JP2009089274A - Device and method for supplying data, data display system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data supply device for enabling a user to easily recognize the occurrence of an event and continuously view a program without any interruption. <P>SOLUTION: A PC 11 has: a one-segment tuner 16; a PC-side cooperation control section 14 that transmits a PC mode change signal to a television 21 via a PC-side communication I/F 15 when a PC event detection section 19 confirms the reception of electronic mail and allows the one-segment tuner 16 to receive the data of a program including the same content as that of a program received by a television-side tuner; and a display output I/F 18 for transmitting the data of the program received by the one-segment tuner 16 to the television 21. Therefore, when mail is received while a program is received in a television mode, the user can easily recognize the reception of the mail by the change of the display of the television 21 and can continuously view the same program as that being received in the television mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data supply device that supplies data to be displayed by a display device.

Conventionally, personal computers (hereinafter referred to as “PCs”) are generally provided with a dedicated display device, but in recent years, systems using a television as a display device for PCs have become widespread. In this system, the television can output various data sent from the PC to the television, and can also output a broadcast received by the television by switching the output mode of the television. This system is efficient because it is not necessary to provide a PC display device separately. In the following description, a state in which a broadcast received by the television in the system is output is referred to as a television mode, and a state in which the television outputs various data transmitted from the PC to the television is referred to as a PC mode.
JP 2006-67198 A (published March 9, 2006) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-244807 (published on September 8, 2005)

  However, in the above system, when an event occurs on the PC side in the television mode, there is a problem that the user cannot grasp the event. For example, when the system is set to the television mode and the PC receives mail, the user cannot even recognize that the mail has been received unless the user switches to the PC mode. Therefore, the user has to switch to the PC mode in order to confirm reception of the mail. In addition, there is a problem that viewing of a program received in the television mode is interrupted by switching from the television mode to the PC mode.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 12A to 12C are diagrams illustrating an example of transition of video displayed on a television when a television output mode is switched in a conventional system using a television as a PC display device. .

  FIG. 5A shows an example of an image displayed in the television mode. As shown in the figure, the video of program A is displayed on the display unit 102 of the television 101. Here, when the user of the system switches to the PC mode by using an input device such as a remote controller from the state shown in FIG. 102 functions as a display device of a PC.

  In order to confirm the reception of mail in the PC mode, the user needs to activate mail software. FIG. 6B shows an example of an image displayed on the display unit 102 when the mail software is activated in the PC mode. As shown in the figure, a mail software window is displayed on the display unit 102 of the television 101.

  Then, after confirming the mail, the user needs to switch to the television mode again using an input device such as a remote controller in order to view the continuation of the program being viewed in the television mode. FIG. 3C shows an example of an image displayed on the display unit 102 when the television mode is set again. As shown in the figure, the video of program A is displayed again on the display unit 102.

  As described above, in the above-described conventional system, since the program output in the television mode is not output by switching to the PC mode, the user has to interrupt the viewing of the program every time the mail reception is confirmed. .

  By the way, in recent years, digital broadcasting services such as terrestrial digital broadcasting and one-segment broadcasting (one-segment partial reception service for mobile phones and mobile terminals) have been provided, and PCs equipped with tuners that can receive broadcasting are also available. It is popular. Such a PC can execute other functions of the PC (for example, e-mail, Internet connection, document creation, etc.) while outputting the broadcast.

  Here, also in the conventional system, a PC capable of receiving broadcasts can be used. In this case, even in the PC mode, broadcasts received by the PC (for example, one-segment broadcasting) can be output to the television. Of course, when the user of the above system wants to only watch TV, the TV reception can be output to the TV by switching the TV output.

  However, since the tuner provided in the PC is different from the tuner provided in the TV, the program output in the PC mode is not always the same as the program output in the TV mode. Therefore, even when a tuner is mounted on the PC, when the TV mode is switched to the PC mode for confirmation of mail reception, the user's program viewing may be interrupted.

  Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a system including a portable receiver that receives digital terrestrial broadcasting and a fixed receiver. Specifically, in the system of Patent Document 1, when a predetermined button operation is performed while a television program being viewed on a portable receiver is being viewed, information on the television program being viewed on the portable receiver is fixed. It is sent to the receiver. Further, in the system of Patent Document 1, when a predetermined button operation is performed while viewing a television program on a fixed receiver, information on the television program being viewed on the fixed receiver is transferred to the portable receiver. It is supposed to be sent.

  Thereby, in the system of patent document 1, the television program currently viewed with the portable receiver can be viewed with the fixed receiver by a simple operation. This is convenient, for example, when viewing a TV program that was viewed on a portable receiver while out of the office with a fixed receiver when returning to a home or the like. Similarly, in the system of Patent Document 1, a television program being viewed with a fixed receiver can be viewed with a portable receiver with a simple operation. This is convenient when, for example, a TV program viewed with a fixed receiver is viewed with a portable receiver when going out.

  However, even when the technique of Patent Document 1 is applied to a system that uses a television as a display device of a PC, the same program is continued when the output is switched from the PC to the television or from the television to the PC. In order to view the images, the user needs to perform button operations.

  In addition, the technique of Patent Document 1 is not supposed to be applied to a system that uses a television as a display device of a PC. Therefore, Patent Document 1 does not describe anything about confirming mail reception in the television mode.

  Here, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for confirming reception of an email while watching a television. Specifically, the operation system described in Patent Document 2 includes a sub display in addition to a main display that displays video of a television program. By displaying information indicating incoming mail on this sub-display, it is possible to confirm mail reception while watching TV.

  However, since the technique of Patent Document 2 requires a sub-display, it cannot be applied to a conventional general television. In addition, when a sub-display is mounted, the manufacturing cost of the television is pushed up, which is not preferable.

  As described above, in the conventional system, in the television mode, it is not possible to confirm an event that has occurred on the PC side, such as an incoming mail. When switching from the TV mode to the PC mode, the user needs to perform a channel selection operation or the like in order to continuously view the same program. There was a problem of interruption.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data supply apparatus that allows a user to easily confirm the occurrence of an event and that does not interrupt the viewing of a television. It is to be realized.

