JP2008092473A - Channel locking device and method, and television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically and surely lock even any channel other than data broadcast program. <P>SOLUTION: When program information is acquired from electronic program table data by an acquisition means, a timer is counted by a count means, and whether or not the viewing of an arbitrary program has been continued in a predetermined time is judged based on the count value from the count means by a judgement means, and when it is judged that the viewing of the arbitrary program has been continued in the predetermined time, a channel at which the program under viewing at present is being broadcast is locked by a locking means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a channel lock device, a television receiver, and a channel lock method for automatically locking / unlocking channels in a television receiver, for example.

  Conventionally, when the same channel is continuously viewed by a television receiver, a channel lock switch or the like is provided to manually lock the channel. Also, in an environment where there are multiple viewers in a public place, the television receiver administrator sets the viewing channel in advance and manages the remote control transmitter separately to prevent switching to another channel. The method is taken.

  In such a channel lock method, since it is necessary to manually lock / unlock the channel, the operation is troublesome. Even if the remote control transmitter is managed by an administrator, if a mobile phone or the like incorporating a program for the remote control function is used, the channel may be switched to another channel.

  As a method for performing channel lock by another method, in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether or not a received program is a data broadcast program, and when the received program is a data broadcast program, a process of determining a remote control signal from a remote control transmitter Is performed as usual, but when it is determined that the remote control signal is for a key related to channel selection, the processing corresponding to this signal is not performed, so that the processing for invalidating (locking) the channel change is performed. A broadcast receiver is proposed.

That is, in the case of using the quiz, present application, product purchase, etc. as an interactive service by deploying data broadcast content in a browser and accessing the business server via a modem, the one disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used. In addition, the user can communicate by inputting a number using the key of the remote control transmitter. However, if the user accidentally operates the channel selection key when entering the number, another program will be displayed from the data broadcast reception state. It is intended to prevent transition to.
JP 2004-140649 A

  Incidentally, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above determines, for example, whether a received program is a data broadcast program based on information indicating a service type. (Browser) is started and a timer is started, and it is determined whether or not a certain period of time has elapsed by this timer measurement (data broadcasting reception state continues for a certain period of time), and the reception state of the received program is a certain period of time The channel lock is automatically applied when the time has elapsed.

  However, since the target of the channel lock is a data broadcast program capable of interactive service, there is a problem that it is not possible to automatically lock channels other than the data broadcast program.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a channel lock device, a television receiver, and a channel lock method capable of solving the above-described problems.

The channel lock device of the present invention is a channel lock device that locks a channel in a television receiver, and obtains program information from electronic program guide data, and when the program information is obtained by the obtaining device, A counting means for counting a timer, a judging means for judging whether viewing of an arbitrary program has continued for a predetermined time based on a count value by the counting means, Lock means for locking a channel that is broadcasting a program that is currently being viewed.
In addition, when it is determined by the determining means that the program has continued for a predetermined time, it has end time acquisition means for acquiring a program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data, and the lock means acquires the end time of the current time. When the program end time acquired by the means is reached, the channel can be unlocked.
Further, the lock means can release the lock of the channel when a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter while the channel is locked.
Further, when the channel is locked by the locking means, information indicating the lock of the channel is displayed in OSD, and when the lock of the channel is released by the locking means, information indicating the unlocking of the channel is displayed in OSD. It is possible to have OSD display control means for controlling.
A television receiver according to the present invention includes the channel lock device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The channel lock method of the present invention is a channel lock method for locking a channel in a television receiver, the step of acquiring program information from electronic program guide data, and a timer is counted when the program information is acquired. A step of determining whether or not the viewing of an arbitrary program has continued for a predetermined time based on the count value of the count, and if the determination determines that the predetermined time has continued, the program currently being viewed is broadcast. And locking the channel.
Further, if it is determined that the predetermined time has continued, a step of acquiring a program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data, and when the current time reaches the acquired program end time, the channel is locked. A step of releasing.
In addition, when a predetermined operation is performed by the remote control transmitter while the channel is locked, a step of unlocking the channel can be provided.
In addition, there is a step of controlling to display information indicating the lock of the channel when the channel is locked, and to display OSD information indicating the unlock of the channel when the channel is unlocked. Can be.
In the channel lock device, the television receiver, and the channel lock method of the present invention, when program information is acquired from electronic program guide data, a timer is counted, and an arbitrary program is viewed based on the count value based on the count. If it is determined that the time has continued, the channel broadcasting the currently viewed program is locked.

