KR100739375B1 - Broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

With reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 9, an icon associated with the program is specified, and the icon is associated with the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote control unit 13 on the user interface screen. Display.

Icon, program information, user interface, remote control

Description

Broadcast receiver {BROADCAST RECEIVER}

1 is an explanatory diagram showing a user interface screen of a conventional broadcast receiver.

2 is a plan view illustrating a remote control of a conventional broadcast receiver.

3 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a plan view of the remote control unit 13;

5 is a screen diagram illustrating a user interface screen.

6 is an explanatory diagram showing an icon corresponding to a genre.

7 is an explanatory diagram showing a correspondence relationship between numeric keys and channels;

8 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a screen diagram illustrating a user interface screen.

10 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a screen diagram showing a user interface screen.

12 is a screen diagram illustrating a user interface screen.

Fig. 13 is a screen diagram showing a user interface screen.

Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a divided state of programs rearranged on the basis of channel numbers.

Fig. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing how programs are divided by rearranging the programs by genres;

16 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a screen diagram showing an input screen of a character string by a user.

18 is a block diagram illustrating a broadcast receiver according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing how a user checks a favorite program.

20 is a screen diagram illustrating a user interface screen.

21 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a screen diagram showing a user interface screen.

The present invention relates to a broadcast receiver having a user interface screen for assisting program selection.

For example, in BS digital broadcasting currently being broadcast, an electronic programming guide (EPG: Electronic Programming Guide) used in selecting a program is mostly formed in a grid shape with two axes of broadcast time and channels. . However, in such a display method, even though the number of channels that can be viewed is very large, there is a limit to the number of program information that can be displayed on one screen of the television. Therefore, it is difficult to find a program to be viewed.

The broadcast receiver of the information display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-148812 provides an interface as shown in FIG. 1 to various information sources such as television broadcasts, external inputs, the Internet, and the like. By selecting the icons 301 and 302 with the remote controller as shown in Fig. 2, the information to be displayed on the screen is determined.

That is, when the icons 301 and 302 are selected by the remote controller, the cursor moves keys 312 to 315 to move the cursor to select a desired channel, and then press the enter key 311 to display on the screen. To determine the information.

Since the conventional broadcast receiver is configured as described above, there has been a problem that it is difficult to perform "zapping" to switch channels at high speed while searching for a program to be viewed by a user.

For example, when the cursor is located at the position of the icon 301 corresponding to ch1, in order to select a program at the position of the icon 302 corresponding to WEB, the cursor is moved by the cursor movement keys 312 to 315. For example, it is necessary to press the enter key 311 after moving to the right side, the right side, the bottom side, the right side, and the like. In this case, the user needs to perform all five button operations, and it was difficult to switch channels at high speed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a broadcast receiver capable of simplifying a user's remote control operation.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention refers to the program information acquired by the program information acquiring means, specifies an icon associated with the program, and associates the icon with the arrangement of the channel selection button of the remote control, while the user interface screen If the number of icons to be displayed on the display exceeds the number of channel selection buttons, the icons are assigned to the plurality of user interface screens.

Thereby, the user's remote control can be simplified, and there is an effect that can be handled even when the number of icons related to the program exceeds the number of channel selection buttons.

When an arbitrary program is recorded and program information of the program is recorded, the broadcast receiver according to the present invention refers to the program information of the program, specifies an icon related to the program, and sets the icon of the remote controller. Corresponding to the arrangement of the channel selection button, it is displayed on the user interface screen.

Thereby, the selection operation of the recorded program can be simplified as well as the program operation during broadcasting.

When a search condition for program information is given, the broadcast receiver according to the present invention is configured to specify an icon related to a program by referring to program information that matches the search condition.

This has the effect of quickly selecting a desired program.

Even if the broadcast receiver according to the present invention specifies an icon associated with a program with reference to program information that matches the search condition, if the number of the icon does not match the number of channel selection buttons, the program does not match the search condition. The information is also referred to so that an icon related to the program can be specified.

This has the effect of selecting a program that does not meet the search conditions.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to switch the user interface screen to be displayed when the user operates the page-to-page navigation key.

Thereby, even if the number of icons related to a program exceeds the number of channel selection buttons, it is possible to quickly select a desired program.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is an image representing the genre of the program.

As a result, the user can easily associate the contents of the program by viewing the icon.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is a moving picture of a program.

As a result, the user can easily associate the contents of the program by viewing the icon.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is a still picture constituting a part of a moving picture of the program.

As a result, the user can easily associate the contents of the program by viewing the icon.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is associated with a character string in the program information acquired by the program information acquisition means.

As a result, the user can easily associate the contents of the program by viewing the icon.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is associated with the bit string in the program information acquired by the program information acquisition means.

As a result, the user can easily associate the contents of the program by viewing the icon.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is such that the icon specified by the icon display means is associated with a character string designated by the user.

