JP2005079920A - Device, method and program for announcing tv program, electronic apparatus, portable communication terminal, and recording medium with the announcing program recorded therein - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technique for easily recognizing the contents of a TV program being viewable in a portable telephone even when the portable telephone is in a waiting mode. <P>SOLUTION: When the telephone set is in the waiting mode, the control part 9 allows a TV receiving part 1 and a TS decoding part 2 to intermittently receive the TV program of a TV broadcasting, and a picture display part 3 outputs an informal TV picture indicating the summary of the TV program. Then a user easily acquires the summary of the program being broadcasted at present in the waiting mode. The user, consequently, easily determines whether or not a mode is transferred to a TV viewing mode, so as to normally view the TV program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a television program notification device provided in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast.

  Conventionally, a mobile phone (TV mobile phone) having a TV broadcast receiving function has been developed.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system in which a television program is recorded on a recording server separate from a mobile phone. In this system, television program data is transmitted from the recording server to the mobile phone in accordance with a user instruction, and the recorded TV program can be viewed on the mobile phone.

Patent Document 2 discloses a television mobile phone that can efficiently process MPEG-4 in order to satisfactorily view terrestrial digital broadcasting.
JP 2002-77839 A (publication date March 15, 2002) JP 2003-153111 A (publication date May 23, 2003)

However, in a conventional television mobile phone, it is impossible to know a broadcast program that can be viewed unless an instruction input for viewing the television is given to the telephone.
That is, in the conventional television mobile phone, in order to know the program being broadcast, it is necessary to give an instruction input to the telephone one by one, which is not convenient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. The purpose is to easily know the contents of a receivable television program even when the electronic device is idling when using an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, such as the mobile phone described above. An object of the present invention is to provide a television program notification device that can do this.

  A television program notification device (present notification device) according to the present invention is a television program notification device provided in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, and causes the electronic device to receive the television broadcast while the electronic device is idling. It is a structure characterized by having a control part which outputs the television information which shows the outline of the television program currently received using a display part.

In this notification device, when the display unit of the electronic device includes a sub display and a main display, the control unit is preferably set to display television information using the sub display.
In this case, it is preferable that the control unit is set to formally output a program corresponding to the television information using the main display in accordance with a user instruction.

In the notification device, the television information may be an image of a television program.
The television information may be a simplified television image obtained by simplifying the image of a television program. Furthermore, the abbreviated television image may be an image in which a moving image and a still image are mixed. The abbreviated television image may be a still image. Further, the simplified television image may be a moving image with a reduced frame rate.

  In the present notification device, the control unit may be set so that the light amount of the display unit is smaller than usual when displaying an image of the television program as the television information.

  In the present notification device, the television information may be a sound of a television program. The television information may be a character image corresponding to the EIT of the television program.

  In the notification device, the control unit may be set so as to change a channel related to the output of the television information at regular intervals.

  Moreover, in this notification apparatus, it is preferable that the control unit is set to formally output a program corresponding to the television information using a display unit of the electronic device according to a user instruction.

  When the electronic device includes a recording medium for recording a television program, the control unit of the notification device records the program corresponding to the television information on the recording medium according to a user instruction. It is preferable that it is set to.

  When the electronic device includes a recording medium for recording a TV program and the display unit of the electronic device includes a sub display and a main display, the control unit of the notification device uses the sub display to It is preferable that the information is displayed and the program according to the television information is set to be recorded on the recording medium according to a user instruction.

  Further, when the electronic device includes a telephone function, the standby state of the telephone corresponds to the idling state of the electronic device. That is, in this case, it is preferable that the control unit of the notification device is set to output television information by the display unit when the mobile phone is on standby.

  Moreover, the electronic device of the present invention has the above-described notification device. Moreover, the portable communication terminal of the present invention has the above-described notification device.

In the portable communication terminal of the present invention, the portable communication terminal capable of receiving television broadcasts,
A receiving unit that receives a television broadcast, a display unit, and during idling, the receiving unit is controlled to receive the television broadcast, and the display unit is used to output television information indicating an outline of the received television program. It is good also as a structure which has a control part.
In this configuration, when the display unit includes a sub display and a main display, it is preferable that the control unit is set to display television information using the sub display.

  The television program notification method of the present invention is a television program notification method in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast. The electronic device receives the television broadcast while the electronic device is idling, and uses the display unit of the electronic device. And a television information output step of outputting television information indicating an outline of the television program being received.

The television program notification program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer connected to an electronic device capable of receiving television broadcasting to function as a control unit of the notification device.
The television program notification program of the present invention can also be expressed as a program for causing a computer connected to an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast to execute the television information output step in the notification method described above.
The recording medium of the present invention is a medium on which any of the above-described television program notification programs of the present invention is recorded.

  This notification device can receive television broadcasts (television broadcasts) such as mobile phones, personal computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants) or television receivers (dedicated devices), and can output images and audio from the display unit. It is provided for various electronic devices.

  Here, the display unit of the electronic device includes a display screen for displaying images (moving images, still images, and character images), a speaker that outputs sound, and the like.

In particular, the notification device includes a control unit that causes the electronic device to receive a television broadcast television program while the electronic device is idling. And this control part is set so that the display part of an electronic device may be controlled and the television information which shows the outline of a television program may be output.
Here, the electronic device is idling means a state where the electronic device is used for purposes other than watching TV or is left unused.

