JP2003319284A - Broadcasting reception device, information reproducing device, broadcasting reception method, and information reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently provide information from various information media. <P>SOLUTION: Identification information and peculiar information of external devices are recorded in an external device information database (step S1), and an EPG information database and a reservation information database are retrieved to read out EPG information, reservation information, or the like for use in electronic program display (step S3) when a display request for an electronic program table is inputted (Yes in step S2). The electronic program table is displayed (step S5) by generating video data for displaying the electronic program table in accordance with the EPG information and the reservation information (step S4). Not only information related to broadcasting channels but also information related to contents which can be reproduced by external devices are displayed as a list in the electronic program table, so that a program or a content to be watched can be selected and reserved (steps S6 and S9). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving device,
The present invention relates to an information reproducing device, a broadcast receiving method, and an information reproducing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Digital television broadcasting using an artificial satellite or a cable network is performed. Also in terrestrial television broadcasting, there is an ongoing move toward digitalization. In such digital television broadcasting, for example, MPE
The signals of a plurality of television programs, which are data-compressed by the G-2 (Moving Picture Experts Group phase 2) method, are multiplexed and transmitted. This allows broadcast programs to be provided using a large number of channels.

A digital broadcasting station is an EPG.
(Electronic Program Guide) Information is transmitted so that the program guide can be displayed on the screen of the TV monitor.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic program guide displayed on the screen of a television monitor using EPG information provided with such digital television broadcasting. A user, who is a viewer, can operate a remote controller or the like to change the cursor position displayed on the screen, select an item, or the like to view a desired program or make a viewing reservation.

On the other hand, video tapes, CDs, DVDs are used as recording media capable of recording contents including video and audio.
Are widely used. Due to the diversification of information media as information provision media including broadcast signals, communication signals, and recording media, the number of broadcast programs and contents provided to users continues to increase, and we want to efficiently obtain information from these programs and contents. It is considered that there is an increasing demand.

[0005]

However, in the conventional digital broadcast receiving apparatus, only those programs which can be instructed for viewing or reserved for viewing using the electronic program guide are limited to the programs provided by digital broadcasting. . Therefore, in order to obtain information from another information medium such as a video tape, a CD, a DVD, many procedures are required separately from viewing the broadcast program, such as operating a reproduction device dedicated to the information medium. Therefore, when a certain amount of time is left between the broadcast programs that the user desires to view, there is a problem that the tendency to watch programs that the user does not want to watch increases, and time is easily wasted. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of efficiently providing information from various information media.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a broadcast receiving apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of setting a viewing reservation of a broadcast program by displaying an electronic program. Display control means for displaying, in addition to the viewing reservation status of the broadcast program, the viewing reservation status of the content recorded on the recording medium in one electronic program guide, and the display control means. The broadcast receiving means capable of receiving a broadcast signal and outputting video and audio at the broadcast viewing time indicated by the reservation list, and the content from the recording medium at the content viewing time indicated by the reservation list displayed by the display control means. And a medium reproduction control means capable of reproducing video and outputting video and audio.

[0008] Further, a reservation management means for enabling the setting of the viewing reservation of the broadcast program and the viewing reservation of the content recorded on the recording medium on the reservation list displayed by the display control means. Is desirable.

[0009] The reservation management means may allow viewing reservations to be set redundantly in the same time zone, and when the viewing reservations overlap, a broadcast program or content to be viewed may be determined in accordance with the set priority. .

The medium reproduction control means may automatically turn on / off the power of the device for reproducing the content from the recording medium in accordance with the content viewing time.

An information reproducing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention provides a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a first information providing medium and a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a second information providing medium. It can be set on one electronic program guide, the reservation status is displayed in a list, and information from either the first information providing medium or the second information providing medium is displayed in correspondence with the set reproduction reservation. It is characterized by playing.

In the broadcast receiving method according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the viewing reservation status of the broadcast program, the viewing reservation status of the content recorded on the recording medium is displayed as a list in an electronic program guide. Reservation setting step for setting at least one of a step, a viewing reservation for a broadcast program, and a viewing reservation for a content recorded in the recording medium on the electronic program guide displayed in the display step. And a broadcast receiving step of receiving a broadcast signal and outputting video and audio at the viewing reservation time of the broadcast program set in the reservation setting step, and viewing the content set in the reservation setting step. A medium reproducing step of reproducing the content from the recording medium and outputting video and audio at a reserved time.

