JP2002290847A - Digital television broadcast receiver and updating method for image processing program thereof, information system, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily update a program into the optimum image processing program for a digital television broadcast receiver which can not acquire display characteristics of a connected monitor. SOLUTION: Video images processed by the image processing program that a digital television program receiver previously has and an image processing program newly received with a digital television broadcast signal are displayed on a monitor at the same time. When a user selects one video image, the image processing program corresponding to the selected display video is used as the optimum program for the digital television broadcast receiver.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital television broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a digital television broadcast receiver capable of acquiring various control programs from a received digital television broadcast signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general electronic devices provided to consumers, it is found that various programs executed by an internal microcomputer or the like contain bugs after shipment of the device. Alternatively, when the newly added functions (image processing, image format, and the like) are realized in a shipped device (that is, a device used in a general household or the like), a program stored in the device is used. Must be replaced by some means.

In various conventional electronic devices, a program is generally stored in a program storage ROM in the device. For this reason, when the program is to be exchanged as described above, it is necessary to manually replace the ROM for storing the program in the apparatus with a new version of the ROM. It is a heavy burden in terms of cost and time.

In recent years, with the practical use of digital television broadcasts, receivers for receiving digital television broadcasts have been proposed.

[0005] In digital television broadcasting, since various devices on the broadcasting station side that handle audio and moving images are digitized, transmission of various produced contents is also digitized, and conventional analog television broadcasting is not used. In addition to audio and video broadcasting that has been performed since the times, it is also possible to broadcast code data and the like representing various types of information.

Therefore, in digital television broadcasting,
In order to upgrade the control program of a receiver that has already been shipped, it has been proposed to utilize the advantage of being able to transmit code data and to provide the receiver with a function of automatically exchanging control programs. .

[0007]

However, when receiving a digital television broadcast at the present time, a general consumer needs a digital television broadcast receiver such as a so-called set-top box (hereinafter, STB) and a television monitor (for example, It is often viewed in combination with a conventional analog television receiver. In this case, since the STB and the TV monitor are connected using an analog signal, the STB cannot determine the manufacturer name and model name of the TV monitor to which the STB is connected.

For this reason, the image quality adjustment by the image processing program executed by the control unit (microcomputer) of the digital television broadcast receiver should originally be performed based on the characteristics of the television monitor on which the image is actually displayed. Therefore, in a system in which the STB and the television monitor are connected by analog signals as described above, even if the receiver has a function of automatically exchanging the control program, the receiver should receive or receive the signal. There is a problem that it is not possible to determine whether the new version of the control program is a program suitable for the connected television monitor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to easily update an image processing program to an optimum image processing program in a digital television broadcast receiver which cannot acquire display characteristics of a connected monitor.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a digital television broadcast receiver according to the present invention has the following configuration.

That is, the digital television broadcast receiver cannot acquire the display characteristics of the connected monitor, and when the first image processing program is included in the additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal, the same The first image that has been subjected to image processing based on the first image processing program using the video information of the first image processing program and the second image processing program that has been executed before the reception of the first image processing program Display means for displaying, on the same screen, a second image on which image processing based on the first image has been performed, and the user selects the first image from the first and second images displayed by the display means In this case, an update unit for updating an image processing program from the second image processing program to the first image processing program is provided.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment, when displaying the first and second images on the same screen, the display means includes one frame of a video signal included in a received digital television broadcast signal. Therefore, a video signal corresponding to a partial area in the frame is preferably used as the same video information.

For example, when the display means detects that the first image processing program is included in the additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal, the display means notifies the user of the fact and adds the information of the image processing program. Notifying means for notifying whether or not to perform the update, and when updating is selected in response to the notification by the notifying means, a video signal included in the digital television broadcast signal being received at that time,
It is preferable to include a display control unit that displays the first and second images using the same video information.

Further, for example, the apparatus further comprises a notifying means for notifying an external device of the presence or absence of the update by the updating means, and an obtaining means for obtaining information indicating a result estimated about the model of the monitor from the external device. good.

