JP3351058B2 - Recording and tuning method for video equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for recording and selecting a channel in a video device such as a television or a television with a recording function, which simplifies operations such as automatic recording and automatic channel selection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to select a channel for changing a channel of a television or to reserve a recording with a television or a video, a user checks a broadcasting station, a start time, and an end time in a television section of a television guide magazine or a newspaper. It was manually operated.

In recent years, the time zone of viewing and recording by the user has been stored as keywords from the internal clock of the television, using the day of the week, the time, and the channel number of the broadcasting station. There is a method of reusing in order from the one with the highest number of times, such as whether it is done.

For example, a method of presenting data input in the past at the time of recording reservation and shifting the date of a program to be recorded every week by one week only is required. An automatic tuning mode has been devised, in which an automatic operation mode is provided and the channel is automatically changed to the most frequently viewed channel in the past at that time, and attempts to reduce the manual operation by using these methods are attempted. Has been made.

[0005]

However, as described above,
It is not enough to use only a time zone based on a date and time or a channel as a key to be compared. In particular, the broadcast date and time of a program where a favorite talent appears will be changed due to irregular schedules, sports broadcasting that changes the broadcasting station and time zone sponsored by opponents, and reorganization of programs such as new programs I can't handle it.

In recent years, a broadcast program guide service for transmitting a program guide for about one week using teletext, a service for transmitting program information from a cable television station, and a program information distribution using a storage medium such as a floppy disk. Services and the like are starting to be tried.

By using such program information, it becomes possible to analyze the tendency of the viewed program related to the program contents and follow the change of the broadcast time zone, as compared with the conventional comparison of the time zone by date and channel. However, these program information services have different data formats of the program information depending on the form and type of the service. For example, in addition to the type of program name only, or the type of transmitting additional information such as performers as part of the program name when necessary, such as a broadcast program table, on the other hand, performers and content previews are determined separately. For example, there is a type for determining a format for an attribute and transmitting the determined format.

[0008] For this reason, when analyzing a viewed program using such a program table, it is desirable to be able to cope with a system that does not depend on the format of a special program table. In the method based on the assumption that there is a genre code representing the attributes of the performers and the broadcast contents such as movies and sports, a program table in which only the program name is transmitted like a teletext program table currently under consideration for operation It is because it cannot respond to the form of.

In such a case, a method of treating the program name as a free keyword without adding an attribute is considered.

However, since the current program name is arbitrarily assigned by each station, it is highly possible that similar programs, such as sports broadcasts, have slightly different expressions, and that the same program has a different subtitle every week. It is assumed that there is little overlap. The use of free keywords in such a case would lead to a blind increase in the keyword list and would be impractical.

As a method for solving these problems, a program table is treated as simple character information without using special attributes of the program table, and keywords are extracted therefrom to perform statistical processing.
A method of determining the preference of a user viewing program is effective.

[0012] As a keyword extraction method, as a rule specific to a program table, from a program name and their subtitles,
A method of extracting keywords from frequently used symbols and program name trends is conceivable.

The keywords extracted by such a method are as follows:
Even when managing as free keywords, the degree of duplication of keywords is high and the keyword list can be made compact.

By following the keyword extracted from the user-viewed program name and estimating the contents of the user's favorite program and the viewing pattern for each time zone, it is possible to change the program name depending on the opponent in sports broadcasting or program reorganization. Identify programs with the same performer, such as broadcast time zones and casts, that have been replaced, and prioritize program names during channel selection and recording, recommend them, and automatically perform user operations on behalf of the user to automatically control them. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of recording and selecting a channel in a video device that can save the trouble of device operation.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above object,
A recording and selecting method in a video device according to the present invention includes: a program table receiving unit that performs at least one of receiving a broadcast program table transmitted from a broadcast station or reading a program table supplied from a storage medium; A viewing program information selecting means for selecting viewing program information of a station or a recorded program from the program table; a keyword decomposing means for decomposing the viewing program information into keywords; and a keyword storing means for storing the extracted keywords. In the case of a keyword that is included in a plurality of pieces of viewing program information, the keyword storage means counts and stores the frequency of appearance, and when performing channel selection or recording reservation, the frequency of appearance is selected from the program table. It is provided with a configuration for presenting from the program information including a keyword having a high keyword.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the program table receiving means obtains the program table by performing at least one of receiving a broadcast program table transmitted from a broadcasting station or reading a program table supplied from a storage medium. From the program table, the viewing program information selecting means selects the viewing program information of the program selected or recorded by the viewer from the program table, and the keyword decomposing means decomposes the selected viewing program information into keywords. The keyword accumulation means counts and accumulates the appearance frequency of the keyword, so that when a channel is selected or a recording reservation is made, the keyword is presented from the program information including the keyword with a high appearance frequency in the program table, and the Simplification of the operation procedure and automatic device operation.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a program table transmitted as a teletext broadcast from a television station or a program table transmitted from a cable television station, or a program table distributed through a storage medium such as a floppy disk. This is a program table receiving means for storing the program table. Reference numeral 2 denotes a viewing program selecting means for selecting program information of the time zone from the program guide of the program guide receiving means 1 according to the channel number, date, start and end time of the time zone watched or recorded by the user. .

