JP2006320004A - System and method for controlling av apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and a method for controlling an AV apparatus which can easily store a desired broadcasting station or program and moreover, quickly perform a selection operation. <P>SOLUTION: Desired entry word information is designated from entry word information displayed on a display screen, all channels corresponding to the designated entry word information are detected, and all the detected channels are displayed on the display screen by zapping and any channel is selected from the display screen obtained by zapping. Alternatively, a zapping select mode is designated, and all channels are displayed on the display screen, by zapping in accordance with a zapping mode, and an arbitrary channel is selected from the display screen obtained by zapping. Furthermore, as an operation section, at least one of key input, speech recognition, detection of gestures, and detection of facial expressions is included, and is implemented as a remote control device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control system and control method for an AV apparatus, for example, a technique for controlling a television screen.

  Conventionally, the AV apparatus is controlled by various methods. For example, in order to select a desired channel, a channel selection circuit is provided, and the user operates the channel selection circuit to select a desired channel. It was. However, the spread of cable TV and satellite broadcasting increases the number of channels, making it difficult to remember which channel is the desired broadcast station / program.

In other words, the spread of cable TV and satellite broadcasting increases the number of channels, making it difficult to remember which channel is the desired broadcast station / program, and a more comfortable selection operation method for quickly finding the desired program. Development is expected.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an AV apparatus control system and control method that can easily learn a desired broadcast station or program and can perform a selection operation in a short time. .

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
[1] A receiving unit that receives music broadcast signals of a plurality of channels supplied from the outside,
An audio unit for reproducing audio of the music broadcast signal received by the receiving unit;
A display processor for operating the display screen by controlling the audio unit;
An operation unit for inputting a designation signal for channel selection and an operation signal for the display screen,
The predetermined headword information accompanying the program from the receiving unit is supplied to the display processor and displayed on the display screen, and the receiving unit is controlled based on the input from the operation unit to control the zapping of the channel display. And an AV device control system comprising a control means for selecting an arbitrary channel,
The control means is
A headword information setting unit that inputs the headword information from the receiving unit and supplies the headword information to the display processor;
Channel detection means for recognizing headword information designated from the operation unit and detecting all channels corresponding to the headword information by collating with headword information input to the headword information setting unit;
All channels detected by the channel detection means are sequentially switched and displayed by zapping, a designation signal for confirming channel selection from the operation unit is input via the channel detection means, and a corresponding channel is selected and displayed. Means,
An AV device control system characterized by comprising:
[2] The AV device control system according to [1], wherein the headword information is recorded in a subheader of the program, and provides an AV device control system,
[3] A method for controlling an AV apparatus that receives externally supplied music broadcast signals of a plurality of channels, displays predetermined headword information associated with a program on a display screen, and selects an arbitrary channel from the display screen. There,
A headword information designation step for designating desired headword information from headword information displayed on the display screen;
A channel detection step for detecting all channels corresponding to the specified headword information;
A zapping display step for sequentially switching and displaying all detected channels by zapping;
A channel selection step for selecting an arbitrary channel from the display screen by zapping;
An AV apparatus control method characterized by comprising:
[4] The AV apparatus control method according to [3], wherein the channel selection step selects the arbitrary channel by voice recognition or detection of a gesture or a facial expression. It is to provide.

  Note that zapping means “suddenly moving” in English, but in the field of broadcasting and image display, “successful channel switching in a short period of time is performed for a predetermined time”. Means.

  The operation unit includes at least one of key input, voice recognition, gesture gesture detection, and facial expression detection.

  Further, the operation unit is constituted by a remote control device separated from a main body, and the control means has a receiving unit for receiving a signal from the remote control device.