In the above case, as the external device, a management device that manages an image processing program used in a digital television broadcast receiver acquires the presence or absence of an update from a plurality of digital television broadcast receivers, and And a first database for storing the history of the two types of monitors, and for a plurality of types of monitors, a comparison result of two types of image processing programs regarding suitability of each monitor with display characteristics is stored in a plurality of records for each combination of different image processing programs. 2 and the second database in accordance with the identification information specifying the first and second image processing programs acquired from the digital television broadcast receiver. The model of the monitor connected to the receiver is estimated and the estimation result is stored in the first And estimating means for storing in a database, the estimation result, may comprise a estimation result notifying means for notifying the digital television broadcast receiver.

It is to be noted that an object of the present invention is to provide a method of updating an image processing program corresponding to a digital television broadcast receiver having the above-described configuration, and a program code for performing an operation instruction for implementing the digital television broadcast receiver having the above-described configuration. , And a computer-readable storage medium storing the program code.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a digital television broadcast receiver according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver according to a first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a digital television broadcast signal (hereinafter, a received signal) received by an antenna (not shown) is supplied to a tuner 1. In the tuner 1, a transponder that receives a reception signal is specified, and a predetermined frequency band is selected according to the specified transponder. The received signal selected by the tuner 1 is supplied to the demodulation unit 2.

In the demodulation unit 2, the supplied received signal is QP
An SK demodulation process is performed. The error correction unit 3 corrects the error by decoding the Reed-Solomon code, thereby restoring the digital television broadcast signal into a transport packet. The restored transport packet is supplied to the demultiplexer 6.

In the demultiplexer 6, packets of a desired channel selected by the user are separated from the restored transport packets, and the separated packets are descrambled. Further, the demultiplexer 6 separates the descrambled packet as digital data into additional data including video data, audio data, program information, and the like based on the information in the header portion. Then, the video data is supplied to the video signal unit 7. The audio data is sent to the audio decoding unit 4
Supplied to Then, the additional data is supplied to the device control unit 11.

The video decoding section 7 generates a received video signal by decoding the supplied video data. The decoded video signal is supplied to an adder 9 after a predetermined image quality adjustment process is performed in an image processing unit 8. The adder 9 supplies the monitor 10 with an output video signal obtained by adding the display signal supplied from the screen display generation unit 12 and the video signal after image quality adjustment. The monitor 10 displays an image according to the output image signal.

The audio decoder 4 generates a received audio signal by decoding the supplied audio data. The decoded audio signal is amplified by, for example, an amplifier (not shown) and then output from the speaker 5 as sound.

The device control section 11 includes a microcomputer for controlling the operation of the entire digital television broadcast receiver. The device control unit 11 includes a flash memory 13, an R
The AM 14, the ROM 15, the remote control analyzer 16, and the screen display generator 12 are connected. Remote control analyzer 1
6 determines which button (not shown) of the remote controller 18 the user has pressed based on an infrared signal from a remote control terminal (hereinafter, remote controller) 18 received by the remote controller light receiver 17.

In this embodiment, the ROM 15 stores a download control program for downloading data from an external device in response to a received signal. The download control performed by the device control unit 11 is performed by executing the program stored in the ROM 15 by using the device control unit 11.
It is realized by the execution of a microcomputer inside.

The flash memory 13 stores a control program for general operation as a digital television broadcast receiver. That is, the control of the normal operation other than the download control performed by the device control unit 11 is realized by the microcomputer in the device control unit 11 executing the program stored in the flash memory 13.

The RAM 14 stores the flash memory 1 when the digital television broadcast receiver according to this embodiment is powered on.
3 is used as a program memory when executing the program read from the microcomputer 3 by the microcomputer, and also as a temporary storage unit when storing the downloaded program.

The screen display generator 12 generates various display signals under the control of the device controller 11. This display signal is supplied to the adder 9 and superimposed on the decoded video signal.

Next, the characteristic operation in the present embodiment, which is realized in the above-described apparatus configuration, will be described.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an image processing program switching process of the digital television broadcast receiver according to the first embodiment. The software for the image processing program switching process executed by the microcomputer of the device control section 11 is shown in FIG. Indicates the instruction procedure of the wear program.

Step S1: As described above, the transport stream (video signal, audio signal, and additional data multiplexed) transmitted as a digital television broadcast signal is received by an antenna (not shown). , A tuner 1, a demodulator 2, an error correction section 3, and a video signal, an audio signal, and additional data in a demultiplexer 11. At this time, the additional data is stored in the RAM 1
4 is stored.

