JP2006211111A - Television receiver and television receiving method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to acquire the useful EPG information of the other channel in real time. <P>SOLUTION: When discriminating that reception electric field strength is stable and no error packet exists in both of two reception systems and it is not required to carry out diversity reception on the basis of the reception electric field strength detected by first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103, 203, a control section 150 switches a first switch circuit 109, starts the reception of a first tuner 101 at a frequency different from that of a second tuner 201, receives the EPG information of a channel other than a channel viewed by the second tuner 201, and stores the information to a storage circuit 111. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a television receiver and a television receiving method for receiving terrestrial digital television broadcasting and the like.

  In recent years, terrestrial digital television receivers are becoming popular as television receivers. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional terrestrial digital television receiver. This terrestrial digital television receiver includes an antenna 300, a tuner 301, a demodulator 302, an error correction circuit 304, a TS decoding circuit 306, a decoding circuit 37, and a video / audio output circuit 308. The tuner 301 selects a desired frequency channel. The demodulator 302 converts an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signal into digital data. The error correction circuit 304 corrects and detects errors by an error correction function provided on the transmitting station side. The TS decode circuit 306 extracts a packet including desired information from the transport stream signal (TS signal) using a packet ID (PID). The decoding circuit 307 decodes video and audio signals encoded by the terrestrial digital television encoding method. The video / audio output circuit 308 reproduces and outputs video and audio received by a liquid crystal display, a speaker, and the like.

  In the terrestrial digital television receiver having such a configuration, when the influence of fading is large, it is difficult to ensure the reception quality particularly in the case of reception by a mobile body in which this influence is significant. As a measure against fading, diversity reception is generally performed. Diversity reception is realized by preparing two systems of antennas or antennas and receiving circuits (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terrestrial digital television receiver by diversity realized by preparing two systems of antennas and receiving circuits. This diversity terrestrial digital television receiver (simply referred to as a diversity receiver) includes a second antenna 400, a second tuner 401, a second demodulator 402, a second demodulator in addition to the configuration of the receiver shown in FIG. Error correction circuit 402 and TS selection circuit 305. The TS selection circuit 305 detects the presence / absence of an error in the TS packet signal from the transport error indicator information included in the header portion of the TS packet signal output from the error correction circuits 304 and 404, and the error is based on the output result. It is determined which TS packet signal output from the correction circuits 304 and 404 is to be selected.

  This diversity receiver selects, in real time, data in a good reception state among data received by the two antennas 300 and 400. However, the diversity receiver has an effective function as a countermeasure against fading, but it is not always placed in a radio wave environment that requires diversity reception. In such a radio wave environment, even if diversity reception is not performed, A stable reception operation can be performed.

  In general, when receiving EPG (electronic program guide) information of a digital terrestrial television with a fixed receiver, the following two methods, that is, a method of receiving a data broadcast of a received channel, EPG information is received by a method of receiving and storing data broadcasts when the user is not watching TV.

  However, the conventional television receiver has the following problems. Normally, when a channel is switched in a diversity receiver, the physical channel is switched.Therefore, after channel switching, there is no image that can be output until reception starts on a new channel and video playback is performed. Either the previous image was left stationary or the display was stopped. Since digital television broadcasting uses MPEG as a video compression format, it has a feature that video cannot be decoded until a reference frame (I picture) can be received. Usually, since the reference frame is transmitted every few seconds, it takes several seconds until the video of the actually switched channel is output after the user switches the channel. In other words, for a few seconds after the channel is switched until the video of the switched channel is output, the last video of the channel before the switching is still or nothing is output. For this reason, the standby time from when the channel is switched to when the received content is output is long.

  Further, as the conventional television receiver, a one-segment (1SEG) terrestrial digital television receiver that is assumed to be received by a mobile body has a problem that it cannot provide sufficient EPG information to the user. In other words, in the case of a 1 SEG terrestrial digital television that is assumed to be received by a mobile body, there is a restriction that the band of the transmission wave is narrow, so the EPG information transmitted from one broadcast station contains the program currently being broadcast. Only information or information about the next program to be broadcast on the same channel could be obtained. In consideration of reception by a mobile object, EPG information acquired when the user is not watching TV may not be usable depending on the location and time when the user actually started watching TV. Was expensive.