This has the effect of allowing the user to select the program more intuitively.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to display a symbol displayed on a channel selection button of a remote controller in the vicinity of a corresponding icon.

As a result, the user can easily grasp the correspondence between the channel selection button and the icon of the remote controller.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to display a moving picture of a currently selected program on a user interface screen.

This has the effect of confirming the currently selected program.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to display the program information of the currently selected program on the user interface screen.

This has the effect of confirming the program information of the currently selected program.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to display a specific symbol on an icon corresponding to a recorded program.

This has the effect of easily identifying the recorded program.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention is to display only these icons on a user interface screen when one or more icons are tentatively designated by the user.

As a result, the user can find a program to watch while narrowing down a program of interest.

When the broadcast receiver according to the present invention specifies an icon related to a program, in addition to the icon registered by the user by the icon acquiring means, an icon registered in the device in advance is associated with the program information of the program. By means of priority, the icon registered by the user is associated with the program.

This has the effect of giving priority to the icon registered by the user.

When a broadcast receiver according to the present invention specifies an icon related to a program, when there are a plurality of character strings registered by the user by the icon acquiring means in the program information of the program, the broadcast receiver is assigned to the character string registered at the time closest to the current time. Corresponding icons are given priority in association.

This has the effect of giving priority to the icon corresponding to the character string registered at the time closest to the current time.

The broadcast receiver according to the present invention superimposes and displays a still image constituting a part of the moving image displayed at the time when there is an input for obtaining an icon from a user who views the moving image. Words that the user wants to associate with still images are also displayed on the same screen.

As a result, words desired by the user can be displayed on the screen.

<Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention>

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, in order to demonstrate this invention in detail, the best form for implementing this invention is demonstrated according to attached drawing.

[First Embodiment]

3 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which, reference numeral 1 is an antenna for receiving a broadcast wave, and reference numeral 2 is a stream including a program selected from the broadcast wave; A demultiplexer for separating the video and audio data of a desired program and program information of all channels from the stream extracted by the tuner 2, and a reference numeral 4 for a video of the program separated by the demultiplexer 3. Decoder for decoding audio data, 5 denotes a speech processing unit for converting speech data decoded by the decoder 4 into the form of an electrical signal input to the speaker 6, 6 denotes a speaker, 7 denotes a The image data decoded by the decoder 4 and the data of the user interface screen output from the user interface unit 11 are combined to display the display field. Graphic processing, refer to convert into a form that can be output on the 8 numeral 8 is a display device.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a program information acquiring unit (program information acquiring means) for acquiring and storing program information of a current or future broadcast program separated by the demultiplexer 3 for a predetermined time, and reference numeral 10 denotes various programs in advance. An icon recording unit in which an associated icon is recorded, reference numeral 11 designates an icon related to the program with reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 9, and assigns the icon to the channel selection button of the remote controller. And a user interface unit displayed on the user interface screen while the user interface unit 11 receives a remote control code from the remote control receiver 14, and assigns channel allocation information of an icon corresponding to the remote control code to the program allocation management unit 12. ) And outputs a channel change command to the system control unit 15. Run the process.

In addition, the icon recording unit 10 and the user interface unit 11 constitute icon display means.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a program assignment management unit that manages which icon the channel selection button of the remote controller 13 is assigned to, reference numeral 13 denotes a remote controller for the user to operate the broadcast receiver, and reference numeral 14 denotes a remote controller 13 from the remote controller 13. A remote control receiver for converting the transmitted infrared signal into an electrical signal (remote control code) and outputting the remote control code to the user interface unit 11, and reference numeral 15 denotes a change command of the channel output from the user interface unit 11. The system control unit changes the channel of the display object accordingly.

In addition, a program selection means is constituted by the user interface unit 11, the program assignment management unit 12, the remote control receiver 14, and the system control unit 15.

4 is a plan view showing the remote controller 13, in which, reference numeral 21 is a numeric key (channel select button), reference numerals 22a to 22d are direction keys, reference numeral 23 is a determination key, and reference numeral 24a is a channel Up key, reference numeral 24b, is a channel down key, reference numerals 25, 26 are page-to-page navigation keys used when an icon set spans multiple pages, reference numeral 27 is a button for registering an icon, and reference numeral 28 is an icon check. For example, reference numeral 29 denotes a zapping mode shift key used for shifting from normal TV viewing to the zapping mode.

5 is a screen diagram showing a user interface screen, in which, reference numeral 31 denotes an icon set corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13, reference numeral 32 denotes a cursor indicating an icon currently being selected; Reference numeral 33 denotes a moving picture of a program corresponding to the icon currently selected, and reference numeral 34 denotes program information of a program corresponding to the icon currently selected.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the user presses the zapping mode shift key 29 during normal TV viewing, the remote control receiver 14 receives an infrared signal from the remote control 13 and inputs a remote control code indicating that the zapping mode shift key 29 has been pressed. Output to the user interface unit 11.