The additional data is transmitted by the device control unit 11
It is determined based on the table ID included in the additional data whether the data is a program code (called a load control section). The load control section includes a manufacturer identification number (hereinafter, the identification number is abbreviated as ID), a model ID, a program ID, and a version for identifying the digital television broadcast receiver. Utilizing this, as described below, it is determined whether or not the program code is for the digital television broadcast receiver.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format of the program code in the first embodiment. The program code is formed in a predetermined area of the flash memory 14 in the format shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a manufacturer ID of a digital television broadcast receiver. 102 is the model ID of the digital television broadcast receiver. 103 is
It is an address indicating an area where a program for controlling the basic operation of the digital television broadcast receiver is stored. Reference numerals 104 to 106 denote addresses indicating areas in which optional programs such as an image processing program and an audio program are stored.

Reference numerals 110 to 116 indicate the format of the area where the program is stored. More specifically,
110 is the identification ID of the program, 111 is the version of the program, 112 is the length of the program, 11
3, a load start address, 114, a program execution address, 115, a program code, and 116, a checksum of the program code.

Step S2: Next, the manufacturer ID and model (model) I of the received load control section
D, the program ID is compared with the ID of the data of the same item stored in the flash memory.

As a result of this comparison, the manufacturer ID, model I
If D is equal, it indicates that the received program is valid for the digital television broadcast receiver.

Similarly, by determining the program ID, it is possible to determine what the program is. For example, if 0, a basic program, 100 to 199 are image processing programs, and 200 to 299 are audio programs. A program ID system is determined in advance so that the program type can be determined in advance based on the ID. Good.

Step S3: If the program IDs including the basic program are equal in the judgment in step S2, the version is checked.

Step S4: As a result of the check in step S3, if the version already stored in the digital television broadcast receiver is larger (newer), a new program is stored in the flash memory 14. Replace with Thus, when the power of the digital television broadcast receiver is turned on next time, a new program is executed in the receiver. The details of the processing in step S4 will be described later.

Step S5: On the other hand, when the program ID is 100 to 199 in the judgment of step S2 and is different from the image processing program held by the digital television broadcast receiver (ie, the image processing program of 104) ID 11 of the address pointed to by the area
If it is different from 0), the program is stored in the option program area of the RAM 14.

FIG. 3 shows the RAM 1 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format No. 4 and shows a temporary storage state of various data stored in a RAM 14.

In the figure, reference numeral 200 denotes an area in which a basic program for controlling the overall control of the digital television broadcast receiver is loaded. 201 (# 0), 202 (#
1) is an area in which the option program is loaded, and these two areas (banks)
The data is switched and used based on the data stored in the data 05.

FIG. 4 shows the RAM 1 according to the first embodiment.
4 is a diagram showing a data structure of banks 201 and 202 in the area No. 4, wherein an area of 2011 and 2021 stores an optional program for each function such as image processing and sound processing predetermined at the positions of banks # 0 and # 1. Is loaded. 20
The same usage is performed for each of the regions 12 and 2022 and each of the regions 2013 and 2014.

The reason why the banks (option program memories) 201 and 202 are used while being switched in the present embodiment as described above is that the load address is a predetermined fixed address when the option program is created. By adopting such a configuration,
When replacing a program having the same function, it is possible to avoid relinking and recreating all control programs such as a basic program.

Reference numeral 203 denotes a work area such as a buffer. 204 is a program flag.

FIG. 5 shows the RAM 1 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a program flag 204 in No. 4;
11, 2021 and 2012, 2022 and 2013, 20
23, and indicates the status of the option program temporarily stored in the two banks (option program memories) 201 and 202.

FIG. 6 shows the program flag 20 shown in FIG.
4 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of an area 2041 in the area 4, and the area 2041 indicates whether or not an option program is loaded in the 2011; Area 2041 is set
If (= 1), it indicates that the program is loaded, and if it is not set (= 0), it is not loaded. 20413 indicates an execution address of the option program. 2042, 2
043 also has a similar structure.

In order to call the option program from the basic program, for example, in the case of image processing, it is checked whether 20411 is set, and if it is set, the processing branches to the address indicated by 20413. At this time, parameters and the like use the work area 203. On the other hand, if 20411 is not set, 2
Check 0412 and if set, 204
Same as 11.