  According to the present invention, by using zapping, even if the number of channels increases due to the spread of cable TV and satellite broadcasting, it is possible to perform a comfortable selection operation without learning which channel is a desired broadcast station / program. The selection operation can be performed easily and in a short time. In addition, since the selection control of channel selection using headwords can be performed using voice, gesture gestures and facial expressions, it is possible to provide a control device that can be used with peace of mind by everyone from children to the elderly. Also, since a zapping group can be specified, several programs can be enjoyed simultaneously.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a control system and control method for an AV apparatus applied to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a television signal supplied from a CATV terminal 1 installed in a house to a branching unit 3 via a cable 2 is input to a receiving unit 5 and a video unit 6 reproduces an image. Audio is reproduced by the audio unit 7. The control unit 9 receives an operation input from the operation unit 10 constituted by, for example, a remote control device, and controls the channel, audio level, surround mode, and the like of the reception unit 5. The display processor 8 is supplied with headword information from the control means 9 and displays a predetermined image by the video section 6.

  Here, the control means 9 has the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and the headword information setting unit 9A has fixed headwords such as channel information from the receiving unit 5 and a flow headword obtained from the broadcast signal. Supplied. The flow headword includes a genre, a title, a keyword, and the like associated with the program, and for example, those recorded in the subheader of the program according to the EIA (Electronic Industries Association) -608-A standard are used. These change from moment to moment depending on the content of the program, and are called flow. Then, an image (menu) is set and displayed using these headwords. FIG. 3 shows an image displayed based on the headword information.

  On the other hand, for example, when the user shouts “relaxed” toward the operation unit 10 while viewing the image as shown in FIG. 3 set by the headword information setting unit 9A, the operation unit 10 recognizes the voice, The detection means 9B receives a “relaxation” recognition signal, collates with the headword information setting unit 9A, and the corresponding channels are ch61 (a1), ch62 (a2), ch63 (a3), ch78 ( a4), ch88 (a5), ch92, ch100, ch122, ch145, ch166, ch177, ch179 and ch180 (an) are sequentially switched and displayed by zapping. In this case, the display can be made in about 1 to 2 seconds per channel.

  Therefore, when the user shows OK in gesture (gesture) in ch122 (ai), the operation unit 10 recognizes that it is ch122, and the control unit 9 selects ch122. Regarding the control by gestures, the paper: Nikir Giant, “Interaction of human and machine by voice and gesture” (Nikil Jayant; Human Machine Interaction by Voice and Gesture) pp. 175-177, IEEE, ICCASP, Vol. 1, 1997, generally, a finger shape corresponding to a plurality of vocabularies is defined, and the finger shape is determined by image recognition. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, it can be defined that OK forms a circle with a finger, such as a roll of a thumb and an index finger. An example that is not OK is shown in FIG. 4B.

  On the other hand, when yelling “golf” toward the operation unit 10, the operation unit 10 recognizes the voice, and the channel detection unit 9B inputs the golf voice recognition signal and collates with the headword information setting unit 9A. In addition, the corresponding ch 60 (golf dedicated channel = b1) is displayed on the impose screen (in this case, displayed in the upper left by a four-divided size), and if the golf program is broadcast elsewhere, the program (b2, ..., Bn) are also displayed by zapping. Therefore, when the user shouts “this!” Or “OK” toward the operation unit 10 or presses the confirmation button, the determined ch60 or other golf program is displayed on one screen. This heading screen can be called from the operation unit 10 at any time.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control means 9. The operation of the control means 9 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, fixed and flowing headword information is input from the receiving unit 5 to the headword information setting unit 9A (step S1), and the fixed and flowing headword information of the headword information setting unit 9A is supplied to the display processor 8 ( Step S2). Next, when a designation signal including an audio signal is input from the operation unit 10 (step S3), the channel detection unit 9B detects a channel group by comparing with the headword information of the headword information setting unit 9A (step S4). Then, the channel selection means 9C is zapped to select the channel (s) (step S5).

  In the meantime, if there is an “OK” instruction from the operation unit 10 during step S5, the channel being zapped is selected, and the process ends. Operate according to the flowchart. If there are many headwords in step S1, not all of them can be displayed in step S2. Therefore, if there is an instruction to scroll in step S3, the screen can be changed. The operation unit 10 includes at least one of key input, voice recognition, gesture gesture detection, and facial expression detection.

