JP2001339649A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a digital broadcast receiver work so that a common user can not select a particular channel, through which a particular program including parental information is broadcasted, and can not be aware of a reception contract for the particular channel, when the common user performs a common channel selection, even if the reception contract of the particular channel has been made. SOLUTION: A channel selection preset memory 30 has a first memory group 31 and a second memory group 32 so as for other channel to be registered in the same preset key. Then the particular channel is registered in the second memory group 32. This allows the particular user to operate the particular program using the preset key, when a password discriminator 34 judges that a correct password is entered and the memory group 33 calls the second memory group 32. The particular user performs a registration and a change of the particular programs in this state as well.

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 particularly to a digital broadcast receiver for presetting a large number of channels in a memory so that a child or the like can easily set the age-restricted channels. The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver that cannot be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital broadcasting has a variety of features such as simultaneous transmission of a plurality of programs on a single channel, good image quality, and little disturbing of images on a transmission path. Broadcasting is widespread, and more than 200 programs are broadcast day and night. In the future, BS digital broadcasting and terrestrial digital broadcasting are scheduled, and it is expected that most of the broadcasting will be digitized.

[0003] Further, with the increase in the number of recipients and the competition among the companies, various programs and various services according to the tastes and preferences of the users have been increased, and the receivers to be released with improved usability have been increased. The number has also increased, and it has become synergistically accessible to a wide range of people.

[0004] On the other hand, with the spread of navigation devices in particular, many vehicles are equipped with a television receiver using the display. Many of the television receivers have a desire to have a function of receiving a CS broadcast using a radio wave from a satellite having few reception obstacles.

[0005] In the above digital broadcasting, many of the channels being broadcast are paid channels that can be viewed by making a contract with a broadcasting station, but some are free to all. There are also channels that are open with. A paid channel is pre-contracted so that it can be viewed continuously by paying a fixed monthly fee unless the contract is changed. There are various forms, such as a contract for paying for viewing.

[0006] Further, in such a paid channel, an age limit for each specific age of a viewer is set in advance so that only a person of a predetermined age or more can view, and a viewing contract is made with the age confirmation. However, there is also a channel in which so-called parental information is set, which can be viewed only by a receiver that has made this contract. Such parental information can be set for each channel even when a plurality of channels are transmitted in one broadcast. In order to receive such a broadcast with parental information, the receiver should be able to register a password so that the user can view this channel only when the user enters the same password as the one registered in advance. I have to.

[0007]

As described above, in digital broadcasting, an extremely large number of programs are broadcast, and there are various types of broadcasting such as free broadcasting, paid broadcasting, and a channel in which parental information is set. However, in a receiver for receiving such a digital broadcast, in addition to directly inputting and specifying the station number of the channel desired to be viewed and viewing it, a preset key is used to assign a receivable channel to each key in advance. You can also register and press the key to see the corresponding channel.

Further, in many receivers, an up / down switch is provided on the receiver main body, a remote controller, or the like, and by operating the switch, a channel being broadcast is selected or a channel for which reception is subscribed is selected. I can do it. For this reason, many receivers are provided with a memory capable of storing a channel corresponding to a preset key switch or an up / down switch, and each user allocates an arbitrary channel to this memory, and reads out this data, thereby obtaining the above-described data. A predetermined channel can be selected by a switch. In particular, in a digital broadcast receiver for a vehicle, many key switches and the like cannot be provided due to space limitations.
As in the case of the M radio, it is often set to select a channel by an up / down switch.

[0009] Further, the receiver is provided with a memory for inputting a password so that only a specific person can view the channel in which the parental information is set as described above, but this password can be arbitrarily set by the user. It is registered and can be changed as needed. This prevents users such as children who do not know the password from seeing such programs.

[0010] In the digital broadcasting receiver as described above, there are many channels for children, channels for animation programs, channels for music programs including video, and channels for audio programs. Many programs are also interesting for the audience,
Often these channels are contracted. Therefore, when such a child or the like operates a receiver and selects a channel, for example, directly inputs the number of a channel for which parental information is set by using a numerical key, the receiver cannot view the channel. Is not contracted, a screen display such as "Cannot see because there is no contract."