  In order to solve the above problems, a data supply apparatus according to the present invention includes first data including program data received by a first tuner, or program data received by a second tuner, A data supply device that displays second data different from data and supplies the second data to a display device including the first tuner, when the second tuner and a predetermined event occur And a switching signal transmitting means for transmitting a switching signal for displaying the second data instead of the first data on the display device, and a program received and displayed by the display device at the first tuner. A program information receiving unit for receiving the received program information, cooperative control means for causing the second tuner to receive program data indicated by the received program information, and sending the second data to the display device. It is characterized by comprising a data transmission unit for.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data supply method including first data including program data received by a first tuner or program data received by a second tuner in order to solve the above-described problem. A data supply method of a data supply device for displaying second data different from the first data and supplying the second data to a display device including the first tuner, when a predetermined event occurs A switching signal transmitting step for transmitting a switching signal for causing the display device to display the second data instead of the first data; and a program received and displayed by the display device at the first tuner. A program information receiving step for receiving the received program information, a cooperative control step for causing the second tuner to receive program data indicated by the received program information, and It is characterized in that it comprises a data transmission step of transmitting to the display device.

  According to the above configuration, when the display device displays the first data and the predetermined event occurs, a program including the same content as the program received by the first tuner is displayed by the second tuner. Received. Then, second data including program data received by the second tuner is displayed on the display device.

  Here, the second data is different from the first data. Therefore, different images (videos) are displayed on the display device before and after the occurrence of the event. Therefore, the user of the data supply device can recognize that the event has occurred by switching the display of the display device.

  The second data includes program data including the same contents as the program received by the first tuner. Therefore, the user can view a program having the same content before and after the occurrence of the event without interruption.

  As the display device, it is preferable to apply a television (television receiver) that is generally widely used. As the data supply device, for example, a PC (personal computer) capable of various data processing and data output is preferably applied.

  The event is not particularly limited as long as it occurs in the data supply device, and can be set as appropriate according to the configuration of the data supply device. For example, when the data supply device has a function of receiving an email, the event may be set to receive an email. In this case, when the data supply device receives the e-mail, the data displayed on the display device is switched from the first data to the second data. Thereby, the user can recognize that the electronic mail has been received.

  The data supply device causes the first tuner to receive program data including the same contents as the program received by the second tuner, and displays the received program data as first data. It is preferable to provide program switching information transmitting means for transmitting program switching information to be displayed on the device to the display device.

  According to the above configuration, the program switching information is transmitted to the display device, whereby the data displayed on the display device is switched from the second data to the first data. At this time, program data displayed after switching includes the same contents as before switching. Therefore, even when the user of the data supply device switches the data displayed on the display device from the second data to the first data, the user can continue to watch the program including the same contents.

  Further, the data supply device receives mode specifying information for specifying at least one of an audio mode and a caption mode of the program received by the first tuner from the display device, and based on the received mode specifying information. It is preferable to include mode setting means for setting at least one of a sound mode and a caption mode of a program received by the second tuner.

  According to the above configuration, at least one of the audio mode and the subtitle mode of the program received by the second tuner is set by the mode specifying information. Accordingly, at least one of the audio mode and subtitle mode of the program received by the second tuner can be matched with the audio mode and subtitle mode of the program received by the first tuner.

  That is, according to the above configuration, when the output of the display device is switched from the program data received by the first tuner to the program data received by the second tuner, the sound is output before and after the output switching. At least one of the mode and the subtitle mode is the same.

  Therefore, the user has switched the data displayed on the display device from the first data including the data of the program received by the first tuner to the second data including the data of the program received by the second tuner. In this case, it is not necessary to reset the audio mode and the subtitle mode.

In addition, the data supply device includes a mail reception detection unit that detects reception of an email,
Mail data generating means for generating mail data for displaying the received electronic mail as an image on the display device, the event is reception of an electronic mail, and the mail reception detecting means detects reception of the electronic mail. When it is detected, the mail data generating means is provided with mail display control means for generating the mail data of the detected e-mail and transmitting the generated mail data as the second data to the display device. It is preferable.

  According to the above configuration, when the display device displays the first data and the data supply device receives the e-mail, the data supply device supplies the display device with the first data instead of the first data. Two data are displayed.

  At this time, mail data for displaying the received mail as an image is also transmitted to the display device as the second data. Further, a program including the same contents as the program included in the first data is received by the second tuner, and this is also transmitted to the display device as the second data.

  Therefore, according to the above configuration, the user can recognize the reception of the electronic mail by switching of data displayed on the display device. Further, since the mail data is displayed on the display device, the received e-mail can be confirmed smoothly. Further, viewing of the program is not interrupted by switching of data displayed on the display device.

  The data display system of the present invention includes the data supply device and the display device in order to solve the above problems.

  According to the above configuration, when an event occurs in the data output device, the data displayed on the display device is switched. Therefore, the user can easily recognize the event occurrence in the data output device. Further, when the data displayed on the display device is switched from the first data to the second data, the user can continue to watch the program including the same content as before the switching.

  The data supply device may be realized by a computer. In this case, a program for causing the data supply device to be realized by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit of the data supply device, and A computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded also falls within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the data supply device according to the present invention includes the second tuner and a switching signal for causing the display device to display the second data instead of the first data when a predetermined event occurs. A switching signal transmitting means for transmitting the received information, a program information receiving unit for receiving received program information indicating the program received and displayed by the first tuner on the first tuner, and the received program information on the second tuner. Is provided with a cooperation control means for receiving data of the program indicated by and a data transmission unit for transmitting the second data to the display device, so that the user can easily recognize an event that has occurred in the data supply device. In addition, the program including the same contents can be watched without interruption.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the outline | summary of the video display system of this embodiment is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the video display system 1. As shown in the figure, a video display system (data display system) 1 includes a PC (data supply device) 11 and a television (display device) 21.

  The PC 11 is a general-purpose computer, and as illustrated, a main control unit 12, an auxiliary storage unit 13, a PC side cooperation control unit (cooperation control means) 14, a PC side communication I / F (program information receiving unit) 15, A one-segment tuner (second tuner) 16, an image output control unit 17, a display output I / F (data transmission unit) 18, and a PC event detection unit (event detection unit, mail display control unit) 19 are provided. Although not shown, the PC 11 includes an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard, and the user of the video display system 1 can operate the PC 11 using the input device.