JP 2004-260379 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a television receiver and a television reception method capable of acquiring EPG information of other channels useful for the user in real time. In addition, the present invention provides a television receiver and a television reception method capable of remarkably mitigating the uncomfortable feeling that occurs when the reception channel is switched and the standby time until the reception content is output is long. With the goal.

The television receiver of the present invention is a television receiver that performs diversity reception using a plurality of reception means, and a reception state determination means that determines the necessity of the diversity reception based on the received electric field strength of the reception means. And a reception operation switching unit that switches the first reception unit among the plurality of reception units to the reception operation of another channel when the reception state determination unit determines that the diversity reception is not necessary. Program information acquisition means for acquiring the program information of the other channel using reception means.
This makes it possible to acquire EPG information of other channels useful for the user in real time.

Further, the television receiver of the present invention is the above-described television receiver, and the reception operation switching unit is configured to switch the plurality of reception units when the reception state determination unit determines that diversity reception is necessary. The diversity reception operation used will be continued.
This makes it possible to maintain the diversity operation as necessary.

The television receiver of the present invention is the above-described television receiver, further comprising channel switching determination means for determining whether or not there is a reception channel switching instruction, wherein the reception operation switching means is configured to receive the reception channel switching instruction. If there is, the first receiving means of the plurality of receiving means is switched to a new channel receiving operation, and the second receiving means of the plurality of receiving means remains in the previous channel receiving operation. Output switching for switching from the output of the second receiving means to the output of the first receiving means when the reception signal of the new channel can be output from the first receiving means. Means shall be provided.
As a result, it is possible to greatly alleviate the uncomfortable feeling that occurs when the reception channel is switched and the standby time until the reception content is output is long.

The television receiver of the present invention is the television receiver described above, and after the signal output is switched to the output from the first receiving means by the output switching means, the receiving operation switching means is When it is determined by the reception state determination means that diversity reception is not necessary, the second reception means is switched to a reception operation of another channel different from the new channel, and the program information acquisition means is the second reception means. The program information of the other channel is acquired using.
This makes it possible to obtain EPG information of other channels in real time even after channel switching.

The television receiver of the present invention is a television receiver that performs diversity reception using a plurality of receiving means, and includes channel switching determination means that determines whether or not there is a reception channel switching instruction, and the reception channel switching instruction. If one of the plurality of reception means is switched to the reception operation of a new channel, the other reception means of the plurality of reception means is continued with the reception operation of the previous channel. A receiving operation switching means for switching, and an output switching means for switching from an output of the other receiving means to an output of the one receiving means when the received signal of the new channel can be output from the one receiving means. Is provided.
As a result, it is possible to greatly alleviate the uncomfortable feeling that occurs when the reception channel is switched and the standby time until the reception content is output is long.

The television receiver of the present invention is the above-described television receiver, wherein the reception operation switching unit is configured to switch the signal output from the one reception unit to the other after the output switching unit has switched the signal output to the output from the one reception unit. The reception means is switched to the reception operation of the new channel and diversity reception is performed.
This makes it possible to perform diversity operation even after channel switching.

  The television reception method of the present invention is a television reception method for performing diversity reception using a plurality of reception means, and a reception state determination step of determining the necessity of the diversity reception based on the reception electric field strength of the reception means. A reception operation switching step of switching the first reception means of the plurality of reception means to a reception operation of another channel when it is determined by the reception state determination step that diversity reception is not necessary; And a program information acquisition step of acquiring program information of the other channel using a receiving means.

  The television reception method of the present invention is a television reception method for performing diversity reception using a plurality of reception means, a channel switching determination step for determining whether or not there is a reception channel switching instruction, and the reception channel switching instruction. If one of the plurality of reception means is switched to the reception operation of a new channel, the other reception means of the plurality of reception means is continued with the reception operation of the previous channel. A receiving operation switching step, and an output switching step for switching from the output of the other receiving means to the output of the one receiving means when the reception signal of the new channel can be output from the one receiving means. It is what has.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the television receiver and television receiving method which can acquire EPG information of the other channel useful for a user in real time can be provided. In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided a television receiver and a television reception method capable of remarkably mitigating the uncomfortable feeling that occurs when the reception channel is switched and the standby time until the received content is output is long. it can.

