JP2004200757A - Digital broadcast receiver and program searching method for digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reservation registration system for simplifying the operation and shortening the searching time by designating information constituting a program list as a searching key to directly narrow a program on the program list, displaying the searched program on the program list, and designating a desired program from the program list. <P>SOLUTION: The digital broadcast receiver is provided with: a program guide data storage means for storing program guide data included in a received digital broadcast wave; a program guide display data generating means for generating program guide display data; a searching key information designation means for designating program information composed of the program guide data for searching key information; a program searching means for searching a program including the designated searching key information from the program guide data; a program list display data generating means for generating list display data of the program searched by the program searching means; a program designation means for designating the program from the program list; and a reservation registration means for making reservation and registration to receive the program at a time when the program designated by the program designation means is broadcast. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver for selecting a program by using program information included in a digital broadcast wave and distributed, and performing reservation registration of viewing and recording, and a program search method of the digital broadcast receiver. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventional digital broadcast receivers include a means for receiving a digital broadcast, a storage means for storing program table data of the digital broadcast, and a program table in which program titles are arranged in broadcast time zone based on the program table data. Display means, designating means for designating a character string in the title of the displayed program, searching means for searching a program having title including the specified character string from the program guide data, and receiving the searched program Control means for making a reservation registration as described above.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-257961 (FIGS. 2 and 6)
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional digital broadcast receiver is configured as described above, and when searching for a program from a program table, several channels are displayed on the screen for several hours, at most for one day. For example, when the user is away from the time zone where the desired program is displayed or when the number of channels is large, the user must scroll the screen many times to move the screen. There was such a problem.
[0004]
In addition, when performing a search by entering a keyword, a dedicated input screen must be displayed on a separate screen, and a keyword must be entered on the screen or selected from a given keyword group. It is necessary to increase the number of hierarchies as the number of operations becomes smaller, and there is a problem that the number of operations increases and the operation becomes complicated.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and designates information constituting a program table as a search key for narrowing down programs directly on the program table. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reservation registration system which simplifies the operation and shortens the search time by displaying and specifying a desired program from the program list.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention includes: a program table data storage unit that stores program table data included in a received digital broadcast wave; and a program table based on the program table data stored in the program table data storage unit. Program table display data generating means for generating program table display data to be displayed; search key information specifying means for specifying program information composed of program table data displayed in the program table as search key information; Program search means for searching a program including search key information specified by the information specifying means from the program table data; program list display data generating means for generating list display data of programs searched by the program search means; Program designating means for designating a program from the program list, and receiving the program at a time at which the program designated by the program designating means is broadcast In which and a reservation registration means for reservation registration to so that.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
First Embodiment of the Invention 1.
Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a digital broadcast wave received by an antenna 1 connected to a digital broadcast receiver 100 is converted by a receiving means 2 into data including video / audio and program guide data of a preset channel. The program guide data of this output is stored in the program guide data storage means 3 and output as a program guide by the program guide display data generating means 4.
The search key information designating means 5 is used as a program search key information by the user inputting information (for example, date, channel, start / end time, program name, etc.) displayed in the program guide by the input means 6. specify.
[0008]
The program search means 7 searches the program table data stored in the program table data storage means 3 for a program that matches the specified search key information.
The program list display data generating means 8 outputs the program searched by the program searching means 7 in the form of a program list.
The program designating means 9 designates a user's desired program by finding a desired program and inputting it from the input means 6 by the user who has viewed the program list displayed on the screen.
The reservation registering means 10 makes a reservation registration so that the designated program is received at a broadcast time.
[0009]
At the start time of the program registered and reserved, the control means 11 instructs the receiving means 2 to select a channel broadcasting the program registered and reserved, and the receiving means 2 selects the designated channel. Then, the video / audio of the channel is output.
The outputs of the receiving means 2, the program table display data generating means 4 and the program list display data generating means 8 are combined by the output signal combining means 12 and output to the TV set 13 and the VTR 14.
[0010]
Further, a control code may be output from the control means to the VTR or other recording device at the start time of the program registered and reserved, so that the recording device may be controlled.
Further, the user may be notified by screen display or sounding of a warning sound.
[0011]
If the program designated by the program designating means 9 is currently being broadcast at the present time, the control means 11 selects the channel on which the desired program is being broadcast to the receiving means 2 without performing the operation corresponding to reservation registration. A process that is the same as a normal channel selection process of giving an instruction is performed.
[0012]
Next, the operation of registration registration in the digital broadcast receiver 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.
In step S21, the program guide data stored in the program guide data storage means 3 is displayed in a program guide format by the program guide display data generating means 4.
[0013]
Subsequently, in step S22, the search key information designating means 5 designates display information of the program guide input by the user through the input means 6 as program search key information.
