JP2000041211A - Video recording controller broadcast station, broadcast reception system and medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the video recording controller that controls video recording of a program without input of a video recording reservation from the user newly in the case of re-broadcasting a program even when the video recording of the program is failed. SOLUTION: The controller is provided with a program information storage section 104 that stores program information, a reservation information entry section 102 that enters instruction of video recording reservation of a prescribed program among program information stored by the program information storage section 104, a 1st video recording control section 108 that controls the video recording of the instructed program when it is broadcast based on the instruction of the video recording reservation entered by a reservation information entry section 102, a reservation information storage section 109 that stores information relating to an unrecorded part when all or parts of the instructed programs are not video-recorded, and a 2nd video recording conversion section 111 that controls the video recording so that the parts not recorded at least before can be recorded in the program broadcast again when the program whose all or parts of the program have not been video-recorded based on the information relating to the unrecorded part stored in the reservation information storage section.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording control device for controlling recording of a television program, and a broadcasting station for transmitting a television program and program information of the television program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The number of programs that can be viewed has increased due to the increase in the number of channels of television programs and diversification of user preferences, and the task of selecting a desired program from among many programs has become difficult for users. . Accordingly, an electronic program guide (EPG) has been used which assists a user in selecting a program desired to be viewed or a program desired to be recorded by a simple operation. The user only needs to use the EPG to display information on a program to be broadcasted on a monitor, and then use the remote control or the like to select a program to be viewed or recorded from the displayed program information. Then, actual channel selection and recording reservation work are automatically performed. The technology using such an EPG is particularly applicable to pay broadcasting (PPV: pay-per-view).
So it is an indispensable technology.

[0003] A configuration of a broadcasting / receiving system including such a conventional recording control device and a broadcasting station will be described below together with its operation with reference to FIG. FIG.
3 is a block diagram of a conventional broadcasting / receiving system. The portion surrounded by the dotted line is the recording control device.

First, in the recording control device, the EPG 1305
However, program information broadcasted from the broadcasting station 1301 is input via the input unit 1303 and stored in the program information storage unit 1304. After that, the EPG 1305 displays the program information stored in the program information storage unit 1304 on the monitor by using the display control unit 1306 when instructed by the user. The program information is displayed so that a program that has already been viewed or reserved for recording can be identified. Then, the user looks at the displayed program information, and if there is a program to be recorded, selects the program with a remote controller or the like.

[0005] The program selected by the user is input to the EPG 1305 via the reservation information input unit 1302,
The PG 1305 creates reservation information of the program. The created reservation information is sent to the reservation information management unit 1307 and stored in the reservation information storage unit 1308.

FIG. 14 shows an example of reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 1308. The reservation information includes a reservation number, date, channel, program name, recording start time, recording end time, recording status, and the like.

[0007] Upon receiving an instruction from the user, the reservation information management unit 1307 causes the display control unit 1306 to display the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 1308 on a monitor. The reservation information is displayed so that the recorded program can be identified.

[0008] Then, the reservation information management unit 1307 extracts the reservation information having the recording start time closest to the current time after the current time among the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 1308, and The program is video storage unit 1.
Recording control is performed so that recording is performed on the recording medium 309.

[0009] The input unit 1303 is connected to the broadcast station 1301.
The program information is input together with the program information from
The program is output to the PG 1305, and the program is output to the video storage unit 1309.

[0010]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional broadcasting / receiving system, recording reservation can be made only for a program after the current time.

That is, the recording control device normally makes a reservation for a program after the current time, so there is no problem. However, for a program for which the user has forgotten to make a reservation for recording or for which recording failed, rebroadcasting is performed. It is necessary to make a scheduled recording again when it is lost.

However, since the period from the end of the main broadcast to the rebroadcasting of the desired program is not particularly determined, the user always checks the date and time when the desired program is actually rebroadcasted, If it is known that there is a broadcast, the user has to make a recording reservation again. If he does not know that there is a broadcast again, he will miss it again.

[0013] For the user, even if the user has forgotten to view or reserve recording, or if the recording was reserved, or if the recording was controlled by the user in real time, the program that failed to be recorded. about,
A problem arises in that viewing or recording cannot be performed until there is a rebroadcast.

Further, since it is impossible to specify which program the program is rebroadcasting from only the program information, it is difficult to automatically determine the rebroadcast.

On the other hand, on the broadcast station side, since the user's preferences are diversifying, it may not be possible to grasp the user's needs as to what program the user desires. It is becoming more difficult to select programs that have changed.

As described above, in the conventional broadcasting / receiving system, the present invention takes into consideration the problem that, for a program whose recording has failed, it is necessary to perform recording reservation work again at the time of rebroadcasting. Even if the program is rebroadcast, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording control device that controls the program to be recorded without inputting a recording reservation instruction from the user again when the program is rebroadcast. is there.

Further, in the conventional broadcasting / receiving system of the present invention, in consideration of the problem that a program for which a user has forgotten to view or record reservations cannot be viewed or recorded until rebroadcasting, recording is not reserved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording control device that controls a program to be recorded.

Further, the present invention considers the problem that it is difficult to automatically determine the original program of a program to be rebroadcast in a conventional broadcasting / receiving system, It is an object of the present invention to provide a broadcast station that transmits information to be discriminated from each other, and a recording control device that automatically discriminates an original program of a program to be rebroadcast using the information. .