A TV program is a series of (a group of) communication contents in TV broadcasting.
Furthermore, the television information is used to explain the name of the image (TV image) or sound (TV sound) or EIT (currently broadcasted (or broadcast in the future) of the currently broadcasted TV program or the content of the program. The information including the information of the TV program) is information that can schematically show the contents of the television program, such as a character string (character image) according to the data.

Thus, in this notification device, the control unit displays television information using the display unit when the electronic device is idling. For this reason, users of electronic devices can easily get an overview of programs that are currently being broadcast (or will be broadcast in the future) while the electronic device is idling (even if they are not actively watching TV) Can be acquired easily.
Therefore, the user can easily determine whether or not the television program should be officially (normally) viewed.

  Moreover, the display part of an electronic device may be provided with two displays consisting of a sub display and a main display. In such a case, it is preferable that the control unit of the notification device displays television information using a sub display. Usually, the sub-display consumes less power than the main display. Therefore, with this configuration, it is possible to suppress power consumption during idling.

  Also, in this case, the control unit is set to formally output a program corresponding to the TV information displayed on the sub display using the main display (and a speaker for sound display) according to the user's instruction. May be. Thereby, the user can view the television program corresponding to the television information immediately (immediately) using the easy-to-see main display.

  Further, as described above, in this notification device, the control unit can configure the television information from one of the image or sound of the television program or a character image corresponding to the EIT of the television program. This makes it possible to easily generate a television image.

Moreover, you may make it use the simplified television image which simplified the image of the television program as television information. The simplified television image can be composed of, for example, an image in which a moving image and a still image are mixed (mixed image) or a still image in which a part of the moving image is cut out.
Note that such mixed images and still images can be realized by intermittently receiving a television broadcast. Further, when only a still image is used as the simplified television image, it is preferable to change the still image to be displayed every predetermined time. Further, a moving image with a reduced frame rate may be used as the simplified television image.
If the above-described abbreviated television image is used as the television information, the power consumption of the electronic device (the power required for moving image processing) can be reduced as compared with the case where a normal (not abbreviated) television image is used as the television information. .

In addition, the control unit of the notification device may be set so that the light amount of the display unit is smaller than usual when a television image is displayed as television information during idling of the electronic device.
Here, the normal light intensity means that when video (moving image) and audio of a TV program are output with high quality (in an optimal state) within the performance range of the electronic device (that is, the TV program is officially ( It is the amount of light when it is output in earnest).
Even with this configuration, power consumption of the electronic device can be suppressed.

Further, in the present notification device, when the television information is being displayed, the control unit sets a channel related to the output of the television information at every fixed period (a constant display time or the number of loops shown in the embodiment). It may be set to change (change the TV information to be output to one relating to a TV program of another channel; that is, change the TV broadcast channel received by the electronic device).
Thereby, it is possible to display program outlines of various channels while the electronic device is idling.

In addition, the control unit of the notification device may be set so that a program corresponding to the television information output during idling can be officially output using the display unit of the electronic device according to a user instruction. preferable.
As a result, the user can immediately watch a favorite program based on the television information.

  In addition, the electronic device may include a recording medium for recording a television program. In such a case, it is preferable that the control unit of the notification device is set so that a program corresponding to the television information output during idling can be recorded on a recording medium according to a user instruction. As a result, the user can immediately record a favorite program based on the television information.

  In addition, the notification device can be suitably provided in a mobile phone that can receive (view) television broadcasting. That is, in the mobile phone, the power-on time is long so as not to miss the incoming call. In most of the time when the power is turned on, the mobile phone is in the idling state (standby state). Therefore, by displaying TV information on the standby screen by this notification device, it becomes possible to know the outline of the TV program in the standby state where almost nothing was functioning, so the convenience of the mobile phone is improved. It can be improved.

  The portable communication terminal (portable communication terminal apparatus) of the present invention is a portable communication terminal capable of receiving a television broadcast, and includes a receiving unit that receives the television broadcast, a display unit, and a receiving unit during idling. And a control unit that outputs television information indicating an outline of the received television program using a display unit.

  This portable communication terminal is an application of the above notification device. Therefore, the user of the terminal can easily obtain the outline of the television program at any time during idling. Therefore, the user can easily determine whether or not the television program should be officially viewed.

  Further, the display unit of such a terminal may include a sub display and a main display. In this case, it is preferable that the control unit of the terminal is set to display the television information using a sub-display. Thereby, the power consumption at the time of idling can be suppressed.

Also, the television program notification method (present notification method) of the present invention is a television program notification method in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, and a television information output step of outputting television information indicating an outline of the television program during idling. It is a method including.
This notification method is a method used in the notification device described above. Therefore, using this method, a user of an electronic device can easily obtain an outline of a television program at any time during idling of the electronic device. Therefore, the user can easily determine whether or not the television program should be officially viewed.

The television program notification program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer connected to an electronic device capable of receiving television broadcasting to function as a control unit of the notification device.
The television program notification program of the present invention can also be expressed as a program for causing a computer connected to an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast to execute the television information output step in the notification method described above.

