JP2007174267A - Display method for electronic program table, preparation program of electronic program table, and electronic program table - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously display content such as a still picture having no time information and program information in an electronic program table. <P>SOLUTION: This display method for an electronic program table 94 displayed in a matrix in which a channel axis showing a plurality of selectable channels is defined as one axis and a time axis showing the lapse of time is defined as the other axis includes: a process for displaying attribute information of program content distributed by broadcasting by arranging the attribute information in each channel axis and in each time axis; a process for allocating a channel corresponding to one attribute of image content showing a still picture to the channel axis; and a process for displaying information of the image content in which one of attributes is common at a position indicated by the channel of the channel axis by arranging the information in the direction of the time axis. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic program guide display method for electronically displaying contents selectable by a user in a tabular format, an electronic program guide creation program, and an electronic program guide.

Conventionally, a method for knowing the broadcast time and contents of a program distributed by television broadcasting or the like has been generally based on a program table printed on paper. An electronic program guide (EPG) displayed on the screen is used. Information of such an electronic program guide is generally transmitted at predetermined intervals using a transmission wave of a television broadcast, and the television side receiving this information has a channel axis indicating the frequency of the television broadcast. Then, an electronic program guide that is displayed in a matrix with the time axis indicating the passage of time is created and displayed on the television screen. Therefore, in addition to being able to visually display broadcast programs that can be viewed after a predetermined time in an easy-to-understand manner for viewers, such electronic program guides can be used even when the broadcast program is suddenly changed. Is immediately reflected in the electronic program guide, and is expected to be used more frequently in order to increase the number of channels expected in the future.
In addition to content unilaterally distributed such as television broadcasting, as described in Patent Document 1 below, program content that can be played from a connected external device is simultaneously displayed on the electronic program guide. Thus, various contents that can be viewed at a predetermined time at a predetermined time are displayed in a selectable manner.

JP 2000-253325 A

  However, content that can be additionally displayed on the electronic program guide has time information required for reproduction, such as a moving image, and can be displayed with a width indicating the time information in the direction of the time axis of the electronic program guide. It was limited. Therefore, a content such as a still image without time information cannot be displayed together with program information in one electronic program guide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the electronic program guide display method of the present invention uses a channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and a time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis. A method of displaying a matrix-displayed electronic program guide, the step of displaying attribute information of program contents distributed by broadcasting side by side for each channel axis and for each time axis, and image content indicating a still image Assigning the channel according to one of the attributes to the channel axis, and information of the image content having one of the attributes in the position indicated by the channel on the channel axis in the direction of the time axis. And a step of displaying the images side by side.

  According to the present invention, in addition to displaying program information distributed by broadcasting in an electronic program guide displayed in a matrix with a channel axis and a time axis, according to attributes of image content indicating a still image Channel information is allocated to the channel axis, and the image content indicating the still image is displayed side by side at the position where the allocated channel is indicated by the channel axis. Can be displayed in an electronic program guide.

  In the present invention, the time axis may include information indicating a date and time.

  In the present invention, the image content information is preferably a thumbnail image created from the image content.

  According to the present invention, since the thumbnail image created from the image content is displayed in the electronic program guide, the contents of the image content can be easily grasped.

  Preferably, the present invention further includes a step of displaying the viewed image content and the unviewed image content in the image content so as to be distinguishable.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily discriminate between viewed image content and unviewed image content among image content displayed on the electronic program guide.

  In the present invention, a channel corresponding to one of the attributes of the image content may be assigned to a channel to which the program content is not distributed.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the unviewed image content after a certain period is not displayed.

  According to the present invention, when unviewed image content increases, it is possible to prevent the thumbnail images from being displayed indefinitely on the electronic program guide.

