JP2005130083A - Display device, display control method, and information-presenting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce user's burden for operating a simultaneous viewing, even when a display device has a plurality of tuners. <P>SOLUTION: A full screen, a master screen and slave screen being picture-in-picture, right and left screens for vertical division, or upper and lower screens for horizontal division can be selected as a screen display position. A user reserves programs to be viewed or recorded on an electronic program guide (EPG) by using a remote controller 116. When making a reservation, a screen display position is previously specified. When time bands of programs to be reserved overlap, the screen display position at the overlapped time is corrected, in accordance with the overlap avoiding algorithm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program viewing reservation setting operation and a user interface in a display device typified by a television receiver or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a display device having a video composition device for simultaneously displaying a plurality of videos. In particular, the present invention relates to a display device, a display control method, and an information presentation method that make it possible to easily make a reservation designated up to a screen layout position without performing complicated operations on the display device side.

  Some television receivers are equipped with a viewing reservation function. The viewing reservation function is a function for selecting a preset channel and displaying it on the screen at a preset time. This function is used to prevent a program to be viewed from being missed.

  Conventionally, when such a viewing reservation is made with a television receiver, when the broadcast start time of the reserved program comes, even if the user is watching another program, the reserved program is automatically selected and displayed. Some are designed to switch. Further, depending on the model of the television receiving apparatus, an alert 501 indicating that the channel is switched is displayed as shown in FIG. 23 a few minutes before the reserved time instead of switching suddenly, and the program 500 being viewed is continuously viewed. Or select whether to watch a reserved program.

  In the case of a so-called multi-tuner television receiver having means for inputting and processing a plurality of video sources, it is conceivable to simultaneously provide the program being viewed and the reserved program at the broadcast start time of the reserved program. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the program being viewed is switched from the full-screen display 502 to the sub-screen display 504, and the reserved program is displayed on the parent screen 503.

  The viewing reservation can generally be set on an EPG (Electronic Program Guide). EPG decodes program service information data received from broadcast waves, displays it as an electronic program guide on a TV screen, and provides the user with an operating environment such as channel selection and reservation, and has an extremely large number of channels. It is positioned as an important function in digital broadcasting. An example of EPG display is shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 25, time is displayed in the vertical direction and channels are displayed in the horizontal direction. The user moves the cursor 506 onto the desired program using a direction key or the like equipped on the remote controller, and determines. Thereby, a desired program can be viewed or reserved. When a currently broadcast program is selected, the corresponding program is selected for viewing, and when a program scheduled to be broadcast in the future is selected, viewing or recording is reserved.

  In this way, the user can set a program to be reserved for viewing on the EPG, and when the reservation is completed, a reservation completion icon 507 is displayed in the display frame of the corresponding program and the reservation can be confirmed. . In addition to the program guide, the EPG shown in FIG. 25 displays a broadcast screen (508) for displaying a currently broadcast program and an operation guide (509) for supporting user input operations.

  When reserving a program by the above-described method, if the reservations overlap, the television receiver or the EPG displays an alert indicating that as shown in FIG. In accordance with this alert, the user decides whether to cancel the previous reservation to be duplicated or to cancel the reservation to be set by remote control operation.

A technique capable of confirming the viewing reservation state is described in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-187323

  When the broadcast start time of the reserved program comes, the television receiver selects the reserved program and switches the display from the currently viewed program to the reserved program. With this function, it is possible to prevent a program important for the user from being overlooked. However, when the user wants to watch the continuation of the program that the user has watched so far for a short time, the user must perform a channel selection operation again by a user operation using a remote controller or the like. Even in a television receiver that displays an alert at the time of viewing reservation execution and accepts the reservation cancellation, by the reservation canceling operation with the remote control etc. and the subsequent channel selection operation, or when the alert display is overlooked, Depending on the situation, there is a risk of missing an important scene.

  There is also a usage method in which a television receiver equipped with a multi-tuner is used to display a program that has been viewed immediately before on a child screen and a reserved program on a parent screen. However, if the reserved program is actually a program that does not need to be displayed in large size, or just wants to check the status, the sub-screen display is sufficient, and it is more helpful to display the program being viewed as the main screen. There are cases. In such a situation, the user must bother to change the display settings of the child screen / parent screen by operating the remote controller or the like. This setting change operation may cause the user to miss an important scene in some cases.

