JP2002135667A - Broadcasting receiver, broadcasting system, broadcasting receiving method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a broadcasting receiver with which useful programs are provided to a user, and a program desired by the user is easily viewed. SOLUTION: A display means 16 displays the video of the program selected from among a multitude of programs which are multiplexed in a reception channel, and also displays character string data together with the video of the selected program when character string data (text data such as a news flash) is comprised in selected program data. A changeover control means 112 changes-over the selected program to be displayed in the display means 116 into a program on air a present, which corresponds to the prescribed character string (the character string expressing the category of a program such as 'news') which is contained in the character string data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus used for an apparatus or a system for receiving digital broadcast transmitted via, for example, a satellite or a cable.
The present invention relates to a broadcast system, a broadcast receiving method, and a storage medium in which computer-readable storage of a processing step for executing the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in satellite broadcasting or cable broadcasting, a large number of television programs or radio programs are broadcasted by a large number of channels using image, audio, or character data (hereinafter, referred to as character data).
(Hereinafter, simply referred to as “transmission data”) to a digital broadcast receiver on the user side.

The transmission data includes EPG (Electronic) data together with the data of the program itself (image and audio data).
c Program Guide) is included. EP
G is character data and program guide data relating to a broadcast-scheduled program. Therefore, in a digital broadcast receiver, based on EPG included in received transmission data,
Many forms of program guide data (data including program listings, etc.)
And presents it to the user.

[0004]

However, as described above, in a digital method such as satellite broadcasting or cable broadcasting, a large number of programs are transmitted through a large number of channels. In such a case, it has been very troublesome for the user to search for the television program desired to be viewed or the program desired to be viewed. For example, if a breaking news sent as character data is displayed overlaid on a television screen and the breaking news is switched to a news program that is broadcasting in detail, it takes a very long time to find the program. I was

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and provides a useful program to a user and enables a user to easily view a desired program. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium in which a computer, a broadcast receiving method, and processing steps for performing the same are stored in a computer-readable manner.

[0006]

For such a purpose,
A first invention is a broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving a broadcast wave of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data. Display means for displaying the video of the program and displaying the character string data on the display screen of the video if the selected program data includes character string data; A program corresponding to the character string extracted by the character string extracting means from a program currently being broadcast, based on character string extracting means for extracting a sequence and program guide data on the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio wave. And a program switching control means for switching the selected program to the program searched by the program searching means.

[0007] A second invention is the first invention, wherein
An instruction unit for externally instructing the execution of the switching operation control by the program switching control unit is provided, and the program switching control unit executes the switching operation based on an instruction from the instruction unit. .

[0008] In a third aspect based on the first aspect,
There is provided storage means for storing information of a program searched by the program search means, and the program switching control means executes the switching operation based on information stored in the storage means.

[0009] In a fourth aspect based on the first aspect,
The program search means searches for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from programs broadcast after the current time, if the program being broadcast cannot be searched for, and the program switching control means Is characterized in that the selected program is switched to the program searched by the program search means at the broadcast time of the program searched by the program search means.

In a fifth aspect based on the first aspect,
The program search means searches for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from programs broadcast after the current time, if the program being broadcast cannot be searched for, and the program search means It is characterized by comprising recording control means for executing the recording operation of the searched program at the broadcast time of the program.

In a sixth aspect based on the first aspect,
A receiving unit for receiving broadcast waves of a plurality of channels in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, wherein the display unit is selected from a plurality of program data multiplexed on the broadcast waves of the plurality of channels, respectively; And displaying each video of the plurality of programs on the same screen.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect,
The predetermined character string includes a character string indicating a genre of the program.

An eighth invention is a broadcasting system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one of the plurality of devices is the one according to any one of claims 1 to 7. It has the function of a broadcast receiving device.

A ninth invention is a broadcast receiving method for receiving a broadcast wave of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data. Outputting an image of the selected program and outputting the character string data to a display screen of the video when the selected program data includes character string data; A character string extracting step of extracting a predetermined character string from data; and searching for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from a program currently being broadcast based on program guide data relating to the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio waves. A program search step; and a switching step of switching the video of the selected program output in the output step to the video of the search program. .

