JPH07288876A - Remote control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a remote control device in which confusion of a viewer by different remote commander operation is prevented in advance without deteriorating the operability. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 13 implements discrimination processing, decoding processing, and discrimination processing and control processing. When the result of decoding by the decoding processing indicates power interruption of a channel selection circuit 14, a remote commander commanding power interruption is stored in a storage circuit 15 in the discrimination processing, and when the result of decoding indicates power application of the channel selection circuit 14, whether or not the remote commander indicating application of power is identical to a remote commander stored in the storage circuit 15 is discriminated. In the control processing, when the result of discrimination by the discrimination processing indicates the identical remote commander, the output of the decoding result is allowed and when the result of discrimination indicates a different remote commander, a command of character display is given to an on-screen display generating circuit 16 and the output of the decoding result to the channel selection circuit 14 is stopped.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in an apparatus for selecting and executing a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions, and a remote operation for controlling selection and execution operation regarding the function of this apparatus. Regarding the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, there is a television receiver as an apparatus for selecting and executing a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions. A remote control device is used for selection of functions of the television receiver and control of execution operations.

In recent years, broadcasting services such as satellite broadcasting and CATV have spread, and satellite broadcasting receivers and CATV receivers for receiving these services have been installed at home. As a method of installing these receivers, one receiver is installed in the first room, and a television receiver is installed in each of the first room and the second room different from the first room, and the reception is performed. The television receiver in each room is connected to the television receiver in each room by a cable and the broadcast radio wave received by the receiver is distributed to the television receiver in each room. There is a method of displaying a predetermined broadcast program.

According to this method, when a broadcast program received by the receiver is viewed in a second room where the receiver is not installed, an obstacle is provided as a means for remotely operating the receiver from the second room. A remote control device (hereinafter referred to as a radio remote controller) that uses radio waves (especially UHF band radio waves) as a communication medium is used in order to prevent blocking by an object.

On the other hand, in the first room in which the receiver is installed, a remote control device using infrared rays or the like as a communication medium for the receiver (hereinafter referred to as an infrared remote controller) is used.

The operation contents of each radio remote controller and infrared remote controller transmitted to the receiver are confirmed by an OSD (on-screen display) function.

The above method will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a conventional satellite broadcast receiving system in North America.

In a room A (for example, a living room), as shown in FIG. 3, a receiver 1 for receiving a satellite broadcast and a television image receiver connected to an output terminal of the receiver 1 by a cable 2 are provided. Cable 3 to the receiver 3 and the television receiver 3
A video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as a VTR) 6 connected to the receiver 1 and connected to the receiver 1 by a cable 5 is installed. The remote control of the receiver 1 installed in the room A is performed by the infrared remote controller 7. On the other hand, a television receiver 8 is installed in a room B (for example, a bedroom) different from the room A, and the television receiver 8 is connected to the output terminal of the receiver 1 in the room A by a cable 9. There is. Receiver 1 installed from room B to room A
The radio remote controller 10 is used for the remote control of the television receiver 8 and the remote control of the television receiver 8. The transmission signal from the radio remote controller 10 reaches the receiver 1 in the room A without being blocked by a wall or the like.

However, for example, in the room A, the receiver 1
When the broadcast program received by the television receiver 3 is displayed on the television receiver 3 and is being viewed, the viewer in the room B does not know that the broadcast program is being viewed in the room A and operates the radio remote controller 10 to operate the receiver 1. The channel change operation may be performed, and the viewing of the program currently being broadcast in room A will be interrupted. As a result, the viewer in room A needs to inform the viewer in room B that he is currently watching the program, which is troublesome. In addition, sudden switching of broadcast programs may cause viewer confusion.

Similarly, when the broadcast program received by the receiver 1 in the room B is displayed on the television receiver 8 and is being viewed, the viewer in the room A operates the infrared remote controller 7 to change the channel of the receiver 1. The viewer in room B will be interrupted from viewing the currently broadcast program. As a result, the viewer in the room B needs to inform the viewer in the room A that the program is currently being viewed, which is troublesome and may cause confusion for the viewer.

When a viewer in the room B operates the radio remote controller 10 to change the channel of the receiver 1 while the broadcast program received by the receiver 1 in the room A is being recorded by the VTR 6, the predetermined broadcast is performed by the VTR 6. The program is not recorded,
It will annoy viewers who want to record.

In order to prevent the viewer from being confused due to the abrupt channel switching, a method of providing a channel lock function for preventing channel switching is used. In this method, channel selection is performed. It is necessary to set and release the lock function every time the operation is performed, resulting in extremely poor operability.

