JP2006074434A - Program recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recorder for subsequently appreciating a broadcasting program during an absence period without allowing a visitor to have to wait by eliminating a series of burden and time in a recording operation. <P>SOLUTION: The tuner 14 of the program recorder receives the broadcasting program. The sound and video of the received broadcasting program are respectively outputted to a speaker 26 and a monitor 32. The received broadcasting program is recorded in a recording and reproducing circuit 36. An appreciating person detector 46 discriminates whether an appreciating person who appreciates the broadcasting program is deviated from the front range of the monitor 32 or not. In the case of an affirmative discrimination result, the recording and reproducing circuit 36 is started. Consequently, the broadcasting program under appreciation is automatically recorded when the appreciating person leaves the front area of the program recorder 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording apparatus, and more particularly to, for example, a program recording apparatus having a function of receiving a broadcast program and a function of recording a broadcast program.

  In a conventional program recording apparatus, when a program that is being viewed is desired to be recorded, the viewer turns on the program recording apparatus, sets a channel, and then starts a recording operation. When the viewer has to leave the seat because a request has occurred while watching the program, the program during the absence period can be watched later by recording the program being watched.

    However, in the prior art, when a response such as a visitor or an incoming call occurs suddenly while watching a broadcast program, a series of operations for recording a program takes time, and there is a possibility that the visitor or the other party of the telephone call may be kept waiting.

    SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a program recording apparatus that can save the trouble of recording operation and can watch a broadcast program during the absence period.

  A program recording apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is a receiving means for receiving a broadcast program, an output means for outputting a broadcast program received by the receiving means, a recording means for recording the broadcast program received by the receiving means on a recording medium, A discriminating unit that discriminates whether or not a viewer who views the broadcast program output by the output unit is out of a predetermined range; and a recording unit that activates the recording unit when the discrimination result of the discriminating unit is affirmative.

  The receiving means receives a broadcast program. The output means outputs the broadcast program received by the receiving means. The recording means records the broadcast program received by the receiving means on a recording medium. The discriminating unit discriminates whether or not the viewer viewing the broadcast program output by the output unit is out of a predetermined range. The recording unit activates the recording unit when the determination result of the determining unit is affirmative.

  Accordingly, when the viewer leaves the front of the program recording apparatus due to a visitor or the like, the broadcast program that was automatically viewed is recorded. As a result, the broadcast program during the absence can be watched later. In addition, a series of troubles of the recording operation can be saved and the visitor is not kept waiting.

  A program recording apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is dependent on the first aspect, and further comprises first determination means for determining a person existing in a predetermined range at the start time of the broadcast program output by the output means as the viewer. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1. Thus, automatic recording is started when a viewer who is assumed to be interested in the program being broadcast leaves.

  The program recording apparatus according to the invention of claim 3 is dependent on claim 1 or 2, wherein the receiving means receives any one of a plurality of broadcast programs broadcast through a plurality of channels, and a channel switching operation is performed. And a second determining means for determining a person existing in a predetermined range as the viewer. Thus, automatic recording is started when a viewer who is assumed to be interested in the program being broadcast leaves.

  A program recording apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is dependent on any one of the first to third aspects, and determines a person existing in a predetermined range as a viewer when receiving an on operation for turning on the receiving means. Means are further provided. Thus, automatic recording is started when a viewer who is assumed to be interested in the program being broadcast leaves.

  The program recording apparatus according to the invention of claim 5 is dependent on any one of claims 1 to 4, and each of a plurality of persons who can be viewers and a detecting means for detecting a genre of a broadcast program received by the receiving means. First registration means for registering a favorite genre is further provided, and further provided is fourth determination means for determining a viewer based on the genre detected by the detection means and the genre registered by the first registration means. Thus, automatic recording is started when a viewer who is assumed to be interested in the program being broadcast leaves.

  The broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus according to the invention of claim 6 stops the recording when it is detected that the viewer once away from the presentation location of the broadcast reception device returns to the presentation location again during the same program. To present a program that is being broadcast, to continue recording and present a program that is being broadcast, to stop recording and start playback of the program that was recorded immediately before, or to continue recording the program The reproduction is automatically started from the recording start time.

