KR19990042784A - Channel Search Control Method for Composite Broadcast Receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a channel search control method of a composite broadcast receiver capable of automatically detecting whether a channel search is performed in a composite broadcast receiver capable of accommodating cable broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, and satellite broadcasting at the same time. The receiver pre-stores flag information according to whether or not to perform a channel search process for the plurality of channels in a memory means of the receiver, and the method may include: flags stored in the memory means when the receiver is powered on. A first step of reading information and determining whether the channel search process has been performed; A second step of tuning and displaying a preset broadcast channel among the plurality of broadcast channels when the channel search process is performed as a result of the determination; A third step of displaying a guide message indicating that a channel search process for the plurality of channels has not been performed when the channel search process has not been performed as a result of the determination; A fourth step of, when the key signal for performing the channel search is input, turning off the displayed guide message, detecting the effective channel search for each broadcasting mode, and storing the detected channel search in the memory means; When the valid channel search process is completed, a fifth step of updating the flag information to information indicating that the channel search process of the receiver has been performed.

Description

Channel Search Control Method for Composite Broadcast Receiver

The present invention relates to a composite broadcast receiver capable of receiving a satellite broadcast signal, a CATV broadcast signal, and a terrestrial broadcast signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to determining whether to search for a plurality of channels received by the composite broadcast receiver and to notify the user. The present invention relates to a channel search control method of a composite broadcast receiver.

In recent years, the broadcast method using satellites, which is rapidly expanding in use, is a method of providing a broadcast signal to a wider area by using a satellite (communication satellite) located at an altitude of about tens to hundreds of kilos on 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, and the low noise converter converts an ultra high frequency RF signal. It converts into an IF (intermediate frequency) signal in the hundreds to thousands of MHz bands (for example, 950 MHz-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 user selects and tunes a channel selected by inputting an IF signal received through a low noise converter. The satellite broadcasting receiver maximizes channel utilization, video and audio signals. Along with the improvement of quality and the ease of transmitting additional digital service data, the significant improvement of the user interface is a big advantage.

In recent years, as well as satellite broadcasting, CATV broadcasting using cable has been rapidly spreading. If a subscriber (ie, one receiver) wants to receive all of these broadcasting signals, the frequency band of each broadcasting is used. Because of this difference, a satellite tuner, a cable tuner, and a terrestrial tuner will all need to be equipped separately.

Accordingly, in order to accommodate various types of broadcasts as described above, various types of internal or external tuners may be provided, or each type of broadcast may have a separate signal processing path (that is, a satellite broadcast signal processing path and a cable broadcast signal). Although it may be considered that the receiver adopts an integrated complex tuner for processing through a processing path, this may cause a problem that the hardware of the receiver itself is unnecessarily large and the cost of the receiver is excessively increased. Is caused.

On the other hand, in view of the above, a complex tuner capable of simultaneously receiving a satellite broadcast signal, a cable broadcast signal, and a terrestrial broadcast signal through a single tuning path has been developed. It is also being developed.

The composite broadcast receiver controls the passband of the received signal and tunes the bandpassed signal based on the user selection signal when the satellite broadcast signal or the cable broadcast signal is received at the input side, and in accordance with the tuned signal and the user selection. Tuning the corresponding channel of the desired broadcast signal by mixing the oscillating frequencies generated, and the tuned signals are provided to corresponding demodulators through separate signal processing paths (BS path, DSR path, CATV path) respectively provided It is.

On the other hand, not only a general satellite broadcast receiver but also a composite broadcast receiver as described above receives a broadcast signal for a plurality of channels input from the outside and tunes the corresponding channel by a channel switch key signal of the user. In order to perform the search, the effective channel to which the actual broadcast signal is input is searched among all the channels provided to the receiver and stored in the memory means.

