JP2005072688A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital broadcast receiver whereby a user can easily purchase a required program in accordance with user's diversified needs. <P>SOLUTION: A second purchase history stored in a management DB 31 stores the name of a purchased program, presence/no presence of viewers of the program, and a user (viewer) who viewed the program. The presence/no presence of viewers and a program viewed by a viewer are stored by entry from a viewer entry screen. On a purchase screen, a user (purchaser) for purchasing a program and a program to be purchased can be selected. When the program selected by the purchaser is not purchased before or the condition of the program is matched with the purchase condition, the program is purchased. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver capable of purchasing a program.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, various techniques for avoiding viewing / recording of unnecessary programs such as already viewed / recorded programs have been developed. For example, according to Patent Document 1, while recording history is created from TV program information and a recording reservation schedule, selection of a program to be reserved for recording is accepted, and the selected program and the recording reservation schedule are compared and collated, and already reserved. In this case, this is displayed. For example, according to Patent Document 2, one frame image data at the time of a scene change is extracted from an input video signal and recorded as image data for detecting duplicate recording, and image data extracted in the same manner from a recorded video A comparison is made to determine whether the images are the same. If it is the same image, it will be judged as duplicate recording and a warning display screen will be presented.
[0003]
On the other hand, in recent years, in digital satellite broadcasting and the like, receiving apparatuses that perform individual purchase (pay per view, PPV) processing of pay programs have become widespread. Even in such a receiving apparatus, if the purchase history of the PPV program is recorded as described in Patent Document 3, for example, the purchase history is displayed as a list or it is determined whether or not the purchase processing has been completed. Can do.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-326479, paragraphs 0015 to 0031
[0005]
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2002-344857, paragraphs 0020-0031
[0006]
[Patent Document 3]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-257447, paragraphs 0073, 0076, 0113, FIG.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since a recording history is created from TV program information and a recording reservation schedule, a reception date, a reception start time, a reception end time, a reception channel, etc. are specified in order to avoid duplicate recording. It is necessary and complicated to make a recording reservation. Further, the technique described in Patent Document 2 is inconvenient because it is not possible to determine duplicate recording unless an image for detection is recorded. Furthermore, in the technique described in Patent Document 3, in order to determine whether or not the purchase processing has been performed according to the purchase history, a certain user purchases viewing (only program viewing is possible), but the user actually Responding to the need to view or purchase the same program again when another user views it without viewing it, or purchases for viewing but does not purchase recording (program recording is possible) Is difficult. An object of the present invention is to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that can easily purchase a necessary program according to various needs of a user who purchases a program for viewing or recording.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention described in claim 1 is a user registration means for accepting registration of a user of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus, an input indicating that a purchased program has been viewed and / or recorded, and the registered Input means for accepting a user's selection input, information identifying the program, information indicating the contents of the input, the selected user, program arrangement information relating to the program, and viewing the program History information storage means for storing history information, which is information that associates an input time that is an input indicating that an effect and / or a recorded program has been recorded with a broadcasting system of the recorded and purchased program; The selected program according to the selection of the program to be purchased and the purchased program selection means for accepting the registered user selection input, the history information and the user selected by the purchased program selection means. Purchase decision means for determining whether or not to execute purchase processing of the program, purchase means for executing the purchase processing based on the determination, and setting whether to operate the purchase decision means for each history information And a setting means for receiving the digital broadcast receiving apparatus.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 2 corresponds to an input means for receiving an input indicating that a purchased program has been viewed and / or that a purchased program has been recorded, information identifying the program, and information indicating the content of the input History information storage means for storing history information that is the information attached, purchased program selection means for accepting selection of a program to be purchased, and whether or not to execute the purchase processing of the selected program according to the history information A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: purchase determination means for determining the purchase process; and purchase means for executing the purchase process based on the determination.
[0010]
According to the present invention, it is possible to input that a purchased program has been viewed / recorded. When the fact that the program has been viewed is input, information indicating that this input has been associated with information (for example, PPV purchase history) specifying the purchased program is stored as history information. Based on this history information, it is determined whether or not to purchase the program selected for purchase. Here, the purchase includes purchase of viewing, that is, purchase of a program that can only be viewed, and purchase of recording, that is, purchase of a program that can be recorded. Based on this determination, it is determined whether or not to execute the purchase processing of the selected program. Based on this determination, purchase processing is executed. The purchase process is a process necessary for purchasing a pay program. For example, a purchase record of PPV is recorded on an IC card of a contractor, or this purchase record is transmitted to a broadcast station center through a telephone line every predetermined period. Is to send. Since the history information includes the presence / absence of viewing / recording input, it reflects the presence / absence of actual viewing / recording rather than just PPV purchase recording, and the purchase process fully reflects the user's needs. It will be executed automatically.