[0015] A tenth invention includes a processing step for receiving a broadcast wave of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data. In the broadcast receiving method, the processing step includes displaying a character string data included in the selected program data on a screen together with a video of the selected program, and a character string serving as an arbitrary key from the character string data. A character string extracting step of extracting the current time, a time obtaining step of obtaining the current time, and using the program guide data on the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio waves, broadcasting at the current time obtained in the time obtaining step. A program search step of searching for a program corresponding to the character string extracted in the character string extraction step from among the programs in the program; A storage step of storing information on the searched program; and, based on an instruction from the user, a video of the program displayed on the screen in the display step, the video of the program indicated by the information on the program stored in the storage step. And a program switching step of switching to

In an eleventh aspect based on the tenth aspect, the storing step sequentially accumulates information on the programs searched in the program searching step, and the program switching step is based on an instruction from the user. A step of sequentially switching the video of the program displayed on the screen in the display step to the video of the program indicated by the information on the plurality of programs accumulated and stored in the storage step.

In a twelfth aspect based on the tenth aspect, in the program search step, if a corresponding program cannot be searched from the programs broadcast at the current time, the program is broadcasted after the current time. Searching for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from among the programs to be extracted, and storing information on the searched program, wherein the program switching step includes the broadcast time of the program indicated by the stored information. Switching the video of the program displayed on the screen in the display step to the video of the program indicated by the stored information.

In a thirteenth aspect based on the tenth aspect, in the program search step, if a corresponding program cannot be searched from among the programs broadcast at the current time, the program is broadcasted after the current time. Searching for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from the programs to be recorded, and storing information on the searched program as information on a program to be recorded. When the broadcast time of the indicated program comes, a recording step of recording video and / or audio of the program is included.

In a fourteenth aspect based on the tenth aspect, the processing step includes a step of receiving broadcast radio waves of a plurality of channels in which a plurality of pieces of program data are multiplexed, and the displaying step includes: Displaying a plurality of video images of a plurality of programs selected from the plurality of program data multiplexed on the broadcast waves of the plurality of channels on the same screen.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, a program for causing a computer to realize the function of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the function of the broadcast system according to claim 8 is computer-readable storage. It is characterized by being recorded on a medium.

A sixteenth invention is characterized in that a program for causing a computer to execute the processing steps of the broadcast receiving method according to any one of claims 9 to 14 is recorded on a computer-readable storage medium.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The present invention provides, for example,
It is applied to a digital broadcast receiver 100 as shown in FIG. The digital broadcast receiver 100 according to the present embodiment
In particular, the information transmitted in character string data (text data) is analyzed according to the genre of the program, and the program of the target genre is searched from the EPG at the current time based on the analysis result. It is a program that can be changed.

Prior to a specific description of the present embodiment, multi-channel broadcasting of 100 channels or more is realized in current digital broadcasting by utilizing a data compression technique and a multiplexing technique called MPEG2. Have been. However, conventionally, when a user selects a program, the user has to refer to a program table of a newspaper or a magazine and find a desired program from the program table, that is, from a table of 100 or more programs. Was. Therefore, in today's digital broadcasting, a plurality of program data to be multiplexed into a transport stream conforming to the MPEG2 (into an MPEG2 transport stream) so that a program can be selected on a television screen. In addition, data (program guide data: EPG) necessary for creating the program guide is also multiplexed and transmitted. That is, program guide data for a plurality of programs multiplexed on the transport stream is also multiplexed on the MPEG2 transport stream in the received radio wave of a certain channel.

<Overall Configuration of Digital Broadcast Receiver 100> In the present embodiment, as an example, it is assumed that a digital broadcast company transmits digital broadcasts via satellite or cable media.

The digital broadcast receiver 100 is the same as that shown in FIG.
, The antenna 101 and the tuner module 1
02, a digital data demodulation circuit 103, a transport descrambler 104, a RAM 105, an MPEG2-compliant transport demultiplexer 106, RA
Decoder / OSD10 based on M107, MPEG2
8, video encoder 109, DAC (digital / analog converter) 110, ROM / RAM 111, CPU
112, a user interface 113, an IC card interface 114, and a modem 115. The tuner module 102, the digital data demodulation circuit 103, and the
4. Transport demultiplexer 106, decoder 108, CPU 112, user interface 11
3, IC card interface 114, and modem 1
15 are connected so that they can communicate with each other via a CPU bus 120.