  In order to solve the above problems, the electronic program guide display program of the present invention uses a channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and a time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis. A display program for an electronic program guide displayed in a matrix, the procedure for acquiring attribute information of one or more program contents distributed by broadcasting, and the attribute information of the acquired program contents for each channel axis, And a procedure for arranging them for each time axis, a procedure for inputting one or more image contents indicating a still image, a procedure for acquiring thumbnail images of the input image contents, and an attribute of the image content Assigning the corresponding channel to the channel axis, and the position indicated by the channel on the channel axis. In, a thumbnail image of the image content one common of said attributes, and a procedure for aligning each in the direction of the time axis, and characterized by causing a computer to execute.

  According to the present invention, in addition to displaying program information distributed by broadcasting in an electronic program guide displayed in a matrix with a channel axis and a time axis, according to attributes of image content indicating a still image Channel information is allocated to the channel axis, and the image content indicating the still image is displayed side by side at the position where the allocated channel is indicated by the channel axis. Can be displayed in an electronic program guide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the electronic program guide of the present invention is displayed in matrix form with the channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and the time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis. In the electronic program guide, the attribute information of the program content distributed by broadcasting includes a first area displayed side by side for each channel axis and each time axis, and an attribute of the image content indicating a still image. The channel corresponding to one is assigned to the channel axis, and the information of the image content having one of the attributes in common is displayed in the time axis direction at the position indicated by the channel on the channel axis. And the first region and the second region are displayed adjacent to each other in the channel axis direction.

  According to the present invention, in addition to displaying program information distributed by broadcasting in an electronic program guide displayed in a matrix with a channel axis and a time axis, according to attributes of image content indicating a still image Channel information is allocated to the channel axis, and the image content indicating the still image is displayed side by side at the position where the allocated channel is indicated by the channel axis. Can be displayed in an electronic program guide.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described using an image display device 1 that displays a moving image or a still image.
(Embodiment)

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image display device 1 according to the present embodiment. The image display device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a storage device HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 14, a graphic card 18, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 16. And an input I / F (Interface) 22 and a communication I / F 20, and these hardware are connected by a bus 24 so that each signal can be exchanged. These hardware are managed by basic software such as BIOS (Basic Input Output System) and operating system (OS), and under these management, various kinds of software including drivers stored in the ROM 16 and the HDD 14 are used. A predetermined function is executed.

  The CPU 10 reads basic software, various programs such as device drivers of each device connected to the input I / F 22 and the communication I / F 20, and various data from the ROM 16 and the HDD 14, and these are main memory areas provided in the RAM 12. Expand and run. The graphic card 18 displays a moving image or a still image on the display 40 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 10.

  A television broadcast receiver 30, a memory card drive 32, and a remote control receiver 36 are connected to the input I / F 22 according to a predetermined standard. The television broadcast receiver 30 receives television broadcast waves. In addition, the memory card drive 32 exchanges data by detachably connecting the memory card 34. The remote control receiver 36 receives an operation instruction signal transmitted from the operation remote control 38 via light or radio waves. Although not shown, an external device such as a digital camera or a video camera may be connected via the input I / F 22 so that these image signals and video signals can be directly input.

  A network communication device 42 is connected to the communication I / F 20 according to a predetermined standard. The network communication device 42 can exchange various contents and mails on the Internet 44 by performing communication according to a predetermined protocol.

  FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram illustrating functions of the image display device 1. The image display device 1 includes a broadcast receiving unit 50, an EPG (Electronic Programming Guide) decoding unit 52, a program video demodulation unit 54, a storage unit 60, an image content input unit 56, a thumbnail image generation unit 70, An image processing unit 72, a display content selection unit 74, an operation instruction unit 76, a program guide creation unit 80, and a display unit 90 are provided.