  The broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus according to the invention of claim 7 stops the recording when it is detected that the viewer once away from the presentation location of the broadcast reception device returns to the presentation location again during the program. Present a program that is being broadcast, present a program that is being broadcast by continuing to record, stop recording and start playing the program that was recorded immediately before, or record while continuing to record the program It is characterized in that the viewer is inquired and selected whether to display a playback screen from the start time.

  The broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the invention is characterized in that the absence detection device is incorporated in a remote controller for remotely controlling the broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing main body.

  The broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus according to the invention of claim 9 is capable of automatically indexing a program that has started recording and displaying a title list separately from the program that has intentionally started recording. It is characterized by.

  The broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus according to the invention of claim 10 is characterized in that, when the reproduction of the program whose recording is automatically started is completed, the program is automatically deleted from the recording medium.

  According to the present invention, even when a sudden task occurs while watching a broadcast program and it is necessary to sit down, recording of the program is automatically started. Accordingly, the broadcast program during the absence period can be watched later. In addition, since it is possible to save the trouble of performing the recording operation, it is possible to quickly cope with a sudden requirement.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a program recording apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes an antenna 12 for receiving a digital broadcast, and a digital broadcast signal received by this antenna 12 is given to a tuner 14. The tuner 14 selects broadcast data output from a desired transponder. The selected broadcast data is demodulated by the demodulator 16 to become a transport stream composed of a plurality of transport packets. A demultiplexer (DEMUX) 18 extracts audio packets, video packets, and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) from the output transport stream. The AV selector 20 supplies the extracted audio packet and video packet to the audio decoder 22 and the video decoder 28, respectively. The audio decoder 22 decodes the given audio packet to generate audio data. The generated audio data is converted into an audio signal which is an analog signal by the D / A converter 24, and the converted audio signal is given to the speaker 26. As a result, the sound of the program broadcast on the desired channel is output from the speaker 26.

  The video decoder 28 decodes the supplied video packet to generate video data. The generated video data is converted into a composite video signal by the NTSC encoder 30, and the converted composite video signal is given to the monitor 32. As a result, the video of the program broadcast on the desired channel is displayed on the screen of the monitor 32.

  The program information acquisition circuit 34 acquires the EPG extracted from the DEMUX 18. The EPG also includes a program start time and a program end time. The recording / reproducing circuit 36 records the audio packet and the video packet extracted from the DEMUX 18. By applying the recorded audio packet and video packet to the AV selector 20, the audio and video of the recorded program are reproduced. The remote controller transmission circuit 40 transmits a signal for remotely operating the main body to the remote controller reception circuit 38. The remote controller reception circuit 38 receives the signal from the remote controller transmission circuit 40 and demodulates it. The operation input circuit 42 performs operation input. The CPU 44 controls the program recording apparatus 10 and includes a RAM and a ROM. The viewer detector 46 includes a camera (not shown) and constantly monitors the presence / absence and movement of viewers within the front range of the monitor 32. Even when the viewer is within the front range of the monitor 32, if the viewer moves greatly due to the chime of the interphone or the ringing sound of the telephone, it may be determined that the viewing cannot be continued and the absence notification may be sent to the CPU 44. .

  Referring to FIG. 2, person data is registered in advance in nonvolatile memory 48. The feature of the person within the front range of the monitor 32 is extracted by the viewer detector 46 and recorded in the nonvolatile memory 48. As elements to be captured as features, the face contour and color, the positional relationship between eyes, nose and mouth, the size of the body, the position where the user normally sits when viewing, and the like can be considered. The recorded person's name and the desired program genre are also recorded in the non-volatile memory 48. News, drama, sports, etc. are recorded as genres. The viewer detector 46 determines whether the viewer detected during program viewing matches the registered person. As a result, the viewer can be identified.

