JP2003101893A - Reception system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously view a plurality of programs by a simple operation. SOLUTION: A reception system is provided with a distribution device for specifying a plurality of broadcasting channels to be received on the basis of program broadcasting schedule information of a plurality of television broadcasting systems and generating and distributing control information controlling a display layout of video images of broadcasting programs by the plurality of broadcasting channels, and a receiver for inputting the control information distributed by the distribution device, simultaneously receiving television broadcasting signals of a plurality of reception channels specified by the control information and displaying the video images of the television broadcasting programs of the plurality of channels by a layout according to the control information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receiving system, and more particularly to a system for simultaneously receiving and displaying images of a plurality of channels.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a function of receiving two broadcast programs and displaying them on a screen at the same time by mounting two tuners on a television receiver is known. With such a function, while watching a certain broadcast program, it is possible to watch another broadcast program that overlaps with the same time period.

On the other hand, today, cable television (CA
With the start of BS digital broadcasting in addition to TV) and CS broadcasting, broadcasting is being carried out on an unprecedented number of channels.

Further, in BS digital broadcasting, multi-view broadcasting is performed in which a plurality of videos constitutes one broadcasting program. It is conceivable that the television receiver side will also be equipped with a plurality of tuners and decoders so that it can be viewed freely, and have the function of displaying more screens at the same time. In such a case, the layout of the display screen of the television receiver is not limited to the layout prepared in advance in the television receiver as in the conventional case, and a more flexible layout is desired.

[0005]

When a very large number of programs are broadcast on a large number of channels in this way, it is possible to accurately determine in what time period and on which channel a program suitable for the purpose of watching TV is broadcast. It becomes difficult to grasp. In order to find a program that suits the purpose of viewing, the user not only scrutinizes the program schedule published in conventionally provided magazines and newspapers, but also in the BS digital broadcasting, an electronic program guide multiplexed on the broadcast wave is used. You have to use it to check the program schedule. Furthermore, it takes a lot of labor and time to find out a combination of programs to be simultaneously watched from a large number of these programs and make a viewing plan.
The situation is not suitable for watching TV as an entertainment.

Further, as the function of the television receiver has become more advanced and more screens can be displayed at the same time, and the flexibility of the display layout has been provided, it is proportional to the number of functions of the television receiver. Then, complicated operation becomes necessary.

Further, considering the operation of selecting a program to be viewed, comfortable operation is difficult.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and enable a plurality of programs to be simultaneously viewed by a simple operation.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the burden of selecting a program to be viewed from a large number of channels and setting the display layout when viewing a plurality of programs at the same time. .

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a plurality of receiving means for receiving a television broadcast wave having a plurality of channels and outputting a video signal and a control signal; Image processing means for synthesizing the plurality of video signals and outputting the combined video signals to the display unit so as to display the video related to the plurality of video signals received by the receiving means on the same screen, and the control output from the receiving means. A control means for controlling the plurality of receiving means and the video processing means according to a signal and automatically setting a channel to be received by the plurality of receiving means and a display layout by the video processing means is provided. .

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a television receiver 1 to which the present invention is applied.
It is the figure which showed the structure of the viewing-and-listening system containing 00.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a satellite broadcast receiving antenna, and 102, 103 and 104 select a channel designated from a signal received by the antenna, perform detection and descrambling, and execute MPEG2-transport stream ( BS digital tuners 105, 106, 107 including a function for outputting MPEG2-TS)
Is the MP output from the tuners 102, 103, 104
A transport decoder for extracting a video stream, an audio stream, data broadcast data, program arrangement information, etc. designated for each program from the EG2-TS, 1
08 and 109 are video decoders for decoding the video stream, 110 are audio decoders for decoding the audio stream, 111 and 112 are video memories for storing the decoded video data for each frame, 11
3 is a speaker for outputting a decoded audio signal,
Reference numeral 114 denotes a graphic generation unit that generates display data such as characters and figures for a data broadcast screen and screen operation, and 11
Reference numeral 5 is a synthesis processor for performing synthesis processing so as to display an image by the decoded video signal and an image by the graphic data from the graphic generation unit 114 on one display, 116 is a display unit for screen display, 117 is a remote controller and operation An operation input unit 118 including a button controls the digital television receiver 100 based on an operation input / output from a user and an input of program arrangement information, and a data broadcast display screen is displayed through a graphic generation unit 114 by data broadcast data input. A drawing is a control unit, and 100 is a digital television receiver including such elements.

Further, reference numerals 121 and 122 in FIG. 1 denote BS digital broadcasting broadcasting stations, which distribute broadcasting programs including data broadcasting through a broadcasting satellite 124. Reference numeral 123 denotes a BS digital broadcasting data broadcasting station, which distributes data broadcasting programs through a broadcasting satellite 124. A part of the data broadcasting program broadcast by the broadcasting station 123 is a program that fulfills the multi-screen template function described below. The data broadcasting broadcasting station 123 obtains the broadcasting schedules of the broadcasting programs broadcast by the broadcasting stations 121 and 122, and carries out the data broadcasting of XML data including a script for controlling the selection of these broadcastings and the multi-screen function control of the receiver. Broadcast on channel.

A broadcast program distributed from the broadcasting station 321 or 322 is received by the tuner 302 or 303 via the antenna 301. It is output to the MPEG2-TS transport decoder 105 obtained by the tuner 102, and the video stream, audio stream, and data stream are extracted here. The video stream is decoded into a video signal by the video decoder 108, stored in the video memory 111 frame by frame, and displayed on the display unit 116 through the synthesis processor 115.

