JP2008099312A - Program selecting apparatus, program recording apparatus and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program selecting apparatus and a program selecting method capable of selecting content which further meets the taste of a user. <P>SOLUTION: The program selecting apparatus 1,100 is provided with a video recording program viewing unit 1,103 for reproducing a video-recorded program; a viewing operation accepting unit 1,104 for accepting a viewing operation for controlling reproduction of the video-recorded program by the unit 1,103 from the user, a viewing operation history accumulating unit 1,105 for accumulating the history of the viewing operations in an operation history storage unit 1,112, a viewing concentration calculating section 1,106 for calculating the viewing concentration of the user for the program from the history of the viewing operation, a taste extracting unit 1,107 for extracting the taste of the user on the basis of the viewing concentration, a program information acquiring unit 1,108 for acquiring program information, a program selecting means 1,109 for selecting a program meeting the taste extracted in the unit 1,107 from a program table in the acquired program information, and a program video recording reserving unit 1,110 for reserving video recording of the selected program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal and a system for accumulating contents represented by television programs and the like.

  In recent years, with the spread of digital broadcasting, a wide variety of broadcast programs have been broadcast. In addition, with the spread of electronic program guides (hereinafter abbreviated as EPG), it is possible to confirm the schedule of programs to be broadcast in the future on a television screen. Furthermore, with the widespread use of hard disks and DVDs, it is becoming possible to easily record programs.

  Therefore, the user's preference regarding the TV program is extracted based on the contents of the reserved recording on the hard disk or the like and the browsing history of the program, and in the program to be broadcast in the future, the program that matches the user's preference is recommended. A system has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, an apparatus for selecting a program desired by a user using information on whether or not a recorded program has been browsed has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  Conventionally, a system for detecting a more accurate audience rating by accumulating browsing operation history even for a program recorded when the audience rating is investigated and counting the information with a server has been disclosed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 3). Thus, the timing for inserting the advertisement information into the program is determined for each viewing operation of the user.

In addition, a broadcasting terminal device that can determine the resolution of a program to be recorded according to the attribute of the program or can determine the resolution (bit rate) at the time of program recording according to the user's preference is also disclosed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 4).
JP-A-11-164217 JP 2000-253325 A JP 2002-305760 A JP 2001-84220 A

  However, it cannot be said that the conventional apparatus can sufficiently reflect the user's preference such as extracting the user's preference by mistake.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a program selection device and a program selection method that can select content according to user's preference.

  In order to achieve the above object, a program selection device according to the present invention is a program selection device that selects a program according to a user's preference, and is recorded by a program recording means for recording content and the program recording means. Recorded program browsing means for playing back the content, operation accepting means for receiving a browsing operation for controlling playback of the content by the recorded program browsing means from the user, and operation history storage means for storing the history of the browsing operation A browsing concentration level calculating unit that calculates a browsing concentration level of the user with respect to the content based on the browsing operation history stored by the operation history storage unit, and the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration level calculating unit. Preference extraction means for extracting the user's preference based on the degree of content and content recorded by the program recording means. Therefore, the program selection means for selecting the content to be recorded using the browsing concentration level calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation means, and the recording when the content selected by the program selection means is scheduled to be broadcast. Program information monitoring means for making a reservation.

  Note that the present invention can be realized not only as such a program selection apparatus, but also as a program selection method including steps characteristic of the program selection apparatus, or by performing these steps as a computer. It can also be realized as a program to be executed. Needless to say, such a program can be distributed via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a transmission medium such as the Internet.

  According to the program selection device of the present invention, it is possible to extract the user's preferences reflecting the browsing operation performed on the recorded content. Therefore, it is possible to select and recommend content that suits the user's preference. For example, devices such as hard disk recorders and DVD recorders have become widespread, and a wide variety of broadcast contents are being broadcasted today. The value is extremely high.

  The program selection device according to the present invention is a program selection device for selecting a program according to user's preference, and is a program recording means for recording content, and a recorded program for reproducing the content recorded by the program recording means. A browsing means; an operation receiving means for receiving a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content by the recorded program browsing means from the user; an operation history storage means for storing the history of the browsing operation; and the operation history storage means. A browsing concentration level calculating unit that calculates a browsing concentration level of the user with respect to the content based on the browsing operation history accumulated by the user, and based on the browsing concentration level calculated by the browsing concentration level calculating unit, Preference extraction means for extracting preferences.

  Thus, since the user's preference can be extracted reflecting what browsing operation the recorded content has been browsed, it is possible to select the content that matches the user's preference. For example, unlike the case where the user's preference is extracted using only the recording reservation history, content close to content that is not liked as a result of browsing is not selected. Also, when the user's preferences are extracted using only the TV channel selection history, TV channels are selected, but when there is a program that no one is watching, appropriate preferences can be extracted. In addition, there is no case that appropriate program recommendation cannot be performed.

  Here, the program selection device further includes program information acquisition means for acquiring content information regarding the content, and the program recording means records the content information in association with the content when recording the content. The preference extracting unit may extract a keyword from the content information and calculate the importance of the keyword as the user's preference based on the browsing concentration level with respect to the content.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the program selection device further includes program selection means for selecting content that meets the user's preference based on the importance of the keyword calculated by the preference extraction means.

  As a result, it is possible to select a program using the importance of a keyword reflecting what browsing operation is performed on the recorded content, so that the content according to the user's preference can be selected. It becomes possible to select.

  The program recording means may determine a resolution for recording the content based on the browsing concentration level.

  This makes it possible to record content at a resolution that meets the user's needs. Further, even when the user sets the resolution at the time of recording reservation, it is possible to give a guide as to which resolution should be stored.

  Further, the program selection device further selects a content to be recorded again from the contents recorded by the program recording means by using the browsing concentration degree calculated by the browsing concentration degree calculating means. And program information monitoring means for making a recording reservation when broadcasting of the content selected by the program selection means is scheduled.

  Preferably, the program selection device further includes program storage means for storing a recording specification representing the definition of the recorded content, and the program information monitoring means further refers to the recording specification. Thus, the recording reservation may be performed only when it is determined that recording with higher definition than the initial recording is possible.

  Due to changes in broadcasting infrastructure and the spread of the Internet, the same program may be delivered again with higher definition video. Also, in broadcasting, compared to the case of broadcasting by analog broadcasting in the past, by digital broadcasting, a high-definition and high-resolution program will be broadcast even for the same program. According to this configuration, in such a situation, it is possible to provide a program selection device that automatically performs higher-definition recording than the recording specification that has already been recorded without bothering the user. Thus, specifically, at the time of the initial recording, it is not known whether or not the content meets the user's preference, so the high-definition recording was not performed, but the program that suits the preference by browsing after being recorded When it is found that, it is possible to accurately respond to the user's desire to record again with higher definition than the original recording.

  Preferably, the browsing concentration level calculation means further includes a browsing operation for acquiring a browsing concentration level for content recorded by another independent program selection device and browsed by the user from the independent program selection device. The program selection means further calculates the content to be recorded again by the program recording means from the contents recorded by the independent program selection device. You may select using degrees.

  According to this configuration, for example, in a situation where a new recording device capable of recording with higher definition together with an old recording device has been installed at home, the old recording device (the above-described other independent program selection device) If the recorded program has a high level of viewing concentration and meets the user's preference, the program is automatically re-recorded by a new recording device (the above-described program selection device).

  In addition, the program selection device further estimates a time required for browsing the content recorded by the program recording unit but not browsed by the user by using a browsing concentration degree calculated for other content. You may provide required time estimation means.

  Preferably, the program selection device may further include program information display means for displaying the estimated browsing time.

  According to this configuration, for a recorded program, the time required to browse a recorded program that has not yet been browsed is estimated from the browsing history of the past recorded program and displayed to the user. It becomes possible to do. As a result, when the time for browsing by the user is limited, it can be used as a guideline for viewing which program from the recorded programs.

  The program selection device further stores a content recorded by the program recording means, and provides a program movement storage means for browsing on an external browsing terminal, and a content stored in the program movement storage means. A browsing history movement storage unit that acquires and stores a browsing history at the browsing terminal from the browsing terminal, and the browsing concentration level calculating unit further includes a browsing history stored in the browsing history movement storage unit The browsing concentration level at the browsing terminal for the content stored in the program movement storage means is calculated using the program selection device, and the program selection device further uses the calculated browsing concentration level to record the program. Program selection means may be provided for selecting content to be stored in the program movement storage means from the content recorded by the means.

  According to this configuration, the program selection is performed using the browsing concentration degree calculated from the browsing history of the content stored in the program movement storage means (card media) and browsed on the external browsing terminal (mobile terminal). The content that meets the user's preference is selected from the content recorded by the device (recording device in the home). This saves the user from having to select content to browse in the mobile environment according to his / her preference. The effect becomes more prominent as a large amount of content is stored in a recording device in the home.

  Preferably, the browsing history movement storage unit further includes a browsing specification representing at least one of a display resolution and a frame rate used for browsing on the browsing terminal for the content stored in the program movement storage unit. Is acquired from the browsing terminal and stored, and the program selection device further stores a browsing specification that will be used for browsing content newly stored in the program movement storage unit. Program browsing specification estimation means for estimating using the browsing specifications stored in the program, and program content conversion means for converting the new content according to the estimated browsing specifications.

  Preferably, the program content conversion unit performs the conversion when the new content is recorded by the program recording unit, and the program recording unit converts the new content according to the estimated browsing specification. You may record.

  According to this configuration, the display specifications of the program moved to the card media are stored together with the browsing history, and when the program recorded on the hard disk in the home is moved to the card media, By moving at an appropriate resolution or frame rate, it is possible to make an animation of an efficient size. As a result, the storage capacity of the card medium can be used efficiently, and time for copying or moving can be saved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
As described above, program viewing history (channel selection history) is accumulated, user preferences are extracted using text information and metadata information of each selected program, and each user is extracted from future programs. A technique for recommending a program in response to the above is disclosed. However, even when a channel is selected and a program is broadcast on the television, for example, when the television is kept on, the user does not always browse the television. For this reason, the user's preference may not be sufficiently expressed only from the channel selection history.

  Also, with the widespread use of hard disks and DVDs, programs can be easily stored and accessed randomly. In view of this, a technique for extracting user preferences from information about what programs are scheduled to be recorded using a recording history by the user is disclosed. In this case, since reserved program recording is performed by the user's intention, it is possible to extract an accurate preference as compared with the case of using a television channel selection history. However, if the user's preferences are to be extracted only from the reserved recording history, if the recording is mistakenly reserved or the recording is reserved but the program is not so favorite, the erroneous preference is extracted. .

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the browsing operation of the recorded program is accumulated as a history, whether or not the user is interested in the recorded program is estimated, and from the estimation result A program selection apparatus that selects a program to be recommended from a newly obtained program table by extracting the user's preferences will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a program selection device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
The program selection device 1100 is a device for selecting a program according to the user's preference. As shown in FIG. 1, a broadcast receiving unit 1101, a program recording unit 1102, a recorded program browsing unit 1103, a browsing operation receiving unit 1104, A browsing operation history storage unit 1105, a browsing concentration calculation unit 1106, a preference extraction unit 1107, a program information acquisition unit 1108, a program selection unit 1109, a program recording reservation unit 1110, a program storage unit 1111, and an operation history storage unit 1112 are provided. Yes.

  The broadcast receiving unit 1101 receives a broadcast program (content). The program recording unit 1102 records the received program in the program storage unit 1111. The program storage unit 1111 is a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores programs recorded by the program recording unit 1102. The recorded program browsing unit 1103 reproduces the program (recorded program) recorded by the program recording unit 1102 and stored in the program storage unit 1111. The browsing operation reception unit 1104 receives a browsing operation for controlling the reproduction of the recorded program by the recorded program browsing unit 1103 from the user. The browsing operation history storage unit 1105 stores the browsing operation history received by the browsing operation reception unit 1104 in the operation history storage unit 1112. The browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 calculates the browsing concentration level for the user's program from the browsing operation history accumulated in the operation history storage unit 1112. The preference extraction unit 1107 extracts the user's preference based on the browsing concentration level calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106. The program information acquisition unit 1108 acquires program information (EPG). The program selection unit 1109 selects a program that meets the preference extracted by the preference extraction unit 1107 from the program table in the acquired EPG. The program recording reservation unit 1110 performs reserved recording of the program selected by the program selection unit 1109.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration in which the program selection device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is used. This system includes a digital television 1201 that displays a broadcast program on a screen, a hard disk recorder 1202 having a program selection device, a home gateway 1203 that connects a home device and an outdoor communication device, and a portable recording that can be remotely recorded from outside. A browsing remote controller 1205 for controlling reproduction of the telephone 1204 and the hard disk recorder 1202 is provided.