  Referring to FIG. 3, when the operation input circuit 42 inputs power on or channel switching, each input time is recorded in a RAM 44 a included in the CPU 44. In the RAM 44a, the program start time and the program end time acquired from the program information acquisition circuit 34 are also recorded.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the time when the viewer is detected (seating) and the time when the viewer is not detected (seating) are recorded in RAM 44 b included in CPU 44. When the detected viewer is a viewer (registered viewer) who matches the person registered in the nonvolatile memory 48, the name of the registered viewer is recorded in the RAM 44b included in the CPU 44. Unregistered viewers are recorded as “Z”.

  Referring to FIG. 6, when there is a visitor here and a registered viewer who is watching a program leaves, an EPG is acquired from the program acquisition circuit 34. When the registered viewer (attention viewer) who has left his / her seat falls under Cases 1 to 3, the recording / playback circuit 36 automatically starts recording of the viewing program. Here, Case 1 is a case where the registered viewer has been seated since the power was turned on. Case 2 is a case where the registered viewer is seated before the program starts. Case 3 is a case where the registered viewer is seated before the channel is switched. When automatic recording is performed, an index signal and date / time indicating that automatic recording is started are also recorded as additional information.

  When the watched viewer returns and is seated, a menu selection screen is presented on the monitor 32 with reference to FIG. The first menu selection screen is presented when the program ends and the recording stops while the viewer of interest is away. The first item on the first menu selection screen is a selection to play an automatically recorded program. The second item on the first menu selection screen is a selection to watch the broadcast program being received. The second menu selection screen is presented when automatic recording continues even when the watched viewer returns. The first item on the second menu selection screen is a selection of so-called chasing playback, in which playback is started from the recording start point while continuing automatic recording. When this item is selected, a screen (not shown) on which the playback speed can be selected from the normal speed to the n-times speed is presented. The second item on the second menu selection screen is a selection for stopping the automatic recording in the middle of the program and reproducing the recorded program. The third item on the second menu selection screen is a selection to continue automatic recording as it is and watch the broadcast program being received. The fourth item on the second menu selection screen is a selection of stopping the automatic recording in the middle of the program and watching the broadcast program being received.

  It should be noted that it may be set in advance to which mode the attention viewer will change when seated.

  When all viewers are away, the CPU 44 sets the power saving mode and stops the power supply to the speaker 26 and the monitor 32. When at least one viewer returns and sits down, the CPU 44 cancels the power saving mode and resumes power supply to the speaker 26 and the monitor 32.

  The CPU 44 executes the control program shown in FIGS. These control programs are stored in a ROM included in the CPU 44. 7 to 9 and the program recording control task of FIGS. 10 to 12 operate in parallel.

  Referring to FIG. 7, the power is turned on in step S1, and the time when the power is turned on is recorded in RAM 44a of CPU 44 in step S3. In step S5, it is determined whether or not there is a viewer within the front range of the monitor 32 monitored by the viewer detector 46. If YES, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, a viewer recognition process is performed with reference to FIG. First, the time when the viewer recognition process is activated in step S31 is recorded in the RAM 44b of the CPU 44. In step S33, the characteristics of the seated viewer are extracted by the viewer detector 46. In step S <b> 35, it is determined whether or not the extracted feature of the viewer matches the feature of the person registered in the nonvolatile memory 48. If YES, the person name as a registered viewer is recorded in the RAM 44b of the CPU 44 in step S37. If the determination result is NO, it is recorded in the RAM 44b of the CPU 44 as an unregistered viewer Z in step S39.

  When the viewer recognition process is completed, the process returns to FIG. 7, and it is determined whether or not there is a power off command in step S9. If YES, the power is turned off in step S11 to finish the task. If the determination result is NO, it is determined in step S13 whether or not there is channel switching. If YES, the time when the channel was switched in step S15 is recorded in the RAM 44a of the CPU 44. In step S17, it is determined whether or not there is a viewer newly detected by the viewer detector 46. If YES, the process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, a viewer recognition process is performed with reference to FIG. 9 as in step S7.

  When the viewer recognition process in step S19 ends, the process proceeds to step S21 with reference to FIG. In step S21, it is determined whether or not the viewer has been away. If YES, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, the name of the viewer who left the seat and the time when the viewer left the seat are recorded in the RAM 44b of the CPU 44. In step S <b> 25, it is determined whether the viewer who has left the seat matches the person registered in the nonvolatile memory 48. If YES, it is determined in step S27 whether a program is being recorded. If the determination result is NO, the recording control task is activated in step S29.

