JPH06133084A - Method and device for program guiding service - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a method and a device for a program guiding service by which a viewer can easily understand the content of a television program by a moving picture. CONSTITUTION:A reception mans 1 receives a video program which is now on air. An information processing means 2 adds channel program information, etc., to video information of the video program received by the reception means 1. An information sending means 3 sends information processed by the information processing means 2 to a communication path 5 such as a public telephone line or the sound band line of CATV, etc. A control means 4 controls the reception means 1 and the information processing means 2. Then, information sent by the information sending means 3 is displayed on the screen of optional numbers of TV telephone sets 6 so as to be given to the viewers.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is applicable to public telephone lines and CATs.
The present invention relates to a program guide service method and a program guide service apparatus for introducing the contents of a TV program in a moving image through a TV phone using a V voice band line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to know the contents of TV programs, it has been common to read TV program columns such as newspapers and magazines.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, it was very troublesome to check all the programs. Especially in recent years, UHF, BS, CS and CATV
For example, TV broadcasting has been dramatically increasing, and there has been a problem that it takes a lot of labor to check all these programs in newspapers and magazines. Moreover, there was a problem that it was not possible to know what kind of image it was.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a program guide service method and a program guide service apparatus that allow a viewer to easily understand the contents of a TV program from a moving image. .

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, information such as video and channel number of a video program distributed to viewers can be sent to an arbitrary number using a public telephone line or a CATV voice band line. It is characterized in that it is provided to the viewer by transmitting the information to a TV phone and displaying the information on the screen of the TV phone.

[0006] According to a second aspect of the present invention, receiving means for receiving a video program currently being broadcast, information processing means for adding channel number information or the like to the video information of the video program received by the receiving means, and this information. The information transmission means is provided with an information transmission means for transmitting the information processed by the processing means to a public telephone line or a voice band line of CATV, and a control means for controlling the receiving means and the information processing means. The feature is that the information is provided to the viewer by displaying the information on the screens of an arbitrary number of TV phones.

In addition to the configuration of claim 2, the invention of claim 3 holds, as data, information consisting of a combination of video information, channel number information and broadcast time information of a video program broadcast up to a certain period ahead. However, the database means for outputting the information of the video program designated by the control means is provided, and the information of the video program up to a certain period of time is provided to the viewer in addition to the video program currently being broadcast. Is characterized by.

According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the configuration of claim 2 or claim 3, there is provided a search means for searching a video program based on a keyword input by a viewer and instructing the control means. The feature is that the information of the video program desired by the viewer is also provided to the viewer. According to the invention of claim 5, in addition to the configuration of claim 4, when the viewer selects a video program to be actually watched based on the information of the video program obtained as a result of the keyword search, the channel number of the video program is selected. It is characterized in that a video program data returning means for returning the information and the broadcast time information to the TV telephone as digital data is provided.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect, each TV telephone is provided with a video program data output interface means for outputting the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means to the outside. It is characterized by that. According to the invention of claim 7, in addition to the configuration of claim 5, each T
Video program data storage means for storing the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means to the V telephone, time counting means for counting the current date and time, and broadcasting included in the video program data. Control means for comparing the time information with the current time counted by the time counting means and outputting the fact together with the channel number information at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time, and the viewer displaying the video program on the screen of the TV device. Watch or record, T
Based on the output from the operation selecting means for selecting whether to record while viewing on the screen of the V device, and the output from the control means, the operation command according to the setting contents to the operation selecting means is broadcast start time and It is characterized in that it is provided with an operation command output means for supplying the TV device and the recording / reproducing device at the broadcast end time.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the information such as the video and the channel number of the video program distributed to the viewer is transmitted to any number of videophones by using the public telephone line or the CATV voice band line. , It is provided to the viewer by displaying the information on the screen of the TV phone.

