JP2006339695A - Program recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recording device capable of recording a program fit to user's preference and fresh to a user by preferentially selecting it. <P>SOLUTION: The program recording device has a program accumulator 6a for recording broadcast programs; a program information accumulator 6b for recording program information of the broadcast programs; a history database 5a for recording the histories and program information of the viewed broadcast programs; a user's preference database 5b for recording user's preference information regarding the broadcast programs; a commoner's preference database 5c for recording commoner's preference information regarding the broadcast programs; and a microcomputer 4 for making the program information accumulation part 6b record a recommended program after selecting it from among the broadcast programs, which are scheduled to be broadcasted, on the basis of the histories and program information recorded in the history database 5a, the user's preference information recorded in the user's preference database 5b, and the commoner's preference information recorded in the commoner's preference database 5c. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording apparatus that automatically selects and records recommended programs from broadcast programs.

  In recent years, with the increase in the number of channels and the number of programs due to the increase in the number of channels of broadcasting accompanying the development of digital technology, there is a need for a convenient method for searching for a broadcasting program that matches the user's preference. In response to such a request, a keyword is extracted from the program information of the broadcast program viewed by the user, registered in the user's preference database, and the program information of the program scheduled to be broadcast is compared with the keyword in the registered preference database. Thus, a method for selecting a broadcast program including a matching keyword has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). There is also a proposal of a method in which a user can set a keyword that suits his / her preference and its search condition (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-201303 (paragraphs 0013 and 0014, FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-193960 (paragraphs 0007, 0008, FIG. 1)

  However, in the above prior art, since a broadcast program is selected based only on the user's preference, there is a strong tendency to always select a similar program, giving the user the impression that it is not fresh. There was a problem.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and the purpose thereof is a program that matches a user's preference and can select and record a program that is fresh for the user. It is to provide a recording device.

  The program recording apparatus of the present invention is an apparatus for selecting and recording a recommended program from broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast, and a program storage means for recording a broadcast program, a program information storage means for recording program information of the broadcast program, History recording means for recording the history and program information of a broadcast program that has been viewed, listened to or recorded, user preference recording means for recording user preference information of the program recording apparatus relating to the broadcast program, and general broadcast programs General preference recording means for recording personal preference information, the history and program information recorded in the history recording means, the user preference information recorded in the user preference recording means, and the general preference record A control method for selecting a recommended program from broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast based on the general person's preference information recorded in the means and recording the selected program in the program information storage means. It is characterized by having and.

  According to the present invention, when selecting a recommended program to be automatically recorded, the recommended program is selected in consideration of not only user preference information regarding the broadcast program but also general person preference information regarding the broadcast program. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to select and record a program that matches the user's preference and is fresh for the user.

  The program recording apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The program recording apparatus of the present invention has an automatic selection function of a recommended program (that is, a recommended program is selected based on user's preference information regarding the broadcast program and general person's preference information regarding the broadcast program) A device having a function as a program recommendation device). A user of the program recording device records a broadcast program based on the automatically selected recommended program (also referred to as “automatic recording”), or displays the automatically selected recommended program on the display unit. Can be provided to the user. In the following description, the case where the program recording apparatus of the present invention is a program recording apparatus capable of recording a television broadcast will be described. However, the program recording apparatus of the present invention is a program recording that records a radio broadcast. It may be a device. The program recording apparatus of the present invention is, for example, a DVD recorder connected to a tuner or a tuner built-in type DVD recorder, a hard disk recorder, a hard disk built-in television, or a personal computer.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a program recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the program recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 includes a broadcast wave input terminal 1 to which broadcast waves are input, a tuner 2, and a separation unit 3 that separates output signals from the tuner 2. The microcomputer 4 which controls operation | movement of the whole apparatus, the database part 5, the program data storage part 6, the display part 7, the operation input terminal 8, and the general preference update terminal 9 are provided. The database unit 5 includes a history database 5a, a user preference database 5b, a general preference database 5c, and a reservation list 5d. The database unit 5 is a recording device such as a hard disk device or a semiconductor memory device. The program data storage unit 6 includes a program storage unit 6a and a program information storage unit 6b. The program data storage unit 6 is a recording device such as a hard disk device or an optical disk device. The database unit 5 and the program data storage unit 6 may be separate recording devices, or may be separate areas of the same recording device.

