JP2005295001A - User individual program table providing system, user individual program table provider, and terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user with only programs fitted to user's taste data with a program table easy to see without requiring complicated operations, and reduce the possibility of missing those programs fitted to the user's tastes. <P>SOLUTION: A user individual program table provider 201 identifies a terminal accessing this unit 201 or its user, selects a plurality of program data with broadcast time zones not overlapped each other throughout a plurality of broadcast stations based on the user's taste data, and sends the data to a terminal 202 as program table data for the user only. The terminal 202 receives the program table data from the user individual program table provider 201, and shows a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcast stations on a display 226 in the form of a one-column or one-row program table along their broadcast time zones based on the program data of a plurality of programs in the program table data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a user individual program guide providing system that provides an individual program guide for each user, and a user individual program guide providing apparatus and a terminal device that can be used in the system.

  As a conventional apparatus for displaying a program guide, for example, there is one described in Patent Document 1. In the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, programs are displayed in a matrix form in which the vertical direction is a broadcast time zone and the horizontal direction is a broadcast station (channel).

  In addition, a service for displaying a program guide for each broadcast station (channel) selected by the user is also provided (see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example).

  Furthermore, various techniques for searching for a program desired by a user from among programs of a plurality of broadcasting stations have been proposed.

  For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for searching for a program having the same content in another time zone (for example, next week) in program data when a program having a certain content is designated.

  In addition, a recording device has been developed and sold that displays a list of programs related to a keyword or automatically records a program when a keyword is set.

  Furthermore, for example, Patent Literature 3 discloses a technique of learning user preferences from viewing history, searching for programs that match user preferences, and displaying them in different colors in the same program table as Patent Literature 1.

Japanese Patent No. 28388892 (FIG. 4) Japanese Patent No. 3130501 (FIG. 5) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-345446 (FIG. 6, paragraphs 0059 and 0060 of the specification) "Internet TV Guide", [online], [Search February 23, 2004], Internet <URL: http://www.tvguide.or.jp/> "TV Kingdom", [online], [Search on February 23, 2004], Internet <URL: http://www.so-net.ne.jp/tv/>

  In recent years, the number of broadcasting stations (channels) through which users can view programs has increased due to diversification of broadcasting forms. However, in the conventional apparatus for displaying the program guide, since the programs are displayed in a matrix form in which the vertical direction is a broadcast time zone and the horizontal direction is a broadcast station (channel), the programs of all channels are displayed along the broadcast time zone. It is difficult to display them together on the same screen.

  For example, if the size of displayed characters is reduced, a program guide including more channels can be displayed, but in this case, the visibility of the user is lowered. When the size of the displayed character is increased, the program guide does not fit on one screen, and the user performs a scroll operation or the like to view the entire program guide.

  Furthermore, it may be possible to display only the hit programs using the conventional program search method. However, since there are many channels as described above, many programs are hit in the conventional program search method. The user must select a desired program from the many extracted programs. Therefore, although the above-mentioned problem is somewhat reduced, in order to select a desired program from many programs for each time period, a complicated operation (search operation, search result browsing operation, selection operation, etc.) is required for the user. Required.

  In the situation as described above, even if there is an unknown program in the program guide that is likely to be desired by the user, the user may not be aware and may miss a program that matches the user's preference. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can provide only a program that matches the user's preference data in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a user individual program guide providing system that can reduce the possibility of missing a program that matches a preference, and a user individual program guide providing device and a terminal device that can be used in the system.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

  The user individual program guide providing system of the present invention includes a user individual program guide providing device and a terminal device. Then, the user individual program guide providing device is specified by specifying means for specifying the user of the terminal device connected to the user individual program guide providing device, program data including at least broadcast station and broadcast time zone information, and specifying means. Selection means for selecting a plurality of program data whose broadcast time periods do not overlap with each other based on the user preference data of the selected users by traversing a plurality of broadcast stations, and program data of the plurality of programs selected by the selection means Transmitting means to the terminal device as program guide data dedicated to the user. The terminal device connects to the user individual program guide providing device and receives program guide data from the user individual program guide providing device, and a plurality of programs based on the program data of the plurality of programs received by the receiving device. A display unit configured to display a plurality of programs belonging to the broadcast station on a predetermined display device along a broadcast time zone as a program table of one column or one row;

  Thereby, the individual program guide suitable for the user preference of the terminal device is automatically displayed in one column or one line on the display device on the user side. Therefore, only programs that match the user's preference data can be presented in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preferences is reduced. be able to.

  One of the user individual program guide providing devices of the present invention includes a specifying means for specifying a user of a terminal device connected to the user individual program guide providing device, program data including at least broadcast station and broadcast time zone information, and Based on the user preference data of the user specified by the specifying means, a selection means for selecting a plurality of program data whose broadcast time zones do not overlap with each other by traversing a plurality of broadcasting stations, and a plurality of selections selected by the selection means Transmission means for transmitting the program data of the program to the terminal device as program guide data dedicated to the user.

  Thereby, the individual program guide suitable for the user preference of the terminal device is automatically displayed in one column or one line on the display device on the user side. Therefore, only programs that match the user's preference data can be presented in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preferences is reduced. be able to.

  Furthermore, one of the user individual program guide providing apparatuses according to the present invention, in addition to the user individual program guide providing apparatus according to the present invention, determines whether or not there is a free time zone among all the time zones of the user-specific program guide data. Data of advertisement information or related information associated with a program of program data before or after the vacant time zone in association with the vacant time zone determined by the vacant time zone determining means and the vacant time zone determining means Data adding means for adding to the user-specific program guide data.

  This allows users who are interested in a program in the program schedule to see advertisement information and related information displayed adjacent to the program information. And so on.

  One of the terminal devices of the present invention includes program data of a plurality of programs selected on the basis of user preference data of a user of the terminal device, in which broadcast time zones do not overlap with each other and traverse a plurality of broadcasting stations. A receiving means for connecting to a user individual program guide providing device provided as user dedicated program guide data and receiving user guide program guide data of the terminal device from the user individual program guide providing device, and a plurality of received by the receiving means Display means for displaying a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcast stations on a predetermined display device along a broadcast time zone as a program table of one column or one row based on the program data of the program.

  Thereby, the individual program guide suitable for the user preference of the terminal device is automatically displayed in one column or one line on the display device on the user side. Therefore, only programs that match the user's preference data can be presented in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference is reduced. be able to.

  Further, one of the terminal devices of the present invention is a mobile phone having a folding mechanism in addition to the terminal device of the above invention, and at least a first display device exposed when the folding mechanism is closed, and opening of the folding mechanism. A second display device that is exposed only in a state and has a display screen larger than the first display device, and a program table of one row or one column is displayed on the second display device, and a program guide of one row or one column And a control circuit that causes the first display device to display only information on the program corresponding to the current time.

  As a result, the user can browse a compact program table dedicated to the user with the mobile phone, and even in a folded state, the user can know the currently broadcast program that meets the user's preference on the mobile phone. The possibility of missing a program that matches the preference can be reduced.

  Furthermore, one of the terminal devices of the present invention is one in which the display means is as follows in addition to any of the terminal devices of the present invention. The display means displays the program guide of one column or one row when the user-specific program guide data received by the receiving means includes advertisement information or related information data in association with the free time zone. At the same time, the advertisement information or related information is displayed in the free time zone.

  This allows users who are interested in a program in the program schedule to see advertisement information and related information displayed adjacent to the program information. And so on.

  Furthermore, one of the terminal devices of the present invention is a free time zone for determining whether or not there is a free time zone among all the time zones of the user-specific program guide data in addition to any of the terminal devices of the above invention. A determination unit; and a recording unit that records the program video. Then, the display means displays the information of the program recorded by the recording means but not viewed in the free time zone display area determined by the free time zone determination means.

  Thereby, it is possible to make the user recognize that there is a program that has been recorded but not viewed, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  Furthermore, one of the terminal devices of the present invention includes, in addition to any of the terminal devices of the above invention, a broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program, and a program table for displaying the program at that time when the terminal device is turned on. Program display control means for specifying on the basis of data and displaying a video of the specified program on a predetermined display device.

  Thereby, when the power is turned on, the video of the program that matches the user's preference is immediately displayed, so that the possibility of missing the program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  Furthermore, one of the terminal devices according to the present invention includes a broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program, a program switching operation unit, and a time when the operation unit is operated, in addition to any of the terminal devices according to the present invention. And a program display control means for switching the video of the program currently displayed by a predetermined display device to the video of the specified program when the program is specified based on the program guide data and the operation unit is operated. .

  As a result, the video of the program that matches the user's preference is immediately displayed simply by operating the operation unit, so that the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  Furthermore, one of the terminal devices of the present invention, in addition to any of the terminal devices of the above invention, specifies broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program, and a program at the current time based on the program guide data, Program display control means for displaying the video of the specified program in a partial display area of a display screen of a predetermined display device.

  As a result, since the program video that matches the user's preference is continuously displayed in a small size on a part of the display screen, the user can be made aware that such a program is being broadcast. The possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, only programs that match user preference data can be provided in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations, and programs that match user preferences can be missed. It is possible to obtain a user individual program guide providing system capable of reducing the performance, and a user individual program guide providing device and a terminal device used in the system.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the program guide display devices according to the following first to sixth embodiments can be applied to the user individual program guide providing device in the user individual program guide providing system of the seventh embodiment or later.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a program guide display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a CPU 1 is an arithmetic processing unit that executes a program and executes a process described in the program. The ROM 2 is a non-volatile memory that stores programs and data in advance. The RAM 3 is a memory that temporarily stores the program and data when the program is executed.

The interface 4 is an interface circuit to which the data storage device 11 can be connected. The interface 5 is an interface circuit that can connect the communication device 12 such as a network interface card or a modem. The interface 6 is an interface circuit to which an input device 13 such as a keyboard and a mouse can be connected. As the interfaces 4, 5 and 6, interfaces such as SCSI (Small Computer System Interface), IDE (Integrated Device Electronics) compatible, IEEE 1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), RS-232C, etc. are used as appropriate. However, when a communication device 12 that can be built into a computer such as a network interface card is used, it can be directly connected to the bus 8.

  The image processing circuit 7 is a circuit for outputting an image signal corresponding to the data when the image data is written. A display device 14 that displays an image based on the image signal can be connected to the image processing circuit 8.

