JP2006080774A - Broadcasting reception device and broadcasting reception method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a broadcasting reception device and a broadcasting reception method, which display it on a screen that processing of acquiring EPG information from a broadcast signal is performed at present. <P>SOLUTION: The broadcasting reception device includes; a tuner part for selecting and demodulating a broadcast signal to output image information; an EPG acquisition part for selecting a prescribed broadcast signal by the tuner part and acquiring and storing EPG information from the broadcast signal; and a control part for outputting an image signal for displaying a display showing that EPG information is acquired at present, over an image being reproduced by the tuner part during a period when the tuner part selects the prescribed broadcast signal to acquire EPG information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus that receives terrestrial waves, satellite broadcasts, and the like, and more particularly, to a broadcast receiving apparatus and a broadcast receiving method that acquire EPG information.

  Recently, broadcast receivers such as hard disk recorders are becoming more common with the spread of digital devices, and more video information can be easily recorded / reproduced than in the case of recording / reproduction processing by a conventional VTR (Video Tape Recorder). It has become possible. In such a broadcast receiving apparatus, it is possible to perform an absence recording process more easily by using electronic program information (Electronic Program Guide) supplied from a broadcasting station or a server.

In Patent Document 1, a broadcast receiving apparatus that uses a TV program information (that is, EPG information) to make a recording reservation and can easily make a recording reservation for a program desired by the user. It is shown.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-326479.

  However, in the above-described prior art, although it is very simply described that TV program information (EPG information) is acquired via a network or from data broadcasting, a detailed description thereof is not made. Therefore, for example, it is not known how the user can know that EPG information is acquired from a broadcast signal. Furthermore, there is a problem that when the EPG information is acquired from the broadcast signal, what happens if the user performs an operation of changing the channel in order to view a broadcast of another channel is not shown.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a broadcast receiving apparatus and a broadcast receiving method capable of notifying a user that EPG information is being acquired from a broadcast signal.

  A broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention selects a broadcast signal, demodulates and outputs video information, selects a predetermined broadcast signal by the tuner unit, and selects EPG information from the broadcast signal. An EPG acquisition unit that acquires and stores, and while the tuner unit selects the predetermined broadcast signal and acquires the EPG information, an indication that the EPG information is currently being acquired is displayed on the tuner. And a control unit that outputs an image signal to be superimposed on the image being reproduced.

  In the broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, as described above, while EPG information is being acquired from a broadcast signal, EPG information is currently being acquired on the image of the program selected by the tuner. By displaying an icon indicating that there is, it is possible to notify the user that acquisition is in progress. As a result, since the channel change or the power is turned off during the acquisition of the EPG information is reduced, a reliable EPG information acquisition process can be performed. In addition, if the channel is changed or the power is turned off during the acquisition of EPG information, the process of acquiring the EPG information is not stopped immediately, but a certain inquiry display is performed, thereby providing high reliability. EPG information acquisition processing can be performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As a broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention, a broadcast receiving apparatus 10 which is a composite broadcast receiving apparatus as shown in FIG.

<Broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention>
First, the configuration of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(Constitution)
In this embodiment, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 is shown as an apparatus that can handle both a DVD-RAM and a hard disk as a recording medium. However, the hard disk or the DVD-RAM is replaced with, for example, a recording medium using a semiconductor memory. May be. In addition, a tuner unit that does not have a recording unit such as a set top box is also possible. When the blocks in FIG. 1 are roughly divided, the main block of the recording unit is shown on the left side, and the main block of the playback unit is shown on the right side.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus 10 in FIG. 1 has two types of disk drive units. First, it has an optical disk drive unit 19 that rotationally drives an optical disk D as a first medium, which is an information recording medium capable of constructing a video file, and executes reading and writing of information. Further, it has a hard disk drive unit 18 for driving a hard disk as a second medium. The control unit 30 is connected to each unit via a data bus so as to control the overall operation.