[0011]
The invention according to claim 3 further includes user registration means for accepting registration of a user of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, wherein the input means further accepts selection input of the registered user, and the history information storage means is The selected user is further associated and stored in the history information, the purchased program selecting means further accepts a selection input of the registered user, and the purchase determining means is selected by the purchased program selecting means 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein whether or not to execute the purchase processing of the selected program is further determined according to the selected user.
[0012]
According to the present invention, a user can be registered. Then, when inputting that the purchased program has been viewed and / or that the purchased program has been recorded, the registered user can also be selected. The history information stores the selected user (viewer) in addition to the presence / absence of viewing / recording of the program. That is, the history information can indicate which user has viewed or recorded which program. On the other hand, a user (purchaser) who has selected a program to be purchased can also be selected, and which user has purchased which program can be indicated. Based on the history information and the purchaser, it is determined whether or not to perform purchase processing. Therefore, the purchase processing of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus used by a plurality of users is automatically executed while sufficiently reflecting the needs of each user.
[0013]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second aspect, the history information storage means further associates and stores the program arrangement information relating to the purchased program in the history information.
[0014]
According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the purchase process is executed according to the program arrangement information (SI) included in the history information. For example, if the name of a program is included in an EIT (Event Information Table) included in the SI, the purchase process is not performed if the name of the program purchased previously matches the name of the program selected by the user. It is possible to avoid duplicate purchases of programs.
[0015]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the history information storage means stores the history information in association with a broadcast system of a recorded and purchased program.
[0016]
The broadcasting system includes digital standard broadcasting and digital high-definition broadcasting. According to the present invention, for example, when a program previously viewed and purchased by digital standard broadcasting is broadcast by digital high-definition, it can be automatically purchased.
[0017]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the history information storage means further associates an input time, which is a time when an input indicating that the purchased program has been viewed and / or recorded that the purchased program has been recorded, with respect to the history. 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the digital broadcast receiving apparatus stores the information in information.
[0018]
According to the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not to purchase a program again according to the time when the program is actually viewed and recorded.
[0019]
A seventh aspect of the present invention is the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising setting means for accepting a setting as to whether or not to operate the purchase deciding means for each piece of history information.
[0020]
According to the present invention, whether or not to execute the purchase process for each history information can be set in the purchase determination means. For example, if it is set to decide not to purchase viewing / listening for a program that has been entered for viewing or to purchase recording / recording for a program that has been entered for recording, the program may be purchased for viewing or recording for a program that has already been viewed. It is possible to avoid the waste of recording and purchasing the program.
[0021]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
<First Embodiment>
(1) Schematic Configuration FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The digital broadcast receiver 1 includes a tuner 11, a demodulation unit and error correction unit (FEC) 12, a descrambler 13, a demultiplexer (DEMUX) 14, an audio decoder 15, a video decoder 16, a signal conversion circuit 17, a control unit 18, and A program information demodulator 19 is provided. The tuner 11 receives a broadcast signal sent from a broadcast station (not shown) from the antenna 10. The demodulator and the FEC 12 perform demodulation of received signals and error correction processing. The DEMUX 14 separates and extracts each data from a broadcast signal in which audio data, video data, program information, and the like are multiplexed. The descrambler 13 cancels the scramble signal for preventing unauthorized viewing added to the demodulated broadcast signal. The audio decoder 15 decodes the digitally compressed audio data into an analog signal and outputs the analog signal to a recording / reproducing apparatus such as a DVD recorder, a hard disk video recorder, or a VCR, and various audio devices. The video decoder 16 expands the digitally compressed video data and decodes it into RGB signals. The signal conversion circuit 17 down-converts the RGB signal into a composite video signal, for example, and outputs it to a recording / reproducing apparatus, a television receiver or the like. The control unit 18 sets a channel frequency in the tuner 11 based on a channel selection operation from the operation unit 3 such as a remote controller. The control unit 18 can be configured by a microcomputer or the like. The program information demodulator 19 demodulates the program information separated by the DEMUX 14. The configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 1 shown here is an example, and may have other functions, for example, a function of creating electronic program guide (EPG) data from program information separated from the DEMUX 14.