  An outline of the operation of this system will be described. The hard disk recorder 1202 stores programs reserved for recording by the user, and the user views the program using the digital television 1201. When browsing (reproducing) a program, the browsing remote controller 1205 is used to fast-forward scenes that are not of interest, and scenes of interest are browsed many times. A history of such browsing operations is accumulated for each accumulated program, the degree of interest in each program is calculated, and user preferences are extracted. For example, a user who repeatedly views a baseball program determines that he / she is interested in baseball, and can automatically record if there is a program related to baseball from the next time onward. On the other hand, users who have not accumulated a baseball program even after one month from the date of accumulation have accumulated the baseball program, but determined that they are less interested in baseball, It is necessary not to recommend the program.

  Next, the operation when extracting the user's preference in the program selection device configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when extracting user preferences in the program selection device.

  The program recording unit 1102 records, in the program storage unit 1111, a program that has been reserved for recording by setting a G code, a scheduled broadcast time, and a channel by the user (step S 101). Further, when recording a program, the program recording unit 1102 simultaneously stores information related to the program in the program storage unit 1111 from the EPG or the like acquired by the program information acquisition unit 1108. Here, for example, it is assumed that programs as shown in FIG. 4 are accumulated. In this case, for example, with respect to “News Fountain” in FIG. 4, as information about the program, as shown in FIG. 5, performers of “News Fountain” and information about the contents of the program are also accumulated. .

  When each program recorded by the user is viewed, the device control operation history when each program is viewed is accumulated (step S102). That is, the browsing operation history accumulation unit 1105 accumulates, in the operation history storage unit 1112, browsing history such as fast forward and rewind received by the browsing operation reception unit 1104.

  6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are diagrams illustrating examples of a browsing operation when a recorded program is browsed, and (a) a diagram schematically showing the browsing operation, and (b) corresponding to each program, respectively. It is a figure which shows the example of the log | history letting it be accumulated in the operation log | history memory | storage part 1112. FIG. 6 shows an example of a program having a CM in a recorded program. In the example shown in FIG. 6, from 00 to 20 minutes from the start of the program is viewed by normal playback, and since it was CM from 20 to 23 minutes, the user skipped by fast-forward playback, and the CM was up to 22 minutes, but too much 23 minutes, so we ’re back from 23 to 22 minutes. Thereafter, from 22 minutes to 30 minutes, it indicates that browsing was performed by normal reproduction. Here, it is assumed that the program stored in the program storage unit 1111 is preliminarily provided with information on the classification of whether it is program content or CM for each frame on the broadcast transmission side. Note that the CM section may be detected based on whether the broadcast is stereo broadcast.

  FIG. 7 shows an example where the recorded program is a program such as news. In the example shown in FIG. 7, from 00 minutes to 13 minutes at the start of the program, it is browsed by normal playback, and during 13 minutes to 19 minutes, for example, news that is not interesting, the user skips by fast forward playback, and from 19 minutes to 24 minutes It is viewed by normal reproduction, and since it was news that was not interesting again from 24 minutes to 26 minutes, it is shown that the user skipped by fast-forward reproduction and then browsed by normal reproduction from 26 minutes to 30 minutes.

  FIG. 8 shows an example where the recorded program is a program such as a movie. In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is shown that the program is viewed by normal playback from 00 minutes to the last 30 minutes. FIGS. 9 and 10 are examples of programs in which the recorded program is not of interest, for example. In the example shown in FIG. 9, it is shown that the program is viewed from normal playback from 00 minutes to 02 minutes and the user skips from 02 minutes to 30 minutes by fast forward playback. In the example shown in FIG. 10, it is shown that the program is browsed by normal reproduction from 00 minutes to 02 minutes from the start of the program, the user skips by fast-forward reproduction from 02 minutes to 04 minutes, and then the browsing is finished.

  Next, the preference extraction unit 1107 determines whether or not the number of programs viewed by the user has reached a predetermined number (step S103). Unless a certain number of programs (for example, 10 programs) are browsed by the user, it is difficult to extract preferences from the user's browsing operation. Therefore, when the predetermined number of programs is not reached (NO in step S103), the program recording and / or browsing operation history accumulation is repeated.

  When the browsed program reaches the predetermined number of programs (YES in step S103), the preference extraction unit 1107 stores the recorded program in the program storage unit 1111 as shown in FIG. A keyword that characterizes the program is extracted from the information about the program (step S104). For example, in the case of a program such as “News Fountain” shown in FIG. 5, “News”, “Document” as genre information, “Tanaka ΔΔ”, “Suzuki ○ ”, and keywords such as“ Japan Series ”,“ Minister of Foreign Affairs ”,“ Girl Girl Murder Case ”are extracted as content information. In this keyword extraction, tag information given in advance to the program may be used, or a processing method such as morphological analysis may be used from text information describing the contents of the program. Further, a keyword characterizing a program may be determined using keyword frequency statistical information such as the TF-IDF method.

  Next, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 calculates a browsing concentration level indicating the degree of interest in the user's program from the browsing operation history accumulated in the operation history storage unit 1112 (step S105). In the present embodiment, the normal playback rate indicating the proportion of time played in normal playback is calculated as the browsing concentration level for the program without using operations such as fast-forwarding in each program. In the example shown in FIG. 6, since there is a time during which normal playback is not performed for 2 minutes out of 30 minutes, the normal playback time is 28 minutes, and the normal playback rate is 28/30 × 100 = 93.3%. . When the normal playback rate is calculated for each program viewed as in the examples shown in FIGS. 6 to 10, 93.3%, 73.3%, 100%, and 6.7%, respectively, as shown in FIG. 6.7%. Thus, the normal playback rate for each viewed program as shown in FIG. 11 represents the degree of interest in each program.

  Next, the preference extraction unit 1107 calculates the importance of the keyword as a user preference based on the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration calculation unit 1106 for the extracted keyword (step S106). For example, when the browsing concentration of a program having information related to the program as shown in FIG. 5, that is, the normal playback rate is 93.8%, the program keyword extracted from the information related to the program shown in FIG. The importance for keywords such as “news”, “document”, “Tanaka △△”, “Suzuki XX”, “Japan series”, “foreign minister”, “girl murder case” is 0.938. . In this way, the preference extraction unit 1107 obtains the importance for each keyword for each recorded program that has been viewed. Then, the preference extraction unit 1107 calculates the sum of importance for each keyword, and creates a correspondence table between keywords and importance as shown in FIG. 12, for example.

  Next, an operation of the program selection device when a program recommendation request is made in a state where user preferences are extracted as described above will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when a program recommendation request is issued in the program selection device.

  The program selection unit 1109 selects a program based on the importance of the keyword calculated by the preference extraction unit 1107 from the program table in the EPG acquired by the program information acquisition unit 1108 (for example, from now until one week later). A number is selected (step S201). That is, the program selection unit 1109 sequentially selects a predetermined number of programs with the highest importance of keywords included in the text data of the program guide. For example, if a program includes the keywords “news” and “Suzuki OO”, the total importance of the keywords for the program is 10.2 + 7.2 = 17.4. In this way, the program selection unit 1109 can select programs that the user is likely to be interested in. Note that the total importance of keywords is calculated as a simple sum, so that the probability that a program with a large amount of text will be selected increases.

  The program recording reservation unit 1110 detects whether or not the program selected by the program selection unit 1109 is set for recording reservation (step S202). If all the programs selected by the program selection unit 1109 have been set for recording reservation (YES in step S202), the process ends. Whether or not the recording reservation is set can be determined by comparing the channel number, recording date and time, and time in a hard disk recording device or a DVD recording device, for example.

  On the other hand, if even one of the programs selected by the program selection unit 1109 has not been set for recording reservation (NO in step S202), the program recording reservation unit 1110 selects among the programs selected by the program selection unit 1109. A program that is not reserved for recording is displayed as a recommended program on a screen of a television or mobile phone (step S203). For example, the recommended program is displayed on the television screen as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if it is a screen of a mobile phone 1204 or the like, a recommended program is displayed as shown in FIG.

  The program recording reservation unit 1110 determines whether or not recording of the displayed recommended program has been selected by the user (step S204). Here, if the recording is not selected by the user (NO in step S204), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when recording is selected by the user (YES in step S204), the program recording reservation unit 1110 performs recording reservation setting for the recommended program whose recording is selected by the user (step S205). For example, when the recording reservation setting is performed by the mobile phone 1204, the recording reservation setting is performed remotely by notifying the hard disk recorder 1202 by e-mail or the like via the home gateway 1203 or the like.

  As described above, since the user's preference is extracted using the browsing operation history of the program recorded by the user, it becomes possible to select a program that meets the user's preference. For example, unlike a conventional apparatus that extracts user preferences using only a recording reservation history, a program that is close to a program that is not liked as a result of browsing is not set as a recording reservation. Also, as in the case of a conventional device that extracts user preferences using only the television channel selection history, a television channel is selected, but there is an appropriate preference when there is a program that no one is watching. It is possible to solve the problem that the program cannot be extracted and appropriate program recommendation cannot be performed.

  In this embodiment, the history of operations using the remote controller attached to the hard disk recorder is accumulated, but a remote controller using infrared communication of a mobile phone may be used, for example. In this case, a user can be specified, and a program can be recommended for each user.

  In this embodiment, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 uniformly calculates the normal playback rate indicating the percentage of time played in normal playback as the browsing concentration level for the program, but this is not limitative. It is not a thing. For example, in the case of a news program or the like, only the news that the user likes is browsed, and in the case of a drama or the like, all scenes are usually reproduced. Therefore, a method of calculating the degree of program concentration according to the program genre (news, drama, etc.) may be used. For example, in the case of news or the like, it is determined that the player is sufficiently interested in a normal playback rate of 70%, and in the case of a genre such as a drama, it is interested if there is no normal playback rate of 90%. A function that does not determine that may be set for each program genre. In addition to the genre, the viewing concentration may be calculated by distinguishing between a channel that contains advertisements (CM) and the like, a channel that does not contain advertisements (CM), and a program recorded using the CM removal function. Thereby, the browsing concentration degree according to a genre and a channel is calculated, and the program selection suitable for a user preference is attained. Further, for example, when the same program is browsed twice, the browsing concentration degree may be added or set to the highest value because the importance of the user is high.

  In addition, when the recorded program is a program for a long time, the user who browses the program, if there is a task other than browsing the toilet, etc., pauses the program playback, Thereafter, the program is resumed after the errand is over (see FIG. 16). On the other hand, in the case of a program that is not viewed in a concentrated manner, if the program is a long program, even if there is a business in the middle of the program, the program can still be played without being temporarily stopped. There are things to do. Therefore, when calculating the program concentration degree from the playback history of a recorded program having a predetermined value (for example, 2 hours or more), that is, when the continuous playback time is larger than the predetermined value, It is also possible to determine that the program is not being viewed in a concentrated manner. Further, when a CM or the like is inserted in the middle of a program, it is possible to determine that the fast-forwarding is performed when the CM is played back, so that the program is viewed in a concentrated manner.

  In the present embodiment, the technology for recommending a new program using the operation history of the content stored in the hard disk used by the family has been described. However, the hard disk is logically divided, By associating users, it is possible to recommend programs for each user. For example, for a 120-Gbyte hard disk, a 40-Gbyte hard disk is allocated to each of three families “dad”, “mother”, and “child”, and preferences are extracted for each recorded program stored in each area. This makes it possible to recommend programs for each family member. Moreover, by using a terminal such as a mobile phone of each person instead of a television screen as a terminal for displaying recommended program information, it is possible to recommend a program in consideration of privacy among family members.

  In this embodiment, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 calculates the normal playback rate indicating the percentage of time played in normal playback as the browsing concentration level for the program, but the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 may calculate the browsing concentration level for a program using the number of browsing operations such as fast-forwarding and reversing. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 17, the browsing concentration level may be set in advance according to the number of fast forwards and rewinds operated in one program.

  Further, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 may measure the time from when the program is recorded until it is browsed, and calculate the browsing concentration level for the program using this time. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, it is possible to determine that a program to be browsed early after recording the program is an important program for the user, and to increase the degree of viewing concentration on the program.

  Further, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 may measure the time from when one program is recorded until the program is deleted, and calculate the browsing concentration level for the program using this time. In this case, as shown in FIG. 19, for example, a program that is recorded and deleted once once viewed may be determined as a program that is not very important for the user. Conversely, if a recorded program is stored for many years, it can be determined that the program is important.

  In addition, if it is recorded on a holiday, it is possible to view the recorded program immediately, but it is difficult to view the recorded program immediately on weekdays. Therefore, it may be determined whether the program is important for the user in consideration of the calendar information and the time from when the program is recorded until it is viewed. Also, the viewing time varies depending on the individual lifestyle, such as students, housewives, office workers, self-employed workers, etc., so a time zone that can be viewed for each user was set, and multiple programs were recorded during that time zone In this case, the program that is viewed from which program may be used to determine a program that is important for the user.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the browsing concentration degree for the program is calculated from the history of operations when browsing the recorded program. Further, after browsing the recorded program, as shown in FIG. The importance of the program may be input by allowing the user to select whether or not to check the related program. Moreover, you may make it input not only whether it is interested but a preference degree.

  In addition, the normal playback rate of the above program, the number of operations during browsing, the time from recording to browsing, the time from recording to deletion, the number of browsing times from recording to deletion, As for the degree of interest input, the browsing concentration level may be calculated by combining them instead of calculating the browsing concentration level by only one.

