JP2007251731A - Reproduction controller and display control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display program selection scene for selecting desired program easily. <P>SOLUTION: A reproduction controller includes a control unit, by which a program selection scene 30 for selecting program in accordance with reproducing program recording data is displayed on a display device 2 out of two or more generated program recording data containing recording time and program content. The control unit generates a thumbnail image 31 for each program based on each program recording data, and as a program selection scene 30, each thumbnail image 31 of each program is made arranged in a first arrangement direction (direction of arrow E) in order recording time and displayed on the display device 2. As to the program corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 displayed on a reference position P out of each thumbnail image 31 arranged and displayed in the first arrangement direction, each thumbnail image 31 of each program with content, which satisfies a predetermined condition, is arranged in a second arrangement direction (direction of arrow F) crossing to the first arrangement direction at the reference position P and displayed on the display device 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a reproduction control apparatus and a display control method for displaying a program selection screen for selecting a program to be reproduced.

With the widespread use of recording devices (such as hard disk recorders) equipped with a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk drive, a large number of program recording data can be stored in one recording device without replacing the storage medium for storing the program recording data. Can be recorded and saved. For this reason, when reproducing a program (program recording data), it is complicated to find a desired program among many programs in the recording apparatus, and various methods have been proposed to improve this point. Yes. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-326867 and International Publication No. 00/02386 pamphlet, a plurality of virtual channels such as a sports channel, a news channel, and a variety channel are defined, and each program in the recording apparatus is assigned to each virtual A display method is disclosed in which when a program to be categorized so as to belong to any one of the channels is selected and the program to be played back is selected, the program name and the like are displayed side by side for each virtual channel in the order of the recording time.
JP 2001-326867 A (page 9-22) International Publication No. 00/02386 (page 7-29)

  However, the conventional display method has the following problems. That is, in the conventional display method, when displaying a display screen for selecting a program to be reproduced, the program names of the programs recorded in the recording device are displayed side by side in the order of the recording time for each virtual channel. . In this case, when the program recording data of a predetermined variety program is to be reproduced, the recording date (recording time) and title of the program are not remembered. For example, “recording immediately before the soccer relay of the XX game” The user may want to search for a desired program based on the storage of “variety program”. However, on the display screen displayed by the conventional display method, each program is displayed in the order of recording time in each virtual channel, but the recording time is synchronized between the virtual channels of the sports channel and the variety channel. Since it is not shown, even if “soccer relay of game XX” can be found in the sports channel, the variety program recorded immediately before cannot be specified in the variety channel based on this program. As described above, the conventional display method has a problem that it is still difficult to select a program desired to be reproduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a playback control apparatus and a display control method capable of displaying a program selection screen that allows a desired program to be easily selected.

  In order to achieve the above object, the playback control device according to the present invention supports program recording data played back by a playback device from among a plurality of program recording data generated by the recording device so as to include a recording time and program content. A playback control device comprising a control unit for causing a display device to display a program selection screen for selecting a program to be played, wherein the control unit uses image data for thumbnail images for each program based on the program recording data. As the program selection screen, the thumbnail images of the programs are arranged in the first arrangement direction in the order of the recording time and displayed on the display device, and are arranged and displayed in the first arrangement direction. In addition, the content of the program with respect to the program corresponding to the thumbnail image displayed at a predetermined reference position among the thumbnail images has a predetermined condition. Side by side in a second arrangement direction intersecting with the first arrangement direction of the said respective thumbnail images of programs satisfying at the reference position is displayed on the display device.

  Also, the display control method according to the present invention selects a program corresponding to the program recording data to be reproduced by the reproducing device from among a plurality of program recording data generated by the recording device so as to include the recording time and the program content. When displaying a program selection screen to be displayed on a display device, image data about a thumbnail image for each program is generated based on each program recording data, and each thumbnail image of each program is used as the program selection screen. Thumbnails arranged in the first arrangement direction in the order of the recording time and displayed on the display device, and displayed at a predetermined reference position among the thumbnail images arranged and displayed in the first arrangement direction. For each program corresponding to an image, each thumbnail image of each program satisfying a predetermined condition of the program content is set as the reference position. There wherein on the display device side by side in a second arrangement direction intersecting the first array direction.

