JP2005109924A - Broadcasting receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a broadcasting receiver for enabling a user to quickly select programs that the user often watches. <P>SOLUTION: The user operates a key inputting part 15 or a remote control transmitter 300 to instruct a channel selection. A CPU 8 controls a tuner 1 to select a channel, simultaneously controls a clock 11 to count viewing hours and stores viewing history for each different time zone into a nonvolatile memory 16 each time a prescribed period of time passes. When the user operates an "often watched channel" key arranged on the remote control transmitter 300, the CPU 8 reads viewing history information in the same time zone as that of an operation from the nonvolatile memory 16, and displays a channel number with the longest viewing hours in the viewing history information on a CRT 12. When the user shows viewing intention according to this display, the CPU 8 controls the tuner 1 to select the channel that the user desires. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus, and more particularly, to a broadcast receiving apparatus having a function of analyzing a user's preference from a program viewing time zone and guiding a user to quickly select a desired program.

  With the widespread use of cable TV and digital broadcasting, a full-channel era has been put into practical use in Japan, and it is not easy for users to find a desired channel. It has been proposed that the broadcast receiving apparatus has a function of analyzing the user's preference from the viewing time of the program as a countermeasure and guiding the user to quickly select a desired program using the result (for example, (See Patent Document 1). Hereinafter, this function is referred to as a “frequently viewed channel” function.

  In this function, first, the channel numbers and viewing times of broadcasts viewed by the user are totaled over the past several days according to time zones, and this information is stored in the nonvolatile memory as viewing history. When the user operates a “frequently viewed channel” key arranged on the remote controller or the like, the receiver searches for the channel that the user views most frequently during the time period based on the viewing history, and displays a screen as shown in FIG. Display on the screen. The user can quickly reach a desired program by displaying the intention of channel selection according to the guidance on the screen.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-220675

  By the way, in the function of the “frequently viewed channels” in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is important to accurately extract the user's preference. There is a need to.

  Assuming the first broadcast receiving apparatus with a time zone width of 2 hours, it is recognized as the channel most often viewed by the user for viewing a long program exceeding 1 hour, but a short program of about 30 minutes Is likely not to be recognized as the most viewed channel. As a result, even if the 30-minute program is important to the user, it is treated as the second or lower at that time, and it is not possible to guide to the above program on the “Frequently Watched Channels” screen. .

  On the other hand, when the second broadcast receiving apparatus having a time zone width of 30 minutes is assumed, the above-described problem can be avoided. However, the second broadcast receiving apparatus has a time zone as compared with the first broadcast receiving apparatus. Therefore, the area of the non-volatile memory necessary for storing the viewing history is quadrupled. Further, in order to cope with a shorter program such as a 10-minute program and a 5-minute program, an even larger memory area is required, which is a serious problem in an embedded device in which the nonvolatile memory capacity is severely restricted.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and identifies a time zone in which a user's viewing frequency is high, and the time zone in which the viewing frequency is high counts the viewing time in order to increase the accuracy of user preference analysis. The time zone is narrowed, and the time zone with low viewing frequency is configured to increase the time zone to count the viewing time in order to save the nonvolatile memory capacity, so that the user can quickly select the desired program An object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus capable of performing the above.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises the following means.
That is,
A broadcast receiving device that searches for a program based on channel information, program information corresponding to this channel, and time information from a received digital broadcast television signal,
Channel selection means for selecting the program;
Time information detecting means for detecting time information of the selected program;
A specifying means for specifying a time zone in which a user's viewing frequency is higher than the detected time information;
Analysis storage means for analyzing and storing user preferences for each channel of the selected program;
Guidance control means for guiding the user to select a desired program by the analysis storage means;
Have
The broadcast receiving apparatus characterized in that, by the specifying means, the accuracy of analysis of the analysis storage means is increased during a time zone when the user's viewing frequency is high, and the accuracy is lowered during a time zone when the viewing frequency is low.