  Further, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 of FIG. 1 includes, as main components, an encoder unit 21 that constitutes a recording side, a decoder unit 22 that constitutes a reproduction side, and a control unit 30 that controls the operation of the apparatus body. The broadcast receiving apparatus 10 includes an input-side selector 16 and an output-side selector 17, and the input-side selector 16 includes a network I / F unit 11, a tuner unit 12, and an input unit 13. Connected and outputs a signal to the encoder unit 21 or the EPG acquisition unit (icon generation) 41. Also, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 receives data from the formatter unit 23 connected to the encoder unit 21 and the output of the encoder unit 21 and performs desired data processing such as data editing in conjunction with detection processing of the audio library, for example. An editing unit 20, a hard disk drive unit 18 connected to the data editing unit 20, and an optical disk drive unit 19 are provided. Furthermore, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 receives the signals from the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk drive unit 19 and decodes the operation signals from the encoder unit 21, the decoder unit 22, the control unit 30, and the display unit 33. And a video mixing unit 24 for receiving. Each of these units is connected to the control unit 30 via a data bus. Further, the output of the selector unit 17 is supplied to the external device via an interface unit 27 that is connected to the external speaker unit 25 and the display unit 26 or communicates with the external device.

  Furthermore, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 includes an operation unit 32 that is connected to the control unit 30 via a data bus and receives a user operation or a remote control R operation. Here, the remote controller is capable of almost the same operation as the operation unit 32 provided in the main body of the broadcast receiving apparatus 10, and performs recording / playback instructions, editing instructions, and editing instructions of the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk driver unit 19. Various settings such as operation of a tuner and setting of scheduled recording are possible. Furthermore, the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 is connected to the tuner unit 12 or the network I / F unit 11 and acquires EPG information via, for example, the selector unit 16, or when EPG information cannot be acquired. An EPG acquisition unit (icon generation) 41 for controlling the EPG information acquisition process a plurality of times in accordance with preset or given time information, library information of the own device, library information of devices on the network, etc. And a reserved video recording management unit for executing reserved video recording using the hard disk drive unit 18 and the optical disk drive unit 19 in conjunction with or not in conjunction with the EPG acquisition unit 41 and the database unit 42 described above. 43.

(basic action)
In the broadcast receiving apparatus having such a configuration, taking an example of an optical disk, the outline of reproduction processing and recording processing will be described. Under the control of the control unit 30, the optical disk D rotated at a predetermined speed is irradiated with laser light. The reflected light is detected by the optical pickup, and a detection signal S based on this is output. Based on this detection signal S, an RF signal is generated and a reproduction process is performed.

  The optical disc recording process is performed under the control of the control unit 30, for example, the data supplied via the input unit 13 and the selector unit 16 is temporarily stored in the storage area of the audio library management unit 42 and then the encoder unit. 21 is encoded and output. In accordance with the encoded output and the output of the control unit 30, the drive current of the laser driver 65 is supplied to the optical pickup 51, and the recording process is performed by irradiating the storage area of the optical disc D.

(Detailed operation)
-Recording process etc. Next, operation | movement of the broadcast receiver 10 which has such a structure is demonstrated in detail. First, the operation during recording will be described in detail, including other embodiments. As an input side of the broadcast receiving apparatus 10, the network I / F unit 11 connects to a server S or the like via the Internet or the like, for example, and downloads content information or the like. The tuner unit 12 selects a broadcast signal via an antenna, demodulates it, and outputs a video signal and an audio signal. The tuner unit 12 corresponds to a wide variety of types, for example, terrestrial analog broadcasting, terrestrial digital It covers broadcasting, BS analog broadcasting, BS digital broadcasting, CS digital broadcasting, etc., but is not limited to this. Also, it is not always necessary to provide only one. For example, it is also preferable to have two or more terrestrial analog broadcast tuner units and to function in parallel in accordance with a reservation recording request. It is.

  The input unit 13 receives a luminance signal, a color difference signal, a video signal such as a composite, and an audio signal from the outside. These inputs are controlled by the selector 16 controlled by the control unit 30 and the like, and are selectively supplied to the encoder unit 21. In other words, an external analog video signal and an external analog audio signal from the input unit 13, or an analog video signal and an analog audio signal from the TV tuner 12 are input to the encoder unit 21 via the selector 16.

  The encoder unit 21 includes a video and audio analog-to-digital converter that digitizes an analog video signal and an analog audio signal input by the selector 16, a video encoder, and an audio encoder. Furthermore, a sub-picture encoder is also included. The output of the encoder unit 21 is converted into a predetermined compression format such as MPEG by a formatter unit 23 including a buffer memory, and is supplied to the previous control unit 30.

  The encoder unit 21 can also supply the compressed digital video signal or digital audio signal directly to the formatter unit 23 when a directly compressed digital video signal or digital audio signal is directly input. The encoder unit 21 can also directly supply the digital video signal and audio signal that have been converted from analog to digital to the video mixing unit 24 and the selector unit 17.

