JP2008258803A - Digital broadcast receiver, its control method and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital TV broadcast receiver for mitigating the dissatisfaction of a user due to the fact that the program of a target channel is not displayed after switching channels. <P>SOLUTION: The digital TV broadcast receiver 120 includes: a reception processing block 132 for receiving digital broadcast signals, decoding video signals included in the digital broadcast signals of a specified channel and processing program guide information; a main storage part 146 for receiving the output of the reception processing block 132 and storing the program guide information; and a central processing part 144 for controlling the reception processing block 132 and the main storage part 146. When channel switching is instructed continuously for a certain number of times or more at an interval shorter than the certain fixed time, the central processing part 144 displays a program guide outputted from the reception processing block 132 and stored in the main storage part 146 at a display part 140. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for improving video display of a television (hereinafter referred to as “TV”), and more particularly to a technique for improving video display when a channel is switched in digital television broadcasting.

  Instead of analog TV broadcasts so far, all TV broadcasts are being digitized. By digitizing TV broadcasting, it is possible to use many channels that are less affected by noise while effectively using radio wave bands.

  In order to use the band effectively, digital television broadcasting encodes images. For image coding, predictive coding techniques such as intraframe predictive coding and interframe predictive coding are employed. By adopting such a technique, it is possible to perform digital television broadcasting with clear image quality while reducing the amount of data to be transmitted.

  However, the use of the predictive coding method has the following disadvantages. That is, since the predictive coding technique is employed, an image that precedes the image may be required in order to create an image of a certain frame. For this reason, a certain time is required to first receive and decode a digital television broadcast signal of a certain broadcasting station. The video cannot be reconstructed from only the signals received during this time. Therefore, nothing is displayed on the screen until a specific image frame that does not depend on the previous image is received after the channel is switched. Although this time is short, there is a problem in that the user panics because the screen becomes dark immediately after switching the channel.

  In particular, when so-called zapping is performed, if video is temporarily not displayed in this way, zapping takes time compared to an analog television receiver. This time-consuming zapping should be avoided when the number of channels is increasing.

  In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151620, which will be described later, discloses a technique for displaying a message such as “Channel switching in progress” on the screen until the video display of the target channel becomes possible after the channel is switched. It is disclosed. By displaying such a message, at least the user can understand that the television receiver is not malfunctioning.

  On the other hand, even the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that an image cannot be confirmed for a certain time after channel switching. One measure for solving such a problem is disclosed in Patent Document 2 described later. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 has two tuners, and while receiving a broadcast of a broadcast station that is one tuner, the other tuner buffers a program of another broadcast channel. Keep it. When a channel is switched and a buffered channel is selected, the buffered video is output immediately. Therefore, in this case, it is possible to prevent the screen from becoming dark. However, if a broadcast station different from the buffered broadcast station is selected after channel switching, the problem remains that the screen is not displayed for a certain period of time.

  As a solution to this problem, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 has two tuners, and while receiving and displaying a broadcast of a broadcasting station that is the first tuner, the second tuner, Broadcasts from a plurality of other broadcasting stations are sequentially received and decoded, and each video frame is stored each time. When the user switches channels, the video frame of the designated channel is immediately displayed. Therefore, especially when zapping is performed, the user can immediately confirm the video of the switching destination channel, and can easily consider which program is to be viewed next. In addition, a multi-channel screen using video frames can be displayed immediately based on user instructions. In this case, the user can know at a glance what the program being broadcast on each channel is. However, there is a time lag until the video frame received by the second tuner is stored and there is a user's channel switching instruction and multi-display instruction. Since the stored video frame is not the latest information, video information with low profitability for the user may be displayed, such as a video frame of a program that has already been broadcast.

  As another countermeasure at the time of zapping, a program table (Electronic Program Guide (hereinafter referred to as “EPG”)) can be displayed. The EPG includes information such as a channel number, a broadcast station name, and a program name being broadcast by each broadcast station, and summarizes information about receivable broadcast stations in a table. The advantage of EPG is that it is possible to confirm at a glance what program is being broadcast on each channel. Another advantage of the EPG is that the time period from the user's instruction to display the EPG until the EPG is actually displayed is shorter than the time period until the video is displayed when the channel is switched. This is due to the fact that the EPG has a small amount of data and a simple processing method required to display the received signal on the display unit as compared with the video signal.

  For this reason, the user can display the EPG and obtain the program information of each channel instead of performing zapping.

The technique disclosed in Patent Document 4 presents EPG or the like composed of program information of a plurality of channels broadcasted in the same time zone, and provides an EPG display in which the user can more easily confirm the contents of each program.
JP 2006-50553 A JP 2006-67599 A JP 2003-87668 A JP 2002-118796 A

  Conventional zapping in digital television broadcasting and the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4 have the following problems. FIG. 1 shows the relationship between a channel switching operation according to the prior art and a video display sequence 20. Referring to FIG. 1, it is assumed that the user has initially watched the second channel (CH2). At this time, it is assumed that the user performs so-called zapping as shown in the channel selection operation 30. For example, the channel change operation is performed in the order of the fourth channel (CH4), the sixth channel (CH6), and the eighth channel (CH8). In the case of analog television broadcasting, images of CH4, CH6, and CH8 are immediately displayed on the screen in response to this operation. However, in the case of digital television broadcasting, the video of the switching destination channel is not displayed immediately after the channel switching, and a black screen is displayed for a certain period of time. This period is the time period from when the video signal of the switching destination channel is received and normal decoding (decoding) is started as described above. The encoding method of the broadcast digital broadcast signal and the channel switching instruction The length varies mainly depending on the timing. For this reason, the user cannot immediately confirm the program of each channel from the video. On the other hand, as shown in the program guide display operation 32, it is assumed that the user has instructed the display of the EPG described above. In this case, as in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, the user can confirm at a glance what program is broadcast on each channel by EPG. However, it is necessary for the user to give an instruction to confirm the EPG explicitly. For this reason, when the user wants to confirm information of a program broadcast on a plurality of other channels, the user has to select from two options of zapping or displaying an EPG.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide meaningful information immediately without special operation when a user selects a channel, particularly in the case of zapping, in a certain time period after channel switching. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital television broadcast receiving apparatus that can alleviate user dissatisfaction caused by the fact that no program is displayed.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide digital information that allows the user to know the broadcast contents of other channels at an early stage without selecting a channel at the time of channel selection, thereby improving user satisfaction. It is to provide a television broadcast receiving apparatus.

