JP2005260316A - Apparatus and method for processing program information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program information processing apparatus and a program information processing method, which facilitate a user's grasping program information by improving correlation with the actual program of a broadcast time even if the size of each of character fonts to be used is limited, and generate an electronic program guide having increased display information quantity as much as possible by setting a display region in which characters can be efficiently arranged. <P>SOLUTION: A program frame forming section 103 defines the position and size of the time axis direction of a program frame (display region for each broadcast program), on the basis of at least any one of a program air time and a program out time contained in program information about a broadcast program and the size of character fonts to be used for displaying the program character information contained in the program information. An electronic program compositing means 104 generates display data of the electronic program guide by arranging characters in the program frame. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program information processing apparatus and a program information processing method for displaying program character information of a broadcast program as an electronic program guide, such as a television, a broadcast receiver, and a DVD recorder.

  In recent years, with the progress of digitalization and high compression coding technology in the broadcasting field, a broadcasting system having a very large number of channels has been realized. In addition, broadcasting systems that transmit program information together with broadcast programs have appeared, and devices (for example, televisions, DVD recorders, personal computers, etc.) that can compose and display an electronic program guide based on this program information have become widespread. doing. The user can select a viewing program and set a recording reservation while viewing the electronic program guide displayed on the display device. As a general program guide, there is a program schedule that is determined according to the broadcast time length adopted by newspapers and magazines. In the case of an electronic program guide, program information is provided in the same format. It is a display method that is easy to see and use for the user.

  As a conventional method for configuring a program frame of an electronic program guide, a method of determining the size of a program frame based on broadcast start time, broadcast end time, and gap information from program information is known (for example, , See Patent Document 1). The “program frame” is an area for displaying one broadcast program when the electronic program guide is configured. In addition, when a region for displaying a program is not sufficiently provided and a plurality of pieces of program information are inserted into one program frame, each program information is displayed in the same program frame by operating the display switching key while the program frame is selected. There is also known a method of switching and displaying (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Furthermore, as a method for inserting a lot of program information into a limited program frame, a method of converting a predetermined type of characters into half-width characters and displaying them is also known (for example, see Patent Document 3).

JP 2000-115102 A (page 7-8, FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-262192 (page 8, FIG. 18) JP-A-10-105152 (page 3, FIG. 3)

  However, in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a method for acquiring a program frame from program break information and broadcast start time / broadcast end time is disclosed, but when a limited character font is used. The program frame generation algorithm for is not specified.

  In the program guide display device disclosed in Patent Document 2, when selecting a program frame in which multiple program information is held, program information is displayed in the same program frame in accordance with the operation of the display switching key. Since the display is switched, there is a problem that the user cannot grasp in what order the programs are arranged on the time axis only by glance. In addition, in order to discriminate the constituent program, a special key pressing operation other than the up / down / left / right keys such as the display switching key is necessary, and there is a problem that the operation is troublesome and troublesome.

  Furthermore, since the program display method disclosed in Patent Document 3 inserts a large amount of program information into a limited program frame, a predetermined type of characters such as katakana full-width characters and spaces that can be converted into half-width characters are used. Although it is a method of displaying a lot of information by converting it to half-width, since the types of characters that can be converted are limited, it is not possible to display a sufficient amount of program information even after the conversion. In particular, Japanese broadcast programs have a problem that they are very ineffective because many double-byte characters are used as program information.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and the purpose of the present invention is to broadcast the broadcast time of an actual broadcast program even when there is a limit to the character fonts that can be used. Program information that makes it easy to grasp program information by increasing the correlation with the program, and can generate an electronic program guide with as much display information as possible by setting a display area where characters can be placed efficiently A processing apparatus and a program information processing method are provided.

  The program information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a program information acquisition unit that acquires program information related to a broadcast program, at least one of a program start time and a program end time included in the acquired program information, and the acquired program information. Display for defining the position and size in the time axis direction of the display area for displaying the program character information for each broadcast program based on the size of the character font used for displaying the program character information included in An area defining means; and an electronic program guide creating means for generating display data for an electronic program guide in which characters based on the program character information are inserted into the display area defined by the program display area defining means It is.

  The program information processing method of the present invention includes a step of acquiring program information relating to a broadcast program, at least one of a program start time and a program end time included in the acquired program information, and the acquired program information. Defining the position and size of the display area for displaying the program character information in the time axis direction for each broadcast program based on the size of the character font used to display the included program character information; Generating display data for an electronic program guide in which characters based on the program character information are inserted in the specified display area.

  According to the program information processing apparatus or the program information processing method of the present invention, based on at least one of the program start time and the program end time and the size of the character font used for displaying the program character information, Since the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction are specified for each broadcast program, a display area having a high correlation with the broadcast time of the actual broadcast program can be generated and displayed in the electronic program guide. There is an effect that it is easy to grasp program information such as broadcast start time and broadcast end time depending on the position and size of the display area. In addition, based on at least one of the program start time and the program end time and the size of the character font used to display the program character information, the position and size in the time axis direction of the display region of the program character information are set for the broadcast program. Therefore, it is possible to set a display area having a size capable of efficiently arranging characters, and therefore, it is possible to increase the amount of display information.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a program information processing apparatus 100 (an apparatus capable of implementing the program information processing method of the first embodiment) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the program information processing apparatus 100 obtains and supplies program information (including broadcast start time, broadcast end time, program character information, etc.) related to a broadcast program from the outside. 101. The program information supply unit 101 includes, for example, a broadcast receiving tuner and a slicer that extracts and supplies program information from received signals. The “character font size (size)” in the present specification and claims means not only the size of the character itself but also the size considering the gap between the characters. For example, if the size of the character itself is 18 dots and the gap between the upper and lower characters (in the time axis direction in FIG. 3 described later) is 2 dots, the size of the character font is 20 dots (= 18 dots + 2 dots). Shall be deemed.

