JP3064254U - Television broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Configuration] The television broadcast receiver 10 is a microcomputer 2
The microcomputer 20 controls the A tuner 12 and the B tuner 14 based on a remote control signal from the remote control transmitter 36. When the "10" key of the remote control transmitter 36 is pressed for 1 second or more while watching the "10" channel program on the A tuner 12, the auto return mode is set. When the broadcast of the “10” channel becomes a CM broadcast,
The user can view the currently selected program on the B tuner 14. When the CM broadcast ends, the program of the “10” channel being selected by the A tuner 12 is displayed. That is, it is automatically restored. When the auto return mode is canceled and the mode returns to the normal mode, the program of the “10” channel can be viewed as it is. On the other hand, if the auto return mode is not canceled, the program selected by the B tuner 14 can be viewed. [Effect] The automatic return mode and the normal mode can be freely selected.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiver, and more particularly to a television broadcast receiver applied to, for example, a television receiver or a VTR.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 An example of this type of conventional television broadcast receiver is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-199470 [H04N 5/44, H04N 5/45] filed on Aug. 6, 1993. In this television receiver, when commercial broadcasting is performed during reception by the first tuner, a program of the second tuner can be viewed by a user's instruction. Then, when the commercial broadcast ends in the first tuner, the program being selected in the first tuner can be viewed again.

Another example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-2050440 [H04N 5/44], which was published on Aug. 9, 1996. In this automatic channel switching system, when the program received by tuner A becomes a commercial broadcast, the program is switched to the program of tuner B. Then, when the commercial broadcast of tuner A ends, the program is switched to the program being received by tuner A again.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

 In this conventional technique, when a program being viewed becomes a commercial broadcast, a program received by another tuner can be viewed. However, in the former case, when the program being received by the first tuner becomes a commercial broadcast, the program of the second tuner can be freely viewed during the commercial broadcast, but the commercial broadcast by the first tuner is not possible. When the program ends, the program is automatically returned to the original program. Therefore, there is a problem that the program is returned even if the user wants to continuously watch the program selected during the commercial. Also, in the latter case, there is a problem that commercial broadcasts are automatically cut off, so that even if one wants to view commercial broadcasts, one cannot watch them.

[0005] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a television broadcast receiver capable of freely selecting an automatic return mode and a normal mode.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 This invention is intended for a television broadcast receiver that automatically shifts to the second channel when commercial broadcasting is performed during reception of the first channel and automatically returns to the first channel when commercial broadcasting ends. A television broadcast receiving apparatus comprising a setting unit for selectively setting a normal mode and a normal mode.

[0007]

[Action]

 In the television broadcast receiving apparatus, when commercial broadcasting is performed during reception of the first channel, the television channel is manually shifted to the second channel. Then, when the commercial broadcast ends on the first channel, the program automatically returns to the program on the first channel. The operator can selectively set the automatic return mode and the normal mode using, for example, a remote control transmitter. That is, the automatic return mode or the normal mode can be set according to the instruction of the operator.

In one aspect of the present invention, when the automatic return mode is set, information on the first channel is output while receiving the second channel. Therefore, it is possible to know the first channel that automatically returns.

In one embodiment of the invention, the information about the first channel is a channel number.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the output means outputs an indication of automatic recovery together with the channel number. That is, since the display of the channel number and the automatic return is displayed on-screen, the automatic return mode and the channel to be automatically returned can be easily known.

[0011]

[Effect of the invention]

 According to this invention, the automatic return mode or the normal mode can be set according to the instruction of the operator, so that the automatic return mode and the normal mode can be freely selected.

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

[0013]

【Example】

 Referring to FIG. 1, a television receiver 10 of this embodiment includes an A tuner 12 and a B tuner 14. Antennas 16 and 18 are connected to A tuner 12 and B tuner 14, respectively. In this embodiment, the A tuner 12 and the B tuner 14 are for terrestrial broadcasting. The A tuner 12 selects a channel (program) specified by the microcomputer 20 from the television broadcast received by the antenna 16. The intermediate frequency signal output from the A tuner 12 is provided to the decoder 22. In the decoder 22, the intermediate frequency signal is amplified and separated into an audio intermediate frequency signal and a video intermediate frequency signal. The audio intermediate frequency signal and the video intermediate frequency signal are subjected to well-known processing such as detection and amplification, respectively, and output from the decoder 22. The video signal output from the decoder 22 is provided to an input terminal 28 of the switch SW1. On the other hand, the audio signal output from the decoder 22 is supplied to a multiplex mode determination circuit 26 and to a speaker (not shown).

