JP2002344842A - Device and method for displaying broadcast program information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and method for displaying broadcast program information that can automatically display program information without user's operations at every step of the way. SOLUTION: The device and method for displaying broadcast program information includes a step ST 16 of discriminating a time required for a user or a time preset by the user by means of a computer program and a step ST 18 of automatically displaying a 'broadcast program list' or a 'list of programs on other channels' on a screen according to the result of discrimination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an apparatus and method for acquiring and displaying broadcast program information and the like.
In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method capable of automatically displaying program information at a specific time or at a predetermined timing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a television receiver or a television tuner (or a video recorder / HDD recorder with a built-in tuner) has been conventionally designed to display an electronic program guide (Electric Program Guide: EPG) for the convenience of the user. Exists.

The electronic program guide is composed of a broadcast program list and a counter program list. The broadcast program list displays a list of broadcast program contents of each channel currently being broadcasted and program contents of each channel scheduled to be broadcasted in the future (about one week). Programs to be reserved and programs to be reserved for viewing can be selected. on the other hand,
The back program list is a list of program contents broadcast on other channels at the same time (or at a time when the broadcasting time zone overlaps) separately from the currently viewed broadcast program. It is possible to select a channel program or make a recording reservation or a viewing reservation of a program of another channel.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-266408 and 2000-138879 disclose known examples of devices having a function of displaying an electronic program guide. JP-A-11-
In the “program content display device, program content display method, and content display device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 266408, a simple operation is performed on a program currently being broadcast and a program scheduled to be broadcast next, especially at a time change or the like. The contents of the program can be confirmed. However, in this known example, the displayed program content does not follow what is currently being viewed. "TV program selection device and TV program selection method" disclosed in JP-A-2000-138879
Thus, every time a program is switched, a program selection display for enabling a broadcast program to be grasped is performed. However, in this known example, the next operation is not performed until the program ends.

[0005]

In a conventional apparatus having a function of displaying an electronic program guide, for example, a user operates a remote controller for displaying a "broadcast program list" or a "counter program table", and a user operates program information. This must be performed every time the user wishes to acquire the information, and the operability is not good for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast program information display device capable of automatically displaying program information.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast program information display method capable of automatically displaying program information.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in the broadcast program information display apparatus and the broadcast program information display method according to the present invention, a time deemed necessary by the user or a time preset by the user is set to ( A determination is made (by a computer program), and based on the determination result, a “broadcast program list” or a “back program list” is automatically displayed on the screen.

More specifically, a broadcast program information display device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a time acquisition means (22) for acquiring a current time; various kinds of information on a broadcast program (channel number, program name, Information acquisition means (22) for acquiring program start time, program end time, etc.); and display means (20) for judging various information of the acquired broadcast program and displaying a broadcast program list or a counter program list on a screen. A timing judging means (24) for judging timing for automatically displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list.

[0010] By using the apparatus having such a configuration, the user of the apparatus can automatically view the program guide at a specific time (or at a specific timing) without performing a troublesome operation. It becomes easy to view the program that the user likes from the program contents.

Further, the broadcast program information display device sets a function use setting means (24; step ST10) for setting whether or not to use a function of automatically displaying a broadcast program list or a counter program list (FIG. 2). ) Can be further provided. In this case, the display means (20) can be configured to automatically display the broadcast program list or the counterprogram list on the screen in accordance with the setting contents of the function use setting means (step ST18).

By using the apparatus having such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the apparatus user from functioning "automatically display a program guide" when it is not desired.

The broadcast program information display apparatus has a timing setting means (24; steps ST12, ST14) for automatically setting the timing for automatically displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list (FIGS. 3 and 4). ) Can be further provided. In this case, the timing determination means can be configured to determine the timing for automatically displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list according to the timing preset by the timing setting means (step ST16).

