JP2011035864A - Content viewing apparatus and content display apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly operate content from a number of available content sources including the Internet content. <P>SOLUTION: A content information acquisition part includes a broadcast content information acquiring part for acquiring information on broadcast content from a broadcasting wave, an input switched content information acquiring part for acquiring content from an external device by performing input switching, a BD content information acquiring part for acquiring information on BD content from a recording medium such as a BD, and a network content information acquiring part. On the basis of the content information obtained and a viewing state, a content information display means displays a content list as content information. Further, while referring to the content list (menu display), content selected in a content selecting means is output via a content output means in response to an input event from a user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content viewing device and a content display device, and more particularly, to a display control technique for managing content acquired from various types of content sources and displaying the content easily.

  In recent years, contents that can be viewed include broadcast contents such as terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, cable television broadcasting, and IP broadcasting, Internet contents such as VOD (Video On Demand) provided via the Internet, and recording such as BD and DVD. There are a wide variety of contents such as stored contents provided by media. A typical content viewing apparatus includes a digital broadcast receiving apparatus (digital television receiving apparatus, recording / reproducing apparatus, etc.). For example, a digital television receiver can view terrestrial broadcasts, satellite broadcasts, cable television broadcasts, etc., and many external devices can be connected to the recording / reproducing apparatus, and when viewing is possible by switching input, It is also possible to view content once recorded on various recording media.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1 below, when a user selects a channel assigned to a broadcast or information, the receiving device receives the broadcast or information corresponding to the selected channel and presents it to the user. The management data for managing each channel as a channel set is stored, management data for managing the channels in the channel set is stored, and by switching the channel set based on this management data, the Internet is added to the broadcast channel and the Internet. The net content channels such as the above are also handled in a unit called a channel set, so that even when the number of channels increases, all channels can be handled in the same line without being divided.

International Patent Publication No. 2007/043483

  As described above, when content can be acquired and viewed from a large number of content sources, for example, it can be confirmed from which content source the content currently being viewed is obtained or acquired from other content sources. The need to check the content will increase.

  However, with the conventional techniques including the above-described Patent Document 1, it is difficult to perform unified operations regarding various events including viewing of content from a large number of content sources including the Internet.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a content viewing apparatus that uniformly operates content from a large number of available content sources including Internet content.

  The present invention acquires a list of contents other than the Internet that can be viewed on a content viewing apparatus (terminal) from the terminal, forms the list, displays the list on the same screen as the Internet content list, and selects from the menu In this way, content viewing starts. Acquires a list of Internet contents from the Internet, displays a list of broadcast contents that can be viewed, stored contents, contents of external input contents, and a list of Internet contents acquired from the terminal in one menu, and selects the contents from the menu can do.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, a content information acquisition unit that acquires content information for each content category that is a type of content that can be viewed in a content viewing apparatus that views content, and the content acquired in the content information acquisition unit A content information display control unit configured to control display of a content list on a content display unit for each content category based on content information for each category, wherein the content information acquisition unit includes the content A content information acquisition unit that acquires content information including information on an acquisition source of each content of the content group acquired from the viewing device, and a network information server that includes the URL of the net content server that provides the net content acquired via the Internet. A net content information acquisition unit that acquires content information, and the content information display control unit includes a content list based on the content information acquired by the content information acquisition unit and the net content information acquisition unit. A content viewing apparatus is provided that performs control to integrate and display a net content list based on the net content information acquired by a single menu.

  A network communication unit that communicates with an external content server via the Internet based on the URL; a net content information storage unit that stores net content information received by the network communication unit; A net content information acquisition control unit that controls operation and input / output of information from the net content information storage unit may be provided.

  Further, the channel or the URL assigned to each of the content groups is acquired based on the selection operation of each of the content groups and the net content, and the content source assigned to the selected channel or URL is acquired. It is preferable to have content selection means that prompts processing to access and receive and output the selected content.

  The content category is distinguished by a content source that is a source from which content is acquired. The content information display control unit can display the content list in an empty area formed by scaling the viewing area of the display unit. The content group includes input switching of an optical disc medium, broadcasting, and external equipment. Other content groups, for example, content used in game machines, mobile phones, etc. can also be targeted.

  In the menu display area of the content list and the net content list, a content category icon for displaying a list for each content category and a content list display of a content category associated with the content category icon are displayed. Is preferred. The content list display includes a content title, a content update time, and an icon indicating the content. Furthermore, it is preferable to have a detailed information display function for selecting a certain content and displaying the detailed information in the menu display area while displaying the content list. It is preferable to have a function of reflecting whether the content is accessible or not in selection of the content category icon.

  When the content update interval is included in the net content information, it is preferable that the net content information acquisition control unit accesses the net content server according to the update interval. In addition, it is preferable that when the content viewing apparatus is powered on, the net content information acquisition unit is activated to acquire a net content list. If the net content information acquisition unit fails to acquire the net content list, the next update interval may be extended.

When the display of the menu is instructed, the net content information acquisition unit may start acquiring the net content list regardless of the next update interval. Moreover, it is preferable that the content list display is acquired in the order of characters including the title of the content and the icon indicating the content, and the display is performed in the acquired order.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a content information acquisition step for acquiring content information for each content category, which is a type of content that can be viewed in a content viewing apparatus for viewing content, and the content information acquired in the content information acquisition step A content information display control step for performing control to display a list of content on a content display unit for each content category based on content information for each content category, wherein the content information acquisition step includes: A content information acquisition step of acquiring content information including information on an acquisition source of each content of the content group acquired from the content viewing device; and a network link of the net content acquired via the Internet. A net content information acquisition step of acquiring net content information including a URL of the content server, wherein the content information display control step includes a respective content list based on the respective content information acquired in the content information acquisition step; There is provided a content list display method characterized by performing control to integrate and display the net content list based on the net content information acquired in the net content information acquisition step on one menu. The present invention may be a program for causing a computer to execute the content list display method described above, or a computer-readable recording medium for recording the program.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to display a list of contents from a large number of content sources including Internet contents that can be used in a content viewing apparatus, and to select a desired viewing target content by a unified operation. Therefore, there is an advantage that an operation of grasping and selecting contents that can be viewed at that time can be easily performed.

