JP2001078109A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a digital broadcast receiver that enables a user to recognize presence of a program that can simultaneously be viewed or recorded as a program on a different channel. SOLUTION: An NIM 2 receives a digital broadcast. A decoder 3 decodes a transport stream. An on-screen display control section 8 generates an on-screen display signal. A microcomputer 6 discriminates whether or not another program is multiplexed on a specific transport stream in the case of selecting and extracting the specific transport stream. When the microcomputer 6 has discriminated the presence of the other program, the microcomputer 6 controls the on-screen display control section 8 to display the presence of another program on a different channel simultaneously viewed or recorded on a display section 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver for receiving digital broadcasts, and more particularly, to a digital broadcast receiver for receiving digital broadcasts.
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver capable of knowing the presence of another program multiplexed within one selected frequency and the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or recorded on a reverse program (hereinafter, simply referred to as a reverse program).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In digital broadcasting, a plurality of channels can be multiplexed and transmitted in one channel bandwidth (one transponder) in conventional analog broadcasting. Multi-channel broadcasting is also planned for BS digital broadcasting, which is currently being prepared for practical use. In BS digital broadcasting, 1,3,13,1
Five channels are planned, and in each channel, a broadcasting channel is allocated to a plurality of broadcasting stations by dividing one transponder having 48 slots into a plurality.

[0003] In BS digital broadcasting, either a standard television broadcast (hereinafter abbreviated as SDTV) or a high-definition television broadcast (abbreviated as HDTV) is broadcast. In a television broadcasting station to which 22 slots are assigned, HDTV broadcasting using the 22 slots is possible. Since the number of slots required for SDTV broadcasting is smaller than that for HDTV, it is possible to broadcast SDTV of about 3 channels with 22 slots.

As described above, in digital broadcasting, H
Because there are both DTV and SDTV systems,
There may be a mixture of HDTV and SDTV in which one broadcast station broadcasts HDTV and another broadcast station broadcasts SDTV. Also, even when broadcasting from one broadcasting station, depending on the time zone, only HDTV or SDT
Since only V is used, there may be a mixture of HDTV and SDTV due to a difference in time zone even within one broadcasting station.
Therefore, the number of channels actually broadcasted is flexibly operated and changed depending on the broadcasting station and time zone. The mixture of HDTV and SDTV is called mottled knitting.

In a digital broadcast receiver, there are two channel selection methods for channel selection. One of them is
This is a method (first tuning method) of changing a tuning frequency in a tuner and selecting a desired program within the tuning frequency. This is 1,3,1 of BS digital broadcasting
This is equivalent to switching channels between channels 3 and 15. The other is a method of selecting another program multiplexed within the selected frequency without changing the selected frequency in the tuner (a second selected method). In decoding a signal (transport stream) output from a tuner, a channel (program) is switched only by signal processing in the decoder.

A decoder that decodes a transport stream selected and extracted by a tuner can decode all programs multiplexed on the transport stream. Therefore, in the digital broadcast receiver, as shown in FIG. 7, a function of simultaneously displaying multi-screen programs that can be simultaneously decoded by a decoder has been considered.

[0007]

The above first and second channel selection methods have technical differences in the channel selection method, but are apparently not operated by the viewer. No difference. In other words, when switching the channel (program), the viewer does not recognize at all whether the channel (program) is switched by the first channel selection method or the second channel selection method. Therefore, when watching a certain program, the viewer determines whether or not there is a program that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded, or determines whether or not an electronic program guide (EP
When a program guide is displayed on the screen according to G), there is a problem that it is difficult to recognize which combination of programs can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and it is easy to determine whether there is a program which can be viewed or recorded only by signal processing in a decoder in addition to a program currently being viewed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiver capable of recognizing a digital broadcast receiver, and further to provide a digital broadcast receiver capable of easily recognizing a range of a program that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded. .

