JP2007324942A - Remote control system and television - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable also the remote control side to check if the television body side is ready for inputting a command sent from the remote control side. <P>SOLUTION: When an IR receiver 12 receives an operation signal from a remote controller 20; the system decides whether a command corresponding to the received operation signal is executable, further decides whether the waiting is possible until the command is executable after storing it if the command is not executable immediately (S1 YES), and stores the command in a memory 14 (S3) if possible (S2 YES). Then the system makes a command waiting signal showing that the command has been saved, sends it to thee remote controller 20 (S4), and then inputs the command waiting signal to a remote control controller 24 to lighten or blink a lamp 23 or a LED 27 responding to the command waiting signal (S5). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote control system and a television equipped with the remote control system.

Conventionally, a wireless remote control is generally used to operate a television. The conventional remote control is only one way of sending an operation signal to the television body. Therefore, after sending an operation signal from the remote control to the TV main body, it was necessary to check whether the operating state changed according to the signal transmitted from the TV main body by looking at the display on the TV main body. . In addition, the remote control side has a disadvantage that it unilaterally sends an operation signal regardless of the operation state of the television main body side. Thus, a so-called bidirectional remote control system that can confirm the operation state of the television main body also on the remote control side has been proposed as Patent Document 1. This remote control system can be operated while checking the display because the operation mode on the apparatus main body side is displayed on the display on the remote control side.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-94728

  However, although the remote control system described in Patent Document 1 described above can confirm the operation mode of the TV of the apparatus main body on the remote control side, the TV main body that has received the operation signal is in the process of switching the input. The TV may not respond when you press. In this case, the user accepts the signal “whether the signal is not sent from the remote control (due to battery exhaustion, etc.)” or “the signal reaches the TV but is not processed” or “the signal is accepted. Is stored in the buffer) and the process is to be performed after the current process is finished. Therefore, the present invention has an object of proposing a remote control system and a television in which it is possible to confirm whether or not the TV main body side can input a command sent from the remote control even on the remote control side. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the remote control system of the present invention is a remote control system that transmits an operation signal to a television main body wirelessly or wired, and a notification means for non-acceptance / acceptance notification is provided on the remote control. It is characterized by. The remote control system of the present invention is a remote control system that transmits an operation signal to a television main body wirelessly or wired. When the operation signal from the remote control is received by the television main body, the television main body is based on the operation signal. A determination means for determining whether or not the switching process is possible, and a case where the switching means determines that the switching process is not possible and can be executed after waiting for a command converted from the operation signal In this case, the command is stored in a temporary storage memory to wait, and a command waiting signal is generated and output, and when the switching process is determined not to be determined by the determining means, the command is converted from the operation signal. If it is impossible to execute the command after waiting for it, a command reject signal is generated and output. And a transmitter for transmitting the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal to the remote control side, and receiving the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal transmitted from the transmitter of the TV main body. A command standby display means, a command non-acceptance display means, a means for lighting the command standby display means when the command standby signal is received by the receiver, and a command non-response to the receiver. The remote controller is provided with means for turning on the command non-acceptance display means when an acceptance signal is received.

  The remote control system of the present invention is a remote control system that transmits an operation signal to a television main body wirelessly or wired. When the operation signal from the remote control is received by the television main body, the television main body is based on the operation signal. A determination means for determining whether or not the switching process is possible, and a case where the switching means determines that the switching process is not possible and can be executed after waiting for a command converted from the operation signal In this case, the command is stored in a temporary storage memory to wait, and a command waiting signal is generated and output, and when the switching process is determined not to be determined by the determining means, the command is converted from the operation signal. If it is impossible to execute the command after waiting for it, a command reject signal is generated and output. And a transmitter for transmitting the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal to the remote control side, a receiver for receiving a signal transmitted from the transmitter of the TV main body, an indicator lamp, Means for flashing the indicator lamp in a first flashing pattern when the command standby signal is received by the receiver; and when the command non-acceptance signal is received by the receiver, The remote control is provided with means for blinking in accordance with the second blinking pattern. The television of the present invention is characterized by including the above-described remote control system.

  As described above, according to the present invention, whether or not the switching process is possible for a command sent from the remote control side of the TV main body, and if not, whether the command is put on standby or not accepted. Since it can be confirmed by the display on the remote controller side, the usability of the remote control operation on the television is improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal television will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the TV main body and the remote control, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing operations related to the remote control, and FIG. 3 is an external view of the remote control.