By using the apparatus having such a configuration, the apparatus user can automatically view the program guide at a preset time or timing without performing a troublesome operation. It is easy to watch the program that the user prefers.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A broadcast program information display apparatus and a broadcast program information display method according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a broadcast program information display device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

A broadcast wave signal received by an antenna (a BS antenna for receiving a satellite broadcast and a VHF / UHF antenna for receiving a terrestrial broadcast) is transmitted to a TV tuner 12.
Is supplied to the antenna input terminal. The tuner 12 receives a BS digital broadcast including a plurality of broadcast channels and a terrestrial analog broadcast (terrestrial digital broadcast in the near future), and receives a signal of the received broadcast channel (for digital broadcast, M
PEG transport stream)
Send to

The decoding device 14 is composed of an MPEG decoder or the like, and receives a signal of a reception broadcast channel (for example, MP
480i or 480p encoded in EG2
BS digital SD broadcast signal, 1080i or 7
20p BS digital HD broadcast signal)
The video information portion is sent to the video format converter 16. The video format converter 16 transmits the video information (480i,
480p, 1080i, 720p, etc.)
080i, which is converted to a high definition video signal format and sent to the video / graphics mixing device 18.
(Note that the configuration of the audio system is not shown in FIG. 1.) The decoding device 14 also converts various service information (broadcast program information, current time information, etc.) included in the decoded signal into various information. It is configured to be sent to the acquisition device 22. A terminal 23 of a telephone line is also connected to the various information acquisition devices 22. When the telephone line terminal 23 is connected to a broadcasting station or a broadcast-related service provider via a telephone line, the terminal 23 can supply various information acquiring devices 22 with broadcast program information and other various information. Various information acquisition devices 22
Sends various information sent via broadcast (or a telephone line) to the control unit 24.

Although not shown, the control unit 24 includes a microcomputer (CPU or MPU), a work RAM, a control program ROM, a parameter ROM, and a character R.
OM and the like. The control unit 24 sends data (screen configuration data) for configuring various display screens to the graphic control IC 28 based on the transmitted service information and the like.

By the way, a remote controller (not shown) (not shown) is provided near the user of the apparatus.
The operation result of the remote control is
6 is received. The result of the remote control operation received by the remote control light receiving unit 26 is sent to the control unit 24. The control unit 24 (actually, a control program executed by the CPU / MPU in the control unit) modifies the screen configuration data sent to the graphic control IC 28 in response to the sent user operation. The graphic control IC 28
The screen configuration data modified as appropriate in response to the user operation (for example, the highlighted position of the screen content is changed in response to the user's remote control operation) is sent to the video and graphic mixing device 18.

The video and graphics mixing device 18
The screen configuration data sent from the graphic control IC 28 is superimposed (superimposed) on the video information (for example, 1080i high-definition signal) sent from the video format converter 16. The video signal on which the screen configuration data is superimposed is supplied to the display device 20.

The display device 20 includes a CRT (CRT),
It can be configured as a direct-view display device using a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display device, or the like. Alternatively, the display device 20 may be a projector using a liquid crystal or the like. In this display device 20,
Various display screens based on service information from various information acquisition devices 22 (and / or various information from telephone line terminal 23) and remote control operation results from remote control light receiving unit 26 (FIGS. 2 to 5 described below, 7 to 9
Is displayed on the screen.

When the configuration of the embodiment of FIG. 1 is applied to a tuner without a “display device” or a video recorder with a built-in tuner (VCR, DVD recorder, HDD recorder, etc.), the display device 20 of FIG. , Instead A
A V output terminal (D3 terminal, S terminal, etc. and an audio output terminal) may be provided.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a display example (setting whether or not to use a function) of the “automatic program guide setting menu” output to the display device 20. The setting screen 200 of “whether or not to use the function of the automatic program guide” includes coordinate information in a parameter ROM (not shown) incorporated in the control unit 24 and character information in a character ROM (not shown). And the like.