When both 20411 and 20412 are not set, it indicates that the digital television broadcast receiver does not need to perform image processing.

When the digital television broadcast receiver newly receives the image processing program,
Checks are performed in the order of 12, and as a result of the check, the received image processing program is stored in the option program memories 2011 and 2041 corresponding to the ones not set, and 20411 or 20412 is set.

Here, in a normal state (a general use state as a receiver), no two optional programs having the same function are loaded in the digital television broadcast receiver. That is, whether the optimal processing program is only loaded or not loaded because processing is not required, and whether only the optimal processing program is loaded in 201 or both 201 and 202 are not loaded Is either.

Here, the details of the processing in step S4 will be described.

Step S4-1: First, the user is notified that a new image processing program has been acquired, and
The screen display generation unit 12 generates predetermined characters and icon backgrounds and displays them on the monitor 10 so that the user can select an image processing program.

FIG. 7 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen for notifying that the image processing program has been downloaded in the first embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 300 denotes a display screen;
Is a digital television broadcast screen, 302 is a background, 303 is a message for the user to select a process, 304
And 305 indicate whether or not to select a process with an icon corresponding to the “red” button and the “blue” button on the remote controller 18. By displaying such a screen, the user is prompted to perform an operation.

When the user operates a button on the remote controller 18 in accordance with the displayed message, a signal light having a wavelength corresponding to the operated button is emitted from an infrared light emitting unit (not shown) of the remote controller 18. The light is received by the remote control light receiver 17. The received signal is analyzed by the remote control analyzing unit 16 so that the button operated by the remote control 18 is detected. As the remote controller 18, for example, a remote controller recommended by ARIB (Association of Radio Industries and Businesses) may be used.

As a result of the analysis by the remote control analyzing unit 16,
If it is detected that the “blue” button has been pressed, the user does not want to replace the image processing program, so that the user deletes it from the received new image processing program option program memory and resets 20411 or 20412 ( = 0).

On the other hand, when it is detected that the "red" button has been pressed, a process for selecting an image processing program is started. Here, for convenience of explanation, the image processing program stored in advance by the digital television broadcast receiver is 201
1, the new image processing program received is stored in 2021.

Step S4-2: Next, the user is allowed to select which of the previously stored image processing program and the newly acquired image processing program is to be used to properly display the video image processed. .

FIG. 8 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen of the monitor in the case where the user desires to replace the image processing program in the first embodiment.

When the user wants to replace the image processing program, the video signal of the digital television broadcast signal is transmitted via the antenna to the tuner 1, the demodulation unit 2, the error correction unit 3, the demultiplexer 6, and the video decoding unit 7. After that, it is converted into video data. This video data is subjected to image processing by an image processing program of 2011 (designating bank 0 in the bank register 205), and is output via the adder 9 into the display area 300 of the monitor 10 as an area 311.

Next, the above-mentioned video data is subjected to image processing by the image processing program 2021 (designating bank 1 in the bank register 205), and is passed through the adder 9 to the area 312 in the display area 300 of the monitor 10. Is output as

Further, in order to allow the user to determine which image is being displayed properly, the screen display generation unit 12
Then, the “red” button icon 31 is displayed on the selection screen 300.
3. A "blue" button icon 314 and a selection message 315 are created and displayed on the monitor 10 in a state where they are combined with the two images subjected to the image processing by the adder 9 as described above.

FIG. 9 illustrates the relationship between a partial image area displayed on the same display screen by two types of image processing programs in the first embodiment and an original whole image represented by a digital television broadcast signal. FIG.

When an image as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, it is necessary to divide the screen for the image to be displayed on the entire screen and display it on two screens. Since the purpose is to determine the superiority of image processing by the processing program, the screen is often reduced and displayed in ordinary digital broadcasting. However, in order to prevent image deterioration due to the reduction, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. To
As shown in FIG. 8 (corresponding to the lower display screen in FIG. 9), video data corresponding to the received signal is displayed for one screen (one frame) so that a plurality of images can be displayed simultaneously. The partial area cut out from the display area (FIG. 9
(Corresponding to the dashed-line frame in the upper display screen).

According to the screen illustrated in FIG. 8, the image processing program corresponding to the button selected by the user in step S4-2 is held as the image processing program of the digital television broadcast receiver as described below. Will do.