  In addition, the program information processing apparatus 100 includes a program information extraction unit 102, a program frame generation unit 103, a program guide synthesis unit 104, and an operation unit 105 that allows a user to select a program. The program information extraction unit 102, the program frame generation unit 103, and the program guide synthesis unit 104 are constituted by, for example, a CPU and a memory. The program information extraction unit 102 generates and holds a program information list based on the program information supplied from the program information supply unit 101. The program frame generation unit 103 generates an electronic program guide based on the program start time (and / or program end time) for each program held in the program information extraction unit 102 and the size of the character font used to display the program character information. Program frame (display area for each broadcast program). The program guide synthesizing unit 104 generates display data for an electronic program guide in which title information and the like (part of program character information) of the program is superimposed and displayed in the program frame generated by the program frame generating unit 103. When the operation unit 105 includes a remote control light receiving unit, the operation unit 105 can be controlled using the remote control 108. Furthermore, the program information processing apparatus 100 includes a program guide display control unit 106 that performs processing for displaying and moving highlight information superimposed on the electronic program guide based on an instruction from the operation unit 105. On the display device 107, the program guide display control unit 106 displays a screen of the electronic program guide combined with the highlight information. Note that when the program information processing apparatus 100 is a tuner-integrated television, the display apparatus 107 is included in the program information processing apparatus 100. When the program information processing apparatus 100 has a recording function, a recording processing unit (not shown) such as a DVD recording unit or an HDD recording unit is included in the program information processing apparatus 100.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a program information list held in the program information extraction unit 102 according to the first embodiment. The program information list includes one or more program information fields 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the program information field 200 is a set of data obtained by integrating information on one program, and includes a program ID 201 for specifying a program, broadcast date information 202, program channel information 203, program title information. 204, a broadcast start time 205, and a broadcast end time 206 are included. For example, one row of the table shown in FIG.
"1, 2003.02.15, 4, may laugh !, 10:05, 10:50"
The information indicated by “1” constitutes one program information field 200. Information included in the program information field 200 is not limited to the above items. That is, the program information field 200 may include other program related information such as program genre and performer information.

  The program information list shown in FIG. 2 shows a program information list including the program information field 200 having the same date information 202 and the same channel information 203. Channel information 203 may be mixed. The program IDs 201 indicating the arrangement order of the program information fields 200 in the program information list are assigned in order after being sorted in ascending order from the earliest broadcast start time 205. That is, the program with the smallest program ID 201 is the program scheduled to be broadcast first. The program title information 204 may store simple program introduction information other than the program title.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the electronic program guide (before program frame generation) displayed in the first embodiment. The electronic program guide 300 includes a program column display area 301 and a current time display area 302. As shown in FIG. 3, the program column display area 301 displays a channel axis indicating each channel name on the horizontal axis and a time axis indicating the broadcast time on the vertical axis. A program frame corresponding to the broadcast time length of each program (a display area for each broadcast program, shown in FIG. 11 described later) is generated at a predetermined position defined in two dimensions. A character string (for example, a program title) based on the program character information of the program corresponding to is displayed. In the current time display area 302, the current date and time are displayed. In the first embodiment, in the program column display area 301, the effective area for displaying the program column is “360 horizontal dots × 240 vertical dots”, and the number of channel displays 303 that can be displayed simultaneously on one screen is three. A case will be described in which the channel is displayed and the time display number 304 is set to 3 hours. However, the present invention can also be applied to the case where an electronic program guide is displayed with the horizontal axis as a time axis and the vertical axis as a channel axis.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the time unit frame 400 in the first embodiment. A time unit frame 400 shown in FIG. 4 is a unit stored in the program column display area 301 and indicates an area for one channel and one hour. In the first embodiment, it is automatically determined from the number of channel displays 303 and the number of time displays 304 that can be displayed simultaneously on one screen, and the size of the time unit frame 400 is calculated as “120 horizontal dots × 80 vertical dots”. The In the first embodiment, it is assumed that only a character font having a size of “20 horizontal dots × 20 vertical dots” per character is built in the apparatus. However, the number of character fonts mounted is not limited to one, and a plurality of character fonts may be mounted and selectable. Further, the size of the time unit frame 400 and the size of the character font are not limited to the above values, and may be other values.

  In the description of the time unit frame 400, the reference coordinates (the origin of the coordinate system) are set to the upper left corner of the time unit frame 400, and the horizontal position coordinates of the reference coordinates (hereinafter referred to as HL: Horizontal Location) and the vertical position coordinates (hereinafter referred to as “horizontal location coordinates”). In the following, VL: referred to as “Vertical Location” is set to (0, 0). The position coordinates are counted in dot units, and as shown in FIG. 4, the time unit frame 400 takes values in the range of 0 dot ≦ HL ≦ 120 dots and 0 dot ≦ VL ≦ 80 dots. The time unit frame 400 includes a “minute” number display unit 401 and a title display unit 402. In the 'minute' number display section 401, the program start time (minute) is displayed as a two-digit number in half-width numbers between 00 dots <HL <20 dots. When the number of minutes displayed on the number of minutes display section 401 is 1 to 9 minutes, the tens place is aligned with “0”. Similarly, the program title information 204 is displayed in full-width characters on the title display unit 402 in a range of 20 dots <HL <120 dots. According to the first embodiment, since the character font is “horizontal 20 dots × vertical 20 dots”, “5 characters / line” and “4 lines” are displayed on the title display unit 402 in the time unit frame 400. Can be done. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the program title information 204 can be displayed in a maximum of 20 characters (= 5 characters × 4 lines) in the display area for one hour. Also, the program frame configuration according to the present invention is shown in the lower side of FIG. 4 as an example of insertion (field # 1 in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the program frame generation processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the program title information insertion process (step S508 in FIG. 5) in the program frame in FIG. Further, FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of a program frame generated using the frame generation rule in the first embodiment, and FIG. 7B is a program frame whose size is proportional to the broadcast time. It is a figure which shows the case where it forms (comparative example).