An information reproducing method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from the first information providing medium and a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from the second information providing medium. It can be set on one electronic program guide, the reservation status is displayed in a list, and information from either the first information providing medium or the second information providing medium is displayed in correspondence with the set reproduction reservation. It is characterized by playing.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 includes a tuner 10, a decoding unit 11, an audio reproducing unit 12, an audio synthesizing unit 13, an audio outputting unit 14, a video reproducing unit 15, and an image synthesizing unit 16. ,
A video output unit 17, an EPG information extraction unit 18, an EPG information database 19, a reservation information database 20,
An EPG / reservation information management unit 21, a user input unit 22,
An EPG operation unit 23, an EPG display unit 24, an external device information database 25, and an external input / output management unit 26 are provided. Further, an antenna 101 and an external device 102 are connected to this broadcast receiving device 100.

The tuner 10 is for selecting a signal of a desired channel from a broadcast signal received by the antenna 101 and converting it into a baseband signal. The decoding unit 11 demodulates the transport stream data segmented for each packet from the baseband signal received from the tuner 10, and based on a predetermined separation procedure, video data of a program, audio data, and various information data accompanying the program. To separate. The decoding unit 11 also performs MPEG decoding processing on each separated packet data.

The audio reproducing section 12 is, for example, an audio D /
It is composed of an A (Digital / Analog) conversion circuit and the like, and is for reproducing the audio signal by acquiring the audio data decoded by the decoding unit 11. The voice synthesizing unit 13 adds the external device 1 to the voice signal reproduced by the voice reproducing unit 12.
This is for synthesizing the audio signal reproduced in 02. The voice signal synthesized by the voice synthesizer 13 is sent to the voice output unit 14. The voice output unit 14 is composed of, for example, a voice output terminal connected to a speaker, a speaker unit main body, or the like, and outputs a voice according to a voice signal received from the voice synthesis unit 13.

The video reproduction unit 15 is composed of, for example, a video D / A conversion circuit and the like, and is for acquiring the video data decoded by the decoding unit 11 and reproducing the analog video signal. The video synthesizing unit 16 synthesizes the video signal reproduced by the video reproducing unit 15, the video signal supplied from the EPG display unit 24 for displaying an electronic program, and the video signal reproduced by the external device 102. It is for doing. The video signal synthesized by the video synthesis unit 16 is sent to the video output unit 17. The video output unit 17 is, for example, a video output terminal connected to a TV monitor or a CRT.
(Cathode RayTube) Display, LCD (Liquid Cr
It is composed of a television monitor main body such as a ystal display) or a PDP (Plasma Display Panel) and outputs an image according to the image signal received from the image synthesizing unit 16.

The EPG information extraction section 18 is for extracting EPG information for displaying an electronic program from the packet data decoded by the decoding section 11. The EPG information database 19 is a database for recording and accumulating the EPG information extracted by the EPG information extraction unit 18. The reservation information database 20 is a database for recording and accumulating reservation information regarding a viewing reservation specified by the user operating the user input unit 22. The EPG / reservation information management unit 21 manages the recorded contents in each database by executing search processing and update processing of the EPG information database 19 and the reservation information database 20 in accordance with the instruction received from the EPG operation unit 23. belongs to.

The user input unit 22 is composed of, for example, a remote controller or a key panel, and inputs instruction information to the EPG operation unit 23 or the external input / output management unit 26 to execute various operations according to the operation by the user. It is for instructing.

The EPG operation unit 23 includes the instruction information input from the user input unit 22 and the EPG / reservation information management unit 21.
EPG obtained from the EPG information database 19 by
A process for processing the video data for displaying the electronic program is executed according to the information and the reservation information acquired from the reservation information database 20. EPG display section 24
Is composed of, for example, a video D / A conversion circuit similar to the video reproduction unit 15, and generates an analog video signal for displaying an electronic program based on the video data processed by the EPG operation unit 23. It is supplied to the synthesizing unit 16.