  When a program is reserved using an application such as EPG, there is a case where duplication occurs in the reserved program, and execution may not be possible depending on a processing method at the time of duplication. In such a case, as described above, an application such as a television receiver or an EPG displays an alert indicating that effect. However, the number of programs displayed on the EPG at a time is limited, and when a program that is not displayed on the screen is reserved, the user can display a number of programs that are displayed on the EPG as to whether or not there is a duplication. It is very difficult to confirm from the list. Further, even when a reservation overlap alert is displayed, it is very difficult for the user to immediately recognize on the EPG which program has been overlapped.

  Furthermore, in the case of a television receiver equipped with a multi-tuner, it is possible to make reservations that are the same as the number of tuners, and setting reservations while checking these on a conventional EPG is an easy operation for the user. There is something difficult.

  The present invention provides a display device that makes it possible to easily set a viewing reservation and avoid troublesome operations for a user when viewing a reserved program by adding a unique function different from the conventional one to the viewing reservation setting, An object is to present a display control method and an information presentation method.

  A display apparatus according to the present invention includes a display having means for receiving a plurality of video information, a video synthesizing means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information, and a timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time. An apparatus is characterized in that a synthesized video is displayed at a specified position at a specified time.

  A display apparatus according to the present invention includes a display having means for receiving a plurality of video information, a video synthesizing means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information, and a timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time. An apparatus is characterized in that time and a plurality of video display position information are displayed in a matrix form and presented to a user.

  The display control method according to the present invention includes means for receiving a plurality of pieces of video information, video composition means for simultaneously displaying the plurality of pieces of received video information, and timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time. In the display device, the synthesized video is displayed at a designated position at a designated time.

  An information presentation method according to the present invention includes means for receiving a plurality of pieces of video information, video composition means for simultaneously displaying the received pieces of video information, and timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time. The display device is characterized in that time and a plurality of video display position information are displayed in a matrix form and presented to the user.

  According to the present invention, by setting a viewing reservation for a program including a multi-screen display position, the user can avoid various troublesome operations such as a channel selection operation after program start and a setting change to a desired screen layout. The risk of missing important scenes can be minimized.

  Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily confirm whether reservation is possible at the time of setting by visually presenting the reservation status to the display position for each display position using an application such as EPG. By adjusting the screen display position at the time of overlapping reservations, complicated setting operations can be eliminated, and the convenience of the digital television receiver can be further improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital television receiver 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Signals received by an antenna (not shown) are input to tuners 101-1 and 101-2. The tuners 101-1 and 101-2 perform processing such as demodulation and error correction on the input signal, generate digital data in a format called a transport stream, and send the generated transport stream (TS) data to the desk. Output to the Rambler 102. The descrambler 102, the demultiplexer 103, and the various decoders 104 to 106 can process two TS data simultaneously.

  In the TS data, video, audio data, electronic program guide (EPG) data, data broadcast data, and the like for a plurality of channels are time-division multiplexed.

  The descrambler 102 receives descramble key information included in the TS data and the IC card control unit 117 when TS data that has been scrambled for viewing restriction is input from the tuners 101-1 and 101-2. Scramble is canceled based on the key information output from, and output to the demultiplexer 103.

  The IC card control unit 117 includes an IC card for storing key information for solving key information for descrambler included in user contract information and TS data, and key information for descrambling in the descrambler 102 If there is key information for solving the above, the key information is output to the descrambler 102.

  Further, when descrambled TS data is input from the tuners 101-1 and 101-2, the descrambler 102 outputs the TS data to the demultiplexer 103 as it is.

  The demultiplexer 103 extracts the video data D1 and the audio data D2 of the channel selected by the operation of the operation unit 114 or the remote controller 116 from the TS data output from the descrambler 102, and the video decoder 104 and the audio decoder respectively To 105. Further, the demultiplexer 103 extracts the data broadcast / EPG data D3 from the TS data and inputs it to the data stream processing unit 106. The data broadcast / EPG data processed by the data stream processing unit 106 is taken into the memory 107 via the bus 120 connected to the CPU 118 and stored in the hard disk 123 after the software processing by the CPU 118.

  TS data is transmitted in units of packets, and a packet identifier PID (Packet IDentification) is added to the head of the packet. The demultiplexer 103 reads the PID to identify the video data D1, the audio data D2, and the data broadcast / EPG data D3.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the TS signal. The data broadcast / EPG data D3 includes various tables related to information unique to the broadcast program, such as PAT, PMT, NIT, EIT, and TOT, which will be described later, and a program information table. Details of the data broadcast / EPG data D3 will be described later.