Further, the audio stream is decoded into an audio signal by the audio decoder 110 and output as sound from the speaker 113. In this way, one broadcast program is received and presented to the viewer.

In addition, the tuner 103 to the transport decoder 106, the video decoder 109, the memory 112.
Through, it is possible to receive another channel broadcast program in parallel. These two video signals are combined by the combining processor and displayed on the display unit 116 at the same time. Either one of the audio data is selected by the user's operation and is output from the speaker 113.

On the other hand, the data broadcasting distributed from the broadcasting station 123 via the broadcasting satellite 124 is performed by the broadcasting station 12 by the data carousel system of DSM-CC defined in ISO / IEC13818-6.
3 is a broadcast program repeatedly transmitted from the tuner 1
Transport decoder 10 received by 04.
The data stream is extracted by 7 and sent to the control unit 118.

The data stream includes text information, script information, image information and video / audio information, and the text information is XML (eXtesible Markup L) defined by W3C.
anguage). In the present embodiment, the XHTML specification, which is HTML 4.0 reformulated from XML 4.0, is basically used as the data broadcasting XML specification.
In XML, a character string of a document is given meaning by a tag (a part surrounded by <xxx> and </ xxx>). Also, this tag can have a "nested" structure. The display format uses CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) and the script process uses JavaScript.

Such data is interpreted and executed by the control unit 118, and character, figure, and image information is converted into the graphic generation unit 1.
14 is generated and displayed on the display unit 116 through the synthesis processor 115. The voice information is output from the speaker 113 through a sound generation unit (not shown).

FIG. 14 is a table showing the broadcast schedule of programs broadcast from the broadcast stations 121, 122, 123. Broadcasting station 1
21 uses the network "broadcasterA" to HD (H
broadcast program on channel 101. Also, the broadcasting station 122 uses SD for channels 161, 162, 163 included in the network "broadcasterB".
(Standard Definition) Broadcast one program at a time,
Broadcast HD programs using 3 channels. Broadcasting station 1
Reference numeral 23 broadcasts a data broadcast program on a channel 421 using the network "broadcasterC".

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of software operating in the CPU included in the control unit 118. The data broadcasting browser is an application that operates on the operating system. From the application, the application controls the graphic generation unit via the graphic library and the graphic driver to display characters, figures, images, etc. in the graphic buffer included in the synthesis processor 115. draw. In addition, the synthesis processor 115 is controlled through the window control middleware and the screen synthesis unit driver, and the video decoders 108 and 109 allow the memory 11 to operate.
Controls the process of synthesizing a video sent via 1, 112, a still image, and a character graphic. Also, the transport decoder is controlled via the transport decoder driver to acquire the program arrangement information contained in the transport stream.

Then, based on the information obtained from the program arrangement information, the tuners 102, 103, 104 and the transport decoders 105, 106, 107 are controlled via the tuner driver and the transport decode driver to configure the target broadcast program. A video stream and an audio stream to be acquired are acquired and sent to the video decoders 1108 and 109 and the audio decoder 110. Further, the tuner 104 and the transport decoder 107 are controlled based on the information obtained from the program arrangement information, and the data broadcast data is received. Further, communication with the remote controller and the operation buttons is performed via the operation input / output driver to input the user's operation.

(Operation of Data Broadcast Browser) FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data broadcast browser in this embodiment. When the user gives an instruction to receive and display the data broadcast using the remote controller or the operation button while watching the television program, the CPU included in the control unit 118 starts executing the data broadcast reception / reproduction program (browser) (S30).
1).

The activated browser acquires the program arrangement information of the transport stream received first (S
302), based on this information, it controls the transport decoder 107 to start receiving the data broadcast content transmitted in the data carousel system, and to display the XM of the screen.
The L data and related data such as an image embedded in the data are acquired and stored in the memory (S303).

FIG. 4 shows an example of "received XML data" for data broadcasting for simultaneous viewing.

This data broadcasting includes channel selection control of a plurality of other programs and layout control in a multi-screen as the operation of the program. Hereinafter, the simultaneous viewing function for a plurality of programs based on the XML data will be referred to as a multi-screen template function.

Specifically, it is the program after the time 14:00 in the program "Gokuraku Golf Zanmai" on channel 421 in the broadcast program shown in FIG. , Channels 161, 162 that make up the "Men's Professional Golf Tour Relay"
It is intended to simultaneously watch 163 programs using the multi-screen function of the receiver. In the planning of the program, 4 programs can be combined and displayed at the same time, and viewers can watch the professional golf programs of boys and girls who are interested in parallel, and at the same time, the program of interest can be enlarged and displayed easily. It is what

However, even with a television receiver having a multi-screen function, there are differences in the functions and performances of the receivers depending on the viewer, such as the number of tuners to be mounted differs depending on the receivers actually used. . In the XML data of the data broadcast shown in FIG. 4, first, the number of tuners that can be used by the receiver is checked, and an operation of branching to another appropriate XML data is performed.

The <body> part of the XML data originally includes an object for displaying a video of a broadcast program, an object for outputting audio, a character graphic element to be displayed on the screen, etc. It is this XM that controls the display of
Since the XML data is called from the L data, only the display object 401 for displaying a warning to the user, which will be described later, is included here. onLo in the <body> part
In the ad attribute, when the XML data is started, it is described that the script to be executed first is initialize (),
Script intialize () is defined in the <script> part of the <head> part.