By reading these programs into a computer connected to the electronic device (or a computer built in the electronic device), the control unit in the notification device (or the TV information output step in the notification method) is processed by the computer. Can be realized.
Further, by storing these programs on a computer-readable recording medium, the programs can be easily stored and distributed.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The mobile phone (this phone) according to the present embodiment is a fusion product of a mobile digital TV and a mobile phone. That is, this telephone is a mobile phone with a television broadcast receiving function and can receive a digital television broadcast (television broadcast). The telephone has a function of operating in four types of modes: a television mode, a call mode, a network mode, and a standby mode.

Here, the television mode has two types of modes: a television viewing mode and a television recording mode. The TV viewing mode is a mode in which a TV broadcast is received and the video and audio of the received content (TV program) are output with high quality within the performance range of the telephone. On the other hand, the TV recording mode is a mode for recording images and sound of received TV programs.
The call mode is a mode for performing telephone communication with other telephones.
Furthermore, the network mode is a mode for exchanging information (e-mail exchange, etc.) using a computer network (Internet or intranet) to which the telephone can be connected.

  The standby mode is a state that does not correspond to any of the above modes and is not receiving a positive instruction input (key operation or the like) by the user (a state of being left after power is turned on). In this mode, incoming calls from other telephones and incoming mails via the network can be accepted. When any instruction is input from the user, the standby mode is canceled.

First, the configuration of the telephone will be described.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the telephone.
This figure shows only the part related to the description of the present invention, and does not show all the functional blocks in the actual telephone.

  As shown in this figure, this telephone has a TV receiving unit 1, a TS decoding unit 2, an image display unit 3, a backlight 4, an operation unit 5, a flash memory 6, a RAM 7, a mobile phone radio unit 8, a control unit 9, The recording medium 10, the speaker 11, the television antenna 12, and the telephone antenna 13 are provided.

The television antenna 12 is an antenna for receiving a television broadcast.
The TV receiving unit (television receiving unit) 1 receives and demodulates TV broadcast data (TV broadcast wave) via the TV antenna 12, and outputs a TS (transport stream).
The TS decoding unit 2 separates the TS input from the TV receiving unit 1 into contents such as video, audio and data, and decodes each content. The TS decoding unit 2 also has a function of acquiring a still image from a TS video stream.

An image display unit (display unit, display screen) 3 is a display screen of the telephone and includes an LCD (liquid crystal screen). In the standby mode, the image display unit 3 displays an abbreviated television image (to be described later) on the screen as a standby image (image to be displayed on the standby screen), while in the television viewing mode (during reception of a television broadcast), an image of a broadcast program is displayed. Is displayed (output).
The backlight 4 is a backlight of the liquid crystal screen of the image display unit 3.
The speaker (display unit, display screen) 11 has a function of outputting the sound of a broadcast program in the television viewing mode, and outputting the sound of the other party in the call mode.

The control unit 9 is a central part of the telephone that controls all operations of the telephone and has a timer (not shown).
The operation unit 5 is used for inputting user instructions to the telephone and includes a numeric keypad (10 keys) and a cross key. The operation unit 5 also has a function of accepting an instruction to start (start reception of) a television broadcast by the user (instruction to enter a television viewing mode) and an instruction to enter another mode and transmit the instruction to the control unit 9. doing.

The flash memory 6 stores a program used by the control unit 9 and also stores image data of a standby screen.
The RAM 7 is a memory used by the control unit 9.
Although the recording medium 10 is used for various purposes, this telephone has a function of recording a broadcast program (a function as a recording medium for recording a broadcast program).
The telephone antenna 13 is an antenna (antenna for the mobile phone radio unit 8) for transmitting and receiving radio signals for mobile phones.
The cellular phone radio unit 8 is a radio unit for telephone communication in this telephone.
That is, the mobile phone radio unit 8 generates a voice signal for telephone communication based on voice input to a microphone (not shown) and transmits the voice signal via the telephone antenna 13 in the call mode. On the other hand, the mobile phone wireless unit 8 also has a function of receiving and demodulating an audio signal received from the outside and converting it into a signal that can be reproduced by the speaker 11.
.

Next, the TV viewing mode of the telephone will be described.
The television viewing mode is started by a user instruction input (key input) to the operation unit 5. That is, the control unit 9 starts operations of the TV receiving unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 in response to a user's instruction to shift to the TV viewing mode. As a result, the control unit 9 controls the TS decoding unit 2 to separate the audio stream and the moving image stream from the received television broadcast data and to perform the respective decoding processes. And the control part 9 controls the image display part 3 and the speaker 11, and outputs a moving image and an audio | voice to a user.

Next, the standby mode, which is a characteristic operation of the telephone, will be described.
In the standby mode of the telephone, the image display unit 3 is set to display an image (abbreviated television image) obtained by simplifying the image (television image) of the currently broadcast television program as a standby image.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the telephone set (control unit 9) in the standby mode.
First, after the telephone enters the standby mode, the control unit 9 turns on the TV receiving unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 and starts receiving a television broadcast of a predetermined channel (S1). Further, since no sound is reproduced in the standby mode, the control unit 9 turns off the speaker 11.

  In response to this, the TV image (moving image) received by the TS decoding unit 2 is decoded, and the image display unit 3 displays it according to an instruction from the control unit 9 (S2). At this time, the control unit 9 controls the light amount of the backlight 4 to be smaller than that in the television viewing mode (the backlight 4 is darkened).