It is the functional block diagram which showed the structure of the content viewing-and-listening apparatus by embodiment of this invention for the example of the digital television receiver. It is a figure which shows the example of a data structure of the net content list managed within the content viewing-and-listening apparatus by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a net content list (program), and is a figure which shows an example of the net content list acquired from the external server via the internet. It is a figure which shows the example of description of the actual program of the Java script shown in FIG. 2, and is a figure which shows the example of description of the script of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display content in the display part of a content viewing-and-listening apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of a list display at the time of selecting broadcast as a content source and displaying a list of contents. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of a list display at the time of selecting the net content provided via the internet as a content source, and displaying a content list as a list. FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of a list display when content provided from a BD recorder of an external device is selected as a content source by input switching and a content list is displayed as a list. FIG. 8B is a diagram showing another list display example when the input switching button 71b is pressed. FIGS. 9A to 9M are diagrams showing examples of caution display, in which caution display is performed by switching the content list display to the list display area of the side area. It is a functional block diagram regarding a content list display among the content viewing-and-listening apparatuses by this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of an external appearance structure of a remote control device. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of operation | movement of the script at the time of an initial display. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the list display update process of a source category. It is a figure which shows the flow of the display process with the update by this Embodiment, and is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of a process including acquisition of the provider (content server) which provides the content as shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the menu of the list display in the content viewing-and-listening apparatus by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram in the content viewing-and-listening apparatus by this Embodiment, and is a figure corresponding to FIG.

  Hereinafter, a content viewing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a content viewing apparatus) including a content display technique according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described using a digital television receiving apparatus as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a digital television receiver as an example of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the content viewing apparatus (television receiver) 10 according to the present embodiment is capable of acquiring content from many types of content sources. That is, the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes, for example, an analog broadcast antenna 11 that receives an analog television broadcast, a digital broadcast antenna 13 that receives a digital television broadcast, a hard disk drive (HDD), a memory device, a BD ( Blu-ray discs), DVD discs, CDs, and other recording media that are played and stored by external devices 30 such as content directly acquired from optical media using internal devices, telephone lines, LAN lines, etc. It is possible to input net contents acquired from the external server 43 or the like via the Internet 41 used.

  Each content is subjected to reception processing in the content data receiving unit 15. The content data receiving unit 15 performs reception processing on the various contents by the analog tuner unit 12, the digital analog tuner unit 14, the external input unit 31, the recording / playback unit 32, and the communication control unit 34, respectively.

  Various types of content data subjected to reception processing by the content data receiving unit 15 are input to a content data management unit 16 that manages the content data. The content data management unit 16 separates the content data into video data, audio data, and content metadata. The video data is output to the video processing unit 19, the audio data is output to the audio processing unit 25, and the content metadata is output to the content metadata management unit 26.

  The overall control unit (CPU) 6 includes a display control unit 6a that controls display via the video processing unit 19, an audio control unit 6b that controls audio via the audio processing unit 25, a content data management unit 16, and content The entire control of the metadata management unit 26 and the like is performed. Actually, control is performed by a program in the control program storage unit 7a of the memory 7. Reference numeral 7b denotes a net content information storage unit which will be described later. The content metadata management unit 26 manages content information such as content type and content creator, and the content data management unit 16 manages input / output of content data of the content.

  Under the management of the content data management unit 16 and the content metadata management unit 26, the video data processed by the video processing unit 19 is processed by the video output unit 21, and the audio data processed by the audio processing unit 25 is processed by the audio output unit 37. , The synchronization unit 20 synchronizes the signals and sends them to a video display device (LCD or the like) 22 and an audio output unit (speaker) 28 for output. In addition, the remote control light receiving unit 35 that receives an instruction from the user by the remote control device 36 controls display / sound based on instructions related to various operations via the CPU 6.

  The video display device (LCD or the like) 22 is a liquid crystal display device having a screen size of 16: 9 (1920 × 1010 dots). In the content viewing device (television receiver) 10 shown in FIG. Scaling display will be performed. The television receiver 10 has a CPU 6 and a memory 7 connected to a bus, and the operation of the television receiver 10 is controlled by various control programs stored in the CPU 6 and the memory 7. That is, the television receiver 10 shown in FIG. 1 is controlled by a computer system including a CPU 6, and a program for operating the television receiver by the computer system is stored in the memory 7. As already described, the screen size is not limited to the liquid crystal display device having an aspect ratio of 16: 9.

  The memory 7 is usually composed of a RAM, but may include a ROM in part. Further, a rewritable flash memory or the like may be included. The memory 7 stores an OS for operating the CPU, various control software, and the like, data relating to program information such as EPG data received via broadcast waves, and an OSD image necessary for OSD display. Data etc. are stored. The memory 7 has a work area that functions as a work memory necessary for various control operations.

  The television receiver 10 is provided with an analog tuner unit 12 in addition to the digital tuner unit 14 so that an analog broadcast can be received. The external input unit 31 can be connected to various external devices 30 such as a solid-state memory such as an HDD and an SD card, and a disk device such as a BD (Blu-ray disc), DVD, and CD. A BD / DVD / CD recording / reproducing unit 32 is also built in the main body of the apparatus 10. Further, although not shown, an IP broadcast tuner unit is provided, and IP broadcast reception is also possible.

