KR20090011592A

KR20090011592A - Method and system for providing real time caption sevice about internet protocol television

Info

Publication number: KR20090011592A
Application number: KR1020070075321A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 이성용
Original assignee: 브로드밴드미디어주식회사
Priority date: 2007-07-26
Filing date: 2007-07-26
Publication date: 2009-02-02

Abstract

A real-time caption service system of an internet protocol broadcast and a method thereof for providing information to a user using IPTV(Internet Protocol Television) on a real time are provided to obtain breaking news, news or living information on real time. A real-time information server(160) provides all kinds of latest information on a real time. A web server(150) inputs caption data based on the latest information stored in a real time information server. The display environment of the part of displaying subtitle indicating caption data is set up. A caption server(140) on a real time uploads the additional information about caption data inputted from the web server. The display environmental information which is set up in the uploaded caption and a web server is transmitted.

Description

System and method for providing real time subtitle of internet protocol broadcasting {Method and system for providing real time caption sevice about Internet Protocol TeleVision}

The present invention relates to a system and method for providing real-time subtitles for Internet protocol broadcasting, which provides information to a user using Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) in real time.

Recently, the broadcasting environment is changing due to the development of technology and changing demands of viewers.

In other words, the transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting, diversified broadcasting media such as cable and satellite from terrestrial broadcasting, and providing interactive services in conjunction with communication networks, the recent broadcasting environment has undergone more severe changes than any other fields. have.

The Internet Protocol TeleVision ("IPTV") system, which is called various concepts such as Smart TV, Enhanced TV, Intelligent TV, etc., is different from terrestrial broadcast media. For example, viewers can choose what to watch and when to watch it.

In addition, the IPTV system integrates Internet service, data broadcasting service, and personal video recorder (PVR) service in addition to the conventional general broadcasting, and has various functions.

Among them, the data broadcasting service is a method of inputting a text message, an update such as a service update, an announcement such as a news of the service, and event information, to be delivered to users who have subscribed to the service.

However, the data broadcasting service of the IPTV according to the prior art has to input various text notifications and event information to viewers by inputting text text messages within a limited number of characters, and thus, it is difficult to accurately deliver important notification contents, but rather various events. There is a problem that is insufficient to inform the information.

In addition, since the IPTV system is not a real-time broadcast unlike the terrestrial broadcast, a user using the IPTV service has a big disadvantage of not knowing the emergency breaking news or the news situation while watching the content.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing a real-time subtitle providing service of Internet protocol broadcasting, which provides up-to-date information in real time even while a user is watching content.

Another technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing a real-time subtitle providing service of Internet protocol broadcasting that can provide various events and information without limiting the text character size by providing various announcements as crawl captions.

Further technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned above are clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. It can be understood.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a real-time subtitle providing service system of an internet protocol broadcast, comprising: a real-time information server providing various latest information in real time; A web server for inputting subtitle data in real time based on the latest information stored in the real time information server, and setting and managing a display environment of the subtitle display unit to display the subtitle data; And uploading caption data input from the web server and additional information about the caption data in real time, and transmitting and providing the uploaded caption data and display environment information set by the web server when a caption service request is made. A subtitle server.

According to an example of the present invention, the real-time subtitle providing service system may further include a subtitle data receiving apparatus for receiving the subtitle data uploaded to the subtitle server and the subtitle display information in real time to the subtitle display unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the caption data receiving apparatus includes: a caption display control unit controlling the caption display unit according to caption display information set through the web server or an external operation means; A caption data receiver for receiving caption data uploaded to the caption server through an internet network; And controlling the operation of the entire system including the subtitle display control unit and the subtitle data receiving unit, converting the subtitle data received through the subtitle data receiving unit according to a control format, and transmitting the converted subtitle data to the subtitle display unit. It includes a control unit.

According to an example of the present invention, the caption data receiving apparatus may further include an input signal receiving unit for receiving an external input signal input through the external operation means.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the caption display control unit selects one of a horizontal lower end, a horizontal upper end, a horizontal middle, a vertical left end, a vertical right end, and a vertical middle on the screen according to the received subtitle display information. Selected and displayed, and the content of the subtitle data displayed at the selected position can be controlled to be crawled by selecting one from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top.

