JP2008252817A - Program viewing/recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program viewing/recording apparatus which improves user's usability of viewing a recorded program at user's free time. <P>SOLUTION: The program viewing/recording apparatus provided with a tuner, which allows viewing/recording of programs, is provided with a control means to control whether the program has been viewed or not, and viewed and un-viewed time period for the viewed contents for each of the recorded content, and a display means to display a program list based on information of the control means. Furthermore, the display means separates the contents which have been replayed at least for once into a viewed part and un-viewed part based on a time point at which the replay was stopped and to display each time period of them or their portion of total contents when a list of the recorded programs is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a program viewing / recording apparatus for recording and reproducing a program such as a television broadcast.

  In recent years, personal computers and mobile phones are also equipped with a TV viewing function, so that TV programs can be viewed in places other than the living room. In addition, it has become possible to record encoded data of a received television program on a storage medium such as a memory card so that the television program can be viewed at a free time. Furthermore, television programs stored in a large-capacity storage such as a hard disk drive (HDD) can be viewed on a personal computer or mobile phone via a memory card by converting the rate. Furthermore, if the operation of terrestrial digital broadcasting for mobile terminals is started, it is expected that the number of users who view TV on the go will increase.

Under such circumstances, a system that distributes a recorded television program to a personal computer or a portable device in accordance with a user's schedule is disclosed (Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-274377 A

  However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the user to input a schedule in advance, and there is a problem that it takes time. In addition, when the actual schedule is suddenly changed, it is necessary to re-enter the schedule, which is very troublesome.

  In addition, users often watch TV on their mobile phones during commuting / commuting time trains or during relatively short breaks such as lunch breaks. In this case, for example, the viewable time is limited such as only 30 minutes. In order to search for a recorded program that can be watched within the limited time, the user has to compare the playback times of the recorded programs one by one. That is, there is a problem that it takes time to select a recorded program that can be viewed within a limited time.

  In addition, many recent TV program recording devices record content in a large-capacity storage device such as an HD, and the number of contents that can be recorded in the recording device is also increasing significantly. For this reason, when viewing the recorded content desired by the user, it is difficult to easily find the target content from among a large amount of recorded content.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a program viewing / recording apparatus that can improve the usability when viewing a recorded program during idle time.

    An aspect of the present invention is a program viewing / recording apparatus provided with a tuner and capable of viewing / recording a program, for each recorded content, means for managing presence / absence of viewing, viewing / unviewing time regarding content with viewing, and , A display means for displaying a program list based on the information of the management means. When displaying a recorded program list, content that has been played even once is based on the point at which playback is stopped. The program viewing and recording apparatus is characterized by comprising display means for displaying the proportion of each time or content as a whole, separated into portions that have been viewed and unviewed.

In a program viewing and recording apparatus equipped with a tuner and capable of viewing and recording programs,
For each recorded content, a means for managing the presence / absence of viewing, the viewing / unviewing time of content with viewing,
Display means for displaying a program list based on the information of the management means, when displaying a recorded program list, for content that has been played even once, based on the point at which playback is stopped, A display means for displaying the proportion of each time or content as a whole, which is divided into a portion that has been viewed and a portion that has not been viewed;

  A program viewing and recording apparatus comprising:

  According to the present invention, in a program recording device or the like that records recorded content on a large-capacity HD, the number of recorded content is enormous, but when the user wants to watch the continuation of the recorded content that has been viewed halfway. Since these contents are preferentially displayed at the top of the recorded content list, the desired contents can be easily viewed.

  In addition, when the user can watch only for a certain period of time due to going out or sleeping, the content that can be viewed within that time is preferentially displayed, so that the user cannot watch the content halfway and go out or go to sleep.

  Further, when there is a program that is regularly viewed, the time that the user can view is automatically calculated from the current time and the start time of the program, and content that can be viewed within the time is preferentially displayed. Since it is displayed, it concentrates on the viewing of the recorded content, does not notice the start of the program that is regularly viewed, and does not miss it.

  That is, it is possible to provide a program viewing / recording apparatus capable of improving the usability when viewing a recorded program during idle time.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a program viewing / recording apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, an input unit 101 is an input unit for inputting key information such as a keyboard and other information. The CPU 102 operates based on a program stored in the storage unit 104, and controls each unit according to an input from the input unit 101, for example. The tuner 105 outputs a television signal corresponding to a desired channel from the broadcast signal received by the antenna.