Step S4-3: That is, when the image 311 is selected, it means that the image processing program held in advance is selected, and the received new image processing program resets 20412. And discarded.

Step S4-4: On the other hand, if the image of 312 is selected, it indicates that the received new image processing program has been selected, so that 20411 is reset and the image processing program stored in 2021 is reset. Is written into a predetermined area of the flash memory 13 and is discarded from the flash memory 13 in which the image processing program stored in advance is stored.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, image processing is performed by the image processing program provided in the digital television broadcast receiver in advance and the image processing program newly received by the digital television broadcast signal. Since the applied video is displayed simultaneously on the television monitor, even a general user without specialized knowledge, by using the remote control to select a plurality of displayed videos as appropriate, as appropriate, It is possible to easily upgrade the version of the image processing program.

<Modification of First Embodiment> In this modification, the digital television broadcast receiver shown in FIG. 1 receives the above-described image processing program by receiving the audio processing program by the digital television broadcast signal. In the same manner as in the above case, it is configured to be interchangeable according to the user's selection operation.

FIG. 11 is a view exemplifying a display screen for notifying that the voice processing program has been downloaded in the modification of the first embodiment. In this modification, a message on this display screen is displayed to the user. The user is prompted to determine whether to replace the audio processing program.

In the figure, 400 is a display screen, 401
Is a display example of the video selected at that time, 402 is a background,
Reference numeral 403 denotes a “red” button icon, 404 denotes a “blue” button icon, and 405 denotes a message for prompting selection of a replacement process. The video signal for displaying the display screen is transmitted to the screen display generation unit 12 under the control of the device control unit 11.
Icons 403 and 404, message 4 generated in
05, etc., and a decoded video signal (in this case, based on video data included in the received signal currently received from the antenna) is superimposed by the adder 9 can get.

In the present modified example, unlike the case where the user judges the suitability of the video, it is necessary to determine the suitability of the audio processing program for handling the audio. Therefore, as shown in the display example of FIG. Cannot be compared side by side. For this reason, the user sequentially hears the sound as a result of reproducing the same audio data by different types of audio processing programs, and has the user determine which is better.

FIG. 12 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen of the monitor when the user desires to replace the voice processing program in the modification of the first embodiment.

The display example shown in the figure is displayed when the user wants to replace the voice processing program (when the button icon 403 is selected in FIG. 11). When the button icon 411 is selected on this display screen, the sound processing program used at that time is
It is adopted as an audio processing program of the digital television broadcast receiver. On the other hand, when the button icon 412 is selected, the same audio data is used to switch to the other audio processing program to output sound and display again as shown in FIG. In the display example shown in FIG. 12, when the button icon 412 is selected, the user can select better voice processing by repeatedly listening to voices subjected to two types of voice processing. The procedure for storing the voice processing program selected by the user's selection operation in the RAM 14 and the flash memory 13 is the same as the procedure for replacing the image processing program described above.

Further, as another modified example, special audio data (audio data in which a difference in processing is easily discriminated) is received by a digital television broadcast signal and used as audio processing data in accordance with a selection operation by a user. It is also possible. In this case, the audio data is temporarily stored in the work area 203 and then subjected to audio processing. Similarly, it is effective to receive video data for which the determination of image processing is easy to understand and use it for selection.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment based on the digital television broadcast receiver according to the first embodiment will be described. In the following description, the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will not be described repeatedly, and the description will focus on the characteristic portions of the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, a system comprising a plurality of digital television broadcast receivers and a management center for managing the same is configured. Then, the management center analyzes the history of the image processing program selected in the digital television broadcast receiver, estimates the monitor 10 used with the digital television broadcast receiver based on the analysis result, and performs image processing. Narrow down program selection.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver and a configuration of a management center according to the second embodiment.

In the figure, the device configuration of the digital television broadcast receiver is the same as that of the first embodiment,
A modem 19 is further provided for performing data communication with the management center 26 via the public network 20.

In the management center 26, the modem 21
This is an interface for performing data communication with a digital television broadcast receiver via a public network (public telephone network in this embodiment) 20. The device control unit 22 includes a CPU (not shown), and performs management processing of an image processing program described later. The ROM 23 stores a program for performing program management of the management center 26.
The RAM 24 is used as a work area such as a program memory or a buffer. The storage device 25 is, for example, a hard disk, and stores a database for storing a selection history of image processing programs acquired from each digital television broadcast receiver, and a plurality of types of image processing programs.

