JP2002290864A - Digital broadcast reception device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable even a child who cannot understand characters such as Kanji (Chinese character) to easily select a program, video-tape the selected program, and further easily retrieve the video-tapered program. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with an icon generation part 2 which converts a figure based upon multiplex-transmitted EPG(Electronic Program Guide) data into a program icon, an EPG generation part 1 which generates the EPG of a program according to the multiplex-transmitted EPG data, an icon control part 3 which generates an icon EPG composed of a plurality of program icons by correlating the program icons generated by the icon generation part 2 to the EPG, and a display control part which holds the EPG generated by the EPG generation part 1 as data and, when an icon EPG is displayed on a screen, displays the presence of program icons which are being broadcasted or expected to be broadcasted in several minutes among icon EPGs is discriminatingly and selects a program icon through remote control operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus for creating, reserving, recording, and the like a program table based on digital broadcast program data transmitted via a satellite, a cable, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic program guide creation function with an original icon in the conventional digital broadcast receiving device disclosed in FIG. The image capturing means 80 shown in the figure captures still image data of one screen of a program from a video signal, and the program-corresponding image icon storage means 82 determines from the EIT data what kind of program the still image data relates to. Then, the still image data is detected and stored as an original icon so that the correspondence with the program can be understood. When receiving a display request of the electronic program guide (EPG) from the user, the program guide creating means 84, the program corresponding image icon storing means 8
2 and the original icon is detected, which program is associated with the original icon, and information such as the program name, broadcast channel, and broadcast time of the program being broadcast or scheduled to be broadcast is taken from the EIT data. Based on these, the original icon is pasted at a position corresponding to the program of the EPG to create a final EPG.
The program guide displaying means 86 displays the final EPG created by the program guide creating means 84 on a television monitor (not shown).

[0003]

The conventional electronic program guide (EPG) created in this way has the advantage that each program can be easily and immediately understood by anyone. However, the following problems have occurred. In other words, even if anyone can understand the program currently being broadcast using the above-mentioned original icons, the original icons cannot be created for the programs to be broadcast from now on.

[0004] In addition, even if the above-mentioned original icons are displayed, each program can be immediately understood, selected and viewed, but the operation such as recording cannot be understood.

[0005] Further, once recorded on a VTR or the like, the original icon is used for guiding a program, so that the icon cannot be used when searching for recorded contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and enables a viewer who cannot understand characters such as kanji to easily select a program, and further, can record the selected program on a VTR or the like. Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of creating an electronic program guide capable of easily searching for a program recorded on a VTR or the like.

[0007]

(1) A digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention has a diagram formed in advance in association with electronic program guide data as data, and multiplexed electronic program guide data (EPG). An icon generating unit that extracts the data according to the data, and converts a diagram based on the data into an icon, and uses the icon as a program icon;
EP of broadcast program based on multiplexed EPG data
An EPG generation unit for generating G; an icon control unit for generating an icon EPG including a plurality of program icons by associating the program icons generated by the icon generation unit with the EPG; and an EPG generated by the EPG generation unit. Is stored as data, and when displaying the icon EPG on the screen, it is determined from the data of the EPG whether or not there is a program icon that is being broadcast and is broadcast several minutes later in the icon EPG. And a display control unit for displaying the information so that it can be identified when it exists, and selecting a program icon based on a remote control operation.

(2) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, in (1), when a program icon displayed on the screen is selected by a remote control operation, display control of a broadcast program related to the program icon is performed. E held in the part
A search unit for searching from the PG data is provided, and the display control unit displays the same broadcast program on the screen based on the data searched by the search unit.

(3) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, in the above (1), a sound collector and a program icon on a screen when sound is input through the sound collector are recognized from the sound. The icon control unit, when detecting the program icon recognized by the voice recognition unit, determines whether the program icon exists in the EPG data held in the display control unit. When the program icon exists, the display control unit selects the program icon on the screen based on the notification, and displays the selected program icon so that it can be identified.

(4) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, in (3), when the display control unit detects a program icon selected by voice through the icon control unit, the display control unit issues a recording instruction to the icon. When received from the control unit,
The program icon on the corresponding screen is displayed so that it can be identified that it has been selected for recording.

