JP2006180179A - Television set - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television set capable of turning on and off a display section according to whether or not a viewer is actually viewing a program. <P>SOLUTION: The television set 100 comprises a reception section which receives a television broadcast signal; a processing section which restores a program from the digital broadcast signal received by the reception section and reproduces it; a display section 14 which displays the video of the program restored by the processing section, an audio output section which outputs audio of the program; a camera 201 which captures video of the user; a decision section which decides whether the viewer views the display section; and a switch 203 which turns OFF the display section 14 when the decision section decides that the viewer does not view the display section 14 and turns ON the display section 14 when the decision section decides that the viewer views the display section 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a television set.

  Conventionally, there is a problem that the viewer is asleep, and the television set is left in an on state even though the program is not being watched, so that unnecessary power is consumed. In order to solve this problem, an invention is described in which the television set proposed in Patent Document 1 shifts to a power saving mode when a state in which a viewer does not watch a broadcast program continues.

  In the present invention, a target channel is selected from a digital satellite broadcast by a digital tuner, and an EIT (Event Information Table) that is program-related information is extracted by an output multiplexer. The control unit counts the number of switching of the broadcast program based on this EIT, and shifts to the power saving mode when the number of switching is determined in advance.

However, with this method, it is impossible to determine whether or not the viewer is actually watching, and in some cases, the viewer may be in a power saving mode despite watching the program. Arise.
JP 2003-298777 A

  In this way, when the conventional viewer does not watch the broadcast program, the device that shifts to the power saving mode cannot judge whether the viewer is actually watching the program. There was a problem of shifting to the power saving mode despite watching the program.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a television set that can turn on and off a display unit based on whether or not a viewer is actually watching a program.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a receiver for receiving a digital broadcast signal;
A processing unit for restoring and reproducing a program from the digital broadcast signal received by the receiving unit;
A display unit for displaying video among the programs restored by the processing unit;
An audio output unit for outputting audio in the program;
A camera that captures the viewer ’s video,
A determination unit that determines whether the viewer is viewing the display unit;
When the determination unit determines that the viewer is not viewing the display unit, the display unit is turned off, and when the viewer determines that the viewer is viewing the display unit, the display is performed. The television set is provided with a switch for turning on the unit.

  At this time, when the display unit is in an off state, the audio output unit may be in an on state.

  Further, a database for storing video information of the viewer's face may be provided, and the on state and off state of the display unit may be controlled according to the registered viewer.

  In the present invention, the television set is provided with a camera for monitoring the viewing state of the viewer, the viewer's video from the camera is analyzed by a processing device such as a CPU, and the visual line is determined to visually recognize the display screen. If it is determined that it is not, the display unit is controlled to be turned off. In this way, power can be saved because power is supplied to the display unit when the viewer is actually viewing the display unit.

  At this time, the audio output is always set to the on state, so that the viewer can grasp the progress of the program by sound even when the display screen is not visually recognized. For example, when a cheer is raised in a sports program, if the display unit is viewed, the image is turned on and the user can continue to watch the program without stress.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments and can be used in various ways.

  FIG. 1 shows a main signal processing system of a television apparatus 11 necessary for receiving a digital television broadcast in the television set of the present invention. That is, the satellite digital television broadcast signal received by the BS / CS digital broadcast receiving antenna 43 is supplied to the satellite digital broadcast tuner 45 via the input terminal 44, so that the broadcast signal of the desired channel is obtained. To be selected.

  The broadcast signal selected by the tuner 45 is supplied to a PSK (Phase Shift Keying) demodulator 46, demodulated into a digital video signal and an audio signal, and then output to a signal processing unit 47.

  The terrestrial digital television broadcast signal received by the terrestrial digital broadcast receiving antenna 48 is supplied to the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 50 via the input terminal 49, so that the broadcast signal of the desired channel is selected. Is done.

  The broadcast signal selected by the tuner 50 is supplied to an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) demodulator 51, demodulated into a digital video signal and an audio signal, and then output to the signal processing unit 47. The

  Here, the signal processing unit 47 selectively selects the digital video signal and audio signal supplied from the PSK demodulator 46 and the digital video signal and audio signal supplied from the OFDM demodulator 51. Predetermined digital signal processing is performed and output to the graphic processing unit 54 and the audio processing unit 55.