  Here, the apparatus of FIG. 1 uses the control unit 30 to send information (packets of video, audio, sub-picture data, etc.) formatted by the formatter unit 23 and the created management information to the hard disk drive unit 18 or the optical disc drive. The data can be supplied to the unit 19 and recorded on the hard disk drive unit 18 or the optical disc D. Information recorded on the hard disk drive unit 18 or the optical disk D can also be recorded on the optical disk D or the hard disk drive unit 18 via the control unit 30 and the optical disk drive unit 19.

  Further, according to the above-described reservation recording management unit 43, reservation information input from the remote controller R or the operation unit 32, or EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information acquired through the tuner unit 12 or the network I / F unit 11 is used. Alternatively, scheduled recording is performed based on the iEPG information. In addition, library information corresponding to the recording information accumulated by the reserved recording is generated and managed by the database unit 42.

Editing process etc. The data editing unit 20 may perform an editing process such as deleting a part of video objects of a plurality of programs recorded on the hard disk drive unit 18 or the optical disc D or connecting objects of different programs. it can.

  In the editing process or other processes, the contents to be notified to the user among the execution results of the MPU are displayed on the display unit 33 of the broadcast receiving apparatus or are displayed on the display 26 with the OSD (ON Screen display). In addition, the control unit 30 has an operation unit 32 that gives an operation signal for operating this apparatus. It is preferable that the operation unit 32 further includes a remote controller R.

・ Reproduction processing, etc.
Next, a process for reproducing recorded information will be described in detail including other embodiments. The decoder unit 22 includes a video processor that appropriately synthesizes the decoded sub-video with the decoded main video and outputs a menu, a highlight button, subtitles, and other sub-videos superimposed on the main video.

  The output video signal of the decoder unit 22 is input to the video mixing unit 24. The video mixing unit 24 synthesizes text data. The video mixing unit 24 is also connected to a line that directly takes in signals from the TV tuner 12 and the input unit 13. The video mixing unit 24 is connected to a frame memory (not shown) used as a buffer. The output of the video mixing unit 24 is supplied to the selector unit 17, and if selected by the selector unit 17, it is supplied to the display 26 for display or supplied to an external device via the I / F (interface) unit 27. Is done.

  The output audio signal of the decoder unit 22 is analog-converted by a digital / analog converter (not shown) via the selector unit 17 and supplied to the speaker 25 or supplied to an external device via the I / F unit 27. The selector unit 17 is controlled by a select signal from the control unit 30. Thus, the selector unit 17 can directly select a signal that has passed through the encoder unit 21 when directly monitoring the digital signal from the TV tuner 12 or the input unit 13.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus 10 of this embodiment has a comprehensive function as described above. Next, here, the EPG information acquisition process mainly performed by the EPG acquisition unit 41 of the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 is described below. This will be described in detail with reference to flowcharts and the like.

<EPG information acquisition process with icon display>
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an EPG information acquisition process of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 4 are diagrams of EPG information of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an acquisition process, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an inquiry screen in the EPG information acquisition process of the broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  These EPG information acquisition processes are processed according to an operation program built in the EPG acquisition unit 41 or the control unit 30 of the broadcast receiving apparatus 10 as an example, and as shown in FIG. While the EPG information is being acquired, an icon C indicating that the EPG information is being acquired by ADAMS is displayed on the television screen on the display 26, for example.

  That is, first, in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the acquisition time information of the EPG information given by the user or given by the broadcast signal is displayed by the user operation via the remote control R or the operation unit 32 by the user's operation. The information is stored in the control unit 30.

  The acquisition time information is, for example, “6:02 to 6:12, 7:02 to 7:12, 9:02 to 9:12, 11:02 to 11:12, 13:02 to 13:12. , 15:02 to 15:12, 17:02 to 17:12, 19:02 to 19:12, 21:02 to 21:12, 23:02 to 23:12, etc. It is EPG information by update, and it is preferable to repeat the acquisition process a plurality of times. The broadcast signal is preferably CS broadcast, BS analog broadcast, BS digital broadcast, analog terrestrial wave, digital terrestrial wave, or the like. Here, for example, ADAMS, which is EPG information of 10 channels of Asahi TV series of terrestrial analog broadcasting, may be used.

