JP2007011647A - Information display control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate retrieval of content desired by a user in a system in which a plurality of kinds of contents are gathered. <P>SOLUTION: A search condition designation screen 300 is varied according to various parameters such as designated content and a user. For example, when the user is an elder person, the size of a character is increased. Alternatively, the type of designated content, for example, a program, a music DVD, a music CD, music distributed on the Internet, and a film DVD, the form of the search designation screen may be changed. When the form of the search condition designation screen 300 is varied according to various parameters, an assignable search condition is varied. Consequently, designation of a search condition suitable for the content and that suitable for user taste can be facilitated, and target content can be easily searched for from a collection of various contents. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for searching for content that a user wants to view. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for displaying information related to designated content and searching for content based on the information.

In recent years, with the development of broadcasting technology, a wide variety of programs are broadcast on many channels not only by terrestrial broadcasting but also by CATV (Cable Television), satellite broadcasting, and the like. In addition, with the development of recording technology, many programs can be recorded on a large-capacity storage medium and viewed when the user likes it.
Patent Document 1 selects a program related to a program, that is, a similar program based on information about the program (hereinafter referred to as program information) transmitted together with video / audio of the program in a situation where there are many programs that can be viewed. The technology to be presented. As the program information, information included in an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is cited. In this technology, similar programs are selected by extracting and quantifying a keyword that is a feature of a program from program information in an EPG and calculating a similarity between programs. In this technique, the similarity between programs is calculated by changing the weighting of the keyword depending on the genre of the program.
□ By using the technology described in Patent Document 1, when a viewer wants to know detailed information about the contents of a program, the viewer can easily know a program similar to the program.
JP 2003-1414422 A

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 determines the similarity of programs based only on the program description and genre included in the program information. Therefore, it cannot be said that the accuracy of the search is sufficient, and the search result may not match the user's preference. In addition, since the content to be subjected to similarity determination is only a program, there is a problem that it cannot be applied to a system in which various types of content are aggregated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for easily searching for a content suitable for a user's preference in a system in which various types of content are aggregated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display control technique for searching for content intended by a user.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention 1 provides an information display control apparatus that receives an input of a search condition for content and includes the following means.
Content storage means for storing content information that is information about the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
・ Specified content acceptance means for accepting content specification,
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search condition received by the screen output control means based on the content information;
Search result output control means for controlling the output of the search result of the search means.

  Since the search condition input screen changes according to the designated content, various types of content and content in various places can be aggregated and set as a search target. Moreover, it is possible to easily search for content that meets the user's needs from such a wide variety of content. Furthermore, the user can easily and accurately input the search condition without burdening the user with the input of the search condition for executing such a search. All or part of the information display control device of the first aspect can be realized by an integrated circuit.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to the first aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, user information storage means for storing user information, which is information about the user, in association with a user identifier that identifies the user;
There is provided an information display control device further comprising user identification means for receiving an input of a user identifier. In this apparatus, the display component storage unit further stores any data included in the user information and the display component data in association with each other. The screen output control means further controls the output of the search condition designation screen based on display component data associated with user information corresponding to the user identifier received by the user identification means.

The form of the search condition designation screen can be changed according to the user. For example, for the elderly, the character size is increased, or the form of the search condition designation screen is changed for each member of the family. Thereby, a user's convenience can be improved.
A third aspect of the present invention provides the information display control device according to the first aspect, further comprising a position information storage unit that stores a position list that is a candidate of a position where content is stored. In this apparatus, the content information stored by the content storage means includes position data indicating the position of the content. The screen output control means displays the position list and accepts designation of any position as one of the search conditions. The search means searches for content using a specified position as a key.

For example, various content storage locations such as a CD, a DVD, a hard disk, and an EPG server are conceivable. Therefore, by accepting designation of the storage location of the content and making the content stored there as a search target, a search based on the storage location of the content becomes possible.
A fourth aspect of the present invention provides the information display control device according to the first aspect, further comprising position information storage means for storing a type list which is a content type candidate. In this apparatus, the content information stored by the content storage means includes type data indicating the type of content. The screen output control means displays the type list and accepts designation of any type as one of the search conditions. The search means searches for content using a specified type as a key.

For example, there are various types of content such as music, video, and programs. Therefore, the specification of the content type is accepted, and the content of the specified type is set as a search target, thereby enabling efficient content search.
A fifth aspect of the present invention provides an information display control device further comprising a retrieval history storage unit that stores a retrieval history that is a retrieval condition used for content retrieval in the first aspect. In this apparatus, the search means performs a search based on the field name and field value of at least one field constituting the content information, and writes the field name and field value used for the search in the search history storage means. The screen output control means searches the search history using the field name of at least one field included in the content information of the designated content as a key, and displays at least one field value corresponding to the field name in descending order.

For example, among the field values corresponding to the field name extracted from the content information of the designated content, it is conceivable to display the largest value in the search history or to display a predetermined number of values in descending order. Since the search conditions set by the user in the past and frequently used search conditions can be easily used again, the convenience for the user is further improved.
A sixth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, wherein the screen output control means displays field names and field values in association with field names and field values on the search condition designation screen for some or all of the fields constituting the content information of the designated content. An information display control device is provided.

Even if the fields constituting the content information differ depending on the type of content, the search condition designation screen can be flexibly changed according to the configuration of the content information. Therefore, it is possible to display a search condition designation screen suitable for information retrieval on a system that aggregates various contents.
The invention 7 is the invention 6 according to the invention 6, wherein the screen output control means displays a search condition selection menu including each of the field names, and is a submenu of a lower layer of the search condition selection menu, wherein the field value is displayed. Provided is an information display control device for displaying a submenu including the information.

By clarifying the vertical relationship between the field name and the field value, the meaning of the displayed field value is clarified to the user, and the user can be prompted to input the search condition accurately.
The invention 8 is the invention 7 according to the invention 7, wherein the screen output control means displays the search condition selection menu and the submenu in a ring shape, and sets the cursor on the ring according to the user input on at least one of the rings. Provided is an information display control device that is moved along.

  A field name and a field value are associated with each other and arranged in a ring shape, and the cursor is moved along the ring. An input device used for user input is preferably provided with, for example, a rotating wheel-shaped operation key, a direction button for instructing the position of the cursor, etc., so that the input method is easy to understand intuitively. As a result, the operation and the operation result are directly linked to facilitate the input of the search condition, and the search condition can be accurately input even by an elderly person or a child. Moreover, since it is easy to grasp the position of the cursor, erroneous input can be prevented.

A ninth aspect of the present invention provides the information display control device according to the seventh aspect, wherein the screen output control means displays a cursor in conjunction with the search condition selection menu and the submenu according to a user input.
By linking the cursor, the meaning of the field value to be specified as the search condition can be intuitively understood by the user, erroneous input of the search condition can be prevented, and accurate search condition input can be promoted.

A tenth aspect of the present invention provides an information display control method executed by a computer that receives an input of a content search condition. The method includes the following steps.
A content storage step of storing content information that is information about the content;
A display component storage step for storing any data included in the content information in association with display component data;
・ Specified content reception step for receiving content specification,
A screen output control step for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
A search step for searching for content satisfying the search condition received in the screen output control step based on the content information;
A search result output control step for controlling the output of the search result of the search means;

This method has the same effects as the first aspect.
The eleventh aspect provides an information display control program executed by a computer that receives input of search conditions for content. This program causes the computer to function as the following means.
Content storage means for storing content information that is information relating to the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
・ Specified content acceptance means for accepting content specification,
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search condition received by the screen output control means based on the content information;
Search result output control means for controlling the output of the search result of the search means.

This invention has the same effects as the first invention.
A twelfth aspect of the present invention provides an integrated circuit used in an information display control apparatus that accepts input of content search conditions. This integrated circuit includes the following means.
Content storage means for storing content information that is information relating to the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
・ Specified content acceptance means for accepting content specification,
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search condition received by the screen output control means based on the content information;
Search result output control means for controlling the output of the search result of the search means.

  This integrated circuit has the same effects as those of the first aspect.

  Since the search condition input screen changes according to the designated content, various types of content and content in various places can be aggregated and set as a search target. Moreover, it is possible to easily search for content that meets the user's needs from such a wide variety of content. Furthermore, the user can specify the search condition easily and accurately without placing an input burden on the search condition for executing such a search.

<Outline of the invention>
In the present invention, content (hereinafter referred to as search target content) similar to content specified by the user (hereinafter referred to as specified content) is searched. For this purpose, a search condition designation screen for accepting designation of search conditions is displayed. The search condition designation screen changes according to various parameters such as designated content and user. For example, when the user is an elderly person, increasing the size of characters can be mentioned. Further, for example, the form of the search designation screen may be changed according to the type of designated content, for example, a program, a music DVD, a music CD, music distributed on the Internet, a movie DVD, or the like. The search condition that can be specified is changed by changing the form of the search condition specifying screen according to various parameters. As a result, it is possible to easily specify a search condition suitable for the content and a search condition that suits the user's preference, and to easily search for the target content from a variety of content aggregated.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(1) Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information display control system including an information display control device of the present invention. This system includes a computer terminal 1, a display 2 and a speaker 3 connected to the computer terminal 1, and a controller 4.

  The computer terminal 1 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and the like. The computer terminal 1 may be connected to a DVD drive, CD drive, optical disk drive, or the like (not shown), and may be able to read various contents from these storage media. The computer terminal 1 may be connected to the Internet (not shown) and download music data and video data from a website. Further, the computer terminal 1 may receive program content from a broadcast station or from a program content receiver. The hard disk of the computer terminal 1 stores various contents acquired via a storage medium, a network, and broadcast waves. Such a computer terminal 1 functions as the information display control device 100 and the playback device 200 when the CPU executes a predetermined program.

  The information display control apparatus 100 accepts content specification and searches for search target content similar to the specified content. More specifically, the information display control apparatus 100 displays a search condition designation screen and accepts designation of a search condition for searching for search target content. The search condition designation screen changes according to various parameters such as designated content and the user of the computer terminal 1. Details of the information display control device 100 will be described later.

The playback apparatus 200 performs content playback and output control, and outputs video and audio to the display 2 and the speaker 3. The playback device 200 is not necessarily essential.
The controller 4 is an input means for the computer terminal 1. The user can input the identifier of the designated content using the controller 4 or input the search condition on the search condition designation screen. Details of the controller 4 will be described later.

(2) Information Display Control Device (2-1) Configuration of Information Display Control Device FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the information display control device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The information display control device 100 includes a content acquisition unit 10, an input reception unit 20 (corresponding to designated content reception means), a decoder 30, a RAM 40 (corresponding to content storage means and display component storage means), and a control unit 50 (screen output control means). , Corresponding to search means and search result output control means).

  The content acquisition unit 10 acquires content from outside. Content is distributed via broadcast waves or the Internet, or read from a DVD or CD. The content may be content superimposed on other content. An example of content superimposed on other content is EPG content superimposed on program content.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual explanatory diagram illustrating an example of content information acquired by the content acquisition unit 10. This example corresponds to the case of EPG content. The EPG content includes “content ID”, “content type”, “broadcast date / time”, “broadcast station”, “title”, “content”, “keyword”, “genre”, and “performer” in one record. . “Content ID” is an identifier for specifying content. “Content type” indicates that the content is an EPG content. “Broadcast date and time” indicates the date and time when the content was distributed by broadcast waves. “Title” indicates the title of the program. “Content” indicates an outline of the content of the program. “Keyword” is a word or phrase included in the content. “Genre” indicates the nature of the program such as variety, drama, documentary, and the like. “Performer” indicates the name of the performer of the program. The information listed here is an example of an EPG, and other information may be included in the EPG. The content information changes depending on the type of content and the provider of the content information.

  The input receiving unit 20 receives an input from the user via the controller 4. For example, the input accepting unit 20 accepts designation of content being played back by the playback device 200, an instruction to display a search condition designation screen, designation of a storage location and type of search target content, and the like. In addition, the input receiving unit 20 receives an input of a user ID that identifies a user from the controller 4 or the playback device 200.

The decoder 30 includes an AV decoder 31 and a GUI generation unit 32. The AV decoder 31 performs decoding of AV data included in the content. The GUI generation unit 32 generates a GUI for accepting a user operation. As an example of such a GUI, a search condition designation screen for accepting designation of a search condition based on content can be cited.
The RAM 40 stores various information used for processing executed by the information display control device 100. In the RAM 40, a content storage area 41, a type storage area 42, a position storage area 43, a search history storage area 44, a user information storage area 45, and a GUI management information storage area 46 are formed. Details of the information stored in each storage area will be described later.

The control unit 50 reads a control program for realizing various processes in the information display control device 100 from the ROM 60 and executes the control program. As a result, the control unit 50 functions as a designated content determination unit 51, a content attribute search unit 52, and a GUI control unit 53.
The designated content determination unit 51 receives content designation by the user. The designated content may be content being played back by the playback device 200, or content searched by the information display control device 100. Further, the designated content determination unit 51 acquires the identifier of the content designated by the user from the controller 4 or the playback device 200.

The content attribute search unit 52 searches for content corresponding to the search condition specified by the user based on information stored in the RAM 40. Details of the content search condition will be described later.
The GUI control unit 53 controls the GUI and accepts input of search conditions for search target content. Details of the function of the GUI control unit 53 will be described later.

The ROM 60 stores a control program executed by the control unit 50.
(2-2) Information in RAM Hereinafter, information stored in the RAM 40 of the information display control device 100 will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
(2-2-1) Content Information The content storage area 41 stores content acquired by the content acquisition unit 10. In addition, information other than the acquired information is written in the content storage area as necessary. FIG. 4 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of content information written in the content storage area 41 when the content is EPG. In this example, in addition to the acquired content information, “playback flag” and “position” are included in one record. That is, “content ID”, “broadcast date / time”, “title”, “content”, “keyword”, “genre”, and “performer” are acquired content information. The “playback flag” indicates whether or not the content has been played back by the information display control apparatus 100. Further, the “playback flag” may include the identifier of the played user in addition to the presence / absence of playback. “Location” indicates where the content is to be obtained from, that is, the resource. In this embodiment, it is assumed that content is stored in any of EPG, hard disk, DVD, or CD. Details of the “position” will be described later.

(2-2-2) Type Information The type storage area 42 stores type information. The type information includes the type of content. Examples of content types include the following.
(A) Program: Program content distributed via broadcast waves (b) Music DVD: Music content written on DVD (c) Music CD: Music content written on CD (d) Web: Internet (E) Video DVD: AV content written on DVD (f) Video CD: AV content written on CD FIG. 5 shows the concept of type information stored in the type storage area 42. It is explanatory drawing. The type information includes the “type” and “content ID” of the content in one record. For example, the content ID “4370, 4374, 4072...” Corresponds to the type “program”. That is, if the content type “program” is used as a keyword and the content is searched from the type information, the content specified by the content ID is hit. If the type information is stored in the RAM 40, it is preferable because the type of content can be specified by the search condition.

(2-2-3) Position Information The position storage area 43 stores position information. Each position included in the position information is a content storage location candidate, in other words, a resource candidate. In this embodiment, it is assumed that content can be acquired from any of EPG, hard disk, DVD, or CD. The “position” does not have to be a recording medium. For example, broadcast wave channels, Internet URLs, and the like are also examples of “location”. In the present embodiment, an EPG server on the Internet that stores EPG content is exemplified as one of position candidates. It is preferable that the position information is stored in the RAM 40 because the position of the content can be specified by the search condition.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of position information stored in the position storage area 43. The position information includes the “position” and “content ID” of the content in one record. For example, the content ID “3043, 3044...” Corresponds to the position “HDD”. That is, if the content position “HDD” is used as a keyword and the content is searched from the position information, the content specified by the content ID is hit.

(2-2-4) Search History Information The search history storage area 44 stores search history information. The search history information indicates a history of searching for content. For example, the search history information includes a part of search conditions used for past searches. If the search history information is stored in the RAM 40, a search condition using the search history can be specified (see other embodiment (A) described later).

  FIG. 7 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of an example of search history information stored in the search history storage area 44. This figure shows an example in which search history information is stored for each type of content. FIG. 7A shows search history information for program content, and FIG. 7B shows search history information for music DVD content. Each search history information includes “field name”, “field value”, and “date and time” in one record. In the “field name”, any one of the field names of the content information is written. “Field value” is the field value of the field specified by the corresponding field name. “Date and time” is the date and time when the content search is executed.

In addition to these pieces of information, other information included in the search condition, such as content type and position, user information, and the like, may be included in the search history information.
(2-2-5) User Information The user information storage area 45 stores user information that is information about the user. FIG. 8 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of user information stored in the user information storage area 45. In this example, the user information includes “user ID”, “positioning” within the family, “age”, “sex”, and “name” in one record. If the user information is stored in the RAM 40, it is preferable because it is possible to search for contents based on the user information and change the search condition designation screen.

(2-2-6) GUI management information The GUI management information storage area 46 stores GUI management information for generating a search condition designation screen. FIG. 9 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of GUI management information. The GUI management information includes parameters, output component data, and combinations thereof. That is, the GUI management information is information for controlling output component data according to various parameters.

  More specifically, the parameter is at least a field name or a field value included in any content information. For example, there may be a case where output component data corresponding to “content” included in the content information is stored. Further, for example, output part data corresponding to the values of “broadcast station” or “genre” is stored, and the search condition designation screen may change depending on the broadcast station or genre. In addition, for example, if “provider ID” is included in the content information, “provider ID” can be used as a parameter.

The GUI management information may include data included in the user information as a parameter. For example, if output part data corresponding to the values of “age”, “gender”, and “role” included in the user information is included in the GUI management information, it depends on the age group, gender, and role in the house. To change the search condition specification screen.
The GUI management information may include other information in addition to the information described above. For example, if output component data is stored for each “type” included in the type list, the search condition designation screen can be changed according to the type of content. Similarly, if output component data is stored for each “position” included in the position list, the search condition designation screen can be changed according to the storage location of the content.

The output component is an element constituting a part of the output form. Examples of output components include the background of the display screen, the component layout in the display screen, the font, the color, and the audio output together with the display screen. The output component data includes moving image data, still image data, audio data, AV data, text data, and the like that define the output component, and may be compressed / uncompressed.
Based on the GUI management information, for example, the display form of the search condition designation screen can be changed according to the content information. Further, the display form can be changed according to the type and position of the content. Further, for example, the character size can be changed according to the user's age, or the font can be changed according to the user's gender.

The parameters and output component data are not limited to the above example. Necessary parameters, output component data, and combinations thereof can be included in the GUI management information according to information stored in the RAM 40, content information expected to be acquired, needs for the output form, and the like.
(2-3) Function of GUI Control Unit (2-3-1) Configuration of GUI Control Unit FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of the GUI control unit 53 in the information display control device 100. The GUI control unit 53 has the following functions.

(A) Specified content reading unit 531: Reads content information of content (hereinafter referred to as “specified content”) accepted by the specified content determination unit 51 from the content storage area 41 of the RAM 40.
(B) Field name extraction unit 532: Extracts some or all of the field names from the read content information and passes them to the display information generation unit 536 described later. For example, the field names of “broadcast date”, “broadcast station”, “title”, “content”, “genre”, and “performer” are extracted from the field names of the fields constituting the content information shown in FIG. Is done.

(C) Field value extraction unit 533: Extracts some or all of the field values from the content information of the designated content and passes them to the display information generation unit 536. For example, the broadcast date and time, broadcast station, title, content, genre, and field values of each performer are extracted from the content information shown in FIG.
(D) Type read unit 534: Reads content type candidates from the type storage area 42 of the RAM 40 and passes them to the display information generation unit 536.

(E) Position reading unit 535: Reads content position candidates from the position storage area 43 of the RAM 40 and passes them to the display information generation unit 536.
(F) Display information generation unit 536: Reads related GUI management information from the GUI management information storage area 46 based on the content information of the designated content and the user information of the user. Specifically, the display information generation unit 536 compares the parameter associated with the output component data in the GUI management information with the field name and field value included in the content information of the designated content, and the two match. Read output component data. For example, if background data for the broadcast station “XYZ” is stored in the GUI management information and the value of the field “broadcast station” in the content information is “XYZ”, the display information generation unit 536 displays the background data. Is read. Further, for example, if part data for the field name “content” is stored in the GUI management information, the part data is read out.

  Further, the display information generation unit 536 compares the parameter associated with the output component data in the GUI management information with the field value included in the user information, and reads out the output component data in which both match. For example, if the font for “60 years old or older” is stored in the GUI management information and the value of the field “age” in the user information of the current user is “70”, the display information generation unit 536 displays the font. Is read. In addition, the display information generation unit 536 outputs, from the RAM 40, output component data constituting a search condition designation screen as appropriate, such as output component data for displaying content position candidates and type candidates, and advertisement display component data. read out.

  Further, the display information generation unit 536 generates GUI information based on the read output component data. This GUI information includes GUI information for displaying the field name and field value included in the content information of the designated content in association with each other. For example, GUI information for displaying the broadcast date / time, broadcast station, title, content, genre, performer, etc. of the designated content and their values is generated. Further, for example, the display information generation unit 536 generates GUI information for displaying a position list that is a candidate list of content positions and a type list that is a type candidate list based on the GUI management information. The generated GUI information is transferred to the GUI generation unit 32 of the decoder 30 and displayed.

(2-3-2) Search condition designation screen 1
FIG. 11 shows an example of a search condition designation screen 300 displayed based on the generated GUI information. The search condition designation screen 300 accepts designation of field values, types, positions, and the like of search target content. The search condition designation screen 300 shown in FIG. 11 is a display example based on the content information indicated by the first record in FIG. That is, the search condition designation screen 300 is a screen example when the content information is EPG.

  In the attribute specifying section 301, field names and part of field values included in the content information of the designated content are displayed in association with each other. For example, “broadcast station”, “broadcast date / time”, “performer”, “genre”, “keyword”, and “title” are part of the field name. "XYZ TV", "May 20, 2005, 20: 00-20: 53", "Shinji Otake", "Drama", "Confessions" and "Yukue of Love" correspond to the above field names. The field value to be

  The field names constitute a search condition selection menu, and the corresponding field values are displayed as submenus below the menu. As a result, the relationship between the field name and the field value becomes clear, and the search condition can be easily specified. The search condition selection menu and the sub menu are arranged on a ring that draws concentric circles. The cursor moves on the two rings in conjunction. In the figure, the cursor is positioned on the performer “Shinji Otake”.

  The user can select the field name and field value displayed in the attribute specifying section 301 using the controller 4 described above, and can specify the field value of the field name having the search target content. For example, by designating the broadcast station “XYZ television”, it is possible to search for content whose field value corresponding to the field name “broadcast station” in the content information is “XYZ television”.

Not all field names and field values are displayed in association with each other. In this example, the field name “content” is not displayed, and only the corresponding field value “Sato Goto who has returned home” is displayed.
In the type identification section 302, a type list indicating a list of content types is displayed. The user can select one of the type lists displayed in the type specifying section 302 using the controller 4 and specify the type of the search target content. For example, when searching for program content, the user may specify the type “program”.

  In the position specifying section 303, a position list that is a position list of content storage locations is displayed. The user can select one of the position lists displayed in the position specifying section 303 using the controller 4 and specify the position of the search target content. For example, when searching for content stored in the hard disk, the user may specify the location “HDD”.

In this example, the cursor is located at the performer “Shinji Otake”. Further, “program” is designated as the search target, and “EPG” is designated as the search position. Therefore, the program content in which “Shinji Otake” appears and the content stored in the HDD is searched.
Various other information can be displayed on the search condition designation screen 300 according to the information and needs stored in the RAM 40. For example, the provider of the content information itself may be shown in the advertisement section 304. In FIG. 11, the EPG information provider “Super EPG” is displayed in the advertisement section 304. Such display can be realized, for example, by including the provider ID and output component data in the GUI management information and further including the provider ID in the EPG information.

Similarly, the search condition designation screen 300 may display a display indicating the provider of the specified content, for example, a mark 305 indicating a broadcasting station. The output component data of the mark 305 is stored in association with the broadcasting station in the GUI management information.
(2-3-3) Search condition designation screen 2
FIG. 12 shows another form of the search condition designation screen 300. The search condition designation screen 300 in FIG. 12 is a screen example when the content information is music. The search condition designation screen 300 is an example in which the design of the attribute specification section 301, the type specification section 302, the position specification section 303, and the advertisement section 304, which are output parts, is changed based on the GUI management information. Data displayed in the sections with the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 11 are the same as those in FIG.

  Note that the value and number of field names displayed in the attribute specifying section 301 depend on the content information, and therefore change if the type of content or the provider changes. In this example, field names different from the EPG content search conditions (FIG. 11), that is, “title”, “artist”, “keyword”, and “genre” are displayed. Also, part of the lyrics is displayed as the field value of the field name “content”.

The form of the search condition designation screen is not limited to these examples. The search condition selection menu and the submenu are preferably displayed so that the relationship between them can be visually understood, but it is not always necessary to arrange them in a ring shape.
(3) Controller FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the controller 4. The controller 4 has, for example, a search GUI build button 401, a wheel 402, and an input key 403. A search GUI build button 401 is a button for instructing display of the search condition designation screen 300. The wheel 402 can rotate around the determination button. The user selects and inputs the field name, field value, type, and position used as the search condition by rotating the wheel and pressing the enter button while the above-described search condition designation screen 300 is displayed. Can do.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another example of the controller 4. The controller 4 has the same configuration as the controller 4 of FIG. 13 except that it has a direction button 402 ′ instead of the wheel 402. The user can input the search condition by pressing the direction button 402 'to select the search condition and pressing the enter button while the search condition specifying screen 300 is displayed.

(4) Processing of Information Display Control Device FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of processing performed by the information display control device 100.
Step S1: The designated content determination unit 51 receives content designation from the user. For example, the content may be designated by directly inputting a content ID. In addition, when the search GUI build button 401 of the controller 4 is pressed during content reproduction, the designated content determination unit 51 may interpret that the content being reproduced is designated.

Step S2: The designated content determination unit 51 determines the content ID of the designated content. The content ID is acquired from the playback device 200 or input by the controller 4.
Step S3: The GUI control unit 53 reads the content information of the designated content from the RAM 40 based on the content ID of the designated content.

Step S4: The GUI control unit 53 extracts field names and field values from the read content information.
Step S5: The GUI control unit 53 reads the type information and the position information from the RAM 40.
Step S6: The GUI control unit 53 reads related GUI management information from the RAM 40 based on the content information of the designated content and the user information of the user. Next, the GUI control unit 53 generates GUI information for displaying the extracted field name and field value, the read type information, position information, and the like, and passes the information to the GUI generation unit 32. As a result, the above-described search condition designation screen 300 is displayed on the display 2.

  Step S7: The GUI control unit 53 waits for the search condition designation on the search condition designation screen 300, and when the search condition is designated, the process proceeds to step S8. The search condition includes the above-described field value, content type, content position, etc., but other search conditions may be specified. For example, when a reproduction flag is included in the content information, it may be possible to specify whether or not reproduction has been performed, who has reproduced the reproduction information, and the like as search conditions. Further, for example, a search condition for searching a part of the search history may be designated.

  Step S8: The content attribute search unit 52 receives the search condition from the GUI control unit 53, and searches the content storage area 41 for content that matches the search condition. Further, the content attribute search unit 52 passes the search result to the GUI generation unit 32 and displays the search result. The search result is notified to the user, for example, by displaying a part of the content information in a list format.

Step S9: The content attribute search unit 52 updates the search history information in the RAM 40 based on the search condition used for the search. For example, the field name and field value in the search condition are added to the record of the search history information.
Through the above processing, it is possible to search for other content similar to the content designated by the user. Moreover, the search condition input screen changes flexibly according to the type of content and the storage location. Therefore, various types of content and content acquired from various resources can be aggregated and set as a search target.

<Other embodiments>
(A) A search condition designation screen can also be generated using the search history. Specifically, the GUI control unit 53 searches the search history information using the field name of at least one field included in the content information of the designated content as a key, and sets at least one field value corresponding to the field name in descending order. Display. For example, only the most field values may be displayed, or the field values may be displayed in order of a predetermined number. As a result, a part of the search conditions that the user often specified in the past is displayed on the search condition specification screen, so that the user can easily reuse frequently used search conditions, and the convenience for the user is improved. The number of field values to be displayed may be set as appropriate. When the field value hit in the search exceeds the predetermined number, the number of field values that are not displayed can be displayed. For example, if “other search results (5)” is displayed, the user can know the existence of search results that are not displayed and the number of search results “5”. When “other search results (5)” is selected, search results that were not initially displayed may be displayed.

  Further, the GUI control unit 53 may reflect whether or not each field is used for the search on the search condition designation screen. For example, in the search history information of FIG. 7 (a), the number of searches for the field names “broadcasting station” and “performer” is 2, and the search is performed using the other field names “title”, “genre”, and “keyword”. The number of times is as small as one. In this case, on the search condition designation screen, the fields “Broadcasting Station” and “Performer” with many searches and their field values are displayed. On the other hand, the fields “title”, “genre”, and “keyword” that are used less frequently in the search may not be displayed, and “others (3)” may be collectively displayed. If "Other" is selected, the fields that were not displayed and their field values are displayed. This makes it easier for the user to use fields that are frequently used for searching. Whether or not a field is often used for a search may be determined, for example, based on whether or not the number of searches exceeds a predetermined threshold, or may be determined based on a ratio to the total number of searches.

In addition, if the date and time information is included in the search history as in the search history information of FIG. 7, the above-described processing may be performed based only on the new search history. It can help to reuse the search conditions recently used by the user.
(B) When content information recorded on a CD or DVD is small, the content acquisition unit 10 may acquire content information from a resource different from the content. For example, the content acquisition unit 10 may request content information by transmitting a content ID to a music distribution server or content information distribution server on the Internet, and acquire content information corresponding to the content ID.

  (C) The method described above, a computer program that causes a computer to execute the method, and a computer-readable recording medium that records the program are included in the scope of the present invention. Here, examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a flexible disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, MO, DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, BD (Blue-ray Disc), and semiconductor memory. .

The computer program is not limited to the one recorded on the recording medium, and may be transmitted via an electric communication line, a wireless or wired communication line, a network represented by the Internet, or the like.
Further, all or part of the information display control device described above can be realized by an integrated circuit.

  The information display control apparatus of the present invention is useful as a technique for easily searching for related contents that a user desires in a system in which a plurality of types of contents are aggregated.

Configuration diagram of an information display control system including an information display control device of the present invention The block diagram of the information display control apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention Conceptual explanatory diagram showing an example of acquired content information Conceptual explanatory diagram showing an example of stored content information Conceptual illustration of type information Conceptual illustration of location information Explanatory diagram of search history information (a) Program content search history information (b) Music DVD content search history information Conceptual illustration of user information Conceptual illustration of GUI management information Functional block diagram of GUI control unit in information display control device Example of search condition specification screen Another example of search condition specification screen Explanatory drawing showing an example of the controller Explanatory drawing showing another example of controller The flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the process which an information display control apparatus performs

Explanation of symbols

100: Information display control device 10: Content acquisition unit 20: Input reception unit 30: Decoder 40: RAM
50: Control unit 60: ROM
4: Controller

Claims (12)

An information display control device that accepts input of content search conditions,
Content storage means for storing content information that is information relating to the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
Designated content accepting means for accepting designation of content;
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search condition received by the screen output control means based on the content information;
Search result output control means for controlling the search result output of the search means;
An information display control device comprising: User information storage means for storing user information, which is information about the user, in association with a user identifier for identifying the user;
User identification means for accepting input of a user identifier,
The display component storage means further stores any data included in the user information in association with display component data,
The screen output control means further controls output of the search condition designation screen based on display component data associated with user information corresponding to a user identifier received by the user identification means. The information display control apparatus according to claim 1. It further comprises position information storage means for storing a position list that is a candidate for a position where content is stored,
The content information stored by the content storage means includes position data indicating the position of the content,
The screen output control means displays the position list, accepts designation of any position as one of the search conditions,
The information display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit searches for content by using a designated position as a key. It further comprises position information storage means for storing a type list which is a content type candidate,
The content information stored by the content storage means includes type data indicating the type of content,
The screen output control means displays the type list, accepts designation of any type as one of the search conditions,
The information display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search unit searches for content using a specified type as a key. It further comprises search history storage means for storing a search history that is a search condition used for searching for content,
The search means performs a search based on a field name and a field value of at least one field constituting the content information, and writes the field name and field value used for the search in the search history storage means,
The screen output control means searches the search history using the field name of at least one field included in the content information of the designated content as a key, and displays at least one field value corresponding to the field name in descending order. The information display control device according to claim 1, wherein the information display control device is a feature.   The screen output control means displays part or all of the fields constituting the content information of the designated content on the search condition designation screen in association with field names and field values. The information display control device described in 1.   The screen output control means displays a search condition selection menu including each of the field names, and displays a submenu that is a submenu of a lower layer of the search condition selection menu and includes the field value. The information display control device according to claim 6.   The screen output control means displays the search condition selection menu and the submenu in a circular manner, and moves the cursor along the ring according to a user input on at least one of the rings. The information display control device according to claim 7.   8. The information display control apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the screen output control means displays a cursor in conjunction with the search condition selection menu and the submenu according to a user input. An information display control method executed by a computer that accepts input of content search conditions,
A content storage step of storing content information that is information about the content;
A display component storage step of storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
A designated content acceptance step for accepting designation of content;
A screen output control step for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving an input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
A search step for searching for content satisfying the search condition received in the screen output control step based on the content information;
A search result output control step for controlling the output of the search result of the search means;
An information display control method comprising: An information display control program executed by a computer that accepts input of content search conditions,
Content storage means for storing content information which is information relating to the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
Designated content accepting means for accepting content specification,
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to the content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search conditions received by the screen output control means based on the content information; and search result output control means for controlling output of search results of the search means;
An information display control program for causing the computer to function as: An integrated circuit used in an information display control device that accepts input of content search conditions,
Content storage means for storing content information that is information relating to the content;
Display component storage means for storing any data included in the content information and display component data in association with each other;
Designated content accepting means for accepting designation of content;
Screen output control means for controlling output of a search condition designation screen corresponding to the designated content based on display component data corresponding to content information of the designated content, and receiving input of the search condition on the search condition designation screen;
Search means for searching for content satisfying the search condition received by the screen output control means based on the content information;
Search result output control means for controlling the search result output of the search means;
An integrated circuit comprising:

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