  The analog tuner unit 12 selects an analog television broadcast signal received via the antenna 11 for receiving an analog broadcast, and selects a channel according to a channel selection instruction from the CPU 6. The received signal from the analog tuner unit 12 is separated into an audio signal and a video signal by an AV switch, the video signal is input to the video processing unit 19, and the audio signal is input to the audio processing unit 25.

  The digital tuner unit 14 selects a digital television broadcast signal received via the digital broadcast receiving antenna 13 and selects a channel to be received in response to a channel selection instruction from the CPU 6. A received signal from the digital tuner unit 14 has a general configuration in which it is demodulated by a digital demodulation unit in the video processing unit 19 and sent to a separation unit (DMUX).

  Although not shown, the IP broadcast tuner unit selects an IP broadcast received via the communication control unit 34 connected to a telephone line / LAN or the like, and receives it according to a channel selection instruction from the CPU 6. A specific IP broadcast is selected, and the output is sent to a separation unit (DMUX).

  The separation unit (DMUX) separates the multiplexed video data and audio data input from the digital demodulation unit or IP broadcast tuner unit, sends the video data to the video decode / capture unit, and sends the audio data to the audio decode unit Send to. Further, the separation unit (DMUX) extracts data such as EPG data included in the broadcast signal and sends it to the EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit. The broadcast wave signal extracted by the separation unit (DMUX) is recorded in the memory 7 by writing control by the CPU 6 as necessary.

  The video decoding / capture unit decodes the video data separated by the separation unit (DMUX), and captures video information included in the video data as a still image. The video signal decoded by the video decoding / capture unit is sent to the video selector unit. As described above, the video signal from the analog tuner unit 12 is input to the video selector unit, and the video signal from the external input unit 31 is also input. The video selector unit selects and outputs one video signal from these input video signals according to a control signal from the CPU 6, and sends it to the video processing unit 19.

  The video processing unit 19 performs video processing such as noise reduction processing, sharpness adjustment, and contrast adjustment on the input video signal, for example, and an optimal video signal for the video (liquid crystal) display device 22. The video data is converted so that

  The display control unit 6a is a part including a drive circuit for displaying the received video data on the video (liquid crystal) display device 22, and an electronic program guide from the EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit added by the addition circuit. (EPG: Electronic Program Guide) data or OSD (On Screen Display) data is sent to the video (liquid crystal) display device 22 in addition to the video data from the video processing unit 19. The video (liquid crystal) display device 22 displays the transmitted video data on the screen.

  The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit further performs processing for scaling display according to the present invention, which will be described in detail later. The audio decoding unit decodes the audio data separated by the separation unit (DMUX). The audio decoding unit sends the decoded audio signal to the audio selector unit.

  The audio selector unit receives the audio signal from the AV switch unit, the audio signal from the external input unit, and the audio signal from the audio decoding unit, and corresponds to the video signal selected by the video selector unit under the control of the CPU 6. The audio signal is selected, and the audio signal is sent to the audio output unit 37 via the audio output conversion unit. The audio output unit 37 converts the received audio signal into a signal optimal for reproduction on the speaker 28 and supplies the converted signal to the speaker 28.

  The remote control light receiving unit 35 is for receiving an optical signal from a remote controller 36 (hereinafter referred to as a remote control device 36) and receiving a control signal from the remote control device 36. Instructions from the viewer, such as shifting to scaling display, which will be described later, and selection and determination of various buttons at the time of scaling display, are made through this remote control device 36.

  The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit creates an electronic program guide based on EPG data periodically updated and stored, and draws OSD data stored in the memory 7 in advance. The OSD data is data for drawing various information such as a setting menu screen, a volume cage, a current time, a channel selection, and the like stored in advance in the memory 7, for example. The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit performs program reservation processing using the electronic program guide.

  The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit further performs scaled display of the screen in cooperation with the CPU 6. That is, at the time of scaling display, the input video is scaled and displayed in the video area, and data to be displayed in a top area, a side area, and a bottom area, which will be described later, is read from the memory 7 and drawn on the display screen of the display device. Furthermore, the functions assigned to various “buttons” selected by the input from the remote controller 36 are executed, and the display based on the results is managed.

  In addition, the communication control unit 34 performs control so as to establish communication via a network such as a telephone line, a LAN, or the Internet.

  The display control unit 6a is an electronic program guide (EPG) created based on content information such as program information, various displays for assisting operations in content list display and content list display according to the present embodiment to be described later, etc. To control. At this time, for example, in digital broadcasting, program information data to be displayed on the program table or the like is acquired based on EIT (Event Information Table), that is, information describing the program title, contents, broadcast time, and other attributes.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data structure example of a net content list managed in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the data structure of the net content list 51 managed in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment is, for example, a large number of net content groups 55-1 to n (n is a positive integer), It is managed in a configuration having the list information 53 of the net content groups 55-1 to 55-n as the header. The list information 53 includes, for example, information (not content) related to the content, which is associated with each content and includes the author 53a of the content, the update unit 53b, and the update frequency 53c. The update unit 53b indicates an interval at which the net content list 51 is updated together with the update frequency 53c. For example, when the update unit 53b is weekly and the update frequency is 1, it indicates that the net content list 51 is updated once a week. The update frequency is the update timing in update units, and includes information such as once a week or information such as the last update time.

  In addition, the net content 55-n indicates a title 55a, a subtitle 55b, a link (such as a URL) 55c, extended information 55d, a (last) update time 55e, an author 55f, a summary (summary) 55g, and a content, respectively. It includes a reference 55h to icon data for the purpose. In this example, the content itself is stored in an external server or the like, and is associated by a link.