The external device information database 25 is a database for recording unique information of the external device 102 and various setting information. The external input / output management unit 26 executes a search process and an update process of the external device information database 25 according to the instruction information sent from the user input unit 22 and the information acquired from the external device 102, so that the external device information database 25. It is for managing the recorded contents of. Further, the external input / output management unit 26 sends a command to the external device 102 to control the reproduction operation of the content from the recording medium RM.

The external device 102 is, for example, a CD player,
AV equipment such as DVD players and VCRs,
It has a function of reproducing the content recorded in the recording medium RM. The external device 102 shown in FIG.
The control unit 50, the video reproducing unit 51, and the audio reproducing unit 52 are provided, and the recording medium RM is mounted so that the recorded information can be reproduced.

The control unit 50 is, for example, a DSP (Digital Si
gnal processor), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), etc., and performs signal processing for reproducing the content recorded on the recording medium RM and outputs various control signals. For example, the control unit 50 reads the video data recorded on the recording medium RM and sends it to the video reproduction unit 51, reads the audio data, and sends it to the audio reproduction unit 52.
In addition, the control unit 50 uses, for example, a TOC (Table Of Content).
s) Content information such as information used for controlling the reproduction operation of the recording medium RM is read and sent to the external input / output management unit 26 included in the broadcast receiving apparatus 100.

The video reproduction section 51 is for reproducing a video signal based on the video data read from the recording medium RM by the control section 50. The video signal reproduced by the video reproducing unit 15 is sent to the video synthesizing unit 16 included in the broadcast receiving apparatus 100. The audio reproduction unit 52 is for reproducing an audio signal based on the audio data read from the recording medium RM by the control unit 50. The audio signal reproduced by the audio reproducing unit 52 is sent to the audio synthesizing unit 13 included in the broadcast receiving apparatus 100.

Broadcast receiving apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The operation of will be described.

In the broadcast receiving apparatus 100, first, as an initial setting, the external input / output management unit 26 records information for personal authentication and information unique to the external device 102 in the external device information database 25 (step S1). ). The processing in step S1 needs to update the setting information recorded in the external device information database 25, for example, when a new user is registered or when a new external device 102 is connected to the broadcast receiving device 100. It may be executed only when there is.

When the processing for recording the personal authentication information and the unique information of the external device 102 is completed, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 operates the user input unit 22 based on the instruction from the EPG operation unit 23. It waits until an electronic program guide display request is input (N in step S2).
o).

When a display request is input (step S2)
Yes), the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 searches the EPG information database 19 and the reservation information database 20, and reads EPG information, reservation information, etc. used for displaying the electronic program (step S3). The information read by the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 is the EPG operation unit 2
Sent to 3.

The EPG operation unit 23 generates video data for displaying an electronic program according to the EPG information and the reservation information acquired by the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 (step S4). The video data generated by the EPG operation unit 23 is sent to the EPG display unit 24, converted into a video signal, and then combined with the video signal reproduced by the video reproducing unit 15 in the video synthesizing unit 16. Video synthesizer 16
By sending the combined video signal to the video output section 17, the electronic program guide as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the television monitor (not shown) (step S5).

The electronic program guide shown in FIG. 3 shows the channel numbers, program titles, and broadcast times of the three broadcast channels, as well as the title name, recording medium name, and reserved playback time for contents that can be played back by the external device 102. Are displayed in a list. Further, in the electronic program guide shown in FIG. 3, characters and time frames corresponding to already reserved programs and contents are highlighted,
It is set so that the user can easily check the reservation status.

When the electronic program guide shown in FIG. 3 is displayed, the user can operate the user input section 22 to select a program to watch or a content to be reproduced by the external device 102 (step S6). . At this time, the user input unit 22 inputs, for example, registration information for reserving viewing of a program desired by the user or viewing of content reproduced from the recording medium RM. In this viewing reservation, for example, a user inputs a registrant name and sets a reservation time and a channel or content, and EPG information and content information are collated based on the set reservation time and channel or content.

More specifically, when the registrant's name is input by the user, the external input / output management unit 26 executes processing for personal authentication based on the instruction information from the user input unit 22 to perform authentication. Is given, the reservation status is confirmed and a new reservation application is accepted.

