JP2007306428A - Television broadcast receiver and viewing restriction method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily set viewing restriction by unit of time. <P>SOLUTION: When a television broadcast signal is received, input of viewing restriction time setting information and personal identification number information for releasing viewing restriction setting is prestored, viewing restriction starting time information in the stored viewing restriction time information is compared with the present time, viewing restriction processing is performed when it is determined that both time coincide with each other and the viewing restriction is released when input of a personal identification number which is the same as the prestored personal identification number information is accepted while the viewing is restricted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiver and a viewing restriction method, and more particularly to a technique for restricting viewing of a television broadcast.

  Conventionally, parental lock (viewing age restriction) is a method for restricting the playback of video and audio for various programs broadcast from broadcast stations that contain content that is undesirable for young viewers. )It has been known. Parental lock is a function that prevents you from viewing broadcasts unless you enter a pre-registered PIN for a specific program. The setting is based on rating data provided by the broadcast station. Done. Rating data is rating level information obtained as a result of rating (rating) each program according to its contents. Depending on the rating level, each program can be viewed by anyone regardless of age, for example. The program is classified into a good program and a program that can be viewed if it is 13 years old or older.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151858 discloses that when a rating data satisfies a predetermined condition set in advance, a channel of a program corresponding to the rating data is made unusable by a tuner.
JP 2004-187328 A

  By the way, even if you want to restrict viewing at a simple time interval regardless of viewing age, you can only apply parental lock settings. In that case, viewing is restricted on a program-by-program basis. There was a problem that the program was aired even after the time when it was necessary to limit viewing or watching.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object thereof is to make it easy to set viewing restrictions in units of time.

  In the present invention, when a television broadcast signal is received, viewing restriction time setting information and personal identification number information for canceling the viewing restriction setting are stored in advance, and the viewing restriction start time in the stored viewing restriction time information is stored. When the information is compared with the current time and it is determined that both times match, the viewing restriction process is performed, and in the state where the viewing restriction is applied, the input of the same personal identification number as the previously stored personal identification number information is accepted. In such a case, the viewing restriction is released.

  In this way, when the time at which the viewing restriction is to be started comes, it is determined that the viewing restriction start time as the viewing restriction time setting information registered in advance matches the current time, The restriction process is performed. In addition, when the input of a password is accepted during the viewing restriction time, the viewing restriction is released.

  According to the present invention, since the viewing restriction process is performed when the preset viewing restriction start time comes, it is possible to perform a simple operation only by setting the viewing restriction start time and end time. Thus, it is possible to reliably limit viewing.

  In this case, the viewing restriction can be released by a simple operation of inputting a password registered in advance.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a television receiver to which the processing configuration of this example is applied. The television receiver 100 of this example includes an antenna 101 and a tuner 102, and the antenna 101 receives radio waves of a channel selected by the tuner 102. The radio wave received by the antenna 101 is encoded by, for example, the MPEG2 system, and the radio wave received by the antenna 101 is demodulated by the tuner 102 and returned to a TS (Transport Stream) packet sent from the broadcasting station. The demultiplexing unit 103 demultiplexes multiplexed information such as video, audio, data broadcast data, SI (Service Information: program arrangement information) included in the TS packet, and if it is a video / audio packet, it is audio It is sent to the video signal decoding unit 104, and if it is a data packet, it is sent to the control unit 120.

  The audio / video signal decoding unit 104 decodes the audio signal and the video signal. If the audio / video signal decoding unit 104 is an audio, the audio / video signal decoding unit 104 outputs the audio signal and the video signal. The image display processing unit 106 superimposes the video signal decoded by the audio / video signal decoding unit 104 and the subtitles or data broadcast image processed by the control unit 120 and sends them to the display unit 108. The display unit 108 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal panel or a plasma display panel (PDP), and displays data sent from the image display processing unit 106 as a moving image or a still image.

  The memory 107 is composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores various processing programs, stores receiver setting contents, and the like. Such information is stored. The communication unit 109 is configured by a modem, a network card, or the like, and is connected to a telephone line, the Internet, or the like to perform communication in a data broadcasting interactive service. The remote control signal receiving unit 110 is provided as an input receiving unit, receives a signal from a remote controller (not shown), and is controlled by the control unit 120. The setting of a viewing time limit, which will be described later, is also accepted by an operation of the remote controller, and an instruction received from the remote controller is transmitted to the control unit 120 via the remote control signal receiving unit 110. The control unit 120 controls each process described above, and also performs a viewing restriction process at the time of viewing time restriction, which will be described later.

