JP2003153101A - Present program search and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a present program search and display device for easily finding a favorite channel out of digital multi-channels of television. SOLUTION: This device is provided with an electronic program guide information decode means 105 for decoding program information such as program titles, a storage means 106 for storing the decoded information, a present program data search means 107 for searching a program under broadcasting at present out of the program information and determining a channel to be tuned, a timer 108 for counting time for changing the program to be turned at a fixed time interval, a cannel tuning means 109 for tuning the channel on the basis of data transmitted from the present program data search means, an OSD display control means 111 for displaying the search result of the present program, and multi-screen control means 110 for performing control for dividing the screen of television into several parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a current program search and display device for a television receiver which decodes electronic program guide information and selects a channel based on the contents of the information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a television receiver equipped with a function of decoding information of an electronic program guide and using the information has been developed.

A method of selecting a channel using a list of programs currently being broadcast is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-60370.

[0004]

However, conventionally, a list of programs currently being broadcast is displayed on the selected screen, and if the contents displayed in the list display are increased, the list display will be changed. There was a problem that the selected screen became difficult to see because it became too large.

If the list display is made small in consideration of the easiness of viewing the selected screen, the contents of the list become difficult to understand and the operability for searching the program desired to be watched in the list is very poor. There was a problem of becoming.

Further, due to the recent digitalization, it is necessary to operate the remote controller or the control panel key many times to confirm the channel.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and by controlling the television screen by dividing it, a list of programs currently being broadcast is displayed on one divided screen and the list is displayed. By automatically moving the cursor that indicates the channel to be selected on the table and displaying the screen that was selected based on the result selected in the list on the other divided screens, the video of the selected program can be displayed. You can check the contents without disturbing the list display, and display the contents and the number of channels in an easy-to-understand manner by using the largest of the split list screens. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a current program search and display device that can automatically search for each channel in order and can easily search for a desired program without impairing operability.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present program search and display device according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises:
The screen is divided by multi-screen control, the information in the electronic program guide is decoded, the currently broadcast program is searched from the decoded information, the list is displayed on one divided screen, and based on the list It is a current program search and display device that displays the selected video on a split screen different from the list, and controls the TV screen to be divided into several parts to display different contents. Screen control means, electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding program information such as a program name from an electronic program guide, storage means for storing the decoded information, and a program currently being broadcast is searched and selected from the program information. Current program data searching means for deciding a channel, timer for counting time for changing a program to be selected at regular intervals, transmission from current program data searching means Channel selection means for selecting a channel based on the over data, in which a OSD display control means for displaying a result of searching the current program.

In the present program search and display method according to claim 2 of the present invention, the screen is divided by multi-screen control, the information of the electronic program guide is decoded, and the currently broadcast program is decoded from the decoded information. A current program search and display method for displaying a list on one screen that is searched and divided, and performing channel selection based on the list and displaying the selected video on a split screen different from the list. Decoding program information such as the program name from the program guide, storing the decoded information, searching the program currently being broadcast from the program information, determining the channel to be selected, and selecting the program to be fixed Counting the time for changing each time, selecting the channel based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means, searching the current program Results by dividing into several steps and the television screen that displays in which a step of performing control to display different contents respectively.

Further, a recording medium according to claim 3 of the present invention stores a computer program for implementing the above-mentioned current program search and display method, and claim 4 of the present invention
The program according to (1) relates to the computer program itself.

The present program search and display device according to claim 5 of the present invention divides the screen by multi-screen control, decodes the information of the electronic program guide, and decodes the information from the decoded information and the content information of the playback device. Broadcasted programs and / or content (programs) recorded on the playback device
A current program search and display device which displays a list on one screen obtained by searching for and splits, selects a channel based on the list, and displays the selected video on a split screen different from the list. Multi-screen control means for controlling the television screen to be divided into several parts and displaying different contents and electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding program information such as a program name from the electronic program guide, and the decoded information Storage means for storing, current program data searching means for deciding a channel to be selected by searching a program currently being broadcast and / or a program of a reproducing device from the program information, for changing the program to be tuned at regular intervals Timer for counting time, remote control and control panel input processing means for selecting channel to select or content to play, current program data Selects a channel based on the transmission data from the search unit, or channel selection means for reproducing the content, in which a OSD display control means for displaying a result of searching the current program.