<Second Embodiment>
In the first embodiment described above, desired headword information is designated from the headword information displayed on the display screen, all channels corresponding to the designated headword information are detected, and all detected words are detected. Although the control system and the control method for displaying channels on the display screen by zapping and selecting an arbitrary channel from the display screen by zapping have been described, in the second embodiment, zapping selection by headword information is performed as the screen operation mode. A control system and a control method for designating a mode, displaying all channels on the display screen by zapping according to the zapping selection mode, and selecting an arbitrary channel from the display screen by zapping will be described.

  6 shows a block diagram according to a second embodiment corresponding to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 shows a block diagram showing in detail the control means 9 in this block diagram. Shows an example of a screen for explanation, FIG. 9 shows an example of zapping display by the control means 9, and FIG. 10 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control means 9.

  In FIG. 6, the TV signal / music broadcast signal supplied from the satellite broadcasting and terrestrial broadcasting composite terminal 1 installed in the house to the branching unit 3 via the cable 2 is input to the receiving unit 5, and the TV signal is a video signal. The video is reproduced by the unit 6, the audio is reproduced by the audio unit 7, and the audio of the music broadcast signal is reproduced by the audio unit 7. The control means 9 is provided for controlling the screen mode, channel, audio level, surround mode, etc. of the receiving unit 5 based on the operation input from the operation unit 10. The display processor 8 is supplied with the headword information of the control means 9 and displays an image as shown in FIG. Further, the control means 9 stores information used for screen operation in the backup memory 11 and uses it for initialization of the screen operation.

  Here, the control means 9 has the configuration shown in FIG. 7, and is different from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that a screen operation detection means 9D is provided instead of the channel detection means 9B. A screen operation unit 9E is provided instead of the selection unit 9C, and the screen operation detection unit 9D recognizes the screen operation signal from the operation unit 10 and compares it with the headword information of the headword information setting unit 9A to check the zapping mode. The selection is detected, and all channels of the display screen set by the headword information setting unit 9A based on the zapping mode selection signal detected by the screen operation detection unit 9D are zapped by the screen operation unit 9E. A designation signal for switching, displaying, and confirming channel selection from the operation unit 10 is input via the screen operation detection means 9D to the corresponding channel. It has been made so as to indicated.

  In the above configuration, the receiving unit 5 supplies a fixed headword such as channel information and a flow headword obtained from the broadcast signal to the headword information setting unit 9A. Then, an image is set and displayed using these headword information. On the other hand, for example, when the user shouts “zapping” toward the operation unit 10 while looking at the image set by the headword information setting unit 9A shown in FIG. 8, the operation unit 10 recognizes this and screen operation means 9D. Inputs the recognition information of zapping, collates with the headword information setting unit 9A, and switches all the channels of the broadcasting station on the left of the image displayed there every 2 seconds in a random order. If one of them screams “OK” toward the operation unit 10 or shows a satisfied expression (smile), the channel is determined, fixed and reproduced.

  FIG. 9A shows a state where all channels (a1, a2,..., Ai,..., An) are switched by zapping, and channel ai is determined. This heading screen has several patterns such as ground station + BS + CS, satellite digital, etc., and can be freely called from the operation unit 10 at any time. For example, in the case of satellite digital, FIG.

  Next, the operation of the control means 9 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Fixed and flowing headword information is input from the receiving unit 5 to the headword information setting unit 9A (step S11), and the fixed and flowing headword information of the headword information setting unit 9A is supplied to the display processor 8 (step S12). Next, a screen operation mode designation signal (including an audio signal) is input from the operation unit 10 (step S13). The screen operation detection means 9D collates and compares with the headword information of the headword information setting section 9A, detects the zapping mode (step S14), and drives the screen operation means 9E to execute the mode (one or more). (Step S15), and the process ends.