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing exception processing (1-1) in program frame generation according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 9 is another exception processing (1-2) in program frame generation according to the first embodiment. FIG. Further, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing still another exceptional process (2) in the program frame generation according to the first embodiment.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of the electronic program guide (after program frame generation) displayed in the first embodiment. In the program column display area 301 in the electronic program guide 1100, in addition to the electronic program guide 300 in FIG. 3 (before program frame display), all the above-mentioned programs are placed at all predetermined positions defined by the channel axis and the time axis. A program frame corresponding to the broadcast time (display area for each broadcast program) is displayed, and a title name is displayed in each program frame. Further, the electronic program guide 1100 includes a highlight frame in which the color and / or luminance in the selected program frame is set to a color and / or luminance different from those of other non-selected program frames in order to assist the user in selecting a program. 1101 is also displayed in a superimposed manner. In addition, in FIG. 11, the example of a display of an electronic program guide at the time of displaying only 3 hours worth for 3 channels is shown.

  FIG. 12 is an external view schematically showing the remote controller 108 used in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the remote control 108 includes buttons such as a program guide key 1201, an up direction key 1202, a down direction key 1203, a left direction key 1204, a right direction key 1205, and an enter key 1206. By using the remote control 108, the user gives an instruction to display the electronic program guide 1100, moves the highlight frame 1101 for selecting a program from the electronic program guide, or performs a recording reservation operation for the highlighted broadcast program. It can be carried out.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of the electronic program guide displayed in the first embodiment. In FIG. 13, when a plurality of pieces of program information are inserted into one program frame in the electronic program guide 1100, a pop-up screen 1300 is displayed when the highlight frame 1101 is selected. It is shown.

  The basic operation for generating the electronic program guide in the first embodiment will be specifically described below with reference to FIGS. The following example is an electronic program guide creation process for one channel, but in an actual apparatus, an electronic program guide creation process is generally performed for a plurality of channels.

  In FIG. 1, a program information supply unit 101 acquires program information through terrestrial broadcasting, digital satellite broadcasting, cable television, the Internet, and the like. In the first embodiment, description will be made assuming that program information superimposed on an analog terrestrial signal represented by G-Guide (G Guide: registered trademark) is a supply source. In G-Guide, since program information data is embedded and transmitted in a gap between analog terrestrial TV video signals transmitted from a specific broadcasting station, the program information supply unit 101 uses a VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval). ) By using a slicer or the like, the program information embedded in the gap of the TV video signal is acquired.

  The program information extraction unit 102 generates a program information list as shown in FIG. 2 from the program information acquired by the program information supply unit 101. The program information list is held in a memory in the program information extraction unit 102 or a non-volatile memory (not shown) included in the program information processing apparatus 100, so that the program information list held by the program information processing apparatus 100 can be stored at any time. It is made available. Note that the program information acquired by the program information supply unit 101 may be encrypted so that it is not used by a third party. In that case, the program information extraction unit 102 decrypts the encrypted program information.

  Thereafter, the program frame generation unit 103 acquires the program information list held in the program information extraction unit 102 and generates a program frame for displaying an electronic program guide in the program column display area 301 in order to provide program guide information. To do. Therefore, the program frame generation unit 103 generates each program frame from the program information list based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 for each program.

  In the display device 107, the number of characters that can be displayed on the screen at a time is limited due to television resolution, character fonts, and the like. For example, in the first embodiment, as shown in the time unit frame 400 of FIG. 4, in the title display section 402 of the program frame area per hour, the effective horizontal resolution (HL) is 100 dots and the effective vertical resolution ( VL) is 80 dots. Although the character string of the program title information 204 is input to the title display unit 402, since the size of the character font is defined as “vertical 20 dots × horizontal 20 dots”, the title display unit 402 The maximum number of characters displayed in the horizontal direction (per line) is 5 characters (= 100 dots / 20 dots). Similarly, since VL = 80 dots in the vertical direction, a maximum of 4 lines (= 80 dots / 20 dots) can be displayed. That is, a maximum of 20 characters (= 5 characters × 4 lines) can be input as the program title information 204 in the time unit frame 400.

  As a display unit of the program frame, one program frame may be constituted by a plurality of time unit frames 400, or the time unit frame 400 may be divided into a plurality of sections and each section may be used as a program frame. . However, the division unit is set to an integral multiple of the size of the character font with the size of the character font as the minimum unit in order to prevent the characters from being displayed overlapping each other. That is, in the first embodiment, since the character font is defined as “vertical 20 dots × horizontal 20 dots”, the vertical size (time axis direction) of the program frame is set to an integral multiple of 20 dots. To do. For example, in FIG. 4, a program frame is formed in units of VL = 00, VL = 20, VL = 40, VL = 60, and V = 80. Here, the vertical size of the program frame is an integer multiple of 20 dots, but the present invention is not limited to such a value. In the above description, the example in which the minimum setting unit in the vertical direction of the program frame is set in units of 15 minutes has been shown, but it may be set more finely (for example, in units of 10 minutes) or coarser units (for example, 30 units). It may be set in units of minutes, and may be set so that the vertical size of the program frame is an integral multiple of the size of the character font used in the time axis direction.