  The video data will be described. The video decoder 104 performs MPEG2 decoding processing on the video data D1 input from the demultiplexer 103, and outputs the decoded video data to the display control unit 109. The display control unit 109 causes the image display unit 112 to display an image by switching or multiplexing screens according to the operation of the video decoder 104 or the remote controller 116. When a plurality of image data / audio data / data broadcast / EPG data is received, the images are combined and output to the image display unit 112. The screen configuration unit 108 will be described later. The screen display unit 112 includes a monitor (not shown) and a video signal input terminal.

  The audio data will be described. The audio decoder 105 performs MPEG2 decoding processing on the audio data D2 input from the demultiplexer 103, and outputs the decoded audio data to a digital to analog converter (DAC) 110. The DAC 110 converts the audio data input from the audio decoder 105 into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal to the audio output unit 113. The audio output unit 113 includes a speaker (not shown) and an audio signal input terminal.

  The data broadcasting / EPG data D3 will be described. Electronic program guide (EPG) data is transmitted in a data structure defined by standards such as “program display information used for digital broadcasting” of the Japan Radio Industry Association (commonly known as ARiB). As main configuration data, name of organization channel, name of broadcaster, etc., SDT (Service Description Table) for transmitting information on organization channel, name of bouquet (set of organization channels) and organization channel included, etc. BAT (Bouquet Association Table) that transmits information, EIT (Event Information Table) that transmits information about the program, such as program name, broadcast start date and time, and description of contents, TDT (Time Information) that transmits information on the current date and time Data Table).

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of data broadcast / EPG data. The EPG data used in this embodiment is described as several items and descriptors in an EIT (event information table), and is configured in a so-called EPG form by the data stream processing unit 106 and the screen configuration unit 108. ,Is displayed. In the first part of the event information table, in addition to the table ID, service ID, event ID, etc., the broadcast start time and broadcast duration of the program are described. After this, there are several descriptors. The elements related to the EPG of this embodiment will be mainly described.

  The short format event descriptor describes the program name (within 80 bytes) and the subtitle (within 160 bytes) of the program. In the extended event descriptor, the names of performers, screenwriters, moderators, and explanations of programs are described. The content descriptor is a descriptor representing the genre of the broadcast program. The genre includes large genres such as “report”, “sports”, “drama”, “movie”, “variety”, and “education”, and more detailed medium genres (for example, “sports”). Medium genres include “soccer”, “baseball” and “olympic”.

  In the parental rate descriptor, the age limit for viewing is described. The digital copy control descriptor describes constraint information related to digital copy and analog copy. The data content descriptor describes information related to program-related data broadcasting. In the CA contract information descriptor, information such as availability of viewing and recording reservation for the chargeable program is described. In the event group descriptor, event sharing and grouping information and event relay link information are described. In the component descriptor, combination information of components in an event realized by a multi-view TV or the like is described. The series descriptor describes information such as series programs and rebroadcasts.

  Next, the operation of EPG display will be described. When an operation for displaying an EPG is performed on the operation unit 114 or the remote controller 116, an EPG display instruction from the operation unit 114 or an EPG display instruction from the remote control 116 received by the light receiving unit 115 is input to the CPU 118. When an EPG display instruction is input, the CPU 118 reads out necessary information from the memory 107 and outputs it to the data stream processing unit 106. The information read out here is program information in the channel selected in accordance with the operation of the operation unit 114 or the remote controller 116. When switching from the video screen to the EPG screen in response to an EPG display instruction from the operation unit 114 or the remote controller 116, the CPU 118 reads the channel displayed at the time of the previous EPG screen display from the memory 107, and further At this time, the information of the program broadcast in the time zone corresponding to the current time is read from the memory 107.

  The data broadcast / EPG data D3 includes data such as SDT, EIT, and TDT as described above. First, the data stream processing unit 106 reads the TDT, acquires the current time information, and outputs the current time information to the CPU 118. The CPU 118 determines an EPG display time zone corresponding to the current time, and outputs appropriate time zone information to the data stream processing unit 106. The data stream processing unit 106 reads out the SDT from the memory 107 based on the time zone information input from the CPU 118, and acquires information such as the presence / absence of a program guide, the channel name and channel number of the own and other streams. The data stream processing unit 106 further reads the EIT from the memory 107, and acquires information such as the program name, start time, category, and program description in each channel of the own and other streams. Then, the data stream processing unit 106 performs a decoding process on the data broadcast / EPG data D3 read from the memory 107, and outputs the decoded EPG data to the screen configuration unit 108.

