JP5283864B2 - Television broadcast receiver and channel selection screen display method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiving apparatus and a channel selection screen display method for displaying a channel selection information display screen every time a broadcast channel is selected from a television broadcast wave.

  In the television broadcast receiving apparatus, the user often switches and displays broadcast channels, confirms the contents of each, and selects a program to be viewed. At this time, when the screen is switched in accordance with the channel selection, it is not possible to remember which channel the user wants to view and the channel selection operation is performed again.

  By the way, in the TV broadcast receiving apparatus, a channel information screen is generated for each channel selection and displayed sequentially on the display screen, and any one of red, blue, green, and yellow is attached to the edge of each screen. In addition, there has been proposed a multi-screen display mode in which one of a plurality of screens can be selected by selectively pressing four color buttons (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in the conventional multi-screen display mode as described above, all images are simultaneously displayed in the 4-screen display. This display method can display only a minimum amount of information because each screen is small.
JP-A-2004-336414 (Claims 1 to 3 and FIGS. 4 to 7)

  As described above, in the conventional television broadcast receiving apparatus, the channel information display screen is only displayed in a predetermined area in accordance with the channel selection, and the individual screens are small and difficult to see. there were.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention can sequentially display channel information display screens according to channel selection in an appropriate size, and can easily be viewed by a user and can be easily selected. An object is to provide a station screen display method.

  In order to solve the above problem, a television broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention includes input means for inputting a channel selection instruction for a plurality of television broadcast channels, and the plurality of television broadcast channels according to the channel selection instruction input. When the channel selection means for selecting the corresponding channel from, the generation means for generating a channel information screen according to the channel selection processing corresponding to the channel selection instruction input, and the channel selection instruction input is performed continuously, Recording means for recording the channel number to be selected and the order, and when the channel selection instruction is input continuously, when selecting a new channel, the selected channel information screen is displayed immediately before. If the channel selection screen is partially overlaid on the displayed channel information screen and the channel selection instruction is newly input when the specified number is displayed, the channel information that has passed the most time has been displayed. Characterized by comprising a screen display means to hide the screen.

  Further, the channel selection screen display method of the television broadcast receiver according to the present invention inputs a channel selection instruction for a plurality of TV broadcast channels, and selects a corresponding channel from the plurality of TV broadcast channels according to the channel selection instruction input. Channel selection, generate a channel information screen according to the channel selection process corresponding to the channel selection instruction input, when the channel selection instruction input is performed continuously, record the channel number and order to be selected, When the channel selection instruction is input continuously, when a new channel is selected, the channel information screen is partially overlapped on the channel information screen that was displayed immediately before, and the number of displayed images is the specified number. In the case of exceeding the channel information screen, the channel information screen with the longest time since the display is displayed is not displayed.

  That is, in the present invention, on the multi-screen, the images of the selected channels are displayed in the foreground so as to overlap while shifting in the order of selection, and the channel having the longest time ("Least Recently Used") is not displayed. By doing so, the individual display screens are sequentially displayed in an appropriate size.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, a channel information display screen corresponding to channel selection can be sequentially displayed in an appropriate size, and a television broadcast receiving device that is easy for the user to view and that channel selection operation is easy, and its channel selection screen display. A method can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a television broadcast receiving system using a television broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a television broadcast receiver 101 according to the present invention, a monitor 102, a remote controller (hereinafter abbreviated as a remote controller) 103, and an antenna unit 105. The TV broadcast receiving apparatus 101 is an antenna unit corresponding to TV broadcast signals from a plurality of types of TV broadcast stations (analog / digital terrestrial broadcast, BS broadcast, CS broadcast, CATV, etc.) 104a, 104b, 104c, 104d. Received through 105a, 105b, 105c, and 105d.

  This television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 includes various processing devices such as a TV tuner necessary for broadcast reception, and channel selection / demodulation / video / audio reproduction processing according to various processing instruction signals transmitted from the remote controller 103. The corresponding program content is output to the monitor 102 as a video / audio signal.

