JP2000348405A - Recording reservation-controlling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate troublesomeness in a program reservation method by a barcode. SOLUTION: A display control means displays program contents in a tabular form on a television receiver 5 from information read by an inputting means externally, and only desired program contents are selected from the displayed program content for completing reservation by operating position-specifying and setting means. In this manner, tracing of a barcode with a barcode reader is unneeded when reserving a program, and such troubleomeness the program content cannot be read even if the barcode is traced many times is eliminated. Since the program contents are displayed in a tabular form the setting can be made by comparing with programs preceding and following, left, and right, thus preventing reservation mistakes from occurring even if programs with similar names exist. Also, it is not necessary to set channels or input starting time as in a technique before the barcode reader has been introduced, thus the operation is greatly simplified.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording reservation control device for performing recording reservation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the widespread use of video recording devices (so-called video tape recorders), various devices for automatically recording at a preset time have been proposed. In such a recording apparatus, the setting contents are various, such as the recording start time, the setting of the channel of the recorded program, the recording end time, and the like, and the setting requires a lot of trouble and familiarity. Therefore, even old people who are not used to operating machines can easily set recording reservations.
A recording apparatus having a function of reading a recording start time using a barcode or recording the same program at the same time every week in units of one week has also been proposed.

[0003]

However, even in such a recording apparatus, there is a problem that the operation is not intuitive and the operation is complicated because a so-called convention such as a bar code is used. In particular, when recording programs on different channels with continuous broadcast times, or when the same program is broadcast at different times of the week, the setting becomes extremely complicated even with the use of barcodes. Would. In the case of a barcode, a reading error may occur. For this reason, there has been a demand for an improvement in an apparatus for easily making a recording reservation for a desired program.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and to simplify the recording reservation.

[0005]

As shown in FIG. 1, a recording reservation control device according to the present invention is mounted on a video recording device VTR for recording the contents of a television broadcast and controls the recording. In the control device, storage means ME for preliminarily storing information including at least the content of the television broadcast and the broadcast time, and the stored information is output to the television receiver TV and displayed in a table format on the television receiver TV. Display control means DC, selecting means SL for selecting a desired broadcast content from the displayed information, and according to the selected information,
The broadcast time is set to the recording reservation means T of the video recorder VTR.
Recording setting means RS for setting M.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The recording reservation control device of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration is mounted on a video recording device for recording the contents of a television broadcast and controls the recording means as follows. The recording reservation control device outputs information including at least the content of the television broadcast and the broadcast time stored in the storage means ME in advance to the television receiver TV by the display control means DC, and displays the information on the television receiver TV in a table format. Let it. Therefore,
The contents of the broadcast and the broadcast time can be visually recognized in a format similar to that of a television broadcast program guide published in newspapers and professional magazines. In this state, information is selected by selecting means SL, for example, by moving a cursor and blinking or inverting display of the display, and according to the selected information, the recording setting means RS sets the broadcast time of the selected broadcast content. This is set in the recording reservation means TM of the video recording device.

[0007] Therefore, when the time of the program selected based on the contents of the broadcast displayed in the table format on the television receiver TV comes, the video recording device VTR executes the recording by the recording reservation means TM.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of a recording reservation control device of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a recording reservation card 1 as an embodiment of the recording reservation control device of the present invention, together with a video tape recorder (VTR) 3 and a television receiver 5 connected thereto via a cable 4. FIG. As shown, the VTR 3 includes a cassette insertion unit 7 for inserting a video cassette tape, a time display unit 8 for displaying the current time, a connection unit 10 for slidingly inserting the card-shaped recording reservation card 1 from above.

The recording reservation card 1 stores the contents and time of a television broadcast program for one to several weeks in advance, and is sold alone or together with a weekly magazine or a monthly magazine describing the program contents. Is done. In this embodiment, the contents of the program and the like are stored in the ROM as described later, but may be stored in a rewritable PROM or a RAM backed up by a battery, and may be rewritten by a vending machine or the like. Good. This recording reservation card 1
It is used by being attached to the connection section 10 of the VTR 3.

[0010] The recording reservation card 1 has a control key 1 on its surface on which characters such as "setting", "weekly" and "continuous" are engraved.
1, 12, 13 and cursor keys 21, 22, 23, 24, on which up, down, left, and right arrows are engraved.
Note that a connector 30 connected to the connection section 10 in the VTR 3 is provided at the lowermost end.

Next, the internal structure of the recording reservation card 1 and the VTR 3 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in the figure, a well-known CPU 31,
A key input port 35, an input / output port 38, and the like, which are interconnected by a ROM 32 and a RAM 33 and a bus 34, are provided.

In the ROM 32, together with a control program,
The brief contents of the broadcast program for about one to four weeks and the broadcast start and end times are stored. The keys 11 to 13, 21 to 24 provided on the card surface are connected to the key input port 35 to input the operation state of each key. The input / output port 38 is a port for exchanging data and the like with the control device inside the VTR 3, and is connected to the internal bus 45 via the connector 3 when the recording reservation card 1 is mounted on the VTR 3.