That is, in order to tune the corresponding channel in response to the user's channel switching key signal, the effective channel information for each broadcasting mode must be stored in the memory means of the receiver. If such a valid channel search is not performed or when the receiver is first installed, In the initial state of, the user may not perform an operation corresponding to the channel switching signal of the user, and the user may not recognize this.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, a composite that can automatically detect whether or not to perform the channel automatic search process of the composite broadcast receiver and accordingly automatically notify the user whether to perform a channel search It is an object of the present invention to provide a channel search control method of a broadcast receiver.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a broadcast signal processing path for processing a plurality of terrestrial broadcast channels and cable broadcast channels tuned through a composite tuner and a broadcast signal for processing multiple satellite broadcast channels tuned through the composite tuner. In the method for controlling the search for the plurality of channels in a composite broadcast receiver having a processing path, the receiver, the flag information according to whether or not to perform a channel search process for the plurality of channels to the memory means of the receiver The method may further include: a first step of determining whether the channel search process is performed by reading flag information previously stored in the memory means when the receiver is powered on; A second step of tuning and displaying a preset broadcast channel among the plurality of broadcast channels when the channel search process is performed as a result of the determination; A third step of displaying a guide message indicating that a channel search process for the plurality of channels has not been performed when the channel search process has not been performed as a result of the determination; A fourth step of, when the key signal for performing the channel search is input, turning off the displayed guide message, detecting the effective channel search for each broadcasting mode, and storing the detected channel search in the memory means; When the effective channel search process is finished, a channel search control method of a composite broadcast receiver including a fifth step of updating the flag information to the information indicating that the channel search process of the receiver has been performed.

1 is a block diagram of a composite broadcast receiver suitable for applying a channel search control method of a composite broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a channel search control process of a composite broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the code | symbol about the principal part of drawing>

102: tuner block 104: MPEG decoding block

106: video encoding block 108: video processing block

110: sync extraction block 112: control block

114: memory block 116: OSD processing block

118: mixer 120: switching block

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 composite broadcast receiver suitable for applying a channel search control method of a composite broadcast receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention. The composite reception system includes a tuner block 102, an MPEG decoding block 104, Video encoding block 106, video processing block 108, sync extraction block 110, control block 112, memory block 114, OSD processing block 116, mixer 118 and switching block 120 It includes.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tuner block 102 is based on a tuning control signal provided from a control block 112 to be described later via a line L11, and a broadcast signal receiver (i.e., a satellite reception antenna, a cable, etc.) is not shown. Tunes the broadcast channel selected by the user from the broadcast signal received through the signal and demodulates the tuned broadcast channel signal into the original signal before transmission. In this case, when the satellite broadcast signal is tuned, the demodulated satellite channel signal is transmitted through line L12. The demodulated CATV broadcast channel signal is provided to the video processing block 108 via line L14 when provided to the MPEG decoder block 104 and the cable broadcast signal is tuned.

That is, the tuner block 102 is composed of a composite tuner capable of receiving and tuning satellite broadcast signals, CATV broadcast signals, and terrestrial broadcast signals provided through an antenna or transmission path, not shown.

In the MPEG decoder block 104, the compressed coded video signal of the tuned satellite broadcast channel provided by the tuner block 102 through the line L12 is compressed in consideration of the spatial and spatial correlation of the video signal, for example, the video signal. The encoded video signal is restored to the original signal before encoding using a decoding technique such as variable length decoding, inverse DCT, inverse quantization, and motion compensation, and the recovered digital video signal is transferred to the next video encoding block 106. Is provided.

Next, the video encoding block 106 converts the tuned digital video signal provided in the MPEG decoding block 104 described above into an NTSC or PAL analog video signal and then to the contact b of the switching block 114 via the line L13. to provide.

In addition, the video processing block 108 processes the tuned analog video signal (i.e., cable broadcast channel signal) provided by the tuner block 102 through line L14, e.g., level amplification, noise cancellation, gain control. Various signal processing such as the above is performed and provided to the contact point c of the sync extraction block 110 and the switching block 114 through the line L15.

Meanwhile, the sync extraction block 110 extracts a sync signal, that is, a horizontal sync signal, included in the tuned channel signal provided by the video processing block 108 through the line L15, and the extracted horizontal sync signal is Provided to control block 110 via line L16. In this case, the horizontal synchronization signal extracted here is used to determine whether the tuned broadcast signal is an effective channel. The existence of the horizontal synchronization signal is checked for each channel to automatically tune only a channel with good viewing. It will be performed for a predetermined time.

