JP2000324417A - Auxiliary information reproducing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user with program guiding information based on EPG data by voice. SOLUTION: An EPG decoder 16 of this auxiliary information reproducing device decodes auxiliary information included in a channel tuned by a tuning circuit 15 to give it to a coding circuit 18. The circuit 18 encodes auxiliary information to output it to a voice synthesizing circuit 19, which generates a voice signal based on the auxiliary information by synthesize-processing of a voice signal. When the presenting request of program guiding information is generated by a user, a control circuit 21 allows a mixing circuit 20 to sufficiently lower the level of the voice signal based on a program and to raise the level of the voice signal from the circuit 19 to supply to a loudspeaker 22. Thus, program guiding information based on EPG data is outputted by voice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an auxiliary information reproducing apparatus suitable for providing a program guide service using auxiliary information such as EPG data included in a digital broadcast signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, television broadcasting has been performed in which program information and the like are encoded in a broadcast signal and multiplexed and transmitted using digital technology. For example, auxiliary information to be multiplexed includes program guide information used for channel selection. On the receiver side, the multiplexed program guide information can be used for channel selection by reproducing as necessary.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a program guide display based on such program information. In recent years, broadcasters have used EPG (Electoric Program Guide) as program guide information.
Data is multiplexed in a broadcast signal and transmitted. FIG. 8 shows a program guide display based on the EPG data.

[0004] In FIG. 8, a program guide display 2 is displayed on a display screen 1 for the channels A, B, and C, showing broadcast contents from the current time (12:00) to several hours later.

Further, some of such conventional auxiliary information reproducing devices for displaying a program guide display have a function of displaying a genre display which is a guide display for each genre. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a program guide display using this function.

[0009] In FIG. 9, a genre display 3 for specifying a genre is displayed on the display screen 1. E
Information indicating which genre each program belongs to is added to the PG data by the broadcasting station, and a genre display can be displayed in response to a user request. .

[0007] The user selects a desired genre while referring to the genre display 3. Then, a program table of programs included in the selected genre is displayed based on the EPG data.

As described above, conventionally, it is possible to display a program guide display on a screen based on EPG data.
The user can easily select his favorite program.

However, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the program guide display is displayed on a display screen on which a program is projected. I can't watch the program inside.

[0010] Therefore, as shown in FIG.
Is divided into two, and the program 4 being viewed is projected on one side, and the program guide information 2 is reproduced and displayed on the other side. However, in this case, each of the displayed screens becomes smaller, and especially when the screen size is small, the program 4 and the program guide display 2 are displayed.
There is a problem that it becomes difficult to see both.

[0011]

As described above, in the above-mentioned conventional auxiliary information reproducing apparatus, since the program guide display is displayed on the display screen for displaying the program, the program cannot be viewed. Or it becomes difficult to see.

[0012] The present invention enables a viewer to recognize the contents of auxiliary information without affecting the viewing of a program by enabling audio output based on auxiliary information multiplexed on a broadcast signal. It is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary information reproducing device capable of performing the following.

[0013]

An auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises decoding means for extracting and decoding the auxiliary information from a broadcast signal to which the auxiliary information has been added, and decoding the auxiliary information decoded by the decoding means. The apparatus includes a voice synthesizing unit that obtains a voice signal based on the auxiliary information by a voice signal synthesizing process, and a sound output unit that outputs a sound based on the voice signal.

In the present invention, the decoding means extracts and decodes auxiliary information from the broadcast signal. The decoded auxiliary information is converted into a voice signal by a voice synthesis unit, and is output as sound by a sound output unit.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

In the present embodiment, information can be provided not by video but by sound based on auxiliary information included in a broadcast signal. An example in which EPG data is transmitted as auxiliary information and applied to a television receiver that realizes a channel search function will be described.

An RF signal transmitted from a broadcasting station is input to an input terminal 10.
Input the signal. This RF signal is transmitted to a channel selection circuit 1 for a program.
1 and auxiliary information. The tuning circuits 11 and 15 are controlled by the control circuit 21 to perform detection and tuning processing on the input RF signal. The tuning circuit 11
The video and audio signals of a predetermined channel are obtained and output to the video processing circuit 12 and the audio processing circuit 14, respectively. Further, the tuning circuit 15 obtains auxiliary information multiplexed on a predetermined channel. The tuning circuit 15 outputs EPG data of the auxiliary information to the EPG decoder 16.