  The main control unit 12 controls the functions of the PC 11 in an integrated manner, and includes a central processing unit 12a and a main storage unit 12b as illustrated. The main storage unit 12b includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) not shown. In the ROM, data necessary for the PC 11 to operate is recorded, for example, BIOS (basic input output system) program data, OS (operating system) program data, and the like. The RAM functions as a working memory when information processing by the main control unit 12 is performed.

  That is, the function of the main control unit 12 is realized by the central processing unit 12a performing program execution, calculation, and the like using the RAM of the main storage unit 12b as a working memory. The main control unit 12 has a configuration necessary when the central processing unit 12a such as a time measuring means (for example, a clock) executes a program or performs calculations in addition to the illustrated one.

  The auxiliary storage unit 13 is a device used for the purpose of supplementing the capacity of the main storage unit 12b. The auxiliary storage unit 13 stores programs and data necessary for the PC 11 to operate. The auxiliary storage unit 13 only needs to be able to store the program and data so that each component of the PC 11 such as the main control unit 12 can be read. As the auxiliary storage unit 13, for example, a hard disk or the like can be applied. The auxiliary storage unit 13 may be a recording medium that can be attached to and detached from the PC 11.

  The PC-side linkage control unit 14 plays a role as a switching signal transmission unit that controls output switching between the PC 11 and the television 21 by transmitting and receiving control signals to and from the television 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15. . Further, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 performs PC-TV cooperation processing and TV-PC cooperation processing for linking a program received by the one-segment tuner 16 and a program received by the television. Details of these processes will be described later.

  The PC side communication I / F 15 is an interface for communicating with the television 21. Specifically, as shown in the figure, a cooperation command for performing channel cooperation between the PC 11 and the television 21 is transmitted from the PC-side communication I / F 15 to the television 21. In addition, a channel code or the like described later is transmitted from the television 21 to the PC-side communication I / F 15. Here, it is assumed that the PC-side communication I / F 15 is an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) terminal.

  Note that a communication method between the PC 11 and the television 21 is not particularly limited, and a known communication method can be applied. For example, RS232C, i. The PC 11 and the television 21 communicate with each other using Link (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), ZigBee (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), UWB (Ultra Wide Band), IrDA, or the like. The PC-side communication I / F 15 can be changed as appropriate according to the communication method.

  The one-segment tuner 16 is a tuner for receiving one-segment broadcasting. Specifically, the one-segment tuner 16 demodulates the radio wave of the channel designated by the PC side cooperation control unit 14 from the broadcast wave received by the antenna (not shown) to generate video data. Then, the one-segment tuner 16 sends the generated video data to the image output control unit 17.

  The PC 11 only needs to have a tuner for receiving broadcasts, and the tuner is not limited to the one-segment tuner 16. However, the video data output from the tuner included in the PC 11 is output from the PC 11 together with data output from the PC 11 such as video data related to application software being executed by the main control unit 12. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the processing capacity required for the PC 11 and the television 21 to display the video data, it is preferable that the video data output from the tuner included in the PC 11 has a small data amount.

  Therefore, it is preferable that the PC 11 includes a one-segment tuner 16 that receives a one-segment broadcast that has a smaller amount of data than a terrestrial digital broadcast. From this point of view, the tuner included in the PC 11 may receive a mobile broadcast that is a broadcast for a portable receiver. Further, the tuner included in the PC 11 may receive a radio broadcast. In this case, data such as radio broadcast audio is output from a speaker (not shown) of the television 21.

  The image output control unit 17 performs predetermined image processing on the video data received from the one-segment tuner 16 and sends it to the display output I / F 18. Specifically, since the video data is encoded by a predetermined system (for example, MPEG-2 system, H.264 system, etc.), the image output control unit 17 decodes the video data and displays it. Send to I / F18.

  The display output I / F 18 is an interface for transmitting data to be output to the television 21 such as video data received from the image output control unit 17 to the television 21. Hereinafter, data transmitted from the display output I / F 18 to the television 21 is referred to as PC output data. The display output I / F 18 is not particularly limited as long as the video data can be transmitted to the television 21, and various modifications can be made according to the video data transmission method, as with the PC-side communication I / F 15. is there. In FIG. 1, the display output I / F 18 and the PC side communication I / F 15 are shown as separate blocks for the sake of explanation, but the display output I / F 18 and the PC side communication I / F 15 are integrated. It may be configured.

  Then, the PC event detection unit 19 detects that a predetermined event has occurred in the PC 11. And the PC side cooperation control part 14 performs switching to PC mode, when the PC event detection part 19 detects the said event. The predetermined event is a predetermined operation of the PC 11. In the present embodiment, an example in which the predetermined event is reception of mail will be described. That is, here, the PC event detection unit 19 periodically accesses the mail server to check whether there is a new mail. Then, it is assumed that the PC side cooperation control unit 14 executes switching to the PC mode when the PC event detection unit 19 confirms the reception of the e-mail.

  The predetermined event is not limited to the reception of mail. For example, when Skype (registered trademark) or software for instant messaging is installed in the PC 11 or when the PC 11 has a videophone function, incoming calls of Skype, instant messages, and videophones are performed as described above. It may be an event. Further, it may be detected as the predetermined event that a home page designated in advance by the user has been updated or that an electronic bulletin board or web log (blog) designated in advance by the user has been newly written.

  The television 21 is a device that receives broadcast waves and displays video, and as shown in the figure, a television side communication I / F 22, a PC input I / F 23, a television side cooperation control unit 24, a storage unit 25, a digital tuner ( A first tuner 26, an analog tuner (first tuner) 27, an output switching unit 28, an image processing control unit 29, and a display unit 30 are provided.

  The TV side communication I / F 22 is an interface for communicating with the PC 11, and the PC input I / F 23 is an interface for receiving video data output from the PC 11. The TV side communication I / F 22 and the PC input I / F 23 may be configured to be able to communicate with the PC side communication I / F 15 and the display output I / F 18, respectively.

  The TV side cooperation control unit 24 controls output switching between the PC 11 and the TV 21. In addition, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 performs PC-TV cooperation processing and TV-PC cooperation processing for linking a program received by the one-segment tuner 16 with a program received by the digital tuner 26 or the analog tuner 27. Details of these processes will be described later.

