JP2005151215A - Tv program selector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To select a desired television program without taking into consideration the broadcast channel, using a category selector and select the program in the same using method as usual, if a portable telephone broadcast receiving terminal is moved to a broadcast area different in broadcast channel allocation. <P>SOLUTION: The program selector comprises a category decider for deciding the category of each broadcast channel, a category memory for storing the decision result of the category decider, a category selector for selecting one program a user wants to view, and a category channel changer for selecting one channel for a program corresponding to a selected category by the category selector. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a television program selection device, and more particularly to a television program selection device capable of selecting a desired program without being conscious of a combination of a broadcast area, a broadcast channel broadcast there, and a program.

  A television broadcast receiving terminal generally requires an input interface for selecting a broadcast channel and an output interface for displaying an image of the selected broadcast channel.

In a conventional stationary television broadcast receiving terminal (home television receiver), a remote controller is mainly used as an input interface for selecting a broadcast channel. The remote control is generally provided with channel buttons 1 to 12, and each of these channel buttons 1 to 12 is associated with a predetermined broadcast channel in the television broadcast receiving terminal. A user can select a broadcast channel by pressing a channel button associated with a desired broadcast channel, and can view a broadcast program broadcast there.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-136276

  However, when receiving and viewing using a portable portable television broadcast receiver (portable television broadcast receiving terminal), there are the following problems.

  Unlike the stationary television broadcast receiving terminal, the position of the terminal is not fixed. Therefore, the receivable broadcast channel varies depending on the location of the mobile TV broadcast receiving terminal. In an unfamiliar place, it is difficult for the user to know the broadcast channel on which the program he / she wants to watch is being broadcast, and press each channel button in turn and check the video displayed on the screen to see if it is the desired TV program I have to judge. This is very inconvenient for the user.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. In addition, in order to help an understanding of this invention, a reference code shows the correspondence with embodiment mentioned later, Comprising: The range of this invention is not limited at all.

  The program selection device according to claim 1 of the present invention selects a category determination unit 1 that determines the category of each broadcast channel, a category storage unit 2 that stores the determination result of the category determination unit, and a program that the user wants to view. And a category channel conversion unit 4 for selecting a program corresponding to the category selected by the category selection unit.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is provided with a category registration function 10 for a user to register a unique category, and a category determination unit 11 that can determine each broadcast channel by an arbitrary category. This is a program selection apparatus.

  According to the television program selection apparatus of the present invention, a desired television program can be selected by the category selection unit. Thereby, a program can be selected without being conscious of the broadcast channel. Therefore, even if the portable television broadcast receiving terminal is moved to a broadcast area with a different broadcast channel assignment, a program can be selected in the same manner as usual.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a portable television broadcast receiving terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. However, FIG. 1 shows only a portion related to program selection according to the present invention, and illustrations of general components (for example, an audio processing unit, an image processing unit, a display, etc.) that the television broadcast receiver has are omitted.

  In FIG. 1, a portable television broadcast receiving terminal is provided with a category selection unit 3, a category determination unit 1, a category storage unit 2, a category channel conversion unit 4, and a tuner unit 5. FIG. 2 shows an appearance of the portable television broadcast receiving terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The portable television broadcast receiving terminal 7 has a function of receiving a television broadcast and displaying an image on the display 8. The mobile television broadcast receiving terminal 7 is provided with twelve category buttons (9a to 9l) as a specific example of the category selecting unit 3. The user can select a desired broadcast program by operating the category button group (9a to 9l).

  The category determination unit 1 creates a button assignment table as shown in FIG. 3 based on the program information of receivable broadcast channels and records it in the category storage unit 2. As the program information, an electronic program guide (hereinafter referred to as EPG) is used. The EPG has a portion representing the category of the program, and the information is compared with the category name described in the button assignment table, and each broadcast channel is assigned to an appropriate category button.

  In the button assignment table shown in FIG. 3, the corresponding broadcast channel is not assigned to the animation category. This indicates that the corresponding program is not broadcast in the current broadcast area and time. When the user presses this button, a message such as “No animation program is currently being broadcast” is displayed to clearly indicate that the corresponding program is not broadcast.

  The category determination unit 1 updates the button assignment table at the following timing, for example.

-When the mobile TV broadcast receiving terminal is turned on-When the radio field intensity of the receiving broadcast channel falls below the predetermined threshold-When the user explicitly instructs to update the category channel conversion unit 4 The broadcast channel corresponding to the category selected by the category selection unit is selected from the button assignment table stored in the category storage unit 2. The selected broadcast channel is selected by the tuner unit 5, and a desired broadcast channel is received. The user may consider the category of the desired program and press the “News” category button if he / she wants to watch the news, or the “Sport” category button if he / she wants to watch the baseball result. When programs classified into the same category are broadcast on a plurality of channels at the same time, the next program in the same category is selected every time the category button is pressed. For example, in the example of the button assignment table shown in FIG. 3, the broadcast channels are arranged in ascending order, and when the “News” category button is pressed once, 13 channels are pressed, when pressed again, 36 channels, and subsequently 47 channels, It switches to 59 channel, and when pressed again, it returns to 13 channel. Note that there is a method in which the order of broadcasting channels in the button assignment table is arranged not only in the order of broadcasting channels, but also in the order of reception sensitivity or order of viewing frequency.

