JPS6244624Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention is a pay TV device in which display operations are sequentially performed according to the switch operation procedure in order to make it easier to understand the reception operation for receiving pay programs. The present invention relates to a display device.

Generally, this type of pay TV equipment is installed in hotels etc. for customer service, and in addition to free programs that can be received from general TV broadcasts (of course, you may also be charged a fee), Users can arbitrarily select and receive highly entertaining paid programs transmitted from VTR devices and other devices.

However, in order to receive the paid programs,
Switches on a local device installed near the television receiver in each guest room must be operated according to a predetermined procedure. However, since there are various classes of TV users, we will make the operating procedures as easy to understand as possible, and if a paid program is selected, we will clearly display that it is a paid program, and the fee will be charged according to the time. Users must be informed that this will increase.

The present invention was developed by focusing on these points, and it connects the operating procedure of the switch with the lamp display that is displayed when the switch is operated, and activates the lamp display related to the next required operation. To provide a pay TV display device that facilitates handling of the pay TV device by prompting the user to perform the next necessary operation and clearly displaying whether or not a pay program is being received. The purpose is to

Next, the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a pay TV device using a display device according to this invention as a local device, where 2 is a pay program broadcasting device including a video tape recorder (VTR), and 4 is a general TV and FM receiving antenna. , 6 is a head end containing a charge aggregation unit and other control signal generating devices; 8 and 1;
0 is a line amplifier for downlink signals and an uplink signal, 12 is a signal splitter, 14 is a branching device, and 16 is provided for each television receiver (TV) in the guest room, and is connected to a A local device 18 is a television receiver that controls the operation of the television receiver and displays the necessary displays in response to a switch (or button) operation by the customer. The pay program broadcasting device 2 and the head end 6 are normally placed as a center device in a center near the front desk of a hotel, etc., and from there they always transmit TV program signals to each local device 16 in the guest room via a coaxial cable. etc. are being sent. Examples of such transmission signals include television program signals of general channels, FM
In addition to signals, a plurality of pay VTR program signals (consisting of four channels A, B, C, and D in this embodiment), a local device 16 and a television receiver 1
8, and these signals are transmitted simultaneously using assigned frequency bands. The signal received by the local device 16 via the splitter 14 is split by the splitter, and is divided into free TV program signals and paid TV program signals.
The VTR program signal is transmitted to the television receiver 18, the FM signal is connected to a receiver on a nightstand, for example, and the control signal (for example, a charge tally signal, a charge count cancellation signal, a power off signal, a charge display zero return signal) etc.) are used to control the local device 16 and television receiver 18. Further, control signals generated from the local device 16 such as toll signals are transmitted from the local device again to the head end 6, and
It accumulates there until the customer checks out. Television users in each guest room can watch general free television programs by operating the local device 16 there, or can watch paid programs by switching on a switch. The customer's operations such as switching between paid and free switching and turning on/off the power of the television receiver 18 can be performed using a local device, and the present invention provides a comment display device used when switching between paid and free switching. and a pay program reception indicator, etc., as described later, on the local device 16.
installed on the operation panel.

Next, an embodiment of this invention will be described in detail based on FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a comment display device, a pay program reception display device, and related devices provided in a hotel local device 16 placed in each guest room of a hotel as an example. FIG. 3 represents one embodiment of the operating panel of the local device 16 using the device of FIG. First, to explain the configuration of the device, 24 connects to the head end 6 via a coaxial cable.
It separates and outputs the signals received from the TV into free program signals, pay program signals, FM signals, control signals, etc.
A mixer/distributor 26 transmits either free programs received directly from the mixer/distributor or pay programs received via a frequency converter 28 to the television receiver 1.
A paid/free selection switch circuit (in this embodiment, a non-lock type switch is used and is operated by a paid button 26a and a free button 26b, each having an indicator lamp above it), It has a local oscillator for each pay program, and selects a specific program from among the received pay VTR program signals by switching the switch.
At the same time, a frequency converter converts the selected local oscillator to the second channel (empty channel) frequency of the television receiver 18, and 30 decodes the above-mentioned control signals such as the charge total signal and controls the corresponding device. 32 is a pay program selection switch for selecting a desired pay program (in this embodiment, four separate pushbutton switches 32a, 32 for selecting four pay programs A, B, C, and D), 3
2b, 32c, and 32d, and pay program display lamps 58a, 58b, 58c, and 58d each displaying the on state of each switch.
(in conjunction with Fig. 3)) are connected to one of the switches 32a, 32b, 32c, and 32d, respectively, and when one of these switches becomes conductive, the toll pulses of different cycles are transmitted in conjunction with it. A pay program selection circuit having an oscillator that outputs to the counter 34, 34 a charge counter, 36 a display device (instruction lamp) 36a, 36 that displays operation comments to the user and provides operation instructions.
b, a comment indicator with 38, an indicator lamp 3;
A display control circuit for controlling lighting of 6a and 36b, 4
0 is a pay program reception indicator that indicates that a pay program is being received; 42 is a main switch for turning on/off the power of the television receiver 18; 44 is a charge display; 46 is a display of the charge display 44; Drive circuit, 4
8 represents the entire operation panel, and 52 is a power-on lamp.