Here, a detailed flow up to the generation of a program frame will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, “determined by paying attention to program start time 205 (hereinafter also referred to as ST: Start Time) as a rule for generating a program frame” is performed. The relationship between “start position (VL_S) and end position (VL_E) in the time axis direction” and “program start time (minutes) (ST)” in the program frame is as follows.
VL_S = 0 (when 0 ≦ ST <15)
VL_S = 20 (when 15 ≦ ST <30)
VL_S = 40 (when 30 ≦ ST <45)
VL_S = 60 (when 45 ≦ ST <60)
The rule for generating the program frame is referred to as “frame generation rule”. The frame generation rule can be generalized and expressed as follows. First, the length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide is L _1h, and the size of the character font in the time axis direction is L _1h / M (M is a predetermined positive integer, and L _1h / M is N = 0, 1,..., M−1, and the program start time of a certain broadcast program is T _sh time T _sm (T _sh = 0, 1,..., 23, T _sm. = 0, 1, ..., 59). At this time, the value of T _sm (corresponding to the program start time (minute) (ST)) is the following condition: N · 60 / M ≦ T _sm <(N + 1) · 60 / M
Then, the start position in the time axis direction of the program frame of the broadcast program in the electronic program guide is a position moved in the time axis positive direction by a length N · L _1h / M from the position of 0 minutes at T _sh .

  In the program frame generation unit 103, the program information field 200 # 1 ("# 1" with the smallest program ID 201 in the program information list held in the program information extraction unit 102 shown in FIG. 2 is the program ID in FIG. Is "1") is acquired (S501). That is, as shown in FIG. 5, reading is started in order from the program information that has the earliest broadcast start time 205 in the program list. And the program frame production | generation part 103 acquires program start (minute) information from the broadcast start time 205 of the program information field 200 # 1 first (S502). In this example, since the broadcast start time (minute) of the program information field 200 # 1 starts from “05 minutes”, it corresponds to “when 0 ≦ ST <15” in the frame generation rule, and VL_S ( # 1) = 0 is calculated (S503). Similarly, it is determined whether the next program information field 200 # 2 can be acquired (S506). Further, in step S506, as in step S502, “50 minutes” that is program start (minute) information is acquired from the broadcast start time 205 in the program information field 200 # 2, and VL_E (# 1) is obtained from the information. ) = 60 is calculated (S507). A program frame having a size from VL = 00 dots to VL = 60 dots is generated for the program information field 200 # 1 by the method described above. That is, a program frame having a size of 0 dot ≦ VL ≦ 60 dots is allocated to a program having “program ID 201“ 1 ””. As a result, a program frame as shown in the insertion example of FIG. 4 is allocated to the time unit frame 400 at the time. The program frame indicates the size of the program unit, and may be formed so as to straddle the time unit frame 400.

  Next, the character string shown in the program title information 204 of the program information field 200 corresponding to the program frame is inserted into the program frame generated in this way (S508). This time, since the program frame is generated for the program information field 200 # 1, the program title information 204 “may be laughing!” Is inserted in the program information field 200 # 1.

Here, the operation when the program title information 204 is inserted into the generated program frame will be described using the detailed flowchart of the program title information insertion step (S508) shown in FIG. First, the effective area size of the program frame # 1 is calculated (S601). The calculation method is
(VL_E (# 1))-(VL_S (# 1))
The effective display area (vertical direction) that can be set as a program frame is determined by the following formula. For program frame # 1, 60-0 = 60, so that the display effective area (vertical direction) can be calculated as 60 dots. In the first embodiment, since the character font is “horizontal 20 dots × vertical 20 dots”, the display effective area (vertical direction) # 1 can display 3 lines (= 60 dots / 20 dots). The display effective area (horizontal direction) # 1 can be determined from the resolution of the program column display area 301 and the channel display number 303 (in this example, 5 characters / line). As a result, when inputting characters into the program frame # 1, a maximum of 15 characters (= (5 characters / line) × (3 lines)) can be input.

  Next, the program frame generation unit 103 acquires the program title information 204 to be inserted into the program frame # 1 (S602). As character information to be inserted into the program frame # 1, an 8-character character string “It's OK to laugh!” That is the program title information 204 # 1 in the program information field 200 # 1 is acquired. After that, by comparing the “number of characters of the acquired program title information 204” with the “number of characters that can be inserted into the display effective area”, it can be determined whether the program title information 204 can be inserted into the program frame without performing special processing. Determination is made (S603). If the number of characters that can be inserted into the display valid area is larger than the number of characters of the program title information 204, the process proceeds to step S605, and the program title information 204 is inserted into the program frame. When the program title information 204 is inserted, the horizontal length of the program frame is limited in advance (a limit on the number of characters of 5 characters), so a line feed of characters is required every 5 characters. For example, when inputting “Smiles!” Into the program frame, the first line is inserted after the first 5 characters are inserted in the first line, then a line feed is added, and then the character string is sequentially inserted. "Smile" is inserted in the field, and the next character string "Ikamo!" Is inserted in the next line. Note that the insertion into the program frame is a left-justified character string, and if it is less than 5 characters, it is displayed as a blank.

  In step S603, if the number of characters that can be inserted into the display effective area is less than the number of characters in the program title information 204, character strings corresponding to the number of characters that can be inserted are extracted from the program title information 204. For example, in the program information field 200 # 2, the program title information 204 includes 10 characters “Tuesday Suspense Squid”, but only 5 characters are allocated to the number of insertable characters. In that case, the program title information 204 is extracted from the program title information 204 by the number of characters that can be inserted (this time, the first five characters). That is, the character string up to “Tuesday Suspension” is extracted. Thereafter, the program title information 204 is inserted into the title display area 402 in step S605. “Character font size (size)” means not only the size of the character itself but also the size including the space between the upper and lower characters (time axis direction). When the size is equal to or larger than a predetermined size (for example, the total value of the gaps between the upper and lower characters in a program frame is equal to or larger than the size of the character itself (one character) (the size in the time axis direction). In this case, the program information processing apparatus may be provided with a function capable of displaying characters so as to increase the number of lines of characters inserted into the program frame. For example, even if only one line of characters can be inserted into a 15-minute frame (if it is simply calculated, only four lines can be inserted in one hour frame), the characters in a certain program frame When the total value of the gap between the top and bottom of the character exceeds the size of the character itself, the gap between the top and bottom of the character is used, and the gap between the top and bottom of the character is displayed narrowed (or narrowed). The program information processing apparatus may be configured to insert five lines of characters in one time frame. Furthermore, the display method for displaying the character space displayed in the program frame instead of increasing the number of lines of characters displayed in the program frame is not a display method for narrowing (or narrowing) the gap between the upper and lower characters. You may employ | adopt in order to make it easy to see (or to improve the impression received from the whole sentence). For example, if the line spacing of the characters displayed in the program frame is too large, it may give the impression that the entire sentence is displayed in a stretched manner. Even if it is less than a predetermined size (a size that can increase the number of character lines), a display method may be employed in which a gap between upper and lower characters is displayed (or narrowed).