  The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention receives a digital broadcast signal, decodes a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of a designated channel, and processes and outputs the program guide information. Video signal reception processing means for performing processing, program guide information storage means for storing program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means, and program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means A program guide creating means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using, a video processing means connected to receive the output of the video signal reception processing means, and outputting a video signal to the display unit; and a channel from the user In response to receiving the switching instruction, the video signal reception processing means is controlled, and the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel indicated by the channel switching instruction and In response to receiving a channel switching means for outputting set table information and a continuous channel switching instruction with a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold value, a program table screen And a control means for controlling the video processing means to output to the display unit instead of the video signal.

  In this digital broadcast receiving apparatus, the video signal reception processing means performs a process of decoding a video signal included in a digital broadcast signal of a designated channel and processing and outputting program guide information. The program guide information storage means stores program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means. The program guide creation means creates a predetermined program guide screen based on the program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means. The video processing means outputs the video signal output from the video signal reception processing means to the display unit. The channel switching means, upon receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, causes the video signal reception processing means to start decoding of the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel designated by the channel switching instruction and processing of the program guide information, The decoded video signal is output to the video processing means, and the processed program guide information is output to the program guide information storage means. When the channel switching operation from the user is continuously performed at a certain time interval and the number of switching operations is equal to a certain threshold value, the control means The program guide screen is displayed on the display unit instead of the video signal. On the other hand, when the user's channel switching operation does not satisfy the above-described conditions, the channel switching unit controls the video processing unit to display the video signal of the designated channel on the display unit.

  According to this digital broadcast receiving apparatus, when the user performs channel switching over a certain threshold continuously at a certain time interval, this operation is determined to be zapping and the program guide is displayed. Thus, the user can check the EPG without performing voluntary work during zapping, and can easily check what programs are being broadcast on other channels.

  Preferably, the video signal reception processing means receives the digital broadcast signal, receives the digital broadcast signal, and is designated by means for performing a process of decoding the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the designated channel. Program table reception processing means for performing processing for processing and outputting program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the other channel.

  In the video signal reception processing means, the means for performing processing for decoding the video signal decodes the video signal of the channel designated by the user and outputs it to the video processing means. The program guide reception processing means processes the program guide information of the channel designated by the user and outputs it to the program guide information storage means.

  According to this digital broadcast receiving apparatus, program information of the new channel can be acquired every time the user switches the channel. No special work is required to obtain program information.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that receives a digital broadcast signal, decodes a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of a designated channel, and processes program guide information. Video signal reception processing means for performing output processing, program guide information storage means for storing program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means, and programs stored in the program guide information storage means A program guide creation means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using the table information, a video processing means connected to receive the output of the video signal reception processing means, and for outputting the video signal to the display unit; In response to receiving the channel switching instruction from the user, the video signal reception processing means is controlled to display the video included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel instructed by the channel switching instruction. In response to receiving a channel switching means for outputting a signal and program guide information and a continuous channel switching instruction at a predetermined time interval equal to a predetermined threshold, A digital broadcast receiving apparatus for displaying a program guide screen on a display section in a digital broadcast receiving apparatus including a control means for controlling a video processing means to output a front screen to a display section instead of a video signal This is a control method. In response to the channel switching means receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, the control method controls the video signal reception processing means to include a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel indicated by the channel switching instruction. And outputting the program guide information and the control means in response to receiving a continuous channel switching instruction with a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold number of times. Controlling the video processing means to output the screen to the display unit instead of the video signal.

  This control method, upon receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, causes the video signal reception processing means to start decoding of the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel specified by the channel switching instruction and processing of the program guide information, The decoded video signal is output to the video processing means, and the processed program guide information is output to the program guide information storage means. The control method further controls the video processing means when the channel switching operation from the user is continuously performed at a certain time interval and the number of switching operations is equal to a certain threshold value. Then, the program guide screen created by the program guide creating means is displayed on the display unit instead of the video signal. On the other hand, if the user's channel switching operation does not satisfy the above-described conditions, the control method causes the video signal of the channel designated by the function of the channel switching means to be displayed on the display unit.

  According to this control method, when a user's channel switching operation satisfies a certain condition, this operation is determined to be zapping and the program guide is displayed. On the other hand, when a certain condition is not satisfied, the video signal of the switching destination channel is displayed. Thus, the user can check the EPG without performing voluntary work during zapping, and can easily check what programs are being broadcast on other channels.

  A computer program according to a third aspect of the present invention receives a digital broadcast signal, decodes a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of a designated channel, and processes and outputs program guide information. A video signal reception processing means for performing the program, a program guide information storage means for storing program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means, and an output of the video signal reception processing means. In a digital broadcast receiving apparatus including a video processing means for outputting a signal to a display unit, a video signal reception processing means, a program guide information storage means, and a computer provided to control the video processing means, By being executed by the computer, the video signal reception processing means, the program guide information storage means, and the video are displayed so that the program guide screen is displayed on the display unit. A computer program for controlling the management unit. The computer program responds to receiving a channel switching instruction from a user with a program guide creation means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using the program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means. Channel switching means for controlling the video signal reception processing means to output the video signal and the program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel designated by the channel switching instruction, and a time within a predetermined range. In order to control the video processing means to output the program guide screen to the display unit instead of the video signal in response to receiving a continuous channel switching instruction at intervals equal to the predetermined threshold value. It functions as a control means.