  The screen configuration unit 108 outputs a character signal for configuring a normal EPG screen to the display control unit 109 based on the EPG data input from the data stream processing unit 106.

  The display control unit 109 generates an EPG image generated from a video signal related to video data output from the video decoder 104 or a character signal output from the screen configuration unit 108 in response to an operation of the operation unit 114 and the remote control 116. The signals are selected or combined and output to the image display unit 112. When an instruction operation for displaying an EPG screen is performed by the operation unit 114 and the remote controller 116, the display control unit 109 outputs an image signal of the EPG screen including the character signal output from the screen configuration unit 108 to the video display unit 112.

  The channel information displayed on the image display unit 112 in this manner is stored in the memory 107, read out from the memory 107 at the next EPG screen display, and redisplayed as an EPG screen as described above.

  In data broadcasting, digital data is repeatedly transmitted from a broadcasting station according to the DSM-CC data carousel system defined in ISO / IEC13818-6. The data broadcast data filtered by the demultiplexer 103 includes text information, script information, image information, and video / audio data. The text information is described in XML (extensible Markup Language) defined by W3C.

  The data broadcast / EPG data D3 is decoded by the data stream processing unit 106 into EPG data composed of text information and image information, and data broadcast data composed of text information, image information and video / audio data, and then the bus 120 To the memory 107. The CPU 118 stores the processing result data including the display XML data in the hard disk 123 after processing the data broadcast data.

  When a data broadcast display instruction is input from the operation unit 114 or the light receiving unit 115, the CPU 118 reads the display XML data from the hard disk 123 and outputs it to the screen configuration unit 108.

  The screen configuration unit 108 outputs a video signal to the display control unit 109 based on data from the CPU 118. As described above, the display control unit 109 outputs a video signal to the image display unit 112 so as to switch / combine the video screen and the data broadcast screen.

  An IEEE 1394 interface 122 and a modem 121 are connected to the bus 120. The IEEE 1394 interface 122 is used for protocol communication with the VTR 130 and the printer 131 to which the television receiver 100 is connected to the outside. The modem 121 is used for connecting to the Internet via a telephone line or the like.

  An example of the remote controller 116 is shown in FIG. However, FIG. 2 shows only operation buttons for realizing functions necessary for explaining the present embodiment. The operation buttons necessary for the actual receiving apparatus are omitted. In addition to the remote control 116 shown in FIG. 2, a pointing device such as a mouse can be used.

  In FIG. 2, 200 is a light emitting unit that outputs an infrared signal toward the light receiving unit 115, 201 is a power key for instructing on / off of power, 202 is a menu key for instructing display of a menu screen, and 203 is channel selection. Up / down keys for instructing channel up / down used for forward feed, 204 is a numeric key used for channel selection, 205 is a cursor key for moving the selection cursor in four directions, up, down, left and right, 211 is designated by the selection cursor This is a determination key for instructing the determination of the selected area. Reference numeral 206 denotes four keys called color keys, which are arranged in the order of “blue”, “red”, “green”, and “yellow” from the left. Reference numeral 207 denotes a “pick” key used for dragging a selected program, which will be described later, to a specific area. Reference numeral 208 denotes a “release” key used for dropping.

  Reference numeral 209 denotes a cancel key for instructing to cancel the operation when the “pick” key 207 is erroneously operated, and 210 is an EPG display key for instructing EPG display. Reference numerals 212 and 213 denote keys used for changing the area where the cursor can be moved.

  In addition, although the illustrated keys are used for realizing various functions of the digital television receiver, they are not used for the operations in this embodiment, and the details are omitted here.

  The CPU 118 has a program execution device, and according to the operation of the operation unit 114 having each operation switch for channel selection, power-on or the like or the remote controller 116, the tuners 101-1, 101-2, the descrambler 102, the demultiplexer 103, each The decoder units 104 to 106, the screen configuration unit 108, the display control unit 109, and the DAC 110 are controlled.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of control software that runs on the CPU 118. The GUI software (a) is a core part of signal processing in this embodiment, and the control software (b) to (g) are interface software (drivers) for controlling each processing circuit in FIG.