  Further, in this embodiment, a program that the user is interested in is recommended by accumulating the browsing operation history of the recorded program. On the other hand, when the capacity of the hard disk increases, many programs can be stored. However, on the other hand, programs that have been stored but are not often viewed may remain stored. Therefore, by accumulating the viewing history of the recorded program, the user may be advised to delete the program that has been accumulated and is not viewed for a certain period of time in order to ensure the capacity of the hard disk. it can. It is also possible to encourage the user to change the resolution and compress and store.

  In the present embodiment, the browsing operation history of the recorded program is described as an example of a browsing operation such as fast forward and rewind. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Furthermore, the editing work of the recorded program may be accumulated as an operation history for the program, and the degree of interest in the editing work may be calculated. For example, it is determined that a user is sufficiently interested in a program and its genre in which a CM part is deleted from a recorded program and only the program content part is connected. Can do. In addition, when a program stored on a hard disk is copied to a medium that can be carried around, such as a DVD, or to a medium that can be stored permanently without depending on the capacity of the hard disk, the user is sufficiently interested in the program. You can judge that you have it. Furthermore, even when a program stored on a hard disk or the like is copied to a medium such as a DVD at the same resolution (compression rate), it is determined that the user is sufficiently interested in the program. May be. Furthermore, it is also possible to measure the time from browsing a recorded program to erasing it and calculating the browsing concentration according to that value. For example, a program that has been deleted immediately after browsing and a program that may be viewed again after browsing or that has not been deleted in order to encourage other users in the family to view it. And the degree of importance is different. It is possible to extract the viewer's preference for the program by accumulating the time from the end of browsing the program to the time of deletion as the browsing operation history.

(Modification 1 of Embodiment 1 for re-recording a program having a high degree of viewing concentration)
Moreover, in this Embodiment, the example which extracts a user preference from the browsing concentration degree of each recorded program and recorded a program automatically was described. A recorded program having a high browsing concentration is a program that the user likes to browse. On the other hand, due to changes in the broadcasting infrastructure and the spread of the Internet, the same program may be distributed in a higher definition video than when it was recorded. In particular, in broadcasting, compared to the case of broadcasting by analog broadcasting in the past, by digital broadcasting, a high-definition and high-resolution program is broadcast even if it is the same program.

  Therefore, regarding a recorded program having a high browsing concentration, when the same program is broadcast, the recorded resolution (640 dots × 480 dots, etc.), frame rate (number of display images per second) It may be possible to re-accumulate as a higher definition moving image. Before viewing the recorded program, I did not know whether it was a program that suits the user's preference, so I did not record very high-definition, but it was in the user's preference after viewing the recorded program Some are programs. Therefore, when the same program is broadcast again, the user may desire to record the program with higher definition than the specification that has already been recorded. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when a user's preference for a recorded program is extracted based on the user's browsing concentration level, and the same program is broadcast again, the recording specification already recorded is recorded. When high-definition recording is possible, an apparatus for automatically re-recording is provided.

  An example of the system configuration of the recording apparatus is shown in FIG. 21 includes a broadcast receiving unit 5001, a program recording unit 5002, a program storage unit 5003, a browsing operation receiving unit 5004, a recorded program browsing unit 5005, a browsing operation storage unit 5006, a browsing concentration degree calculating unit 5007, and a program selection unit. 5008, a program information receiving unit 5009, and a program information monitoring unit 5010. The operation of each module will be described.

  The broadcast receiving unit 5001, the program recording unit 5002, the program storage unit 5003, the browsing operation reception unit 5004, the recorded program browsing unit 5005, the browsing operation storage unit 5006, and the browsing concentration level calculation unit 5007 operate in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is performed.

  However, in the program storage unit 5003, the recording specification when the program is recorded is stored as the recording specification of FIG. The recording specification is, for example, information related to the resolution and frame rate of stored programs. Furthermore, information on the number of colors (256 colors, full color, etc.) may also be accumulated. When the recorded terminal is low in specifications for the recorded program stored in this way, it is displayed in accordance with its performance. For example, when the frame rate of the display terminal is 40 fps, the recorded program stored at 20 fps is displayed on the terminal using the same frame twice. As a result, even if the display terminal is a high-definition terminal of 40 fps, the performance cannot be fully utilized.

In addition, the browsing concentration level of each program calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation unit 5007 of this modification is expressed by the time required to browse the recorded program. Specifically, for example,
Browsing concentration (normal playback rate)
= (Predetermined program playback time) / (Predetermined program recording time)
Calculate with For example, when a 55-minute program is viewed in 45 minutes by an operation such as “fast forward” or “play”, it may be calculated as 45/55 = 81.8%. When browsing in a short time by the “fast forward” operation, even a 55 minute program may be browsed in 10 minutes and another program may be started. The browsing concentration at this time is 10/55 = 18.2%. Thus, when a single program is viewed over a long period of time, the viewing concentration tends to increase. Further, it is assumed that the resolution and frame rate of the display terminal are stored at the same time as the performance of the terminal displaying the program. Note that, when played back on a plurality of display terminals, terminal performance on terminals with a long browsing time is accumulated. The browsing concentration may be calculated using the performance of these display terminals.

  The program selection unit 5008 selects a program having a browsing concentration level higher than a predetermined value. For example, it is assumed that five programs are recorded in the program storage unit 5003 as shown in FIG. At this time, it is assumed that the normal playback rate of each program shown in FIG. 22 is calculated from information in the browsing operation storage unit 5006 in which the history of browsing each program by the user is accumulated. At this time, a program whose browsing concentration exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 90%) is determined to be a program that is being browsed by the user, and these programs are selected as monitoring programs. In the example of FIG. 22, programs with program titles “River Flow” and “Medaka School” are selected.

  The program information receiving unit 5009 receives information related to a program broadcast in the future after the current time. The reception of the program information may be distributed after being multiplexed with a broadcast wave, or may be distributed using a network such as the Internet.

  The program information monitoring unit 5010 is a part that performs operations such as notifying the user or performing automatic recording setting when a program related to the program selected by the program selection unit 5008 is received by the program information reception unit 5009 It is. In the example of FIG. 22, since “River Flow” and “Medaka School” are selected as the monitoring programs, if it is found that the program information receiving unit 5009 will broadcast later, the program is currently recorded. It is determined whether or not a high-definition moving image is obtained by replacing the program that has been made. For example, when it is found that there is a rebroadcast of the program “River Flow”, the currently recorded “River Flow” is stored at a frame rate of 20 fps at a resolution of 640 × 480. Then, it is determined whether or not recording with higher definition than these recording specifications is possible. If high definition recording is possible, recording reservation is performed.

  The above operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, since the operation until the browsing operation of the recorded program is stored in the browsing operation storage unit 5006 is the same as that in Embodiment 1, the description thereof is omitted. First, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 5007 calculates the browsing concentration level of each recorded program (S5201). As a result, as shown in FIG. 22, the browsing concentration for each program is calculated. The program selection unit 5008 selects a program whose browsing concentration is higher than a predetermined value (90%) (S5202). If there is no program higher than the predetermined value, the process returns to S5201. The recording specification of the program selected in S5202 is searched (S5203). In the example of FIG. 22, “Medaka School” and “River Flow” are selected, and the recording specifications of each program are a resolution of 640 × 480 and a frame rate of 20 fps.

  The program title selected in S5203 is registered as a monitoring program in the program information monitoring unit 5010 (S5204). It is determined whether the program information receiving unit 5009 has received information on the monitored program (S5205). When the broadcast time or the like of the monitoring program is received, it is determined whether or not high-definition recording is possible as compared with the recording mode already recorded (S5206). If high-definition recording is possible, recording reservation registration is performed in the program recording unit 5002 (S5207).

  By performing the above operations, it becomes possible to automatically set a high-definition recording reservation for a recorded program that a user concentrates on browsing.

  Note that, in the embodiment of the present modified example, a high-definition recording is performed when a re-broadcasting or the like is performed on a program that is recorded with a high degree of browsing concentration in one recording device. However, in recent years, the recording technology such as a hard disk recorder has advanced, and higher definition recording has become possible. For this reason, in each home, there is a case where a device capable of recording with higher definition than conventional recording devices is purchased, and a plurality of devices having different recording performances are installed in the home (FIG. 24). In this case, when a program with higher definition than a program recorded by a conventional recording device is possible and a program with a high program concentration degree (a program that the user likes to browse) is broadcast again. Can automatically record on a device capable of high-definition recording. An example of the configuration of such a system is shown in FIG.

  In the program recording system of FIG. 25, the modules 5401 to 5410 are the same as the modules 5001 to 5010 of FIG. In the system of FIG. 25, the first broadcast receiving unit 5411, the first program recording unit 5412, the first program storage unit 5413, the first browsing operation receiving unit 5414, and the first recorded program browsing unit 5415 are further provided. The first browsing operation storage unit 5416 is provided. Reference numerals 5411 to 5416 denote first program recording apparatuses that store recording of programs and browsing operations of the recorded programs. Reference numerals 5401 to 5410 denote second program recording devices, which are devices capable of recording with higher definition than the first program recording device.

  The browsing concentration level calculation unit 5407 in the second program recording device refers to the recording specification of the program recorded in the first program recording device and the browsing operation of the recorded program, and the user's browsing concentration level for each program Is calculated. Furthermore, if a high-definition recording is possible by using a second recording device for a program with a high degree of browsing concentration, the program is registered in the program information monitoring unit 5410 by the second recording device. When aired, it is recorded by the second recording device.

  With the above configuration, when a plurality of recording devices having different recording performances are installed in the home, the viewing concentration of the program recorded by one recording device is high, and in the case of a program that meets the user's preference, Automatic re-recording is possible.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the user's preference with respect to a program was extracted from the browsing history of the program, and the program was selected automatically. By storing the automatically selected programs in the hard disk or the like in this way, the user can automatically record a large number of programs without a recording reservation operation. It will be accumulated. When ranking the programs to be browsed from among a large number of programs, the browsing history for each program may be used for program classification.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the user's preference with respect to a program was extracted from the browsing history of the program, and the program was selected automatically. Furthermore, by using the recorded program browsing history, it is possible to measure the actual browsing time of the program, which is different from the program broadcast time. For example, even for a 55-minute drama, it may actually be possible to view in 40 minutes by playing and browsing the first theme song part or the CM part in the middle. Therefore, when the time that can be browsed by the user is set, it is possible to determine which program is to be browsed by using the browsing history for the program. For example, even if 55 minutes of news has been accumulated, the viewer has viewed only the first part of the news accumulated in the past, and the history that has been browsed in 10 minutes has been accumulated. To do. At this time, even if the time spent for browsing by the user is 15 minutes, this news program can be selected as a program that can be browsed. In particular, it is effective when selecting a program that can be viewed within a predetermined time from a large number of recorded programs during a meeting or in a transportation facility such as a train or bus.

(Modification 2 of Embodiment 1 for Estimating the Viewing Time of a Recorded Program Using the Viewing Concentration Level)
In the first embodiment, the browsing concentration for each program is calculated using the browsing history, and the program to be newly recorded is selected after estimating the user's preference. Furthermore, the time required for viewing the recorded program is estimated from the viewing history of the recorded program of the user, and the recorded program is classified according to the viewing concentration level. It can be used to select a program.

  In particular, when there are a large number of recorded programs (such as more than 50 programs), the user needs to determine which program to browse from. It takes a lot of time to browse all of those programs. However, for a recorded program, it is possible to save browsing time by using a function such as fast-forward for a portion that the user is not interested in. Therefore, the browsing concentration is calculated from the history of the previously viewed programs, and the time required for the user to browse each program is estimated for each genre program.

  An example of a system configuration for realizing the above system is shown in FIG. 26 includes a broadcast receiving unit 5501, a program recording unit 5502, a program storage unit 5503, a browsing operation receiving unit 5504, a recorded program browsing unit 5505, a browsing operation storage unit 5506, a browsing concentration level calculating unit 5507, and browsing. A required time estimation unit 5508 and a program information display unit 5509 are included. The operation content of each module of the program information display apparatus configured as described above will be described. However, descriptions of 5501 to 5507 are omitted because they perform the same operation as in the first embodiment.

The browsing required time estimation unit 5508 estimates the time required to browse the recorded program based on the result calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation unit 5507. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 27A, the normal playback rate is calculated based on the time of normal playback for each program. Next, an average value of normal playback rate values is calculated for each genre. As a result, as shown in FIG. 27B, the average value of the normal playback rate is calculated for each genre.

  Furthermore, for the program stored in the program storage unit 5503, the time required for browsing each program is estimated and displayed using the normal playback rate for each genre estimated by the browsing time estimation unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 28, regarding the program “River Flow” that has not been browsed yet, since the genre is drama, the recording time is 55 minutes. Since the ratio of the time for performing reproduction is 94%, 52 minutes is presented as an estimated browsing time by 55 minutes × 0.97 = 52 minutes. Similarly, for a program of a genre for which the normal playback rate is calculated, the estimated browsing time is displayed together with the program information. In this example, the estimated browsing time is calculated for each genre, but the normal playback rate may be calculated for each program title to present the estimated browsing time. For example, in the case of a continuous drama, the estimated browsing time of a program that has not been browsed may be calculated from the time of normal playback up to the previous time.