  This computer program causes the computer to function as program guide creation means for creating a program guide screen using program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means. When receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, the video signal reception processing means starts decoding of the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel designated by the channel switching instruction and processing of the program guide information, and the decoded video The signal is output to the video processing means, and the processed program guide information is output to the program guide information storage means. The computer program further performs the channel switching operation from the user continuously at a time interval within a certain range, and when the number of switching operations is equal to a certain threshold value, The program guide screen is displayed on the display unit instead of the video signal. On the other hand, when the user's channel switching operation does not satisfy the above-described conditions, the video signal of the channel designated by the function of the channel switching means is displayed on the display unit.

  According to this computer program, when a user's channel switching operation satisfies a certain condition, this operation is determined to be zapping and a program guide is displayed. On the other hand, when a certain condition is not satisfied, the video signal of the switching destination channel is displayed. As a result, the user can check the EPG without performing voluntary work when zapping is performed, and can easily check what programs are being broadcast on other channels. It becomes possible to plan more easily about the action.

  As described above, according to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention, the user can check the EPG without performing a special operation during zapping, and it is easy to see what programs are being broadcast on other channels. Can be confirmed. Thereby, the user can plan the next action easily. Further, by displaying the EPG, it is possible to reduce the waiting time until the video display of the switching destination channel at the time of channel switching. Therefore, it can be avoided that the user spends wasted time.

  Hereinafter, a digital television broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals and names are assigned to the same components. Their functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 2 shows a display video sequence 50 at the time of channel switching in the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention described below. When the device according to the present embodiment measures the time interval and the number of times of the switching operation for the user's channel switching operation, determines whether or not the channel switching operation is zapping, and determines that it is zapping Displays the EPG without any instruction from the user at that time.

  That is, with reference to FIG. 2, it is assumed that the user has initially viewed CH2 (video 70). Thereafter, as indicated by the channel selection operation 60, the user instructs channel switching to CH4 (video 72), and then switches the channel to CH6 (video 74) and further to CH8 (video 76). At this time, in the present apparatus, the user's channel switching is continuously performed at intervals shorter than a certain time period, and when the number of channel switching times reaches a certain number of times, this is determined to be zapping, and a screen 78 is displayed. Display an EPG.

  Such an operation can be performed by performing the following processing in the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. At the time of channel switching from CH2 to CH4, the length of the time period 80 until the reception of the CH4 signal and decoding by the tuner and the display of the video 72 is the same as in the conventional case shown in FIG. . After that, the user views the CH4 video 72 in the time period 82 and then switches the channel from CH4 to CH6 again. At this time, the sum of the time period 80 and the time period 82 is measured, and when the length of the time is shorter than a certain value, it is determined that this channel switching operation has the possibility of zapping, and the number of channel switching is determined. Set to 1. The same processing is performed for the subsequent channel switching, and if the channel switching interval is shorter than a certain value, it is counted as the number of channel switching. If the time interval between channel switching is longer than a certain time, it is determined that zapping is not performed, and the switching frequency is reset. If the number of channel switching times counted in this way becomes a certain threshold value, for example, 4 times or more, it is determined that zapping is performed, and an EPG is displayed.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, each of the three channel switching operations from CH2 to CH4, from CH4 to CH6, and from CH6 to CH8 is performed in a shorter time than a certain value, and the channel switching from CH8 to CH10 is performed. In the operation, this series of user operations is determined to be zapping, and an EPG such as a screen 78 is displayed. This is displayed separately from the EPG display instruction by the user.

  FIG. 3 shows the EPG 100 displayed after the zapping operation in the present embodiment. The EPG 100 indicates information regarding a plurality of channels. The information of each channel includes a broadcast station logo, a button number of the remote controller 154 shown in FIG. 4 corresponding to the broadcast station, a 3-digit channel number assigned to each broadcast station, a broadcast station name, and a program name being broadcast. including. The channel currently being received by the television receiver is displayed in a form that is distinguished from the other rows as shown by row 110 in FIG.

  Thereby, the user can confirm the EPG without performing voluntary work when performing zapping for viewing the television. As a result, it is possible to easily check what programs are being broadcast on other channels, and it is possible to more easily plan future actions.

−Configuration−
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of digital television broadcast receiver 120 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 is designated by an antenna terminal 130 for receiving a digital television broadcast signal, a channel selection signal given from a remote controller (hereinafter referred to as “remote controller”) 154 and the like. Digital TV broadcast reception processing block 132 (hereinafter referred to as “reception processing block 132”) for selecting and outputting the digital broadcast signal of the selected channel and the reception processing block 132, and a predetermined contract is concluded. A conditional access authentication key storage unit 134 that stores an exclusive reception authentication key necessary for decoding a video signal (limited reception signal) that can be viewed only by the recipient. The limited reception signal is a scrambled signal such as a pay television broadcast, for example, that can be scrambled only by a receiving apparatus having a limited reception authentication key.

  The digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 is further connected to receive a reception signal output from the reception processing block 132, processes a received signal and outputs a video output signal, and a video processing unit 136. Is connected to receive a video output signal output from the display unit 140 and is connected to receive a reception signal output from the reception processing block 132 and a display unit 140 for displaying the video. Is output, and an audio output unit 142 for receiving an audio output signal from the audio processing unit 138 and converting it into audio.

