JP2000201121A - Non-linear broadcasting system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a broadcasting system capable of correctly obtaining confirmation that materials to be broadcasted are queued up, and surely giving the guarantee of a scheduled broadcasting program. SOLUTION: A system monitoring computer 106 fetchs broadcast progress data from a broadcast management computer 101 and displays a table of program materials on a display 109. Then the computer 106 fetchs data expressing program materials being broadcasted at present and data expressing program materials to be broadcasted next from a sending control device 103 for controlling a material recording device 104 and puts marks for changing the colors of backgrounds on the display of program materials being broadcasted at present and the display of program materials to be broadcasted next in the table displayed on the display 109.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcasting system capable of automatically transmitting a plurality of program materials in accordance with a broadcasting program, and more particularly to a method of storing program materials from a storage device which can be randomly accessed in accordance with an instruction from the automatic broadcasting system. The present invention relates to a non-linear broadcasting system for performing a broadcasting operation by reading out.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the rapid progress of digitalization of television broadcasting systems, non-linear broadcasting systems have been replaced by so-called VTR broadcasting systems in which broadcasting is performed using conventional VTRs (video tape recorders). Is being used for broadcasting services.

In this non-linear broadcasting system, a plurality of program materials are recorded in advance in a storage device which can be accessed at random, and are sequentially selected for each program material in accordance with a broadcast schedule in accordance with an instruction from the automatic broadcasting system. By reading the program, a plurality of program materials can be assembled as a broadcast program arranged in time series in a predetermined order, and a system for broadcasting the program has been used.

[0004] Therefore, such a system is hereinafter referred to as a non-linear broadcast system.
Among video information and audio information, it refers to information for television broadcasting including at least video information. Therefore, a set of program materials is a program. It should be noted that this program material is sometimes called a broadcast material, and is simply described as a material in the following description.

By the way, in such a broadcasting system,
At the time of its operation, know the current progress of the broadcasting business,
It is necessary to confirm this, so that troubles such as a broadcast interruption or a broadcast program abnormality can be prevented beforehand, and a smooth business operation according to the broadcast schedule can be achieved.

Therefore, as such a non-linear broadcasting system, for example, a broadcasting system shown in FIG. 7 is conventionally used. In FIG. 7, 101 is a broadcast management computer, 102 is an automatic broadcast system,
Further, the automatic broadcasting system 102 includes a transmission control device 103, a material recording device 104, and a monitor 105.

[0007] The broadcast management computer 101 manages all data related to a broadcast operation. As part of the processing, a broadcast schedule of a plurality of materials necessary for a broadcast program for one day is stored in a corresponding material. Each of them is held as broadcast progress data displayed in a list in the order in which they are broadcast, and a process of supplying the data to the automatic broadcast system 102 is performed.

[0008] The automatic broadcasting system 102 operates to supply the material ID (identification code for the material) of the material to the transmission control device 103 when a predetermined time comes before the broadcast start time of the material. In addition, when the broadcast start time of each material comes, it serves to supply a broadcast start instruction of the material to the transmission control device 103.

The material recording device 104 is constituted by a recording device such as a magnetic disk device which can be accessed at random, and serves to store and hold in advance the material for one day of the broadcast program. And it is supposed to work with.

Accordingly, the transmission control device 103 searches for a material in the material recording device 104 by using the material ID supplied from the automatic broadcasting system 102, queues up the material (sets it in a broadcast startable state), and In response to the broadcast start command, the cue-up materials are sequentially stored in the material recording device 10.
4 and transmit it to the broadcasting device, whereby an operation as an automatic broadcasting system can be obtained.

The monitor 105 is connected to the automatic broadcasting system 102
And serves to display the current progress of the broadcast service. FIG. 8 shows an example of a screen 801 displayed on the monitor 105. As shown in FIG. 8, an identification code 802 of a program (a set of a plurality of materials) including a material currently being broadcasted, and a program name 80 are displayed.
3, a program category 804, and data 805 of the material currently being broadcast and data 806 of the material to be broadcast next, each of which comprises a broadcast start time 807, a material length 808, and a material identification code 809, are displayed. You.