According to the “broadcast receiving device” of the present invention, a time zone in which a user's viewing frequency is high is specified, and the time zone in which the viewing frequency is high is a time zone in which viewing time is counted in order to improve the accuracy of user preference analysis. The broadcast receiving apparatus can be provided in which the user can quickly select a desired program by narrowing the width of the program and narrowing the width of the time zone for counting the viewing time.
In addition, the time zone with low viewing frequency is configured to increase the width of the time zone for counting the viewing time, so it is possible to save non-volatile memory capacity and accurately match the user's preference with a device with small memory capacity. Can be reflected.

The best mode for carrying out the invention of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to preferred embodiments.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus applied to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display for explaining the operation of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to the present embodiment. 3 to 6 are diagrams showing an example of a flowchart for explaining the operation of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a logical configuration example of information stored in the memory in the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to this embodiment.

The operation of the broadcast receiving apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. A broadcast signal received by the antenna 200 is input to the broadcast receiving apparatus 100. A signal from the antenna 200 is selected and received by the tuner 1 and supplied to the signal processing unit 2 as an intermediate frequency (IF) signal. The signal processing unit 2 detects the IF signal and outputs a video signal and an audio signal. The video signal is supplied from the video signal output unit 3 to the CRT 12, and the audio signal is supplied from the audio signal output unit 4 to the speaker 13.
Each part of the circuit is connected to the CPU 8 by the bus 6 and controlled by the CPU 8. The CPU 8 controls channel selection in the tuner 1, display of a “frequently viewed channel” screen by the graphics controller 5, power control by the power control unit 7, time measurement of the current time in the clock 11, and the like. The program ROM 9 stores a program for processing channel selection, viewing time counting, and the like. The non-volatile memory 16 also stores viewing history information and the like. The key input unit 15, the remote control transmission unit 300, and the remote control reception unit 14 are used for inputting a channel selection and an operation on a “frequently viewed channel” screen.

Next, viewing time counting will be described. The user operates the key input unit 15 or the remote control transmitter 300 to give a channel selection instruction. The CPU 8 controls the tuner 1 to select a channel, and at the same time controls the clock 11 to start viewing time counting. Every time one minute elapses, the CPU 8 stores the viewing history in the nonvolatile memory 16 according to time zones.
When the user operates the “frequently watched channel” key arranged on the remote control transmitter 300, the CPU 8 reads the viewing history information in the same time zone as the time of operation from the nonvolatile memory 16, and the channel with the longest viewing time among them. The number is displayed on the CRT 12 as shown in FIG.
In this display, a plurality of channel numbers may be displayed in a list in descending order of viewing time. When the user indicates the intention to view according to this display, the CPU 8 controls the tuner 1 to select a channel desired by the user.

Further, the operation will be described in detail using a flowchart. In FIG. 3, when the main process S1 is started, the presence or absence of key input is detected in step S2. If there is no key input, a viewing time counting process is executed in step S3, and a viewing history reconstruction process is executed in step S5. When the “frequently viewed channel” key is input, the process proceeds to step S6, and the “frequently viewed channel” process is executed.
These key inputs may be performed by the key input unit 15 or the remote control transmitter 300.

  FIG. 4 shows the flow of the viewing time counting process in step S3. In the figure, it is checked in step S31 whether one minute has elapsed. If one minute has passed, the process proceeds to step S32, and if not, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S32, it is checked whether or not the user is currently viewing. If the power is on, it is considered that the user is viewing, and the process proceeds to step S33. If the power is on standby, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S33, the viewing time is counted up and stored in the viewing history information area in the nonvolatile memory 16.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the viewing history information area. The viewing histories 702, 703, 704, 705, and 706 are areas for managing the viewing time for each time zone, and each area further stores the viewing time for each channel. The viewing history 701 is a list indicating a place where viewing time for each time zone is stored, and has a structure in which an area is designated for each time zone of 30 minutes. The designation of the area can take two forms. The first form stores the viewing time for 2 hours in one area as in the viewing history 702 in the case of a time zone where the user's viewing frequency is low.
In the second mode, the viewing time is stored in another area in units of 30 minutes as in the viewing history 703 to 706 in the case of a time zone in which the user has a high viewing frequency. In step S34, it is checked whether one day has passed. If one day has passed, the process proceeds to step S35, and if not, the process ends in step S36. In step S35, the viewing time in all time zones is halved. As a result, the viewing time of the channel that is no longer viewed disappears as time passes.