  The television data processing unit 103 receives a television signal output from the tuner 105, and acquires audio data, video data, caption data, and the like from the television signal. Further, when a reproduction command is received from the CPU 102, audio data is output to the speaker and video data is output to the display unit 107. Subtitle data can also be output to the display unit 107 as necessary. When receiving a recording command from the CPU 102, the audio data, video data, and caption data are stored in the storage unit 104. At this time, information regarding the recorded program is stored in the recorded program information table 104b.

  Next, the storage unit 104 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores data, software, and the like handled by the program viewing / recording apparatus 100 such as a personal computer or a mobile phone. For example, the television signal output by the tuner 105, data necessary for processing when the television data processing unit 103 acquires audio data, video data, and the like from the television signal, the recorded program information table 108, and the like are stored.

  The recorded program information table 104b stores, for example, program names, broadcast dates, recording times, and the like. The program name is the name of the television program, and can be acquired from the television program data included in the television signal. Moreover, you may preserve | save the arbitrary names input by the user as a program name. The broadcast time is the date, day of the week, and start time when the program was broadcast. The recording time is the time length of the recorded program. Using the time data included in the TV signal, the time from the recording start time to the recording end time can be calculated and acquired.

  Next, the display unit 107 includes, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electroluminescence), and the like, and displays video data and caption data output from the television data processing unit 103. In addition, the display unit 107 displays, for example, power status, radio wave intensity, remaining battery level, server connection status or operating status such as unread mail, input key information, mail information (destination, sent document, etc.), moving images, and still images. Display of information, received data such as a connected Internet screen, and a screen necessary for using the function of the program viewing / recording apparatus 100 are displayed.

  The communication unit 106 exchanges data with other information processing apparatuses. When exchanging information with a base station, a location server, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, and the program viewing / recording apparatus 100 is a portable device, it is also used when the position coordinates are acquired by latitude and longitude. The program viewing / recording apparatus 100 also performs communication processing for accessing the Internet, other information processing apparatuses, and the like. Further, the communication unit 106 is not limited to the case where only one is used as shown in FIG. 1, and for example, a plurality of communication units 106 are provided so that a plurality of communication methods such as CDMA, EV-DO, and wireless LAN can be used. Also good. A communication antenna 108 a is connected to the communication unit 106, and an antenna 108 b is also connected to the tuner 105.

  The viewable time calculation unit 109 is a management unit, and is connected to the CPU 102 and calculates the viewable time of content by the user based on the current time and the start time of the program expected to be viewed by the user. Also, the viewable time calculation unit 109 is based on the current time and the start time of the program expected to be viewed by the user from the viewing history and recording history of the program recorded by the user recorded in the recording unit 104 serving as a recording unit. The time for viewing the content by the user is calculated.

  Further, the recording unit 104 is provided with a power-off time recording unit 104a for recording the time when the power was last turned off. When the user desires to display a list of recorded content, the viewable time calculation unit 109 calculates the viewing time of the recorded content by the user based on the power-off time and the current time recorded in the power-off time recording unit 104a. Is.

Operation of the Embodiment Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing for displaying the recorded content of the program viewing and recording apparatus according to the present embodiment.
When a list display of recorded contents is requested by a user operation (S1), it is determined whether or not there is a program scheduled to be viewed by the user with reference to the past reserved recording history and viewing history (S2). When there is a program that the user plans to view (Yes in S2), the recordable content viewing time 1 is calculated based on the broadcast start time and the current time of the program (S4).

  Next, referring to the power-off time management table in the power-off time recording means 104a of the storage unit 104, the power-off time of the program recording device by the user is predicted (S5), and viewing is performed based on the time and the current time. The possible time 2 is calculated (S6). Here, the viewable time 1 and the viewable time 2 are compared (S7), and the smaller time is set as the viewable time of the recorded content by the user.

  When the viewable time 1 is less than or equal to the viewable time 2 (“viewable time 1 ≦ viewable time 2” in S7), the scheduled viewing program 1 is set as the user's viewable time (S8). When the viewable time 1 is longer than the viewable time 2 (“viewable time 1> viewable time 2” in S7), the scheduled viewing program 2 is set as the user's viewable time (S9).

  After the viewable time is calculated, a database for managing recorded content is accessed to obtain information on each content (S10). Information to be acquired includes viewing state (viewing complete / viewing / not viewing), information on a playback stop point, recording time, and the like regarding content whose viewing state is being viewed. That is, for each content that has not been viewed, the time of the unviewed portion is acquired (S11).