Therefore, according to the prior art non-linear broadcasting system, by looking at the monitor 105, it is possible to know whether or not the broadcasting program is proceeding as scheduled and to check the broadcasting progress.

[0013]

The prior art described above does not consider the reliability of the broadcast program progress confirmation, and has a problem in guaranteeing a planned broadcast program. Regarding the problem of the conventional non-linear broadcasting system, a conventional broadcasting system using a VTR, so-called VT
The following is a description in comparison with the R broadcast system.

In the case of a VTR broadcast system, the contents of a broadcast for one day are stored on several tapes, or stored on one tape to form a unified tape, and the contents are checked before being broadcast. Therefore, if the broadcast is started from the first material in the broadcast frame, it is guaranteed that the subsequent material will be continuously broadcast thereafter, unless there is any mechanical trouble.

On the other hand, in the case of the conventional non-linear broadcasting system, for example, as shown in FIG.
The transmission control device 103 receives an instruction for each material from the automatic broadcasting system 102, searches for the material from the material recording device 104, queues up the material, and broadcasts it.

Therefore, for each material, the transmission control device 103 determines whether or not the transmission control device 103 has correctly received an instruction from the automatic broadcasting system 102, and responds to the instruction.
Unless 03 controls the material recording device 104 correctly and confirms whether or not the cue-up has occurred, there is no guarantee that the material can be broadcast.

Here, in this prior art, this is
At this time, the current progress status displayed on the monitor 105 is the material for which the automatic broadcast system 102 has issued the transmission instruction, and the transmission control device 103 transmits the current progress status from the automatic broadcast system 102. It is not the material that has been queued up in response to the instruction of, so confirm that the material to be broadcast has been queued up
However, in the prior art, there is a problem in guaranteeing a scheduled broadcast program.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a broadcasting system which can correctly confirm that a material to be broadcast has been queued up and can reliably guarantee a planned broadcasting program.

[0019]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to store a plurality of program materials stored in a randomly accessible recording device,
In a non-linear broadcast system of a system for creating a broadcast program by sequentially selecting and reading according to a broadcast schedule, the program materials are arranged in the order in which they are broadcast, and are provided to the display means for displaying a list and the recording device. The data representing the currently selected program material and the data representing the next selected program material are fetched from the data, and the corresponding program material in the list displayed on the display means is displayed. This is achieved by providing monitoring means for applying a predetermined mark.

Since a list of program materials is displayed on the screen of the display means, it is possible to grasp the entire broadcast program.
The display of the program material to be broadcast next is marked with a different background color, so that the broadcast progress status can be easily checked. At this time, since the data for adding the mark is based on the data provided to the recording device, it is possible to obtain high reliability in displaying the broadcast progress status.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a non-linear broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
As is clear from this figure, in this embodiment, the system monitoring computer 106 is added to the conventional broadcasting system shown in FIG. 7, and the other configuration is the same. The system monitoring computer 106, as shown in FIG.
And a mouse 108, and a display 109. The operation is performed using the keyboard 107 or the mouse 108.

First, the system monitoring computer 106
Receives the broadcast progress data from the broadcast management computer 101 and displays the screen 200 shown in FIG. On the screen 200 of FIG. 2, first, the program identification code (address) 203, the program start / end time 204, the program name 205, and the program subtitle 20
6 is displayed as information on the program currently being broadcast.

Next, regarding information of each material, 201,
The item name is displayed on the line-by-line display, such as 202.
(Material type), interval, broadcast time, ADR (Material identification code), number of seconds (Material length), CM sponsor name, Material name, etc. are sequentially arranged and displayed as a broadcast progress table.

Further, the system monitoring computer 106
Communicates with the transmission control device 103, receives the data of the material that has started broadcasting and the data of the material that has been queued up, respectively, and displays the line-by-line display units 201 and 202 in the broadcast progress table of FIG. , Background color display and white display,
It is displayed in a distinguished manner by blackout display (this is called a mark).