  According to this playback control device and display control method, as a program selection screen, each thumbnail image of each program is displayed side by side in the first arrangement direction in the order of recording time, and corresponds to the thumbnail image displayed at the reference position. By displaying the thumbnail images of the programs that satisfy the predetermined condition for the program to be displayed side by side in the second arrangement direction intersecting the first arrangement direction at the reference position, for example, recording time and genre 2 Based on one condition, a program selection screen for easily finding a desired program can be displayed on the display device. Therefore, it is possible to easily select a desired program with few key operations and quickly start reproduction of the corresponding program recording data.

  In addition, the playback control device according to the present invention is configured so that, when an operation signal indicating that the predetermined condition is switched is output from the operation unit, the control unit causes the program to satisfy the switched predetermined condition. Are specified based on the program recording data, and the thumbnail images of the specified programs are arranged in the second arrangement direction and displayed on the display device.

  According to this reproduction control apparatus, when an operation signal for switching the predetermined condition is output, the thumbnail images of the programs that satisfy the new predetermined condition that are switched are arranged in the second arrangement direction. By displaying, it is possible to specify a condition suitable for finding the desired program and display the program selection screen, so that it is easier to achieve compared to a configuration in which conditions other than the recording time are fixed. Can be selected.

  Furthermore, the playback control device according to the present invention is configured so that, when an operation signal for excluding the played program from the selection candidates is output from the operation unit, the control unit displays the first program on the program selection screen. The thumbnail images to be displayed side by side in at least one of the second arrangement direction and the second arrangement direction are constituted by the thumbnail images of the unreproduced programs.

  According to this reproduction control apparatus, when an operation signal for excluding a reproduced program from selection candidates is output, at least one of the first arrangement direction and the second arrangement direction is displayed on the program selection screen. By configuring the thumbnail images to be displayed side by side in the arrangement direction with the thumbnail images of each program that has not been played, only thumbnail images of the programs that have not been played can be displayed as selection candidates on the program selection screen. When a desired program is selected from the programs and reproduced, the desired program can be selected more quickly and easily.

  Further, according to the playback control device of the present invention, the control unit specifies each program satisfying other conditions different from the predetermined condition based on the program recording data, and the specified program The thumbnail images are arranged in a third arrangement direction that intersects the first arrangement direction at the reference position, and are displayed on the display device.

  According to this playback control apparatus, on the program selection screen, the thumbnail images of the programs that satisfy conditions different from the predetermined conditions are displayed side by side in the third arrangement direction that intersects the first arrangement direction at the reference position. Thus, by referring to the thumbnail images extracted according to various conditions, it is possible to easily specify conditions suitable for finding a desired program. Therefore, a desired program can be selected more quickly and easily.

  Hereinafter, the best mode of a playback control device and a display control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A recording / playback apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an apparatus in which a playback control apparatus according to the present invention and a recording apparatus and a playback apparatus according to the present invention are integrated, and various images are displayed on a display device 2 as an external device. Can be displayed. The recording / playback apparatus 1 includes a tuner 11, a recording processing unit 12, a reservation data storage unit 13, a recording data storage unit 14, a playback processing unit 15, a data output unit 16, an operation unit 17, a light receiving unit 18, and a switch operation processing unit 19. And a main control unit 20. Further, the recording / playback apparatus 1 is configured to be remotely operable by the remote controller 3. In this case, the remote controller 3 is a dedicated remote controller attached to the recording / reproducing apparatus 1. For example, the up / down / left / right arrow keys, the determination (reproduction) key, the fast-forward key, the rewind key, the ESC key, and the MENU key. Are arranged (not shown).

  The tuner 11 receives various broadcast signals S of terrestrial analog broadcast, terrestrial digital broadcast, BS digital broadcast, and 110 degree CS digital broadcast and outputs received data D2 as an example according to the control of the recording processing unit 12. Under the control of the main control unit 20, the recording processing unit 12 controls the tuner 11 to receive a broadcast signal S of a predetermined channel, and generates program recording data D3 based on the reception data D2 output from the tuner 11. Then, the generated program recording data D3 is stored in the recording data storage unit 14. The process for generating the program recording data D3 based on the reception data D2 will be described in detail later. The reservation data storage unit 13 stores recording reservation data D1 for executing recording processing by the recording processing unit 12 of a program designated (recorded reservation) by an operation of the remote controller 3, the operation unit 17, or the like. As an example, the recording data storage unit 14 includes a hard disk drive, and stores a plurality of program recording data D3 generated by the recording processing unit 12.