  In this embodiment, a configuration example applied to a one-segment (1 SEG) terrestrial digital television receiver is shown as an example of a television receiver and a television reception method.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terrestrial digital television receiver according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This television receiver includes a first antenna 100, a first tuner 101, a first demodulator 102, a first electric field strength detection circuit 103, a first error correction circuit 104, a second antenna 200, a second antenna 200, Tuner 201, second demodulator 202, second electric field strength detection circuit 203, second error correction circuit 204, first switch circuit (SW) 109, TS selection circuit 105, first TS decoding circuit 106 , A second TS decoding circuit 110, an EPG storage circuit 111, a decoding circuit 107, a video / audio output circuit 108, and a control unit 150.

  The first and second tuners 101 and 201 select frequency channels according to the frequency data for receiving the corresponding channel sent from the control unit 150 according to the channel desired by the user. The first and second demodulators 102 and 202 respectively convert OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) signals into digital data. The first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204 correct and detect errors by an error correction function provided on the transmitting station side. The first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203 detect the received electric field strength and output them to the control unit 150. As will be described later, the received electric field strength detected by the second electric field strength detection circuit 203 may be directly input to the first switch circuit 109 instead of being input to the control unit 150.

  The TS selection circuit 105 selects one of the transport stream signals (TS signals) output from the first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204. The first and second TS decoding circuits 106 and 110 extract a packet including desired information from the TS signal by a packet ID (PID). The decoding circuit 107 decodes video and audio signals encoded by the terrestrial digital television encoding method. The video / audio output circuit 108 reproduces and outputs the received video and audio using a liquid crystal display, a speaker, and the like.

  The first switch circuit 109 switches the output destination of the TS signal from the first error correction circuit 104 to the TS selection circuit 105 or the second TS decoding circuit 110 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 150. The EPG accumulation circuit 111 accumulates the EPG information decoded by the second TS decoding circuit 110. In addition to the well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like (not shown), the control unit 150 has an I / O interface that accepts a receiving channel instruction input by a user operation.

  In the above configuration, a plurality of receiving units are configured by a plurality of receiving systems each constituted by the tuners 101 and 201, the demodulators 102 and 202, and the error correction circuits 104 and 204. Further, the function of the reception state determination means is realized by the electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203 and the control unit 150. Further, the function of the reception operation switching unit is realized by the first switch circuit 109 and the control unit 150. In addition, the function of the program information acquisition unit is realized by the TS decode circuit 110, the EPG storage circuit 111, and the control unit 150.

  The operation of the terrestrial digital television receiver having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of the terrestrial digital television receiver according to the first embodiment. This processing program is stored in the ROM in the control unit 150 and is executed by the CPU in the control unit 150. An operation instruction signal for a reception channel desired by the user is input to the control unit 150 in advance.

  The control unit 150 sets frequency data for receiving the input desired reception channel in the first and second tuners 101 and 201 (step S1). Signals output from the first and second tuners 101 and 201 are input to the first and second demodulators 102 and 202, respectively, and demodulated into digital data. Further, the data demodulated by the first and second demodulators 102 and 202 are input to the first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204, respectively, and an error is corrected by an error correction function applied on the transmitting station side. When corrected and detected, it is output in the MPEG2 transport stream format.

  The control unit 150 detects the received electric field strength from the first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203 (step S2), and the received electric field strength is stable in both of the two receiving systems, and diversity reception is performed. It is determined whether or not there is a need to perform this (step S3). When the reception electric field strength is unstable and it is necessary to perform diversity reception, the first switch is set so that the outputs from the first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204 are all input to the TS selection circuit 105. The circuit 109 is switched (step S6). Here, the determination of the presence or absence of a packet error is performed by detecting that the detection levels of the first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203 are sufficient and stable.

  When an error that cannot be corrected occurs, the first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204 indicate a flag (transport error index) indicating that the packet contains an error in the header portion of the TS packet. ) Is set and a TS packet is output. As a result, the TS selection circuit 105 confirms the transport error index in the header part of the TS packet from each of the first and second error correction circuits 104 and 204, selects only the TS packet with no error, and selects the first. The TS packet is output to the TS decoding circuit 106. In this way, the diversity effect can be obtained by selecting a TS packet having no error in the TS selection circuit 105.