According to an example of the present invention, a set-top box of Internet Protocol Broadcasting (IPTV) is possible as the caption data receiving apparatus.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the subtitle display unit may be reproduced separately from the AV display unit for outputting video on demand on one screen.

Content displayed on the subtitle display unit is not particularly limited. For example, you can display weather information, traffic information, securities information, life information including sports information, breaking news, news, company service updates, company event information, and so on. Of course.

The display environment of the subtitle display unit includes the position and size of the subtitle display unit, the text size of the subtitle display unit, the crawling direction of the letters, the crawling speed of the letters, and the like. May be included.

On the other hand, the real-time subtitle providing method of the Internet protocol broadcasting according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the step of setting the display environment of the subtitle display unit in advance; Providing, by a real time information server, various types of latest information to be displayed on the subtitle display unit to a web server in real time; Inputting, by the web server, caption data based on the latest information provided from the real time information server; Uploading the input caption data to a caption server; And transmitting, by the caption server, caption display information according to the set display environment and providing the caption data together with the caption display information.

Specific details of embodiments according to the present invention are included in the detailed description and the drawings. Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings.

According to the present invention described above, even when a user using the Internet protocol broadcasting service watches content, it is possible to obtain emergency breaking news, news, and various life information in real time. As a result, the user can obtain the latest information in real time, and the service provider can increase the user's convenience by supplementing the shortcomings of the Internet protocol broadcasting rather than the real-time broadcasting.

In addition, by providing a variety of information as a crawl caption, it is useful to broadcast the caption, such as news information or in real time according to the content and broadcast situation.

Hereinafter, a system and method for providing real-time subtitles of Internet protocol broadcasting according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a real-time subtitle providing service of an IPTV according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating subtitles displayed on a subtitle display unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 1, an IPTV according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a display apparatus 1, a set-top box 2, and a remote controller 3 that can be operated by a user.

According to an example of the present invention, the display apparatus 1 includes an AV display unit 1A for playing and outputting video on demand (VOD) on a screen, and a caption display unit for outputting data broadcasting (subtitle broadcasting). It consists of 1B.

The set-top box 2 may be made to have a function of separating digital broadcasting and caption broadcasting using VOD and outputting the VOD data and the caption data to the AV display unit 1A and the caption display unit 1B.

In addition, the set-top box 2 is capable of multi-channel reception by mounting a two-tuner or the like to output closed caption broadcasting to the AV display unit 1A and a subtitle display unit 1B, or in conjunction with the AV display unit 1A. Can be made to have the ability to print.

The set top box 2 receives VOD data and subtitle data through a web server connected to the Internet.

The following are exemplary embodiments of the subtitle display unit 1B.

Example 1) AV display unit outputs digital broadcasting using VOD, subtitle display unit outputs data broadcasting and character broadcasting

Example 2) AV display unit plays dramas and various entertainment programs, subtitle display unit plays emergency breaking news, news, and stock information texts

Example 3) AV display plays movie, subtitle display plays subtitle

Example 4) The AV display unit plays the initial screen of the VOD playlist list, and the subtitle display unit plays its service update news, service announcements, event information, etc.

The above examples list various types that can be output to the subtitle display unit 1B as an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and various types of subtitle display units such as weather information, traffic information, sports information, and Olympic championship information can be applied. have.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, the caption display unit 1B according to the embodiment of the present invention may use a crawl method.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, various types of subtitle data are displayed one line at a time and provided while moving from the bottom to the top in a roll manner. According to this method, a large number of information can be provided even if the number of characters is limited.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2B, the caption data may be provided while crawling from right to left.

The direction of the crawl can be set from the bottom to the top, as shown, or from the top to the bottom, can be set in various ways from left to right or right to left.

The position and size of the caption display unit 1B can be set according to the category of the VOD output to the AV display unit 1A, the type of the caption data, and the like.

Hereinafter, the configuration and method of the real-time subtitle service system described above will be described in detail.

