JP2000217045A - Program reception terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device that automatically extracts and stores program commentary information relating to a program watched at present, displays its presence and by which a user can extracts a program commentary relating to a desired item with a simple operation. SOLUTION: A reception section 3 receives information relating to a program commentary sent periodically or at any time and a storage section 5 stores the information. A control section 4 extracts program commentary information relating to a program watched at present from the storage section 5 and gives the information to a character/voice information generating section 8, where a television picture and character information are synthesized. A user can read required information by scrolling the character information on the television screen or trying other operations.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiving terminal for displaying program guide information of a television broadcast, and more particularly, to inform a user of the presence of program commentary information on a currently viewed television program by displaying a screen. The present invention relates to a receiving terminal device for acquiring and displaying the program commentary information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, guide information related to television broadcast programs (hereinafter, also referred to as program guides and G guides).
Various proposals have been made to help receive TV programs and watch programs. As a part of proposals made in the past, for example, in the invention described in JP-A-7-184136, creation of a program guide using teletext is proposed.

Further, in the inventions described in JP-A-6-62382, JP-A-8-107552, JP-A-8-125996 and JP-A-9-205622, scrolling of information by teletext is performed. Accordingly, a technology that enables simultaneous display with television broadcast has been proposed. Also, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H6-153075, a technique is disclosed in which data extracted from a broadcast is superimposed on a screen when a preset condition is satisfied.

On the other hand, in the teletext, the amount of information that can be conveyed is limited, and for example, it is not possible to transmit a one-week program table. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. In the invention described in 93880, it is proposed to use an electronic program guide in which this problem is improved. In addition, for example,
In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 0-56600, it has been proposed that a user selects a desired channel by providing a storage unit and performing a condition search. However, the above-mentioned prior art is intended to be used as a guide when selecting programs and channels to be watched as a whole, and quickly provides program commentary information that helps the user to watch the program that the user is currently watching. The technology of extracting and displaying from the storage means and the like with a comfortable operation has not yet been realized.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has as its object to solve the following problems. That is, it checks whether there is program description information on the TV program that the user is watching, displays the check result on the screen and informs the user, and furthermore, the user can explain the program regarding the desired item by a simple operation. An object of the present invention is to provide a receiving terminal device capable of selecting and displaying information.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises: receiving means (3) for receiving commentary information on a program which can be converted into characters or voice and a program; Storage means (5) for storing and reading out and outputting the commentary information corresponding to the program from the storage means (5), and the control means (4) A character information / sound information generating means (8) for generating and outputting character information and / or sound information from commentary information inputted from the user; and a superimposing means (11) for superimposing the character information and / or the sound information on the program and outputting 7) and an operation means (6), wherein the control means (4) is generated by the character information / speech information generation means (8) in response to a command from the operation means (6), and is output by the superposition means (7). ) Overlaps It provides program receiving terminal apparatus and controls the scrolling text information and / or audio information.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an apparatus according to the present invention comprises a receiving means (3) for receiving commentary information and a program which can be converted into characters or voices related to the program, and a command for storing and giving instructions to the commentary information. Storage means (5) for reading out and outputting the commentary information corresponding to the program, and control means (4) for reading out and outputting the commentary information corresponding to the program from the storage means (5).
A character information and / or voice information generating means (8) for generating and outputting character information and / or voice information from the commentary information input from the control means (4); Display means (15) for displaying information of the commentary information portion, superimposing means (7) for superimposing and outputting the character information and / or the audio information on the program, and operating means (6); The control unit (4) is configured to generate the character information / voice information generation unit (8) in response to a command from the operation unit (6) and to superimpose the character information and / or the voice information by the superposition unit (7). The program receiving terminal device is characterized in that the information of the part of the commentary information displayed on the display means (15) is scroll-controlled by controlling the scroll of the information.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the configuration of the first embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, which is a schematic configuration diagram of the first embodiment, a television signal and an Internet signal supplied from a CATV terminal (1) installed in a house via a cable (2) are received by a receiving unit (3). And demodulated. The receiving unit (3) demodulates the input television signal and Internet signal to generate a video signal and an audio signal, and outputs the video signal and the audio signal to the adding unit (7). The reception unit (3) also receives G guide information, which is program information supplied periodically once a day or added to the header of a television program, via a CATV terminal (1) and a cable (2). The information is received and output to the character / voice information creating unit (8) and the storage unit (5) via the control unit (4) as necessary. The control section (4) controls channel selection, audio level adjustment, surround mode ON / OFF, and G-guide reception of the reception section (3). Further, the control unit (4) controls the character / voice information creating unit (8), controls the storage unit (5), and turns on / off the power of the entire television receiver.
Control off.