The video processing circuit 12 performs predetermined video signal processing on the input video signal, and outputs the processed video signal to the display unit 13. The audio processing circuit 14 performs predetermined audio signal processing on the input audio signal, and then outputs the processed audio signal to the audio output unit 22 via the mixing circuit 20. The display unit 13 projects an image based on the input image signal on a display screen,
Outputs a sound based on the input audio signal.

The EPG decoder 16 is controlled by the control circuit 21 to decode the input EPG data to obtain program guide information. Note that the program guide information from the EPG decoder 16 is temporarily written into the memory 17. This program guide information is supplied to the coding circuit 18.

The coding circuit 18 converts the input program guide information (auxiliary information) into a code that can be processed by the voice synthesis circuit 19 and outputs the coded program guide information to the voice synthesis circuit 19. The audio synthesizing circuit 19 synthesizes an audio signal from the input program guide information and outputs the synthesized signal to the mixing circuit 20. If the speech synthesis circuit 19 can directly process the code system of the program guide information from the EPG decoder 16, the coding circuit 18 is unnecessary.

The mixing circuit 20 mixes the sound signal from the sound processing circuit 14 and the sound signal from the sound synthesizing circuit 19 at a predetermined mixing ratio and outputs the mixed signal to the sound output unit 22. When the output of the voice synthesis circuit 19 is output as voice, the mixing circuit 20 sets the output of the voice processing circuit 14 to be sufficiently smaller than the output of the voice synthesis circuit 19.

The tuning circuits 11 and 15, the video processing circuit 12, the audio processing circuit 14, the EPG decoder 16, the coding circuit 18, the audio synthesizing circuit 19 and the mixing circuit 20 are controlled by a control circuit 21. I have.

The control circuit 21 controls each section based on various operations by a user using an input device (not shown). For example, when the user specifies a tuning channel, a tuning signal based on the designation is generated to control the tuning circuits 11 and 15. When the user instructs reproduction of the auxiliary information, the control circuit 21
For example, the control unit controls the channel selection circuit 15 to sequentially receive each channel, decodes the auxiliary information of each channel by the EPG decoder 16, and converts the auxiliary information into an audio signal by the encoding circuit 18 and the audio synthesis circuit 19. Further, the control circuit 21 controls the mixing circuit 20 to narrow down the audio of the program and output the audio based on the auxiliary information at a sufficient volume.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a format of auxiliary information, for example, a format of EPG data. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the state of channel selection, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows a screen display when the program guide information is output as audio. FIG.

The RF signal input via the input terminal 10 is supplied to a tuning circuit 11. The control circuit 21 generates a tuning signal based on a user's tuning operation and supplies it to the tuning circuit 11. As a result, the tuning circuit 11 tunes to the channel specified by the user and converts the video signal to the video processing circuit 1.
2 and an audio signal to the audio processing circuit 14.

The video signal and the audio signal are processed in the video processing circuit 12 and the audio processing circuit 14, respectively. The output of the video processing circuit 12 is supplied to the display unit 13, and the video of the channel selected by the user is displayed on the display screen. Further, the output of the audio processing circuit 14 is supplied to the audio output unit 22 via the mixing circuit 20, and outputs the audio of the channel selected by the user.

Here, the user sets the EP in the auxiliary information.
It is assumed that an operation for using the program guide service using the G data is performed. The control circuit 21 determines whether or not a request for reproducing auxiliary information has occurred in step S1 of FIG. When a request to reproduce auxiliary information is given by the user, the control circuit 21 shifts the processing to step S2 and narrows down the audio (main audio) of the program. That is, the control circuit 21 controls the mixing circuit 20 so that the output ratio of the audio processing circuit 14 is sufficiently smaller than the output of the audio synthesis circuit 19. Note that the output of the audio processing circuit 14 may not be output to the audio output unit 22 at all.

Also in this case, the control circuit 21 does not change the channel selection signal for the channel selection circuit 11. Therefore, even during the reproduction of the auxiliary information, the video of the channel based on the user's channel selection operation is still displayed on the entire screen.

Next, the control circuit 21 reproduces auxiliary information of the a-th channel (a = 1, 2,...) In step S3. That is, the control circuit 21 controls the channel selection circuit 15 to select the channel a. EPG data of the auxiliary information of the a-th channel is supplied to the EPG decoder 16. The EPG decoder 16 causes the memory 17 to hold the extracted EPG data.

FIG. 2 shows the format of EPG data. EPG data has a header arranged at the beginning,
It describes that the data transmitted after the header is EPG data. The data A stores, for example, information on the date and time of a certain program and the channel. Further, for example, data B stores a classification, data C stores a program title, data D stores program contents, and data E stores performer information. It should be noted that a larger transmission amount can be allocated as the EPG data, so that more information can be transmitted.