According to the XML data, the browser in this embodiment first checks the number of tuners of the receiver (S301). This is numberOf which is a built-in API of the browser.
Implemented by Tuners () API. The numberOfTuners () API returns the number of tuners available in the receiver, and in the initial script a branch is made according to the number of tuners to transfer control by designating another suitable XML data. That is, when the number of tuners is two, “golfParadi” which is XML data that realizes data broadcasting that operates with two tuners.
When “seBy2Tuners.xml” is started (S307) and the number of tuners is three or more, “golfParadi” which is XML data that realizes data broadcasting that operates with two tuners.
seBy3Tuners.xml "is started (S308). When the number of tuners is less than 2, the service of this data broadcasting using the multi-screen cannot be used, and therefore the explanation is displayed on the screen to notify the user (S306).

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show an XM for realizing a multi-screen template function using three tuners.
It shows L data. One XM in Figures 5 to 7
L data is shown.

In the <body> part of FIG. 7, an object 501 for displaying images of four broadcast programs, an object 502 for outputting audio, and a button for displaying an operation guide for changing the screen layout. A graphic element 503 and the like are included. A style definition that defines a display position and a display format is applied to the characters and graphic elements indicating the operation guide. For example, a character element 501 has a width of 500 from a position of 680 pixels from the top of the screen and 360 pixels from the left. An attribute is given so that the character string "The screen is enlarged with a button" is arranged in the area of 60 pixels in height.

When the XML data is activated, the script to be executed first is intiallize (), which is executed when the dedicated buttons (red, green, blue, yellow) provided on the remote control are operated. The scripts to be executed are selectRed (), selectGreen (), selectBlue (),
It is described as selectYellow ().

In the initial script of this embodiment, in addition to the tuner for receiving the data broadcast, the control for receiving the four broadcast programs using the two tuners and the control for laying this out on the screen are executed. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of this control.

In order to receive a program, a tuner used for receiving must first be assigned (S6 in FIG. 8).
01). In the initial script of Figure 5, this is openTuner () A
It is realized with PI. The openTuner () API is a built-in API of the browser and creates a Tuner object corresponding to a tuner that can be used in a television receiver.

Next, in order to receive the program, the program is selected based on the designation of the program station and the channel. Specifically, the designation of the network name "broadcasterA" is specified by the NIT (Network Inform) of the transport stream including the data broadcast.
(ation table) information to search (S602) and acquire satellite distribution system information (S603). Information such as the frequency obtained from this is set in the tuner 102 to obtain an MPEG2-TS including the data of the target channel (S604).

The obtained MPEG2-TS is decoded by the transport decoder 105, and the designated channel number "101" is assigned to PAT (Program Association Tabl).
e) Search in the information (S605) and find the corresponding PM
Acquire T (Program Map Table) information (S60)
6).

In the browser of this embodiment, these controls are Tu
It is implemented by addService () method of ner object. The addService () method instructs the Tuner object to receive the service specified by the network name and channel number given as arguments, creates a service object, and returns it as a return value. The service object has components such as video, audio, and data that make up the service, and these components are specified for video display and audio output.

The actual acquisition of stream data is performed by the PMT.
PID (Packet Identifie) that specifies the video stream, audio stream, and data stream obtained from the information
r) is used to filter the transport stream at the transport decoder.

In the initial script, in addition to the reception of four designated broadcasts, the position control of the button images displayed at the same time as the video display is performed. Ie setPositionX
(0) Call the function and set the display position to the serviceX object (X is a number 0 to 3 associated with the display position) and the style of the button object. The display position is a position that considers the aspect ratio of the video object specified by service. Also, setPosi of service object
In tion0 (), a visible attribute is specified, and an audio object belonging to the service object is specified with an attribute for specifying audio output. SetPos not explicitly shown in FIG.
In ition1 () to setPostion3 (), an attribute for stopping audio output is specified in the audio object.

The browser executes XM after executing the initial script.
<Body> part of L data (<body> to </ body> part of Figure 5)
To execute. First, display four images placed as objects.

That is, the stream obtained by receiving the broadcast program designated by the initial script and the object designated as its display position are synthesized and displayed on the display by controlling the synthesis processor. Further, the audio of the designated stream is output to the speaker by controlling the audio decoder, the other drawing elements are drawn by controlling the graphic generation unit, and are combined by the combining processor (S305).

FIG. 9 is an example of a display screen according to this XML data.

Reference numeral 701 in FIG. 9 indicates XM as a moving image window.
The video of the 101-channel broadcast program designated by the L data is displayed. In addition, 702, 703, and 704 are also specified as XML windows in the XML data.
Images of broadcast programs of channels 1, 162, 163 are displayed.

Figures 706, 707, 708, and 709 display figures representing red, green, blue, and yellow buttons provided on the remote controller. As shown in the figures and the explanation display by letters 710 and 711, the figures are provided on the remote controller. The display of the video of the corresponding broadcast program moves to the large screen on the left side when the corresponding one of the four color buttons is pressed. Reference numeral 712 is a display unique to this data broadcast program, for example, an advertisement display in accordance with the contents of the data broadcast program plan that bundles a plurality of such broadcast programs.

When the green button provided on the remote controller is pressed in the display state of FIG. 9, the onButtonGreen event is sent to the body object of the browser through the operation input / output 117, and the selectGreen () script of XML data is executed. . As shown in FIG. 5, in the selectGreen () script, the removal () script first moves the display position of the image placed on the left side of the screen and stops the audio output. The destination is the display position of the video (service1 object) of channel 161 associated with the green button. Next, specify the display position of the service1 object in the large area on the left side of the screen and start audio output.