[0013]

As described above, in the conventional method of installing a receiver such as satellite broadcasting or CATV, whether or not the channel can be switched at each channel switching by viewers in different rooms. Need to check,
It is troublesome. In addition, viewers may be confused by sudden channel switching. Further, it is conceivable to provide a channel lock function in order to prevent viewers from being confused due to sudden channel switching, but the operability becomes very poor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of preventing viewers from being confused due to operation of different transmitters without deteriorating operability.

[0015]

The first invention of the present application is used for an apparatus which selects and executes a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions, and controls the selection and execution operation regarding the function of this apparatus. A plurality of transmitters for remotely transmitting transmission signals from different communication media to the device, receiving means for individually receiving the transmission signals from the transmitters, and at least characters. , Display means for displaying characters such as figures, discrimination means for discriminating the sender of the transmission signal received by the reception means, and decoding the transmission signal received by the reception means, and the result of the decoding. To the device, and when the result of the decoding by the decoding device indicates that the power supply to the device has been cut off, it stores the transmitter that is the source of the transmission signal instructing this power cutoff. And the transmitter stored in the memory of the storage means is the same as the transmitter, when the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates that the device is powered on. When the determination means for determining whether or not is, and the determination result of the determination means indicates the same transmitter, the output of the decoding means is permitted,
When the determination result of the determination means indicates that the transmitter is different, a control for causing the display means to display a character for indicating that another transmitter is currently used and stopping the output of the decoding means Means and transmitter selecting means for selecting the transmitter after the output of the decoding means is stopped.

The second invention of the present application is a remote control device for use in a device for selecting and executing a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions, and for controlling selection and execution operations relating to the function of this device. And a plurality of transmitters for remotely transmitting the transmission signals composed of mutually different communication media to the device, a receiving means for individually receiving the transmission signals from the transmitters, and at least characters such as characters and figures. Display means for displaying, a discrimination means for discriminating the transmitter of the transmission signal of the transmission signal received by the receiving means, and the transmission signal received by the receiving means, and outputs the result of the decoding to the device. Decoding means, selecting means for selecting one of the preset first and second modes, and the selecting means for selecting the first mode. And the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates that the power supply of the device is cut off, the first mode is selected by the storage means for storing the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal instructing the power cutoff and the previous mode. When selected and the result of decoding by the decoding means indicates power-on of the device, the transmitter of the transmission signal for instructing the power-on and the transmitter stored in the memory of the memory are the same. When the determination means for determining whether or not the determination result and the determination result of the determination means indicate the same transmitter, the output of the decoding means is permitted, and the determination result of the determination means is different in the transmitter. A first character that causes the display means to display a character to indicate that another transmitter is currently in use and stops the output of the decoding means
Control means, a transmitter selecting means for performing an operation of selecting the transmitter after the output of the decoding means is stopped, and a decoding result of the decoding means when the second mode is selected by the selecting means. Second control means for permitting the output of

[0017]

[Operation] In the remote control device of the first invention of the present application, when the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates that the power supply of the device is cut off, the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal instructing the power cutoff is stored When the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates that the power of the device is turned on, whether the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal instructing the power on is the same as the transmitter stored in the memory of the storage means. When the determination result of the determination means indicates the same transmitter, the output of the decoding means is permitted, and when the determination result of the determination means indicates a different transmitter, A character for indicating that the other transmitter is currently being used is displayed on the display means, the output of the decoding means is stopped, and after the output of the decoding result is stopped, the transmitter is selected.

The remote control device of the first invention of the present application is a satellite broadcast,
A case of being used in a receiver such as a CATV will be described. For example, in the room A, the receiver and a television receiver connected to the output terminal of the receiver by a cable are installed. Remote control of the receiver installed in this room A is performed by an infrared remote controller. On the other hand, a television receiver is installed in the room B different from the room A, and the television receiver 7 is connected to the output terminal of the receiver in the room A by a cable. This room B
A radio remote controller is used for remote control of a receiver installed in room A and remote control of a television receiver.

When the broadcast program received by the receiver in the room A is displayed on the television receiver and is being viewed, the viewer in the room B does not know that the broadcast program is being viewed in the room A and the radio remote control is available. The operation may change the channel of the receiver.

When the radio remote controller operates a channel, a transmission signal is sent from the radio remote controller to the receiver. Since the determination means determines that this radio remote controller is different from the remote controller that lastly instructed to shut off the power, the decoding result corresponding to the transmission signal from the radio remote controller is not output to the receiver and the channel of the receiver No changes are made. Further, it is displayed on the television receiver that the infrared remote controller in the room A is currently being used.

Similarly, while the receiver in the room B is receiving the desired broadcast program of the viewer in the room B, when the viewer in the room A performs the channel switching operation by the infrared remote controller, the image is displayed on the television receiver for viewing. When it is, the decoding result corresponding to the transmission signal from the infrared remote controller is not output to the receiver, and the channel of the receiver is not changed. Further, it is displayed on the television receiver that the radio remote controller in room B is currently in use.

