JP2005099875A - Touch panel display type database search apparatus features in user interface procedures - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a Karaoke remote control device with an electronic table-of-contents function that realizes a superior user interface environment. <P>SOLUTION: The Karaoke remote control device with the electronic table-of-contents function includes a music index database corresponding to a Karaoke music database utilized to a Karaoke device, searches and presents matched pieces of music from the music search database for a user on the basis of search conditions inputted by a user interface and transmits a remote control signal for reserving one piece of music to the Karaoke device, when there is a play reservation user input after specifying the one piece of music among the presented pieces of music. When the number of pieces of music searched out of the music index database exceeds a specific number, only the number of pieces of music is displayed as a search result; and when there is a list display command user input in such a state, a list of the titles of song is displayed as a search result. When the number of pieces of music searched out of the music index database is less than the specific number, the list of the titles of song is immediately displayed as the search result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention has a music index database corresponding to a karaoke music database used in a karaoke apparatus, and searches for a suitable music from the music index database based on a search condition input by a user interface. With an electronic table of contents function that sends a remote control signal for reserving one tune to the karaoke device when a user input for performance reservation is specified after one of the presented tunes is specified The present invention relates to an improvement of a karaoke remote control device.

  A typical function of this type of electronic remote control karaoke remote control device is a song name search. In the song name search mode, when the user inputs, for example, “ho”, songs whose song names begin with “ho” are searched. Assume that there are 120 corresponding music pieces. In a certain electronic table of contents, the names of the 120 songs are displayed in the order of Aueo. In another electronic table of contents, it is displayed that there are 120 corresponding songs, and when the user instructs to display a list of song names, the song names of 120 songs are displayed in the order of Iueo.

  If “te” is input after “ho”, the corresponding song is reduced to 38 songs, and if “ru” is subsequently input, the corresponding song is 12 songs. Then, for example, “Hotel Edogawa” is selected from the displayed names of the 12 songs, and a performance reservation is made.

  This type of karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function is commercialized as a computer application device having a form similar to a notebook personal computer or palmtop personal computer. As the user interface, a liquid crystal touch panel is often used and the display screen is not so large, so the list of song names that can be displayed as a list is about 5 to 20 songs at most.

  In the song name search mode described above with a specific example, 120 song names starting with “ho” cannot be displayed at a time, so they are displayed in 10 pages, for example, in order of Iueo. In such a method of automatically displaying a large number of song lists that cannot be displayed at a time as search results, it is extremely troublesome for a user to find a target song from among them, so that it can be said that there is almost no utility value.

  On the other hand, the method that automatically displays only the number of searched and extracted songs and waits for the user's instruction input before displaying the list of songs does not display a meaningless list of songs that has little utility value. For those who are not used to it, the input method for displaying the search result song list will be considered for a moment.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide a karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function that can be used conveniently without difficulty even for those who are not familiar with computer operations and the like. Is to provide.

  1st invention for achieving the said objective has a music index database corresponding to the karaoke music database used with a karaoke apparatus, and adapts from the said music index database based on the search conditions input by the user interface A remote control for reserving one song in the karaoke device when a user inputs a performance reservation after a song is searched for and presented to the user and one of the presented songs is specified In the karaoke remote control device with electronic table of contents function that transmits a signal, when the number of songs searched and output from the song index database exceeds a specified number, only the number of songs is displayed as a search result, and in that state If there is a user input for the list display command, the song name list as a search result is displayed and searched from the song index database. If the number of music is less than the predetermined number, it is characterized by being configured to immediately display the song list is a search result.