(5) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, in any one of (3) and (4), when the display control unit detects a program icon selected by voice through the icon control unit. When a search instruction is received from the icon control unit, the program icon on the corresponding screen is displayed so that it can be identified that the program icon has been selected for the search.

(6) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), when recording the video and audio data of the selected program icon in any one of the above (1) to (5), The EPG data is converted into a format suitable for recording / playback of the recording / playback apparatus, and a recording data generation unit for causing the recording / playback apparatus to record the program is provided. An icon information extracting unit for extracting the EPG data, wherein the display control unit reads program icons of all programs recorded in the recording / playback apparatus in accordance with the EPG data extracted by the icon information extracting unit, and Display the icon on the screen.

(7) In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, in any one of the above (1) to (6), the display control section has a recording icon and a search icon illustrated in advance, and When a recording is detected, a recording icon is displayed on the screen, and when a search is detected, a search icon is displayed on the screen.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a program search function in a digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an image diagram when a program is recorded, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an image diagram when searching for a program.

Digital broadcasting has the advantage that a program of 100 channels or more can be broadcast over a wide range using the image compression technology of MPEG2. In order to make effective use of this advantage, EPG data necessary for creating an electronic program guide (EPG) is also multiplexed on the transport stream of MEPG2 so that a user can search and select a program on a monitor screen. It is being broadcast.

The EPG generator 1 shown in FIG.
From the transport stream, SDT (Service Description Ta) of EPG data necessary to compose EPG
ble) and EIT (Event Information Table), and extracts additional information about a channel and additional information about a program, and generates the EPG 10 based on the extracted information.

The icon generating section 2 has, as data, a diagram formed in advance in association with the EPG data, extracts the data according to the multiplexed EPG data, and converts the diagram based on the data into an icon. These are referred to as program icons 11a to 11e (see FIG. 3). The data described above is stored in a storage device (not shown) of the present receiving device.

The program icon 11a used here
11e to 11e may be created by extracting a figure which is a feature of the program from the EPG data multiplexed on the transport stream of the MPEG2, or the program icons 11a to 1
The data of 1e may be multiplexed and may be selected from this.

The icon control section 3 converts the program icons 11a to 11e generated by the icon generation section 2 into EPs.
A plurality of program icons 11a are associated with a program based on each information of SDT and EIT, which have been generated data of G10.
An icon EPG12 composed of .about.11e is created. The icon EPG 12 includes, for example, a plurality of program icons 11 a to 1 generated for each broadcast time on the same channel.
1e.

The display control unit 4 stores the EPG 10 generated by the EPG generation unit 1 as data, for example, in the storage device, and stores the icon EPG 12 generated by the icon control unit 3 in the storage device. When either the EPG 10 or the icon EPG 12 is read based on the selection operation of the switch 6 and displayed on the display device 5 which is a TV screen, and when the icon EPG 12 is displayed, when there is a program being broadcast, As shown in FIG. 3, the color of the corresponding program icons 11c and 11e is set to be repeatedly inverted, and when there is a program to be broadcast several minutes later, the corresponding program icon 11a is set to blink repeatedly. I do. Furthermore, the program icon 1
An instruction icon 14 for selecting 1a to 11e is displayed. The selection of the color tone inversion and the blinking is determined from the data of the EPG 10 stored in the storage device, that is, the broadcast time.

The display controller 4 has a recording icon 15 (see FIG. 4) for recording a program and a search icon 16 (see FIG. 5) for searching for a program. When a recording and / or retrieval instruction is received, a display is performed on the display device 5 in accordance with the instruction. The instruction icon 14 is moved based on the operation of the remote controller, and when the movement of the program icons 11 a to 11 e is detected through the instruction icon 14, the instruction icon 14 is moved together with the instruction icon 14.

Although the icons EPG12 and the like are displayed on the display device 5 of the TV, for example, they may be displayed on either the display device of the present receiving device or the display device of the remote controller.

Next, a search for a program will be described with reference to FIG. When any one of a plurality of program icons 11a to 11e displayed on the screen is selected, the search data extraction unit 7 shown in FIG. 9 shows the EPG-related data 13 (EPG10) associated with the selected program icon. Is extracted from the storage device. Search part 8
Retrieves EPG-related data containing the same keyword from the storage device using the data of the EPG 10 as a keyword. The display control unit 4 arranges the same programs based on the EPG-related data retrieved by the retrieval unit 8, for example, in order of broadcast date and time, and displays them on the display device 5.
When the image is switched to the image of the icon EPG12, the broadcast date and time, the number of broadcasts, and the like of the program are displayed below the searched program icon. This is to inform the user which program has been searched.

