JPH09289616A - Television signal receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the handleability of a user by making a program display processing means extract program chart related information from transmission control signals and display a program chart whose head is a program prescribed time before the input time of a program display instruction. SOLUTION: Digital broadcasting signals inputted to a signal input terminal 101 are passed through a tuner 102 and demodulated in a demodulator 103. The signals are error-corrected in an error correction circuit 104, encoded data are outputted to a source decoder 106 in a multiplexer 105 and the transmission control signals are extracted and sent to a present time acquisition processing means 107 and a program chart control means 108. The source decoder 106 decodes the signals and outputs video signals, audio signals and data signals. The means 107 acquires the information of time relation from the transmission control signals and the means 108 receives the program display instruction, records the information in a storage device 109 and displays the program chart whose head is the program broadcasted at present.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television signal receiver, and more particularly to a video signal, an audio signal, a data signal, and a transmission control signal. The program guide related information is extracted, and the program guide starting from the program currently being broadcast or the program guide starting from the current time by a predetermined time is displayed according to the program guide display command.
As described above, the present invention relates to a device in which the usability of the user is improved by first displaying the program guide in the time zone around the current time when displaying the program guide.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a character broadcast as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-15676 as a broadcasting system for multiplexing and broadcasting a video signal and a data signal. However, since the character information is transmitted only on a specific line within the vertical blanking period of the television signal, the amount of data is not so large, and thus advanced data broadcasting has been difficult.

For broadcasting related to video content, conversation content may be transmitted as a data signal, and the receiver side may decode this to add subtitles for the hearing impaired. As broadcasts that are not directly related, news, weather forecasts, program guides, stock price information, etc. may have been displayed. In any case, it was not the kind of information whose contents changed significantly within a very short time.

As described above, the conventional data broadcasting represented by the character broadcasting has a problem that the data amount is limited and the advanced broadcasting cannot be performed. This is one of the factors, and the digital broadcasting system is currently being studied. ing. Here, not only data signals but also video signals, audio signals, and service information are all converted into digital data. However, if digital technology is used, these signals can be significantly compressed. The signals of 4 to 6 channels can be multiplexed in the bandwidth of 1 channel.

[0005]

In such a digital broadcasting system, since signals of 4 to 6 channels can be multiplexed in the current bandwidth of 1 channel, multichannels of several hundred channels can be realized. . Furthermore, as new functions brought by digital technology, for example, you can search for a program you want to watch from the program guide displayed on the screen and select it directly, get home shopping information and apply for products, participate in quiz programs, Participation in questionnaire surveys such as discussion programs, and near-on-demand services are examples. With these new features,
Since the number of scenes accessed by the viewer increases, it is desired that the receiver be easier for the user to use. Part 1
One problem is the program guide display function. When the user requests the screen display of the program guide, there is a high possibility that the user first requests the program guide in the time zone around the current time. However, when the signals to be transmitted are sequentially displayed on the screen, the program guide displayed first is not always the program guide in the time zone requested by the user, and it is not convenient for the user.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a channel decoder for performing channel selection, digital demodulation, and error correction processing, and a video signal,
A demultiplexer for separating a multiplexed signal that is transmitted by multiplexing an audio signal, a data signal, and a transmission control signal into encoded data of a video signal, an audio signal, and a data signal, and extracting the transmission control signal, Program guide display means for extracting the program guide related information and the current time information from the transmission control signal extracted by the demultiplexer, and displaying the program guide, and decoding the encoded data that is the output of the demultiplexer, Equipped with a source decoder that outputs video signals, audio signals, and data signals, and in accordance with a user's program guide display instruction, the program guide in the time zone beginning with the program near the time when the display instruction is input is displayed first. By doing so, the usability for the user is improved.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Before that, some explanation will be added to the outline of the digital broadcasting system. FIG. 2 shows the processing of the digital broadcasting system. In FIG. 2, 201 is an encoder, 202 is a multiplexer, 203 is a channel coding device, and 204 is a modulator.

On the broadcasting station side, a video signal, an audio signal,
The data signal is converted into a digital signal and then compressed by the encoder 201. The compression method includes DPCM (DIFFERENTIAL PULSE CODE MODULATION), DCT (DISCRETE COSINE TRANSFORM), and M.
There is a method using PEG2 (MOVING PICTURE EXPERTS GROUP PHASE 2). The data thus obtained by compression is converted into a packet by the multiplexer 202 together with the transmission control signal, with the addition of a header and error correction check bits.
The structure of this packet is shown in FIG. Such packets are, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, a packet of a video signal, a packet of an audio signal, a packet of a transmission control signal,
It is again arranged in order and multiplexed like a packet of a video signal again. The multiplex position is arbitrary, and each packet can be identified by the data included in the header. The multiplexed signal obtained in this way is transmitted to the channel coding device 203.
According to the encoding method, convolutional coding such as Viterbi code or block coding such as Reed-Solomon code is used. The coded data is subjected to digital modulation such as OFDM or QPSK by the modulator 204, and is transmitted in the form of broadcast radio waves.