  Next, the time of the unviewed portion of each content is compared with the viewable time of the user, and it is determined whether or not the view is completed within the viewable time of the user (S12). If the non-viewing time is longer than the viewable time (“viewable time <non-viewing time” in step 12), for the content that has not been viewed, the background is changed to alert the user or the display target list (S13). If the viewable time is equal to or greater than the unviewed time (“viewable time ≧ watching time” in step 12), the content of the view completed within the viewable time of the user can be watched in the unviewed time. The recorded content list is created by rearranging the contents in the order of time (S14).

  When the above processing is completed for all contents (“all content confirmation completed” in S15), a contents list display screen is generated based on the recorded contents list and displayed to the user (S16).

Display State of Embodiment Next, the display state on the display unit 107 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This is a recorded content list display example in the present embodiment.
First, in the present embodiment, the following contents are recorded as a premise and are in the following viewing states, respectively. In the recorded content list, information such as thumbnail images, program titles, recording date / time, recording time, viewing / non-viewing, and the like are displayed, and it is also possible to select a content and display a detailed screen.

The viewing status of each content is shown below.
(1) Secret of XX: Viewing completed (no unviewed part)
(2) Music △△: Not watched (3) From the north sky: Watched ⇒ 30 minutes, not watched ⇒ 30 minutes (4) 20th century masterpiece theater: Watched ⇒ 45 minutes, not watched ⇒ 75 minutes (5) Today's Sports (December 7): Watching complete (no unviewed part)
(6) Today's Sports (12/8): Unviewed In the present embodiment, among the contents of (1) to (6) above, content viewed halfway, unviewed content, content that has been viewed Are displayed in this order. In addition, the content viewed halfway is displayed in the order in which the time of the unviewed part is small, and the time of the viewed / unviewed part is displayed.

  Here, when the time that can be viewed for going to bed or going out is only about 30 minutes, the user can complete the viewing in 30 minutes among the above contents. (3) It seems to be sufficient to view from the north sky. .

  In addition, when the current date and time is PM 7:30 on December 9, and the user is highly likely to view a program from PM 9:00 on the same day based on the history of past scheduled recording and viewing history, the user can view the content. Judging that the time is about 1 hour 30 minutes, the above viewing time is close to the non-viewing time. (4) 20th century masterpiece theater (unviewed time is 1 hour 15 minutes) is (3) from the north sky Is also displayed with priority.

  Also, for unviewed content, the recording time is close to the user's viewable time (2) Music Δ △ (recording time is 1 hour), but (6) Today's sports (12/8) (recording time is 30 (Min)) is displayed.

  From the above, it is considered that the user should watch (4) 20th century masterpiece theater, (2) music ΔΔ, etc., which do not affect the program viewing from PM 9:00. An example of the above display is shown in FIG.

  If the current date and time is 8:10 PM on December 9, and the user is highly likely to view the program from PM 9:00 on the same day, it is determined that the user can view the content for about 50 minutes. (4) 20th century masterpiece theater (unwatched time is 1 hour and 15 minutes), (2) Music Δ △ (unviewed time is 1 hour), as shown in FIG. The user is alerted by changing the color or displaying the icon.

  In FIG. 5, the background color of the recorded content that affects the user's viewing of the program is changed to alert the user, but a method of not displaying the above content in the content list is also conceivable.

  Up to this point, an example has been shown in which the viewable time is automatically estimated based on the viewing history of the program by the user, and the list of recorded contents that can be viewed within the viewable time is shown in FIG. It is also possible to prepare a dialog box or the like for inputting the viewable time as shown, and display a list of contents that are viewed within the viewable time based on the viewable time input by the user.

  When the user inputs 1 hour as the viewable time, the viewing cannot be completed within 1 hour. (4) 20th century masterpiece theater (unviewed time is 1 hour 15 minutes), (2) Music Δ △ (unviewed time is 1 As for (time), the user is warned by changing the background color as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the content may not be displayed as a list.

  When the user inputs 1 hour 30 minutes as the viewable time, as shown in FIG. 4, the viewable time is close to the unviewed time. (4) 20th century masterpiece theater (unviewed time is 1 hour 15 minutes) (3) Displayed with priority over the north sky. Also for unviewed content, the recording time is close to the viewable time (2) Music △△ (recording time is 1 hour) from (6) Today's sports (12/8) (recording time is 30 minutes) Is also displayed with priority.