In the present program search and display method according to claim 6 of the present invention, the screen is divided by multi-screen control, the information of the electronic program guide is decoded, and the decoded information and the content information of the reproducing apparatus are used. Search the currently broadcast program, display a list on one screen that is divided, and tune based on the list and display the selected video on a split screen different from the list Current program search A method of displaying, which comprises decoding program information such as a program name from an electronic program guide, storing the decoded information, and searching a currently broadcast program from the program information to determine a channel to be selected. , A step of counting the time for changing the program to be tuned at regular intervals, a remote control for selecting the channel to tune in or the content to be played back. And control panel input processing step, channel selection or content playback step based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means, displaying the result of searching the current program, and some TV screens. And a step of performing control for dividing and displaying different contents.

A recording medium according to claim 7 of the present invention stores a computer program for carrying out the above-mentioned current program search and display method, and claim 8 of the present invention
The program according to (1) relates to the computer program itself.

The present program search and display apparatus according to claim 9 of the present invention divides the screen by multi-screen control, decodes information in the electronic program guide, and decodes the currently broadcast program from the decoded information. A current program search and display device that displays a list on one screen that is searched and divided, and performs channel selection based on the list and displays the selected video on a split screen different from the list. Multi-screen control means for controlling display of different contents on each screen and electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding program information such as program name from electronic program guide, and storing decoded information Storage means for searching for a program currently being broadcast from the program information, and outputting a screen, and a second channel for outputting a screen next to the first channel Current program data retrieval means for determining the,
A timer for counting a time for changing a program to be selected at regular intervals, a channel selecting means for selecting different channels for two tuners based on transmission data from the present program data searching means, It is provided with an OSD display control means for displaying the result of searching the current program.

In the present program search and display method according to claim 10 of the present invention, the screen is divided by multi-screen control, the information of the electronic program guide is decoded, and the currently broadcast program is decoded from the decoded information. A current program search and display method for displaying a list on one screen that is searched and divided, and performing channel selection based on the list and displaying the selected video on a split screen different from the list. A step of decoding program information such as a program name from the program guide; a step of storing the decoded information; a first channel for searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information and outputting the screen; Next, a step of determining the second channel to be output on the screen, a step of counting the time for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals, and a current program data searching means Based on the transmitted data from the two tuners, selecting different channels, displaying the results of the current program search, and dividing the TV screen into several parts to display different contents. And a step of performing control.

A recording medium according to claim 11 of the present invention stores a computer program for implementing the above-mentioned current program search and display method.
The program according to 2 relates to the computer program itself.

[0017]

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search / display apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The present program search and display device will be described below with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 101 is a terrestrial tuner for inputting a radio wave of a terrestrial television signal, 102 is a BS digital tuner for receiving a radio wave of a BS digital television signal, and 103 is a terrestrial wave receiver for receiving a signal input to the terrestrial tuner 101. A circuit, 104 is a BS digital receiving circuit that receives a signal input to the BS digital tuner 102.

Reference numeral 105 denotes an electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding the information of the electronic program guide from the terrestrial wave receiving circuit 103 and the BS digital receiving circuit 104, and 106 a storage means for storing the contents decoded by the electronic program guide information decoding means. Reference numeral 107 denotes a current program data searching unit that searches the contents of the storage unit 106 for a program currently being broadcast and determines a channel to be selected.

Reference numeral 108 denotes a timer for counting a fixed time for continuing the display of the currently selected screen, 109 denotes a channel selecting means for controlling the channel selection of the television, 1
Reference numeral 10 is a multi-screen control means for controlling a multi-screen circuit for dividing and displaying a television screen, and 111 is an OSD display control means for controlling an on-screen display for displaying on a television screen.

Reference numeral 112 is an input signal switching means for switching a video signal from the terrestrial wave receiving circuit 103 and a video signal from the BS digital receiving circuit 104, 113 is a multi-screen control circuit for dividing the screen of the television, and 114 is a video intermediate frequency. , An image output circuit for performing image amplification, image detection, and image amplification, 115 is a video CRT drive circuit for performing CRT drive control, 116
Is a CRT that displays images.

Reference numeral 117 is an OSD display circuit for outputting a color signal under the control of the OSD display means 111, and 118 is an input of a remote control or a control panel key of the main body of the television receiver to retrieve necessary data from the present program data searching means. A remote control and control panel input processing means 119 for transmitting to 107, and a remote control and control panel receiving circuit for performing input to the control panel of the main body of the remote control and the television receiver.