In the invention of claim 2, the receiving means receives the video program currently being broadcast. The information processing means adds channel number information and the like to the video information of the video program received by the receiving means. The information sending means sends the information processed by the information processing means to a public telephone line or a CATV voice band line. The control means controls the receiving means and the information processing means. Then, the information transmitted by the information transmitting means is displayed on the screens of an arbitrary number of TV telephones to provide it to the viewer.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the database means holds, as data, information consisting of a combination of video information, channel number information and broadcast time information of a video program broadcast up to a certain period ahead, and the database means controls the data. Outputs information on the specified video program. Then, in addition to the video program currently being broadcast, the viewer is provided with information about the video program up to a certain period of time.

In the invention of claim 4, the searching means searches the video program based on the keyword inputted by the viewer and instructs the control means. Then, the viewer is provided with the information of the video program desired by the viewer. In the invention of claim 5, when the viewer selects a video program that he / she actually wants to watch based on the information of the video program obtained as a result of the keyword search, the channel number information of the video program is displayed. The broadcast time information and digital data are returned to the TV phone.

In the invention of claim 6, the video program data output interface means outputs the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means to the outside. In the invention of claim 7, the video program data storage means stores the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means. The time counting means counts the current date and time. The control means compares the broadcast time information contained in the data of the video program with the current time counted by the time counting means, and outputs that at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time together with the channel number information. The operation selection means is for the viewer to select whether to view or record the video program on the screen of the TV apparatus, or to record while watching the video program on the screen of the TV apparatus. The operation command output means supplies an operation command according to the setting contents to the operation selection means to the TV device and the recording / reproducing device at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time based on the output from the control means.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a program guide service apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This program guide service apparatus includes a receiving means 1, an information processing means 2, and an information transmitting means 3.
1, a control means 4, a communication line 5 including a public telephone line or a CATV voice band line, and a TV phone 6. The receiving means 1 includes an antenna 8 for terrestrial broadcasting and a B
Antenna 9 for S broadcasting and antenna 10 for CS broadcasting
A tuner 11 for terrestrial broadcasting, a tuner 12 for BS broadcasting, a tuner 13 for CS broadcasting, and a selector 14. The information processing means 2 includes a mixer 15 and channel number information adding means. 16 and broadcast time information adding means 17. The information sending means 3 includes a code compression device 18 and a modem 19. The receiving means 1 simultaneously or sequentially receives pay or free video programs currently being broadcast. The information processing means 2 uses the video information of the video program received by the receiving means 1 as program content information, and adds channel number information and broadcast time information thereto. The information sending means 3 converts the video signal from the information processing means 2 into a signal that can be transmitted through the communication path 5, and supplies it to the TV telephone 6 through the communication path 5 sequentially or selectively.
The control means 4 controls the receiving means 1 and the information processing means 2. The TV phone 6 is installed in, for example, the viewer's room, receives the program guide information supplied from the information sending means 3 via the communication path 5, and displays it on the screen. Tuner 1
1 demodulates a terrestrial broadcast program received via the antenna 8 and supplies a video signal to the selector 14. The tuner 12 demodulates a BS broadcast program received via the antenna 9 and supplies a video signal to the selector 14. The tuner 13 demodulates a CS broadcast program received via the antenna 10 and supplies a video signal to the selector 14. The selector 14 is a terrestrial broadcast program from the tuner 11,
BS broadcast programs from tuner 12 and tuner 13
The program specified by the control signal from the control means 4 is selected from the CS broadcast programs from and is supplied to the mixer 15 as program content information. Tuner 11, 12, 1
3 and the selector 14 are controlled by a control signal from the control means 4, and the program selected by the control means 4 is selected as the program content information. The channel number information adding means 16 decodes which channel of the program is selected by the control means 4 from the control signal and supplies it to the mixer 15 as channel number information. The broadcasting time information adding means 17 holds the broadcasting time information of the program inputted in advance as a table, and supplies the broadcasting time information of the program selected by the control means 4 to the mixer 15. The mixer 15 inserts the channel number information from the channel number information adding means 16 and the broadcast time information from the broadcast time information adding means 17 into the video signal of the program content information from the selector 14. The inserting means may switch the screens in a time division manner, or may display the program content information on the video screen at the same time by superimposing.

