JP2003304464A - Method and apparatus for displaying advertisement on tv screen - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for displaying advertisement on a TV screen. <P>SOLUTION: The system is applied in an environment where a set-top box is connected to a TV. The set-top box is also connected to a network, and the TV screen receives advertisement information from the network, and is capable of displaying an image of the received advertisement information on the TV screen. As the cost of manufacturing an Information Appliance (IA) is relatively high, the cost is reduced and the economic effect is enhanced by a revenue obtained by this advertisement information display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for displaying an advertisement on a television screen, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus whose application range includes application to an informer current range such as a set top box.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Traditional, well-known set top boxes are commonly used in combination with televisions. The user receives the network signal by passing through the network interface of the set top box, connects the television signal by the tuner, and receives the image signal of the video machine or the CD drive by the AV terminal.
As a result, the user can select a television program he / she wants to watch as necessary, switch to a network mode to go online, or switch to an AV mode to watch an image such as a video, a CD or a DVD. The set top box has an online function, so the user can directly connect to the Internet through the set top box, and the set top box combines the functions of the TV and the computer without using a personal computer. It is used as a work table for functional services and has a significant effect on sales promotion of information home appliances.

However, most of the known applications of set-top boxes are limited to the processing of networks, televisions, and other image signals, and the manufacturer or seller of the set-top box permeates the product to obtain information such as advertisement information. Cannot be transmitted to the user. The initial cost of information home appliances is relatively high, so that the manufacturer or seller cannot reduce the cost by earning advertising revenue, which is not ideal.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention considered that a method and an apparatus for displaying an advertisement on a television screen was necessary.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A main object of the present invention is to enable an advertisement to be displayed on a television screen, so that a user using the set top box can use the set top box to go online, a television or It is to be able to receive advertisement information when watching videos, CDs and DVDs. The transmission of the advertising information reduces the required expenditure for the set top box user, which is advantageous for promoting the set top box user and the set top box.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is used in an environment in which a set top box is connected to a television, of which the set top box is connected to a network and the set top box receives advertisement information from the network. And a method of displaying an image including advertisement information on a television and displaying an advertisement on a television screen, the method comprising the steps of: (A) a set top box, a television broadcast image signal, a video broadcast image. Signal, or at least one image signal of the CD broadcast image signal, (B) the broadcast screen reduction process is performed on the image signal received by the set top box, and the image signal after the screen reduction process The step of laying out the position of the display on the TV you need,
(C) The step of the set top box receiving the advertisement information through the network, (D) The set top box processes the advertisement image signal that needs to be displayed on the television for the advertisement information, and the need for the advertisement image signal. A step of laying out the position of the broadcast on the television, the step (E) of outputting the image signal after the screen reduction processing and the advertisement image signal to the television by the set top box, and the steps described above. The method is to display an advertisement on the screen. The invention of claim 2 relates to claim 1
In the method of displaying an advertisement on the television screen according to [1], the broadcast position on the television required by the image signal after the screen reduction processing is different from the broadcast position on the television required by the advertisement image signal. Yes, you're trying to display an advertisement on your TV screen. The invention of claim 3 is the method of displaying an advertisement on the television screen according to claim 1, characterized in that in step C, the advertisement information received by the set top box is further stored.
The method is to display advertisements on the TV screen. According to the invention of claim 4, in the method for displaying an advertisement on the television screen according to claim 3, in step C, when the advertisement information is not successfully received through the network, the set top box is set in the set top box. The method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen is characterized by acquiring the advertisement information stored in. The invention according to claim 5 is the method for displaying an advertisement on the television screen according to claim 4, wherein the advertisement information stored in the set top box is advertisement information received in the past. It's a way to show ads. According to the invention of claim 6, the network signal is received to perform online with the network station, and the image signal is output to the television so that the user can browse the contents of the online network station on the television. In a set-top box provided with a storage device, in addition to the storage device having a system program and a browser program, the size and position of a display of a broadcast image signal of a television, a video machine, or a CD drive on the television can be determined. The image size and position processing program to be determined, the advertisement information transmitted through the network and stored, the advertisement file and the advertisement information stored in the advertisement file are displayed on the television, and transmitted through the network. Advertisement processing program for saving or updating the advertisement file , Is characterized in that comprises a, is a set-top box.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention utilizes an environment in which a set-top box is connected to a television, connects the set-top box and a network, and enables the set-top box to receive network advertisement information, and a television. To be able to display the image of advertising information.

The method of displaying an advertisement on the television screen provided by the present invention includes the following steps. That is,
(A) The set top box is a TV broadcast image signal,
Of video broadcast image signals or CD broadcast image signals,
Receiving at least one image signal, (B)
A step of performing a broadcast screen reduction process on the image signal received by the set top box and laying out a display position on the television required by the image signal after the screen reduction process; Transparently receiving the advertisement information, (D) the set-top box processes the advertisement image signal that needs to be displayed on the television for the advertisement information, and lays out the position of the broadcast on the television where the advertisement image signal is required. Steps to
(E) The set top box outputs the image signal after the screen reduction processing and the advertisement image signal to the television.

