JP2006013618A - Image quality adjusting device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adjust image quality easily so as to match user's preference. <P>SOLUTION: When a user selects a "two-screen detail" item 32D in a screen constitution select menu 32 in order to adjust the image quality of a video image displayed at a display section 17 of a television set 1, a recommendation value PR corresponding to the category of a television program that is presently displayed is read out based on EPG information IE. An altered video image 41A and a not-yet-altered video image 42A are displayed as an image quality adjusting screen 40 at the display section 17 in a two-screen mode, and a not-yet-altered set value window 42D and a recommendation value window 42E are displayed in an image quality adjusting window 41C while being superposed on each video image. Consequently, a user can compare the video images before and after altering the image quality and can adjust the image quality while referring to the set value and the recommendation value PR of each adjustment item of each video image simultaneously. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image quality adjustment apparatus, and is suitable for application to a television apparatus that allows a user to adjust image quality, for example.

  2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional television apparatuses can adjust the image quality (for example, brightness, hue, sharpness, etc.) of an image displayed on a display screen according to user preferences.

Also, in some television apparatuses, when the user adjusts the image quality, the display screen is divided into a plurality of screen areas, and the images before and after the adjustment are simultaneously displayed on each screen area. In some cases, the image quality is adjusted while comparing the two images (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-218350 A (7th page, FIG. 2)

  By the way, in the television apparatus having the above-described configuration, there are a variety of image quality adjustment items such as brightness, hue, sharpness, etc. On the other hand, the user can select which of these complicated adjustment items. In some cases, it is not possible to accurately recognize how much the adjustment item is adjusted to bring about a change in image quality.

  In such a case, even if the image before and after adjusting the image quality is displayed at the same time, the television apparatus is troublesome for the user who does not know the appropriate adjustment item and the appropriate setting value to trial and error until adjusting to the desired image quality. There was a problem of letting you apply.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an image quality adjusting apparatus that can easily adjust to an image quality preferred by a user.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the image quality adjustment apparatus of the present invention, a recommended setting value acquisition unit that acquires a recommended setting value that is a setting value of an image quality associated with an image being displayed by a predetermined display unit, and a user Based on the post-change video generating means for generating the post-change video based on the post-change set value that is the set value of the image quality after the change, and the pre-change set value that is the set value of the image quality before being changed by the user The pre-change video generation means for generating the pre-change video, the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value are displayed on the display means, and the user sets the post-change set value. And a control means for adjusting the image quality of the displayed video by changing.

  This allows the user to compare the images before and after the change, and to adjust the image quality of the image while recognizing the set value before change, the set value after change, and the change set value by numerical values.

  In the image quality adjustment method of the present invention, a recommended setting value acquisition step for acquiring a recommended setting value, which is a setting value of the image quality associated with the image being displayed by the predetermined display means, and after being changed by the user A post-change video generation step for generating a post-change video based on the post-change set value that is a set value of the image quality, and a pre-change video based on the pre-change set value that is the set value of the image quality before being changed by the user By generating the pre-change video generation step to be generated, the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and by allowing the user to change the post-change set value And a control step for adjusting the image quality of the image being displayed.

  This allows the user to compare the images before and after the change, and to adjust the image quality of the image while recognizing the set value before change, the set value after change, and the change set value by numerical values.

  Furthermore, in the image quality adjustment program of the present invention, a recommended setting value acquisition step for acquiring a recommended setting value, which is a setting value of the image quality associated with the image being displayed by the predetermined display means, and after being changed by the user A post-change video generation step for generating a post-change video based on the post-change set value that is a set value of the image quality, and a pre-change video based on the pre-change set value that is the set value of the image quality before being changed by the user By generating the pre-change video generation step to be generated, the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and by allowing the user to change the post-change set value And a control step for adjusting the image quality of the image being displayed.

  This allows the user to compare the images before and after the change, and to adjust the image quality of the image while recognizing the set value before change, the set value after change, and the change set value by numerical values.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to allow the user to compare the images before and after the change, and to adjust the image quality of the image while recognizing the setting value before the change, the setting value after the change, and the change setting value by numerical values. Thus, it is possible to realize an image quality adjustment apparatus that can easily adjust to the image quality preferred by the user.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment (1-1) Circuit Configuration of Television Device In FIG. 1, 1 represents the overall circuit configuration of the television device in the first embodiment, and is a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The overall control is performed by the system control unit 10 having the configuration, and various processes are executed in accordance with various application programs such as a basic program such as an OS (Operational System) read from a ROM (Read Only Memory) (not shown) and an image quality adjustment program. Has been made.

  The television apparatus 1 receives an operation from the user via the operation unit 11 and sends an operation signal corresponding to the operation to the system control unit 10.

  Incidentally, in addition to a channel button for changing the reception channel and a volume button for changing the volume, the operation unit 11 includes a GUI (Graphical User Interface) type menu window (details will be described later). "Menu" button for displaying on the menu, "Up", "Down", "Left", "Right" buttons, "Decide" button, "Cancel" button, etc. A GUI operation button).

  The television apparatus 1 receives a television broadcast signal broadcast from a television broadcasting station (not shown) via the antenna 12, and supplies this to the tuner 13 as a received signal S1.

  The tuner 13 selects a reception channel designated by the user via the operation unit 11 based on the reception signal S1, and extracts program data DP including data obtained by encoding a television program of the reception channel. Are supplied to the first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B, and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data DE included in the television broadcast signal is extracted and supplied to the EPG acquisition unit 19.