For example, when the user operates the user input unit 22 and desires to make a viewing reservation of the content reproduced from the recording medium RM, the external input / output management unit 26 issues a command to the control unit 50 of the external device 102. Sending, recording medium RM TO
Content information, such as C information, indicating the recorded content of the recording medium RM is acquired. The external input / output management unit 26
When the recording medium RM is set in the external device 102,
The content information that allows viewing reservation for the content reproduced from the recording medium RM may be acquired from the control unit 50 of the external device 102 and recorded in the external device information database 25 in advance.

When the reproduction start time and reproduction time of the content recorded on the recording medium RM are set, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 records the updated reservation information in the reservation information database 20 and It is also recorded in the external device information database 25 by the external input / output management unit 26. The external input / output management unit 26 measures the current time,
The arrival of the reproduction time indicated by the reservation information recorded in the external device information database 25 is detected. When the reproduction time arrives, the external input / output management unit 26 sends a command to the control unit 50 of the external device 102 to start the reproduction of the content from the recording medium RM. At this time, the external input / output management unit 26 adjusts the reproduction start time and the reproduction end time of the content according to
It is desirable to automatically turn on and off the external device 102. As a result, the user starts and ends the viewing of the content in the time period between the viewing reservations of the broadcast program without performing operations such as turning on or off the power of the external device 102 that was scheduled to play the content. can do.

When reproducing the content from the recording medium RM, the video reproducing section 51 reproduces the video signal based on the video data read from the recording medium RM, and the video synthesizing section 16 of the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 is reproduced. send. In addition, the audio reproduction unit 5
2 reproduces an audio signal based on the audio data read from the recording medium RM and sends it to the audio synthesizing unit 13 of the broadcast receiving apparatus 100. In this way, after the video signals are synthesized by the video synthesis unit 16 and the voice signals are synthesized by the voice synthesis unit 13, the video output unit 17 and the voice output unit 14 respectively output the video and the voice. The content recorded on the recording medium RM is reproduced.

On the other hand, when the user operates the user input unit 22 to set the viewing start time and viewing time of the broadcast program, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 updates the reservation information to the reservation information database 20. Will be recorded. When the viewing start time of the broadcast program indicated by the reservation information recorded in the reservation information database 20 arrives, the reserved program is selected by the tuner 10, and the video and audio according to the received broadcast signal are output by the video output unit 17 And, by outputting from the audio output unit 14, it is possible to view the broadcast program in accordance with the reserved time.

The user can also operate the user input section 22 to make viewing reservations for a plurality of programs and contents in overlapping time zones. When reservations are duplicated in the same time zone, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 sets priorities based on a predetermined rule. E
The PG / reservation information management unit 21 can determine the priority order by, for example, recording information indicating the priority order in the case of overlapping reservations in the reservation information database 20 in advance.

For example, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21
You may set a priority according to the genre of a program or content. Further, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 may set the priority order for each registrant who has set the reservation. Also, E
The PG / reservation information management unit 21 may set priorities in order from the earliest time at which the reservation registration is performed. further,
The EPG / reservation information management unit 21 may cause the video output unit 17 to output video data for notifying the user that the reservations are duplicated, and prompt the user to select a program or content to be viewed with priority. In this case, the EPG / reservation information management unit 21 sets the priority order according to the instruction information input from the user input unit 22. In addition, EPG /
The reservation information management unit 21 may set priorities of programs to be viewed or contents to be reproduced according to various criteria. At this time, the priority order may be set not only by one criterion but also by combining a plurality of criteria.

Further, the user can confirm the program currently being broadcast from the electronic program guide shown in FIG. 3 and specify the program desired to be viewed by operating the user input section 22.

When the program to be viewed or the content to be reproduced is selected, the EPG / reservation information management section 21 determines whether or not the selected program is the program currently being broadcast (step S7). When the program currently being broadcast is selected and decided (Yes in step S7), the tuner 10 tunes to the program (step S8), and the video and audio in accordance with the broadcast signal are output. The process shown in the flowchart is ended. On the other hand, if the selected one is not the program currently being broadcast (N in step S7)
o), the process for reserving the viewing of the program or the content is executed (step S9), and the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 ends.