  The digital television broadcast receiver 120 further includes a bus 143 for performing bidirectional signal transmission between a plurality of input / output destinations including a reception processing block 132, a video processing unit 136, and an audio processing unit 138, and a bus 143, and comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes a predetermined program for realizing a program guide display at the time of channel switching as shown in FIG. 2 and a program for performing other controls. Central processing unit 144 and a bus 143 connected to the EPG, a program executed by the central processing unit 144, and work variables used by the central processing unit 144 when executing the program are temporarily stored during the processing. The main processing unit 146 is connected to the bus 143 and stores programs executed by the central processing unit 144 and other information. The central processing unit 1 According to the control of No. 4, the auxiliary storage unit 148 including a non-volatile storage device for outputting necessary information to other processing blocks such as the main storage unit 146 when necessary and storing outputs from the other blocks. A clock 150 that is connected to the bus 143 and outputs time information; and an infrared signal such as a channel selection instruction from the remote controller 154 that is connected to the bus 143, and receives a channel switching code or the like to the central processing unit 144. A user input receiving unit 152 for giving as a control code and an operation panel 156 connected to the user input receiving unit 152 and for giving an instruction from the user to the user input receiving unit 152 are included.

  The central processing unit 144 includes a timer shown in FIG. The timer is installed as a means for measuring the time interval of the user's channel switching operation. Further, the EPG temporarily stored in the main storage unit 146 is received and separated by the reception processing block 132 under the control of the central processing unit 144 and then processed, and is processed to the main storage unit 146 via the bus 143. Is the output. The central processing unit 144 also performs processing for realizing a program guide display instruction given by the user from the remote controller 154 or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the processing performed by the video processing unit 136 includes display selection processing such as channel selection, video / character display synthesis processing for synthesizing the display of video and character information, EPG, Character display screen creation processing for creating a screen consisting only of character information, video IP conversion processing for converting video signals created for interlaced video display devices to video signals for progressive devices, low Scaling processing to prevent degradation of the video when the resolution video is magnified, video temporary storage processing to temporarily store the decoded video and enable time-shifted playback, etc., to accumulate character information in the received signal This includes character information storage processing, effect processing for various processing on video, and the like.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 4, the processing performed by the voice processing unit 138 includes voice selection processing such as channel selection, and voice for synthesizing voice when the user selects a plurality of voices such as Japanese and English. It includes a synthesis process, a volume control process for controlling the volume according to an instruction from the user, an effect process for performing various processing on the voice, and the like.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of the reception processing block 132. Referring to FIG. 5, reception processing block 132 is connected to receive a digital television broadcast signal received by antenna terminal 130, and is designated by a channel selection signal provided from central processing unit 144 via bus 143. A digital broadcast front-end processing unit tuner (hereinafter referred to as “tuner”) 160 for selecting and outputting a digital broadcast signal of the selected channel, and a tuner 160 that demodulates a signal received by the tuner 160. And a multiple signal separation unit 164 that is connected to the demodulation unit 162 and separates the signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 162 according to the type of information.

  The types of signals separated by the multiplexed signal separation unit 164 include program identification information and service information packets, video signal packets, and audio signal packets. Of the information transmitted by the program identification information and the service information packet, the program identification information includes technical information necessary for selecting a program. The service information includes EPG information, character information, and limited reception information. The contents of the EPG are as described above. The character information includes channel information, information on broadcast programs, and the like. The limited reception information is information indicating that the video signal packet and the audio signal packet are limited reception information, and is information necessary for releasing the encryption.

  The reception processing block 132 is further connected to the multiplexed signal demultiplexing unit 164, receives program identifying information and service information out of the output of the multiplexed signal demultiplexing unit 164, and identifies a program for performing predetermined processing on each information. An information / service information processing unit 166 is included.

  The processing executed by the program specifying information / service information processing unit 166 includes processing for processing the EPG information according to the control of the central processing unit 144 and outputting it to the video processing unit 136.

  The processing executed by the program specific information / service information processing unit 166 further processes the conditional reception information transmitted by the program specific information and the service information packet, and the video signal descrambling processing unit 168 and the audio signal descrambling processing unit Including processing to output to 170.

  The reception processing block 132 is further connected to the multiplexed signal separation unit 164, the program identification information / service information processing unit 166, and the conditional access authentication key storage unit 134, and the video signal packet output from the multiplexed signal separation unit 164 and the program identification When the conditional access information output from the information / service information processing unit 166 and the conditional access authentication key output from the conditional access authentication key storage unit 134 are received and the received video signal packet is a limited reception signal, the conditional access authentication key The video signal descrambling processing unit 168 for outputting the video signal packet as it is, the audio signal packet output from the multiplexed signal demultiplexing unit 164, and program specifying information The conditional access information output from the service information processing unit 166 and the conditional access authentication key from the conditional access authentication key storage unit 134 If the received voice signal packet is a limited reception signal, the cipher is decrypted and output using the limited reception authentication key; otherwise, the voice signal is simply for outputting the voice signal packet. The descrambling processing unit 170 is connected to receive the output of the video signal descrambling processing unit 168. The video signal decrypting unit 172 decrypts the video signal from the output signal and supplies the decrypted video signal to the video processing unit 136, and the audio signal descrambling processing. An audio signal decoding unit 174 that is connected to receive the output of the unit 170, decodes the audio signal from the output signal, and applies the decoded audio signal to the audio processing unit 138. In the following description, it is assumed that all the received video signals are limited reception signals, and all the limited reception authentication keys necessary for decoding are stored in the limited reception authentication key storage unit 134.

  FIG. 6 shows a channel main control program executed by the central processing unit 144 shown in FIG. The execution of this program is started in response to the power supply of the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 being turned on.