Since the transmitter to be used is selected after the output of the decoding result is stopped, there is no room for selecting the transmitter.

As a result, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of confirming whether or not it is possible to switch the channels for each channel switching by the viewers in different rooms without deteriorating the operability, and to switch the channels abruptly. It is possible to prevent viewers from being confused due to. That is, it is possible to prevent the viewer from being confused by the operation of different transmitters without deteriorating the operability.

Since the remote control device of the second invention of the present application is provided with the selecting means for selecting one of the first mode and the second mode, the channels by the viewers in different rooms are provided. It is possible to eliminate the trouble of confirming whether or not the channel can be switched at each switching, and to prevent the confusion of the viewer due to the sudden channel switching. You can choose.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

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

The remote control device is used in a receiver 20 for receiving satellite broadcasting, as shown in FIG. The remote control device includes an infrared remote controller 7 that transmits a transmission signal using infrared rays as a communication medium, and a radio remote controller 10 that transmits a transmission signal using a UHF band radio wave as a medium. The infrared remote control 7 is placed in the room A, and the receiver 2 is installed in the room A.
0, a television receiver 3 connected to the receiver 20 by a cable, and a VTR 6 connected to the receiver 20 and the television receiver 3 by a cable, respectively. The radio remote controller 10 is placed in the room B, and the television receiver 8 connected to the receiver by a cable is placed in the room B. The room A and the room B are separated from each other by a wall.

The transmission signal from the infrared remote controller 7 is received by the receiving circuit 11, and the transmission signal from the radio remote controller 9 is received by the receiving circuit 12. Each of the receiving circuits 11 and 12 is incorporated in the receiver 10. The transmission signal received by the receiving circuit 11 is given to the CPU 13, and similarly, the receiving circuit 1
The transmission signal received at 2 is given to the CPU 13.

The CPU 13 performs a discrimination process, a decoding process, a determination process and a control process. In the discrimination processing, it is discriminated based on the signal input to the ports corresponding to the receiving circuits 11 and 12 which one of the receiving circuits 11 and 12 has received the transmission signal.

In the decoding process, the transmission signals received by the receiving circuits 11 and 12 are decoded, and the result of the decoding is output to the channel selection circuit 14.

In the determination process, the result of the decoding is the receiver 2
When the power is turned off, the remote controller that is the source of the transmission signal for instructing the power off is stored in the memory circuit 15. When the result of the decoding indicates that the receiver 20 is turned on, the power is turned on. It is determined whether the remote controller that is the source of the transmission signal and the remote controller stored in the storage circuit 15 are the same.

In the control processing, when the result of the determination by the second determination processing indicates that the remote control is the same, the output of the decoding result is permitted, and the result of the determination indicates that the remote control is different. , The on-screen display generation circuit 16 is instructed to display a character to indicate that "there is another remote controller in use !! Forced operation?", And the output of the decoding result to the channel selection circuit 14 is stopped. .

After the process of stopping the output of the decoding result, the process of whether or not to permit the execution of the forced operation by another different remote controller is performed. When permitting execution of a forced operation by another different remote controller, a transmission signal from another different remote controller is accepted and the decoding result of this transmission signal is output to the channel selection circuit 14.

The tuning circuit 14 selects a corresponding channel based on the decoding result from the CPU 13 and outputs the selected channel frequency to the video signal processing circuit 17. The on-screen display generation circuit 16 includes the CPU 13
Based on the instruction from, a character signal indicating "While another remote control is being used !! Forced operation?" Is generated. The on-screen display generating circuit 16 cooperates with the infrared remote controller 7, the radio remote controller 10, the CPU 13 and the storage circuit 15 to form a remote control device.

The video signal processing circuit 17 performs video detection processing and FM detection processing on the channel frequency from the channel selection circuit 14 to generate a video signal and an audio signal. The video signal processing circuit 17 includes an on-screen display generation circuit 16
Video signal processing circuit 1 when a video signal from
Reference numeral 7 superimposes the character signal from the on-screen display generation circuit 16 on the video signal. The video signal from the video signal processing circuit 17 is given to each of the television receivers 3 and 8.

Next, the operation of the remote control device will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the remote control device of FIG.

It is assumed that the infrared remote controller 7 operates the receiver 20 in the room A. When a transmission signal is transmitted from the infrared remote controller 7 (step 101),
It is determined whether or not the instruction content of the transmission signal is power off of the receiver 20 (step 102). When the content of the instruction of the transmission signal from the infrared remote controller 7 indicates power-off, the receiver 20 is instructed to perform the power-off operation, and the power of the receiver 20 is turned off (step 103). Next, the storage circuit 1 is used as the last remote controller used by the infrared remote controller 7.
5 (step 104).

