JP2000341228A - Digital broadcast program transmitter and digital broadcast program receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a program producer to freely decide a display form of a program guide. SOLUTION: A program guide generator 1102 of the program transmitter 11 utilizes a 'device to display a program by encoding/decoding data of each program source' to generate information relating to a program guide and to transmit it. In the case of a channel switching instruction by an interaction of a user, a scene data processing unit 1204 of the program receiver 12 gives a channel switching instruction to a reception.channel selection device 1201, which selects a channel.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus for creating and transmitting a program by multiplexing program material data in digital broadcasting, and receiving a digital broadcast program and a program guide created by the apparatus. The present invention relates to a digital broadcast program receiving device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional television broadcast receiving system, a receiving apparatus processes information about a program transmitted simultaneously with an original broadcast, and can display the information on a screen as a program guide table. However, this screen display format can use only a pattern built in the receiving device in advance, and it is necessary to replace the receiving device or some circuits in the receiving device in order to change the display format.

[0003] Recently, a digital broadcasting system for a mobile object, which provides a digital broadcasting program created by multiplexing program material data, has been developed. It is desired that the user can freely determine the display format of the program guide.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional program guide display method can only display or display a fixed form of the program guide.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a digital broadcast program transmitting device and a digital broadcast program receiving device that allow a program creator to freely determine the display format of a program guide. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus according to the present invention includes a program material input device for capturing program material data used in a digital broadcast program, and a program material input device for capturing the program material data. A program creation device for creating scene data in which at least an attribute value indicating a playback timing and a display position of each program material data is described in a display description language; and a program material data and a program creation device captured by the program material input device. A program data storage device for storing the scene data created in step 1 and generating digital broadcast program data for transmission, and program material data and scene data of each digital broadcast program data stored in the device are determined in advance. A program transmission device for transmitting based on a program broadcasting schedule, and each program material data transmitted from the device. Encoder for sequentially compressing the scene data and scene data, a multiplexer for multiplexing the program material data and scene data sequentially compressed by the encoder into one program data, and broadcasting the program data multiplexed by the device. A transmitting device and program guide data based on the program broadcast schedule and the related information are taken in as program material data for each program, and at least the reproduction timing and the display position of the program material data taken by the device are shown. A program guide creation device that creates scene data in which attribute values are described in a display description language and stores the scene data in the program data storage device, wherein the program guide data and the scene data stored in the program data storage device are provided. Is treated as one program.

[0007] In the digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus having the above configuration, since all information related to the program guide is composed of the scene data and the program material data, the program creator can determine the display format of the program guide. Therefore, the user does not have to replace the receiving device or a part of the circuit in the receiving device owned by the user,
The display format of the program guide can be freely changed by the program creator. By changing the display format in this way, there is an advantage that a program guide that does not tire the user can be provided.

In particular, the program guide creating apparatus is characterized in that information for switching channel selection to a designated program in accordance with a selection operation is described in the scene data.

As described above, the channel selection information corresponding to the program designation by the user selection operation is described in the scene data, so that the user can directly switch the program from the reproduction contents of the program guide.

Further, a digital broadcast program receiving apparatus according to the present invention selectively receives arbitrary program data of a digital broadcast program and separates multiplexed program material data and scene data from the program data. Local, a scene data processing unit that determines a combination method of each program material data based on the scene data received by the receiving device, and a combination of the program material data expanded by the decoder according to an instruction of the scene data processing unit. A program reproduction processing unit for reproducing, and a user operation input unit for inputting program material designation operation information during reproduction of the program by the user, wherein the scene data processing unit is configured to output the scene data being reproduced for program guidance. It describes the attributes of the program material data, and is specified by the program material designation operation information from the user operation input unit. When the obtained program material data includes program tuning information, the program data includes program switching instruction output means for issuing a program switching instruction based on the program tuning information. It is characterized by comprising a selected program switching means for switching a selected program in accordance with a program switching instruction.

[0011] According to the above configuration, the program guide is provided in a display format created by the program creator, regardless of the standard program guide display format of the receiving device.