  Characteristic components of the present embodiment are a display control unit 109 having a video composition function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of videos, and screen composition control software operating on the CPU 118. The screen synthesis control software can synthesize videos from a plurality of tuners and display them on the image display unit 112 with a plurality of synthesis patterns. Hereinafter, this combined and displayed screen is referred to as a multi-screen. In this embodiment, there is an EPG application (not shown) as an application for performing EPG display and reservation management.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the screen configuration shown in the present embodiment will be described. Reference numeral 500 denotes the entire EPG screen. The means for extracting the EPG data from the TS data and displaying it on the image display unit 112 is as described above. Reference numeral 501 represents a normal EPG screen (hereinafter referred to as a normal EPG area) created by this means. The vertical axis 502 displays time for five hours, and the horizontal axis 503 displays three channels. Here, although 5 hours × 3 channels are set, the number of displayed programs is not limited to this as long as EPG data can be acquired.

  The user moves the selection area (focus) 504 displayed on the EPG screen to a desired program using the cursor key 205 of the remote controller, and performs various desired operations. The focus can be moved only within the normal EPG area 501 and can be scrolled to display a program of a time zone and a channel that are not displayed. When the enter key 211 is pressed in the focused state, if the program is currently being broadcast, the program is displayed in a full screen viewing state (FIG. 6), and if the program is scheduled to be broadcast. Displays the detailed information of the program (FIG. 7). In addition, a program viewing reservation can be made by the “pick” key and the “release” key, as will be described later.

  Reference numeral 507 (FIG. 5) denotes a viewing reservation area used when reserving viewing of a program, and reservation can be set and confirmed by a procedure described later. Reference numeral 508 denotes a display position of the multi-screen designated when making a viewing reservation. There are a plurality of display positions, and there are as many patterns as the number of patterns prepared by the display control unit 109 and the screen composition control software, and the user can specify a desired display position by moving the focus. The focus can be moved only within the viewing reservation area. In FIG. 5, two patterns are illustrated as display positions, but it is possible to scroll to display patterns that are not displayed. Reference numeral 509 denotes a display example for identifying that the reservation has been completed.

  Next, the program reservation procedure of this embodiment will be described. The feature of this embodiment is that the display position of the reserved program can be specified when the reservation is specified.

  The user uses the cursor key 205 of the remote controller 116 to move the focus on the program to be reserved displayed in the normal EPG area. In this state, when the user presses the “pick” key 207 of the remote controller 116, the focus moves from the normal EPG area to the viewing reservation area (FIG. 8). At this time, the selected program in the normal EPG area is shaded to identify that it has been selected (601), and within the focus frame of the viewing reservation screen, the program name of the selected program Broadcast time and the like are displayed (602). The focus moved to the viewing reservation area can be moved within the viewing reservation area using the cursor key 205 of the remote controller 116.

  The user uses the cursor key 205 of the remote controller 116 to move the focus to the display position of the multi-screen to be viewed in the viewing reservation area. In this operation, since no time is specified, only the left and right keys of the cursor are operated. After the display position of the multi-screen to be viewed is determined, when the user presses the “release” key 208 of the remote control 116, the viewing reservation is completed, and the focus moves from the viewing reservation area to the normal EPG area (603). In order to indicate completion of acceptance of the viewing reservation, the reserved multi-screen display position in the viewing reservation area is shaded (604). At this time, since the time slot of the reserved program corresponds to the time axis indicated by 502, the start time, end time, and broadcast continuation time of the reserved program can be visually recognized.

  With the above procedure, the user can reserve the viewing of a desired program by designating the display position of the multi-screen. When the user wants to confirm the reservation status in a state where the normal EPG area has focus, the user can move the focus to the viewing reservation area by pressing the movement area change key 213 of the remote controller 116, and the cursor key 205 The desired confirmation can be performed by the above operation. Similarly, the focus can be moved from the viewing reservation area to the normal EPG area by the movement area change key 212.

  Next, reservation data storage and execution will be described. The memory 107 holds a table for executing two types of reservations as shown in FIG. FIG. 10A shows an example of a structure for identifying reservation information. The screen layout pattern indicates the display position of the multi-screen that is desired to be viewed. In this embodiment, there are seven patterns to be described later, and an identifier for identifying these patterns is stored. The service ID, event ID, broadcast start time, broadcast duration time, and short format event descriptor shown in FIG. 10A are extracted from information included in the EIT. The memory 107 holds as many reservation identification structures as the number of programs reserved as a reservation table by the above-described user operation.

  When a reservation list such as a viewing reservation area is displayed, the display position is displayed in a predetermined screen arrangement field with reference to the screen pattern of the reservation identification structure, and the time zone is referred to with reference to the broadcast start time and the broadcast duration time. Information is displayed, and the program name and subtitle are displayed with reference to the short format event descriptor.