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides: (a) a receiving section (2) for receiving a digital broadcast, and a transport stream output from the receiving section. (3, 3)
1, 32) and an on-screen display control unit (8) for generating an on-screen display signal, when a specific transport stream is selected and extracted by the receiving unit, A determining unit (6) for determining whether there is another program multiplexed in the specific transport stream; and displaying the on-screen display when the determining unit determines that the other program exists. A control unit (6) for controlling a control unit to perform a display on the display unit to indicate that the other program is present. , (B) a receiving unit (2) for receiving a digital broadcast, and a decoder (3, 31, 3) for decoding a transport stream output from the receiving unit
2) and a program table generating section (8) for generating a program table using additional information included in the digital broadcast, wherein the program table generating section includes a transport stream in the decoder. A first program that can be viewed only by switching the signal processing of the decoder and a second program that cannot be viewed only by switching the signal processing of the transport stream in the decoder can be visually distinguished. A digital broadcast receiver for generating a program table in which an area including the first program and an area including the second program are generated; and (c) receiving a digital broadcast. (2) and a decoder (3, 3) for decoding the transport stream output from the receiving unit.
1, 32) and a program table generating section (8) for generating a program table using additional information included in the digital broadcast, wherein the program table generating section includes a transformer in the decoder. A first program that can be recorded only by switching the signal processing of the port stream can be visually distinguished from a second program that cannot be recorded only by switching the signal processing of the transport stream in the decoder. Like
It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiver characterized by generating a program table in which an area including the first program and an area including the second program are divided.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the digital broadcast receiver of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the digital broadcast receiver of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are digital diagrams of the present invention. FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing examples of screen display by the broadcast receiver, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing examples of display of the electronic program guide by the digital broadcast receiver of the present invention.

<First Embodiment> Referring to FIG.
The input television broadcast wave is input to a NIM (network interface module) 2. The NIM 2 is a part in which a reception function by a tuner and an error correction function are added, and is a receiving unit that receives digital broadcasting. The NIM 2 tunes to a predetermined tuning frequency under the control of a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as “microcomputer”) 6, and furthermore, a transport stream (T) of a specific carrier (broadcasting station) included in the tuning frequency.
S) is selectively extracted.

The TS output from the NIM 2 is a decoder 3
Is input to The decoder 3 is a decoder that can decode both HDTV and SDTV. Here, a state in which the decoder 3 is decoding the SDTV is shown, and the decoder 3 has the SDTV multiplexed in the TS.
3 to 3 programs can be decoded simultaneously. The decoder 3 controls the SDTV 1 to SDTV 1 by the microcomputer 6.
3 is controlled. Accordingly, the decoder 3 may not always decode all of the SDTVs 1 to 3, but may decode only one program of the SDTVs 1 to 3 or two programs. Information on which of the SDTVs 1 to 3 the decoder 3 is decoding is input to the microcomputer 6.

The video signal output from the decoder 3 is input to the video signal processing unit 4 for processing, and is input via the switch 11 to the display unit 5 such as a cathode ray tube. Switch 11
Is for switching between displaying the video signal output from the video signal processing unit 4 on the display unit 5 and displaying the video signal reproduced by the recording / reproducing device 10 on the display unit 5. The switch 11 is controlled by the microcomputer 6. Whether the recording / reproducing device 10 is provided externally,
Or it is a built-in receiver. Here, the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is shown as being provided outside the receiver. If the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 has a built-in receiver, the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 is controlled by the microcomputer 6. The video signal output from the video signal processing unit 4 is input to the recording / reproducing device 10 and recorded. The recording / reproducing apparatus 10 can record a program that is currently being viewed, and can record a program that can be simultaneously viewed only by signal processing in the decoder 3 in addition to the program that is currently being viewed.

When the decoder 3 decodes only one program of SDTV1-3 or a program of HDTV,
The display unit 5 displays only one program. Decoder 3
When two or three programs of SDTV1 to 3 are decoded, the video signal processing unit 4 can combine the plurality of programs under the control of the microcomputer 6 and display them on the display unit 5 as a multi-screen. .