  The broadcast receiving unit 50 receives broadcast radio waves including program content. Specifically, it has a channel selection means that can select a frequency to be received, and receives a television broadcast that can be received by the television broadcast receiver 30. In addition to a modulated signal indicating program content, a signal indicating attribute information (EPG information) of time-series program content over a predetermined period from the current time is encoded in the received television broadcast radio wave. The broadcast receiving unit 50 receives the broadcast radio waves and then separates them into respective signals. As a method for extracting program content attribute information from broadcast radio waves, for example, a method described in JP-A-11-266413 can be adopted. In this way, a signal indicating one program content among the broadcast signals received by the broadcast receiving unit 50 is sent to the program video demodulation unit 54. A signal indicating the attribute information of the other program content is sent to the EPG decoding unit 52. Note that the acquisition of the attribute information of the program content is not limited to reception by the television broadcast receiving device 30, but may be acquired from a predetermined Web server or the like by the network communication device 42 via the Internet 44.

  The EPG decoding unit 52 decodes the signal indicating the attribute information of the program content sent from the broadcast receiving unit 50, and acquires data indicating the attribute information of the program content. The data indicating the attribute information of the program content is data indicating the program name, broadcast start time, broadcast end time, program content, and the like. These acquired data are sent to the storage unit 60.

  The image content input unit 56 receives data of stationary image content that does not have time information. More specifically, image content data described in a predetermined file format, such as photographed data stored in the memory card 34 or still image data downloaded from the Internet 44, is input. The image content mainly includes document images such as e-mails and documents, document images including images, hypertext images including hypertext and images compliant with WWW (World Wide Web), and still images. An image accompanied by related music or audio information may be included. Further, as image content information, a thumbnail image obtained by reducing a representative image and tag information indicating attribute information may be provided. Here, the tag information includes image category information, saved date and time information, information on presence / absence of viewing since saved, and memo information on the image. The image content data input to the image content input unit 56 in this way is sent to the storage unit 60.

  The storage unit 60 includes an EPG information storage unit 62, an environment information storage unit 64, and an image content storage unit 66, and stores various data. Specifically, the data is written in a predetermined area of the HDD 14 and read out as necessary.

  Among these, the EPG information storage unit 62 stores data indicating the attribute information of the program content sent from the EPG decoding unit 52 and is read from the program table creation unit 80 as necessary. The environment information storage unit 64 stores data related to the environment, such as information related to the current date and time, regional information where the image display device 1 is installed, and history information of channels selected in the past. The data is read from the unit 80 as necessary. Further, the image content storage unit 66 stores image content data sent from the image content input unit 56, and is read from the program guide creation unit 80, the thumbnail image generation unit 70, and the image processing unit 72 as necessary.

  The thumbnail image generation unit 70 creates a thumbnail image by a predetermined method for the image content not including the thumbnail image. As described above, for example, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-216653 can be adopted as a method for creating a thumbnail image from image content data. The thumbnail image created in this way is sent to the program guide creation unit 80.

  The program guide creation unit 80 includes a program content data creation unit 82, a program guide UI (User Interface) creation unit 84, and a thumbnail image data creation unit 86, and a time-series program over a predetermined period from the current time. An electronic program table 94 (FIG. 3) is created that simultaneously shows content attribute information and thumbnail images of image content that can be disclosed.

  Among them, the program guide UI creation unit 84 includes data indicating the attribute information of the program content stored in the EPG information storage unit 62, data regarding the environment stored in the environment information storage unit 64, and the image content storage unit 66. The frame of the electronic program guide 94 is created with reference to the data of the image content stored in. Further, the program content data creation unit 82 arranges data indicating the program content attribute information stored in the EPG information storage unit 62 in an area defined by the time axis and the channel axis of the electronic program guide 94. Further, the thumbnail image data creation unit 86 adds a predetermined channel to the electronic program guide 94 and arranges thumbnail images included in the added channel in the time axis direction of the electronic program guide 94. Details of the process of creating the electronic program guide 94 will be described later. The electronic program guide 94 created in this way is sent to the display unit 90 and displayed on the display 40 of the display unit 90.