  The program information display unit 5509 displays information on the recorded program based on the time estimated by the browsing required time estimation unit 5508. As a result, a recorded program list as shown in FIG. 28 can be displayed. In addition, programs that have been recorded in the order of time estimated by the browsing time estimation unit and have not been browsed may be displayed in order.

  The above operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. However, since the operation until the browsing operation of the recorded program is stored in the browsing operation storage unit 5506 is the same as that in Embodiment 1, the description thereof is omitted. The browsing concentration level calculation unit 5507 calculates the browsing concentration level (normal playback rate) based on the history information stored in the browsing operation storage unit 5506 (S5801). As a result, the normal playback rate for each program is calculated, and the normal playback rate for each program genre is calculated as shown in FIG. 27 (S5802). Next, in the program storage unit 5503, it is determined whether there is a program that has not been browsed by the user (S5803). If there is no program that has not been browsed, the flow ends. If there is a program that has not been browsed, the genre of the program is checked, and the time required for browsing is estimated from the normal playback rate calculated by the browsing concentration calculation unit 5507 (S5804). When the time required for browsing is estimated, program information is displayed on the program information display unit 5509 (S5805).

  As a result of the above operation, the recorded program is estimated from the browsing history of the recorded program in the past, and the time required to browse the recorded program but not yet viewed is displayed to the user. It becomes possible to do. As a result, when the time for browsing by the user is limited, it can be used as a guideline for viewing which program from the recorded programs.

  In this modification, the recorded program list indicating the estimated browsing time for each program is displayed. Further, the viewing time is received from the user, and viewing recommendation is made so that the total estimated browsing time does not exceed that time. It is also conceivable to present it to the user as a program. For example, when the user designates 70 minutes, which is the time remaining before going out, as the time spent for viewing, two programs “river flow” whose estimated browsing time is indicated as 64 minutes by the recorded program list of FIG. ”And“ Professional Baseball Y vs G ”are recommended, and the user can browse the two programs just before going out according to the recommendation.

  In the present embodiment, the browsing history for each program is accumulated, but the browsing order of programs may be further accumulated. Thereby, it becomes possible to extract the tendency with respect to the browsing order of the viewer. For example, for a program accumulated for one month, user A who browses the program in the order in which it was broadcast, and a user who browses the news on Wednesday after browsing all the 9 o'clock dramas on Monday from the stored program Suppose B exists. At this time, when selecting a program to be browsed from a large amount of accumulated programs, the display order of the accumulated programs is changed by referring to the browsing order of past users, and the programs in which the user is accumulated It is also possible to make selection easier. Further, when browsing of a certain stored program is finished, the next program that is likely to be browsed may be recommended together with a message such as “Would you like to browse XXX next time”? This is particularly effective when a large amount of programs are accumulated by an automatic recording function or the like.

  In addition, the viewing history of the program stored in Patent Document 3 is collected via the network, and the viewing history is collected not only for the program being broadcast in real time but also for the stored program, so that the user can watch The technology to grasp the area in the program you want to do at the center is disclosed. In particular, when an operation such as fast-forwarding or rewinding is performed on a program, it is intended to detect an area where a CM or the like is inserted into the program by detecting that portion. Therefore, it is an object to detect a scene that the user normally reproduces.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, not only browsing operations such as fast-forward and rewind of recorded programs, but also the time until the recorded programs are viewed from the recorded date and time, and the viewing of recorded programs User's operation information on recorded programs, such as the number of times and information on the viewed terminal, and information such as program category and contents, etc. are used to extract the user's interests and select an interesting program from a large number of programs. Or to record a program. Therefore, not only the browsing operation of the recorded program but also information regarding the recorded program content is essential, and the user's interest is estimated using this information.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, an apparatus for selecting a program that meets the user's preference from the browsing operation history of the recorded program has been described. Furthermore, when the user selects a program that the user likes, and when the selected program is stored, it is necessary to determine the resolution for storing the program. For example, if browsing with a mobile phone or the like, the resolution is not so high, so when recording, it is sufficient to record at a lower resolution. On the other hand, if you browse your favorite programs carefully in a home theater or the like, you should store them at a high resolution.

  Conventionally, Patent Document 4 describes that the resolution of a program to be recorded is determined according to the attribute of the program and the resolution (bit rate) at the time of program recording is determined according to the user's preference. However, sufficient preferences cannot be extracted only from the user's program selection history or the like, and it is necessary to extract preferences from the recorded program browsing operation history. Moreover, it cannot be judged only from a user's interest to lower the resolution when storing a program. For example, a user who is browsing a favorite drama program on a regular work vehicle may find it convenient to have a small capacity in order to transfer the program stored at home to the in-vehicle display device. Therefore, even if a program is viewed daily, if the capacity of the program stored at a high resolution is increased, it is inconvenient to bring the program out of the home via a network or mobile media.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the resolution for storing a program is determined using not only the browsing history of the program of the user but also the history of resolution at the terminal being viewed.

  FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a program selection device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The same parts as those of the program selection apparatus shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The program selection device 1300 is a device for determining the resolution at the time of storing a program, and as shown in FIG. 30, a broadcast receiving unit 1101, a program recording unit 1102, a recorded program browsing unit 1103, a browsing operation receiving unit 1104, A browsing operation history storage unit 1301, a browsing concentration calculation unit 1302, a program information acquisition unit 1108, a program recording reservation unit 1303, a program storage unit 1111, an operation history storage unit 1112, a browsing terminal information detection unit 1304, and a writing unit 1305 are provided. ing.

  The browsing terminal information detection unit 1304 detects terminal information where the recorded program is browsed. The browsing operation history storage unit 1301 stores, in the operation history storage unit 1112, the browsing operation history received by the browsing operation reception unit 1104 and information related to the browsing terminal detected by the browsing terminal information detection unit 1304. The browsing concentration level calculation unit 1302 calculates the browsing concentration level for the user's program from the browsing operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 1112 and information related to the browsing terminal. The program recording reservation unit 1303 determines the resolution for accumulating programs based on the browsing concentration level calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1302. The writing unit 1305 copies or moves a program (recorded program) stored in the program storage unit 1111 to a portable medium.

  FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration in which the program selection device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention is used. This system includes a digital television 3001 that displays a broadcast program on a screen, a hard disk recorder 3002 having a program selection device, a home gateway 3003 that connects home devices and outdoor communication devices, and programs recorded on the hard disk recorder 3002 to other terminals. However, with portable media (for example, SD card) 3004 to be taken out for viewing, mobile phone 3005 that can be used for remote scheduled recording from outside and programs taken out with portable media, and a display device mounted on a vehicle or the like An in-vehicle display 3006 that can reproduce programs stored in the portable medium 3004 is provided.

  An outline of the operation of this system will be described. The hard disk recorder 3002 stores programs reserved for recording by the user, and browses the programs using the digital television 3001. Programs stored in the hard disk recorder 3002 can be taken out by the portable medium 3004 and can be browsed by the mobile phone 3005 or the vehicle-mounted display 3006. The portable media 3004 stores programs recorded by the hard disk recorder 3002. At the same time, when a program is viewed on the mobile phone 3005 or the in-vehicle display 3006, the browsing history and information on the viewed terminal are displayed. It is configured to accumulate. Using the browsing history stored in the portable medium 3004, when storing the next related program, it is possible to determine at which resolution the program should be stored.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the present embodiment has a configuration in which the portable medium 3004 can be used for browsing on a mobile phone or an in-vehicle display as well as a television terminal in the home. Therefore, in addition to the browsing operation history information of the first embodiment, information indicating which terminal has browsed (reproduced) is stored in the portable medium 3004. FIG. 32 is a diagram showing data stored in the portable medium 3004. As shown in FIG. 32, the portable medium 3004 includes information on “browsing terminal”, “program title”, and “browsing start time”, and the portable medium 3004 indicating the storage location of “browsing history”. The address is listed. Furthermore, the browsing history is described in the address as “browsing history” as in the first embodiment.

  In addition, ID registration is previously performed regarding the browsing terminal, and browsing terminal ID may be accumulate | stored. In addition, only information such as the screen size of the viewing terminal may be recorded. For example, only a size of 32 inches may be recorded for a home TV and 3 inches for a mobile phone. Further, the screen may be divided into large, medium, and small sizes, and the resolution may be recorded as 600 × 480, for example. In other words, any information that can identify the performance and screen size of the terminal may be used.

  Next, the operation for calculating the browsing concentration level in the program selection apparatus configured as described above will be described. FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when calculating the browsing concentration in the program selection device. Since the process from the program recording process (step S101) to the process for determining whether or not the predetermined number of programs has been reached (step S103) is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

  If it is determined in the determination process (step S103) whether or not the predetermined number of programs has been reached (YES in step S103), the browsing concentration calculation unit 1106 The browsing concentration indicating the degree of interest in the user's program is calculated from the browsing operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 1112 (step S301). In the present embodiment, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 uses a preset correspondence table between the browsing terminal and the browsing concentration level as shown in FIG. 34, for example, and the browsing concentration for the program according to the browsed terminal. Calculate the degree. Here, for example, when browsing on a home DVD, it is determined that the degree of concentration of the user on the program is high, and the browsing concentration level is set to 5. On the other hand, when browsing on a vehicle-mounted display, it is estimated that browsing was performed while driving, so it was determined that the program was not concentrated so much and the browsing concentration level was set to 1.

  For example, in a program such as a continuous drama, the average of the browsing concentration calculated for each time of the program is calculated and calculated as the average browsing concentration. FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of the average browsing concentration degree calculated for each program.

  In the example shown in FIG. 35, the average viewing concentration of the drama “Youth Shadow” is 4.2. This is mainly a result of browsing on a DVD in the home. Compared to this, in the case of a drama “red allegation”, the average viewing concentration is 1.5 because it is viewed on a mobile phone or on-vehicle display. Generally, content such as news tends to have a low average browsing concentration because the image quality and resolution are not particular when browsing a program. On the other hand, content such as movies is often viewed at home because it is desired to be stored as a saved version, and the average viewing concentration tends to be high. In addition, in the case of dramas and the like, if the favorite actor (actress) appears, the average browsing concentration is often high, and if it is a drama where only the story is to be confirmed, the average browsing concentration Is often low.

  Next, the operation of the program selection device when there is a program recording reservation in the state where the browsing concentration level for the program is calculated as described above will be described. FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when there is a program recording reservation in the program selection device.

  The program recording reservation unit 1303 determines whether or not the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1302 has calculated the browsing concentration level or the average browsing concentration level for a program for which a recording reservation has been set (step S401). As a result of this determination, when the browsing concentration level or the average browsing concentration level is calculated (YES in step S401), the program recording reservation unit 1303 resolves the resolution for accumulating the program according to the average browsing concentration level. Is determined (step S402). Here, for example, the program recording reservation unit 1303 sets the highest resolution (XP) when the average browsing concentration is 4 or more, sets the standard resolution (SP) when it is 2 or more and less than 4, and sets the resolution to less than 2 Is determined to be low resolution (EP). On the other hand, as a result of the determination, if the browsing concentration level or the average browsing concentration level has not been calculated (NO in step S401), the resolution set in advance or the currently set resolution is determined (step S403). ).

  As described above, since the resolution for recording the program is determined using the history of what kind of terminal the stored program has been browsed, the program can be displayed at a resolution that meets the user's needs. It becomes possible to record. Further, even when the user sets the resolution at the time of recording reservation, it is possible to give a guide as to which resolution should be stored. In particular, when the system selects a program and reserves recording, the resolution is determined using the average browsing concentration value, which is effective for recording the program at a resolution that meets the user's needs. .

  In addition, when browsing on a large screen in the home, it is necessary to accumulate with sufficient image quality for browsing, but for content viewed on a mobile phone or in-vehicle display, the resolution may be low Judgment can be made. As a result, the resolution of the content to be browsed on mobile can be lowered, and the content can be efficiently stored even when the portable media has a limited capacity. Further, even when browsing through a network, the content can be downloaded at high speed by accumulating at a low resolution for the content to be browsed on a mobile phone or on-vehicle display.

  In the present embodiment, the browsing concentration is calculated according to the title of each program, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 37, the viewing concentration is calculated for the genre information of each program such as “news”, “drama”, “movie”, etc., and the resolution for recording is determined based on this viewing concentration. May be. Further, by using the information of the EPG, the viewing concentration degree may be calculated for each performer appearing in each program, and the resolution at the time of program recording may be determined according to the performer.