  According to the channel lock device, the television receiver, and the channel lock method of the present invention, when program information is acquired from the electronic program guide data, a timer is counted, and an arbitrary program can be viewed based on the count value by the count. If it is determined that the program has been continued for a predetermined time, the channel that is broadcasting the program that is currently being viewed is locked, so that even channels other than data broadcast programs can be locked automatically and reliably. it can. As an effect of actual use, in the case of a program that is scheduled to be viewed from the beginning, it is only necessary to prevent channel change until a predetermined time or until the end of the predetermined program by pressing a channel lock button as a conventional technique. According to, even if a program is not scheduled to be viewed, it is often the case that you want to continue watching it while you are watching it. Even in such a case, the channel is automatically locked. Can watch.

  In the present embodiment, when program information is acquired from the electronic program guide data by the acquiring means, a timer is counted by the counting means, and viewing of an arbitrary program continues for a predetermined time based on the count value by the counting means by the determining means. If it is determined that the program has been continued for a predetermined time, the channel that broadcasts the program currently being viewed is locked by the locking means, and the lock is applied even to a channel other than the data broadcast program. It can be applied automatically and reliably.

  Details of the embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment in which the channel lock device of the present invention is applied to a television receiver.

  A television receiver 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a tuner 11, a digital signal demodulation unit 12, a TS (transport stream) decoder 13, an A / V (audio / video) decoder 14, and an A / V (audio / video) output unit. 15, a memory 16, an OSD (On Screen Display) controller 17, a remote control receiver 18, and a control unit 19. Here, the memory 16 and the control unit 19 constitute a channel lock device.

  The tuner 11 selects a digital broadcast signal based on channel selection data received from a remote control transmitter (not shown) received by the remote control receiver 18, for example. The digital signal demodulator 12 demodulates the digital broadcast signal selected by the tuner 11 and a bit stream (hereinafter referred to as a transport stream) in which video, audio, and data encoded by the MPEG2 encoding method or the like are multiplexed. Output as.

  The TS decoder 13 separates and extracts various data such as video data, audio data, and electronic program guide data from the transport stream from the digital signal demodulator 12 and outputs the separated data. The A / V decoder 14 performs decoding processing such as MPEG2 on the video data and audio data separated / extracted by the TS decoder 13 and outputs the result. The A / V output unit 15 outputs the A / V signal decoded by the A / V decoder 14.

  The memory 16 stores information related to lock / unlock of a channel (CH), which will be described later, displayed by the OSD controller 17. Further, the memory 16 stores a control program necessary for locking / unlocking at least the channel (CH) by the control unit 19. The memory 16 stores electronic program guide data and the like separated and extracted by the TS decoder 13. The memory 16 is provided with a channel (CH) management table for managing a flag that is turned on when channel (CH) lock is started and the end time of the program for which channel (CH) lock is started. ing.

  The OSD controller 17 displays on the display (not shown) the contents related to the lock / unlock of the channel (CH) based on the information stored in the memory 16. The remote control receiver 18 receives an infrared remote control signal from a remote control transmitter (not shown).

  The control unit 19 controls the operation of each unit based on a control program required to lock / unlock at least the channel (CH) stored in the memory 16. The main control of the control unit 19 in this embodiment is to determine that the same program is viewed for a specified time and perform channel (CH) lock.

  Here, an acquisition unit, a counting unit, a determination unit, a lock unit, an end time acquisition unit, and an OSD display control unit are realized by the control unit 19 reading a control program necessary for locking / unlocking.

  The acquisition means acquires program information from the electronic program guide data. The electronic program guide data may be acquired from terrestrial digital broadcasting radio waves or may be acquired via a communication line such as the Internet. The count means counts a timer when the program information is acquired by the acquisition means. The judging means judges whether or not viewing of an arbitrary program has continued for a predetermined time based on the count value by the counting means.

  The lock means locks the channel that is broadcasting the currently viewed program when it is determined by the determination means that the program has continued for a predetermined time. The end time acquisition unit acquires the program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data when the determination unit determines that the predetermined time has continued. This program end time is used as a time when the channel is unlocked by the lock means.

  The lock means can also release the lock of the channel halfway if a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter (not shown) while the channel is locked. The OSD display control means controls the OSD controller 17 so that information indicating the lock of the channel is OSD displayed when the channel is locked by the lock means. The OSD display control means controls the OSD controller 17 so that the information indicating the unlocking of the channel is displayed on the OSD when the locking of the channel is released by the locking means.