  Thereafter, when a certain time has elapsed (S3), the control unit 9 controls the TS decoding unit 2 to capture a television image as a still image (S4), and controls the image display unit 3 to control the captured still image. Display (S5) and stop the reception of the television broadcast (S6; that is, the TV receiver 1 and the TS decoder 2 are turned off (power down state)). In addition, the control part 9 measures such time progress with the timer which self has.

When a fixed time elapses with the image display unit 3 displaying a still image (S7), the control unit 9 determines whether or not to switch the reception channel (S8).
If it is determined that there is no need to switch, the control unit 9 returns the process to S1 and starts receiving the television broadcast again (S1). On the other hand, if the control unit 9 determines that the reception channel needs to be switched, the process returns to S1 after switching the reception channel (S10).

  In addition, the determination regarding the switching of the reception channel by the control unit 9 is performed according to the number of times (the number of loops) that the processes of S1 to S8 are continuously performed. That is, the control unit 9 is set to proceed to S10 and switch the reception channel when the number of loops is equal to or greater than a predetermined number.

  In addition, the standby image realized by such processing is such that, for example, a moving image is reproduced (displayed) for 2 seconds, and after 4 seconds with the final screen stopped, the moving image is reproduced again for 2 seconds. , An abbreviated television image (an image in which moving images and still images are alternately arranged).

  On the other hand, when there is any input (key operation) from the user to the operation unit 5 during the processing of S1 to S10 (that is, when the simplified television image is displayed as a standby image) (S10), The control unit 9 performs processing according to the input.

For example, when receiving an instruction (key input) to shift to the TV viewing mode, the control unit 9 immediately shifts to the TV viewing mode (S11). That is, the backlight 4 is brightened, the speaker 11 is turned on to perform sound output (sound reproduction), and the display of the abbreviated television image is stopped, and the abbreviated television image of the program corresponding to the abbreviated television image (TV broadcast (Image obtained by continuous reception) is displayed.
On the other hand, when the instruction by the key operation is an instruction to shift to the television recording mode, continuous reception of the program corresponding to the output simplified television image is started and recording on the recording medium 10 is performed (S11).

  Then, after the end of the TV viewing mode or the TV recording mode, the control unit 9 performs a process according to a user instruction (corresponding to “next process” in FIG. 2). Here, when a predetermined time has passed without any instruction being input from the user, the control unit 9 returns the telephone to the standby mode (that is, returns to S1).

As described above, in this telephone, in the standby mode, the control unit 9 causes the TV receiving unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 to intermittently receive a television broadcast television program, and the image display unit 3 causes the television program to be displayed. It is set to output an abbreviated television image showing an outline.
For this reason, the user can easily obtain an outline of the currently broadcast program in real time in the standby mode. Therefore, the user can easily determine whether or not the television program should be officially (normally) viewed after shifting to the television viewing mode.

  In addition, since this phone displays a simplified television image in the standby mode, power consumption (power required for moving image processing) is higher than when a normal (not abbreviated) television image is used as television information. ) Can be reduced.

  Further, in the present telephone set, the control unit 9 is set so that the light amount of the backlight 4 is smaller than that in the television viewing mode when the simplified television image is displayed in the standby mode. Thereby, power consumption can be suppressed more.

  Further, in this telephone set, the control unit 9 is set to change the channel of the television broadcast to be received (the channel related to the television information) according to the number of loops when displaying the simplified television image. . Thereby, the program outline of various channels can be displayed. As a result, the user can immediately watch a favorite program based on the simplified television image.

In addition, the telephone can formally output (display) a program corresponding to the simplified television image output in the standby mode by the user's key operation in the television viewing mode.
Further, the telephone is set so that a program corresponding to the simplified television image output in the standby mode can be recorded on the recording medium 10 in the television recording mode by a user key operation. As a result, the user can immediately record a favorite program on the recording medium 10 based on the simplified television image.

In addition, this telephone is configured to display the above-described simplified television image in a standby mode (the simplified television image is set as a standby image).
That is, in the mobile phone, the power-on time is long so as not to miss the incoming call. Further, most of the time when the power is turned on is likely to be in the standby mode. Accordingly, by displaying the simplified television image, it becomes possible to know the outline of the television program in the standby mode in which almost nothing was functioning, so that the convenience of the telephone can be improved.

In this embodiment, in FIG. 2, in the standby mode, a television broadcast is intermittently received, and a simplified television image in which a moving image and a still image are alternately displayed is displayed (that is, a moving image is intermittently displayed). Display).
However, only a still image may be displayed on the screen as an abbreviated television image in a state in which the television broadcast is intermittently received (that is, the processing shown in FIG. 2 may be performed by omitting S2 and S3). ). Thereby, the power consumption in the standby mode can be further reduced.

  Also, a mobile phone (mobile receiver) such as this phone cannot always receive television broadcasts normally depending on radio wave conditions. Accordingly, in the standby mode, when the television broadcast cannot be normally received during the loop in FIG. 2 (S1 to S9), the control unit 9 displays the still image displayed immediately before as the simplified television image. It is preferably set to display as it is.

The control unit 9 may be set to display a moving image with a reduced frame rate as a simplified television image to be displayed in the standby mode. Thereby, current consumption in the standby mode can be reduced.
In addition, the control unit 9 may display an image in which a moving image with a reduced frame rate and a still image are alternately arranged as a simplified television image.