Next, the operation will be described. First tuner 1
1, 12 and 13 demodulate the channel based on the control signal from the control means 4. Then, the selector 14 selects the signal designated by the control signal from the control means 4 among the demodulated signals from the tuners 11, 12, and 13. Then, the mixer 15 adds the channel number information from the channel number information adding means 16 and the broadcast time information from the broadcast time information adding means 17 to the signal from the selector 14. Then, the code compression device 18 compresses the signal from the mixer 15. Then, the modem 19 uses the code compression device 18
The signal from is converted and sent to the communication path 5. And TV
The telephone 6 displays the program content information, the channel number information, and the broadcast time information on the screen based on the signal from the modem 19 supplied via the communication path 5.

As described above, it is possible to easily provide a program guide service that sequentially introduces the contents, channel information, and broadcast time information of pay or free video programs currently being broadcast to the viewer by moving images. Further, since the viewer can confirm the program content by the moving image, the viewer can easily understand the program content. In the first embodiment, the receiving means 1 is configured to receive only the broadcast wave, but it may be configured to also receive the program transmitted from the CATV network or the like.

Although the analog signal is used as the program content information in the first embodiment, a digital signal may be used. Further, in the first embodiment, the analog line is used as the communication path 5, but a digital line may be used, and the configuration of the information sending means 3 can be applied to all. For example, if the communication path 5 is an ISDN line, I
The SDN interface may be used. (Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a program guide service device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This program guide service device has a video information database 21 and a search means 22 in addition to the structure of the embodiment 1 shown in FIG. Is added. In the video information database 21, program content information such as a climax scene of a video program broadcast for a certain period is recorded as a moving image, and the video information database 21 stores the program content information of the program designated by the control means 4. Is reproduced and supplied to the selector 14. The search means 22 selects the corresponding program based on the keyword from the TV phone 6,
Notify the control means 4. Other configurations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation will be described. The viewer is a TV
The keyword for program search input using the dial button of the telephone 6 is transmitted to the search means 22 via the communication path 5. As a result, the searching means 22 selects the corresponding program based on the keyword from the TV phone 6 and informs the controlling means 4. As a result, if the selected program is the program currently being broadcast, the control means 4 controls the receiving means 1 to output the desired program content information by the operation as described in the first embodiment, and the information processing is performed. The means 2 is controlled to add channel number information and broadcast time information. This signal is supplied by the information transmitting means 3 to the TV telephone 6 via the communication path 5.

When the selected program is a program after a certain period of time, the video information database 21 reproduces the program content information of the program designated by the control means 4 and supplies it to the selector 14. As a result, the selector 14 makes the video information database 2 based on the control signal from the control means 4.
The program content information from 1 is supplied to the mixer 15. Hereinafter, the program information is compressed and modulated by the information sending means 3 and sent to the communication path 5 by the procedure described in the first embodiment.
It is displayed on the screen by the TV phone 6.

As described above, the contents, channel information, and broadcast time information of the video program currently being broadcast or broadcast by a certain period of time retrieved by the keyword input by the viewer are sequentially introduced to the viewer by moving images. A program guide service can be easily provided. Further, since the viewer can confirm the program content by the moving image, the viewer can easily understand the program content.

Although the analog signal is used as the program content information in the second embodiment, a digital signal may be used. In the second embodiment, an analog line is used as the communication path 5, but a digital line may be used, and the configuration of the information sending means 3 can be applied to all of them. For example, if the communication path 5 is an ISDN line, I
The SDN interface may be used. (Third Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a program guide service apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. This program guide service apparatus has a video program data returning means 24 added to the configuration of the second embodiment shown in FIG. It is a composition. Further, the TV phone 6 includes a video program data storage means 25, a time counting means 26, a control means 27, an operation selecting means 28, an operation command outputting means 29, and a modem 30. The search means 22 is
The channel number information and the broadcast time information of the determined program are extracted from the video program data returning means 24, and the modem 19
It also has a function of returning to the TV phone 6 via. The video program data returning means 24 stores the channel number information and the broadcast time information of the video program searched by the searching means 22 as data. The video program data storage means 25 stores the channel number information and the broadcast time information returned by the search means 22. Time counting means 2
6 counts the current time. The control means 27 compares the broadcast time information stored in the time counting means 26 with the current time counted by the time counting means 26, and outputs it to the operation command output means 29 at the start time and end time of the video program. The channel number information is attached and notified. The operation selecting means 28 is for selecting whether the viewer wants to watch a desired program on the TV device at a desired time or to record it on the recording device. For example, if TV viewing is set in the operation selection unit 28, the operation command output unit 29 turns on the power of the TV device at the time when the desired program is broadcast and sets the channel to the channel indicated by the channel number information. And sends an operation command to the TV device. The operation command may be, for example, a remote control signal,
It may be a communication format signal for controlling the AV system.