  The antenna units 105a to 105d receive radio waves / lights of broadcast signals transmitted from the respective broadcast stations 104a to 104d, and supply them to the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 as electric signals. The remote control 103 is an input device provided in the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101, and transmits a channel selection channel number or the like instructed by a user input operation to the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 by infrared rays. The television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 receives an infrared instruction signal from the remote controller 103. If the instruction signal is a channel selection channel number, for example, the broadcast wave of the corresponding channel is received and demodulated to reproduce a video / audio signal. And output to the monitor 102.

  FIG. 2 is an external view showing a configuration example of the remote controller 103 that controls the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 with infrared rays. The remote control 103 includes a power button 201, a channel selection button (number) 202, a channel selection button (+) 203, a channel selection button (-) 204, an input switching button 205, a menu button 206, a right button 207, and a left A button 208, an upper button 209, a lower button 210, a return button 211, an end button 212, and an enter button 213 are provided. By pressing each button, a signal of instruction content assigned to the button is transmitted by infrared rays to the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101. Send to. The television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 displays a channel selection menu item on the monitor 102 in response to an operation input of the buttons 206 to 213, and selectively processes the processing contents of each item in accordance with an operation instruction assigned to the operation button. Run.

  In FIG. 2, 214 is a data broadcasting button, 221 is a color key (blue), 222 is a color key (red), 223 is a color key (green), 224 is a color key (yellow), and 230 is a multi-screen activation button. Reference numeral 231 denotes a multi-screen selection button (forward), and 232 denotes a multi-screen selection button (return).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101. 3, reference numeral 308 denotes a data bus. The data bus 308 includes a CPU (control processing unit) 305 for instructing various signal processing, a processing program for the CPU 305, and a ROM (read only memory) 306 for storing various setting parameters. In addition to a RAM (write / read memory) 307 serving as a work area of the CPU 305, video / audio input processing circuits 302a to 302d, an infrared receiving unit 303, a video / audio output processing circuit 304, and the like are connected. In FIG. 3, the control system is omitted, and each processing block is under the control of the CPU 305.

  The infrared receiving unit 303 receives an infrared signal indicating an instruction input from the remote controller 103, and the instruction input is sent to the CPU 305 via the data bus 308. The CPU 305 loads a program stored in the ROM 306 at startup, and instructs each corresponding processing circuit to perform a process corresponding to an input instruction from the remote controller 103 or the like according to the program.

  On the other hand, broadcast radio waves / light from the television broadcast stations 104a to 104d received by the antennas 105a to 105d are input to the TV tuners 301a to 301d. When receiving a channel selection instruction from the CPU 305, the TV tuners 301a to 301d select a broadcast signal of the instructed broadcast station (channel). Broadcast signals selected by each of the TV tuners 301a to 301d are input to the corresponding video / audio input processing circuits 302a to 302d, subjected to processing such as demodulation, and the video signals via the data bus 308. Sent to the audio output processing circuit 304 The video / audio output processing circuit 304 performs an adjustment designated in advance on the video / audio signals from the video / audio input processing circuits 302a to 302d and selects a channel selection or setting item according to an instruction from the CPU 305. Or the like, and each is selectively output to the monitor 102. As a result, the program of the selected channel is presented on the monitor 102, and various menu items are displayed on the screen as necessary.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 will be described with reference to the function-specific flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 8 and screen display examples shown in FIGS.

  First, the receiving apparatus 101 includes a single screen display mode for switching the channel information display screen for each channel selection, and a multi-screen display mode for displaying the channel information display screen for each channel selection. The mode is switched to the multi-screen display mode according to the user's specification.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for switching from the single-screen display mode to the multi-screen display mode. When there is an operation input to the power button 201 from the remote controller 103, it starts and executes the single-screen display mode (step In step S11, a notification of operation input to the multi-screen activation button 203 is received from the remote controller 103 (step S12), and the mode is switched to the multi-screen display mode (step S13).

  FIG. 9 shows an example of multi-screen display at the time when channel selection operation for 4 channels is performed in the multi-screen display mode. In the multi-screen display of the present invention, four images B402, C403, D404, and E405 are displayed in a stacked manner while shifting to at least one of the top, bottom, left, and right in the order of channels selected in the past. Reference numerals 412 to 415 are examples of information display corresponding to the videos B to E, respectively, where a is a color key display, b is a broadcast station logo display, c is a channel number, and d is a program name / program information.