Electronic program guide information decoding means 105
Is the ground wave receiving circuit 103 and the BS digital receiving circuit 10
4, the information of the electronic program guide is decoded, and the result is stored in the storage means 106. The remote control and control panel reception circuit 119 receives the input from the remote control and control panel keys, and sends a signal to the remote control and control panel input processing means 118.

As a result of processing the signals input by the remote control and control panel input processing means 118, if there is an instruction of "a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list", The current program data searching unit 107 searches for a program currently being broadcast based on the data stored in the storage unit 106.

After the search is completed, the present program data searching means 10
Reference numeral 7 rearranges the retrieved results in the order of the channels, transmits the channel data of the lowest channel to the channel selection unit 109, and further, the multi-screen control unit 110 displays the list of programs currently being broadcast and the list. Based on this, a signal for displaying the selected screen is transmitted, and further, all data of the retrieved results and the program to be selected first are transmitted to the OSD display control means 111.

The OSD display control means 111 controls the OSD display circuit so as to display a channel, a program name, etc. using a list of currently broadcast programs and to display a cursor on the program being selected.

The channel selection means 109 transmits channel data to the terrestrial wave reception circuit 103 if the channel currently transmitted from the program data search means 107 is a terrestrial wave channel, and if it is a BS, the BS digital reception circuit 10
4 transmits channel data to the input signal switching means 112, and further transmits to the input signal switching means 112 whether the selected channel is a ground wave or a BS.

The input signal switching means 112 switches the input of the video signal to either ground wave or BS digital based on the data sent from the channel selection means 104, and sends it to the multi-screen control circuit 113.

When the multi-screen control circuit 113 receives a signal from the multi-screen control means 110 to display a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list, several screens are displayed. Controls to display by dividing into.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of screen division.
In the case of FIG. 2, the multi-screen control circuit 113 divides the screen into two left and right parts, displays the video signal from the input signal switching means 112 on the right side, and the OSD display circuit 11 by the video output circuit 114.
The list is displayed on the left side by the color signals from the display 7, and the list of programs currently being broadcast to the CRT 116 by the video CRT drive circuit 115 and the screen selected based on the list are displayed.

When the timer 108 counts for a certain time, it sends a signal to the program data searching means 107 that the certain time has passed.

Each time the current program data searching means 107 receives a signal from the timer 108, the program data searching means 107 updates the search results sorted in the order of channels in order from the lowest channel, and then selects the channel data to be selected next. It is sent to the means 109 and the OSD display control means 111.

The OSD display control means 111 controls the OSD display circuit 117 so as to change the display of the cursor to the next channel selected in the list.

As a result, the channel name, program name, etc. of the program currently being broadcast can be confirmed by a list display, and since all the channels in the list are automatically selected, the program can be easily displayed on the video. You can check the contents.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the current program search and display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Information of the electronic program guide is decoded (step 301), and the result is stored in the storage means 106 (step 302).

Then, the program currently being broadcast is searched based on the data stored in the storage means 106, and after the search is completed,
The search results are rearranged in the order of the channels, and when this step is executed for the first time, the channel data of the lowest channel is determined as the channel to be tuned.
At the time of execution after the first time, the channel data of the next smaller channel than the currently selected channel is determined as the channel to be selected (step 303).

Next, this channel is selected (step 304), and a list of all data obtained as a result of retrieval and a program to be selected are displayed by OSD (step 305).

Then, the television is divided into several screens, and multi-screen control is performed so that the list and the channel selection screen are displayed separately (step 306).

After the above processing, the time for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals is counted (step 307),
Every time this counting is completed, the processing from step 303 to step 306 is repeated.

According to the above method, the channel name and program name of the program currently being broadcast can be confirmed by the list display, and all the channels in the list are automatically selected. You can check the contents of the program.

The rearrangement of program data is not limited to the order of channels. Further, the channel selection after rearrangement is not limited to the lowest channel. The channel selected after the search may be the program currently being selected. Further, the remote control code for starting the search is not limited to the instruction of “a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list”.