The display state after script execution is shown in FIG. The image of channel 161 displayed in the upper right of FIG. 9 is displayed large in the center of the left side of the screen.
The video of channel 1 has been moved to the upper left position. That is, by operating the color buttons on the remote controller, it is possible to move the video of the broadcast program associated with each button to the large display area in the left center. This function is not included in the normal functions of the television receiver 1300, and is a unique function given by the XML data distributed by data broadcasting.

11, 12, and 13 are XML data that are activated when the television receiver has two tuners, and as described above, the number of tuners of the receiver that is first executed is checked. It is started from XML. 11 to 1
3 shows one XML data. This XML data executed by the browser receives the data broadcast that distributes the XML data with one tuner, and the other one receives the four broadcasts by switching with one tuner, and displays each with the optimum layout. It fulfills the multi-screen template function.

In the <body> part of the XML data of FIGS. 12 and 13, as in the description of FIG. 7, an object for displaying the images of four broadcast programs, an object for audio output, and a screen layout are provided. Contains a text element that displays a navigation guide for making changes. Further, it is described that the initial script is initialize (), and the selctLeft () script is called when the left button of the remote controller is pressed and the selectRight () script is called when the right button is pressed.

In the initial script initialize (),
The tuner used to receive the broadcast is a browser built-in op
It is assigned by the enTuner () API, and the 101 channel in the network name "broadcasterA" is selected. In addition, the attributes of invisible and audio output stop are given to the four objects of service0-3. Finally, the setPostion0 () script uses the argument 1 to control the initial screen.
, And the attributes relating to the display position and audio output of channel 101 are given. The variable magnified holds a value (integer) indicating the service being enlarged and displayed, and 0 is given as an initial value in the initial script.

The role of the setPostionX (s) script is different from that of the script shown in FIG. In the script of FIG. 7, an operation such as “set the attribute necessary to display the service s at the location X” was performed, but in FIG. 12, “set the service X to an appropriate attribute under the condition s” "
The operation is performed. The condition based on the argument s is such that enlarged display is performed when s = 1, normal (smaller) display is performed when s = 2, and display is not performed when s = 0.

FIG. 14 shows an initial screen for data broadcasting using the XML data shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. That is, by setPostiono (1) called from the initial script initialize (),
The enlarged display of the broadcast of the channel 101 and the accompanying advertisement display 713 are performed, and the sound is output.

Character information 71 is displayed at the lower center of the display screen of FIG.
As shown by 2, the XML data provides an operation function of switching the display broadcast by the left and right direction buttons of the remote controller. This function is not a function that the television receiver originally has, but is a function that is realized by XML data by data broadcasting as a multi-screen template.

When the right button of the remote controller is pressed in the state of FIG. 14, <b> in the XML data shown in FIGS.
An event is sent to ody> and as a result the script selectRi
The ght () script is called. In slectRight (), since the current value of the variable magnified is 0, the switch statement controls the tuning and control for tuner0, and
The setPostionX () script is called.

As described above, when -1 is specified in the argument, the display of the service X is erased, and when 0 is specified in the argument, the display of the service X is in a normal (smaller) size. If it is displayed and 1 is specified as the argument, the service X
The display of is enlarged. The audio output is controlled so that the enlarged display of the program is output. Services 1 to 3 are channel 16 via the network "broadcasterB"
It is a broadcast program of 1,162,163, and one tuner can receive three programs.
It is displayed as a composite by the multi-screen function as ice1 ~ 3.

FIG. 15 shows a display state after the script selectRight () is executed. The broadcast program of channel 161 is displayed large on the left side, and channels 162 and 163 are displayed.
The broadcast programs of are displayed on the left side in a composite manner. Also, this 3
Advertisement display is being performed in accordance with the data broadcasting program planning called composite display of programs.

FIGS. 16 and 17 show display states after the same script is executed when the right button of the remote controller is pushed further from the state of FIG. Channel 1 in order
62 and the broadcast program of channel 163 are enlarged and displayed, and the advertisement display according to each layout is performed.

By pressing the left button of the remote controller from the display state of FIG. 17, the state is changed to the states of FIG. 16, FIG. 15, and FIG. 14, and the sound of the enlarged broadcast program is output. The display switching function by the left and right buttons of the remote controller is not included in the normal functions of the television receiver 100, and is a unique function realized by the XML data shown in FIGS. 11 to 13.

As described above, the data broadcasting program "Gokuraku Golf Sanmai" for the multi-screen template function of the 421 channel is the channels 101, 161,
It is distributed on the data broadcast channel as one broadcast program for displaying four programs broadcasted by 162 and 163 on one screen.

Then, the user simply selects the data broadcasting program "Gokuraku Golf Zanmai" on the 421 channel by changing the channel of the television receiver 100, and automatically selects the program related to golf, and it is appropriate. These programs can be viewed easily because they are automatically displayed in a different display layout.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the number of tuners that can be simultaneously used by the television receiver for viewing is checked, and a display layout that can be implemented by the television receiver or that is appropriate for the television receiver is selected and executed. Further, since the user operation interface according to the display layout is provided, it is possible to take an appropriate viewing mode according to the receiver.

Further, such a data broadcasting program is created by a broadcasting station which plans the data broadcasting program or a person who provides the program to the broadcasting station based on the original program planning based on the program broadcasting schedules of other broadcasting stations, The combination of simultaneous viewing programs based on this plan was selected, and the display layout according to the plan,
It is possible to incorporate display elements according to the plan such as advertisement as a data broadcast program together with the operation interface. At the same time, these displays can be displayed in an appropriate display layout based on the capabilities of the television receiver used by the viewer.