  By the way, this EPG data DE contains various information such as category information such as “movie” and “sports” in addition to the program name of the television program and the broadcast date and time. In addition to the information on the information, information on the television program scheduled to be broadcast in the future is also included.

  The first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B perform a predetermined decoding process or the like on the program data DP, so that the first video signal V1 representing the first video and the second video signal representing the second video, respectively. The video signal V2 is generated and supplied to the image processing unit 16 respectively.

  The image processing unit 16 generates an output video signal Vout by performing image processing based on the control of the system control unit 10 and the image processing control unit 21 on the first video signal V1 and the second video signal V2, and displays the output video signal Vout. The image is supplied to the unit 17 and the output video is displayed on the display unit 17.

  Here, based on the control of the image processing control unit 21, the image processing unit 16 reduces the first video by reducing the first screen or the full screen mode in which only one of the first video and the second video is displayed on the entire display unit 17. A two-screen mode in which the second video is reduced and displayed on the right half of the display unit 17 while being displayed on the left half of the display unit 17, or the first video is displayed on the entire display unit 17 as a main screen and then reduced. A plurality of screen modes such as a parent-child screen mode in which two images are displayed as a child screen in an overlapping manner are switched.

  A first OSD (On Screen Display) display unit 18 </ b> A generates a first OSD video signal for displaying a menu window (details will be described later) and the like according to a user's operation, and supplies this to the display unit 17. Then, the first OSD image is superimposed on the first image being displayed on the display unit 17 and displayed.

  The EPG acquisition unit 19 extracts EPG data DEnow of the television program currently received by the tuner 13 from the EPG data DE supplied from the tuner 13, and supplies this to the category acquisition unit 20.

  The category acquisition unit 20 extracts category information included in the EPG data DEnow, and supplies this to the image processing control unit 21 as program category information IC.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the nonvolatile memory 22 stores in advance a category-specific recommended value table TBL1 that indicates the correspondence between each category such as “movie” and “sports” and the recommended image quality PR. .

  Based on the control of the system control unit 10, the image processing control unit 21 reads the recommended value PR corresponding to the category represented by the program category information IC from the category-specific recommended value table TBL1 of the nonvolatile memory 22, and this is read out by the second OSD display unit. Supply to 18B.

  The second OSD display unit 18B generates a second OSD video signal for displaying a recommended value window (details will be described later) and the like based on the control of the image processing control unit 21, and supplies the second OSD video signal to the display unit 17. Then, the second OSD image is superimposed on the second image being displayed on the display unit 17 and displayed.

  The image processing control unit 21 holds an image quality setting value PG including image quality setting values such as the current “brightness” and “hue”, and controls the image processing unit 16 based on the image quality setting value PG. By doing so, the image quality of the first video is adjusted. Further, the image processing control unit 21 adjusts the image quality of the first video and the second video individually by controlling the image processing unit 16.

  As described above, the television apparatus 1 simultaneously displays the first video and the second video on the display unit 17 in the two-screen mode or the parent-child screen mode, in addition to displaying the first video on the display unit 17 in the full-screen mode. In addition, the first OSD video and the second OSD video can be superimposed and displayed, and the image quality can be individually set for the first video and the second video.

(1-2) Image Quality Adjustment Processing By the way, the television apparatus 1 adjusts the image quality of the video displayed on the display unit 17 according to the user's preference by causing the user to operate the OSD displayed menu. However, at this time, by switching to the two-screen mode or the parent-child screen mode, the user can change the setting value while directly comparing a plurality of videos and their setting values.

  Hereinafter, the image quality adjustment processing procedure RT1 when the television apparatus 1 performs the image quality adjustment processing based on the user operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the system control unit 10 of the television apparatus 1 accepts a pressing operation of the “menu” button of the operation unit 11 by the user, the menu window 30 listing the menu items as shown on the left side of FIG. Display. Here, the system control unit 10 accepts the operation of the GUI operation button by the user, and when the “image quality adjustment” item 30A of the menu window 30 is selected at this time, the routine RT1 is started, and the process proceeds to step SP1.

  In step SP1, the system control unit 10 controls the first OSD display unit 18A to display the image quality adjustment menu 31 listing the setting methods as shown on the right side of FIG. 4 on the display unit 17, and the next step SP2 Move on.

  In step SP2, the system control unit 10 receives an operation of the GUI operation button by the user, and determines whether or not the “setting while viewing” item 31A of the image quality adjustment menu 31 is selected at this time. If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the user has an intention to adjust the image quality by another setting method such as “setting by numerical value” other than “setting while watching”. The system control unit 10 moves to step SP3, performs a predetermined process according to the selected method, causes the user to adjust the image quality, and then moves to step SP8 to end the routine RT1.

  On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP2, this indicates that the user has an intention to adjust the image quality by “setting while watching”, which is a feature of the present invention. At this time, the system control unit 10 In order to allow the user to further specify the screen configuration for image quality adjustment, the process proceeds to the next step SP4.

  In step SP4, the system control unit 10 controls the first OSD display unit 18A to display the screen configuration selection menu 32 shown in FIG. Here, the screen configuration selection menu 32 displays four items of a “parent / child screen” item 32A, a “parent / child screen / detail” item 32B, a “two screen” item 32C, and a “two screen / detail” item 32D. . The system control unit 10 causes the user to operate the GUI operation button to select one item from the items 32A to 32D, and proceeds to the next step SP5.

  In step SP5, the system control unit 10 causes the EPG acquisition unit 19 to acquire the EPG data DEnow of the television program being displayed on the display unit 17, and then the category acquisition unit 20 obtains the program category information IC from the EPG data DEnow. Further, the recommended value PR corresponding to the program category information IC is read out from the category-specific recommended value table TBL1 of the nonvolatile memory 22 by the image processing control unit 21, and the recommended value PR is sent to the second OSD display unit 18B. Then, the process proceeds to the next step SP6.