  On the other hand, if the reception electric field strength is stable and there is no error packet in either of the two reception systems, it is determined in step S3 that it is not necessary to perform diversity reception. In this case, the first switch circuit is configured so that, for example, the output of the first error correction circuit 104 is input to the second TS decoder 110 to one of the first and second tuners 101 and 201 that are two systems. 109 is switched (step S4). Then, the frequency data of the other channel is set in the first tuner 101, and the operation for acquiring the EPG information of the other channel is performed (step S5). Then, the acquired EPG information is stored in the EPG storage circuit 111.

  As described above, according to the terrestrial digital television receiver of the first embodiment, the reception system prepared for the diversity reception is switched to the operation for acquiring the EPG information of the other channel when the diversity reception is unnecessary. Thus, EPG information of other channels can be acquired in real time. Further, there is a restriction that the band of the transmission wave is narrow like reception in mobile communication, and even when the reception area changes every moment, effective EPG information can be provided to the user of the receiver.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terrestrial digital television receiver according to the second embodiment of the present invention. About the same component as 1st Embodiment mentioned above, the description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol. The television receiver according to the second embodiment includes a second switch circuit 112 that selects an output from the first TS decoding circuit 106 and the second TS decoding circuit 110 and inputs the selected output to the decoding circuit 107. In FIG. 3, the EPG storage circuit 111 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is omitted. In the second embodiment, the function of the channel switching determination unit is realized by the control unit 150. Further, the function of the reception operation switching unit is realized by the first switch circuit 109 and the control unit 150. Further, the function of the output switching means is realized by the second switch circuit 112 and the control unit 150.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of the terrestrial digital television receiver according to the second embodiment. This processing program is stored in the ROM in the control unit 150 and is executed by the CPU in the control unit 150.

  When an operation instruction signal for a reception channel desired by the user is input to the control unit 150, the control unit 150 transmits frequency data for receiving the input desired channel to the first and second tuners 101 and 201. (Step S11). Then, a diversity reception operation is performed.

  It is determined whether or not there has been a channel switching instruction by a user operation while the diversity reception is being performed (step S12). If there is no channel switching instruction, the processing in step S12 is repeated. On the other hand, when there is a channel switching instruction, the output of the first switch circuit 109 is changed to the second TS decode circuit 110 side (step S13). Simultaneously with this switching operation, the frequency data of the new channel is set only in the first tuner 101, and the second channel decoding circuit 110 performs the decoding operation of the new channel (step S14). Since the TS selection circuit 105 is always set to select the output from the second error correction circuit 204, the decoding circuit 107 and the video / audio output circuit 108 have the audio signal and video signal of the channel before switching. Is entered.

  And it waits until the signal in a new channel can be output from the 2nd TS decoding circuit 110 (step S15). That is, the second TS decoding circuit 110 waits until reception of the reference frame (I picture) is completed and the video of the new channel can be reproduced. When the video of the new channel can be reproduced, the second switch circuit 112 is switched to the second TS decoding circuit 110 side (step S16), and the video display of the new channel is started.

  Thereafter, new channel frequency data is set in the second tuner 201, and the first TS decoding circuit 106 performs a new channel decoding operation (step S17). Wait until the signal on the new channel can be output from the first TS decoding circuit 106 (step S18). When the signal on the new channel can be output, the first and second signals are received in order to receive diversity reception. The switch circuits 109 and 112 are switched (step S19). In other words, in the diversity operation, the first switch circuit 109 inputs the output of the first error correction circuit 104 to the TS selection circuit 105, and the second switch circuit 112 causes the first TS decoder circuit 106 to Set to select. Thereafter, the process returns to step S12.

  As described above, according to the terrestrial digital television receiver of the second embodiment, the video of the channel before switching is displayed for a few seconds after the user switches the channel until the video of the channel after switching is output. The channel switching operation can be performed without any sense of incongruity. In addition, after the channel switching operation is completed, the second tuner 201 can be tuned to the frequency of the new channel and the diversity operation can be performed again.

  In addition, this invention is not restricted to the structure of the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation implementation is possible. For example, in the second embodiment, after the channel switching operation is completed, the second tuner 201 is also tuned to the frequency of the new channel, and the diversity operation is performed again. As in the first embodiment, the necessity of the diversity operation is determined based on the received electric field strength, and when the diversity operation is not necessary, the channel of the second tuner 201 is switched as it is or without switching, You may make it receive and accumulate | store EPG information of the channel different from the channel currently viewed.

