JP2007201871A - Broadcast receiver, broadcast receiving method, recording medium, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in an electric program guide (EPG) in a current broadcast receiver comprises, that the program information such as all program titles is not easily confirmed because a program title is not displayed if many programs are broadcasted within the same time slot, while the time, channel, and space to be displayed at the same time are limited. <P>SOLUTION: By providing a function for switching a time slot display of a program table, a display space is assured even if a plurality of programs are displayed in the same time zone, thereby displaying all program information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention compensates for the contents of a part or all of a missing part of a broadcast program when a part or all of the recorded program cannot be received due to poor reception of the broadcast radio wave when the broadcast program is recorded in the broadcast receiving apparatus. The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving apparatus and a broadcast receiving system that automatically receive restoration information via a network and perform processing for compensating for a missing portion of a broadcast program from the received restoration information.

  In recent broadcasts, information on various programs such as program names is sent from broadcast radio waves in accordance with the increase in the number of channels such as BS digital broadcasts and terrestrial digital broadcasts. A broadcast receiving apparatus having functions such as an electronic program guide (EPG) and a recording reservation is generally used by using such information. As an example of such a conventional broadcast receiving apparatus, there is a digital broadcast receiving apparatus having a hardware configuration as shown in FIG.

An electronic program guide display function possessed by a conventional broadcast receiving apparatus is provided with a time axis and a channel number axis in the vertical and horizontal directions, a box-type display portion is provided for each program, and program information such as a broadcast program name is displayed therein. When there are many programs broadcast on a specific channel in a certain time zone, program information of long-term programs is displayed, and program information of short-term programs is the same as other programs There is an invention in which, for example, a small mark is displayed without displaying, and the user can confirm program information by operating the cursor to select a short program. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-262192)
JP-A-10-262192 (FIG. 6)

  However, in the present invention, when many programs are broadcast on a certain channel, the program information of the short-time program cannot be confirmed at a glance, and for this purpose, a cursor operation instruction from the user is required. When the display position of the program to be confirmed is far from the current cursor position or the number of programs is large, more operation instructions are required, which is inconvenient for the user.

  In order to solve this problem, in the present invention, it is possible to maintain information on whether or not multiple program information exists in the same time zone in the same channel, and to switch display methods using this information. A display switching function is realized so that such information is displayed by a user operation.

  According to the present invention, when a plurality of programs are broadcast within the same time frame of the same channel, the user can operate the program information such as a program name in which the program information cannot be displayed at a time in the program guide more easily. It is possible to confirm with.

(Embodiment 1)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows a software configuration of a broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each part of the software configuration will be described.

  The reception control unit 101 receives a broadcast signal by controlling a tuner, such as setting a reception signal frequency.

  The playback unit 102 receives TS input from the reception control unit 101 and decodes video and audio.

  The information acquisition unit 103 acquires information on the broadcast program and channel included in the received signal by demodulating the received broadcast signal.

  The information management unit 104 accumulates information such as in which broadcast time frame the program according to the present invention is broadcast from the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 103.

  The display unit 105 displays a user interface such as an EPG menu screen based on a command received by the input control unit 106.

  The input control unit 106 receives an operation from the user by a remote controller or the like, and instructs to display / end the program guide, moves the cursor, and further switches the display method of the program guide.

  FIG. 2 is a display example before the electronic program guide (EPG) display switching in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes a space for displaying channel identification information. By displaying the channel number, the broadcast type such as BS and CS, the name of the broadcast channel, etc., it is possible to confirm on which channel the program information displayed in the column is broadcast.

  Reference numeral 202 denotes a space for displaying information for identifying a broadcast time frame. In a conventional broadcast receiving apparatus, time information is generally displayed here in units of one hour.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a cursor. A cursor operation can be performed on the screen 204 via the input control unit 106 by a user operation.

  Reference numeral 204 denotes a space for displaying program information such as a program name or broadcast time.

  Reference numeral 205 denotes a marking display indicating that a short-time program exists. In this example, it is shown that another program exists before 11:00 after the 10:00 program of the BS 103 channel.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when a plurality of programs are broadcast in the same time frame in the same channel, the program name of the program having a short broadcasting time is not displayed or shortened as shown in 205, so that the whole is vertically and horizontally displayed. The display with a complete display area is realized. The display function up to this stage is also provided in a conventional broadcast receiving apparatus.

  FIG. 3 is a second display example after switching the display of the electronic program guide (EPG) in the first embodiment of the present invention. When a plurality of programs are broadcast in the same time frame in the same channel in the display state of FIG. 2, when a user gives an instruction, the time axis is expanded according to the number of programs as shown in an area 301. Display.

  Reference numeral 301 denotes a space for displaying information for identifying a broadcast time frame when the height of the display area of the same time frame is widened. As the number of programs broadcast in the same time frame on the unified channel increases, the display area becomes longer in the vertical direction.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes a space for displaying program information in which the size of the display area changes following the change in the vertical length of the area 301.

  Reference numeral 303 denotes a space for displaying program information in which the display position changes following the change in the vertical length of the region 301.

  Reference numeral 304 denotes a space for newly displaying the program information that has been displayed as indicated by 205 in FIG. 2 in response to an instruction to switch the display via the input control unit 106.