  Referring to FIG. 6, the program executed by central processing unit 144 determines whether or not user input receiving unit 152 has received a user channel switching operation by remote controller 154 and operation panel 156 shown in FIG. Step 180 for branching the flow of control according to the result, and is executed in response to the determination that there is a channel switching operation by the user in step 180, and 1 is substituted into a variable n indicating the number of switching operations. Step 182 is included. That is, when the user performs the first channel switching operation after the device 120 is turned on, YES is determined in step 180. If it is determined in step 180 that there is no channel switching operation by the user, the process returns to step 180. Hereinafter, in the step of counting the number of switching times, the main storage unit 146 stores the value of the variable n indicating the number of switching times.

  Referring to FIG. 6, the program further includes step 184 for starting a timer after step 182; step 188 for storing the currently designated channel after step 184; Step 190 that waits until there is a channel switching operation, Step 192 that is executed when there is a channel switching operation by the user, and stops measuring the timer. After Step 192, for the preset time periods T1 and T2, And step 194 for determining whether or not the measurement value t by the timer satisfies T1 ≦ t ≦ (T1 + T2), and branching the processing according to the determination. In the following processing, the values of the time periods T1 and T2 are stored in the auxiliary storage unit 148, and what is the selected channel and the measured value of the channel switching interval t are stored and saved in the main storage unit 146. The Further, in order to determine whether or not zapping is performed, it is determined based on whether or not the channel has been switched N times continuously at a certain time interval. This value N is also stored in the auxiliary storage unit 148.

  The time period T1 is a time period from the switching instruction until the normal video display of the switching destination channel becomes possible. The value of the time period T1 varies depending on the configuration of the digital television receiver 120 and the specifications of each component. Further, T2 sets a time generally required for the user to confirm the contents after the video of the switching destination channel is displayed when zapping is performed.

  The process of step 194 will be described below. The determination in step 194 is performed to determine whether or not the channel switching operation is part of zapping. A time interval of channel switching operation is used as a determination criterion. When the channel switching interval t is less than the time period T1, the user does not confirm the video display of the switching destination channel because the time period T1 is a waiting time until normal video display of the switching destination channel becomes possible. It will be. From this, it is determined that channel switching in this case is not part of zapping. Further, consider a case where the switching interval t is a value exceeding the sum of the time period T1 and the time period T2. The contents of the time period T1 and the time period T2 are as described above, and the combined time period is a time interval for channel switching operation required for general zapping. For this reason, when the switching interval t is longer than T1 + T2, it is assumed that the user views the same channel longer than general zapping. For this reason, in this case, the channel switching operation is not determined to be zapping. If it is determined in step 194 that T1 ≦ t ≦ (T1 + T2), the channel switching operation is determined as part of zapping.

  The program is further executed with reference to FIG. 6 in response to the determination in step 194 that T1 ≦ t ≦ (T1 + T2), and the channel to which the switching destination channel is stored, that is, immediately before It includes a step 196 of determining whether the channel is different from the n channels that have been viewed, and branching the process depending on the determination.

  The process of step 196 will be described. Similar to the determination in step 194, the determination in step 196 is performed to determine whether the channel switching operation is part of zapping or not. Here, unlike step 194, the channel selected by the user according to the switching instruction is used as the criterion. In general, zapping is performed only in one of the direction in which the channel number increases or the reverse direction. Therefore, if the channel selected by the user is the channel selected immediately before the switching instruction, it is determined that the switching instruction is not zapping. On the other hand, if the channel selected by the channel switching instruction is not any of the n channels selected immediately before, this instruction is determined as part of zapping.

  If it is determined in step 194 that T1 ≦ t ≦ (T1 + T2), the process returns to step 180.

  Further, referring to FIG. 6, this program is executed in response to determining that the switching destination channel is different from any of the n channels stored in step 196, and the channel switching count n is set to 1. After step 198, step 200 for starting timer measurement, step 202 for storing the switching destination channel after step 200, and after step 202, the number of channel switching operations of the user n = Step 204 that determines whether or not N and branches the process according to the determination result, and is executed in response to the determination that the number n of times of switching of the user is n = N in Step 204, and the measurement of the timer , And step 206 for clearing (deleting) the stored n channel information, After-up 206, and a step 208 for displaying EPG100 as shown in FIG. If it is determined in step 204 that the number n of channel switching times of the user is not N, the process returns to step 190.

  The program is further executed in response to determining in step 196 that the switching destination channel is the same channel as any one of the n channels already stored, and the stored n channels are stored. Clearing (deleting), then the process includes step 210 returning to step 180.

  Referring to FIG. 6, the value of channel switching count n measured in step 182 and step 198 and the channel number stored in step 188 and step 202 are stored in main storage unit 146.

-Operation-
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 120 whose configuration has been described above operates as follows. Referring to FIG. 4, when the power of digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 is turned on, tuner 160 shown in FIG. 5 starts receiving a signal of a channel set by initial setting, and central processing unit 144 stores auxiliary memory. The execution of the program stored in the unit 148 is started. The following operation is also executed when the user performs a channel switching operation via the remote controller 154 or the like. The infrared signal indicating the channel switching operation is received by the user input receiving unit 152, and the received signal is given to the central processing unit 144.

  Referring to FIG. 5, tuner 160 receives the designated channel under the control of central processing unit 144, changes its frequency setting, tunes to the new frequency, and receives the received signal to demodulation unit 162. give. Demodulation section 162 demodulates the signal received and output by tuner 160 and provides the signal to multiplexed signal separation section 164. The multiplexed signal demultiplexing unit 164 demultiplexes the demodulated signal according to the type of information, of which the program identification information and service information packet are sent to the program identification information / service information processing unit 166, and the video signal packet is decrypted by the video signal. The audio signal packet is output to unit 168 and to audio signal descrambling processing unit 170, respectively.