  With reference to FIG. 10, the recording control task first records the program start time and program end time acquired from the program information acquisition circuit 34 in step S41 in the RAM 44a of the CPU 44.

  In step S43, it is determined whether or not the watched viewer has been seated since the power was turned on. Referring to FIG. 3, the fact that the power was turned on at 17:05 is stored in the RAM 44a. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 4, the fact that the viewer B is seated at 17: 5 is stored in the RAM 44a. Therefore, when the viewer B leaves the seat, the determination in step S43 corresponds to YES.

  In step S45, it is determined whether or not the user has been seated since the program being watched by the attention viewer has started. Referring to FIG. 3, the fact that the program started at 19:00 is stored in the RAM 44a. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 4, viewers B, D, and Z are seated at 19:00. However, the viewer Z is not an attention viewer. Therefore, when the viewer B or D leaves the seat, the determination in step S45 corresponds to YES.

  In step S47, it is determined whether or not the watched viewer has been seated since the program channel was switched. Referring to FIG. 3, the fact that the channel was switched at 17:30 is stored in the RAM 44a. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 4, the viewers A and B are seated at 17:30. Therefore, when the viewer A or B leaves the seat, the determination in step S47 corresponds to YES.

  In step S49, it is determined whether or not the genre of the broadcast program being received matches the genre set by the viewer of interest. Referring to FIG. 2, when the watched viewer is A, the set genre is news. On the other hand, if the genre of the program currently being received is news, when the viewer A leaves the seat, the determination in step S49 corresponds to YES.

  If any one of the determination results in steps S43 to S49 is YES, the process proceeds to step S51 shown in FIG. 11, and automatic recording of the program being received is started. When the determination result is NO in any case, the task ends.

  In step S53, it is determined whether or not there is any viewer. If YES, after waiting for a predetermined time in step S64, the power saving mode is entered in step S65, and the power of the speaker 26 and the monitor 32 (video / audio output system) is turned on. Stop supplying. In step S55, it is determined whether or not the program being automatically recorded has ended. If YES, recording is stopped in step S67. For the program end time, referring to FIG. 3, the time stored in the RAM 44a in step S41 is referred to. However, the program end time may be confirmed again by the program information acquisition circuit 34 in consideration of the extension of the broadcast time of the program.

  In step S57, it is determined whether or not there is a viewer's seat notification. If YES, the process proceeds to step S59. In step S59, it is determined whether or not the power saving mode is set. If the determination result is YES, the power saving mode is canceled in step S69 and the power supply of the speaker 26 and the monitor 32 is restarted. In step S61, the feature of the viewer who is seated is extracted by the viewer detector 46. In step S63, it is determined whether or not the extracted features of the viewer match the features of the watched viewer. If YES, the flow proceeds to step S71.

  Referring to FIG. 12, in step S71, it is determined whether or not automatic recording is stopped. If YES, referring to FIG. 5, the first menu selection screen is presented on monitor 32 in step S73. If the determination result is NO, a second menu selection screen is presented on the monitor 32 in step S75. In step S77, it is determined whether a menu is selected. If YES, processing corresponding to each menu is performed in step S79, and the task is terminated.

  As can be seen from the above description, the tuner 14 of the program recording apparatus 10 receives a broadcast program. The audio and video of the received broadcast program are output to the speaker 26 and the monitor 32, respectively. The received broadcast program is recorded in the recording / reproducing circuit 36. The viewer detector 46 determines whether or not the viewer viewing the broadcast program is out of the front range of the monitor 32 (S21, S25). When the determination result is affirmative, the recording / reproducing circuit 36 is activated (S29, S51).

  Therefore, when the viewer leaves the front of the program recording apparatus 10 due to a visitor or the like, the broadcast program that was being viewed is automatically recorded. As a result, the broadcast program during the absence can be watched later. In addition, there is no need to wait for a visitor by omitting a series of recording operations.