  Hereinafter, display processing for various operation inputs in the multi-screen display mode will be described with examples.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of multi-screen display when channel selection operation is continuously performed in multi-screen display. (A) is a multi-screen display operation by operation of the channel selection buttons 203, 204, 231, 232, (B) shows the flow of processing of the multi-screen display operation by operating the color keys 221 to 224.

  First, in the multi-screen display process of FIG. 5A, after the multi-screen display mode is set (step S21), selective operations of the channel selection buttons (numbers, +, −) 202 to 204 are accepted and sequentially handled. Channel selection processing is executed, and each channel information display screen is sequentially displayed (step S22).

  Here, in the display state shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the user inputs an operation to the channel selection buttons 202 to 204 and selects the broadcast of the video A 401. In this case, the display screen of the LRU (“Least Recently Used”) channel that has passed the longest time after the channel selection display is hidden (step S23), and the right side of the video of the channel that was viewed immediately before ( Or, the video of the newly selected channel is displayed in the foreground at a position slightly shifted to the left or down (or up) (step S24). For example, when the video E405 has been used for the longest time, the video E405 is not displayed as shown in FIG. 10, and the video B402, the video C403, and the video D404 are used. The images A401 that are newly selected are displayed in the foreground in a time-overlapping order.

  In this case, “Least Recently Used” (LRU that has been used for the longest time) means “After being used” and “Newly selected”. Defined as one or a combination of

  Next, in the multi-screen display process of FIG. 5B, the color keys (blue, red, green, yellow) 221 to 224 are displayed in a state where a plurality of channels are displayed in the multi-screen display mode (step S31). A selective operation is accepted (step S32), and a channel display screen corresponding to the operated color key is displayed on the forefront (step S33).

  That is, in order to execute the above processing, any one of blue, red, green, and yellow is sequentially assigned to the display screen of each channel, and the color is displayed on a part of the screen. On the other hand, the color keys 221 to 224 of the remote controller 103 are associated with the assigned colors of the respective channel display screens. In this state, the user can directly switch the channel displayed in the foreground by operating and inputting any of the color keys blue 221, red 222, green 223, and yellow 224. FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 show display examples immediately after pressing the blue, red, green, and yellow buttons of the color key in the multi-screen display, respectively.

  Further, the user can use the multi-screen selection button (forward) 231 or the multi-screen selection button (return) 232 to switch the channel displayed on the foreground back to the channel selected in the past. is there. FIG. 6A shows a processing procedure when the return button 232 is used, and shows a processing procedure when the button 231 going to FIG. 6B is used.

  In FIG. 6A, when the multi-screen display mode is set (step S41) and the multi-screen selection button (return) 232 is pressed (step S42), the multi-screen display mode is displayed in the foreground. If the channel is an LRU channel, the state is left as it is (step S44). If the channel is not an LRU channel, the channel display screen selected immediately before is displayed again on the forefront (step S45). Specifically, every time the multi-screen selection button (return) 232 is pressed, the display is switched in the order of FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13, and FIG.

  In FIG. 6B, when the multi-screen selection button (forward) 231 is pressed in the state where the multi-screen display mode is set (step S51) (step S52), it is displayed on the forefront. If the channel is an MRU (“Most Recently Used”) channel, the state is left as it is (step S54). If the channel is not an MRU channel, the channel display screen selected immediately before is displayed again on the forefront (step S55). ). Specifically, each time the multi-screen selection button (forward) 231 is pressed, the display is switched in the order of FIG. 14, FIG. 13, FIG. 12, and FIG.

  The multi-screen display mode can be returned to the single-screen display mode according to a user instruction. This processing is based on the processing procedure shown in FIG. 7, when the multi-screen display mode is being executed (step S61), when the multi-screen start button 230 is pressed and the return button 211 or the end button 212 is pressed (step S62), the single-screen display mode is set. (S63).

