JP2008193295A - Program extracting method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to save the time without need of user direct input or change of a retrieval condition by performing automatic extraction on the basis of the user's preference and without need of the user viewing of a scene in the program he or she is not interested in by using subtitles information, automatically selecting only scenes the user is interested in from a relatively long program broadcast time, and informing the user of it. <P>SOLUTION: A program extracting device is provided with: a program information storage means 104 for storing information on a plurality of programs; a preference management means 105 for extracting user preference information from a user's behavior; a candidate program selection means 106 for selecting a program which is currently broadcast and matches preference information stored by the preference management means from among the programs stored in the program information storage means; a subtitles recommendation means 108 for detecting that the subtitles included in the program selected by the candidate program selection means matches the preference information to output a notification request; and a recommendation notification means for presenting the notification request to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for extracting a program or a part of a program that meets a user's preference from a plurality of programs by using subtitle data given to the program.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a method of notifying that a back program has a scene in which additional information matches a keyword input in advance by a receiver capable of simultaneously receiving a plurality of server-type broadcast channels. In the server-type broadcast, information directly used by a user to select a scene is given to a program scene.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method for notifying that a pre-registered character string is received by FM character multiplex broadcasting. Here, the user inputs the character string directly from the keyboard or the like. That is, the user considers a character string that specifies information to be received in advance and performs a predetermined input operation.

  Here, an example of a typical program extracting device will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In addition, below, description is abbreviate | omitted in part or all by giving the same code | symbol to the same component among several figures. In addition, when a plurality of the same components appear in the same figure, one alphabetic character is added to the end of the code.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional program extracting apparatus that does not use the present invention.

  In the figure, reference numeral 600 denotes the entire conventional program extracting apparatus. The program extracting apparatus 600 includes a receiving antenna 101, input means 102, first program receiving means 103, second program receiving means 103a, program information storage means 104, recording / playback means 601, and video composition means. 602 and video presentation means 112.

  The receiving antenna 101 receives broadcast radio waves, converts a broadcast signal into an electric signal, and outputs it as an antenna signal. The receiving antenna 101 may be a TV broadcast antenna.

  The input unit 102 is an input device that accepts a physical input operation by a user. The input means 102 may be a remote control and a light receiving unit of an AV device, a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and the like.

  The first program receiving means 103 receives the antenna signal received by the receiving antenna 101, and selectively outputs a bit stream related to the currently selected broadcast channel. The bit stream includes EPG (Electric Program Guide) data including a broadcast date and time, a program name, and the like regarding a program that is currently being broadcast or will be broadcast in addition to video and audio of a broadcast program. The first program receiving means 103 may be a demodulator and a TS (Transport Stream) decoder in a digital broadcast receiver.

  The second program receiving unit 103a may be the same as the first program receiving unit 103 as described above.

  The program information storage means 104 accumulates and stores EPG data in the bit stream output from the first program receiving means. Also, the stored information is output as necessary. The program information storage means 104 may be a semiconductor memory or a magnetic storage medium. The program information storage unit 104 has a search function, searches for a program that matches the search condition input by the user from the input unit 102, and notifies the user that the program is being broadcast if the program is being broadcast. A request to display an OSD (On Screen Display) screen is output to the video composition unit 602.

  In response to a request from the input unit 102, the recording / playback unit 601 accumulates (records) information such as video and audio of the program output from the program receiving unit 103a. The recording / reproducing means 601 may be a magnetic storage medium or a large-capacity semiconductor memory.

  The video synthesizing unit 602 inputs the video / audio output from the program receiving unit 103, the video / audio output from the recording / reproducing unit 601, and the EPG data output from the program information storage unit 104, and selects and / or selects these inputs. Alternatively, a single video / audio signal is synthesized by synthesis. For example, the video / audio of the program receiving unit 103 or the video / audio output by the recording / reproducing unit 601 is selectively output, or the EPG data output from the program information storage unit 104 is decoded to display the OSD (On Screen) of the EPG screen. Display) Graphics bitmap. In addition, when a request for notifying that the program that matches the search condition input by the user is being broadcast is received from the program information storage means 104, an OSD of a pop-up screen that informs the user that the program is being broadcast is rendered. To do.