  The bus 8 is a signal path that connects the CPU 1, ROM 2, RAM 3, interfaces 4, 5, 6 and image processing circuit 7 to each other. As the bus 8, a standard bus such as PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is used. The number of buses 8 and the connection form to the buses 8 such as the CPU 1 are not limited to those shown in FIG. For example, there may be two buses 8, one of which is connected to the CPU 1 and the RAM 3, and the other is connected to the other interfaces 4, 5, 6. In that case, a bridge controller for connecting the two buses 8 is provided.

  The data storage device 11 is a device capable of storing a large amount of data, and includes a program guide generation program 21 executed when program guide data is generated, user preference data 22 having user preference information, a user A program data list 24 comprising individual user designation data 23 having information on selection conditions designated directly by the program and a plurality of program data each including information on programs broadcast by a plurality of broadcasting stations within a predetermined period. Is a device for storing. The data storage device 11 functions as a storage unit that stores user preference data 22. As described above, a hard disk drive device, a disk array device, or the like is used as the device.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing the program guide generation program 21 in the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, the user preference input means 41 acquires user preference data 22 based on an input signal corresponding to a user operation from the input device 13 via the interface 6 and the bus 8, and stores it in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11. It functions as a preference information acquisition means for storing. The user individual designation input means 42 obtains user individual designation data 23 based on an input signal corresponding to a user operation from the input device 13 via the interface 6 and the bus 8, and stores it in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11. Has the function of storing.

  These input means 41 and 42 may control the display of the display device 14 via the bus 8 and the image processing circuit 7 and function as a GUI (Graphical User Interface).

  The program extracting means 43 functions as an extracting means for extracting program data belonging to the time zone of the program guide data to be generated from the program data list 24. The extracted program data is registered in the program candidate list 31 in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11.

  The program guide candidate generation means 44 has a function of generating one or a plurality of program guide candidate data in which program data in the program candidate list 31 are arranged. The program guide candidate data is stored in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11 and registered in the program guide candidate list 32.

  The program guide candidate evaluation means 45 has a function of evaluating the program guide candidate data based on the degree of matching between the program data in the program guide candidate list 32 and the user preference data 22, and each program guide candidate. Based on the evaluation of the data, it functions as a program guide determining means that uses one of the program guide candidate data as the program guide data 33. The program guide data 33 is stored in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11.

  The program extracting means 43, the program guide candidate generating means 44, and the program guide candidate evaluating means 45 are based on the program data list 24 and the user preference data 22, and a plurality of program data whose broadcast time zones do not overlap each other, It functions as a selection means 46 for selecting a plurality of broadcast stations in a longitudinal manner.

  Further, the display means 47 has a function of causing the display device 14 to display a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations as one column or one row of the program table along the broadcast time zone based on the program table data 33. Have. The displayed program is not so-called broadcast video but so-called program information (the same applies hereinafter).

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the user preference data 22 in the first embodiment. The user preference data 22 includes a preference level table 22a for each program genre, a preference level table 22b for each performer such as a talent and a sports player, and a free keyword table 22c. In each table 22a, 22b, 22c, item name data and preference data are stored for each item. Note that these preference data are not so-called digital binary data such as yes / no but data that can take intermediate values in a predetermined range such as 0 to 1, for example. That is, for example, when the value range is from 0 to 1, an item that is not liked at all is given 0 or a value close to 0, and an item that is quite like is given a value close to 1 or 1. For favorite items, values such as 0.6 or 0.7 are given.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the program data list 24 in the first embodiment. The program data list 24 includes a plurality of program data 24a. The program data 24a is data about one program, and broadcast station information, broadcast date information, broadcast start time information, broadcast end time information, title information indicating a program title, and genre information indicating a genre to which the program belongs. It includes a performer list indicating one or more performers, a content description text including a detailed description, and the like. When the program data list 24 is stored together for each broadcast station, each broadcast date, etc., corresponding information (broadcast station information, broadcast date information, etc.) in the program data 24a is not particularly required. As the program data list 24, an electronic program program distributed together with the main broadcast or provided via a computer network may be used as it is or edited as appropriate.

  Next, the operation of the above apparatus will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the program guide display device according to the first embodiment.

  First, when the program guide generation program 21 is executed by the CPU 1, the user preference input means 41, the user individual designation input means 42, the program extraction means 43, the program guide candidate generation means 44, and the program guide candidate evaluation means 45 shown in FIG. And the display means 47 is implement | achieved.

  When a predetermined operation is performed, the operation mode of the apparatus shifts to the registration mode, and the user preference input unit 41 and the user individual designation input unit 42 convert the user input information into user preference data based on the user's operation on the input device 13. 22 and user individual designation data 23 are registered.

  On the other hand, when another predetermined operation is performed, the operation mode of the apparatus shifts to a program guide display mode for displaying the user's individual program guide, and the program extraction means 43, the program guide candidate generation means 44, and the program guide candidate evaluation means 45. The display means 47 executes the following processing for displaying the program guide.

  First, the program extracting means 43 has a program end time after the start time of the target program schedule time zone from the program data list 24 and a program before the end time of the target program schedule time zone. One or a plurality of program data 24a having a start time is extracted and stored in the program candidate list 31 (step S1). Note that the start time and the last time of the program guide are set in advance based on, for example, a user operation.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the program extraction process in step S1 of FIG. First, the program extracting means 43 extracts program data belonging to the target program schedule time zone as described above (step S11).

  Next, the program extraction means 43 refers to the user preference data 22 and the user individual designation data 23, and calculates the degree of matching between each program data 24a, the user preference data 22 and the user individual designation data 23 (step S12). ). For example, in the calculation of the fitness level, when an item for which the preference level is set in the user preference data 22 exists in the program data 24a, the preference level may be added to the fitness level. A value of fuzzy integration (such as Choke integration) for an item that exists in the data 24a and for which the preference level is set in the user preference data 22 may be used as the fitness of the program data 24a. When the fuzzy integral value is used as the goodness of fit, two items with lower preference are present in the program data 24a than when one item with higher preference is present in the program data 24a based on the additive method. When it is done, it becomes easy to become high adaptability. That is, for example, the suitability is likely to be higher when there are two performers having a lower preference than the performer, rather than one performer having a higher preference.

  The degree of matching between the program data 24a calculated here and the user preference data 22 is stored in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11 in association with the program data.

  Then, the program extraction means 43 sorts the extracted program data 24a in descending order of suitability with the user preference data 22 and the user individual designation data 23, and stores them in the program candidate list 31 (step S13).

  Note that the program candidate list 31 may store only specified information such as an index, identification information, and address indicating the program data in the program data list 24 without storing the program data 24a itself.

  Returning to FIG. 5, next, the program guide candidate generation means 44 reads the program data 24a in the program candidate list 31 in order from the top, and reads a plurality of program data 24a whose broadcast time zones do not overlap each other to a plurality of broadcast stations. Are selected in a vertical manner to generate program guide candidate data (step S2). At that time, the program guide candidate generation means 44 generates the second and subsequent program guide candidate data by using at least one program data that has not been used for the first program guide candidate data. These program guide candidate data are stored in the program guide candidate list 32. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the program guide candidate list 32 in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the program guide candidate list 32 includes program guide candidate data 51 including a plurality of program data 51a (24a).

  It should be noted that each program guide candidate data in the program guide candidate list 32 does not include the program data (program data) itself, but stores only the designation information indicating the program data 24a in the program data list 24 as the program data 51a. It may be.

  Then, the program guide candidate evaluation means 45, for each program guide candidate data 51 stored in the program guide candidate list 32, is based on the suitability of all the program data 51a in the program guide candidate data 51 and the user preference data 22, and the like. The evaluation value is calculated, and the program guide candidate data 51 having the maximum evaluation value is selected and stored as the program guide data 33 (step S3). At that time, the program guide candidate evaluation unit 45 reads out and uses the degree of matching between each program data 51a (24a) calculated and stored in step S12 and the user preference data 22.

  In the first embodiment, the program guide candidate evaluation unit 45 uses the average adaptability between all the program data 51a and the user preference data 22 in the program guide candidate data 51 as the first index, and the second index as the second index. The genre balance of the program data 51a included in the program guide candidate data 51 and the time zone of the program guide candidate data 51 based on the program data 51a included in the program guide candidate data 51 as the third index (program guide The evaluation value of the program guide candidate data 51 is calculated on the basis of three indicators of the occupation ratio with respect to the time zone from the start time to the final time.

  For example, the average fitness as the first index is an average value weighted by the broadcast time of each program data 51 a for all the program data 51 a in the program guide candidate data 51. That is, when the broadcast time of one program data 51a is 0.5 hours and the fitness is 0.9, and the broadcast time of another program data 51a is 1.5 hours and the fitness is 0.6. The average fitness of the two program data 51a is calculated as 0.675 (= (0.5 × 0.9 + 1.5 × 0.6) / (0.5 + 1.5)).

  For example, the genre balance as the second index is the total number of genres of the program data 51a included in the program guide candidate data 51, or the difference between the total number and a predetermined average genre number (for example, 3), and belongs to each genre. It is a value that is uniquely calculated from variations in the total broadcast time of the program data 51a (such as the sum of variance values and standard deviation values).

  As a third index, the occupation ratio is a value obtained by dividing the time from the first time to the last time of the program guide by the program guide candidate data 51 by the total broadcast time of all the program data 51a.

  When calculating the evaluation value of the program guide candidate data 51 based on the three indices, for example, the three indices may be appropriately normalized, and the weighted sum of the three indices may be used as the evaluation value. It may be based on an expression. Moreover, you may make it calculate an evaluation value based on one or two of these according to a user's needs etc., without using all the above-mentioned three parameter | indexes.

  After that, the display means 47 causes the display device 14 to display a plurality of programs adapted to the user's preference as a one-column or one-line program table along the broadcast time zone based on the program guide data 33 (step). S4). At that time, the display means 47 supplies image data for displaying the program guide to the image processing circuit 7 via the bus 8. The image processing circuit 7 causes the display device 14 to display a program guide based on the supplied image data.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. In this program guide 61, based on the program data 51a (24a) included in the program guide data 33, three images 61b, 61c and 61d showing program information are displayed along an elongated rectangular image 61a showing a broadcast time zone. It is displayed.