  The script 57 includes a variable declaration 57a, a data acquisition process 57b, a display process 57c, and a handler registration process 57d for registering a handler that is an expression of an action to be executed when the file is called. Each of these processes is generally a processing unit executed by software.

  Note that the data structure of the content list shown in FIG. 2 is a general structure showing a net content list. In the present embodiment, content other than net content can be handled in a unified manner by handling content other than net content in this format. FIG. 2 shows not the data structure of one net content but the data structure of a plurality of net content lists 1 to n, and schematically shows the structure of the contents of the following FIG. It is. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a net content list (program), and is a diagram illustrating an example of a net content list acquired from an external server via the Internet. Moreover, it is a specific description example of the net content list 51 shown in FIG. In this net content list 61, the URL of the list owner is described in the header portion in the tag format by XML. The list information 63 describes a list editor name 63a, a list ID 63d, an update period (for example, one hour) 63b, and an update frequency (for example, twice (in one hour)) 63c. Yes.

  Below that, information related to the contents of the net contents (here, net contents (1) 65-1) up to the net contents (1-n) 65-1 to n shown in the list information 63 is described. Yes. Here, the title 65a, the subtitle 65b, the content URL 65c, the URL ID 65i that is the access destination for acquiring the content, the item 65d indicating information relating to the update as a category item, and the latest update time 65e, author information 65f, content summary 65g, content type 65h, for example, information about what type of content (video, etc.) is obtained from where, This corresponds to the configuration example of the net content 55-n illustrated in FIG. Below, the information of each net content from net content (2-n) 65-2 to n is described in order.

  When acquiring content from other broadcast content or media, an access destination for acquiring content such as the broadcast network type and channel ID for broadcasts and its identification number for media is required, as with network content. It is. By providing the above-mentioned data structure including URL information that is an access destination to the net content to the net content, the content is accessed when the content is selected in the same manner as the content acquired from other broadcast contents and media. In addition, based on a channel list, which will be described later, it is possible to perform a unified operation for selecting and viewing various contents including network contents via channel IDs and URLs.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an actual program of the Java script shown in FIG. 2, and is a diagram showing a description example of the script 57 in FIG. The variable declaration 67a is a part for defining a variable for data acquisition processing. The value (start point, width, height, etc.) of the area indicated by (xinit, yinit) and the category currently focused on Define the item index, number of pages, etc. The data acquisition processing program 67b is a description example of a program for executing actual data acquisition processing. For example, instruct the program information acquisition processing of the currently watched broadcast (depg = DEpg.getContext (10);) or instruct acquisition of the net content list (net = Net.getContext ('aq');) . The display processing program 67c is a program describing how to display a content list, and analyzes this part to display a content list to be described later. Specifically, how the content list and the like are displayed in response to the key operation, the display position of the content list on the display screen, and what icon to display are the reference numerals 67c-1 to 67c-1. It is decided based on the description.

  For example, the description of “function drawnetlogos () {...}” indicated by reference numeral 67c indicates processing for displaying the service icon 153 of FIG. During the description, first obtain the total number of net contents included in the net content list (“imax = net.getTotalNum ();”), and if one or more net contents are included (“if (imax! = 0)” ) And display processing. During the display process, the icon specified in the net content list is acquired (“flag = net.isDisplayableImage ();”). If the icon is acquired (“if (flag == 1)”), the coordinates ( The service icon 153 acquired with the size of the width 54 and the height 54 is displayed at the position of xValue, yValue) (“net.displayImage (xValue, yValue, 54, 54);”). If the icon cannot be acquired (“} else {“), the default icon is displayed at the position of coordinates (xValue, yValue) (“depg.displayMiscIcon (‘ inet_icon_dummy ’, xValue, yValue, 0, 0);”). After the display process is completed, the service icon display y coordinate is updated (yValue = yValue + pitch), and the next net content is set as a display target ("net.next (); icount = icount + 1;"). This process is repeated for the number of display items (“while (icount <maxContents)”), and all the service icons 153 included in the net content list are displayed.

  The handler registration processing program 67d shows a description example corresponding to the handler registration processing 57d for registering a handler that is an expression of an action to be executed when a file is called. For example, the function keyEvent is registered as a handler when a key operation is performed by the description of ctx.addEventListener (‘textinput’, keyEvent, false) ;. Also, the function handleUser is registered as a handler when the broadcast content or the net content list is updated by the description of ctx.addEventListener (‘userEvent’, handleUser, false) ;.

  As described below, such a description of the Java script can arbitrarily display and operate the content including the content list.

  In the following, a detailed description will be given of the content data, display of an actual content list using a program, and an operation example by a user interface. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating display contents on the display unit 22 of the content viewing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 22 is operated by operating the remote controller 36 to display a general full screen display 22a display mode (right side, for example, a TV image). As shown in the left figure, the image area 22a is, for example, a top area 22b as a margin area generated by scaling while maintaining the aspect ratio of the wide screen by scaling, for example. The bottom area 22c and the side area 22d are formed, and the transition can be made between the simultaneous menu display mode in which various information can be displayed in these blank areas (the left figure side).

  Hereinafter, a content list display technique using the side region 22d will be specifically described. However, the area in which the content list is displayed is not limited. In the side area 22d, for example, a source category display area 71 provided with a number of icons for displaying a content list for each content source category as a GUI, and in the area below it, the icons in the source category display area 71 are displayed. And a content list list display area 73 (from 73-1 to n) for displaying a list of contents of a certain source category selected by (1).