The video presenting means 112 receives the video / audio signal output from the video synthesizing means 602, converts it into a physical phenomenon (light or sound) that can be perceived by the user, and outputs it. The video presenting means 112 may be a liquid crystal display panel and a speaker.
JP 2005-250738 A JP 2002-57591 A

  In the conventional program extraction method and apparatus that do not use the present invention, the user himself / herself has to input in advance the search conditions for the program that the user wants to view. This search condition input operation is complicated and even impossible for a digital divide user. In addition, what search conditions are used to ensure that there are no search omissions and that no extra programs are included can only be entered by actually making fine adjustments to the search conditions while looking at the search results. There wasn't. Furthermore, whenever the user's preference changes, the EPG data editing policy is changed, or the trend of the world changes, it is necessary to correct or re-enter the search conditions each time, which is extremely complicated.

  In addition, since the search result is a program unit, even if the content of interest is broadcast only for a short time in the program, the user himself / herself watches the program until the portion of interest is broadcast. I had to wait while.

  In order to solve the above problems, a program information extraction method and apparatus according to the present invention includes a program information storage means for storing information of a plurality of programs, and a preference management means for extracting and storing user preference information from user actions. Candidate program selection means for selecting a program that is currently broadcast from the program stored in the program information storage means and that matches the preference information stored in the preference management means, and included in the program selected by the candidate program selection means Subtitle recommendation means for detecting that the subtitle information to be applied matches the preference information and outputting a notification request; and recommendation notification means for presenting the notification request to the user.

  In the program extraction method and apparatus according to the present invention, the user's preferences are automatically extracted, so that the user does not need to input or change the search condition directly. In addition, subtitle information is used to automatically select and notify only the scenes that the user is interested in from the relatively long program broadcast time, so it is necessary for the user to view uninterested scenes in the program. There is no time saving. And even when watching another program in the same time zone, only the scene of interest can be interrupted and viewed, so the time that hinders viewing of another program can be minimized, and the broadcast time You can watch interesting scenes of multiple overlapping programs in real time without missing them. Furthermore, by automatically recording a program or scene of interest, it is possible to preferentially watch the program or scene of interest later, thereby preventing the overlook of the program or scene of interest. be able to.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a program extraction apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Reference numeral 100 denotes an entire program extraction apparatus.

  The program extracting apparatus 100 includes a receiving antenna 101, an input unit 102, a program receiving unit 103, a program information storage unit 104, a preference information management unit 105, a candidate program selection unit 106, a subtitle decoding unit 107, and a subtitle. It comprises a recommendation means 108, a recommendation notification means 109, a recording / playback means 110, a video composition means 111, and a video presentation means 112.

  Here, the components of the program extracting apparatus 100 that are not described will be described in detail.

  The preference information management unit 105 receives a user operation from the input unit 102, refers to the EPG data in the program information storage unit 104, and what is frequently viewed, and what is common to these programs The user preference information is automatically extracted. The preference information management means 105 stores the preference information extracted in this way.

  For example, if the program that the user is viewing is found to be unevenly distributed in a specific program genre, a performer, a character string that appears in the program name or program description, the program genre, performer, character string, etc. Is stored as preference information.

  The candidate program selection means 106 compares the preference information held by the preference information management means 105 with the EPG data of a program that is currently being broadcast or will soon be broadcast, among the EPG data in the program information storage means 104. Then, a program having highly compatible EPG data is selected and output as a candidate program.

  Also, at this time, how the information matches the preference information is output as a recommendation reason. For example, when a program whose genre is “soccer” is often watched, “soccer” is output as the reason for recommendation.

  The caption decoding means 107 decodes and outputs the caption data. The caption data is multiplexed and broadcast with the video and audio of the program.

  Note that subtitle data does not need to be transmitted through the same transmission path by multiplexing. For example, video and audio may be broadcast and subtitles may be transmitted by communication, video and audio may be provided by package media and subtitles may be transmitted by communication, or video and audio and subtitles may be broadcast by different broadcast stations. Also, subtitle data need not be transmitted in real time. For example, by including the relative time from the start time of the program in the caption data, the caption data stored in the receiver in advance may be reproduced as if it were broadcast in real time.