Next, selection of a program in the present embodiment,
The operation at the time of performing recording and search will be described step by step.
First, an operation for selecting a program will be described with reference to FIG. When the icon EPG12 is selected by the selection switch 6, the display control unit 4 displays the icon EPG12 created by the icon control unit 3 on the display device 5 as shown in the figure. At this time, the program icon 12a immediately before the start of the broadcast is repeatedly blinked, and the color tone of the program icons 11c and 11e being broadcast is repeatedly inverted. The program icons 11b and 11d are programs to be broadcasted.

Here, for example, by operating the remote controller,
When the instruction icon 14 is selected by being superimposed on the blinking program icon 11a, the display control unit 4
Tunes to the broadcast channel of the program. Then, when the broadcast start time comes, the image of the program is displayed on the display device 5. When the instruction icon 14 is selected by being superimposed on the program icon 11c whose color tone is repeatedly inverted, the display control unit 4 tunes to the broadcast channel of the program and changes the image of the icon EPG12 to the image being broadcast. To display on the display device 5.

When the blinking program icon 11a is selected, the time from the current time to the broadcast start time is counted down until the program is broadcast, and displayed so as to notify the user. Alternatively, the remaining time until the start of broadcasting may be displayed as a graph.

Next, the operation of recording a program will be described with reference to FIG. When the display control unit 4 detects the recording of the program from the operation of the remote controller, the display control unit 4 displays the icon EPG12 and the recording icon 15 on the display device 5 as shown in the figure. Here, when the program icon 11a that is blinking repeatedly is specified by the instruction icon 14 and moved to the recording icon 15 to receive a recording instruction, the display control unit 4 switches to the broadcast channel of the program. Tuning is performed and a recording reservation is made to a recording / reproducing apparatus (VTR) (not shown). When the broadcast start time comes, the image of the reserved program is displayed on the display device 5. At this time, V
The recording of the reserved program is performed by the TR. Further, when the program icon 11c whose color tone is repeatedly inverted receives a recording instruction in the same manner as described above, the program is tuned to the broadcast channel of the program, the image of the icon EPG12 is switched to the image being broadcast, and the display device is switched. 5, and the VTR records an image of the selected program.

Next, the operation for searching for a program will be described with reference to FIG. When the display control unit 4 detects a program search from the operation of the remote controller, the display control unit 4 displays an icon EPG12 including a plurality of program icons 11a to 11e as shown in FIG.
And the search icon 16 are displayed on the display device 5. here,
The program icon 12a that repeats blinking as described above
Is designated by the instruction icon 14, and the search icon 1
6, the search data extracting unit 7 extracts the EPG-related data 13 associated with the selected program icon 11a from the storage device, and receives the search instruction.
The search unit 8 uses the EPG-related data 13 as a keyword to retrieve an EP containing the same keyword from the storage device.
The G related data is retrieved from the storage device and notified to the display control unit 4. At this time, the display control unit 4 arranges the same programs in the order of broadcast date and time based on the EPG-related data retrieved by the retrieval unit 8 and displays them on the display device 5. An instruction icon 14 for instructing recording from among the plurality of same programs
When the recording is received through the VTR, a recording reservation is made in the VTR in the same manner as described above.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the program icons 11a to 11a which can be easily understood at a glance are shown.
Since 1e is displayed on the screen, even a viewer who cannot understand characters such as kanji and English can easily select a digital broadcast program. Further, since the recording icon 15 and the search icon 16 are also displayed on the screen at the time of recording or searching, there is an effect that it is easy to recognize that the recording or searching is possible.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The same or corresponding parts as those of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, desired program icons 11a to 11e can be selected by sound (program name) from icons EPG12 displayed on the display device 5.

The sound collecting device 20 in the figure is composed of, for example, a microphone, and the voice recognition unit 21 recognizes a program name from the voice input through the sound collecting device 20 and sends the program name to the icon control unit 3 as program selection data. Notice. Icon control unit 3
Stores the input program selection data in the EPG1 in the storage device.
It is determined whether or not the same data as the program selection data exists in the data of the EPG 10 in association with the data of EPG10.
Notify. The display control unit 4 selects a program icon based on the notification, and instructs the display device 5 to, for example, reversely display the program icon, and notifies the user that the program icon has been selected.