The embodiment of the present invention is realized by controlling each means by a computer program, and by recording this computer program in a recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, It can be transferred, and can be easily implemented in another independent current program search and display device.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search / display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The present program search and display device will be described below with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 220 is a reproducing device built in or attached to the television, 211 is a content information managing means for managing information of contents recorded in the reproducing device 220, 101
Is a terrestrial tuner for inputting a terrestrial television signal, 102 is a BS digital tuner for receiving a BS digital television signal, 103 is a terrestrial tuner 1
This is a terrestrial wave receiving circuit for receiving the signal input to 01.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a BS digital receiving circuit for receiving a signal input to the BS digital tuner 102, 10
5 is a terrestrial receiving circuit 103 and a BS digital receiving circuit 10
4 is an electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding the information of the electronic program guide from 4, and 106 is a storage means for storing the contents decoded by the electronic program guide information decoding means.

Reference numeral 207 retrieves the program currently being broadcast from the content of the storage means 106, and the content information management means 2
Current program data searching means for searching a program of the playback device from the contents of 11 to determine a channel or contents to be tuned, 108 is a timer for counting a certain time for continuing to display the currently selected screen, and 209 is a television It is a channel tuning means for controlling the channel tuning of and / or for controlling the reproducing device.

Reference numeral 110 is a multi-screen control means for controlling a multi-screen circuit for dividing and displaying a television screen, 111 is an OSD display control means for controlling an on-screen display displayed on the television screen, and 112 is a terrestrial receiving circuit. 103
The input signal switching means switches the video signal from the digital signal from the BS digital signal and the video signal from the BS digital receiving circuit 104.

Reference numeral 113 denotes a multi-screen control circuit for dividing the screen of the television, 114 denotes amplification of a video intermediate frequency, video detection,
An image output circuit for performing image amplification, 115 a video CRT drive circuit for controlling the drive of the CRT, and 116 C for displaying an image
RTs 117 are OSD display circuits that output color signals under the control of the OSD display means 111.

Reference numeral 218 processes the input of the remote control or the control panel key of the main body of the television receiver, and transmits the data necessary for determining the channel to be selected and / or the content to be reproduced to the present program data searching means 207. The remote control and control panel input processing means 119 is a remote control and a control panel receiving circuit for performing input to the control panel of the main body of the remote control and the television receiver.

Electronic program guide information decoding means 105
Is the ground wave receiving circuit 103 and the BS digital receiving circuit 10
4, the information of the electronic program guide is decoded, and the result is stored in the storage means 106.

The remote control and control panel reception circuit 119 receives the input from the remote control and control panel keys, and sends a signal to the remote control and control panel input processing means 118.

As a result of processing the signals input by the remote control and control panel input processing means 118, if there is an instruction of "a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list", The current program data searching unit 207 searches for the program currently being broadcast based on the data stored in the storage unit 106, and / or the reproducing device 2 based on the content information stored in the reproducing device 220.
The content recorded in 20 is searched.

After the search is completed, the present program data searching means 20
7 sorts the retrieved results in the order of the channels, transmits the channel data of the lowest channel to the channel selection means 209, and further to the multi-screen control means 110,
A signal for displaying a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list is transmitted, and further, all data as a result of the search and the program to be selected first are transmitted to the OSD display control means 111. .

The OSD display control means 111 displays the channels and program names using the search results obtained from the channel selection means 209 as a list, and further displays the OSD display so that the cursor is displayed on the program or content being selected. It controls the circuit 117.

The channel selection means 109 transmits channel data to the terrestrial wave reception circuit 103 if the channel currently transmitted from the program data search means 207 is a terrestrial wave channel, and if it is a BS, the BS digital reception circuit 10
4, the channel data is transmitted to the reproduction apparatus 220, and if the content is recorded in the reproduction apparatus 220, the content data is transmitted to the reproduction apparatus 220, and further, whether the channel input to the input signal switching means 112 is a terrestrial wave, a BS or a reproduction apparatus. .

The input signal switching means 112 inputs the video signal based on the data sent from the channel selecting means 104 to the ground wave, BS digital or reproducing device 220.
To the multi-screen control circuit 113.

When the multi-screen control circuit 113 receives a signal from the multi-screen control means 110 to display a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list, several screens are displayed. Controls to display by dividing into.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of screen division.
In the case of FIG. 2, the multi-screen control circuit 113 divides the screen into two left and right parts, displays the video signal from the input signal switching means 112 on the right side, and the OSD display circuit 11 by the video output circuit 114.
A list is displayed on the left side by a color signal from the display device 7, and a list of programs currently broadcast on the CRT 116 by the video CRT drive circuit 115 and / or a content of the playback device 220 and a screen selected based on the list are displayed. indicate.