Further, in the present invention, in the conventional broadcasting / reception system, the broadcast station does not fully understand the needs of the user, and the program to be broadcasted is determined based on the needs of the users and reference is made thereto. It is intended to provide a broadcasting station to be determined.

[0020]

Means for Solving the Problems The first invention (claim 1)
A program information storage unit for storing program information, a reservation information input unit for inputting a recording reservation instruction for a predetermined program from the program information stored in the program information storage unit,
A first recording control unit that controls the program to be recorded when the designated program is broadcast, based on a recording reservation instruction input by the reservation information input unit; If all or some were not recorded,
An unrecorded information storage unit that stores information about the program or the unrecorded unit, and the whole or a part of the program is recorded based on the information about the program or the unrecorded unit stored by the unrecorded information storage unit. And a second recording control unit for controlling at least the unrecorded portion of the rebroadcast program to be recorded when the non-recorded program is rebroadcast. It is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 2), a program information storage unit for storing program information and a case where a predetermined program is recorded in real time under the control of a user. Or, if a part has not been recorded, an unrecorded information storage unit that stores information about the program or unrecorded unit, based on the information about the program or the unrecorded unit stored by the unrecorded information storage unit A recording control unit that controls so that at least the non-recorded part of the re-broadcasted program is recorded when the program whose whole or part has not been recorded is rebroadcast. A recording control device characterized in that:

According to a third aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 3), a program information storage unit for storing program information and an instruction to record a predetermined program from the program information stored in the program information storage unit are provided. When the designated program is an already broadcasted program based on a reservation information input unit to be input and a recording instruction input by the reservation information input unit, when the already broadcasted program is rebroadcasted And a recording control unit for controlling the program to be recorded.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 4), the first aspect
In any one of the third to third aspects of the present invention,
A request transmitting unit that transmits a rebroadcast request for the program to a broadcasting station so that the program that is not entirely or partially recorded or the program that has already been broadcast is rebroadcast, further comprising: This is a recording control device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 5), a program information storage unit for storing program information, a recording control unit for controlling all programs to be recorded, and a program information storage unit A display control unit for controlling display of all or a part of programs stored in a recording medium for recording a program under the control of the recording control unit by using the stored program information; And a remaining program instruction input unit for inputting an instruction of a program to be left on the recording medium among all or some of the programs displayed by the control unit.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 6), the fifth aspect
The recording control device according to the present invention, further comprising a warning issuing unit for detecting a remaining recordable capacity of the recording medium and issuing a warning when the remaining recordable capacity is smaller than a predetermined amount. It is a control device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 7), the fourth aspect
A broadcast station that determines a program to be broadcast by utilizing a rebroadcast request for the program from a request transmission unit of the recording control device of the present invention.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 8), the seventh aspect
In the broadcast station of the present invention, a program to be rebroadcast is determined based on the number of hours of use of slots allocated to broadcast a rebroadcast program and the arrival status of the rebroadcast request. Broadcasting station.

A ninth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 9) is an eighth aspect of the present invention.
In the broadcast station of the present invention, at least the program information of the program to be rebroadcasted is defined as FM character multiplex broadcasting, a vertical blanking interval of a television signal, and a channel for transmitting program information of a program other than the program to be rebroadcasted The broadcast station is characterized by transmitting using any one of logically different data channels of data broadcasting using satellite broadcasting.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 10),
In the broadcast station according to the eighth aspect of the invention, at least the program information of the program to be rebroadcasted is transmitted by using any one of FM text multiplex broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and a public telephone network. The broadcast station is characterized in that the broadcast is designated and transmitted.

[0030] An eleventh invention (corresponding to claim 11) provides:
In the ninth or tenth broadcast station of the present invention, information for specifying an original program of the program to be rebroadcast is added,
A broadcast station for transmitting program information of the program to be rebroadcast.

The twelfth invention (corresponding to claim 12) provides:
In the recording control device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the program information to which information for specifying the original program of the rebroadcast program from the broadcast station according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention is added. And a rebroadcasting determination unit that determines which of the programs to be rebroadcast is one of the programs that have already been broadcast.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 13),
A broadcast / reception system, comprising: the recording control device of any one of the first to sixth and twelfth inventions; and the broadcast station of any of the seventh to eleventh inventions.

The fourteenth invention (corresponding to claim 14) is:
A storage medium storing a program for realizing all or a part of each function of each component of the recording control device according to any one of the first to sixth and twelfth aspects of the present invention.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention (corresponding to claim 15),
A medium storing a program for realizing all or part of the functions of the broadcast station according to any one of the seventh to eleventh aspects of the present invention.

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) The configuration of a broadcast / reception system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described together with its operation.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a broadcast / reception system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the broadcasting / receiving system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a recording control device 113 and a broadcasting station 101. In FIG. 1, in the recording control device 113 surrounded by a dotted line, 102 is a reservation information input unit, 103 is an input unit, 104
Is a program information storage unit, 105 is an EPG, 106 is a display control unit, 107 is a rebroadcast reservation management unit, 108 is a first recording control unit, 109 is a reservation information storage unit, 110 is a rebroadcast determination unit,
111 is a second recording control unit, and 112 is a video storage unit.

The broadcasting station 101 broadcasts a program and broadcasts program information of the program. The input unit 103 of the recording control device 113 receives a program from the broadcasting station 101 and simultaneously receives the program. It receives program information, outputs a program to the video storage unit 112, and outputs program information to the EPG 105.