The B tuner 14 selects a channel specified by the microcomputer 20 from the television broadcast received by the antenna 18. The intermediate frequency signal output from the B tuner 14 is provided to a decoder 24. The decoder 24 performs the same processing as that of the decoder 22 described above. The video signal output from the decoder 24 is provided to the input terminal 30 of the switch SW1. On the other hand, the audio signal output from the decoder 24 is supplied to a multiplex mode determination circuit 26 and to a speaker (not shown). The switch SW1 is switched according to an instruction from the microcomputer 20, and selects a video signal output from one of the decoder 22 and the decoder 24. The video signal via the switch SW1 is output to the cathode ray tube (CRT) 33 via the video signal processing circuit 32 at the subsequent stage.

The multiplex mode determination circuit 26 determines, based on the audio signals output from the decoder 22 and the decoder 24, whether or not the channel currently being received by the A tuner 12 and the B tuner 14 is a commercial broadcast. In other words, in the case of ordinary terrestrial broadcasting, the audio signal is monaural during program broadcasting, while the audio signal is stereo in commercial broadcasting (CM broadcasting). The multiplex mode determination circuit 26 outputs a high-level signal to the microcomputer 20 when determining that the broadcast is a CM broadcast. On the other hand, if it is determined that the broadcast is a program broadcast, a low-level signal is output to the microcomputer 20. The microcomputer 20 determines program broadcast or CM broadcast based on the level of the output signal from the multiplex mode determination circuit 26.

In the case of bilingual (bilingual) broadcasting, a main signal is assigned to L and a sub signal is assigned to R during bilingual broadcasting. As a result, the multiplex mode determination circuit 26 determines bilingual broadcasting, and determines that it is a CM broadcast when bilingual is no longer detected. Therefore, the multiplex mode determination circuit 26 outputs a high-level signal to the microcomputer 20 when determining that the broadcast is a CM broadcast, and outputs a low-level signal to the microcomputer 20 when determining that the broadcast is a bilingual broadcast. .

The television receiver 10 also includes a remote control receiver 34, which receives a remote control signal transmitted from the remote control transmitter 36 and supplies the received remote control signal to the microcomputer 20. Therefore, the microcomputer 20 controls channel switching, tuner selection, channel number display, and the like according to the remote control signal. That is, the remote control transmitter 36 is shown as in FIG. When the power key 40 is operated, a remote control signal for turning on / off the power is given, and the main power of the television receiver 10 is turned on / off. When the switching key 42 is pressed, a remote control signal for tuner switching is given, and the microcomputer 20 switches the switch SW1. When the display key 44 is pressed, a remote control signal for ON / OFF of the channel number display is given, and the microcomputer 20 controls an on-screen display IC (hereinafter, simply referred to as “IC”) to control the channel number. Turn on / off the screen display. That is, when an instruction to display the channel number is given from the microcomputer 20, the IC 38 outputs the character of the channel number to the video signal processing circuit 32. Therefore, the channel number is displayed on the screen together with the program of the selected channel.

When the numeric key 46 is pressed, a remote control signal of a preset channel is given to the pressed numeric key 46, and the microcomputer 20 controls the A tuner 12 or the B tuner 14, and The channel corresponding to the numeric key 46 is selected. In the normal operation, the user can watch the program of the channel preset on the pressed numeral machine 46, and can switch between the A tuner 12 and the B tuner 14 by operating the switch key 42 as described above. (Normal mode). When the volume key 48 is pressed, a remote control signal for raising / lowering the volume is given, and the microcomputer 20 instructs an audio signal processing circuit (not shown) included in the decoders 22 and 24 to raise / lower the volume.