When the timer 108 counts for a fixed time, it sends a signal to the program data searching means 207 that the fixed time has passed.

Each time the current program data searching means 207 receives a signal from the timer 108, the search results sorted in the order of channels are sequentially increased from the lowest channel, and the channel data or content data to be selected next is selected. It transmits to the channel selection means 209 and the OSD display control means 111.

Further, the signal received by the remote control and control panel receiving device 119 is processed by the remote control and control panel input processing means 218, and the remote control signal and the control panel signal for selecting the channel or content to be tuned in are received. sometimes,
A signal for selecting a channel or content data to be selected to the current program data searching means 207 is transmitted.

Each time the current program data searching means 207 receives a signal from the remote control and control panel input processing means 218, it changes the channel or content data selected from the search results rearranged in the order of channels, and then selects a channel. The channel data or the content data to be transmitted is transmitted to the channel selection unit 209 and the OSD display control unit 111.

The OSD display control means 111 controls the OSD display circuit 117 to change the cursor display to the channel or content to be selected next in the list.

As a result, the channel name, program name, etc. of the program or content currently being broadcast can be confirmed by the list display, and furthermore, all channels or contents in the list are automatically selected, so that the video can be displayed. You can check the contents of the program.

Further, since the contents of the reproducing apparatus 220 can be displayed, the contents of all the programs that the user can view can be easily confirmed on the video.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the current program search and display method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Information of the electronic program guide is decoded (step 501), and the result is stored in the storage means 106 (step 502).

Then, the program currently being broadcast is searched based on the data stored in the storage means 106 and / or the program is searched from the program information of the content recorded in the reproducing device 220, and after the search is completed, The search results are sorted in the order of the channels, and when the execution of this step is executed for the first time, the channel data of the lowest channel is determined as the channel to be selected, and the second and subsequent executions are currently selected. The channel data of the next smaller channel than the existing channel is determined as the channel to be selected (step 503).

Next, the channel is selected or the content is reproduced (step 504), and a list of all the data obtained as a result of retrieval and the program to be selected or reproduced are OSD.
Is displayed (step 505).

Then, the television is divided into several screens, and multi-screen control is performed so that the list and the channel selection screen or the reproduction screen are displayed separately (step 50).
6).

After the above processing, the time for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals is counted (step 507),
Every time this counting is completed, the processing from step 503 to step 506 is repeated.

The rearrangement of program data is not limited to the order of channels. Further, the channel selection after rearrangement is not limited to the lowest channel. Also, the order of selecting channels based on the search results is not limited to the order of channels. The channel selected after the search may be the program currently being selected.

The remote control code for starting the search is not limited to the instruction of "a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list." In addition, the playback device 2
20 may be on an IEEE 1394 standard network or a network such as the Internet.

The embodiment of the present invention is realized by controlling each means by a computer program, and by transporting this computer program in a recording medium such as a floppy disk, it becomes possible to transfer. It can be easily implemented in another independent current program search and display device.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search / display apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the present program search and display device will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 102 denotes a BS digital tuner that receives a radio wave of a BS digital TV signal, 301 is a second BS digital tuner that receives a radio wave of a BS digital TV signal of a channel different from that of the BS digital tuner 102, and 104 is a BS digital tuner 102. It is a BS digital receiving circuit that receives an input signal.

Reference numeral 303 denotes a second BS digital receiving circuit for receiving a signal input to the BS digital tuner 201,
Reference numeral 105 is an electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding the information of the electronic program guide from the terrestrial wave receiving circuit 103 and the BS digital receiving circuit 104, and 106 is a storage means for storing the contents decoded by the electronic program guide information decoding means.

Reference numeral 307 is a current program data retrieval for retrieving the program currently being broadcast from the contents of the storage means 106 and determining the first channel for screen output and the second channel for screen output next to the first channel. Means, 108 is a timer that counts a certain period of time for continuing to display the currently selected screen.

Reference numeral 309 is a channel selection means for controlling the channel selection of the television by using two BS digital tuners, 110 is a multi-screen control means for controlling a multi-screen circuit for dividing and displaying the TV screen, and 111 is Controls the on-screen display displayed on the TV screen O
SD display control means.

Reference numeral 112 is an input signal switching means for switching the video signal from the BS digital receiving circuit 104 and the video signal from the second BS digital receiving circuit 303, 113 is a multi-screen control circuit for dividing the screen of the television, and 114 is a video. This is a video output circuit that performs intermediate frequency amplification, video detection, and video amplification.