Further, the program switching instruction output means of the scene data processing section outputs the switching time information together with the program switching information, and holds the program switching information and the switching time information output from this means. A program switching reservation device that outputs a program switching instruction at a time specified by the switching time information, wherein the channel selection program switching means of the reception channel selection unit includes:
The selected program is switched according to a program switching instruction from the program switching reservation device.

By providing the reservation function in this way, the user does not need to perform the program selection operation many times, and the convenience is improved.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First,
The “mechanism for encoding and decoding for each program material and displaying the program” of the digital broadcasting system according to the present invention will be described.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show the overall basic configuration of a digital broadcasting system according to the present invention, respectively. That is, this system is shown in FIG.
1 and a digital broadcast program receiver 12 shown in FIG. 1B. Here, the digital broadcast program transmitting device 11 creates and broadcasts a program, and the digital broadcast program receiving device 12
Is installed in each home and has a function of receiving a digital broadcast program.

In the digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus 11, program materials used in a program are taken in by a plurality of or a plurality of kinds of material input devices 1101. The material input device 1101 differs depending on the type of program material. For example, a video camera is used for moving images, a scanner is used for still images, a microphone is used for audio, and a PC is used for characters. Further, the number of the material input devices 1101 is not limited. All the fetched program materials are digitized and stored in the program data storage device 1105.

On the other hand, the program production device 1102 reads the program material stored in the program data storage device 1105, and sets the attribute value (display timing,
Edit the program by determining the display interval, the vertical relationship of the materials, the size, the position, etc.). These program material attribute values are collectively stored in the program data storage device 1105 as scene data.

The program transmitting apparatus 1104 registers scene data stored in the program data storing apparatus 1105 in advance, and sequentially transmits programs according to a broadcast schedule. When the transmission of the program is started, the scene data and the program material described in the information of the scene data are transmitted to the encoder 1106 according to a sequentially determined schedule.

The encoder 1106 is activated in accordance with the type of data, for example, scene data, moving image, still image, sound, character, etc., and performs sequential encoding. The number of activated encoders depends on the number of program materials transmitted at that time.

The encoded scene data and program material are multiplexed by a multiplexing device 1107,
At 108, a synchronization code, an error correction code, and the like are added, the packet is decomposed into a plurality of packets, and then transmitted as digital broadcast. Data transmission paths include not only communication satellites but also terrestrial waves, CATV, broadcasting satellites, telephone lines, the Internet, and the like.

The data transmitted from the digital broadcast program transmitting device 11 is received by the digital broadcast program receiving device 12 shown in FIG. The data of the selected program is sent to the separating device 12.
After being subjected to separation processing at 02, the data is sent to the decoder 1203.

This decoder 1203 has a data type,
For example, dedicated ones are activated in accordance with the types of scene data, moving images, still images, audio, characters, and the like, and sequentially perform decoding processing. The number of activated decoders depends on the number of program materials being received at that time. The decoded scene data is sent to the scene data processing device 1204. The scene data processing device 1204 follows the scene data,
The image processing device 1205 and the audio processing device 1206 are instructed to reproduce the received program materials.

The image processing apparatus 1205 performs drawing and reproduction processing in accordance with the instruction of the scene data processing apparatus 1204 so that the specified program material is arranged in the specified position and in a vertical relationship, and displays the same on the screen of the CRT 1207. . Similarly, the audio processing circuit 1206 performs audio reproduction processing according to the instruction of the scene data processing circuit 1204 so that the specified program material is reproduced at the specified volume (volume), and outputs sound from the speaker 1208. .

Here, the scene data processing device 120
Reference numeral 4 denotes an instruction input device 12 using a mouse or a remote controller through an input interface (I / F) 1210.
When inputting the instruction information corresponding to the user operation from 09,
The processing described in the scene data is executed according to the instruction information.

First, processing of scene data in the receiving apparatus having the above configuration will be described using an example. FIG. 2 shows an example of a program in which a still image of a person is displayed in front of a moving image including trees and birds. This program, when in the state of FIG. 2 (a), by the user to interact with respect to human static image, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), balloon that says "Hello" is Appears next to people. Here, “user performs interaction” means that if the instruction input device 1209 is a mouse, the user positions the cursor on a still image of a person and clicks the mouse, and the instruction input device 1209 is operated by a remote controller. If it exists, it means that the user presses a button on the remote controller.