  2nd invention has the music index database which accumulated the attribute information of each music corresponding to the karaoke music database utilized with a karaoke apparatus, The said music index database based on the search conditions input by the user interface If the number of songs retrieved from the song index database exceeds the specified number, only the number of songs is displayed as a search result, and the user of the list display command in that state If there is an input, the song name list that is the search result is displayed. If the number of songs searched and output from the song index database is less than the specified number, the song name list that is the search result is immediately displayed, and the song name list is displayed. When there is user input to specify one song, detailed attribute information about the song is presented and the user of the performance reservation is entered. It has a configuration electronic table of contents present function karaoke remote control device to transmit a remote control signal for reserving the songs to the karaoke device when there is.

  A third invention is an electronic table of contents configured to present the detailed attribute information of one song when the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is 1 in the second invention. A karaoke remote control device with function was adopted.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the specified number is equal to the maximum number of music pieces displayed on one screen.

  According to the karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function of the present invention, when the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is less than the prescribed number, the song name list as a search result can be displayed immediately. Accordingly, necessary information can be displayed according to the number of retrievals even in a limited display area, and an excellent user interface environment can be provided to the user.

  In addition, when one song is finally specified, the detailed attribute information of the song is displayed, so that the user can check whether the specified song is a song for which a performance reservation is desired. . As a result, it is possible to prevent a musical performance reservation different from that desired from being reserved.

  When the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is 1, the attribute information of the song can be displayed immediately. Thereby, after the user confirms the details of the music, the work time until the performance reservation instruction can be further shortened.

  By making the specified number the same as the maximum number of songs that can be included in the song name list, if the number of songs that have been retrieved and output is less than the specified number, all search results can be displayed on one screen and page turning Thus, there is no need to perform any additional operation from the display of the song name list until the performance reservation instruction is transmitted to the karaoke apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a karaoke remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus main body 1 is generally a thick panel, and the size of the apparatus main body 1 is such that both hands can be held open when the panel is horizontally long. A liquid crystal display (LCD) 2 is disposed on the front surface of the panel, and a touch panel 3 is laminated on the surface of the LCD 2.

  There is an infrared transmitter 4 by a light emitting diode (LED) on the upper end surface of the panel-like case, and a terminal 6 for receiving power supply from an external power source when charging a secondary battery inside the main body on the lower end surface, An RS232C standard interface (IF) terminal 5 for data communication with an external computer is provided. These terminal groups are normally hidden from view by a blind cover.

  FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the karaoke remote control device 1 by a functional block diagram. The configuration of the karaoke remote control device 1 of this embodiment is basically the same as that of a computer such as a PC. In the flash memory 12 functioning as an external storage, attribute information such as the song name, artist name, and the singing portion of the lyrics is stored in association with the song number for the karaoke song that can be used in the karaoke device, and the song index database is stored. Has been built. Further, the central control unit 11 which is the main control unit of the karaoke remote control device 1 communicates with an external computer such as a karaoke device via the communication interface (IF) 13 of the RS232C standard, and attribute information about the new karaoke music Is downloaded and stored in the flash memory 12, so that the music index database is updated in a timely manner.

  When the central control unit 11 receives the operation input information from the touch panel 3 via the operation control unit 15, the central control unit 11 displays image data prepared in the internal ROM and a processing result corresponding to the operation input information in the image data. The reflected image data is developed as a bitmap on the video RAM, and the LCD driver 14 is controlled to display and output the bitmap image on the LCD 2. Thereby, the karaoke remote control device 1 provides a GUI environment to the user. The central control unit 11 searches the music index database through dialogue with the user through the GUI, and displays the search result to realize the electronic table of contents function.

  The central control unit 11 generates a code including the corresponding music number if there is a user input indicating that the music is reserved for performance in a state where one karaoke music is finally presented by the electronic table of contents function. The code is transferred to the LED driver 16. The LED driver 16 gives a modulated signal of this code to the LED 17 to cause the karaoke apparatus to transmit a radio signal for performance reservation.