Reference numeral 115 is a video C for controlling the drive of the CRT.
RT driving circuit, 116 is a CRT for displaying images, 117 is O
The OSD display circuit outputs a color signal under the control of the SD display means 111.

Reference numeral 118 denotes a remote control and control panel input processing means for processing the input of a remote control or a control panel key of the main body of the television receiver and transmitting necessary data to the present program data searching means 307. Reference numeral 119 denotes a remote control and television image receiving means. A remote control and a control panel receiving circuit for inputting to the control panel of the main body of the machine.

Electronic program guide information decoding means 105
Decodes the information of the electronic program guide from the BS digital receiving circuit 104 and stores the result in the storage means 106.

The remote control and control panel reception circuit 119 receives the input from the remote control and control panel keys, and sends a signal to the remote control and control panel input processing means 118.

As a result of processing the signals input by the remote control and control panel input processing means 118, when there is an instruction of "a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list", The current program data searching unit 307 searches for a program currently being broadcast based on the data stored in the storage unit 106.

After the search is completed, the present program data searching means 30
Reference numeral 7 rearranges the search results in the order of the channels, and when it is executed for the first time, the lowest channel is the first channel, and the second lowest channel is the second channel.
Send to.

At the second and subsequent executions, the channel next to the currently selected channel is the first channel,
The second lowest channel is used as the second channel, the respective channel data is used as the channel to be tuned, and the respective channel data is transmitted to the channel tuning means 309.

Further, a signal for displaying a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list is transmitted to the multi-screen control means 110, and further, all data of the search result and the first channel are sent. OSD display control means 11 for program
Send to 1.

The OSD display control means 111 controls the OSD display circuit 117 to display a channel, a program name, etc., using the programs currently being broadcast as a list and to display a cursor on the program of the first channel.

When the channel selection means 309 is transmitted from the current program data search means 307, the BS digital reception circuit 10 receives the channel data received at first for the first time.
4, the first channel data is transmitted to the second BS digital receiving circuit 303, the second channel data is transmitted to the second BS digital receiving circuit 303, and further, the fact that the input source is the BS digital receiving circuit 104 is transmitted to the input signal switching means 112.

For the second and subsequent transmissions from the current program data searching means 307, the channel next lower than the currently selected channel is the first channel, and the next lowest channel is the second channel. The channel data is transmitted, and further, the fact that the receiving circuit of the first channel is the input source is transmitted to the input signal switching means 112.

The input signal switching means 112 switches the input of the video signal to either the BS digital receiving circuit 104 or the second BS digital receiving circuit 303 based on the data sent from the channel selecting means 309, and the multi-screen is displayed. It is transmitted to the control circuit 113.

When the multi-screen control circuit 113 receives a signal from the multi-screen control means 110 to display a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list, several screens are displayed. Controls to display by dividing into.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of screen division.
In the case of FIG. 2, the multi-screen control circuit 113 divides the screen into two left and right parts, displays the video signal from the input signal switching means 112 on the right side, and the OSD display circuit 11 by the video output circuit 114.
The list is displayed on the left side by the color signals from the display 7, and the list of programs currently being broadcast to the CRT 116 by the video CRT drive circuit 115 and the screen selected based on the list are displayed.

When the timer 108 counts for a certain time, it sends a signal to the program data searching means 307 that the certain time has passed.

Each time the current program data search means 307 receives a signal from the timer 108, the search result rearranged in the order of channels is increased in order from the lowest channel, and the channel after the increase is set as the first channel, and The second lowest channel after the latter channel is set as the second channel, the channel data of the first channel is transmitted to the channel selection unit 309 and the OSD display control unit 111, and the channel data of the second channel is selected as the channel selection unit 309. Send to.

The OSD display control means 111 controls the OSD display circuit 117 to change the cursor to the first channel in the list.

As a result, the channel name, program name, etc. of the program currently being broadcast can be confirmed by the list display, and since all the channels in the list are automatically selected, the program can be easily displayed on the video. You can check the contents.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the processing procedure of the present program search and display method according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Information of the electronic program guide is decoded (step 701), and the result is stored in the storage means 106 (step 702).