  When a reservation is registered, a new reservation identification structure is created and stored in the memory 107, and the EPG application calculates a difference between the current time and the reservation time, and sets a timer. A time table holding the set timer and a pointer to the corresponding reservation identification structure is created in the memory 107 (FIG. 10B). The timer is set so that the event is started slightly earlier than the start of broadcasting, and the service ID and the event stored in the reservation identification structure are referred to by referring to the pointer point stored in the time table. Channel selection is performed according to the ID or the like, and the multi-screen display position is determined according to the screen layout pattern.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of a multi-screen display position that can be displayed by the screen composition control software, the EPG application, and the display control unit 109. Reference numeral 701 denotes full screen display (ALL). Reference numeral 702 denotes a parent screen (PARENT) of Picture in Picture, and reference numeral 703 denotes a child screen (CHILD). Reference numerals 704 and 705 respectively indicate a right screen (RIGHT) and a left screen (LEFT) that are divided into two screens. Reference numerals 706 and 707 respectively denote an upper screen (TOP) and a lower screen (BOTTOM) of two screens divided vertically. 702 and 703, 704 and 705, and 706 and 707 are used in pairs.

  With reference to FIG.12 and FIG.13, the process when the program which the user designated viewing reservation overlaps with the program reserved previously is demonstrated. As shown at 708 in FIG. 12, when viewing of another program B is desired in a state where viewing of the program A is reserved on the full screen display, the user selects the program B having a lower priority order for the user as a sub-screen. Suppose you want to see in When the viewing reservation for the program B is designated by the above-described procedure, it is as shown in 709 of FIG. Since the program B collides with the previously reserved program A in time, the full screen display of the program A cannot be performed depending on the time. In such a situation, the EPG application requests the screen composition control software to display the program A on the parent screen only during the time zone in which the program B collides. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the program A is displayed on the full screen in the time zone 710 and cannot be displayed on the full screen in the time zone 711, so it is displayed on the parent screen as shown at 712. Since the full screen display becomes possible after the broadcast time of the program B reserved on the child screen ends, the program A is displayed on the full screen as indicated by 713.

  The EPG application performs the above-described duplication avoidance process when a reservation is designated, and displays it in the viewing reservation area. FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the control flow. In S901, it is determined whether there is a reservation setting by the user. If there is a reservation operation from the user, the above-described reservation table is confirmed (S902). At this time, the process is classified according to whether the set reservation overlaps with a previously set reservation (S903). If there is no duplication, reservation information (reservation identification structure) is added to the reservation table held in the memory 107 (S908).

  If there is an overlap, the process is divided depending on whether or not the overlap can be avoided (S904). If duplication can be avoided, the reservation setting is adjusted by an algorithm for avoiding duplication described later (S905), and information relating to the adjusted reservation is modified (added and changed) in the reservation table held in the memory 107 (S908). . If duplication cannot be avoided (S904), an alert to confirm the change of the reservation is displayed to the user (S906). When the user changes the reservation accordingly, the corresponding information in the reservation table held in the memory 107 is modified (deleted and added) (S908). When the user cancels the reservation change, processing such as addition / change of the reservation table is not performed. Through the above processing, redrawing is executed according to the created reservation table (S909).

  The overlap avoidance algorithm will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a workaround in the case where the previously set multi-screen display position (vertical axis) of the reserved program and the newly set multi-screen display position (horizontal axis) of the reserved program overlap in time. is there. As a basic policy, the reservation set later is considered as much as possible, and the previous reservation is moved to another screen layout. The symbol “x” shown in the figure indicates that duplication is not possible, and a reservation change alert is presented to the user. “O” indicates a case where there is no overlap. The other alphabets indicate the multi-screen display position with the initials, and indicate that the previously reserved program (the program on the vertical axis) is changed to the multi-screen display position. EPG applications avoid duplication based on this algorithm.

  As an example, the overlap between the full-screen display and the sub-screen display has been described above. However, even in the case of overlap in other screens, it is possible to avoid the overlap by such an algorithm and display the avoidance result.

  With reference to FIG. 14, the time slot | zone which can be reserved in an above-described example is demonstrated. Since this embodiment includes two tuners 101-1 and 101-2, two programs can be selected simultaneously. Since the time zone A shown in FIG. 14 is a time zone in which no other reservation is made, two programs can be reserved. In time zone B of FIG. 14, one program is reserved, so one more program can be reserved. In time zone C of FIG. 14, since two programs have already been reserved, no more reservations can be made. As described above, if another reservation is to be set when a reservation cannot be made in this way, a reservation change alert is presented to the user.