  In this embodiment, the resolution for recording a program is determined using information on the browsing terminal. However, as in the first embodiment, the resolution is used when recommending a program using a browsing operation history. Also good. For example, when recommending a program, the resolution for recording is determined according to the viewing concentration of the recommended program, and the determined resolution is shown together with the title, date, etc. of the recommended program as shown in FIG. Can be displayed as a “mode”. Further, even in the case of a mobile phone or the like, the resolution can be similarly determined, and the determined resolution can be displayed together with the title of the program to be recommended as shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the browsing concentration of the program is calculated using information on the browsing terminal, but the browsing operation history (such as the normal program playback rate used in the first embodiment) in each terminal is used. The resolution of the program may be determined. As a result, for example, a program (or its genre) browsed by fast-forward to confirm only a story or the like can be stored with a low resolution. Further, in order to effectively use the capacity of the program storage unit 1111 such as a hard disk, it is possible to set recording at a low resolution in advance for a program (genre) that is compressed and stored after recording. is there.

  On the other hand, in Patent Literature 3, when an operation such as fast-forwarding is performed on a recorded program, it is determined that the user is not interested in the program. However, there is a case where fast-forward playback of a program is performed in order to grasp only the main points of the program. In particular, for digital contents (programs) recorded on a hard disk recorder or DVD, the speed of fast-forward playback can be controlled, and it is possible to fast-forward and playback program images with audio that the user can hear. It has become. Therefore, in the present invention, it is also possible to determine that the user is interested in a fast-played program, and to determine that the program should be recorded.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the browsing concentration of the program is calculated using the information on the browsing terminal, but the resolution of the program may be determined using the browsing terminal information and the browsing operation history at each terminal. . In this case, the browsing concentration level calculated in the first embodiment is multiplied by the browsing concentration level corresponding to the browsed terminal calculated using the correspondence table between the browsing terminal and the browsing concentration level shown in FIG. Thus, the browsing concentration level may be calculated. For example, if a program having a browsing concentration level of 0.7 calculated in the first embodiment is being browsed on a DVD player, the browsing concentration level of this program is calculated to be 3.5 × 0.7. As a result, the resolution can be determined not only according to the information of the browsing terminal but also according to the browsing operation history such as browsing to confirm only the story. It becomes possible to accumulate programs.

  In the present embodiment, the browsing concentration of the program is calculated using the information of the browsing terminal, but the browsing concentration is calculated using the resolution when the program was previously recorded, and the program to be recorded is recorded. The resolution may be determined. In this case, the browsing concentration level calculation unit 1106 uses the correspondence table between the resolution (recording rate) and the browsing concentration level when the program was previously recorded as shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to calculate the browsing concentration degree with respect to a program according to the resolution. Thereby, since the resolution can be determined according to the resolution at the time of program recording previously set by the user, the user's preference can be reflected more.

  In the present embodiment, the resolution of the program when recording is determined based on the browsing concentration level, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the writing unit 1305 may determine the resolution when copying or moving the recorded program to the portable medium 3004 based on the browsing concentration level. If the resolution is high when creating a copy, it is determined that the program is important, and recording is performed with a high resolution even when automatic recording is performed. Considering the time from recording to duplicating / moving the program, the time from broadcasting the program to duplicating / moving, and the time from viewing to duplicating / moving the program, You may decide.

  In this embodiment, the example of determining the resolution when automatically recording a program has been described. However, the resolution may be determined according to the stored program and the capacity of the stored medium. Is possible. Conventionally, when the capacity of the medium to be stored is not sufficient, the program to be recorded may be stored at a low resolution (with a high compression rate). However, by using this technology, it is possible to estimate the degree of preference of the viewer for each program. Therefore, it is possible to accumulate programs that the viewer is estimated to be more important than programs that have already been recorded. If it is necessary, the program already recorded can be compressed and the program to be recorded can be automatically stored at a high resolution.

(Embodiment 3)
In recent years, services for distributing program information before being broadcasted or broadcasted via a network have been put into practical use. Along with this, a technique for storing contents acquired as program information together with a recorded program for a recorded program is also disclosed.

  However, when the user wants to list a large number of recorded programs in order to check the recorded programs, displaying all the contents acquired as program information results in a display with low listability. In this case, it is possible to display a high list by displaying only the simple contents of the recorded program. Conversely, when searching for a program recorded with a keyword input by the user, it is necessary to store not only the title of the program but also text information including the program performers and the contents of the program. The search cannot be realized.

On the other hand, in the program information distribution service, the detailed program content is distributed as the program content approaches the broadcast day. For example, the program information distributed one month ago was only the title, but information such as performers is often included one week before the broadcast. Furthermore, if it is the previous day, the contents of the feature may be distributed as program information if it is news, or if it is a drama, the contents of the previous episode may be distributed.

  Therefore, in the present invention, such distributed program information is accumulated so that detailed contents can be displayed or an outline of only the title can be displayed in response to a presentation request from the user. An apparatus for accumulating program information is provided.

FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a program storage apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
The program storage device 3700 is a device that stores program information together with a program and displays program information by changing the level of detail of display contents in response to a presentation request from a user. As shown in FIG. 41, a program information acquisition unit 3701, program information storage unit 3702, program information difference detection unit 3703, broadcast reception unit 3704, program recording unit 3705, program information selection unit 3706, program information display unit 3707, program storage unit 3708, instruction reception unit 3709, and display information A quantity receiving unit 3710 is provided.

  The program information acquisition unit 3701 acquires program information (EPG). The program information storage unit 3702 is a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701 until the time of program broadcasting. The program information difference detection unit 3703 detects the difference between the program information stored in the program information storage unit 3702 and the program information newly acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701, and newly acquires it when there is a difference. The program information thus stored is stored in the program information storage unit 3702. When there is no program information stored in the program information storage unit 3702, the program information difference detection unit 3703 stores the program information newly acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701 in the program information storage unit 3702. .

  The broadcast receiving unit 3704 receives a broadcast program (content). The program recording unit 3705 records the program received by the broadcast receiving unit 3704 in the program storage unit 3708. Further, when recording a program, the program recording unit 3705 records the program information related to the program stored in the program information storage unit 3702 in association with the program storage unit 3708. The program storage unit 3708 is a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program recorded by the program recording unit 3705 and program information related to the program.

  An instruction receiving unit 3709 receives an instruction to display program information from the user. The display information amount receiving unit 3710 receives an information amount that can be displayed on a display device that displays program information. The program information selection unit 3706 selects program information recorded in the program storage unit 3708 based on the display instruction received by the instruction reception unit 3709 and the information amount received by the display information amount reception unit 3710. The program information display unit 3707 displays the program information selected by the program information selection unit 3706.

  Since the hardware configuration in which the program storage apparatus according to the present embodiment is used is the same as that of a normal hard disk recorder for program storage, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, an operation when program information is stored in the program information storage unit 3702 of the program storage apparatus configured as described above will be described. FIG. 42 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when program information is stored in the program information storage unit 3702.

  First, the program information acquisition unit 3701 acquires and holds program information (EPG) (step S501). Note that the program information may be extracted from the multiplex broadcast or acquired via a network.

  43 to 45 are diagrams showing examples of program information to be distributed. 43, 44, and 45 show program information distributed four weeks before, one week before, and one day before the program is broadcast, respectively. 43 to 45 show the program information of the same program aired on 10 channels on October 22, but detailed information is determined and the program information tends to become more detailed as the date of airing approaches. For example, in the case of a program such as news, the detailed broadcast content cannot be determined until the previous day. In addition, in the case of program information such as dramas that are broadcast every week, before distributing information about the contents of the next drama, information about the contents of the next drama is not distributed, and only program information about the performers is distributed. .

  Next, the program information difference detection unit 3703 searches for each program of the acquired program information whether there is program information stored in the program information storage unit 3702 (step S502). Specifically, a search is performed using a channel on which a program is broadcast and a date and time to search whether there is program information already stored in the program information storage unit 3702. Since the text information indicating the contents of the program may differ depending on the distribution timing, the correspondence of the program is searched using the program channel and date / time.

  If there is already program information as a result of the search (YES in step S502), the program information difference detection unit 3703 stores the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701 and the program information storage unit 3702. A difference with existing program information is detected, and it is determined whether or not the program information is the same (step S503). As a result, if the program information is the same (YES in step S503), the program information acquisition unit 3701 deletes the held program information (step S504).

  On the other hand, if the program information is not the same (NO in step S503), the program information difference detection unit 3703 stores the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701 in the program information storage unit 3702 (step S505). That is, even program information of the same program is stored as program information with different text contents. In the example of FIGS. 43 to 45, since the level of detail differs for the information related to the same “news fountain”, it is stored as program information of “news fountain”. The program information before airing is stored in the program information storage unit 3702 until the airing ends.

  Next, an operation for recording a program in a state where program information is accumulated in the program information storage unit 3702 as described above will be described. FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when a program is recorded in the program storage device.

  When the program is broadcast, the program recording unit 3705 determines whether to record the program (step S601). Here, when the program is recorded (YES in step S601), the program recording unit 3705 records the program and associates the program information related to the program stored in the program information storage unit 3702 with the program. Recording is performed in the storage unit 3708 (step S602). That is, not only information on the program title, recording time, and channel, but also text information on the program is accumulated. For example, when “News Fountain” is recorded, all the information in FIG. 43 to FIG. 45 is recorded as program information in the program storage unit 3708 as information relating to the content. Then, the program recording unit 3705 deletes the program information related to this program stored in the program information storage unit 3702 (step S603).

  On the other hand, when the program is not recorded (NO in step S601), the program recording unit 3705 deletes the program information related to this program stored in the program information storage unit 3702 (step S603). That is, the program information about the program that was broadcast but not recorded is deleted.

  Next, an operation when displaying information of a recorded program in a state where the program is recorded as described above will be described. FIG. 47 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when displaying information of a program recorded in the program storage device.

  The instruction receiving unit 3709 receives a display request for program information of one or more programs (step S701). For example, as shown in FIG. 48, two programs “News Fountain” and “Blue Tower” are recorded, and a request to display program information of these two programs on one screen is received. . If there is no display request, it does not proceed to the next until there is a display request.

  Next, the display information amount receiving unit 3710 receives the amount of information that can be displayed on the display device that displays the program information (step S702). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 48, a request for displaying two programs “news fountain” and “blue tower” within 14 lines is accepted. Here, the number of lines is shown as the amount of program information, but the request may be received with the amount of program information such as the number of characters.

  Next, when the most detailed program information is displayed, the program information selection unit 3706 determines whether the program information can be displayed (step S703). For example, the most detailed program information amount of “News Fountain” is 9 lines. On the other hand, the most detailed program information amount of “Blue Giant Tower” is seven lines. Therefore, the most detailed program information amount of the two programs is 9 + 7 = 16 lines. Since the current amount of program information that can be displayed is 14 lines, it is impossible to simultaneously display program information of two programs.

  If display is not possible (NO in step S703), the program information selection unit 3706 selects a program with the largest program information amount from among the programs to be displayed, and lowers the level of detail of the program information. The amount of information is reduced (step S705). Here, since the amount of program information of “news fountain” is larger than the amount of program information of “blue giant tower”, the level of detail of the program information of “news fountain” is lowered as shown in FIG. Here, by using the program information one week before “news fountain” shown in FIG. 44, the program information amount of “news fountain” becomes seven lines as a result.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 45, since the program information is structured and accumulated by the performer and the tag of the program content, when the detailed program information cannot be displayed, the title and the performer are displayed. You may make it do. Furthermore, decorations such as displaying only the title in bold and changing the color may be applied.

  Again, the program information selection unit 3706 determines whether the program information can be displayed with the level of detail of the program information being lowered (step S703). Here, the program information amount of “News Fountain” is 7 rows, the program information amount of “Blue Tower” is 7 rows, and the program information amount of the two programs is 7 + 7 = 14 rows. Since the current amount of program information that can be displayed is 14 lines, program information of two programs can be displayed simultaneously.

  On the other hand, as a result of determining whether or not the program information can be displayed (step S703), if the program information can be displayed (YES in step S703), the program information display unit 3707 is selected by the program information selection unit 3706. The program information is displayed (step S704). As a result, program information of two programs is displayed as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the difference between the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 3701 and the program information stored in the program information storage unit 3702 is detected, and if there is a difference, the acquired program information is updated. Therefore, it is possible to store program information recorded by the user or program information having different degrees of detail of the program recorded by the system.

  As a result, it is possible to confirm what kind of program content is in the text information without browsing the program. Furthermore, since program information with different levels of detail is accumulated, it is possible to selectively display program information according to the degree of interest of the user, the terminal that displays the program information, and the display area. For example, when displaying program information recorded by a terminal having a small display area such as a mobile phone, it is possible to display program information with simple contents. On the other hand, when displaying program information of a program recorded on a high-resolution display terminal such as a personal computer, detailed program information as shown in FIG. 45 can be displayed.

  In the present embodiment, program information is acquired using information transmitted after being multiplexed with broadcast waves, and stored in association with a recorded program. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 49, by specifying a URL such as the Internet for information related to a program, it becomes possible to store detailed information in association with each other. In addition, by accumulating trade marks A and the like related to programs on the Internet or the like, program information can be confirmed at a glance. In FIG. 49, the program information accumulated by the user inputting the URL is acquired. However, information such as a URL may be included in the information multiplexed by the broadcast wave. As described above, by accumulating text information related to a program, it becomes possible to search the contents of the program by a keyword or the like. It is also possible to classify the recorded program content using text information.