In step C, if the advertisement information is not successfully transmitted through the network, the set top box acquires the advertisement information received and stored in the past.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the environment for implementing the present invention. The set top box 10 is connected to the television 30, and can receive the network signal 51, the television signal 52, and other image signals 53, for example, signals transmitted by an image device such as a video player, a CD drive, a DVD drive, or the like. This allows the user to watch the TV using the TV 30, view the contents of the network station online on the TV 30, or watch videos, DVDs on other imaging devices.

FIG. 2 is a hardware structure diagram of the set top box 10. Many parts of the set top box 10 and the basic structure of a general home computer are similar. Generally, the set-top box 10 includes a processor 11, a system bus 111, a storage device 12 (which may be, for example, a memory, a hard disk, or a memory card), an audio processing unit 13, an image processing unit 14, and is different from a home computer. Infrared receiver 15,
Network interface 16, tuner 17, AV
It has a terminal 18 and an input device 19 (for example, a remote controller). Among them, the network signal 51 (for example, a signal transmitted from the Internet) enters from the network interface 16. The television signal 52 is connected to the tuner 17. Other image signals 53 such as video machine and CD drive signals enter from the AV terminal 18. However, at present, there is a situation in which the network signal 51 and the television signal 52 share one cable. Since the hardware and basic functions of the set top box 10 are known, the description thereof will be omitted here.

FIG. 3 shows a computer program stored in the storage device 12 of the present invention. The basic structure of the system program 121 and the browser 12 stored in the storage device 12 of the set-top box 10 is similar to that of a general home computer.
2 is an image size and position processing program 12
3, advertisement processing program 124, and advertisement file 12
It is equipped with 5. The function of each program or file will be described below.

The set top box 10 of the present invention receives advertisement information from the network and causes the television 30 to display an image containing the advertisement information. FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of displaying an advertisement on a television screen using a set top box. First, the set top box 10 receives an image signal (step S40).
1), this image signal includes a television broadcast image signal, a video broadcast image signal, a CD broadcast image signal, and the like. An advertisement title can be displayed on the screen 31, so that the screen 31 becomes as shown in FIG. 5, and the screen 31 is divided into two parts, an upper part and a lower part, which is an image signal window 311. , The image signal or the network signal 51 is displayed, and the other part is the advertising image signal window 312 in the upper half part.
Display 1, 22 signals.

In order to smoothly display the image signal received in step S401 on the image signal window 311 of the screen 31, the set top box 10 performs the broadcast screen reduction process on the original image signal, and after the screen reduction process. It is necessary to lay out the display position of the image signal required on the television, that is, the position of the image signal window 311 (step S402). Of these, step S402 is the image size and position processing program 123.
Is completed by.

It should be noted here that the set top box 10 receives the network signal 51 in step S401, but the network signal 51 is received.
The browser screen displayed by means that the size of the screen 31 does not affect the quality. Therefore, it is not necessary to reduce the network signal 51 in step S402, but it is necessary to pass through step S402 to lay out the position of the network signal 51 in the image signal window 311.

Then, the set top box 10 transmits the advertisement information through the network (step S4).
03), among them, the network route for receiving the advertisement information is set in the set top box 10 in advance, and therefore, the advertisement information is received by directly connecting to the server to which the route of the image signal window 311 is directed, and after receiving the advertisement information. , And save it in the advertisement file 125 shown in FIG. At this time, the set top box 10 processes the advertisement images 21 and 22 signals to be displayed on the television 30 of the advertisement information, and the television 30 of the advertisement images 21 and 22 signals.
Position of broadcast above, ie, advertising image signal window 312
The location is laid out (step S404), and this step is completed by the advertisement processing program 124.
After the processing of the image signal and the advertisement image signal is completed, the set top box 10 outputs the image signal after the screen reduction processing and the advertisement image signal to the advertisement image signal window 312 (step S405).

Please refer to the flow chart of the advertisement processing program 124 in FIG. This is an advertisement processing program 1
24 shows a detailed flow of 24. The above-mentioned situation shown in FIG. 4 is hypothesized to be already connected to the network, but in reality, even if the user switches on the television 30 first, the user may still not be connected to the network, or You may not be able to connect to the network for other reasons. For this reason, it is necessary to first determine whether or not the device is connected to the network before starting (step S
601). If connected, you can download the advertisement information through the network at this time (step S
After the download is completed, the advertisement information is saved and the advertisement file 125 is updated (step S60).
3) Further, the updated advertisement images 21 and 22 signals are captured and displayed on the television 30 (step S604).
Since the advertisement information provided by the advertisement provider can be continuously updated, the set top box 10 itself has a preset time value, for example, one hour or two hours, but of course, minutes or seconds are the unit of the preset time value. You can do it. Therefore, if the time elapsed after the start of the TV 30 is longer than the preset time (step S
605), the set top box 10 then returns to step S601 and starts execution. Step S601NAK
A, if you decide that you are not connected to the network,
That is, the set top box 10 is the advertisement file 12 first.
The advertisement information stored in step 5 is acquired (step S60
6) That is, the advertisement information received in the past is acquired, the advertisement images 21 and 22 signals are displayed on the television 30, and after the connection with the network, the update operation is further executed.