Then, the program currently being broadcast is searched based on the data stored in the storage means 106, and after the search is completed,
The search results are sorted in the order of the channels, and when this step is executed for the first time, the lowest channel is set as the first channel, the second lowest channel is set as the second channel, and each channel data is determined as a channel selection target. During the second and subsequent executions, the channel next lower than the currently selected channel is determined as the first channel, and the next lowest channel is determined as the second channel, and the respective channel data is determined as the channel to be selected (step 703). ).

Next, in the first execution of this step, the channel data of the first channel is selected by the BS digital tuner 102, and the channel data of the second channel is selected by the second BS digital tuner 301. .

On the other hand, if it is the second or more execution, the channel data of the second channel is selected by the tuner that did not select the second channel at the execution of this step just before (step 704). ).

Then, after displaying a list of all data obtained as a result of the search and the program of the first channel on the OSD (step 705), a process for dividing the television into several screens is performed, and the list and channel selection are performed. Multi-screen control is performed so that the screens are displayed separately (step 706).

After the above processing, the time for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals is counted (step 707),
Each time this counting is completed, the processing from step 703 to step 706 is repeated.

In this way, the channel name and program name of the program currently being broadcast can be confirmed by the list display, and all the channels in the list are automatically selected, so that it is easy to view the video. You can check the contents of the program.

The rearrangement of program data is not limited to the order of channels. Further, the channel selection after rearrangement is not limited to the lowest channel. Also, the order of selecting channels based on the search results is not limited to the order of channels. The channel selected after the search may be the program currently being selected. Further, the remote control code for starting the search is not limited to the instruction of “a list of programs currently being broadcast and a screen selected based on the list”.

The embodiment of the present invention is realized by controlling each means by a computer program, and the computer program can be transferred by recording the computer program on a recording medium such as a floppy disk. It can be easily implemented in another independent current program search and display device.

[0110]

As described above, according to the present program search and display apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention, the channel name, program name, etc. of the currently broadcast program can be confirmed by the list display, and the list can be confirmed. By automatically moving the cursor in the table in order and checking the contents of the program on which the cursor is pointing, you can easily select a program that suits your taste from the programs currently being broadcast. There is an effect that can be.

Further, according to the present program search and display apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention, the content recorded in the built-in reproducing apparatus or the connected external reproducing apparatus is the same as the currently broadcast program. By displaying the list by operation, there is an effect that a program that suits one's taste can be easily selected from the programs currently available for viewing.

According to the present program search / display apparatus of claim 5 of the present invention, by controlling two tuners and selecting a channel to be selected next, in advance,
There is an effect that it is possible to shorten the time until the video is switched when the channel is switched.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search / display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of multi-screen control according to Embodiments 1 and 2 and Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a current program search / display method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a current program search / display method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a current program search / display device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a current program search / display method according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Terrestrial tuner 102 BS digital tuner 103 Terrestrial receiver circuit 104 BS digital receiver circuit 105 Electronic program guide information decoding means 106 Storage means 107, 207, 307 Current program data search means 108 Timers 109, 209, 309 Channel selection means 110 Multi-screen control means 111 OSD display control means 112 Input signal switching means 113 Multi-screen control circuit 114 Video output circuit 115 Video CRT drive circuit 116 CRT 117 OSD display circuits 118, 218 Remote control and control panel Input processing means 119 Remote control and control panel Receiving circuit 220 Reproducing device 221 Content information managing means 301 Second BS digital tuner 303 Second BS digital receiving circuit

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04N 7/03 7/035 F term (reference) 5C025 AA23 BA27 BA30 CA06 CA09 CB05 CB10 DA01 DA04 5C063 AA01 AB03 CA29 CA40 DA20 DB10