The operation of the broadcasting / receiving system according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes two operations, one relating to recording reservation and the other relating to recording, and these will be described in order.

First, the recording reservation operation will be described.

First, an EPG (Electronic Program Information Guide) 105 of the recording control unit 113 transmits program information transmitted from the broadcasting station 101 using the vertical blanking period of the TV signal via the input unit 103. To enter the program information storage unit 1
04.

Thereafter, when the user gives an instruction, the EPG
105 causes the display control unit 106 to display the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 on a monitor. The program information may include information on a program broadcast before the current time. In other words, information on programs broadcasted in the past may be included together with information on programs broadcasted in the future.

Then, the user looks at the program information displayed on the monitor, and specifies the program to be recorded in the reservation information input section 102 using a remote controller or the like. It is assumed that the user can specify not only programs to be broadcasted but also programs that have already been broadcasted. And
The EPG 105 inputs a program specified by the user from the reservation information input unit 102, extracts program information of the program from the program information storage unit 104, and creates program reservation information.

At this time, if the input program is a program which has already been broadcast, the EPG 105 adds a rebroadcast recording mark indicating that recording is to be performed when the program is rebroadcast, to the reservation information, Output to rebroadcast reservation management section 107. On the other hand, when the input program is a program broadcasted after the current time, the EPG 105 outputs the reservation information to the first recording control unit 108 as it is. Then, the rebroadcast reservation management unit 107 and the first recording control unit 108 store the inputted reservation information in the reservation information storage unit 109.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 109. The reservation information includes a reservation number, a date, a channel, a program name, a recording start time, a recording end time, a replay recording mark, and the like. The reservation information also includes the recording status, and the reservation information storage unit 109 manages the recording status of the program reserved by the user. The recording status indicates whether the program reserved for recording is in an unrecorded, recording, recorded, or error state. , Each will be displayed. An error indicates that recording could not be performed for some reason. In the case of an error, the reason is also managed at the same time. One example of the reason for the error is that the video tape is not inserted or the remaining amount is insufficient. Note that, as described above, since some programs have been reserved for recording and have not been broadcast yet, a mark indicating “unrecorded” is written in the recording status column. After that, when the program reserved for recording is broadcast, the recording status column of the corresponding program will be displayed.
A mark indicating “recording”, “recorded” or “error” is written. It is assumed that the reservation information shown in FIG. 2 was created on November 30, 1998.

Next, the recording operation will be described.

The recording operation may be performed by recording a program reserved for recording under the control of the first recording control unit 108, or by performing manual recording by a user during broadcast of the program. The two will be described below in order.

First, the case where recording is performed under the control of the first recording control unit 108 will be described.

The first recording control unit 108 extracts the reservation information after the current time and closest to the current time from the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 109.
According to the extracted reservation information, control is performed so that the program corresponding to the reservation information is recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112.

That is, the first recording control unit 108 outputs a recording start command to the video storage unit 112, for example, 5 seconds before the recording start time based on the reservation information, and
Numeral 12 starts recording on a recording medium based on an instruction from the first recording control unit 108. Similarly, the first recording control unit 1
08 is the recording end time, for example, 5 based on the reservation information.
A second before, a recording end command is output to the video storage unit 112, and the video storage unit 112 ends the recording based on the instruction from the first recording control unit 108. In this way, for example, on December 1, 1998, the first recording control unit 10
8 controls so that the program of the reservation number 1 of FIG. 2 is recorded.

When the recording is completed, the first recording control unit 108
Causes the video storage unit 112 to check the recording status of the program. When the first recording control unit 108 receives a report from the video storage unit 112 that the recording has been interrupted due to insufficient storage capacity of the recording medium or the like, the first recording control unit 108 adds the program reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 109 to At the time of rebroadcasting, a recording mark and information on a portion that can be recorded are added. The information is information for specifying a part that can be recorded, and includes a recording start time, a recording end time, and the like of the part that can be recorded. In this case, an error is written in the recording status column of the reservation information. On the other hand, when the first recording control unit 108 receives a report from the video storage unit 112 that the recording has been normally performed, the first recording control unit 108 adds “reservation information” of the program stored in the reservation information storage unit 109 to “ The mark "recorded" is added.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the reservation information in this case. The reservation information includes a reservation number, a date, a channel, a program name, a recording start time, a recording end time, a replay recording mark, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the reservation information of the reservation number 3 is provided with an error as a recording status, a recording start time, an end time, and a rebroadcast mark at which recording was actually performed. It is assumed that the reservation information shown in FIG. 3 was created at 22:54 on December 5, 1998, and as described above, the program of reservation number 3 had an error in recording. However, it is assumed that the program with the reservation number 1 has been recorded without error.

Next, a case will be described in which the user manually performs recording while a program is being broadcast.

When the user manually controls the start of recording on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 during the broadcast of the program, the first recording control unit 108 generates reservation information of the program being recorded and sets the reservation information. The information is stored in the information storage unit 109. In addition,
When recording from the middle of the program, a recording mark for rebroadcasting, a recording start time, and a recording end time are added and stored in the reservation information storage unit 109. Also, after the manual recording is completed, if information indicating that all or part of the program could not be recorded for some reason was input from the video storage unit 112, the first recording control unit 108 A recording mark is added and stored in the reservation information storage unit 109. On the other hand, if the program can be recorded from the beginning to the end, the broadcast start time and the recording start time of the program and the broadcast end time and the recording end time of the program match, so the reservation information includes The rebroadcast recording mark, the recording start time, and the recording end time are not added.