Next, the operation of the device will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3.
The main switch 42 is normally switched to the free side, and a general free television program is transmitted from the mixer/distributor 24 to the television receiver 18. Therefore, when the main switch 42 is pressed to turn on the television receiver 18, a general television program is immediately displayed, just like an ordinary television. In this state, only the lamp of the free push button 26b, the indicator lamp 36a, and the power lamp 52 are on, and the other lamps are off. When the user presses the pay push button 26a to view a pay program, the lamp of the free push button 26b goes out and the lamp of the pay push button 26a goes out.
The lamp lights up, and the paid/free selection switch 26
is switched to pay, forming a closed circuit that transmits a signal from the frequency converter 28 to the television receiver 18. However, since the frequency converter 28 has not yet selected a specific pay program, nothing is displayed on the television receiver 18. By switching the switch, the pay/free selection switch circuit outputs a pay selection signal to the display control circuit 38. However, since the display control circuit 38 has not yet received a pay program selection signal from the pay program selection circuit 32 at its other input, the comment display 36 is not yet activated.
The indicator lamp 36a, which indicates "Free Channel, ...", is turned off, but the indicator lamp 36b, which indicates "Paid Channel, ...", is not fully lit. Instead, the indicator lamp 36b is turned on and off to indicate that the comment corresponds to a comment urging the user to carry out the next operation (for example, set the TV to channel 2 and press buttons A to D), and the user is given the instruction.
2a, 32b, 32c, 32d, e.g., A
When the switch 32a is pressed to select a program, the pay program indicator lamp 58a is turned on, and the switch linked to the switch 32a is turned on to select the frequency converter 2.
The pay program selection circuit 32 selects program A from the four pay programs received on the pay program selection circuit 38, converts it to the frequency of the second channel, and displays it on the television receiver 18 via the switch circuit 26, which is already turned on. A fee pulse having a period adjusted for program A is output from a pulse oscillator operating in conjunction with each program switch of the pay program selection circuit 32 to the fee counter 34, where it is counted, and the counted value is accumulated in the memory (or accumulating counter) of the display drive circuit 46, so that the corresponding total amount is instantly displayed on the fee display 44. Furthermore, the pay program selection circuit 32 outputs a pay program selection signal to the display control circuit 38 and the pay program receiving indicator 40, which lights up the indicator 40 to inform the customer that a pay program is being received and the fee is being added, and controls the display control circuit 38 to turn on the indicator lamp 34.
The flashing state of the switch 32a or 32b is changed to a lit state to indicate that the pay program has been completely received. This state is maintained while the pay program is being received, and when it is desired to switch the pay program, the desired switch 32a or 32b is simply turned on.
To switch back to the free program, the user simply presses the free button 26b, or the free state is automatically switched to by turning off the main switch 42 or by a command from the headend 6. The count value of the fee counter 34 is periodically stored in the memory of the fee collection unit 20 of the headend 6 via the signal converter 30 in response to a command from the unit 20, and is used for charging the fee at checkout. Therefore, the amount must exactly match the amount on the fee display 44.

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is a comment display that links the user's switch operation procedure with a lamp that indicates that the switch has been operated, and a comment display that clearly indicates that the user is receiving a pay program. By providing a display device, the pay TV device can be easily handled and used,
It is possible to notify users that they are receiving paid programs, avoid careless selection of paid programs, avoid troubles with users regarding charges, and ultimately increase the use of pay TV. It is something.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a pay TV device using a display device according to this invention as a local device, and Fig. 2 shows a comment display device and a pay program provided in a local device for a hotel as an embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a receiving indicator and related devices, and is a diagram representing one embodiment of the operation panel of a local device using the device of FIG. 2. 2...Pay program broadcasting device, 4...TV and
FM receiving antenna, 6...Head end, 8,1
0...Line amplifier, 12...Signal distributor, 14...
...Brancher, 16...Local device, 18...Television receiver, 24...Mixer/distributor, 26...Paid/free selection switch circuit, 26a, 26b...
Paid and free pushbuttons, 28...frequency converter,
30...Signal converter, 32...Pay program selection circuit, 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d...Pay program selection switch, 34...Charge counter, 36...
...Comment display device, 36a, 36b...Display device (instruction lamp), 38...Display control circuit, 40...
Paid program reception indicator, 42...Main switch, 44...Price display, 46...Display drive circuit, 48...Operation panel, 52...Power on lamp, 58a, 58b, 58c, 58d...Paid program Display lamp.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Using a TV shared listening system, the head end transmits general TV programs and pay TV programs to each terminal, and each terminal uses a switch to switch and receive the general TV programs and pay TV programs via a local device. In a pay television device that connects programs to a television receiver, the local device includes a changeover switch for switching between reception of general programs and reception of pay programs, and a pay TV device for selecting a desired program from a plurality of pay programs. Program selection switch,
A comment display displaying a comment for operating a pay program reception, which blinks when the changeover switch is switched to receive a pay program and lights up when one of the pay programs is selected using the pay program selection switch. and a pay program reception indicator that lights up when the pay program is selected by the pay program selection switch to inform the user that the pay program is being received. Pay TV display device.