  Next, a channel (CH) lock method will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, when the power of the television receiver 10 is turned on, program information is captured (step S1). That is, program information can be obtained from the electronic program guide data separated and extracted from the transport stream from the digital signal demodulator 12 by the TS decoder 13 described above.

  At this time, the control unit 19 sets a lock timer of the internal timer, that is, a time for determining whether or not the same program is watched for a specified time (step S2), and then starts a time count by the internal timer. (Step S3). Here, the time in the lock timer set may be set in advance or may be set arbitrarily.

  Next, the presence / absence of a remote control signal from a remote control transmitter (not shown) is determined (step S4). If it is determined that there is a remote control signal (step S4: Yes), it is next determined whether it is related to channel (CH) selection (step S5). Here, the remote control signal includes volume adjustment in the same program in addition to channel (CH) selection. If the channel (CH) is not selected (step S5: No), remote control such as volume adjustment is performed. Is executed (step S6).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that it is related to the selection of the channel (CH) (step S5: Yes), it is next determined whether or not the channel (CH) being selected, that is, the same channel (CH). (Step S7).

  Here, if it is determined that the channel (CH) being selected, that is, the same channel (CH) is not found (step S7: No), the channel information is switched to reception of the selected channel and the program information is fetched by returning to step S1, Further, a lock timer set in step S2, a time count in step S3, and the presence / absence of a remote control signal in step S4 are determined. If it is determined in step S7 that the channel is the same channel (CH) (step S7: Yes), the process proceeds to step S8 where it is determined whether or not the specified time set in step S2 has elapsed.

  Next, when it is determined in step S4 that there is no remote control signal, it is determined whether or not the specified time set in step S2 has elapsed (step S8). If the specified time has not elapsed (step S8: No), the process returns to step S3 and the time count is continued.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the specified time has passed (step S8: Yes), the program end time is taken in from the electronic program guide data described above (step S9), and then the channel (CH) is locked. (Step S10) Subsequently, the controller 19 starts the unlock timer count of the internal timer (Step S11).

  Here, when the lock is applied, the OSD controller 17 is controlled by the control unit 19, and a content indicating that the channel (CH) being viewed is locked is displayed on a display (not shown). The indication that the channel (CH) is locked may be continued until the channel (CH) lock is released, or may be only for a predetermined time. The OSD display may also display the remaining time until unlocking.

  Further, even when the channel (CH) is locked, the presence / absence of a remote control signal from a remote control transmitter (not shown) is determined (step S12). It is determined whether or not it is related to selection (step S13). If the channel (CH) is not selected (step S13: No), remote control such as volume adjustment is executed as described above (step S6).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the channel (CH) is related to the selection (step S13: Yes), since the channel (CH) is locked, the selection of the channel (CH) is ignored. In this case as well, in order to make the user recognize that the channel is locked, a content indicating that the channel (CH) being viewed is locked can be displayed on a display (not shown). The display indicating that the channel (CH) is locked may be continued until the channel (CH) is unlocked, or only for a predetermined time. The OSD display may also display the remaining time until unlocking.

  Here, if the time determined by the unlocking timer count started in step S11 does not pass the specified time, the channel (CH) is locked until that time, but the channel (CH) is being locked. When the lock release is performed, the setting can be made such that a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter (not shown).

  In this case, for example, if an unlock button signal from a remote controller (not shown) is received (step S14: Yes), the channel (CH) is unlocked (step S16). If not received (step S14: No), it is determined whether or not the specified time has passed (step S15). If the specified time has not elapsed (step S15: No), the process returns to step S11 to continue the unlocking time count. If the specified time has elapsed (step S15: Yes), the channel (CH) Unlocking is performed (step S16).

  When unlocking with a remote control transmitter (not shown), in addition to the unlock button, a power-off signal is accepted or the channel operation key of the remote control transmitter (not shown) continues for a predetermined time (for example, about 5 seconds). It is also possible to determine that there is a channel (CH) unlocking operation when the button is held down.

  Further, when the channel (CH) is unlocked, it is displayed on the display (not shown) that the channel (CH) is unlocked via the OSD controller 17. The indication that the channel (CH) is unlocked may be displayed only for a predetermined time.