The above is the outline of the digital broadcasting system.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a signal input terminal, 102 is a tuner, and 10 is a signal input terminal.
3 is a demodulator, 104 is an error correction circuit, 105 is a demultiplexer, 106 is a source decoder, 107 is a current time acquisition processing means, 108 is a program guide display control means, and 109 is a storage device.

A digital broadcast signal is input to the signal input terminal 101, tuned and detected by the tuner 102, converted into digital information, and output to the demodulator 103.
The demodulator 103 demodulates the digitally modulated signal,
It is output to the error correction circuit 104. Error correction circuit 104
Performs an operation of correcting an error due to the influence of noise or the like generated on the transmission path, and outputs the error to the demultiplexer 105. The demultiplexer 105 separates the multiplexed signal in which the video signal, the audio signal, etc. are multiplexed on the transmission side, outputs the encoded data of each of the video signal, the audio signal, and the data signal to the source decoder 106, and transmits the data. The control signal is extracted and supplied to the current time acquisition processing means 107 and the program guide display control means 108. Source decoder 1
06 decodes the encoded data output from the demultiplexer 105, and outputs a video signal, an audio signal, and a data signal.

Here, in the transmission control signal extracted by the demultiplexer 105, in addition to PSI (Program Specific Information) defined in MPEG-2 SYSTEM,
Information about the program arrangement such as program-related information, channel-related information, and time-related information is included. The information about the program arrangement is transmitted according to the section format specified in the MPEG-2 SYSTEM, but if it does not fit in one section, it may be divided into several sections and transmitted. In that case, a section number is given to distinguish each section.

The current time acquisition means 107 acquires time-related information from the transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer 105 and notifies it to the program guide display control means 108.

The program guide display control means 108 extracts information related to the program guide from the transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer 105 and records all or part of the information related to the program guide in the storage device 109. . Furthermore, the program guide display control means 108 is configured to obtain the current time acquisition processing means 107.
From the storage device 109, the current time is obtained from the storage device 109, the information necessary for displaying the program guide is read out in accordance with the program guide display command, and the program guide is presented. At this time, the program guide to be presented in response to the program guide display command first is a program guide starting from the (current time-N hours) program of the currently displayed channel or the channel designated by the user. To do so. N represents a preset time or an elapsed time from the start time of the currently broadcast program to the present. In other words, upon receiving the program guide display command, the program guide to be displayed first is a program guide starting from the program currently being broadcast, or a program guide starting from a program traced back several hours ago. To After that, the program guide of the time zone before that or the time zone after that can be presented according to the desire of the user.

A specific processing procedure of the program guide display control means 108 will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, in step 401, current time information is acquired from the current time acquisition processing means 107. Next, at step 402, the program guide information of the currently displayed channel is extracted from the transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer 105. The program guide information is divided into sections of several hours, for example, in order of the start time of the program. Therefore, the receiving side needs to specify the section number and acquire the program guide section data in the desired time zone. Therefore, in step 402 of FIG. 4, of the program guide information, the section of the time zone including the current time acquired in step 401 is designated, and the section data is extracted. And
The acquired section data is recorded in the storage device 109 in step 403. When the program guide display command is input (step 404), the section data recorded in the storage device 109 is read, and the program information (current time-N hours) is retrieved from the section data. Then, the program guide having the program of (current time-N hours) as the head is presented (step 405). If there is no program guide display command in step 404, the operations of steps 401 to 403 are repeated. At this time, when the program guide related information of the transmitted transmission control information is updated, the data recorded in the storage device 109 is updated. Further, when the operation of steps 401 to 403 is repeated and section data different from the previous one is acquired, the already recorded data is left as it is and is recorded in a new storage area. Alternatively, the data already recorded in the storage device 109 can be updated with the newly acquired data.

In the processing procedure shown in FIG. 4, the operations from step 401 to step 403 are always repeated, the program guide data is recorded in the storage device 109 in advance, and is prepared when the program guide display command is input. When the program guide command is input, the information is read from the storage device 109 and the program guide is displayed. By doing so, it is possible to immediately respond to the display of the program guide.

A second example of the processing procedure of the program guide display control means 108 is shown in FIG. The processing shown in FIG. 5 is the same as that of FIG. 4 except that the timing of receiving the display command is different. In the processing procedure shown in FIG. 5, since the program guide display processing is performed after the program guide display command is input, the operation of the program guide processing unit can be stopped except when necessary.
However, as shown in FIG. 5, since the process is started after receiving the program guide display command, the responsiveness from receiving the program guide display command to displaying the program guide is slower than that of the process of FIG. It will be.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, an example of presenting the program guide of the currently displayed channel is shown, but the program guide display control means 108, together with the program guide display command, displays the channel information desired by the user. It is also possible to present a program guide of a channel other than the currently displayed channel by receiving the.

The storage device 109 can be realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory, and there is a method of writing and reading data by giving an address.