Reference numeral 3 denotes a keyword decomposing means for decomposing the program information selected by the viewing program selection means 2 into keywords according to rules to be described later. Reference numeral 4 denotes each keyword which is decomposed by the keyword decomposing means 3 and registered. The keyword accumulation means accumulates, as points, viewing frequencies and appearance frequencies weighted by operations such as recording reservation and channel selection. The keyword accumulating means 4 accumulates its appearance frequency in a keyword list structure suitable for searching and updating, and 41 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a keyword list structure.

Reference numeral 5 denotes program candidate extracting means for selecting a candidate for program information corresponding to a user operation from the program guide receiving means 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a priority of program information based on a total score of keywords included in a program name. Priority determination means for determining and presenting degrees.

For example, when the user gives a channel selection instruction, the program information currently being broadcast is extracted, and in the case of a recording reservation, the program information after the current time on the relevant day is extracted. Selection is performed by the program candidate extraction means 5, and priority of the selected program information is determined by the priority order determination means 6.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a state in which there is a keyword list 41 stored in the keyword storage means 4 in the form of a list. Reference numerals 411 to 414 in FIG. 2 denote cells which are management units in which keywords and additional information are packed.

For example, the cell 411 is composed of a set of a keyword “soccer” and points 550 representing the appearance frequency. FIG. 2 shows a case where the cells 411 to 414 adopt a structure of a unidirectional list sorted in the order of the character codes of the keywords.
Although there are cells of keywords other than 411 to 414, irrelevant cells are not shown in this embodiment for simplification.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing an example of updating the keyword list and its algorithm. FIG. 3 shows the keyword list 41 in a certain state.
5 is an example of a keyword list in a case where information on a program watched by a user from is updated. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for determining the importance of the program information using the keyword list shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as an example of the program information, a description will be given of a program table in a format transmitted by the Broadcasting Standards Association (hereinafter abbreviated as a broadcast program table). In a broadcast program table, there is no special keyword attribute, and additional information such as a subtitle and a performer is also transmitted as a part of the program name.

Hereinafter, FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described first. Here, an example in which the score is calculated based on the continuous viewing time is shown. It is assumed that 10 points are added to continuous viewing for 10 minutes. For example, it is assumed that the user starts watching the program name “soccer relay“ Ichihara × Osaka ”” at 19:15 and watches the program for 50 minutes until 20:05. The keyword list in FIG. This shows a state in which a keyword is registered and points are added after viewing for 50 minutes is completed.

This process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, at step 901, the time and channel number at which the user has watched continuously for 10 minutes are detected. In the next step 902, the corresponding viewing program name, here “soccer relay“ Ichihara × Osaka ”” is selected from the time and the channel by the viewing program selection means 2, and the process proceeds to the keyword update processing in steps 903 to 908.

In step 903, the keyword decomposing means 3
The program name “soccer relay“ Ichihara × Osaka ”” is decomposed into keywords “soccer”, “Ichihara”, and “Osaka”, respectively.A rule decomposition example will be described later. For keywords,
Registration in the keyword list 41 of the keyword storage means 4 and point addition processing are executed.

First, in step 904, it is determined whether or not each keyword is registered in the keyword list 41. If it has already been registered, the process proceeds to step 906. If it has not been registered yet, the process proceeds to step 905. After registration in a new cell, the process proceeds to step 906. In the case of the keyword list 41, already registered “soccer” and “Osaka” go directly to step 906, and “Ichihara” that has not been registered goes to step 905. In step 906, points are added to the points of the cell.

Further, at step 907, it is determined whether or not the next keyword exists.
6 is repeated. If there is no next keyword, the keyword list update process ends.

In this embodiment, the updating process of the keyword list 41 of FIG. 2 is executed five times for 50 minutes of viewing. Therefore, before and after updating from the keyword list 41 to the keyword list of FIG. 3, the cells 411 and 414 are each added with 50 points, and
A new cell 4150 is registered as the point 50.