The antenna 101 includes a parabolic antenna or the like, but is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a cable as long as it can receive digital broadcast. The tuner module 102 selects a frequency of a broadcast wave received by the antenna 101. As a result, the antenna 101 receives the broadcast radio wave (the radio wave of the selected channel) of the frequency selected by the tuner module 102 and outputs it to the digital data demodulation circuit 103.

The digital data demodulation circuit (channel receiver) 103 includes a QPSK demodulator, an analog / digital converter (ADC), and an FEC (Former Error).
r Correction: error correction), etc., the descrambling of the radio wave of the reception channel by the antenna 101 for conditional access by the transport descrambler 104, and data in a format called a transport stream according to MPEG2. Generate a column.

A transport demultiplexer (MPEG2 transport demultiplexer) 106 conforming to MPEG2 uses a RAM 105 as a working memory and a transport stream (transport stream of a receiving channel) generated by a digital data demodulation circuit 103. To a Video data stream (MPEG2 video data stream), an Audio data stream (MPEG2 audio data stream), and a PSI (Program) according to MPEG2.
(Specific Information) and reconstructs the data stream.

Here, a plurality of program data such as 4 to 8 programs are multiplexed in one transport stream, and the transport stream is transmitted from a digital broadcaster for a plurality of channels. Come. This realizes multi-channel broadcasting. When a program of a certain channel is selected, the PSI indicates which transport stream the target channel is transmitted on, and the target program is multiplexed with which packet ID in the transport stream. Information such as whether the program has been selected is obtained, and a program is selected based on this information.

A decoder compliant with MPEG2 (MPEG
2 decoder) / OSD 108 has a decoding function
The MPEG2 video stream and the MPEG2 audio stream obtained by the MPEG2 transport demultiplexer 106 are respectively decoded to obtain a video signal and an audio signal, and these signals are output to the corresponding video encoder 109 or DAC 110. In addition, the MPEG2 decoder / OSD 108 uses the OSD (O
n Screen Display)
EPG (Electr) included in the G2 video stream
Sonic Program Guide (program guide data) is converted into character data and the like into a video signal, and this video signal is output to the video encoder 109.

The video encoder 109 generates a video signal according to the NTSC system from the video signal from the MPEG2 decoder / OSD 108 and outputs it. The output of the video encoder 109 is supplied to a display unit 116 (television device or the like), and the display unit 116 reproduces an image.

The DAC 110 has an MPEG2 decoder / O
The audio signal from the SD 108 is converted into an analog signal and the speaker 1
17 is output. Therefore, sound corresponding to the video reproduced on the display unit 116 is output from the speaker 117.

The CPU 112 is, for example, a ROM / RAM
By reading and executing a processing program stored in advance in 111, the operation control of the entire digital broadcast receiver 100 is controlled.

A user interface 113 is a screen according to the EPG reproduced on the display unit 116 (EPG screen).
For selecting or operating a desired channel or program from a remote controller, for example, a remote controller (remote controller), a keyboard, or the like is connected.

The IC card interface 114 is for inputting and outputting information for enabling reproduction of a digital broadcast program from a digital broadcaster who has made a contract. For example, a program in digital broadcasting can be reproduced (that is, output of video and / or audio) by a contract with a digital broadcasting company.
For this reason, the CPU 112 transmits data (such as EMM (scramble information for customers) and ECM (scramble data accompanying a program)) included in the transport stream obtained from the received radio wave, Are matched (the input data matches the condition of the transport descrambler 104), it can be reproduced.

The modem 115 is for transferring history data of the use of pay programs to a digital broadcaster.

<Operation of Digital Broadcast Receiver 100> FIG. 2 shows an example of the operation of the digital broadcast receiver 100. The operation described below is performed, for example, by the CPU
Step 112 is executed by reading and executing a processing program according to the flowchart of FIG. 2 previously stored in the ROM / RAM 111.