  The operation instruction unit 76 receives an operation instruction from the user via the operation remote controller 38. The display content selection unit 74 selects content to be displayed on the display unit 90 according to an operation instruction from the user. Here, for example, when one of the broadcast programs displayed on the electronic program guide 94 is selected by the user, the broadcast receiving unit 50 is instructed to receive a channel on which the selected broadcast program is broadcast. At the same time, it instructs the program video demodulation unit 54 to demodulate the signal indicating the program content. When one of the thumbnail images displayed in the electronic program guide 94 is selected by the user, the image processing unit 72 is instructed to disclose the image content indicated by the thumbnail image.

  The program video demodulation unit 54 demodulates a signal indicating the program content sent from the broadcast receiving unit 50 in accordance with an instruction from the display content selection unit 74, and acquires video data of the program. The broadcast radio wave that carries the video data of the program is not limited to an analog wave, and may be an encoded digital wave. The video data acquired in this manner is sent to the display unit 90 via the display content selection unit 74 and displayed on the display 40.

  In accordance with an instruction from the display content selection unit 74, the image processing unit 72 associates a file including the image content data instructed from the image content stored in the image content storage unit 66 in advance with the extension of the file. Disclosed in the application program. The image indicated by the disclosed image content data is sent to the display unit 90 via the display content selection unit 74 and displayed on the display 40.

  The functional units of the image display device 1 have been described above. These functions are realized by organic cooperation between the hardware resources and software described above.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing for displaying content on the image display device 1, and will be described with reference to FIG. 3 showing the configuration of the electronic program guide 94.

  When the image display device 1 is activated, a step of creating the electronic program guide 94 (step S100) is executed. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing for creating the electronic program guide 94. First, the step of creating the electronic program guide 94 (step S100) will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the process of creating the electronic program guide 94 is started, first, information related to the environment such as information related to the current date and time and area information where the image display device 1 is installed is acquired and stored in the environment information storage unit 64. (Step S150).

  Subsequently, the broadcast receiving unit 50 starts receiving broadcast radio waves including program content (step S152).

  Further, a signal indicating the attribute information (EPG information) of the program content is extracted from the broadcast radio wave (step S154).

  Subsequently, a procedure for acquiring information on one or more program contents distributed by broadcasting is executed, and after the signal indicating the attribute information of the program contents is decoded by the EPG decoding unit 52, the program table creation unit 80 Data indicating the attribute information of the program content is acquired (step S156).

  Next, the program guide creation unit 80 acquires image content data stored in the image content storage unit 66 (step S158).

  Further, for the image content not including the thumbnail image, a thumbnail image is generated by the thumbnail image generation unit 70, and the program guide generation unit 80 acquires the generated thumbnail image (step S160).

  Next, the program guide UI creation unit 84 creates a frame of the electronic program guide 94 from the environment-related data stored in the environment information storage unit 64, the data indicating the attribute information of the program content, and the image content information (step) S162). Here, the electronic program guide 94 of FIG. First, by acquiring information related to the current date and time from data related to the environment, the date and time described on the time axis can be set. As a result, “January 23”, which is the current date, is set in the upper part of the time axis of the electronic program guide 94, and “7 o'clock”, which is the current time, is set in the lower part of the time axis. Each time until “11:00” is set. Further, the channel described on the channel axis can be set from the area information where the image display device 1 is installed and the data indicating the attribute information of the program content. As a result, channel numbers “1”, “3”, “5”, “7”, and “9” that can be viewed in the area where the image display device 1 is installed are displayed on the channel axis of the electronic program guide 94. Is set. As a result, a frame of the electronic program guide 94 having a broadcast program display area that can be designated by the channel number of the channel axis and the time of the time axis is created. Furthermore, an image content display area having an area sufficient to display a thumbnail image of the image content is added to the lower stage of the broadcast program display area of the electronic program guide 94 from the image content information.