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A multi-screen control means controls a screen of a television to be divided into several pieces and display different contents on each, and a list of television program names and channels currently being broadcast is divided into one. A current program search and display device for displaying a video on a screen and displaying a video selected based on the list on a split screen different from the list, including program information such as a program name from an electronic program guide (EPG). An electronic program guide information decoding unit that decodes a program, a storage unit that stores the decoded information, a current program data search unit that searches a program currently being broadcast from the program information and determines a channel to select, and a program that selects the program. A timer that counts the time for changing at regular intervals, a channel that selects a channel based on the transmission data from the current program data search means. A current program search and display device comprising: a channel selection means, an OSD display control means for displaying a result of searching for a current program, and a multi-screen control means for controlling to divide a screen of a television into several parts. 2. The multi-screen control means controls the screen of the television to be divided into several pieces and displays different contents on each, and the list of program names and channels of the currently broadcast television is divided into one. A method for displaying and displaying a current program, which is displayed on a screen and a video selected based on the list is displayed on a split screen different from the list, including program information such as a program name from an electronic program guide (EPG). A step of decoding the information, a step of storing the decoded information, a step of searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information to determine a channel to be selected, and a program for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals. Steps for counting time, selecting a channel based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means, and displaying the result of searching the current program The present program search and display method, further comprising: an OSD display control step according to the present invention; 3. An electronic program guide (EPG) for decoding program information such as a program name, storing the decoded information, and searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information to select a channel. Steps for determining the channel to be selected, counting the time for changing the program to be selected at regular intervals, selecting the channel based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means, and the result of searching the current program A computer-readable recording medium that stores a program for executing the OSD display control step for displaying and the step of performing control for dividing the screen of the television into several parts. 4. An electronic program guide information decoding means for decoding program information such as a program name from an electronic program guide (EPG), a storage means for storing the decoded information, and a program currently broadcast from the program information. Current program data searching means for determining a channel to be searched and selected, a timer for counting a time for changing a program to be selected at regular intervals, and a channel is selected based on transmission data from the current program data searching means. Channel tuning means, OSD display control means for displaying the result of searching the current program,
The multi-screen control means for controlling the TV screen to divide it into several parts controls the TV screen to be divided into several parts to display different contents, and the program name and channel of the currently broadcast TV A program for causing a list to be displayed on one split screen and causing a video image selected based on the list to be displayed on a split screen different from the list. 5. The program information according to claim 1 is replaced with the current program data searching means for searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information according to claim 1 and determining a channel to be selected. 2. The present program data searching means for searching a selected program and / or searching a program from the program information of the content recorded in the reproducing device to determine a channel to be selected. Currently program search and display device. 6. A program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 2, in place of the step of searching a program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 2 and determining a channel to be selected. 3. The current program search and display method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of searching for a program from the program information of the content recorded in the playback device and / or determining a channel to be selected. 7. A program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 3 is replaced with a step of searching a program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 3 and determining a channel to be selected. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing a step of searching a program and / or searching a program from program information of a content recorded in a reproducing apparatus and determining a channel to be selected. 8. The present program information according to claim 4 is replaced with a present program data searching means for searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information according to claim 4 and determining a channel to be selected. A program for operating the present program data searching means for searching a selected program and / or searching a program from the program information of the content recorded in the reproducing apparatus to determine a channel to be selected. 9. The program information according to claim 1 is replaced by a current program data searching means for searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information according to claim 1 and determining a channel to be selected. 2. The current program data searching means according to claim 1, further comprising a current program data searching means for searching a first program for displaying a screen and outputting the screen on the screen and a second channel for outputting the screen next to the first channel. The channel selection means for selecting a channel based on the transmission data from the means, instead of the channel selection means, the two program tuners are alternately selected based on the transmission data from the present program data search means. 2. The current program search and display device according to claim 1, further comprising a channel selection means for requesting the request. 10. The program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 2, in place of the step of searching the program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 2 and determining the channel to be selected. The channel based on the transmission data from the present program data searching means according to claim 2, further comprising a step of determining a first channel to be searched and output on the screen and a second channel to be output on the screen next to the first channel. In place of the step of selecting the channel, 2 based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means according to claim 2
3. The current program search and display method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of alternately selecting a channel for each tuner. 11. A program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 3 is replaced with a step of searching a program currently broadcast from the program information according to claim 3 and determining a channel to be selected. The step of determining a first channel to be searched and output on the screen and a second channel to be output on the screen next to the first channel is executed, and based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means according to claim 3. A program for causing two tuners to alternately select a channel based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means according to claim 3, instead of the step of selecting a channel. A computer-readable recording medium in which is recorded. 12. The program information according to claim 4, which is currently broadcast, instead of the current program data searching means for searching a program currently being broadcast from the program information according to claim 4 and determining a channel to be selected. 5. The current program data search means according to claim 4, further comprising a current program data searching means for searching a first program for displaying a screen and outputting the screen on the screen and a second channel for screen output next to the first channel. The channel selection means for selecting a channel based on the transmission data from the means, instead of the channel selection means according to claim 2, based on the transmission data from the current program data searching means, channels are alternately selected for two tuners. A program that makes the channel selection means function.