  Next, an outline of the operation of the program recording apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. A broadcast wave of analog broadcast or digital broadcast received by an antenna (not shown) is input to the tuner 2 via the broadcast wave input terminal 1. The tuner 2 extracts a signal of a desired channel with a tuning frequency appropriately set by the microcomputer 4 and inputs the extracted signal to the separation unit 3. When an analog broadcast signal is input, the separation unit 3 separates the input analog broadcast signal into electronic program guide data and a video / audio signal, and the video / audio signal is further converted into an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) stream. Convert. In addition, when a digital broadcast signal is input, the separation unit 3 separates the input digital broadcast signal into electronic program guide data and a stream. The separated electronic program guide data is input to the microcomputer 4. The separated stream is input to the program storage unit 6a in the case of recording, and to the display unit 7 in the case of other than recording. The display unit 7 decodes a stream input from the separation unit 3 or the program storage unit 6a, displays decoded data, and displays a screen for setting program information, user preferences, reservations, and the like. In addition, the program recording apparatus according to the first embodiment generates an electronic program guide (EPG) made up of program information related to a broadcast scheduled program via an antenna or the Internet (not shown) at a predetermined time or by user operation. ) And stored in the program data storage unit 6, for example.

  The history database 5a of the database unit 5 is a database that holds the history and program information of broadcast programs viewed by the user. The broadcast program history includes the broadcast start time, broadcast end time, and broadcast channel of the broadcast program, and the program information of the broadcast program includes the title, genre, and description of the broadcast content of the broadcast program. The user preference database 5b of the database unit 5 is a database that holds user preference information of the program recording apparatus regarding broadcast programs. The general preference database 5c of the database unit 5 is a database that holds preference information that is not directly related to the user's preference of the program recording apparatus and that is generally information that many people are likely to be interested in regarding a broadcast program. . The reserved list 5d is a list that holds information related to reserved programs designated by the user of the program recording apparatus and automatic recording reserved programs.

  The program storage unit 6a of the program data storage unit 6 holds a recorded program or a program recorded by automatic recording. The program information storage unit 6b of the program data storage unit 6 holds program information corresponding to a recorded program or a program recorded by automatic recording.

  The operation input terminal 8 is used to input a user's operation on the program recording apparatus such as input of user preference information of the program recording apparatus, recording reservation input, and program viewing. The input is performed by input means (not shown) (for example, a remote control device). Based on the input information, the microcomputer 4 gives various instructions such as saving preference information in the user preference database 5b, saving reservation information in the reservation list 5d, and playing back the program in the program storage unit 6a. Output to.

  The general preference update terminal 9 is used when a general person's preference regarding a broadcast program not directly related to the user's preference of the program recording apparatus is updated from the outside. The inputted general preference information is stored in the general preference database 5c by the microcomputer 4. The general preference information is input by an operation from an input unit (not shown) (for example, a remote control device). Further, the general preference information may be input automatically via the Internet or the like.

  In addition to the above-described processing, the microcomputer 4 performs user preference determination information extraction processing, and program selection processing for automatic recording based on user preference determination information and general preference information.

  Next, the operation of the program recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of user preference information recorded in the user preference database 5b by a user input operation. In FIG. 2, the number is a management number (for example, 1,..., 5) of preference information, the type is an item indicating the type of preference information (for example, genre or keyword), Specific preference information entered by the user (for example, “baseball”, “foreign film”, “nighter”, “suspense”, “soccer”, etc.), and the condition is the positive preference information (ie, It is set as a positive preference information indicating that the user desires automatic recording, or negative preference information (that is, negative preference information indicating that the user does not desire automatic recording) ) Is set. In the case of the user preference information shown in FIG. 2, the genre “baseball”, the genre “foreign film”, the keyword “nighter”, and the keyword “suspense” are designated as positive preference information. As information, the keyword “soccer” is designated.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the history and program information of broadcast programs viewed by the user in the history database 5a. In FIG. 3, the number is a history management number (for example, 1,..., 10), the title is the title of the viewed program (for example, “Sunday Baseball”, etc.), and the program length is It is the length of the program (for example, 150 minutes), and the viewing time is the time for actually viewing the program (for example, 120 minutes). The data in the history database 5a can be used as the history and program information of broadcast programs recorded by the user.

