KR19990026840A - How to Display Program Information on Satellite Broadcasting Receivers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of displaying program information of a satellite broadcasting receiver which can display information about a program being viewed by a user in a satellite broadcasting receiver into various types of menu screens and adaptively display it according to a user's selection. The receiver includes memory means for pre-stored a plurality of preset menu screen formats having different forms for displaying broadcast program information inserted into the broadcast signal and the program information on a monitor, and specifying the satellite broadcast receiver. If the information screen request key signal for the program being watched is input during the normal viewing mode for displaying a channel, the pre-stored program information is read, and the preset menu screen format among the plurality of menu screen formats is converted into the information screen. To configure and display In a first step, when a format type change key signal for the displayed information screen is input, the second step of determining whether there is another type of menu screen format according to a predetermined order by reading the memory means, the determination As a result, if the other menu screen format exists, changing and displaying the displayed information screen to the other menu screen format, and if the other menu screen format does not exist, turning off the displayed information screen; Each time the change key signal is input, the process after the second step is repeated, and if the change key signal is not input for a predetermined time, the displayed information screen is turned off, and And a fourth step of switching an operation to the normal viewing mode.

Description

How to Display Program Information on Satellite Broadcasting Receivers

The present invention relates to a satellite broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a method of displaying channel information of a satellite broadcast receiver of a satellite broadcast receiver suitable for displaying detailed information about a program received on each channel in the satellite broadcast receiver.

In recent years, the broadcast method using satellites, which is rapidly expanding its use, is a method of providing broadcast signals to a wider area by using satellites (communication satellites) located at an altitude of about several thousand to tens of thousands of kilometers from the surface of the earth. In this satellite broadcasting system, for example, an old band RF signal having a frequency band of 11.7 GHz to 12.0 GHz is used.

To this end, the antenna for satellite broadcasting reception is provided with a low noise blockdown converter for converting a radio frequency (RF) signal of a very high frequency into an intermediate frequency (IF) signal, which is a high frequency RF signal. Is converted into an IF (intermediate frequency) signal in the hundreds to thousands of MHz bands (for example, 950 MHz to 2050 MHz) that can be received by a satellite broadcasting receiver (receiver).

Therefore, in the satellite broadcasting tuner provided in the satellite broadcasting receiver (receiver), the IF signal received through the low noise converter is inputted to tune the channel selected by the user. The satellite broadcasting receiver maximizes channel utilization, image and sound. Along with the improvement of signal quality and the ease of transmitting additional digital service data, the significant improvement of the user interface is a big advantage.

In addition, the bit stream provided from the satellite includes various information such as broadcast signals (video data and audio data), event information table (EIT), and time data table (TDT) for each channel. Information about broadcast channels, that is, channel names for broadcasting stations and program information for each channel is included and displayed on a screen according to a user's request.

Meanwhile, since a general satellite broadcast receiver provides various broadcast channels and various broadcast programs, a user selects a desired broadcast channel and a program using a channel guide screen and a broadcast program guide screen.

In addition, the user can display the additional information screen of the program currently being viewed by manipulating the key input unit and then grasp detailed information about the corresponding program. The conventional additional information is 'Channel banner' provided by a general satellite broadcasting receiver. Is provided via the menu screen.

The above-described 'Channel banner' menu screen is displayed as a menu screen having a constant size at the top or bottom of the screen according to the user's request, including the title of the currently watching broadcast program, the broadcast time, and the grade of the program. That is, the conventional program information screen is merely a function of configuring and displaying a predetermined sized screen.

If the guide screen for each program provided by the conventional satellite broadcast receiver is configured and displayed in various types of guide screens according to a user's request, it may be possible to satisfy a wider variety of user needs.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and the satellite broadcasting receiver can be configured to display the detailed information screen of each program of the satellite broadcasting receiver into various types of guide screens and adaptively display them according to the user's request. Its purpose is to provide a program information display method.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for displaying program information in a satellite broadcast receiving system for receiving a satellite broadcast signal provided from a satellite, wherein the satellite broadcast receiver comprises: broadcast program information embedded in the broadcast signal; And memory means for pre-stored a plurality of preset menu screen formats having different forms for displaying the program information on a monitor, wherein the viewing is performed during a normal viewing mode for displaying a specific channel of the satellite broadcasting receiver. A first step of reading the pre-stored program information and configuring and displaying a preset menu screen format among the plurality of menu screen formats as an information screen when an information screen request key signal for a program being executed is input; the displayed information Format change key for screen A second step of determining if there is another type of menu screen format according to a preset order when the call is input, and if the other menu screen format exists, the displayed information screen Is displayed after changing to the other menu screen format, and if the other menu screen format does not exist, turning off the displayed information screen and whenever the change key signal is input, Repeating the process, if the change key signal is not input for a predetermined time, the satellite broadcast comprising a fourth step of turning off the displayed information screen, the operation of the satellite broadcast receiver to the normal viewing mode A method of displaying program information of a receiver is provided.

