JP2008022542A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terrestrial digital broadcast receiver in which channels of only broadcasting of user's own country can be selected and viewed through simple operation without selecting channels of broadcasting of other countries even near the boundary. <P>SOLUTION: In the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver for receiving DVB-T system terrestrial digital broadcasting, so as to identify each of countries providing DVB-T system terrestrial digital broadcasting, a country information-network ID correspondence list on which country information assigned in advance corresponds to an original network ID, setting country information setting one of the country information by the user, and original network IDs acquired from broadcasting waves received by a channel search, are used to extract only a network ID corresponding to the setting country information, the extracted network ID is used to generate a channel list to be used for channel selection when viewing video and audio signals, and the channel list is used to perform the channel selection for viewing video and audio signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver that receives terrestrial digital broadcasts broadcast in the DVB-T system.

  Terrestrial digital broadcasting has been started in many countries around the world. One of the broadcasting systems for terrestrial digital broadcasting is the DVB-T system. This method is adopted in many countries mainly in Europe. In contrast to Japan, which is an island country, continental countries such as Europe are adjacent to each other via borders.

  Therefore, when digital broadcasting is performed in such countries using the same broadcasting system as the DVB-T system, a situation in which broadcasting from other countries can be received in the border region occurs. However, most users only need to be able to receive broadcasts in their home country preferentially. Therefore, just because you can receive broadcasts from countries other than your own country, if you accidentally register the broadcasts from other countries in the channel list, which is information used for channel selection, For example, channels from other countries that are not necessary will be selected, and it will be troublesome to skip this channel.

  Also, in the received digital broadcast content, even if program information, audio, subtitles, etc. of the content (which may be referred to as a service hereinafter) are operated in multiple languages, the language preset by the user by a menu or the like is operated. If not, one of the multiple languages described above may be selected at random, or the service may not be presented, leading to confusion for the user.

  In general, each broadcasting station that broadcasts terrestrial digital broadcasts only places its own network information on the broadcast waves transmitted by each broadcasting station, and carries the network information of other stations even in the same reception area. Absent. Therefore, the digital broadcast receiver scans all physical frequency channels in the frequency band set for broadcasting in advance at the time of setup accompanying new purchase or moving to a viewing area in order to cope with the above. In addition, it has an automatic channel search function for acquiring network information of a broadcasting station broadcasting on the received physical frequency channel and registering the acquired network information in a channel list. The network information includes an original network ID for identifying a network (broadcast network), a network name, and the like. These are registered in a channel list and used for channel selection.

  As for the language, it has a function to display a list of languages supported by the receiver on the menu and select one language desired by the user. Based on this function, it operates as digital broadcasting content. One language is selected from a plurality of languages.

As a conventional technique related to automatic channel search, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is a technical proposal related to automatic channel search in Japan.
JP 2003-217119 A

  In many cases, the user acquires the channel list using the automatic channel search function described above. However, in this method, as described above, broadcasts in other countries are registered without being organized in the channel list. End up.

  If it is registered in the channel list without being arranged, for example, when an up / down channel is selected by the remote controller, channels in other countries that are not required are inadvertently selected, and this channel is skipped and arranged. There is a problem that an operation is required.

Furthermore, since services provided by channels other than the home country generally have different languages, there is a problem that channel information, program information, and the like are displayed in a language other than the home country.
In order to solve the above problem, it is only necessary to delete or sort broadcasts in other countries registered in the channel list on the channel list. It is also desirable to register the language in your own language. However, the deletion and sorting operations have a new problem that they are complicated. In addition, there is a new problem that the language setting must be made in detail by providing the system priority language setting separately from the country setting.

  As channel list generation methods other than the automatic channel search described above, the channel plan of each region in the home country is obtained in advance, and the user manually sets the physical channel, or the digital broadcasting receiver sets the channel of each region in the home country. A method is also conceivable in which all plans are stored in advance and the user is allowed to select a residential area. However, the former has a problem that it cannot be set unless the user knows the channel plan of his / her residence area, and there is a problem that the setting operation of the user becomes complicated. The latter does not make the user feel that the operation is complicated, but the huge channel plan for each region in his country must be stored in advance in the storage element in the receiver when the receiver is manufactured. There is a problem that it is disadvantageous in terms of cost. In addition, since information on a broadcasting station newly opened after manufacture of the receiver is not included, it is necessary to install a function for updating this information at a later date, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

  On the other hand, as for the language, one desired language is extracted from a plurality of languages that may be broadcast based on the language setting by the menu, but if the set language is not used in the broadcasting service, There is a problem that it becomes a language randomly selected from a plurality of languages operated by the service.

  Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-described problems, makes it possible to determine broadcasts in the home country and other countries only by an automatic channel search that is easy to operate without adding extra storage elements and functions, and a channel list. The purpose is to provide a digital broadcast receiver that can filter and register only the home country's broadcasts in the channel list or register the services of the home country and other countries separately. .

  In particular, for the selected language, digital broadcast reception that uses the network information detected at the time of scanning and can be selected based on the preferred language list for the set country information when there is no language set by the user through the menu The purpose is to provide a machine.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following apparatus.
(1) In a digital broadcast receiver that receives a digital broadcast in which network information including at least a network identification code assigned to each broadcasting station is multiplexed with a video / audio signal so that values do not overlap between countries. ,
Storage means for storing in advance a country information-to-network identification code correspondence list in which country information assigned in advance to identify each country is associated with the network identification code assigned to each broadcasting station;
Setting means for setting one of the country information as setting country information by an external instruction signal;
Network information acquisition means for receiving each broadcast wave of the digital broadcast corresponding to a plurality of physical frequency channels in a predetermined frequency band, and acquiring the network information from each broadcast wave;
Channel correspondence information in which the value of the physical frequency channel of each broadcast wave corresponding to the acquired network information is associated with the network information is generated, and the country information vs. network identification is generated from the generated channel correspondence information. Network information determination means for extracting the channel correspondence information having network information including a network identification code corresponding to the set country information using a code correspondence list and the set country information;
Channel list generation and storage means for generating and storing a channel list including physical frequency channels to be used for channel selection when viewing video and audio signals using the extracted channel correspondence information. Receiving machine.
(2) Network identification code versus priority language list storage for storing a network identification code versus priority language list in which a priority language list in which a plurality of languages are listed in descending order of priority is associated with each of a plurality of network identification codes. Means,
Priority language list storage means for selecting and storing a priority language list corresponding to a network identification code corresponding to the set country information from the plurality of network identification codes versus priority language lists;
Using the priority language list supplied from the priority language list storage means and the language information acquired from the received broadcast wave, if the language indicated by the language information exists in the priority language list, select the language On the other hand, if the language indicated by the language information does not exist in the priority language list, selection means for selecting the language with the highest priority from the priority language list;
The digital broadcast receiver according to (1), further comprising:
(3) The digital broadcast receiver according to (1) or (2), wherein the digital broadcast is a DVB-T terrestrial digital broadcast, and the network identification code is an original network ID. .

  According to the present invention, without adding extra storage elements and functions, only the broadcasts of other countries are registered in the channel list without registering the broadcasts of other countries in the channel list only by automatic channel search, or It becomes possible to register separate channels from other countries.

  Therefore, it is not necessary to manually register the channel list or delete unnecessary channels from other countries after automatic channel search, which has been necessary for users who want to view only the digital broadcasting in their home country. It becomes possible.

In addition, with regard to language selection, it is possible to select a language with a high priority for each broadcast, so that the usability can be further improved.
In addition, since it is not necessary to add extra storage elements and functions, the cost can be reduced.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
In this embodiment, even if an automatic channel search is performed in an area where a digital broadcast other than the home country (hereinafter referred to as a broadcast) can be received, such as near the border, the broadcast other than the home country is registered in the channel list. In the language selection, it is also avoided that a language with low usage frequency is selected.

  As described in the background art, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver can be used for all physical frequency channels (hereinafter referred to as “broadcasting frequency channels”) that are set in advance for broadcasting at the time of new purchase or set up when moving to a viewing area. The network information of a broadcasting station broadcasting on the received channel is acquired, and an automatic channel search function for registering the acquired network information in a channel list is provided. By executing this automatic channel search function, a channel list used for channel selection is preset.

  The network information includes an original network ID for identifying the network (broadcast network), a network name indicating the name of the broadcast network for each broadcast station, etc., which are registered in the channel list and used for channel selection. . The original network ID is an ID acquired by each country or each domestic broadcast station applying for DVB (Digital Video Broadcast), and is duplicated between countries using the DVB system (including the DVB-T system described above). Not the only identification number.