When the user interface 11 detects that the zapping mode shift key 29 is pressed by receiving the remote control code from the remote control receiver 14, the user interface 11 acquires program information from the program information acquisition unit 9, and currently broadcasts. We investigate program that is going to broadcast in the middle or future.

The user interface unit 11 then obtains an icon corresponding to the genre of each program from the icon recording unit 10 with reference to the genre information included in the program information (see FIG. 6).

At this time, the icons are related by genre information, which is a character string, but may be related to a specific bit string in the program information, for example. In addition, although the icon shown in FIG. 6 simply enclosed the name of a genre, the image which symbolizes the genre, such as a bat and a baseball ball, and a soccer ball, if a genre is baseball, is shown, for example. It may be an icon. In addition, a part of the program name may be displayed in the icon.

When the user interface unit 11 acquires an icon corresponding to the genre of each program as described above, the user interface unit 11 has one-to-one correspondence with the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 on the remote controller 13 for the program currently being broadcast. Correspondingly, arrange and display icons on the user interface screen. In addition, the number described in the button of the numeric key 21 is displayed in the vicinity of each icon so that a user can easily understand the correspondence between each button of the numeric key 21 and the icon set 31.

At this time, the icon of each program is based on the channel number of the program, the genre, or the user's viewing frequency with respect to the corresponding program, for each button on the numeric keys 21, and the button numbers 1, 2, 3, … Are arranged in the order of 8, 9, and 0.

In addition, the user interface unit 11 associates each program with a button on the numeric key 21 of the remote controller 13, and then refers to the program information of the program, and displays the numeric keys 21 as shown in FIG. The allocation of the channel to the button on the ()) is obtained, and the allocation information of the channel for the button is output to the program allocation management unit 12 to instruct storage and management.

After that, when the user performs the remote control operation by the numeric key 21, the user interface 11 receives the remote control code from the remote control receiver 14 to correspond to the button of the numeric key 21 on which the operation was performed. The channel is inquired to the program allocation management unit 12.

When the user interface unit 11 receives a response of the corresponding channel from the program allocation management unit 12, the user interface unit 11 outputs a change command to the channel to the system control unit 15.

When the system control unit 15 receives a channel change command from the user interface unit 11, the system control unit 15 controls the tuner 2 or the demultiplexer 3 according to the change command to designate a program displayed on the display device 8. Change to the program of the channel.

In the example of FIG. 5, the moving picture 33 of the selected channel is processed by the graphic processing unit 7 to be combined with the user interface and displayed on the same screen as the selected icon. In addition, the user interface unit 11 configures the user interface screen so that the program information 34 of the program corresponding to the selected icon is also displayed on the same screen together with the icon set 32 or the moving picture 33.

In addition, the user interface unit 11 requests the system control unit 15 to switch channels, and also performs processing such as setting the cursor 32 to the icon selected by the user.

In addition, the icon selected by the user includes three-dimensional visual effects such as a process of enclosing a border having a high contrast ratio with respect to the background color, making the icon selected by the user appear in three dimensions, and the user The icon selected by the user can be clearly distinguished from the unselected icon by making the size of the selected icon itself larger than the unselected icon or by changing the color tone of the selected icon from that of the unselected icon. Configure the user interface screen.

In the example of FIG. 5, the icon corresponding to button "6" on the numeric keys 21 is selected, and the periphery of the icon is enclosed by the border of the color with a high contrast ratio with respect to the background color.

In the above-described example, the program is selected by directly pressing a numeric key while referring to the displayed icon. However, even after the cursor is moved by the direction keys 22a to 22d, the program is selected by the decision key 23. do. In addition, program selection may be performed by pressing the up key 24a and the down key 24b of the channel. In the example of FIG. 5, since the cursor 32 is at the position of the icon corresponding to the button position of "6", when the up key 24a is pressed, the cursor 32 is 7, 8, 9, 0, 1, 2,... To move the icon. In addition, when the down key 24b is pressed, the cursor 32 has 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 9,... To move the icon.

As described above, by displaying the user interface screen displaying the icon in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13, the user visually obtains approximate information about the program by the icon, The key 21 can be operated to perform zapping for selecting a program at high speed. Further, by using the direction keys 22a to 22d, the channel up / down keys 24a and 24b, and the like, the same operation method as the conventional method can be supported.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 denote the same or corresponding parts, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 16 is a program recording unit for recording the video and audio data and program information separated by the demultiplexer 3.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the user is instructed to record a program, the user interface unit 11 issues a recording request for the program to the system control unit 15, and the system control unit 15 records the designated program. , The demultiplexer 3, the program information acquisition unit 9, and the program recording unit 16 are controlled. At this time, in the program recording unit 16, the video and audio data before decoding separated by the demultiplexer 3 and the program information are recorded in association with each other.