  According to the image 61b, the broadcast start time is 18:00, the broadcast end time is 18:30, the title is “program A title”, the broadcast station is “TV station A”, and the description text is “corner” “1” and “Corner 2”, and programs whose performers are “Moderator 1”, “Guest 1” and “Guest 2” are shown. These pieces of information are obtained from the values (contents) of each field of the program data 24a.

  According to the image 61c, the broadcast start time is 18:30, the broadcast end time is 20:30, the title is “Program B title”, the broadcast station is “TV station D”, and the content description text is “Synopsis”. "Is shown.

  In this way, for a specific user, the program table 61 including programs of a plurality of broadcasting stations that match the user's preference is displayed in one column or one row.

  Here, the details of the program guide candidate data generation process in step S2 of FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of the program guide candidate data generation process in step S2 of FIG.

  When generating the program guide candidate data 51, first, the program guide candidate generating means 44 selects the first program data 51a (24a) of the program candidate list 31, that is, the program data 51a (24a) having the highest fitness ( Step S21).

  Next, the program guide candidate generation means 44 determines whether or not the selected program data 51a (24a) can be applied to the program guide candidate data 51, that is, other program data 51a (24a) in the program guide candidate data 51. And whether the broadcast time zones do not overlap or overlap (step S22). At that time, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 makes a determination with reference to the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time of each program data 51a (24a) already applied to the program guide candidate data 51.

  When it is determined that the selected program data 51 a (24 a) can be applied to the program guide candidate data 51, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 adds the program data 51 a (24 a) to the program guide candidate data 51. (Step S23). As a result, a program based on the program data 51a (24a) is assigned to a program guide candidate based on the program guide candidate data 51.

  On the other hand, when the program guide candidate generation unit 44 determines that the selected program data 51a (24a) cannot be applied to the program guide candidate data 51, the selection omission queue (in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11) ( The program data 51a (24a) is added to (not shown) (step S24). At that time, in the selection omission queue, the program data 51a (24a) is arranged so that the previously added data is closer to the head. Note that the selection omission queue may store only the designation information indicating the program data 24a in the program data list 24 without storing the program data (program data) itself.

  Then, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 determines whether or not the selected program data 51a (24a) is the last program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31 (step S25). When the selected program data 51a (24a) is not the last program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31, the program guide candidate generation means 44 selects the next program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31. That is, the program data 51a (24a) having the next highest fitness is selected (step S26), and the processing of steps S22 to S25 is similarly performed on the program data 51a (24a).

  In this way, all program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31 is assigned to the program guide candidate data 51 or the selection omission queue.

  The program guide candidate generation unit 44 adds the program guide candidate data 51 at this time to the program guide candidate list 32 as the first program guide candidate data 51.

  Here, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 determines whether or not the number of program guide candidate data 51 in the program guide candidate list 32 has reached a predetermined number (step S28). When the number of program guide candidate data 51 in the program guide candidate list 32 is not a predetermined number, the program guide candidate generating unit 44 determines whether or not the selection omission queue is empty (step S29). .

  If the number of program guide candidate data 51 in the program guide candidate list 32 is not a predetermined number and the selection omission queue is not empty, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 proceeds to step S30. Then, the generation of the second program guide candidate data 51 is started.

  On the other hand, the program guide candidate generation unit 44, when the number of program guide candidate data 51 in the program guide candidate list 32 reaches a predetermined number or the selection omission queue becomes empty, End generation.

  When generating the second and subsequent program guide candidate data 51, the program guide candidate generating means 44 first adds the next program guide candidate data 51 to the first program data 51a (24a) in the selection omission queue (that is, selected The one with the highest matching degree in the leakage queue) is added (step S30). After the addition, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 deletes the program data 51a (24a) from the selection omission queue.

  Then, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 selects the first program data 51a (24a) of the program candidate list 31, that is, the program data 51a (24a) having the highest fitness (step S31). Note that the program candidate list 31 at this time is in the same state as in step S21.

  Next, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 determines whether or not the selected program data 51a (24a) can be applied to the program guide candidate data 51 (step S32).

  When it is determined that the selected program data 51 a (24 a) can be applied to the program guide candidate data 51, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 adds the program data 51 a (24 a) to the program guide candidate data 51. (Step S33).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the selected program data 51a (24a) cannot be applied to the program guide candidate data 51, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 skips the process of step S33. That is, when the second and subsequent program guide candidate data 51 is generated, the program data 51a (24a) is not added to the selection omission queue.

  Then, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 determines whether or not the selected program data 51a (24a) is the last program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31 (step S34). When the selected program data 51a (24a) is not the last program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31, the program guide candidate generation means 44 selects the next program data 51a (24a) in the program candidate list 31; That is, the program data 51a (24a) having the next highest fitness is selected (step S35), and the processing of steps S32 to S34 is performed on the program data 51a (24a) in the same manner.

  The program guide candidate generation means 44 adds the program guide candidate data 51 at this time to the program guide candidate list 32 as the second program guide candidate data 51 (step S36). Since the second program guide candidate data 51 includes the program data 51a (24a) in the selection omission queue, the second program guide candidate data 51 is different from the first program guide candidate data 51.

  Thereafter, in steps S28 and S29, until it is determined that the number of program guide candidate data 51 in the program guide candidate list 32 has reached a predetermined number, or until it is determined that there is no program data in the selection omission queue. In steps S28 to S36, the third and subsequent program guide candidate data 51 are repeatedly generated.

  In this way, the program guide candidate list 32 including the program guide candidate data 51 is generated. As a result, a plurality of program guide candidate data 51 having high fitness and different from each other are generated.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the user preference data input unit 41 acquires the user preference data 22 and stores it in the data storage device 11. Based on the program data 24a and the user preference data 22, the selection means 46 selects a plurality of program data 24a whose broadcast time zones do not overlap with each other through a plurality of broadcast stations. Based on the program data 51a (24a) of a plurality of programs selected by the selection unit 46, the display unit 47 displays a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations as a program table of one column or one row as a broadcast time zone. Are displayed on the display device 14.

  Thereby, the individual program guide suitable for a user preference is automatically displayed in one column or one row. Therefore, only programs that match the user's preference data can be presented in a program table that is easy for the user to view without requiring complicated operations, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference is reduced. be able to.

  Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the program extracting unit 43 extracts the program data 24a belonging to the time zone of the program guide from the program data 24a of a plurality of programs of a plurality of broadcasting stations. Then, the program guide candidate generating unit 44 generates program guide candidate data 51 in which the program data 51a (24a) extracted by the program extracting unit 43 is arranged. The program guide candidate evaluation unit 45 evaluates the program guide candidate data 51 based on the degree of matching between the program data 51a included in the program guide candidate data 51 generated by the program guide candidate generation unit 44 and the user preference data 22, The program guide data 33 is determined based on the evaluation of each program guide candidate data.

  As a result, program data that is not selected as the program guide data to be generated among many program data is excluded before the evaluation of the program guide candidate data, so that the program guide candidate generation unit 44 generates the program guide candidate data. And / or the program table candidate data can be reduced when the program table candidate evaluation unit 45 evaluates the program table candidate data, and the program table data can be generated in a short time.

  Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 selects the program data 51a (24a) extracted by the program extraction unit 43 in descending order of suitability with the user preference data 22, and broadcasts. The first program guide candidate data 51 is generated by applying the first program guide candidate data 51 while excluding the program data 24a having overlapping time zones.

  Thereby, as the first program guide candidate data 51, the program guide candidate data that includes a lot of program data 51a (24a) having a high degree of matching with the user preference data 22 and can be expected to be highly evaluated by the program guide candidate evaluation means 45. 51 is generated.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 generates a predetermined number of program guide candidate data, or the program data 24a excluded when the first program guide candidate data 51 is generated. Of the program data 24a excluded at the time of generating the first program guide candidate data 51, the next program with the next highest suitability is first used until the program guide candidate data 51 is used. Next, the program data 24a extracted by the program extraction means 43 is selected in descending order of the degree of suitability with the user preference data 22, and the program data 24a with the overlapping broadcast time zones is excluded. Is applied to the next program guide candidate data 51, and the next program guide candidate data 51 is generated.

  As a result, it is possible to generate a large amount of program guide candidate data 51 that includes a lot of program data 24 a having a high degree of matching with the user preference data 22 and can be expected to be highly evaluated by the program guide candidate evaluation means 45.

  Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the program guide candidate evaluation unit 45 is included in the program guide candidate data 51 in addition to the degree of matching between the program data 51 a included in the program guide candidate data 51 and the user preference data 22. The program guide candidate data 51 is evaluated based on the ratio of the program genre in the program data 51a.

  Thereby, a more appropriate program guide can be presented to the user. If there is a bias in the program genre of the program guide, for example, programs of the same program genre are continued for a long time. Therefore, such a program guide is not necessarily optimal for the user. According to this program guide display device, the possibility that such a program guide is displayed can be reduced.

  Furthermore, according to the first embodiment, the program guide candidate evaluation unit 45 adds the degree of matching between the program data 51a included in the program guide candidate data and the user preference information 22 and the time zone of the program guide candidate data 51. The program guide candidate data 51 is evaluated based on the occupation ratio of the program time to

  Thereby, a more appropriate program guide can be presented to the user. A program guide with many time periods when no program is displayed is not optimal for the user. According to this program guide display device, the possibility that such a program guide is displayed can be reduced.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
As in the first embodiment, the program guide display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention uses a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations as a first program guide in one column or one row along the broadcast time zone. In addition, a second program table composed of programs other than the program in the first program table is displayed in parallel with the first program table.

  The program guide display device according to the second embodiment is obtained by changing the program guide generation program 21 as compared with the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. Therefore, here, various functions realized by the program guide generation program 21 in the second embodiment will be described, and the other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing a program guide generation program in the program guide display device according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 10, a user preference input unit 41, a user individual designation input unit 42, a program extraction unit 43, and a program guide candidate generation unit 44 are units having functions similar to those in the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 10, the selected program removing means 71 has a function of deleting the program data 51 a (24 a) included in the program guide data 33 from the program candidate list 31 after the program guide data 33 is generated.

  Further, the program guide candidate evaluation means 45A determines the program guide data 33 based on the evaluation of each program guide candidate data, as well as the program selection candidate removal means 71, similarly to the program guide candidate evaluation means 45 of the first embodiment. After the program data included in the program guide data 33 is deleted from the program candidate list 31, each program guide candidate data 51 generated by the program guide candidate generating means 44 is evaluated, and the sub program guide data 62 is based on the evaluation value. It has a function to determine. The sub program guide data 62 is stored in the RAM 3 or the data storage device 11.