  In this embodiment, the program storage device is realized by a recording device such as a hard disk recorder. It can also be realized by hardware in which a terminal for displaying program information and a device (such as a hard disk recorder or a DVD recording device) in which program information is stored are connected via a network.

  In the present embodiment, when the program information cannot be displayed in the operation for displaying the recorded program information, the program information is displayed by reducing the amount of the program information of the program having a long program information. ing. However, by accumulating the viewing history of recorded programs, the program information selection unit 3706 reduces the amount of program information because it is highly likely that the user will remember the content of programs with a large number of viewing times. In step S705, the program information may be controlled by selecting a program with a large number of viewings and reducing the program information. This makes it possible to display the stored program information in consideration of the viewing history according to the performance of the display terminal. Furthermore, by accumulating the viewing history for each user, it is possible to display the program information in consideration of the history of the user viewing the program information and the user viewing the recorded (accumulated) program. Become.

  In the present embodiment, when the program information cannot be displayed in the operation for displaying the recorded program information, the program information is displayed by reducing the amount of the program information of the program having a long program information. ing. However, using the accumulated date and time information, it is possible to display more detailed information for a program whose accumulated (recorded) date and time is closer to the current date and time. Thus, with respect to program information accumulated from the past, it is highly likely that the user has browsed the program information in the past and stored the contents, so only the program information related to the overview is displayed, and recently accumulated (recorded) The detailed program information can be displayed with respect to the program information.

  Further, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the amount of program information is controlled using the amount of program information, the number of times the program has been viewed, and the date and time when the program is accumulated in order to display detailed program information. However, you may control the quantity displayed combining these information.

  In this embodiment, program information for one program information distribution is accumulated. However, when there are a plurality of program information distribution sources, a plurality of types of program information may be accumulated. Thereby, when displaying the program information, it becomes possible to display the program information more flexibly.

  In the present embodiment, program information distributed at different dates and times is selectively displayed to appropriately display program information. However, the program information can be displayed from the user's point of view using the user's program search history and reserved program registration history. Specifically, it is assumed that when a user searches for a program, the program can be searched by four items: broadcast time information, program title, program performer, and program content. At this time, it is assumed that the user has searched the program information by the program title most frequently. Therefore, the user determines that the program information is being viewed with emphasis on the program title, and the program title item is highlighted and displayed. For example, it is possible to display a program title using a font different in color from other fonts, or display a program title using a font larger than the other fonts.

  In the present embodiment, the program information storage unit 3702 and the program storage unit 3708 are configured as separate storage units, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the program information storage unit 3702 and the program storage unit 3708 can be configured as one storage unit. In this case, in the operation for recording the program, the program recording unit 3705 records the program and records the program information related to the program in association with each other (step S602), and then stores the program information in the program information storage unit 3702. It is not necessary to delete the program information related to this program (step S603). That is, the program recording unit 3705 may record the program and associate program information related to the program.

  As described above, the program storage device according to the present invention is a program storage device for recording content, and the program information acquisition means for acquiring content information related to the content and the content acquired by the program information acquisition means A difference between the program information storage means for storing information, the content information stored in the program information storage means, and the content information newly acquired by the program information acquisition means, and the difference exists Sometimes, in addition to the content information stored in the program information storage means, program information difference detection means for storing the newly acquired content information in the program information storage means, and recording the content, One or more pieces of content information related to the content stored in the program information storage means The characterized in that it comprises a program recording means for storing in association with the content.

  The program storage device further selects a piece of content information according to a display device that displays the content information from one or more pieces of the content information related to the content recorded by the program recording means. Information selection means may be provided.

  The program storage device may further include display information amount receiving means for receiving an information amount that can be displayed on the display device.

  This makes it possible to store content information with different levels of detail for content recorded by the user or system. In addition, since content information with different levels of detail is accumulated, it is possible to selectively display content information according to the degree of interest of the user, the terminal that displays the content information, and the display area.

(Embodiment 4)
In the future, multi-channel broadcasting will be performed, and a certain program will be broadcast on multiple channels. Furthermore, the same program will be aired on the same channel at different times. In such a situation, the program reserved for recording by the user may be broadcast on another channel or another time zone.

  However, even if the program is the same, information such as CM is different if the broadcast channel and time zone are different. In addition, there may be a channel where the program can be clearly received and a channel where the program cannot be clearly viewed in a place where the recording apparatus is installed (generally a home). In general, users tend to view many broadcasts on channels that can be clearly viewed.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the EPG is used to search for whether or not the program reserved for recording by the user is to be broadcast in another channel or in another time period, so that The present invention provides an apparatus for accumulating programs that are usually viewed by a user by preferentially accumulating programs in a time zone.

FIG. 50 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a program storage apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.
The program storage device 4700 is a device that preferentially stores programs in the channel and time zone that the user normally watches, and as shown in FIG. 50, a program information acquisition unit 4701, a program information storage unit 4702, and a recording reservation setting. A section 4703, the same program selection section 4704, a viewing history acquisition section 4705, a recording reservation correction section 4706, and a viewing history storage section 4707.

  The program information acquisition unit 4701 acquires program information from a network or multiple waves of broadcasting and stores it in the program information storage unit 4702. The program information storage unit 4702 is a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 4701. The recording reservation setting unit 4703 receives the recording reservation setting via the remote controller, the interface of the recording apparatus, or the like, and performs the recording reservation setting. The same program selection unit 4704 searches and selects whether the program set by the recording reservation setting unit 4703 is broadcast on a channel for which no recording reservation is set or a time slot for which no recording reservation is set. The viewing history acquisition unit 4705 acquires a history of viewing a program by a device that browses the program, and accumulates it in the viewing history storage unit 4707. The viewing history storage unit 4707 is a storage unit such as a hard disk that stores the viewing history acquired by the viewing history acquisition unit 4705. The recording reservation correcting unit 4706 corrects the contents of the recording reservation based on the program selected by the same program selecting unit 4704 and the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage unit 4707.

  Since the hardware configuration in which the program storage apparatus according to the present embodiment is used is the same as that of a recording apparatus having a function of receiving program information, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, an operation when a program recording reservation is performed in the program storage apparatus configured as described above will be described. FIG. 51 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations when a program recording reservation is made in the program storage device.

  The program information acquisition unit 4701 acquires program information via broadcast wave multiplexing or the Internet, and accumulates the program information in the program information storage unit 4702 (step S801).

  The recording reservation setting unit 4703 determines whether there is a program recording reservation by the user (step S802). Here, when there is no recording reservation (NO in step S802), program information is accumulated (step S801).

  On the other hand, if there is a recording reservation (YES in step S802), the recording reservation setting unit 4703 performs the recording reservation setting and notifies the same program selection unit 4704 that the recording reservation has been made (step S803). .

  The same program selection unit 4704 searches the program information acquired by the program information acquisition unit 4701 to determine whether or not the program reserved for recording by the recording reservation setting unit 4703 is being broadcast on another channel (step S4). S804). Here, in the program information, whether or not the programs have the same contents is determined based on the airing time of the program, the title of the program, and the like. FIG. 52 shows an example of a program reserved for recording. Here, “Youth” is reserved for recording on 24 channels.

  As a result of this search, when the program reserved for recording is broadcast on another channel (YES in step S804), the recording reservation correcting unit 4706 determines the past from the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage unit 4707. Calculate the total viewing time for each channel you were browsing. When a program set for recording reservation is broadcast on a channel whose total viewing time is longer than the channel set for recording reservation, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 displays, for example, on a screen as shown in FIG. Encourage switching to recording reservations on channels with a lot of total viewing time. When the user designates a change, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 changes the content of the program recording reservation to the recording reservation in the channel having the total viewing time longer than the channel for which the recording reservation is set (step S805). FIG. 53A shows an example of the total viewing time calculated for each channel. In this example, as shown in FIG. 52, the user reserved recording of “Youth” in 24 channels. However, as shown in FIG. 53A, the total viewing time of 24 channels is 13.5 hours. is there. Since the total viewing time other than 2 channels is longer than 24 channels, the user mainly browses channels other than 24 channels. Therefore, when a program of “youth era” is broadcast on channels other than 2 and 24, a screen as shown in FIG. 53B is displayed and prompted to change. In addition, when a program reserved for recording is broadcast on channels other than 24, but the total viewing time of the channel is less than 24 channels, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 ends the process without changing the reservation content. To do.

  On the other hand, as a result of the search, if the program reserved for recording is not broadcast on other channels (NO in step S804), the recording reservation correction unit 4706 broadcasts the same program at different times on the same channel. Whether or not (step S806). As a result of this search, when the program reserved for recording is broadcasted in a different time zone of the same channel (YES in step S806), the recording reservation correction unit 4706 stores the viewing history stored in the viewing history storage unit 4707. Thus, the total number of viewing times in each time zone is calculated. Then, when a program set for recording reservation is broadcast in a time slot in which the total number of times of viewing is larger than the time slot set for recording reservation, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 displays on a screen as shown in FIG. 54 (b), for example. Then, it is urged to change to a recording reservation in a time zone with a large total number of viewing times. When the user designates a change, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 changes the content of the program recording reservation to the recording reservation in the time zone where the total number of viewing times is larger than the time zone set for the recording reservation (step S807). FIG. 54A is a diagram showing an example of the number of viewing times calculated for each hour. In this example, as shown in FIG. 52, the user made a recording reservation for “youth era” in the time zone from 8:00 to 9:00, but as shown in FIG. The total number of times of viewing in the time zone of 0:00 is two. Since the total number of times of viewing in other time zones is greater than the total number of times of viewing times of 8:00 to 9:00, when a program of “youth era” is aired outside of the time zone of 8:00 to 9:00 Then, a screen as shown in FIG. 54B is displayed and prompted to change. In addition, when a program reserved for recording is broadcast in a different time zone, but the total number of times of viewing in that time zone is less than the time zone of 8:00 to 9:00, the recording reservation correction unit 4706 makes a reservation. The process ends without changing the contents.

  On the other hand, as a result of the search (step S806), if the program reserved for recording is not broadcasted in a different time zone of the same channel (NO in step S806), the process is terminated.

  Since the total viewing time for each channel and the total number of viewing times in each time slot shown in FIGS. 53A and 54A are daily viewing histories, in this example, the user prefers to view 8 channels. Therefore, there is a high possibility that a favorite CM or the like is being broadcast in the time zone from 20:00 to 21:00. When the same program is aired, it is highly possible that a user-friendly CM is aired by selecting these channels and time zones.

  As described above, when a user makes a recording reservation and the same program is being aired in another channel or at another time, the user's previous viewing history is used to normally view the program. It becomes possible to preferentially reserve recording of programs in the current time zone and programs of channels that are normally viewed.

  In this embodiment, the recording change of the reserved program is performed using the user's viewing history. However, when the program is broadcast earlier than the time reserved by the user, the user is prompted to change to the earlier time zone. As a result, the user can record at an early timing, and can quickly view the recorded program.

  As described above, the program storage apparatus according to the present invention is a program storage apparatus for recording content, and program information acquisition means for acquiring content information related to the content, and recording reservation setting for setting recording reservation for the content Means for acquiring a history of viewing of the content, and using the content information, the first content set for recording reservation by the recording reservation setting means is a channel of the recording reservation setting or The same program selecting means for searching for a channel or a time slot that is different from the time zone, and selecting a second content to be aired in a different channel or time zone, the second content and the viewing history acquisition means Based on the viewing history acquired in step (b), the recording for which the recording reservation setting is corrected by the recording reservation setting means is recorded. Characterized in that it comprises a reservation modifying means.

  In addition, when the first content and the second content have different channels, the recording reservation correcting unit calculates a viewing time for each channel based on the viewing history, and views the channel of the first content. When the viewing time of the second content channel is longer than the time, the recording reservation setting of the first content may be modified to the second content.

  Further, the recording reservation correcting means calculates the number of times of viewing in a predetermined time unit based on the viewing history when the first content and the second content are different in time zone, When the number of times of viewing the second content in the time zone is greater than the number of times of viewing in the time zone, the recording reservation setting of the first content may be modified to the second content.

  As a result, when a user makes a recording reservation and the same content is being aired on another channel or at another time, the user's previous viewing history can be used for normal viewing. It becomes possible to modify the recording reservation for the program of a certain time zone and the content of the channel that is normally browsed.

(Embodiment 5)
In recent years, as shown in FIG. 55, it is possible to record a broadcast program with a recording device in the home, move the program to a card such as a semiconductor memory, and view it with a display device such as a mobile phone or a mobile viewer. is there. Since the recording device in the home is a large-capacity recording device such as a hard disk, it is possible to record a large amount of programs. Furthermore, when a user registers a keyword, there is also a function of automatically recording a program, and a large amount of programs that the user has not confirmed in the program guide are being accumulated. In such a case, selecting a program to be viewed outdoors by the user from a large amount of accumulated programs becomes a troublesome operation.