Updating from FIG. 2 to the keyword list in FIG. 3 shows the case where the broadcast program name does not change. However, if the broadcast program name changes during the viewing time, the program name corresponding to the time zone is changed. 4 is executed.

In FIG. 2, as an example of a keyword division rule used by the keyword division means 3, as a method taking into account rules frequently used in program names, the following conditions are used as keyword breaks (hereinafter abbreviated as delimiters). Method is effective. (1) Use “,”,
Symbols such as ~,, etc. (2) Expression symbols such as x, pair, vs, etc., which are frequently used to represent opponent teams in sports broadcasts. (3) Katakana and Hiragana transitions, connecting parts with particles "". There is a method in which nouns frequently used as names, such as "baseball" and "news", are registered in advance as initial keywords, and these initial keywords are used as delimiters.

Further, as shown in the description of FIG. 4, although it is effective as a delimiter such as "relay", it is determined that it is inappropriate for representing the program contents, and is determined as an exception keyword not registered in the keyword list. The method is also effective.

Next, the process of determining the priority in the channel selection operation of FIG. 5 will be described. For example, if the user
It is assumed that a tuning instruction is issued at 9:52. Step 91
At 0, the priority determination process is started. First step 9
At 11, the program candidate extracting means 5 extracts a program name which is broadcast and viewable by each station at this time.

For example, it is assumed that "soccer relay" Osaka vs Kawasaki "", "soccer relay" Ichihara x Urawa "" and the like are broadcast, and these program names are extracted as program name candidates for determining the priority. Steps 912 to 91 for each program name candidate selected by the determination means 6
6, a total score calculation process of keywords included in each program name is executed.

In step 912, the extracted program names are sequentially decomposed into keywords by the keyword decomposing means 3. In step 913, a cell that matches the decomposed keyword is searched from the keyword list, and the point at that time is obtained. In step 914, the acquired points are added as points of the corresponding program name. In step 915, it is determined whether there is a next keyword decomposed from the program name.
And the steps 913 to 914 are repeated. If there is no next keyword, the total points of the program name are determined, and the process proceeds to step 916.

In step 916, it is determined whether there is a next program name for which the total points have not been determined. If there is, the program returns to step 912 to repeat steps 912 to 915. If all the total points of the program candidates are determined and there is no next program candidate, the process proceeds to step 917. In step 917, the total points of the determined program names are compared, presented in the order of the points, and the processing ends.

For example, in this case, the total score of the program name "soccer relay" Osaka vs Kawasaki "" is 600 for "soccer".
Points, "Osaka" is 200 points, "Kawasaki" is 50 points, 8 points in total
On the other hand, the program title "soccer live broadcast" Ichihara x Urawa "" is 50 points, "Ichihara" is 50 points and "Urawa" is 50 points, for a total of 70 points.
Scores 0. Therefore, in this case, the former is preferentially recommended.

As a method of presenting a program name, a method of synthesizing and displaying a program name on a currently viewed screen on a television screen,
There is a method of operating another tuner circuit to reduce the size of an actually received image as an icon. As the priority, a method of emphasizing by changing the character color or adding a number indicating the priority can be employed. There is also a method of providing an automatic channel selection mode and automatically switching to a program having the highest total score.

As described above, by using the keyword obtained by decomposing the program name, even if the broadcast program name or the broadcast time changes depending on the competing team, such as a sports broadcast program name, the favorite team name or the like can be obtained. Using the performer name as a keyword, it is possible to estimate and recommend programs that the user prefers. Also, by adopting a method of breaking down into keywords and managing them, compared to managing the program as it is,
Unnecessary duplication of program names can be suppressed, and keyword lists can be made compact.

Although FIG. 3 of this embodiment shows an example in which points are uniformly added to all the keywords included in the program name,
If a program with a short program name and a program with a long program name are treated equally, a program with a long program name tends to be advantageous over time. Therefore, the total points are determined, such as 10 points per program. May be added to the frequency of appearance obtained by dividing by the number of keywords appearing in the program name.

In some cases, operations at short time intervals are generally performed, such as changing channels for each commercial. Therefore, points are not added for every 10 minutes of continuous viewing, but are accumulated for each program. , And assigning a score according to the accumulated time at the end of the program.

Further, in the case of channel selection, there is no case where there is no program to be actively watched in other broadcasting stations, or in the case of simple panning, it is desirable to record and keep it in the case of recording. Considering that it is considered that a strong intention of the user such as not wanting to overlook is working, it is also effective to increase the weight by increasing the weight, for example, to 20 points per 10 minutes compared to the case of channel selection.

In addition, a plurality of points can be assigned to one keyword in consideration of the difference between morning, noon, and night, and time periods and dates when the life pattern is considered to change, such as weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. It is also possible to use a keyword list that you have.