  Under the control of the main control unit 20, the reproduction processing unit 15 reads program recording data D3 designated from a plurality of programs (specifically, program recording data D3) stored in the recording data storage unit 14 and reads program video Data D4 is generated, and the generated program video data D4 is output to the data output unit 16. The data output unit 16 outputs program video data D4 output from the reproduction processing unit 15 and display screen data D5 output from the main control unit 20 to the display device 2 as will be described later. The operation unit 17 includes various keys similar to those of the remote controller 3 described above, and outputs an operation signal S2 corresponding to the key operation to the switch operation processing unit 19. The recording / playback apparatus 1 is configured to be able to perform substantially the same operation regardless of which of the remote controller 3 and the operation unit 17 is operated. Therefore, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, an operation according to a key operation of the remote controller 3 will be described as an example. The light receiving unit 18 receives the operation signal S1 output from the remote controller 3, generates an operation signal S2, and outputs the operation signal S2 to the switch operation processing unit 19. The switch operation processing unit 19 generates an operation signal S3 based on the operation signal S2 output from the operation unit 17 and the light receiving unit 18, and outputs the operation signal S3 to the main control unit 20.

  The main control unit 20 corresponds to the control unit in the present invention, and comprehensively controls the recording / playback apparatus 1. Specifically, the main control unit 20 performs the recording process according to the operation signal S3 output from the switch operation processing unit 19 (in accordance with the operation of the remote controller 3 or the like) in the recording reservation process for the program to be recorded by the recording processing unit 12. The recording reservation data D1 is generated by controlling the unit 12 and stored in the reservation data storage unit 13. As will be described later, the main control unit 20 performs program selection processing for selecting program recording data D3 (program) to be reproduced from among a large number of program recording data D3 stored in the recording data storage unit 14. The display screen data D5 for displaying the program selection screen 30 shown in FIG. 2 is generated and output to the data output unit 16 (display device 2). Further, the main control unit 20 controls the reproduction processing unit 15 when a predetermined program is selected in a state where the program selection screen 30 is displayed, and selects the selected program recording data D3, that is, the selected program. A playback process for playing back is executed.

  Next, recording reservation processing and recording processing in the recording / playback apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. When a predetermined program is recorded by the recording / playback apparatus 1, first, a recording reservation screen (not shown) is displayed by operating the MENU key of the remote controller 3. At this time, the main control unit 20 generates display screen data D5 for the recording reservation screen and causes the data output unit 16 to output it to the display device 2. Next, after a recording channel, broadcast time (recording start time), broadcast time (time for continuing the recording process, or recording end time), and recording conditions such as recording image quality are designated by a key operation, a reservation confirmation operation is performed. When executed (when the operation signal S3 accompanying the operation of the enter key is output), the main control unit 20 outputs the control signal S4 to the recording processing unit 12 so that the above-described recording conditions are satisfied. Recording reservation data D1 is generated. At this time, the recording processing unit 12 generates one unique ID for one recording reservation, and includes the generated ID and the value for the recording condition in the recording reservation data D1 to make reservation data. The data is stored in the storage unit 13. Thereby, the recording reservation process is completed.

  In this case, in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1, when changing the existing recording reservation (recording reservation data D1 stored in the reservation data storage unit 13) for the above ID, a new ID is not assigned. The ID generated at the time of the new recording reservation process (generated when the recording reservation data D1 is generated) continues to be used. For example, when the same series of programs is sequentially recorded a plurality of times as in “continuous drama”, the recording reservation data D1 for each time of the continuous drama is set by performing the setting operation at the time of recording reservation. Are given the same ID.