The order of these data is standardized.
The PG decoder 16 can take out information from the corresponding address and decode it. EPG decoder 16
Stores the decoded information in the memory 17 and immediately calls it upon request.

The decoded auxiliary information (program guide information) from the EPG decoder 16 is supplied to a coding circuit 18, converted into a code that can be processed by a voice synthesis circuit 19, and then supplied to the voice synthesis circuit 19. The voice synthesizing circuit 19 generates a voice signal based on the auxiliary information by performing a voice signal synthesizing process on the auxiliary information of the a-th channel.

Further, the operation of the EPG decoder 16 and the audio synthesizing circuit 19 will be described by taking as an example a case where an audio signal corresponding to the program guide display of FIG. 8 is created.

Conventionally, the display format shown in FIG. 8 is determined on the receiver side. Therefore, the control circuit 21 can specify the audio output order corresponding to the display format of FIG. In FIG. 8, the title of the program is displayed at the intersection of the channels in the horizontal direction and the time in the vertical direction. Among these pieces of display information, information on the channel and time is held on the receiver side.

The control circuit 21 outputs a program guide audio signal for each channel. That is, the EPG decoder 16
Decodes the EPG data for the channel A (see FIG. 8), the control circuit 21 reads the title of the currently broadcast program from the memory 17 by referring to the date and time information in the receiver, and It is given to the coding circuit 18. For example, assuming that the current time is 12:00, in the case corresponding to the example of FIG. 8, the encoding circuit 18 is caused to output auxiliary information indicating that the title is “food”.

The auxiliary information from the coding circuit 18 is supplied to a speech synthesis circuit 19, which, for example,
"A program with the title" Cooking "is being broadcast on Channel A"
An audio signal for outputting an audio output indicating that Note that the control circuit 21 may also convert a program in a time zone after the current time into audio along with the channel and broadcast time and output the audio.

The audio signal from the audio synthesizing circuit 19 is supplied to a speaker 22 via a mixing circuit 20. Thus, a sound based on the auxiliary information multiplexed on the channel a in step S3 is output from the speaker 22 at a sufficient volume.

In this case as well, the image of the channel desired by the user is output on the display screen of the display unit 13 and the image displayed on the display screen although the sound volume is small from the speaker 22 is displayed. The corresponding sound is also output.

Next, the control circuit 21 determines in step S4 whether or not a tuning request has occurred. If there is no channel selection request, the process shifts to step S7 to determine whether or not auxiliary information of all channels has been reproduced.
In this case, since only the auxiliary information of one channel has been reproduced, the process proceeds to the next step S8, where a indicating the channel number is incremented. Thus, in step S3, the auxiliary information of the next channel is reproduced.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of reproducing auxiliary information when a in the initial state is 1. Steps S4 and S7
Is NO, the reception channels are sequentially updated as shown in FIG. 3A, and the auxiliary information of the first channel, the second channel,... Is reproduced.

Here, it is assumed that the user selects a channel in response to the audio output based on the auxiliary information. For example, the second
It is assumed that a predetermined operation for channel selection is performed during the sound reproduction output of the auxiliary information of the channel. Then, the control circuit 2
1 shifts the processing from step S4 to step S5, stops the reproduction of the auxiliary information multiplexed on the second channel, and outputs a tuning signal for tuning the second channel to the tuning circuit 11. At the same time, the output of the audio processing circuit 14 is selectively output to the speaker 22 by the mixing circuit 20.

Thus, the channel selection circuit 11 selects the second channel, outputs the video of the second channel program on the display screen of the display unit 13, and outputs the audio of this program from the speaker 22. Is done.

When the reproduction of the auxiliary information is performed for all the channels without the user performing the channel selection operation, the process shifts from step S7 to step S9, and the control circuit 21 stops the reproduction of the auxiliary information. Let it. Next, in step S10, the control circuit 21 causes the mixing circuit 20 to selectively output the output of the audio processing circuit 14 to the speaker 22.

When selecting a channel while listening to the sound based on the auxiliary information multiplexed on each channel, it may be better to increase the interval between the sounds for each channel. FIG. 3B shows an example of this case. That is, in this case, the control circuit 21 temporarily stores the EPG data in the memory 17 to delay the reproduction of each channel by a predetermined time. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3B, a predetermined silence period is provided every time audio is output based on the auxiliary information multiplexed on each channel.

When a request for channel selection based on a user operation occurs during a silent period, the control circuit 21 selects a channel before the silent period as a channel to be selected.

