JPH07184130A - Program selection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a program selection device selecting automatically a program matching a request of the user by entering classification and a characteristic of a program desired the user to the device. CONSTITUTION:A central processing section 3 transfers information of a due data program read from a CD-ROM drive section 2, that is, data of a program title and a start end time to a liquid crystal display section 6, on which a configured program table is displayed. When the user depresses a position of an optional program or channel of the displayed program list, the central processing section 3 indexes which channel on the program list is designated based on a signal from a touch panel 6 and sends a switching signal to the channel to an infrared ray transmission section 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program selection device for automatically selecting a program by using an electronic publication medium such as a CD-ROM.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional method of selecting a TV program, a TV / radio program side of a newspaper purchased at a newspaper delivered daily from the newspaper company or a shop at a station is opened by signing a contract with a newspaper company, and now at each station. A general method was to check what kind of program is being broadcast and what kind of program is to be broadcast after that, and to tune the channel to the desired program.

However, in the conventional program selection method,
In order to know what kind of program is currently being broadcast at each station in newspapers and program information magazines, it was necessary to open the page of the program or the target page and check the column of the current time. Also, if you want to know the contents of the program after the current time for recording reservation, it is necessary to find the target page in the table of contents or page by page. There was a problem that it took time to get the. Further, there is a problem in that when a user wants to select only a specific genre such as a movie or a music program, he / she has to confirm it in a newspaper or a guide magazine.

[0004]

As described above, according to the conventional program selection device, when the user wants to select a program of a specific genre, the date and channel must be confirmed on the newspaper or guide magazine. was there.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and provides a program selection device capable of automatically selecting a program that meets the user's request by inputting the program classification, characteristics, etc. desired by the user. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, at least program time information indicating a start time and an end time of each program, and program information indicating a program providing station identification and a program title are stored. Electronic recording medium, reading means for reading out the contents of the electronic recording medium, a keyword input section for inputting a keyword such as a desired time or the classification and characteristics of the program, a keyword recording section for recording the keyword, and the keyword A program selection unit for identifying an arbitrary program by collating the keyword recorded in the recording unit with the program information stored in the electronic recording medium is provided.

[0007]

With the above arrangement, when the user records keyword data such as desired time or program classification and characteristics in the keyword recording section through the keyword input section, the recorded keyword data and the recording medium By matching the program feature information with the program selection unit to identify the program, it is possible to automatically select the program that meets the user's wishes.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a program selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The program selection device 1 includes a CD-ROM drive unit 2 for reading program information stored in a CD-ROM, a clock unit 3 for checking the program information read by the CD-ROM drive 2 with the current date and time, and a user A data storage area 4 for recording selected program information, a liquid crystal display section 5 for displaying information such as program information to a user, a touch panel 6 for inputting a program selected by the user, a program for determining a program selected in the automatic program selection mode The selection unit 7, the TV device 11 according to the program information selected by the user
Infrared transmitter 8 for remote-controlling an external device such as, a processing unit storage unit 9 storing a software program for controlling the entire program selection device 1, and a central processing for sequentially processing according to the software program recorded in the processing unit recording unit 9. It is composed of the unit 10.

CD read by the CD-ROM drive unit 2
The TV program information as shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the ROM. The program information includes a program title, a program code unique to the program, a genre code indicating a genre of the program,
It consists of program start / end times, program channel identification data, and the like.

A different code is given to each program so that the program itself can be identified. However, the same program code is assigned to programs that are broadcast daily or weekly continuously even if the dates are different. In this embodiment, the program codes are P-01, P-02, P-03,
Represented by ...

Next, the storage area of the time table structure provided in the data storage unit 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In this recording area, there are a genre table 12 and a history table 15, both of which record reference data for program selection. The genre table 12 shown in FIG. 3 is an area in which the user presets an arbitrary genre and its time zone. FIG. 3 shows the structure of the genre table 12 in which two patterns of tables are recorded as an example. The horizontal axis in the figure is time, J-01, J
-02, ... Indicates a genre code. When the user designates the setting mode of the genre pattern (A) 13 by the touch panel 6 of the program selection device 1, the central processing unit 10 displays a genre and time zone input screen on the liquid crystal display plate 5 and inputs it to the user. Encourage. The time zone and genre are set by designating the time zone from the time area for one day displayed on the liquid crystal display board 5 and selecting the genre to be set.