As described above, as a simplified television image on the telephone, an image in which a moving image and a still image are alternately connected, a still image, and an image in which a moving image with a reduced frame rate and a still image are alternately connected are used. it can.
In addition to these, as a simplified television image that can be used in the telephone, an image in which a normal moving image, a moving image with a reduced frame rate, and a still image are mixed at random or with a certain period can be used.

The image display unit 3 of the telephone may be provided with two displays. That is, recent mobile phones often have a high-definition sub-display in addition to the main display.
Therefore, in such a mobile phone, in the standby mode, the simplified television image may be displayed on the sub-display by the process shown in FIG. Usually, the sub display is a small screen and consumes less power than the main display. Therefore, with this configuration, power consumption in the standby mode can be suppressed.

  Also, with this configuration, the user can perform a key operation (instruction) to shift from the simplified television image display (standby mode) on the sub-display to the image and sound display (TV viewing mode) on the main display and the speaker 11. It is preferable that it is set.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the user can perform a key operation by the user so as to shift from the simplified television image display (standby mode) on the sub display to the recording of the television program (television recording mode) on the recording medium 10.

  Further, this telephone may be configured as a clamshell type mobile telephone. A clamshell mobile phone is formed by connecting a screen portion having a display screen and a main body portion having a key group by a hinge. In addition, the screen portion of such a mobile phone is usually provided with a sub display (small screen) and a main display (large screen).

The main display of such a cellular phone is provided at a position (inside the screen portion) that is in contact with (facing to) the key group of the main body portion in a state where the telephone is closed (the screen portion and the main body portion are overlapped). ing. Therefore, the key group and the main display are hidden from the user when the telephone is closed. On the other hand, when the telephone is opened (when the screen portion and the main body portion are substantially linear), the main display is observable (available) by the user together with the key group of the main body portion.
On the other hand, the sub display is located on the back side of the main display in the screen portion (outside the screen portion). Therefore, the sub-display is in a position that can be seen by the user even when the telephone is closed.

  In such a clamshell type mobile phone, the control unit 9 may recognize the closed state as the standby mode. In this state, the control unit 9 displays the simplified television image on the sub-display, and shifts to the TV viewing mode when the telephone is opened (shifts to the image and sound display using the main display and the speaker 11). ) May be set.

In the present embodiment, the light amount of the backlight 4 is set to be smaller (than usual) in the television viewing mode (the backlight 4 is darkened) in the simplified television image in the standby mode.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light amount of the backlight 4 in the standby mode may be set to a value desired by the user. Further, the amount of light of the backlight 4 may be set as usual when a moving image is being displayed (S2 to S4), and the amount of light may be reduced only when a still image is being displayed.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the TS decoding unit 2 has a function of acquiring a still image from a TS video stream. However, this function may be provided to the control unit 9. In addition, although a timer for measuring elapsed time is provided in the control unit 9, this timer may be provided in the TS decoding unit 2.

  In this embodiment, at the start of the standby mode, it is assumed that a television broadcast of a predetermined channel is received in S1 shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reception channel at the start of the standby mode may be the channel that was received in the immediately preceding television viewing mode. In addition, the reception channel may be selected by the user via the operation unit 5 at the start of the standby mode.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the control unit 9 turns on the TV receiving unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 in S1 shown in FIG. However, if the TS decoding unit 2 includes an audio decoding unit and an image decoding unit, and each unit can be powered down individually, the control unit 9 turns on only the image decoding unit and turns off the audio decoding function. It is preferable.

  Further, in the present embodiment, in the process shown in FIG. 2, the reception channel is switched according to the number of loops during the standby mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the switching of the reception channel by the control unit 9 may be performed according to other criteria (such as a standby mode duration time or a total time). In the standby mode, the reception channel may be set not to be switched (the reception channel is fixed).

Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 9 displays a simplified television image on the image display unit 3 in the standby mode. However, the control unit 9 may be set in the standby mode to output from the speaker 11 a simplified version (abbreviated TV sound) of the sound (TV sound) of the currently broadcast TV program. Further, the control unit 9 may be set to output both the simplified television image and the simplified television sound.
Even in these configurations, it is possible to inform the user of the outline of the television program currently being broadcast in the standby mode.

  In the above description, the control unit 9 displays a simplified television image or a simplified television sound in the standby mode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the control unit 9 is configured to output either one of a normal high-definition television image (normal television image) or television audio (normal television audio) from the image display unit 3 or the speaker 11. It may be set.

  In the standby mode, the control unit 9 is used to explain the name and program contents of an EIT (Event Information Table: program currently being broadcast (or a program to be broadcast in the future) included in the TS at regular intervals. Information (character string; character image) related to the program obtained from the received data string may be displayed on the display screen of the image display unit 3 (EIT is superimposed on other standby screens). May be displayed.) Even with this configuration, it is possible to inform the user of an outline of a television program that is currently being broadcast (or will be broadcast in the future).