In the embodiment described above, the data broadcasting and the system of the television receiver which judge the ability of the television receiver by the number of available tuners and operate in accordance with this are explained. The ability or attribute of the television receiver that affects the operation of the data broadcasting is not limited to the number of tuners. For example, check the ability of the decoder connected to the tuner, change the layout and operation system according to the number of programs that can be viewed simultaneously from one tuner, and check the ability of the audio recorder to determine the mixing ratio of the audio output of multiple programs. It is also possible to control.

Further, although the present invention is applied to the television receiver including the display unit in the present embodiment, it is also possible to adopt a so-called set-top box structure in which the display unit is not included in the structure. In that case, the synthesis processor includes the function of outputting a video display signal for display on a connected display. The functions and operations of the other components are as described above.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the structure of a multi-screen television viewing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 19, 1901 is a terrestrial television broadcast receiving antenna, and 1902 and 1903 are antennas 19.
1904, an analog television tuner including a function of selecting a designated channel from a signal received by 01, performing detection, and outputting a video signal and an audio signal.
Reference numeral 1905 denotes an NTSC processor including a function of separating a luminance signal, a color difference signal and a synchronization signal from an NTSC composite video signal and generating a clock to A / D convert the luminance signal and the color difference signal. Reference numerals 1908 and 1909 denote NT.
A resolution conversion unit that converts the resolution of the digital video signals output from the SC processors 1904 and 1905 according to the display size, and 1910 is two digital video signals that are input and a video signal that is output by a graphic generation unit 1911 described below. A synthesizing processor for synthesizing and generating a video signal to be displayed on the display unit 1912;
Reference numeral 12 is a display unit for displaying a video image synthesized by the synthesis processor, 1906 is an audio amplifier for adjusting and amplifying the balance, volume, sound quality, etc. of the audio signals output from the tuners 1902, 1903, and 1907 is an audio amplifier. It is a speaker that outputs a voice based on the amplified voice signal output from.

Further, 1913 is an operation input unit including operation buttons and a remote controller of the television receiver, 1915 is a network interface connected to the network 1924 via a telephone line (not shown), or directly connected to the network, 1914. While controlling each unit of the television receiver 1900 described above, based on the user operation information input from the operation input 1913 and various information input from the network interface 1515, a character graphic required for television display is generated graphically. Part 1911
It is a control unit having a function of drawing.

Further, 1921 and 1922 in FIG. 19 are broadcasting stations for television broadcasting, and deliver broadcast programs in accordance with a predetermined broadcast program schedule as shown in FIG. 20, for example. Reference numeral 1923 denotes a multi-screen template service provider that distributes a download application for a television receiver that fulfills a multi-screen template function described later via the Internet 1924. The multi-screen template service provider 1923 uses the broadcasting station 1921,
Providing a service that obtains the broadcast schedule of broadcast programs broadcast by 1922, creates a TV application that controls the selection of these broadcasts and multi-screen function control of the receiver, and downloads to the TV receiver of the viewer. .

First, the operation of the television receiver 1900 will be described.

The video signal received by the tuner 1902 under the control of the control unit 1914 is converted into a digital signal by the NTSC processor 1904, subjected to appropriate resolution conversion by the resolution conversion unit 1508, and then displayed by the synthesizing processor 1910. It is displayed on 1912. The audio signal received by the tuner 1902 is adjusted and amplified by the audio amplifier 1908 and output from the speaker 1907. By this series of operations,
You can watch one broadcast program broadcast by the selected broadcasting station.

The television receiver 1900 is the tuner 1
903 to the NTSC processor 1905 and the resolution conversion unit 1909.
The tuner 1 is switched by switching the display image in 910 and the input in the audio amplifier 1906.
Another broadcast program received at 903 can be viewed.

Further, the tuner 1902 and the tuner 1903 are subjected to appropriate resolution conversion in the resolution conversion units 1908 and 1909 and the synthesis processing of the synthesis processor 1910.
The two broadcast programs respectively received at can be simultaneously displayed on the display unit 1912 for viewing. At this time, the audio amplifier 1906 outputs the sound of one broadcast program based on the operation of the viewer. FIG. 21 shows such a two-screen display state.

FIG. 22 is a CP included in the control unit 1914.
It is the figure which showed the structure of the software which operates in U. The television application controls the operation of the television receiver using APIs prepared in the reception control middleware and the synthesis control middleware based on user operation information obtained via the operation input / output driver. Through the tuner driver and the synthetic processor driver under the control of the operating system based on the call of API,
As described above, the television receiver is controlled.

The television application causes the graphic generation unit to draw characters, figures, images, etc. through the graphic driver through the API of the graphic library, synthesizes them by the synthesis processor, and displays them on the screen. By this operation, information such as the broadcast channel received on the screen and the volume adjustment state is notified to the user through the screen display.

The television application is not only a built-in program that exists as a program previously stored in the storage unit included in the control unit 1914 of the television receiver 1900 and is executed by the television receiver 1900, but also on the network through the network interface 1915. There is a download program that is downloaded from a server or the like, stored in the storage unit of the control unit 1914 and executed.

FIG. 23 shows the creation of a download program by the service provider 1923 which provides the download service of the television application shown in FIG.
It is a figure explaining the procedure of a download.

FIG. 23 mainly describes network access between the television receiver 1900 and the service providing site of the service provider 1924, and describes operations and procedures in both. The underlined portion in the procedure of FIG. 23 is an operation by the user of the television receiver 1900, which is a viewer.

First, the user accesses the viewing condition setting page of the service providing site by a network access function such as a web browser as a television application provided in the television receiver 1900 (S23).
01). The service providing site transmits the viewing condition input form according to the request (S2302), and the television receiver 1
It is displayed as a setting page on the display unit 1912 of 900 (S2303).