  The caption recommendation means 108 compares the caption data output from the caption decoding means 107 with the preference information held by the preference information management means 105, and outputs a request for recommending a program determined to be highly compatible at that timing. . For example, it is determined that the suitability is high when the subtitles contain many words or names that are determined to be of interest to the user.

  At this time, how the preference information and the caption are matched is output as a recommendation reason. For example, when a specific athlete name is included in the preference information and the athlete name appears in the caption, the athlete name is output as the reason for recommendation.

  The recommendation notifying unit 109 receives a request from the caption recommending unit 108 and outputs an OSD for notifying that a scene of interest to the video composition unit is currently being broadcast.

  The recording / reproducing means 110 records and reproduces the video / audio of the program output from the second program receiving means 103a. The recording / reproducing means 110 can simultaneously reproduce the recorded portion of the same program while recording the program.

  For example, it is possible to start recording from the beginning of the program and start playback from the beginning of the program without waiting for the end of the program. Such a viewing mode is generally called time-shifted viewing. In addition, here, recording of time-shift viewing is referred to as time-shift recording, and reproduction is also referred to as time-shift reproduction.

  The recording / reproducing means 110 may be a magnetic disk device such as a hard disk, a magneto-optical medium and a drive device, or a large-capacity semiconductor memory.

  The video synthesizing unit 111 receives the video / audio of the program output from the first program receiving unit 103 and the recording / reproducing unit 110 and the OSD screen output from the recommendation notification unit. Then, the input image is synthesized and output.

  Here, the OSD displayed at the time of notification will be described with reference to FIG.

  Reference numeral 310 denotes the entire screen output by the video composition unit 111. Here, reference numeral 311 denotes an image of a program currently received by the program receiving means 103 and viewed by the user. Reference numeral 312 represents a broadcast channel currently selected.

  Reference numeral 313 denotes a notification screen for presenting a notification to the user. The notification screen 313 has a recommendation reason on the first line, information for specifying a recommended program on the second line, and a guide display of an operation method on the third line.

  The recommendation reason displayed in the first line is one or both of the recommendation reasons output from the candidate program selection means 106 and the caption recommendation means 108.

  Next, the operation of the program extraction device 100 will be described using a flowchart. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the scene notification process in the program extracting apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  (Step S201) The candidate program selection unit 106 performs a search from the program information stored in the program information storage unit 104. In the search, a program that matches the user's preference information stored in the preference information management means 105 is selected as a candidate program from among the programs that are currently being broadcast or will start broadcasting soon.

  (Step S202) The candidate program selected in Step S201 is selected by the second program receiving means. The second program receiving means cannot explicitly operate the first program receiving means that can be explicitly selected or viewed by a user operation. In this sense, the first and second program receiving means are called “front tuner” and “back tuner” in this order.

  (Step S203) The caption decoding means 107 decodes the caption for the broadcast channel selected by the second program receiving means (back tuner). Then, the caption recommendation unit 108 monitors the arrival of a caption character string that matches the preference information stored in the preference information management unit 105.

  (Step S204) If the subtitle recommendation unit 108 detects a subtitle suitable for the preference, the process proceeds to step S205. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S202. At this time, it is expected that the video and audio also have contents suitable for the user's preference.

  (Step S205) The recording / playback means is notified that the suitable subtitles are broadcast through the recommendation notifying means 109, and as a result, the time-shift recording of the candidate program that has been monitoring the subtitles is started.

  (Step S206) The recommendation notifying means 109 generates drawing data of the OSD screen that presents the recommended program and the reason for recommendation. Then, the image is displayed on the video presentation unit 112 via the video synthesis unit 111. An example of the displayed screen is the notification screen 313 in FIG.

  (Step S207) On the notification screen displayed in Step S206, the user uses the input means 102 to indicate whether or not to view the program.

  (Step S208) If the user presses the “decision” button and the user makes an intention to view the program, the process proceeds to step S209; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S202.

  (Step S209) The recording / reproducing means 110 starts time-shift reproduction and starts viewing.

  Note that the first program receiving means 103 may be used as the source of time-shift recording when viewing is started. As a result, the program receiving unit 103a can freely change the channel selection and can monitor another candidate program in accordance with an instruction from the candidate program selecting unit 106.