  The storage unit 25 is a device that stores programs and data necessary for the operation of the television 21. The memory | storage part 25 should just be able to store each component of TV21, such as the television side cooperation control part 24, so that a program and data can be read. In addition, the storage unit 25 includes a channel memory that stores channel information indicating a channel that the digital tuner 26 or the analog tuner 27 is receiving or has received last.

  The digital tuner 26 is a tuner that receives terrestrial digital broadcasting, and the analog tuner 27 is a tuner that receives terrestrial analog broadcasting. Hereinafter, the digital tuner 26 and the analog tuner 27 are referred to as a TV-side tuner. The data received by the TV tuner is referred to as TV reception data. The TV-side tuner generates video data by performing demodulation processing on radio waves of a channel designated by the TV-side cooperation control unit 24 from broadcast waves received by an antenna (not shown). Then, the TV-side tuner sends the generated video data to the output switching unit 28.

  In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the television 21 includes two tuners, a digital tuner 26 and an analog tuner 27. However, the television 21 may include at least one tuner for receiving broadcasts. That's fine. The TV-side tuner is not limited to a tuner that receives terrestrial digital broadcasting and a tuner that receives terrestrial analog broadcasting. For example, the TV-side tuner may be a BS tuner or a CS tuner.

  The output switching unit 28 switches data output to the display unit 30. Specifically, according to the instruction from the TV side cooperation control unit 24, the output switching unit 28 outputs either the TV reception data being received by the TV side tuner or the PC output data being received by the PC input I / F 23. The image is sent to the image processing control unit 29.

  The image processing control unit 29 performs predetermined image processing on the video data received from the output switching unit 28 and outputs it to the display unit 30. When the image processing control unit 29 performs image processing, the video data received from the output switching unit 28 can be displayed on the display unit 30.

  The display unit 30 is a device that displays an image, and displays a video based on data received from the image processing control unit 29. As the display unit 30, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display device, an LC (Liquid Crystal) display device, an EL (Electro Luminescence) display device, or the like can be applied.

  In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, only the output of video (image) will be described, but data such as audio is also output in the same manner as video. For example, when data such as audio data is transmitted from the PC 11 to the television 21, when the output switching unit 28 is set to output data received from the PC 11 (PC mode), the audio data Is output from a speaker (not shown) included in the television 21. Further, when the output switching unit 28 is set to output television reception data (television mode), audio data included in the television reception data is output from the speaker.

[Flow of video display processing]
The flow of video display processing in the video display system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the video display process. As shown in the figure, it is assumed here that the PC mode is set first (S1). The PC mode indicates a state in which a video signal (PC output data) sent from the PC 11 is output to the display unit 30.

  The setting method for the PC mode is not particularly limited. For example, the PC mode may be set when the PC 11 is turned on. Specifically, when the PC 11 is activated, the OS is activated. For example, when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 detects the activation of the OS, a PC mode switching signal for instructing to switch the output of the television 21 to the PC 11 is transmitted to the PC 11. What is necessary is just to make it transmit to the television 21 via the side communication I / F15.

  When the PC mode is set (S2), the display unit 30 functions as a display device of the PC 11. That is, in the PC mode, PC output data output from the display output I / F 18 of the PC 11 is displayed on the display unit 30. Specifically, broadcast images received by the PC-side tuner, images generated by various application programs executed on the PC 11, and the like are displayed on the display unit 30 in a window.

  Note that the PC side cooperation control unit 14 may output data indicating that the output mode is set to the PC mode when the PC mode is set. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, by displaying the text “PC mode has been set” on the display unit 30, the user can recognize that the output mode has been set to the PC mode. Note that data indicating that the output mode is set to the PC mode may be stored in advance in the auxiliary storage unit 13, for example. Then, for example, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 may read the data when transmitting the PC mode switching signal and transmit it to the television 21 from the display output I / F 18.

  The information indicating that the output mode is set to the PC mode is not particularly limited as long as the user can recognize that the output mode is set to the PC mode. For example, the user may recognize that the output mode is set to the PC mode by voice or the like.

  In the PC mode, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 confirms whether or not there is an instruction to switch to the television mode (S3). The television mode refers to a state in which television reception data is output to the display unit 30. Once the PC mode is set, the PC mode continues until the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms that the instruction to switch to the television mode has been performed.

  The setting method for the television mode is not particularly limited. For example, when a selection operation is performed with an input device such as a mouse on a broadcast image received by the PC-side tuner displayed on the display unit 30, The side cooperation control unit 14 may determine that there is an instruction to switch to the television mode. Further, for example, when a predetermined input operation for switching to the television mode is performed (for example, when a predetermined switching button is pressed), it is determined that there is an instruction to switch to the television mode. Good.

  Further, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 may switch to the television mode based on the contents of the program received by the PC side tuner. For example, when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 determines that the program received by the PC-side tuner is an emergency broadcast, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 may be switched to the television mode. As a result, the emergency broadcast is displayed on the entire surface of the display unit 30, so that the user does not miss the emergency broadcast.

  In general, in a scene where the content of a program is exciting (for example, a scoring scene of a sports program), the volume of the program increases. Therefore, for example, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 may switch to the television mode when the volume of a program received by the PC-side tuner exceeds a predetermined value. Thereby, the user can watch the scene in which the content of the program is exciting in the television mode.

  Here, if the PC side cooperation control part 14 confirms that the instruction | indication to switch to television mode was performed (Yes in S3), it will perform PC-TV cooperation processing (S4). Switching from the PC mode to the television mode is performed by the PC-TV cooperation processing, and the television reception data is output to the display unit 30.

  Transition of video displayed on the display unit 30 before and after the PC-TV cooperation processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 before the PC-TV cooperation process, and FIG. 10B illustrates an image displayed on the display unit 30 after the PC-TV cooperation process. It is a figure which shows an example, The figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC11 and the television 21 before and after PC-TV cooperation processing.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, before the PC-TV cooperation processing, that is, in the PC mode, the windows Wa and Wb are displayed on the display unit 30. The window Wa is displayed when the PC 11 executes the program, and a web page is displayed in the illustrated example. In the window Wb, the one-segment broadcasting received by the one-segment tuner 16 is displayed. Here, it is assumed that the one-segment broadcast of program A is received by the one-segment tuner 16, and therefore the one-segment broadcast of program A is displayed in the window Wb as shown in the figure in the PC mode.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 5C, the PC 11 outputs the video signal of the PC screen (window Wa) and the video signal of the one-segment sub-screen (window Wb). The television 21 outputs the video signal received from the PC 11. As a result, a video image as shown in FIG.