As described above, in this telephone, information (TV information) for showing the user an outline of a TV program that is currently being broadcast (or will be broadcast in the future) in the standby mode includes 1) a simplified television image, and 2) a simplified television. It is possible to use any one of voice, 3) a simplified television image and abbreviated television sound, 4) a normal television image, 5) a normal television sound, and 6) a character image corresponding to EIT.
In addition, 7) abbreviated TV image and normal TV sound, 8) normal TV image and abbreviated TV sound, 8) character image and abbreviated TV sound according to EIT, 9) character image and normal TV sound according to EIT, It may be used as information.

  In the present embodiment, the control unit 9 displays the television information as described above to the user in the standby mode. However, the control unit 9 is not limited to this, and may be set to display television information by the image display unit 3 or the speaker 11 in all modes other than the television viewing mode.

In this embodiment, the telephone is shown as an electronic device for performing the television information display processing of the present invention shown in FIG.
However, TV information display processing is not limited to mobile phones, but other portable communication terminals and portable devices (such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and notebook personal computers) that can receive television broadcasts, or other You may make it apply to an information processing apparatus (a desktop computer or a television receiver itself).

  For example, a simplified television image may be used as an image for a computer screen saver. Alternatively, an abbreviated television image may be displayed on the television screen in a standby state (a state where only the main power supply is turned on and normally no image is displayed) using the processing of the present invention.

In other words, the television information display process of the present invention can be any electronic device that is meaningful to inform the user of an outline of a television program that is currently being broadcast (or will be broadcast in the future) during idling. It can also be applied to electronic equipment.
Here, the electronic device is idling means that the electronic device is not in the TV viewing mode (that is, the electronic device is used for a purpose other than the TV viewing mode (the state that is not in the TV viewing mode). Or a state where it is left unused without being used). Therefore, in the case of a mobile phone such as the present phone, the idling is in the standby mode.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 9 that performs the display processing of the television information is assumed to be the central part of the telephone. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a control unit that performs a display process of television information may be provided separately from the telephone. In this case, the control unit that performs the display processing of the television information is provided in another device (television program notification device) provided in the telephone. In addition, it can be said that this television program notification device is a control unit that performs a display process of television information.

  That is, according to the present invention, in a television program notification apparatus provided in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, the television information indicating the outline of the television program is output using the display unit of the electronic device while the electronic device is idling. It can also be expressed as a television program notification device. Furthermore, in the television program notification apparatus provided in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, the present invention outputs television information indicating an outline of the television program using the display unit of the electronic device during idling of the electronic device. It can also be expressed as a television program notification device provided with a control unit.

  Of course, as shown in the present embodiment, the television information display process may be executed by a control unit of an electronic device such as the telephone. Therefore, the present invention includes an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast, and includes a display unit and a control unit that controls the display unit and outputs television information indicating an outline of a television program during idling. It can also be expressed as an electronic device.

  In the above description, the television information display process is performed under the control of the control unit of this telephone (electronic device) (or the control unit of the television program notification device). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a program for performing these processes may be recorded on a recording medium, and an information processing apparatus that can read the program may be used instead of the control unit of the telephone.

  In this configuration, the arithmetic unit (CPU or MPU) of the information processing apparatus reads the program recorded on the recording medium and executes the process. Therefore, it can be said that this program itself realizes the processing.

  Here, as the information processing apparatus, in addition to a general computer (workstation or personal computer), a function expansion board or a function expansion unit mounted on the computer can be used.

  The above program is a program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program, etc.) of software that realizes processing. This program may be used alone or in combination with other programs (such as OS). The program may be read from the recording medium, temporarily stored in a memory (RAM or the like) in the apparatus, and then read and executed again.

  The recording medium for recording the program may be easily separable from the information processing apparatus, or may be fixed (attached) to the apparatus. Furthermore, it may be connected to the apparatus as an external storage device.

Examples of such recording media include magnetic tapes such as video tapes and cassette tapes, magnetic disks such as floppy (registered trademark) disks and hard disks, optical disks such as CD-ROM, MO, MD, DVD, and CD-R (magneto-optical). Disc), memory cards such as IC cards and optical cards, semiconductor memories such as mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and flash ROM can be applied.
Also, a recording medium connected to the information processing apparatus via a network (intranet / Internet) may be used. In this case, the information processing apparatus acquires the program by downloading via the network. That is, the above program may be acquired via a transmission medium (a medium that dynamically holds the program) such as a network (connected to a wired line or a wireless line). The program for downloading is preferably stored in advance in the apparatus (or in the transmission side apparatus / reception side apparatus).

  In the present embodiment, in the standby mode, the control unit 9 displays the simplified television image on the image display unit 3. However, the image (standby image) displayed on the image display unit 3 in the standby mode is not limited to the simplified television image, and is preferably set to an image desired by the user.

  In the present embodiment, the image display unit 3 includes an LCD. However, the display screen included in the image display unit 3 is not limited to this, and a display panel having any other structure such as an organic EL panel, a plasma display, or a CRT can be used in addition to the LCD.

  The TV receiver 1 and the TS decoder 2 of the telephone receive a television broadcast signal and generate a signal that can be output (reproduced) by the telephone. Therefore, the TV receiving unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 can be collectively expressed as a television receiving unit of the telephone. Further, the TV receiving unit 1 may be expressed as a content separation unit.