1 is a block diagram of a satellite broadcast receiver suitable for applying a method for displaying program information of a satellite broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for displaying program information of a satellite broadcasting receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying program information of a satellite broadcast receiver according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: key input unit 20: tuner and demodulation unit

30: demultiplexer 40; Micom

50: memory 60: OSD

The above and other objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a satellite broadcast receiver suitable for applying a method for displaying program information of a satellite broadcast receiver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The key input unit 10, the tuner and demodulator 20, and the demultiplexer are shown in FIG. 30, the microcomputer 40, the memory unit 50, and the OSD unit 60.

The key input unit 10 is composed of key metrics on a remote controller or its own panel to generate a corresponding key signal based on a user's operation and provide the corresponding key signal to the microcomputer 40, and in particular, displays detailed information about a currently viewed program. It is configured to include an information screen key.

In addition, the microcomputer 40 controls a control signal for tuning a broadcast channel, a control signal for tuning a broadcast channel, and a control for driving the OSD unit 60 based on a key signal from the key input unit 10. The tuner and demodulator 20 tunes the bitstream of the channel corresponding to the tuning control signal of the microcomputer 40 in the bitstream from the satellite received through the antenna (not shown), and then again. Demodulation is provided to the demultiplexer 30.

The demultiplexer 30 separates a broadcast signal provided from the tuner and the demodulator 20 into an audio signal, a video signal, and various program information, and then displays the audio signal and the video signal through a predetermined signal processing process. The program information is provided to the microcomputer 40.

The memory unit 50 stores various program information and various guide screen formats which are decoded and output from the demultiplexer 30 described above by the control of the microcomputer 40, and are again stored under the control of the microcomputer 40. Print program information.

The satellite broadcasting receiver configured as described above tunes a specific channel selected by the user and displays detailed information on the program currently being viewed by the user during the normal viewing mode, which is displayed on a monitor (not shown) through a predetermined signal processing process. In order to input the information screen key signal provided in the key input unit 10, the microcomputer 40 reads additional information and a menu screen format of the currently viewed program from the memory unit 50 and displays the OSD unit 60. ).

The OSD unit 60 converts the OSD data into OSD data by referring to the additional information and the menu screen format provided by the microcomputer 40 and displays the program information as shown in FIG. That is, in response to the information screen key signal of the user, as shown in FIG. 2A, the information screen of the currently viewed program is displayed on the upper left portion of the screen.

If the user inputs the information screen key signal by operating the key input unit 10 while the channel name is displayed as shown in the drawing, the microcomputer 40 is pre-stored in the memory unit 50 and then By reading the menu screen format and program information and providing it to the OSD unit 60, the program information screen as shown in FIG. 2B is displayed at the top of the screen.

That is, as shown in the figure, a program information screen including a corresponding channel number, a program title, a grade, a type of a program, and a start time and end time of a program is displayed.

When the user inputs an information screen key signal by operating the key input unit 10 again, as described above, the microcomputer 40 reads the menu screen format and program information previously stored in the memory unit 50 and displays the OSD. By providing to the unit 60, a program information screen as shown in FIG. 2C, that is, an information screen including the corresponding program information and description of the program as shown in FIG. 2B is displayed.

When the user operates the key input unit 10 again to input the information screen key signal while the information screen as shown in the drawing is displayed, the microcomputer 40 blocks driving of the OSD unit 60. This will turn off the currently displayed information screen.

As a result, the information screen for the program currently being viewed by the satellite broadcasting receiver is configured as a menu screen of various types as described above, and is adaptively displayed according to the user's selection.