For example, when the “10” channel is selected by the A tuner 12 and the operator watches the channel, the operator operates the remote controller transmitter 36 and the “10” key of the numeric keys 46 is pressed for a predetermined time (this time). In the embodiment, it is 1 second.) When pressed, an automatic return (auto return) mode is set. When the auto return mode is set, when the program of the "10" channel is changed to the CM broadcast, the switch SW1 is switched to the input terminal 30 side according to the instruction of the microcomputer 20, and the channel is selected by the B tuner 14. The video signal corresponding to the program to be performed is provided to the video signal processing circuit 32. That is, a program selected by the B tuner is viewed. At this time, for the program selected by the B tuner 14, the channel of the channel which the B tuner 14 has selected immediately before is selected. The IC 38 is controlled in accordance with an instruction from the microcomputer 20, and the channel number of the program selected by the A tuner 12 is displayed. In other words, the channel number (“10”) for automatic return is displayed on the screen together with the video signal of the program selected by the B tuner 14. Even if the display key 44 is pressed and the channel number corresponding to the program being viewed in the normal mode is displayed, the channel number which automatically returns to the automatic return mode is displayed on the screen. When the channel number to be automatically returned is displayed on the screen, the automatic return may be displayed, for example, "AUTO RETURN 10" so as to indicate that the mode is the auto return mode.

When the program selected by the B tuner 14 is output, the operator can freely switch channels by operating the numeric keys 46 provided on the remote control transmitter 36. When the CM broadcast of the channel selected by the A tuner 12 (“10” channel) ends, the program of the “10” channel selected by the A tuner 12 is displayed on the screen. That is, the program is automatically returned to the program of the “10” channel. Here, when the “10” key having the same number as the automatically restored “10” channel is operated, the auto return mode is canceled. That is, the normal mode is set.

On the other hand, if the operator does not operate the remote control transmitter 36 for a predetermined time (5 seconds in this embodiment), the auto return mode is not canceled, and the channel selected by the B tuner 14 is used. Is displayed on the screen again. Also, when the program automatically returns to the program of the “10” channel and the numeric keys 46 other than the “10” key are operated, the auto return mode is not canceled and the pressed numeric key 46 is not reset. The corresponding channel is selected by the B tuner 14. If the auto return mode is not canceled, when the (next) CM broadcast ends again on the channel currently selected by the A tuner 12 (“10” channel), the channel automatically returns to the “10” channel. You. Here, if the auto return mode is not canceled again, the same operation is repeated.

The microcomputer 20 processes the above operation according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. When the main power supply of the television receiver 10 is turned on, the process starts, and it is determined whether or not the numeric key 46 has been pressed in step S1. If "NO" in the step S1, it is determined that the numeric key 46 is not pressed, and it is determined whether or not another key is pressed in a step S3. That is, it is determined whether the switching key 42, the display key 44, or the volume key 48 has been pressed. If "NO" in the step S3, it is determined that the key of the remote control transmitter 36 is not pressed, and the process returns to the step S1. On the other hand, if "YES" in the step S3, it is determined that any one of the switch key 42, the display key 44, and the volume key 48 is pressed, and a process corresponding to the pressed key is executed in a step S5. Then, the process returns to step S1.

On the other hand, if “YES” in the step S1, it is determined that the numeric key 46 is pressed, and it is determined whether or not the channel selected by the A key and the numeric key 46 pressed in the step S7 is the same. to decide. If "NO" in the step S7, it is determined that the channel number is not the channel currently being selected by the A tuner 12, and a program of a channel corresponding to the key pressed in the step S9 is selected, and the process returns to the step S1. On the other hand, if "YES" in step S7, it is determined that the pressed numeric key 46 is the same as the channel number currently selected by the A tuner 12, and in step S11, the numeric key 46 is pressed for 1 second or longer. Judge whether or not. If "NO" in the step S11, it is determined that the operation is an error of the operator, and the process returns to the step S1. On the other hand, if "YES" in the step S11, it is determined that the button is pressed for 1 second or more, and an auto return mode is set in a step S13. In a succeeding step S15, it is determined whether or not the program selected by the A tuner 12 has been changed to the CM broadcast. If "NO" in the step S15, it is determined that the program is being broadcast, and the process returns to the step S15 as it is. On the other hand, if "YES" in the step S15, it is determined that a CM broadcast has been made, and a program selected by the B tuner 14 is displayed in a step S17. That is, the switch SW1 is switched to the input terminal 30 side. Then, in the following step S19, the channel number being tuned by the A tuner that returns automatically is controlled on-screen by controlling the IC 38.