  In the above description, the number of characters to be inserted as program information is determined according to the program frame area. However, when the program information processing apparatus 100 has a plurality of types of character fonts having different sizes, The size of the character font to be displayed may be determined according to the size of the program and the program information. For example, the description will proceed assuming that the program information processing apparatus 100 prepares a character font F1 capable of displaying 5 characters / line and a character font F2 capable of displaying 10 characters / line. When the displayable area of the program frame is the size of one line (5 characters) and the number of characters of the program title information 204 to be inserted is 8 characters, the program information processing apparatus 100 describes more information. A character font F2 that can be used is adopted to constitute an electronic program guide. When the character size is determined according to the program frame and the program information, sufficient program information can be displayed in the limited program frame.

  When the generation of the program frame # 1 and the insertion of the program title information # 1 are normally completed for the program information field 200 # 1, the generation of the program frame # 2 and the program title for the next program information field 200 # 2 are completed. Information # 2 is inserted. In this way, the same processing is sequentially performed on the program information field 200 in which the program ID 201 is incremented (S509).

  If the next program information field 200 cannot be acquired in the determination step of step S506, the determined program is determined to be the last program of the corresponding date and time. That is, since the start time of the next program information field 200 cannot be acquired, the end time information of the program information field 200 is acquired (S510), thereby setting the end position (VL_E) of the program frame (S511). . Thereafter, the program title information 204 is inserted into the program frame by performing the same processing as in step S508 (S512). Completion of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 completes creation of a program column for one channel per day. By performing such an operation for each channel, a plurality of channels can be displayed. FIG. 7 shows a comparison between the program information list shown in FIG. 2 and the result of creating the program column based on the frame generation rule according to the first embodiment and the actual program column of a newspaper / magazine. According to FIG. 7, it is possible to configure an electronic program guide without overlapping characters even if there is a character font size limitation, and an electronic program guide with good linearity of the actual electronic program guide and frame size. It can be seen that can be generated.

  As described above, according to the program information processing apparatus 1 or the program information processing method of the first embodiment, the program character is based on the program start time and the size of the character font used for displaying the program character information. Since the position and size of the program frame indicating the information display area in the time axis direction are defined, it is possible to generate a program frame having a high correlation with the broadcast time of the actual program. It is easy to grasp program information such as broadcast start time and broadcast end time depending on the position and size of the program frame displayed in the table. Therefore, the user can grasp the constituent programs by looking at the electronic program guide. Also, when watching or recording a program, it is important information how long the program is, especially when recording on a recording medium of limited capacity and recording time, the target program can be recorded to the end of the medium. Therefore, it is easy to recognize whether or not it is, so it has excellent visibility and convenience. Similarly, when viewing or recording a program, the information “when to start?” Is very important, and since it is easy to recognize when it starts, the usability of the apparatus of the first embodiment is good. Further, since the position and size of the program character information in the time axis direction of the program frame information are defined based on the program start time and the size of the character font used for displaying the program character information, It is possible to set a program frame that is large enough to arrange characters, and thus the amount of display information can be increased.

  In addition, according to the program information processing apparatus or the program information processing method of the first embodiment, the program frame is generated based on the program start time instead of both the broadcast start time and the program end time. When calculating and displaying, there are few variables to be stored, and the apparatus can be configured with a memory having a small capacity. In the above description, the program start time is used to define the position and size of the program frame in the time axis direction, but the program end time is used instead of the program start time. The same effect can be obtained even if the position and size in the time axis direction are defined.

In the above description, the case where the program frame generation rule using the program start time ST is employed has been described, but the program frame generation rule using the program end time ET may be employed. The program frame generation rule using the program end time ET can be expressed as follows. The relationship between “start position (VL_S) and end position (VL_E) in the time axis direction” and “program end time (minutes) (ET)” in the program frame is as follows.
VL_E = 20 (when 0 <ET ≦ 15)
VL_E = 40 (when 15 <ST ≦ 30)
VL_E = 60 (when 30 <ST ≦ 45)
VL_E = 80 (when 45 <ST ≦ 60)
The frame generation rule using the program end time ET can be generalized and expressed as follows. First, the length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide is L _1h, and the size of the character font in the time axis direction is L _1h / M (M is a predetermined positive integer, L _1h / M is N = 0, 1,..., M−1, and the program end time of a certain broadcast program is T _eh time T _em (T _eh = 0, 1,..., 23, T _em = 0, 1, ..., 59). At this time, the value of T _em (corresponding to the program end time (minute) (ET)) is the following condition N · 60 / M <T _em ≦ (N + 1) · 60 / M
Then, the end position in the time axis direction of the program frame of the broadcast program in the electronic program guide is a position moved in the positive direction of the time axis by a length (N + 1) · L _1h / M from the position of 0 minutes at T _eh And

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, and FIG. 10, the exception processing for the basic principle of the above-described program frame generation processing will be specifically described. First, the first exception process “process when the program frame start positions (VL_S) of a plurality of programs match” will be described. The first exception process is performed when a plurality of short programs continue in one program frame. The first exception processing includes two cases: “(1-1) When all of the constituent programs are within 30 minutes” and “(1-2) When the constituent programs include programs of 30 minutes or more”. There are two cases, and the processing for configuring the electronic program guide is different in each case.