  First, the operation of the liquid crystal television main body will be described. In FIG. 1, a reception signal received by the antenna 1 of the television main body 10 is sent to the reception unit 2. The receiving unit 2 converts the input received signal into a video signal and an audio signal and sends the video signal and the audio signal to the switching unit 4. In addition, the external information input unit 3 is connected to a video deck and a DVD player (not shown) and sends video signals and audio signals sent from them to the switching unit 4. The switching unit 4 selects one of the video signal and audio signal sent from the receiving unit 2 and the video signal and audio signal sent from the external information input unit 3 based on a command from the central control unit 9. The video signal is sent to the video processing unit 5, and the audio signal is sent to the audio processing unit 6. The video processing unit 5 projects a video on the screen 7 based on the input video signal, and displays the OSD based on a command from the central control unit 9. The sound processing unit 6 drives the speaker 8 based on the input sound signal to output sound, and performs volume adjustment and mute based on a command from the central control unit 9.

  The television main body 10 has an operation unit 11, and when an operation such as power on / off, volume adjustment, channel / input switching, or the like is performed, the operation signal is sent to the central control unit 9. The infrared receiver 12 receives the operation signal sent from the remote controller 20 and sends it to the central controller 9. The infrared transmission unit 13 transmits, as an infrared signal, a signal related to the response status on the television main body 10 side to the remote control operation signal transmitted from the central control unit 9 to the remote control 20 side. The storage unit 14 is used to temporarily store the result of command processing in the central control unit 9.

  Therefore, the central control unit 9 sends a switching command to the switching unit 4 based on the operation signal from the operation unit 11 and the operation signal from the infrared receiving unit 12, and controls the OSD in the video processing unit 5. In addition, the volume of the audio processing unit 6 is controlled. In addition, the central control unit 9 determines whether or not switching processing by the command is possible with respect to the operation signal from the infrared receiving unit 12, and if not, temporarily holds the command and waits until processing is possible. A command standby signal or a command non-acceptance signal corresponding to whether or not it is possible is created and sent to the infrared transmitter 13. Further, when it is impossible to immediately execute the switching process by the command from the infrared receiving unit 12 and when the command is temporarily held until the process becomes possible, the command is temporarily stored in the storage unit 14. Keep it.

  Reference numeral 20 in FIG. 1 denotes a remote controller, which includes an infrared transmission unit 21 that transmits an operation signal to the television body 10 side and an infrared reception unit 22 that receives a response signal from the television body 10 side. In addition, the remote controller 20 includes a lamp 23 made of LEDs, a remote controller control unit 24, and an operation unit 25. The operation unit 25 includes an operation button 26 and an LED 27 built in the button 26. When the button 26 is pressed, the remote control unit 24 turns on the corresponding LED 27 and lamp 23, creates an operation signal corresponding to the button 26, sends the operation signal to the infrared transmission unit 21, and sends it to the TV body 10 side. Send it.

  Furthermore, when the response signal is transmitted from the television main body 10 side and received by the infrared receiver 22 in response to the operation signal transmitted to the television main body 10 side, the remote control control unit 24 receives the command standby command. A signal or a command non-acceptance signal is discriminated, and the lamp 23 corresponding to the signal or the LED 27 corresponding to the operation is turned on or blinked according to a predetermined blinking pattern. These lamps 23 and LEDs 27 constitute command standby display means and command non-acceptance display means.

  Next, operations of the television main body 10 and the remote controller 20 immediately after an operation signal is transmitted from the remote controller 20 to the television main body 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 based on FIG. When the operation signal from the remote controller 20 is received by the infrared receiver 12 of the TV main body 10, the central controller 9 receives the switch 4, the video processor 5, and the audio processor 6 that are in the process of switching. It is determined whether or not the command corresponding to the operation signal can be executed (step S1). If it is impossible to execute the command immediately (YES in step S1), it is further determined whether or not the command can be stored and waited until the command can be executed (step S2).

  Here, if it is possible to save and wait until the command can be executed (step S2 YES), the central control unit 9 stores the command in the cache, that is, the storage unit 14 (step S3). Next, the central control unit 9 creates a command standby signal indicating that the command has been standby, and transmits the command standby signal to the remote controller 20 side via the infrared transmission unit 13 (step S4). Next, when the command standby signal is received by the infrared receiver 22 on the remote controller 20 side and inputted to the remote controller controller 24, the remote controller controller 24 turns on the lamp 23 corresponding to the command standby signal, or The LED 27 of the button 26 operated immediately before is blinked and displayed by the blinking pattern A predetermined for the command standby signal (step S5).