  In step SP6, the system control unit 10 causes the display unit 17 to display a display screen having a configuration corresponding to the item selected by the user in step SP4. For example, when the “two screen / detail” item 32D is selected by the user, the control unit 10 causes the display unit 17 to display the image quality adjustment screen 40 in the two-screen mode as shown in FIG.

  At this time, the system control unit 10 divides the image quality adjustment screen 40 into a left screen region 41 and a right screen region 42, and changes the setting for the first video signal V1 generated by the first signal processing unit 15A. The changed video 41A reflecting the value is displayed in the left screen area 41, and the setting value before the change is reflected on the second video signal V2 generated by the second signal processing unit 15B, that is, the image quality setting The pre-change video 42A based on the value PG is displayed in the right screen area 42.

  As a result, the system control unit 10 can allow the user to directly compare the after-change image 41A and the before-change image 42A with different image quality.

  In addition to this, the system control unit 10 uses the first OSD display unit 18A to superimpose the changed video 41A in the left screen area 41 on the changed video 41A, and indicates that the changed video 41A is a video after changing the image quality. And an image quality adjustment window 41C, which is a GUI for adjusting image quality, is displayed. In this image quality adjustment window 41C, an adjustment item name 41C1, such as “brightness” and “hue”, a setting value 41C2 of each adjustment item, and a bar indicator 41C3 that visually represents the setting value of each adjustment item are displayed. Further, the adjustment item currently selected by the user from among the adjustment item names 41C1 is indicated by the cursor frame 41C4. By causing the user to operate the GUI operation button, the system control unit 10 first moves the cursor frame 41C4 to switch the adjustment item, and then changes the set value.

  Furthermore, the system control unit 10 uses the second OSD display unit 18B to superimpose the pre-change video 42A in the right screen area 42 and display the video title 42B indicating that the pre-change video 42A is the video before the image quality change, Recommended value that presents the recommended value PR read from the category-specific recommended value table TBL1 of the non-volatile memory 22 as a numerical value and the pre-change setting value window 42D that presents the image quality setting value PG held in the processing control unit 21 as a numerical value. A window 42E is displayed.

  That is, the system control unit 10 causes the display unit 17 to display the image quality adjustment window 41C, the pre-change setting value window 42D, and the recommended value window 42E in addition to the post-change video 41A and the pre-change video 42A. Each set value of 41A and the pre-change video 42A is presented to the user by a numerical value, and a recommended value PR corresponding to the category of the currently displayed television program is presented to the user.

  Next, the system control unit 10 moves to step SP7, where the user operates the GUI operation button of the operation unit 11 to change the setting value of each adjustment item in the image quality adjustment window 41C, and changes the image quality of the changed video 41A to the user. Adjust to your liking. When the user presses a “decision” button indicating that the change of the setting value of each adjustment item has been completed, the control unit 10 sets the image quality setting based on the setting value changed by the image processing control unit 21 to the user. The value PG is updated, the image processing unit 16 deletes the image quality adjustment window 41C, the pre-change setting value window 42D, and the recommended value window 42E, returns from the two-screen mode to the full-screen mode, and displays the first video. After adjusting the image quality of the first video based on the set value PG, the process proceeds to the next step SP8 and the routine RT1 is terminated.

  Incidentally, when the “parent / child screen / detail” item 32B is selected in step SP6 described above, the system control unit 10 replaces the image quality adjustment screen 40 with the image quality adjustment screen 50 shown in FIG. 7 on the display unit 17 in step SP6. indicate.

  At this time, the system control unit 10 divides the image quality adjustment screen 50 into a sub-screen area 52 that is a partial area of the image quality adjustment screen 50 and a main-screen area 51 that excludes the sub-screen area 52 from the image quality adjustment screen 50. The changed video 51A in which the changed setting value is reflected on the first video signal V1 generated by the first signal processing unit 15A is displayed on the main screen area 51, and the second signal processing unit The setting value before change is reflected on the second image signal V2 generated by 15B, that is, the before-change image 52A based on the image quality setting value PG is displayed in the sub-screen area 52.

  As a result, the system control unit 10 can allow the user to directly compare the after-change image 51A and the before-change image 52A as in the case where the image quality adjustment screen 40 is displayed.

  In addition to this, the system control unit 10 superimposes on the changed video 51A of the parent screen area 51 by the first OSD display unit 18A, and the same image quality as the video title 41B and the image quality adjustment window 41C. The adjustment window 51C is displayed, and the second OSD display unit 18B superimposes it on the pre-change video 52A in the sub-screen area 52, and the same video title 52B as the video title 42B and the pre-change setting value window 42D. A pre-change set value window 52D and a recommended value window 52E similar to the recommended value window 42E are displayed.

  That is, similarly to the image quality adjustment screen 40, the system control unit 10 displays the image quality adjustment window 51C, the pre-change setting value window 52D, and the recommended value window 52E on the display unit 17 in addition to the post-change video 51A and the pre-change video 52A. As a result, the setting values are presented to the user numerically together with the post-change video 51A and the pre-change video 52A, and the recommended value PR corresponding to the category of the currently displayed television program is presented to the user. It is made like that.

  Incidentally, when the “two screen” item 32C is selected in step SP6 described above, the system control unit 10 displays the image quality adjustment screen 40 (FIG. 6) without superimposing the pre-change setting value window 42D and the recommended value window 42E. When the “parent / child screen” item 32A is selected, the image quality adjustment screen 50 (FIG. 7) is displayed without superimposing the pre-change setting value window 52D and the recommended value window 52E. To adjust the image quality.