3 is a configuration diagram of a real-time subtitle providing service system of an IPTV according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the subtitle receiving apparatus shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, an IPTV real-time subtitle providing service system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a real-time information server 160, a web server 150, and a subtitle server 140. The display apparatus 110 may include a display apparatus 110 and a caption data receiving apparatus 120 provided for each individual user.

At this time, the real-time information server 160, the web server 150, the caption server 140, the caption data receiving device 120 transmits and receives data through the Internet network 130, the caption data receiving device 120 is The display apparatus 110 is connected by wire to transmit data.

In addition, the display apparatus 110 includes an AV display unit 110A for playing and displaying video on demand (VOD) on one screen, and a subtitle display unit 110B for displaying data broadcasting (subtitle broadcasting). do.

The caption display unit 110B is reproduced separately from the AV display unit 110A on one screen.

In detail, the real-time information server 160 provides subtitle data including various announcements to the web server 150 in real time through the Internet network 130.

Here, the various announcements include emergency breaking news such as disaster and social, economic, political, news information, various life information, company announcement information, company service update news, company event information, and the like. The various types of living information include weather information, traffic information, stock information, sports information, and the like.

The web server 150 inputs in real time based on the subtitle data to be provided to the user among the subtitle data provided from the real time information server 160 and sets and manages the display environment of the subtitle display unit 110B to display the subtitle data. do.

In this case, the web server 150 may be provided with operation means for setting the display environment of the subtitle display unit 110B.

The display environment setting of the subtitle display unit 110B means setting an environment in which the subtitle display unit 110B itself is displayed, the position and size of the subtitle display unit 110B, the font size of the subtitle display unit 110B, and the crawling of the letters. (crawl) direction, the crawl speed of the letters can be set.

For example, the position of the subtitle display unit 110B is set by selecting one of horizontal bottom, horizontal top, horizontal middle, vertical left end, vertical right end, and vertical middle on the screen, and the crawl direction of the text is from left to right, right to left, It is a series of setting modes to select and set from top to bottom and bottom to top.

The web server 150 is a user information DB 151 including information of a user who uses an IPTV service or a subtitle service, and a subtitle list DB that stores a list of subtitle data input from the web server 150. 152, a subtitle display environment setting DB 153 storing information about a display environment of the subtitle display unit 110B set by the web server 150 may be provided.

The subtitle server 140 uploads the subtitle data and additional information related to the subtitle data input from the web server 150 in real time, and upon request of the subtitle service, transmits the corresponding subtitle display information together with the uploaded subtitle data. To serve.

The caption display information includes display environment information set through the web server 150.

The caption server 140 for managing the caption service includes a caption data DB (not shown) storing caption data uploaded through the web server 150 and all display information regarding the environment setting of the caption display unit 110B. Subtitle display information DB 144 including a may be provided.

The caption data DB (not shown) may be classified into an emergency breaking DB 141, a notice DB 142, and various life information DBs 143 according to the type of the caption data.

Meanwhile, the caption data receiving apparatus 120 receives caption data and caption display information uploaded from the caption server 140 in real time through the Internet network 130 and provides the caption data to the display apparatus 110.

The caption data receiving apparatus 120 may be used as a set-top box of an IPTV.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the caption data receiving apparatus 120 largely manages caption data for managing and processing information on caption data and a VOD management application 121 for managing and processing information on VOD. It may be configured as an application (not shown).

The caption data management application (not shown) includes a caption data receiver 122, a caption display controller 123, a controller 124, and an input signal receiver 125.

The caption data receiving unit 122 serves to receive caption data uploaded to the caption server 140 of FIG. 3 through the Internet network 130.

The caption display control unit 123 controls the display environment of the caption display unit 110B according to the caption display information set through the web server 150 of FIG. 3 or the external operation means 170.

As described above, the caption display information is information on setting of the display environment of the caption display unit 110B, and may include information preset through the web server 150 (or FIG. 3), or through an external operation means 170. It may also include information set by the user.

Accordingly, the caption display control unit 123 controls the caption display unit 110B to be positioned at any one of a horizontal lower end, a horizontal upper end, a horizontal middle end, a vertical left end, a vertical right end, and a vertical middle point on the screen, as described above. The text to be displayed on the display unit 110B is controlled to be crawled in any one direction from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top.