  First, “(1-1) The case where all the constituent programs are less than 30 minutes” will be described with reference to FIG. In the frame generation rule described above, VL = 00 dots is set as the same program frame start position (VL_S) for program A, program B, and program C in FIG. Similarly, the end position (VL_E) of the program frame is also common at VL = 20 dots. If this is the case, there is a problem that the display locations of the program title information 204 overlap. Under such circumstances, all the constituent programs are composed of one program frame having a height of 20 dots, and the program title information 204 of program A, which is the first program, is held in the program frame. deep. Furthermore, it may be considered that the user can easily discriminate by changing at least one of the color and the brightness of the program frames constituting a plurality of programs. Alternatively, the color or brightness of the program frame may be changed without displaying the program title name of program A.

  Next, “(1-2) A case where a program of 30 minutes or more is included in the constituent programs” will be described with reference to FIG. In the frame generation rule described above, for program D, program E, and program F in FIG. 9, VL = 00 dots is taken as the same program frame start position (VL_S). However, the end position (VL_E) of the program frame is VL = 20 dots for program D and program E, but VL = 60 dots for program F, and therefore takes different end positions. In that case, the program D and the program E are constituted by one program frame by the method of the exception process (1-1). For program F, the end position of the program is the start position of the program frame. Note that after the program frame is generated, the program title information 204 is inserted and the program frame color or luminance configured by a plurality of programs is changed in the same manner as the exception process (1-1).

  Finally, the second exception process “(2) process when the previous program end time and the next program start time are separated by 15 minutes or more” will be described. This second exception process is a process when there is a non-broadcast time zone between the program G and the program H as shown in FIG. 10, and can be seen at 4:00 on the morning of Monday. In the second exception process, the end position is determined in consideration of the broadcast end time 206. The end position determination method specifies a location according to the frame generation rule. Note that the gap between the end position obtained by the frame generation rule and the start position of the next program is displayed as a blank space that is a virtual program frame. When the program frame start position (VL_S) and the program frame end position (VL_E) of the program G coincide with each other, the program G is displayed in a program frame having a height of 20 from the program frame start position (VL_S). Note that after the program frame is generated, the program title information 204 is inserted in the same manner as the exception process (1-1). By such processing, even when there is a non-broadcast time zone between programs, a program frame of an appropriate size can be formed for all programs.

  Next, an example of the basic operation of the electronic program guide display in the first embodiment will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 11, 12, and 13.

  The user presses the program guide key 1201 of the remote control 108 to instruct the operation unit 105 in the program information processing apparatus 100 to “display the electronic program guide 1100 on the display device 107”. Then, the program guide synthesis unit 104 supplies the information (display data) of the electronic program guide 1100 to the program guide display control unit 106 after the above-described program frame generation and insertion of the program title information 204 into the program frame. . Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11, the program guide display control unit 106 displays a movable highlight frame 1101 positioned in each program frame unit on the electronic program guide 1100. The initial display position of the highlight frame 1101 is set for the program specified from the current viewing setting channel and the current viewing time. The highlight frame 1101 indicates the positioned program frame with a different color and / or luminance. When the direction key of the remote control 108 is operated, the highlight frame 1101 moves up, down, right, or depending on the direction of the up key 1202, the down key 1203, the left key 1204, and the right key 1205. Although the program moves to the program frame in the left direction, the electronic program guide 1100 is scrolled with respect to the transition to a region other than the area displayed on the screen. The electronic program guide is scrolled in the time direction (vertical direction) every hour, and the electronic program guide is scrolled in the channel direction (horizontal direction) every channel. For example, in FIG. 11, when the highlight frame 1101 is set in the lowermost program frame, when the down arrow key 1203 is pressed, the time display of the electronic program guide itself displayed on the screen is incremented by one hour. Display (time zone from 11:00 to 13:00 is displayed). Similarly, when the highlight frame 1101 is set to the program frame in the rightmost row, when the right arrow key 1205 is pressed, the channel display of the electronic program guide itself displayed on the screen is moved up by one channel and displayed on the screen. (Channels from channel 05 to channel 07 are displayed).

  In addition, when displaying the electronic program guide 1100, a process when a program frame cannot be stored in the screen display will be described. For example, when a 2-hour program from 9:00 to 11:00 is displayed, title information of 8 lines and 40 characters can be inserted into the program frame of the broadcast program. However, only the first 20 characters are displayed when the screen is displayed only for a time period from 9:00 to 10:00 due to scrolling or the like. Even when the screen is displayed only during the time period from 10:00 to 11:00, the first 20 characters are displayed in the same manner. That is, even if the program frame is displayed from the middle, the program contents are always displayed from the top.

  Further, when the program frame is displayed from the top on the screen of the display device, the start time (minute) is displayed at the position of the “minute” number display unit 401, but the program frame is the top. Is not displayed (for example, when only the latter half of the program frame is displayed on the screen), nothing is displayed on the 'minutes' number display unit 401.

Here, the movement of the highlight frame 1101 will be described in more detail. When the left / right direction key is pressed while a certain program frame is selected (highlight frame display), the highlight frame 1101 moves according to the following principle.
Principle <1>: The highlight moves to the program having the same start time (ST) as the highlighted program frame.
Principle <2>: When there is no program with the same start time, the highlight moves to the program frame having the start time closest to the start time (ST) and smaller than the start time (ST).

  There are two exceptions to the above principle. First, as exception processing 1, if the program corresponding to the principle is to be highlighted, if the top part of the program frame cannot be displayed unless the electronic program guide is scrolled in the time direction, The program that is closest to the start time (ST) and that displays the top of the program frame without scrolling is highlighted. When there is no corresponding program, the highlight frame is moved without scrolling the program frame having the closest start time (ST) among the program frames displayed without scrolling. Next, as the exception process 2, a case where the top part of the highlighted program is not displayed will be described. In that case, the process is performed by replacing the start time (ST) of the highlighted program with the displayed start time (ST2). For example, when the highlight frame 1101 is 9:00 to 11:00 and 10:00:00 to 11:00 is not displayed on the screen display, and the left and right keys are pressed, the start time (ST2) = 10: 00. In this case, 10:00 is read as the start time (ST), and processing is performed in the order of principle <1>, principle <2>, and exception processing 1.