  The source category display area 71 formed horizontally is arranged so that buttons for each source of each content are arranged in the horizontal direction, for example. Here, a BD (Blu-ray Disk) icon 71a, an input switching icon 71b, a terrestrial digital broadcast icon (terrestrial D) 71c, a BS digital (satellite) broadcast icon (BS) 71d, a CS digital (communication satellite) broadcast icon (CS ) 71e, net content icon 71f, and the like are arranged in the same row. As described above, the same processing can be performed on the net content by adopting the same data configuration as that of other content. For example, when the BD icon 71a is selected (with satin hatching), a list of contents currently stored in the BD medium inserted in the BD drive of the own device is displayed in the content list list display area 73. Are all listed in the column direction. Also, as shown in the figure below, when the net icon 71f is selected (here, satin is hatched), for example, the Internet content selected in the external server currently connected via the Internet The list is displayed in a list in the column direction in the content list display area 73 based on the data structure as shown in FIGS.

  Looking at the display area 73 in one line of the list in more detail, a number 81 indicating the order counted from the top in the list such as 1, 2 and the like, an image 83 indicating a broadcasting station such as TBS, and the first line 85- A broadcast station is displayed in 1 and simple information of content is displayed in the second line 85-2.

  Further, when the blue button is pressed in a state where a certain line (here, line 73-4) is focused, detailed display of the content of the selected line is performed in the content list list display area 73. In the detailed display 91, a content number 91a, a content title 91b, a subtitle 91c, and a detailed description 91d related to the selected content are displayed based on the data configuration as shown in FIGS.

  In this way, the user can display and operate the content in the side area while viewing the content in the video area, which is very convenient.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of a list display when a broadcast is selected as a content source and a content list is displayed as a list. Here, a case where the terrestrial D button 71c is selected in the source category display area 71 and a content list of digital terrestrial broadcasting is displayed in the content list list display area 73 will be described as an example. In the row indicated by 73-2, contents as illustrated by arrows are displayed. The number new arrival display 101 is “2”, the station logo 103 is a broadcast station logo mark such as “NHK2”, the service ID 105 is a service ID such as “021”, and the service name 107 is “NHK education”. As the program title 111, a title such as “NHK High School Course Japanese History” is displayed, and the minimum contents are displayed so that an overview of each content in the list can be determined at a glance. Here, when an operation for displaying the details of the line in focus is performed, the display is switched to the detailed information of the broadcast content as illustrated in the lower right diagram and illustrated in the lower left diagram. For example, in this figure, “2” is the number 123, “NHK2” is the station logo 125, “NHK High School Course Japanese History” is the program title 137, and the broadcast time 141 is from 3:30 pm to 4:00 pm In the time zone up to minutes, information such as video and sound, detailed information 143, viewing age limit, recording count limit, details of contents, etc. are displayed. A guide or the like of what kind of processing is performed is displayed. These pieces of information are basically so-called program information provided on a broadcast wave, and an EPG or the like is also created based on these pieces of program information. When a content list is displayed, it is convenient to indicate at a glance the content currently being viewed by attaching a mark indicating that the content is currently being viewed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen display example of a list display when a content list is displayed as a list by selecting net content provided via the Internet as a content source. Here, a case where the net button 71f is selected in the source category display area 71 and the content list of the Internet content is displayed in the content list list display area 73 will be described as an example.

  In the row indicated by reference numeral 73-2, contents as illustrated by arrows are displayed. The number display 151 is “2”, the service icon 153 is a logo mark of an Internet source (such as an external server) such as “Y!”, And the title 157 is “○ ahoo! Japan For ΔQUAS” or the like As the Internet site name, a subtitle such as “Ahoo Japan on TV” is displayed as the subtitle 161, and the minimum content is displayed so that an overview of the Internet content in the list can be determined at a glance.

  Here, when an operation for displaying the details of the line in focus is performed, the display is switched to the detailed information 171 of the Internet content as illustrated in the lower right diagram and illustrated in the lower left diagram. For example, in this figure, “2” is displayed as the number 173, “Y!” Is displayed as the station logo 175, and “(NEW) is updated” is displayed as the new arrival notification 177 to notify that it is the latest content. A title 181 and a subtitle 183 are also displayed. As an example of detailed display, the update date and time 185, the service provider 187, the details 191 of the content itself and the associated service, and what kind of processing is performed when any button operation is performed. Display guides such as kaka. Basically, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, these pieces of information can be created in a format similar to that of broadcasting based on content information provided accompanying the content.

  FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a screen display example of a list display when content provided from a BD recorder of an external device is selected as a content source by input switching and a content list is displayed as a list. The connection between the digital broadcast receiving apparatus and the external device may be made, for example, by a bidirectional communication cable according to the HDMI standard. Other connectable external devices include digital terminals, cameras, recorders, and other digital movies, game machines, and home networks that are compatible with IRSS, which is a standard for light-speed infrared communication.

  Here, a case where the BD (input switching) button 71b is selected in the source category display area 71 and the content list of the BD content of the external device is displayed in the content list list display area 73 will be described as an example.

  In the row indicated by reference numeral 73-2, contents as illustrated by arrows are displayed. As the number display 201, “2” is displayed, and as the program title 203, a program title name such as “Dai Sumo Nagoya Place—Third Day—” is displayed, and below the recording date 205, for example, “7/14” (Tue) 18: 00 to 30 minutes "is described. These pieces of information are information recorded on the BD when recorded on the BD. Note that the source of the recording source may be displayed as BS, for example.