  Also, the display means 47A displays a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations in one column or one row of the first program guide and the first program guide based on the program guide data 33 and the sub program guide data 62. It has a function to display on the display device 14 along one broadcast time zone as a parallel second program guide.

  Next, the operation of the above apparatus will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the program guide display device according to the second embodiment.

  First, when the program guide generation program 21 is executed by the CPU 1, the user preference input means 41, the user individual designation input means 42, the program extraction means 43, the program guide candidate generation means 44, and the program guide candidate evaluation means 45A shown in FIG. The display means 47A and the selected program removal means 71 are realized.

  The operations of the user preference input unit 41 and the user individual designation input unit 42 in the registration mode are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, in the program guide display mode, the program extracting means 43, the program guide candidate generating means 44, the program guide candidate evaluating means 45A, the display means 47A and the selected program removing means 71 execute the following processing for displaying the program guide. .

  First, the program guide data 33 is generated by the program extracting means 43, the program guide candidate generating means 44, and the program guide candidate evaluating means 45A in the same manner as in the first embodiment (steps S1 to S3).

  When the program guide data 33 is generated, the selected program removing unit 71 specifies the program data 51a (24a) included in the program guide data 33 and deletes the program data 51a (24a) from the program candidate list 31. (Step S101).

  Next, on the basis of the program candidate list 31 from which the program data 51a (24a) included in the program guide data 33 is excluded, the program guide candidate generation unit 44 performs program guide candidates in the same manner as in the first embodiment. A list 32 is generated (step S102).

  Then, when the program guide candidate list 32 is generated based on the program candidate list 31 from which the program data 51a (24a) included in the program guide data 33 is excluded, the program guide candidate evaluation unit 45A generates the program guide at this time. Each program guide candidate data 51 included in the candidate list 32 is evaluated, and the program guide candidate data 51 having the highest evaluation is set as the sub program guide data 62 (step S103).

  After the program guide data 33 and the sub program guide data 62 are generated in this way, the display means 47A is based on the program guide data 33 and the sub program guide data 62, and the first priority is based on the program guide data 33. The program guide is displayed on the display device 14 in one column or row along the broadcast time zone, and the second priority program guide based on the sub program guide data 62 is displayed in the first priority program in one column or row. The information is displayed on the display device 14 along the table (step S104).

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the second embodiment. In this program guide 81, a row of first priority program guide 81b based on the program guide data 33 and a column of second priority program guide 81c based on the sub program guide data 62 are elongated rectangular images indicating broadcast time zones. It is displayed along 81a.

  In the first priority program guide 81b, the text “BEST CHOICE” indicating that it is most appropriate for the user is displayed as a column title, and images of each program based on each program data 51a (24a) of the program guide data 33 are The display is the same as in the first embodiment.

  In the second priority program table 81c, the text “NEXT CHOICE” indicating the second most appropriate program for the user is displayed as a column title, and is based on each program data 51a (24a) of the sub program table data 62. The images 81d, 81e, 81f of each program are displayed on the same time axis as the first priority program table 81b.

  In this way, for a specific user, the program table most suitable for the user's preference and the second most suitable program table are displayed in two columns (or two rows). Here, the program guide is displayed in two columns (or two rows), but the column displayed as the program guide is not limited to two columns of “BEST CHOICE” and “NEXT CHICE”. Further, the number of columns to be displayed may be set based on an input by the user, or the number of columns may be changed according to the size of the screen on which the program is displayed.

  The details of each process described above may be the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the selection unit 46 excludes the program data selected for the first program guide, and the broadcast time zones for the second program guide are mutually different. Select multiple program data that do not overlap. Then, the display means 47A displays the first program guide in one column or row along the broadcast time zone based on the program data 33, and the second program guide based on the sub program data 62, It is displayed in one column or one row along the broadcast time zone of the first program guide.

  As a result, the individual first program guide that matches the user's preference is automatically displayed in one column or row, and a program that is not included in the program guide but has a high degree of fitness is the second program guide. Are displayed side by side with the first program guide. Therefore, the user can compare the programs in the two program guides for a certain viewing time. As a result, the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced. If there are about two columns, the entire program guide can be displayed on the same screen while ensuring good visibility.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
The program guide display apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention displays a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations in a single column or one row along the broadcast time zone as in the first embodiment, Further, among the programs not selected in the program guide, a program that is expected to have a high degree of matching with the user's preference information is selected, and the program is displayed along the program guide.

  In addition, the prediction selection means (not shown) for selecting a program that is predicted to be highly compatible with the user's preference information from among the programs that are not selected in the program guide is executed by the program guide generation program 21 being executed. It is realized and has a function of executing processing to be described later.

  In addition, “a program that is expected to be highly compatible with user preference information among programs not selected in the program guide” is viewed by other users having attribute information similar to the user, for example. Programs, programs that cannot be viewed at this time on non-contracted channels, but have a high degree of matching with user preference information, and programs recommended by acquaintances of users.

  For programs that other users having attribute information similar to the user are viewing, the attribute information, viewing history, and user specific designation data 23 are stored in advance for each user, and the specification in the attribute information is specified. Another user whose attribute item value is close is selected, and the programs registered in the viewing history of the user and the individual user designation data 23 belonging to the time zone of the program table to be displayed this time are extracted, and the program The program image may be displayed based on the program data 24a.

  For programs that cannot be viewed at the present time on the non-contract channel but have a high degree of fitness with the user's preference information, the program data 24a of the non-contract channel that belongs to the time zone of the program table to be displayed this time is extracted, Of the extracted program data 24a, program data 24a having a high degree of matching with the user's preference information may be selected, and a program image may be displayed based on the program data 24a.

  For programs recommended by acquaintances of users, program recommendation information addressed to the users entered by other specific users using e-mail systems, electronic chat systems, electronic bulletin boards, etc. The program recommended information is stored in a predetermined storage area (for example, the data storage device 11) for the user, program recommendation information is read from the storage area when the program guide is displayed, and the program data matches the recommended program information. 24a may be extracted, and the extracted program data 24a may be selected as belonging to the time zone of the program table to be displayed this time, and the program image may be displayed based on the program data 24a.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the third embodiment. In this program guide, a row of program guides based on the program guide data 33 is displayed along an elongated rectangular image showing a broadcast time zone. Then, in a column 101 adjacent to the one-line program table, a title “OTHER CHOICE” and “a program that is expected to be highly compatible with user preference information among programs not selected in the program table” is displayed. , An image of a program whose title is “program Z title” and whose broadcasting station is “TV station G” is displayed.

  In addition, a specific program desired to be displayed by the service provider may be displayed in the same manner. Further, these display processes are performed on the predetermined display device 14 by the display means 47.

  In the third embodiment, an additional program is displayed in addition to the apparatus in the first embodiment, but an additional program may be displayed in the second embodiment in addition to the apparatus. In this case, the displayed program guide has three columns (or three rows) such as “BEST CHOICE”, “NEXT CHOICH”, and “OTHER CHOICE”. The programs displayed in the “OTHER CHOICE” column are not limited to those belonging to the time zone specified by the user. In addition, programs belonging to “OTHER CHOICE” may be displayed individually without being displayed along the time zone in the form of a program guide.

  As described above, the program guide display device according to Embodiment 3 described above is based on the program data list 24 by the not-illustrated prediction selection unit, and the user preference information among the programs that are not selected by the selection unit 46. Select programs that are expected to be highly relevant. The display means 47 displays the program table in one column or row along the broadcast time zone based on the program data 33, and displays the program selected by the prediction selection means in the broadcast time zone of the program guide. Display along.

  As a result, individual program guides that match the user's preferences are automatically displayed in one column or row, and programs that are not included in the program guide but have a high degree of fitness are displayed side by side with the program guide. . Therefore, the user can select a program while comparing a program that is expected to have a high degree of fitness. As a result, the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
The program guide display device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention has a configuration similar to that of the program guide display device according to any of the first to third embodiments, and a predetermined value as the value of each item in the user preference data 22. Having a GUI for setting an intermediate value within the range (that is, a value that is not a digital binary value). This GUI is configured by user preference input means 41, an input device 13, and a display device 14 realized by executing the program guide generation program 21.

  The generation of the program guide data 33 and the display of the program guide can be performed by the same configuration and operation as the program guide display device according to any of the first to third embodiments, and therefore detailed description thereof will be given. Is omitted.

  Next, acquisition of the user preference data 22 by the program guide display device according to Embodiment 4 will be described.

  First, when a predetermined operation is performed and the operation mode of the apparatus shifts to the registration mode, the user preference input unit 41 causes the display unit 14 to display an input form.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an input form displayed by the program guide display device according to the fourth embodiment. In the input form shown in FIG. 14, a first input area 121 for inputting the degree of preference of each genre with each genre of the program as an item, and a second for inputting the degree of preference of each free keyword with the free keyword as an item. Input area 122, third input area 123 for inputting a preference level for a plurality of user desire items indicating the type of user's expectation for the viewing program (what is required when viewing the program), A fourth input area 124 for inputting high performers, a fifth input area 125 for inputting performers with low preference, and the like are provided.

  In the first input area 121, a preference level can be set for each of the small genres “Drama / Drama” “Kakanai Drama”, “Japanese Folk / Japanese Music”, “Domestic Rock / Pops”, and “Musical”. It is. The current preference level of each small genre is represented by a level indicator image displayed corresponding to the item name of the small genre. The longer the image, the higher the preference level. And the length of this level indicator image is changed by the user's operation using GUI by the input device 13, the display device 14, and the user preference input means 41. The length of the level indicator image can be any one from a predetermined minimum length to a predetermined maximum length. Based on the length of the level indicator image, the preference value of each small genre is obtained in detail. For example, when the length of the level indicator image for a certain small genre is 70% of the predetermined maximum length, the preference level of the small genre is 0.7. Therefore, when the range of preference values is from 0 to 1, 0 or a value close to 0 is given to an item that is not liked at all, and a value close to 1 or 1 is given to an item that is quite likable. For items that you like, you can give a value of 0.6 or 0.7.

  In the second input area 122, the preference degree for each of the free keywords can be set. The free keyword is set by the user. In the case of the example of FIG. 14, “Serie A”, “United Kingdom”, and “Eating” are set as free keywords, and the preference value of each free keyword is set by the level indicator image as in the first input area 121. Finely obtained.