Next, the program of the reservation number 2 in FIGS. 2 and 3, the program that was not recorded in whole or in part when the above-mentioned user manually controlled the recording, or the program 3 in FIG. As described above, a recording reservation operation for recording a program for which recording reservation has been made, but not all or part of the program has been rebroadcast, will be described.

EPG 105 outputs the program information input from input section 103 to program information storage section 104 and also outputs to rebroadcast determination section 110. The rebroadcast determination section 110 checks whether or not there is any of the pieces of reservation information with recording marks for rebroadcast stored in the reservation information storage section 109 that represent the same program as the transmitted program information.

When the rebroadcast determination section 110 finds reservation information representing the same program as the input program information, the rebroadcast determination section 110 determines that the input program information is rebroadcast program information, and The information is a rebroadcast program, and reports to the EPG 105 that the recording reservation has already been made and the reservation number of the corresponding reservation information. Since the information on the original program is described in the rebroadcast program information, the rebroadcast determination unit 110 uses the information on the original program to convert the input program information into the rebroadcast program information. It can be determined that there is.

When rerun determination section 110 detects the program information of the same program as the inputted program information, EPG 105
Receives the report from the rebroadcast determination unit 110 and outputs the program information to the rebroadcast reservation management unit 107 together with the reported reservation number as rebroadcast program information.

The rebroadcast reservation management section 107 retrieves the reservation information of the inputted reservation number from the reservation information storage section 109, updates it using the inputted rebroadcast program information, and again updates the reservation information storage section 109. To memorize. The update performed here means that the channel, the broadcast time, and the like at the time of the previous broadcast are updated to those at the time of the rebroadcast.

At this time, if the information of the actually recorded part is added to the extracted reservation information, the rebroadcast reservation management unit 107 creates new reservation information of the unrecorded part, and The information is stored in the information storage unit 109.

FIG. 4 shows the reservation information storage unit 1
09 shows an example of the reservation information stored in 09. Booking information
Reservation number, date, channel, program name, recording start time,
It consists of a recording end time, a rebroadcast recording mark, and the like.
The reservation information also includes information on a related program, and indicates the reservation information related to the program represented by the reservation information. For example, it is the number of reservation information at the time of rebroadcasting of a part that could not be recorded in the main broadcast.

In FIG. 4, the reservation information of the reservation number 3 shows the recording mark at the time of rebroadcasting and the reservation information to which the information of the actually recorded portion is added, and the reservation information of the reservation number 11 is the reservation number. 3 shows the reservation information of the unrecorded portion of the program represented by the reservation information of No. 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the program indicated by the reservation number 3 is recorded for 30 minutes from the start of the program. In response, the actual broadcast start time of the program with the reservation number 11 is 1
At 6:00, the recording start time of the reservation number 11 is set at 30 minutes after the start of the program, that is, 16:30, and the recording end time is set at the end of the program.

Also, 11 is described in the related number of the reservation information of the reservation number 3, which indicates that the reservation information of the unrecorded portion of the program is stored in the reservation number 11 from the recording time or the like. Conversely, 3 is described as the related number of the reservation information of the reservation number 11, which indicates that the reservation information of the reservation number 11 is the reservation information of the unrecorded portion of the reservation information 3 from the recording time and the like.

Next, the recording operation at the time of rebroadcasting will be described.

The first recording control unit 108 retrieves, from the reservation information storage unit 109, reservation information that is closest to the current time after the current time. When the extracted reservation information is the reservation information of the unrecorded part at the time of the main broadcast, the first recording control unit 108 also extracts the reservation information related to the reservation information and outputs the reservation information to the second recording control unit 111. That is, the first recording control unit 1
In step 08, when the reservation number 11 shown in FIG. 4 is retrieved, the reservation information of the reservation number 3 is also retrieved.

Then, the second recording control unit 111 inputs the reservation information of the reservation numbers 3 and 11, and detects where the video of the program of the reservation number 3 is stored in the recording medium of the video storage unit 112. ,to manage.

FIG. 5 shows an example of storage information and reservation information managed by the second recording control unit 111. Storage information and reservation information include date, channel, program name, recording start time,
It consists of a recording end time, a recording position, a reservation number, and the like.
The recording position is a physical position where the program is actually stored in the recording medium of the video storage unit 112. FIG. 5 shows the storage information of the video recorded by the reservation number 3 and the reservation information of the reservation number 11 related to the reservation number 3.

Then, the second recording control unit 111 controls the video storage unit 112 based on the managed storage information and the reservation information, and after the video recorded by the reservation number 3,
The unrecorded portion of the program reserved for the reservation number 11 is added and recorded on the recording medium.

FIG. 6 shows that the second recording control unit 111
An example in which a program is completed by recording an unrecorded portion is shown.

FIG. 6A shows the state after the recording operation has been performed at the time of the main broadcast, and the hatched portion is the recorded portion. FIG. 6B shows the second recording control unit 111 at the time of rebroadcasting.
Indicates that the unrecorded portion is added to complete the program. The mesh portion is the added unrecorded portion.

Up to this point, when a program that has already been partially recorded is rebroadcast, the operation of recording an unrecorded portion of the program has been described. On the other hand, regardless of whether the program with the reservation number 2 in FIGS. 2 and 3 is rebroadcast, or whether the program is controlled by the first recording control unit 108 or controlled by the user, the program is completely broadcast during the main broadcast. When a program that has not been recorded is rebroadcast, the operation for recording the program is the same as the operation for recording the unrecorded portion described above.