The microcomputer 6 controls an on-screen display control unit (hereinafter abbreviated as OSD control unit) 7. OS
The D control unit 8 generates various on-screen display signals such as characters and marks on the screen of the display unit 5 as RGB signals. The on-screen display signal is input to the video processing unit 4, combined with the video signal from the decoder 3, and input to the display unit 5. When the viewer operates the remote control transmitter 9,
An operation signal from the remote control transmitter 9 is input to the microcomputer 6. The microcomputer 6 controls each part of the circuit according to the operation signal.

The decoder 3 decodes not only video signals but also additional information such as program information included in digital broadcasts. The additional information decoded by the decoder 3 is taken in by the microcomputer 6 and stored in the memory 7.
Is stored. The OSD control unit 8 also generates a program guide as an electronic program guide using the additional information stored in the memory 7. That is, the OSD control unit 8 is also a program table generation unit. When the viewer operates the remote control transmitter 9 to display the program guide, the microcomputer 6 controls the OSD control unit 8 to generate the program guide. RG that composes the program guide
The B signal is input to the video processing unit 4, combined with the video signal from the decoder 3, and input to the display unit 5.

<Second Embodiment> A second embodiment shown in FIG.
This is a configuration including two decoders. In FIG. 2, FIG.
The same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. The TS output from NIM2 is the decoder 31, 32.
Is input to The TS input to the decoder 31 is TS
1. The TS input to the decoder 32 is assumed to be TS2. The decoders 31 and 32 are decoders capable of decoding both HDTV and SDTV. Here, the decoder 31 decodes SDTV, and the decoder 32 decodes HDTV.
This shows a state where a TV is being decoded.

The video signals output from the decoders 31 and 32 are input to the video signal processing unit 4 for processing, and are input via the switch 11 to the display unit 5 such as a cathode ray tube. The video signal processing unit 4 includes one of the decoders 31 and 32
It is possible to output only the video signal of one program, or to synthesize and output the video signals of a plurality of programs.

Here, in addition to the program currently being viewed, whether or not there is a program that can be viewed or reversely recorded by the recording / reproducing apparatus 10 only by signal processing in the decoders 3, 31, and 32, in other words, An operation for recognizing whether a plurality of programs are multiplexed in the TS extracted by the NIM 2 and whether simultaneous viewing or back-recording is possible will be described. When the decoder 3 selects and decodes a predetermined program from a TS in which a plurality of programs are multiplexed and displays it on the display unit 5, as shown in FIGS.
Controls the OSD control unit 8 to cause the display unit 5 to display guidance displays 51 and 51 'indicating that another program is present. The guide displays 51 and 51 'are, for example, texts indicating that there is a program that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded.
"OOOOOO", "XXXXXX" and the program name are displayed together. If there is only one other program, guidance displays 51 and 5
1 'is also one. The guide displays 51 and 51 'are shown in FIG.
The present invention is not limited to the examples shown in (A) and (B), and may be displayed as a program that can be simultaneously viewed and back-recorded.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show another embodiment.
May be displayed on the display unit 5 to indicate that there are programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded. Also in this case, the icons 52 and 52 'may be plural depending on the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded, or may be icons according to the number of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded. Icons 52 and 52 'are shown in FIG.
The present invention is not limited to the examples shown in (A) and (B), and it may be displayed that there is a program that can be simultaneously viewed and back-recorded. Information display 5
1, 51 'and the icons 52, 52' can be arbitrarily displayed on the display unit 5.

Next, an operation for easily recognizing a range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded will be described.
According to the present invention, the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded can be recognized by a program table based on EPG. FIG. 5 is an example of a program table. In FIG. 5, for example, broadcasters (broadcast stations) are arranged on the horizontal axis and time is arranged on the vertical axis, and program information such as a program name broadcasted by each broadcaster is placed in a section determined by the broadcaster and time. Is displayed. In FIG. 5, HDTV shows a program on HDTV,
TV1 to TV3 show programs on SDTV. In the configuration of FIG. 1, the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded is for each extracted TS, that is, for each broadcaster. Therefore, as shown in FIG.
3 is used for classification.