  In the third input area 123, user preference items “I want to laugh”, “I want to impress”, “I want to get excited”, “I want to learn”, and “I want to learn” can be set. Then, like the first input area 121, the value of the preference level of each user desire item is finely obtained by the level indicator image.

  In the fourth input area 124, names of a plurality of performers input by the user are displayed.

  When the input of the preference degree for the form as described above is completed, the user preference input unit 41 stores the value set for each item in the input form as the user preference data 22 in the data storage device 11. For example, data from the first input area 121 is stored as a preference table 22a, and data from the second input area 122 is stored as a preference table 22c. In addition, after the data of the fourth input area 124 is automatically assigned a predetermined preference value in descending order to each performer based on the arrangement order in the fourth input area 124, It is stored as a preference table 22b.

  For example, in the case of the input values shown in FIG. 14, in the user preference data 22, the preference level of the small genre “domestic drama” is set to 0.2, and the preference level of the free keyword “Serie A” is set to 0.4. The preference level of the user desire item “I want to learn” is set to 0.7.

  The user preference data 22 set in this way is used for calculating the degree of matching with each program data 24a.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the user preference data input unit 41 acquires the user preference data 22 with a value corresponding to the user input in a predetermined value range. The selection means 46 calculates the degree of matching between the user preference data 22 and the program data 24a with a numerical value, and selects a program with a large numerical value.

  As a result, the ambiguous degree of user preference can be accurately reflected in the program selection, and an individual program guide that more matches the user preference is automatically displayed in one column or one row.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
In addition to the configuration of the program guide display device according to the fourth embodiment, the program guide display device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is configured to program user input values for a plurality of user desire items based on a predetermined conversion table. It has a function of converting into user preference data 22 for attribute items prepared in advance in the data 24a.

  In the program guide display device according to the fifth embodiment, a conversion table for converting user input values for a plurality of user desire items into user preference data 22 for attribute items prepared in advance in the program data 24a is stored in the data. It is stored in the device 11. And the user preference input means 41 converts the item about user preference using the conversion table.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing processing for converting user input values for a plurality of user desire items into user preference data 22 for attribute items prepared in the program data 24a in the fifth embodiment. FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example of a conversion table.

  In FIG. 15A, for example, user desire items “I want to laugh”, “I want to impress”, “I want to get excited” as conversion coefficients when converting items from five user desire items to the genre “drama”. For “I want to learn” and “I want to know information”, 0.3, 0.8, 0.3, 0, and 0 are set, respectively.

  In addition, about the other structure in the program schedule display apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5, what is necessary is just to be the same as that of Embodiment 4, The description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Next, an operation when registering the user preference data 22 will be described.

  The user preference input means 41 acquires user input values for a plurality of user desire items for the input form as in the fourth embodiment.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 15B, the user preference input unit 41 converts the preference level for the user desire items into the preference level for the genre. At that time, the user preference input means 41 reads the conversion table from the data storage device 11, and multiplies the user input value for each user desire item by a coefficient corresponding to both each user desire item and the converted item. The sum of the obtained values for a plurality of user desire items is calculated. Then, the degree of preference for each genre after conversion is stored in the data storage device 11 as user preference data 22.

  For example, the preference level of the item “I want to laugh” is 0.6, the preference level of the item “I want to impress” is 0.8, the preference level of the item “I want to get excited” is 0.5, and the preference level of the item “I want to learn” is When the preference level of the item “I want to know information” is 0.7 and the conversion table is as shown in FIG. 15A, the preference level of “drama” is 0.97 (= 0.3 × 0.6 + 0.8 × 0.8 + 0.3 × 0.5 + 0 × 0.7 + 0 × 0.7), and the preference level of this item “drama” is stored as part of the user preference data 22 Is done.

  The genre-specific preference level data after conversion may be stored separately from the genre-specific preference level data (preference level table 22a), or the genre-specific preference level data after conversion, The sum with the genre-specific preference data directly input may be calculated and stored as genre-specific preference data (preference level table 22a). Further, the weighted data of the genre-specific preference data after conversion and the directly input genre-specific preference data are weighted, and the sum is calculated and stored as genre-specific preference data (preference level table 22a). Good. Alternatively, if the difference between the genre-specific preference data after conversion and the genre-specific preference data directly input is large, only the directly-input genre-specific preference data is used or converted. The weighting of the preference data for each genre later may be reduced by a predetermined ratio.

  Moreover, a user desire item is not limited to the kind and number which were mentioned above. For example, “I want to relax” or “I want to cry” may be used as the user desire item. Moreover, the item after conversion is not limited to the genre of a program, It is good also as another item acquirable from program data. Furthermore, the item before conversion is not limited to the user desire item, and is not included as attribute information (metadata) in the program data. You may want to watch it in the car).

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, the user preference data input unit 41 acquires user input values for a plurality of user desire items, and a user for a plurality of user desire items based on a predetermined conversion formula. The input value is converted into user preference data 22 for the attribute prepared in the program data. The selection means 46 selects a program having a high degree of matching between the converted user preference data 22 and the program data 24a.

  As a result, the degree of preference of the abstract user can be converted into a form that can be quantitatively evaluated and can be reflected faithfully in the program selection, and an individual program guide that more matches the user's preference can be displayed in one column or one row. Displayed automatically.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
The program guide display device according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention has a GUI for setting user-specific designation data 23 in addition to the same configuration as the program guide display device according to any of the first to fifth embodiments. It is. This GUI is configured by user preference input means 41, an input device 13, and a display device 14 that are realized by executing the program guide generation program 21.

  Next, acquisition of the user individual designation data 23 by the program guide display device according to Embodiment 6 will be described.

  First, the user preference input unit 41 causes the display device 14 to display detailed information of a program selected by the user from the program table displayed as described above or the conventional program table.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of detailed program information displayed by the program guide display device according to the sixth embodiment. In FIG. 16, a broadcast time 141, a broadcast station 142, a program title 143, a program genre 144, a program detailed information text 145, and a performer list 146 are displayed based on the program data of the selected program. Furthermore, the degree of matching 151 between the program data of this program and the user preference data 22 of the user is calculated and displayed.

  Separately, button images 161 and 162 that function as an operation unit on the GUI are displayed on the same screen. The button image 161 is an image of an “add to frequently-viewed program” button for registering this program as a frequently viewed program, and the button image 162 is “not much” for registering this program as a less frequently viewed program. This is the image of the “Add to Unseen Program” button.

  When the user preference input unit 41 is displaying the program detailed information about a certain program and the “Add to frequently-viewed program” button is pressed based on the GUI, the user preference input unit 41 converts the program data of this program into user individual designation data. 23 is registered in the program list often viewed.

  On the other hand, when the “Add to less-viewed program” button is pressed based on the GUI, the user preference input unit 41 converts the program data of this program into a less-viewed program list in the user individual designation data 23. register.

  In addition, when there is a predetermined operation, the user preference input unit 41 reads a frequently viewed program list and a less frequently viewed program list in the user individual designation data 23 and causes the display device 14 to display these lists. As a result, the user can check a program that is frequently viewed or a program that is not often viewed and a program that the user has selected. At that time, the user preference input means 41 may delete the selected program from the list based on the user's selection operation and deletion instruction operation. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example of a program list that is frequently viewed and a program list that is not frequently viewed in the sixth embodiment.

  When program data is registered in a frequently viewed program list or a rarely viewed program list in the user individual designation data 23, all program data of a series program such as a series drama program including the program may be registered. In this case, for example, information indicating that it is a series program may be included in the program data of the program data list 24 in advance, and it may be determined whether or not it is a series program based on the information.

  The individual user designation data 23 set in this way is taken into account when calculating the degree of matching between the program data 51a (24a) and the user preference data 22.

  For example, the degree of matching between the program data 51a (24a) registered in the frequently viewed program list and the user preference data 22 is fixed to a predetermined maximum value or increased by a predetermined ratio. Further, the degree of matching between the program data 51a (24a) registered in the program list that is not often seen and the user preference data 22 is fixed to a predetermined minimum value or decreased by a predetermined ratio.

  Furthermore, when the program data registered in the frequently viewed program list or the rarely viewed program list in the user individual designation data 23 is one of the series programs, other series programs in the same series are also included in the program data. You may make it handle similarly.

  Note that other operations relating to the generation of the program guide data 33 and the like may be the same as in any of the above-described embodiments, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, it is possible to display a program table that takes into consideration programs that the user likes individually or programs that the user does not like individually.

  In addition, about each of above-mentioned Embodiment 1-6, you may be made as follows.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the input device 13 and the display device 14 in the program guide display device are used as the user interface, but the user interface may not exist in the program guide display device, and communication An input device and a display device of another device that can communicate with the device 12 may be used as a user interface. In this case, the program guide display device transmits and receives data corresponding to user input to the input device and display image data to the display device through communication with the external device.

  In each of the above embodiments, the program data of a rebroadcast program for a certain program data program included in the program candidate list 31 may not be included in the program candidate list 31. In this case, rebroadcast information indicating whether or not the rebroadcast is performed is read from the program data in the program data list 24, and program data not included in the program candidate list 31 is selected based on the rebroadcast information and the program title. That's fine. As a result, both the main broadcast program data and the rebroadcast program data of the same content are not included in the same program candidate list 31.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a user individual program guide providing system to which the program guide display device according to the first to sixth embodiments is applied will be described.

Embodiment 7 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention, the program table data for the program guide displayed by the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 on the mobile phone 202 via the telecommunication line is displayed in one column. I will provide a.

  FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention. In FIG. 18, a user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 is an apparatus having a server function of providing a user individual program guide to each user. The mobile phone 202 is a mobile phone of a user registered in the registered user list 212, and is a terminal device that displays a program guide provided from the user individual program guide providing device 201.

  In the user individual program guide providing device 201, the server program 211 identifies a user of a terminal device (such as the mobile phone 202) connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201, and a server that communicates with the terminal device. It is a program to realize.

  The registered user list 212 is data having information on users who can enjoy the user individual program guide providing service and / or terminal devices of the users. The server based on the server program 211 refers to the registered user list 212 and performs identification / authentication processing for the terminal device connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201 and the user.