(1-3) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the television apparatus 1 is operated by the user's operation via the operation unit 11 in the “image quality adjustment” item 30A (FIG. 4) of the menu window 30 and the “image quality adjustment menu 31”. When the “Setting while viewing” item 31A (FIG. 4) is selected, the screen configuration selection menu window 32 (FIG. 5) is displayed on the display unit 17 to allow the user to select the configuration of the display screen during image quality adjustment.

  When the “two screens / details” item 32D of the screen configuration selection menu 32 is selected, the television apparatus 1 sets the recommended value PR corresponding to the category of the currently displayed television program for each category of the nonvolatile memory 22. Read out from the recommended value table TBL1, and display on the display unit 17 an image quality adjustment screen 40 in a two-screen mode including a post-change video 41A, a pre-change video 42A, an image quality adjustment window 41C, a pre-change setting value window 42D, and a recommended value window 42E. The image quality is adjusted by allowing the user to set a numerical value.

  Therefore, when the user adjusts the image quality, the television apparatus 1 displays the post-change video 41A and the pre-change video 42A on the display unit 17 at the same time, thereby allowing the user to directly compare the video before and after the image quality change. Can be made.

  Further, the television apparatus 1 displays the image quality adjustment window 41C and the pre-change setting value window 42D on the display unit 17 together with the post-change video 41A and the pre-change video 42A, thereby presenting the setting values of each video as numerical values to the user. Therefore, even if it is difficult to understand the difference simply by directly comparing the images, the image quality can be adjusted to the user's preference by referring to the numerical difference. .

  In addition, the television apparatus 1 can present a recommended value according to the category of the currently displayed television program to the user by displaying the recommended value window 42E on the display unit 17, so that each adjustment item can be set. This can be used as a reference when changing the value. For example, a specific numerical value can be used as a guide for a user who does not know which adjustment item should be changed.

  At this time, since the television apparatus 1 can present the recommended value PR according to the category of the currently displayed television program, there is a high possibility that it matches the preference of the user who is viewing the television program. The set value can be recommended.

  According to the above configuration, when the “two screens / details” item 32D of the screen configuration selection menu 32 is selected when the user adjusts the image quality, the television apparatus 1 selects the television program currently displayed. The recommended value PR corresponding to the category is read out, and an image quality adjustment screen 40 including a post-change video 41A, a pre-change video 42A, an image quality adjustment window 41C, a pre-change setting value window 42D, and a recommended value window 42E is displayed on the display unit 17. This allows the user to compare the images before and after changing the image quality, and to adjust the image quality while simultaneously referring to the setting values and recommended values PR of the respective adjustment items, thus achieving the image quality preferred by the user. It can be adjusted easily.

(2) Second Embodiment (2-1) Circuit Configuration of Television Device In FIG. 7, in which parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are assigned the same reference numerals, 60 is the television device in the second embodiment as a whole. The system control unit 61 corresponding to the system control unit 10 (FIG. 1) performs overall control.

  In addition to the first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B similar to the television device 1, the television device 60 includes the third signal processing unit 15C and the fourth signal similar to the second signal processing unit 15B. The third signal processing unit 15C and the fourth signal processing unit 15D have a processing unit 15D, and based on the program data DP supplied from the tuner 13, the third video signal V3 and the third video signal V3 representing the third video are provided. Each of the fourth video signals V4 representing the four videos is generated and sent to the image processing unit 62.

  The image processing unit 62 corresponds to the image processing unit 16 (FIG. 1) in the television apparatus 1, and performs an image process based on the control of the system control unit 61 and the image processing control unit 63, thereby outputting an output video signal. Vout is generated and supplied to the display unit 17. Furthermore, in addition to the full-screen mode, the two-screen mode, and the parent / child screen mode similar to the image processing unit 16, the image control unit 62 reduces the first to fourth videos to a four-screen mode that arranges them in a tile shape. It can be switched.

  The nonvolatile memory 22 stores a recommended category value table TBL2 shown in FIG. 2B instead of the recommended category value table TBL1 shown in FIG. 2A in the first embodiment. For each category similar to the category-specific recommended value table TBL1, such as “sports (for bright rooms)” and “sports (for dark rooms)”, “for bright rooms” and “for dark rooms” "Two types of recommended values PR corresponding to the two types of conditions" are stored.

  Similar to the image processing control unit 21 (FIG. 1) of the television apparatus 1, the image processing control unit 63 holds the image quality setting value PG, reads the recommended value PR from the nonvolatile memory 22, and displays it as the second OSD display. The unit 18B, the third OSD display unit 18C, or the fourth OSD display unit 18D is supplied. The image processing control unit 63 can set the image quality of the second to fourth videos individually by controlling the image processing unit 62.

  The third OSD display unit 18C and the fourth OSD display unit 18D are the third OSD video signal and the fourth OSD video signal based on the control of the image processing control unit 63, similarly to the second OSD display unit 18B (FIG. 1) of the television device 1. Are supplied to the display unit 17 so that the third OSD video and the fourth OSD video are superimposed and displayed on the third video and the fourth video being displayed on the display unit 17, respectively.

  As described above, the television device 60 displays the first video to the fourth video on the display unit 17 in addition to the full screen mode, the two screen mode, and the parent-child screen mode similar to the television device 1 in the first embodiment. It has a four-screen mode for simultaneous display, and at this time, the first OSD video to the fourth OSD video can be displayed superimposed on the first video to the fourth video, respectively, and the first video to the fourth video are respectively displayed. The image quality can be set individually.