  The program specific information / service information processing unit 166 gives the limited reception information to the video signal descrambling processing unit 168 and the audio signal descrambling processing unit 170 among the information included in the program specifying information and the service information packet, and the rest Information is processed according to an instruction from the central processing unit 144 and output to the video processing unit 136 or the central processing unit 144. Information other than the limited reception information received by the program identification information / service information processing unit 166 includes, in addition to EPG information, channel information, which is character information, “program currently being broadcast” information, and “next” "Program to be broadcast" information.

  The video signal descrambling processing unit 168 gives the conditional access information given from the program identification information / service information processing unit 166 and the conditional access authentication key storage unit 134 with respect to the video signal packet output from the multiplexed signal separation unit 164. The cipher is released with the limited conditional access authentication key, and is output to the video signal decryption unit 172. The video signal decryption unit 172 decrypts the decrypted video signal and supplies the decrypted video signal to the video processing unit 136.

  The video processing unit 136 performs the predetermined processing described above on the given EPG information, character information, and video signal, respectively, and then displays the EPG information in the main storage unit 146 and the character information and video signal in the display unit. 140 respectively. The EPG information, the character information, and the video signal are each output from the display unit 140 according to the control of the central processing unit 144 and provided to the user.

  The method of receiving, processing and outputting EPG information differs depending on the broadcasting form. In BS digital broadcasting, each broadcasting station sends out EPG information of all stations. When the user selects a BS digital channel, EPG information of all stations is received by the reception processing block 132 together with the video signal, and is temporarily stored in the main storage unit 146 under the control of the central processing unit 144. On the other hand, in the case of terrestrial digital broadcasting, each broadcasting station transmits its own EPG information. When the user selects a terrestrial digital channel, the EPG information of the channel is received by the reception processing block 132 together with the video signal, and is temporarily stored in the main storage unit 146 under the control of the central processing unit 114. In this case, EPG information of other channels that have not been received is transmitted from all broadcast stations by the reception processing block 132 when the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 is turned off and is in a standby state. The EPG information is received and collected and stored in the main storage unit 146. When performing EPG display, the stored EPG information is read from the main storage unit 146 under the control of the central processing unit 144 and displayed by a program operating in the central processing unit 144 in both cases of BS digital broadcasting and terrestrial digital broadcasting. After being processed into a possible state, it is displayed on the display unit 140 via the video processing unit 136.

  The audio signal descrambling processing unit 170 gives the limited reception information given from the program identification information / service information processing unit 166 and the limited reception authentication key storage unit 134 for the audio signal packet output from the multiplexed signal separation unit 164. The cipher is released with the limited conditional access authentication key, and is output to the audio signal decryption unit 174. The audio signal decryption unit 174 decrypts the decrypted audio signal and gives it to the audio processing unit 138.

  The audio processing unit 138 performs the above-described predetermined processing on the audio signal, and then provides the processed audio signal to the audio output unit 142. The audio signal is provided to the user by being output from the audio output unit 142.

  Hereinafter, assuming the channel switching operation shown in FIG. 2, the reception processing block 132, the conditional access authentication key storage unit 134, the video processing unit 136, the audio processing unit 138, the display unit 140, and the audio output unit 142 will be described with reference to FIG. The operations of the central processing unit 144 and the user input receiving unit 152 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the time period T1 is set to 2 seconds, the time period T2 is set to 3 seconds, and the threshold value N is set to 4. Assume that the user performs a channel switching operation to CH4 via the remote controller 154 shown in FIG. 4 after viewing the screen 70 of the weather forecast program broadcast by CH2. The infrared signal indicating the channel switching operation is received by the user input receiving unit 152, and the received signal is given to the central processing unit 144 to start the channel main control program shown in FIG. Since there is a channel switching operation, the determination result in step 180 is YES. As a result, the process proceeds to step 182.

  In step 182, 1 is substituted for the channel switching count n. In step 184, a timer included in the central processing unit 144 is started. In step 188, what the switching destination channel is (CH4) is stored. The channel stored at this time is the first channel after the power is turned on. The process proceeds to step 190.

  In step 190, it is determined whether or not there is a new channel switching operation by the user. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the determination result is YES at the time of the channel switching operation from CH4 to CH6. In step 192, the timer measurement is stopped. In the channel switching operation shown in FIG. 2, the length of the first and second switching intervals t is the sum of the period 80 and the period 82. It is assumed that the period 80 at this time is 2 seconds and the period 82 is 2 seconds, and the sum, that is, the switching interval t is 4 seconds. At this time, T1 ≦ t ≦ (T1 + T2). As a result, the determination result in step 194 is YES. The determination result in step 196 is YES. In step 198, 1 is added to the channel switching frequency n, and the switching frequency n is set to 2.

  In step 200, the timer is started again. In this case, the measurement of the switching interval t is started from the point of the channel switching instruction from CH4 to CH6 shown in FIG. In step 202, what the switching destination channel is (CH6) is stored. The number of channels stored at this time is the second after the power is turned on, and the number of stored channels is the same as the number of switching times n. In step 204, in this case, n = 2 ≠ 4, and the determination result is NO.

  In step 190, when the user performs the channel switching operation from CH6 to CH8 shown in FIG. 2 under the same time condition as the channel switching from CH4 to CH6, it is determined YES in step 190, and then the process is CH4. The process proceeds in the same way as when switching from CH6 to CH6, and the process returns to step 190. At this time, t = 4 seconds, channel switching frequency n is n = 2 + 1 = 3, and the stored channel is CH8. In this case, the switching interval t is the sum of the time period 84 from the channel switching instruction until the CH6 screen 74 is displayed and the time period 86 when the user views the screen 74.