On the other hand, with regard to the language function, a digital broadcast receiver that supports multiple languages generally has a priority language selection function for the user to select a language, and does not depend on the broadcast content. The language is set only according to the settings.
<Overall configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In the following, the flow of signals will be described together with the description of each block. Note that the description will mainly be given on the premise of processing at the time of automatic channel search.

  The NIM 101 selects a broadcast wave (channel) of the digital broadcast waves broadcast in the area, digitally demodulates the selected digital broadcast wave, and performs MPEG-TS (Moving Picture Experts Group-Transport). Stream) signal.

  NIM is an abbreviation for Network interface Module. The MPEG-TS signal is a signal in which various types of information such as MPEG-compressed video / audio signals and program additional information including network information are multiplexed.

The TS decoder 102 separates various signals and information such as an MPEG video signal, an MPEG audio signal, and program additional information from the MPEG-TS supplied from the NIM 101.
The MPEG video decoder 103 decodes the MPEG video signal supplied from the TS decoder 102 to obtain a video signal that can be displayed on a normal monitor. Note that the MPEG video decoder 103 does not have to be operated during automatic channel search.

  Similarly, an MPEG audio signal is also decoded by an MPEG audio decoder (not shown) to generate an audio signal. However, since audio is not related to this description, the following description is omitted.

  When an OSD signal such as a menu screen for various settings is supplied from the OSD generation unit 105 to be described later, the signal superimposing unit 104 superimposes the OSD signal and the video signal decoded by the MPEG video decoder 103. The superimposed video signal is output to a display monitor (not shown) to display the screen.

The network information acquisition unit 106 extracts network information from the program additional information supplied from the TS decoder 102.
In addition to the network information, the program additional information supplied from the TS decoder 102 includes various information such as information used for channel selection and information used to create an electronic program guide. These pieces of information are also necessary information for operating the digital broadcast receiver, and are processed in various blocks (not shown). Only the part related to the network information related to the explanation will be explained.

  The network information determination unit 107 extracts the original network ID and the network name from the network information acquired by the network information acquisition unit 106. Also, the physical channel number of the currently selected broadcast wave supplied from the control unit 110 is acquired. Then, a set of channel correspondence information in which the acquired original network ID, network name, and physical channel number are associated with each other is stored for each channel selection.

  Then, when the processing of the last channel at the time of automatic channel search is completed, the original network ID, the country, and the country for all the channels stored from the start to the end of the channel correspondence information for each channel stored above are stored. The country information-to-network ID correspondence list recorded in the information-to-network ID correspondence list recording unit 108 is referred to the country information set in advance by the user, and the country set by the user in each channel correspondence information. It is determined whether or not the original network ID corresponding to the information is included. Then, all the channel correspondence information including the original network ID corresponding to the country information set by the user is extracted, and the network name and physical channel number in the channel correspondence information are extracted to the channel list generation storage unit 109. Supply.

  The channel list generation storage unit 109 generates and stores a channel list from the network name and physical channel number for each channel supplied from the network information determination unit 107. Further, the channel list generation storage unit 109 supplies the channel list to the OSD generation unit 105 when receiving an instruction to display the channel list from the control unit 110.

  Note that the control unit 110 executes the channel selection operation using the channel list generated and stored in the channel list generation storage unit 109 during the normal channel selection operation, not during the automatic channel search.

  When receiving an instruction from the control unit 110, the OSD generation unit 105 generates an OSD signal such as a menu screen for various settings in accordance with the instruction and outputs the OSD signal to the signal superimposing unit 104. In the case of this description, if there is a channel list display instruction from the control unit 110, the OSD signal for channel list display is generated and output from the channel list supplied from the channel list generation storage unit 109.

  In order to operate the digital broadcast receiver, the control unit 110 appropriately controls and transmits a control signal to each block shown in the figure. In FIG. 1, detailed signal line destinations are saved, but control signal lines are connected to almost all blocks. In this description, a case will be described in which the control unit 110 performs channel selection control for automatic channel search and control for determining network information.

The external input unit 111 converts operation information generated by a user's remote control operation or the like into an operation instruction signal and supplies the operation instruction signal to the control unit 110.
In addition, the network ID vs. preferred language list storage unit 112 has a priority in which a plurality of languages are listed in advance, for example, in the order of frequently used languages in each country corresponding to the original network ID. A network ID versus priority language list in which a language list is associated is stored. The network information discriminating unit 107 has the same original network ID as the original network ID corresponding to the country information set by the user from the network ID vs. preferred language list stored in the network ID vs. preferred language list storage unit 112 A priority language list corresponding to the ID is extracted, and the priority language list is sent to the priority language list storage unit 113. The priority language list storage unit 113 stores the supplied priority language list, and when there is a reference request from the control unit 110, supplies the stored priority language list to the control unit 110.