  As described above, the user can easily grasp the reservation status by looking at the viewing reservation area on the EPG screen.

  With reference to FIG. 15, a display method when the reserved time comes will be described. Reference numeral 800 denotes a screen at the start of broadcasting of the program A reserved on the entire screen. The program A can be viewed on the full screen until the broadcast of the program B reserved on the sub-screen starts. Reference numeral 801 denotes a screen at the start of broadcasting of the program B reserved on the sub-screen. Program A is displayed on the parent screen, and program B is displayed on the child screen. Reference numeral 802 denotes a screen at the end of the program B. Since the program A is no longer displayed as the program B reserved on the sub-screen, the program A is displayed in full screen as in the first setting.

  In this embodiment, when a program scheduled to be broadcast is selected by EPG operation, detailed information of the program can be browsed, but other operations may be assigned.

  In this embodiment, the program name and broadcast time of the program are displayed in the reserved program frame in the viewing reservation area, but other information obtained from the EIT may be displayed. Moreover, you may comprise so that nothing may be displayed.

  In this embodiment, a structure is used as information stored in the reservation table, and a pointer is used as information stored in the time table. However, similar functions can be realized by using classes and references in the Java (registered trademark) language. it can.

  Although seven types of screens are given as examples of the display position of the multi-screen, a screen that takes other display positions may be provided.

  The television receiver is exemplified as the display device, but it is obvious that the same effect can be obtained even if a personal computer having a function corresponding to this is used.

  A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. The same configurations and operations as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those described in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 18 shows the EPG screen configuration used for reservation registration in the second embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that there is no viewing reservation area and all are normal EPG areas (1000). In the operation guide (1001) for assisting the user's input operation, a reservation confirmation list (to be described later) is displayed when the “green” key is pressed.

  With reference to FIG. 19, setting means for viewing reservation will be described. Similar to the first embodiment, the user moves the focus 504 displayed on the EPG to a program to be viewed or reserved using the cursor 205 of the remote controller 116. When the focus 504 is focused on a desired program and the enter key 211 is pressed, if it is a program that is currently being broadcast, the program is displayed in full screen, and if it is a program scheduled to be broadcast, viewing or recording reservation Proceed to the setting operation.

  When the user sets the focus 504 to a desired program for reservation setting and presses the enter key 211, a pull-down menu 1002 for selecting “viewing reservation” or “recording reservation” is displayed. The user can select a desired reservation using the up and down keys of the cursor key 205 of the remote control 116. When the user focuses on “viewing reservation” and presses the enter key 211, a pull-down menu 1003 for selecting a multi-screen display position is further displayed. The user selects a multi-screen display position to be reserved from the displayed options using the cursor key 205 and the enter key 211 of the remote control 116. Thereby, the viewing reservation including the multi-screen display position can be set.

  Next, a method for confirming a reserved program will be described. As shown in the operation guide 1001 in FIG. 18, by pressing the “green” key 206 of the remote controller 116, it is possible to display a list of programs that have been reserved so far by multi-screen display position. FIG. 20 shows an example of the display. A reservation list for each multi-screen display position is displayed in an area 1005 in FIG. 20, and 1006 and 1007 indicate reserved programs. The vertical direction is the time axis. You can check the start time, end time, and broadcast duration of the reserved program.

  As shown in the operation guide 1004, by pressing the green key 206 of the remote control 116, it is possible to return to the normal EPG screen display as shown in FIG.

  By such a reservation registration procedure, viewing reservation of a program including a multi-screen display position can be performed as in the first embodiment. The user can easily grasp the reservation status.

  In this embodiment, the pull-down menu for selecting the type of reservation and the multi-screen display position is displayed. However, it may be changed so that a pop-up menu is displayed.

  A third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, two tuners 101-3 and 101-4 are further added. Differences from the first and second embodiments will be mainly described. The same configurations and operations as those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals as those described in the first and second embodiments.

  FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a schematic configuration of a digital television receiver 100 according to the third embodiment. Reference numerals 101-1 to 101-4 denote tuners that perform demodulation and error correction on input signals, generate digital data in a format called transport streams, and generate the generated transport stream (TS) data. Output to descrambler 102. The descrambler 102, the demultiplexer 103, and the various decoders 104 to 106 have expanded capabilities so that four TS data can be received and processed.

  The display control unit 109 having a video composition function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of videos and the screen synthesis control software operating on the CPU 118 control videos from a maximum of four TS data, and synthesize the screen as a multi-screen. Can be displayed.