Next, the operation will be described. The viewer is a TV
The keyword for program search input using the dial button of the telephone 6 is transmitted to the search means 22 via the communication path 5. As a result, the search means 22 selects the corresponding program based on the keyword from the TV phone 6. After that, by the operation as described in the second embodiment, the program information of the selected program currently being broadcast or the program after a certain period of time is compressed and modulated by the information sending means 3 and sent to the communication path 5, and the TV is set. It is displayed on the screen by the telephone 6. The viewer determines the program to be really watched among the programs corresponding to the keyword on the screen of the TV phone 6, and returns the information by using the dial button of the TV phone 6, for example. The determined program information is notified to the search means 22. As a result, the search means 22 retrieves the channel number information and broadcast time information of the decided program from the video program data return means 24 and returns them to the TV phone 6 via the modem 19. The returned channel number information and broadcast time information are stored in the video program data storage means 25. As a result, the control means 27 compares the broadcast time information stored in the video program data storage means 25 with the current time counted by the time counting means 26, and gives an operation command at the start time and end time of the video program. The output unit 29 is notified with the channel number information attached. Thereby, the operation command output means 2
If the operation selecting means 28 is for TV watching, 9 indicates an operation command for turning on the power of the TV apparatus and setting the channel to the channel indicated by the channel number information at the time when the desired program is broadcast. , To the TV device.

In this way, the video program selected by the viewer with reference to the program guide service can be automatically viewed on the TV device or recorded on the recording device. Although the analog signal is used as the program content information in the third embodiment, a digital signal may be used. Also, the above-mentioned Example 3
In the above, an analog line is used as the communication path 5, but a digital line may be used, and the configuration of the information sending means 3 can be applied to all. For example, if the communication path 5 is an ISDN line, an ISDN interface may be used instead of the modem 19.

In the third embodiment, the operation command is output from the TV telephone 6, but the TV telephone 6 is provided with the video program data output interface means, and the video program returned from the video program data returning means 24. Data of T
It may be configured to output to the outside of the V telephone 6.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, information such as video and channel number of a video program distributed to viewers can be transmitted in an arbitrary number using a public telephone line or a CATV voice band line. Since it is provided to the viewer by transmitting it to the TV phone and displaying the information on the screen of the TV phone,
The viewer can easily understand the contents of the television program by the moving image.

Further, receiving means for receiving the video program currently being broadcast, and information processing means for adding channel number information and the like to the video information of the video program received by the receiving means,
An information transmitting means for transmitting the information processed by the information processing means to a public telephone line or a CATV voice band line;
If a configuration is provided that includes a receiving unit and a control unit that controls the information processing unit, and provides the viewer with the information sent by the information sending unit by displaying the information on the screen of an arbitrary number of TV phones, the viewer The moving image makes it easy to understand the contents of the television program currently being broadcast, that is, the video or channel information of a pay or free video program.

In addition to the structure of claim 2, the control means holds information consisting of a set of video information, channel number information and broadcast time information of a video program broadcast up to a certain period ahead, by the control means. If the database means for outputting the information of the designated video program is provided and the information of the video program up to a certain period ahead is provided to the viewer in addition to the video program currently being broadcast, it is possible to continue until the predetermined period ahead. The video, channel information, and broadcast time information of the video program that is broadcast to can be introduced to the viewer in sequence by moving images.