Further, after the silent period, a specific sound can be inserted before outputting the sound of the auxiliary information corresponding to the next channel. FIG. 3C shows an example of this case. By inserting a specific sound, the user can easily understand the break for each channel, and the operability is improved.

During the reproduction of the auxiliary information, the channel selection circuit 11
Since the level of the sound (main sound) based on the selected channel is relatively low or 0, the user may erroneously judge the state of the device or the reception state.
Therefore, a display indicating that the auxiliary information is being reproduced can be displayed so as to be superimposed on the video of the program on the display screen. That is, in this case, the control circuit 21 controls the video processing circuit 12 to display a predetermined display on the screen.

FIG. 5 shows a screen display in this case.
In the example of FIG. 5, on the display screen 25, a display 27 indicating that "synthesized voice is being reproduced" is displayed over the video 26 of the program. This display 27 can prevent the user from making mistakes in the state of the device or the reception state even when the level of the main sound is extremely low.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by reproducing the auxiliary information and synthesizing the voice, the auxiliary information can be transmitted to the viewer by voice. Thus, the contents of the auxiliary information can be understood while displaying the video of the currently viewed channel on the entire screen. Therefore, when the user understands the contents of the auxiliary information, it does not affect the program display on the display screen, so that the user can enjoy the program and understand the program guide information at the same time, especially when the display screen is small. It is valid. Further, since the contents of the auxiliary information can be transmitted to the viewer by voice, it is extremely effective for a viewer who has a visually handicap.

Steps S1 and S4 in FIG. 4 are processing for judging a user operation. In this case, a common operation can be adopted as the user operation. That is,
For example, if one channel selection button is provided on the remote controller and the channel selection button is pressed when the auxiliary information is not reproduced,
It may be determined that a request for reproducing auxiliary information has occurred, and if a channel selection button is pressed during reproduction of the auxiliary information, it may be determined that a request for channel selection has occurred. Further, the remote controller is provided with a stop button for forcibly stopping the reproduction of the auxiliary information, and in the processing after step S1, when the stop button is pressed, the reproduction of the auxiliary information is forcibly stopped. Is also good. In this case, the user may be notified by voice that the reproduction of the auxiliary information has been stopped.

Further, in the present embodiment, it has been described that the auxiliary information of the next channel is sequentially reproduced when there is no request for tuning. For example, once the auxiliary information for two channels is completed, It is also possible to stop the reproduction and reproduce the auxiliary information for the next two channels when a reproduction request for the next channel is generated.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow employed in another embodiment of the present invention. 6, the same steps as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a state of channel selection in the embodiment of FIG.

This embodiment is an example applied to a configuration in which auxiliary information has a hierarchical structure and a user can select another hierarchy by following a link set in the hierarchy. For example, when the auxiliary information is program guide information such as EPG data, audio output based on the program guide information of another hierarchy can be called by audio output corresponding to genre display. Thus, even when the number of channels is extremely large, the user can easily select a channel by performing a hierarchical selection operation.

[0054] Currently, CS broadcasts and digital broadcasts being developed for practical use have a much larger number of channels than ordinary terrestrial broadcasts. For this reason, if the auxiliary information of all the channels is sequentially reproduced, it takes an extremely long time for the reproduction, and a long time is required until the user selects a desired channel.

Therefore, the contents of the classification are shown based on the data indicating the classification included in the auxiliary information, and a channel is selected from a plurality of channels included in the desired classification, so that the time for searching for the desired channel is reduced. Can be shortened.

This embodiment is obtained by adding a selection processing function by classification to the embodiment of FIG. This embodiment can also be configured by the same hardware as that of FIG. 1, and only the processing of the control circuit 21 is different.

In FIG. 6, when a request for reproducing auxiliary information is issued in step S1, the audio level of the channel currently being viewed is reduced in step S2. Next, in step S21, the classification information is reproduced. As the classification information, for example, information indicating the genre of the program can be considered. The EPG decoder 16 reproduces the classification information and outputs it to the coding circuit 18, and the coding circuit 18 codes the input classification information and outputs it to the speech synthesis circuit 19. Thus, the speech synthesis circuit 19 synthesizes a speech signal based on the classification information. The audio signal is supplied to the speaker 22 via the mixing circuit 20, and the audio signal of the classification information is output as audio.

If there is no selection request for the classification information, the process shifts from step S22 to step S23,
It is determined whether or not all the classification information has been reproduced. If all the classification information has not been reproduced, the process shifts to step S24 to set the next classification information number, and proceeds to step S24.
At step 21, this classification information is reproduced.

In this way, the reproduction of all the classification information is sequentially performed by the loop of steps S21 to S24 until a classification information selection request is issued.