  FIG. 8B is a diagram showing another list display example when the input switching button 71b is pressed. For example, the input icon 211 is displayed as an input 2 icon 211a, the input name 213 is displayed as a ΔQUIS BD recorder 215a, and the input state 215 is, for example, “can be switched” 215a. Display is made. Alternatively, as indicated by reference numeral 211b, the input icon 211b may be an unusable mark, the input name 213b may be input 4, the input state 215b may be “cannot be switched”, and the like. In this way, the input switching for external devices can expand the types of devices as much as possible. Therefore, it can be extended to home network devices.

  Next, a display example of caution display among screen displays will be described. FIGS. 9A to 9M are diagrams showing examples of caution display, and various caution displays can be displayed in the list display area of the side area 22d. These caution displays are broadly classified into a display indicating that the process itself according to the operation purpose cannot be performed and a display for informing the user to wait because the process is currently being processed. The former display indicates that the operation is invalid to the user or that an external device or the like needs to be connected to enable the operation, and the latter display waits for the user to complete the process. This is a display for notification. These caution displays can give a sense of security to the user.

  Next, the content management / display apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in more detail. The content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a network content information acquisition unit for acquiring a list of Internet contents from the Internet, and broadcast content information for acquiring a broadcast content list received by a television receiver (terminal device). An acquisition means, an input switching content information acquisition means for acquiring an input switching (connection based on HDMI standard) content list connectable to a television receiver (terminal device), a storage medium (an optical medium such as a BD, etc.) ) Content list information acquisition means for acquiring a content list, a content list display means for executing a display script as described above based on the acquisition contents of each acquisition means, and displaying a list of contents, a list Based on the display operation, It has a content processing selecting means for starting the processing of the raw or the like, and. FIG. 10 shows a case where each of the above means is expressed by a function related to content list display in the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment including the display control unit 6a, the content data management unit 16, and the content metadata management unit 26. It is a functional block diagram, and the functional part in the broken line part is a main part that performs processing related to the content list display executed by the program as shown in FIG. The memory 7 includes a script storage unit 7a and a net content information storage unit 7b. The network communication unit 34a, the content output units (22, 28), and the input unit 36 are shown in FIG. It is a function.

  The content information acquisition unit 251 is a broadcast content information acquisition unit (broadcast content information acquisition unit) 251a that acquires information about broadcast content from broadcast waves, and an input switching content information acquisition unit that performs input switching and acquires content from an external device. (Input switching content information acquisition unit) 251b, a BD content information acquisition unit (storage media content information acquisition unit) 251c that acquires information about BD content from a recording medium such as a BD, and a net content information acquisition unit 251d. is doing. The net content information acquisition unit (net content information acquisition unit) 251d acquires the net content information via the network communication unit 34a under the control of the net content information acquisition control unit 256, and the acquired net content information is the net content. It is stored in the information storage unit 7b. This information is acquired by the net content information acquisition unit 251d. The content information includes an access destination to the content, for example, a broadcasting station or channel ID for broadcasting, and a URL to an external content server for network content. Even if the net content is once stored in the memory of the content viewing device, the URL information to the external content server that is the acquisition source is retained, so that, for example, when the net content information is updated, the content is stored in the memory or the like. The stored net content information can be easily updated.

  The content information acquired in the content information acquisition unit 251 as described above and the viewing state from the viewing state acquisition unit 253 that acquires the viewing state are displayed using the script stored in the script storage unit 7a. The means (content list display means) 255 displays the content list as content information, for example, as described above. Further, the content output means (22, 28) outputs the content selected by the content selection means 257 in response to an input event from the input means 36 by the user while referring to the content list (menu display). (Corresponds to content processing selection means).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration example of the remote control device 36. The remote control device 36 is provided with a number of operation buttons on the surface of the housing 260. The power button 267, the number / character input button 261, the broadcast switching button 262, input switching, Internet connection, data linkage, volume, channel selection A button 268, a recording list display button, a program guide display button 263, a direction key 264, an enter key 265, four color keys 267 to which functions can be assigned, a screen display, a tool, a home button 266, and the like are provided. In this apparatus, the home button 266 is a button for switching between the content list display mode and the full screen viewing mode as described above. Of the direction keys 264, the left / right key can be used to select the source category button 71n in the source category display area 71 of FIG. 5, and the up / down key can be used to move the cursor between the source category display area 71 and the content list display area 73n. Can be moved. With the OK key, you can execute the item on which the cursor is currently selected.

Processing of each function performed based on the hardware and software configuration described above will be described below.
In the following processing shown in FIG. 12, processing is performed in the order of first obtaining net content information, obtaining a viewing category, and obtaining content information being viewed. The net content information is first acquired on the premise that other content lists can be displayed before that.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of script operations during initial display. First, in step S1, for example, when a menu button (top menu) on the remote controller is pressed, an acquisition process of net content information is started in step S2 using that as a trigger. As described above, in this case, the net content information includes URL information that is an access destination to the net content server so as to correspond to the net content. Content acquisition processing is performed for each content type (source category). In step S3, the viewing category relating to which of the source categories has been selected is acquired. In step S4, content information of the content being viewed is acquired. In step S4, the viewing state is acquired. For example, information such as viewing BS1. In step S5, the viewing state is acquired (whether viewing is being performed). Next, in step S6, it is determined whether or not the content list can be displayed. If YES (success), the content list being viewed is displayed in step S7, and the process ends (step S6). S9). If the answer is No (failure) in step S6, a caution display to that effect (see FIG. 9H) is given in step S8, the process proceeds to step S9, and the process is terminated. In this way, when an operation for displaying a list is detected, information on the content being viewed is acquired, and if the list can be displayed, the list is displayed. When a button with a different source category is pressed, a similar process for displaying a list of the source category is executed.