  When the program viewing / recording apparatus according to the present embodiment monitors the power-off time by the user every day and records it in the power-off time management table shown in FIG. 7, a list display function of recorded contents using the information will be described.

  When the current date and time is December 9 (Sat) PM 11:00, the power-off time management table is referred to, and the power-off time on December 2 (Sat), which is the same day of the week, is referred to. Since the power-off time on December 2 (Saturday) is PM 23:55, it is assumed that the time for the user to view the recorded content is about 55 minutes.

  Here, only the data of one week before is used. However, for example, the power-off time of the user may be predicted by averaging the power-off time on Saturday, which is the same day of the week.

  Since the viewing time of the user is about 55 minutes, from the recorded content that has not been viewed, content that is viewed in 55 minutes is extracted and presented to the user. Specifically, (3) From the north sky (unwatched time is 30 minutes) and (6) Today's sports (12/8) (unviewed time is 30 minutes) are the recorded content that satisfies the above conditions. .

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the above-mentioned content that can be viewed is preferentially displayed at the top of the recorded content list in a recording / listening device for a program that records the recorded content on a large-capacity HD. In addition, the desired content can be viewed easily.

  In addition, when the user can watch only for a certain period of time due to going out or sleeping, the content that can be viewed within that time is preferentially displayed, so that the user cannot watch the content halfway and go out or go to sleep.

  Further, when there is a program that is regularly viewed, the time that the user can view is automatically calculated from the current time and the start time of the program, and content that can be viewed within the time is preferentially displayed. Since it is displayed, it concentrates on the viewing of the recorded content, does not notice the start of the program that is regularly viewed, and does not miss it.

  That is, it is possible to provide a program viewing / recording apparatus capable of improving the usability when viewing a recorded program during idle time.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the program viewing-and-listening recording apparatus regarding embodiment of this invention. The flowchart of the process which displays the recorded content of the program viewing-and-listening recording apparatus regarding embodiment of this invention. The 1st example of a display in the display part in embodiment of this invention. The 2nd example of a display in the display part in embodiment of this invention. The 3rd example of a display in the display part in embodiment of this invention. The display example of the dialog box for inputting the viewable time in the embodiment of the present invention. The example of the power-off time management table in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Program view recording device 101 ... Input part 102 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 ... Television data processing part 104 ... Memory | storage part 104a ... Power-off time recording part 104b ... Recorded program information table 105 ... Tuner 106 ... Communication part 107 ... Display part 108a ... Antenna 108b ... Antenna 109 ... Viewing time calculation part

Claims (5)

In a program viewing and recording apparatus equipped with a tuner and capable of viewing and recording programs,
For each recorded content, a means for managing the presence / absence of viewing, the viewing / unviewing time of content with viewing,
Display means for displaying a program list based on the information of the management means, when displaying a recorded program list, for content that has been played even once, based on the point at which playback is stopped, A program viewing / recording apparatus, comprising: a display unit that separates a part that has been viewed and a part that has not been viewed, and displays a ratio of each time or content to the entire content. A recording means for recording a user's program viewing history and recording history;
The management means calculates the viewable time of the content by the user based on the current time and the start time of the program expected to be viewed by the user,
The program viewing and recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a list of the recorded contents that can be viewed within the viewable time among the recorded contents based on a calculation result of the management unit. A viewable time calculating means for calculating the viewable time by the user from the content viewing history and the recording history,
The display means includes content that the user may view within the time calculated by the calculation means, and when viewing all unviewed portions of the recorded content from the current time and the start time of the program, 3. The program viewing / recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when there is an influence on viewing of a program that the user may view, the recording content that affects the viewing is changed in background color or displayed as an icon. When displaying the recorded content as a list, the display means preferentially displays content that can be viewed within the time based on the content viewable time by the user, and cannot be viewed within the time. 3. The program viewing / recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the content and the content that has been viewed are displayed so that they can be recognized in order. Power off time recording means for recording the time when the power was last turned off;
When the user desires to display a list of recorded contents, there is viewable calculation means for calculating the viewing time of the recorded contents by the user based on the power-off time and the current time recorded in the power-off time recording means. And
The program viewing / recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit preferentially displays recorded content that can be viewed within the time calculated by the viewable calculating unit in the recorded content list.

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