  Here, when the PC-TV cooperation processing is executed, the video of the program A is displayed on the display unit 30 as shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5C, the PC 11 does not output the video signal, and the television 21 outputs the video signal received by the TV-side tuner (digital tuner 26 or analog tuner 27). . That is, while the program A received by the one-segment tuner 16 of the PC 11 is displayed in FIG. 9A, the program A received by the TV-side tuner is displayed in FIG.

  As described above, in the video display system 1, by executing the PC-TV cooperation processing, the program displayed on the display unit 30 does not change even when the PC mode is switched to the TV mode. . Therefore, even when the user switches from the PC mode to the television mode, the user can continue to watch the same program as before the switching without interruption.

  When the television mode is set (S5), the display unit 30 functions as a display device of the television 21. That is, in this case, the video output from the TV-side tuner is displayed on the display unit 30. Specifically, the display unit 30 displays a digital broadcast video output from the digital tuner 26, an analog broadcast video output from the analog tuner 27, or the like. In the television mode, the user can switch the channel received by the television 21 using an input device such as a remote controller.

  Here, the transition of the image displayed on the display unit 30 when the channel is switched in the television mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 before channel switching, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 after channel switching. FIG. 4C is a diagram showing main operations of the PC 11 and the television 21 before and after channel switching.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the program A is displayed on the display unit 30 before the channel is switched. This program A is a program received by the TV-side tuner. As shown in FIG. 5B, the program B is displayed on the display unit 30 after the channel is switched. That is, here, it is assumed that the channel is switched to the program B.

  As shown in FIG. 5C, the PC 11 does not output a video signal before and after channel switching. On the other hand, the television 21 outputs the video signal of the program A before the channel switching, and outputs the video signal of the program B after the channel switching. As a result, an image as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is displayed on the display unit 30. Thus, the PC 11 is not involved in channel switching in the television mode, and the video displayed on the display unit 30 is switched by the processing in the television 21.

  Here, also in the television mode, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms whether or not there is an instruction to switch to the PC mode (S6). That is, in the video display system 1 of the present embodiment, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 determines whether to switch from the TV mode to the PC mode and from the PC mode to the TV mode. The television mode continues until the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms that the instruction to switch to the PC mode has been performed.

  For example, when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 detects that a predetermined input operation has been performed on an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard, it may be determined that there has been an instruction to switch to the PC mode. . Thus, when the user performs an input operation related to the use of the PC 11, the user can smoothly switch to the PC mode by setting the PC mode. For example, when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms that a predetermined input operation for switching to the PC mode has been performed (for example, when the mode switching button is pressed), the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 switches to the PC mode. It may be determined that there has been a switching instruction.

  A mode switching button for switching from the PC mode to the television mode and from the television mode to the PC mode is a remote control (remote controller) for operating the PC 11 and / or the television 21. It should be provided in such as.

  Here, when it is determined that there is no instruction to switch to the PC mode (No in S6), the PC-side linkage control unit 14 receives an e-mail newly received by the PC event detection unit 19 (hereinafter simply referred to as mail). ) Is received (S7). Since the PC event detection unit 19 periodically accesses the mail server and confirms whether or not mail has been received, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms with the PC event detection unit 19 to receive the mail. The presence or absence can be determined.

  Note that the PC event detection unit 19 is not limited to the above example as long as it can confirm whether or not there is a new mail. For example, the mail server may notify the PC event detection unit 19 that there is a newly received mail. Further, since general mail software has a function of confirming whether or not mail has been received, general mail software can be applied as the PC event detection unit 19. In this case, the mail software is activated when the PC 11 is activated. As a result, the reception of the mail while the PC 11 is being activated can be detected by the mail software.

  When the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 cannot confirm the reception of the mail (No in S7), the television mode continues. On the other hand, when the reception of the mail is confirmed (Yes in S7), the PC side cooperation control unit 14 instructs the PC event detection unit 19 to start the mail software (S8).

  Note that the mail software activated by the PC event detection unit 19 in S8 serves as mail data generation means for generating mail data for displaying received mail as an image. The mail data generated by the mail software is sent to the television 21 together with the program data received by the PC-side tuner and displayed on the display unit 30. That is, the PC event detection unit 19 also serves as mail display control means for controlling the display of received mail. Here, it is assumed that the mail software program is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13 and that the mail software functions when the main control unit 12 executes this program.

  In the above example, the PC event detection unit 19 detects the reception of the mail, and the mail software activated in S8 generates the mail data of the received mail. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, when general mail software is applied as the PC event detection unit 19, it is possible to cause the same mail software to execute reception detection of mail and generation of mail data.

  As described above, in the video output system 1, when the PC side cooperation control unit 14 determines that there is no reception of mail and no instruction to switch to the PC mode, the television mode is continued. On the other hand, when the PC side cooperation control unit 14 confirms the reception of the mail, the mail software is activated and the mode is changed to the PC mode. And when the PC side cooperation control part 14 confirms the switch instruction | indication to PC mode, the shift to PC mode will be performed.

  After issuing the mail software activation instruction in S8 and when determining that there is an instruction to switch to the PC mode in S6, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 performs TV-PC cooperation processing (S9). Switching from the television mode to the PC mode is performed by the television-PC cooperation processing, and data output from the PC 11 is output to the display unit 30. That is, the video output system 1 shifts to the PC mode by the television-PC cooperation processing.

  If a mail is received, the mail software is activated in S8. Therefore, in this case, when the data set in the PC mode and output from the PC 11 is displayed on the display unit 30 of the television 21, the mail software is already running. Thereby, the user can confirm the received mail immediately after switching to the PC mode.