On the other hand, the control block 112 is, for example, a microprocessor that performs overall operation control of the receiving system, and when the user broadcast channel selection signal (ie, operation signal) is input from the outside, the corresponding tuning control signal Is generated and provided to the above-described tuning block 102 through the line L11, and channel information (effective channel) of each broadcast mode (satellite broadcast mode, cable broadcast mode, terrestrial broadcast mode) is provided in a predetermined region of the memory block 114. Store in In addition, the area A of the memory block 114 stores various OSD data, for example, a guide screen for displaying channel information for each broadcast mode, a guide message for performing a channel search, and the like.

When the control block 112 sends out a message or a guide screen to a monitor (not shown), the OSD data is extracted from a predetermined area of the memory block 114 to the OSD processing block 116 through the line L18. Will be provided.

In addition, the control block 112, based on the user operation signal from the outside, the switching control signal on the line L17 for switching the output of the broadcast signal corresponding to the broadcast mode currently being viewed or the broadcast mode that the user wants to switch To the switching block 120 to be described later.

The OSD processing block 116 displays the OSD screen data based on the vertical and horizontal sync signals generated for positioning of the OSD data to be sent when the message data is provided from the control block 112 through the line L18. And the OSD screen data configured here is provided to the mixer 118 via line L19.

Therefore, the mixer 118 properly mixes the image data on the line L15 and the OSD screen data when the OSD screen data is provided through the line L19 to provide the contact c of the switching block 120 through the line L20. Also, the mixer 118 bypasses the image data on the line L15 to the contact c of the switching block 120 as it is when there is no OSD screen data on the line L19.

Meanwhile, the switching block 120 selectively switches the video signal output of the tuned cable broadcast (or a mixed video signal mixed with OSD data) and the video signal output of the tuned satellite broadcast channel, and the control block described above through the line L17. Based on the switching control signal provided from 112, when the satellite broadcast mode is selected by the user, the contact ab is connected to provide a video signal of the satellite broadcast channel provided through the line L13 to the display side, not shown, and When the cable broadcast mode is selected, the contact ac is connected to provide a video signal (or a mixed video signal mixed with OSD data) provided through the line L20 to the display side, not shown.

The flag set according to the initial initial state of the composite broadcast receiver configured as described above, that is, whether or not the channel search is performed by the receiver during the manufacturing process, is set to 'FALSE' and stored in the memory block 114 and then stored in each home. Will be supplied.

Each time the receiver is powered on by a user's operation in each home, the control block 112 reads a flag stored in a predetermined area of the memory block 114 to automatically search for each channel of the receiver. If the read flag value is recorded as 'FALSE', a guide message of some form indicating that the channel search has not been performed (for example, 'channel search has not been performed.' Perform a channel search. ') Is displayed via the OSD processing block 116.

At this time, when the user inputs a channel search key signal with reference to the guidance message displayed on the screen, the control block 112 generates a broadcast mode switching signal to the tuner block 102 to the respective broadcast modes (satellite broadcast) described above. Mode, CATV broadcast mode, terrestrial broadcast mode) and automatically searches for an effective channel according to each broadcast mode based on the synchronization signal provided from the sync extraction block 110.

At this time, the effective channel for each broadcast mode detected is stored in a predetermined area of the memory block 114. When the automatic channel search process is completed, the detected channel information for each broadcast mode is stored in the memory block 114. After that, the flag value stored in the predetermined area of the memory block 114 is set to 'TRUE'.

When the receiver is powered on again after the channel search for each broadcasting mode is performed through the above-described process, the control block 112 reads the flag value stored in the memory block 114 again. If the flag value is 'TRUE', the channel of the preset broadcast mode (for example, the most recently watched broadcast channel) is automatically tuned and displayed. If the read flag value is 'FALSE', the above-mentioned channel is displayed. A prompt message as shown is displayed to allow the user to perform a channel search.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a channel search control process of a composite broadcast receiver according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The above-described process will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

If the operation of the composite broadcast receiver is powered on by a user's operation in a standby mode with no power supplied (step 201), the control block 112 displays the flag value set in the memory block 112. By reading (step 205), it is determined whether the read flag value is 'FALSE' or 'TRUE' (step 207).