Please refer to the advertisement title display diagram of FIG. The division ratio of the screen 31 used in the present embodiment is set to about 86% of that of the screen 31 in which the image signal window 311 is completely scaled, so that the screen on which the television signal 52 and other image signals 53 are displayed is the original 86. %, And the network signal 51 is not affected by the scaling ratio of the screen 31. Of course, in actual application, the image signal window 311 and the advertisement image signal window 31 may differ depending on the user's need or the advertisement title design format.
The scale 2 design is for other ratios.

In addition, although the screen 31 is divided into the lower image signal window 311 and the upper advertisement image signal window 312 in this embodiment, the arrangement can be changed, for example, the advertisement image signal window 312. Can be designed to be below, to the left, or to the right of the screen 31. Moreover, the advertisement image signal window 312 of this embodiment can display the advertisement images 21 and 22, and
In addition, a tool bar 23 is provided to allow an online user to switch to a television image, connect to a main page, or scroll in a browser. The function in the toolbar 23 is not limited and may be designed differently according to need, but naturally, the advertisement image signal window 312 can also be used to completely display the advertisement images 21 and 22, and in this case, the function of the toolbar 23. Is unnecessary, and the number of advertisement images 21 and 22 is not limited, and one or more advertisement information can be included in one advertisement image signal window 312 at the same time. Among them, the advertising image 21,
The format of 22 is a dot-matrix image file format such as GIF, JPG, or BMP, and the advertisement images 21 and 22 include a super link. If the user clicks and selects the image file,
It can be connected to the network address of the advertisement provider through the network.

[0020]

As a whole, the present invention has its object, means, and
All of the functions are different from the features of the conventional technology, and it is a breakthrough. It should be noted that the above examples are presented for explaining the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention, and modifications or modifications to the examples that can be made without departing from the technology and spirit of the present invention or All modifications are intended to be within the scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an implementation environment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware structure diagram of the set top box of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a program stored in a storage device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of displaying an advertisement on a television screen using the set top box of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a display diagram of an advertisement title according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an advertisement processing program of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Set Top Box 11 Processor 111 System Bus 12 Storage Device 121 System Program 122 Browser 123 Image Size and Position Processing Program 124 Advertising Processing Program 125 Advertising File 13 Audio Processing Unit 14 Image Processing Unit 15 Infrared Receiver 16 Network Interface 17 Tuner 18 AV terminal 19 Input device 21, 22 Advertising image 23 Toolbar 30 Television 31 Screen 311 Image signal window 312 Advertising image signal window 51 Network signal 52 Television signal 53 Other image signal

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Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Use in an environment in which a set top box is connected to a television, of which the set top box is connected to a network, the set top box can receive advertisement information from the network, and an image containing advertisement information on the television is displayed. A method of displaying and displaying an advertisement on a television screen, the method comprising the steps of: (A) a set top box is a television broadcast image signal;
Of video broadcast image signals or CD broadcast image signals,
A step of receiving at least one image signal, (B) performing a broadcast screen reduction process on the image signal received by the set top box, and determining a display position on the television required by the image signal after the screen reduction process. Laying out, (C) the set top box receives the advertisement information through the network, (D) the set top box processes the advertisement image signal that needs to be displayed on the television for the advertisement information, and the advertisement image The step of laying out the position of the broadcast on the television that the signal requires, (E) the step of outputting the image signal after the screen reduction processing and the advertisement image signal to the television by the set top box, and the above steps are provided. And how to display ads on TV screen. 2. The method of displaying an advertisement on the television screen according to claim 1, wherein the position of the broadcast on the television which requires the image signal after the screen reduction processing and the broadcast on the television which requires the advertisement image signal. A method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen, characterized by different positions of. 3. The method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen according to claim 1, wherein in step C, further comprising:
A method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen, characterized by storing the advertisement information received by the set top box. 4. The method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen according to claim 3, wherein in step C, the set top box is stored in the set top box when the advertisement information is not successfully received through the network. A method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen, which comprises acquiring the advertisement information that has been generated. 5. The method of displaying an advertisement on a television screen according to claim 4, wherein the advertisement information stored in the set top box is advertisement information received in the past. How to display. 6. A network signal is received to perform online with a network station, and an image signal is output to a television so that a user can browse the contents of the online network station on the television and stored. In a set-top box including a device, the storage device includes a system program and a browser program, and determines the size and position of a display of a broadcast image signal of a television, a video machine, or a CD drive on the television. ,
Image size and position processing program, save advertisement information received through the network,
Display the advertisement file and the advertisement information saved in the advertisement file on the TV,
Also, a set-top box comprising: an advertisement processing program that stores or updates the advertisement file through a network.