  Although details will be described later, in the video output system 1, a program including the same content as the program viewed in the television mode is displayed in the PC mode by the television-PC cooperation processing. As a result, the user can continue to watch the program that has been viewed in the television mode while confirming the received mail.

  Transition of video displayed on the display unit 30 before and after the television-PC cooperation processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 before the TV-PC cooperation process, and FIG. 5B shows an image displayed on the display unit 30 after the TV-PC cooperation process. It is a figure which shows an example, The figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC11 and the television 21 before and after a television-PC cooperation process. Here, an example of video transition when the TV-PC cooperation process is executed by receiving the mail by the PC 11 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the video of the program B output from the TV-side tuner is displayed on the display unit 30 before the TV-PC cooperation processing. Here, after the television-PC cooperation processing is executed, windows Wa and Wb are displayed as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in the figure, a window on which mail software is activated is displayed in the window Wa, and an image of the program B is displayed in the window Wb. This is because the PC-side tuner is activated and the mail software is activated when the PC 11 receives the mail as shown in FIG.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6C, when the video of FIG. 6A is displayed on the display unit 30, the PC 11 does not output the video signal, and the TV 21 receives the TV 21 tuner. The video signal of the program B is output.

  On the other hand, upon receiving the mail, the mail software is activated on the PC 11. Thereby, the screen on which the mail software is activated is output to the television 21. In response to the reception of the mail, the PC-side tuner is activated, so that the program B (one-segment broadcasting) received by the PC-side tuner is output to the television 21. In the state shown in FIG. 5B, since the television 21 outputs the video signal received from the PC 11, the screen on which the mail software is activated is displayed in the window Wa, and the PC is displayed in the window Wb. Program B (one-segment broadcasting) received by the side tuner is displayed.

  As described above, in the video display system 1, the television-PC cooperation processing is automatically executed when mail is received, and the television mode is switched to the PC mode. In the PC mode, the mail software is activated, and the same program as the program viewed in the television mode is displayed on the display unit 30. Therefore, the user can surely recognize the reception of the mail even in the television mode, and can continue to view the program that was viewed in the television mode.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the same program is displayed in the TV mode and the PC mode, but the configuration of the display screen is different, so the user has switched the mode. I can recognize that. Therefore, even if the mail software is not activated, the user can confirm the reception of the mail from the change in the configuration of the display screen. However, since the user can check the mail more smoothly by starting the mail software, it is preferable to start the mail software when switching from the TV mode to the PC mode.

  When the television-PC cooperation processing is completed, the processing returns to S2 and the video display system 1 again shifts to the PC mode. Here, transition of the video displayed on the display unit 30 when the channel is switched in the PC mode will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 before channel switching, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display unit 30 after channel switching. FIG. 4C is a diagram showing main operations of the PC 11 and the television 21 before and after channel switching.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the windows Wa and Wb are displayed on the display unit 30 before the channel is switched, and the program B is displayed on the window Wb. This program B is a program received by the one-segment tuner 16 of the PC 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the windows 30 Wa and Wb are displayed on the display unit 30 after the channel is switched, and the program C is displayed on the window Wb. That is, here, it is assumed that the channel has been switched to the program C. It is assumed that the channel switching in the PC mode is executed when a predetermined input operation is performed on the input device of the PC 11 such as a mouse or a keyboard.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 5C, the television 21 does not output the video signal from the television-side tuner, but outputs the video signal received from the PC 11. The PC 11 outputs the video signal of the PC screen and the sub-screen of the program B before the channel switching, and outputs the video signal of the PC screen and the sub-screen of the program C after the channel switching. As a result, an image as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B is displayed on the display unit 30. As described above, at the time of channel switching in the PC mode, the TV-side tuner is not involved, and the image displayed on the display unit 30 is switched by the processing in the PC 11.

[PC-TV linkage processing]
Next, the flow of the PC-TV cooperation processing in the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described based on FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the PC-TV cooperation processing. Here, the process flow on the PC 11 side will be described first. As described above, the PC-TV cooperation processing is executed when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms an instruction to switch to the TV mode.

  Upon confirming the switching instruction, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 transmits a television mode switching signal, which is a control signal for switching the output of the television 21 to the television mode, to the television 21 via the PC side communication I / F 15 (S11). . Further, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 stops the output of the video signal from the display output I / F 18, that is, the PC output data (S12).

  Next, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 acquires channel information of the PC-side tuner, that is, the one-segment tuner 16 (S13), and transmits the PC-side channel code (program switching information) to the TV 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15. Is transmitted (S14). Then, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 sends a stop instruction to the one-segment tuner 16, whereby the one-segment tuner 16 stops receiving the broadcast (S15).

  Here, the channel information and the PC side channel code will be described. The channel information is information indicating a channel being received by the one-segment tuner 16. The channel information is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13, and the channel information is updated every time the channel is switched. As a result, the auxiliary storage unit 13 always stores channel information indicating the channel being received by the one-segment tuner 16. Note that the channel information may be stored anywhere as long as the PC side cooperation control unit 14 can read the channel information. For example, the channel information may be stored in the one-segment tuner 16 so that the one-segment tuner 16 stores and updates the channel information.

  The PC-side channel code is a code indicating a channel being received by the PC-side tuner, and is information for causing the TV-side tuner to receive a channel being received by the PC-side tuner. Here, the channel for receiving the same program may be different between the PC-side tuner and the television-side tuner. For example, the channel for receiving the one-segment broadcast program A may be different from the channel for receiving the digital terrestrial broadcast program A.

  In such a case, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 corresponds to the channel being received by the PC side tuner based on the channel correspondence information indicating the correspondence between the channel of the PC side tuner and the channel of the TV side tuner. Determine the TV channel. Then, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 transmits the determined channel as a PC side channel code to the television 21 via the PC side communication I / F 15.

  The broadcast wave received by the PC-side tuner and the broadcast wave received by the television-side tuner are different from each other. Accordingly, the program received by the PC-side tuner and the program received by the TV-side tuner may be the same or related contents, and need not be completely the same. For example, a one-seg broadcast program and a terrestrial digital broadcast program correspond to each other, and the corresponding program may be received. Also, for example, when a user is watching a sports broadcast broadcast by a certain broadcasting station, the program output after switching may be a program broadcasting the same sports broadcast as described above, and is not necessarily as described above. The program does not have to be broadcast by the same broadcasting station.