[0010] The storage unit (5) has a function of storing the received G guide information. The operation unit (6) has a function of allowing a user to input a command for controlling the control unit (4),
The switch group may be a switch group attached to the housing of the receiving terminal device, or may be a remote control device separated from the receiving terminal device body. The character / sound information creating unit (8) converts the character information of the G guide input from the control unit (4) or the character information obtained by converting the sound of the program into the character input from the voice recognition unit (16) described later on the display screen. Generates a character information screen (also called telop) signal for superimposed display,
Or / generates voice information from the character information of the G guide input from the control unit (4) and outputs it to the addition unit (7). The adder (7) superimposes the character information screen signal and audio information input from the character / audio information generator (8) on the video signal and audio signal input from the receiver (3), and outputs an output terminal (9). Output from The audio signal output from the receiving unit (3) is output from the output terminal (9) via the adding unit (7).

An output terminal (9) outputs a video signal and an audio signal to be input to video display / audio output means such as a television monitor (not shown). The user connects the output terminal (9) to a television monitor or the like (not shown) with a cable or the like, and enjoys video and audio. The voice recognition unit (16) receives the voice signal of the program output by the receiving unit (3), performs voice recognition, converts the voice signal into character information, and outputs the character information to the character / voice information creation unit (8). Receiving unit (3), control unit (4), storage unit (5), operation unit (6), addition unit (7), character / speech information creation unit (8), output terminal (9), and speech recognition unit ( 16)
Is included in the receiving terminal

Next, the overall operation of the apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a temporal transition of the entire operation of the apparatus. After the system is initialized when the device is started,
The operation of the main routine shown in FIG. 2A is executed.
In the main routine shown in FIG. 2A, first, a channel is selected (step S100), then a commentary display (step S200) is executed, and these two steps are repeatedly executed during operation of the apparatus.

On the other hand, if the reception of the G guide information is detected by the receiving section (3), an interrupt 1 shown in FIG. 2B is generated, and the G guide is received (step S300), and FIG.
The process returns to the main routine shown in FIG. further,
During execution of the main routine, when an instruction to receive the Internet is given by the operation unit (6) or an internal timer (not shown), an interrupt 2 shown in FIG. 2C is generated, and information on the Internet is received. (Step S400). If the Internet information reception is automatic reception according to an instruction of an internal timer, the received information is stored in a storage unit (5) without being displayed on a screen,
Return to the main routine.

Next, the aforementioned channel selection (step S1)
00) will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a temporal transition of the operation of the channel selection (step S100). In FIG. 3, first, it is determined whether or not the user has designated a guide display from the operation unit (6) (step S1). If N, the currently displayed channel is continuously displayed, so the process proceeds to step S6. After extracting the signal of the program and the commentary information of the program contained in the storage section (5), the process exits from channel selection.

If Y in step S1, it is determined that the user wants to display the G guide as a means for selecting a channel, and the G guide and the program guide display based on the Internet program homepage are displayed on the screen of the television (step S1). S2) Wait for the user to select and instruct a channel (step S3 loop). When the user inputs a channel to be viewed from the operation unit (6) and gives an instruction (Y in step S3), it is checked whether the channel has been narrowed down to one and determined (step S4).
Return to step 3 and wait for the channel instruction again.

If the check result is OK (Y in step S4), the program of the designated channel is displayed on the television screen (step S5), and the commentary information of the program of the channel is stored in the signal of the program and stored. It is extracted from the section (5) (step S6). Thereafter, step S100 ends. The above is the description of the channel selection operation (Step S100).

Next, the commentary display (step S200)
The operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the temporal transition of the explanation display operation. In FIG. 5, first, it is determined whether the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is to delete the program description (step S10), and if the user command is to delete the program description (step S10). Y) The commentary of the program is deleted from the television screen and the audio output of the sub audio, and the process proceeds to step S22 via a path connecting the sign-in FIG. 5 (step S11). If the command is not erased (N in step S10), the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is
It is determined whether or not the character information is stopped (step S1).
2).