[0022]
The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 1 further includes a purchase unit 4, and the purchase unit 4 includes a data transmission unit 41 and a purchase history storage unit 42. The purchase history storage unit 42 is composed of an IC card or the like distributed to a contractor who has signed a program viewing contract with a certain broadcasting station, and is data necessary for pay-per-view (PPV) processing on the broadcasting station side. The first purchase history is stored. The data transmission unit 41 transmits the first purchase history stored in the purchase history storage unit 42 through the telephone line 2 to the center of the broadcasting station. FIG. 2 is an example of the first purchase history. The first purchase history is “purchase date / time” that is the date and time when a program viewing purchase (purchase of a program that can only be viewed) or video recording purchase (purchase of a program that can be recorded) is performed. “View / Record” indicating whether the program has been purchased is indicated by “View” or “Record”, respectively, and “Program ID” which is an identifier of the purchased program. The first purchase history is assumed to be stored in the management DB 31 when the program purchase process (see S14 in FIG. 10 described later) is completed.
[0023]
Referring again to FIG. 1, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 1 further includes a purchase management unit 3, and the purchase management unit 3 includes a management DB 31 and an OSD circuit 32. The purchase management unit 3 is connected to the control unit 18 and receives control by the control unit 18. The OSD circuit 32 outputs predetermined information, for example, a video signal for screen display as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 described later, to the signal conversion circuit 17 under the control of the control unit 18. The management DB 31 stores data illustrated in FIGS.
[0024]
(2) Detailed Configuration of Management DB FIG. 3 is an example of user information stored in the management DB 31. The user information indicates one or more users who use the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 1 and includes a “user ID” that is an identifier of the user and a “user name” that indicates the name of the user. This user information is input by the operation of the operation unit 3 from the user registration screen of FIG. Here, four users, father, mother, brother, and sister are registered. Hereinafter, a user registered in the user information is simply referred to as a user.
[0025]
FIG. 4 is an example of the second purchase history stored in the management DB 31. The second purchase history is data used in a purchase management process (FIG. 10), which will be described later. “View / Record” indicating whether or not the user has purchased “SD” or “Record” respectively, and “SD / HD” indicating that the broadcast system of the purchased program is digital standard broadcast (SD) or digital high-definition broadcast (HD) ”,“ Program ID ”which is the identifier of the purchased program,“ Name ”indicating the name of the purchased program, and“ O ”and“ X ”indicating whether or not there is input on the viewer input screen of FIG. “Viewing” and “viewer” indicating the user selected on the viewer input screen are included. Of the second purchase history, “purchase date”, “view / record”, and “program ID” have the same contents as the first purchase history. “SD / HD” and “name” are extracted from the program arrangement information (SI) separated and extracted from the DEMUX 14 and demodulated by the program information demodulator 19 using the program ID as a key and stored. The “purchase date”, “view / record”, “SD / HD”, “program ID”, and “name” of the second purchase history are stored in the management DB 31 in synchronization with the storage of the first purchase history.
[0026]
On the other hand, data to be stored in “viewing” and “viewer” are input from the viewer input screen of FIG. The viewer input screen is displayed at an arbitrarily set timing, for example, at the end of broadcasting of a certain program or at the end of playback of a recorded program by a recording / playback apparatus such as a DVD recorder (not shown). You can choose. When the user is selected from the drop-down list on the viewer input screen of FIG. 8 and the “OK” button is pressed, “○” is selected for “view” and “drop” is selected for “viewer”. The name of the user is stored. In this figure, as an example, “Father” is selected as a user who has watched a program whose program name is “ABC”. When the “OK” button is pressed in this state, a second purchase history as shown in FIG. 4 is stored. When the “OK” button is not pressed within a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) or when the “Cancel” button is pressed, “X” is stored in “Viewing” and nothing is stored in “Viewer”. It may not be done. In addition, in order to prevent the unnecessary second purchase history from being excessively stored, the second purchase history whose “purchase date and time” is before a predetermined time may be deleted. Alternatively, when a predetermined number or more of second purchase histories are stored, a predetermined number may be deleted from the oldest “purchase date”.
[0027]
FIG. 5 is an example of purchase condition information stored in the management DB 31. This purchase condition information can be created for each user and is used in a purchase management process (FIG. 10) described later. The purchase condition information includes “user” indicating a user who has purchased a program, “view / record” indicating whether the program has been purchased by viewing purchase or recording purchase in the past as “view” or “record”, “SD / HD” indicating that the broadcast system of the purchased program is digital standard broadcast (SD) or digital high-definition broadcast (HD), and “Yes” for presence / absence of input on the viewer input screen of FIG. Includes purchase conditions consisting of “viewing” indicated by “x”. The purchase condition information further includes “determination” for designating whether or not to purchase a program corresponding to the purchase condition (S13 in FIG. 10) by “OK” or “NG”, respectively. That is, the program corresponding to the purchase condition whose “determination” is “OK” is purchased with, but the program corresponding to the purchase condition whose “determination” is “NG” is not purchased. In FIG. 5, only purchase condition information of the user “Father” is shown, but purchase condition information of other users “Mother”, “Brother”, and “Sister” can be set and stored in the same manner. The purchase condition information can be freely input / updated / deleted by each user by operating the operation unit 3 or the like on the purchase condition setting screen as shown in FIG.