On the other hand, the language information acquisition unit 114 acquires language information from various signals and information output from the TS decoder 102 and supplies the language information to the control unit 110.
The control unit 110 selects one of the languages with the highest priority based on the priority language list supplied from the priority language list storage unit 113 and the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114. As a specific selection method, first, when the language indicated by the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114 exists in the priority language list, the language is selected. If the language indicated by the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114 does not exist in the priority language list, the language with the highest priority in the priority language list is selected.

  As a result, even when the language set by the user is not operated in the received broadcast service, it is possible to select another language with a high priority, and program information, audio, and subtitles in that language can be viewed. It becomes like this.

The above is the schematic configuration diagram of the digital broadcast receiver of the present embodiment.
<Flow of automatic channel search processing>
Next, the flow of the automatic channel search process in this embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of automatic channel search processing in the digital broadcast receiver described above. The flow of processing will be described below using FIG. 2 and the configuration diagram of FIG. The subject performing this processing is the control unit 110 described with reference to FIG. 1 unless otherwise specified.

  In this embodiment, the variable n is a variable corresponding to the physical channel number, and the final physical that is the largest physical channel number that is assumed is incremented by 1 from the initial value (n = 1, n is an integer of 1 or more). In this example, the channel search process is repeatedly performed until a predetermined value m (an integer of 1 or more) corresponding to the channel number is reached.

Start automatic channel search process.
In step S201, the NIM 101 is used to select a predetermined physical channel. At this stage, since the physical channel number n is an initial value (n = 1), the channel is selected for a broadcast wave of one channel.

  In step S202, it is determined whether or not the NIM 101 has been successfully selected in step S201, and whether or not the selected broadcast wave is a digital broadcast wave. If the channel selection is successful and the digital broadcast wave is selected (Yes in step S202), the process proceeds to the next step S203. If channel selection has failed or the selected broadcast wave is not digital broadcast (No in step S202), the process jumps to step S205 without performing the subsequent various data acquisition processes.

  In step S203, using the TS decoder 102 and the network information acquisition unit 106, the original network ID is acquired from the network information included in the program additional information in the MPEG-TS obtained by digitally demodulating the selected broadcast wave.

  In step S204, a network name is acquired by the same process as in step S203, and channel correspondence information in which this network name is associated with the current physical channel n and the original network ID already acquired in step S203 is determined as network information. Store in the unit 107.

  In step S205, it is determined whether or not the physical channel number n that has been the channel selection target in the above processing is equal to the final physical channel number m. If it is determined that they are not equal (No in step S205), the physical channel number n is incremented by 1 and the process returns to step S201 to select the broadcast wave of the physical channel number (n + 1) channel. The subsequent processing is repeated until n = m.

If it is determined in step S205 that n = m is satisfied (Yes in step S205), the process repeats the process and proceeds to the next step S206.
In step S206, each channel correspondence information stored in advance in the network information judgment unit 107 by the repeated processing from step S201 to step S205 using the network information judgment unit 107 and the country information vs. network ID correspondence list storage unit 108. And the country information vs. network ID correspondence list and the country information preset by the user, each channel correspondence information includes an original network ID corresponding to the country information set by the user It is determined whether or not. Then, all the channel correspondence information including the original network ID corresponding to the country information set by the user is extracted, and the channel list generation storage unit 109 is extracted from the network name and the physical channel number in the channel correspondence information. To create a channel list. The channel list is displayed on the monitor via the OSD generation unit 105 and the signal superimposition unit 104.

  FIG. 3 shows a display image. According to this display image, the channel list is generated by four networks whose network names are “T-system”, “ZDF”, “BBC”, and “Canal”.

The channel list generation process will be described in more detail.
As described above, the original network ID acquired in step S203 is assigned an identification number that does not overlap among countries adopting the DVB method. Accordingly, a country information-to-network ID correspondence list, which is a list in which original network IDs assigned in advance for each country and country information (for example, uniquely assigned numbers) are associated with each other, is stored in a storage unit (country information pair By registering in the network ID correspondence list storage unit 108), the country to which the original network ID is allocated can be determined from the original network ID acquired and stored by the channel search.