  Next, a setting example of viewing time restriction will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the control unit 120 determines that the remote control signal transmitted when the user presses a predetermined button of the remote controller is received by the remote control signal receiving unit 110, the image display processing unit 106 Based on the above process, a menu screen is displayed on the display unit 108 (step S11). Next, when the “viewing time limit setting menu” is selected from the menu screen displayed on the display unit 108 by a predetermined operation of the user (step S12), the display is performed based on the processing of the image display processing unit 106. A message prompting the user to set a password is displayed on unit 108 (step S13). Here, the personal identification number is a personal identification number used when canceling the viewing restriction setting described later. When the password is input by the user via the remote controller, the input password is stored in the memory 107 under the control of the control unit 120. After the password is input, the viewing time limit setting screen is displayed on the display unit 108 based on the processing of the image display processing unit 106. When the user inputs viewing time restriction through the remote controller, the inputted viewing time restriction information is stored in the memory 107.

  3A and 3B show examples of the menu screen displayed in step S11. FIG. 3A shows a menu screen composed of items such as display settings, recording settings, connection device settings, etc., and menus such as “password setting” and “viewing age restriction setting” under “other settings”. In addition, a state in which the item “viewing time limit setting” is registered is shown. FIG. 3B shows an example in which “viewing time limit setting” is selected from the menu screen. FIG. 3C shows an example of a viewing time restriction setting screen. When a number is input from the remote controller or an up / down key is moved, the start time and the end time of the time at which viewing is restricted on this screen are displayed. The time can be registered. In FIG. 3C, the start time and end time of the time at which viewing is restricted can be set. However, the day of the week and date may be set, such as “weekdays only” and “holiday only”. ”,“ Everyday ”, etc. may be set repeatedly. FIG. 4 shows an example of the “password setting” screen displayed in step S13. In FIG. 4, the code number is set to 4 digits, but may be set to other numbers such as 3 digits or 6 digits.

  Next, an example of the viewing time restriction process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S <b> 21, it is determined whether the current time is the same as the viewing restriction start time stored in the memory 107. The current time is described in a TOT (Time Offset Table) transmitted from the broadcasting station every 5 seconds, and the TOT is multiplexed and transmitted in a TS packet as a component of SI. When the control unit 120 determines that the time described in the TOT and the viewing restriction start time stored in the memory 107 coincide with each other, a message that prompts the user to enter a viewing restriction time start and a password. It is displayed on the display unit 108 (step S22).

  An example of the screen displayed at this time is shown in FIG. A 4-digit password entry field is displayed along with the message “Time limit for viewing has been reached. Please enter your password when viewing.”

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the description will be continued. While the screen displayed in step S22 is displayed, whether or not a password is input by the user is monitored (step S23), and the input of the password is not confirmed. If not, it is determined whether or not the non-input time has passed 10 minutes (step S24). If it has not elapsed, a screen for accepting a password is displayed. If it is determined that 10 minutes have elapsed, switching to the standby screen is performed based on the control of the control unit 120 (step S25). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the user performs a power-on operation (step S26). If the operation cannot be detected, the television broadcast receiving device 100 is powered off based on the control of the control unit 120 ( Step 27). If a power-on operation has been performed, the process returns to step S21. In this example, the password non-input time is set to 10 minutes, but the setting of the password non-input time is not limited to this.

  If it is confirmed in step S23 that the user has entered the personal identification number, it is determined whether or not the inputted personal identification number matches the personal identification number stored in the memory 107 (step S28). If it is determined that the passwords are different, the password input screen is continuously displayed. If it is determined that the passwords match, the viewing restriction is removed and the viewer can continue viewing (step S29). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the user performs a power-off operation (step S30). When the power-off operation is detected, the television broadcast receiving device 100 is turned off based on the control of the control unit 120. (Step 27). If the power-off operation is not performed and viewing continues, the process returns to step S21.