When the user utters a word meaning recording after the program name, the voice recognition unit 21 first recognizes the program name from the voice and notifies the icon control unit 3 of this as program selection data. Then, when the voice that indicates the recording is recognized, the icon control unit 3 is used as the recording request data.
Notify. The icon control unit 3 associates the initially input program selection data with the data of the EPG 10 and determines whether or not the same data as the program selection data exists in the data of the EPG 10. When the same data exists, Then, the display control unit 4 is notified of the instruction to record the selected program. The display control unit 4 selects a program icon based on the notification, instructs the display device 5 to reversely display the program icon in the same manner as described above, and also displays the icon indicating recording, for example, in red around the icon. Give instructions.

Further, when the user utters a word meaning a search following the program name, the speech recognition section 21 first recognizes the program name from the voice as described above, and uses this as icon selection data as program selection data. Then, when the voice which means the search is recognized, it is notified to the icon control unit 3 as search request data. The icon control unit 3 associates the initially input program selection data with the data of the EPG 10 and determines whether or not the same data as the program selection data exists in the data of the EPG 10. When the same data exists, Then, the display control unit 4 is notified of an instruction to search for the selected program. The display control unit 4 selects the program icon based on the notification, instructs the display device 5 to reversely display the program icon in the same manner as described above, and displays the selected program icon on the search icon 16, which means a search, for example. Instruct to repeat.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the digital broadcast program can be selected, recorded, and searched by sound, so that the operation is further facilitated.

The word used to select a program may be the program name or the name of a program that appears in the program, and any data described in the SDT or EIT constituting the EPG can be selected.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. Embodiment 3
A program recorded on the recording / reproducing apparatus can be easily searched. The recording data generation unit 22 shown in FIG.
When recording video data and audio data of a program selected by the means described above, the selected program icon and the data of the EPG 10 associated with the program icon are converted into a format suitable for recording and reproduction by the recording and reproduction device 23. After the conversion, the recording / playback device 23 records the video.

When the icon information extraction unit 24 provided in the reproduction control unit 24 receives an instruction to search for a recorded program,
The display control unit 4 extracts the program icon and the data of the EPG 10 of the program icon from the recording / playback device 23, and
The program icons of all programs recorded on the recording device (not shown) are read out according to the data of the PG 10, and the program icons are displayed on the display device 5.

When the program icon displayed on the display device 5 is selected by the means described above, the reproduction control unit 24
The program corresponding to the selected program icon is searched in the recording / reproducing apparatus 23, the recording / reproducing apparatus 23 is instructed to reproduce the program, and the display apparatus 5 displays the program.

As described above, in the third embodiment, when recording of a program is selected through the program icon, the selected program icon and the EP associated with the program icon are selected.
Since the G10 data is recorded together with the video data and the audio data, and the program icon of the recorded program is displayed on the display device 5, it is easy to know which program was recorded, and the reproduction of the recording can be easily performed. There is an effect that it is easy.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a program icon of a figure generated based on multiplexed EPG data is displayed on a screen, and a broadcast is displayed in the program icon. If there is a program that will be broadcasted in the middle and a few minutes later, it is displayed so that it can be identified, so even viewers who do not understand characters such as kanji and English can easily select digital broadcast programs It is possible to easily identify a program being broadcast or a program to be broadcast soon.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a program icon displayed on the screen is selected by a remote control operation, a broadcast program related to the program icon is displayed in the EPG stored in the display control unit. Searching from the data and displaying the same broadcast program on the screen based on the searched data have the effect of making it easier for the viewer to search for the program.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a program icon selected by voice is present, the program icon is displayed so that it can be identified that the program icon has been selected. There is an effect that it becomes easier.