In the program, the background moving image 21 is a material I
D1, a still image 22 of people still image 23 of the balloon was written the letter material ID2, also "Hello" is a material ID3. The scene data of this program is shown in FIG.
It is expressed as shown below. Here, the items in FIG. 3 indicate “time”, “material ID”, and “action” from the left. The scene data processing device 1204 causes the material specified by the “material ID” to act as specified by the “action” at the time (unit: millisecond) specified by the item of “time”. For example, a command Point (X, Y) indicates that a material is arranged at coordinates (X, Y), and a Visible (TRUE) command indicates that the material is to be made visible.
The material in the visible state is rendered by the image processing device 1205, and the material in the invisible state is not rendered by the image processing device 1205.

In the example of FIG. 3, the material 1 is first placed at time 0 (millisecond) at 301 at coordinates (0, 0), and is made visible at 302. Similarly, at time 0, the material 2 is placed at coordinates (20, 100) at 303, and made visible at 304,
At time 305, the material 3 is placed at coordinates (60, 30) at time 0, and at 306, it is made invisible. As a result, FIG.
A background and a person are displayed during a program as shown in FIG.

In the above example, the user's interaction with the material 1 is set. That is, material 1
Is clicked (or an interaction such as pressing a remote control button), the material 3 is set to a visible state after 0 milliseconds, and an invisible state is set again after 1000 milliseconds. This is described by the Click command 307.

The Click command is to execute the command sequence specified in the Click statement when the material receives an interaction from the user. However, the time of the command string in the Click statement indicates a relative time from the time when the interaction occurs. That is, Clic
The first line (308) in the k sentence means that the material 3 is made visible 0 seconds after the interaction with the material 1 has occurred, and the second line (309) is one second later (that is, 1000 millimeters). (After the second), the material 3 is made invisible again. Thus, when there is interaction from the user with respect to a person in a program, displays the word "Hello" next to the person as shown in FIG. 2 (b), after one second in FIG. 2 (c) The characters will disappear as shown.

In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned "mechanism for displaying a program by encoding and decoding for each program material"
Is characterized by utilizing the interaction processing technology in (1) for program guide. The method will be described below.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a program guide using the above technique. In the example of FIG. 4A, it is assumed that the currently received / reproduced channel is ch3. As shown in FIG. 4A, two programs, that is, “news” and “song” are introduced in the program of ch3, and play a role as a program guide. In this example, a mechanism for switching between channels by the user selecting one of them and interacting with the other will be described.

The "news" and "song" buttons in the program of ch3 are assumed to be composed of 41 still image materials 1 and 42 still image materials 2 as shown in FIG. In this example, when the user interacts (ie, clicks or presses a button, etc.) with the “news” button (ie, material 1) in the program of ch3,
As shown in FIG. 4C, the program is switched to the “news” program of ch1. Similarly, when the user interacts with the “song” button in the program of ch3, FIG.
The program is switched to the "song" program of ch2 as shown in (d). In this example, a still image material is used as a button. However, it is needless to say that another material, that is, a moving image, a character, or the like may be used.

Here, the process of switching channels by user interaction will be described in more detail. FIG. 5 shows an example of the scene data constituting the program of the example shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the arrangement of the material 1 and the material 2 on the screen is specified by the command strings 501, 502, 503, and 504, as in the examples of FIGS.

Here, it is assumed that, for example, the user selects the “news” program, that is, the user interacts with the material 1. Then, the command ChangeChannel (ch1) 506 in the Click command 505 is executed. Here, the command “ChangeChannel (N)” is a command that means “switch the program to channel N”. In the case of 506 and 508, the material ID is NU.
LL is set, but if the operation is not for a specific material such as channel switching, NULL is specified as the material ID.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the channel is switched by issuing an instruction from the scene data processing device 1204 to the reception / tuning device 1201 to switch the currently selected channel. That is, when the user interacts to select a chN program (S61), the scene data processing device 1204
Issues an instruction to switch the channel to chN to the reception / tuning device 1201 as the execution process of the ChangeChannel (chN) command (S62). The receiving / tuning apparatus 1201 that has received the instruction switches the channel to cnN (S6).
3) As a result, the channel being received / reproduced is switched to chN.