  The other components of the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 are the same as those of the program guide display apparatus of FIG. However, the communication device 12 according to the seventh embodiment can be connected to an electric communication line such as a telephone line or a computer network in order to communicate with the mobile phone 202 as a terminal device.

  In the mobile phone 202, the communication device 221 is a communication device that performs wireless communication with the accommodation base station and can perform data communication in addition to voice communication. The communication device 221 functions as a receiving unit connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201 and receiving program guide data from the user individual program guide providing device 201.

  The control circuit 222 is a circuit that controls devices and circuits inside the mobile phone 202. The control circuit 222 selects a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcast stations in one column (or one row) in the same manner as in the above embodiment based on the program data of a plurality of programs received by the communication device 221. ) Function as display means for displaying on the display device 226 along the broadcast time zone.

  The image processing circuit 223 is a circuit that outputs an image signal corresponding to the image data from the control circuit 222 to the display device 224. The display device 224 is a first display device such as a liquid crystal display provided in the housing of the mobile phone 202.

  The image processing circuit 225 is a circuit that outputs an image signal corresponding to the image data from the control circuit 222 to the display device 226. The display device 226 is a second display device such as a liquid crystal display provided in the housing of the mobile phone 202.

  The input device 227 is a component that generates a signal corresponding to a user operation, such as a power switch, number keys, alphabet keys, and function keys. The memory 228 is a storage unit that stores data received from the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201.

  In addition, although the cellular phone 202 includes circuits related to audio processing such as an audio codec, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing the program guide generation program 21 and the server program 211 in the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 according to the seventh embodiment. In FIG. 19, the server 231 is realized by executing a server program 211, and includes a transmission unit 241, a reception unit 242, and an authentication unit 243.

  The transmission unit 241 sends the program guide data 33 generated for the user of the mobile phone 202, the user interface display command from the user preference input unit 41, and the user individual designation input unit 42 via the interface 5 and the communication device 12. A function of transmitting to the mobile phone 202. The receiving unit 242 has a function of receiving information input from the input device 227 of the mobile phone 202 from the mobile phone 202 via the interface 5 and the communication device 12. In addition, when receiving the connection request, the authentication unit 243 has a function of performing authentication processing on the terminal device (such as the mobile phone 202) that is the transmission source of the connection request and identifying the user of the terminal device.

  Note that the other means, data, and the like in FIG. 19 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of each device will be described.

  First, when the program guide generation program 21 and the server program 211 are executed by the CPU 1, the configuration shown in FIG. 19 is realized.

  When the user operates the input device 227 of the mobile phone 202 and the mobile phone 202 transmits a connection request to the user individual program guide providing device 201 correspondingly, the server 231 of the user individual program guide providing device 201 The registered user list 212 is searched to determine whether or not the mobile phone 202 is registered. If the mobile phone 202 is not registered, the server 231 transmits an error message to the mobile phone 202 and ends the process.

  On the other hand, when the mobile phone 202 is registered, the server 231 identifies the user based on the registered user list 212 and transmits data prompting the selection of the registration mode and the program guide display mode to the mobile phone 202. To do. When the mobile phone 202 receives the data, the display device 226 displays a selection menu for the registration mode and the program guide display mode.

  Then, after the selection menu is displayed, when the user performs any mode selection operation on the input device 227, the mobile phone 202 sends data indicating the selected mode to the server 231 of the user individual program guide providing device 201. Send. When the server 231 receives the data, the server 231 shifts the operation mode to one of the modes based on the data.

  When the operation mode of the apparatus 201 shifts to the registration mode, the user preference input means 41 and the user individual designation input means 42 send and receive display data, data representing operations, and the like via the server 231 and the communication apparatus 12. Thus, the display device 226 and the input device 227 of the mobile phone 202 are used as the user interface, and the user input information is registered as the user preference data 22 and the user individual designation data 23 based on a user operation.

  On the other hand, when the operation mode of the apparatus 201 is shifted to the program guide display mode, the program extracting means 43, the program guide candidate generating means 44, the program guide candidate evaluating means 45, and the display means 47 are displayed in the program guide display according to the first embodiment. Program guide data 33 is generated in the same manner as the apparatus. This program guide data 33 is program guide data for one column (or one row) of program guide dedicated to the user of the mobile phone 202 specified by the authentication means 243 of the server 231.

  When the program guide data 33 is generated, the transmission unit 241 of the server 231 transmits the program guide data 33 to the mobile phone 202.

  When the communication device 221 of the mobile phone 202 receives the program guide data, the control circuit 222 temporarily stores the program guide data in the memory 228. Then, the control circuit 222 generates display data based on the program guide data, supplies the display data to the image processing circuit 225, and causes the display device 226 to display a row of program guides.

  At the same time, the control circuit 222 identifies the current time using a timer (not shown), etc., identifies program data in the time zone including the current time in the program guide data, and displays based on the program data. Data is generated and supplied to the image processing circuit 223, and the display device 224 displays only information on the program currently being broadcast. That is, the display device 224 does not display information on programs other than one program.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide on the mobile phone 202 in the seventh embodiment. A cellular phone 202 illustrated in FIG. 20 is a cellular phone having a folding mechanism 261. As shown in FIG. 20A, the display device 226 is a display unit that is exposed only when the folding mechanism is open and has a display screen larger than the display device 224. On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 20B, the display device 224 is a display portion that is provided on the opposite side of the housing to the display device 226 and is exposed even when folded.

  FIG. 20C shows a display example of a program guide by the display device 226, and FIG. 20D shows a display example of program information by the display device 224. For example, if the current time is 20:00, the program information shown in FIG. 20D in the program guide shown in FIG. 20C is displayed on the display device 224.

  When the folding mechanism 261 of the mobile phone 202 is in the closed state, the above-described program information is displayed only on the display device 224, and when the folding mechanism 261 is in the open state, only the display device 226 displays the above-described program information. You may make it display program information.

  As described above, according to the seventh embodiment, the mobile phone 202 causes the display device 226 to display the program table of one column (or one row) and the program table of one column (or one row). Only the program information corresponding to the current time is displayed on the display device 224.

  Thereby, the mobile phone 202 allows the user to browse a compact program table dedicated to the user, and even in the folded state, the mobile phone 202 can know the currently broadcast program that meets the user's preference, The possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

Embodiment 8 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention, the user individual program guide providing device 201A is displayed in one column or one row on the recording device 401 as the terminal device via the telecommunication line. The program guide data for the program guide is provided, and the recording device 401 displays the program guide on a television (TV) receiver 402 as a display device. Further, in the eighth embodiment, among the time zones of the program table displayed in the one column or row, the time zone where no program is designated, that is, the empty time zone portion, Information related to later programs is displayed.

  FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. The user individual program guide providing apparatus 201A shown in FIG. 21 stores a program guide generation program 301 in place of the program guide generation program 21 of the first embodiment, and further displays advertisements and related information displayed in the free time zone of the program guide. It has advertisement data 311 having information and related information data 312. The advertisement data 311 includes advertisement content data and program designation information indicating a program associated with the advertisement content. Similarly, the related information data 312 includes data of related information itself and program designation information indicating a program to which the related information is related. As advertisement information in this case, for example, introduction of music or books produced by performers of the program can be considered. In addition, as related information in this case, information on the performer who is not included in the program data can be considered.

  Note that the other components in the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201A are the same as those in the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 in the seventh embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  In the recording apparatus 401 shown in FIG. 21, the receiving circuit 411 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal of a program at each time point via an antenna, CATV, etc., and acquires a program video signal of the NTSC system or PAL system. It is a receiving circuit. The display circuit 412 is a circuit that outputs a program video signal to the TV receiver 402. The recording device 413 records the program video signal and the program audio signal received and demodulated by the receiving circuit 411 as video data and audio data on a recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a video tape, and a hard disk drive. It is a device that functions as a recording means. The recording device 413 also has a reproduction function of reading out video data and audio data recorded on the recording medium and outputting them as program video signals and program audio signals.

  The communication device 414 is a device that can be connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201A via an electric communication line such as a telephone line or a computer network. The communication device 414 functions as a receiving unit connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201A and receiving program guide data from the user individual program guide providing device 201A.

  The control circuit 415 is a circuit that controls each device and each circuit in the recording device 401. Note that the control circuit 415 sets a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations as a one-column or one-row program table based on the program data of the plurality of programs received by the communication device 414 along the broadcast time zone. Function as display means for display on the TV receiver 402. In addition, the control circuit 415 functions as a free time zone determination unit that determines whether or not there is a free time zone among all the time zones of the user-specific program guide data.

  The memory 416 is storage means for storing various data such as program guide data received by the communication device 414.

  FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing the program guide generation program 301 and the server program 211 in the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201A of the eighth embodiment. In FIG. 22, the related information insertion unit 321 reads out the program guide data 33, functions as a free time zone determination unit that determines whether there is a free time zone in the program guide data 33, and the free time zone. If present, the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312 are referred to, and the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312 associated with the program before or after the free time zone are added to the program guide data 33. It has a function as an additional means.

  Note that the other means, data, and the like in FIG. 22 are the same as those in the seventh embodiment (FIG. 19), and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Next, the operation of each device will be described. FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating processing when a user-specific program guide is provided by the user-specific program guide providing system according to the eighth embodiment. FIG. 24 is a flowchart for explaining details of the processing in step S201 in FIG.

  In the eighth embodiment, when the recording device 401 is connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201A, the user individual program guide providing device 201A first stores the user-specific program guide data 33 of the recording device 401 in the first embodiment. Etc. (steps S1 to S3).

  When the program guide data 33 is generated, the related information is inserted into the free time zone (step S201). In this process, first, the related information insertion unit 321 reads out the program guide data 33 and determines whether or not there is a free time zone in the program guide data 33 (step S211).

  At that time, the related information insertion unit 321 specifies the start time and end time of each program data in the program guide data 33, and when the end time of one program data does not match the start time of the next program data. Then, it is determined that there is a free time zone between the end time of the program data and the start time of the next program data. Alternatively, the related information insertion unit 321 specifies the start time and end time of each program data in the program guide data 33, and the interval between the end time of one program data and the start time of the next program data is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. Only when it is (for example, 15 minutes or more), it may be determined that there is a free time zone between the end time of the program data and the start time of the next program data.

  If there is no free time slot, the related information insertion unit 321 ends the related information insertion processing. On the other hand, when there is a vacant time zone, the related information insertion unit 321 refers to the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312, and the advertisement data 311 associated with the program (program data) before or after the vacant time zone or It is determined whether or not the related information data 312 exists (step S212).