  Here, the EPG information may be acquired from the first time of such acquisition time information, and it is also preferable that the user arbitrarily set the time from the acquisition time information.

  If the current time reaches the set acquisition time information (or may operate according to the user's manual operation) (S11), it is extracted from the broadcast signal from the tuner unit 12 (or the network I / F unit) The EPG information is acquired (S12).

  Here, for example, in the case of terrestrial analog broadcasting, the EPG information is acquired from a vertical synchronization signal of an analog terrestrial broadcast signal selected by the tuner unit 12. Further, it may be supplied from an external device such as a server S of a broadcasting station via the Internet via the network I / F unit 11.

  At this time, an icon indicating that the EPG information is being acquired as shown in FIG. 2 is superimposed on the display screen (S13). Here, although icons are displayed, instead of this, for example, characters moving on the screen may be used to indicate that EPG information is being acquired, or by voice or certain music, etc. It is also preferable to do this, and it is also preferable to do these simultaneously.

  When the acquisition of the EPG information is confirmed, it is stored in the storage area in the EPG acquisition unit 41 and displayed on the display 26 or the like according to the user's operation, or the recording reservation performed by the reservation management unit 43 (S14).

-Unexpected channel switching or power-off operation However, even though icons are displayed in this way to notify that EPG information is being acquired, the user can switch channels, power off, etc. When an operation that hinders the acquisition of EPG information is performed, the correspondence shown in FIG. 4 is preferable. That is, in FIG. 4, if the current time reaches the set acquisition time information (or may operate according to the user's manual operation) (S21), the channel for acquiring EPG information to the user is displayed. A screen for asking whether switching is allowed is displayed (S22). If there is an operation that can be performed (S23), the channel of the tuner unit 12 is set to a predetermined channel (for example, 10 channels of terrestrial analog broadcasting, etc.) and extracted from the broadcast signal to acquire EPG information. (S24). Then, an icon indicating that EPG information is being acquired as shown in FIG. 2 is superimposed on the display screen (S25).

  At this time, it is assumed that there is an operation for interrupting the EPG information acquisition process such as channel switching or power-off by the user's operation (S26). On the other hand, instead of immediately switching the channel or turning off the power, a screen for prompting postponement of the operation as shown in FIG. 5, a screen for proposing cancellation, or a screen for inquiring about interruption of EPG information reception 51 is displayed (S25). Here, if “No” is selected (S28), the screen display 51 is erased, and the processing is continued until EPG information is acquired (S30). However, even if “No” is not selected in Step S28, if “Yes” is not selected and a certain period of time has passed, it is assumed that the postponement of the operation has not been denied, and that it has been agreed to postpone or cancel. Similarly, it is preferable to delete the screen display 51 (S30) and continue the processing until the EPG information is acquired (S31).

  If “Yes” is selected immediately in step S28, reception of the EPG information is stopped, the channel is changed as desired by the user, or the power is turned off (S29). As a result, it is possible to achieve both an operation according to the user's request and a reliable acquisition process of EPG information.

Acquisition through the Internet In the above description, the EPG information is mainly extracted from the broadcast signal from the tuner 12. However, by using the network I / F unit 11 or the like, the Internet broadcasts through the Internet. It is also preferable to obtain EPG information from the server S or the like. In this case, for example, if the EPG information is acquired from the broadcast signal from the tuner 12 and does not work, then the network I / F unit 11 or the like is automatically used to intermediate the Internet and broadcast station. An operation such as obtaining EPG information from the server S or the like is suitable, and EPG information can be automatically obtained and updated without requiring a special operation from the user.

・ ADAMS
Note that the broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention does not limit the form in which the EPG information is acquired from the broadcast signal. However, as an example, ADAMS (TV Asahi Data and Multimedia Service) that distributes EPG information using TV terrestrial waves can be used. In addition to this, EPG information can be similarly acquired in each form of satellite broadcasting, teletext broadcasting, terrestrial digital broadcasting, and terrestrial analog broadcasting.

  In the above-described embodiments, the broadcast receiving apparatus as a multifunction peripheral including the disk driver section of the optical disk has been described with respect to one embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It goes without saying that an equivalent process is possible even in a broadcast receiving apparatus in the form of a box or the like.