On the other hand, if the reception contract for this channel has already been made as described above, "Cannot be received due to parental broadcasting" is displayed on the screen, or separately from this. In addition to the above display, a screen such as "Please enter a password." Is displayed to indicate that the user cannot view without inputting a password. When displayed like this, children etc.
This receiver already has a subscription contract for that channel, knows that the parent is watching it, and that the channel is a channel dedicated to adults in the program guide etc. that introduces the broadcast contents of that channel And so on. As described above, when a child or the like selects a channel of a receiver, the receiver has a contract for receiving a channel in which parental information is set, and the parent sees this as a secret for themselves. Knowing this is not good for parents, so some sort of measure is desired.

When a child or the like performs a tuning operation with a preset key as described above and the above-mentioned display is displayed, if it is not known that the channel has already been subscribed to the parent, It is assumed that the channel is not registered in the preset key, and another channel may be registered in the memory corresponding to the preset key. In such a case, when an adult subsequently operates the receiver, the preset channel cannot be selected with the preset key. Also, when the up / down key for sequentially calling the preset memories corresponding to the preset keys is used, similarly, the previously registered channel cannot be selected.

[0013] Also, among the paid broadcasts, there are channels that make a contract to pay a fee for each reception as described above, but the fees are relatively expensive, and such programs are frequently used. Viewing the file will be a great burden at the time of later usage fee billing. For this reason, for example, it is not preferable for children and the like to frequently watch, and a countermeasure against this is desired. Furthermore, even if it is not a broadcast in which parental information is set as described above, there are also channels that frequently broadcast critical movies and broadcast programs, and when you do not want to show such channels to children, A receiver that can set the channel so that it is not easily understood by children is also desired.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a channel is tuned during a normal channel tuning operation even if a specific channel for broadcasting or the like in which parental information is set is subscribed. It is a main object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiver which cannot perform the reception and cannot know that a reception contract has been made.

[0015]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides two types of preset channel selecting sections each of which designates a predetermined memory in a preset memory, and memories each corresponding to an output of the preset channel selecting section. A memory group, a memory group selection unit for selecting a predetermined one of the memory groups when a password is input, and a memory corresponding to an output of the preset channel selection unit in any of the selected memory groups. A digital broadcast receiver comprising a channel selection data reading unit for reading a channel.

According to another aspect, the digital broadcast receiver is characterized in that a channel in which parental information is set is registered in a memory in the predetermined one memory group. is there.

In another aspect, the digital broadcast receiver is characterized in that a specific pay channel is registered in a memory in the predetermined one memory group.

In another embodiment, the memory group includes a preset memory registration / change unit for registering or changing data in the memories in the two memory groups, and the memory group selected by the memory group selection unit includes the preset memory registration / change unit. The digital broadcast receiver is characterized by registering or changing data.

In another embodiment, when a channel registered in the memory of the one memory group is directly selected from the station number input section when the other memory group is selected, a reception contract is made. The digital broadcast receiver is characterized in that the same display as that indicating that the digital broadcast is not performed is performed.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the functional blocks of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention and their interrelationships. In this figure, similarly to the conventional case, the radio wave of the digital broadcast received by the antenna 11 is transmitted to the RF signal demodulation unit 12 and the baseband signal demodulation unit 13 controlled by the control unit 20.
Are subjected to signal processing, and the audio data 15 and video data 1
6. Further, information channel data 17 which is management information of these data is separated.

The separated audio data 15 is output from a speaker 22 via an audio decoding unit 18 and an amplifier 21, and the video data 16 is output to a video signal decoding unit 23. An image is displayed on the image display unit 25 by combining an appropriate image or the like from the information display signal forming unit 26. The information channel data 17 is input to the control unit 20, and when there is data or the like in which parental information is set, the data is fetched.