Subsequently, in a step S21, it is determined whether or not the numeric key 46 is pressed. If "YES" in the step S21, the program corresponding to the pressed key is selected, and the process proceeds to the step S25. On the other hand, if "NO" in the step S21, it is determined that the numeric key 46 has not been pressed, and the process directly proceeds to a step S25. In step S25, it is determined whether the CM broadcast has ended. In other words, it is determined whether stereo has been changed to monaural. If "NO" in the step S25, it is determined that the CM is still being broadcast, and the process returns to the step S21. On the other hand, if "YES" in the step S25, it is determined that the CM broadcast has ended, and the program currently selected by the A tuner is displayed. That is, the switch SW1 is switched to the input terminal 28 side. Therefore, the program selected by the A tuner 12 is automatically returned (auto return). In a succeeding step S29, it is determined whether or not the numeric key 46 is pressed. If "NO" in the step S29, it is determined that the numeric key 46 is not pressed, and it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed in a step S31. If “NO” in the step S31, it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed, and the process returns to the step S29. On the other hand, if “YES” in the step S31, it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed, that is, it is determined that the auto return mode is not canceled, and the process returns to the step S17.

On the other hand, if “YES” in the step S29, it is determined that the numeric key 46 is pressed, and in a step S33, it is determined whether or not the channel number is the same as the channel number being selected by the A tuner. If "NO" in the step S33, it is determined that the channel number is different, that is, it is determined that the auto return mode is not canceled, and the process returns to the step S17. On the other hand, if "YES" in the step S33, it is determined that the pressed numeric key 46 is the same as the channel number being tuned by the A tuner, and the step returns to the step S35 to release the auto return mode. Return to S1.

In the above-described processing, the case where the auto return mode is set while the program is being viewed on the A tuner 12 has been described, but the auto return mode is set while the program is being viewed on the B tuner 14. In this case, the same operation as described above is performed. In this case, the A tuner and the B tuner may be exchanged in the processing of steps S7, S17, S27 and S33, and the other steps may be processed accordingly.

According to this embodiment, since the auto return mode and the normal mode are set according to the operator's instruction, the auto return mode and the normal mode can be freely selected. Even if the program automatically returns to the original program in the auto return mode, if the auto return mode is not canceled, the program of another tuner (B) can be viewed again.

In this embodiment, the A and B tuners are shown as tuners for receiving terrestrial broadcasting, but the A and B tuners are tuners for receiving satellite broadcasting such as BS tuners and CS tuners. It may be.

Further, in this embodiment, the automatic return mode is set / canceled using the numeric keys for selecting the channel. However, a dedicated key for setting / cancelling the auto return mode is further provided. It may be provided.

Further, in this embodiment, the operation is performed by the remote control transmitter. However, it is also possible to provide a number key capable of directly selecting a channel on the television receiver main body and operate it.

Further, in this embodiment, the case where the television broadcast receiving apparatus is applied to a television receiver has been described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to a VTR or the like with a built-in tuner. In this case, it is necessary to connect a monitor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing a remote control transmitter shown in FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 1 embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing of the microcomputer shown in FIG. 1 embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Television receiver 12, 14 ... Tuner 20 ... Microcomputer 22, 24 ... Decoder 34 ... Remote control receiver 36 ... Remote control transmitter 38 ... IC

Claims (4)

[Utility model registration claims] 1. A television broadcast receiving apparatus for manually shifting to a second channel when commercial broadcasting is performed during reception of a first channel and automatically returning to the first channel when commercial broadcasting is completed. A television broadcast receiving apparatus, comprising: a setting unit for selectively setting a normal mode and a normal mode. 2. The television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output means for outputting information on the first channel while receiving the second channel when the automatic return mode is set. 3. The television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the information on the channel is a channel number. 4. The television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said output means outputs an indication of automatic recovery together with said channel number.