  Next, if the user performs the channel switching operation from CH8 to CH10 shown in FIG. 2 under the same time condition as when switching the channel from CH4 to CH6, the process proceeds to step 204 in the same manner. At this time, t = 4 seconds, the channel switching frequency n is n = 3 + 1 = 4, and the stored channel is CH10. In this case, the switching interval t is the sum of the time period 88 from the channel switching instruction until the CH8 screen 76 is displayed and the time period 90 when the user views the screen 76. In step 204, since n = 4 = N in this case, it is determined YES and the process proceeds to step 206.

  In step 206, it is determined that the user's series of channel switching operations are zapping, the timer measurement is stopped, and the memory of the switching destination channels (CH4, CH6, CH8 and CH10) so far is deleted. In step 208, a screen 78 made of EPG is displayed on the display unit 140 as shown in FIG. This EPG takes the form of the EPG 100 shown in FIG.

  If switching to the channel selected once is instructed while zapping is being performed, NO is determined in step 196, the information of the switching destination channel stored in step 210 is deleted, and the process returns to step 180.

  As described above, according to the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 120 according to the present embodiment, the user can check the EPG without performing a special operation in the middle of zapping, and any program is broadcast on other channels. It can be easily confirmed whether it is. Thereby, the user can plan the next action easily. Further, by displaying the EPG, it is possible to reduce the waiting time until the video display of the switching destination channel at the time of channel switching. Therefore, it can be avoided that the user spends wasted time.

-Modification 1-
The EPG 240 shown in FIG. 7 may be displayed as the program guide. The EPG 240 is the same as the EPG 100 shown in FIG. 3, and information on the channel currently being received is displayed in the row 250. On the other hand, detailed information regarding the program “program D” currently being broadcast on the channel is different.

-Modification 2-
An EPG 270 shown in FIG. 8 may be displayed as the program guide. Compared with the EPG 100 shown in FIG. 3, the EPG 270 displays not only the information of the channel currently being received shown in the row 280 but also the program information being broadcast on each channel for all the displayed channels. Is different. For example, the program information “program information of program D” being broadcast on the currently received channel shown in row 280 corresponds to this.

-Modification 3-
An EPG 300 shown in FIG. 9 may be displayed as the program guide. Compared with the EPG 100 shown in FIG. 3, the EPG 300 has a time axis added in the horizontal direction, and which channel and program are currently viewed with respect to factors such as time, broadcasting station, channel, and program. Is different from the others in that it is displayed in a different color or shape. Specifically, information on the channel being received is shown in row 310, time period information including the current time is shown in cell 312, and program information being broadcast on the channel being received is shown in cell 314.

-Modification 4-
An EPG 320 shown in FIG. 10 may be displayed as the program guide. The EPG 320 is substantially the same as the EPG 300 shown in FIG. 9, but is different from the EPG 300 in that the time axis is displayed within about 2 hours from the current time. The same contents as the row 310, the cell 312 and the cell 314 shown in FIG. 9 are displayed in the row 330, the cell 332 and the cell 334.

-Modification 5-
An EPG 340 shown in FIG. 11 may be displayed as the program guide. The EPG 340 is substantially the same as the EPG 300 shown in FIG. 9 and is obtained by adding detailed information on the program being broadcast on the receiving channel to the information of the EPG 320 shown in FIG. The same contents as the row 310, the cell 312 and the cell 314 shown in FIG. 9 are displayed in the row 350, the cell 352 and the cell 354.

[Second Embodiment]
The digital television receiver according to the present embodiment includes two reception processing blocks, one of which is used for program viewing and the other is used for EPG reception.

−Configuration−
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 380 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12, digital television broadcast receiver 380 has a configuration similar to that of digital television broadcast receiver 120 shown in FIG. However, the digital television broadcast receiver 380 includes first and second reception processing blocks 132A and 132B each having the same configuration as the reception processing block 132, instead of the reception processing block 132 shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, one of the first and second reception processing blocks 132A and 132B is used for viewing a normal program, and the other is arranged for receiving information related to the program guide.

  The digital television broadcast receiver 380 can also receive the output from the first and second reception processing blocks 132A and 132B, instead of the video processing unit 136 and the audio processing unit 138 shown in FIG. These include a video processing unit 398 and an audio processing unit 400 for performing the same processing as the video processing unit 136 and the audio processing unit 138 on the input signals from these reception processing blocks, respectively. The video processing unit 398 receives information other than EPG information from the first and second reception processing blocks 132A and 132B from the reception processing block used for normal program viewing. It is configured to receive from the other reception processing block. This switching is performed under the control of the central processing unit 144. In other respects, the configurations of the video processing unit 398 and the audio processing unit 400 are the same as those of the video processing unit 136 and the audio processing unit 138 shown in FIG.

-Operation-
The first and second reception processing blocks 132A and 132B are controlled by the central processing unit 144, respectively. Among them, the operation of the reception processing block used for viewing a normal program is the same as the operation of the reception processing block 132 in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the reception processing block used for receiving the EPG receives the signals of each receivable channel in order and extracts the EPG information therefrom, independently of the reception processing of the normal program. The storage unit 146 stores and updates each channel.

  In the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 380, the processing shown in FIG. 6 is also executed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. However, the program table displayed in step 208 is stored independently of the program display by the reception processing block that receives only the program guide, not the reception processing block that receives the normal program. Different.

  As described above, according to the digital television broadcast receiving apparatus 380 according to the present embodiment, the process from the reception of the broadcast signal to the display of the video signal and the EPG is the same as the reception processing block for the video signal and the reception for the EPG display. Each processing block can be executed independently in parallel. For this reason, EPG display can be performed more quickly, and user satisfaction is improved.