  In step S2, if it is impossible to save and wait until the command can be executed (NO in step S2), the central control unit 9 rejects the command and indicates that the command has been rejected. An unacceptable signal is created and transmitted to the remote controller 20 via the infrared transmitter 13 (step S6). Next, the command non-acceptance signal is received by the infrared receiver 22 on the remote controller 20 side and input to the remote controller controller 24. Then, the remote control unit 24 turns on the lamp 23 corresponding to the command non-acceptance signal, or turns on the LED 27 of the button 26 operated immediately before that by the flashing pattern B determined in advance for the command non-acceptance signal. To blink (step S7). As the differentiation of the flashing patterns A and B here, for example, the flashing pattern A has a shorter flashing cycle than the flashing pattern B, or the flashing pattern A has a constant flashing cycle and the flashing pattern B The blinking period of can be a period that changes discontinuously.

  In step S1, when the central control unit 9 determines whether or not the command corresponding to the received operation signal can be executed, if the command cannot be immediately executed (NO in step S1), that is, If the command can be executed immediately, a normal operation for executing the command is performed, and the process is terminated without sending a response signal to the remote controller 20 side (step S8). At this time, the lamp 23 and the LED 27 on the remote controller 20 side are not lit or blinked. With these processes, when the user operates the remote controller 20 to switch the television main body 10, if the switching process is not performed in the display on the screen 7, the lamp 23 or the LED 27 on the remote controller 20 side is lit or blinked. Thus, it is possible to confirm whether the operation has not been accepted by the television main body 10 or whether it has been accepted but has been put on standby because it is being processed, thereby improving operability and usability.

  In the above-described embodiment, when a command based on the operation signal transmitted from the remote controller 20 is immediately executed, the process corresponding to the command is displayed on the screen 7 by the OSD. The response signal is not sent. Even when the operation signal is immediately executed for the transmitted operation signal, if display on the remote controller 20 is required, a signal indicating the response can be returned to the remote controller 20 for display. Further, the display means on the remote controller 20 side blinks the lamp 23 or blinks the LED 27 built in the button 26. In particular, when the display is intended to be displayed by the lamp 23, the display means is not a display by a blinking pattern. Alternatively, it can be displayed by turning it off.

  The remote control according to the present invention can be used as a remote control for other AV devices and home appliances in addition to being used for a television.

It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the television main body and remote control of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the remote control of embodiment of this invention. It is an external view of the remote control to which the present invention is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Antenna 2 Receiving part 3 External information input part 4 Switching part 5 Video processing part 6 Audio | voice processing part 7 Screen 8 Speaker 9 Central control part 10 Television main body 11 Operation part 12 Infrared receiving part 13 Infrared transmitting part 14 Storage part 20 Remote control 21 Infrared Transmitter 22 Infrared receiver 23 Lamp 24 Remote control unit 25 Operation unit 26 Button 27 LED

Claims (5)

In the remote control system that transmits the operation signal to the TV body wirelessly or wired,
A remote control system characterized in that a notification means for non-acceptance / acceptance notification is provided on a remote control. In the remote control system that transmits the operation signal to the TV body wirelessly or wired,
When the operation signal from the remote control is received by the TV main body, the determining means for determining whether the TV main body can perform the switching process based on the operation signal, and when the determining means determines that the switching process is NO If the command converted from the operation signal can be executed after being waited, the command is stored in a temporary storage memory and waited and a command wait signal is generated and output, and A means for generating and outputting a command non-acceptance signal when the determination means determines that the switching process is not possible and cannot execute the command converted from the operation signal after waiting. And a transmitter for transmitting the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal to the remote control side on the TV main body side,
A receiver for receiving the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal transmitted from the transmitter of the TV main body, command standby display means, command non-acceptance display means, and the command standby signal is received by the receiver. A remote control comprising: means for lighting the command standby display means in the case; and means for lighting the command non-acceptance display means when the command unacceptable signal is received by the receiver. Control system. In the remote control system that transmits the operation signal to the TV body wirelessly or wired,
When the operation signal from the remote control is received by the TV main body, the determining means for determining whether the TV main body can perform the switching process based on the operation signal, and when the determining means determines that the switching process is NO If the command converted from the operation signal can be executed after being waited, the command is stored in a temporary storage memory and waited and a command wait signal is generated and output, and A means for generating and outputting a command non-acceptance signal when the determination means determines that the switching process is not possible and cannot execute the command converted from the operation signal after waiting. And a transmitter for transmitting the command standby signal and the command non-acceptance signal to the remote control side on the TV main body side,
A receiver for receiving a signal transmitted from a transmitter of a television main body, an indicator lamp, and a means for causing the indicator lamp to flash in a first flashing pattern when the command standby signal is received by the receiver; A remote control system comprising: a remote controller having means for blinking the indicator lamp in a second blinking pattern when the command non-acceptance signal is received by the receiver. The remote control system according to claim 3,
The remote control system, wherein the indicator lamp is an LED built in an operation button of a remote controller.   A television comprising the remote control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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