In the preferred embodiment, a general server computer may be used as each of the device control unit 22, ROM 23, RAM 24, and storage device 25 in the management center 26.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a format of a program code according to the second embodiment.

Also in the present embodiment, the program code (load control section) separated from the transport stream in step S1 of the image processing program switching process executed by the digital television broadcast receiver is the same as in the first embodiment. Similarly, a manufacturer ID, a model ID,
The program ID and version are included. However, in the present embodiment, in addition to the format of FIG. 2 in the first embodiment, a data item described below is further included.

That is, reference numeral 107 denotes a serial number representing the individual digital television broadcast receiver. 108 is
This is a telephone number for performing data communication with the management center 26 via the modem 19. 128 is a telephone number used by the digital television broadcast receiver.

Reference numeral 120 denotes an ID table 1 of a monitor that may be connected to the digital broadcast receiver.
22 and 123. Reference numeral 121 denotes a pointer to the ID tables 124 and 125 of monitors that are not likely to be connected to the digital broadcast receiver.

In these two ID tables, monitor IDs are stored in areas 123 and 125,
Numerals 2 and 124 store the numerical values (number of cases) of the monitor IDs 123 and 125, respectively. The data stored in the two ID tables is received from the management center 26 (details will be described later), and is set to 0 in an initial state (for example, when the digital television broadcast receiver is shipped from a manufacturer). Is stored.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the load control section stored in the flash memory 13 stores a plurality of monitor IDs. , The monitor ID of the incompatible monitor. Therefore, in step S3 of the image processing program switching process by the digital television broadcast receiver (FIG. 13) according to the present embodiment, the manufacturer ID and the model ID
In addition, the monitor ID 123 that may be connected to the digital television broadcast receiver and the monitor ID 125 that may not be connected are compared.

As a result of the above comparison, if the monitor ID that is not connected matches the monitor ID that matches the image processing program included in the load control section, the subsequent processing is stopped.

If the monitor ID that may be connected matches the monitor ID that is not compatible with the image processing program included in the load control section, the subsequent processing is stopped. On the other hand, monitor ID 12
When 3,125 is in the initial state (= 0), the subsequent processing is performed.

Next, the image processing program newly received this time is stored in the option program area of the RAM 14 in order to perform the process of replacing the image processing program. Subsequent replacement processing of the image processing program is the same as in the above-described first embodiment.

In this embodiment, when any one of the image processing programs is selected by the user, the result is
It is transmitted by the modem 19 to the management center 26 via the public line network 20 as "image program selection information". The management center telephone number 108 in the flash memory 13 is referred to as the telephone number used at that time.

The image program selection information transmitted to the management center 26 includes a manufacturer ID 101, a model ID 10
2. Serial number 107, telephone number 128 used by the digital television broadcast receiver, program ID of an image processing program previously held by the digital television broadcast receiver, image newly received by the digital television broadcast receiver It includes a program ID of the processing program and an identification flag (OK = 1 / NG = 0) indicating a comparison result of these two types of programs.

In the management center 26, the image program selection information is received by the modem 21 and stored in the RAM 24.

[0096] The device control unit 22 stores the manufacturer ID, model ID, and the like included in the received image program selection information.
Using the serial number as a search key, a matching data record is called from the database in the storage device 25.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a format of a database referred to by the management center 26 based on the image program selection information in the second embodiment. Is assigned to one digital television broadcast receiver.

In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes a manufacturer ID,
502 is a model ID, 503 is a serial number, and 511 is a telephone number of a digital television broadcast receiver.

Reference numeral 504 is connected to one digital television broadcast receiver specified by each data item of the manufacturer ID 101, model ID 102, and serial number 107 included in the image program selection information. The number of possible monitors. 505 is
This is a monitor ID indicating the type of monitor that may be connected. Reference numerals 512 and 513 denote IDs of monitors that are not likely to be connected and their numbers.

Reference numerals 508, 509, and 510 store an image processing program in the digital television broadcast receiver and store a history of comparison results obtained by a user's selection operation. That is, 508 and 509 are image processing program IDs.
The result of comparing the two types of image processing programs corresponding to the two image processing program IDs is set in the area 510.