-Modification-
Also in the present embodiment, EPG displays in the digital television broadcast receiver 380 are EPGs 240, 270, and 300 shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, respectively, instead of the EPG 100 shown in FIG. Needless to say, 320, and 340 may be displayed. Furthermore, instead of the EPG 100, a multi-screen 430 in which a large number of still images of each channel are arranged as shown in FIG. In this case, a reception processing block that receives EPG information sequentially receives broadcast signals of receivable channels, and temporarily stores video frames of the respective channels in the main storage unit 146. Based on these stored video frames and the layout of the multi-screen 430 stored in advance in the auxiliary storage unit 148, the multi-screen creation program executed by the central processing unit 144 creates the multi-screen 430, and the video processing unit 398 The multi-screen 430 is displayed on the display unit 140 by writing to the internal frame memory. By periodically executing this program, the video frames of each channel included in the multi-screen 430 are sequentially updated.

  The embodiment disclosed herein is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each of the claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are intended. Including.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the display sequence at the time of the channel switching by a prior art. It is a figure which shows typically the video sequence at the time of channel switching by the digital television broadcast receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows EPG100 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiver which concerns on 1st Embodiment. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a digital television broadcast receiver 120 according to a first embodiment. It is a general | schematic block diagram of the digital television broadcast reception process block 132 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the channel main control program performed by the central processing part 144 of the digital television broadcast receiver 120. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an EPG 240 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiver 120 in Modification 1 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an EPG 270 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiver 120 in Modification 2 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an EPG 300 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiving device 120 in Modification 3 of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an EPG 320 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiving device 120 in Modification 4 of the first embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an EPG 340 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiving device 120 in Modification 5 of the first embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the digital television broadcast receiver 380 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. In the modification of 2nd Embodiment, it is a figure which shows the multi screen 430 displayed by the digital television broadcast receiver 380. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

120, 380 Digital TV broadcast receiver 130 Antenna terminal 132, 132A, 132B Digital TV broadcast reception processing block (reception processing block)
134 Limited reception authentication key storage unit 136, 398 Video processing unit 138,400 Audio processing unit 140 Display unit 142 Audio output unit 143 Bus 144 Central processing unit 146 Main storage unit 148 Auxiliary storage unit 150 Clock 152 User input reception unit 154 Remote control unit 156 Operation Panel 160 Digital Broadcast Front End Processing Unit Tuner (Tuner)
162 Demodulation Unit 164 Multiplex Separation Unit 166 Program Specific Information / Service Information Processing Unit 168 Video Signal Decryption Processing Unit 170 Audio Signal Decryption Processing Unit 172 Video Signal Decoding Unit 174 Audio Signal Decoding Unit

Claims (4)

Video signal reception processing means for receiving a digital broadcast signal, decoding a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the designated channel, and processing and outputting program guide information;
Program guide information storage means for storing the program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means;
Program guide creation means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using the program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means;
Video processing means connected to receive the output of the video signal reception processing means, and for outputting the video signal to a display unit;
In response to receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, the video signal reception processing means is controlled to display the video signal and the program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel instructed by the channel switching instruction. Channel switching means for outputting;
In response to receiving a continuous channel switching instruction with a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold value, the program guide screen is output to the display unit instead of the video signal. And a control means for controlling the video processing means. The video signal reception processing means includes
Means for receiving a digital broadcast signal and performing a process of decoding a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of a designated channel;
The digital broadcast reception according to claim 1, further comprising: a program guide reception processing means for receiving a digital broadcast signal and processing and outputting program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the designated channel. apparatus. Video signal reception processing means for receiving a digital broadcast signal, decoding a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the designated channel, and processing and outputting program guide information;
Program guide information storage means for storing the program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means;
Program guide creation means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using the program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means;
Video processing means connected to receive the output of the video signal reception processing means, and for outputting the video signal to a display unit;
In response to receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, the video signal reception processing means is controlled to display the video signal and the program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel instructed by the channel switching instruction. Channel switching means for outputting;
In response to receiving a continuous channel switching instruction with a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold value, the program guide screen is output to the display unit instead of the video signal. In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus including the control means for controlling the video processing means, the control method of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus for displaying the program guide screen on the display unit,
The method
In response to the channel switching means receiving a channel switching instruction from a user, the video signal reception processing means is controlled to include the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel indicated by the channel switching instruction. And outputting the program guide information;
In response to the control means receiving a continuous channel switching instruction for a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold value, the program guide screen is replaced with the video signal. Controlling the video processing means so as to output to the display unit. Video signal reception processing means for receiving a digital broadcast signal, decoding a video signal included in the digital broadcast signal of the designated channel, and processing and outputting program guide information;
Program guide information storage means for storing the program guide information output from the video signal reception processing means;
Video processing means connected to receive the output of the video signal reception processing means, and for outputting the video signal to a display unit;
In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus including the video signal reception processing means, the program guide information storage means, and a computer provided to control the video processing means, the display is executed by the computer. A computer program for controlling the video signal reception processing means, the program guide information storage means, and the video processing means so as to display the program guide screen on a section;
The computer program stores the computer,
Program guide creation means for creating a predetermined program guide screen using the program guide information stored in the program guide information storage means;
In response to receiving a channel switching instruction from the user, the video signal reception processing means is controlled to display the video signal and the program guide information included in the digital broadcast signal of the channel instructed by the channel switching instruction. Channel switching means for outputting;
In response to receiving a continuous channel switching instruction with a predetermined range of time intervals equal to a predetermined threshold value, the program guide screen is output to the display unit instead of the video signal. A computer program that functions as control means for controlling the video processing means.

Images