If the input command is stopped (Y in step S12), the character information displayed on the television screen is stopped (step S13) (a specific character information display method will be described later). If the command is not stopped (N in step S12), the process proceeds to step S14. When step S13 ends, the process similarly proceeds to step S14.

Next, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation section (6) is a forward character information search (described later) (step S14). If the command is a forward character information search (Y in step S14), Further, it is determined whether or not the instruction input by the user is FF (earlier display of character information) (step S15). If it is FF (Y in step S15), the forward character information search is continued until the end of the information in the FF display mode (step S16). If it is not FF (N in step S15), the forward character information search is continued at the normal speed (step S17).

After Steps S16 and S17, or if N in Step S14, Step S18
Then, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is a backward character information search (described later). If it is a backward character information search (Y in step S18), it is further determined whether or not the instruction input by the user is FF (step S19), and if it is FF (step S18).
19) Y) Character information is displayed on the television screen by fast forward backward (step S20), and if not FF (step S19).
Then, N) normal character backward character information search display is performed (step S21). Step S20, Step S21
After, or in the case of N in step S18, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is a channel selection (step S22), and if it is a channel selection (Y in step S22). , Start channel selection (step S100, FIG. 3), and if not channel selection (N in step S22), return to step S10.

Next, a method of displaying character information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 schematically shows a state in which character information is displayed on a television screen. A first method of displaying character information is to provide a character information area (also called a telop area) for displaying character information below a television area for displaying a television program, as shown in FIG. is there.
The second method is to provide a character information area above the television area, as shown in FIG. A third method is to provide a character information area above and below the television area as shown in FIG. A fourth method (not shown) is to display a character information area for performing a scroll operation below the television area, and display the stopped character information above the television area when the user instructs to stop scrolling.

Next, the above-described forward character information search and backward character information search (also referred to as forward telop and backward telop, respectively) will be described. In FIG. 4, when the character string displayed in the character information area is scrolled from right to left, the user can read the text of the character information in the forward direction. This is called a forward character information search. In addition, when the character string is scrolled from left to right, the user reads the sentence in the reverse direction, which is effective when the user wants to read again the portion that has already been displayed in the front character information search. This is called a backward character information search.

In the program commentary display using the character information described above, audio information may be used as the program commentary information instead of or simultaneously with the character information. The audio information as the program commentary information is superimposed on the program along the same route as the character information (telop) described above. That is, it is extracted from the program information stored in the storage unit (5) via the control unit (4), converted into voice information by the character / voice information creation unit (8), and is converted into voice information by the addition unit (7). And output to the outside of the apparatus, and audio information is reproduced from a speaker attached to display means (TV monitor or the like) not shown. Further, the scrolling of the audio information is performed according to the operation of the user in the same manner as the scrolling of the character information described with reference to FIG.
In some cases, it may be difficult for the user to listen to and understand the sound reproduced in the reverse direction, so that the sound information may not be reproduced from the speaker of the display means during the scroll in the reverse direction. This embodiment may be implemented as follows. The first is that the text information displayed as text information is extracted by displaying the news or weather forecast by switching using the attached operation buttons in addition to the commentary information of the program. This is to switch the database, which is a specific means of the unit (5).

Second, when there is no corresponding program commentary information, for example, a character string "No commentary" is sent as character information. In this case, the TV program is transmitted using the voice recognition unit (16). Is converted to a character string and converted to character information. In this way, when the user misses the voice, the user can go back and check it, or use it to assist a user who has an auditory handicap. Third, when a television program is intended for adults, for example, when a content that requires a warning to the user is included, the warning text is displayed in character information.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the program commentary information of the television program is automatically extracted from the storage means and displayed on the screen as character information. Since the user scrolls backward or stops scrolling at the current position and displays the scroll, the user can appreciate the commentary on the useful program without any troublesome operation.

