JP2008259060A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display an electronic program guide (EPG) to be easily viewable until all program information can be acquired. <P>SOLUTION: Program data for EPG display are acquired and empty fields of an EPG are started being filled from acquired program data. A program title being described in an EIT is displayed here. It is determined whether or not information of one or more programs can be acquired and processing is waited until information of one or more programs can be acquired. In a case where information of one or more programs has been acquired, presence/absence of a region in which program information is not acquired yet, is investigated within a TS. If there is the region of no acquisition, it is determined whether a display program is a high definition television (HDTV) or not and if it is the HDTV, the same display as an HDTV program displayed already is performed in the region of no acquisition. Program information items in the regions where the same display is performed, are then integrated as needed and one program information item is displayed over a plurality of channels. In a case where all the program information can be acquired after the lapse of a sufficient time, actual program information is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver, and more particularly to an electronic program guide display technique.

  In digital broadcasting, since there are many programs, the electronic program guide plays an important role in device operation.

  For example, in the invention described in Patent Document 1 below, one program is broadcast using a plurality of channels, and the program information of the one program is transmitted to all of the plurality of channels that broadcast the one program. Describes a digital broadcast receiver that displays a program table with good visibility. Also, in Patent Document 2, a plurality of channels determined to broadcast the same program in a predetermined time zone are collectively displayed as one channel, thereby improving the convenience of operation on the program guide display. The technology is described.

JP 2001-145043 A JP 2004-208187 A

  When an electronic program guide is displayed, it takes a considerable time until data of all programs is obtained. Therefore, the display is generally performed from the acquired program data. Therefore, in the middle of data acquisition, a program that has already been acquired and a program that has not been acquired are mixed in the electronic program guide. In such a situation, since the electronic program guide becomes difficult to see, the above-described techniques have been proposed.

  As described in Patent Document 2, a plurality of channels determined to broadcast the same program in a predetermined time zone, that is, shared programs are collectively displayed as one channel, so that the display becomes easy to see.

  However, in reality, since it is impossible to determine whether or not a program is shared until all program information can be acquired, it is not possible to display across multiple channels or to display multiple channels all together in one channel. There was a problem that it was difficult to see the program guide.

  The present invention relates to a display technique for easily displaying an electronic program guide until all program information can be acquired.

According to one aspect of the present invention, based on program information transmitted by broadcast waves, a time zone and a channel number are described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, and the region determined by the time zone and the channel is A digital broadcast receiving apparatus including an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a program information display area for displaying corresponding program information, wherein program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels. Is displayed, and when the displayed program is a reference destination and other channels that are not displayed are shared by the event, at least an unacquired program is displayed in the program information display area of the hidden channel. Until the information is acquired, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus is provided that temporarily displays the program information of the reference destination.
The program guide can be temporarily displayed by utilizing the relationship between the event sharing reference destination and the reference source.

  Further, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave, the time zone and the channel number are respectively described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, and the corresponding program information is displayed in an area determined by the time zone and the channel. A digital broadcast receiver having an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a program information display area, wherein program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels in the same TS. If the displayed program is HDTV, the displayed program information is displayed in the program information display area of the non-display channel until at least unacquired program information is acquired. Provided is a digital broadcast receiving device characterized by provisional display. In digital broadcasting, a program table can be temporarily displayed by using the fact that HDTV has only one program in the same TS.

  Further, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave, the time zone and the channel number are described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, and the corresponding program information is displayed in an area determined by the time zone and the channel. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus having an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a program information display area, and when program information between a plurality of channels has not been acquired, program information display of the channels on both sides thereof When program information is displayed in the area, the displayed program information is temporarily displayed in the program information display area of the non-display channel until at least unacquired program information is acquired. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus is provided.