  According to the history and program information of the broadcast program shown in FIG. 3, the number of programs of the genre “baseball” designated as positive preference information by the user is the largest with four programs, and then the genre of the user without genre designation The number of “domestic drama” programs is three. On the other hand, there is no program of the genre “foreign film” which is the positive preference information designated by the user in FIG. So, the 4 most popular programs in the history, “Shan baseball”, followed by the 3 “genre” domestic dramas, and the genre “Western” that did not appear even though the user specified it. Assuming that one program is a special program, a population is formed, and the occupation ratio of each genre in these eight programs is examined. As a result, 50% (= 4/8) of programs whose genre is “baseball”, 37.5% (= 3/8) of programs whose genre is “domestic drama”, and programs whose genre is “foreign film” Gives a result of 12.5% (= 1/8). In the above example, an example in which a program with no genre designation by the user and having a plurality of programs (genre “domestic drama”) is included in the population has been described. It is also possible to specify processing that does not include. Further, in the above example, the example that the genre “foreign film” that the user specified as positive preference information but did not appear in the history is included in the population on the assumption that it is one program has been described. It is also possible to specify processing that does not add programs of genres that have not been added to the population, or two or more genres “foreign movies” that the user specified as positive preference information but did not appear in the history It is also possible to specify processing to be included in the population assuming that the number of predetermined programs is.

  Next, when the appearance status of the keyword designated as the positive preference information by the user is examined based on the broadcast program history and program information shown in FIG. 3, one program including the keyword “Nighter” is one program, and the keyword “Suspense”. The program including is one program. Since two programs including the keyword “travel” have appeared, this is also handled as a keyword. The programs in which these three keywords appear are a total of four programs. When the appearance ratio of each keyword is examined using these programs as a population, 50% (= 2/4) of the programs include “travel” as a keyword. Programs that include “Nighter” as a keyword are 25% (= 1/4), and programs that include “Suspense” as a keyword are 25% (= 1/4). In the above example, since the program including the keyword “travel” appears in two programs, the case where the processing is also handled as a keyword has been described. However, the keyword “travel” is included instead of the above processing. It is also possible to specify a process that does not include a program in the population (a process that does not include a program including a keyword that is not included in the user preference database 5b).

  Thus, the user preference determination information shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. In FIG. 4, the condition indicates whether the preference information is positive or negative preference information, the type indicates a genre or a keyword, and the content indicates specific preference information. The ratio indicates a preference ratio for each genre or keyword. The preference ratio for the genre is calculated by a simple composition ratio in which the number of programs of the top three types of the genre that appears and the specified genre is a population. In addition, the preference ratio for keywords is calculated by a simple composition ratio in which the number of programs related to all effective programs is a population. In fact, the upper limit and the lower limit of the number of programs constituting the population in the keyword may be set (for example, 2 or more and 4 or less). In addition, the number of programs constituting the population in the genre is not limited (in the above example, the number is limited to 3), and the appearance genre and all of the designated genres are targeted for the population. A calculation method may be adopted. Further, a calculation method other than the calculation method used in the example of FIG. 4 may be used, such as obtaining a ratio using a value obtained by squaring the number of each program. Further, the viewed program may be evaluated from the aspect of the ratio between the program length and the viewing time, and a weight may be set between the programs.

  Next, an example will be described in which a program to be automatically recorded is selected from user preference determination information and general preference information. First, general preference information will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of general preference information in the general preference database 5c. In FIG. 5, the number is a number for managing general preference information (for example, 1,..., 5), and the keyword is a keyword representing general preference (for example, “special number”, “special”, etc.). The application time represents a period during which the keyword is applied (for example, “March to April”). There are general preference information that can be used throughout the year and those that can be used for a limited time. Keywords such as “special number” and “special” are not particularly related to the season, so they can be used all year round. , “Fireworks”, “Autumn leaves” and other keywords that are closely related to the season are meaningful when used at the appropriate time, so refer to the applicable time (ie, the clock built into the program recording device It is decided whether or not to use it by judging whether or not the indicated date falls within the application period of the general preference database 5c. Further, since the general preference information can be dynamically updated through the general preference update terminal 9, it is possible to select a timely program by updating through the general preference update terminal 9 when any event or event occurs. it can.

  The program to be automatically recorded is based on the genre and keywords in the user preference determination information shown in FIG. 4 and the general preference information shown in FIG. This is done by checking whether information matching the genre or keyword of 5 is included. When the program to be investigated includes a keyword that is a positive preference condition in FIG. 4, a genre that is a positive preference condition, or information that matches the keyword in FIG. 5, one point is added for each matching keyword or genre. To do. Finally, it is checked whether or not the keyword that is the negative preference condition and the genre that is the negative preference condition are matched, and the score is forcibly set to 0 so that the matched program is not selected. This operation is performed for all programs, and scores for all programs are calculated. Here, every time a keyword that is positive preference information in the user preference determination information, a genre that is positive preference information, or a keyword in general preference information appears, one point is added. Individual weighting may be performed among keywords in positive preference information, genres in positive preference information, and keywords in general preference information. Further, weighting may be performed for each item in a keyword that is a positive preference condition, a genre that is a positive preference condition, and a keyword in general preference information. For example, for keywords that are positive preference information and genres that are positive preference information, a scoring method such as changing the score distribution according to the ratio may be performed.