  Among these, the graphic processing unit 54 has a function of superimposing and outputting the OSD signal generated by the OSD (On Screen Display) signal generation unit 57 on the digital video signal supplied from the signal processing unit 47. The graphic processing unit 54 selectively outputs the output video signal of the signal processing unit 47 and the OSD signal which is the output of the OSD signal generation unit 57, and both outputs constitute half of the screen. Can be combined and output.

  The digital video signal output from the graphic processing unit 54 is supplied to the video processing unit 58. The video processing unit 58 converts the input digital video signal into an analog video signal in a format that can be displayed on the video display 14 and outputs the analog video signal to the video display 14 for video display.

  The audio processing unit 55 converts the digital audio signal input from the signal processing unit 47 into an analog audio signal in a format that can be reproduced by the speaker 15, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 15 for audio reproduction.

  Here, in the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 11, all the operations including various receiving operations are comprehensively controlled by the control unit 61. The control unit 61 incorporates a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like and receives operation information from the operation unit 16 or receives operation information sent from the remote controller 17 via the light receiving unit 18. Each unit is controlled so that the operation content is reflected.

  In this case, the control unit 61 mainly includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 62 that stores a control program executed by the CPU, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 63 that provides a work area to the CPU, and various setting information. And a nonvolatile memory 64 in which control information and the like are stored.

  The control unit 61 is connected to a card holder 66 in which the first memory card 19 can be mounted via a card I / F (Interface) 65. Accordingly, the control unit 61 can perform information transmission via the card I / F 65 and the first memory card 19 mounted on the card holder 66.

  Further, the control unit 61 is connected to a card holder 68 into which the second memory card 20 can be mounted via a card I / F 67. Thus, the control unit 61 can perform information transmission via the card I / F 67 with the second memory card 20 mounted in the card holder 68.

  The control unit 61 is connected to the first LAN terminal 21 via the communication I / F 69. Accordingly, the control unit 61 can perform information transmission with the LAN-compatible HDD connected to the first LAN terminal 21 via the communication I / F 69. In this case, the control unit 61 has a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server function, and assigns and controls an IP (Internet Protocol) address to a LAN-compatible HDD connected to the first LAN terminal 21.

  Further, the control unit 61 is connected to the second LAN terminal 22 via the communication I / F 70. Accordingly, the control unit 61 can perform information transmission with each device (for example, a personal computer, a portable terminal, a cellular phone, etc.) connected to the second LAN terminal 22 via the communication I / F 70.

  The control unit 61 is connected to the USB terminal 23 via the USB I / F 71. Accordingly, the control unit 61 can perform information transmission with each device (for example, a personal computer, a mobile terminal, a mobile phone, etc.) connected to the USB terminal 23 via the USB I / F 71.

  Furthermore, the control unit 61 is configured to i. I. Via Link I / F72 It is connected to the Link terminal 24. Thereby, the control part 61 is i. Each device connected to the Link terminal 24 (for example, a personal computer, a portable terminal, a cellular phone, etc.); i. Information transmission can be performed via the Link I / F 72.

  Next, a camera for grasping the viewing state of the viewer in the television set of the present invention using FIG. 2, a control unit for controlling this, and a switch for turning on / off the display unit thereby are included. The function will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the television set 100 described in FIG. 1 includes a TV signal input unit 106, a decoder 107 that decodes a signal input from the TV signal input unit 106, and a video signal from the decoder 107. A display unit 14 for displaying an input video and a speaker 15 for receiving an audio signal from the decoder 107 and outputting the audio are provided.

  Further, the television set 100 includes a monitoring camera 201 for photographing a viewer, a CPU 202 for processing a signal from the monitoring camera 201, and an on state in which a video signal is given to the display device 14 under the control of the CPU 202, A video signal switching unit 200 including a switch 203 that switches an off state not applied is provided.

  The viewer's image photographed by the monitoring camera 201 is processed by the CPU, and the direction in which the viewer's eyes, nose, mouth, etc. are facing, the line of sight, etc. are judged and directed to the display device 14 Controls the switch 203 to supply a video signal to the display device 14. When it is determined that the viewer's eyes, nose, mouth, and line of sight are not directed to the display device 14, the video signal is not supplied to the display device 14 and the display device is turned off. Power consumption can be reduced by controlling in this way. At this time, the decoder 107 can further reduce power consumption by controlling the decoding of the video signal to the off state.

  Further, it may be determined that the eyes, nose, mouth, and line of sight are not directed to the display device 14, and the power supply to the display device 14 may be turned off after a certain time, for example, 1 to 3 seconds. By doing so, the display device 14 does not disappear as long as the viewer releases his eye for a moment, and the on / off state does not occur frequently.