  Furthermore, a display process when a plurality of programs are stored for one program frame will be described. In principle, only one piece of program information is included in one program, but a plurality of programs may be included by exception processing (1-1) and (1-2) regarding the basic principle of program frame generation processing. If there are multiple programs, only the first program name (the earliest broadcast time) is displayed. When the highlight frame 1101 is assigned to such a program frame, a pop-up screen 1300 is displayed at the same time as highlighting the selected program frame as shown in FIG. The display position of the pop-up screen 1300 is displayed so that the next to the program frame constituting a plurality of programs is at the bottom of the pop-up screen 1300. If a program frame constituting a plurality of programs exists at the top of the screen and the pop-up screen 1300 generated by the above rule exceeds the program column display area 301, the program frames constituting the plurality of programs are displayed. Next to the top of the pop-up screen 1300.

  The pop-up screen 1300 is displayed with 5 characters per line for each program, and can be individually highlighted (selected). For example, when two programs are set in one program frame, when the program frame is selected, two programs are displayed on the pop-up screen 1300 in the order of the start of broadcasting (one character is five characters, two programs are two lines). The top of the two programs is highlighted. Two programs can be selected separately by the up and down direction keys, and recording reservation setting and detailed display can be performed independently. The pop-up screen 1300 is closed with the up arrow key from the state where the top of the two programs is highlighted, and further down with the down key from the state where the bottom is highlighted. The highlight moves. The pop-up screen 1300 is also closed with the left / right direction keys, and the highlight moves to the program of the adjacent station.

  Next, an operation for making a recording reservation for a desired program will be described. When the determination key 1206 of the remote controller 108 is pressed in a state where the highlight frame 1101 is positioned in the program frame, the program recording processing unit (not shown) is based on the information in the program information field 200 assigned to the program frame. Set the recording reservation operation. That is, the channel information 203 and the broadcast start time 205 in the program information field 200 are set as the recording start time, and the broadcast end time 206 is set as the recording end time.

  Thereafter, in the electronic program guide 1100, the program frame for which the recording reservation setting has been executed is displayed in a different color or luminance, or an icon indicating the recording reservation setting is additionally displayed in the 'minute' number display portion or the title display portion. Thus, the recording reservation setting for the user may be clearly indicated. Further, it may be indicated that duplication of recording reservations in the same time period is avoided by reducing the brightness of the program corresponding to the back program in which the recording reservation setting is performed.

  Further, when a program in the electronic program guide 1100 is selected during recording and the determination key 1206 of the remote controller 108 is pressed, the reservation setting screen may be displayed to confirm the reservation contents. Similarly, if a program in the electronic program guide 1100 is selected during the reservation recording setting and the determination key 1206 of the remote control 108 is pressed, the reservation setting screen may be displayed, and the reservation content may be changed or canceled.

  According to the first embodiment, even if the program information processing apparatus 100 can use only a prescribed font, it is possible to easily set the generation of a program frame, and further, the actual program broadcast time frame and size It is possible to create an electronic program guide with high correlation. As a result, the visibility from the user is remarkably increased, and the contents of the program can be grasped with a glance. Furthermore, since the pop-up screen can be displayed / hidden with only the up / down / left / right keys, a very natural operation system can be realized and the usability is good. In addition, a new program frame can be prepared on the pop-up screen, and the program contents can be displayed appropriately. Further, since the number of characters to be inserted as program information is determined according to the program frame, the program information can be inserted into the program frame without protruding from the program frame in a limited area.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the program information processing apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a program information list held in a program information extraction unit in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of an electronic program guide (before program frame generation) displayed on the display device in Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a time unit frame of the electronic program guide according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a program frame generation process in the first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the program title information insertion process in the program frame in FIG. (A) is a figure which shows the example of the program frame produced | generated using the frame production | generation rule in Embodiment 1, (b) shows the case where a program frame is formed according to broadcast time (comparative example). FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the exception process (1-1) in the program frame production | generation of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the exception process (1-2) in the program frame production | generation of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the exception process (2) in the program frame production | generation of Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an electronic program guide (after program frame generation) displayed on the display device in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is an external view schematically showing a remote controller used in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another display example of the electronic program guide displayed on the display device in the first embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Program information processing apparatus, 101 Program information supply part, 102 Program information extraction part, 103 Program frame production | generation part, 104 Program guide synthetic | combination part, 105 Operation part, 106 Electronic program guide display control part, 107 Display apparatus, 108 Remote control, 200 Program information field, 201 Program ID, 202 Broadcast date information, 203 Channel information, 204 Program title information, 205 Broadcast start time, 206 Broadcast end time, 300 Electronic program guide (before program frame generation), 301 Program column display area, 302 Current time display area, 303 channel display number, 304 hour display number, 400 hour unit frame, 401 'minute' number display part, 402 title display part, 1100 electronic program guide, 1101 highlight frame, 1201 program guide key, 1202 up Direction key, 1203 Down key, 1204 Left Key, 1205 Right direction key, 1206 Enter key, 1300 Pop-up screen.