FIG. 7A shows an example of audio output based on the classification information in this case. In the example of FIG. 7A, the classification information is reproduced in the order of sports, drama, quiz, news,.

For example, it is assumed that a request for selection of classification information is made by the user during a period in which a drama is included in the classification by voice.
Then, the control circuit 21 selects the drama of the classification information in the next step S25, and reproduces the number (number of channels) belonging to this classification information. The control circuit 21 notifies the user of the number of cases to which the user belongs by voice or the like.

The user can stop the reproduction of the auxiliary information when the number of cases to which the information belongs is much larger than the expected number or when the number of cases is 0.

In the processing after step S3, only the channels included in the selected category (drama) are targeted. Other processes are the same as those in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7 (b), a silent period may be provided between the audio outputs of the respective classification information.
As shown in FIG. 7 (c), a silent period and a predetermined sound may be inserted between the audio outputs of the respective classification information.
This is the same as the embodiment.

As described above, also in this embodiment, FIG.
The same effect as that of the embodiment can be obtained. Also,
In the present embodiment, the classification information has been described as having one layer, but it is apparent that the classification information can be applied to a case where the classification information is composed of a plurality of layers.

Also, in this embodiment, it is apparent that the button of the remote control can be shared for a plurality of request operations, and a button for forcibly stopping the reproduction of the auxiliary information can be provided. It is also clear.
Also, the display indicating that the audio output based on the auxiliary information is being output can be displayed so as to be superimposed on the video of the program, similarly to the embodiment of FIG. It is also possible to temporarily stop the reproduction of the.

By the way, according to the digital broadcasting standard currently being developed, an audio signal can be used as auxiliary information. However, if the content of the program or the like is transmitted as it is, the amount of data increases, so that even if audio is included, it is considered that the amount of data is limited to a small amount of data. Therefore, when such audio data is transmitted, the audio data in the transmitted broadcast signal is reproduced prior to the synthesized audio signal.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to output a sound based on auxiliary information multiplexed on a broadcast signal, so that an auxiliary sound can be output without affecting program viewing. This has the effect that the content of the information can be recognized by the viewer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a format of EPG data.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining operation of the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow employed in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the embodiment in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional example.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 15 ... channel selection circuit, 16 ... EPG decoder, 18 ...
Coding circuit, 19 ... speech synthesis circuit, 20 ... mixing circuit,
21: control circuit, 22: speaker.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A decoding means for extracting and decoding the auxiliary information from a broadcast signal to which auxiliary information is added, and an audio signal synthesizing process for the auxiliary information decoded by the decoding means, thereby generating an audio signal based on the auxiliary information. An auxiliary information reproducing apparatus, comprising: a voice synthesizing unit that obtains the sound; and a sound output unit that outputs sound based on the voice signal. 2. A channel selecting means for selecting a predetermined channel from a broadcast signal to which program guide information is added; a decoding means for extracting and decoding the program guide information from a channel selected by the channel selecting means; Voice synthesis means for obtaining a voice signal based on the program guide information by voice signal synthesis processing on the program guide information decoded by the decoding means; voice output means for outputting voice based on the voice signal; And a tuning control means for controlling tuning of the tuning means based on a user operation in response to an audio output based on the auxiliary information reproducing apparatus. 3. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the audio synthesizing unit performs an audio signal synthesizing process after coding the decoded auxiliary information. . 4. The audio output means according to claim 2, further comprising: mixing means for mixing an audio signal of a program selected from the broadcast signal and an audio signal from the audio synthesis means. Auxiliary information reproducing device. 5. The mixing means, when an audio signal output request from the audio synthesis means is generated by a user operation, changes the audio signal level of a program selected from the broadcast signal from the audio synthesis means. 5. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the level is lower than the level of the audio signal. 6. The mixing means sets the audio signal level of a program selected from the broadcast signal to 0 when an audio signal output request from the audio synthesis means is generated by a user operation. The auxiliary information reproducing device according to claim 4, wherein 7. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the audio output unit provides a silent period between audio signals from the audio synthesizing unit for each channel. 8. The program guide information has a hierarchical structure including at least information indicating a class of each program and information of a program for each class. 3. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an audio signal based on the program guide information is obtained. 9. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the audio synthesizing unit outputs an audio signal indicating the number of pieces of program information for each of the categories. 10. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the audio output unit can stop outputting the audio based on a user operation. 11. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising display means for performing a display indicating that audio is being output by said audio output means. 12. The auxiliary information reproducing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the auxiliary information includes an audio signal, the audio synthesizing unit reproduces and outputs the audio signal preferentially. apparatus.