  Next, the operation of the video signal switching unit 200 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

  First, when the viewer turns on the power of the television set (step S1), both the image display and the sound are turned on (step S2). Up to this point, the same processing as the conventional television set is performed.

  Next, the user's viewing state is determined by the CPU 202 shown in FIG. 2 (step S3). Here, for example, the presence / absence of the viewer is determined by a monitoring camera provided in the television set. When there is a viewer, the viewer's eye area is detected from the direction by detecting the viewer's face by image processing. It is determined whether the viewer is viewing from the eyelid state of the viewer (step S4).

  If it is determined in this step that the user is viewing (Yes), the power of the display unit is turned on. If the counter is counting up, the count value is cleared and the counter is stopped. Then, the process returns to the viewing state determination process (step S3).

  If it is determined in step S4 that the user is not viewing (No), counting is started and the counter value is increased (step S5). Then, it is determined whether or not the counter is equal to or larger than the set value (step S7). If the counter exceeds the set value (Yes), the display unit is turned off (step S8). At this time, the sound shifts to the power saving mode in which it is output, and the process proceeds to the viewing state determination process (step S3). Further, it is determined whether or not the counter is equal to or greater than the set value (step S7). If the counter does not exceed the set value (No), the process proceeds to the viewing state determination process (step S3).

  When the power is turned off by the viewer (step 9), the display unit and the sound are also turned off (step S10).

  Further, the characteristics of the viewer's face may be recorded in a database, and the switching setting of the on / off state may be individually controlled by the viewer. In addition, if a program that is not desired to be shown to a specific viewer is registered, the program can be controlled so that the program is not shown while the person is watching.

  Such a setting can be set by a setting in a home or a control from a broadcasting station.

  It is also possible to create a database of the generations and number of people watching the program, and to send the number of viewers, viewer's age, sex, etc. to the broadcasting station side. In this way, detailed viewing surveys can be conducted.

  In addition, by analyzing the viewer's facial expressions, it becomes possible to analyze the viewer's emotions and investigate how seriously the program is being viewed.

The block diagram which shows the main structures regarding the television of the television set of this invention. The block diagram which shows the main structures regarding the video signal switching function of the television set of this invention. The flowchart for demonstrating the video signal switching function of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Digital television broadcast receiver 14 ... Video display device 15 ... Speaker 16 ... Operation part 17 ... Remote controller 18 ... Light-receiving part 19 ... 1st memory card 20 ... 2nd memory card 21 ... 1st LAN terminal 22 ... second LAN terminal 23 ... USB terminal 24 ... i. Link terminal 43 ... Antenna 44 ... Input terminal 45 ... Tuner 46 ... PSK demodulator 47 ... Signal processing unit 48 ... Antenna 49 ... Input terminal 50 ... Tuner 51 ... OFDM demodulator 52 ... Tuner 53 ... Analog demodulator 54 ... Graphic processing unit 55 ... Audio processing units 56a, 56b, 56c, 56d ... Control terminal 57 ... OSD signal generation unit 58 ... Video processing unit 59 ... Output terminal 60 ... Output terminal 61 ... Control unit 62 ... ROM
63 ... RAM
64 ... Nonvolatile memory 65 ... Card I / F
66 ... Card holder 67 ... Card I / F
68 ... Card holder 69 ... Communication I / F
70 ... Communication I / F
71 ... USB I / F
72 ... I link I / F
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Television set 106 ... Television signal input part 107 ... Decoder 200 ... Video signal switching part 201 ... Surveillance camera 202 ... CPU
203 ... Switch

Claims (3)

A receiver for receiving a digital broadcast signal;
A processing unit for restoring and reproducing a program from the digital broadcast signal received by the receiving unit;
A display unit for displaying video among the programs restored by the processing unit;
An audio output unit for outputting audio in the program;
A camera that captures the viewer ’s video,
A determination unit that determines whether the viewer is viewing the display unit;
When the determination unit determines that the viewer is not viewing the display unit, the display unit is turned off, and when the viewer determines that the viewer is viewing the display unit, the display is performed. A television set comprising: a switch for turning on the unit.   The television set according to claim 1, wherein the audio output unit is in an on state when the display unit is in an off state.   The television set according to claim 1, further comprising a database for storing video information of a viewer's face, and controlling an on state and an off state of a display unit according to the registered viewer.

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