  Next, a step of creating broadcast program data from the program content attribute information and adding it to the electronic program guide 94 (step S164) is executed. Here, FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of the process in detail, and will be described with reference to FIG.

  The step of FIG. 6 is a step of arranging the attribute information of the program content distributed by broadcasting for each channel axis and for each time axis. When the step is executed, the acquired program content is first obtained. One program is extracted from the attribute information (step S170).

  Subsequently, the channel through which the extracted program is broadcast, the broadcast start time, the broadcast end time, and the program name are acquired from the EPG information storage unit 62 (step S172).

  Subsequently, the extracted program name is added to a predetermined area of the broadcast program display area corresponding to the time and channel of the electronic program guide 94 (step S174).

  Next, it is determined whether or not all the programs included in the acquired attribute information of the program content have been extracted (step S176). Here, when not all the programs included in the acquired broadcast program information are extracted (No in step S176), the process returns to the first step (step S170). Also, when all the programs included in the acquired attribute information of the program content are extracted (Yes in step S176), a step of creating broadcast program data from the program content attribute information and adding it to the electronic program guide 94 (Step S164) is ended, and the process proceeds to the next step (Step S166). By executing this step (step S164), the program name corresponding to the channel and the broadcast time is displayed in the broadcast program display area of the electronic program guide 94.

  Returning to FIG. 5, a step of adding the acquired thumbnail image to the electronic program guide 94 (step S166) is executed. Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining in detail the flow of processing in the process, and will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the process is executed, the thumbnail images are first classified into a predetermined group (step S180). Here, the predetermined group is a group classified by classification information preset by the user or the apparatus itself, and each image content is classified with reference to tag information. For example, in the electronic program guide 94 of FIG. 3, the thumbnail images belonging to the photographed image group “Photo1” and the thumbnail images belonging to the document image group “Document1” are classified.

  Subsequently, a step of assigning a channel corresponding to one of the attributes of the image content indicating the still image to the channel axis is executed, and one channel corresponding to the classified group is added to the channel axis of the electronic program guide 94. (Step S182). Specifically, the channel axis is extended downward corresponding to the image content display area of the electronic program guide 94, and “Photo1” is set as a virtual channel in a predetermined area of the extended channel axis. In this case, it is necessary to set in advance a dedicated channel and an information transmission path for displaying image content. The image content may be converted into a signal format that can be handled by the broadcast receiving unit, and the image content may be displayed using an empty channel to which no broadcast program is assigned.

  Subsequently, a process of displaying information of image contents having one common attribute in the direction of the time axis at the position indicated by the channel on the channel axis is executed, and thumbnail images belonging to the added channel group are electronically converted. It is pasted in the image content display area corresponding to each added channel of the program table 94 along the time axis direction (step S184). Specifically, thumbnail images belonging to “Photo 1” are pasted along the time axis. Here, the thumbnail image 98 of the image content that has not been viewed since being saved is displayed in a distinguishable manner from the other thumbnail images that have been viewed, in accordance with the information on whether or not viewing has been performed since the tag information has been saved. Is done. For example, the thumbnail image of the viewed image content is displayed in monochrome, or displayed with a lower saturation than the thumbnail image of the unviewed image content.

  Further, only image content that has been viewed or only image content that has not been viewed may be displayed. As a result, unviewed or viewed image content can be intuitively grasped, so that viewing of unviewed image content can be particularly promoted. Furthermore, a thumbnail image of an image content that has passed a certain period after storage may be displayed on the electronic program guide regardless of whether or not it is viewed. According to this, when unviewed image content increases, it is possible to prevent the thumbnail images from being displayed indefinitely on the electronic program guide and to realize an easy-to-see electronic program guide. Note that the order in which thumbnail images are pasted is set in advance by the user in accordance with the date and time information when the image content is stored, the file name of the image content, and the like.