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on the display unit 1912 as a viewing condition setting page. The displayed screen is a viewing condition input form for setting the creation conditions of the multi-screen template created at the service providing site. The user fills the form by answering the questions that are displayed. According to the input result of FIG. 24, a TV program that automatically obtains information desired by a user during a busy time before work in the morning is automatically selected, and a multi-screen layout is automatically controlled and displayed. A screen template function is provided.

This function is planned and provided by the service provider, and the information about the user's desired information and the receiver of the user is collected as a user profile and created as a download program based on the user profile. Downloaded to TV receiver.

In the example of FIG. 24, the number of tuners that can be used simultaneously in the television receiver used by the user, the setting of the operation time of the multi-screen template, and the type of information desired by the user are specified in the form of the information genre of the television program. Yes (S2304). When the "Register" button on the screen is selected, the control unit 1914 stores the set information as a user profile in the user information storage unit 1916 of the television receiver (S2305).

Next, when the user accesses the multi-screen template download page of the service providing site (S2306), the service providing site transmits a page including an operation for requesting a user profile (S230).
7), the display unit 1 by the browser of the television receiver 1900
It is displayed in 912 (S2308). Then, the user requests the download by selecting the download start button of the displayed page (S2309), and the user profile is stored in the user information storage unit 19 by the browser.
It is read from 16 and transmitted to the service providing site (S2310, S2311).

At the service providing site, a television application program that functions as a multi-screen template is created based on the received user profile and the broadcast program schedule information of the broadcast stations 1921 and 1922 (S2).
312, S2313). At this time, information unique to the service provider and display elements may be added according to the plan made by the service provider or based on the received user profile. The created TV application is transmitted from the service provider 1923 to the TV receiver 1900 as a download program (S2314). The transmitted download program is received by the television receiver 1900 (S2315),
It is stored in the storage unit in the control unit 1914 and executed (S
2316).

Since the user profile data is stored in the user information storage unit 1916, the user profile once created is automatically and repeatedly used unless the contents need to be changed. The user accesses the download page of the multi-screen template (S230
6) The multi-screen template based on the latest program broadcast schedule can be downloaded only by performing the following operations.

25 and 26 show examples of the source code of the downloaded download program. 25 and 26 show one program. The program is the MornigInformation class written in the JAVA (registered trademark) language, and the parent class TvA
It inherits the pplet class. The TvApplet class is a class that has the functions necessary for the download program to be executed under application execution management. That is, in TvApplet class, init (), star
It has t (), stop () and destroy () methods, and the init () method when application execution management loads the TvApplet class object, and the star when starting execution.
t () method, stop () method to stop execution, destroy to unload and destroy the program
Since the y () method is called, the inherited class (child class) of the TvApplet class overrides and describes the operation required at that time.

Further, the setAlarm () method is provided, and the system time managed by the operating system is setAlarm.
It has a function to call the onAlarm () method when the time specified by the () method matches. In the inherited class (child class) of the TvApplet class, describe the control or operation you want to execute at the specified time by overriding this method. Furthermore, when the user operation information is input through the operation input unit 1913, the onUserOperate () method is called, so that the inherited class (child class) of the TvApplet class analyzes the user input and performs the required operation. Should be overridden.

Also, the TV application program can use the Tuner class. The Tuner class is a class that makes the receiving operation of the television receiver 1900 into an object. The channel to select is specified by the setTune () method, the display resolution is specified by the setDisplaySize () method, and another display object is set by the setPriority () method. The display priority of and can be specified. ca
The pture () method captures the video that the Tuner object is displaying at that time and displays the still image as Imag.
Return it as an e object. The setAudioMode () method can control the audio amplifier 1906. That is, mute (0), main voice output (1), sub voice output (2), and main + sub voice output (3) are designated by the argument. If outputs are specified simultaneously from multiple tuners, both are mixed. Also, the class method
Tuner with open () method, if the system allows
It creates an instance of the class and gives it a reference.

The Tuner object is drawn on the graphic object TvScreen possessed by the TvApplet object to display an image on the screen. That is, the drawImage method of the TvScreen class specifies an instance of the Tuner class as a drawing target and a position for drawing the Tuner class. In TvApplet, the paint () method is called when the screen is displayed, so in the paint () method, specify the tuner to be displayed and other graphic elements to draw.

The operation of the TV application MornigInformation class will be described with reference to FIGS. 25 and 26.
It is premised that the broadcasting stations 1921 and 1922 are broadcasting the broadcasting program according to the broadcasting program schedule shown in FIG. With the programs of FIGS. 25 and 26, on the premise of this broadcast program schedule, the channel is switched over time, and a plurality of programs are combined and viewed as a multi-screen.

In FIG. 25, the television application
The method init () of MornigInformation class is initialized when the program is loaded. That is,
Create a tuner instance tv0, select channel 1, set display resolution to 480 x 360, and set display priority to 0.
(Highest priority) is specified to mute the audio output. In addition, another tuner instance tv1 is generated and 4
A channel is selected, a display resolution is set to 120 × 90, a display priority is set to 2, and audio output is set to a mute state.
Finally, set the state variable stage to 0 and callb at time 7:45.
ack is specified.

In the method start (), the sound of the tv1 tuner is specified to be output when the execution of the program is started in the state initialized by the init () method. The actually output volume is a volume according to the volume designation determined by the user operation outside the download program. At the same time the paint () method is called,
The drawing specified by the method layout0 () is performed according to the value 0 of the state variable stage.