The keyword list shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an example of a unidirectional list having points in a single direction. The keyword list has a hierarchical structure with an index called a B-tree or a B + tree, or a character list. It is also possible to adopt a configuration pursuing high-speed searchability such as a hash table using a code as a key.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which only the name of the program being broadcast at that time is shown at the time of channel selection. However, a program that starts within a certain period of time, for example, within 10 minutes, is also presented as a notice, and In the case of a program that has not been set, a channel can be selected as a reservation, and the channel can be automatically switched to the channel at the start time of the program.

Further, these channel selection operations are performed according to the channel selection pattern watched every week or the algorithm of the present embodiment without user's instruction, and according to the priority order, the automatic channel tracing for automatically changing the channel is performed. It is also possible to provide a mode. In this case, the user only has to manually change the channel only when the user switches to a program he does not like.

As an application to the recording function, a program name of a certain frequency or more is presented at the time of recording reservation, or when the recording reservation is forgotten when going out, or when the power is turned off and is not viewed, the program is automatically applied. It is also possible to provide an automatic answering mode, such as recording an unattended message.

Finally, as a problem of the keyword list that has been used for a long period of time, a buzzword or a change in the generation of performers is the cause. It is considered that inconveniences such as a case where the keyword has no effect and a case where the keyword storage means 5 causes a memory overflow occur. To cope with such inconveniences, at regular time intervals or when the size of the keyword list exceeds a certain size, keywords having a frequency less than a certain frequency of occurrence are deleted, and 2362 points are further rounded down to one digit such as 236 points and smoothed. Is effective.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, keywords can be extracted by the keyword decomposition means even from a current broadcast program table having only a program name or a program table having a different data format for each provider. A user's favorite program can be recommended without being restricted by the keyword attribute of the program guide.

As a result, even if the broadcast date, channel number, or broadcast time changes, another drama in which the same talent appears, or a broadcast of sports whose broadcast time or broadcast station fluctuates, etc., can be referred to as a talent name or a favorite team name. It is possible to search as keywords and recommend them as viewing candidates,
By applying this function, it is possible to provide a video device such as a television or a video with a simple operation capable of preventing an overlook, forgetting to see or an operation error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a recording and channel selection method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a keyword list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration after updating a keyword list according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for updating a keyword list in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for determining the priority of program information according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Program table receiving means 2 Viewing program selection means 3 Keyword decomposition means 4 Keyword storage means 5 Program candidate extraction means 6 Priority determination means

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-79053 (JP, A) JP-A-2-284566 (JP, A) JP-A-4-147453 (JP, A) JP-A-3-35451 (JP) , A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N ⁷ /00-7/088 H04N 5/38-5/46 H04N 5/76 H04N 5/80-8/907 H04N 5 / 91-5/956 H04N 5/765-5/775

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A program table receiving means for receiving at least one of a broadcast program table transmitted from a broadcasting station and reading a program table supplied from a storage medium, and a program for viewing a selected or recorded program. A viewing program information selecting unit that selects information from the program table; a keyword decomposing unit that decomposes the viewing program information into keywords; and a keyword storage unit that stores the extracted keywords. In the case of a keyword that is redundantly included in the viewed program information, the frequency of appearance is counted and accumulated, and at the time of selecting a channel or making a recording reservation, program information including a keyword with a high frequency of appearance from a program table is presented. Recording and channel selection methods in video equipment. 2. The video recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the appearance frequency is weighted by changing the weight of the appearance frequency in accordance with a continuous viewing time or a user operation including recording reservation and channel selection. Tuning method. 3. The method of recording and selecting a channel in a video device according to claim 1, wherein the program information is presented in order from the program information having the highest total value of the appearance frequencies of the keywords included in the program information. 4. The method for recording and selecting a channel in a video device according to claim 1, wherein the channel selection is limited to only program information that can be viewed within a predetermined time from the current time. 5. The recording and channel selection method according to claim 1, wherein the program information to be presented is limited to those in which the appearance frequency of keywords or the total value thereof exceeds a certain frequency. . 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency of appearance is separately counted according to the type of holiday or day of the week, or the type of time zone in the morning or afternoon, and the priority of presentation is determined based on the frequency of appearance of each type. Item 6. A method for recording and selecting a channel in the video device according to Item 1. 7. When the capacity of a keyword in the keyword storage means exceeds a certain capacity or when a predetermined certain time has elapsed, a keyword having a low appearance frequency is deleted or a score of an appearance frequency is cut down. The method for recording and selecting a channel in a video device according to claim 1.