  On the other hand, the recording processing unit 12 monitors a timer (not shown) and monitors the recording reservation data D1 stored in the reservation data storage unit 13 to determine that the recording start time has arrived. By outputting S5 to the tuner 11, the broadcast signal S of the channel corresponding to the content of the recording reservation data D1 is received. Accordingly, the tuner 11 receives a predetermined broadcast signal S, generates reception data D2, and outputs it to the recording processing unit 12. At this time, the recording processing unit 12 is based on EPG (Electric Program Guide) information included in the reception data D2, and a genre (for example, “drama”) to which the program of the reception data D2 belongs and a program name (title) ) Is specified, and this information (an example of “program content” in the present invention) is added to the received data D2 to generate program recording data D3. In addition, when the program recording data D3 is generated, the recording processing unit 12 adds information on the recording time and the ID included in the recording reservation data D1 to the reception data D2. Next, the recording processing unit 12 stores the generated program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. Thereby, a series of recording processing based on the recording reservation data D1 is completed.

  Next, a reproduction process for selecting and reproducing the program recording data D3 corresponding to a desired program from the program recording data D3 stored in the recording data storage unit 14 will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the program selection screen 30 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display device 2 by operating the MENU key of the remote controller 3. The program selection screen 30 is a display screen for selecting a program desired to be reproduced from among a plurality of program recording data D3 stored in the recording data storage unit 14, and corresponds to each program recording data D3. A plurality of thumbnail images 31 of each program are displayed side by side vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, and a program content display 33 for displaying the program content of the program corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 surrounded by the cursor display 32; An operation explanation display 34 for explaining key operations in a state where the program selection screen 30 is displayed is displayed.

  When displaying the program selection screen 30, the main control unit 20 displays the program selection screen 30 in accordance with the operation signal S3 output from the switch operation processing unit 19 (a signal for displaying the program selection screen 30). Screen data D5 is generated and output to the data output unit 16. Specifically, first, based on each program recording data D3 stored in the recording data storage unit 14, thumbnail image data (an example of image data in the present invention) for a program corresponding to each program recording data D3 is obtained. Generate. The thumbnail image data is generated by the main control unit 20 when the program selection screen 30 is displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and a configuration in which the main control unit 20 generates in advance based on each program recording data D3 and stores it in the recording data storage unit 14 or the like can be adopted. The main control unit 20 is not limited to the configuration for generating thumbnail image data. For example, the recording processing unit 12 generates a thumbnail image when the program recording data D3 is generated and stores the thumbnail image in the recording data storage unit 14. You can also

  Next, the main control unit 20 sorts the program recording data D3 in the order of the recording time based on the recording time information included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the programs corresponding to the program recording data D3 are displayed side by side in the order of the recording times from the top to the bottom (in the direction of arrow E) in the center in the width direction of the program selection screen 30. In this example, the direction of the arrow E shown in the figure corresponds to the first arrangement direction in the present invention. In FIG. 3 and FIGS. 3 to 9 to be referred to later, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, “Aa7”, “Ca5”, etc. are used instead of the thumbnail images generated based on the program recording data D3. Is displayed in the display area of the thumbnail image 31. In this case, the recording / playback apparatus 1 employs a configuration in which, for example, thumbnail images 31 for nine programs in the direction of arrow E including the thumbnail image 31 at the reference position P are displayed in the order of recording time.

  Further, the thumbnail images 31 other than the nine thumbnail images 31 are displayed in the program selection screen 30 by scrolling the thumbnail images 31 when the up / down key of the remote controller 3 or the like is operated as described later. Can do. In this case, in this recording / playback apparatus 1, the recorded data storage unit 14 is configured such that the thumbnail image 31 with the earliest (oldest) recording time and the thumbnail image 31 with the latest (newest) recording time are connected. A configuration is adopted in which a plurality of thumbnail images 31 corresponding to all the program recording data D3 are virtually connected in an annular shape, and the respective thumbnail images 31 connected in an annular shape are scroll-displayed by operating the up and down keys. Has been.

  Next, the program recording data D3 corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P in the center of the program selection screen 30 based on the ID included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. The program recording data D3 to which the same ID is assigned, that is, the program of the same series as the program of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed side by side in the order of the recording time from the left to the right (in the direction of arrow F) in the center of the program selection screen 30 in the vertical direction, and displayed on each thumbnail image 31. An arrangement condition display 35 representing a condition common to the corresponding program (a predetermined condition in the present invention) is displayed on the program selection screen 30. In this example, the direction of the arrow F shown in the figure corresponds to the second arrangement direction in the present invention. In this case, the recording / playback apparatus 1 employs a configuration in which, for example, the thumbnail images 31 of nine programs in the direction of arrow F including the thumbnail image 31 at the reference position P are displayed in the order of the recording time.