Thus, the viewer can easily recognize which range is a program that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded. For example, SDTV in broadcaster A
1 and SDTV2 can be simultaneously watched or back-recorded, but it can be recognized that SDTV1 of broadcaster A and SDTV1 of broadcaster B cannot be simultaneously watched or back-recorded. In the present embodiment, the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded is divided using the frame 53. However, color coding may be used. Any classification can be used as long as it can be visually identified.

A program that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded is viewed or back-recorded only by switching the signal processing in the decoders 3, 31, and 32 without switching the channel selection frequency or TS extraction processing in the NIM2. It can also be called a program that can do it. The programs that cannot be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded are the decoders 3, 31, and 32.
Can not be viewed or back-recorded only by the signal processing in, and the program cannot be viewed or back-recorded without switching the channel selection frequency or TS extraction processing in the NIM2.

FIG. 6 shows the division by the frame 53 in the case of FIG. In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, since two decoders 31 and 32 are provided, the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded is not for each broadcaster. NIM2 is the extracted range for each of TS1 and TS2. In the example of FIG. 6, for example, the SDTV 1 of the broadcaster A and the HDTV of the broadcaster B can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded, but the HDTV of the broadcaster B and the SDTV 1 of the broadcaster C can be simultaneously viewed. Or you can recognize that you can't endorse.

[0025]

As described above in detail, in the digital broadcast receiver of the present invention, when a specific transport stream is selected and extracted by the receiving unit, the digital broadcast receiver is multiplexed in the specific transport stream. A discriminating unit for discriminating whether or not another program is present; and when the discriminating unit determines that another program is present, the on-screen display control unit is controlled so that another program is present on the display unit. And a control unit for controlling the display to indicate that the program is being displayed, it is easy to determine whether there is a program that can be viewed or recorded only by signal processing in the decoder in addition to the program currently being viewed. Can be recognized.

Furthermore, the first program that can be viewed and recorded only by switching the signal processing of the transport stream in the decoder, and the viewing and recording can be performed only by switching the signal processing of the transport stream in the decoder. In order to visually identify a second program that cannot be performed, a program table generating unit that generates a program table that separates an area including the first program and an area including the second program is provided. It is possible to easily recognize the range of programs that can be simultaneously viewed or back-recorded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen display example according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen display example according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of an electronic program guide according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of an electronic program guide according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a multi-screen with programs that can be viewed simultaneously.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 antenna 2 network interface module (receiving unit) 3, 31, 32 decoder 4 video signal processing unit 5 display unit 6 microcomputer (control unit) 7 memory 8 OSD control unit (program table generating unit) 9 remote control transmitter 10 Recording / playback device 11 switch

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A digital broadcast receiver comprising: a receiving unit for receiving a digital broadcast; a decoder for decoding a transport stream output from the receiving unit; and an on-screen display control unit for generating an on-screen display signal. A determining unit that determines whether there is another program multiplexed in the specific transport stream when the specific transport stream is selected and extracted by the receiving unit; A control unit that controls the on-screen display control unit when it is determined that the other program is present by the unit, and performs a display indicating that the other program is present on a display unit. A digital broadcast receiver characterized by comprising: 2. A receiving section for receiving a digital broadcast, a decoder for decoding a transport stream output from the receiving section, and a program table generating section for generating a program table using additional information included in the digital broadcast. A digital broadcast receiver comprising: a first program which can be viewed only by switching signal processing of a transport stream in the decoder; and a signal of a transport stream in the decoder. Generate a program table in which an area including the first program and an area including the second program are separated so that a second program that cannot be viewed only by switching the processing can be visually identified. A digital broadcast receiver. 3. A receiving section for receiving a digital broadcast, a decoder for decoding a transport stream output from the receiving section, and a program table generating section for generating a program table using additional information included in the digital broadcast. A digital broadcast receiver comprising: a first program that can be recorded only by switching signal processing of a transport stream in the decoder; and a signal of a transport stream in the decoder. Generate a program table in which an area including the first program and an area including the second program are separated so that a second program that cannot be recorded only by switching processing can be visually identified. A digital broadcast receiver.