  Alternatively, the first program receiving unit 103 and the second program receiving unit 103a are configured in a symmetric manner, that is, subtitle decoding and subtitle recommendation can be performed on the output of the first program receiving unit 103. In this configuration, the first program receiving unit 103 and the second program receiving unit 103a may be configured to alternately execute roles of viewing a recommended program and monitoring a back program. good.

  The notification of the program has been described as being performed on the screen display, but notification means by voice utterance, alarm sound or music, or vibration by a vibrator may be used.

  In addition, although the time-shift viewing is performed by the recording / reproducing unit 110, the channel selection of the program receiving unit 103 may be changed so that the program currently being broadcast is simply viewed in real time (in this case, step S205). No time shift recording start process is required.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the scene notification process in the program extraction device 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  Only the steps not described below will be described in detail.

  (Step S401) Time-shift recording is started for the candidate program selected in Step S202. In the description of the first embodiment, the time-shift recording is started when a subtitle that is in preference is found in step S205 of FIG. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, since the time shift recording is started from the time when the candidate program is determined, the recording can be started from the head of the program.

  (Step S402) Viewing of fast-forward playback is started. For example, by reproducing the video at 1.3 times speed and converting the pitch of the sound to the same as at the time of constant speed reproduction, reproduction that allows the user to perceive all utterances although it is somewhat quick is performed. An example of the screen display at this time is shown in 320 of FIG. Here, reference numeral 323 denotes a time shift reproduction screen output by the recording / reproducing means 110. Reference numeral 322 denotes an OSD display of an indicator that indicates to the user that the program is being played back at the 1.3 × speed with the broadcast channel of the program.

  (Step S403) If the playback position for time-shifted viewing has arrived at the recording position while continuing fast-forward playback in step S402, the process proceeds to step S404. Otherwise, step S403 itself is repeated to wait.

  (Step S404) The playback is switched to the normal speed. For example, the program receiving unit 103 may select a broadcast channel of a program that has been time-shifted and the video synthesizing unit 111 may output the video of the program receiving unit 103.

  When starting time shift playback in step S402, playback may be started unconditionally from the beginning of the program. Alternatively, by default, the playback is performed by going back a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) from the notification, but the playback from the beginning of the program may be performed by a specific user operation. For example, as displayed in the operation guide on the third line of the notification screen 313 in FIG. 3, playback is started from the beginning of the program by pressing the left arrow button.

  As described above, fast-forward playback is performed. Therefore, when a predetermined time has elapsed, time-shifted viewing is canceled and switching to real-time viewing is performed. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the disadvantage that the subsequent program of another channel cannot be viewed in real time due to the time lag. In addition, since the second program receiving unit 103a, the recording / reproducing unit 110, and the like are released quickly, it is possible to avoid conflicts with monitoring of subtitles of another program or normal reserved recording.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the scene storing process in the program extracting apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  (Step S501) A scene of a program that is close in time to the time when the recommendation notification is made is set as the retention period. Then, the process proceeds to step S502. An example of the temporal vicinity is, for example, one minute before and after.

  If there is a period set as the retention period in step S501 before, the sum set with the period specified in step S501 is taken as a new retention period.

  (Step S502) If broadcast of the candidate program ends, the process proceeds to step S503, otherwise the process proceeds to step S202.

  (Step S503) The part of the storage period is stored permanently. Then, the process proceeds to step S202. Since the recording / playback means 110 is recorded for time-shift viewing, it is automatically deleted when the time-shift viewing ends. This is changed so that it is not automatically deleted, equivalent to normal recording. This change may be a change of management information or a video / audio copy of a program from a recording area (partition) for time-shift viewing to a recording area for normal recording.

  In the above description, the recording of the program is always stored permanently. However, the recording may be performed only when the user has not responded to the notification or displays the intention to save. .

  In the above description, the video / audio recording is performed. However, the present invention can be similarly implemented even when only the audio is stored.

  In addition, the notification time and the reason for recommendation are stored permanently as well as the video and audio, and are used as index data for non-linear viewing that can be used as the default playback start position during playback or to selectively watch only a certain part. It may be used.

  Further, when the user does not use the program extraction device (for example, a state in which the power is turned off with the remote control and nothing is displayed on the video presentation means), the user can execute the processing of the flowchart of FIG. It is also possible to automatically collect program scenes of interest during the absence.