The input signal receiver 125 receives an external input signal input through the external operation means 170 and transmits the input signal to the controller 124.

The control unit 124 controls the operation of the entire system including the subtitle display control unit 123 and the subtitle data receiving unit 122, converts the subtitle data received through the subtitle data receiving unit 122 according to a control format, and converts the subtitle data. The caption data is transmitted to the display apparatus 110.

Then, by converting the input signal received from the input signal receiving unit 125 to the caption display control unit 123 to control the display environment of the caption display unit 110B according to the user set.

Therefore, the IPTV real-time subtitle providing service system according to an embodiment of the present invention provides a variety of information in real time using the web server 150 and the subtitle server 140, even if the user using the IPTV to watch the content Provide information to obtain. As a result, it is possible to compensate for the shortcomings of IPTV rather than real-time broadcasting.

The real-time subtitle providing service system of the IPTV according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above operates as follows.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a real-time subtitle service according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, which will be described with reference to this.

First, a user using IPTV is subscribed to a subtitle service. The subscription procedure may allow all service providers to subscribe to users who use IPTV arbitrarily, and may allow users who use IPTV to selectively subscribe if necessary.

Subsequently, as a basic operation for providing a caption service, the display environment of the caption display unit is set in advance (S110 and S120).

That is, the position and size of the caption display unit, the text size of the caption display unit, the crawl direction of the characters, the crawl speed, and the like can be set.

The display environment setting of the caption display unit may be performed by the service provider through the web server 150, or the user 180 may set the user's convenience through an external operation means (170 of FIG. 4).

In case of setting through the web server 150, the subtitle display environment setting DB in the web server 150 is stored in the web server 150, and when the real-time information is transmitted to the subtitle server 140, the display environment information set by the web server 150 is simultaneously added. send.

And, if the setting is made through the external operation means (170 in FIG. 4), the caption data receiving apparatus 120 transmits the control to the caption data receiving apparatus 120 and controls the caption display control unit 123 in FIG.

Next, the real time information server 160 provides a variety of latest information to the web server 150 in real time.

As described above, as described above, emergency breaking news such as disaster and social, economic, political, news information, life-related information (weather information, traffic information, stock information, sports information, etc.), company notice information, company service update Includes news, company event information, and more.

Next, the web server 150 inputs caption data based on the latest information provided from the real time information server 160 (S140). In this case, the web server 150 may input all of the caption data provided through the real-time information server 160, or may selectively input the extracted caption data.

Thereafter, the list of input caption data is stored in the web server 150 and managed (S150).

Next, the input subtitle data is uploaded to the subtitle server 140 and stored (S160 and S170).

Next, when there is a request for the caption service, the caption server 140 transmits the caption display information set through the web server 150 and transmits the caption display information together with the caption data to the caption data receiving apparatus 120 (S180).

At this time, the caption data receiving apparatus 120 may use the set-top box of the IPTV.

Next, the caption data receiving apparatus 120 receives caption data from the caption server 140 and displays the caption data on the screen according to caption display information (S190 and S200).

According to such a method, by providing a subtitle broadcasting service in real time using a crawl method, a large amount of notification content such as software upgrade, service update, and event information can be simultaneously informed to the user 180.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that.

Therefore, since the embodiments described above are provided to completely inform the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, it should be understood that they are exemplary in all respects and not limited. The invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a real-time subtitle providing service of IPTV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a caption displayed on a caption display unit according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram of an IPTV system having a real-time subtitle service function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the set-top box shown in FIG.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing a real-time subtitle service according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

1, 110: display device 1A, 110 A: AV display

1B, 110B: Subtitle Display Part 2: Set Top Box

3, 170: remote control 120: caption data receiving device

130: Internet 140: subtitle server

141: breaking news DB 142: announcement DB

143: Various living information DB 144: Subtitle display information DB

150: web server 151: user information DB

152: Subtitle list information DB 153: Subtitle display preference DB

160: real time information server 121: VOD management application

122: subtitle data receiving unit 123: subtitle display control unit

124: control unit 125: input signal receiving unit

Claims

A real time information server providing various latest information in real time;

A web server for inputting subtitle data in real time based on the latest information stored in the real time information server, and setting and managing a display environment of the subtitle display unit to display the subtitle data; And

Subtitles uploaded in real time and the subtitle data input from the web server and the additional information about the subtitle data in real time, and when requested by the subtitle service, the subtitle data and the display environment information set in the web server is sent together and provided server

Real time subtitle providing service system of the Internet protocol broadcast comprising a.