  For example, if the user's residence is France and the country information of France is 2, only the original network ID associated with the country information 2 in the country information-to-network ID correspondence list among the acquired original network IDs. select. The broadcast network of the broadcast network corresponding to the selected original network ID is set as a channel list registration candidate, and the network name and physical channel number associated with the original network ID are set as channel list registration candidates to the user. indicate. This displayed example is shown in FIG.

  In step S207, the user is asked whether or not to edit the channel list of FIG. 3 displayed in step S206. If the user performs an operation that editing is not necessary (No in step S207), the process proceeds to the next step S209, and the channel list in FIG. 3 is stored.

  If the user performs an operation requiring editing (Yes in step S207) in step S207, the process proceeds to step S208, and the user is allowed to change the contents of the channel list, such as adding or deleting a network. The process proceeds to the next step S209, and the resulting channel list is stored.

  In step S210, one of the languages with the highest priority is selected based on the priority language list supplied from the priority language list storage unit 113 and the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114. As a specific selection method, first, when the language indicated by the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114 exists in the priority language list, the language is selected. If the language indicated by the language information supplied from the language information acquisition unit 114 does not exist in the priority language list, the language with the highest priority in the priority language list is selected.

This completes the automatic channel search process.
According to the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver of this embodiment equipped with the automatic channel search process as described above, broadcasts from other countries are registered in the channel list only by automatic channel search without adding extra storage elements and functions. Without registration, only the digital broadcast of the home country can be registered in the channel list, and a language with high priority can be selected.

  Therefore, there is no need to perform manual channel list registration operations or unnecessary channel deletion operations in other countries after automatic channel search, which has been necessary for users who want to view only digital broadcasting in their home country. However, it becomes possible to select a language with a high priority, and it is possible to improve usability.

In addition, since it is not necessary to add extra storage elements and functions, the cost can be reduced.
The present invention includes a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the apparatus described above. These programs may be read from a recording medium and loaded into a computer, or may be transmitted via a communication network and loaded into a computer.

It is a block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of an Example. It is a display example of the channel list generated in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

101 NIM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 TS decoder 103 MPEG video decoder 104 Signal superimposition part 105 OSD production | generation part 106 Network information acquisition part 107 Network information discrimination | determination part 108 Country information versus network ID corresponding | compatible list memory | storage part 109 Channel list production | generation storage part 110 Control part 111 External input part 112 Network ID versus priority language list storage unit 113 Priority language list storage unit 114 Language information acquisition unit

Claims (3)

In a digital broadcast receiver for receiving a digital broadcast in which network information including at least a network identification code assigned to each broadcasting station so that values do not overlap between countries is multiplexed with a video / audio signal and broadcasted,
Storage means for storing in advance a country information-to-network identification code correspondence list in which country information assigned in advance to identify each country is associated with the network identification code assigned to each broadcasting station;
Setting means for setting one of the country information as setting country information by an external instruction signal;
Network information acquisition means for receiving each broadcast wave of the digital broadcast corresponding to a plurality of physical frequency channels in a predetermined frequency band, and acquiring the network information from each broadcast wave;
Channel correspondence information in which the value of the physical frequency channel of each broadcast wave corresponding to the acquired network information is associated with the network information is generated, and the country information vs. network identification is generated from the generated channel correspondence information. Network information determination means for extracting the channel correspondence information having network information including a network identification code corresponding to the set country information using a code correspondence list and the set country information;
Channel list generation and storage means for generating and storing a channel list including physical frequency channels to be used for channel selection when viewing video and audio signals using the extracted channel correspondence information. Receiving machine. A network identification code versus priority language list storage means for storing a network identification code versus a priority language list in which a priority language list in which a plurality of languages are listed in advance in order of priority is associated with each of a plurality of network identification codes;
Priority language list storage means for selecting and storing a priority language list corresponding to a network identification code corresponding to the set country information from the plurality of network identification codes versus priority language lists;
Using the priority language list supplied from the priority language list storage means and the language information acquired from the received broadcast wave, if the language indicated by the language information exists in the priority language list, select the language On the other hand, if the language indicated by the language information does not exist in the priority language list, selection means for selecting the language with the highest priority from the priority language list;
The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising:   3. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the digital broadcast is a DVB-T terrestrial digital broadcast, and the network identification code is an original network ID.

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