That is, when the first recording control unit 108 extracts the reservation information to which only the rebroadcast recording mark is added from the reservation information storage unit 109, in other words, the first recording control unit 108 corresponds to the reservation number 2 shown in FIGS. When the reservation information of a program, that is, a program that has already been broadcast or a program that has not been completely recorded at the time of the main broadcast is taken out by the first recording control unit 108, the second recording control unit 111 In accordance with the reservation information taken out by the unit 108, control is performed such that the entire program is recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 at the time of rebroadcast.

When the recording is completed, the first recording control unit 108 causes the video storage unit 112 to check the recording status.
If the recording has been completed normally, the re-broadcast recording mark in the reservation information is deleted, and the recording status is marked as recorded. On the other hand, when there is an error in the recording, an “error” mark is attached in the same manner as in the case where the error occurred in the recording during the main broadcast described above.

In the first embodiment, the first recording control unit 1 is used as the first recording control unit according to the first aspect of the present invention.
08, a reservation information storage unit 109 as an unrecorded information storage unit,
The second recording control unit 111 was used as the second recording control unit.
Further, in the present invention, the reservation information storage unit 109 is used as the unrecorded information storage unit, and the second recording control unit 111 is used as the recording control unit. Further, the reservation information storage unit 109 is used as the unrecorded information storage unit, and the second recording control unit 111 is used as the recording control unit.

In the first embodiment, when the recording status is an error, as shown in FIG. 3 or 4, the reservation information storage unit 109 stores the information of the recorded portion. However, the reservation information storage unit 109
If the recording situation is an error, the name of the program in which the error occurred during the recording may be stored.

In the first embodiment, when a program in which an error has occurred at the time of recording is rebroadcast, the second recording control unit 111 does not record the already recorded portion, The control is performed so that only the portion is recorded, and the recorded portion at the time of rebroadcasting is added to the already-recorded portion. Alternatively, the program may be controlled so that the entire program from the beginning to the end is recorded.

The above-mentioned first recording control unit 108
If the user gives an instruction, the reservation status stored in the reservation information storage unit 109 is displayed on a monitor or the like using the display control unit 106. The reservation status may be a partial reservation status such as for each genre or each date.

When displaying the program information, the display control unit 106 can change the display color or the like to display the program that has already been reserved for recording at a glance. .

The first recording control unit 108 described above
At the time of the rebroadcast recording reservation operation, the reservation information storage unit 109
The display control unit 1 stores the reservation information and informs that there is a rebroadcast of the program and that the recording reservation has been made.
06 may be displayed on a monitor or the like to notify the user.

The first recording control unit 108 described above
At the point in time when the recording at the time of the rebroadcast is completed, the fact that the rebroadcast was recorded may be displayed on the monitor using the display control unit 106.

The program information input by the input unit 103 may be transmitted several times a day from a TV broadcast station. If the broadcast time is changed due to the extension of the sports broadcast, the program information is also included. Shall be When the broadcast time is changed as described above, the EPG 105 stores the program information in the program information storage unit 1 based on the program information from the input unit 103.
The program information in step 04 is changed, and the first recording control unit 108 is notified that the broadcast time has been changed. In that case, the first
The recording control unit 108 checks whether or not the reservation information of the program whose broadcast time has been changed is stored in the reservation information storage unit 109.
To change the recording start time and end time of the reservation information stored in the. In this way, the input unit 103 inputs program information several times a day, so that it is possible to cope with a change in the broadcast time of the program.

Further, in Embodiment 1 described above, input section 103 inputs program information transmitted using a vertical blanking period of a television signal from broadcast station 101. May input program information transmitted using FM multiplex broadcasting or a public line network. Further, the input unit 103 is provided with a floppy disk, a memory card, a CD-R,
Program information from a storage medium such as OM may be input, or program information transmitted from a pager base station may be input.

(Embodiment 2) The configuration of a broadcast / reception system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described along with its operation.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a broadcast / reception system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. (This FIG. 7 was not present in the original. FIG. 7 was added because it was judged that it was easy for the reader, that is, the examiner, to understand.) As shown in FIG. The broadcast / reception system is similar to the broadcast / reception system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Consists of However, the recording control device 213
Is different from the recording control device 113 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The difference is that the reservation information input unit 202 and the reservation information input unit 102 according to the first embodiment, the EPG 205 and the EPG 105 according to the first embodiment, the first recording control unit 208 and the first recording control unit 108 according to the first embodiment. And the second recording control unit 211 and the second recording control unit 111 of the first embodiment.
It is. Further, the point that the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 is a recording medium capable of recording for a long time is different from the first embodiment. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the operation of the broadcast / reception system when the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 is a recording medium capable of recording for a long time, that is, with the corresponding units of the broadcast / reception system of the first embodiment, Reservation information input unit 202, EPG 205,
Only operations of the first recording control unit 208 and the second recording control unit 211 will be described.

As described in the first embodiment, EPG2
05 outputs the program information from the input unit 103 to the first recording control unit 208. Then, the first recording control unit 208
The input program information is output to the second recording control unit 211.