  In the present embodiment, an operation history browsed by a recording device in the home is accumulated, and a user's preference is extracted from the operation history by calculating the viewing concentration of each program, and the program moves to the semiconductor memory Is a device that automatically selects. In general, a semiconductor memory does not have a storage capacity as much as a hard disk in a home, so it is necessary to appropriately select a program stored in the home. However, if a large amount of programs are accumulated, it is difficult to easily select an appropriate program. Therefore, in this embodiment, there is provided an apparatus for automatically selecting a program to be browsed by a user in a semiconductor memory from the browsing history of the program.

  An example of the system configuration of the program selection apparatus is shown in FIG. 56 includes a broadcast receiving unit 6001, a program recording unit 6002, a first program storage unit 6003, a first browsing operation receiving unit 6004, a first recorded program browsing unit 6005, and a first browsing history storage. Unit 6006, browsing concentration calculation unit 6007, program selection unit 6008, second program storage unit 6009, second browsing operation reception unit 6010, second recorded program browsing unit 6011, and second browsing history storage unit 6012. It is configured. Here, the second program storage unit 6009 and the second browsing history storage unit 6012 respectively correspond to the program movement storage unit and the browsing history movement storage unit described in the claims.

  Next, the operation of each module will be described. However, since the operations of the modules 6001 to 6006 are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  The second program storage unit 6009 stores a part of the program recorded in the first program storage unit 6003. For example, as shown in FIG. 57, three programs are stored.

  The second browsing operation reception unit 6010 is a part that receives a program browsing instruction from the user in the second program browsing terminal. As with the browsing operation reception unit 6004 of the first browsing terminal, operations such as program playback instruction, fast forward, pause, stop, reverse playback, and the like are possible. However, a terminal used outdoors such as a mobile phone may not be as rich as a function for browsing a program at home.

  The second recorded program browsing unit 6011 controls the reproduction of the program in accordance with the operation instruction received by the second browsing operation receiving unit 6010 in the second program browsing device.

  The second browsing history storage unit 6012 stores browsing operations input by the user in the second program browsing terminal as a history. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 57, the browsing operation history regarding each program is accumulated.

  The browsing concentration level calculation unit 6007 calculates the browsing concentration level of each program of the user from the browsing operation history of the programs recorded by the second program browsing terminal. For example, as shown in FIG. 57, the browsing concentration such as the normal playback rate of each program is calculated from the browsing operation history accumulated. Thereby, it is possible to calculate how much the user is browsing each program on the second program browsing terminal.

  The program selection unit 6008 determines a program to be moved from the first program storage unit 6003 to the second program storage unit 6009 based on the browsing concentration level of each program calculated by the browsing concentration level calculation unit 6007. It is. Since the browsing concentration level of the program on the second program browsing terminal is calculated in the browsing concentration level calculation unit 6007, what is browsed sufficiently high in the second program browsing terminal is It is presumed that the program was suitable for browsing on a mobile terminal. On the other hand, it is estimated that a program with a low browsing concentration is a program that the user has not been interested in or is not suitable for browsing on a mobile terminal.

  Therefore, in the program selection unit 6008, when a program related to a program having a high program concentration degree in the second viewing terminal exists in the first program storage unit 6003, the second program is stored in the first program storage unit 6008. Move to storage. On the other hand, when a program related to a program having a low program concentration degree is present in the first viewing storage unit 6003 in the second viewing terminal, the movement from the first program storing unit to the second program storing unit is performed. Do not do.

  Next, a specific example will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 58 (a), six programs are stored in the first program storage unit. On the other hand, it is assumed that three programs, which are a part thereof, are stored in the second program storage unit (card media or the like). At this time, “Blue Mountain (5th)” has a high normal playback rate and has a history of being sufficiently browsed by the second browsing device, while the program “Mystery of the Sahara Desert (Part 1)” Only the part of was read, and the rest was not read enough. As a result, regarding the “blue mountain”, there is a high possibility that the user wishes to browse with the second terminal. Therefore, when a card in which the history viewed on the second viewing terminal is stored is inserted into the first viewing terminal, the program related to “blue mountain” among the programs stored in the home. If the program is not being browsed, the program moves to the second program recording unit. Conversely, “Mystery of the Sahara Desert (Part 1)” is not suitable for browsing on the user's mobile phone or the like, and is not suitable for the user's preference, and is stored in the home, “Mystery of the Sahara Desert” The program related to is not moved even if there is no user browsing history.

  As a result of the above operation, as shown in FIG. 58 (b), the programs “blue mountain (6th)” and “last paradise” are moved to the card media. As described above, it is possible to automatically move the program stored in the first information terminal from the browsing history in the second information terminal. However, a program moved from the first information terminal to a card medium or the like cannot be viewed on the first information terminal from the viewpoint of copyright protection.

  The operation of selecting a program to be moved will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flow is executed at the timing when a card medium in which a program and a browsing history of the program are accumulated is inserted into a recording device such as a hard disk recorder. First, the browsing concentration calculation unit 6007 selects a program viewed from the present to one week before from the programs recorded in the second program recording unit (S6301). In the example of FIG. 57, both programs are selected (S6302). If there is no recently viewed program, all programs are selected (S6303). The browsing concentration degree (normal playback rate) of the selected program is calculated. As a result, the browsing concentration level (normal playback rate) is calculated as shown in FIG. Subsequent selection of the moving program is executed by the program selection unit 6008. Next, a program whose browsing concentration is larger than a predetermined value (90%) is selected. Here, “blue mountain (5th)” is selected (S6304). It is determined whether or not there is a program related to the selected “blue mountain (5th)” in the first program storage unit (S6305). In the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 58A, since “blue mountain (sixth)” exists, the program is selected. The program selected in S6305 is selected as a program to be moved (S6306). In this case, “blue mountain (6th)” is selected as the moving program.

  Next, a program having a browsing concentration level lower than 20% is selected (S6307). In the case of this example, “Mystery of the Sahara Desert (Part 1)” is selected as a program with a low browsing concentration. It is determined whether there is a program related to the selected program in the first program storage unit (S6308). Since “Sahara Desert Mystery (Part 1)” exists as a program related to “Sahara Desert Mystery (Part 1)”, the program is not suitable for a moving program and is deleted from the program moving candidates (S6309). As other programs that are not viewed by the user, there is a “last paradise” as shown in FIG. 58A (S6310). Therefore, “Last Paradise” is selected as the program to be moved. As a result of this operation, the program shown in FIG. 58 (a) is automatically replaced with the program shown in FIG. 58 (b).

As a result of the above operation, it is possible to automatically determine which program is suitable for movement among the programs stored in the first program storage unit from the second browsing history. In particular, a program suitable for browsing on a mobile object can be automatically selected from the browsing concentration value from the browsing history of the user's mobile terminal.

  In the present embodiment, the program to be moved from the recording device in the home to the memory card is selected based on the viewing concentration (normal playback rate). Alternatively, the estimated viewing time for each program described above ( 28), it is also conceivable to move a program in which the total estimated browsing time does not exceed the time allowed for viewing by the user from the recording device in the home to the memory card. According to the example of the recorded program list shown in FIG. 28 described above, when the user designates, for example, 70 minutes to ride on a commuter train as the viewing time, the total estimated browsing time is indicated as 64 minutes by the recorded program list. Two programs “River Flow” and “Professional Baseball Y vs G” (not shown in FIG. 58) are transferred from the home recording device to the memory card. Then, the user can browse the two programs on the commuter train by going to work with the memory card and the mobile terminal.

(Embodiment 6)
In the fifth embodiment, the program selection device has been described that determines which program should be duplicated or moved when the program is browsed by a device other than the device on which the program is recorded. However, in general, a mobile terminal device that moves to a card media or the like for browsing generally has a lower resolution or the like than a home display device. Moreover, the display image (frame rate) per second may be low. Therefore, when moving a program, even if the program is moved at the resolution or frame rate of the recorded program, the display performance is low, which may be useless.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the display specifications of the programs that have been moved to the card media are stored together with the browsing history, and the programs recorded on the hard disk in the home are moved to the card media. At the same time, an object is to make a moving image of an efficient size by moving at an appropriate resolution or frame rate. As a result, the storage capacity of the card medium can be used efficiently, and time for copying or moving can be saved.

  An example of the system configuration of the present embodiment is shown in FIG. 60 includes a broadcast receiving unit 6401, a program recording unit 6402, a first program storage unit 6403, a first browsing operation receiving unit 6404, a first recorded program browsing unit 6405, and a first browsing history storage. Unit 6406, browsing concentration calculation unit 6407, program selection unit 6408, second program storage unit 6409, second browsing operation reception unit 6410, second recorded program browsing unit 6411, browsing specification storage unit 6412, second The browsing history storage unit 6413, the program browsing specification estimation unit 6414, and the program content conversion unit 6415 are configured. Next, the operation of each module will be described. Note that the operation of the modules from 6401 to 6411 is the same as that of the fifth embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  The browsing specification storage unit 6412 stores the frame rate and resolution at which a terminal to be viewed is reproduced for each terminal from which a program is reproduced. For example, as shown in FIG. 61, there are a frame rate, a resolution, a content format, and the like that can reproduce the stored moving image content. In each program playback terminal, some or all of these specifications are stored in the memory.

  In the second browsing history storage unit 6413, it is recorded on which terminal and by what operation each program stored in the second program storage unit is browsed. For example, as shown in FIG. 62, five programs are stored in the second program storage unit, and the recorded resolution and frame rate are recorded for each program. Along with the browsing operation history (not shown in FIG. 62), the resolution and frame rate when played back on the browsing terminal are described. For example, the “blue mountain (sixth)” program stored in the second program storage unit was stored at 30 fps at a resolution of 640 × 480, but when the user browses the program with a mobile phone , It is stored as a history that it was played back at a frame rate of 15 fps at a resolution of 320 × 240. In addition, since “News Forest” is also browsed by a mobile phone, the browsing specifications are accumulated. On the other hand, since the program of “personal computer classroom (first time)” was viewed by a mobile viewer instead of a mobile phone, different browsing specifications are accumulated as a history. As described above, even if one card medium is browsed by a plurality of browsing terminals, browsing and playback specifications are stored for each program.

  The program browsing specification estimation unit 6414 receives the program stored in the first program storage unit from the browsing / playback terminal history of each program stored in the second program storage unit to the second program storage unit. Estimate what specifications will be viewed when moved or copied. For example, if there is a history that a program “blue mountain (sixth)” moved to the semiconductor memory is reproduced at a resolution of 320 × 240 and a frame rate of 15 fps, “blue mountain (seventh)” is stored in the home hard disk. Even if it is stored at a resolution of 640 × 480 and a frame rate of 30 fps, it is presumed that when it is viewed on a card medium, it is highly likely that it will be viewed at a resolution of 320 × 240 and a frame rate of 15 fps. Similarly, it is possible to estimate a resolution and a frame rate to be browsed from a past reproduction history for programs of “News Forest” and “PC classroom”. Therefore, the browsing estimation mode for each program is determined as shown in FIG.

  The program content conversion unit 6515 converts the program content so that the program stored in the second program storage unit can be browsed with the browsing specifications estimated by the program browsing estimation unit 6414. In particular, if a terminal to be viewed or browsing specifications can be estimated when a program is recorded in advance, encoding can be performed at the same time as the program is recorded, and there is no need to convert program content when moving or copying the program. . Thereby, high-speed movement or duplication becomes possible.

  The above operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether there is a program having a high browsing concentration level from the browsing operations stored in the second browsing history storage unit 6413 (S6801). If there is a program with a high level of viewing concentration, it is determined that the program related to the program (sequel or program of the same genre) is likely to be viewed on the same terminal, and the resolution of the viewed program The frame rate is specified (S6802). In the example of FIG. 62, the program viewing specification estimation unit 6414 determines that the program “Blue Mountain (6th)” is likely to be viewed at a resolution of 320 × 240 next time. Further, it is determined that the frame rate is likely to be viewed at 15 fps. It is determined whether the browsed program is in the first program storage unit (S6803). In the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 63 (b), programs such as “blue mountain (seventh)”, “news forest”, “computer classroom” are stored in the first program storage unit. . Therefore, the program content conversion unit 6415 performs conversion at the resolution and frame rate estimated for each program (S6804). The converted program is moved or copied to the card medium (S6805).

  Next, when it is found that a program such as “Blue Mountain”, “News Forest”, “PC Classroom” is recorded by recording reservation or the like (S6806), it is converted at a predetermined resolution and frame rate at the time of recording. Recording is performed (S6807). This eliminates the need to convert program content when moving or copying a program, and enables copying or copying without encoding time. Furthermore, the program content can be moved or copied at a compression rate that matches the specifications of the viewing terminal, and the capacity of the semiconductor memory (card media) can be effectively utilized at the same time.

  In the present embodiment, the resolution and the frame rate have been described, but the same can be said for the compression of high-frequency components of moving images.

  In the present embodiment, when a program stored in the home HDD is transferred to the card media, the old program in the series is deleted if it exists on the card media (see FIG. 63). It is also possible to delete the program stored in the card medium according to the normal playback rate.

  For example, when a single program of a series is stored in the card media, the average normal playback rate of the series or the previous normal playback rate is stored in the card media or the program selection device. Alternatively, the program may not be deleted while the normal playback rate of the stored program does not reach the stored normal playback rate. That way, even if the old episode of the series is stored on the card media along with the new episode, even if you forgot to watch it or it wasn't too busy, the user can see the old episode at a convenient time Can be viewed. In addition, the normal playback rate of the program stored in the card media is the average normal playback rate of the genre of the program (the average normal playback rate for each genre is described in detail in the first embodiment). The program may not be erased until it reaches ().

  As described above, the program selection device according to the present invention can select content according to the user's preference, and is useful for selecting content with devices such as a hard disk recorder, DVD recorder, mobile phone, and in-vehicle display. It is.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program selection apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions by which the program selection apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is used. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of extracting a user's preference in a program selection apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the program accumulate | stored in the program memory | storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of program information. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation at the time of a recorded program being browsed, (a) The figure which showed browsing operation typically, (b) The log | history accumulated in the operation history memory | storage part corresponding to each program It is a figure which shows an example. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation at the time of a recorded program being browsed, (a) The figure which showed browsing operation typically, (b) The log | history accumulated in the operation history memory | storage part corresponding to each program It is a figure which shows an example. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation at the time of a recorded program being browsed, (a) The figure which showed browsing operation typically, (b) The log | history accumulated in the operation history memory | storage part corresponding to each program It is a figure which shows an example. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation at the time of a recorded program being browsed, (a) The figure which showed browsing operation typically, (b) The log | history accumulated in the operation history memory | storage part corresponding to each program It is a figure which shows an example. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation at the time of a recorded program being browsed, (a) The figure which showed browsing operation typically, (b) The log | history accumulated in the operation history memory | storage part corresponding to each program It is a figure which shows an example. It is a figure which shows an example of the normal reproduction rate with respect to each browsed program. It is a figure which shows an example of the correspondence table of a keyword and importance. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of the program selection request | requirement in a program selection apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a display which displays a recommendation program on a television screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a display which displays a recommendation program on a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the example of browsing operation in case the recorded program is a program for a long time. It is a figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the frequency | count of browsing operation and browsing concentration. It is a figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the time from recording a program until it is browsed, and browsing concentration. It is a figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the time from recording a program until it erases the program, and a browsing concentration degree. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the selection screen of whether a related program is checked. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the video recording apparatus which concerns on the modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the recording specification when a program is recorded. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of re-recording reservation in a recording device. It is a figure which shows an example of the home where the several apparatus from which recording performance differs is installed. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program recording system which concerns on the modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program selection apparatus which concerns on the modification 2 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. (A) It is a figure which shows an example of the normal reproduction rate for every program, (b) It is a figure which shows an example of the normal reproduction rate average value for every genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display on the television screen of estimated browsing time. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of displaying a recorded program list based on estimated browsing time in a program selection apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program selection apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions by which the program selection apparatus concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention is used. It is a figure which shows the data accumulate | stored in the portable medium. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of calculating a browsing concentration degree in a program selection apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the corresponding | compatible table with a browsing terminal and browsing concentration degree. It is a figure which shows an example of the average browsing concentration degree calculated with respect to each program. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of a program recording reservation in a program selection apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the browsing concentration calculated with respect to the genre information of each program. It is a figure which shows the example of a display which displays a recommendation program on a television screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a display which displays a recommendation program on a mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows an example of the conversion table of the resolution (recording rate) at the time of a program having been recorded before, and a browsing concentration degree. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program storage apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of accumulating program information in a program information storage part. It is a figure which shows an example of the program information delivered 4 weeks before a program is aired. It is a figure which shows an example of the program information delivered one week before a program is aired. It is a figure which shows an example of the program information delivered one day before a program is aired. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of recording a program in a program storage apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of displaying the information of the program recorded in the program storage apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the display of program information, (a) When the most detailed program information is displayed, (b) The case where the detail level of program information is reduced is shown. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which acquires the information relevant to a program from URLs, such as the internet, and matches and accumulate | stores detailed information. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program storage apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of the program recording reservation being performed in the program storage apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the program by which recording reservation was carried out. (A) It is a figure which shows an example of the total viewing time calculated for every channel, (b) It is a figure which shows the example of a display which prompts the change of a video recording reservation. (A) It is a figure which shows an example of the frequency | count of viewing calculated for every hour, (b) It is a figure which shows the example of a display which prompts the change of a video recording reservation. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the hardware used when browsing the program recorded with the recording device in the home with display apparatuses, such as a mobile telephone. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program selection system which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the browsing operation log | history memorize | stored in card memory according to browsing operation. (A) The figure which shows one specific example of the content of the 1st and 2nd program storage part, (b) The figure which shows the other specific example of the content of the 1st and 2nd program storage part. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of selecting and moving a program in a program selection system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program selection system which concerns on Embodiment 6 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a browsing specification. It is a figure which shows an example of a browsing reproduction | regeneration log | history (part). It is a figure which shows an example of browsing estimation mode. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of operation | movement at the time of selecting, compressing, and moving a program in a program selection system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1100, 1300 Program selection apparatus 1101 Broadcast receiving part 1102 Program recording part 1103 Recorded program browsing part 1104 Browse operation reception part 1105, 1301 Browse operation history storage part 1106, 1302 Concentration calculation part 1107 Preference extraction part 1108 Program information acquisition part 1109 Program selection unit 1110, 1303 Program recording reservation unit 1111 Program storage unit 1112 Operation history storage unit 1304 Viewing terminal information detection unit 1305 Writing unit 3700, 4700 Program storage device 3701, 4701 Program information acquisition unit 3702, 4702 Program information storage unit 3703 Program Information difference detection unit 3704 Broadcast reception unit 3705 Program recording unit 3706 Program information selection unit 3707 Program information display unit 3708 Program storage unit 3709 Instruction reception unit 3710 Display information amount reception unit 4703 Recording reservation Fixed section 4704 Same program selection section 4705 Viewing history acquisition section 4706 Recording reservation correction section 4707 Viewing history storage section 5001, 5401 Broadcast reception section 5002, 5402 Program recording section 5003, 5403 Program storage section 5004, 5404 Browsing operation reception section 5005, 5405 Recorded program browsing unit 5006, 5406 Browsing operation storage unit 5007, 5407 Browsing concentration calculation unit 5008, 5408 Program selection unit 5009, 5409 Program information receiving unit 5010, 5410 Program information monitoring unit 5411 First broadcast receiving unit 5412 First broadcast receiving unit 5412 Program recording unit 5413 First program storage unit 5414 First browsing operation reception unit 5415 First recorded program browsing unit 5416 First browsing operation storage unit 5501 Broadcast reception unit 5502 Program recording unit 5503 Program storage unit 5504 Viewing operation reception Part 5 05 Recorded Program Browsing Unit 5506 Browsing Operation Storage Unit 5507 Browsing Concentration Calculation Unit 5508 Browsing Required Time Estimation Unit 5509 Program Information Display Unit 6001 Broadcast Receiving Unit 6002 Program Recording Unit 6003 First Program Storage Unit 6004 First Browsing Operation Accepting Unit 6005 First recorded program browsing unit 6006 First browsing history storage unit 6007 Browse concentration calculation unit 6008 Program selection unit 6009 Second program storage unit 6010 Second browsing operation reception unit 6011 Second recorded program browsing unit 6012 Second browsing history storage unit

Claims (12)

A program selection device that selects a program according to user preferences,
Program recording means for recording content;
A recorded program browsing means for playing back the content recorded by the program recording means;
Operation accepting means for accepting a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content by the recorded program browsing means from the user;
Operation history storage means for storing the history of browsing operations;
Browsing concentration calculation means for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored by the operation history storage means;
Preference extracting means for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration calculating means;
Program selection means for selecting content to be recorded anew from the content recorded by the program recording means, using the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration calculating means;
A program selection apparatus comprising: program information monitoring means for making a recording reservation when broadcasting of the content selected by the program selection means is scheduled. The program selection device further includes:
Program storage means for storing a recording specification representing the definition of the recorded content;
The said program information monitoring means further performs the said recording reservation only when it is judged with reference to the said recording specification that a high-definition recording is possible rather than an original recording. The recording reservation of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Program selection device. The browsing concentration level calculation means further uses the browsing operation history acquired from the independent program selection device to determine the browsing concentration level for the content recorded by another independent program selection device and browsed by the user. Calculate
The program selection means further selects, from the contents recorded by the independent program selection device, contents to be newly recorded by the program recording means using the calculated browsing concentration level. The program selection device according to claim 1, wherein A program selection device that selects a program according to user preferences,
Program recording means for recording content;
A recorded program browsing means for playing back the content recorded by the program recording means;
Operation accepting means for accepting a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content by the recorded program browsing means from the user;
Operation history storage means for storing the history of browsing operations;
Browsing concentration calculation means for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored by the operation history storage means;
Preference extracting means for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration calculating means;
It further comprises browsing time estimation means for estimating a browsing time of content recorded by the program recording means but not yet browsed by the user, using a browsing concentration degree calculated for other content. A program selection device. The program selection device further includes:
The program selection device according to claim 4, further comprising program information display means for displaying the estimated browsing time. A program selection device that selects a program according to user preferences,
Program recording means for recording content;
A recorded program browsing means for playing back the content recorded by the program recording means;
Operation accepting means for accepting a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content by the recorded program browsing means from the user;
Operation history storage means for storing the history of browsing operations;
Browsing concentration calculation means for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored by the operation history storage means;
Preference extracting means for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration calculated by the browsing concentration calculating means;
Program moving storage means for storing the content recorded by the program recording means and for viewing on an external browsing terminal;
Browsing history movement storage means for acquiring and storing the browsing history of the content stored in the program movement storage means on the browsing terminal from the browsing terminal;
The browsing concentration level calculation means further calculates a browsing concentration level at the browsing terminal for the content stored in the program movement storage means using the browsing history stored in the browsing history movement storage means. ,
The program selection device further includes:
A program selection device comprising program selection means for selecting content to be stored in the program movement storage means from contents recorded by the program recording means using the calculated browsing concentration degree. . The browsing history movement storage means further displays a browsing specification representing at least one of a display resolution and a frame rate used for browsing on the browsing terminal for the content stored in the program movement storage means. Get from and remember,
The program selection device further includes:
A program browsing specification estimation unit for estimating a browsing specification that will be used for browsing the content newly stored in the program movement storage unit, using the browsing specification stored in the browsing history movement storage unit;
The program selection device according to claim 6, further comprising: program content conversion means for converting the new content according to the estimated browsing specification. The program content conversion means performs the conversion when the new content is recorded by the program recording means,
The program selection device according to claim 7, wherein the program recording means records the new content with the estimated browsing specification. A program selection method for selecting a program according to user preferences,
A program recording step for recording content;
A recorded program browsing step for reproducing the content recorded in the program recording step;
An operation receiving step for receiving from the user a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content in the recorded program browsing step;
An operation history accumulating step for accumulating the browsing operation history;
A browsing concentration level calculating step for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored in the operation history storing step;
A preference extraction step for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration level calculated in the browsing concentration level calculating step;
Program selection means for selecting content to be newly recorded from the content recorded in the program recording step using the browsing concentration calculated in the browsing concentration calculating step;
And a program information monitoring step of making a recording reservation when the broadcast of the content selected in the program selection step is scheduled. A program selection method for selecting a program according to user preferences,
A program recording step for recording content;
A recorded program browsing step for reproducing the content recorded in the program recording step;
An operation receiving step for receiving from the user a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content in the recorded program browsing step;
An operation history accumulating step for accumulating the browsing operation history;
A browsing concentration level calculating step for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored in the operation history storing step;
A preference extraction step for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration level calculated in the browsing concentration level calculating step;
And a required browsing time estimation step for estimating a required browsing time of the content recorded in the program recording step but not yet browsed by the user using a browsing concentration degree calculated for other content. Program selection method. A program selection method for selecting a program according to user preferences,
A program recording step for recording content;
A recorded program browsing step for reproducing the content recorded in the program recording step;
An operation receiving step for receiving from the user a browsing operation for controlling reproduction of the content in the recorded program browsing step;
An operation history accumulating step for accumulating the browsing operation history;
A browsing concentration level calculating step for calculating a browsing concentration level for the content of the user based on the browsing operation history stored in the operation history storing step;
A preference extraction step for extracting the user's preference based on the browsing concentration level calculated in the browsing concentration level calculating step;
Storing the content recorded in the program recording step, and a program moving storage step for viewing on an external browsing terminal;
A browsing history movement storage step of acquiring and storing a browsing history of the content stored in the program movement storage step from the browsing terminal;
The browsing concentration level calculating step further calculates a browsing concentration level on the browsing terminal for the content stored in the program movement storage step using the browsing history stored in the browsing history movement storage step.
In the program selection step,
A program selection method including a program selection step of selecting content to be stored in the program movement storage step from the content recorded in the program recording step using the calculated browsing concentration degree. . A program for selecting a program according to user preferences,
A program that causes a computer to execute the steps included in the method according to any one of claims 9 to 11.

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