In FIG. 2, one of the displayed "use" display frame 200A and the "not use" display frame 200B is selected by a cursor operation of a remote controller (not shown) at hand of the user (selection). Are highlighted). When one of the display frames (200A in the display example of FIG. 2) is selected and the enter key or the enter key (not shown) of the remote controller is pressed, the CPU in the control device 24 starts the “program table automatic display function”. Has been decided to be used. "

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a display example (setting of display timing) of the “automatic program guide setting menu” output to the display device 20. The selection screen 202 of the “item to be used” is also displayed in the parameter RO
It can be configured using coordinate information in M, character information in character ROM, and the like.

Here, the user-selectable items include:
The following are available that can be turned on / off: (1) When the program of the currently viewed channel starts, [O
N / OFF]; (2) When the program on the currently viewed channel ends [O
N / OFF]; (3) When a program of another channel (a channel other than the channel currently being viewed and specified by the user in advance) starts [ON
/ OFF]; (4) When a program on another channel (a channel other than the channel currently being viewed and specified by the user in advance) ends [ON
/ OFF]; (5) Time designation (automatic display of program guide) [ON / OF
F].

The item (5) includes the time used in the real world (for example, 00 minutes, 15 minutes, and 30 minutes each hour).
Minutes or 45 minutes) as well as the case where 0 minutes or 30 minutes have passed since a specific point in time (for example, the starting point of the viewing program).

Each of the above items (1) to (5) can be selected by operating a cursor up / down key of a remote controller (not shown), and whether or not to adopt the contents of the selected item (ON
/ OFF selection) can be performed by operating a cursor left / right key of a remote controller (not shown). For example, the item (2) “when the program of the currently viewed channel ends” is selected by operating the cursor up / down key, and the remote controller is determined in a state where the item (2) [ON] is selected by operating the cursor left / right keys. When the key (or the enter key) is pressed, it is determined that the content of the item (2) is adopted. In this case, a screen as illustrated in FIG. 4 is displayed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a display example of “automatic program guide setting” output to the display device 20 (detailed setting of display timing at the end of a program). The setting screen 20 of “How many minutes before the end of the currently viewed program is to display the program guide”
4 can also be configured using coordinate information in the parameter ROM incorporated in the control unit 24, character information in the character ROM, and the like.

In this display, a user input item <__ minutes ago> is displayed below the inquiry dialogue “How many minutes before the end of the program being viewed is to be displayed.” "2" is selected from numbers which are sequentially switched and displayed by operating a cursor left / right key (not shown) or, for example, "2" by direct input using a numeric keypad (not shown).
Is pressed, and then a decision key (or enter key) not shown is pressed, it is determined that "the program table is automatically displayed two minutes before the end of the program".

When the enter key is pressed after "0" is input by operating the cursor keys or the numeric keypad, or when the enter key is pressed with the user input item <__ minute ago> left blank. When the currently viewed program ends, the program guide is automatically displayed immediately.

The display screens illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 show the currently broadcast program (for example, FIG. 5).
May be overlaid on the screen of a news program such as “overlap window”.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining a process of automatically displaying a program guide on the display device 20 of FIG. 1 when a currently viewed program ends (or A minutes before the end of the program). This process is executed by the control unit 24 in FIG. Processing corresponding to a series of user operations according to the display examples of FIGS. 2 to 4 is, for example, as follows. First, the user presses a menu key (not shown) of the remote controller to
Is opened. Then, the "automatic program guide display function" is set to "use" 200A using the cursor up / down keys (not shown) of the remote controller, and the enter button (not shown) is pressed (step ST10 YES). If this function is not desired, the "automatic program guide display function" is set to "do not use" 200B using the cursor up / down key, and the enter button is pressed (No in step ST10).

[Use] on the menu screen 200 of FIG.
When 200A is set (Yes in step ST10),
The setting screen 202 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. The user selects various items relating to “timing at which the program guide is to be automatically displayed” with the cursor up / down key by operating the remote controller at hand, and selects the desired item (s) with the cursor left / right key (not shown). Set to "ON" and press the enter button. Here, only "when the current channel program ends" is "ON".
The description will be continued, assuming that it is set to.