  Next, it is determined whether or not channels have been assigned to all the classified groups (step S186). If there is a group to which no channel is assigned (No in step S186), the process returns to the step of adding a channel for that group (step S182). When channels are assigned to all groups (Yes in step S186), the process of adding the acquired thumbnail image to the electronic program guide 94 (step S166) is terminated, and the next process (step S168). ) By executing this step (step S166), the image content display area of the electronic program guide 94 corresponds to two classification information displayed on the channel axis, that is, “Photo1” and “Document1”. Each thumbnail image is displayed.

  Next, returning to FIG. 5, the created electronic program guide 94 is displayed on the display unit 90, and the step of displaying the electronic program guide 94 (step S100) ends.

  Returning to FIG. 4, subsequently, the contents of the electronic program guide 94 displayed on the display unit 90 are instructed by the cursor 96 operated by the operation instruction unit 76 (step S102). Specifically, when a cursor button for each direction arranged on the operation remote control 38 is pressed, the cursor 96 displayed on the electronic program guide 94 indicates the program name displayed in the broadcast program area, and One of the thumbnail images displayed in the image display area is moved so as to be selectable. Here, the program name or thumbnail image designated by the cursor 96 is displayed in a distinguishable manner such as reverse display, colored display, or blinking display.

  In addition, when the cursor 96 is located at the end of the movable area and is instructed to move further than the end, the program name or thumbnail image has a function of scrolling. The area to which the cursor 96 can be moved is assumed to be limited in either the broadcast program area or the image content display area, or not limited in the area to be moved, and is set by the user according to the situation. The In the former case, it is possible to provide convenience that allows the broadcast program and the image content to be viewed with exactly the same feeling without distinguishing the viewing target. In the latter case, only one of the broadcast program and the image content can be provided. This is preferable when viewing the content in a concentrated manner (because the range of movement of the cursor becomes narrow). In the latter case, only one of the program content attribute information or the image content information (thumbnail image) is scrolled and displayed, and an instruction operation using another button or the like is required to move between the two areas. To do.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the content indicated by the cursor 96 is program content (step S104). Here, when the instructed content is program content (Yes in step S104), information on a channel on which the selected program is broadcast is acquired (step S106).

  Subsequently, a channel to be received is set by instructing the broadcast receiving unit 50 (step S108).

  Subsequently, the broadcast radio wave is received on the set channel, and the program content demodulated from the broadcast radio wave as video by the program video demodulation unit 54 is displayed on the display unit 90 (step S110). This state continues until the next instruction is received.

  On the other hand, if the instructed content is not program content but image content (No in step S104), data of the selected image content is acquired (step S112).

  Subsequently, the acquired image content data is disclosed by the image processing unit 72 (step S114), and a disclosed flag indicating viewing / non-viewing information in the tag information is set (step S116).

  Subsequently, the image indicated by the disclosed image content data is displayed on the display unit 90 (step S118). This state continues until the next instruction is received.

  Through the above processing, the user can select desired content from the program content or image content displayed on the electronic program guide 94 and display it on the display 40. When the content is selected and displayed on the display 40, the electronic program guide 94 moves to the back of the displayed content and is hidden, but by performing a predetermined operation from the operation remote control 38, the front of the content is displayed. Can move to.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment shown in figure, this invention is not limited to this embodiment, The modification as described below can also be assumed.
(1) The display order of the broadcast program display area and the image content display area in the electronic program guide 94 is not limited. Moreover, these may be mixed, and the attribute information of the program content in a predetermined channel and the information of the image content related to the broadcast program on the channel may be displayed adjacent to each other. According to this, since the image content related to the broadcast program can be quickly selected and viewed, the convenience of the electronic program guide is improved.
(2) A display mode in which by selecting a channel corresponding to the image content in the electronic program guide 94, one or more image contents assigned to the channel are automatically and sequentially switched at a certain time interval. Can be prepared. According to this, when viewing a plurality of related image contents, it is not necessary to select the image contents each time. Therefore, the plurality of image contents can be easily viewed, and the convenience of the electronic program guide is improved. .

