KR20000044781A - Method for investigating program preference using digital television - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for investigating program pre-reference using a digital television is provided to investigate a real-time program preference for a multitude of televiewer by using a digital television. CONSTITUTION: A method for investigating program pre-reference using a digital television comprises the following steps. In television watching mode, a telephone is connected through a modem to a server. A program is reserved and a characteristic of a preference program is analyzed by analyzing information of the reserved program. A database including the analyzed program information is composed and contents of the database are transmitted by the modem. Pointing information of the reserved program and address information of the digital television are transmitted to a program server.

Description

Program Preference Study Using Digital TV

The present invention relates to a digital TV, and more particularly, to a broadcast program preference survey method suitable for performing a preference survey of a digital broadcast program on a plurality of viewers in real time.

Digital broadcasts, which will be tested in Korea next year, can be classified into digital satellite receivers, cable TVs and digital TVs. They commonly receive digital broadcast signals in the form of packets on a packet basis, extract broadcast signals of selected channels from broadcast signals received by a transport demuxer, and convert the extracted broadcast signals to MPEG (Motion Picture Expert). After decoding in a group), it is configured to provide to the display device.

The digital broadcast signal provided to the digital broadcast receiver has a structure in which a program association table (hereinafter referred to as PAT) and a program map table (hereinafter referred to as PMT) packet information are transmitted on a predetermined time basis. . The digital TV performs the above-described transport demultiplexing process with reference to the PMT and PAT information to extract and transmit the video and audio bitstreams for the broadcast signal of the channel desired to be viewed, respectively.

Therefore, the tuner provided in the digital TV (receiver) tunes a channel selected by a user by inputting an IF signal received through a low noise converter. Such a digital TV maximizes channel utilization and improves image and sound signal quality. In addition to the ease of additional digital service data transmission, the significant improvement of the user interface is a big advantage.

Meanwhile, in digital broadcasting, a transmission signal of a digital broadcasting signal received from a broadcasting provider (broadcaster) to a digital TV through a fixed channel is restored to a transport stream through a process of converting to an intermediate frequency, demodulating, and error correction. The transport stream includes program service data such as digital TV broadcasting and data broadcasting, and an electronic program guide (EPG).

Among them, EPG data has a structure in which EPG packet information is transmitted when a unit of time or a request of a subscriber is input, and displays an EPG screen menu of a program to be broadcasted through a display device. Through the subscriber can determine the airing time, show time and grade of the program that you want to watch.

Unlike analog, digital TV can digitize limited radio resources and use them in abundance, which means that the number of program providers can range from several to dozens.

Since it is very important to identify viewers' preferences among many of these program providers, for this purpose, the researcher randomly calls the viewers directly and inquires and re-statistically records the inquired records to reflect the subscriber's preference or viewership. Investigate. However, this research method is inaccurate, and a lot of manpower and time wasted, and because it is not processed in real time, there was a problem that takes a lot of time.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a broadcast program preference survey method that can process viewers' opinions about the preference survey and the viewer rating survey for various broadcast programs using digital TV in real time. Its purpose is to.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention receives a bit stream for various broadcast programs provided to a digital TV, displays them on a monitor through a predetermined signal processing process, and investigates preferences for reservation programs for a plurality of viewers in the digital TV. In the method of performing, the step of connecting the telephone to the server via the modem during the viewing mode, and, if the program is reserved, analyzing the information of the reserved program to analyze the propensity of the favorite program, and the analyzed And converting the program information into a modem and transmitting the reserved information of the reserved program and the address information of the digital TV to the program server.

1 is a block diagram of a digital TV to which a broadcast program preference survey method is applied using a digital TV according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of investigating a preference program tendency of a digital TV user using a digital TV according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

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

105: key input unit 110: microcomputer

115: tuner and demodulator 120: MPEG decoder

125: video encoder 130: video synthesis unit

135: modem 145: memory unit

150: menu generator

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 digital TV for applying a broadcast program preference research method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and includes a key input unit 105, a microcomputer 110, a tuner and a demodulator 115, and an MPEG decoder ( 120, a video encoder 125, an image synthesizer 130, a modem 135, a memory 145, and a menu generator 150.

Referring to FIG. 1, the key input unit 105 is composed of key metrics (including a pointing device) on a remote controller or its own panel to generate a corresponding key signal by a user's operation and provide it to the microcomputer 110. 110 generates a respective control signal for performing a function corresponding to the key signal from the key input unit 105. For example, when a user broadcast channel selection signal is input from the outside, a corresponding tuning control signal is generated and provided to the tuner and demodulator 115 to be described later.