  When the score calculation for all programs is completed, the program with the highest score is registered in the reservation list 5d. At this time, the ratio for each genre of the program already selected as the recommended recording program for automatic recording and the ratio for each keyword are calculated so as not to exceed the ratio set in FIG. Not performed. Further, when another program is reserved in the overlapping time zone in the reservation list, the registration of the program is also canceled.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a program score list showing the result of the score calculation for all programs based on the user preference determination information of FIG. 4 and the general preference information of FIG. In FIG. 6, the rank is the rank when arranged in the order of scores, the score is the total score obtained by the program, the title is the title of the program, the genre is the genre of the program, and the channel Is the channel that broadcasts the program, the start date and time is the date and time when the program broadcast starts, the end date and time is the date and time when the program broadcast ends, and the selection is the final selected program (In FIG. 6, “selected” when selected, and blank when not selected). For programs with the same score, the earlier start date is given priority.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a reservation list recorded in the reservation list 5d. In FIG. 7, the reservation number is the management number for reservation, the channel is the channel on which the program to be recorded is broadcast, the start date and time is the date and time when recording is started, the end date and time is the date and time when recording is ended, and the type is user The reservation set by (indicated in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 as “user”) and automatic recording reservation (indicated in FIG. 8 as “automatic recording”) are distinguished.

  The procedure for actually selecting a program will be described below using these examples. The number of programs to be selected is 8 programs. First, the top program “Opening Special Nighter” is taken out from the score list of FIG. This program has a genre of “baseball” (1 point) and includes “special” (1 point) and “nighter” (1 point) as keywords, so the total score is 3 points. In addition, since there is no program selected so far, there are no restrictions on the genre and keyword ratios. Since there is no time zone overlap with the program in the reservation list of FIG. 7, this program is selected and registered in the reservation list.

  Next, the program “Suspense Special!” Is taken out. This program has a genre of “domestic drama” (1 point) and includes “suspense” (1 point) and “special number” (1 point) as keywords, so the total score is 3 points. Since this program is not subject to genre and keyword ratio restrictions and there is no time zone overlap with programs in the reservation list, this program is also selected and registered in the reservation list.

  Next, take out "Nighter Relay". Since this program includes “baseball” (1 point) as a genre and “nighter” (1 point) as a keyword, the score is 2 points. The program whose genre is “baseball” is the second program, but in the case of “baseball”, the genre ratio is allowed up to 50%, so there is no limit. The program including the keyword “Nighter” is also the second program, but since this keyword is allowed up to 25%, it falls within the limit and is not restricted. Since there is no time zone overlap with programs in the reservation list, this program is also selected and registered in the reservation list.

  When the operations as described above are performed in order, the program “Sunday Baseball” which is the sixth rank is not selected because the time of the reservation of reservation number 1 in the reservation list overlaps. In addition, the 9th-ranked program “Fighting Professional Baseball” is the fifth program in the genre “Baseball”, which exceeds the genre ratio limit of 50% to about 63% (= 5/8). Will not be registered. As a result, the tenth ranking program “Ningyo no Yakata” is selected in advance. In addition, the program “Soccer Special” that is not ranked should have a score of 1 because it includes the keyword “special”, but because it includes the negative keyword “soccer”, the score is It will be 0 points and will not be selected.

  The reservation list reflecting the selected program is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the meaning of each item is the same as in FIG. 7, and it can be seen that 8 reservations of automatic recording type are added to reservation numbers 3 to 10.

  Through the above selection procedure, the selected programs are summarized for each genre. The most common genre is “baseball” with 4 programs (50%), followed by “domestic drama” with 2 programs (25%), and so on. “Western” 1 program (12.5%) and “Variety” 1 program (12.5%) are obtained, and a distribution close to the genre ratio in the user preference determination information shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. The keywords are “Travel” 2 programs (25%), “Nighter” 2 programs (25%), “Suspense” 1 program (12.5%), and the keywords in the user preference determination information shown in FIG. Although the overall value is lower than the ratio, it can be seen that the program is selected with a similar tendency. Of these, the genre “domestic drama” and the keyword “travel” are potential preferences rather than user-specified preferences, but it can also be seen that these potential preferences can be captured from the history and reflected in the selection results.