On the other hand, this digital broadcast receiver is provided with a preset memory 30 for channel selection, in which two independent memory groups of a first memory group 31 and a second memory group 32 are provided. Of these two memory groups, for example, the first memory group 31 is a memory group used by the same operation as in the related art, and the second memory group 32 is selected and used only when a specific operation is performed. Set to. A memory group selection unit 33 for selecting one of the two memory groups is provided. When a password match signal is input from a password match determination unit 34 described later, for example, the second memory group 32 is selected.

The password match determination unit 34 stores data in a password memory 35 in which a password is registered in advance,
The data is compared with the data from the password input unit 37 operated by the input key 40, and a signal is output to the memory group selection unit 33 when the two match. The registration of the data in the password memory 35 is performed by inputting the data in the password input unit 37 through the password registration / change unit 36. The password once registered can be changed by the same operation.

When the password is not input from the password input unit 37, or when the password does not match the one registered in the password memory 35 even when the password is input, the password match determination unit 34 does not output the password match signal. In this embodiment, the memory group selection unit 33 selects the first memory group 31 in the tuning preset memory 30. For each key of the preset tuning key 41 in the tuning section 40, the first
The memories in the memory group 31 correspond to each other, and a predetermined channel can be assigned to this memory via the preset memory registration / change unit 43 to register / change the memory. Group 3
1 is registered / changed.

On the other hand, when a password that matches the password registered in the password memory 35 in advance is input from the password input unit 37, the password match determination unit 3
4 outputs the signal to the memory group selection unit 33, and the memory group selection unit 33 outputs the signal to the second memory group 3.
Select 2. Thus, when an operation of allocating a predetermined channel to each key of the preset channel selection unit 41 via the preset memory registration / change unit 43 and performing registration / change is performed, the second memory group 3
The registration / change process is performed for the second.

FIG. 5 shows an example of channel assignment to the memories of the first memory group and the second memory group registered as described above. In this example, there are n memory portions 1 to n in the first memory group, and preset numbers 1 to n correspond to each memory portion. Also, there are n memory portions 1 to n for the second memory group, and preset numbers 1 to n are similarly assigned here. By pressing any one of the n preset memories provided on the main body of the receiver or the remote controller, for example, when the first memory group is selected as described above, the key corresponding to the preset memory key is selected. The channel of the first memory group is selected, and when the second memory group is selected, the channel of the corresponding channel is selected in the second memory group corresponding to the preset key.

In order to save the trouble of pressing any one of the preset keys as described above to select a station, there is a receiver provided with an up / down key to sequentially select stations preset as described above. Therefore, when such an up-down key is used, when the first memory group is selected, the channel is first selected from channel 112 in the illustrated example of preset number 1, and when the up key is pressed, n channels are sequentially selected. Channel 755 is selected, and the channel is set to return to number 1 again. In this case, if the down key is pressed halfway, channel selection in the opposite direction is performed.
Even when the second memory group is selected, channel selection is performed in order from, for example, 900 channels in the group.

When selecting a station using the preset key as described above, for example, when the first memory group is selected and the user presses the key of preset number 4, the preset number 4 is assigned to the second memory group. Is 905
Since the channel has been registered but nothing has been registered in the first memory group, a message "Channel not registered" is displayed on the screen. In such a display, the information is output from the channel selection data reading unit 44 to the channel selection information display unit 26 via the control unit 20, is synthesized on the main screen in the image synthesis unit 24, and is displayed on the image display unit 25. This is done by: In such an example, when the up-down key is used, in many cases, only the registered one is selected, so that the unregistered one such as the preset number 4 is skipped.
However, in the case where the function of skipping the preset number that has not been registered is not provided, the display “Channel is not registered” is displayed as described above. Such an operation is similarly performed when the second memory group is selected and the channel is selected using the preset key, or when the channel is selected using the up / down key.