Here, the display unit 201 indicates a mark for the material being broadcast, for example, a direction in which a green background is displayed.
The display unit 202 indicates a broadcastable state, that is, a mark for the cue-up material, for example, a display with a yellow background.

Next, in this embodiment, after the transmission control device 103 receives the material ID of the material started to be transmitted from the automatic broadcasting system 102 or the material ID of the cue-up material, and confirms the transmission or cue-up, The operation of the system monitoring computer 106 displaying the currently transmitted material and the cue-up material on the screen of the display 109 based on the material ID transmitted to the system monitoring computer 301 will be described.

Here, as an example, first, a program which is a set of materials has a start time and an end time, and each material is classified into one having a fixed start time and one having no fixed start time. And then the automatic broadcast system 102
Issues a cue-up instruction to the transmission control device 103, if a certain number or more of materials are sandwiched on the broadcast progress data between the currently transmitted material and the cue-up material, It shall not transmit a queue-up instruction.

<Search Method 1>: Search for broadcast start material without cue-up material information
When the system monitoring computer 106 does not have the information of the material currently queued up when the transmission start material ID is transmitted to the system monitoring computer 106 upon receiving the transmission instruction from A search is performed by processing, and the screen is displayed.

First, in step 301, the current time of the system is obtained for comparison with the scheduled broadcast time of the broadcast start material. In step 302, the first program of the day is selected as a search start point. In step 303, it is checked whether or not all programs have been checked, and if so, in step 304, a search failure error is returned.

At step 305, it is checked whether or not the current time is included between the start time and the end time of the program being checked at this time.
If not, the process from step 303 is performed for the next program. In step 306, the first material of the program including the current time is selected as a search start point. Of course, if no material can be selected here, a search failure error is returned.

In step 307, it is checked whether or not all the materials in the program have been checked.
It means that the material being broadcasted is later than the material with the latest confirmed start time among the materials examined so far, so the process proceeds to step 309, and the search is started from the material with the latest confirmed start time. .

In step 308, when the start time of the material being examined is determined and later than the current time, the material being broadcast is determined to have the material being examined and the immediately preceding broadcast start time. Since it means that it is between the material being searched for, the process proceeds to step 309, and the search is started from the material whose broadcast start time immediately before is fixed, and if not, the material being broadcast is searched. Assuming that it is behind the material in the middle, the process from step 307 is performed for the next material.

In step 309, the material whose broadcast time immediately before the current time, which is the search result so far, is determined,
Select as a starting point for the search. In step 310, it is checked whether or not the search has reached the end of the broadcast frame. If the search has reached the end, it means that no material was found, and an error is returned in step 311.

In step 312, it is checked whether or not the ID of the currently checked material is equal to the transmitted material ID.
If they are equal, the search ends, and the process proceeds to step 313; otherwise, the process of step 310 and subsequent steps is performed on the next material. In step 313, the number of the material as the search result in the broadcast progress data is checked, and the display of the material is marked as "transmission start", that is, a mark indicating the material being broadcast.

<Search method 2>: Search for broadcast start material in the presence of cue-up material information In the case of search method 1, when the system monitoring computer 106 has information on the material currently cue-up. Performs a search by the processing of FIG. 4 and displays the screen.

First, in step 401, it is checked whether or not the program including the cue-up material includes the current time. If it is included, the process proceeds to step 402. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 404 assuming that the cue-up information is wrong, and the processing when the cue-up information does not have the search method 1 shown in FIG. Execute and search.

In step 402, it is checked whether or not the ID of the material having the cue-up information is equal to the transmitted ID. If they are equal, the process proceeds to step 403; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 404. In step 403, the information held by the cue-up material is updated to information indicating that the material is being transmitted, and the screen is displayed by the same processing as step 313 in the search method 1 in FIG.

<Search method 3>: Search for cue-up material in the case where there is no material information being broadcast.
When the cue-up instruction is received from and the ID of the cue-up starting material is transmitted to the system monitoring computer 106, if the system monitoring computer 106 does not have information on the material currently being transmitted,
A search is performed by the processing of FIG. 5 and the screen is displayed.

