JPH06197321A - Closed caption decoder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simultaneously display character information in different modes or different data channels on a screen. CONSTITUTION:When character information superimposed on a video signal in a television signal fed from an input terminal 1 is decoded and displayed on a screen, plural pieces of character information in different modes or data channels superimposed on one channel of the television signal are extracted by a character signal extracting circuit 2. Two pieces of optional character information among the extracted plural pieces of character information are decoded in parallel by a microcomputer 3. Furthermore, the two pieces of decoded character information are generated into a display pattern signal used for simultaneous display and outputted to a display control circuit 4, and signal processing is applied to the display pattern signal to allow a pattern display device 7 to display the signal and the result is sent from an output terminal 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a closed caption decoder which simultaneously displays two different character information on the screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Closed captioning is a character broadcasting currently practiced in the United States, in which a character information signal is superposed and transmitted in a specific horizontal scanning period in a superimposing blanking period of a television signal. This transmission signal is demodulated by a decoder provided in the television receiver, and characters are displayed on the screen by superimposing it on the screen.

Character information transmitted on one channel of a television signal is divided into a caption mode, a text mode, and a plurality of data channels for each mode. Therefore, the decoder decodes the character information of one mode and one data channel selected by the user from the plurality of data channels and displays it on the screen.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional closed caption decoder, the character information of different modes or different data channels cannot be simultaneously displayed on the screen. Therefore, for example, when a hearing impaired person is watching a TV broadcast with caption mode subtitles, the text mode information that further provides news, weather forecast, etc. must be erased in the caption mode. The screen cannot be displayed.

As described above, the conventional closed caption decoder has a drawback in that it is not possible to simultaneously display character information of different modes and different data channels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a closed caption decoder capable of simultaneously displaying on the screen character information of different modes or different data channels.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the closed caption decoder of the present invention comprises:
In a closed caption decoder for decoding the character information superimposed on the video signal in the television signal to display the screen, a plurality of characters with different modes or data channels superimposed on one channel of the television signal. It is configured to have a decoding means for decoding any two pieces of character information in the information in parallel and a display means for synthesizing the two pieces of character information decoded by the decoding means and displaying them on the screen at the same time.

[0008]

With such a structure, the closed circuit of the present invention
When the viewer selects two character information channels, that is, character information of different modes or data channels, the caption decoder is provided with a plurality of different mode or data channels superimposed on one channel of the television signal. Any two pieces of character information in the character information are decoded in parallel, and the two pieces of decoded character information are combined to be simultaneously displayed on the screen.

[0009]

EXAMPLE Next, the closed caption of the present invention
Embodiments of the decoder will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the closed caption decoder of the present invention. In FIG. 1, this closed caption
The decoder is provided with an input terminal 1 to which a video signal on which a text information signal is superimposed, a character signal extracting circuit 2 for extracting a character signal from the video signal, data of the first character information channel and a second character information channel. A microcomputer 3 for decoding data is provided. Further, the closed caption decoder includes a display control circuit 4 for outputting a display screen signal processed so that the first character information and the second character information are displayed on the same screen, and the first character information channel. , A selection key 5 for instructing selection of one or both of the second character information channels, an output terminal 6 for transmitting a display screen signal from the display control circuit 4, and a first character information channel from the output terminal 6. ,
It has one of the second character information channels or a screen display device 7 for displaying a display screen signal obtained by combining the two.

The character signal extracting circuit 2 and the microcomputer 3 correspond to the decoding means and display means in the claims, and the display control circuit 4 and the screen display device 7 are provided.
The configuration corresponds to the display means in the claims.

Next, the operation of the configuration of this embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, an input terminal 1 is supplied with a video signal on which a character information signal is superimposed. The video signal is input to the character signal extracting circuit 2, and the character signal is extracted by the character signal extracting circuit 2 and output to the microcomputer 3.

