JP2000090511A - Reservation method for av apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the reservation of a desired program by identifying whether the input is of the voice or not, discriminating the program having the entry word corresponding to the recognized key word, displaying the information regarding the program, and making the reservation based on the displayed program information. SOLUTION: The mode is transferred to the reservation mode by an operating part 10 to identify whether the key input is carried out, and when the key input exists, the required items are inputted and the reservation mode is completed. When the input is of the voice, the key word is recognized for voice by a voice recognition part 11 to decide the desired key word. The program corresponding to the inputted key word is retrieved from the data base 9D for the entry word by an entry word information setting part 9A, and the applicable program candidate is decided and transmitted to a channel detecting means 9B. The standby state is made till the next input comes within the specified time, and when no input is present, the program information of the applicable plural program candidates is displayed for looking through or displayed on the screen for the information having high priority.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for reserving audiovisual (AV) equipment, and more particularly to reserving a program for a television receiver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are various methods for reserved recording of a television broadcast program on a video tape recorder (VTR). For example, the user inputs a desired program channel, a start time, an end time, and a recording mode by using keys provided on a remote control device (remote controller), and inputs a timer key to perform timer recording. In addition, a desired program is reserved for recording by inputting a code called a G code. However, in such a method, in order to reserve and record a desired program, the user needs to input various items by key each time, and the operation is complicated.

By the way, in order to perform such a scheduled recording, a program desired by a user is set in advance using a television column of a newspaper, a television program guide of a magazine, a CM of a television, an electronic program guide (EPG) of a television, or the like. Had to check.

[0004] On the other hand, with the spread of cable TV and satellite broadcasting, the number of channels has increased, and it has been difficult to confirm at which time on which channel a program desired by a user is broadcast.

[0005] Further, in the above-mentioned reservation method, an unexpected program (a program that the user could not check) in which an actor desired by the user appears in a program at midnight may not be recorded. The increase in the number of channels made this situation more likely.

Therefore, it has been proposed to search a desired program by constructing a database using the above-described EPG. However, in order to perform such an operation, it is necessary to call up the EPG on the screen of the television receiver, perform a predetermined key input and perform a condition search, and there is a problem with complicated operability.

On the other hand, there has been proposed a method of analyzing a user's program viewing tendency (trend information) and automatically performing a program search to narrow a selection range. However, since such a method stores trend information specialized for one user, when multiple users use one device, it is necessary to store separate trend information for each user. Since the user who uses the trend information needs to be identified, the operation becomes complicated. Further, when a user tries to view a new program in a new field, it is necessary to invalidate the trend information, and the user is confused.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The problem to be solved by the present invention is to select a desired program from programs broadcast at various times at various broadcast stations without complicated key operations by the user. This realizes a reservation method that can reserve a program.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method for reserving AV equipment according to the present invention is characterized in that, when a transition is made to a reservation mode for designating a reserved program, an input is made by voice. Identifying, and, when the input is by voice, recognizing a keyword input by voice, and identifying a program having a headword corresponding to the recognized keyword,
Displaying information on the specified program; inputting another keyword from the keyword; narrowing down programs having headwords corresponding to both the keyword and the another keyword; and displaying information on the program. And a step of specifying a program to be reserved based on the displayed program information, and a step of performing a reservation process of the specified program.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for reserving AV equipment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for realizing a method for reserving AV equipment according to the present invention. In the figure, a television signal is supplied from a terminal 1 installed in a room to a branch unit 3 via a cable 2. Then, the television signal is input to the receiving unit 5, where the video unit 6 reproduces a video and the audio unit 7 reproduces a sound. The control means 9 controls the channel, audio level, surround mode,
Controls power on / off. The operation unit 10 is, for example, a remote control device, and has operation buttons for controlling the channel / audio level / surround mode power on / off of the reception unit 5 and the like.
The user can turn on / off the power using the operation buttons, and set a desired channel, audio level, and surround mode. The operation unit 10 is provided with a microphone for voice input and a speaker for voice output. Further, the voice recognition unit 11 is a device for voice-recognizing a voice uttered by a user from a microphone provided in the operation unit 10, and may be built in the operation unit 10.

The display processor 8 displays a video signal from the video section 6 and character information by the control means 9.

The control means 9 of the system constructed as described above comprises a headword information setting section 9A, a channel detection means 9
B, a channel selection means 9C, a headword database 9D, and a reservation setting means 9E. A flowing headword is provided. The flowing headword is a genre, a title, a keyword, or the like attached to the program, and is, for example, an EIA (Elec
The one recorded in the subheader of the program according to the tronic Industries Association-608-A standard is used. They are,
Since it fluctuates from moment to moment according to the content of the program, it is called a flow. Then, an image (menu) is set and displayed using these headwords (EPG). These headword information is supplied to the headword database 9D.

Here, after pressing the reservation setting button provided on the operation unit 10, the user inputs a desired program keyword to the voice input microphone. Then, the mode is shifted to the reservation mode by voice input, and the voice recognition unit 11 identifies the input voice and determines the corresponding keyword.

Then, a keyword corresponding to the input keyword is searched by the headword information setting unit 9A from the headword database 9D. In this case, a desired channel and time may be directly input by voice. At this time, the input channel is specified by the channel detection means 9B, and the reservation time is set by the reservation setting means 9E.

A headword corresponding to the keyword is determined by the headword database 9D, and the channel and broadcast time of the corresponding program are specified by the channel detection means 9B. Information on the specified program (program name, channel, broadcast time, cast, etc.) is displayed on the television receiver by the display processor 8.
If there are a plurality of programs specified at this time, the program information may be displayed in a list, or one program may be displayed on one screen and sequentially switched and displayed.

