JP2005227837A - Information display device and information display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem in which time until contents desired by a user are displayed is not shortened in a conventional information display device. <P>SOLUTION: A specified URL on the Internet 12 is accessed through a modem 11 to periodically acquire content data from the URL, the acquired data are stored in a memory 15, and in response to a request to display the data from the user, the data stored in the memory 15 are read out by a control circuit 14 and displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information display device and an information display method for displaying Internet content data on, for example, a television receiver.

  There has been proposed a television receiver in which an HTML browser is installed so that the Internet can be browsed without using a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC). However, there is a problem that it takes time until the content is acquired after the HTML browser is activated. In order to solve this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information display device that displays a computer network screen stored immediately before connection with a desired URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Proposed.

However, the above apparatus has a problem that the time until the content desired by the user is displayed cannot be shortened.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-205711 (page 3, pages 6 to 7, FIG. 7)

  As described above, the conventional information display device has a problem that it is not possible to shorten the time until the content desired by the user is displayed. The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an information display device and an information display method capable of substantially reducing the time until the content desired by the user is displayed. And

  In order to achieve the above object, an information display device according to claim 1 accesses a specific URL of a computer network and periodically acquires content data from the URL, and the data acquisition unit acquires the data. Display means for storing the stored data and, if there is an access request to the specific URL, reading and displaying the content data stored in the storage means until connection to the URL is made Means.

  The information display device according to claim 2 is the information display device according to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition means accesses a URL of a computer network at a set time or time interval and periodically transmits content data from the URL. It is characterized by having comprised so that it may acquire.

  Furthermore, the information display device according to claim 3 is configured such that, in the information display device according to claim 1, the data acquisition unit acquires data linked to the content in addition to the content data from the URL. It is characterized by.

  An information display device according to a fourth aspect is the information display device according to the first aspect, characterized in that the specific URL accessed by the data acquisition means is plural.

An information display method according to claim 5 includes a step of accessing a specific URL of a computer network and periodically acquiring content data from the URL, a step of storing the data acquired in the data acquisition step, And a step of reading and displaying the content data stored in the storage means until a connection with the URL is made when there is a request for access to the specific URL. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information display apparatus and the information display method which can shorten substantially the time until the content which a user desires are displayed can be provided.

  Embodiments of an information display device and an information display method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which an information display device according to the present invention is applied to a television receiver. In the figure, 1 is an antenna, and 2 is a tuner connected to the antenna. An error correction circuit 3 connected to the tuner 2 corrects the selected signal based on the error correction code. A scramble control circuit 4 connected to the error correction circuit 3 releases the scramble of the error-corrected signal. A multiple data separation circuit 5 connected to the scramble control circuit 4 separates MPEG audio data, MPEG video data, and SI data from the received signal.

  Reference numeral 6 denotes an MPEG audio reproduction circuit connected to the multiplex data separation circuit 5, which decodes the MPEG audio data separated by the multiplex data separation circuit 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes an output terminal connected to the MPEG audio reproduction circuit 6. Although not shown, a speaker is connected to the terminal 7. Reference numeral 8 denotes an MPEG video reproduction circuit connected to the multiple data separation circuit 5, which decodes the MPEG video data separated by the multiple data separation circuit 5. Reference numeral 9 denotes a video / OSD (on-screen display) playback circuit, which switches and outputs a video signal from the MPEG video playback circuit 8, a video signal from a content playback circuit described later, and an OSD signal from a control circuit. Reference numeral 10 denotes an output terminal connected to a video / OSD (on-screen display) reproduction circuit 9. Although not shown, a display is connected to the terminal 10.

  On the other hand, 11 is a modem connected to the Internet network 12, to which a content reproduction circuit 13 for converting content data obtained from the modem 11 into a video signal is connected. A control circuit 14 for controlling the entire information display device is also connected to the modem 11. Reference numeral 15 denotes a memory for storing content data obtained by the modem 11 via the control circuit 14, and more specifically, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a magnetic disk device (HDD).

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) that controls the control circuit 14 via a receiving unit (not shown) built in the control circuit 14. The remote controller 16 is provided with a URL input key (not shown) whose details will be described later. The keys can generate different characters by continuously pressing the same key, like the keys on a mobile phone.

  Next, the operation of the receiver shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, the setting of the content information acquisition timing performed first by the user of the receiver will be described.

The user displays a screen for setting content information acquisition timing on a display screen (not shown) using the remote controller 16 and sets or acquires the acquisition timing at a specific time (for example, every day at 6 am and 6 pm in the evening). The time interval (for example, every 6 hours) is set. (The start time of the time interval is also specified). When setting at time intervals, midnight may be used as the start time of the interval count, or the time interval may be set within a time period excluding nighttime (for example, from midnight to 6:00 am). good. The setting screen can be displayed on a display (not shown) connected to the terminal 10 by sending an OSD signal from the control circuit 14 to the reproduction circuit 9. Use cursor keys. These can be dealt with by using known techniques for setting various functions of the receiver (or connected device) using the screen of the television receiver.