Step S201: The digital broadcast receiver 100 receives the channel of the program specified by the user, and displays the video of the specified program obtained from the transport stream of the channel as described above on the display unit 116.
To play (display). Step S202: The digital broadcast receiver 100 determines whether or not the data of the designated program includes text data such as breaking news (whether or not text data has been received). If the result of this determination is that text data is not included, the process proceeds directly to step S205 described below.

Step S203: If the result of determination in step S202 is that text data is included, the digital broadcast receiver 100 displays characters according to the text data on the display unit 116. FIG. 3 shows a display screen of the display unit 116 at this time. As shown in FIG. 3, the character information 116a according to the text data is displayed on the current display screen 116a in a superimposed manner.

Step S204: The digital broadcast receiver 100 stores the text data in the ROM / RAM 111.

Step S205: The digital broadcast receiver 100 determines whether or not a predetermined operation has been performed by the user with a remote controller or the like connected to the user interface 113. For example, user interface 1
Reference numeral 13 enables wireless communication with the remote controller 300 as shown in FIG. The remote controller 300 is provided with a channel jump button 301. Therefore, the digital broadcast receiver 100 has the user interface 1
It is determined whether or not the user has pressed the channel jump button 301 on the remote controller 300 via the button 13. As a result of this determination, the channel jump button 301
If has not been pressed, the process returns to step S201 and the subsequent processing steps are repeatedly executed.

Step S206: If the result of determination in step S205 is that the channel jump button 301 has been pressed, the digital broadcast receiver 100 sets the ROM / RA
By determining whether or not text data is stored in M111, it is determined whether or not the display screen of the display unit 116 is currently displaying character information according to the text data.

Step S207: If the result of determination in step S206 is that character information is being displayed, the digital broadcast receiver 100 uses a ROM / RAM, which will be described in detail later.
It is determined whether or not the text data of the character information stored in 111 includes a character string related to the genre of the program. A program corresponding to the genre of the program being broadcast is transmitted to the EP obtained from the received radio wave.
G, and search results (information indicating the corresponding program,
The program information will be referred to as “program information” hereinafter.
To the top of the channel table.

Step S208: The digital broadcast receiver 100 deletes the text data stored in the ROM / RAM 111.

Step S209: The digital broadcast receiver 100 receives the channel of the program set at the head of the channel table in the ROM / RAM 111, and displays the video of the program on the display unit in the same manner as the processing in step S201. Reproduce at 116. Thereby, the display unit 116
Then, the display state is switched from the display state as shown in FIG. 3 to the display state of the video of the program of the genre related to the character information 116b. In the above FIG.
Since 16b is the “news flash report”, the program is switched to a news program. Then, step S2 described later.
Proceed to 12.

Step S210: If the result of determination in step S206 is that character information is not displayed on the display unit 116, the digital broadcast receiver 100 sets the ROM / RAM
It is determined whether or not the program information is set in the channel table 111. If the result of this determination is that program information has not been set, step S
Proceed to 212.

Step S211: If the program information is set as a result of the determination in step S210, the digital broadcast receiver 100 sets the channel of the corresponding program (next program) set in the channel table of the ROM / RAM 111. Is received, and the video of the program is reproduced on the display unit 116 in the same manner as the processing in step S201. Thus, for example, although the character information is not currently displayed on the display unit 116, by pressing the channel jump button 301 of the remote controller 300, it is possible to switch to a program corresponding to the previously displayed character information, When the channel jump button 301 is further pressed, the program can be switched to a program corresponding to the character information displayed before the program. The display unit 1
At 16, character information is displayed, and after switching to the program of the character information, if the channel jump button 301 is pressed, the program of the character information displayed previously can be switched. Thereafter, the process proceeds to the next step S212.

Step S212: The digital broadcast receiver 100 determines whether or not an instruction to turn off the power has been given by the user. If the instruction is to turn off the power, the digital broadcast receiver 100 ends this process.
Return to and repeat the subsequent processing steps.

FIG. 5 shows the "text data check process" in step S207 in FIG.

