience rating for each program, and a program in which the program name indicated in the program information data is associated with the audience rating indicated in the audience rating data and added. A program list display device comprising: display means for displaying information. 2. The program list display device according to claim 1, wherein the display means includes means for displaying a list of the program information corresponding to each of the programs. 3. The program list display device according to claim 1, wherein the display means includes means for displaying a list in which the program information corresponding to each of the programs is arranged in the order of the ratings. 4. The program information acquisition means includes means for acquiring the program information data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner that receives the program. Program list display device. 5. The audience rating acquisition means includes means for acquiring the audience rating data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner for receiving the program. Program list display device. 6. A program list display device for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station, the recording means recording a desired program of each of the programs on a recording medium, and the recording. Program information acquisition means for acquiring program information data indicating a program name of each recorded program recorded on a medium; audience rating acquisition means for acquiring audience rating data indicating a rating for each of the recorded programs; A program list display device for displaying program information in which the program name shown in (1) is associated with the audience rating shown in the audience rating data and added. 7. The program list display device according to claim 6, wherein the display means includes means for displaying a list of the program information corresponding to each of the recorded programs. 8. The program list display device according to claim 6, wherein the display means includes means for displaying a list in which the program information corresponding to each of the recorded programs is arranged in the order of the rating. . 9. The program information acquisition means includes means for acquiring the program information data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner for receiving the program. Program list display device. 10. The program list display device according to claim 6, wherein the audience rating acquisition means includes means for acquiring the audience rating data from the Internet. 11. A program list display method for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station on a screen of a display device, wherein program information data indicating the program names of the respective programs is acquired. A program information acquisition process, a viewership acquisition process for acquiring viewership data indicating a viewership for each of the programs, the program name shown in the program information data, and the viewership shown in the viewership data. And a display step for displaying the program information added in association with each other on the screen of the display device. 12. The display of a program list according to claim 11, wherein the display step includes a step of displaying a list of the program information corresponding to each of the programs on a screen of the display device. Method. 13. The display step includes a step of displaying a list in which the program information corresponding to each of the programs is arranged in the order of the audience rating on the screen of the display device. How to display the listed program list. 14. The program information acquisition step includes a step of acquiring the program information data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner for receiving the program.
How to display the listed program list. 15. The audience rating obtaining step includes a step of obtaining the audience rating data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner for receiving the program. How to display the program list. 16. A method of displaying a program list for displaying a list of program names of respective programs broadcast from a broadcasting station on a screen of a display device, wherein desired programs of the respective programs are recorded on a recording medium. Recording process, a program information acquisition process for acquiring program information data indicating a program name of each recorded program recorded on the recording medium, and an audience rating acquisition for acquiring audience rating data indicating an audience rating for each of the recorded programs. A process, and a display process for displaying on the screen of the display device program information in which the program name shown in the program information data is associated with the audience rating shown in the audience rating data and added. A method of displaying a program list, characterized by having. 17. The program list according to claim 16, wherein the display process includes a process of displaying a list of the program information corresponding to each of the recorded programs on a screen of the display device. Display method. 18. The display step includes a step of displaying on a screen of the display device a list in which the program information corresponding to each of the recorded programs is arranged in the order of the audience rating. A method of displaying the program list described in 16. 19. The program information acquisition step includes a step of acquiring the program information data from a television signal demodulated by the Internet or a television tuner for receiving the program.
How to display the listed program list. 20. The program list display method according to claim 16, wherein the audience rating acquisition step includes a step of acquiring the audience rating data from the Internet.