In this embodiment, for example, in the genre pattern (A) 13, information / news programs (genre code is J-01) from 8:00 to 11:00 and from 17:00 to 19
Until the time, an animation program (genre code is J-0
5), the movie / drama program (genre code is J-02) can be selected from 21:00 to 23:30.

The input data is stored in the storage area of the genre pattern (A) 13 in the data storage unit 4 by the central processing unit 10. The genre pattern (B) 14 is also set in the same procedure.

The history table 15 shown in FIG. 4 is an area for recording the history of viewed programs, that is, which programs are watched in one day. FIG. 4 shows, as an example, the structure of the history table 15 in which viewing data for four weeks is recorded for each day of the week. In the figure, P-01, P-02, P-03, ... Show program codes, and J-01, J-02, J-03 ,. The central processing unit 10 constantly monitors the channel selection status, determines that a program that has not been continuously switched for 10 minutes is the program that the user was actually watching, and determines the time of the clock unit 3 at that time and the selected time. The program code, genre code, start and end times of the program that matches the channel are read from the CD-ROM and once recorded in the history recording buffer area 16 in the data storage unit 4. This buffer area can record one day's worth of data. When the date is updated in the clock unit 3, the central processing unit 10 transfers the data in the buffer area 16 to the table recording the viewing data of the last week of the corresponding day of the week. At this time, the data of the relevant day that has already been recorded is shifted to the table one week before. Therefore, in this embodiment, since the recording capacity for each day of the week is four weeks, the most past data, that is, the viewing data four weeks before is deleted.

Next, the operation of selecting a program in the program selection device 1 will be described. The operation mode of the program selection device 1 is divided into a normal selection mode and an automatic selection mode. The mode switching is performed by inputting a desired mode on the touch panel 6 of the program selection device 1.

The normal selection mode is a mode in which the user directly switches the channel of the TV apparatus 11 similarly to the TV remote controller. The central processing unit 10 transfers the information of the program of the day read from the CD-ROM drive unit 2, that is, the data of the program title and the start / end time to the liquid crystal display unit 5, and composes and displays the program table. When the user presses the position of any program or channel in the displayed program guide, the central processing unit 10 determines from the signal from the touch panel 6 which channel in the program guide has been designated, and the infrared transmitter 8 receives that channel. To send a switch signal to the. In this embodiment, for example, 1 from 7 o'clock
Select channel news.

The infrared transmitter 8 transmits a remote control signal including a switching code to the designated 1 channel to the TV device 11
And the TV apparatus 11 switches to the designated 1 channel. At this time, as described above, the central processing unit 10 constantly monitors the switching status of this channel in order to create the history table 15. For example, assuming that a music program on channel 4 is being watched before operating the remote controller, data "channel 4" and "music program" are recorded in the history table 15.

Next, the automatic selection mode in which the program selection device 1 automatically selects a program will be described in detail with reference to the operation flowchart of FIG. The automatic selection mode includes three modes: an automatic selection mode based on the genre pattern (A) 13, an automatic selection mode based on the genre pattern (B) 14, and an automatic selection mode based only on the background.

The genre pattern (A) on the touch panel 6
When the automatic selection mode by 13 is set, the central processing unit 1
0 always refers to the storage area of the genre pattern (A) 13 in the data storage unit 4, and if it is determined that the current time obtained from the clock unit 3 has entered the set time zone of one genre in the table, the CD- The program codes, genre codes, and channel identification data of all programs broadcast at the current time are transferred from the ROM drive unit 2 to the program selection unit 7 (S1 to S
3).

The program selection section 7 refers to the data storage section 4,
A program having a genre code that matches the genre code set in the genre pattern (A) 13 is selected from these transferred programs, and the channel identification data is returned to the central processing unit 10 (S4). The central processing unit 10 sends the channel identification data of the selected program to the infrared transmission unit 8 and generates an infrared control signal for switching the channel of the TV device 11 (S5, S).
6). In the example of FIG. 3, for example, when the time is 17:00, the program selection unit 7 selects a program having a genre code of J-05 indicating the genre of animation from all the programs broadcast at 17:00. If there are a plurality of matching programs, or if there is no matching program, the program selection unit 7 refers to the history table 15 in the data storage unit 4 to make a selection.