  FIG. 4 shows a processing flow when switching the display from the state of FIG. 2 to the state of FIG. 3 in the electronic program guide (EPG) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The processing procedure will be described below according to the processing steps.

  First, display switching is instructed from the user by the input control unit 106 (S410).

  Next, according to the range of the program information to be displayed, it is confirmed whether a plurality of programs are broadcast within the same time frame within the channel and time frame that are the display range (S420). For example, in the case of FIG. 2, the same time frame is a space for displaying program information as shown in 204, which is a minimum unit of a vertical block, and there is a program having a broadcast time of 30 minutes or less. It is determined that this is the case. The length of the broadcast time is calculated and compared from the program information held in the information management unit 204 (S421, S422), and when there are a plurality of programs, the program name of the program with the longest broadcast time or the start time is the earliest The program name is displayed, and the rest is displayed as a line such as 205, and the program name is not displayed (S423). Up to this point, the display is based on the conventional invention. When a plurality of programs are not broadcast in the same time frame, an electronic program guide composed of only the space 204 is displayed (S430). In this state, when switching of the display method is instructed by the user via the input control unit 106 (S440), the number of broadcast programs in the same time frame is searched in each channel for each broadcast time currently displayed on the screen ( S441). When a plurality of programs are broadcast, the number of programs for each broadcasting time is redisplayed by changing the height as shown in the broadcast time frame space 301, and spaces as shown by 303 and 304 are provided for the number of programs. Create (S442). When the height is changed, the display position of the program name in the spaces 303 and 304 below it is changed and displayed again, and the program created in the information management unit 104 is newly displayed in the space. The program name corresponding to the information of the program that was not displayed by name is displayed (S443). When a change in display channel or display time is instructed by the user via the input control unit 106, it is checked again whether a plurality of programs are broadcast in the same time frame (S450). These processes are performed while the program guide is being displayed.

  Although not described in the processing flow, it can be instructed to return to the display state of FIG. 3 from FIG.

  The broadcast receiving apparatus, the broadcast receiving method, the recording medium, and the program according to the present invention, such as when broadcasting a plurality of programs in the same time frame of the same channel, etc. Since the user can confirm the program information with a simpler operation, it is useful as a broadcast receiving apparatus and a broadcast receiving system.

Block diagram showing the software configuration of the present invention The figure which shows the electronic program guide before the display switching in this invention The figure which shows the electronic program guide after the display switching in this invention The flowchart which shows the process at the time of the display switching in this invention The block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the broadcast receiving apparatus of a prior art example

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Reception control part 102 Reproduction | regeneration part 103 Information acquisition part 104 Information management part 105 Display part 106 Input control part 201 Channel identification information display space 202 Broadcast time frame identification display space 203 Cursor 204 Program information display space 205 Program information non-display marking 301 Broadcast Time frame identification display space 302 Program information display space 303 Program information display space 304 Program information new display space

Claims (4)

A reception control unit for receiving a broadcast signal;
An information acquisition unit for acquiring program information from the broadcast signal received by the reception control unit;
An input control unit that accepts an operation from the user;
A display unit for displaying information and a menu screen of the information acquisition unit;
An information management unit for identifying a program of the same time frame of the same channel from the program information acquired from the information acquisition unit;
A broadcast receiving device comprising a CPU for controlling each of the aforementioned units,
A function for specifying a part of program information that is not currently displayed on the display unit in a program of the same time frame of the same channel from information held in the information management unit by the input operation unit and switching the display is newly provided. A broadcast receiving apparatus characterized by the above. A reception control step for receiving a broadcast signal;
An information acquisition step of acquiring program information from the broadcast signal received by the reception control unit;
An input control step for accepting an operation from the user;
A display step for displaying information and a menu screen of the information acquisition unit;
An information management step for identifying a program of the same time frame of the same channel from the program information acquired from the information acquisition unit;
A broadcast receiving method comprising the steps of controlling each of the aforementioned parts,
It has a new function of specifying a part of program information that is not currently displayed in the display step in the program of the same time frame of the same channel from the information held in the information management step by the input operation step and switching the display. A broadcast receiving method characterized by the above. A reception control step for receiving a broadcast signal;
An information acquisition step of acquiring program information from the broadcast signal received by the reception control unit;
An input control step for accepting an operation from the user;
A display step for displaying information and a menu screen of the information acquisition unit;
An information management step for identifying a program of the same time frame of the same channel from the program information acquired from the information acquisition unit;
A recording medium on which a program for receiving a broadcast including steps for controlling the above-described units is recorded,
It has a new function of specifying a part of program information that is not currently displayed in the display step in the program of the same time frame of the same channel from the information held in the information management step by the input operation step and switching the display. The recording medium which recorded the program characterized by these. A reception control means for receiving a broadcast signal;
Information acquisition means for acquiring program information from the broadcast signal received by the reception control unit;
Input control means for accepting an operation from a user;
Display means for displaying information and a menu screen of the information acquisition unit;
Information management means for identifying a program of the same time frame of the same channel from the program information acquired from the information acquisition unit;
A program for receiving a broadcast comprising means for controlling the above-described units,
A function for specifying a part of program information that is not currently displayed on the display means in the program in the same time frame of the same channel from the information held in the information management means by the input operation means and newly switching the display is provided. A program characterized by

Images