On the other hand, a well-known CPU 51, ROM 52, R
In addition to the AM 53 and the timer 55, a tuner 60 that receives a television broadcast wave via an antenna 57 and demodulates a video / audio signal, a recording / reproducing unit 65 that records or reproduces the demodulated signal on a video tape, and a video signal to the television 5. An output video signal output unit 70 and the like are provided. The timer 55 has a calendar function for managing the date and a 24-hour clock function. When a time set in advance by the CPU 51 via the internal bus 45 is notified, the timer 55 notifies the CPU 51 of the time as an interrupt, and a time display section 8. To display the current time. Further, the tuner 60 can select a channel to be demodulated in response to a command from the CPU 51. The demodulated video signal of the selected channel is output to the recording / reproducing unit 65. The recording / reproducing unit 65 also outputs a control signal of the CPU 51, and the recording / reproducing unit 65 receives this signal. ,
In accordance with the recording / reproduction of the video signal, driving of a recording / reproduction head (not shown), control of a tape reel driving motor, and the like are performed. Further, the video signal output unit 70 outputs a video signal of a certain channel demodulated by the tuner 60,
5. The video signal reproduced by the CPU 5
Of the video signal generated by reading out the image data stored in the storage device, and temporarily storing the selected video signal in an internal video memory (not shown), and constantly outputting the video signal to the television receiver 5.

Next, an explanatory diagram of the program table shown in FIG.
The processing executed by the CPUs 31 and 51 of the recording reservation card 1 and the VTR 3 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Recording reservation card 1 is VTR3
When the power is turned on after the card is mounted, the card-side processing routine shown in FIG. 5 is started, and first, processing such as initialization of the cursor position is performed (step 100). The initial position of the cursor is a predetermined origin, and in the program table shown in FIG. 4, it is the position corresponding to the program with the smallest number and the earliest time zone (program A1 in this embodiment). Thereafter, the program table is read from the ROM 32 (step 110), and the program data in the area corresponding to the cursor position and the data at the cursor position are input / output port 38.
(Step 1)
20). That is, since the entire program table cannot be displayed on the television receiver 5 at a time, one screen of program data is output centering on the position of the cursor. The output program data is temporarily stored in the RAM 5 through the connector 30.
3 and is sent to the video signal output unit 70 under the control of the CPU 51 later, where it is converted into a video signal and then output to the television receiver 5. Next, the recording reservation card 1
The operation waits for the operation of a key provided on the surface (step 130), and the process proceeds to step 140 and subsequent steps according to the input key.

If the input key is a cursor key, cursor data corresponding to one of the operated keys 21 to 24 is output (step 140), and the RAM 3
Then, a process of updating the cursor position information stored in No. 3 according to the configuration of the program guide is performed (step 150). For example,
When the cursor is at the position of the program C3 shown in FIG.
When the cursor key 21 of the upward arrow is operated,
The data is output to the video signal output unit 70 of the VTR 3 and the cursor position information in the recording reservation card 1 is updated from the program C3 to the position of the program C2. When the right arrow cursor key 24 is operated, the cursor position information is updated from the program C3 to the position of the program D3. After the above processing, the process returns to step 120 and executes the processing of step 120 and subsequent steps again. Therefore, when the cursor is moved out of the currently displayed area, the area of the displayed program is also updated by the processing of step 120.

If it is determined in step 130 that the input key is the "SET" key 11, the start time of the program corresponding to the current cursor position information and its channel number are read from the ROM 32 (step 16).
0) Then, processing for outputting the recording start time to the CPU 51 of the VTR 3 is performed (step 170). For example, when the cursor is on the program C3, the start time 8
At hour 45, channel CH5 is read and output. Subsequently, the end time of the program is read (step 180), and a process of outputting the time is performed (step 190). In the example described above, the end time of 9:30 is read and output.

On the other hand, if the "weekly" key 12 is input, the program stored in the ROM 3 is searched for the program of the next week and thereafter (step 200), and the same program as the program where the cursor is currently located is searched for in the following week. It is determined whether or not it exists (step 210). If the same program exists after the next week, read and output of the start time and channel including the date of the program and read and output of the end time are performed in the same manner as when the "SET" key is operated as described above ( Steps 160 to 190). If there is no identical program, step 1
Returning to step 20, the process is repeated from the key input. By this processing, even when the same program is broadcasted in a different time zone after the next week, it can be easily reserved. still,
The processing on the VTR 3 side will be described later.

If the input key is the "continuous" key 13 in step 130, a process for canceling the end time of a continuous program among a plurality of programs set up to that time is performed (step 220). As a result, when recording of a plurality of continuous programs (including different channels and the same channel) is set, the power supply of the VTR 3 is not turned off every time the broadcast time of one program ends.