Next, the second recording control unit 211 controls the video storage unit 112 based on the input program information,
The first recording control unit 208 controls and records all programs other than the program to be recorded. The program controlled and recorded by the first recording control unit 208 is the program reserved for recording among the unbroadcast programs in the first embodiment. In any case, all programs are recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 under the control of the first recording control unit 208 or the second recording control unit 211. When the broadcasting of each program ends, the second recording control unit 211 causes the video storage unit 112 to check the recording status.

Then, the second recording controller 211 creates storage information based on the input program information, and attaches a deleteable mark to the storage information of the program recorded on the recording medium. The deleteable mark is used when storing a program.
2 is a mark attached to a program that may be deleted to make free space when there is no free space in the second recording medium. It is assumed that a deleteable mark is added to the storage information of the program recorded under the control of the control unit 211.

FIG. 8 shows the second recording control unit 2
11 shows an example of the storage information created by No. 11. The storage information includes a date, a channel, a program name, a recording start time, a recording end time, a recording position, a reservation number, a deletion mark, and the like. Note that the recording position indicates a physical position on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 where the program is actually stored.

The EPG 205 displays the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104 on the monitor by using the display control unit 106 in accordance with a user's instruction. At this time, the EPG 205 transmits via the first recording control unit 208
The second recording control unit 211 causes the program information displayed on the monitor to check the programs already recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112, and changes the color of the display of the program information of the already recorded programs. Then, it is displayed so that the user can understand at a glance.

When the user specifies a program not recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112, the first recording control unit 208 performs a recording reservation operation of the program. The recording operation in this case is a recording reservation operation of an unbroadcast program and is the same as the recording operation described in the first embodiment, and therefore, the description is omitted. On the other hand, when the user makes a recording reservation for a program already recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112, the EPG 205 outputs reservation information of the program to the first recording control unit 208. That is, the reservation information input unit 202 issues an instruction of a program to be left on the recording medium among the programs already recorded on the recording medium of the video storage unit 112,
Based on the input from the user and based on the instruction, the first recording control unit 208 sets the recording status of the information of the instruction of the program to be left recorded, stores the recording status in the reservation information storage unit 109, and confirms that the recording reservation has been made. To the second recording control unit 211.
Then, the second recording control unit 211 deletes the deletable mark in the storage information of the specified program, and describes the reservation number of the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit 109. The reason why the deletion mark is deleted and the program to be left is instructed is as described above.
All the programs are recorded on the 12 recording media, but since the capacity of the recording media is limited, the designated programs should be stored at a minimum and the other programs should be stored. This is because all the programs can be recorded by using the part that allows the deletion or the overwriting as the one that allows the deletion or the overwriting.

In the second embodiment described above, the first recording control unit 208 and the second recording control unit 211 are used as the recording control unit of the fifth aspect. Thus, in the second embodiment,
Either the first recording control unit 208 or the second recording control unit 211 controls recording, and all programs are stored in the video storage unit 112.
However, the recording is not limited to the example described above, and one recording control unit stores all programs in the video storage unit 11.
2 may be controlled so as to record on the second recording medium.

In the second embodiment, the reservation information input section 202 is used as the remaining program instruction input section.

Further, in the above-described second embodiment, the reservation information input unit 202 inputs the instruction of the program to be left on the recording medium from the user after the program is recorded. The program may be before or after the program is recorded, and may be an instruction of a genre such as a movie or a sport instead of the instruction of the program itself.

Further, the remaining recording capacity of the recording medium is detected to the recording control device 213 of the second embodiment, and a warning is issued when the remaining recording capacity becomes smaller than a preset capacity. A warning issuing unit may be provided. As described above, when the warning issuance is issued from the warning issuing unit, the user can instruct to leave the program to be left on the recording medium before deleting or overwriting the program on the recording medium.

(Embodiment 3) The configuration of a broadcast / reception system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described together with its operation.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a broadcast / reception system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the broadcasting / receiving system according to the third embodiment of the present invention is similar to the broadcasting / receiving system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
01 and a recording control device 313. However, the recording control device 313 is different from the recording control device 113 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Request transmitting unit 309 in addition to the components included in
It has. In addition, the first recording control device 313 includes
The recording control unit 308 is a recording control device 11 according to the first embodiment.
3 is different from the first recording control unit 108 included in the third recording control unit 3. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the broadcast /
Only operations of the broadcasting station 301, the first recording control unit 308, and the request transmitting unit 309, which are different from the receiving system, will be described.

The first recording control unit 308 checks whether or not there is reservation information to which the recording mark for rebroadcasting is added in the reservation information storage unit 109, and if there is the reservation information to which the recording mark for rebroadcasting is added, Rebroadcast request information for requesting that the program corresponding to the reservation information be rebroadcast is created.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the rebroadcast request information created by the first recording control unit 308. The rebroadcast request information includes the date, channel, program name, broadcast time, and the like of the main broadcasted program.

After that, the request transmitting section 309
The rebroadcast request information created by the recording control unit 308 is transmitted to the broadcast station 301 using a public telephone network or the like. That is, the request transmission unit 309 determines whether the program has not been recorded in whole or in part, or has been broadcast once, and
The re-broadcast request for the broadcast station 30 is sent to the
Send to 1.

On the other hand, the broadcasting station 301 tallies the transmitted request information and determines a program to be rebroadcast from among those having a large number of requests. By the way, since it is conceivable that a large number of rebroadcast requests are sent intermittently for a popular program, if tallying is performed every predetermined period, the rebroadcast request for that popular program will always be higher in the request. Will do. Therefore, for a rebroadcast request program exceeding a predetermined number in a predetermined period,
The broadcast station 301 assumes that a large number of requests will be sent intermittently in the future, and responds by setting the request totaling period of the program longer than the request totaling period of other programs.