On the other hand, when the content of the transmission signal of the infrared remote controller 7 is, for example, the content indicating the channel switching,
Data indicating the last used remote controller is read from the memory circuit 15, and it is determined whether or not the remote controller and the infrared remote controller 7 are the same (step 105).
When the determination result indicates the same remote controller, the decoding result corresponding to the transmission signal from the infrared remote controller 7 is the tuning circuit 14.
The channel selection circuit 14 performs channel selection operation for the instructed channel (step 104).

When the judgment results show that the remote controllers are different, that is, when the radio remote controller 10 is operated, a signal for instructing message display is given to the on-screen display generating circuit 16, and the on-screen display generating circuit 16 Generate a signal to display "Are you using another remote control !! Do you want to perform a forced operation?". The signal from the on-screen display generation circuit 16 is the video signal processing circuit 106.
Given to. The video signal processing circuit 16 superimposes on the video signal a signal for displaying "While another remote controller is being used !! Forced operation?"
Is displayed on the screen of the television receiver 8 and "Are other remote controllers in use? Forced operation?" Is displayed (step 106).

After the above message is displayed, the viewer in room B selects whether or not to perform a forced operation using the radio remote controller 10 (step 107). When the forced operation by the radio remote controller 10 is selected, the operation of the receiver is operated by the radio remote controller 10 (step 103), and the storage circuit 15 is the last remote controller used by the radio remote controller 10.
(Step 104).

From the above, without impairing the operability,
It is possible to eliminate the trouble of confirming whether or not the channel can be switched every time the channel switching is performed by the viewers in different rooms, and it is possible to prevent the viewer from being confused due to the abrupt channel switching.

In the present embodiment, an example is described in which the last used remote controller is stored to prevent simultaneous use of different remote controllers. However, the first mode for performing the above-mentioned operation and the normal mode are previously described. Normal use can also be implemented by setting the second mode which is

In the present embodiment, the case where the television receiver is being viewed is explained, but the VTR6
It is also possible to prevent the channel switching when recording the.

[0044]

As described above, according to the remote control device of the present invention, it is possible to prevent viewers from being confused by different remote control operations without deteriorating the operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the remote control device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a conventional satellite broadcast receiving system in North America.

[Explanation of symbols]

 7 infrared remote control 10 radio remote control 13 CPU 14 tuning circuit 15 memory circuit 16 on-screen display generation circuit 20 receiver

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A remote control device for use in a device for selecting and executing a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions, for controlling selection and execution operations relating to the function of the device, the remote operation device comprising: A plurality of transmitters for remotely transmitting the transmission signals from different communication media to the device, a receiving means for individually receiving the transmission signals from the transmitters, and a display means for displaying at least characters such as characters and figures A discriminating means for discriminating the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal received by the receiving means, a decoding means for decoding the transmission signal received by the receiving means, and outputting the result of the decoding to the device; When the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates a power-off of the device, a storage means for storing the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal instructing the power-off, and the decoding of the decoding means When the result shows that the power of the device is turned on, it is determined whether the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal instructing this power-on is the same as the transmitter stored in the memory of the storage means. When the determination means and the determination result of the determination means indicate the same transmitter, the output of the decoding means is permitted, and when the determination result of the determination means indicates different transmitters, the display Control means for causing the means to display a character to indicate that another transmitter is currently in use and for stopping the output of the decoding means, and for selecting the transmitter after stopping the output of the decoding means And a transmitter selecting means. 2. A remote control device for use in a device for selecting and executing a predetermined function from a plurality of selectable functions, for controlling selection and execution operations relating to the function of this device, the remote operation device comprising: A plurality of transmitters for remotely transmitting the transmission signals composed of different communication media to the device, respectively, receiving means for individually receiving the transmission signals from the transmitters, and a display for displaying at least characters such as characters and figures Means, determining means for determining the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal received by the receiving means, and decoding means for decoding the transmission signal received by the receiving means and outputting the result of this decoding to the device. Selecting means for selecting one of preset first mode and second mode; and the selecting means selecting the first mode and When the result of the decoding by the decoding means indicates that the device is powered off,
Storage means for storing the transmitter of the transmission source of the transmission signal for instructing the power-off, and the first mode is selected by the previous selection means and the decoding result of the decoding means indicates the power-on of the device. ,
The determination means for determining whether the transmitter of the transmission signal for instructing the power-on and the transmitter stored in the storage of the storage means are the same, and the determination result of the determination means is the same. When it is indicated that the transmitter is the other transmitter, the output of the decryption unit is permitted, and when the determination result of the determination unit is a different transmitter, the display unit is currently using another transmitter. First control means for displaying a character to indicate that the output of the decoding means is stopped, and transmitter selection means for performing an operation of selecting the transmitter after the output of the decoding means is stopped, And a second control unit which permits the output of the decoding result of the decoding unit when the second mode is selected by the selecting unit.