Step S401: The digital broadcast receiver 100 checks whether or not the target text data contains a character string relating to the genre of the program. Specifically, for example, the digital broadcast receiver 100
The M / RAM 111 has genre information 501 as shown in FIG. The genre information 501 is table data in which genre names such as “news” and “weather forecast” are associated with genre IDs indicating the genre names. Therefore, the digital broadcast receiver 100 checks whether a character string that matches a genre name such as “news” or “weather forecast” exists in the target text data. Accordingly, when the display unit 116 is in the display state as shown in FIG. 3, the character information (target text data) is “<News bulletin> today at 14:00 an earthquake occurred in the Kanto region. The seismic intensity is as follows. ", So the text string" news "exists in the target text data, the genre is" news ",
It is recognized that the genre ID is “1”.

Step S402: The digital broadcast receiver 100 determines, based on the result of the check in step S401,
It is determined whether or not the target text data includes a character string related to the genre of the program. If the result of this determination is that a character string relating to the genre of the program is not included, this processing ends immediately.

Step S403: If the result of the determination in step S402 indicates that a character string relating to the genre of the program is included, the digital broadcast receiver 100 stores the corresponding genre ID from the genre information 501 shown in FIG. In advance, it is checked from the EPG obtained from the received radio wave that a program indicated by the genre ID exists among the programs currently being broadcast. More specifically, for example, FIG. 7 shows an example of the EPG 502. This E
PG 502 is sent as digitized data. Therefore, the digital broadcasting receiver 100
In G502, it is checked whether or not there is a program corresponding to the program indicated by the genre ID among the programs being broadcast at the current time. Thus, for example, the display unit 116 is in the display state as shown in FIG. 3, and the genre of the program is “news” and the genre ID is “1” from the character information (target text data).
When the current time is “7:00”, it is recognized that “Morning News” corresponding to the genre ID = “1” exists.

Step S404: The digital broadcast receiver 100 determines, based on the result of the check in step S403,
It is determined whether or not the corresponding program exists. If the result of this determination is that there is no corresponding program, this processing ends as it is.

Step S405: As a result of the discrimination in step S404, if there is a corresponding program, the digital broadcast receiver 100 transmits the information of the program (program information) to R
Set to the top of the channel table of the OM / RAM 111. FIG. 8 shows an example of the channel table 503. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, in step S404, when it is recognized that “Morning News” exists as the corresponding program, the program information (channel number etc.) indicating this is set at the beginning. Is done. After that, the process ends.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when a user enters topical information such as a breaking news (<news breaking> in FIG. 3) while watching a certain program and wants to know the details of this information. Unlike the related art, there is no need to search a program magazine or the like to find out which program broadcasts the topic information in detail on which channel and which program, and to perform the program switching operation. Can be viewed in detail.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment,
In the digital broadcast receiver 100 shown in FIG.
As a result of checking whether the corresponding program exists from G (see step S403 in FIG. 5), if the corresponding program does not exist, it is checked whether the corresponding program exists after the current time. As a result, when a corresponding program exists after the current time, information indicating the program and information such as a broadcast time are temporarily stored in the ROM / RAM 111,
When the broadcast time of the program comes, receive the program,
Change channels automatically.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when a user enters topical information such as breaking news (<news breaking> in FIG. 3) while watching a certain program, and wants to know the details of this information. In, even if the corresponding program is not broadcast at the current time, it is possible to check the broadcast time of the program without forgetting the details of the topical information.

(Third Embodiment) In the present embodiment,
When the digital broadcast receiver 100 shown in FIG. 1 has, for example, a configuration including a W tuner for receiving a plurality of channels, the W tuner receives a plurality of channels as the process of step S209 shown in FIG. do it,
Each video of a plurality of programs obtained from those channels is displayed on the display unit 116.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, for example, not only programs set in the channel table but also conventional programs can be viewed simultaneously, and even if these programs are programs having different channels. (In other words, even if the program is on a channel with a different frequency of the received radio wave), it can be viewed simultaneously.

In this embodiment, a plurality of channels are received by a W tuner having a plurality of tuners.
Although a plurality of programs are displayed at the same time, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one channel is received by one tuner, and a plurality of programs among the plurality of programs multiplexed in the transport stream are received. Arbitrary multiple programs may be displayed simultaneously.