First, in step 501, a process equivalent to the process from step 301 to step 309 in the process of the search method 1 in FIG. 3 is executed, and a material whose start time is determined immediately before the current time is selected. In step 502, it is checked whether or not the broadcast progress data for one day has been checked up to the end. When the data has been checked up to the end, an error indicating that there is no corresponding material is returned in step 506.

In step 503, if a certain number or more of materials are searched from the initially selected materials, it is regarded that they cannot be found even if they are searched further, and an error indicating that there is no corresponding material is returned in step 506. In step 504, it is checked whether or not the ID of the material currently checked and the ID of the sent material are equal. If they are equal, the process proceeds to step 505 to end the search. The processing after step 502 is executed.

In step 505, the number of the material as a search result in the broadcast progress data is checked, and a mark indicating "cue up" is added to the display of the material.

<Search Method 4>: Search for cue-up material when there is material information being broadcast In the process according to search method 3 in FIG. 5, the system monitoring computer 106 has information on the material currently being broadcast. If a search is performed, a search is performed by the processing in FIG.

First, in step 601, as the material data being transmitted, a material already possessed is selected as a search start point. Then, in step 602 and subsequent steps, the same processing as step 502 and subsequent steps in the search method 3 of FIG. 5 is executed to mark the cue-up material as “cue-up”.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the screen 200 of the display 109 includes the program identification code (address) 203 and the program start / end time 20.
4. Information of the program currently being broadcast, including the program name 205 and the program subtitle 206, is displayed, and a broadcast progress table including the line-by-line display sections 201, 202 is displayed for the material information. become.

At this time, in the broadcast progress table, the display units 201 and 202 in units of lines are marked according to the state of the corresponding material. A mark indicating that the content is in progress, for example, a green background is displayed, and a broadcastable state, that is, a mark for the cue-up material, for example, a yellow background is displayed.

As a result, it is confirmed on the screen 200 of the display 109 which material on the broadcast progress data is being transmitted, and the material displayed as the material to be broadcast next on the monitor 105 of the automatic broadcasting system. 80
6 can be visually confirmed on the screen 200 of the display 109 as to whether or not the broadcast can be actually broadcast on the transmission control device 103, and the guarantee of the broadcast program can be reliably obtained. .

[0047]

According to the present invention, in a broadcasting system using a storage device capable of random access for material recording, it is determined whether or not the material to be transmitted next time is actually in a transmittable state. It is also possible to check on a display remote from the main unit, which can prevent broadcast accidents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a broadcasting system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a search method 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a search method 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a search method 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a search method 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a broadcasting system according to the related art.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a monitor screen according to an example of a broadcasting system according to the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Broadcast management computer 102 Automatic broadcasting system 103 Transmission control device 104 Material recording device (storage device capable of random access) 105 Monitor of automatic broadcasting system 106 System monitoring computer 107 Keyboard 108 Mouse 109 Display 200 Display of display screen automatic broadcasting system Screen on monitor 105 201 Display section of material being broadcast 202 Display section of material that can be broadcasted 801 Display screen of monitor 802 Identification code of currently broadcast program 803 Current broadcast program name 804 Current broadcast Program segment 805 Identifying code of currently broadcast material 806 Broadcast start time of currently broadcast material 807 Length of currently broadcast material 808 Material data to be broadcast next

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Sugai 5-4-1, Josaicho, Yamagata-shi, Yamagata F-term in Yamagata TV Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5C022 CA03 CA05 5D110 AA04 BB20 BB24 BB26 CA16 CC03 CD15 CF13 FA04 FA05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A non-linear broadcast system for creating a broadcast program by sequentially selecting and reading a plurality of program materials stored in a randomly accessible recording device in accordance with a broadcast schedule. Display means arranged in the order of broadcasting and displayed as a list, From data provided to the recording device, data representing the currently selected program material and data representing the next selected program material A non-linear broadcasting system, comprising: a monitoring means for capturing and displaying a predetermined mark on a display of a corresponding program material in a list displayed on the display means. 2. The non-linear broadcast system according to claim 1, wherein said recording device is constituted by a magnetic disk storage device.