Next, a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. First, the configuration of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 6, portions that are not different from those of the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping portions are partially omitted from illustration. In FIG. 6, the image conversion unit (10) controls a part of the commentary information of the program stored in the storage unit (5) in the form of digital data in units of information called pages, as described later. The signal is obtained via (4), converted into, for example, an NTSC signal, and output to the A / D converter (11). The A / D converter (11) converts the input analog image signal of, for example, the NTSC system into digital image data of a signal format suitable for transmission, and outputs a second output terminal (12), a signal cable (13), and an input. Output to the hand-held display (15) via the terminal (14). In FIG. 6, A /
The digital image signal output from the D conversion unit (11) is sent to the display at hand (15) by wire transmission via the signal cable (13). However, other transmission means can be used. For example, a radio transmission method using electromagnetic waves or a signal format based on a serial interface standard such as IEEE 1394 may be used for infrared communication.

The hand display (15) is a small image display device that can be checked by the user at hand, and is realized by, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like, and has a function of displaying an image according to an input digital image signal.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described.
FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of the apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 9A, when the device is started up, the device of this embodiment is initialized, the system is initialized, and then a channel is selected (step S100) and a commentary display is displayed (step S500), as in the first embodiment. ) Is repeated. Also, during the entire operation shown in FIG. 9A, interrupt 1 (reception of G guide information) shown in FIG. 9B and interrupt 2 (reception of Internet information) shown in FIG. Do.
The conditions of the interruption and the contents of the interruption operation are exactly the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, the channel selection subroutine shown during the entire operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the temporal transition of the operation of the channel selection subroutine (step S100). The contents of the operation in this subroutine are almost the same as those of the first embodiment already described. The difference from the first embodiment is a serial number of a page, which is a partial group of commentary information, attached to the character information when the character information is displayed on the screen in step S6 in FIG. , The page number is displayed.

Next, the display of character information in page units according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of character information display in the device according to the present embodiment. In the character information area in FIG. Author, 2. Age, 3. The page number and the name of the commentary recorded on the page of that number are described.
The page number continues to, for example, 99, and 1 to 99 are repeatedly scrolled and displayed in the character information area. The operation of displaying the content included in the page will be described later. Although the character information area is displayed below the television area in FIG. 7, the character information area may be provided above the television area or both above and below the television area as described in the first embodiment. Needless to say. Further, in the above description, the character information (telop) to be superimposed on the program has been described. However, as described in the first embodiment, instead of the character information, or simultaneously, audio information is superimposed on the program. Is also good.

Next, the explanation display (step S500) in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a temporal transition of the explanation display operation in the second embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of information (also referred to as a page) of a program description portion in the second embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the program description is character information in units of units called pages as shown in FIG. Each page stores information of different items such as author information and historical background for each page, and as described later, the entire page is displayed on the display screen of the handy display (15) at a time. The page number of each page corresponds to the page number described in the character information display.
The page is the last page.

In FIG. 8, first, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is to delete the commentary (step S510). The explanation is deleted from the television screen and the audio output of the sub audio (step S511), and the process advances to step S522 via a path connecting the sign-in FIG. If the command is not erased (N in step S510), the page of the program description shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the handy display (15). The page number displayed at this time is the same as the page number displayed in the character information shown in FIG. 7, and the character information is automatically scrolled and displayed as described above. Therefore, the page of the program description displayed on the hand-held display (15) is also automatically changed, for example, from FIG. 10 (A) to FIG. 10 (B). Step S5
In the case of N at 10, the process proceeds to step S512.

Next, in step S512, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is to stop character information. If the input command is stopped (Y in step S512), the scrolling of the character information displayed on the television screen shown in FIG. 7 is stopped, and at the same time, the program corresponding to the page number displayed at the top of the character information area The commentary page is displayed on the local display (15) (step S513). If the command is not stopped (N in step S512), the process proceeds to step S514. When step S513 ends, the process similarly proceeds to step S514.

Next, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is a forward search (described later) (step S514). If the command is a forward search (Y in step S514), it is further determined whether or not the instruction input by the user is FF (faster search display) (step S515). If it is FF (Y in step S515), scroll the character information and turn the page on the hand-held display (15) in ascending order of the page number at a speed higher than usual in a FF display mode (this is called a forward page search) ( Step S51
6). If it is not FF (N in step S515), the forward search is continued at a normal speed (step S517).