  Further, in the conventional television mobile phone reception mode, the user cannot know what the program currently being broadcast is from only the information from the mobile phone until reception of the television broadcast is started. If the mobile phone's standby screen can be a TV broadcast program that is being received, the user can always know the contents of the program that is currently being broadcast, but with the current technology, the standby screen is either a still image or an animation. It is displayed by image data, animation display data or a program stored in the flash memory of the mobile phone. Therefore, in the conventional method, the television broadcast being received cannot be used as the standby screen of the mobile phone.

Another object of the present invention is to enable a user to always know the contents of a broadcast program by using a broadcast program as a standby screen in a mobile phone with a TV broadcast receiving function. For this purpose, an EIT (Event Information Table: a data string including the name of the currently broadcasted or next program or information on the program description) included in the TS at regular intervals is acquired, and information about the program obtained therefrom A method of superimposing a (character string) on a conventional standby screen and presenting it to the user, or a method of using a moving image of a received program for the standby screen can be considered. When the standby screen is a TV program that is being broadcast, if the TV broadcast reception in the standby state is performed in the same manner as a normal TV broadcast reception, the current consumption increases, and the battery for calling that is the original function of the mobile phone The effect on the remaining amount is increased. Therefore, in order to use the received television broadcast as a standby screen, it is preferable to present the video of the broadcast program in a manner that suppresses current consumption.
The flash memory 6 may store a program used by the telephone. Further, the RAM 7 may be a system memory. In addition, when viewing a television broadcast with the mobile phone having the television broadcast reception function shown in FIG. 1, when the user inputs a television viewing start instruction by key input, the TV reception unit 1 and the TS decoding unit 2 start operating. Then, the audio stream and the moving image stream may be separated from the received broadcast data, and the respective decoding processes may be performed so that the sound and the moving image are presented to the user. Further, in the present telephone set, it is preferable that the TS decoding unit 2 or the control unit 9 has a function of acquiring a still image from a TS video stream and a timer for intermittently receiving a television broadcast.

  The mobile phone of the present invention can also be expressed as the following first to twelfth mobile phones. That is, the first mobile phone has a configuration in which a moving picture or data broadcast included in a TV broadcast program being received can be used as a standby screen in a mobile telephone with a TV broadcast receiving function. In addition, the second mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the received program as a standby screen in the first mobile phone, and is waiting by not decoding and playing back the audio of the received TV program in the standby state. The current consumption is reduced.

  Further, the third mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program that is being received. In the standby state, the liquid crystal screen backlight is dimmed to reduce current consumption during standby. It is a configuration. In addition, the fourth mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the standby program as a standby screen in the first mobile phone, and in a standby state, the TV mobile reception is intermittently operated to reduce current consumption during standby. is there.

Further, the fifth mobile phone is a mobile phone capable of using the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program that is being received, and the current consumption in the standby state is reduced in the same manner as in the fourth mobile phone so that the standby screen is displayed. The moving image of the received television program is intermittently displayed, and a still image is displayed except when the television is being received.
Further, the sixth mobile phone is a mobile phone capable of using the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program being received, and reduces the current consumption in the standby state in the same manner as in the fourth mobile phone so that the standby screen is displayed. The still image acquired from the received moving image of the television program is displayed at regular intervals.

  In addition, the seventh mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the standby program as a standby screen in the first mobile phone, and reduce the current consumption in the standby state by reducing the frame rate of the moving image playback of the broadcast program. It is a configuration. Further, the eighth mobile phone is a mobile phone capable of using the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program being received, and automatically changes the TV broadcast channel to be displayed in the standby state at a certain time, The video obtained from the broadcast program can be used as a standby screen.

  Further, the ninth mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program that is being received, and displays the standby screen in the same manner as any of the second to eighth mobile phones. By the operation, the television program displayed on the standby screen can be viewed on the main display. In addition, the tenth mobile phone is a mobile phone that can use the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program that is being received, and displays the standby screen in the same manner as any of the second to eighth mobile phones. By the operation, the television program displayed on the standby screen can be recorded on a recording medium.

  Further, the eleventh mobile phone is a mobile phone capable of using the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program being received, and in the standby state, the standby screen is displayed on the sub-display in the same manner as any of the second to eighth mobile phones. Is displayed, and a TV program displayed on the standby screen can be started to be viewed on the main display by a user operation. Further, the twelfth mobile phone is a mobile phone capable of using the first mobile phone as a standby screen for a program being received. In the standby state, the twelfth mobile phone is displayed on the sub display in the same manner as any of the second to eighth mobile phones. Can be recorded on the television program recording medium displayed on the standby screen by the user's operation.

  The television program notification device according to the present invention is a television program notification device provided in an electronic device capable of receiving a television broadcast. The television program notification device includes a display unit including a main display and a sub-display. It can also be expressed as having a control unit that receives a television broadcast and outputs television information related to the received television program using a sub-display.