  Next, the same genre as the program of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P in the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30 based on the shawl data included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. A program (in this example, a program whose genre is “drama”) is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed side by side in the order of recording times from the lower left to the upper right of the program selection screen 30 (in the direction of arrow G). In this example, the direction of the arrow G shown in the figure corresponds to an example of the third arrangement direction in the present invention. In this case, the recording / playback apparatus 1 employs a configuration in which, for example, thumbnail images 31 for nine programs in the direction of arrow G including the thumbnail image 31 at the reference position P are displayed in the order of recording times.

  Next, based on the title information included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14, the program title of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P in the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30 The program recording data D3 of the program whose title is similar to the constituent character string is specified. Specifically, the titles of the programs are sorted, for example, in the order of the Japanese syllabary based on the program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14, and the titles of the programs in the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P are displayed. An approximate title program (program recording data D3) is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed side by side in the title order (for example, the order of the Japanese syllabary) from the lower left to the upper right of the program selection screen 30 (in the direction of the arrow H). In this example, the direction of the arrow H shown in the figure corresponds to another example of the third arrangement direction in the present invention. In this case, the recording / playback apparatus 1 employs a configuration in which, for example, the thumbnail images 31 of nine programs in the direction of the arrow H including the thumbnail image 31 at the reference position P are displayed in order of the recording time.

  At this time, when the arrow key (“down key” as an example) of the remote controller 3 is operated, the main control unit 20 follows the operation signal S3 from the switch operation processing unit 19 in the direction of the arrow E on the program selection screen 30. The thumbnail images 31 arranged side by side are scrolled upward, and the thumbnail images 31 arranged in the directions of arrows F, G, and H according to the program of the thumbnail image 31 newly displayed at the reference position P are displayed. Change the display. Specifically, for each thumbnail image 31 displayed in the direction of arrow E before the operation of the arrow key, the thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Ab7”) displayed at the top is displayed on the program selection screen. As shown in FIG. 3, each thumbnail image 31 below the deleted thumbnail image 31 is moved upward one by one, and the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the bottom (in this example) , “Aa8”), a thumbnail image 31 (“Ba11” in this example) of the program recorded next to the program corresponding to the program is displayed at the bottom. As a result, as shown in the figure, the program “Aa7” is displayed at the reference position P in the center of the screen, instead of the thumbnail image 31 of “Aa7” displayed at the reference position P before the operation of the arrow key. Next, a thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Ba7”) of the recorded program is displayed.

  For each thumbnail image 31 that was displayed in the directions of the arrows F, G, and H before the operation of the arrow key, the thumbnail image 31 that was displayed at the reference position P (in this example, “Aa7”). All the thumbnail images 31 except for them are erased from the program selection screen 30 and, as shown in FIG. 3, the program of the thumbnail image 31 (“Ba7” in this example) newly displayed at the reference position P is used as a reference. As described above, programs of the same series, programs of the same genre, and programs of similar titles are identified and corresponding thumbnail images 31 of the corresponding programs are displayed side by side in the directions of arrows F, G, and H, respectively. . As a result, a new program selection screen 30 based on the thumbnail image 31 with “Ba7” is displayed on the display device 2.

  Next, the main control unit 20 applies the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P at the center of the program selection screen 30 based on the ID included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. The program recording data D3 assigned the same ID as the corresponding program recording data D3, that is, the program recording data D3 of the same series as the program of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed side by side in the order of recording time in the direction of arrow F in the center of the program selection screen 30 in the vertical direction. Next, the same genre as the program of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P in the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30 based on the shawl data included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14. Program recording data D3 of a program (in this example, a program whose genre is “sports relay”) is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed in the order of recording time in the direction of arrow G on the program selection screen 30.

  Next, based on the title information included in each program recording data D3 in the recording data storage unit 14, the program title of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P in the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30 A program with a title that is similar to the constituent character string is specified. Subsequently, the thumbnail images 31 of the specified programs are displayed side by side in the title order in the direction of the arrow H on the program selection screen 30. Thereby, based on the new display screen data D5 output from the main control unit 20, as shown in the figure, the program corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P by the operation of the arrow key is used as a reference. A new program selection screen 30 is displayed on the display device 2.