  Thus, in this embodiment, when the program information is acquired from the electronic program guide data by the acquisition means, the timer is counted by the count means, and the viewing of an arbitrary program is performed by the determination means based on the count value by the count means. Since the channel that broadcasts the program currently being viewed is locked by the locking means, the channel other than the data broadcast program is locked. Even so, it can be locked automatically and reliably.

  Here, for example, if the viewing duration for locking is ¼ of the duration of the program obtained from the program information (30 minutes for a two-hour program), the user continues to When this automatic lock function is selected in the prediction that the user will be watching up to, it may be automatically set to “lock with a viewing duration of 1/4 of the program duration”, At the same time when the user selects this automatic lock function, the viewing duration until the lock may be arbitrarily set. Further, this automatic lock function may be selected from a menu so that the automatic lock function can be enabled / disabled according to the user's preference.

  Further, in this embodiment, there is often a case where even a program that is not scheduled to be watched is desired to be continuously watched while being watched. Even in such a case, the channel lock is automatically applied, for example, until the program ends. The effect of actual use that can be watched with confidence is also obtained.

  Further, in this embodiment, when it is determined by the determining means that the predetermined time has continued, the program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data is acquired by the end time acquiring means, and the current time is acquired by the end time acquiring means by the lock means. Since the channel is unlocked when the acquired program end time is reached, the channel can be unlocked automatically. In the description of the present embodiment, the time count by the counter has been described. However, when an accurate time is set, the timing for locking and unlocking can be determined based on the time information.

  Further, in this embodiment, the channel lock is released when a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter (not shown) while the channel is locked by the lock means. It is also possible.

  In this embodiment, the OSD controller 17 controls the OSD controller 17 so that the OSD display control means displays the information indicating the channel lock when the channel is locked by the lock means, and the lock means releases the lock of the channel. Then, since the OSD controller 17 is controlled to display the information indicating the unlocking of the channel in the OSD, the locking and unlocking of the channel can be reliably confirmed via a display (not shown).

  The present invention can be applied not only to a television receiver but also to devices such as a PDA equipped with a TV tuner, a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and a mobile TV.

It is a figure for demonstrating one Example at the time of applying the channel lock apparatus of this invention to a television receiver. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a channel (CH) lock method in the television receiver of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Television receiver 11 Tuner 12 Digital signal demodulation part 13 TS decoder 14 A / V decoder 15 A / V output part 16 Memory 17 OSD controller 18 Remote control receiver 19 Control part

Claims (9)

A channel lock device for locking a channel in a television receiver,
Obtaining means for obtaining program information from electronic program guide data;
When program information is acquired by the acquisition means, counting means for counting a timer;
Judging means for judging whether or not viewing of an arbitrary program has continued for a predetermined time based on the count value by the counting means;
A channel lock device comprising: a lock unit that locks a channel that broadcasts a currently viewed program when the determination unit determines that the program has continued for a predetermined time. When it is determined by the determination means that the program has continued for a predetermined time, it has end time acquisition means for acquiring a program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data,
The channel lock apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lock unit releases the lock of the channel when a current time reaches a program end time acquired by the end time acquisition unit.   3. The channel lock device according to claim 1, wherein the lock unit unlocks the channel when a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter while the channel is locked. 4.   When the channel is locked by the locking means, the information indicating that the channel is locked is displayed in OSD, and when the channel is unlocked by the locking means, the information indicating that the channel is unlocked is displayed in OSD. 4. The channel lock device according to claim 1, further comprising an OSD display control unit.   A television receiver comprising the channel lock device according to claim 1. A channel lock method for locking a channel in a television receiver,
Obtaining program information from electronic program guide data;
When the program information is acquired, counting a timer;
Determining whether viewing of an arbitrary program has continued for a predetermined time based on the count value by the count;
And a step of locking a channel that is broadcasting a currently viewed program when it is determined that the program has continued for a predetermined time. Obtaining a program end time obtained from the electronic program guide data when it is determined that the predetermined time has continued;
The channel lock method according to claim 6, further comprising: releasing the lock of the channel when a current time reaches the acquired program end time.   8. The channel lock method according to claim 6, further comprising a step of releasing the lock of the channel when a predetermined operation is performed by a remote control transmitter while the channel is locked.   Control is performed so that information indicating that the channel is locked is displayed in OSD when the channel is locked, and information indicating that the channel is unlocked is displayed in OSD when the channel is unlocked. The channel lock method according to any one of claims 6 to 8.

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