The search key information can be specified a plurality of times at the same time. In step S23, a query is made as to whether or not the specification of the information is completed. When the specification is further performed, the process returns to step S22. Heading.
[0014]
In step S23, the program table data in the program table data storage means 3 is searched using the specified search key information, and a program matching the key information is searched and extracted.
The program extracted in step S24 is output in a program list format by the program list display data generating means 8.
[0015]
In the above-described program list display, it is not possible to simultaneously display all the detailed information of the programs held in the program guide data due to restrictions on the screen size. For this reason, the content of the information displayed in a predetermined column can be changed. This will be described later. If the display is to be changed in step S25, the process returns to step S24, and if no further change is necessary, the process proceeds to the next step S26.
[0016]
If the user desires further program details in step S26, the process advances to step 27 to display another screen listing all the detailed information. When returning to the program list display from here, the process returns to step S24.
In step S28, the user specifies a desired program from the displayed program list.
In step S29, the reservation registration means 10 makes a reservation registration of the specified program.
[0017]
FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen display of the program guide. Basically, program names are arranged in a two-axis matrix based on channel and broadcast time, and invisible portions of both channel and time are visualized by scrolling and moving. Further, a frame for selecting a date and displaying program outline information including a part of detailed information of a program on which a cursor is placed in the program table is provided in an upper part. This is because the program outline information can also be designated as search key information.
[0018]
FIG. 3A shows information that can be specified by the user as search key information in a double frame. FIG. 3B is a diagram in which button icons for operation are prepared in the frame of each piece of information that can be designated as search key information. In addition, although not shown, information that can be designated as search key information may be displayed in a different color from others, or may be displayed in a manner that is easy for the user to understand by changing fonts, shading, or the like. Good. Further, in order to display a state in which the information is selected, the information may be displayed by a screen display method already known in the world, such as inverting the color tone of a font or a button.
[0019]
The user can specify a plurality of pieces of displayed information instead of just one. The search key information specifying means 5 can continue the selection until the selection of the key information is completed, and can cancel the already selected key on the way.
[0020]
FIG. 4 shows an example in which a program specified and searched and extracted at the time of the program table shown in FIG. 3 by the specified search key information is displayed in a program list format.
4A to 4C show the results of specifying one piece of search key information. FIG. 4A shows the channel 010, FIG. 4B shows the time 15:00, and FIG. Is a search made by designating program name program 1.
FIG. 4D shows a result obtained by specifying a plurality of channels 010 and 14:00 as search key information.
[0021]
The program list displays items set in advance among detailed information included in the program in a list format. In FIG. 4, a channel, a date, a time, and a program name are employed as examples of preset items. This relates to the screen size, and includes all the data included in the program guide data received for a certain program (for example, information on the number of broadcasts of the program, information on rebroadcasting, program contents and performer information that are different for each number of broadcasts, etc.). However, such a program list cannot be displayed at once because there are not enough columns.
[0022]
In view of this, the program list in FIG. 4 is provided with a display change unit at the upper right part that allows program information to be changed. When the user presses the "@" and "@" buttons in this portion, the display information in a predetermined column of the program list, in the example of FIG. 4, the rightmost column can be switched.
4 (e) and 4 (f) show a state where the display is switched from the program name display of FIG. 4 (c) to the performer display in FIG. 4 (e) and to the program outline display in FIG. 4 (f).
The display of the display change unit is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 4 as long as it can be recognized by the user on the screen.
[0023]
FIG. 5 shows a display example in which all the detailed information of a certain program is displayed, and the program list display data generating means may be able to display the display in this state in response to a request from the user to confirm in more detail. The detailed information display may be displayed by overlaying the program list display already displayed at that time.
[0024]
As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the program information displayed in the program guide can be directly specified on the screen as the search key information, so that the keyword can be input on another screen. Since it becomes unnecessary and can be easily designated without operating a plurality of screens, the search time is reduced, and the reservation registration work can be easily performed.
[0025]
Further, since a plurality of search key information can be specified, the number of programs after the search can be narrowed down, and the search time can be reduced.
[0026]
Also, since it is possible to switch and display the detailed program information in a predetermined column in the program list display after the search, it is only necessary to confirm whether the program to be selected matches the desired program only by displaying the program list. Can be performed and the operation can be simplified.
[0027]
Further, since all the detailed information of the program can be displayed by being overlaid on the program list display, the user can surely confirm that the program is the desired program.
[0028]
Embodiment 2 of the Invention
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
The digital broadcast receiver 200 includes a genre determining unit 15 for totalizing the entire period of the program table data stored in the program table data storage unit 3 to determine a representative genre of each channel, and a period for totaling from the user. It is configured to have a period designation means 16 set by input. The other components shown in FIG. 6 are the same as those in the first embodiment.