  At this time, when, for example, a fast-forward key of the remote controller 3 is operated, the main control unit 20 operates the operation signal S3 from the switch operation processing unit 19 (an example of an “operation signal for switching a predetermined condition” in the present invention). The thumbnail images 31 that have been displayed side by side in the direction of arrow F on the program selection screen 30 before the fast-forward key are operated are rearranged in the direction of arrow H, and the thumbnails that are displayed side by side in the direction of arrow G are displayed. The images 31 are arranged and displayed in the direction of the arrow F, and the thumbnail images 31 arranged and displayed in the direction of the arrow H are arranged and displayed in the direction of the arrow G. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the thumbnail images 31 of the programs belonging to the same genre are displayed on the left and right sides of the thumbnail image 31 displayed at the reference position P (“switched new predetermined An example of a process of “displaying thumbnail images of programs satisfying the above condition side by side in the second arrangement direction”). At this time, a message of “same genre” is displayed as the array condition display 35.

  When the operation of the MENU key on the remote controller 3 or the like instructs to hide the thumbnail image 31 for the already played program, the main control unit 20 receives the operation signal S3 (from the switch operation processing unit 19). In accordance with “an example of an operation signal for excluding a reproduced program from selection candidates” in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, only thumbnail images 31 of unreproduced programs are extracted and directions of arrows E to H are extracted. Are displayed side by side in the program selection screen 30. At this time, thumbnail images 31 (“Bb6” and “Bb4” displayed side by side in the direction of the arrow F and “Bc6” and “Bc5” displayed side by side in the direction of the arrow G are displayed for the already played programs. ”And the like are deleted from the program selection screen 30 and a message of“ same genre (unreproduced) ”is displayed as the arrangement condition display 35.

  Next, when a desired program is selected, the determination key or the reproduction key is operated in a state where the cursor display 32 is superimposed on one of the thumbnail images 31 displayed in the program selection screen 30. Specifically, by operating an arrow key (for example, the left key), the cursor display 32 is superimposed on the thumbnail image 31 of “Bb5” as shown in FIG. At this time, the program content of the program corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 on which the cursor display 32 is newly superimposed is displayed on the program content display 33. Next, for example, the enter key is operated. At this time, as an example, the main control unit 20 displays a message “Program name: Bb5 to be reproduced. Are you sure?” On the display device 2, and the operation signal S 3 from the switch operation processing unit 19. Based on this, when it is determined that the determination key has been operated again, the control signal S6 is output to the reproduction processing unit 15 to start the reproduction process of the program recording data D3 corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 of “Bb5”.

  In response to this, the reproduction processing unit 15 reads predetermined program recording data D3 (in this example, program recording data D3 corresponding to “Bb5”) from the recording data storage unit 14 to generate program video data D4. The generated program video data D4 is output to the data output unit 16. Further, the data output unit 16 outputs the program video data D4 output from the reproduction processing unit 15 to the display device 2. As a result, an image based on the program recording data D3 is displayed on the display screen of the display device 2 instead of the program selection screen 30.

  As described above, according to the display control method by the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the main control unit 20, the thumbnail images 31 of the programs are displayed in the first arrangement direction (in this example, in the order of the recording time) as the program selection screen 30. For the program corresponding to the thumbnail image 31 displayed side by side in the direction of the arrow E shown in FIG. 2 and displayed at the reference position P, the program content is a predetermined condition (in this example, “same series”, “ A second arrangement direction (in this example, shown in FIG. 2) that intersects the first arrangement direction at the reference position P with the thumbnail images 31 of the programs satisfying “same genre” and “approximate title”. By displaying them side by side in the direction of arrow F), for example, a program selection screen 30 on which the desired program can be easily found based on the two conditions of recording time and genre is displayed on the display device 2. It can be. Accordingly, it is possible to easily select a desired program with few key operations and quickly start reproduction of the corresponding program recording data D3.

  Further, according to the display control method by the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the main control unit 20, when the operation signal S3 for switching the predetermined condition is output, each of the new predetermined conditions that are switched is satisfied. By displaying the thumbnail images 31 of the programs side by side in the second arrangement direction described above, the program selection screen 30 can be displayed by specifying conditions suitable for finding the desired program. The desired program can be selected more easily as compared with the configuration in which the above condition is fixed.