  With reference to FIG. 22, the multi-screen display position that can be displayed by the screen composition control software, the EPG application, and the display control unit 109 in this embodiment will be described. Reference numerals 701 to 707 are as described in the description of the first and second embodiments. 1101 is a simultaneous display of the same size on four screens, showing an upper left screen, 1102 showing an upper right screen, 1103 showing a lower left screen, and 1104 showing a lower right screen. Reference numeral 1105 denotes a parent screen in a four-screen picture in picture display, 1106 denotes an upper screen of the child screen, 1107 denotes a central screen of the child screen, and 1108 denotes a lower screen of the child screen.

  The subsequent operations are the same as those described for the first and second embodiments.

  Even in such a configuration of the digital television receiver and the multi-screen display position, the same effect as in the first or second embodiment can be expected.

  Although the present embodiment has four tuners, it can be changed to hold three or five or more tuners and synthesize a screen.

  In the present embodiment, 15 types of screens have been exemplified as the display positions of the multi-screen, but screens having other display positions may be provided.

It is a schematic block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the remote control. It is a figure which shows the software structure of a microcomputer. It is a figure which shows the structure of reception TS data. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen in a present Example. It is a figure explaining the full-screen display of the program in broadcast. It is a figure which shows an example of a program detailed information display. It is a figure explaining setting operation of a viewing reservation program. It is a figure explaining the setting result of a viewing reservation program. It is a figure explaining the reservation data which a memory part hold | maintains. It is a figure which shows an example of a multi-screen display position. It is a figure explaining duplication of a reservation program. It is a figure explaining duplication avoidance of a reserved program. It is a figure explaining the time slot | zone which can be reserved. It is a figure which shows the transition of the display screen at the time of viewing reservation execution. It is a flowchart explaining the overlap avoidance process of viewing reservation. It is a figure explaining a duplication avoidance algorithm. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen in 2nd Example. It is a figure explaining reservation operation of the 2nd example. It is a figure which shows the reservation result list in 2nd Example. It is a schematic block diagram of 3rd Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the multi-screen display position in 3rd Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the alert display to the effect of the channel switching in a prior art. It is a figure which shows an example of the multiscreen display at the time of a viewing reservation program start. It is a figure explaining the screen structure of EPG. It is a figure which shows an example of the overlapping display of the reservation in a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

100: TV receivers 101-1, 101-2: tuner 102: descrambler 103: demultiplexer 104: video decoder 105: audio decoder 106: data stream processing unit 107: memory unit 108: image configuration unit 109: display control unit 110: DAC
112: Image display unit 113: Audio output unit 116: Remote control 118: CPU

Claims (20)

A display device comprising: means for receiving a plurality of video information; video composition means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information; and timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time,
A display device that displays a synthesized video at a specified position at a specified time.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is a television receiver or a personal computer.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the designation of the time and the position is realized by one function of application software.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the application software is software based on electronic program guide information.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein when the designated time and position overlap with other designations, the display is performed at another position. A display device comprising: means for receiving a plurality of video information; video composition means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information; and timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time,
A display device characterized by displaying information to a user in a matrix display of time and a plurality of video display position information.   The display device according to claim 6, wherein the display device is a television receiver or a personal computer.   The display device according to claim 6, wherein the information presented to the user is program reservation information.   The display device according to claim 6, wherein the information presented to the user is presented by one function of application software.   The display device according to claim 6, wherein the application software is software based on electronic program guide information.   Designated at a specified time in a display device having means for receiving a plurality of video information, video synthesizing means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information, and timer means for displaying video information at a specified time A display control method characterized by displaying a synthesized video at a selected position.   The display control method according to claim 11, wherein the display device is a television receiver or a personal computer.   The display control method according to claim 11, wherein the designation of the time and the display position is realized by one function of application software.   The display control method according to claim 11, wherein the application software is software based on electronic program guide information.   The display control method according to claim 11, wherein when the designated time and position overlap with other designations, the display is performed at another position.   In a display device having means for receiving a plurality of video information, video synthesizing means for simultaneously displaying the received plurality of video information, and timer means for displaying the video information at a specified time, the display device comprises a plurality of times. An information presentation method characterized in that video display position information is displayed in a matrix form and presented to a user.   The information display method according to claim 16, wherein the display device is a television receiver or a personal computer.   The information presenting method according to claim 16, wherein the information presented to the user is program reservation information.   The information presenting method according to claim 16, wherein the information presented to the user is presented by one function of application software.   20. The information presentation method according to claim 16, wherein the application software is software based on electronic program guide information.

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