  FIG. 5 shows a flow of “frequently viewed channels” processing in step S4. In the figure, the current time is acquired in step S41, and the viewing history information in the time zone to which the current time belongs is read from the nonvolatile memory 16 in step S52, and the channel having the longest viewing time is searched. In step S43, the channel number searched in step S42 is displayed on the “frequently viewed channels” screen of FIG. In step S44, presence / absence of key input is detected. When the cursor left / right key is input, the cursor is moved in step S45. When the enter key is input, the cursor position is determined in step S46. If the cursor position is in the item "Yes", the channel searched in step S42 is selected in step S47, and the process ends in step S48. If the cursor position is in the item “No”, the process ends in step S48.

FIG. 6 shows the flow of the viewing history reconstruction process in step S5. In step S51, it is checked whether one day has passed. If one day has passed, the process proceeds to step S52, and if not, the process ends in step S53. In step S52, the sum of viewing time is obtained in units of 2 hours. In step S54, the sum of the viewing times is evaluated. If it is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, the time zone is determined as a time zone with a high viewing frequency, and the process proceeds to step S55. If it is less than the threshold value, the time zone is determined as a time zone with a low viewing frequency, and the process proceeds to step S56. In step S55, viewing history information is managed in units of 30 minutes, that is, viewing history 703-706. In step S56, viewing history information is managed in units of 2 hours, that is, viewing history 702. In step S57, it is checked whether processing has been performed for all time zones. If not, the process returns to step S52. If so, the process ends at step S58.
As described above, the time period when the user's viewing frequency is high is identified, and the accuracy of analysis of the user's viewing preference is improved during the time period when the user's viewing frequency is high. The accuracy of preference analysis can be lowered.

  In this embodiment, the width of the time zone for extracting the viewing time is 2 hours in the time zone where the viewing frequency is low, but it is not necessarily 2 hours, but it is always 30 minutes in the time zone where the viewing frequency is high. It does not have to be 30 minutes. Of course, other combinations of time settings may be used, and the broadcast receiver may be set by learning or may be configured by the user.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display for demonstrating operation | movement of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed an example of the flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed an example of the flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed an example of the flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed an example of the flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the broadcast receiving apparatus applied to a present Example. It is the figure which showed the logical structural example of the information stored in the memory in the broadcast receiver applied to a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tuner 2 ... Signal processing part 3 ... Video signal output part 5 ... Graphics controller 6 ... Bus 8 ... CPU
9 ... Program ROM
11 ... Clock 12 ... CRT
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Speaker 14 ... Remote control receiving part 15 ... Key input part 16 ... Nonvolatile memory 100 ... Broadcast receiving apparatus 200 ... Antenna 300 ... Remote control transmission part 701,702,703,704,705,706 ... Viewing history

Claims (1)

A broadcast receiving device that searches for a program based on channel information, program information corresponding to this channel, and time information from a received digital broadcast television signal,
Channel selection means for selecting the program;
Time information detecting means for detecting time information of the selected program;
A specifying means for specifying a time zone in which a user's viewing frequency is higher than the detected time information;
Analysis storage means for analyzing and storing user preferences for each channel of the selected program;
Guidance control means for guiding the user to select a desired program by the analysis storage means;
Have
The broadcast receiving apparatus characterized in that, by the specifying means, the accuracy of analysis of the analysis storage means is increased during a time zone when the user's viewing frequency is high, and the accuracy is lowered during a time zone when the viewing frequency is low.

Images