  Further, in the state where viewing restriction is applied, when an emergency warning broadcast start signal is received, the restriction on viewing restriction is released, and a processing example in this case is shown in the flowchart of FIG. At the start of emergency alert broadcasting, the broadcast station changes the value of the emergency alert broadcast identifier in the TMCC (Transmission and Multiplexing) signal to “1: with activation control” and transmits the signal. In step S41, the start of the emergency alert broadcast is monitored by the control unit 120 by the method of confirming the value of the emergency alert broadcast identifier in the TMCC signal received from the broadcast station, and the start of the emergency alert broadcast is confirmed. In this case, based on the processing of the image display processing unit 106, a message for confirming whether or not to broadcast the emergency warning broadcast is displayed on the display unit 108 (step S42). An example of the message displayed on the display unit 108 is shown in FIG. The message “Emergency warning broadcast has started. Do you want to watch the broadcast?” Is displayed, and the user determines whether or not to view the emergency warning broadcast by selecting the “View” or “Back” button. It can be selected.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 7 and continuing the description, in a state where selection of whether or not to view the emergency alert broadcast is requested (step S43), when the “view” button is selected by the user, the display unit 108 is displayed. Then, an emergency warning broadcast is broadcast (step S44). When the user selects the “Return” button and refuses to view the emergency alert broadcast, the viewing restriction is applied and the screen prompting the input of the password is displayed again on the display unit 108 (step S46). ).

  Similarly to the start of the emergency alert broadcast, the end of the emergency alert broadcast can be determined by the change in the value of the emergency alert broadcast identifier. The end of the emergency alert broadcast is determined by the value of the emergency alert broadcast identifier being “1: Start control”. To “0: No start control” is notified. When the end of the emergency warning broadcast is monitored by the control unit 120 (step S45), when the end of the emergency warning broadcast is recognized, a screen prompting the input of the password is displayed again on the display unit 108 (step S45). S46). While the end of the emergency warning broadcast is not recognized, the emergency warning broadcast is broadcast.

  As described above, according to the television broadcast receiving apparatus of the present example, the viewing restriction can be set only by setting the time as in the operation in the video recording reservation, so that the convenience for the user is improved.

  In addition, by setting the time, the viewing restriction always starts at the specified time, so it is possible to start the viewing restriction surely when the set time arrives at a hospital where the turn-off time is fixed. It becomes.

  In addition, since the standby state is automatically switched when a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of viewing restriction, power consumption can be suppressed.

  In the embodiment described so far, as a broadcast service to be received, a tuner receives a broadcast wave directly, obtains a video signal and an audio signal from the received broadcast signal, and performs display and audio output. The viewing restriction process has been described. For example, when a predetermined program is received from a predetermined site where video distribution according to a broadcast service on the Internet is performed, configured as a television receiver connectable to the Internet. It can also be applied to viewing restriction processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the television broadcast receiver by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of the viewing-and-listening time restriction | limiting setting by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the viewing-and-listening time restriction | limiting setting screen by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the PIN code input screen by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the viewing-and-listening process example by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the viewing-and-listening time restriction | limiting start message by one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a process at the time of emergency alert broadcast reception by one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the screen at the time of emergency alert broadcast reception by one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Television receiver, 101 ... Antenna, 102 ... Tuner, 103 ... Demultiplexing unit, 104 ... Audio / video signal decoding unit, 105 ... Speaker, 106 ... Image display processing unit, 107 ... Memory, 108 ... Display unit, 109: Communication unit, 110: Remote control signal receiving unit, 120 ... Control unit

Claims (5)

A tuner for receiving television broadcast signals;
An input receiving unit that receives input of viewing time limit setting information and personal identification number information for canceling viewing restriction setting;
A storage unit for storing the viewing time limit setting information and the code number information received by the input receiving unit;
The viewing restriction start time information in the viewing restriction time information stored in the storage unit is compared with the current time, and when it is determined that both times coincide with each other, the viewing restriction process is performed and the viewing restriction is applied. A television broadcast receiving apparatus, comprising: a control unit that cancels the viewing restriction when an input of the same code number as the code number information stored in the storage unit is received. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1,
The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the current time is determined based on time information included in a television broadcast signal received by the tuner. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1,
The television broadcast receiving apparatus, wherein in the state where the viewing restriction is applied, if the input of a password is not detected for a predetermined time, the standby state is switched. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1,
The television broadcast receiving apparatus, wherein the viewing restriction is canceled when an emergency warning broadcast is received in a state where the viewing restriction is applied. A digital broadcast receiving process for receiving a television broadcast signal;
An input acceptance process for accepting input of the viewing restriction time setting information and the personal identification number information for releasing the viewing restriction setting;
A storage process for storing the viewing time limit setting information and the personal identification number information received in the input reception process;
The viewing restriction start time information in the viewing restriction time information stored in the storage unit process is compared with the current time, and when it is determined that both times match, the viewing restriction process is performed and the viewing restriction is applied. In the state, when the input of the same password as the password information stored in the storage process is received, the viewing restriction control process for releasing the viewing restriction is performed.

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