(2-2) Image Quality Adjustment Processing By the way, the television device 60 adjusts the image quality of the video displayed on the display unit 17 according to the user's preference, like the television device 1 in the first embodiment. Processing is performed, but image quality adjustment can be performed using the 4-screen mode in addition to the 2-screen mode and the parent-child screen mode in the television device 1.

  Hereinafter, the image quality adjustment processing procedure RT2 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the system control unit 61 of the television apparatus 60 receives a predetermined menu display operation via the operation unit 11, the system window 61 displays the menu window 30 shown on the left side of FIG. 4 on the display unit 17. Here, the system control unit 10 accepts the operation of the GUI operation button by the user. When the “image quality adjustment” item 30A of the menu window 30 is selected at this time, the system control unit 10 starts the routine RT2, and proceeds to step SP21.

  In steps SP21 to SP23, the system control unit 61 performs the same processing as in steps SP1 to SP3 of the routine RT1 described above. If an affirmative result is obtained in step SP22, the system control unit 61 proceeds to step SP24.

  In step SP24, the system control unit 61 controls the first OSD display unit 18A to display the screen configuration selection menu 33 shown in FIG. Here, the screen configuration selection menu 33 includes a “parent / child screen” item 33A, a “parent / child screen / detail” item 33B, a “two screen” item 33C, and “ In addition to the “2-screen / detail” item 33D, a “4-screen / detail” item 33E is displayed. The system control unit 61 causes the user to operate the GUI operation button to select one item from the items 33A to 33E, and proceeds to the next step SP25.

  The system control unit 61 selects any one of the “parent / child screen” item 33A, the “parent / child screen / detail” item 33B, the “two screen” item 33C, and the “two screen / detail” item 33D of the screen configuration selection menu 33. When the item is selected by the user, in the routine RT1 (FIG. 3) described above, the “parent-child screen” item 32A, the “parent-child screen / detail” item 32B, and the “two-screen” item 32C in the screen configuration selection menu 32 (FIG. 5). , And the case where the “2 screen / detail” item 32D is selected, the description thereof is omitted here, and the case where the “4 screen / detail” item 33E is selected by the user is described below. explain.

  In step SP25, the system control unit 61 first causes the EPG acquisition unit 19 to acquire EPG data DEnow of the television program being displayed on the display unit 17 as the pre-change video 72A, and then the category acquisition unit 20 performs program category information IC. To extract. Furthermore, the system control unit 61 uses the image processing control unit 63 to recommend the first recommended value PR1 and the second recommended value PR2 according to the category different conditions corresponding to the program category information IC for each category of the nonvolatile memory 22. After reading from the value table TBL2 (FIG. 2B), the first recommended value PR1 is sent to the image processing unit 62 and the third OSD display unit 18C, and the second recommended value PR2 is sent to the image processing unit 62. And the fourth OSD display unit 18D, and proceeds to the next step SP26.

  For example, when the program category information IC represents “sports”, the system control unit 61 sets the recommended value PR of “sports (for bright rooms)” as the first recommended value PR1 and sets “sports (for dark rooms)”. The recommended value PR is read by the image processing control unit 63 as the second recommended value PR2.

  In step SP26, the system control unit 61 displays a display screen having a configuration corresponding to the item selected by the user in step SP24 on the display unit 17. For example, when the “four screens / details” item 33E is selected by the user, the system control unit 61 causes the display unit 17 to display an image quality adjustment screen 70 in the four screen mode as shown in FIG.

  Here, the system control unit 61 roughly divides the image quality adjustment screen 70 into four areas, that is, an upper left screen area 71, an upper right screen area 72, a lower left screen area 73, and a lower right screen area 74. The first signal processing unit 15A The changed video 71A in which the changed setting value is reflected on the generated first video signal V1 is displayed in the upper left screen area 71, and the second video signal V2 generated by the second signal processing unit 15B is displayed. The pre-change video 72A reflecting the set value before change, that is, based on the image quality set value PG is displayed in the upper right screen area 72.

  Further, the system control unit 61 displays the first recommended video 73A in which the first recommended value PR1 is reflected on the third video signal V3 generated by the third signal processing unit 15C in the lower left screen area 73, and the fourth A second recommended video 74A in which the second recommended value PR2 is reflected on the fourth video signal V4 generated by the signal processing unit 15D is displayed in the lower right screen area 74.

  As a result, the system control unit 61 can allow the user to directly compare four types of videos having different image quality, such as the post-change video 71A, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A, and the second recommended video 74A.

  Further, the system control unit 61 superimposes on the changed video 71A in the upper left screen area 71 by the first OSD display unit 18A, and is similar to the video title 71B similar to the video title 41B (FIG. 6) and the image quality adjustment window 41C. The image quality adjustment window 71C is displayed, and the second OSD display unit 18B superimposes it on the image 72A before change in the upper right screen area 72, and the image title 72B similar to the image title 42B (FIG. 6) and the setting value before change. A pre-change setting value window 72D similar to the window 42D is displayed.

  Further, the system control unit 61 uses the third OSD display unit 18C to superimpose the first recommended video 73A in the lower left screen area 73 and presents the video title 73B of the first recommended video 73A and the first recommended value PR1. The window 73E is displayed, and the fourth OSD display unit 18D displays the video title 74B and the second recommended value PR2 of the second recommended video 74A so as to be superimposed on the second recommended video 74A in the lower right screen area 74. A recommended value window 74E is displayed.