  The above is the basic configuration and operation of the karaoke remote control device 1 having the electronic table of contents function. This configuration and operation itself are almost the same as those of a conventional electronic table of contents. However, the present invention relates to the improvement of the user interface in the karaoke remote control device with the electronic table of contents function, and has a feature in the user interface when presenting the search result for the query inputted by the user.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the top screen 20 displayed when the electronic table of contents function of the karaoke remote control device 1 is activated. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing functions called when various buttons arranged on the top screen 20 are designated. On the top screen 20 are buttons 21 for calling various search methods (new music, singer name, song name, that time, duet, genre) and functions (history, remote control) corresponding to the various definition processes s39 to s46 in FIG. 28 and various buttons 29 for operating the karaoke apparatus during music performance are provided.

  When the buttons 21 to 28 for the respective search methods and functions are instructed while the screen 20 is displayed, initial screens for the respective search methods and functions shown in FIGS. 5A to 5H are displayed. The karaoke remote control device 1 performs screen transition hierarchically from these initial screens (A) to (H) in accordance with the user's operation input, and finally the music to be reserved for performance reservation in the karaoke device is specified by the user. A remote control signal including the corresponding music number is transmitted in accordance with an operation input for reserving the performance.

  Here, the user interface characteristic of the present invention will be described by taking, as an example, the operation until the button 23 for “song title search” on the top screen is instructed and one song is finally specified by this song name search method. I decided to.

  FIG. 6 shows the flow of music search processing by the music title search method. FIGS. 7A to 7F show transition diagrams of screens displayed on the LCD 2 in the course of this processing. When the music title search method is selected and instructed by the user on the top screen, a keyword input screen (a) including a character palette is displayed (s51 to 53). The user designates the characters in the character palette and inputs the title of the target karaoke song one by one from the initial character. The central control unit inquires the music index database for a character string from the initial character every time one character is input. For example, if "Manatsu ..." is input, first, when "MA" is input, the music index database is searched using the keyword "MA" as a query. If the number of songs of the corresponding karaoke song is larger than the specified number at this time, the input characters and the number of songs are displayed at predetermined positions (31, 32) on the screen as shown in the screen (b) (from s54). s58 → S53). When a character after “NA” is input following “MA”, the input character string is referred to the music index database for each character input opportunity, and the number of corresponding music is displayed (c).

  Here, when the “search” button 33 on the screen displaying the number of songs together with the character palette is designated, appropriate attribute information on the searched songs is displayed in a list over a plurality of pages (s58 → s59). . In other words, since it becomes difficult to view attribute information about a large number of music pieces in a limited display area, a plurality of searched music pieces are collected for each predetermined number, and attribute information about the prescribed number of music pieces is displayed in one screen. To list. In the present embodiment, a plurality of searched karaoke songs are displayed in a list of every eight songs in the order of the song numbers (d).

  In this list screen, the total number of pages and the currently displayed page number are displayed at a predetermined position 34. When the user designates the page turning button 35, the page turns back and forth according to the page turning direction. , And a list of other music attribute information is displayed (s59 to s61). If it is desired to search again by continuing character input, the "return" button 36 in the attribute information list screen is designated to display the character palette again (s62 → s53).

  In the process of sequentially browsing a list of songs over multiple pages searched by the user, when a display column for a certain song is specified, the karaoke remote control device displays and outputs detailed attribute information for the indicated song (S63 → s64, e). When the user confirms that the music is the target music by looking at the detailed attribute information, the user designates the “transfer” button 38 disposed in the display screen of the detailed attribute information. As a result, the karaoke remote control device sends a remote control signal for reserving the music (s66 → s73), displays the confirmation screen (f) indicating that the music has been reserved, and then displays the start screen (a) for the music title search process again. (S74 → s51). If it is not the target song, the “return” button 37 in the detailed attribute information display screen is instructed, and the list including this song is displayed again (s65 → s59). Returning to the song number presentation page including the previous character palette, if the user wishes to continue character input, the “return” button 36 in the list screen is designated (s62 → s53). All the screens are provided with a button 39 written “top”, and when this button is designated, the top screen shown in FIG. 3 is returned.