As described above, according to the present invention,
Not only broadcast programs but also contents reproduced from the recording medium RM can be instructed to be viewed or reserved to be viewed from one electronic program guide. Then, when the viewing of the program or the content is reserved, the process of enabling the viewing of the broadcast program or the content at the reserved time is automatically executed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the user from watching a program that he or she does not want to watch so much by inertia, and it is possible to efficiently acquire information from an appropriate information medium.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications and applications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the external device 102 is the recording medium R.
It has been described that the content recorded in M is reproduced. On the other hand, the external device 102 may be, for example, a device for receiving an analog broadcast or a device for receiving a broadcast signal (stream) by data communication via a network. More generally, the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 can set a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from the first information medium and a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from the second information medium on one screen. Any information can be displayed as long as it can be displayed as a list and can reproduce information from the first information medium and the second information medium according to the set reproduction time.

In the above embodiment, the broadcast receiving device 100 and the external device 102 are described as being provided separately, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the broadcast receiving device 100 and the external device 102 are integrated. But it's okay.

[0045]

According to the present invention, information can be efficiently provided from various information media according to the user's preference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the broadcast receiving device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic program guide displayed by the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional electronic program guide.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 tuners 11 Decoding section 12 Audio playback section 13 Speech synthesizer 14 Audio output section 15 Video playback section 16 Video composition section 17 Video output section 18 EPG information extraction unit 19 EPG information database 20 Reservation information database 21 EPG / Reservation Information Management Department 22 User input section 23 EPG operation unit 24 EPG display 25 External device information database 26 External I / O management unit 100 Broadcast receiver 101 antenna 102 External device RM recording medium

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) H04N 5/765 G11B 27/34 Z 5D077 7/025 H04N 5/91 L 7/03 7/08 A 7 / 035 // G11B 27/34 F term (reference) 5C025 CA09 CB08 DA01 DA05 5C052 AA01 AA16 AB04 DD04 5C053 FA21 FA23 FA27 GB06 LA06 LA07 LA11 5C063 AB03 AB05 DA03 EB32 EB33 5D044 AB05 AB07 BC01 BC02 CC23 CC08 DE39 DE034 HC03 HC14 HC17

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A broadcast receiving device capable of setting a viewing reservation of a broadcast program by displaying an electronic program, wherein the viewing reservation status of the content recorded on a recording medium is added to the viewing reservation status of the broadcast program. Display control means for displaying a list in one electronic program guide, and broadcast reception capable of receiving a broadcast signal and outputting video and audio at a broadcast viewing time indicated by the reservation list displayed by the display control means. Means and a medium reproduction control means capable of reproducing the content from the recording medium and outputting video and audio at the content viewing time indicated by the reservation list displayed by the display control means. Receiver. 2. A reservation management means for setting a viewing reservation for a broadcast program and a viewing reservation for a content recorded on the recording medium on a reservation list displayed by the display control means. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The reservation management means can set viewing reservations in duplicate in the same time zone, and when the viewing reservations overlap, determine the broadcast program or content to be viewed according to the set priority. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The medium reproduction control means automatically executes power-on and power-off of a device for reproducing content from the recording medium in accordance with a content viewing time. Or the broadcast receiving device according to 3. 5. A reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a first information providing medium and a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a second information providing medium can be set on one electronic program guide,
An information reproducing apparatus, which displays a reservation status in a list and reproduces information from either the first information providing medium or the second information providing medium corresponding to a set reproduction reservation. 6. A display step of displaying, in addition to the viewing reservation status of the broadcast program, the viewing reservation status of the content recorded on the recording medium in an electronic program guide, the viewing reservation of the broadcast program, and the recording. At least one of the viewing reservation of the content recorded on the medium,
Reservation setting step that can be set on the electronic program guide displayed in the display step, and reception of a broadcast signal and output of video and audio at the viewing reservation time of the broadcast program set in the reservation setting step And a medium reproduction step of reproducing the content from the recording medium and outputting video and audio at the content viewing reservation time set in the reservation setting step. Broadcast receiving method. 7. A reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a first information providing medium and a reproduction reservation of information reproduced from a second information providing medium can be set on one electronic program guide,
An information reproducing method, characterized in that a reservation status is displayed in a list and information is reproduced from either the first information providing medium or the second information providing medium corresponding to a set reproduction reservation.