After steps S516 and S517, or if the answer is N in step S514, the flow advances to step S518 to determine whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is a backward search (described later). Judge. If it is a backward search (Y in step S518), it is further determined whether or not an instruction input by the user is FF (step S519). If it is FF (Y in step S519), the character is output at a higher speed than usual. Information scrolling and page turning of the hand-held display (15) are performed in descending order of page numbers (this is called backward search).
(Step S520) If not FF (Step S5
19) N) A backward search display at a normal speed is performed (step S521). Step S511, Step S52
0, after step S521, or in the case of N in step S518, it is determined whether or not the command input by the user from the operation unit (6) is channel selection (step S5).
22) If a channel is selected (Y in step S522), channel selection (step S100) is started, and if not a channel selection (N in step S522), the process returns to step S510.

In the present embodiment, the program commentary is displayed by the above-described configuration, so that the commentary items scrolled and displayed in the character information area of the television screen can be appropriately selected, or the user can scroll forward or backward to obtain a desired commentary. In addition to the effect that the user can easily and comfortably select the commentary item of the first embodiment, the program commentary information is configured in units of pages, and the user can select the commentary item with a simple operation. Since the page storing the information of the item (1) can be displayed and viewed on the handy display (15), there is an effect that it is possible to view a program description with a larger amount of information.

Further, in the present embodiment, the following configuration and functions may be provided. First, a speaker is arranged on the hand display (15) so as to utter sound information of the program description, and a switching button is arranged on the hand display (15), and the user operates this button. Thus, the database, which is a concrete means of the storage unit (5) for extracting the program commentary, is switched from the normal program commentary to the news / weather forecast, so that the information about the news and the weather forecast is stored in the character information area and This is displayed on the hand display (15).

Second, when there is no program commentary information corresponding to the currently received program, text information such as "no program commentary" is sent to the text information area,
Further, the voice of the program is voice-recognized by a voice recognition unit (16), converted into characters, converted into character information by a character / sound information creation unit (8), and synthesized and displayed on a television screen, and the displayed character information is returned (backward scrolling). ) So that even if the user misses the sound of the program, it can be confirmed later. Third, when it is necessary to display a warning to the user, such as when the program is an adult movie, the warning is displayed in the character information area.

[0040]

As described above in detail, in the apparatus according to the present invention, the program commentary information of the television program is automatically extracted from the storage section (5) and displayed on the screen as character information. , The character information scrolls forward and backward, or the scrolling is stopped at the current position and displayed, so that the user can enjoy a useful commentary on the program without any troublesome operation. effective. Further, in the apparatus according to the present invention, the program commentary information is configured in page units, and the user can easily display the page storing the information of the desired item by a simple operation.
Since it is configured to be displayed and viewed in 5), there is an effect that a program description with a larger amount of information can be quickly selected and displayed by a simple operation and viewed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an overall operation of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a channel selection operation of the device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a screen display of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an explanation display operation of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a screen display of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an explanation display operation of the apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of a program description of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CATV terminal 2 Cable 3 Receiving part 4 Control part 5 Storage part 6 Operation part 7 Addition part 8 Character / audio information creation part 9 Output terminal 10 Image conversion part 11 A / D conversion part 12 Second output terminal 13 Second Cable 14 Input terminal 15 Local display

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. Receiving means for receiving commentary information and a program which can be converted into characters or sound related to a program, a storage means for accumulating the commentary information and reading and outputting the commentary information in accordance with a command, and said commentary information corresponding to the program Control means for reading and outputting the character information and / or audio information from the commentary information input from the control means, and character information / audio information generating means for generating and outputting character information and / or audio information. And / or an operating means, which superimposes and outputs the voice information and an operating means, wherein the control means generates the character information / voice information generating means in response to a command from the operating means and superimposes the character. A program receiving terminal device for controlling scrolling of information and / or audio information. 2. Receiving means for receiving commentary information and a program which can be converted into characters or sound related to a program, a storage means for accumulating the commentary information and reading and outputting the commentary information in accordance with a command, and said commentary information corresponding to the program. Control means for reading and outputting the character information and / or voice information from the commentary information input from the control means; and Display means for displaying information of a part of the commentary information corresponding to audio information, superimposing means for superimposing and outputting the character information and / or the audio information on the program, and operating means; The character information and / or audio information generated by the character information / speech information generating means in response to a command from the operating means and superimposed by the superimposing means is scanned. Program receiving terminal apparatus, characterized in that the scroll control information part of the explanatory information displayed on the display means by roll control.