If the enter button is pressed when the selection cursor is on the item "when the program of the current channel ends" (YES in step ST12), the setting screen 204 shown in FIG. Whether to activate the automatic program guide display function ". Here, a case will be described in which “the program table automatic display function is operated“ two minutes before the currently viewed program ends ”. In this case, "A = 2 minutes ago" is selected with the cursor left / right keys of the remote controller (or the numeric keypad "2" is pressed), and the enter button is pressed. If it is desired to activate the automatic display function of the program guide at the same time as the end of the program, select "A = 0 minutes ago" (or press "0" on the numeric keypad) and press the enter button (step ST14).

When the above operations have been completed, two minutes before the currently viewed program ends (YES in step ST16),
The electronic program guide (broadcast program list or counterprogram guide) is automatically displayed on the screen of the display device 20 (step ST18).

For example, it is assumed that the program that is currently being viewed (PM 6:03) is a “news program of 5 channels starting from PM 6:00” as shown in FIG. If the current time reaches 6:58 PM while watching the program, a broadcast program list (program list of PM 7:00) 210 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. In this list 210,
In addition to the program 211 of the channel CH1 which starts broadcasting at 7:00 PM, the back programs 212 to 214 of the other channels CH2 to CH4 which start broadcasting at PM 7:00 are listed. Further, along with the broadcast program list 210, an alert dialog 220 indicating that the programs listed in the table 210 will start soon is displayed on the display device 20 as appropriate.

The user who sees this display finds that PM 6: 58-
During PM 7:00, one of the programs 211 to 214 can be selected by operating the cursor up / down keys of the remote controller. After confirming the contents of the program, pressing the enter key causes the selected program (for example, the program “Spaceship Earth” 21
1) can be viewed from the beginning.

In FIG. 7, only the programs which start broadcasting at 7:00 PM are listed, but the following programs which are broadcast subsequently after the listed programs end (not shown) are also arranged on the right side. You may make it display in the form provided. For example, if the program 211 of CH1 is PM
It ends at 8:00, and the program 214 of CH4 starts at 9:00 PM
Suppose that it ends. In this case, PM 8:00 to PM 9:
CH1 to CH3 whose broadcast time overlaps with CH4 during 00
May be displayed on the right side of the display of each of the programs 211 to 213, or may be displayed as a submenu for each of the programs 211 to 213.

In the example of FIG. 7, using the automatically displayed program table 210, the user can switch to the next program to be viewed within the corresponding time (here, PM6: 58 to PM7: 00).
). In addition, the program switching can be reserved (viewing reservation) before the program switching time (PM 7:00) is reached within the applicable time (PM 6:58 to PM 7:00). FIG. 8 illustrates how such a program viewing reservation is made.

Now, the program list 210 of FIG.
58 is displayed on the screen.
Next, it is assumed that the user selects a sports program 217 of CH7 by operating a cursor key after pressing a viewing reservation key of a remote controller (not shown), and presses an enter key to reserve the viewing. Will be displayed as "Viewing reservation completed."

When this reservation is made, the user does not have to perform the operation of selecting CH7 at 7:00 PM, but does not need to perform the operation of PM 7:00.
0, the control unit 24 automatically sets the reception channel to CH.
Switch to 7. As a result, as illustrated in FIG.
CH7 sports program 217 starting at 7:00 PM
Can be watched without missing from the beginning.

If such a viewing reservation function is used, for example, the program currently being viewed is a baseball broadcast, the broadcast time of which is extended and the user is enthusiastic about the broadcast.
(The user who wants to continue watching the baseball broadcast but does not want to be automatically switched to the program 217 on the way)
Either cancel the viewing reservation shown in FIG.
You do not have to make a viewing reservation from the beginning. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made at the stage of implementation without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, the embodiments may be implemented in appropriate combinations as much as possible, and in such a case, effects of the combinations are obtained.

Furthermore, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in this application. For example, even if one or a plurality of constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements described in the embodiment, if at least one of the effects of the present invention or the effects of implementing the present invention is obtained, the constituent elements may be deleted. The deleted configuration can be extracted as an invention.