(Fourth Embodiment) In this embodiment,
When the digital broadcast receiver 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration having a large-capacity storage medium, the configuration of the second embodiment allows information indicating a corresponding program after the current time and information such as a broadcast time. Once stored in the ROM / RAM 111 (after reservation), when the broadcast time of the program (reservation time) comes, regardless of whether or not another program is currently displayed on the display unit 116, the channel of the program is And receive
The program is automatically recorded on a storage medium.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when a user receives topical information such as a breaking news (<breaking news> in FIG. 3) while watching a certain program and wants to know the details of this information. In this case, even if the corresponding program is not broadcast at the current time, the details of the topical information can be checked by playing back the recording later.

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the host and the terminal according to the first to fourth embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide the system or the apparatus. It is needless to say that the present invention is also achieved when the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the first to fourth embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As storage media for supplying the program code, ROM, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-RO
M, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, and the like can be used. By executing the program code read by the computer, the first to fourth programs are executed.
Not only the functions of the embodiment are realized, but also the OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the processing performs the first to the first processing. It goes without saying that a case where the functions of the fourth embodiment are realized is also included. Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in an extension function board inserted into the computer or a function extension unit connected to the computer, the function extension is performed based on the instruction of the program code. The CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing causes
It goes without saying that a case where the function of the fourth embodiment is realized is also included.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the character string data (text data such as breaking news) is included in the program data selected from the reception channel, the character data is displayed together with the video of the selected program. The column data is displayed on the screen, a predetermined character string (a character string representing a genre of a program such as "news") is extracted from the character string data, and the program guide data (multiplexed) obtained from the receiving channel is extracted. EP which is data on a plurality of programs scheduled to be broadcast
G: Electronic Program Guide
Using e), a program (news program, etc.) corresponding to the extracted character string is searched from the programs currently being broadcast, and the program is switched to the searched program. This switching operation may be performed in accordance with an instruction from the user (eg, an instruction by operating a remote controller). With such a configuration, for example, when a user receives topical information such as breaking news while watching a certain program and wants to know the details of this information, the user broadcasts the topical information in detail as in the related art. There is no need to find out which program is on which channel and which program is in a program magazine or the like and perform a program switching operation, and it is possible to easily watch a program that broadcasts the topical information in detail.

When a plurality of channels are received by a W tuner or the like having a plurality of tuners and videos of a plurality of programs on the channels are displayed on the same screen, for example, the user may have been watching. Along with the program, a program corresponding to topical information that is being viewed or entered before can be viewed at the same time.

If the corresponding program does not exist in the program currently being broadcast, the corresponding program is searched from the programs scheduled to be broadcast from now onward and automatically displayed at the broadcast time of the program. In such a case, the user can check the details of the topical information without forgetting.

Also, by using a large-capacity recording storage medium, etc.
When the system is configured to automatically record at the broadcast time of the program, the user can check the details of the topical information at a later date even when the program is not viewed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a useful program can be provided to the user, and the program desired by the user can be easily viewed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiver to which the present invention is applied in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the overall operation of the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display screen of a display unit of the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a remote controller operated by a user of the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a text data check process in the overall operation of the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining genre information in the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining program guide data (EPG) included in a radio wave received by the digital broadcast receiver.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining channel table data in the digital broadcast receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Digital broadcast receiver 101 Antenna 102 Tuner module 103 Digital data demodulation circuit 104 Transport descrambler 105 RAM 106 Transport demultiplexer 107 RAM 108 Decoder / OSD 109 Video encoder 110 DAC 111 ROM / RAM 112 CPU 113 User interface 114 IC Card interface 115 Modem 116 Display section 117 Speaker 120 CPU bus

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/03 H04N 7/08 A 7/035 7/173 640