In the comparison result stored in area 510, when 1 is set, it indicates that the program represented by image processing program ID 508 is more suitable than the program represented by image processing program ID 509. When 0 is set, it indicates that the program represented by the image processing program ID 508 is more inappropriate than the program represented by the image processing program ID 509. A plurality of data records of such a comparison result are set as histories as indicated by 507. 506 is the number of such histories.

A plurality of databases shown in FIG. 15 are stored in the storage device 25. As a result of searching the plurality of databases, a search key is matched with respect to one digital television broadcasting receiver of interest this time. If there is no database to perform, a new database of the format shown in FIG. 15 is created using the manufacturer ID, model ID, and serial number included in the received image program selection information as a key. Telephone number 511 of the database, monitor ID number 504,5
The initial value 0 is set in 12.

Next, a database for the image processing program corresponding to the monitor is searched.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a comparison database of the image processing program according to the second embodiment.

In the figure, a column 600 indicates a monitor ID, and a range indicated by 604 indicates a monitor ID of 1. Reference numerals 601 and 602 denote image processing program IDs. The column 603 includes an image processing program ID 6
This is a comparison result between the image processing program indicated by 01 and the image processing program indicated by the image processing program ID 602, and is set to 1 (suitable) or 0 (not suitable).

Now, the image processing program IDs 601 and 60
2 are 103 and 104, and if the comparison result is 1, the monitor I that matches the monitor ID 505 shown in FIG.
By referring to the D column 600, a search is made for a match between the image program ID included in the image program selection information and the image processing program IDs 601 and 602 shown in FIG.

In this case, when the comparison result included in the image program selection information is compared with the comparison result stored in the column 603, they match in the record indicated by the number 606 in FIG. As a result, there is a possibility that the monitor 10 connected to the digital television broadcast receiver that has previously sent the image program selection information to the management center 26 may be the monitor with the monitor ID = 1 in the range indicated by 604. Can be estimated.

Furthermore, a plurality of monitor IDs 50 shown in FIG.
5, and the same comparison is performed by focusing on the next data record. As a result, if they do not match, the monitor ID 505 of interest is deleted, and the monitor ID number 504 indicating the number of monitors that may be connected is displayed.
Is reduced by one. Further, it is added as the monitor ID 513 of the monitor which is not likely to be connected, and the monitor ID number 512 indicating the quantity is added by one.

By performing such a comparison process for all monitor IDs of the database shown in FIG. 15, the database is updated. Then, the monitor IDs 505 and 513 in the updated database are stored in the modem 2.
1. Transmission to the digital television broadcast receiver via the public line network 20.

At this time, in the digital television broadcast receiver receiving the data, in the data format shown in FIG. 14, the monitor ID tables 122 and 123 that may be connected and the monitor ID tables 122 and 123 that may not be connected The ID tables 124 and 125 are exchanged according to the monitor ID received from the management center 26.

According to the present embodiment described above, in addition to the same effects as in the first embodiment, the management center 26 can estimate the monitor 10 connected to the digital television broadcast receiver. Further, by using the data representing the estimation result in the digital television broadcast receiver, even a user without specialized knowledge can more easily select an image processing program to be selected.

[0112]

Further, another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to an apparatus operating as the above-described image search apparatus. In addition, the present invention is also achieved when a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or 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 above-described embodiment, and is obtained as a computer program product via a storage medium storing the program code, a telecommunication line, or the like. The program code constitutes the present invention.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. This also includes the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion card or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0115]

According to the present invention described above, it is possible to easily update the digital television broadcast receiver to an optimal image processing program in a digital television broadcast receiver that cannot acquire the display characteristics of the connected monitor.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format of a program code according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a format of a RAM 14 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of banks 201 and 202 in a RAM 14 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a program flag 204 in a RAM 14 according to the first embodiment.

6 is an area 2 in the program flag 204 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of the data No. 041.

FIG. 7 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen for notifying that an image processing program has been downloaded in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen of a monitor in a case where a user wants to replace an image processing program in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a partial image area displayed on the same display screen by two types of image processing programs and an original whole image represented by a digital television broadcast signal in the first embodiment. .