  In the karaoke remote control device of the present embodiment, when the number of karaoke pieces corresponding to the search result is less than a predetermined number (eight pieces) in the course of inputting characters, a part of the attribute information about the karaoke piece. Is extracted from the music index database and the music attribute information list (d) shown in FIG. 7 is automatically displayed (s57 → s67 → s68). In the attribute information list screen (d) displayed in this case, 1/1 is displayed at the page position description position 34, and the page feed button 35 is displayed in a light color to invalidate the user's instruction operation. .

  In addition, for example, when 10 songs are searched for at the time of the above-described process of inputting “Manatsu”, and when the next one character is entered, the corresponding song becomes 1 song. The attribute information list screen display process is omitted, and detailed attribute information about the music is automatically displayed (s57 → s67 → s70). The subsequent flow until the performance reservation is made is the same as that described above (s63 to s66 → s73 → s74) (s69 to s74).

  In this way, the number of songs is sequentially displayed as a search result in the process of character input, so if you display a list when the user is narrowed down to an appropriate number, you can browse many list display pages sequentially The work to go can be omitted. In addition, even if the number of songs that can be displayed at one time is limited due to the display area limitation, since the number of songs as a search result is automatically reduced to the number of songs that can be displayed, Freed from page turning.

  In the above embodiment, the detailed attribute information of the music is displayed at the time when one music is finally narrowed down by the user's instruction from the database search or list display, and the reservation is made on the screen. However, the remote control signal may be automatically transmitted when the music is narrowed down to one song. At this time, the detailed screen may or may not be displayed.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the method of searching for music by inputting the music titles shown in the embodiments, and any search method can be used as long as karaoke music is searched for a query.

The external view of the karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function in the Example of this invention is shown. The functional block diagram of the said Example is shown. The schematic of the top screen displayed in the said Example is shown. An operation for calling various search methods and functions from the top screen is shown by a flowchart. A display screen when the above-described various search methods and functions are called is shown as a schematic diagram. In the said Example, the flowchart of the process at the time of searching a karaoke music and reserving a performance by a music title search system is shown. The process in the song name search method is shown by a transition diagram of the display screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Karaoke remote controller 2 Liquid crystal display 3 Touch panel 11 Central control part 12 Flash memory 13 Communication interface 17 Light emitting diode

Claims (4)

It has a music index database corresponding to the karaoke music database used in the karaoke apparatus, searches for a suitable music from the music index database based on the search condition inputted by the user interface, presents it to the user, and presents it In a karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function for transmitting a remote control signal for reserving one tune to the karaoke device when a user input for performance reservation is specified after one of the tunes is specified ,
If the number of songs searched and output from the song index database exceeds the specified number, only the number of songs is displayed as a search result, and if there is a user input of a list display command in that state, it is a search result Display the song name list,
A karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function, which is configured to immediately display a song name list as a search result when the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is less than a prescribed number. Corresponding to the karaoke music database used in the karaoke device, it has a music index database storing attribute information of each music,
Search for a suitable music from the music index database based on the search condition entered by the user interface,
If the number of songs searched and output from the song index database exceeds the specified number, only the number of songs is displayed as a search result, and if there is a user input of a list display command in that state, it is a search result Display the song name list,
If the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is less than the specified number, immediately display a song name list as a search result,
When there is a user input for designating one song from the song name list, the detailed attribute information about the song is presented,
A karaoke remote control device with an electronic table of contents function, which is configured to transmit a remote control signal for reserving one song to the karaoke device when a user inputs a performance reservation.   3. The electronic table of contents main function according to claim 2, wherein when the number of songs retrieved from the song index database is 1, the detailed attribute information of the one song is presented. Karaoke remote control device.   3. The karaoke remote control device with electronic contents book function according to claim 1, wherein the specified number is equal to a maximum number of music pieces displayed on one screen.

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