As described above, by providing a mechanism for switching channels by interaction in a program, it is possible to create a program for performing a program guide capable of switching channels.

Next, the digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus 11 according to the present embodiment will be described. The program schedule storage device 13 in FIG. 1A stores program scheduling data in a broadcasting station, and is accessible from the digital broadcast program transmission device 11. The program guide creation device 1103
The schedule data is acquired from the program schedule storage device 13, and a program guide in a format designated by the producer is created as scene data. Also, it is of course possible for a program creator to directly create scene data without using the program schedule storage device 13.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of program guide creation. First,
The program schedule is acquired from the program schedule storage device 13 (S71). Next, the program guide creating device 1103
To create program guide scene data (S72). Subsequently, the created scene data is stored in the program data storage device 1.
The data is stored in the storage 105 (S73). Thereafter, it is transmitted in the same manner as a normal program.

As described above, in the program guide of the present system, all information related to the program guide is constituted by the scene data and the program material. That is, moving images, still images, sounds, characters, and the like used during the program guide are program materials included in the program data, and the display position and display timing of these program materials, and a method of channel switching by user interaction Are described in the scene data included in the program data.

This means that the display format of the program guide follows the transmitted program data. For this reason, the program maker can determine the display format of the program guide. Therefore, the user does not have to replace the receiving device or a part of the circuit in the receiving device owned by the user,
The display format of the program guide can be freely changed by the program creator. By changing the display format in this way, there is an advantage that a program guide that does not tire the user can be provided.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 8 shows another configuration of the receiving apparatus 12 as a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same parts as those in FIG. 1B are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the program switching device 1211 is added to the receiving device 12 in the first embodiment.
Is added. The program switching instruction device 1211 is a device that issues an instruction to the receiving / tuning device 1201 to switch a channel to a program set at a set time. Also, the scene data processing device 120
4 issues a program reservation instruction to the program switching instruction device 1211 when a program reservation instruction is present in the scene. Of course, like the current VTR deck, the user can directly operate the instruction input device 1209 to directly instruct the program switching instruction device 1211 to make a program reservation.

Hereinafter, description will be made using an example. FIG. 9 is an example of a screen of the program reservation system according to the present embodiment. FIG.
A, B, C, D, and E in (a) represent programs, respectively.
ch1 and ch2 each represent a channel. The horizontal axis in FIG. 9A is time, which indicates that, for example, program B is broadcast from 18:00 to 18:30. In this program, when the user interacts within the frame of the desired program, the corresponding program is reserved. For example, when the user selects and interacts with the program B in the figure, the channel is automatically switched when the time reaches 18:00, and the program B is received and reproduced.

This example is implemented as follows. The programs A, B, C, D, and E in FIG. 9A are represented by still image materials 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, as shown in FIG. 9B.
Note that other information in FIG. 9A, for example, ch1 and ch
Information such as a channel name such as 2 and a time such as 18:00 is also a program material, but the description is omitted here.

The scene data of this program is described as shown in FIG. Instructions regarding the arrangement of the materials 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on the screen are described in 1001 to 1010. 1011, 1013, 1015, 1017,
1012, 101 in 1019 Click command
Command ReserveC of 4, 1016, 1018, 1029
hannel (chN, X: Y) means to switch to channel chN at X: Y.

Here, for example, when the user selects the program C, that is, when the user interacts with the material 3, 101
The ReserveChannel (ch1, 18:30) command 1016 in the Click command of No. 5 is executed. The execution of the ReserveChannel command is performed by sending an instruction from the scene data processing device 1204 to the program switching instruction device 1211 to reserve a program of the channel ch1 starting at 18:30.

On the other hand, upon receiving the program reservation instruction, the program switching instruction device 1211 sends a channel switching instruction to the receiving / selecting device 1201 at the designated time to switch the channel to the designated program.