  Moreover, the said channel corresponding | compatible information should just be able to refer the PC side cooperation control part 14. For example, the channel correspondence information may be stored as table data in the auxiliary storage unit 13. When the channel correspondence information is included in the broadcast wave received by the PC-side tuner, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 reads the channel correspondence information from the broadcast wave (data output from the PC-side tuner). Also good.

  Further, the PC side channel code can be determined from the channel information without using the channel correspondence information as described above. For example, when the same program can be received on the same channel by the PC-side tuner and the TV-side tuner, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 may transmit the channel information as it is to the TV 21 as the PC-side channel code. There is no need to use correspondence information. Also, when the channel information is a program code indicating a program being received by the PC-side tuner or a broadcast station code indicating a broadcast station being received, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 directly uses the channel information as the PC-side channel. What is necessary is just to transmit to the television 21 as a code | cord | chord.

  Next, the flow of processing on the television side will be described. The TV mode switching signal transmitted from the PC side cooperation control unit 14 via the PC side communication I / F 15 is sent to the TV side cooperation control unit 24 via the TV side communication I / F 22. When receiving the television mode switching signal (S21), the television-side cooperation control unit 24 instructs the output switching unit 28 to set the output to the display unit 30 to the television-side tuner (S22), and at the same time the television-side tuner (digital The tuner 26 or the analog tuner 27) is activated (S23).

  Here, a channel code (PC-side channel code) is transmitted to the television 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15 in S14 of the PC-side process. The transmitted PC-side channel code is received by the television-side cooperation control unit 24 via the television-side communication I / F 22. When receiving the PC side channel code (S24), the television side cooperation control unit 24 performs channel setting based on the received PC side channel code (S25). Specifically, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 causes the television-side tuner to receive a program indicated by the PC-side channel code.

  Thus, the program received by the TV-side tuner is sent to the output switching unit 28 as a video signal. Here, the output switching unit 28 sets the output to the display unit 30 to the TV-side tuner in S22. Therefore, the video signal passes through the output switching unit 28, is subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing control unit 29, and then is output to the display unit 30 (S26).

  Note that the output switching instruction to the output switching unit 28 may be performed at any timing of the PC-TV cooperation processing as long as it is after S21 and before S26. Here, in the flowchart of FIG. 8, no video is output to the display unit 30 from S22 when the output is set to the television 21 to S26 when the video from the TV-side tuner is output. Therefore, for example, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 may perform S12 for stopping the video signal output after S15 for stopping the PC side tuner. Then, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 may instruct output switching to the output switching unit 28 immediately before the video from the television-side tuner is output in S26. As a result, the time during which no video is output to the display unit 30 can be shortened or made zero.

[TV-PC linkage processing]
Next, the flow of the TV-PC cooperation process in the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described based on FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the TV-PC cooperation process. Here, the process flow on the PC side will be described first. As described above, the TV-PC cooperation processing is executed when the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 confirms an instruction to switch to the PC mode or when an event such as mail reception occurs.

  Upon confirming the switching instruction, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 transmits a PC mode switching signal to the television 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15 (S31). Further, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 activates the PC side tuner, that is, the one-segment tuner 16 (S32).

  Next, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 transmits a channel request signal to the television 21 via the PC side communication I / F 15 (S33). The channel request signal is a signal requesting that the channel of the program being viewed on the television 21 be transmitted to the PC 11. When the channel request signal is transmitted, a television channel code (received program information) indicating the channel of the program being viewed on the television 21 is returned from the television 21 via the television communication I / F 22 and the PC communication I / F 15. .

  When receiving the channel code (TV side channel code) (S34), the PC side cooperation control unit 14 performs channel setting based on the received TV side channel code (S35). Specifically, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 causes the PC side tuner to receive a program indicated by the TV side channel code. As a result, the program received by the PC-side tuner is sent to the image output control unit 17 as a video signal, subjected to predetermined processing, and then sent to the television 21 via the display output I / F 18 (S36). .

  Next, the flow of processing on the television side will be described. The PC mode switching signal transmitted from the PC side cooperation control unit 14 to the TV 21 via the PC side communication I / F 15 is received by the TV side cooperation control unit 24 via the TV side communication I / F 22. When receiving the PC mode switching signal (S41), the television side cooperation control unit 24 instructs the output switching unit 28 to set the output to the display unit 30 to the PC input I / F 23 (S42). Further, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 stops the television-side tuner (S43).

  Here, since the channel request signal is transmitted to the television 21 via the PC side communication I / F 15 in S33 of the PC side processing, the transmitted channel request signal is transmitted to the television via the television side communication I / F 22. It is received by the side cooperation control unit 24. When receiving the channel request signal (S44), the TV-side cooperation control unit 24 reads the TV-side channel code from the channel memory of the storage unit 25, and sends the read TV-side channel code to the PC 11 via the TV-side communication I / F 22. Transmit (S45).

  The TV side channel code is a code indicating a channel being received by the TV side tuner, and is stored in the channel memory of the storage unit 25. Here, as described above, the channel for receiving the same program may be different between the PC-side tuner and the television-side tuner.

  In such a case, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 selects the PC-side channel corresponding to the received TV-side channel code based on the channel correspondence information indicating the correspondence relationship between the channel on the PC-side tuner and the TV-side tuner. To decide.

  When the same program can be received on the same channel by the PC tuner and the TV tuner, the TV channel code is a program code indicating the program being received by the TV tuner, or a broadcast station indicating the broadcast station being received If it is a code, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 may determine the reception channel of the PC-side tuner according to the received television-side channel code, and does not need to use channel correspondence information.

  As described above, the channel setting of the PC 11 is performed based on the TV-side channel code transmitted in S45 (S35), and the video signal including the program after the channel setting is sent to the TV 21 via the display output I / F 18. (S36). This video signal is sent to the output switching unit 28 via the PC input I / F 23. Here, the output switching unit 28 sets the output to the display unit 30 to the PC input I / F 23 in S42. Therefore, the video signal passes through the output switching unit 28, is subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing control unit 29, and then is output to the display unit 30 (S46).