  Further, according to the display control method by the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 and the main control unit 20, when the operation signal S3 for excluding the reproduced program from the selection candidates is output, the first selection is performed on the program selection screen 30. By configuring each thumbnail image 31 to be displayed side by side in at least one of the arrangement direction of the second arrangement direction and the thumbnail image 31 of each program that has not been reproduced, only the thumbnail image 31 of the program that has not been reproduced is included. Since it can be displayed on the program selection screen 30 as a selection candidate (thumbnail image 31), when selecting and playing a desired program from among unreproduced programs, the desired program is selected more quickly and easily. can do.

  Further, according to the display control method by the recording / playback apparatus 1 and the main control unit 20, the thumbnail image 31 of each program that satisfies other conditions different from the predetermined condition intersects the first arrangement direction at the reference position P. By arranging and displaying in the third arrangement direction (in this example, the directions of arrows G and H shown in FIG. 2), a desired program can be selected by referring to each thumbnail image 31 extracted according to various conditions. Conditions suitable for finding can be easily identified. Therefore, a desired program can be selected more quickly and easily.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said structure. For example, when the left key is operated in a state where the program selection screen 30 is displayed, as shown in FIG. 6, the cursor display 32 is moved from the reference position P to the left thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Bb5”). Although the display control method to be moved upward has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, as an example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the left key is operated in a state where the thumbnail image 31 of “Ba7” is displayed at the reference position P as shown in FIG. The thumbnail images 31 displayed side by side in the direction of the arrow F on the selection screen 30 are scrolled to the right, and the arrows E, G, and H are displayed in accordance with the program of the thumbnail image 31 to be newly displayed at the reference position P. A display control method for changing the display of the thumbnail images 31 arranged in each direction can be employed. In this method, for each thumbnail image 31 displayed in the direction of arrow F before the operation of the arrow key, the thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Bb19”) displayed at the right end is displayed from the program selection screen 30. In addition to deleting, each thumbnail image 31 on the left side of the deleted thumbnail image 31 is moved to the right one by one and recorded before the program of the thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Bb1”) located at the left end. The thumbnail image 31 ("Bb0" in this example) of the program of the same genre is displayed at the left end.

  For each thumbnail image 31 that was displayed in the directions of arrows E, G, and H before the operation of the arrow key, the thumbnail image 31 that was displayed at the reference position P (in this example, “Ba7”). All the thumbnail images 31 except for them are deleted from the program selection screen 30 and, as shown in FIG. 7, the program of the thumbnail image 31 (in this example, “Bb5”) newly displayed at the reference position P is used as a reference. As described above, each thumbnail image of each corresponding program by identifying the program with the same recording time (recorded immediately before and immediately after) as the program “Bb5”, the program with the similar title, and the program of the same series. 31 are displayed side by side in the directions of arrows E, G, and H, respectively. As a result, a new program selection screen 30 based on the thumbnail image 31 of “Bb5” is displayed on the display device 2. By adopting such a display control method, it becomes possible to select a desired program more easily.

  Further, for example, in the recording / playback apparatus 1 described above, the second arrangement direction in the present invention (in this example, the direction of the arrow F shown in FIG. 2) and the third arrangement direction in the present invention (in this example, FIG. 2 is employed so that the program selection screen 30 is displayed in such a manner that the program selection screen 30 is different from the direction of arrows G and H shown in FIG. In addition, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which each thumbnail image 31 is displayed so that the second arrangement direction and the third arrangement direction in the present invention coincide with each other in the direction of the arrow I. In the recording / playback apparatus 1 described above, the reference position P is fixed at the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30, and each of the vertical positions corresponding to the first arrangement direction in the present invention when the up / down key is operated. Although the configuration for scrolling the thumbnail image 31 has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the down key is operated in the state shown in FIG. 8, as shown in FIG. 9, the cursor display 32 is moved downward to move the reference position P downward from the center of the screen of the program selection screen 30A. In this way, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the program selection screen 30A is changed (the arrangement position of each thumbnail image 31 is changed).