Also for these recorded programs, a user interface screen by an icon can be provided in the same manner as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 9).

That is, the user interface unit 11 acquires the program information recorded in the program recording unit 16 through the program information acquisition unit 9, and refers to the genre information included in the program information, and the icon recording unit 10. ), An icon corresponding to the genre of the program is obtained (see FIG. 6).

The program information obtained at this time includes the playable position of the recorded program recorded in the program recording unit 16. Here, the playable position is the head recording position of the recording program. Alternatively, the program recording unit 16 may record the playback history for the recorded program, and may provide the last viewed position or the like among the programs.

In addition, the user interface unit 11 adds a character or a symbol indicating that the recording program is a recording program to distinguish the recording program from other currently broadcast programs. Reference numeral 42 in Fig. 9 is an example of an icon of a recorded program, in which the character [recorded] is displayed to indicate that the recorded program is a recorded program.

Next, in addition to the icons for the recorded programs, the user interface unit 11 may acquire icons for the programs currently being broadcast in the same manner as described in the first embodiment. Is placed on the user interface screen so as to correspond one-to-one with the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 on the remote controller 13, and this is referred to as the icon set 41. FIG. At this time, the icon of each program is based on the channel number of the program, the genre, or the frequency of viewing of the user's program. , 8, 9, and 0 are arranged in this order.

In the first embodiment, the program assignment management unit 12 has saved and managed channel assignments for the buttons on the numeric keys 21. However, the user interface unit 11 is responsible for the recorded programs in the second embodiment. Associates the button on the numeric key 21 with the reproducible position of the corresponding recorded program, and outputs a request for storing and managing the program to the program allocation management unit 12.

If the input from the user is to select a recorded program, the user interface unit 11 adjusts the cursor 43 with respect to the icon of the recorded program, and records the program corresponding to the button from the program allocation management unit 12. Gets the playable position of the.

As a result, the user interface unit 11 designates a position on the program recording unit 16 with respect to the system control unit 15 so as to request reproduction of the recorded program. In the example of FIG. 9, the moving picture 44 of the recorded program corresponding to the selected icon is processed in the graphic processing unit 7 to be combined with the user interface and displayed on the same screen as the selected icon. In addition, the user interface unit 11 configures the user interface screen so that the program information 45 of the recorded program corresponding to the selected icon is also displayed on the same screen together with the icon set 41 or the moving image 44.

As described above, by constructing a user interface screen that displays an icon for the recorded program in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13, the user visually displays the information about the recorded program by the icon. While obtaining, the zapping for selecting a program at high speed can be performed by operating the numeric keys 21. In addition, by mixing the recorded program with the program currently being broadcast and displaying an icon corresponding to each, the user can select the program according to the preference at that time without distinguishing between the recorded program and the program currently being broadcast.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram illustrating a broadcast receiver according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 8 denote the same or corresponding parts, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a search condition acquiring unit for acquiring a search condition for program information from the user through the user interface unit 11, and reference numeral 18 denotes a search among the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 9; A search unit that searches for program information matching the condition and outputs the same to the user interface unit 11. In addition, the retrieval condition acquisition part 17 and the retrieval part 18 comprise the icon display means.

Next, the operation will be described.

Fig. 11 shows a user interface screen in the case of program search and program selection. When a user inputs a search condition in the search condition field 51 of the user interface screen, the search condition acquisition unit 17 acquires the entered search condition via the user interface unit 11.

In the example of FIG. 11, the user inputs the genre "baseball" as a search condition, and as a result, the program whose genre is "baseball" is displayed as the icon set 52 including the recorded program. In addition, although genre was specified as a search condition here, a search condition can also be specified with other arbitrary character strings.

The retrieval unit 18 acquires program information about a program currently being broadcast or a program recorded in the program recording unit 16 from the program information acquisition unit 9, and, based on the retrieval condition obtained from the retrieval condition acquisition unit 17, is retrieved. Perform a program search.

The user interface unit 11 acquires identifiers of programs that match the search conditions in the search unit 18, and extracts corresponding program information from the program information obtained from the program information acquisition unit 9 based on these identifiers.

Next, icons corresponding to these program information are assigned in order from the button with the smaller number in the numeric keys 21, thereby generating an icon set 52 as shown in FIG. At this time, in the example of FIG. 11, icons of programs that do not match the search condition are ignored, and an empty icon is assigned to the icon set 53. Even if the icon included in the icon set 53 is selected, no program is selected.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, icons of other programs that do not match the search condition are also icon sets 54, and the programs corresponding to the icons included in these icon sets 54 are formed by constructing a user interface screen. May be selected.