  With the various embodiments described above, those skilled in the art can realize the present invention. However, it is easy for those skilled in the art to come up with various modifications of these embodiments, and have the inventive ability. It is possible to apply to various embodiments at least. Therefore, the present invention covers a wide range consistent with the disclosed principle and novel features, and is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the broadcast receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the acquisition process of EPG information of the broadcast receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows an example of the acquisition process of EPG information of the broadcast receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows another example of the acquisition process of EPG information of the broadcast receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the inquiry screen in the case of the acquisition process of EPG information of the broadcast receiver which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Network I / F part, 12 ... Tuner part, 13 ... Input part, 18 ... Hard disk drive part, 19 ... Optical disk drive part, 20 ... Data edit part, 21 ... Encoder part, 22 ... Decoder part, 23 ... Formatter part , 24 ... Video mixing section, 26 ... Display, 27 ... I / F section, 30 ... Control section, 32 ... Operation section, 33 ... Display section, R ... Remote control, 41 ... EPG acquisition section, 42 ... Database section, 43 ... Reservation recording manager.

Claims (16)

A tuner unit that selects and demodulates a broadcast signal and outputs video information;
An EPG acquisition unit that selects a predetermined broadcast signal by the tuner unit, acquires EPG information from the broadcast signal, and stores the EPG information;
While the tuner unit selects the predetermined broadcast signal and acquires the EPG information, an indication that the EPG information is currently being acquired is superimposed on the image being reproduced by the tuner unit. And a control unit that outputs an image signal for display.   When the control unit receives a channel change instruction from the tuner unit while the EPG acquisition unit is acquiring the EPG information, the control unit is currently acquiring EPG information without changing the channel immediately. 2. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a display for proposing postponement or cancellation of channel change is performed.   The control unit proposes to postpone or cancel the change of the channel, and when a predetermined time has passed without an instruction from the user, it is assumed that the user has agreed to postpone or cancel the acquisition of the EPG information. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the broadcast receiving apparatus is continued.   When receiving an instruction to turn off the power of the broadcast receiving device while the EPG acquisition unit is acquiring the EPG information, the control unit is currently acquiring EPG information without immediately turning off the power. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a display for proposing postponement or cancellation of power-off is performed.   The control unit proposes to postpone or cancel the power off, and when a predetermined time has passed without an instruction from the user, it is assumed that the user has agreed to postpone or cancel, and the acquisition of the EPG information is continued. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:   The control unit performs processing for selecting a predetermined broadcast signal by the tuner unit and acquiring EPG information from the broadcast signal when a predetermined time is reached among a plurality of preset times. The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition process is repeated according to the set times.   2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reservation recording management unit that performs recording reservation in accordance with a user instruction based on the EPG information acquired by the EPG acquisition unit and performs reservation recording processing based on the reservation. Broadcast receiver.   The broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the EPG acquisition unit acquires the EPG signal from a vertical synchronization signal of an analog terrestrial broadcast signal selected by the tuner unit. Select and demodulate broadcast signals and output video information,
Selecting the predetermined broadcast signal, acquiring and storing EPG information from the broadcast signal,
While the predetermined broadcast signal is selected and the EPG information is acquired, a display indicating that the EPG information is being acquired is superimposed on the currently selected and reproduced image. A broadcast receiving method characterized in that the image signal is output.   If the channel change instruction is received while the EPG information is being acquired, the EPG information is currently being acquired without immediately changing the channel, and it is proposed to postpone or cancel the channel change. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 9, wherein display is performed.   Proposing to postpone or cancel the channel change, and if a predetermined time has passed without any instruction from the user, it is assumed that the postponement or cancellation has been agreed, and the acquisition of the EPG information is continued. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 10.   If an instruction to turn off the power of the broadcast receiving apparatus is received while the EPG information is being acquired, the EPG information is currently being acquired without immediately turning off the power, and the power off is postponed or canceled. 10. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 9, wherein a display for proposing is performed.   Proposing to postpone or cancel the power off, and if a predetermined time has passed without any instruction from the user, it is considered that the user has agreed to postpone or cancel, and the acquisition of the EPG information is continued. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 12.   When a predetermined time is reached among a plurality of preset times, a process is performed to select a predetermined broadcast signal and acquire EPG information from the broadcast signal. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 9, wherein the acquisition process is repeated in response.   10. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 9, wherein a recording reservation is made according to a user instruction based on the EPG information, and a reservation recording process is performed based on the reservation.   10. The broadcast receiving method according to claim 9, wherein the EPG signal is acquired from a vertical synchronization signal of the selected analog terrestrial broadcast signal.

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