At this time, if the determined flag value is 'TRUE', the preset channel (for example, the most recently watched broadcast channel) is automatically tuned to the receiver and displayed after undergoing a predetermined signal processing (step 209). On the contrary, when the flag value determined in step 207 described above is 'FALSE', a guide message of a predetermined form indicating that the channel search of the receiver is not performed through the OSD processing block 116 (for example, , 'Channel search has not been performed') (step 311).

Then, it is checked whether the automatic channel search key signal is input from the key input means (not shown) (step 213). If the channel search key signal is input at this time, the OSD processing block 116 is controlled by the control block 112. ), The guide message displayed on the current screen is turned off through the above-described step 211 (step 215), and the effective channel search for each broadcast mode is performed by the sync extraction block 110 (step 217). ).

In detail, the tuner block 102 switches to any broadcast mode in a predetermined order among the broadcast modes based on the mode switch signal generated from the control block 112, and then again based on the tuning control signal. Each channel of the broadcast mode is continuously tuned.

In this case, the sync extraction block 110 detects a sync signal from the video signal output from the video processing block 108, and the control block 112 is based on a plurality of sync signals provided from the sync extraction block 110. Among the channels, only the effective channel to which the actual broadcast signal is input is detected and the corresponding channel information is stored in the memory block 114.

When the channel search process for the corresponding broadcast mode is ended through this process, the tuner block 102 switches to the next broadcast mode in a preset order based on the control signal of the control block 112 and performs the above-described process. Will be repeated.

When the channel search process for each broadcast mode is terminated through the above-described process (step 217), the retrieved channel information is stored in a predetermined area of the memory block 114 (step 219). The flag value set in the memory block 114 is changed to 'TRUE' and set (step 221).

The broadcast channel of the preset mode (for example, the lowest numbered broadcast channel of the specific broadcast mode) is tuned and then displayed on the screen after a predetermined signal processing process (step 223).

As described above, according to the present invention, when the power of the composite broadcast receiver is turned on, a flag value set in the receiver is read to detect whether a channel search is performed, and a corresponding message is displayed to recognize the user. There is an effect that can provide a variety of services, thereby improving the overall performance of the composite broadcast receiver.

Claims (4)

In a composite broadcast receiver having a broadcast signal processing path for processing a plurality of terrestrial broadcast channels and cable broadcast channels tuned through a composite tuner and a broadcast signal processing path for processing a plurality of satellite broadcast channels tuned through the composite tuner. In the method for controlling the search for a plurality of channels, The receiver pre-stores flag information according to whether a channel search process for the plurality of channels is performed in a memory means of the receiver, The method is: A first step of determining whether the channel search process is performed by reading flag information previously stored in the memory means when the receiver is powered on; A second step of tuning and displaying a preset broadcast channel among the plurality of broadcast channels when the channel search process is performed as a result of the determination; A third step of displaying a guide message indicating that a channel search process for the plurality of channels has not been performed when the channel search process has not been performed as a result of the determination; A fourth step of, when the key signal for performing the channel search is input, turning off the displayed guide message, detecting the effective channel search for each broadcasting mode, and storing the detected channel search in the memory means; And if the effective channel search process ends, updating the flag information with information indicating that the channel search process of the receiver has been performed. The method of claim 1, wherein the preset broadcast channel of the second step is a broadcast channel most recently tuned and displayed by the receiver. The method of claim 1, wherein the guide message is displayed in an OSD form. The method of claim 1, wherein the fourth step, A first step of turning off the displayed guide message when a key signal for performing the channel search is input; A second step of switching the operation of the receiver to a specific broadcast mode in a predetermined order among the broadcast modes; Tuning each channel for the switched broadcast mode and detecting a synchronization signal from the tuned channel signal; And a fourth process of storing the channel information from which the synchronization signal is detected in the memory means and repeating the second process.