  Prior to step S1, for other contents such as broadcast contents, BD contents, and input switching contents, content information that can already be displayed in a list, for example, in the case of broadcast contents, the station logo 103 shown in FIG. The broadcast content information acquisition unit 251a shown in FIG. 10 has already acquired program information that can display the service ID 105, the service name 107, the program title 111, etc., and is stored in the memory so that the list can be displayed at any time. Is preferred. Using such information and newly acquired net content information, the list display as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is possible.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of the source category list display update process. In particular, Internet content is often updated frequently. As shown in FIG. 13, first, when the process is started (step S11: the update may be automatically started upon detection of the update, or the presence / absence of the update may be periodically monitored). The content category updated in step S12 is acquired. For example, it is assumed that the category of the net content is updated. In step S14, it is determined whether or not the currently viewed content belongs to the updated category. If it does not belong (NO), the updating process is terminated (step S18). If it belongs (YES), the process proceeds to step S15 to determine whether or not the content list can be displayed. If display is possible (YES), the process proceeds to step S16, the list is displayed, and the process proceeds to step S18. If the list cannot be displayed, the process proceeds to step S17, and in step S17, a caution display indicating that the list cannot be displayed as shown in FIG. 9K is performed. Then, the process proceeds to step S18, and the update process is terminated.

Whether the list can be displayed or not can be determined as follows.
There are the following cases when the list cannot be displayed. By determining whether or not the following case is applicable, it is determined whether display is possible.

1) When there is no item to be displayed in the list, for example, when the antenna cable is not connected and the terrestrial D program information cannot be obtained. The state of 1) above is the content information that can be acquired from the content information acquisition unit 251 Judgment is made based on whether the number is 0 or not.

  2) When depending on the prohibition condition of the terminal, for example, the net content list cannot be displayed during BD recording. The viewing state acquisition unit 253 determines this condition. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a flow of display processing with an update according to the present embodiment, and a flowchart showing a flow of processing including acquisition of a provider (content server) that provides content as shown in FIG. FIG.

  As the update timing of the Internet content list, first, the update interval is described in the content list, and the content list updated periodically according to the description shown in FIG. 3 is acquired.

  When the power is turned on, the content list (Atom list) acquisition process is started (step S21), and the net content information acquisition unit 251d in the content information acquisition unit 251 shown in FIG. The content server described in the URL of the header of the content list 61 is requested to transmit the net content list (step S22). If the list acquisition is successful (YES in step S23), the process proceeds to step S24, and if the list acquisition fails (NO in step S23), the process proceeds to step S31.

  In step S24, the content is written in the net content information storage unit 7b, and in step S25, the update is notified to the net content information acquisition unit 251d in the content information acquisition unit 251. Through the processing so far, a list of contents (characters) is acquired.

  Next, in step S26, a content icon is requested from the content server. In step S27, the content icon is written in the net content information storage unit 7b. In step S28, the content icon is acquired in the net content information acquisition unit 251d. Notify In step S29, it is determined whether or not there is a next icon to be acquired. If there is a next icon (YES), the process returns to step S26 to repeat the process of acquiring the next icon. When the next icon disappears (NO in step S29), the process proceeds to step S30, the next acquisition timer is set, and the process ends (step S32). In step S31, the next acquisition timer is set to be longer than the current time so that the list can be easily acquired, and the current process ends (step S32). As described above, when the acquisition of the content list fails, the acquisition is facilitated by setting a longer next acquisition interval.

  However, when the menu is displayed by pressing the home menu key (266), the acquisition process is performed again even if the next acquisition interval is extended. This is because pressing the home menu key is a preferential acquisition start condition.

  Moreover, the list of characters can be displayed early by obtaining the content list (character display) and acquiring the icons. That is, in step S25, when an update is notified to the net content information acquisition unit 251d in the content information acquisition unit 251, the update is notified from the net content information acquisition unit 251d to the content information display means 255. First, the updated character information Is displayed.

  Thereafter, in step S28, when the acquisition of the content icon is notified to the net content information acquisition unit 251d, the update is notified from the net content information acquisition unit 251d to the content information display means 255, and the acquired icon data is displayed.

  As described above, according to the content viewing / listening device according to the present embodiment, content that can be used in a terminal device such as a television is displayed including Internet content and can be selected by a unified operation. Can do. Further, there is an advantage that it becomes easy to grasp and select contents that can be viewed at that time.

Next, a content viewing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list display menu in the content viewing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In performing the processing described above in the content viewing apparatus according to the first embodiment, FIG. Recommendation that displays a recommended content recommendation list in addition to the content selection buttons 71a to 71f in the content category display area 71 so that the category can be switched and displayed in a cross-sectional manner without depending on the content source. A (recommended) button 71x is provided. When a recommendation (recommended) button 71x is provided and this button is pressed, the broadcast content (number 81a, icon 83a, character 85a and content category icon 86a), row 73-1 is displayed in the row 73-1 as shown in the list display indicated by reference numeral 83. Different source categories such as net content (number 81b, icon 83b, character 85b and content category icon 86b) in 73-2, and other broadcast content (number 81c, character 85c, content category icon 86c) in row 73-3. It is also possible to display a list so that recommended content from can be included. Content category icons can clarify content sources in lists containing content from different content sources.

  FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and corresponds to FIG. In addition to the configuration of FIG. 10, a content selection unit 259 is provided. In this case, as a recommended content selection algorithm, a known method based on user preference can be used, and the algorithm is not limited. For example, 1) keyword is used as a content selection item. 2) Filtering by content category determined from the title of content, etc. 3) Filtering by broadcast time zone, 4) Filtering by user setting, for example, filtering such as selecting only net content and terrestrial digital.

  Thus, according to the content viewing apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is possible to display a cross-sectional list without depending on the content source category.