  That is, the system control unit 61 adds the image quality adjustment window 71C, the pre-change setting value window 72D, the recommended value window 73E, and the video image 71A after change, the image 72A before change, the first recommended image 73A, and the second recommended image 74A. By displaying 74E on the display unit 17, the setting values of the post-change video 71A, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A, and the second recommended video 74A are presented as numerical values to the user.

  Further, the system control unit 61 displays the display area selection frame 75 on the display unit 17 and causes the user to operate the GUI operation button of the operation unit 11 to move the display area selection frame 75 to display the upper left display area 71, Any one of the upper right display area 72, the lower left display area 73, and the lower right display area 74 is selected.

  Next, the system control unit 61 moves to step SP27 and causes the user to operate the GUI operation button of the operation unit 11 to move the display area selection frame 75 to move the upper left display area 71, the upper right display area 72, and the lower left display area. 73 and the lower right display area 74 are selected, and the process proceeds to the next step SP28.

  In step SP28, the system control unit 61 determines whether or not the upper left display area 71 displaying the changed video 71A has been selected. If a negative result is obtained here, this indicates that the user has an intention to set the image quality of the display area selected by the display area selection frame 75 instead of directly changing the numerical value. The system control unit 61 proceeds to the next step SP29 to set the image quality of the selected display area.

  In step SP29, the system control unit 61 adjusts each adjustment item of the video (that is, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A, or the second recommended video 74A) displayed in the display area selected by the display area selection frame 75. The image processing control unit 63 updates the image quality setting value PG based on the set value, and the image processing unit 62 deletes the image quality adjustment window 71C, the pre-change setting value window 72D, and the recommended value windows 73E and 74E and the four-screen mode. Is switched to the full screen mode to display the first video, the first video is adjusted to the image quality based on the image quality setting value PG, and then the process proceeds to the next step SP31 to end the routine RT2.

  For example, when the lower left display area 73, that is, the first recommended video 73A is selected by the user, the system control unit 61 updates the image quality setting value PG based on the first recommended value PR1 presented by the recommended value display window 73E. Then, the first video displayed in the full screen mode is adjusted to the same image quality as the first recommended video 73A.

  On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP28, this indicates that the user has an intention to adjust the image quality by finely changing the setting value of each adjustment item. At this time, the system control unit 61 Then, in order to make the user change the setting value of each adjustment item, the process proceeds to the next step SP30.

  In step SP30, the system control unit 61 causes the user to operate the GUI operation button of the operation unit 11 to change the setting value of each adjustment item in the image quality adjustment window 71C, so that the image quality of the post-change video 71A becomes the user's preference. Adjust to match. When the user presses a “decision” button indicating that the change of the setting value of each adjustment item has been completed, the system control unit 61 determines the image quality based on the setting value changed by the image processing control unit 63 to the user. The set value PG is updated, and the image processing unit 62 deletes the image quality adjustment window 71C, the pre-change set value window 72D, and the recommended value windows 73E and 74E and returns from the 4-screen mode to the full-screen mode to display the first video. Then, after adjusting the first video to an image quality based on the image quality setting value PG, the process proceeds to the next step SP31, and this routine RT2 is terminated.

(2-3) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the television device 60 is configured to display the “image quality” of the menu window 30 by the user's operation via the operation unit 11 as in the television device 1 in the first embodiment. When the “adjustment” item 30A (FIG. 4) and the “setting while viewing” item 31A (FIG. 4) of the image quality adjustment menu 31 are selected, the screen configuration selection menu window 33 (FIG. 10) is displayed on the display unit 17 and the image quality is displayed. The user is made to select the configuration of the display screen at the time of adjustment.

  Then, when the “4 screens / details” item 33E of the screen configuration selection menu 33 is selected, the television device 60 selects the first recommended value PR1 and the first recommended value PR1 having different conditions according to the category of the currently displayed television program. The second recommended value PR2 is read from the category-specific recommended value table TBL2 of the nonvolatile memory 22, and the post-change video 71A, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A based on the first recommended value PR1, and the second recommended value. Four-screen mode comprising four types of images of the second recommended image 74A based on PR2, an image quality adjustment window 71C, pre-change setting value window 72D, various windows of recommended value windows 73E and 74E, and a display area selection frame 75 The image quality adjustment screen 70 (FIG. 11) is displayed on the display unit 17.

  Furthermore, the television apparatus 60 moves the display area selection frame 75 by the user's operation, and selects any one of the upper left display area 71, the upper right display area 72, the lower left display area 73, and the lower right display area 74. When an area other than the upper left display area 71 is selected, the image quality is adjusted based on the setting value of each adjustment item in the selected display area. When the upper left display area 71 is selected, the same as in the first embodiment. The user can adjust the image quality by changing the setting value of each adjustment item.

  Therefore, when the user adjusts the image quality, the television apparatus 60 displays the post-change video 71A, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A, and the second recommended video 74A on the display unit 17 at the same time. The user can directly compare the images before and after changing the image quality and the recommended two types of images.

  In addition, when the television apparatus 60 allows the user to select a display area by using the display area selection frame 75 and the area other than the upper left display area 71 is selected, the video displayed on the selected display area (that is, the pre-change video 72A, By setting the same image quality as that of the first recommended video 73A or the second recommended video 74A), it is possible to easily complete the image quality adjustment without requiring the user to change the setting values of the respective adjustment items. be able to.

  At this time, the television apparatus 60 uses the first recommended value PR1 and the second recommended value according to two types of conditions (for example, “for a bright room” and “for a dark room”) in the category of a television program that is displaying an image. By presenting both the first recommended video 73A and the second recommended video 74A based on PR2, it is possible to recommend a video that is highly likely to match the preferences and conditions of the user who is viewing the television program.