First, when there are a plurality of matching programs, the program selection unit 7 determines whether or not any of these candidate programs has been selected in the past, by using the history table 1
It is assumed that the program code at the same time of 5 is sequentially referenced from one week ago to four weeks ago, and the program is selected when the one selected in the past is found (S7 to S9).

If the reference result cannot be found four weeks before, the central processing unit 10 receiving the reference result displays the program guide of the day on the liquid crystal display unit 5 and displays the program guide of the candidate program. The area is highlighted to prompt the user for selection. At this time, the user presses the touch panel 6 to switch to the designated TV channel, but the processing procedure is similar to that in the normal selection mode (S1).
0).

If there is no next matching program, the program code at the same time in the history table 15 is sequentially referenced from one week ago to four weeks ago, and the program to be broadcast at the current time is found. Then, the program is selected (S11 to S13).
If there is nothing to broadcast at the current time, the program that matches the most selected genre code of the genre codes of the programs selected at the same time from 1 week ago to 4 weeks ago referred to earlier Is selected (S12, S14).

Although the selection mode according to the genre pattern (A) 13 has been described above, the processing is performed in the same procedure with reference to the genre pattern (B) 14 even in the selection mode according to the genre pattern (B).

Further, in the automatic selection mode, a mode in which the genre patterns (A) 13 and (B) 14 are not designated is an automatic selection mode of only history, and the selection method here is the genre pattern (A) 13 described above. The program is determined by the same method as the processing procedure when there is no matching program in the automatic selection mode according to (S11 to S14).

The above processing is sequentially executed according to the software program of the processing means recording section 9. In addition, the mode is not always set first, and if the mode is switched to during normal viewing, the mode becomes effective from that point. Further, the classification of programs is not limited to genres, and it is possible to assign codes to performers and producers and select programs of desired performers and producers.

In this embodiment, the user stores the desired time zone and genre in the genre table in the data storage unit 4, and the genre code of the program to be broadcast which is obtained from the CD-ROM drive unit 2 is the program. Selector 7
Since the program is identified by collating with, it is possible to automatically select the program that suits the user's wishes.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a program selection device for automatically selecting a program suitable for the user by the user inputting a desired time, a program classification, a feature, or the like. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing allocation of genre codes in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a genre table in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a history table in the embodiment of FIG.

5 is a flow chart showing the operation in the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Program selection device, 2 ... CD-ROM drive unit, 3 ...
Clock part, 4 ... Data storage part, 5 ... Liquid crystal display part, 6 ... Touch panel, 7 ... Program selection part, 8 ... Infrared transmitting part, 9 ... Processing means storage part, 10 ... Central processing part, 11 ... TV device, 1
2 ... Genre table, 13 ... Genre pattern (A), 14 ... Genre pattern (B), 15 ... History table, 16 ... History recording buffer area, 17 ... CD-
ROM drive device, 18 ... Display unit, 19 ... Input unit, 2
0 ... Central processing unit, 21 ... Clock unit, 22 ... Data storage unit,
23 ... Processing means setting unit, 24 ... Control signal transmitting unit, 25 ... Radio device.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic recording medium storing at least program time information indicating a start and end time of each program, program information indicating a program providing station identification and a program title, and a reading means for reading the contents of the electronic recording medium. A keyword input unit for inputting a desired time or a keyword such as the classification and characteristics of the program, a keyword recording unit for recording the keyword, the keyword recorded in the keyword recording unit and the keyword stored in the electronic recording medium. A program selection device comprising: a program selection unit that collates the program information and identifies an arbitrary program. 2. A history recording means for recording what kind of the keyword has been input in the past, and a history recording means for obtaining a plurality of programs of the same classification in the electronic recording medium or in the absence thereof. 2. The program selection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a selection unit that preferentially selects the selected program. 3. The program selection device according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling an external device based on the program selected by the program selection unit.