In addition to the structure of claim 2 or claim 3, a search means for searching a video program based on a keyword input by a viewer and instructing the control means is provided.
If the information of the video program desired by the viewer is provided to the viewer, the contents and channel information of the video program currently being broadcast or broadcast up to a certain period after the keyword searched by the viewer are searched. , Broadcast time information can be introduced to viewers sequentially by moving images.

In addition to the configuration of claim 4, when the viewer selects a video program to be actually watched based on the information of the video program obtained as a result of the keyword search, the channel number information of the video program is displayed. If a video program data returning means for returning the broadcast time information as digital data to the TV phone is provided, the contents of the video program currently being broadcast or broadcast by a certain period after the keyword searched by the viewer are retrieved. It is possible to obtain channel information and broadcast time information of the video program as digital information when the viewer selects a desired video program among them by sequentially introducing the video images.

In addition to the structure of claim 5, if each TV telephone is provided with a video program data output interface means for outputting the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means to the outside, the video program is provided. The TV device and the recording device can be operated based on the information returned from the data returning means. In addition to the configuration of claim 5, a video program data storage means for storing the data of the video program returned from the video program data return means to each TV telephone, and a time count for counting the current date and time. Means for comparing the broadcast time information contained in the data of the video program with the current time counted by the time counting means, and for outputting that effect together with the channel number information at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time, Viewers can watch video programs
Based on the output from the operation selection means and the control means for selecting whether to view or record on the screen of the V device, or to record while watching on the screen of the TV device, the operation selection means is operated. If the operation command output means for supplying the operation command according to the setting contents to the TV device and the recording / reproducing device at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time is provided, the TV device is based on the information returned from the video program data returning means. And the recording device can be operated automatically.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a program guide service device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a program guide service device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a program guide service device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Receiving Means 2 Information Processing Means 3 Information Sending Means 4 Control Means 5 Communication Channels 6 TV Phone 21 Video Information Database 22 Searching Means 24 Video Program Data Returning Means 25 Video Program Data Storage Means 26 Time Counting Means 27 Control Means 28 Operation Selecting Means 29 Operation command output means

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. Information such as video and channel number of a video program distributed to viewers is sent to a public telephone line or CATV.
Use any voice band line to transmit to any number of videophones,
A program guide service method comprising providing the information to a viewer by displaying the information on the screen of a TV phone. 2. A receiving means for receiving a video program currently being broadcast, an information processing means for adding channel number information or the like to the video information of the video program received by the receiving means, and an information processing means for processing the information. The information transmitted to the public telephone line or the voice band line of CATV, and the control unit for controlling the receiving unit and the information processing unit. A program guide service device characterized by being provided to a viewer by displaying it on a screen of a TV phone. 3. Information holding a combination of video information, channel number information, and broadcast time information of a video program broadcast up to a certain period ahead is held as data, and the information of the video program designated by the control means is output. 3. The program guide service apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a database unit for providing the viewer with information on the video program currently being broadcast, as well as information on the video program up to a certain period ahead. . 4. A structure is provided in which search means for searching a video program based on a keyword input by the viewer and instructing the control means is provided, and information of the video program desired by the viewer is also provided to the viewer. The program guide service device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that. 5. When a viewer selects a video program that he or she actually wants to watch based on the video program information obtained as a result of keyword search, channel number information and broadcast time information of the video program are used as digital data on a TV. 5. A video program data returning means for returning to a telephone is provided.
The program guide service device described in. 6. The program guide according to claim 5, wherein each TV telephone is provided with video program data output interface means for outputting the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means to the outside. Service equipment. 7. A video program data storage means for storing the data of the video program returned from the video program data returning means, a time counting means for counting the current date and time, and the video program for each video telephone. The control means for comparing the broadcast time information contained in the data with the current time counted by the time counting means, and outputting the fact together with the channel number information at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time; Based on the output from the control means, the operation selecting means for selecting whether to view the video on the screen of the TV apparatus, record the video, or record while watching the video on the screen of the TV apparatus. And an operation command output means for supplying an operation command according to the setting contents to the TV device and the recording / reproducing device at the broadcast start time and the broadcast end time. Program guide service system according to claim 5, symptoms.