  As described above, according to each embodiment of the present invention, a list of contents from a large number of content sources including Internet contents that can be used in a content viewing apparatus is displayed as a list, and a desired viewing target can be obtained by a unified operation. You can select content. Therefore, there is an advantage that an operation of grasping and selecting contents that can be viewed at that time can be easily performed.

  The content viewing apparatus and content display apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a portable terminal device such as a portable wireless device, or can be applied to a television function attached to a PC or the like.

  The program that operates in the apparatus according to the present invention may be a program that controls a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like (a program that causes a computer to function) so as to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments related to the present invention. Information handled by these devices is temporarily stored in RAM (Random Access Memory) during the processing, and then stored in various ROMs such as Flash ROM (Read Only Memory) and HDD (Hard Disk Drive). Reading, correction, and writing are performed by the CPU as necessary.

  1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed, whereby processing of each unit is performed. May be performed. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

  The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, and a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case, and a program that holds a program for a certain period of time are also included. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the invention is a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Is also included.

  The present invention can be used for a content viewing apparatus.

6 ... Overall control unit (CPU), 6a ... Display control unit, 6b ... Audio control unit, 7 ... Memory, 7a ... Control program storage unit (script storage means), 7b ... Net content information storage unit, 10 ... Content viewing 11: Analog broadcasting antenna, 12: Analog tuner unit, 13: Digital broadcasting antenna, 14 ... Digital analog tuner unit, 15 ... Content data receiving unit, 16 ... Content data managing unit, 19 ... Video processing unit, 20 ... Synchronization part, 21 ... Video output part (display: content output means), 25 ... Audio processing part, 26 ... Content metadata management part, 28 ... Audio output part (speaker: Content output means), 30 ... External device, 31 ... External input unit, 32 ... Recording / reproducing unit, 34 ... Communication control unit, 34a ... Network communication unit, 35 ... Remote control Light receiving unit, 36 ... input means, 41 ... Internet, 43 ... external server, 251 ... content information acquisition unit, 251a ... broadcast content information acquisition unit (broadcast content information acquisition unit), 251b ... input switching content information acquisition unit (input switching) 251c... BD content information acquisition unit (accumulated media content information acquisition unit), 251d... Net content information acquisition unit (net content information acquisition unit), 256.

Claims (17)

Based on the content information acquisition unit that acquires content information for each content category that is a type of content that can be viewed on a content viewing device that views content, and the content information for each content category acquired in the content information acquisition unit, In a content viewing apparatus having a content information display control unit that performs control to display a list of content on a content display unit for each content category,
The content information acquisition unit includes a category-specific content information acquisition unit that acquires content information including information on a content acquisition source of each content group acquired from the content viewing device, and net content of net content acquired via the Internet. A net content information acquisition unit that acquires net content information including a URL of the server,
The content information display control unit includes a content list based on the content information acquired by the category-specific content information acquisition unit and a net content list based on the net content information acquired by the net content information acquisition unit. A content viewing apparatus that performs control to be integrated and displayed on one menu.   A network communication unit that communicates with an external content server via the Internet based on the URL; a net content information storage unit that stores net content information received by the network communication unit; The content viewing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a net content information acquisition control unit that controls operation and input / output of information from the net content information storage unit.   Furthermore, the content channel or the URL assigned to each of the content groups is acquired based on the selection operation of each of the content groups and the net content, and the content source assigned to the selected channel or URL The content viewing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising content selection means that prompts a process of accessing and receiving and outputting the selected content.   The content viewing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the content category is distinguished by a content source that is a source from which content is acquired.   The content information display control unit causes the content list to be displayed in a free area formed by scaling a viewing area of the display unit. Content viewing device.   The content viewing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content group includes input switching of an optical disc medium, broadcasting, and an external device.   In the menu display area of the content list and the net content list, a content category button for displaying a list for each content category, and a content list of a content category associated with the content category button are displayed. The content viewing / listening apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content viewing / listening apparatus is a content viewing apparatus.   The content viewing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the content list display includes a content title, a content update time, and an icon indicating the content.   The content viewing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, further comprising a detailed information display function for selecting a content and displaying the detailed information in the menu display area while the content list is displayed. .   The content viewing / listening apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the content viewing / listening apparatus has a function of reflecting an access permission / inhibition state of the content in selection of the content category button.   The network content information acquisition control unit accesses the network content server according to the update interval when the content update interval is included in the network content information. The content viewing / listening device according to item.   12. The content viewing according to claim 1, wherein when the content viewing device is turned on, the net content information acquisition unit is activated to start acquiring a net content list. apparatus.   13. The content viewing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein when the net content information acquisition unit fails to acquire the net content list, the next update interval is extended.   14. The content viewing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when the display of the menu is instructed, the net content information acquisition unit starts the net content list acquisition process regardless of a next update interval. .   The content list display is acquired in the order of characters including a title of the content and an icon indicating the content, and the display is performed in the acquired order. The content viewing device according to 1. Based on the content information acquisition step for acquiring content information for each content category that is a type of content that can be viewed on a content viewing device for viewing content, and the content information for each content category acquired in the content information acquisition step, In a content list display method comprising: a content information display control step for performing control to display a content list on a content display unit for each content category,
The content information acquisition step includes a category-specific content information acquisition step for acquiring content information including information on the acquisition source of each content of the content group acquired from the content viewing device, and a net content network acquired via the Internet. A net content information acquisition step of acquiring net content information including the URL of the content server,
In the content information display control step, each content list based on the category-specific content information acquired in the content information acquisition step and the net content based on the net content information acquired in the net content information acquisition step A content list display method, characterized in that control is performed so that lists are integrated and displayed on one menu.   A program for causing a computer to execute the content list display method according to claim 16.

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