  Further, in the mobile phone of the present invention, in order to minimize the increase in current consumption, which is a problem when a television program being received is used as a standby screen, the television program display on the standby screen may be performed as follows. Good. First, no audio is played back. As a result, when the audio decoding is performed by the hardware in the speaker unit that operates during normal television reception or the broadcast reception data processing of the mobile phone, the current consumption of the audio decoding portion can be suppressed. Secondly, the backlight of the liquid crystal is dimmed while waiting. This is the same as a conventional mobile phone in which the backlight of the liquid crystal is darkened after a certain period of time, and the current consumption of the television display during standby is reduced at the expense of easy viewing. Thirdly, the current consumption is suppressed by operating the television broadcast receiver at regular intervals. If the TV broadcast receiving part continues to operate even if the liquid crystal backlight is dimmed without performing sound reproduction, a constant current is consumed in that part. Therefore, the current consumption of the television broadcast receiver is suppressed by performing a television broadcast reception operation at regular intervals during standby. The longer the time interval for operating the television broadcast receiver, the lower the current consumption. In this case, the standby screen is presented to the user by displaying the screen at the end of the TV broadcast reception as a still image for a certain period of time, and when the TV broadcast is received again, the currently broadcast video is played, There are a method of making a still image at the end of reception again, and a method of displaying a still image acquired from a television broadcast received at regular intervals on the screen. The above is a means for using a moving image being broadcast as a standby screen. This is the same as when a data program being broadcast (not including a video stream) is used as a standby screen.

  Also, in a system that can reduce current consumption by reducing the frame rate of the moving image to be played back by means similar to the third means, the receiving operation itself is performed continuously, but the moving image is played back. There is also a means to reduce current consumption by reducing the frame rate. In addition, the above describes the case where the channel to be displayed at the time of standby is a fixed channel, but by adding a process of changing the reception channel at a fixed time during standby, it can be obtained from programs of a plurality of channels preset by the user. It is also possible to use a standby screen for changing the video to be displayed, or a standby screen for videos obtained from all channels that can be received in the area. In addition, by displaying the TV program being broadcast on the standby screen, the user can watch normal TV viewing (continuous viewing with audio playback) immediately by key operation etc. ), And if necessary, can be recorded on a recording medium.

  Further, in the present invention, in a mobile phone having a TV broadcast receiving function, a user can obtain a standby screen by using a video created from a TV program being broadcast (a video of a program being broadcast or a still image acquired from a video). It can be said that it is possible to know in real time what kind of program is currently being broadcast. Therefore, the user can immediately watch the program by switching to the normal television broadcast reception mode when the program he is interested in is being broadcast or when an interesting scene in the program is reached. Also, it can be said that programs and scenes to be recorded can be recorded on a recording medium without forgetting.

  As described above, the present invention receives a television broadcast (television broadcast) such as a mobile phone, a personal computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant) or a television receiver (dedicated device), and the display unit displays an image and an image. It can be used for electronic devices that can output sound.

It is a functional block diagram of the mobile telephone concerning one Embodiment of this invention. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation in a standby mode in the mobile phone shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 TV receiver 2 TS decode unit 3 Image display unit (display unit, display screen)
4 Backlight 5 Operation unit 6 Flash memory 7 RAM
8 Mobile phone radio unit 9 Control unit 10 Recording media 11 Speaker (display unit)
12 TV antenna 13 Telephone antenna

Claims (23)

In a TV program notification device provided in an electronic device capable of receiving TV broadcasts,
During the idling of the electronic device, the electronic device has a control unit that receives a television broadcast and uses the display unit of the electronic device to output television information indicating an outline of the received television program. TV program notification device. The display unit includes a sub display and a main display,
2. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is set to display television information using a sub-display.   3. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit is set to formally output a program corresponding to the television information using a main display in accordance with a user instruction.   3. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the television information is an image of a television program.   5. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the television information is a simplified television image obtained by simplifying a television program image.   6. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the simplified television image is an image in which a moving image and a still image are mixed.   6. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the simplified television image is a still image.   6. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the abbreviated television image is a moving image with a reduced frame rate.   5. The television program notification device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit reduces the amount of light of the display unit to be smaller than normal when displaying the television information.   The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the television information is audio of a television program.   3. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the television information is a character image corresponding to an EIT of the television program.   The television program notification device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit is set to change a channel related to output of television information at regular intervals.   2. The television program according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is set to formally output a program corresponding to the television information using a display unit of an electronic device in accordance with a user instruction. Notification device. The electronic device includes a recording medium for recording a television program,
The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control unit is set to record the program corresponding to the television information on the recording medium in accordance with a user instruction. The electronic device includes a telephone function,
3. The television program notification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the idling is a state including a telephone standby state.   The electronic device provided with the television program notification apparatus in any one of Claims 1-15.   The portable communication terminal provided with the television program notification apparatus in any one of Claims 1-15. In portable communication terminals that can receive TV broadcasts,
A receiver for receiving TV broadcasts;
A display unit;
A control unit that controls a receiving unit to receive a television broadcast during idling and outputs television information indicating an outline of the received TV program using a display unit. Portable communication terminal. The display unit includes a sub display and a main display,
19. The portable communication terminal according to claim 18, wherein the control unit is set to display television information using a sub display. In a TV program notification method in an electronic device capable of receiving TV broadcasts,
Including a television information output step of causing the electronic device to receive a television broadcast during idling of the electronic device and outputting television information indicating an outline of the received television program using the display unit of the electronic device. TV program notification method.   The television program notification program for functioning the computer connected to the electronic device which can receive television broadcast as a control part in the television program notification apparatus of Claim 1.   21. A television program announcement program for causing a computer connected to an electronic device capable of receiving television broadcast to execute a television information output step in the television program announcement method according to claim 20. A recording medium on which the television program notification program according to claim 21 or 22 is recorded.

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