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A broadcast receiving apparatus for receiving a broadcast wave of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data, Display means for displaying the video of the selected program data and, when the selected program data includes character string data, displaying the character string data on a display screen of the video, a predetermined character string from the character string data Character string extracting means for extracting a character string, and searching for a program corresponding to the character string extracted by the character string extracting means from the program currently being broadcast based on the program guide data on the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio waves. A broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: a program search unit; and a program switching control unit that switches the selected program to a program searched by the program search unit. 2. An instruction means for externally instructing execution of switching operation control by said program switching control means, wherein said program switching control means executes said switching operation based on an instruction from said instruction means. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A storage device for storing information of a program retrieved by the program retrieval device, wherein the program switching control device executes the switching operation based on information stored in the storage device. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 4. The program search means searches for a program corresponding to the extracted character string from programs broadcast after the current time, when a corresponding program cannot be searched among programs currently being broadcasted. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the program switching control means switches the selected program to a program searched by the program searching means at a broadcast time of the program searched by the program searching means. 5. The program search means searches a program broadcast after the current time for a program corresponding to the extracted character string, if the program being broadcast cannot be searched for. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recording control unit that executes a recording operation of the program searched by the program search unit at a broadcast time of the program. 6. A receiving means for receiving broadcast waves of a plurality of channels each having a plurality of program data multiplexed thereon, wherein the display means comprises a plurality of broadcast signals respectively multiplexed on the plurality of broadcast waves of the channels. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each video of a plurality of programs selected from the program data is displayed on the same screen. 7. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined character string includes a character string indicating a program genre. 8. A broadcast system in which a plurality of devices are communicably connected to each other, wherein at least one device among the plurality of devices is the broadcast receiving device according to any one of claims 1 to 7. A broadcast system having a function. 9. A broadcast receiving method for receiving broadcast waves of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data, Outputting an image of the selected program and, when the selected program data includes character string data, outputting the character string data to a display screen of the video; A character string extracting step of extracting a character string; and a program searching step of searching a program currently being broadcast for a program corresponding to the extracted character string based on program guide data on the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio waves. Switching the video of the selected program output in the output step to the video of the search program. Law. 10. A broadcast receiving method including a processing step of receiving a broadcast wave of an arbitrary channel in which a plurality of program data are multiplexed, and selecting and reproducing any program data from the plurality of program data. A processing step of: displaying a character string data included in the selected program data on a screen together with a video of the selected program; and a character extracting an arbitrary key character string from the character string data. A column extracting step; a time obtaining step for obtaining the current time; and a program broadcast at the current time obtained in the time obtaining step, using program guide data for the plurality of programs obtained from the received radio waves. A program search step for searching for a program corresponding to the character string extracted in the character string extraction step; A storage step of storing information relating to the set; and, based on an instruction from the user, switching a video of the program displayed on the screen in the display step to a video of the program indicated by the information relating to the program stored in the storage step. A broadcast receiving method, comprising: a program switching step. 11. The storage step sequentially accumulates information on programs searched in the program search step, and the program switching step includes displaying a program displayed on the screen in the display step based on an instruction from the user. 11. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of sequentially switching the video to the video of the program indicated by the information on the plurality of programs stored and stored in the storage step. 12. The program search step, if a corresponding program cannot be searched from programs broadcast at the current time, the program search step corresponds to the extracted character string from programs broadcast after the current time. Searching for a program to be executed, and storing information on the searched program. The program switching step includes: when the broadcast time of the program indicated by the stored information has come, the display step Switching the video of the displayed program to the video of the program indicated by the stored information. 13. The program search step, when a corresponding program cannot be searched from among the programs broadcast at the current time, a program corresponding to the extracted character string from programs broadcast after the current time. Searching for a program to be recorded, and storing the information on the searched program as information of a program to be recorded. The processing step includes: when a broadcast time of the program indicated by the stored information is reached. 11. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 10, further comprising a recording step of recording video and / or audio of the program. 14. The processing step includes a step of receiving broadcast waves of a plurality of channels, each of which is multiplexed with a plurality of program data, and the displaying step includes multiplexing the broadcast waves of the plurality of channels, respectively. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of displaying, on the same screen, respective videos of a plurality of programs selected from the plurality of pieces of program data thus selected. 15. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to realize the function of the broadcast receiving device according to claim 1 or the function of the broadcast system according to claim 8. 16. A computer-readable storage medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the processing steps of the broadcast receiving method according to claim 9 is recorded.