  The program recording apparatus 10 is an integrated broadcast receiver and recording / reproducing apparatus, but the broadcast receiver and recording / reproducing apparatus may be separate. The recorded program may be stored for a preset period and then automatically deleted. As a condition for automatic program recording, it may be premised that the genre of the broadcast program matches the genre set by the viewer of interest (S43, S45, S47, S49).

  In this embodiment, the viewer detector for detecting the leaving / sitting of the viewer is incorporated in the program recording apparatus main body. However, instead of being incorporated in the program recording apparatus main body, or in the program recording apparatus main body. A viewer detector may be built in the remote controller. This improves the detection accuracy.

  Further, in this embodiment, the handling of the recorded program is not distinguished depending on the recording mode, but the program automatically started to be indexed automatically, and the program etc. that intentionally started recording The title list may be displayed separately. This improves usability.

  In this embodiment, any recorded program remains on the recording medium unless an erasing operation is performed. However, a program that has started recording automatically is automatically removed from the recording medium when playback is completed. It may be deleted. This improves usability.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of a viewer's genre list. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the time list | wrist when the process was performed. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the list | wrist of the time when the viewer seated and left. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the menu shown when returning to a seat. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the timing when a viewer sits down. It is a flowchart which shows a part of operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example. It is a flowchart which shows a part of other operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example. It is a flowchart which shows a part of other operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the timing when a viewer sits down. It is a flowchart which shows a part of operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example. It is a flowchart which shows a part of other operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Program recording apparatus 14 ... Tuner 18 ... Demultiplexer 20 ... AV selector 24 ... D / A converter 28 ... Video decoder 30 ... NTSC encoder 32 ... Monitor 34 ... Program time information acquisition circuit 36 ... Recording / reproduction circuit 44 ... CPU
46 ... Viewer detector 48 ... Non-volatile memory

Claims (10)

Receiving means for receiving broadcast programs;
Output means for outputting a broadcast program received by the receiving means;
Recording means for recording the broadcast program received by the receiving means on a recording medium;
Discrimination means for discriminating whether or not a viewer viewing the broadcast program output by the output means is out of a predetermined range; and activation means for starting the recording means when the discrimination result of the discrimination means is affirmative A program recording apparatus.   The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising first determination means for determining a person existing in the predetermined range as the viewer at a start time of a broadcast program output by the output means. The receiving means receives any one of a plurality of broadcast programs broadcast through a plurality of channels,
3. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a second determination unit configured to determine a person existing in the predetermined range as the viewer when a channel switching operation is performed.   4. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising third determination means for determining a person existing in the predetermined range as the viewer when an on operation for turning on the reception means is received. Detecting means for detecting a genre of a broadcast program received by the receiving means; and first registration means for registering a genre preferred by each of a plurality of persons who can be viewers.
5. The program recording according to claim 1, further comprising fourth determination means for determining the viewer based on a genre detected by the detection means and a genre registered by the first registration means. apparatus.   If a viewer once away from the broadcast receiver's presentation location detects that the viewer has returned to the presentation location during the same program, recording is stopped and the program being broadcast is presented or recording is continued. The program that is being broadcast is presented, the recording is stopped and playback of the program that has been recorded until just before is started, or playback is automatically started from the recording start point while continuing to record the program. Broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus.   If the viewer once away from the broadcast receiver's presentation location detects that the viewer has returned to the presentation location again during the program, stop recording and present the program being broadcast, or continue recording Whether the program being broadcast is presented, whether recording is stopped and playback of the recorded program is started immediately, or whether the playback screen is presented from the recording start point while continuing to record the program is displayed to the viewer A broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that an inquiry is made to make a selection.   A broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus, characterized in that the absence detection device is incorporated in a remote controller for remotely controlling the broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing main body.   A broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that a program or the like that has automatically started recording is automatically indexed, and a title list can be displayed separately from a program or the like that has started recording intentionally.   A broadcast receiving / recording / reproducing apparatus, which automatically deletes a program from a recording medium when all the programs that have been automatically recorded have been reproduced.

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