When only the first character information channel is selected by the selection key 5 in this signal processing state, the microcomputer 3 decodes only the data of the selected character information channel and outputs it to the display control circuit 4. To do. When the first character information channel and the second character information channel are selected at the same time, the character information is stored in the microcomputer 3 separately for each channel.
The display screen signal is output to the display control circuit 4 after being decoded by, and subjected to a combination process so as to be simultaneously displayed on one screen of the 15 lines of the display area. In the display control circuit 4, the display screen signal is subjected to signal processing so as to be displayed on the screen display device 7, and is output through the output terminal 6.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the microcomputer 3 in this operation.

1 and 2, the character signal extracting circuit 2
The microcomputer 3 determines whether or not the data input from is the first character information selected by the selection key 5 (step (described as S in the figure) 1). When the first character information is Yes selected by the selection key 5 in this step 1, the decoding process in the microcomputer 3 is performed using the variable group 1 (step 2). If No in step 1 where the first character information is not selected by the selection key 5, the microcomputer 3 determines whether or not the second character information is selected (step 4). If the second character information is Yes selected by the selection key 5 in step 4, the decoding process in the microcomputer 3 is performed using the variable group 2 (step 5). In this case, in steps 1 and 5, the decoding processing is performed using different variable groups, so that the first and second decoding processing is performed.
The decoding result of the character information of does not affect each other.

Next, following step 2, the microcomputer 3 displays the first character information in the display area 1 in order to avoid overlapping the display positions of the first character information and the second character information.
Display position conversion processing is performed so that the data is displayed on the first to seventh lines of the five lines (step 3). Following step 5,
In the microcomputer 3, the second character information is in the 9th line ...
The display position is converted so that it is displayed on the 15th line (step 6). After this, the display control circuit 4 performs signal processing on the display screen signal in order to display the display screen signal of the first character information and the second character information on the screen display device 7 after step 3 and step 6. Then, it is sent out through the output terminal 6.

Next, an example of displaying the first character information and the second character information on the same screen will be described. FIG. 3A shows the text mode data channel 1 as the first character information.
It is a selection screen example (1) of (text 1). Figure 3 (b)
[FIG. 7] is an example (2) of a selection screen when the caption mode data channel 1 (caption 1) is selected as the second character information. FIG. 3C shows a case where two pieces of character information are combined and displayed on the screen at the same time. That is, the selection screen example (1) of the first character information shown in FIG. 3A is displayed on the 1st to 7th lines in the 15 lines of the display area, and the second screen shown in FIG. The selection screen example (2) of character information is a screen example displayed on the 9th to 15th lines.

In FIG. 3C, the display area for the first character information shown in FIG. 3A and the second character information shown in FIG. The first character information and the second character information may be combined so as to be divided by.

In the embodiment, the first character information is displayed in the text mode and the second character information is displayed in the caption mode. However, the character information includes caption 1, caption 2, text 1 and text. There are two types, and the same treatment can be performed with any of these combinations, and the same action and effect can be obtained in any case.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, the closed caption decoder according to the present invention can be used in the television when the viewer selects two character information channels, that is, character information of different modes or data channels. Decode any two pieces of character information among a plurality of pieces of character information with different modes or data channels that are superimposed on one channel of the signal in parallel, and combine the decoded two pieces of character information for screen display. Because
This has an effect that character information of different modes or different data channels can be simultaneously displayed on the screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration in an embodiment of a closed caption decoder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a microcomputer in the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a screen example of a text mode data channel 1 (text 1) as first character information. (B) is a figure which shows the example of a screen at the time of selecting the caption mode data channel 1 (caption 1) as 2nd character information. (C) is the first
It is the figure which displayed the selection screen example of 2nd character information and the screen of 2nd character information on the same screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input Terminal 2 Character Signal Extraction Circuit 3 Microcomputer 4 Display Control Circuit 5 Selection Key 6 Output Terminal 7 Screen Display Device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A closed caption decoder for decoding character information superimposed on a video signal in a television signal to display a screen, wherein a mode or a data channel superimposed on one channel of the television signal. Decoding means for decoding any two pieces of character information among a plurality of different pieces of character information in parallel, and display means for synthesizing the two pieces of character information decoded by the decoding means and displaying them on the screen at the same time. Closed caption decoder featuring.