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing program switching process of the digital television broadcast receiver according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen for notifying that a voice processing program has been downloaded in a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram exemplifying a display screen of a monitor when a user desires replacement of a voice processing program in a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital television broadcast receiver and a configuration of a management center according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a format of a program code according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a format of a database referred to by the management center 26 based on image program selection information in the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a comparison database of an image processing program according to the second embodiment.

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A digital television broadcast receiver that cannot acquire display characteristics of a connected monitor, wherein the same information is received when the first image processing program is included in the additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal. The first image that has been subjected to image processing based on the first image processing program using the video information of the first image processing program and the second image processing program that has been executed before the reception of the first image processing program Display means for displaying, on the same screen, a second image which has been subjected to image processing based on the first image, and a first image selected by a user from the first and second images displayed by the display means In this case, the first image processing program sends the first
A digital television broadcast receiver, characterized in that the image processing program further comprises: updating means for updating an image processing program. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is configured to display the first and second images on a same screen, wherein the first and second images are included in a received digital television broadcast signal.
2. The digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein a video signal corresponding to a partial area in the frame is used as the same video information from the video signals for the frame. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the first information is added to additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal.
When detecting that the image processing program is included, a notification unit for notifying the fact and notifying whether or not to update the image processing program, and updating in response to the notification by the notification unit When is selected, the video signal included in the digital television broadcast signal being received at that time, utilizing the same video information, display control means for displaying the first and second images, The digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, comprising: 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a notifying unit that notifies an external device whether or not there is an update by the updating unit; The digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A digital television broadcast receiver that cannot acquire display characteristics of a connected monitor and a management device that manages an image processing program used in the digital television broadcast receiver are communicably connected. The digital television broadcast receiver uses the same video information when the additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal includes the first image processing program. A first image that has been subjected to image processing based on one image processing program, and a second image that has been subjected to image processing based on a second image processing program that has been executed before the reception of the first image processing program And display means for displaying on the same screen, the first image is selected by the user from the first and second images displayed by the display means. The first image processing program from the second image processing program.
Updating means for updating an image processing program in the image processing program, and notifying means for notifying an external device of the presence or absence of update by the updating means together with identification information for specifying the first and second image processing programs. And acquiring means for acquiring information indicating a result estimated about the model of the monitor from the external device, wherein the management device acquires the presence or absence of an update from a plurality of digital television broadcast receivers, and A first database for storing history, and a comparison result of two types of image processing programs regarding suitability of display characteristics of each monitor with respect to a plurality of types of monitors,
A second database for storing a plurality of records for each combination of different image processing programs, and referring to the second database according to identification information identifying the first and second image processing programs acquired from the digital television broadcast receiver And estimating means for estimating the model of the monitor connected to the digital television broadcast receiver based on the referred result, and storing the estimation result in the first database; An information system comprising: a guess result notifying unit for notifying a digital television broadcast receiver. 6. A method of updating an image processing program of a digital television broadcast receiver that cannot acquire display characteristics of a connected monitor, wherein the additional information of the received digital television broadcast signal includes the first image processing program. The first image that has been subjected to the image processing based on the first image processing program using the same video information, and has been executed before the first image processing program was received. A display step of displaying, on the same screen, a second image that has been subjected to image processing based on a second image processing program; and a user among the first and second images displayed in the display step Updating the image processing program from the second image processing program to the first image processing program when the first image is selected by the user. Updating method of an image processing program characterized by. 7. The management of the image processing program used in the digital television broadcast receiver together with the identification information specifying the first and second image processing programs, based on whether or not the update has been performed in the updating step. An update result notifying step of notifying a management apparatus to perform the information, and storing the information notified in the update result notifying step in a first database for storing the presence and absence of updates and a history of a plurality of digital television broadcast receivers. In addition, for the plurality of types of monitors, a second database for storing a plurality of records of comparison results of two types of image processing programs regarding suitability with display characteristics of each monitor for each combination of different image processing programs is provided by the digital television. The reference is made according to the identification information specifying the first and second image processing programs acquired from the broadcast receiver. And estimating the model of the monitor connected to the digital television broadcast receiver based on the result referred to, and storing an estimation result in the first database; and 7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the step of notifying a digital television broadcast receiver of an estimation result. 8. A computer program for instructing the operation of the digital television broadcast receiver according to claim 1. 9. A computer program for issuing an operation instruction for realizing the method of updating the image processing program according to claim 6 in a digital television broadcast receiver.