In addition, when the user selects an EPG menu screen, in particular, a preferred channel, and reserves a program, the microcomputer 110 inputs a key signal to the program server (broadcasting station) in a direction opposite to the direction in which the program is provided. Is received from the key input unit 105 and provided to the program server (not shown) through the modem 135 to be described later.

The tuner and demodulator 115 tunes a broadcast channel selected by a user in a broadcast signal received through a broadcast signal receiver (i.e., a receiving antenna), not shown, based on a tuning control signal provided from the microcomputer 110. The tuned broadcast channel signal is restored to a transport stream through a process of converting to an intermediate frequency, demodulation, and error correction. The transport stream thus restored is provided to the next MPEG decoder 120.

On the other hand, in the MPEG decoder 120, on the basis of the control signal provided from the microcomputer 110, the compressed and encoded audio signal and the video signal of the broadcast channel provided from the tuner and demodulator 115, Considering the spatial and spatial correlation, the compressed and 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 digital broadcast video signal reconstructed here The next stage is provided to the video encoder 125, and the reconstructed audio signal is provided to an audio signal processor (not shown).

In addition, the video encoder 125 converts the selected digital broadcast video signal provided from the MPEG decoder 120 to an NTSC or PAL analog video signal and then provides the image synthesizer 130 to the image generator 130, and the menu generator 150. ) Restores the encoded EPG menu data provided from the above-described tuner and demodulator 115, such as a broadcast channel menu service, to the original signal before encoding, and configures it as an EPG menu screen to provide to the image synthesizer 130. .

Accordingly, the image synthesizing unit 130 transmits the analog broadcast signal output from the video encoder 125 to the display side, not shown, or displays a screen on which the EPG menu screen data mixed through the menu generating unit 150 is mixed. Will be delivered.

Meanwhile, the modem 135 transmits data between the service provider and each other through a telephone line or a dedicated line (coaxial cable). For example, when a user selects a reserved program, the information such as the title, the start time, the end time, and the broadcast channel of the reserved program is coded through a modem under the control of a microcomputer to make a telephone line or a dedicated line. Is sent to the server. The program server receiving the transmitted information is able to analyze it by making a database of it.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of examining a propensity of a preference program of a digital TV user using a digital TV according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The above-described process will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. When the power of the digital TV is turned on (step 202), the tuner and demodulation block 115 extracts the EPG data in response to the EPG acquisition request signal provided from the microcomputer 110 through the line L11, and the extracted EPG data is lined. It is provided to the control block 110 via L11 (step 204).

Next, at step 206, when the digital TV is switched to the viewing mode and the program guide packet data reception is completed, as already employed in the normal TV, the previously viewed and stored channel (i.e., the most recently The program of the automatically tuned channel is broadcasted so that the digital broadcast channel that was watched is automatically tuned.

In step 208, a call line is connected to the program server via a modem. In the telephone connection, the digital TV may be connected to the server side, and the program server may be connected to the digital TV side.

In step 210, when the viewer reserves a program, the microcomputer 110 analyzes the information of the reserved program. The subscriber's favorite program is analyzed by storing rating information indicating the grade of the program and other information of the program.

The microcomputer 110 converts the analyzed information into data and transmits it to the modem (step 212). In step 214, the modem modulates the pointing information of the data program and the address information (or serial number) of the digital TV and transmits it to the program server.

The transmitted information can manage the program propensity of viewers individually or globally by demodulating the received information received from the program server and analyzing the statistics of the subscriber's reservation program individually or entirely.

As described above, the present invention has an effect of performing broadcast program preferences and channel preference surveys for a plurality of viewers in real time using a modem mounted therein in digital TV, and thus more diverse broadcast services. There is an effect that can provide.

Claims (1)

In the method for receiving a bit stream for a variety of broadcast programs provided to the digital TV and display on the monitor through a predetermined signal processing process, and conducting a preference survey for a reservation program for a plurality of viewers in the digital TV, Connecting the telephone to the server through the modem during the viewing mode; When the program is reserved, analyzing the information of the reserved program to analyze the propensity of the favorite program; And converting the analyzed program information into a modem to transmit pointing information of the reserved program and address information of the digital TV to a program server.