When the icon constituting the user interface screen is determined after the search, the user interface unit 11 assigns a channel to a button on the numeric key 21 for the program currently being broadcast, and the program recording unit 16 for the recorded program. The program allocation management unit 12 is requested to save and manage the playable position of the program.

As described above, a program can be searched for a broadcast program or a recorded program according to a genre or a character string, and immediately after the program search, an icon is displayed in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13. By constructing a user interface screen that allows program selection by displaying, the number of programs can be narrowed down to some extent according to the genre, character string, etc. among a large number of programs, and then zapping to select a program at high speed by operating a numeric key can be performed. .

[Example 4]

Although not specifically mentioned in the first to third embodiments, in the multi-channel broadcasting such as digital broadcasting, the number of programs selectable by the user exceeds the number of numeric keys 21 shown in FIG. There is. In addition, as described in the third embodiment, it is expected that the number of the numeric keys 21 will also be exceeded even when the recorded program and the program being broadcast are mixed to perform the program selection by the icon display. In such a case, as shown in Fig. 13, the icon is displayed over a plurality of pages.

The user interface unit 11 first checks the number of programs selectable by the user based on the program information obtained from the program information acquisition unit 9. If the number is greater than the number of the number keys 21 of the remote controller 13 (more than 10), the selectable program is based on the channel number of the program, the genre, or the user's viewing frequency of the corresponding program. Rearrangement, and the process of allocating 10 programs to one page is executed.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a divided state of programs rearranged on the basis of channel numbers. Fig. 14A shows a program before rearrangement, in which the numbers in the drawings represent channel numbers. FIG. 14B is a rearrangement of the programs shown in FIG. 14A so as to be in ascending order of channel numbers. Next, as shown in Fig. 14 (c), the program is divided into 10 programs from the head and each process is allocated to one page. Finally, the remaining 10 programs are also allocated to one page. That is, in the example of FIG. 14, the page to which a program is assigned becomes two pages.

15 is an explanatory diagram showing how programs are divided by rearranging the programs by genres. At this time, the user interface unit 11 makes a search request by genre to the search condition acquisition unit 17, and the search unit 18 searches for the program information of the recorded program and the program being broadcast.

15 (a) shows a program before rearrangement, and the characters in the figures are "de" drama, "young" movie, "suga" sports, "sound" music, and "bur". Variety, "Ae" is an animation, "Bo" is a program of the press genre. FIG. 15B is a rearrangement of the programs shown in FIG. 15A by genres. Next, as shown in Fig. 15C, the program is divided into genres, and a process of assigning each to one page is executed. That is, in the example of FIG. 15, the page to which a program is assigned becomes seven pages.

As described above, after acquiring the icon corresponding to the program for each page, the user interface unit 11 associates the icon with a button on the numeric key 21 to generate the icon sets 61, 62, and 63. Thereafter, for each button on the numeric keys 21, a request is made to save and manage the channel for the program being broadcast and the position on the program recording unit 16 for the recorded program to the program allocation management unit 12. do. The program allocation information managed by the program allocation management unit 12 is indexed for each page so that the information can be obtained in units of pages.

Fig. 13 is an example of a user interface screen for displaying an icon over three pages. In this figure, reference numeral 61 denotes a first page icon set, reference numeral 62 a second page icon set, reference numeral 63 a third page icon set, reference numeral 64 moves a page in descending order with respect to the page number. The reference numeral 65 denotes an icon for moving the page in ascending order with respect to the page number.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the user interface unit 11 first configures the icon set 61 on the first page on the user interface screen. At this time, the icon 64 for moving the page in descending order is assigned to the "*" button (inter-page moving key 25) of the remote controller 13 shown in FIG. 4, and the * button on the remote controller 13 is used. Place it on the user interface screen to match the layout. Similarly, an icon 65 for moving pages in ascending order is assigned to the "#" button (inter-page moving key 26) of the remote controller 13, which also corresponds to the arrangement of the buttons on the remote controller 13. Place on the interface screen.

In the user interface screen shown in FIG. 13, when the numeric keys 21 to 0 are pressed, the program allocation information of the first page for each button of the numeric keys 21 is acquired from the program allocation management unit 12. FIG. The system control unit 15 is then instructed to switch channels or to reproduce a program.

When the # button is pressed while the first page icon set shown in FIG. 13 is displayed, the user interface unit 11 displays the second page icon set 62 previously acquired. . In the state where the second page icon set 62 is displayed, when the numeric keys 21 of 0 to 9 are pressed, the second page allocation program information for the pressed button is acquired from the program allocation management section 12. Instructs the system control unit 15 to switch channels or to play a program.

On the other hand, when the * button is pressed while the icon set on the first page is displayed, the icon set 63 on the third page acquired in advance is displayed. In the state where the third page icon set 63 is displayed and the numeric keys 21 of 0 to 9 are pressed, the third page program allocation information for the pressed button is acquired from the program allocation management unit 12. Instructs the system control unit 15 to switch channels or to play a program.