  When all program information can be acquired, it is possible to perform control to display actual program information. With respect to the area where the program information is displayed and the temporarily displayed area, the program information can also be displayed by being integrated in the channel axis direction. In addition, the program information can be displayed by integrating the area in which the program information is displayed and the temporarily displayed area in the time axis direction.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a time zone and a channel number are described on the time zone axis and the channel axis based on program information transmitted by broadcast waves, respectively, and the region is determined by the time zone and the channel. An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a program information display area for displaying corresponding program information, wherein program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels. When the displayed program is a reference destination and other non-displayed channels share the event, at least unacquired program information is acquired in the program information display area of the non-displayed channel. In the meantime, there is provided a method of creating an electronic program guide characterized by having a step of temporarily displaying the program information of the reference destination.

  Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a display area, wherein program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels in the same TS, and is displayed. When the program is an HDTV, the program information display area of the non-display channel has a step of temporarily displaying the displayed program information until at least unacquired program information is acquired. A method of creating a featured electronic program guide is provided.

  Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a display area, when program information between a plurality of channels is not acquired, program information is displayed in the program information display areas of both channels. An electronic program guide characterized in that the displayed program information is temporarily displayed in the program information display area of the non-displayed channel until at least unacquired program information is acquired. A method of creating is provided. A program for causing a computer to execute the above steps and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, even when all pieces of program information of a plurality of channels are not acquired, it can be temporarily displayed in the same manner as a shared program so that the program guide can be easily viewed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the digital television receiver according to the present embodiment includes a front end 1 that receives a broadcast wave acquired from an antenna, and a demultiplexer that divides the broadcast wave into video / audio data and electronic program guide data. 3, a decoder 5 that decodes the video / audio data, an audio output unit 7 that outputs the decoded audio signal, a program information decoding unit 11 that decodes the program information output from the demultiplexer 3, and A program guide data generation unit 15 that generates electronic program guide data based on program information, a screen composition unit 17 that combines the generated electronic program guide and the video acquired and output from the decoder 5, and the synthesized video And a display unit 21 for displaying. Furthermore, it has the remote control light-receiving part 23 which receives a remote control signal, the control part 25 which controls the whole, and the memory part 27 which memorize | stores various data.

  First, an electronic program guide creation method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing first to third examples of the electronic program guide creation method according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the first to third methods will be described.

(1) First Method In the first method, when the program video is HDTV (High Definition Television) in the digital TV service and the service_type of a plurality of channels in the same TS (transport_stream), an unacquired program is HDTV. It is the same method as the program. Here, as a method for determining whether or not the video is HDTV, the component descriptor of the EIT is determined to be HDTV if the component_type is 1080i and 720p, and the component_type must be 1080i and 720p. For example, it is determined that it is not HDTV. The basis of this method is based on the fact that HDTV has only one program in digital broadcasting in the same TS.

The parts 31 and 31a from 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock in FIG. 2 are the parts described for the first method, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the electronic program guide creation process by the first method. . As shown in FIG. 3, in step S1, processing is first started (start). In step S12, program data for EPG display is acquired, and blanks in the electronic program guide are filled from the acquired program data. Here, the program name described in the EIT is displayed. In step S13, it is determined whether or not information of one program or more can be acquired in the same time zone in the same TS, and the process waits until information of one or more programs can be acquired (NO). If one or more programs have been acquired (YES), the process proceeds to step S14, and the presence or absence of an area for which program information has not been acquired is checked in the TS. If there is an unacquired area (YES), whether or not the displayed program is HDTV is determined by the above determination method in step S15. If it is not HDTV (NO), the process returns to step S13. If it is HDTV (YES), the process proceeds to step S16, and the same display as the HDTV program already displayed in the unacquired area is performed. Then, if necessary (arbitrarily), the program information of the area where the same display is performed is integrated so that one program information is displayed over a plurality of channels, and the process is terminated (step S18). In addition, what is necessary is just to display actual program information, when time passes fully and all the program information can be acquired.
As described above, the display indicated by reference numeral 31 in FIG. 2 can be made simple and easy to see as indicated by reference numeral 31a.