In the present invention, as described above, the preset memories corresponding to the tuning selection keys are provided separately in the first memory group and the second memory group. For example, no formal password is input for the second memory group. Is not selected, when a memory in the first memory group that is normally used without inputting a password is used, as shown in FIG.
Channels 00, 902 and 905 are not selected. In addition, for a person who does not know the password, such as a child, when a normal channel selection operation is performed using a preset key or an up / down key, it is not known that such a channel exists. In addition, when the user selects a channel by directly inputting a channel number without using the preset key or the like as described above, for example, when selecting the 900 channel, it is not necessary to have a reception contract. Similarly, for example, a display such as "cannot receive."

In the present invention having the above-described functional configuration, for example, the channel selection processing is performed according to the operation flow shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the registration / change of the preset memory is performed according to the operation flow shown in FIG. Processing can be performed. Hereinafter, these operation flows will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. 1 and the example of the registered channel corresponding to the preset memory of FIG. At the time of the channel selection process, it is first determined whether or not a password has been input as shown in FIG. 2 (step S1). If a password has not been input, the first memory group 31 in the tuning memory 30 for selecting a channel shown in FIG. 1 is selected (step S3). Also, when it is determined in step S1 that a password has been entered, if it is determined that the entered password does not match the registered password, that is, if no formal password has been entered, step S1 is performed.
3 and the first memory group is selected (step S3).
2).

As described above, according to the present invention, whether or not a formal password is first input at the time of tuning is determined.
One of the preset memories in which the two groups exist is selected. For example, when a person who does not know the password, such as a child, operates the second memory group, which will be described later, the second memory group is not selected, and the second memory group is always selected. Channel selection processing is performed within one memory group. Therefore, the second
Parental information setting channel in memory group,
By registering channels, etc. that require a specially high usage fee, children etc. will not know that such a channel is subscribed to this receiver, and unconsciously expensive viewing There is no need to select a channel to pay a fee.

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the preset tuning key has been operated (step S4). When the preset tuning key has been operated, a registration station corresponding to the preset tuning key in the first memory group as shown in FIG. That is, a registered channel is selected (step S5). Next, it is determined whether a registration station corresponding to the preset channel selection key is actually registered (step S6). Here, when 112 channels are registered as in the preset number 1 in FIG. 5, for example, the 112 channels are read from the memory and designated and output as the selected station (step S7). The operation of the preset channel selection key determined in step S4 is to operate the preset keys provided in a large number as described above, and here, the memory corresponding to the preset number is sequentially read by the up / down key. The operation described above is also included.

The selected station designation output is output to the control unit 20 from the tuning data readout 44 of FIG. 1 to the control unit 20, and the broadcast receiving unit performs a tuning operation according to the instruction. As a result of the channel selection operation, when a desired station is selected, the channel selection ends (step S8), and the channel selection processing flow ends (step S16). However, although the channel is tentatively selected, the output video is different from the desired one. Therefore, when the user wants to change to another channel, the process returns to step S1 again, and the same operation is repeated thereafter. Thereafter, a person who does not know the formal password performs a channel selection operation in the first memory group without being particularly aware of the existence of the second memory. Note that in the above example, the channels registered in the preset key are all treated as channels for which a reception contract is made, including the free channel.

In step S6, when there is no channel registered in the memory group 1 as in the preset number 4 in FIG. 5, for example, it is determined that there is no registered station, and "the channel is not registered." Is displayed (step S9) to prompt the user to select another station. This display also indicates that a new channel can be registered in the memory corresponding to the preset number.
After the above-described display is performed, the process returns to step S4 to wait for the operation of a new preset channel selection key. When the operation is performed, this process is repeated until a registered station is selected.

On the other hand, when the operation of the preset channel selection key is not performed in step S4, that is, when the channel selection operation is performed, the channel number is directly input with the numerical keys without operating the preset channel selection key as described above. When a channel is selected by inputting (step S10), it is determined whether or not the input channel is a channel for which a reception contract is made (step S11). in this way,
When a channel is selected by directly inputting a channel number, the channel is selected irrespective of the preset memory for channel selection as described above.