The operation of the broadcasting station 301 up to determining which of the programs requested to be rebroadcast transmitted within a predetermined tally period to be rebroadcast will be described below.

It is assumed that broadcast station 301 has a broadcast slot for a program to be rebroadcast. It is also assumed that the top three programs among the programs requested to be rebroadcast transmitted within a predetermined counting period are program A, program B, and program C in this order.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a broadcast slot for a program to be rebroadcasted and a program with many requests. The hatched portions in FIG. 11 indicate broadcast slots for programs to be rebroadcast, program A, program B,
It is assumed that each of the programs C is the above-described program, and the horizontal direction is time, that is, the horizontal length of the rectangle represents the program length.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 11, the broadcast station 301 requests the program A most frequently, but the broadcast station 301 requests the program A in the use time of the broadcast slot for the program to be rebroadcast.
Is not broadcast, and it is determined that the program C that fits in the slot utilization time most efficiently is rebroadcast. Figure 1 shows the broadcast slot after the decision.
It is shown in FIG.

[0106] Then, the broadcast station 301 creates program information of the program to be rebroadcasted, and uses a channel different from the channel for transmitting the program information of the program other than the program to be rebroadcasted in the FM character multiplex broadcasting. , And transmits the program information of the program to be rebroadcast.

At this time, a code for identifying the original program and information for identifying the original program are added to the program information of the rebroadcast program transmitted from the broadcast station 301, and the program broadcast in the past is identified. I can do it. The code for identifying the original program is a code for identifying that the program information is the program information of the rebroadcast program, such as the date and time of the previous broadcast, and the information for identifying the original program is, for example,
It means the program information of the rebroadcast program. Then, the rebroadcast determination unit 110 of the recording control device includes a code for identifying the original program,
Using the information that can specify the original program, it is specified which of the programs broadcasted in the past is the program to be rebroadcast.

In the above-described third embodiment, an example has been described in which the broadcast station 301 determines a program to be rebroadcast. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described example.
It is only necessary to determine the program to be rebroadcast using the rebroadcast request from the request transmission unit 309 of the recording control device 313. At that time, in a method different from the example described above, the program to be rebroadcast is determined based on the number of hours of use of the slot allocated to broadcast the rebroadcast program and the arrival status of the rebroadcast request. It may be.

Also, in the above-described third embodiment, the broadcasting station 301 performs rebroadcasting using a channel different from a channel for transmitting program information of a program other than the program to be rebroadcasted in FM text multiplex broadcasting. The program information of the program to be transmitted is to be transmitted.
You may transmit using the channel different from the channel which transmits the program information of programs other than the program to be rebroadcast.

[0110] The above-mentioned broadcasting station 301 transmits the re-broadcast request to the program information of the program to be re-broadcasted by using FM character multiplex broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, or using a public telephone network. The transmission may be performed by specifying a device. For this purpose, the recording control device that sends the rebroadcast request needs to add the identifier of the recording control device and transmit the rebroadcast request to the broadcast station 301. The broadcast station 301 detects the identifier and performs replay. The recording control device that has sent the broadcast request is specified. Note that the broadcast station 301 may use electronic mail when transmitting the program information of the program to be rebroadcast to the recording control device by designating the recording control device that has sent the rebroadcast request.

Further, the recording medium of the video storage unit 112 according to the first to third embodiments is a VTR or AVHD.
D corresponds to this.

The video storage unit 112 according to the first to third embodiments can store a program on a recording medium by changing the compression ratio of audio and video according to the genre of the program.

In the above-described first to third embodiments,
Although the components of the recording control device and the broadcasting station have been described as being hardware, all or a part of the components and the broadcasting station of the recording control device may have the same functions as the corresponding functions of the hardware described above. It is also possible to replace the software with.

Further, the present invention of claim 14 provides the following:
13. A recording medium storing a program for realizing all or a part of each function of each component of the recording control device according to any one of the above items 6 to 12. Also,
According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium storing a program for realizing all or some of the functions of the broadcast station according to any one of the seventh to eleventh aspects.

[0115]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even if a program fails to be recorded, the user does not need to input a recording reservation instruction from the user again when the program is rebroadcast. And a recording control device for controlling the program to be recorded.

Further, the present invention can provide a recording control device which controls so that a program which is not scheduled to be recorded is recorded.

Further, according to the present invention, a broadcasting station for transmitting information for automatically determining the original program of a program to be rebroadcasted, and an original program of a program to be rebroadcasted using the information are automatically transmitted. And a video recording control device that determines the position of the video recording device.

Furthermore, the present invention can provide a broadcasting station that determines a program to be broadcast with reference to the needs of the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcast / reception system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of reservation information stored in a reservation information storage unit of the recording control device of the broadcast / reception system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is different from FIG. 2 in the broadcasting / first embodiment of the present invention.
An example of the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit of the recording control device of the receiving system

FIG. 4 is a first embodiment of the present invention different from FIG. 2 or 3;
Of reservation information stored in the reservation information storage unit of the broadcast / reception system of Japan

FIG. 5 is an example of storage information and reservation information managed by a second recording control unit of the broadcast / receiving system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a recording operation of an unrecorded portion of a second recording control unit of the broadcast / receiving system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcasting / receiving system according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an example of storage information created by a second recording control unit of the broadcast / receiving system according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a broadcasting / receiving system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an example of request information transmitted by a request transmitting unit of the recording control device of the broadcast / receiving system according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation of determining a program to be rebroadcast by a broadcasting station of the broadcasting / receiving system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example after a broadcast station of the broadcast / reception system according to the third embodiment of the present invention determines a program to be rebroadcasted;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a conventional broadcasting / receiving system.