  Furthermore, the configuration in which the thumbnail images 31 are displayed side by side with the first arrangement direction in the present invention as the vertical direction and the second arrangement direction in the present invention as the left-right direction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a configuration in which the thumbnail images 31 are displayed side by side in various directions can be employed. In addition, the “predetermined conditions” in the present invention include not only the conditions such as “same series”, “same genre” and “approximate title” as described above, but also various conditions arbitrarily defined by the user. It can be configured to be used as a predetermined condition in the invention.

  Also, the recording / playback apparatus 1 in which the playback control apparatus according to the present invention and the recording apparatus and playback apparatus according to the present invention are integrally configured has been described as an example, but the recording apparatus and playback apparatus as external devices are controlled. The present invention can be applied to a reproduction control apparatus configured to be possible. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a playback control device according to the present invention, and a display device with a recording / playback function in which all of the recording device, the playback device, and the display device of the present invention are integrated. In addition, the program in the present invention is not limited to a program supplied using the broadcast signal S that can be received by the tuner 11 as a medium, and is distributed via various communication networks such as the Internet and various recording media such as a DVD. This includes various programs.

1 is a block diagram of a recording / playback apparatus 1. FIG. It is a display screen figure of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display apparatus 2. FIG. It is another display screen figure of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display apparatus 2. FIG. FIG. 14 is still another display screen diagram of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display device 2. FIG. 14 is still another display screen diagram of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display device 2. FIG. 14 is still another display screen diagram of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display device 2. FIG. 14 is still another display screen diagram of the program selection screen 30 displayed on the display device 2. It is a display screen figure of the program selection screen 30A displayed on the display device 2. It is another display screen figure of the program selection screen 30A displayed on the display device 2.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Recording / reproducing apparatus, 2 Display apparatus, 3 Remote control, 12 Recording processing part, 13 Reservation data storage part, 14 Recording data storage part, 15 Playback processing part, 16 Data output part, 17 Operation part, 18 Light receiving part, 19 Switch operation Processing unit, 20 main control unit, 30, 30A program selection screen, 31 thumbnail image, D3 program recording data, D4 program video data, D5 display screen data, P reference position, S1-S3 operation signal, S4-S6 control signal

Claims (5)

Control for displaying on the display device a program selection screen for selecting a program corresponding to the program recording data reproduced by the reproducing device from among a plurality of program recording data generated by the recording device so as to include the recording time and the program content. A playback control device comprising a unit,
The control unit generates image data for the thumbnail image for each program based on the program recording data, and uses the thumbnail images of the programs as a program selection screen in the order of the recording time. For the program corresponding to the thumbnail image displayed at a predetermined reference position among the thumbnail images arranged and displayed in the display device and arranged in the first arrangement direction. A reproduction control apparatus for displaying the thumbnail images of the programs satisfying a predetermined condition in the second arrangement direction at the reference position in a second arrangement direction intersecting the first arrangement direction on the display device.   The control unit, when an operation signal for switching the predetermined condition is output from the operation unit, specifies the program that satisfies the switched predetermined condition based on the program recording data. The playback control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thumbnail images of the specified programs are arranged in the second arrangement direction and displayed on the display device.   When the operation signal for excluding the reproduced program from the selection candidates is output from the operation unit, the control unit displays the first arrangement direction and the second arrangement direction on the program selection screen. The playback control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thumbnail images to be displayed side by side in at least one of the arrangement directions are configured with the thumbnail images of the unreproduced programs.   The control unit identifies each program satisfying a condition different from the predetermined condition based on the program recording data, and each thumbnail image of each identified program is the first arrangement at the reference position. The reproduction | regeneration control apparatus in any one of Claim 1 to 3 displayed on the said display apparatus along with the 3rd array direction which cross | intersects a direction.   When displaying on the display device a program selection screen for selecting a program corresponding to the program recording data reproduced by the reproducing device from among a plurality of program recording data generated by the recording device so as to include the recording time and the program content In addition, image data for the thumbnail images for each program is generated based on the program recording data, and the thumbnail images of the programs are arranged in the first arrangement direction in the order of the recording times as the program selection screen. The program corresponding to the thumbnail image displayed at a predetermined reference position among the thumbnail images displayed side by side on the display device and displayed side by side in the first arrangement direction. Each thumbnail image of each program whose contents satisfy a predetermined condition intersects the first arrangement direction at the reference position. Display control method for displaying on the display device side by side in the second arrangement direction.

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