[0028]
(2) Purchase Management Processing FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of purchase management processing performed by the control unit 18. In this process, if the program that the user intends to purchase has not been purchased before or if the program meets the purchase conditions even if it has been purchased, the program is purchased. Hereinafter, the flow of processing will be described with reference to FIG. This process starts when a user requests to purchase a program (for example, a predetermined operation of the operation unit 3).
[0029]
In step (hereinafter referred to as S) 11, a purchase screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed. On the purchase screen, a user who purchases a program (hereinafter referred to as a purchaser) and a program to be purchased can be selected. In FIG. 9, the purchaser “Father” is selected as an example, and a program whose program name is “ABC” is selected as a program to be purchased. If the purchaser and the program are selected on the purchase screen and the “OK” button is pressed, the process proceeds to S12. If not selected, the process waits until the selection is made. If the “Cancel” button is pressed on the purchase screen, this process ends. In addition, what is necessary is just to acquire the name of the program displayed on a purchase screen from EIT (Event Information Table) included in the program arrangement | sequence information (SI) extracted from DEMUX14.
[0030]
In S12, from the second purchase history (FIG. 4) stored in the management DB 31, the name of the program designated on the purchase screen is included in “name” and the purchaser selected on the purchase screen in FIG. ”Is searched. And it is judged whether the 2nd purchase history applicable to this search condition exists. When it exists, it transfers to S13, and when it does not exist, it transfers to S14.
[0031]
In S13, “view / record”, “SD / HD”, and “view” that are the same as “view / record”, “SD / HD”, and “view” included in the second purchase history corresponding to the search condition of S12. It is determined whether or not the purchase conditions (FIG. 5) set by the purchaser including “” exist in the management DB 31. If it exists, it is further determined whether or not the “determination” corresponding to the purchase condition is “OK”. When “Judgment” is “OK”, the process proceeds to S14. If the purchase conditions set by the purchaser including the same “view / record”, “SD / HD”, and “view” do not exist or if “determination” is “NG”, the process proceeds to S16. The OSD circuit 32 displays on the screen that the selected program has not been purchased.
[0032]
In S14, a process of purchasing the program selected on the purchase screen, for example, a PPV purchase record such as the first purchase history is recorded in the purchase history storage unit 42, or from the data transmission unit 41 through the telephone line 2 every predetermined period. Processing necessary for purchasing a pay program is performed, such as processing for transmitting the purchase record to a broadcast station center (not shown).
[0033]
In S15, “Purchase Date / Time”, “View / Record”, “SD / HD”, “Program ID”, and “Name” corresponding to the program processed in S14 are the timers built in the digital broadcast receiver 1 ( (Not shown) and program arrangement information (SI), and stored in the management DB 31 as the second purchase history. As described above, “viewing” and “viewer” in the second purchase history are updated when there is an input on the viewer input screen of FIG. 8, and nothing is stored until then.
[0034]
(3) Features of this embodiment As described above, the viewer input screen (FIG. 8) is displayed at the end of broadcast of the program, and the second purchase is made by associating the viewed user with the viewed program. Stored in part of history. On the other hand, on the purchase screen (FIG. 9), a user (purchaser) who purchases a program and a program to be purchased can be selected. Each user can freely set program purchase conditions on the purchase condition setting screen (FIG. 7), and the set purchase conditions are stored as purchase condition information. When the user tries to purchase a program on the purchase screen, it is searched whether or not the program to be purchased is a program that has already been purchased by the user (S12 in FIG. 10). Is determined to satisfy the purchase conditions set by the purchaser (S13). If the purchase condition is met, the program is purchased (S14). If not, the program is not purchased. That is, a program corresponding to a purchase condition freely set by each user is automatically purchased, and a variety of program purchase needs of a plurality of users can be met. For example, if a father purchased a program for viewing a program but entered the fact that the program was viewed on the viewer input screen, such as a user other than the father, for example, an older brother, the father again selected to purchase the program. In such a case, it is possible to execute purchase processing. Also, if the father purchases a program that he / she has watched and inputs that he / she has watched the program, he / she may not execute the purchase process if he / she chooses to purchase the program again. Is possible. Alternatively, it is also possible for the user to purchase or view or purchase a recording of a program that the user has previously viewed on SD again in HD.