In addition, the information screen may adjust the number of display positions and types of screens at an initial stage of programming the initial menu screen format and storing the initial menu screen format in the memory unit 50.

That is, different information screens as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C may be displayed at the bottom of the screen, unlike those shown in the drawings, and various types of information screens may be configured depending on a programming method. You can do it.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of displaying program information of a satellite broadcast receiver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The above-described process will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

While the operation of the satellite broadcasting receiver is performed in the normal viewing mode (step 301), when an information screen key signal for displaying the information screen of the program currently being viewed is input (step 303), the microcomputer 40 enters the memory unit 50. Information about the menu screen format stored in the program and the currently watched program is read (step 305). Each information read at this time is provided to the OSD unit 60, so that an information screen on the currently viewed program is displayed (step 307).

In the state in which the information screen as shown in FIG. 2A is displayed through the above-described step 307, when the user inputs the information screen key signal again to change the shape of the information screen (step 309), the microcomputer 40 returns a key. In response to the signal, the next menu screen format and program information stored in the memory unit 50 are read again (step 313).

In this case, when the next menu screen format exists in the memory unit 50 (step 315), the above-described step 307 is repeatedly performed to display the program information screen of the corresponding format. If is inputted, the process after the above step 309 is repeated to display the information screen of the corresponding type.

If the information screen key signal is not input for the predetermined time in step 309 described above, the currently displayed information screen is automatically turned off under the control of the microcomputer 40 (step 317), and the operation of the satellite broadcasting receiver is performed. In the initial stage 301, the normal viewing mode is switched (step 319). The predetermined time period described above is set differently according to the amount of information displayed on each information screen (FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C).

That is, the information screen is set to 3 seconds in the case of the information screen as shown in FIG. 2A, 10 seconds in the case of FIG. 2B, and 20 seconds in the case of FIG. 2C, and the information screen is displayed through the above-described step 307. If the information screen guidance key signal for changing the digital signal is not input for a predetermined time (3 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds) corresponding to the information screen, the information screen currently displayed under the control of the microcomputer 40 is turned off. do.

As a result, whenever the user manipulates the key input unit 10 and inputs an information screen key signal for a program currently being viewed, the user sequentially displays each information screen corresponding to the menu format stored in the memory unit 50. You can select the desired information screen.

As described above, according to the present invention, the satellite broadcasting receiver is provided with various types of guide screens for the programs currently being viewed, thereby selectively displaying them according to the user's demands, thereby satisfying the needs of various users. As a result, the overall function of the product can be improved.

Claims (8)

A method of displaying program information in a satellite broadcasting receiving system for receiving a satellite broadcasting signal provided from a satellite, The satellite broadcast receiver, Memory means for pre-stores a plurality of preset menu screen formats having different forms for displaying broadcast program information inserted into the broadcast signal and the program information on a monitor; During the normal viewing mode of displaying the specific channel of the satellite broadcasting receiver, if an information screen request key signal for the program being watched is input, the pre-stored program information is read and a preset menu among the plurality of menu screen formats is read. A first step of configuring and displaying a screen format as an information screen; A second step of, when the format type change key signal for the displayed information screen is input, determining whether there is another type of menu screen format according to a predetermined order by reading the memory means; A third result of changing the displayed information screen to the other menu screen format if the other menu screen format exists, and if the other menu screen format does not exist, turning off the displayed information screen. step; Each time the change key signal is input, the process after the second step is repeated, and if the change key signal is not input for a predetermined time, the displayed information screen is turned off, and And a fourth step of switching an operation to the normal viewing mode. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time is a different time set corresponding to each amount of information included in the plurality of information screens. The method according to claim 1, wherein one aspect of the plurality of information screens is to display a broadcast channel for the program being viewed. The method of claim 3, wherein the information screen is displayed on an upper left portion of the monitor. The program of claim 1, wherein the form of the plurality of information screens is displayed including a broadcast channel and a program title, a grade, a type, a broadcast time, and the like of the program being viewed. How information is displayed. The method according to claim 5, wherein the information screen is displayed on an upper end of the monitor. The method of claim 1, wherein one form of the plurality of information screens is displayed including a broadcast channel, a program title, a rating, a type, a broadcast time, and a description of the program for the program being viewed. Program information display method of the satellite broadcasting receiver. The method of claim 7, wherein the information screen is displayed on an upper end portion of the monitor.