The processing on the recording reservation card 1 has been described above. According to this processing, the following processing is performed on the VTR 3 side. As shown in FIG. 6, first, wait until data is output from the recording reservation card 1 (step 3).
00), if there is a data output, the contents are determined (step 310). If the output content is cursor data (corresponding to step 140 in FIG. 5), the CPU 5
1 outputs data to the video signal output unit 70 and updates the reverse position of the program being displayed (step 350). For example, when the program C3 shaded in FIG. 4 is displayed in reverse video, when information indicating that the down arrow cursor key 22 is operated is sent from the recording reservation card 1, the program C4 is displayed in reverse video. The output is switched to the output of the video signal in which C3 is normally displayed.

On the other hand, if the contents of the output from the recording reservation card 1 are the data of the program guide, step 12 in FIG.
0, which is temporarily stored in the RAM 5
After that, the data is stored in the video signal output unit 70 as data to be displayed on the television receiver 5 (step 32).
0) and a process of inputting cursor position data output from the recording reservation card 1 (step 330). Subsequently, a process of setting the position of the program to be reversely displayed on the video signal output unit 70 based on the input data of the cursor position is performed (step 340).

If the contents of the output from the recording reservation card 1 are set time information corresponding to the processing on the card side, steps 170 and 190, this information is temporarily stored in the RAM 53 (step 360) and stored. A process of setting the date and time closest to the present time among the plurality of time information to the timer 55 is performed (step 370). Timer 55
When the set date / time is reached, the CPU 51 interrupts the CPU 51 and drives the tuner 60 and the recording / reproducing unit 65 to perform a process of recording the program of the stored channel on the video cassette tape.

After the processing of steps 310 to 370 is completed, the process returns to step 300 and the recording reservation card 1
It repeats from the process which waits until data output from. With the processing on the recording reservation card 1 and the processing on the VTR 3 described above, the user sets the recording reservation as follows.

(1) First, when the recording reservation card 1 is mounted on the VTR 3 and the power is turned on, a part of the program table of the day is displayed in a table format on the television receiver 5 as shown in FIG. . By operating the cursor keys 21 to 24, a desired program can be highlighted and displayed. When a cursor operation is performed to move the highlighted display portion out of the currently displayed area, a display area is displayed. Is updated.
The process of displaying a program guide other than the program guide of the day is as follows.
Although not specifically described, a dedicated key may be provided,
By the combination of the cursor keys 21 and 22 and other keys,
It is also preferable to display the program table of the previous day or the next day.

(2) When the "SET" key 11 of the recording reservation card 1 is operated with the desired program highlighted,
The start time including the date of the program, the channel, and the end time are stored. The VTR 3 starts recording when the start time comes, and ends the recording when the end time comes.

(3) When the "weekly" key 12 is operated after a recording reservation for a certain program is made, the contents of the program from the next week onward stored in the ROM 32 are searched in advance. If the same exists, the start time / channel including the date and the end time are set. Therefore, even if the same program is broadcast in different time zones, it is possible to make a recording reservation without error.

(4) After the recording reservation of a plurality of programs is set, when the "continuous" key 13 is operated, the setting of the end time of the program in the continuous time zone among the programs reserved for recording is canceled. Therefore, when recording a plurality of programs in a continuous time zone, the VTR 3
This is preferable in terms of the durability of the VTR 3 without turning off the power supply.

As described above, the recording reservation card 1 of this embodiment stores in advance the contents of a program for one to several weeks and the start and end times thereof, and displays them on the television receiver 5. Thus, the program can be reserved for recording the program, so that the recording reservation can be made extremely easily. Since it is only necessary to select a program, there is no need to set time, read a barcode, or the like, and even a person who is not used to operating the machine can easily perform the operation. Further, in the present embodiment, programs having the same contents can be searched, so that even when continuous programs are broadcast in different time zones, recording reservation can be easily made.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, instead of using the cursor keys, a configuration in which a desired program is selected with a touch board, a mouse, or a light pen grounded on the screen of a television receiver, and a setting operation for selecting a desired program VTR key
It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention, such as the configuration provided directly above.

[0029]

As described above in detail, according to the recording reservation control apparatus of the present invention, recording reservation can be made only by selecting a program while viewing the contents of the program displayed in a table format on the television receiver. Therefore, there is an excellent effect that the recording reservation of the program can be extremely simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a recording reservation card 1 as an embodiment of the present invention, together with a video tape recorder 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the recording reservation card 1 and the video tape recorder 3;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of display of a program in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing on the recording reservation card 1 side.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing on the video tape recorder 3 side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Recording reservation card 3 ... Video tape recorder (VTR) 5 ... Television receiver 11, 12, 13 ... Control keys 21, 22, 23, 24 ... Cursor keys 55 ... Timer 60 ... Tuner 65 ... Recording / playback part 70 ... Video Signal output section

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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A recording reservation control device mounted on a video recording device for recording the contents of television broadcasts and controlling the recording, comprising: storage means for preliminarily storing information including at least contents of television broadcasts and broadcast times. A display control means for outputting the stored information to a television receiver and displaying the information in a table format on the television receiver; a selection means for selecting a desired broadcast content from the displayed information; Recording setting means for setting the broadcast time in the recording reservation means of the video recording apparatus according to the information.