If the selected channel is a channel for which a reception contract has already been made, it is determined whether or not the channel is a channel for which parental information is set (step S12). When the selected channel is the channel for which the parental information is set, a message "cannot be received" is displayed on the image display unit in this embodiment (step S13). Step S11
Also, when it is determined that the channel is not a subscription contract, the process proceeds to step S13, and the display "cannot be received" is displayed as described above. Step S1
If the channel is a channel for which parental information has not been set in step 2, the flow advances to step S7 to output the selected station designation in the same manner as described above.

As described above, when a channel for which a reception contract has not been made is simply designated, and when a formal password has not been entered in steps S1 and S2, viewing is impossible. When the channel for which parental information is set is specified, the same display is performed. For example, when a child or the like is operating this receiver, the channel selection key is directly input unless the password is known. Even if an operation is performed, the presence of a channel for which parental information is set cannot be known only by this receiver. Also, even if you know that a specific channel is an adult channel by other means, you may directly enter the channel number, but the display will be exactly the same as the display when you do not subscribe, for example Since "Please enter password" is not displayed, even if this receiver actually subscribes to the channel, it will not be known.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2 that the entered password matches the registered password, the second memory group is selected (step S14), and then the second memory group shown in FIG. A tuning process within the group is performed. After the tuning process is performed, the process proceeds to step S8, where it is determined whether or not the tuning is completely completed (step S15). When the tuning is completed, the operation flow is terminated in step S16 in the same manner as described above. It is.

FIG. 3 shows a channel selection process in the second memory group.
As shown in FIG. 7, the same operation as when the first memory group is selected is performed. First, it is determined whether or not the preset tuning key has been operated (step S21), and when it has been operated, a key corresponding registration station in the second group is selected (step S22). In FIG. 5, the second
In the memory group, preset number 1 has 900 channels, number 2 has 902 channels, and number 4 has 90 channels.
5 shows an example in which five channels are registered. In each of these channels, a channel for which parental information is set, a channel for which a high viewing fee must be paid for each viewing, and the like are registered. ing.

As a result of the determination, if there is a registered station, an output for designating the selected station is performed (step S2).
4). Also, as a result of watching the video of the selected station, if it is desired to search for another station (step S2).
5) Return to step S21, specify another preset channel selection, and repeat the same flow. When it is determined in step S23 that there is no registered station, a display similar to the above-mentioned "channel is not registered" is performed.

On the other hand, in step S21, when the channel selection is performed by directly inputting the channel number without performing the preset channel selection operation (step S27),
It is determined whether a reception contract has been made (step S2).
8) If there is a reception contract, step S2
Proceed to 4 to perform output for receiving the channel designated for tuning. As described above, unlike the channel selection in the first memory group, since the formal password has already been entered, the operation of extracting the channel for which the parental information is set from the channels for which reception has been subscribed. No need to do. If it is determined in step S28 that the channel has not been subscribed to, a message "cannot be received" is displayed (step S29). When the tuning process in the second memory group is completed as described above, the process proceeds to step S8 in FIG. 2 as described above (step S30).

As described above, the preset memory used for tuning can be registered and changed according to the operation flow shown in FIG. That is,
As in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is determined whether a password has been entered (step S31). If a password has been entered, it is determined whether the entered password matches a registered password (step S32). When a password is not input or a password that matches the registered password is not input, the first memory group is automatically selected (step S33).

Thereafter, a preset number to be registered / changed is specified for the first memory group, and the channel number of the preset station is input to the memory corresponding to the number (step S35). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not all of the preset stations to be registered / changed have been completed (step S36), and if not completed, the process returns to step S31 to repeat the same operation. In any case, unless a password is input, the memory of the channel in which the parental information is set cannot be accessed as described above, and the change of these memories can be prevented.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that the password entered by the user matches the registered password, the second group memory is selected (step S37), and the second memory group is selected in the same manner as described above. By the above processing, the registration / change preset number is designated (step S38), and the preset station is input to the memory corresponding to the number (step S39).
Further, it is determined whether or not the registration and change of all preset stations in the second memory group have been completed (step S4).
0), if not yet completed, the aforementioned step S38
Then, the input processing of the preset station is similarly performed. Thus, the processing can be performed without re-entering the password until all the processing of the second memory group is completed. When the registration / change of the preset memory for the second memory group is completed,
Proceeding to step S36, registration to the first memory group
It is determined whether or not all of the change processing has been completed, and when it is determined that the change processing has been completed, the registration / change operation flow of the preset memory is completed (step S41).