Next, a second embodiment of the television signal receiver according to the present invention is shown in FIG. In the figure, 601
Is a current time supply device, and is otherwise similar to FIG. The operation of this embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 1 except that the current time supply device 601 has a clock therein and notifies the program time display control means 108 of the current time.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the current time information and the program guide information are extracted from the transmission control signal transmitted together with the video signal, the audio signal and the data signal,
When there is a program guide display command, the program guide with the program in the time zone near the current time at the head is presented, that is, the program guide in the time zone which is likely to be requested by the user is displayed first. The usability for the user can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a transmission / reception system of digital broadcasting.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a packet structure and a frame structure.

FIG. 4 is a first example of a processing procedure of program guide display control means.

FIG. 5 is a second example of the processing procedure of the program guide display control means.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Signal input terminal, 102 ... Tuner, 103
・ ・ ・ Demodulator, 104 ・ ・ ・ Error correction circuit, 105 ・ ・ ・ Demultiplexer, 106 ・ ・ ・ Source decoder, 107 ・ ・ ・
Current time acquisition processing means, 108 ... Program guide display control means, 109 ... Storage device.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshinori Murata, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Ltd. Multimedia system development headquarters, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Satoshi Takahashi Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 292 shares Hitachi, Ltd., Video Information Media Division (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Fushimi Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture 292 Shares Hitachi, Ltd. Video Information Media Division (72) Inventor, Hiroshi Yoshikawa Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 292 Yoshidacho Stock Company Hitachi, Ltd. Visual Information Media Division

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A signal transmitted by multiplexing at least one of a video signal, an audio signal, a data signal, and a transmission control signal is received, and the received signal is tuned, demodulated, and erroneous. A channel decoding unit that performs processing such as correction and a multiplexed signal output from the channel decoding unit are separated, encoded data of each of the video signal, audio signal, and data signal is output, and a transmission control signal is extracted. A demultiplexer, program guide display processing means for extracting program guide related information from the transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer, and displaying the program guide in accordance with a program guide display command, and the demultiplexer Decodes the encoded data that is output and outputs the video signal,
A source decoder that outputs a voice signal and a data signal, and the program guide display processing means extracts program guide related information from the transmission control signal supplied from the demultiplexer, and based on a program guide display command, A television signal receiving apparatus, which displays a program guide having a program at a time earlier than a time when a table display command is input as a predetermined time. 2. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means obtains current time information from a transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer, and the current time processing means. The program table related information is extracted from the transmission control signal supplied from the multiplexer, the current time information output from the current time acquisition processing means is referred to, and the time before the time when the program table display command is input is given time. And a program guide display control unit that performs a process of displaying a program guide with the program of 1 above as a head. 3. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means obtains current time information from a transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer, and the current time processing means. The program table related information is extracted from the transmission control signal supplied from the multiplexer, the current time information output from the current time acquisition processing means is referred to, and the time before the time when the program table display command is input is given time. Program guide display control means for performing processing for displaying the program guide with the program at the beginning, and all the program guide related information extracted by the program guide display control means are stored, and read as needed by the program guide display control means. A television signal receiving apparatus, comprising: 4. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means obtains current time information from a transmission control signal output from the demultiplexer, and the current time processing means. The program table related information is extracted from the transmission control signal supplied from the multiplexer, the current time information output from the current time acquisition processing means is referred to, and the time before the time when the program table display command is input is given time. Program guide display control means for performing a process of displaying a program guide with the program at the top, and at least a part of the program guide related information extracted by the program guide display control means, and when necessary, the program guide display control means A television signal receiving apparatus comprising: a storage unit that can be read out at any time. 5. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means is related to a program guide based on a current time supply device that outputs a current time and a transmission control signal supplied from the demultiplexer. A process of extracting information and displaying a program guide with a program at a time a predetermined time before the time when the program guide display command is input by referring to the current time information output from the current time supply device, A television signal receiving apparatus comprising: a program guide display control means for performing the program guide display. 6. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means is related to a program guide based on a current time supply device for outputting a current time and a transmission control signal supplied from the demultiplexer. A process of extracting information and displaying a program guide with a program at a time a predetermined time before the time when the program guide display command is input by referring to the current time information output from the current time supply device, A program guide display control means for performing the program guide display, and a storage means for storing all the program guide related information extracted by the program guide display control means, and capable of being read out at any time by the program guide display control means when necessary. A characteristic television signal receiving device. 7. The television signal receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program guide display processing means is related to a program guide based on a current time supply device for outputting a current time and a transmission control signal supplied from the demultiplexer. A process of extracting information and displaying a program guide with a program at a time a predetermined time before the time when the program guide display command is input by referring to the current time information output from the current time supply device, And a storage means for storing at least a part of the program guide related information extracted by the program guide display control means, and capable of being read out at any time by the program guide display control means when necessary. A television signal receiving device characterized by the above. 8. The television signal receiving device according to claim 3, 4, 6, or 7, wherein said storage means is a semiconductor memory. 9. The television signal receiving device according to claim 3, 4, 6 and 7, wherein the storage means has updated the program guide related information in the transmission control information output from the demultiplexer. In the case, a television signal receiving device characterized by updating stored contents.