When the # button is pressed while the first page is displayed, press 2 → 3 → 1 → 2 →. Page is sent, and when the * button is pressed on the contrary, 3 → 2 → 1 → 3 →. The page is sent to.

As described above, when the user interface screen for displaying an icon in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13 is configured, the number of selectable programs exceeds the number of buttons of the numeric keys 21. In addition, by dynamically changing the channel assignments for the numeric keys 21, a user interface screen can be provided that displays icons over a plurality of pages, and enables zapping to select a program at high speed while moving from page to page. . In addition, by adding a button for moving between pages with a single press, the burden on the user can be reduced.

[Example 5]

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram showing a broadcast receiver according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 8 denote the same or corresponding parts, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Reference numeral 19 associates a still image constituting a part of a moving image, which is video data decoded by the decoder 4, with a character string from a user obtained through the user interface unit 11, and displays an icon on the icon recording unit 10. An icon acquiring unit for recording.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the user presses a button 27 for registering an icon on the remote control 13 while watching a program being broadcast or a recorded program, the user interface unit 11 notifies the icon acquisition unit 19 of the icon acquisition request. do. The icon acquisition part 19 which received the icon acquisition request captures the still image displayed in the moving picture output from the decoder 4 when the user pressed the button 27 for icon registration.

The user interface unit 11 acquires a still image captured by the icon acquiring unit 19, and configures a screen as shown in FIG. 17. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 71 denotes a moving image of a program that is being broadcast or reproduced, and reference numeral 72 denotes a still image displayed when the icon registration button 27 is pressed, so that an image at the time of iconization can be easily imagined. It is shown in small size. Reference numeral 73 is a character string obtained from the user in order to correspond with the still image 72. In the example of FIG. 17, the character string 73 of "ski" is input from the user to the still image 72.

The user interface unit 11 acquires the character string 73 associated with the still image 72 from the user, and then transfers the character string 73 to the icon acquisition unit 19. The icon acquiring unit 19 associates the still image 72 previously stored in the icon acquiring unit 19 with the character string 73 and shows the icon recording unit 10 as an icon in FIG. 6 as an icon. Register as

In addition, when the user interface unit 11 generates a set of icons to generate a user interface screen, the icon recording unit 10 retrieves and acquires an icon having a character string matching the program information of the program to be selected. Do it. Here, at the time of acquiring the icon, as described in the first embodiment, since the icon corresponding to the genre is registered in advance in the icon recording unit 10, the icon registered by the user for one program, The icons corresponding to the genres registered in advance are matched. In this case, the priority of the icon corresponding to the program is

Genre icon <User registration icon

It is done.

When a plurality of icons registered by a user correspond to one program, the icon corresponding to the program is the last icon registered by the user.

As described above, by making the still image captured by the user in the broadcast or recorded program moving picture as an icon to be used for program selection by associating it with a specific character string, the user can confirm that the program of his or her interest is available at the time of program selection. It can be understood visually, and the program selection can be made more intuitively.

[Example 6]

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a broadcast receiver according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 8 denote the same or corresponding parts, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a designated icon manager which manages an icon on a user interface screen designated by the user.

When there are a large number of selectable programs, a program to be finally viewed may be selected while comparing several candidate programs. However, when a program was selected from among icons that span several pages associated with a large number of programs as described in the fourth embodiment, once the pages were moved, the programs that had been liked so far corresponded to the icons. There is a fear that it will be difficult to know.

In the sixth embodiment, in order to avoid the problems described above, the user can check the icon of the favorite program once, and display the icon checked later.

Next, the operation will be described.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing how a user checks a favorite program on a user interface screen composed of a plurality of pages as described in the fourth embodiment.

In Fig. 19, reference numeral 81 denotes an icon set corresponding to the first page, reference numeral 82 denotes an icon set corresponding to the second page, reference numeral 83 denotes an icon set corresponding to the third page, and reference numeral 84 denotes a current selection A cursor indicating an icon, and reference numeral 85 denotes a check mark displayed by pressing a button 28 for checking an icon of the remote controller 13.

The user moves the cursor 84 onto the desired icon by using the numeric keys 21 or the direction keys 22a to 22d, and presses the button 28 for checking the icon to display the icon over a plurality of pages. Check. In this way, the information about the icon checked by the user is acquired by the user interface unit 11 and instructed to be recorded and managed in the designated icon management unit 20. The information managed by the designated icon manager 20 is a page number for specifying each checked icon and a button number corresponding to the position of the icon in the page. For example, in the icon set 81 of FIG. 19, since there are two icons designated by the check mark 85, the information managed by the designated icon manager 20 for these icons is respectively.

First page, button number 3

and

First page, button number 4

to be.