  The program extraction method and apparatus according to the present invention can be used not only for broadcasting but also for video distribution in cable-on-demand video communication on cable television. It can also be used for video and audio only. Furthermore, the subtitle information and the video / audio may be provided through separate distribution paths or package media. Furthermore, the subtitle recommendation means may be configured to be included in the sending side system instead of the receiver side.

Configuration diagram of a program extraction device in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flowchart of scene notification processing in program extraction device in embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows an example of the screen display of the program extraction apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention Flowchart of scene notification processing in program extraction device in embodiment 2 of the present invention Flowchart of scene storage processing in program extraction device in Embodiment 3 of the present invention Configuration diagram of a conventional program extraction apparatus not using the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Program extracting device 101 Receiving antenna 102 Input means 103, 103a Program receiving means 104 Program information storage means 105 Preference information management means 106 Candidate program selection means 107 Subtitle decoding means 108 Subtitle recommendation means 109 Recommendation notification means 110 Recording / playback means 111 Video composition Means 112 Video Presentation Means

Claims (14)

Program information storage means for storing program information, preference management means for extracting and storing user preference information from the user's behavior, and the preference management that is being broadcast from the program stored in the program information storage means at present or soon A candidate program selection means for selecting a program that matches the preference information stored in the means as a candidate program, and a notification request is output when subtitle information included in the candidate program is monitored and detected to match the preference information An apparatus for extracting a program, comprising: subtitle recommendation means for performing the notification, and recommendation notification means for presenting the notification request as a recommendation notification to a user. A recording / reproducing unit for time-shift recording the program selected by the candidate program selecting unit, and the recommendation notifying unit accepting an intention indicating whether or not to view the notified program by a user and displaying the intention 2. The program extracting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a request for starting playback of the time-shift recorded program is output. 3. The program extracting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein time-shift recording is started from the start time of the program selected by the candidate program selecting means. 4. The program according to claim 3, wherein said recording / reproducing means performs time-shifted reproduction from near the time when said notification request is received, and performs time-shifted reproduction from the beginning of the program when requested by the user. Extraction device. The recording / playback means transitions to playback at the same speed when the playback speed of the time-shift recorded program is faster than the normal speed and the playback position of the time shift catches up with the recording position. Item 5. The program extraction device according to item 4 to item 4. 6. The program extracting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recording / reproducing unit for permanently storing video and audio in the vicinity of time when the recommendation notification unit receives the notification request. The video recording / reproducing means permanently stores the video and audio in the vicinity of time when the intention not to view is not received when the intention indicating whether or not to view the program is received. 6. The program extracting device according to 6. In an apparatus for viewing a program, a step of storing program information, a step of extracting user preference information from user behavior, and a program that is currently or soon broadcast from the stored program information and that matches the preference information A step of selecting as a program, a step of monitoring whether subtitle information included in the candidate program matches the preference information, a step of outputting a notification request when it matches, and a notification request to the user as a recommendation notification And a step of presenting the program. A step of time-shift recording a program for which notification is requested, a step of accepting an intention indicating whether or not to view the program corresponding to the recommendation notification from the user when the recommendation notification is presented to the user, and the intention of the user to view 9. The program extracting method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of starting time-shifted reproduction of the program that has been time-shift recorded when receiving the display. 10. The program extracting method according to claim 9, wherein recording is started from the head of the candidate program in the time-shift recording step. The step of starting the time-shifted reproduction with a time position near the time when the notification request is output as a reproduction position and performing a time-shifted reproduction from the beginning of the program when requested by the user is added. Item 11. The program extracting method according to Item 10. The step of starting the time-shift playback in the time-shift playback step and adding a step of transitioning to playback at the same-speed at the timing when the playback position of the time shift catches up with the recording position is added. Item 12. The program extracting method according to item 9 to item 11. 13. The program extracting method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of permanently storing video and audio in the vicinity of time when the notification request is output. The step of permanently storing the video and audio in the vicinity of the time is added when the user does not make an intention not to view the program corresponding to the notification request in the step of accepting the user's intention display. Item 14. The program extracting method according to Item 13.

Images