[0046]

As described above, according to the broadcast program information display apparatus or the broadcast program information display method according to the present invention, the broadcast program list is displayed at a time deemed necessary by the user or at a time preset by the user. "Or" Counter Program Guide "
Can be automatically displayed on the screen. As a result, the television life of the user is supported, and the user can easily and efficiently use the multi-channel broadcast program information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcast program information display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining a display example (setting whether or not to use a function) of an “automatic program guide setting menu” output to the display device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view for explaining a display example (setting of display timing) of an “automatic program guide setting menu” output to the display device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view for explaining a display example of “automatic program guide setting” output to the display device of FIG. 1 (detailed setting of display timing at the end of a program);

5 is a view screen (PM 6:00) on the display device of FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a case where the user is watching a news program of 5CH starting from (5).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing for automatically displaying a program guide on the display device of FIG. 1 when a currently viewed program ends (or A minutes before the end of the program).

FIG. 7 is a view screen (PM 7:00) on the display device of FIG.
(A case where a program guide starting at 7:00 PM is displayed several minutes before the time of the first step).

8 is a view exemplifying a viewing screen (in the case where a 7CH sports program starting from PM 7:00 is reserved for viewing from an automatically displayed program table) by the display device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an example of a case where a program reserved for viewing is automatically selected and displayed at 7:00 PM on the display device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 antenna; 12 TV tuner (BS digital tuner, etc.); 14 decoding device; 16 video format conversion device; 18 video and graphic mixing device; 20 display device (CRT display device, liquid crystal display device,
22: Various information (broadcast program information, current time, etc.) acquisition device; 24: Control device (CP
U, work RAM, control program ROM, parameter ROM, etc .; 26 remote control light receiving unit; 28 graphic control IC (various settings and program table
Or a device that displays characters or the like).

Claims (6)

[Claims] An information acquisition unit for acquiring various information of a broadcast program; a timing determination unit for determining a timing for automatically displaying a broadcast program list or a counter program list;
A broadcast program information display device, comprising: display means for determining various types of information of the acquired broadcast program and displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list on a screen. 2. An information acquiring means for acquiring various information of a broadcast program; a timing judging means for judging a timing of automatically displaying a broadcast program list or a counter program list;
A broadcast program information device comprising: an output unit configured to determine various types of information of the acquired broadcast program and output screen information of the broadcast program list or the counter program list. 3. A function use setting means for setting whether or not to use a function of automatically displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list, wherein the display means or the output means has the function 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast program list or the counter program list is automatically displayed on the screen or displayed according to the setting contents of the use setting means. . 4. The apparatus further comprises timing setting means for automatically setting a timing for automatically displaying or displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list, and wherein the timing determination means sets the timing in advance by the timing setting means. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a timing of automatically displaying or displaying the broadcast program list or the counter program list is determined according to the set timing. 5. An apparatus according to claim 1. 5. A time acquisition means for acquiring a current time, wherein a broadcast program list or a counter program list is displayed on a screen or displayed when any of the following conditions 1 to 6 is satisfied. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: (1) a new program starts on a currently viewed channel; (2) a currently viewed program. When the current program ends or several minutes before the end; Condition 3: When a new program starts on a channel other than the channel currently being viewed; Condition 4: When the program ends on a channel other than the channel currently being viewed or when the program ends A few minutes ago; Condition 5: When the current time has reached the specified time; Condition 6: When the current time has reached a specific time. 6. A television receiver, a television tuner, or a video recorder with a built-in tuner, which has a function of displaying an electronic program guide, wherein a mode for automatically displaying the electronic program guide is provided. A determination process for determining whether or not the electronic program guide is automatically displayed in the electronic program guide by the determination process; and at what time or at what timing the electronic program guide is displayed. A broadcast program information display method, comprising: a setting process for setting the electronic program guide; and a display process for automatically displaying or displaying the electronic program guide at the time or timing set in the setting process.