According to the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, when the program recording of the program icon displayed on the screen is selected by voice, the program icon is displayed so as to be identified to the effect that the program icon was selected. This has the effect of making the recording operation easier for the viewer.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when a program search for a program icon displayed on the screen is selected by voice, the program icon is displayed so as to identify that the program icon has been selected. This has the effect of making the search operation easier for the viewer.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when recording of a program is selected through a program icon, the selected program icon and EPG data of the program icon are recorded together with video and audio data, and Since the program icon of the recorded program can be displayed on the screen, it is possible to easily determine which program has been recorded.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the recording icon and the search icon shown in the figure are displayed on the screen at the time of recording and at the time of retrieval, so that recording and retrieval can be performed. The effect is that it is easy to see that

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram for explaining a program search function in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an image diagram when a program is selected.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram when recording a program.

FIG. 5 is an image diagram when a program is searched.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic program guide creation function with an original icon in a conventional digital broadcast receiving device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 EPG generation unit, 2 icon generation unit, 3 icon control unit, 4 display control unit, 5 display device, 6 selection switch, 7 search data extraction unit, 8 search unit, 10 EP
G, 11a-11e Program icon, 12 Icon E
PG, 13 EPG related data, 14 instruction icon 1
5 recording icon, 16 search icon, 20 sound collector, 21 voice recognition unit, 22 recording data generation unit, 23
Recording / playback device, 24 playback control unit, 25 icon information extraction unit.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/44 H04N 5/76 B 5E501 5/76 G10L 3/00 551G 5K061 7/025 H04N 7/08 A 7/03 7/035 F term (reference) 5C025 BA25 BA27 BA28 BA30 CA09 CB08 CB09 DA01 DA05 5C052 AA01 AB03 AB04 AC08 DD04 EE03 5C056 AA05 BA01 CA06 CA15 DA06 DA11 5C063 AB03 AB07 AC01 AC05 AC10 CA23 EB33 AC37 5E501 KK CA03 CB15 CC02 EA11 FA02 FA04 FA45 5K061 AA09 BB06 BB07 BB19 DD11 FF01 FF11

Claims (7)

[Claims] An electronic program guide includes a diagram formed in advance in association with electronic program guide data, and extracts the data according to multiplexed electronic program guide data (EPG data), and based on the data. An icon generator for converting the figure into an icon and using the icon as a program icon; and an EP for a broadcast program based on the multiplexed EPG data.
An EPG generation unit that generates G; an icon control unit that generates an icon EPG including a plurality of program icons by associating the program icons generated by the icon generation unit with the EPG; When the icon EPG is stored on the screen while the EPG is held as data,
It is determined from the data of the EPG whether or not there is a program icon broadcast during and several minutes later in the icon EPG, and if the program icon exists, it is displayed so as to be able to be identified. And a display control unit for selecting a program icon based on the digital broadcast receiver. A search unit for searching a broadcast program associated with the program icon from EPG data held in the display control unit when a program icon displayed on the screen is selected by remote control operation; The digital broadcast receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the same broadcast program on a screen based on the data searched by the search unit. 3. A sound collecting device, and a sound recognizing unit for recognizing which program icon on the screen from the sound when the sound enters through the sound collecting device, wherein the icon control unit includes When a program icon recognized by the recognition unit is detected, it is determined whether or not the program icon is present in the data of the EPG held in the display control unit. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit selects a program icon on the screen based on the notification, and displays the selected program icon so that the program icon can be identified. 4. When the display control unit receives a recording instruction from the icon control unit when a program icon selected by voice is detected through the icon control unit, the display control unit records the program icon on the corresponding screen. 4. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the digital broadcast receiver is displayed so as to be able to identify that the digital broadcast has been selected. 5. When the display control unit receives a search instruction from the icon control unit when a program icon selected by voice is detected through the icon control unit, the program icon on the corresponding screen is searched. 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the digital broadcast receiver is displayed so as to be able to identify that the digital broadcast is selected. 6. When recording video and audio data of a selected program icon, the E and E of the selected program icon are recorded.
A recording data generation unit for converting the PG data into a format suitable for recording and reproduction by the recording and reproduction device, and for causing the recording and reproduction device to perform recording; An icon information extracting unit for extracting EPG data, wherein the display control unit reads out program icons of all programs recorded in the recording / playback apparatus in accordance with the EPG data extracted by the icon information extracting unit, 6. A program icon is displayed on a screen.
The digital broadcast receiving device according to any one of the above. 7. The display control unit has a recording icon and a search icon illustrated in advance, and displays a recording icon on a screen when recording is detected by a remote control operation;
7. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a search icon is displayed on a screen when a search is detected.