The method of claim 1,

Subtitle data receiving device that receives the subtitle data uploaded to the subtitle server and the subtitle display information in real time and provides the subtitle display unit to the subtitle display unit.

Real time subtitle providing service system of the Internet protocol broadcast further comprising.

The method of claim 2,

The caption data receiving apparatus,

A caption display control unit controlling the caption display unit according to caption display information set through the web server or an external operation means;

A caption data receiver for receiving caption data uploaded to the caption server through an internet network; And

A control unit for controlling the operation of the entire system including the subtitle display control unit and the subtitle data receiving unit, converting the subtitle data received through the subtitle data receiving unit according to a control format, and transmitting the converted subtitle data to the subtitle display unit

The method of claim 3,

The caption data receiving apparatus,

And an input signal receiver configured to receive an external input signal input through the external manipulation means.

The method of claim 3,

The caption display control unit,

According to the received subtitle display information,

The position of the caption display unit is displayed by selecting one of a horizontal bottom, a horizontal top, a horizontal middle, a vertical left end, a vertical right end, and a vertical middle on the screen,

Providing real-time subtitles of Internet protocol broadcasting characterized in that the content of the subtitle data displayed at the selected position is controlled to be crawled by selecting one from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top. Service system.

The method of claim 2,

The caption data receiving apparatus is a real-time caption providing service system of an internet protocol broadcast, characterized in that the set-top box of the Internet protocol broadcast (IPTV).

The method of claim 1,

The caption display unit,

A real-time subtitle providing service system of an internet protocol broadcast, characterized in that a video display on demand is reproduced separately from an AV display unit for outputting video on demand.

The method of claim 1,

The latest information is

Real-time subtitle providing service system of Internet protocol broadcasting, which includes weather information, traffic information, stock information, life information including sports information, breaking news, news, company service update news, and company event information.

The method of claim 1,

The display environment of the caption display unit is

And a position and size of the caption display unit, a character size of the caption display unit, a crawl direction of the character, and a crawl speed of the character.

The method of claim 1,

The web server,

A user information DB including user information;

A subtitle list DB including a list of subtitle data extracted through the real-time information server; And

Subtitle display environment setting DB including information on the display environment of the subtitle display unit

Upload caption data input from the web server and additional information about the caption data in real time, and transmit and provide caption display information along with the uploaded caption data according to the set display environment when a caption service request is made. Subtitle server; And

Set-top box for receiving the subtitle data and the subtitle display information uploaded to the subtitle server in real time to the subtitle display unit

The method of claim 11,

The caption display unit,

Setting a display environment of the caption display unit in advance;

Providing, by a real time information server, various types of latest information to be displayed on the subtitle display unit to a web server in real time;

Inputting, by the web server, caption data based on various latest information provided from the real time information server;

Uploading the input caption data to a caption server; And

Transmitting, by the caption server, caption display information according to the set display environment and providing the caption data together with the caption display information;

Real-time subtitle providing method of the Internet protocol broadcast comprising a.

The method of claim 13,

The setting of the display environment of the caption display unit in advance may include:

A method of providing real-time subtitles of Internet protocol broadcasting, which can be arbitrarily set via the web server or by an external operation means possessed by the user.

The method of claim 13,

And a position and size of the caption display unit, a text size of the caption display unit, a crawl direction of the character, and a crawl speed of the character.

The method of claim 13,

The latest information is

A method of providing real-time subtitles of Internet protocol broadcasting, which includes weather information, traffic information, stock information, life information including sports information, breaking news, news, company service update news, and company event information.