1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image display device according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram illustrating functions of the image display device according to the present embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of the electronic program guide in this embodiment. The figure explaining the flow of the process which displays a content with the image display apparatus in this embodiment. The figure explaining the flow of the process which produces and displays an electronic program guide. The figure explaining the flow of the process which creates the data of a broadcast program and adds it to an electronic program guide. The figure explaining the flow of a process which adds a thumbnail image to an electronic program guide.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image display apparatus, 10 ... CPU, 12 ... RAM, 14 ... HDD, 16 ... ROM, 18 ... Graphic card, 20 ... Communication I / F, 22 ... Input I / F, 24 ... Bus, 30 ... Receiving television broadcast Device 32. Memory card drive 34 34 Memory card 36 Remote control receiver 38 Remote controller 40 Display 42 Network communication device 44 Internet 50 Broadcast receiving unit 52 EPG decoding unit EPG decoding unit 54 ... Program video demodulating unit 56 ... Image content input unit 60 ... Storage unit 62 ... EPG information storage unit 64 ... Environment information storage unit 66 ... Image content storage unit 70 ... Thumbnail image generation unit 72 ... Image Processing unit 74 ... Display content selection unit 76 ... Operation instruction unit 80 ... Program table creation unit 82 ... Program content data creation unit 84 Program guide UI creating unit, 86 ... thumbnail image data creation unit, 90 ... display unit, 94 ... program guide, 96 ... cursor, 98 ... thumbnail images of unviewed picture content from being saved.

Claims (8)

A display method of an electronic program guide displayed in a matrix form with a channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and a time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis,
Displaying attribute information of program contents distributed by broadcasting side by side for each channel axis and for each time axis;
Assigning the channel according to one of the attributes of the image content indicating a still image to the channel axis;
A method of displaying an electronic program guide, comprising: displaying information on the image content having one of the attributes in common at a position indicated by the channel on the channel axis in a time axis direction. The electronic program guide display method according to claim 1,
The time axis is
An electronic program guide display method comprising information indicating a date and time. In the display method of the electronic program guide in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 2,
The image content information is:
An electronic program guide display method, wherein the thumbnail image is created from the image content. In the display method of the electronic program guide of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3,
Among the image content,
A display method of an electronic program guide, further comprising a step of displaying the viewed image content and the unviewed image content in a distinguishable manner. In the display method of the electronic program guide of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4,
A channel according to one of the attributes of the image content is assigned to a channel to which the program content is not distributed. In the display method of the electronic program guide of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5,
A method of displaying an electronic program guide, wherein the image content that has not been viewed after a certain period is not displayed. A program for creating an electronic program guide displayed in matrix form with a channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and a time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis,
A procedure for acquiring attribute information of one or more program contents distributed by broadcasting;
Arranging the acquired program content attribute information for each channel axis and each time axis;
A procedure for inputting one or more image contents indicating a still image;
A procedure for acquiring thumbnail images of the input image contents,
Assigning the channel according to the attribute of the image content to the channel axis;
Arranging the thumbnail images of the image content having one of the attributes in the position indicated by the channel on the channel axis in the direction of the time axis, respectively.
A program for creating an electronic program guide, which is executed by a computer. An electronic program guide that is displayed in matrix form with a channel axis indicating a plurality of selectable channels as one axis and a time axis indicating the passage of time as the other axis,
A first area in which attribute information of program content distributed by broadcasting is displayed side by side for each channel axis and for each time axis;
The channel according to one of the attributes of the image content indicating a still image is assigned to the channel axis;
A second area in which information of the image content having one of the attributes in common at a position indicated by the channel on the channel axis is displayed side by side in the time axis direction;
The electronic program guide, wherein the first area and the second area are displayed adjacent to each other in the channel axis direction.

Images