If the button 28 for icon checking is kept pressed for several seconds while the icon is checked, the user interface 11 performs program selection from only the icon checked by the user, as shown in FIG. User interface screen is provided. In FIG. 20, reference numeral 91 denotes an icon set generated from the icon checked in FIG. 19, and reference numeral 92 denotes an empty icon set without a corresponding program. Even if these icons are selected, no program selection is performed.

Next, how the user interface unit 11 constitutes a user interface screen as shown in FIG. 20 will be described.

When the user interface 11 detects that the button 28 for checking the icon is continuously pressed for several seconds by the user while the icon is checked, the user managed by the designated icon manager 20 Gets the page number and button number for the checked icon.

Next, as shown in the icon set 91 shown in FIG. 20, the user interface unit 11 executes a process of assigning icons checked by the user to numeric keys in order from the smaller button number after assignment. In other words, the icon set 91 is assigned so that the icons are incorporated into button numbers 1 to 6. On the other hand, the positions corresponding to button numbers 7 to 9 and button number 0 are left blank without assigning an effective icon. Finally, the user interface unit 11 assigns a program to the icon to which the effective program is assigned, a channel for the button number for the program being broadcast, and a playable position on the program recording unit 16 for the recorded program. The management unit 12 is instructed to record and manage.

The check of the icon by the user described above and the reconstruction of the user interface screen of the program selection by the checked icon are not limited to the case of displaying an icon over a plurality of pages as shown in the fourth embodiment. In the case of a page, the same structure can be realized.

As described above, when constructing a user interface screen displaying icons in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13, the user checks a favorite icon during program selection, and then By reconstructing the user interface screen for program selection from the checked icon, the user can narrow down a program of interest and gradually find a program to watch.

[Example 7]

FIG. 21 is a configuration diagram illustrating a broadcast receiver according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention. In the drawings, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 8 denote the same or corresponding parts, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Reference numerals 2a and 2b denote tuners for tuning programs independently of each other.

Next, the operation will be described.

In this seventh embodiment, a user interface screen for displaying a moving picture in time division with respect to the icon display portion is configured.

The user interface unit 11 first determines a program to be displayed in correspondence with an icon from the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 9. At this time, if the program corresponding to the icon is a program that is currently being broadcast, the channel is recorded. If the program is a recorded program recorded in the program recording unit 16, the playable position on the program recording unit 16 is recorded in the program allocation management unit 12, respectively. • Print instructions for care.

22 is an example of a user interface screen displaying a moving image in time division for an icon. In Fig. 22, reference numeral 101 denotes an icon set in which a moving image is displayed in time division, reference numeral 102 denotes an icon currently being selected, reference numeral 103 denotes a moving image of a currently selected program, and reference numeral 104 denotes an icon corresponding to a recorded program. In the example of this figure, the moving image corresponding to the icon 102 currently selected is displayed on the user interface screen. In addition, in the vicinity of the icon 104 corresponding to the recorded program, the letter [recorded] is displayed on the icon 104 to specify that the recorded program is a recorded program.

In each icon part of the icon set 101, moving images are sequentially displayed in order from the icon corresponding to the button number 1 at regular time intervals. That is, when a moving picture is displayed on the icon corresponding to the button number 1, for example, for 2 seconds, the moving picture is displayed on the icon corresponding to the button number 2 for 2 seconds, and the button number 3 is 2 seconds, and the button number 4 is 2 seconds. ,… As shown in the figure, a moving picture is gradually displayed on the icon. At this time, the icon which has finished displaying the moving image for a certain time continuously displays the still image displayed at the end of the moving image display.

Next, the operation of the user interface unit 11 for realizing the user interface screen as shown in FIG. 22 will be described.

First, the user interface unit 11 constitutes a user interface screen with an icon portion empty, outputs the user interface screen to the graphic processing unit 7, and displays a moving image in time division on the icon portion. Instruction is supplied to the control unit 15. At this time, the user interface unit 11 supplies the system control unit 15 with program allocation information to buttons corresponding to each icon of the icon set 101 acquired from the program allocation information management unit 12.

In icon set 101, the icon corresponding to button number 1 is a program that is currently being broadcast. At this time, the system control unit 15 uses, among the two tuners, the tuner 2a for displaying the moving picture 103 of the main screen, and the tuner 2b for displaying icons. . At this time, the tuner 2a continues to tune the currently selected channel corresponding to the icon 102, but the tuner 2b refers to the program allocation information acquired from the user interface unit 11, thereby providing a fixed time button. After tuning to the channel corresponding to the number 1, the tuning is immediately switched to the channel corresponding to the button number 2.