  4 and 7 are processes for switching between the single-screen display mode and the multi-screen display mode by the user's manual operation, and equipped with an ON / OFF function of the multi-screen automatic switching setting for automating this mode switching. Then, it is convenient for the user because there are more options for eliminating the complexity of operation. An example is shown in FIG.

  Fig. 8 shows the automatic switching from the single screen display mode to the multi-screen display mode when the channel is selected after the multi-screen automatic switching is set to ON / OFF. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence made to return to single screen display mode from mode. FIG. 8A shows automatic switching from the single-screen display mode to the multi-screen display mode, and FIG. 8B shows automatic switching from the multi-screen display mode to the single-screen display mode. 15 is a display example of the state before channel selection in the single screen display, FIG. 16 is a display example immediately after the single screen is automatically switched from the single screen to the multi-screen at the time of channel selection, and FIG. A display example immediately after returning from a multi-screen to a single screen automatically is shown.

  8A, when any of the channel selection buttons (numbers, +, −) 202 to 204 is pressed in the state where the single screen display mode of FIG. 15 is in effect at the time of activation (step S71) (step S71). S72), it is determined whether or not the multi-screen automatic switching setting is ON (step S73). If OFF, the process returns to step S71 to continue the single-screen display mode. If ON, the multi-screen display shown in FIG. The mode is switched and set (step S74).

  8B, when any of the channel selection buttons (numbers, +, −) 202 to 204 is pressed in the multi-screen display mode shown in FIG. 16 (step S81) ( In step S82), it is determined whether or not the multi-screen automatic switching setting is ON, but there is no operation input for a certain time (step S83), and if there is an operation input after returning to step S81, the multi-screen display mode is set. When there is no operation input, the screen automatically returns to the single screen display mode shown in FIG. 17 (step S84).

  As described above, according to the television broadcast receiving apparatus having the above-described configuration, on the multi-screen, the video of the selected channel is displayed in the foreground while being shifted in the order of channel selection, and the LRU channel is not displayed. As a result, the individual channel display screens can be displayed in order at an appropriate size, so that the user can easily see and can easily select the channel. Further, by associating each channel display screen with a color key, it becomes possible to display an arbitrary channel display screen in the foreground by a single color key selection operation, and very convenient operability can be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, the television broadcast receiving apparatus 101 may be built in the monitor 102. In the above embodiment, the TV broadcast receiving apparatus 101 dedicated to viewing is assumed. However, it is attached to a device capable of recording video / audio information equipped with a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a semiconductor memory, and has a multi-screen display. The present invention can be similarly applied to a composite television broadcast receiving apparatus having a function of displaying, recording, reproducing, and outputting the video.

  Further, when there are restrictions on system performance / configuration such as memory, CPU performance, bus width, tuner, etc., a part of the displayed video may be displayed as a still image. Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case of the system which mounts four tuners and displays four channels on a screen, it can implement similarly about the multi-screen display of other single tuner or multi-tuner loading. . Further, instead of the multi-screen selection button (forward) 231 and the multi-screen selection button (return) 232, the right button 207 and the left button 208 or the upper button 209 and the lower button 210 may be assigned.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the television broadcast receiving system using the television broadcast receiver which concerns on this invention as one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a remote controller 103 in FIG. 1. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of the television broadcast receiver 101 in FIG. The flowchart which shows the process sequence which switches from the single screen display mode of the said embodiment to the multiscreen display mode. The flowchart which shows the process sequence corresponding to each operation input of the channel selection button in the multi-screen display mode of the said embodiment, and a color key. The flowchart which shows the process procedure corresponding to each operation input of the return button in the multiscreen display mode of the said embodiment, and a forward button. The flowchart which shows the process sequence which switches from the multiscreen display mode of the said embodiment to single screen display mode. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure when ON / OFF setting of single screen-multiscreen automatic switching is performed in the embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display before the channel selection in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display of the state after channel selection in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after pushing the blue button in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after pressing the red button in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after pressing the green button in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after pressing the yellow button in the multiscreen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display before the channel selection in the single screen display of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after automatic switching from a single screen to a multiscreen at the time of channel selection of the said embodiment. The figure which shows the example of a display immediately after returning from a multiscreen to a single screen automatically in the non-operation state for a fixed time of the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Television broadcast receiver, 102 ... Monitor, 103 ... Remote controller (remote controller), 104a-104d ... Television broadcast station, 105a-105d ... Antenna part, 201 ... Power button, 202 ... Channel selection button (number), 203 Channel selection button (+), 204 Channel selection button (-), 205 Input switching button, 206 Menu button, 207 Right button, 208 Left button, 209 Up button, 210 Down button, 211 ... Back button, 212 ... End button, 213 ... Enter button, 214 ... Data broadcast button, 221 ... Color key (blue), 222 ... Color key (red), 223 ... Color key (green), 224 ... Color key ( Yellow), 230 ... multi-screen start button, 231 ... multi-screen selection button (forward), 232 ... multi-screen Selection button (return), 301a to 301d ... TV tuner, 302a to 302d ... video / audio input processing circuit, 303 ... infrared receiver, 304 ... video / audio output processing circuit, 305 ... CPU, 306 ... ROM, 307 ... RAM 308, data bus, 401, video A, 402, video B, 403, video C, 404, video D, 405, video E, 411, examples of information display corresponding to video A, 412, video B. Example of information display, 413 ... Example of information display corresponding to video C, 414 ... Example of information display corresponding to video D, 415 ... Example of information display corresponding to video E, a ... Color key (blue, red, (Green, yellow) display, b ... broadcast station logo display, c ... channel number, d ... program name / program information.