  If there is an “OK” instruction from the operation unit 10 during step S15, the process ends. If there is any other instruction, the operation is performed again according to the flowchart of FIG. If there are many headwords in step S11, not all of them can be displayed in step S12. Therefore, if there is an instruction for scrolling in step S13, the screen can be changed. When not in the zapping mode, the channel is selected by specifying the channel. The operation unit 10 includes at least one of key input, voice recognition, gesture gesture detection, and facial expression detection.

<Third Embodiment>
In the third embodiment, a case where the operation unit 10 is configured by a remote control device will be described. FIG. 11 shows the external appearance of the remote control device 12. In FIG. 11, 13 is a switch group, 14 is a camera that detects facial expressions, 15 is a microphone that collects voice, 16 is a display unit that displays gesture gesture recognition and facial expression recognition, and 17 is voice recognition. A display unit 18 for indicating that it is possible, an indicator 18, the remote control device 12 has means for detecting inclination and acceleration, detects a menu to be selected according to the gesture gesture pattern and direction, and confirms it. Then, the setting of the menu is indicated by the indicator 18.

  FIG. 12 is a system flowchart of the remote control device 12 as the operation unit 10. In step S20, an input mode by the switch group 13 is selected. For example, if the voice recognition mode is selected, a designation signal based on voice recognition is determined in step S21. If it is the gesture gesture recognition mode, a designation signal based on gesture gesture recognition is determined in step S22. If it is the facial expression recognition mode, a designation signal for facial expression recognition is determined in step S23. When the designation signal is determined in step S24, the setting for the control means 9 is performed by the display and, for example, a method using an infrared signal.

It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the AV apparatus applied to the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an internal block diagram of the control means 9 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image set by the headword information setting part 9A of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the image recognized by the hand gesture used for description of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the control means 9 shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the AV apparatus applied to the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is an internal block diagram of the control means 9 shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the image set by the headword information setting part 9A of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of zapping applied to 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the control means 9 shown in FIG. It is an external view of the operation means applied to the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Receiving part 6 Video part 8 Display processor 9 Control means 10 Operation part 9A Headword information setting part 9B Channel detection means 9C Channel selection means 9D Screen operation detection means 9E Screen operation means 12 Remote control device S3, S13 Headword information designation step S4 Channel detection step S5 Zapping display step and channel selection step S14 Selection mode detection step S15 Zapping display step and screen operation step

Claims (4)

A receiver for receiving a multi-channel music broadcast signal supplied from the outside;
An audio unit for reproducing audio of the music broadcast signal received by the receiving unit;
A display processor for operating the display screen by controlling the audio unit;
An operation unit for inputting a designation signal for channel selection and an operation signal for the display screen,
The predetermined headword information accompanying the program from the receiving unit is supplied to the display processor and displayed on the display screen, and the receiving unit is controlled based on the input from the operation unit to control the zapping of the channel display. And an AV device control system comprising a control means for selecting an arbitrary channel,
The control means is
A headword information setting unit that inputs the headword information from the receiving unit and supplies the headword information to the display processor;
Channel detection means for recognizing headword information designated from the operation unit and detecting all channels corresponding to the headword information by collating with headword information input to the headword information setting unit;
All channels detected by the channel detection means are sequentially switched and displayed by zapping, a designation signal for confirming channel selection from the operation unit is input via the channel detection means, and a corresponding channel is selected and displayed. Means,
An AV device control system comprising:   2. The control system for an AV apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the headword information is recorded in a subheader of the program. A method for controlling an AV apparatus that receives music broadcast signals of a plurality of channels supplied from the outside, displays predetermined headword information associated with a program on a display screen, and selects an arbitrary channel from the display screen,
A headword information designation step for designating desired headword information from headword information displayed on the display screen;
A channel detection step for detecting all channels corresponding to the specified headword information;
A zapping display step for sequentially switching and displaying all detected channels by zapping;
A channel selection step for selecting an arbitrary channel from the display screen by zapping;
A method for controlling an AV apparatus, comprising:   4. The method of controlling an AV apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the channel selection step selects the arbitrary channel by voice recognition or detection of a gesture or a facial expression.

Images