  Then, when there is the advertisement data 311 or the related information data 312 associated with the program (program data) before or after the vacant time zone, the related information insertion unit 321 displays the advertisement data 311 or the related information data 312 as The start time and end time of the idle time zone are designated and added to the program guide data 33.

  On the other hand, when there is a vacant time zone but the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312 associated with the program data before and after the vacant time zone do not exist, the related information insertion unit 321 performs the related information insertion process. Exit.

  As described above, when there is a free time zone in the program guide data 33, the related information inserting unit 321 stores the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312 associated with the program data before and after the free time zone in the program guide data 33. If there is, it is added to the program guide data 33.

  Then, the transmission unit 241 of the server 231 transmits the program guide data 33 to which the advertisement data 311 and the related information data 312 are allocated in the free time zone to the recording device 401 (step S202). The communication unit 414 of the recording device 401 receives the program guide data, and the control circuit 415 stores the program guide data in the memory 416.

  Then, the control circuit 415 generates a video signal of the program guide based on the program guide data and supplies it to the display circuit 412. The display circuit 412 causes the TV receiver 402 to display a program table of one column (or one row) based on the signal. At this time, the control circuit 415 determines whether or not the advertisement data and the related information data for the vacant time zone exist in the program guide data, and if the advertisement data and the related information data exist, based on the data. Thus, an image or text based on the advertisement data or related information data is displayed in the display area of the free time zone of the displayed program guide.

  FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide on the TV receiver 402 in the eighth embodiment. The program guide shown in FIG. 25 includes program information similar to the program guide shown in FIG. However, in the case of FIG. 25, in the display area of the free time zone from 20:30 to 21:00, as an advertisement regarding the performer “XXXXX” of the previous program “program B title”, A text 421 “New album released” is displayed.

  Since operations other than those described above of the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201A are the same as those of the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 in the seventh embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. In the seventh embodiment, the user interface of the mobile phone 202 is used as the user interface of the user individual program guide providing device 201A. Similarly, the input device (not shown) of the recording device 401 and the TV receiver are used. The machine 402 can be a user interface.

  In addition, it is good also considering the time slot | zone to which a program is not allocated in a program schedule, Comprising: Only the time slot | zone where a program exists before and after as an idle time slot | zone.

  As described above, according to the eighth embodiment, in the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201A, the related information inserting unit 321 determines whether or not there is a free time slot among all the time slots of the user-specific program guide data. In association with the determined vacant time zone, advertisement information or related information data associated with the program before or after the vacant time zone is added to the user-specific program guide data. Then, in the recording device 401, the control circuit 415, when the user-specific program guide data received by the communication device 414 includes advertisement information or related information data associated with a free time zone, A program table of one column (or one row) is displayed, and the advertisement information or related information is displayed on the TV receiver 402 in the idle time zone.

  This allows users who are interested in a program in the program schedule to see advertisement information and related information displayed adjacent to the program information. And so on.

Embodiment 9 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention, the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 similar to the seventh embodiment is connected to the recording apparatus 401 similar to the eighth embodiment via the telecommunication line. The program guide data for the program guide displayed in one column is provided, and the recording apparatus 401 causes the TV receiver 402 to display the program guide data.

  In other words, in the ninth embodiment, the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 transmits the program guide data 33 to the recording apparatus 401 as it is even if the program guide data 33 includes a free time zone.

  Then, the control circuit 415 of the recording apparatus 401 determines whether or not a free time zone exists in the received program guide data.

  If there is a free time zone in the program guide data, the control circuit 415 determines whether there is a program recorded by the recording device 413 and not reproduced (unviewed) after recording.

  When there is a free time zone in the program guide data and there is a program that has not been recorded (unviewed) after recording, the control circuit 415 displays information about the program (title, program length (time), etc.). Is added to the program guide data in association with the free time zone. At that time, it is preferable to select a recorded unviewed program having a recording time shorter than the length of the free time zone.

  Thereafter, the control circuit 415 generates a video signal of the program guide based on the program guide data and supplies it to the display circuit 412. The display circuit 412 displays the program guide on the TV receiver 402 based on the signal. Thus, in the ninth embodiment, when there is an unoccupied time zone in the program table and there is an unviewed program after recording, the information of the recorded program is displayed in the display area of the unoccupied time zone in the program table. Displayed as text.

  FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide on the TV receiver 402 in the ninth embodiment. The program guide shown in FIG. 26 includes the same program information as the program guide shown in FIG. However, in the case of FIG. 26, the text 431 of “There is a recorded unviewed program: News ○○” indicating a program that has not been viewed after recording is displayed in the display area of the free time zone from 20:30 to 21:00. Has been.

  Since operations other than those described above of the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 are the same as those in the seventh embodiment, description thereof will be omitted. In the seventh embodiment, the user interface of the mobile phone 202 is used as the user interface of the user individual program guide providing device 201A. Similarly, the input device (not shown) of the recording device 401 and the TV receiver are used. The machine 402 can be a user interface.

  In the user individual program guide providing system according to the ninth embodiment, the user individual program guide providing device 201 similar to the seventh embodiment and the recording device 401 similar to the eighth embodiment exist. Since the operation of each device is the same as in the case of Embodiment 7 or 8, the description thereof is omitted.

  As described above, according to the ninth embodiment, the recording apparatus 401 determines whether or not there is a free time zone among all the time zones of the user-specific program guide data, and the determined free time zone. Information on programs recorded by the recording device 413 but not viewed is displayed in the display area.

  Thereby, it is possible to make the user recognize that there is a program that has been recorded but not viewed, and the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

Embodiment 10 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention, the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 similar to that in the seventh embodiment is sent to the TV receiver 501 as a terminal device via the telecommunication line. Program guide data for a one-column (or one-row) program guide that suits user preferences is provided, and the TV receiver 501 displays the program guide.

  Further, in the tenth embodiment, the TV receiver 501 obtains program guide data suitable for the user's preference from the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201, and when the power switch is turned on, from the program guide data, The program (or its broadcast station) broadcast at the time of the time is specified, and the program is displayed first.

  FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention. In the TV receiver 501 shown in FIG. 27, a receiving circuit 511 receives and demodulates a broadcast signal of a program at each time point via an antenna, CATV, etc., and broadcasts by each broadcasting station in the NTSC system or PAL system. It is a circuit which functions as a broadcast receiving means for acquiring the program video signal.

  The display circuit 512 is a circuit that outputs a program video signal to the display 513 and displays the program video. The display 513 is a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a liquid crystal display, or a plasma display.

  The communication device 514 is a device that can be connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201 via an electric communication line such as a telephone line or a computer network. The communication device 514 functions as a receiving unit that is connected to the user individual program guide providing device 201 and receives program guide data from the user individual program guide providing device 201.

  The control circuit 515 is a circuit that controls each device and each circuit in the TV receiver 501. The memory 516 is a non-volatile storage unit that stores various data such as program guide data received by the communication device 514. The control circuit 515 sets a plurality of programs belonging to a plurality of broadcasting stations as a one-column or one-line program table along the broadcast time zone based on the program data of the plurality of programs received by the communication device 514. Function as display means for displaying on the display 513. The control circuit 515 functions as program display control means for specifying the program at that time based on the program guide data and displaying the video of the specified program on the display 513 when the TV receiver 501 is powered on.

  The operation unit 517 includes a power switch, a channel switching operation unit, and the like, and is a component that generates an electrical signal corresponding to a user operation.

  The communication unit 518 is a circuit that performs wireless communication with the remote controller 502 by, for example, infrared communication or short-range wireless communication. Note that the communication unit 518 is powered and can communicate with the remote controller 502 even in a standby state in which a main power switch (not shown) is turned on and the power switch is not turned on.

  Note that the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 in FIG. 27 is the same as that of the seventh embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the operation of each device will be described.

  The control circuit 515 of the TV receiver 501 in the tenth embodiment periodically connects to the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 via the communication device 514, and automatically programs dedicated to the user of the TV receiver 501. The table data is acquired and stored in the memory 516. Thereby, the TV receiver 501 can specify a program that is broadcast at that time and that matches the user's preference at any time. This program guide data acquisition operation may be performed when the TV receiver 501 is in the standby state or the on state, or may be performed only when the TV receiver 501 is in the on state. Moreover, what is necessary is just to let the length of the time slot | zone of the program schedule data acquired at once, for example for 1 day. Further, when the power switch is turned on, the acquisition operation may be performed immediately.

  When the power switch in the operation unit 517 or the remote controller 502 is turned on, a signal corresponding to the operation is supplied to the control circuit 515, and the control circuit 515 responds to the signal by a timer (not shown) or the like. Thus, the current time is acquired, and the broadcast station of the program at that time in the program guide data stored in the memory 516 is specified.

  Then, the control circuit 515 starts power supply to the receiving circuit 511, the display circuit 512, and the display 513, causes the receiving circuit 511 to select the specified broadcasting station (channel), and displays the program video of the broadcasting station on the display 513. Let

  When the power switch is turned on, if the program guide data for the time zone including the time is not stored in the memory 516, the control circuit 515 transmits the program guide data for the time zone including the time to the communication device 514. Through the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201.

  In the eleventh embodiment, the TV receiver 501 is described. However, the apparatus may not be the TV receiver 501, but a recording apparatus such as the recording apparatus 401 described above and a TV receiver connected thereto. It may be in the form of a machine.

  As described above, according to the tenth embodiment, the TV receiver 501 receives the program at the time when the power is turned on, the receiving circuit 511 that receives the broadcast program, the display 513 that displays the program video. A control circuit 515 is provided that identifies the program based on the program guide data and causes the display 513 to display the video of the identified program.

  Thereby, when the power is turned on, the video of the program that matches the user's preference is immediately displayed, so that the possibility of missing the program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  That is, in the conventional TV receiver, the channel that was selected when the power was turned off is selected when the power is turned on next time, but when the next power is turned on, the program that matches the user preference is immediately displayed. Is not limited. On the other hand, in the TV receiver 501 of the tenth embodiment, a program that matches the user preference is immediately displayed when the power is turned on.

Embodiment 11 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention, the channel for displaying the program on the TV receiver 501 and / or the remote controller 502 similar to the tenth embodiment is set to the program guide that suits the user preference. An operation unit for switching to the channel of the program data at that time in the data is provided.

  FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of the remote controller 502 according to the eleventh embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 28, the remote controller 502 is provided with a button 521 “Best Choice” which is a program switching operation unit. When this button is pressed, a signal corresponding to the button 521 is sent from the remote controller 502. Called. When receiving the signal, the communication unit 518 of the TV receiver 501 supplies the signal to the control circuit 515.

  When the control circuit 515 receives this signal, the control circuit 515 obtains the current time by a timer (not shown) corresponding to the signal, and selects the broadcast station of the program at that time in the program guide data stored in the memory 516. Identify.

  Then, the control circuit 515 specifies the currently selected broadcasting station of the receiving circuit 511, and if the currently selected broadcasting station is different from the broadcasting station of the program at that time in the program guide data, the receiving circuit 511 The currently selected broadcast station is switched to the broadcast station of the current program in the program guide data.

  On the other hand, if the currently selected broadcast station is the same as the broadcast station of the current program in the program guide data, the control circuit 515 does not switch the broadcast station. Alternatively, the control circuit 515 acquires the sub program guide data in the second embodiment together with the program guide data, and the control circuit 515 determines that the currently selected broadcast station is the broadcast station of the program at that time in the program guide data. If they are the same, the receiving circuit 511 may be controlled to switch to the broadcast station of the current program in the sub program guide data.

  In this way, the program video that matches the user's preference is displayed on the display 513 simply by pressing the button 521 of the remote controller 502.

  Here, as an example, the button 521 provided on the remote controller 502 is cited, but a similar operation unit may be provided on the operation unit 517 of the TV receiver 501.

  In the eleventh embodiment, the TV receiver 501 is described. However, the apparatus may not be the TV receiver 501, but a recording apparatus such as the recording apparatus 401 described above and a TV receiver connected thereto. It may be in the form of a machine.

  As described above, according to the eleventh embodiment, when the button 521 is operated, the TV receiver 501 displays the video of the program currently displayed on the display 513 at the time when the button 521 is operated. The program is specified based on the program guide data and switched to the video of the specified program.

  As a result, the video of the program that matches the user's preference is immediately displayed simply by operating the button 521, so that the possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

Embodiment 12 FIG.
In the user individual program guide providing system according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention, the TV receiver 501 similar to the tenth embodiment has a partial display area of the display 513 regardless of which channel is selected. The program at each time point in the program guide data that matches the user preference is displayed.

  That is, in the twelfth embodiment, the control circuit 515 of the TV receiver 501 refers to the program guide data, periodically refers to the current time, controls the reception circuit 511 and the display circuit 512, and operates the operation unit 517. The program video of the broadcasting station selected by the user operation or the like is displayed on the display 513, and the program video of the program specified by the program guide data is displayed in a part of the area.

  FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a program video by the TV receiver 501 according to the twelfth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 29, a program image of a broadcasting station selected by a user operation or the like is displayed over the entire area of the display 513 (display area excluding the display area 531), and program guide data is displayed in a part of the display area 531. The program video of the program specified in is displayed.

  If the user has already selected a program specified by the program guide data, the display area 531 may be deleted.

  Further, the control circuit 515 acquires the sub program guide data in the second embodiment together with the program guide data, and the control circuit 515 determines that the currently selected broadcasting station is the broadcasting station of the program at that time in the program guide data. If they are the same, the receiving circuit 511 and the display circuit 512 may be controlled so that the program video of the current program in the sub program guide data is displayed in the display area 531.

  In the twelfth embodiment, the TV receiver 501 is described. However, the apparatus may not be the TV receiver 501, but a recording apparatus such as the recording apparatus 401 described above and a TV receiver connected thereto. It may be in the form of a machine.

  As described above, according to the twelfth embodiment, the TV receiver 501 specifies a program at the current time based on the program guide data, and displays the video of the specified program on the display screen of the display 513. Are displayed in the display area 531.

  As a result, since the program video that matches the user's preference is continuously displayed in a small size on a part of the display screen, the user can be made aware that such a program is being broadcast. The possibility of missing a program that matches the user's preference can be reduced.

  Each embodiment described above is a preferred example of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is.

  For example, in the seventh to twelfth embodiments described above, the program guide is displayed based only on the program guide data 33, but other terminal devices such as a mobile phone, a recording device, a TV receiver, etc. The data 62 may be acquired and the program guide may be displayed based on the program guide data 33 and the sub program guide data 62.

  Further, in the above-described tenth to twelfth embodiments, the TV receiver 501 acquires the program guide data from the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201. Instead, the program guide according to each of the above-described embodiments. The TV receiver 501 itself may generate program guide data like a display device. In that case, the user individual program guide providing apparatus 201 is not particularly necessary.

  The present invention can be applied to, for example, provision of a television broadcast program guide.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a program guide display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing a program guide generation program in the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of user preference data in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a program data list in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the program extraction process in step S1 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a program guide candidate list in the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining details of the program guide candidate data generation process in step S2 of FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing a program guide generation program in the program guide display device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the program guide display device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a program guide displayed by the program guide display device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an input form displayed by the program guide display device according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating processing for converting user input values for a plurality of user desire items into user preference data for attributes prepared in program data in the fifth embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of detailed program information displayed by the program guide display device according to the sixth embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example of a program list that is frequently viewed and a program list that is not frequently viewed in the sixth embodiment. FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention. FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing a program guide generation program and a server program in the user individual program guide providing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a program guide on the mobile phone according to the seventh embodiment. FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of functions realized by executing a program guide generation program and a server program in the user individual program guide providing apparatus of the eighth embodiment. FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining processing when a program guide is provided by the user individual program guide providing system according to the eighth embodiment. FIG. 24 is a flowchart for explaining details of the processing in step S201 in FIG. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide on the TV receiver in the eighth embodiment. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a display example of a program guide on the TV receiver in the ninth embodiment. FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user individual program guide providing system according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention. FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of a remote controller according to the eleventh embodiment. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a display example of program video by the TV receiver in the twelfth embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

46 Selection means 201, 201A User individual program guide providing device 202 Mobile phone (terminal device)
221, 414, 514 Communication device (reception means)
222 Control circuit (display means)
224 display device (first display device)
226 display device (second display device)
241 Transmitting means 243 Authentication means (specifying means)
321 Related information insertion means (free time zone determination means, data addition means)
401 Recording device (terminal device)
402 TV receiver (display device)
413 Recording device (recording means)
415 Control circuit (display means, free time zone determination means)
501 TV receiver (terminal device)
511 Receiving circuit (broadcast receiving means)
513 Display (display device)
515 Control circuit (display means, program display control means)
521 button (operation part for program switching)

Claims (10)

Based on the specifying means for specifying the user of the terminal device connected to the user individual program guide providing apparatus, the program data including at least information on the broadcasting station and the broadcast time zone, and the user preference data of the user specified by the specifying means Selecting means for selecting a plurality of program data whose broadcast time zones do not overlap with each other through a plurality of broadcasting stations, and program data of the plurality of programs selected by the selecting means for a program table dedicated to the user A user individual program guide providing device having a transmission means for transmitting data as data to the terminal device;
A receiving means for connecting to the user individual program guide providing apparatus and receiving program guide data from the user individual program guide providing apparatus, and the plurality of broadcasts based on the program data of the plurality of programs received by the receiving means. A terminal device having display means for displaying the plurality of programs belonging to the station on a predetermined display device along a broadcast time zone as a program table of one column or one row;
A user individual program guide providing system comprising: A specifying means for specifying a user of the terminal device connected to the user individual program guide providing device;
Based on program data including at least broadcast station and broadcast time zone information and user preference data of the user specified by the specifying means, a plurality of program data whose broadcast time zones do not overlap with each other are vertically cut through the plurality of broadcast stations. Selecting means to select,
Transmitting means for transmitting the program data of the plurality of programs selected by the selecting means to the terminal device as program guide data dedicated to the user;
A user individual program guide providing device comprising: Free time zone determination means for determining whether or not there is a free time zone among all the time zones of the user-specific program guide data;
Data for adding advertisement information or related information data associated with a program before or after the vacant time zone in association with the vacant time zone determined by the vacant time zone determining means to the program guide data dedicated to the user Additional means,
The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: A user who provides program data of a plurality of programs selected based on user preference data of a user of the terminal device as program schedule data dedicated to the user, in which the broadcast time zones do not overlap each other and traverse a plurality of broadcast stations Receiving means for connecting to the individual program guide providing device and receiving program guide data dedicated to the user of the terminal device from the user individual program guide providing device;
Based on the program data of the plurality of programs received by the receiving means, the plurality of programs belonging to the plurality of broadcasting stations are displayed in a predetermined manner along a broadcast time zone as a one-column or one-line program table. Display means for displaying on the device;
A terminal device comprising: The terminal device is a mobile phone having a folding mechanism,
A first display device exposed at least when the folding mechanism is closed;
A second display device exposed only when the folding mechanism is open and having a display screen larger than the first display device;
The one or one row program guide is displayed on the second display device, and only the information corresponding to the current time in the one or one row program guide is displayed on the first display device. A control circuit to be displayed;
The terminal device according to claim 4, further comprising:   In the case where the user-specific program guide data received by the receiving means includes advertisement information or related information data in association with a free time zone, the display means includes the one column or one row. 5. The terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the program table is displayed and the advertisement information or the related information is displayed in a free time zone. A free time zone determining means for determining whether or not there is a free time zone among all time zones of the user-specific program guide data, and a recording means for recording a program video,
The display means displays information of a program recorded by the recording means but not viewed in the free time zone display area determined by the free time zone determination means;
The terminal device according to claim 4. Broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program;
Program display control means for specifying a program at the time based on the program guide data when the terminal device is turned on, and displaying a video of the specified program on a predetermined display device;
The terminal device according to claim 4, further comprising: Broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program;
An operation section for switching programs;
When the operation unit is operated, the program at the time when the operation unit is operated is specified based on the program guide data, and the video of the program currently displayed on a predetermined display device is determined. Program display control means for switching to video,
The terminal device according to claim 4, further comprising: Broadcast receiving means for receiving a broadcast program;
A program display control means for specifying a program at the current time based on the program guide data and displaying a video of the specified program in a partial display area of a display screen of a predetermined display device;
The terminal device according to claim 4, further comprising:

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