  On the other hand, when the upper left display area 71 is selected by the user, the television device 60 causes the user to change the numerical value of each adjustment item in the same manner as the television device 1 in the first embodiment. The image quality can be finely adjusted according to the user's preference.

  At this time, the television apparatus 60, together with the post-change video 71A, the pre-change video 72A, the first recommended video 73A, and the second recommended video 74A, the image quality adjustment window 71C, the pre-change setting value window 72D, and the recommended value windows 73E and 74E. Is displayed on the display unit 17, as in the television device 1 in the first embodiment, the setting values of the adjustment items of the videos can be presented to the user as numerical values.

  As a result, the television device 60 can present to the user recommended values corresponding to the category of the currently displayed television program, as in the first embodiment, so that the setting value of each adjustment item can be changed. For example, for users who do not know which adjustment items should be changed and how they can be matched with the preferences and conditions of the users who are watching the television program A high specific value can be used as a guide.

  In particular, the television device 60 can present the setting value of each adjustment item of each video together with three types of video other than the changed video 71A by displaying the video in the 4-screen mode. Compared with the television device 1 in the embodiment, more images and setting values of each adjustment item can be referred to.

  According to the above configuration, when the “4 screens / details” item 33E of the screen configuration selection menu 33 is selected when the user adjusts the image quality, the television device 60 selects the currently displayed television program. The first recommended value PR1 and the second recommended value PR2 corresponding to the category are read out, and in addition to the four types of images, the changed image 71A, the changed image 72A, the first recommended image 73A, and the second recommended image 74A, the image quality An adjustment window 71C, a pre-change setting value window 72D, and recommended value windows 73E and 74E are displayed on the display unit 17, and images are selected by the display area selection frame 75, before and after changing the image quality, and recommended images, While referring to the setting value of each adjustment item of each video at the same time, the setting value of the video of the display area selected by the user is reflected as it is, or There can be minutely change the settings of each adjustment item, thus it is possible to easily adjust the image quality preferred by the user.

(3) Other Embodiments In the above-described first embodiment, the case where the television apparatus 1 (FIG. 1) has one tuner 13 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 12 in which the same reference numerals are given to corresponding parts to FIG. 1, the television apparatus 80 includes a plurality of tuners 13A and 13B similar to the tuner 13, and the tuners 13A and 13B respectively. The generated program data DP may be supplied to the first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B.

  In this case, the television device 80 causes the tuners 13A and 13B to receive the same channel based on the control of the system control unit 81 corresponding to the system control unit 10 (FIG. 1), and the two-screen mode as in the television device 1 In addition to being able to perform image quality adjustment using (FIG. 6) and parent / child screen mode (FIG. 7), except for image quality adjustment, the tuners 13A and 13B can receive different broadcast channels from each other to receive the two-screen mode and parent / child screen. By switching to the mode, images of two different broadcast channels can be displayed simultaneously.

  In the first embodiment described above, the case where the television apparatus 1 (FIG. 1) has one image processing unit 16 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, FIG. As shown in FIG. 13 in which the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, the television apparatus 90 includes image processing units 16A and 16B corresponding to the first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B, respectively. You may make it provide the image synthetic | combination part 92 which synthesize | combines an image.

  In this case, the television apparatus 90 is based on the control of the system control unit 91 corresponding to the system control unit 10 (FIG. 1), and the video signals V1 and V2 supplied from the first signal processing unit 15A and the second signal processing unit 15B. On the other hand, image processing units 16A and 16B perform image quality adjustment processing to generate video signals V1C and V2C, respectively, and an image synthesis unit 92 synthesizes the video signals V1C and V2C to generate an output signal Vout. Can be generated.

  Further, in the above-described second embodiment, the case where the image quality adjustment is performed using the four-screen mode in which the display area of the display unit 17 is divided into four has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it perform image quality adjustment in the state which divided | segmented display area by arbitrary division | segmentation numbers, such as screen mode and 9 screen mode. In this case, in addition to dividing each display area into substantially the same size, a plurality of types of display areas may be combined and displayed as appropriate.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, when the image quality adjustment screen 40 is displayed on the display unit 17, the image quality adjustment window 41C and the pre-change settings are displayed on various images such as the post-change video 41A and the pre-change video 42A. Although the case where various windows such as the value window 42D and the recommended value window 42E are overlapped has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and various images and various windows are displayed in different areas. The various videos may be presented to the user without being hidden as much as possible.

  Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, the case where the EPG information IE of the television program being displayed on the display unit 17 is acquired based on the EPG data DE extracted from the broadcast wave will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the EPG information IE may be acquired by other methods such as receiving the EPG information IE from a server capable of distributing EPG information on the Internet.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, the category-specific recommended value table TBL1 and the category-specific recommended value table TBL2 are stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 22, and the category-specific recommended values are stored in the nonvolatile memory 22. Although the case where the recommended value PR corresponding to the category is read from the table TBL1 and the category-specific recommended value table TBL2 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, the recommendation corresponding to the category from a predetermined server on the Internet. The recommended value PR may be acquired by various other methods such as acquiring the value PR.

  Furthermore, in the second embodiment described above, the recommended value PR corresponding to the two types of conditions “for bright room” and “for dark room” for each category is determined by the category-specific recommended value table TBL2 of the nonvolatile memory 22. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and recommended values PR corresponding to various other conditions for each category may be stored in advance.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, the case where the present invention is applied to the television apparatuses 1 and 60 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a personal computer, a digital still camera is used. It may be applied to various electronic devices having display means for displaying video, such as mobile phones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), capable of adjusting image quality, or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) players, You may make it apply to the various electronic devices which produce | generate the video signal which adjusted the image quality, such as a home game device, and display the said image | video on an external television monitor.