  In each of the above embodiments, the control unit 150 switches the first switch circuit 109 based on the received electric field strength detected by at least one of the first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203. The first switch circuit 109 may be switched directly by a signal from one of the first and second electric field strength detection circuits 103 and 203.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to acquire EPG information of other channels useful for the user in real time, and a long waiting time until reception contents are output, which occurred when switching the reception channel. It has the effect of significantly reducing the sense of incongruity, and is useful for television receivers and television reception methods that receive terrestrial digital television broadcasts and the like.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the terrestrial digital television receiver which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the operation processing procedure of the terrestrial digital television receiver of 1st Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the terrestrial digital television receiver which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the operation | movement process sequence of the terrestrial digital television receiver of 2nd Embodiment. Block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional terrestrial digital television receiver Block diagram showing the configuration of a terrestrial digital television receiver with diversity realized by preparing two systems of antennas and receiving circuits

Explanation of symbols

101, 201 Tuner 102, 202 Demodulator 103, 203 Electric field strength detection circuit 104, 204 Error correction circuit 105 TS selection circuit 106, 110 TS decoding circuit 107 Decoding circuit 108 Video / audio output circuit 109 First switch circuit 111 EPG accumulation Circuit 112 Second switch circuit 150 Control unit

Claims (8)

A television receiver that performs diversity reception using a plurality of receiving means,
Based on the received electric field strength of the receiving means, receiving state determining means for determining the necessity of diversity reception;
A reception operation switching unit that switches a first reception unit of the plurality of reception units to a reception operation of another channel when the reception state determination unit determines that the diversity reception is not necessary;
A television receiver comprising: program information acquisition means for acquiring program information of the other channel using the first reception means. The television receiver according to claim 1,
The reception operation switching means is a television receiver for continuing the diversity reception operation using the plurality of reception means when the reception state determination means determines that the diversity reception is necessary. The television receiver according to claim 1,
Channel switching determination means for determining whether there is a reception channel switching instruction,
The receiving operation switching unit switches the first receiving unit of the plurality of receiving units to a new channel receiving operation when there is an instruction to switch the receiving channel, The second receiving means continues with the reception operation of the previous channel,
A television receiver comprising output switching means for switching from the output of the second receiving means to the output of the first receiving means when the reception signal of the new channel can be outputted from the first receiving means. . The television receiver according to claim 3,
After the signal output is switched to the output from the first receiving means by the output switching means,
The reception operation switching unit switches the second reception unit to a reception operation of another channel different from the new channel when the reception state determination unit determines that the diversity reception is not necessary,
The program information acquisition unit is a television receiver that acquires program information of the other channel using the second reception unit. A television receiver that performs diversity reception using a plurality of receiving means,
Channel switching determination means for determining presence / absence of a reception channel switching instruction;
When there is an instruction to switch the reception channel, one of the plurality of reception units is switched to a new channel reception operation, and the other reception unit of the plurality of reception units is switched to the previous channel. Receiving operation switching means for continuing the receiving operation of
A television receiver comprising: an output switching means for switching from the output of the other receiving means to the output of the one receiving means when the reception signal of the new channel can be output from the one receiving means. The television receiver according to claim 5,
The reception operation switching means is a television for performing diversity reception by switching the other reception means to the reception operation of the new channel after the signal output is switched to the output from the one reception means by the output switching means. Receiving machine. A television receiving method for performing diversity reception using a plurality of receiving means,
A reception state determination step for determining the necessity of diversity reception based on the reception electric field strength of the reception means;
A reception operation switching step of switching the first reception means of the plurality of reception means to the reception operation of another channel when it is determined by the reception state determination step that diversity reception is not necessary;
A television information receiving method comprising: a program information obtaining step for obtaining program information of the other channel using the first receiving means. A television receiving method for performing diversity reception using a plurality of receiving means,
A channel switching determination step for determining presence / absence of a reception channel switching instruction;
When there is an instruction to switch the reception channel, one of the plurality of reception units is switched to a new channel reception operation, and the other reception unit of the plurality of reception units is switched to the previous channel. Receiving operation switching step for continuing the receiving operation of
A television receiving method comprising: an output switching step of switching from the output of the other receiving means to the output of the one receiving means when the reception signal of the new channel can be output from the one receiving means.

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