[0035]
<Other embodiments>
(A) The above-mentioned second purchase history may further store the date and time (input viewing date and time) when the viewer input is performed on the viewer input screen of FIG. On the other hand, in the purchase condition of FIG. 5, the viewing date / time (reference viewing date / time) that is a reference for purchasing the program is stored, and whether or not the input viewing date / time is before the reference viewing date / time in S13 of the purchase management process described above. If it is before, the program may be purchased. In this way, it is possible to decide whether or not to purchase a previously purchased program again according to the old and new at the time of viewing the program. Similarly, in S13 of the purchase management process, it may be determined whether or not the purchase date and time of the second purchase history is before the reference viewing date and time, and if it is before, the program may be purchased.
[0036]
(B) Although the viewer can be input on the viewer input screen of FIG. 8, the person who recorded the video (recorder) can be input on the same screen, and the input videographer can be input to the second purchase history ( You may memorize | store in FIG. Then, the purchase condition in FIG. 5 may include whether or not there is an input from the recorder. In this way, it is possible to determine whether or not to purchase a previously purchased program again in response to an input indicating whether or not recording has actually been performed.
[0037]
(C) You may enable it to purchase the program which was not automatically purchased by the purchase management process mentioned above by separate user operation. For example, in S16 of the purchase management process, it may be confirmed whether or not to purchase a program that has been determined not to meet the purchase conditions, and if a confirmation input is made by the user, the program may be purchased.
[0038]
(D) The second purchase history described above may store other information included in the program arrangement information (SI), such as a description of the contents of the program and a genre. Then, the contents of the program, the genre of the program, etc. may be included in the purchase conditions (FIG. 5). Alternatively, whether or not the recording data of the program purchased for recording is recorded in a recording / playback apparatus such as a DVD recorder is stored in the second purchase history, and if the recording data is not recorded, the program is purchased. Also good.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
Since the history information of the present invention includes the presence / absence of input indicating that viewing or recording has been performed, the presence / absence of actual viewing / recording is reflected rather than the mere purchase record of PPV, and the purchase processing sufficiently satisfies the user's needs. It will be automatically executed with reflection.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a first purchase history.
FIG. 3 shows an example of user information.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a second purchase history.
FIG. 5 shows an example of purchase condition information.
FIG. 6 is a display example of a user registration screen.
FIG. 7 is a display example of a purchase condition setting screen.
FIG. 8 is a display example of a viewer input screen.
FIG. 9 is a display example of a purchase screen.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of purchase management processing.
[Explanation of symbols]
3: Purchase management unit 31: Management DB

Claims (7)

User registration means for accepting registration of a user of the digital broadcast receiving device;
An input means for receiving an input indicating that the purchased program has been viewed and / or that the purchased program has been recorded, and a selection input of the registered user;
Information specifying the program, information indicating the contents of the input, the selected user, program arrangement information regarding the program, information indicating that the program has been viewed and / or purchased. History information storage means for storing history information, which is information associating an input time that is an input time with a broadcast system of a program purchased for recording;
Purchased program selection means for accepting selection of a program to be purchased and selection input of the registered user;
Purchase decision means for deciding whether or not to execute purchase processing of the selected program according to the history information and the user selected by the purchased program selection means;
Purchasing means for executing the purchasing process based on the determination;
Setting means for accepting a setting as to whether or not to operate the purchase determination means for each history information;
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: An input means for receiving an input indicating that the purchased program has been viewed and / or that the purchased program has been recorded;
History information storage means for storing history information, which is information in which the information specifying the program is associated with the information indicating the contents of the input;
Purchased program selection means for accepting selection of a program to be purchased;
Purchase decision means for deciding whether or not to execute the purchase processing of the selected program according to the history information;
Purchasing means for executing the purchasing process based on the determination;
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: It further comprises user registration means for accepting registration of the user of the digital broadcast receiving device,
The input means further accepts a selection input of the registered user;
The history information storage means further associates the selected user and stores the history information in the history information,
The purchased program selection means further accepts a selection input of the registered user,
3. The digital broadcasting according to claim 2, wherein the purchase deciding means decides whether or not to execute the purchase processing of the selected program according to the user selected by the purchased program selecting means. Receiver device. 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the history information storage means further stores program arrangement information relating to the purchased program in the history information in association with each other. 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the history information storage means stores the history information in association with a broadcast system of a recorded and purchased program. The history information storage means further stores the history information in association with an input time that is an input time indicating that the purchased program is viewed and / or that the purchased program is recorded. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 2. 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising setting means for receiving a setting as to whether or not to operate the purchase determination means for each piece of history information.

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