Note that the above-described automatic content acquisition may not be performed according to the user's request. It is also possible to set the content information acquisition time as a standard in advance at the time of shipment of the receiver so that the content is automatically acquired at the set time even when the user does not set it. . (If the setting is changed, the content acquisition time can be set at a desired time or time interval.)
Next, content information acquisition and playback operations will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining content information acquisition and reproduction control operations by the control circuit 14. It is assumed that the content information acquisition timing setting described above has already been completed. If the setting is not made, the content information is acquired at the time set at the time of shipment by the manufacturer.

  First, it is checked whether it is time for user setting (step S1 in FIG. 2). That is, if the acquisition timing is set to a specific time (for example, every day at 6 am and 6 pm in the evening), it is determined whether the time has come. If an acquisition time interval (for example, every 6 hours) is set, it is determined whether or not the time has been reached.

  If the determination in step S1 is YES, the modem 11 is activated to acquire the content data and link data of the specific URL (step S2). At this time, if the receiver is not turned on (image display is being performed) and is in a standby state, the power of the receiver is turned on during data acquisition and storage in a memory described later. Set to ON. As a method for specifying the URL, the URL of the content on the start page, the URL registered as a bookmark, or the URL of the content searched by the search engine may be used. In short, it is preferable to use a URL that is frequently accessed by the user.

  The data acquired in step S2 is sent to the memory 15 via the control circuit 14 and stored (step S3).

  Further, it is checked whether a content data acquisition request has been made by the user (step S4). If step S4 is NO, the step returns to S1 again. If YES in step S4, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the URL of the content requested for acquisition is already stored in step S3. If so (YES in step S5), the data stored in the memory 15 is output and reproduced, and connected to a specified URL to start acquiring content data (step S6).

  Here, the user can input the URL directly by transmitting the URL to the control circuit 14 using a URL input key (not shown) provided on the remote controller 16. Since the generation of characters for URL can generate different characters by successively pressing the same key, the number of keys to be prepared for URL input can be reduced.

As a method for inputting (designating) the URL by the user, in addition to the direct input as described above, the one in the bookmark provided in the browser is used, or the control circuit 14 is controlled by the remote controller 16 to display a display (not shown) 3 are displayed on the screen 21 of FIG. 3 (15 genres from genre A to O in the example of FIG. 3), and the remote control 1
A button is selected by a cursor key and an execution key (not shown) 6 (if necessary, a detailed sub-selection screen is displayed for selection), and a URL preset by the manufacturer corresponding to the selected button is controlled by the control circuit. It can be specified by reading from a memory (not shown) in FIG.

  Examples of the genres A to O include news, weather forecasts, hobbies and the like. In addition, for example, in the case of FIG. 3, the button 22 selected by the cursor key is displayed with the color changed as shown by the button 23 in FIG. The selection is completed by pressing the execution key.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the content acquisition from the modem 11 is completed (step S7). If completed (YES in step S7), the data reproduction from the memory 15 is switched to the data reproduction from the modem 11 ( In step S8), the series of operations ends.

  If “NO” in the step S5, the modem 11 is activated, and when the acquisition of the content data is completed, the reproduction is started (step S9). And it ends.

  According to the present embodiment described above, by appropriately setting the content to be acquired in advance, when there is a request for content acquisition from the user, the time until display is substantially shortened for many of them. It becomes possible to do. Further, since it is possible to obtain in advance video data in music promotions and server-type services linked to content, it is possible to provide comfortable operability to the user.

  In the above embodiment, the connection to the Internet network 12 is assumed to be a dial-up connection using the modem 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, always uses broadband such as ADSL. It is also possible to support connection. In short, it only needs to be connected to the Internet. In addition, various changes and improvements can be added without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The block diagram of the television receiver which shows one Embodiment of the information display apparatus and information display method which become this invention. The flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the receiver of FIG. The example of the display screen for demonstrating operation | movement of the receiver of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

9: Video / OSD playback circuit 10: Output terminal 11: Modem 12: Internet network 13: Content playback circuit 14: Control circuit 15: Memory 16: Remote controller

Claims (5)

  Data acquisition means for accessing a specific URL of a computer network and periodically acquiring content data from the URL, storage means for storing data acquired by the data acquisition means, and an access request for the specific URL An information display device comprising: display means for reading and displaying content data stored in the storage means until connection with the URL is made.   2. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition means is configured to access a URL of a computer network at a set time or time interval and periodically acquire content data from the URL. Information display device.   2. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition unit is configured to acquire data linked to content in addition to content data from a URL.   2. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the specific URL accessed by the data acquisition means is plural. There was a step of accessing a specific URL of a computer network and periodically acquiring content data from the URL, a step of storing data acquired in this data acquisition step, and an access request to the specific URL And a step of reading and displaying the content data stored in the storage means until the connection with the URL is made.

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