Claims (20)

Program information acquisition means for acquiring program information related to a broadcast program;
Based on at least one of the program start time and the program end time included in the acquired program information and the size of the character font used to display the program character information included in the acquired program information Program display area defining means for defining the position and size of the display area for displaying character information in the time axis direction for each broadcast program;
Electronic program guide creating means for generating display data for an electronic program guide in which characters based on the program character information are inserted in the display area defined by the program display area defining means. Information processing device.   2. The program display area defining means sets the size of the display area in the electronic program guide in the time axis direction to an integer multiple of the size of the character font in the time axis direction. The program information processing apparatus described.   2. The program display area defining means sets the length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide to a predetermined integer multiple of the size of the character font in the time axis direction. 3. The program information processing apparatus according to any one of 2 above. The program display area defining means includes:
The length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide is L _1h ,
The size of the character font in the time axis direction is L _1h / M (M is a predetermined positive integer, and L _1h / M is a positive integer).
N = 0, 1,..., M−1,
When the program start time of a broadcast program is T _sh time T _sm (T _sh = 0, 1,..., 23, T _sm = 0, 1,..., 59),
If the value of _Tm is not less than N · 60 / M and less than (N + 1) · 60 / M, the start position in the time axis direction of the display area of the broadcast program in the electronic program guide is set at T _{sh Define} the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction for each broadcast program according to the display area generation rule with the position moved in the time axis positive direction by the length N · L _1h / M from the 0 minute position. The program information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.   When there is a time when there is no broadcast program between the previous broadcast program and the next broadcast program in time, the program display area defining means sets the program start time of the previous broadcast program. 5. The program according to claim 1, wherein a start position and an end position in the time axis direction of the display area of the previous broadcast program are defined based on both the program end time and the program end time. Information processing device.   The electronic program guide creation means calculates the number of characters that can be displayed without overlapping characters in the display area, and extracts the calculated number of characters from the program character information related to the calculation target display area. 6. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information processing apparatus is inserted into the calculation target display area.   When the display areas for two or more different broadcast programs are overlapped, the electronic program guide creation means includes one of the two or more different broadcast programs in the display area for the two or more different broadcast programs. Characters based on the program character information of one broadcast program are inserted, and a display that makes it possible to identify the presence of other program character information that is not displayed in the display area for the two or more different broadcast programs is made The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein display data for the electronic program guide is generated as described above.   8. The program according to claim 7, wherein the electronic program guide creation unit generates display data for a pop-up screen in which characters based on the other program character information not displayed are inserted in a new display area. Information processing device.   The electronic program guide creation means includes a display area for two or more different broadcast programs that overlap, and a broadcast end time of a broadcast program that is later in time among the two or more different broadcast programs is different from the above. When two or more broadcast programs are later in time than the end time of the previous broadcast program by a predetermined time, the display area of the subsequent broadcast program is set to the next time in the display area of the previous broadcast program. 9. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program information processing apparatus is displayed at a position.   The electronic program guide creation means has a plurality of types of character fonts having different sizes, and selects a character font to be used based on the size of the display area and the number of characters to be displayed in the display area. The program information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining program information about broadcast programs;
Based on at least one of the program start time and the program end time included in the acquired program information and the size of the character font used to display the program character information included in the acquired program information Defining the position and size in the time axis direction of the display area for displaying character information for each broadcast program;
Generating a display data for an electronic program guide in which characters based on the program character information are inserted in the specified display area.   In the step of defining the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction, the size of the display area in the electronic program guide in the time axis direction is an integral multiple of the size of the character font in the time axis direction. The program information processing method according to claim 11, wherein:   In the step of defining the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction, the length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide is set to a predetermined integer multiple of the size of the character font in the time axis direction. The program information processing method according to claim 11, wherein the program information processing method is performed. In the step of defining the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction,
The length of one hour in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide is L _1h ,
The size of the character font in the time axis direction is L _1h / M (M is a predetermined positive integer, and L _1h / M is a positive integer).
N = 0, 1,..., M−1,
When the program start time of a broadcast program is T _sh time T _sm (T _sh = 0, 1,..., 23, T _sm = 0, 1,..., 59),
If the value of T _sm is N · 60 / M or more and less than (N + 1) · 60 / M, the start position in the time axis direction of the display area of the broadcast program in the electronic program guide is set at T _{sh Specifying} the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction of each broadcast program according to the display area generation rule that is the position moved in the positive direction of the time axis from the position of 0 minutes by length N · L _1h / M The program information processing method according to claim 11, wherein the program information processing method is a program information processing method.   In the step of defining the position and size of the display area in the time axis direction, when there is a time when there is no broadcast program between the previous broadcast program and the broadcast program next to the previous broadcast program. 12. The start position and end position in the time axis direction of the display area of the previous broadcast program are defined based on both the program start time and the program end time of the previous broadcast program. 15. The program information processing method according to any one of items 1 to 14.   In the step of generating display data for the electronic program guide, the number of characters that can be displayed without overlapping each other in the display area is calculated, and the calculation is performed from the program character information related to the display area to be calculated. The program information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the number of characters extracted is inserted into the display area to be calculated.   When the display areas for two or more different broadcast programs overlap in the step of generating the display data for the electronic program guide, the two or more different two or more broadcast programs are displayed in the display areas for the two or more different broadcast programs. Inserts characters based on the program character information of one broadcast program among the broadcast programs, and can identify that other program character information not displayed exists in the display area for the two or more different broadcast programs. The program information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein display data for the electronic program guide is generated so that display is performed.   18. The program information processing method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of generating display data for a pop-up screen in which characters based on the other program character information not displayed are inserted in a new display area.   In the step of generating the display data for the electronic program guide, the display areas of two or more different broadcast programs are overlapped, and the broadcast of the broadcast program later in time in the two or more different broadcast programs When the end time is later than the end time of the preceding broadcast program by a predetermined time in the two or more different broadcast programs, the display area of the subsequent broadcast program is changed to the display area of the previous broadcast program. The program information processing method according to claim 11, wherein the program information is displayed at a next position in time.   In the step of generating display data for the electronic program guide, a character font used from a plurality of types of character fonts having different sizes based on the size of the display area and the number of characters to be displayed in the display area The program information processing method according to claim 11, wherein the program information processing method is selected.

Images