As described above, in the program reservation system of the present embodiment, all information relating to the program guide and the program reservation is constituted by the scene data and the program material. This means that the display format of the program guide follows the transmitted program data. Therefore, the program creator can freely determine the display format of the program guide and the program reservation.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a digital broadcast program transmitting apparatus and a digital broadcast program receiving apparatus which allow a program creator to freely determine a display format of a program guide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast program transmitting device and a digital broadcast program receiving device of a digital broadcast system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining an example of a program in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of scene data for realizing the program shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view for explaining an example of a program guide in the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of scene data for implementing the program guide of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing a flow of channel switching in the receiving device of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing a flow of creating a program guide in the transmitting apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast program receiving device of a digital broadcast system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary view for explaining an example of a program reservation screen in the system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of sea data for realizing the program reservation screen of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Digital broadcast program transmission apparatus 12 ... Digital broadcast program reception apparatus 13 ... Program schedule storage apparatus 1101 ... Material input apparatus 1102 ... Program creation apparatus 1103 ... Program guide creation apparatus 1104 ... Program transmission apparatus 1105 ... Program data storage apparatus 1106 ... Encoder 1107 Multiplexing device 1108 Transmitting device 1201 Reception / tuning device 1202 Demultiplexing device 1203 Decoder 1204 Scene data processing device 1205 Image processing device 1206 Audio processing device 1207 CRT 1208 Speaker 1209 Instruction input device 1210: input interface 1211: program switching instruction device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification FI FI Theme Court ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/081 (72) Inventor Toru Terauchi 70 Yanagicho, Kochi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Pref. 72) Inventor Tsutomu Owawa 70 Yanagimachi, Yuki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Toshiba Yanagimachi Plant (reference) 5C025 AA01 AA10 DA01 5C063 AB03 AB05 AC01 AC05 CA11 CA23 CA40 5K061 AA09 BB06 CC45 DD00 DD11 FF11 JJ07

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A program material input device for taking in program material data used in a digital broadcast program, and an attribute value indicating at least a reproduction timing and a display position of each program material data taken in by the device are described in a display description language. And a program data for storing program material data captured by the program material input device and scene data generated by the program creation device to generate digital broadcast program data for transmission. A storage device; a program transmission device for transmitting program material data and scene data of each digital broadcast program data stored in the device based on a predetermined program broadcast schedule; and each program material data transmitted from the device. And an encoder for sequentially compressing scene data, and a program element sequentially compressed by the encoder. A multiplexing device that multiplexes data and scene data into one program data, a transmitting device that broadcasts the program data multiplexed by the device, a program that transmits program guide data based on the program broadcast schedule and its related information. Each program data is taken in as program material data, and at least the reproduction timing of the program material data, which is the program guide data taken in by this device, and scene data in which an attribute value indicating a display position is described in a display description language are created. A digital broadcast program transmitting device, comprising: a program guide creating device that stores the program guide data in a data storage device, wherein the program guide data and the scene data stored in the program data storage device are handled as one program. . 2. The digital broadcast program transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the program guide creation device describes information for switching a channel selection to a designated program according to a selection operation in the scene data. 3. A receiving channel selecting section for selectively receiving arbitrary program data of a digital broadcast program and separating multiplexed program material data and scene data from the program data, and a scene selected by the receiving device. A scene data processing unit for determining a combination method of each program material data based on the data; a program reproduction processing unit for combining and reproducing the program material data expanded by the decoder in accordance with an instruction of the scene data processing unit; A user operation input unit for inputting program material designation operation information during reproduction, wherein the scene data processing unit describes the attributes of the program material data for each of the scene data being reproduced for program guide. The program material data specified by the program material specifying operation information from the user operation input unit includes program selection information. And a program switching instruction output means for issuing a program switching instruction based on the program selection information, the receiving channel selecting section switching the selected program in accordance with a program switching instruction from the scene data processing section. A digital broadcast program receiving device comprising: 4. The program switching instruction output means of the scene data processing section outputs switching time information together with the program switching information, and holds the program switching information and switching time information output from this means. A program switching reservation device that outputs a program switching instruction at a time designated by the switching time information, wherein the selected program switching means of the reception channel selection unit selects a selected program in accordance with a program switching instruction from the program switching reservation device. 4. The digital broadcast program receiving device according to claim 3, wherein the digital broadcast program receiving device is switched.