[0029]
FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a reservation registration operation in digital broadcast receiver 200.
[0030]
If a current digital broadcast wave is received on each channel, the broadcast wave contains program guide data for eight days for all channels. In step S31, the genre determining means 15 totals the genres for each program for each channel from the program table data for the entire period stored in the program table data storage means 3 and compiles the genre for each channel for the longest broadcast time. The genre is set as the representative genre of the channel, and the program guide data with the representative genre added is returned to the program guide data storage means 3.
[0031]
If the total is eight days only, for example, if there is a broadcast such as "XX Special" for only one day, the case different from the representative genre is taken into consideration. The user can input a desired totaling period into the period specifying means 16 and specify it.
[0032]
Subsequently, in step S42, the genre of the program guide data is totaled for each channel and each program for the designated totaling period, the genre having the longest broadcast time in that channel is set as the representative genre of the channel, and the representative genre is added. The returned program guide data is returned to the program guide data storage means 3.
The following flow is the same as that in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, and therefore the description is omitted here.
[0033]
FIG. 8 shows an example of a screen display of a program guide displaying a representative genre name next to a channel number. As described above, by displaying the representative genre of the channel near the channel display portion, the search time can be reduced by performing the search while watching the genre.
Also, the displayed genre name can be designated as search key information.
[0034]
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, the form of a digital broadcast receiver is not limited to a set-top box, but may be a television. The present invention can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as a device built in a VTR, a home server, a program redistribution device for CATV or the Internet, and a video search device such as a video library. Of course.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, the program information displayed in the program guide can be specified directly as a search key on the screen, so that it is not necessary to input a keyword on another screen, and without operating a plurality of screens. Since it can be easily specified, the search time is reduced, and the reservation registration work can be easily performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a reservation registration operation in the digital broadcast receiver according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an example of a screen display of a program guide according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an example of a screen display of a program list according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a display example in which all the detailed information of a certain program is displayed.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of registration registration in the digital broadcast receiver according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is an example of a screen display of a program guide displaying a representative genre name next to a channel number according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 antenna, 2 receiving means, 3 program data storage means,
4 program table display data generating means, 5 search key information specifying means,
6 input means, 7 program search means,
8 program list display data generating means, 9 program specifying means,
10 reservation registration means, 11 control means,
12 output signal synthesis means, 15 genre determination means,
16 Period designation means, 100, 200 Digital broadcast receiver.

Claims (12)

Program guide data storage means for storing program guide data included in the received digital broadcast wave;
Program table display data generating means for generating program table display data for displaying a program table based on the program table data stored in the program table data storage means;
Search key information designating means for designating program information consisting of program guide data displayed in the program guide as search key information;
Program search means for searching a program including search key information designated by the search key information designation means from the program table data;
Program list display data generation means for generating list display data of programs searched by the program search means,
Program designating means for designating a program from the program list;
Reservation registration means for making a reservation registration so as to receive the program at a time when the program specified by the program specification means is broadcast;
Digital broadcast receiver with. The program table includes a channel number, a broadcast time, and a program name, and a program name can be selected in the program table. The program table includes at least a part of the detailed information of the program having the selected program name. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising: 2. The digital broadcast according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display data generating means displays program information that can be designated as search key information among the program information, separately from other display elements. Receiving machine. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein said search key information designating means designates two or more pieces of program information. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the program list display data generating means switches and displays a plurality of pieces of information of the program in a predetermined column in the program list. 6. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 5, wherein the program list display data generating means has a display on a screen for prompting a user to switch a plurality of pieces of information of the program. 7. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 6, wherein the program list display data generating means displays the detailed information of the designated program on another screen. Genre determining means for determining a representative genre of the channel for each channel from the program guide data stored in the program guide data storage means, wherein the program guide display data generating means includes the determined representative genre. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast receiver generates program guide display data. The apparatus has a period designating unit for designating a predetermined period among broadcast periods of all programs included in the program table data, and the genre determining unit determines a representative genre for each channel from the program table data within the predetermined period. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 8, wherein: Generating program guide display data based on the program guide data;
Specifying program information constituting the program guide as search key information;
Searching the program table data for a program including the specified search key information;
Generating list display data of the searched programs;
Specifying a desired program from a program list displayed on the screen;
Making a reservation so as to receive the designated program at the time when the designated program is broadcast. 11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of determining a representative genre of each channel from the program guide data stored in said storage means. 12. The digital broadcast reception according to claim 11, further comprising a step of designating a predetermined period for determining a representative genre for each channel among broadcast periods of all programs included in the program guide data. How to search for programs on the machine.

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