  In this case, when adjusting the image quality of the video other than the television program, for example, referring to a predetermined category database on the Internet, the category of the DVD to be reproduced (“movie”, “sports”, etc.), A category of a game to be played (such as “shooting” or “RPG (Role Playing Game)”) may be acquired, and a recommended value of image quality may be presented to the user according to the category.

  Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, the case where the present invention is applied to the television apparatuses 1 and 60 having a hardware configuration has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the above description is given. An image quality adjustment program for performing image quality adjustment processing may be installed in an electronic device such as a television apparatus, and the image quality adjustment processing may be performed by the electronic device.

  In this case, the program storage medium for installing the image quality adjustment program in the electronic device and making it executable is only package media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), and a DVD. Instead, it may be realized by a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk in which these programs are stored temporarily or permanently.

  In addition, as a means for storing these programs in the program storage medium, wired and wireless communication media such as a local area network, the Internet, and digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and stored via various communication interfaces such as a router and a modem. You may make it do.

  Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the image processing control unit 21 as the recommended setting value acquisition unit, the image processing unit 16 as the post-change video generation unit and the pre-change video generation unit, and the system as the control unit Although the case where the television apparatus 1 as an image quality adjustment apparatus is configured by the control unit 10 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and recommended setting value acquisition means having various other circuit configurations, and post-change video generation The image quality adjustment apparatus may be configured by the means, the pre-change video generation means, and the control means.

  The present invention can be used in an electronic apparatus such as a DVD player having no display means in addition to a television apparatus having a display means.

It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the television apparatus in 1st Embodiment. It is a basic diagram which shows the recommended value table classified by category. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an image quality adjustment processing procedure according to the first embodiment. It is a basic diagram which shows a menu window and an image quality adjustment menu window. It is a basic diagram which shows the screen structure selection menu window in 1st Embodiment. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the image quality adjustment screen of 2 screen mode. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the image quality adjustment screen of parent-child screen mode. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the television apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an image quality adjustment processing procedure in the second embodiment. It is a basic diagram which shows the screen structure selection menu window in 2nd Embodiment. It is a basic diagram with which it uses for description of the image quality adjustment screen of 4 screen modes. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure (1) of the television apparatus in other embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure (2) of the television apparatus in other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1, 60, 80, 90... Television apparatus, 10, 61, 81, 91... System control unit, 11... Operation unit, 13... Tuner, 15A .. First signal processing unit, 15B. 2 signal processing unit, 15C... 3rd signal processing unit, 15D... 4th signal processing unit, 16, 16A, 16B, 62... Image processing unit, 17. 18B... 2nd OSD display section, 18C... 3rd OSD display section, 18D... 4th OSD display section, 20. 50, 70: Image quality adjustment screen.

Claims (7)

Recommended setting value acquisition means for acquiring a recommended setting value that is a setting value of an image quality associated with a video being displayed by a predetermined display means;
A post-change video generation means for generating a post-change video based on a post-change set value that is a set value of image quality after being changed by the user;
Pre-change video generation means for generating a pre-change video based on a pre-change set value that is a set value of the image quality before being changed by the user;
By displaying both the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and causing the user to change the post-change set value An image quality adjusting device comprising: control means for adjusting the image quality of a displayed image. A recommended video generation means for generating a recommended video of an image quality based on the recommended setting value,
The control means includes
The recommended video is displayed on the display unit together with the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value, and the user changes the post-change set value. The image quality adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image quality of the image being displayed is adjusted by performing the operation. The control means includes
One or more types of the recommended video and each recommended image quality setting value are displayed on the display means together with the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, and the pre-change set value, and the user is allowed to display By selecting the recommended video or the pre-change video, the image quality of the video is adjusted based on the recommended set value or the pre-change set value of the selected recommended video or the pre-change video. The image quality adjusting apparatus according to claim 2. The control means includes
By displaying both the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and causing the user to change the post-change set value The image quality adjustment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image quality of the image being displayed is adjusted. The video is a television program being received by a predetermined receiving means,
The recommended setting value acquisition means is
The category information of the television program is acquired based on the electronic program information of the television program, and the recommended setting value previously associated with the category information is acquired based on the category information. 2. The image quality adjusting apparatus according to 1. A recommended setting value acquisition step for acquiring a recommended setting value which is a setting value of an image quality associated with a video being displayed by a predetermined display means;
A post-change video generation step for generating a post-change video based on a post-change set value that is a set value of image quality after being changed by the user;
A pre-change video generating step for generating a pre-change video based on a pre-change set value that is a set value of the image quality before being changed by the user;
By displaying both the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and causing the user to change the post-change set value An image quality adjustment method comprising: a control step for adjusting an image quality of a displayed image. For electronic devices
A recommended setting value acquisition step for acquiring a recommended setting value which is a setting value of an image quality associated with a video being displayed by a predetermined display means;
A post-change video generation step for generating a post-change video based on a post-change set value that is a set value of image quality after being changed by the user;
A pre-change video generating step for generating a pre-change video based on a pre-change set value that is a set value of the image quality before being changed by the user;
By displaying both the post-change video, the pre-change video, the post-change set value, the pre-change set value, and the recommended set value on the display means, and causing the user to change the post-change set value An image quality adjustment program for executing a control step for adjusting the image quality of a displayed image.

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