That is, as will be described later, when the application execution management activates the download program at time 7:30, the program "weather forecast" on channel 1 and the program "non-stop world trip" on channel 4 are provided. The unique advertisement AD21 displayed by the person 1923 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the sound of the program "Nonstop World Travel" is output.

When the time is 7:45, the method is on
Alarm () is called. Since the argument time indicates the current time, the selection of tv0 is channel 2 according to the branch by the if statement.
And the next callback according to the time is specified at 7:54. That is, the display of the program “weather forecast” shown in FIG. 27 is switched to the program “topic of each place” being broadcast on channel 2 when the program ends.

When the time is 7:54, the method is on
Alarm () is called. Under the control of the if statement, the channel selection of tv1 is changed to channel 3, and the next callback according to the time is specified at 7:55. At the same time, the value of the state variable stage is changed to 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 28, instead of displaying the program “World Travel”, the program “Industrial News” with a different position and size and the unique advertisement A displayed by the service provider 1923 are displayed.
Display of D22 and AD23 is performed.

When the time is 7:55, the method is on
Alarm () is called. According to the control of the if statement, the display of tv1 is captured and the still image is stored in highlight. The selection of tv1 is changed to channel 4, the next callback according to the time is specified at 7:55, and the state variable stag
Change the value of e to 2. That is, as shown in FIG. 29, the broadcast screen of today's news broadcast at 7:55 in the program “Industrial News” is displayed as a captured still image, and the program “Traffic Information” of channel 2 is also displayed. And the program “World Travel” on channel 4 is received, combined and displayed.

When the time reaches 8:00, the method
onAlarm () is called. The channel selection of tv0 is changed to channel 1 under the control of the if statement. That is, in FIG. 29, the program “traffic information” is switched to the program “news” on channel 1 after the program ends, and the unique advertisement AD24 displayed by the service provider 1523 is displayed.

In this embodiment, the execution management information file is downloaded together with the download program. In the execution management information file, the name and file name information of the download program, the text that constitutes the sentence explaining the operation of the download program, the date and time information when the operation of the download program starts, the date when the operation of the download program ends And time information, etc. are included.

In the application execution management of FIG. 22,
The download program and the execution management information file are downloaded, the download program is stored, these pieces of information in the execution management information file are collected, and the execution of the corresponding download application is started at an appropriate timing. Download application "Mo
In the case of "rnigInformation", the execution is started at 7:30 am as described above.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the television application download service is performed on the basis of the user's wishes and the user profile based on the performance information of the television receiver, and the program broadcast schedule information of the television program at each broadcasting station. The provider of the TV application "Mornig
Information "is created and distributed (downloaded) to the television receiver via the network.

Then, the TV receiver receives the downloaded TV application "Mornig Information".
By executing the above, it is possible to realize a multi-screen template function by controlling a plurality of receiving functions of the television receiver and performing a layout control in a multi-screen in which a plurality of screens are combined and displayed.

In the multi-screen template function of this embodiment, as an example, a program broadcast from a plurality of broadcasting stations can be collected so that the user, who is a viewer, can collect all the necessary information during the busy hours before work. Are sequentially switched and displayed as time passes. At the same time, in order to create a relaxing atmosphere, environmental video programs are selected and displayed on a multi-screen.

It is usually necessary for a user who is a viewer to select and receive such a program by carefully examining a broadcast program schedule or the like provided through newspapers, magazines, and other media in view of the purpose of viewing. According to this embodiment, by selecting a service plan provided by a service provider on a network to which a television receiver is connected and downloading a program suitable for the purpose, a program suitable for the purpose is automatically received. , It becomes possible to display in the optimal display layout.

Since the program to be downloaded is created based on the user profile reflecting the viewing purpose of the user and the performance of the receiver used by the user, the user profile once created is automatically repeated unless it needs to be changed. It can be used, and there is no need to bother the user to set the profile each time.

Further, conventionally, the trouble of setting high-performance multi-screen layouts one by one through the remote control or operation buttons of the television receiver becomes unnecessary because the downloaded program is automatically executed, and the advanced television can be used. It is possible to maximize the functions of the receiver,
As a result, it is possible to very easily and conveniently watch television.

In the present embodiment, it is explained that the information regarding the start and end of execution of the download program is downloaded at the same time as the program, and the application execution management of the television receiver controls the start and end of the execution of the download program. However, it has a class that can manage the execution time and does not occupy the display screen with a display object such as TvScreen, and starts the program execution from this class regardless of the time after download, and at the viewing start time, as described in the example. It is also possible to take a configuration that activates an object of a child class of the TvApplet class. In this case, the end of execution is also controlled by the download program itself. In any case, it is possible as a function of application execution management to stop the operation of the download program being executed by another operation by the user.

In the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a so-called integrated television receiver including a display unit has been described. However, the display unit is not included in the configuration, and a display connected to the outside is used. Video is displayed by the output of the synthesis processor including the function of video display signal output,
It is also possible to take a so-called set-top box configuration.

Further, although the tuner of the television receiver has been described as being an analog tuner, it may be a digital tuner for receiving digital broadcasting, and it may be received via a network or the like in addition to the data broadcasting by digital broadcasting. It is possible to control by a program. The broadcast program received by the multi-screen template by controlling the tuner may be a data broadcast program by digital broadcast, or display data or an executable program broadcast through the data broadcast.