(2) Second Method In the second method, the event group descriptor of the event group descriptor EIT that is the reference destination of the shared program has its service ID (channel number) and The service ID of the reference source is described. A reference destination service ID is described in the reference source EIT. For example, this is the case when channel 101 (reference destination), channel 102 (reference source), and channel 103 (reference source) are shared. In this case, 101 channel, 102 channel, and 103 channel are described in the event group descriptor of the 101 channel (parent program) EIT. The 102 channel and 103 channel EIT event group descriptors describe (channel name of the parent program) 101 channel. As described above, in the case of a shared program, shared information (child program name) is described in any one parent program, and the parent program channel name is described in the child program. In the case where the program is not a shared program, the determination is based on the fact that information on the program is described in each channel.
In BS and CS, the service ID is a channel number, but in the case of terrestrial digital, it is different from the channel number. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the program is a shared program based on the event sharing information described in the EIT.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process flow according to the second method. First, processing is started in step S21, program data for EPG display is acquired in step S22, and blanks in the electronic program guide are filled from the acquired program data. Here, the program name described in the EIT is displayed. In step S23, it is determined whether or not information on one program or more can be acquired in the same time zone, and the process waits until one or more programs are displayed (NO). When one or more programs are displayed (YES), the process proceeds to step S24, where it is determined whether or not there is an area for which program information has not been acquired (step S24). Proceeding to step S27, if there is an unacquired area (YES), proceeding to step S25, it is checked whether or not the channel of the unacquired area is a shared program (parent program) of the program being displayed. If NO, the process returns to step S23, and if YES, the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, the same display as the display program is performed in the unacquired area. Next, as an optional process, the same display is integrated in step S27, and the process ends in step S28. In addition, what is necessary is just to display actual program information, when time passes fully and all the program information can be acquired.
As described above, the display indicated by the reference numeral 33 in FIG. 2 can be changed to a simple and easy-to-see display as indicated by the reference numeral 33a.

(3) Third method Next, the method is not limited to digital broadcasting, but as shown by reference numeral 35 in FIG. 2, the program information at both ends has been acquired and they have the same program name. If one or more program information in the meantime is not acquired, even if the first and second determination criteria are not satisfied, the same program name is displayed in the unacquired area between them. Can do.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing according to the third method. First, processing is started in step S31 (start), program data for EPG display is acquired in step S32, and blanks of the electronic program guide are filled from the acquired program data. If it is determined in step S33 that two or more of the same program can be acquired in the same time zone (YES), and it is determined in step S34 that an unacquired program exists between the acquired programs (YES), In S35, the same display as the display program is performed in the unacquired area. Next, as an optional process, in step S36, the same display is integrated, and the process ends in step S37. In addition, what is necessary is just to display actual program information, when time passes fully and all the program information can be acquired.

(4) Fourth Method FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the fourth method. In the electronic program guide shown in FIG. 6, information for 2 hours from 10:00 to 12:00 on channels 101 to 103 is displayed. Here, if 101 channel is program C and 103 channel is program C from 10 o'clock to 11 o'clock as shown in the left figure, 102 channels are grouped from 101 to 103 as the same program C as shown in the right figure. Can be displayed. On the other hand, as shown in the left diagram of FIG. 6, in the case of 101 channel, the extended program C ′ of the same program is broadcast after 11 o'clock, and in the case of 103 channel, a different program D is broadcast. As described above, the same extended program C ′ can be displayed on the 102 channel in the form by integrating the 101 and 102 channels, and the program D can be displayed on the 103 channel because the program D has been acquired. As described above, even when the program name is the same and the time zone is different, in the case of an extended program in which the time zone is adjacent, the time zone may be integrated.