  In addition, a remote control or a mobile phone of a conventional television broadcast receiver is provided with a plurality of buttons on which symbols such as numbers, #, and * are printed. By providing these buttons with the function of a category button, even an input device in which an independent category button is not mounted can be used as the television program selection device of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, a case where there are 1 to 12 numeric buttons as an existing button will be described as an example, but the number and symbols assigned to the buttons are not limited. Increasing or decreasing the number of buttons that can be used as category buttons means increasing or decreasing the number of categories that can be registered, and is not related to the essence of the present invention.

  An example of a button assignment table when assigning category buttons to 1 to 12 numeric buttons is shown in FIG. Here, a news category is assigned to the number button 1, a weather category is assigned to the number button 2, and sports are assigned to the number button 3. Therefore, for example, the user can view a program classified as news by pressing the numeric button 1.

  When using a numeric button as a category button, it is necessary to switch the function of the button. In other words, it is necessary to switch between using a number and inputting a number. For this purpose, the following three methods are conceivable.

-Add one switching button-Make it selectable from the menu-Make it function as a category selection button while watching TV Fixed assignment of each category to each button is fixed by the system Alternatively, the user may select.

  Note that the correspondence between buttons and categories may be displayed on the screen so that the user can easily understand when selecting a category.

  It is assumed that the category of program A currently being viewed is news, and program B to be broadcast next is category sports. When the program A ends, the operation of automatically selecting news in the same category is not performed. That is, the user views program B which is continuously broadcast on the same broadcast channel and whose category is sport. This is to prevent the broadcast channel from being changed without the user being aware of it. The broadcast channel is changed only when the user presses the category button, and the present invention does not provide a function for continuously searching for a program of the same category and continuing to select a channel.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, a desired program can be selected without being aware of a broadcast channel that can be received there regardless of the broadcast area where the mobile TV broadcast receiving terminal moves.
(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a portable television broadcasting terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, 2nd Embodiment adds the function which a user can add arbitrary categories to the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, The difference between 2nd Embodiment and 1st Embodiment is the following. Since only the category determination unit 11 and the category registration function 10 are provided, details of other configurations are omitted.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a portable television broadcast receiving terminal to which a user can add an arbitrary category. The category registration function 10 records the category designated by the user in the category column of the button assignment table. A predetermined input interface is prepared for inputting characters.

  The category determination unit 11 compares the category uniquely added by the user with the content of the EPG of the receivable broadcast channel, and records the matching program as a button allocation table in the category storage unit.

  In many cases, the category specified by the user does not completely match the category information included in the EPG. This is because the user does not know a word that is generally used as a program category described in the EPG. Therefore, it is better to add an ambiguous matching function to the category determination unit 11 and to describe a program including a category close to the category specified by the user in the EPG as a matched program in the button assignment table. .

  Note that this fuzzy search function is not essential. If this function is not available, the user needs to register in consideration of the category that will be included in the EPG. Alternatively, the user can solve this problem and utilize the category button by changing the category registration to which a program is not assigned indefinitely.

  When the category button is pressed, the correspondence between each category button and a word registered as a category by the user may be displayed on the screen so that the user can easily understand.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the user can register a category according to his / her preference, customize the category selection unit 3 and set his / her favorite category selection unit 3. Can be used.

  The television program selection device according to the present invention can select a television program by selecting a category of a program that the user wants to watch from the category selection unit. Thus, the present invention is useful as a television program selection device that can select a desired program without being conscious of the combination of the broadcast area, the broadcast channel being broadcast there, and the program.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the portable television broadcast receiving terminal which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the external appearance of the portable television broadcast receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention Figure showing an example of a button assignment table Figure showing an example of a button assignment table The block diagram which shows the structure of the portable television broadcast receiving terminal which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Category determination part 2 Category memory | storage part 3 Category selection part 4 Category channel conversion part 5 Tuner part 6 Program information 7 Portable television broadcast receiver 8 Display 9a-9b Category selection button 10 Category registration part 11 Category determination part

Claims (3)

A category determination unit for determining the category of each broadcast channel;
A category storage unit for storing a determination result of the category determination unit;
A category selection unit that allows the user to select a program that the user wants to watch;
A television program selection device comprising a category channel conversion unit for selecting a program corresponding to the category selected by the category selection unit. It has a category registration part,
The television program selection device according to claim 1, further comprising a category determination unit that determines each broadcast channel in an arbitrary category. The category determination unit is a broadcast that can be received when the power is turned on, or when the radio field intensity of the broadcast channel being received falls below a predetermined threshold, or when the user explicitly indicates an update. 3. The television program selection device according to claim 1, wherein the category is determined based on the program information of the channel, and the determination result is recorded in the category storage unit.

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