[0110]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A plurality of programs suitable for viewing purposes are automatically selected, and the television receiver is automatically controlled so as to have a display layout suitable for a combination of programs and their contents. The user, who is a viewer, is free from the trouble of finding a program that suits the purpose from among many programs, and is free from the operations of selecting channels and specifying the screen layout for each of multiple screens. It becomes possible to more easily use advanced functions in the machine.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a television receiver to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of a control program relating to a receiving operation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of receiving XML data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state of XML data relating to multi-screen control.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of XML data relating to multi-screen control.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state of XML data according to multi-screen control.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state of XML data relating to multi-screen control.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a receiving operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of XML data relating to multi-screen control.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of XML data according to multi-screen control.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a state of XML data related to multi-screen control.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a state of an electronic program guide.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of a television receiving system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a state of a broadcast program.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen in a two-screen simultaneous display mode.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a control program relating to a receiving operation.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a control program download process.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a user profile setting screen.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a downloaded control program.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a control program to be downloaded.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a state of a display screen by a multi-screen template function.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 7/20 630 H04N 7/20 630 (72) Inventor Teruki Yoshikawa 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo No. within Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Atsushi Mizudome 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term within Canon Inc. (reference) 5B069 CA03 CA13 5C025 CA01 CA02 CA03 CA06 CA09 CA10 CA11 CB08 CB10 DA01 DA04 DA05 5C064 DA01 DA07 DA10

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. Generation of control information for designating a plurality of broadcast channels to be received and controlling a display layout of video of a broadcast program by the plurality of broadcast channels based on program broadcast schedule information of a plurality of television broadcasting systems. And the control information distributed by the distribution device is input, and simultaneously the television broadcast signals of the plurality of reception channels designated by the control information are received, and the television of the plurality of channels is also received. A receiving system having a receiving device for displaying an image of a John broadcast program in a layout according to the control information. 2. The distribution device distributes the control information through a broadcast channel broadcast by one of the plurality of television broadcasting systems.
The receiving system described. 3. The receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution device distributes the control information by a broadcasting channel for broadcasting by a broadcasting system other than the plurality of television broadcasting systems. 4. The control information is data described in XML, and the distribution device distributes the control information through a data broadcasting channel of BS digital television broadcasting. Receiving system. 5. The receiving device transmits performance information related to the performance of the receiving device to the distribution device, and the distribution device further includes the control information based on the program broadcast schedule information and the performance information. The receiving system according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The performance information includes the number of television broadcast channels that can be simultaneously received and processed by the receiving device, the display resolution of a display unit, and the number of audios of a television broadcast program that can be simultaneously output by the receiving device. The receiving system according to claim 5, wherein at least one of them is included. 7. The receiving system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution means distributes the control information through a distribution path different from the television broadcast channel. 8. The receiving system according to claim 7, wherein the distribution unit distributes the control information via the Internet, and the reception unit downloads the control information via the Internet. 9. The distribution device further generates, as the control information, additional image data to be displayed together with videos of broadcast programs on the plurality of broadcast channels and a display layout of the additional image data. Item 1. The receiving system according to item 1. 10. The receiving system according to claim 9, wherein the distribution device determines the display layout of the additional image data while generating the additional image data based on the content of the designated broadcast channel. . 11. The receiving device transmits user profile information to the distribution device, and the distribution device further generates the control information based on the program broadcast schedule information and the user profile information. The receiving system according to claim 1, which is characterized in that 12. The receiving system according to claim 11, wherein the user profile information includes information regarding a viewing time of a television broadcast program. 13. The receiving system according to claim 11, wherein the user profile information includes information about the content of a television broadcast program. 14. The receiving system according to claim 11, wherein the user profile information includes information regarding a viewing purpose. 15. Use with a receiving device for receiving a television broadcast signal, specify a plurality of broadcast channels to be received based on program broadcast schedule information of a plurality of television broadcast systems, and broadcast by the plurality of broadcast channels. A distribution device for generating control information for controlling a display layout of video of a program and distributing the control information to the receiving device, wherein the receiving device is a television broadcast signal of a plurality of receiving channels designated by the control information. Is simultaneously received, and the images of the television broadcast programs of the plurality of channels are displayed in a layout according to the control information. 16. A plurality of receiving means for receiving a television broadcast wave and outputting a video signal, and a plurality of the plurality of receiving means for displaying videos related to the plurality of video signals received by the plurality of receiving means on the same screen. Video processing means for synthesizing the video signals of the above and outputting them to the display section, and information which is generated and distributed based on the program broadcast schedule information of a plurality of television broadcasting systems by the distribution device, and a plurality of received signals. An input unit that specifies a broadcast channel to be input and inputs control information for controlling a display layout of video of a broadcast program on the plurality of broadcast channels; and controls the plurality of receiving units and the video processing unit according to the control information. , The broadcast channels to be received by the plurality of receiving means are automatically designated, and the display layout by the video processing means is automatically set. A receiving device comprising: a control unit for setting. 17. The interface device for transmitting performance information related to the performance of the receiving device to the distribution device, wherein the distribution device generates the control information based on the program broadcast schedule information and the performance information. The receiving device according to claim 16, wherein the receiving device comprises: 18. The performance information includes the number of television broadcast channels that can be simultaneously received and processed by the receiving device, the display resolution of a display unit, and the number of audios of a television broadcast program that can be simultaneously output by the receiving device. 18. The receiving device according to claim 17, wherein at least one of them is included. 19. The interface device for transmitting user profile information to the distribution device, wherein the distribution device generates the control information based on the program broadcast schedule information and the user profile information. The receiving device according to claim 16. 20. The receiving apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the user profile information includes information regarding a viewing time of a television broadcast program. 21. The receiving apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the user profile information includes information about the content of a television broadcast program. 22. The receiving apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the user profile information includes information regarding viewing purpose.