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which a channel in which parental information is set, particularly a channel with a high viewing fee, is registered in a memory group that can be selected by inputting a password. However, any channel can be set, such as a channel that is rumored to be broadcasting a program with many cruel scenes, a program that the child does not want to show such as a professional wrestling program, and the like. In order to prevent the above-mentioned operation from being easily known to children and the like, this operation part is provided as a separate volume in the operation manual so that a user such as an adult can remove and store it in another place. It may be necessary to take into account such considerations.

[0046]

The present invention is configured as described above.
Unless a password is entered when selecting a channel, a channel registered in a memory in one memory group cannot be accessed, and only a channel registered in a memory in the other memory group can be selected during normal channel selection. Since it is displayed that the station is possible, it becomes impossible to know even that a reception contract has been made for the channel registered in the memory in the one memory group.

In a digital broadcast receiver in which a channel in which parental information is set is registered in a memory in one of the predetermined memory groups, reception of the channel in which parental information is set is performed. Even when a contract is made, it is possible to prevent children and the like from understanding the reception contract.

In a digital broadcast receiver in which a specific pay channel is registered in a memory in one of the predetermined memory groups, for example, a high viewing fee is paid for each viewing. By registering such channels in the memory of this memory group, it is possible to prevent other people from unknowingly or indiscriminately selecting and viewing such channels and incur a high billing fee. be able to.

Further, there is provided a preset memory registration / change unit for registering data in the memories in the both memory groups or changing the data, and registers the data in the memory group selected by the memory group selection unit. Or, in a digital broadcast receiver that is changed,
When registering or changing data in the memory, it is not possible to access the memory group on one side that stores the channel or the like in which the parental information is set unless a password is input in advance, so that the data can be accessed by another person. It is possible to prevent unknowing or conscious changes.

Also, when a channel registered in the memory of the one memory group is directly selected from the station number input section when the other memory group is selected, a reception contract is not made. In the digital broadcast receiver configured to perform the same display as the display to be displayed, when the channel in which the parental information is set is registered in the memory of the one memory group, the other memory group is selected. If you enter the channel number of the channel directly and give a channel selection instruction while it is in the state, a message is displayed indicating that you have not subscribed to the channel. For example, "Please enter your password" That no one knows your password and subscribes you to subscribe to these channels. It is not.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of performing channel selection processing in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart mainly showing an operation when the first memory group is selected.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of performing channel selection processing in the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart mainly showing an operation when a second memory group is selected.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart when registering / changing a preset memory in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of channels registered in a preset memory of each memory group in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 Preset memory for channel selection 31 First memory group 32 Second memory group 33 Memory group selection unit 34 Password match determination unit 35 Password memory 36 Password registration / change unit 37 Password input unit 41 Preset channel selection unit 42 Station number input unit 43 Preset Memory registration / change unit 44 Tuning data read unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A preset tuning unit for designating a predetermined memory in a preset memory; two types of memory groups each having a memory corresponding to an output of the preset tuning unit; A memory group selecting section for selecting one of the memory groups, and a tuning data reading section for reading a channel registered in a memory corresponding to the output of the preset tuning section in any one of the selected memory groups. A digital broadcast receiver characterized by the following. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein a channel in which parental information is set is registered in a memory in the predetermined one memory group. 3. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein a specific pay channel is registered in a memory in the predetermined one memory group. 4. A preset memory registering / changing unit for registering or changing data in memories in both of the memory groups, registering the data in a memory group selected by the memory group selecting unit, The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast receiver is changed. 5. When a channel registered in the memory of the one memory group is directly selected from the station number input section when the other memory group is selected, it is determined that a reception contract has not been made. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the same display as the display to be performed is performed.