Claims (5)

Input means for inputting channel selection instructions for a plurality of television broadcast channels;
Channel selection means for selecting a corresponding channel from the plurality of television broadcast channels in response to the channel selection instruction input;
Generating means for generating a channel information screen according to the channel selection process corresponding to the channel selection instruction input;
When the channel selection instruction input is continuously performed, a recording means for recording a channel number to be selected and an order;
When the channel selection instruction is continuously input, when a new channel is selected, the selected channel information screen is partially displayed on the previously displayed channel information screen and displayed. If the channel selection instruction is newly input when the number of sheets is the specified number, screen display means for hiding the channel information screen that is the most time lapsed after being displayed ,
Information acquisition means for acquiring program information of the plurality of television broadcast channels;
Comprising
The screen display means multiplex-displays at least the channel number recorded in the recording means and the program information of the corresponding channel acquired by the information acquisition means on each channel information screen. . The input means includes a plurality of selection keys in addition to the operation keys for channel selection operation input, and sequentially associates the channel designated by the channel selection instruction input with the plurality of selection keys,
2. The television broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the screen display means displays the associated channel information screen in the foreground in response to a selection operation of any of the plurality of selection keys. The input means includes a “return key” for instructing to return to one or more previous states and a “forward key” for instructing to proceed to one or more previous states,
In response to the input operation of the “return key” and the “forward key”, the screen display means selects a next channel information screen corresponding to the input instruction from the channel information screen displayed on the foreground before the input operation. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein: is displayed on the forefront.   The screen display means includes a single screen display mode for switching the channel information screen for each channel selection operation and a multi-screen display mode for displaying a part of the channel information screen for each channel selection operation. The display mode is set to automatically switch to the multi-screen display mode when the channel for TV broadcast and external video / audio input is switched, and to switch to the single-screen display mode when there is no operation for a certain period of time. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein: Enter channel selection instructions for multiple TV broadcast channels,
In response to the channel selection instruction input, select a corresponding channel from the plurality of television broadcast channels,
Generate a channel information screen according to the channel selection process corresponding to the channel selection instruction input,
When the channel selection instruction input is performed continuously, record the channel number and the order to be selected,
When the channel selection instruction is continuously input, when a new channel is selected, the selected channel information screen is partially displayed on the previously displayed channel information screen and displayed. When the channel selection instruction is newly input when the number of sheets is the specified number, the channel information screen with the longest time since it is displayed is hidden ,
Obtaining program information of the plurality of television broadcast channels;
The screen display of the channel information screen displays at least the recorded channel number and the program information of the corresponding channel acquired by the information acquisition means on each channel information screen in a multiplexed manner. Channel selection screen display method.

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