When one piece of program information among a plurality of candidate programs is displayed on one screen, the first piece of program information to be displayed is the information of the program that matches the most inputted keyword. Thus, it may be possible to wait for confirmation by the user without sequentially performing the switching display. In the confirmation standby state, the cancel button provided on the operation unit 10 is pressed within a predetermined time, or the user utters a negative word such as “No” or “No” so that the next program that matches the keyword is displayed. Display information. On the other hand, if there is no input within the predetermined time in the confirmation standby state, it is determined that the information of the currently displayed program is the program desired by the user, and the program reservation processing is continued.

The user selects a desired program from the displayed candidates by key operation or voice input provided on the operation unit 10, thereby ending the selection of the program to be reserved. At this time, if all of the plurality of displayed candidates are programs desired by the user, there is no need to select any more programs, and the selection of the program to be reserved ends.

By storing the information of the program determined in this way in the entry word database 9D, the information of the selected program can be used as feedback data at the time of the next or subsequent program reservation, or can be linked with the EPG to the user. May be automatically searched for a desired program. In addition, it may be possible to cope with a shift in broadcast time of a program, a time extension, a CM cut, and the like.

Here, a specific operation of the above-described reservation method will be described. After shifting to the reservation mode by voice, for example, when the user shouts "baseball", a program related to baseball is displayed on the television receiver. After that, within a predetermined time, if you shout "Today" or "XX (the name of the team)", the program information of the program selected from the first selected program that is broadcast today and related to the team XX will be displayed. I do. In this state, when a plurality of candidates are still listed, a keyword is further input or a specific program is specifically selected by the operation unit 10. If all of the plurality of candidates are the desired programs, a word meaning “end”, such as “over”, is input by voice, or a reservation end button provided on the operation unit 10 is pressed. In this state, if there is no input within a predetermined time, this program is determined or the operation so far is canceled. Which operation is selected when there is no input is determined by the user's initial setting.

It should be noted that the relay of baseball is often extended, and the broadcast start and end times may be changed in programs after the relay of baseball. For this reason, when the baseball relay is specified as a reserved program, it is also possible to extend the reserved time of the baseball relay by a predetermined time by additionally inputting a voice indicating an extension such as “program extension”.

In addition, when a program to be performed after the baseball broadcast is specified as a reserved program, a voice indicating an extension such as "program extension" is additionally input to extend the reserved time of the program by a predetermined time. Is possible. At this time, when the program information is sent from the receiving unit at any time, it is detected that program information different from the program reserved at the start time of the program is sent, and the program information matching the program actually reserved is detected. The scheduled recording start time may be delayed until is sent.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control means 9. Hereinafter, the operation of the control means 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the operation unit 10
Shifts to the reservation mode (step S1).

Next, it is determined whether or not key input is performed (step S2). If the input is a key input, a channel to be reserved, a reservation start time, a reservation end time, a recording mode, and the like are set, and the reservation mode is terminated (step S).
3). At this time, a key input indicates that a program to be directly reserved is to be input, and a channel to be reserved,
A reservation start time, a reservation end time, a recording mode, and the like may be input by voice.

If the input is by voice, the keyword is recognized by the voice recognition unit 11 and a specific keyword is determined. Then, the program corresponding to the input keyword is stored in the database 9 in the headword information setting unit 9A.
A search is made from D, a corresponding program candidate is determined and sent to the channel detecting means (step S4).

In this state, the apparatus waits for the next input within a predetermined time, and if there is no next input (step S5), a list of the program information of a plurality of applicable program candidates is displayed on a television receiver or the like. Then, the program information is displayed on one screen with respect to the higher priority order from the corresponding program candidates (step S6).

If there is no next input during this display (step S7), the reservation setting means is driven to switch the list of program candidates or the one displayed on one screen according to the priority. All the displayed items are set as the targets of the scheduled recording. Alternatively, the user arbitrarily selects from the program candidates by input from the operation unit 10 (step S8). Then, the selected program is stored in the headword database 9D as a selection result.

In this state, if there is no next input (step S9), the process is terminated, and if there is an input, the process returns to step S2.

As described above, the display of the program corresponding to the headword information is repeated. However, the program is selected in order to select a program that satisfies the conditions of all the headwords that have been input unless the reset is performed on the operation unit 10. The number of programs will gradually decrease.

As described above, according to the method for reserving AV equipment according to the present invention, when a user reserves recording and / or viewing of a desired program, the user selects the desired program by repeatedly inputting a keyword by voice. Programs can be narrowed down, and complicated operations by key input are not required. Further, the user does not need to investigate and store information on a desired program in advance. Further, a plurality of users can share one AV device.

[0030]

According to the method of reserving AV equipment according to the present invention, a user can easily select a desired program from a huge number of programs by using a keyword input by voice. In addition, a comfortable selection operation can be performed. Also, by repeatedly inputting a keyword, it is possible to narrow down program search conditions. Further, since the narrowed-down programs can be reserved at once, it is not necessary for the user to perform the reservation operation for all the programs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for realizing an AV device reservation method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the AV device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal 2, 4 Cable 3 Branch part 5 Receiving part 6 Video part 7 Audio part 8 Display processor 9 Control means 9A Headword information setting part 9B Channel detection means 9C Channel selection means 9D Headword database 9E Reservation setting means 10 Operation part 11 Voice Recognition Unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of identifying whether an input is made by voice when the program shifts to a reservation mode for designating a reserved program, and recognizing a keyword inputted by voice when the input is made by voice. Performing a step of specifying a program having a headword corresponding to the recognized keyword; displaying information on the specified program; inputting a keyword different from the keyword; Narrowing down a program having a headword corresponding to both another keyword and displaying information about the program; specifying a program to be reserved based on the displayed program information; and Performing a reservation process of the AV device.