When the moving picture display is finished on the icon corresponding to the button number 2, the moving picture is displayed for a predetermined time for the icon corresponding to the button number 3. Since the program corresponding to the button number 3 is a recorded program, the system control unit 15 references the program allocation information acquired from the user interface unit 11 without controlling the tuner 2b at this time. The recorded program corresponding to button number 3 on the screen is played back for a predetermined time. When the playback is finished, the user interface unit 11 is requested to advance the playable position on the program recording unit 16 of the recorded program corresponding to the icon of the button number 3 by the number of minutes of reproduction. In addition, the program recording unit 16 continues to record the reproducible position before advancing.

Since the moving picture 103 is always displayed on the main screen, and the moving picture is always displayed for any one of the icons in the icon set 101, the demultiplexer 3 and the decoder 4 each have two systems in parallel. It is assumed that data processing is possible.

In this seventh embodiment, although two tuners are used, for example, the tuners are prepared as many as the number of buttons of the numeric keys 21 (10 preparations), and the maximum number of the demultiplexer 3 and the decoder 4 is provided. By using 10 data processing units in parallel, it is also possible to display a smooth moving picture for all icon parts.

As described above, when configuring a user interface screen for displaying an icon in a form corresponding to the arrangement of the numeric keys 21 of the remote controller 13, by using a moving image for the displayed icon, it is possible to use a still image. For example, the program selection can be performed while referring to the detailed program contents.

As described above, the broadcast receiver according to the present invention is suitable for displaying a user interface screen and assisting an operation of program selection by a user.

Claims (19)

Program information acquiring means for acquiring program information of a program currently being broadcast or scheduled to be broadcast; With reference to the program information acquired by the program information acquiring means, an icon related to the contents of the program is specified, and the icon is displayed on the user interface screen while corresponding to the arrangement of the channel selection button of the remote control, and the display object Icon display means for allocating these icons to a plurality of user interface screens when the number of icons to be used exceeds the number of channel selection buttons; Program selection means for selecting a program related to an icon corresponding to the channel selection button when the user operates any channel selection button; Broadcast receiver comprising a. The method of claim 1, When the arbitrary program is recorded and the program information of the program is recorded, the icon display means refers to the program information of the program, specifies an icon related to the content of the program, and sets the icon to the remote control. And displaying on a user interface screen corresponding to the arrangement of the channel selection button. The method of claim 1, And the icon display means specifies an icon related to the content of the program with reference to the program information that matches the search condition if the search condition for the program information is given. The method of claim 3, The icon display means may refer to program information that matches the search condition, and even if the icon related to the program is specified, if the number of the icons does not reach the number of channel selection buttons, the program information that does not match the search condition is also displayed. A broadcast receiver, characterized by specifying an icon related to the content of a program with reference to. The method of claim 1, And the program selection means switches the user interface screen to be displayed when the user operates the page-to-page navigation key. The method of claim 1, And the icon specified by the icon display means is an image symbolizing the genre of the program. The method of claim 1, And the icon specified by said icon display means is a moving picture of a program. The method of claim 1, The icon specified by said icon display means is a still image constituting a part of a moving picture of a program. The method of claim 1, And the icon specified by said icon display means is associated with a character string in program information acquired by program information acquisition means. The method of claim 1, The icon specified by the icon display means is associated with a bit string in the program information acquired by the program information acquisition means. Program information acquiring means for acquiring program information of a program currently being broadcast or scheduled to be broadcast; Icon acquiring means for storing still images captured at a timing specified to the user during broadcasting or recorded program moving pictures as icons to be used in selecting a program in association with a character string designated to the user; When referring to the program information acquired by the program information acquiring means, if a character string registered by the user by the icon acquiring means exists in the program information, an icon associated with the character string is specified by the user in advance, and the icon Means for displaying on the user interface screen while corresponding to the arrangement of the channel selection buttons on the remote control Broadcast receiver comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the icon display means displays a symbol displayed on the channel selection button of the remote controller in the vicinity of the corresponding icon. The method of claim 1, And the icon display means displays a moving image of a currently selected program on a user interface screen. The method of claim 1, And the icon display means displays program information of a currently selected program on a user interface screen. The method of claim 2, And the icon display means displays a specific symbol on an icon corresponding to a recorded program. The method of claim 1, And said icon display means displays only these icons on a user interface screen when one or more icons are tentatively designated by the user. The method of claim 11, When the icon display means specifies an icon related to a program, in addition to the icon registered by the user by the icon acquiring means, an icon registered in the device in advance is associated with the program information of the program. And associating a program with priority of an icon registered by a user. The method of claim 11, When the icon display means specifies an icon related to a program, and when there are a plurality of character strings registered by the user by the icon acquiring means in the program information of the program, the icon corresponding to the character string registered at the time closest to the current time. Broadcast receiver characterized in that the association is performed first. The method of claim 11, The icon acquiring means superimposes and displays a still image constituting a part of the moving image displayed at the time when there is an input from the user viewing the moving image. And a word which the user wants to associate with respect to the same screen.

Images