FIG. 14 shows an example of reservation information stored in a reservation information storage section of a recording control device of a conventional broadcast / reception system.

[Brief description of reference numerals]

 101, 301 Broadcasting stations 102, 202 Reservation information input unit 103 Input unit 104 Program information storage unit 105, 205 EPG 106 Display control unit 107 Rebroadcast reservation management unit 108, 208, 308 First recording control unit 109 Reservation information storage unit 110 Rebroadcast determination units 111, 211 Second recording control unit 112 Video storage unit 113, 213, 313 Recording control device 309 Request transmission unit 1301 Broadcasting station 1302 Reservation information input unit 1303 Input unit 1304 Program information storage unit 1305 EPG 1306 Display control unit 1307 reservation information management unit 1308 reservation information storage unit 1309 video storage unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shoichi Goto 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Terms (reference) 5C018 HA08 HA10 5C025 BA25 BA27 BA28 CA02 CA09 CB08 CB09 DA04 DA05 DA08 5C063 AA01 AB01 AC01 DA07 DA13 DB02 EA01 EB27 EB32 EB33 EB37 EB45 5D102 AC01 AF06 GA02 GA08 GA50

Claims (15)

[Claims] A program information storage unit for storing program information; a reservation information input unit for inputting a recording reservation instruction for a predetermined program from the program information stored in the program information storage unit; A first recording control unit that controls the program to be recorded when the designated program is broadcast, based on a recording reservation instruction input by the input unit; and all or one of the designated programs. If the unit was not recorded, an unrecorded information storage unit that stores information about the program or unrecorded unit, based on the information about the program or the unrecorded unit stored by the unrecorded information storage unit, A second recording control unit configured to control so that at least the non-recorded portion of the re-broadcasted program is recorded when the program whose whole or part has not been recorded is rebroadcast; And a recording control device. 2. A program information storage unit for storing program information, wherein a predetermined program is recorded in real time under control of a user, and if all or a part of the program is not recorded, the program Or, an unrecorded information storage unit that stores information about an unrecorded unit, and based on the program or the information about the unrecorded unit that is stored by the unrecorded information storage unit, the whole or a part was not recorded. When the program is rebroadcast, a recording control unit for controlling so that at least the unrecorded portion of the rebroadcast program is recorded is provided. 3. A program information storage unit for storing program information; a reservation information input unit for inputting a recording instruction of a predetermined program from the program information stored in the program information storage unit; Based on the recording instruction input by the
If the indicated program has already been broadcast,
A recording control unit for controlling so that when the already broadcasted program is rebroadcast, the program is recorded. 4. A request transmission unit for transmitting a rebroadcast request of a program to a broadcasting station so that the program which has not been entirely or partially recorded or the program which has already been broadcast is rebroadcasted. 4. The recording control device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A program information storage unit for storing program information, a recording control unit for controlling all programs to be recorded, and using the program information stored in the program information storage unit, A display control unit that controls display of all or a part of programs stored in a recording medium that records a program under the control of a recording control unit; and all or some of the programs that are displayed by the display control unit. A recording control device comprising: a remaining program instruction input unit for inputting an instruction of a program to be left on the recording medium among the programs. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a warning issuing unit for detecting a remaining recordable capacity of the recording medium and issuing a warning when the remaining recordable capacity is smaller than a predetermined amount. Recording control device. 7. A re-broadcast request of the program from a request transmitting unit of the recording control device according to claim 4,
A broadcasting station characterized by determining a program to be broadcast. 8. A program to be rebroadcasted is determined based on the number of hours of use of a slot allocated to broadcast a rebroadcast program and the arrival status of the rebroadcast request. The broadcast station according to 7. 9. At least the program information of the program to be rebroadcasted is logically defined by FM character multiplex broadcasting, a vertical blanking interval of a television signal, and a channel for transmitting program information of a program other than the program to be rebroadcasted. 9. The broadcasting station according to claim 8, wherein the transmission is performed by using any one of different data channels of data broadcasting using satellite broadcasting. 10. A recording control device which transmits the rebroadcast request by using at least program information of the program to be rebroadcasted using one of FM text multiplex broadcasting, satellite broadcasting and a public telephone network. The broadcast station according to claim 8, wherein the broadcast station is transmitted. 11. The broadcasting station according to claim 9, wherein information for specifying an original program of the rebroadcasting program is added, and program information of the rebroadcasting program is transmitted. 12. The program to be rebroadcasted using the program information from the broadcasting station according to claim 11 to which information for specifying the original program of the program to be rebroadcasted is added. The recording control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a rebroadcasting determination unit that determines which of the broadcasted programs is the broadcasted program. 13. A broadcast / reception system comprising the recording control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and 12, and the broadcast station according to any one of claims 7 to 11. 14. A medium storing a program for realizing all or a part of each function of each component of the recording control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and 12. 15. A medium storing a program for realizing all or a part of the functions of the broadcasting station according to claim 7. Description: