JP2007049539A - Television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television receiver which improves the convenience of channel selection. <P>SOLUTION: The television receiver includes; a tuner 103 and an AV decoder 107 which have broadcast signals of a plurality of channels input thereto and select one of the plurality of channels to output a selected broadcast signal; a non-volatile memory 133 wherein channel history data of channels selected by the tuner 103 and the AV decoder 107 is stored; and a system controller 101 which determines a channel to be selected at the start time, on the basis of channel history data and the start time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television receiver, and more particularly to a television receiver that selects any one of a plurality of channels.

  In a conventional television receiver, the channel that was selected when the power was turned off was stored, and when the power was turned on next time, the channel that was selected when the power was turned off There was something that was selected. However, there is a low probability that the channel desired by the user when the power is turned on is the channel that was selected when the power was turned off. For this reason, the user had to re-select the channel by looking at the program guide. On the other hand, digital broadcasting has become popular in recent years. Although digital broadcasting has an advantage of having a large number of channels, it takes time for the user to check a program guide to select a desired program. Generally, a program that a person views within a week is limited, and the same program may be viewed every week. If the day of the week and the channel of the program are stored, the trouble of checking the channel from the program table can be saved, but it is difficult to store them accurately for all programs.

For this reason, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-230979 (Patent Document 1) stores a program, channel, and the like registered by a user, and selects and displays a broadcast of the registered program by a single input operation. John receiver is described. However, the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-230979 has a problem that the user has to perform an operation of registering a program and a channel, which is troublesome.
JP 2001-230979 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a television receiver that improves the convenience of channel selection.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a television receiver receives broadcast signals of a plurality of channels, selects one of the plurality of channels, and outputs the broadcast signal. The channel selection means for selecting, the channel history storage means for storing the channel history information of the channel selected by the channel selection means, and the channel to be selected at the time of activation are determined based on the stored channel history information and the activation time. Channel determining means.

  According to the present invention, the channel history information of the selected channel is stored, and the channel to be selected at the time of activation is determined based on the channel history information and the activation time, so the past corresponding to the time at the time of activation is determined. The channel that was selected at the time is selected. For this reason, the probability of selecting a channel desired by the user at the time of activation is improved. As a result, it is possible to provide a television receiver with improved channel selection convenience.

  Preferably, the channel history storage means includes counting means for counting the number of times the channel has been selected by day of the week and time zone.

  According to the present invention, the number of times a channel is selected for each day of the week and time zone is counted, so that a channel that is frequently viewed in the time zone at startup is selected on the same day of the week as the day of startup. Is done. Therefore, it is possible to select a channel with a high frequency selected in the past.

  Preferably, the counting means counts the number of times the channel has been selected over a predetermined time.

  According to the present invention, since the number of times that a channel has been selected over a predetermined time is counted, the selected channel is not counted for a short time. It is possible to avoid a channel that is selected only for the purpose of knowing the contents of the program being selected at the time of activation.

  Preferably, the counting means counts the number of times the channel has been selected in a predetermined period.

  According to the present invention, since the number of times that a channel has been selected in a predetermined period is counted, channels selected before the predetermined period are not counted in the number of times. Since the content of the program or the user's preference changes, the change can be dealt with.

  Preferably, it further includes user identification information input means for inputting user identification information for identifying a user, the channel history information storage means stores channel history information for each user identification information, and the channel determination means is input A channel corresponding to the user identification information is determined.

  According to this invention, channel history information is stored for each user identification information, and a channel corresponding to the input user identification information is determined. When there are a plurality of users of the television receiver, a program desired to be viewed may be different for each of the plurality of users. For this reason, it is possible to select a channel with a high frequency selected in the past for each user.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the configuration of a television receiver according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a television receiver 100 is connected to an antenna 102 that receives broadcast radio waves, and a broadcast signal output from the antenna 102 is input to a tuner 103. The broadcast signal is a high frequency digital modulation signal including video data and audio data. The tuner 103 extracts a signal having a specific frequency from the high frequency digital modulation signal input from the antenna 102. The tuner 103 includes a deinterleave circuit and an error correction circuit. The tuner 103 demodulates the extracted high-frequency digital modulation signal having a specific frequency to demultiplex a transport stream (hereinafter referred to as “TS”) 105. Output to. The specific frequency selected by the tuner 103 is designated by the system controller 101 described later.

  The DEMAX 105 separates the TS received from the tuner 103 into MPEG2 (Moving Picture Experts Group2) video transport packets, audio transport packets, PSI (Program Specific Information), and download program packets. The DEMAX 105 supplies the video transport packet and the audio transport packet to the AV decoder 107, and supplies the service information included in the PSI to the system controller 101. Note that a plurality of channels are multiplexed in the TS, and the process for selecting an arbitrary channel from among these is data such as what packet ID is multiplexed in the TS from the PSI to the arbitrary channel. It becomes possible by taking it out. Furthermore, TS selection (transponder selection) can be performed based on PSI information.

  The AV decoder 107 includes a video decoder that decodes video transport packets and an audio decoder that decodes audio transport packets. The video decoder decodes the input variable length code to obtain a quantization coefficient and a motion vector, performs inverse DCT conversion, motion compensation control based on the motion vector, and the like to generate a video signal. The audio decoder generates an audio signal by decoding the input encoded signal. The video signal generated by the AV decoder 107 is output to the video processing circuit 109, and the audio signal is output to the audio processing circuit 111.

  The video processing circuit 109 receives the video signal from the AV decoder 107, performs D / A (digital / analog) conversion, and outputs it to the video output circuit 113. The video output circuit 113 amplifies the video signal and outputs it to the outside. A display device 117 is connected to the video output circuit 113, and an image is displayed on the display device 117 in accordance with a video signal output from the video output circuit 113. The display device 117 is, for example, a plasma display panel, a liquid crystal display device, or a cathode ray tube (CRT). The audio processing circuit 111 receives the audio signal from the AV decoder 107, performs D / A conversion, generates a right (R) sound analog signal and a left (L) sound analog signal, and outputs them to the audio output circuit 115. The audio output circuit 115 amplifies the audio signal and outputs it to the outside. A speaker 119 is connected to the audio output circuit 115, and sound is output from the speaker in accordance with the audio signal output from the audio output circuit 115.

  The non-volatile memory 133 is an EEPROM (Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) connected to the system controller 101. The nonvolatile memory 133 records channel history data to be described later. The channel history data includes at least a channel selected by the user and its time.

  The OSD (On Screen Display) display circuit 123 outputs bitmap data based on character information instructed to be output from the system controller 101 to the adder 110. The OSD display circuit 123 outputs an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) screen, an operation guide screen, or a download software selection screen based on service information included in the PSI received by the system controller 101 to the video output circuit 113. Further, the OSD display circuit 123 outputs a channel setting menu screen described later to the video output circuit 113 and displays it on the display device 117.

  The remote control transmitter 131 is a transmitter for sending commands to the television receiver 100. When a key provided on the remote control transmitter 131 is operated by the user, signal light (remote control signal) indicating a command corresponding to the key is transmitted from the light emitting unit. The remote control light receiver 129 receives a remote control signal sent from the remote control transmitter 131. The received remote control signal is output to the system controller 101. Thus, the user can input a command to the system controller 101 by operating the remote control transmitter 131.

  The operation unit 135 is a keyboard provided on the front surface of the television receiver 100. When a key provided on the operation unit 135 is operated by the user, a signal indicating a command corresponding to the key is input to the system controller 101. Therefore, the user can input a command to the system controller 101 by operating the operation unit 135.

  The television receiver 100 further includes a power supply circuit 127 for supplying power to the television receiver 100. The power circuit 127 can be connected to a power outlet, and supplies power supplied from the power outlet to the television receiver 100.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel setting menu screen. The channel setting menu screen is a screen for setting which channel is to be selected when the main power of the television receiver 100 is turned on and the television receiver 100 is activated when the power is supplied. It is. Referring to FIG. 2, the channel setting menu screen shows an area for selecting whether to set the channel setting to the normal mode or the automatic selection mode, and that the enter key is the enter key. Includes display area. Whether to set the normal mode or the automatic selection mode can be switched by instructing an arrow key provided on the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135. When “normal” is displayed in the channel setting and the normal mode is selected, if the arrow key is operated, “automatic selection” is displayed in the channel setting to switch to the selection of the automatic selection mode. When “automatic setting” is displayed in the channel setting and the normal mode is selected, if the arrow key is operated, “normal” is displayed in the channel setting and the mode is switched to the normal mode selection.

  If the confirmation key provided on the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135 is instructed while “normal” is displayed in the channel setting, the channel setting is set to the normal mode. When “automatic selection” is displayed in the channel setting and the confirmation key provided on the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135 is instructed, the channel setting is set to the automatic selection mode.

  When the television receiver 100 is set to the normal mode, when the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135 instructs to turn off the power, the channel selected at that time is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. To do. Next, when the power is turned on and started, the channel stored in the nonvolatile memory 133 is read, and the channel selection instruction is sent to the tuner 103 and the AV decoder 107 in order to select the read channel. Output from the controller 101. On the other hand, when the television receiver 100 is set to the automatic channel selection mode, the viewing history storage process, the viewing history management process, and the channel determination process described below are executed by the system controller 101, and the channel selection is performed at the time of startup. The channel to be determined is determined.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the system controller when the television receiver is in the automatic channel selection mode. Referring to FIG. 3, system controller 101 has timer 17 for measuring the current time, calendar 19 for calculating the date, and viewing for storing channel history data 133 </ b> A in nonvolatile memory 133. History storage unit 11, viewing history management unit 13 for managing channel history data 133 A stored in nonvolatile memory 133, and channel at startup based on channel history data 133 A stored in nonvolatile memory 133 And a channel determination unit 15 for determining.

  The date and time counted by the calendar 19 and the timer 17 is output to the viewing history storage unit 11, the viewing history management unit 13 and the channel determination unit 15.

  When the television receiver 100 is powered on, the viewing history storage unit 11 detects the channel selected at that time and associates the channel identification information with the date and time at that time. Generate channel history data. The viewing history storage unit 11 stores the generated channel history data in the nonvolatile memory 133. As a result, the channel history data 133A is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. The predetermined time is a predetermined time. For example, the predetermined time may be zero minutes per hour, or may be determined at intervals of 30 minutes or 15 minutes. Since the viewing history storage unit 11 stores the channel history data 133A at a predetermined time, the shorter the predetermined time interval, the larger the number of channel history data 133A stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. Since the channel history data 133A associates the channel identification information with the date and time, the channel selected at the past time can be known from the channel history data.

  The viewing history management unit 13 erases the channel history data 133 </ b> A before the current date and time from the channel history data 133 </ b> A stored in the nonvolatile memory 133 from the nonvolatile memory 133. As a result, the non-volatile memory 133 stores the channel history data 133A for a predetermined period on the basis of the current date and time. The predetermined period can be arbitrarily determined, for example, one year, six months, one month, or one week. By limiting the channel history data 133A stored in the non-volatile memory 133 to that generated in a predetermined period based on the current date and time, the number of channel history data stored in the non-volatile memory 133 is limited, It is possible to cope with a change in the program or a change in the user's preference.

  The current time acquired when the television receiver 100 is activated is input to the channel determination unit 15. When the television receiver 100 is activated, the channel determination unit 15 reads the channel history data 133A from the nonvolatile memory 133, and counts the number of channel history data 133A corresponding to the current date and time for each channel. Then, the channel having the maximum number of channel history data 133A is determined as the channel to be selected at the time of activation. The channel determination unit 15 controls the tuner 103 to select a frequency including the determined channel, and controls the AV decoder 107 to select the determined channel.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of channel history data. Referring to FIG. 4, channel history data includes a date, time, and channel identification information. The day of the week may be used instead of the date.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of viewing history storage processing executed by the television receiver according to the present embodiment. The viewing history storage process is a process that is continuously executed while the television receiver 100 is powered on. Referring to FIG. 5, in the viewing history storage process, it is determined whether or not the registration time has arrived (step S01). The process waits until the time counted by the timer 17 reaches the registration time (NO in step S01). If the registration time is reached, the process proceeds to step S02.

  In step S02, the channel selected at the registration time is acquired. Then, the continuous viewing time is measured (step S03). The continuous viewing time is the time that elapses without switching the channel selected at the registration time. In step S04, it is determined whether or not the continuous viewing time has reached a predetermined time. If the channel is switched before the continuous viewing time reaches the predetermined time, the process proceeds to step S06. In step S05, channel history data is generated, and the generated channel history data is added to the channel history data 133A stored in the nonvolatile memory 133 and stored. Then, the process proceeds to step S06.

  In step S06, it is determined whether or not the power of the television receiver 100 has been turned off. If the power is turned off, the process ends. If not, the process returns to step S01.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of viewing history management processing executed by the television receiver in this embodiment. This viewing history management process may be executed every predetermined time, may be executed each time the television receiver 100 is turned on, or may be executed at an arbitrary timing. it can.

  Referring to FIG. 6, in the viewing history management process, the current date and time are acquired (step S11). And the channel history data 133A memorize | stored in the non-volatile memory 133 is read in order (step S12). The date and time of the read channel history data are compared with the current date and time acquired in step S11 to determine whether or not a predetermined period has elapsed since the channel history data was generated. (Step S13). If true, the process proceeds to step S14, and if false, the process skips step S14 and proceeds to step S15.

  In step S14, the channel history data read in step S12 is erased from the nonvolatile memory 133, and then the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, it is determined whether or not unprocessed channel history data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. If unprocessed channel history data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133, the process returns to step S12, and if not, the process ends. As a result, the non-volatile memory 133 stores only those generated up to a predetermined period before the current time.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of channel determination processing executed by the television receiver in this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 7, in the channel determination process, it is determined whether or not the television receiver 100 is turned on (step S21). If the power is turned on, the process proceeds to step S22. If not, the process enters a standby state. Note that the processing after step S22 may be automatically executed when the power of the television receiver is turned on. In any case, the processing after step S22 of the channel determination processing is executed on condition that the power of the television receiver 100 is turned on.

  In step S22, the current date and time are acquired. And the channel history data 133A memorize | stored in the non-volatile memory 133 is read in order (step S23). In the next step S24, it is determined whether or not the read channel history data is on a day of the week and a time zone determined from the current date and time acquired in step S21. If true, the process proceeds to step S25, and if false, the process skips step S25 and proceeds to step S26. The day of the week is determined from the current date acquired in step S22, and the time zone is determined from the current time. Here, the time zone is in units of one hour. For example, if the current date is July 1, 2005, it is Friday, and if the current time is 7:10, the time is 7 o'clock. True if the day of the week included in the channel history data matches the day of the week determined from the current date, and the time included in the channel history data is included in the time zone determined from the current time. It is judged.

  In step S25, the channel frequency of the channel specified by the channel identification information included in the channel history data is incremented by one. In step S26, it is determined whether or not unprocessed channel history data is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. If unprocessed channel history data is stored in the non-volatile memory 133, the process returns to step S23; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S27. When the process proceeds to step S27, the process of step S24 and step S25 is executed for all the channel history data stored in the non-volatile memory 133, and the day of the week corresponding to the current date and time for each channel. And the channel frequency for each time zone is calculated. In step S27, the maximum channel among the calculated channel frequencies is set as a channel for channel selection.

<Modification>
Next, a modification of the television receiver 100 will be described. The television receiver 100 according to the modification corresponds to a case where there are a plurality of users who use the television receiver 100. FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the system controller when the television receiver in the modification is in the automatic channel selection mode. With reference to FIG. 8, the system controller 101 further includes a user authentication unit 21. The user authentication unit 21 receives user information from the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135. The user information includes user identification information and a password. A user who uses the television receiver 100 is registered in the television receiver 100, and user information of the registered user is stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory 133. The user authentication unit 21 compares user information input from the remote control transmitter 131 or the operation unit 135 with previously registered user information, and authenticates as a true user if they match. When the user is authenticated, the power of the television receiver is turned on.

  In the viewing history storage unit 11A, the viewing history storage process shown in FIG. 5 is executed, and the channel history data 133A is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133. However, the user identification information is stored in association with the channel history data 133A. In the television receiver 100 according to the modification, the viewing history management unit 13 executes the viewing history management process shown in FIG.

  When the television receiver 100 is activated, the channel determination unit 15A reads the channel history data 133A from the nonvolatile memory 133, matches the user identification information of the user authenticated by the user authentication unit 21, and the current date and time The number of channel history data 133A corresponding to is counted for each channel. Then, the channel having the maximum number of channel history data 133A is determined as the channel to be selected at the time of activation.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing channel history data stored in the television receiver 100 according to the modification. Referring to FIG. 9, channel history data includes date, time, channel identification information, and user identification information.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of channel determination processing executed by the television receiver in the modification. Referring to FIG. 10, the difference from the channel determination process shown in FIG. 7 is that step S21A and step S23A are added. In step S21A, user identification information of a user who has performed an operation of turning on the power of the television receiver 100 is acquired. In step S23A, the user identification information included in the channel history data read in step S23 is compared with the user identification information acquired in step S21A, and it is determined whether or not they match. If they match, the process proceeds to step S24, and if they do not match, the process proceeds to step S27. When the process proceeds to step S27, the process of step S23A, step S24 and step S25 is executed for all the channel history data 133A stored in the non-volatile memory 133, and for each user identification information and each channel, the current The channel frequency for each day of the week and time zone corresponding to the date and time is calculated.

  As described above, in the television receiver 100 according to the present embodiment, the channel history data of the selected channel is stored in the nonvolatile memory 133 by the viewing history storage unit 11, and the channel determination unit 15 is started up. The channel to be selected is determined as the channel having the maximum number of channel history data included in the day of the week and time zone at the time of activation. Channels with a large number of channel selections in the past are selected on the day of the week and time zone corresponding to the time of activation. For this reason, the probability of selecting a channel desired by the user at the time of activation can be improved.

  Since the viewing history storage unit 11 stores the channel history data for the channels that have been continuously selected over a predetermined time, the channel that has been selected for a short time is not stored. The channel determination unit 15 counts the frequency of channels that are continuously selected over a predetermined time. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a channel that is selected only to know the contents of the program being selected at the time of activation.

  Also, the viewing history management unit 13 stores the channel history data from the current time to a predetermined time in the non-volatile memory 133, so the channel determination unit 15 counts the number of times that a channel has been selected in a predetermined period. become. For this reason, since the channel selected before a predetermined period is not counted, it can respond to a change of a program or a change of a user preference.

  The television receiver 100 in the modified example further includes a user authentication unit that inputs user identification information for identifying the user to the system controller 101, and the viewing history storage unit 11 adds the user identification information to the channel history data. Including and remembering. And the channel determination part 15 determines the channel corresponding to the user from the channel history data containing the user identification information of the authenticated user and the day of the week and the time zone determined from the current time. For this reason, even when there are a plurality of users of the television receiver 100, since a channel with a high frequency selected in the past is selected for each of the plurality of users, a desired channel is selected for each of the plurality of users. be able to.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a figure which shows the outline of a structure of the television receiver in one of the embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a channel setting menu screen. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function of a system controller in case a television receiver is in automatic channel selection mode. It is a figure which shows an example of the format of channel history data. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the viewing history memory | storage process performed with the television receiver in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the viewing-and-listening management process performed with the television receiver in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the channel determination process performed with the television receiver in this Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function of a system controller in case the television receiver in a modification is in automatic channel selection mode. It is a figure which shows the channel log | history data memorize | stored in the television receiver in a modification. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the channel determination process performed with the television receiver in a modification.

Explanation of symbols

  11 viewing history storage unit, 13 viewing history management unit, 15 channel determination unit, 17 timer, 19 calendar, 100 television receiver, 101 system controller, 102 antenna, 103 tuner, 107 AV decoder, 109 video processing circuit, 110 addition 111, audio processing circuit, 113 video output circuit, 115 audio output circuit, 117 display device, 119 speaker, 123 OSD display circuit, 127 power supply circuit, 129 remote control light receiver, 131 remote control transmitter, 133 non-volatile memory, 133A channel History data, 135 operation unit.

Claims (5)

A channel selection means for receiving a broadcast signal of a plurality of channels, selecting one of the plurality of channels and outputting a broadcast signal;
Channel history storage means for storing channel history information of the channel selected by the channel selection means;
A television receiver comprising channel determining means for determining a channel to be selected at startup based on the stored channel history information and startup time.   2. The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the channel history storage means includes counting means for counting the number of times a channel is selected by day of the week and time zone.   The television receiver according to claim 2, wherein the counting means counts the number of times a channel has been selected over a predetermined time.   The television receiver according to claim 2, wherein the counting unit counts the number of times a channel is selected in a predetermined period. A user identification information input means for inputting user identification information for identifying the user;
The channel history information storage means stores the channel history information for each user identification information,
The television receiver according to claim 1, wherein the channel determination unit determines a channel corresponding to the input user identification information.

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