(5) Fifth Method FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the electronic program guide for the 101st channel to the 103th channel from 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock according to the fifth method. In the right figure, program A is displayed on channel 101, and channels 102 and 103 are not displayed. In this case, as shown in the right figure, the non-displayed portion is not displayed and only the display of the program A of the 101 channel is left. Such display control can be applied to the first to fourth methods. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the area of the non-display portion from being occupied and to effectively use the screen display area.
It should be noted that in cases where determination by HDTV and determination by shared information are possible, it is desirable to give the highest priority to determination by shared information. Moreover, the algorithm which combined said method suitably may be sufficient. For example, various methods such as first checking and processing regarding a shared program and then checking and processing regarding whether or not the program is an HDTV are also included in the scope of the present invention.
According to the method described above, there is an advantage that even if all the program information of a plurality of channels is not acquired, it is displayed in the same manner as the shared program, and the program guide is easy to read.

  The present invention can be used for a broadcast receiving apparatus using an electronic program guide. The present invention can also be used for a PC, a mobile terminal, etc. having a TV function.

It is a figure which shows the example of 1 structure of the digital broadcast receiver by one embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic figure which shows the 1st to 3rd example of the electronic program guide preparation method by this Embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the preparation process of the electronic program guide by a 1st method. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the process by a 2nd method. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the process by a 3rd method. It is a figure for demonstrating the 4th method. It is a figure for demonstrating the 5th method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Front end, 3 ... Demultiplexer, 5 ... Decoder, 7 ... Audio | voice output part, 11 ... Program information decoding part, 15 ... Program schedule data generation part, 17 ... Screen composition part, 21 ... Display part, 25 ... Control part ... 27 memory section.

Claims (12)

Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels, the displayed program is a reference destination, and other non-displayed channels are sharing the event, the non-display A digital broadcast receiving apparatus characterized in that the program information of the reference destination is temporarily displayed in a program information display area of a display channel until at least unacquired program information is acquired. Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels in the same TS and the displayed program is HDTV, the program information display area of a non-display channel is A digital broadcast receiver characterized in that the displayed program information is temporarily displayed until at least unacquired program information is acquired. Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave A digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising an electronic program guide creation unit for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information between multiple channels is not acquired, and program information is displayed in the program information display area of the channels on both sides, at least not acquired in the program information display area of the channel during non-display Until the program information is acquired, the displayed program information is temporarily displayed.   The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when all program information can be acquired, control is performed to display actual program information.   5. The digital broadcasting according to claim 1, wherein the program information is displayed in an integrated manner in a channel axis direction with respect to the area in which the program information is displayed and the temporarily displayed area. Receiver device.   6. The digital according to claim 1, wherein the program information is displayed in an integrated manner in a time zone axis direction with respect to the area in which the program information is displayed and the temporarily displayed area. Broadcast receiving device. Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels, the displayed program is a reference destination, and other non-displayed channels are sharing the event, the non-display A method for creating an electronic program guide, comprising the step of temporarily displaying the program information of the reference destination until at least unacquired program information is acquired in a program information display area of a display channel. Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information is displayed in at least one program information display area of a plurality of channels in the same TS and the displayed program is HDTV, the program information display area of a non-display channel is A method of creating an electronic program guide, comprising the step of temporarily displaying the displayed program information until at least unacquired program information is acquired. Program information for displaying the corresponding program information in an area determined by the time zone and the channel, with the time zone and the channel number described on the time zone axis and the channel axis, respectively, based on the program information transmitted by the broadcast wave An electronic program guide creation method for creating an electronic program guide having a display area,
When program information between multiple channels is not acquired, and program information is displayed in the program information display area of the channels on both sides, at least not acquired in the program information display area of the channel during non-display Until the program information is acquired, the displayed program information is temporarily displayed.   10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of displaying the program information by integrating the area in which the program information is displayed and the temporarily displayed area in a channel axis direction. 11. To create an electronic program guide.   A program for causing a computer to execute the steps according to any one of claims 7 to 10.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program of Claim 11.

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