  Also, as general preference information, by adding scores for programs that include the keyword “special number”, keyword “special”, and keyword “hanami”, the title “Opening Special Nighter”, title “Suspense Special Number!”, Title “Kyoto O It can be seen that the program is more preferentially selected in a program that matches the user's preference such as “cherry-blossom viewing”.

  Note that, for example, it is possible to register a plurality of users, switch the user from among the registered users, and select a program that matches the preference of each user.

  As described above, according to the image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment, when selecting a program for automatic recording, not only user preference information but also general preference information that many people are interested in. Since the program selection is performed based on the above, it is possible to select and record a program that meets the user's preference and is fresh for the user.

  Also, it is different from the method of obtaining preference based only on the history. Since the user can set the keyword and genre and directly input the user's preference, the program that matches the user's preference can be selected and recorded from the beginning of the user's use.

  Furthermore, when determining the user's preferences, the distribution status of each user's preference information is examined and programs are selected according to the distribution. There is an effect that the user can select and record.

  Furthermore, since not only the user's positive preference information but also the negative preference information can be set, it is possible to prevent the user from selecting and recording a program that the user does not want to watch. is there.

  In addition, since general preference information can be updated from the outside, there is an effect that a program that is fresh for the user can be selected and recorded, reflecting timely and seasonal information.

  In addition, since the user can be switched and the program for each user can be selected from the preference information for each user, there is an effect that the program can be recorded according to each user's preference when sharing the device with the family.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a program recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the user preference information of a user preference database. It is a figure which shows the viewing history information of a history database. It is a figure which shows user preference determination information. It is a figure which shows the general preference information of a general preference database. It is a figure which shows a program score list. It is a figure which shows a reservation list. It is a figure which shows the reservation list | wrist after automatic video recording reflection.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Broadcast wave input terminal, 2 Tuner, 3 Separation part, 4 Microcomputer, 5 Database part, 5a History database, 5b User preference database, 5c General preference database, 5d Reservation list, 6 Program data storage part, 6a Program storage part, 6b Program information storage unit, 7 display unit, 8 operation input terminal, 9 general preference update terminal.

Claims (9)

In a program recording apparatus that selects and records a recommended program from broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast,
Program storage means for recording broadcast programs;
Program information storage means for recording program information of broadcast programs;
History recording means for recording the history and program information of a broadcast program that has been viewed, listened to or recorded;
User preference recording means for recording user preference information of the program recording device relating to a broadcast program;
General preference recording means for recording general preference information about broadcast programs;
The history and the program information recorded in the history recording means, the user preference information recorded in the user preference recording means, and the general person preference information recorded in the general preference recording means And a control means for selecting a recommended program from the broadcast programs scheduled to be broadcast and recording the program information in the program information storage means.   The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising user preference input means for inputting the user preference information.   3. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user preference information recorded in the user preference recording unit includes a keyword and a genre reflecting the user preference. The user preference information recorded in the user preference recording means is the positive preference information or the recommended program that the user desires that the recommended program includes keywords and genres that reflect the user preference. Contains negative preference information that the user does not wish to be included,
The selection of the recommended program by the control means is performed based on a broadcast program that includes positive preference information in the program information, and the broadcast program that includes the negative preference information in the program information is not targeted for the recommended program. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program recording apparatus is a program recording apparatus.   A plurality of users of the program recording device can be registered, and the control means is used to select the recommended program, and the history and program information recorded in the history recording means (and the user preference recording means recorded in the user preference recording means). 5. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein user preference information is switched corresponding to a user selected from the plurality of users. 6.   6. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising general preference input means for inputting the general person preference information.   7. The general person preference information recorded in the general preference recording means includes a keyword reflecting the general person preference regarding a broadcast program. The program recording device described.   The said general person preference information recorded on the said general preference recording means further contains the application period information of the keyword reflecting the said general person's preference regarding a broadcast program. Program recording device.   The selection of the recommended program by the control means is performed by the user based on the history and the program information recorded in the history recording means and the user preference information recorded in the user preference recording means. Determination information reflecting the frequency of appearance of preference information included in program information of a broadcast program that has been listened to or recorded is generated, and is performed based on the determination information and the general person preference information. The program recording device according to claim 1.

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