  Note that the above-described processing flow is an example, and can be changed as necessary. For example, after the channel request signal is first transmitted (S33) and the television channel code is received (S34), the PC tuner is activated (S32), and then the channel setting is performed (S35). . Then, by transmitting a PC mode switching signal thereafter (S31), when the television 21 is switched to the PC mode, the reception of the program is started by the PC-side tuner. The time during which no video is output to 30 can be shortened or made zero.

[Reference example]
In the above embodiment, an example in which the PC-TV cooperation processing and the TV-PC cooperation processing are performed under the initiative of the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 has been described. Specifically, the aspect in which the above process is executed by the PC side cooperation control unit 14 transmitting a television mode switching signal, a PC mode switching signal, a channel request signal, and the like has been shown. However, the PC-TV cooperation processing and the TV-PC cooperation processing may be performed by the television side cooperation control unit 24 at the initiative. Below, the example which performs the said process on the initiative of the television side cooperation control part 24 is demonstrated based on FIG.10 and FIG.11. In addition, about the process and structure similar to the said embodiment, the same referential mark is attached | subjected and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The video display system of this reference example has the same configuration as that of the above embodiment. The video display process in the video display system of the present reference example is the same as the process flow shown in the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, hereinafter, operations of the PC side cooperation control unit 14 and the television side cooperation control unit 24, the PC-TV cooperation processing, and the TV-PC cooperation processing, which are the differences between the above embodiment and the present reference example, will be described.

[PC-TV linkage processing]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the PC-TV cooperation processing of the reference example. Here, the process flow on the PC side will be described first. Unlike the above embodiment, the PC-TV cooperation processing of this reference example is executed when the TV-side cooperation control unit 24 confirms an instruction to switch to the TV mode.

  Upon confirming the instruction for switching to the television mode, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 transmits a television mode switching signal that tells the switching to the television mode to the PC 11 via the television-side communication I / F 22. And the PC side cooperation control part 14 receives the said television mode switching signal via PC side communication I / F15 (S51). The PC-side cooperation control unit 14 that has received the television mode switching signal instructs the display output I / F 18 to stop outputting the video signal (S12).

  Here, since the channel request signal is transmitted via the television communication I / F 22 in S63 of the television processing (described later), the transmitted channel request signal is transmitted to the PC via the PC communication I / F 15. It is received by the side cooperation control unit 14. When receiving the channel request signal (S52), the PC side cooperation control unit 14 acquires the channel information of the PC side tuner from the auxiliary storage unit 13 (S13), and the PC side channel code indicating the program being received by the PC side tuner. Is transmitted to the television 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15 (S14). Then, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 sends a stop instruction to the PC-side tuner, whereby the PC-side tuner stops receiving one-segment broadcasting (S15).

  Next, the flow of processing on the television side will be described. Upon confirming the television mode switching instruction, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 transmits a television mode switching signal via the television-side communication I / F 22 (S61) and activates the television-side tuner (S23). Further, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 instructs the output switching unit 28 to set the output to the display unit 30 to the television-side tuner. Then, the television side cooperation control unit 24 transmits a channel request signal to the PC 11 via the television side communication I / F 22 (S62).

  Here, the PC-side channel code is transmitted to the television 21 via the PC-side communication I / F 15 in S14 of the PC-side process. The transmitted PC-side channel code is received by the television-side cooperation control unit 24 via the television-side communication I / F 22. When receiving the PC side channel code (S24), the television side cooperation control unit 24 performs channel setting based on the received PC side channel code (S25).

  Thus, the program received by the TV-side tuner is sent to the output switching unit 28 as a video signal. Here, in S61, the output from the output switching unit 28 to the display unit 30 is set to the TV-side tuner. Therefore, the video signal passes through the output switching unit 28, is subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing control unit 29, and then is output to the display unit 30 (S26).

[TV-PC linkage processing]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the TV-PC cooperation process of the reference example. Here, the process flow on the PC side will be described first. Unlike the above-described embodiment, the TV-PC cooperation process of this reference example is executed when the TV-side cooperation control unit 24 confirms an instruction to switch to the PC mode. That is, in the video display system of the present reference example, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 determines whether or not to switch from the television mode to the PC mode and from the PC mode to the television mode.

  Upon confirming the instruction for switching to the PC mode, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 transmits a PC mode switching signal indicating the switching to the PC mode to the PC 11 via the television-side communication I / F 22. And the PC side cooperation control part 14 receives the said television mode switching signal via PC side communication I / F15 (S71).

  The PC-side cooperation control unit 14 that has received the PC mode switching signal activates the PC-side tuner (S32). Subsequently, the television-side channel code is transmitted to the PC 11 via the television-side communication I / F 22 in S45 (described later) of the television-side process. Then, the transmitted television channel code is received by the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 via the PC-side communication I / F 15 (S34).

  When receiving the television-side channel code, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 performs channel setting based on the received television-side channel code (S35). The program received by the PC-side tuner is sent as a video signal to the image output control unit 17 and subjected to predetermined processing, and then sent to the television 21 via the display output I / F 18 (S36).

  Next, the flow of processing on the television side will be described. Upon confirming the instruction to switch to the PC mode, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 transmits a PC mode switching signal that tells the switching to the PC mode to the PC 11 via the television-side communication I / F 22 (S81) and the output switching. The unit 28 is instructed to set the output to the display unit 30 to the PC input I / F 23. Further, the television-side cooperation control unit 24 stops the television-side tuner (S43).

  Then, the television side cooperation control unit 24 reads the television side channel code from the channel memory of the storage unit 25, and transmits the read television side channel code to the PC 11 via the television side communication I / F 22 (S45).

  As a result, the video signal including the program received by the PC-side tuner is sent to the output switching unit 28 via the display output I / F 18 and the PC input I / F 23. Here, the output switching unit 28 sets the output to the display unit 30 to the PC input I / F 23 in S81. Therefore, the video signal passes through the output switching unit 28, is subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing control unit 29, and then is output to the display unit 30 (S46).

  As described above, also in the video display system of the present reference example, when the program displayed on the display unit 30 is switched from the TV mode to the PC mode, as in the above embodiment, the PC mode can be changed. There is no change even when switching to the TV mode. Therefore, even when the user switches between the television mode and the PC mode, the user can continue to watch the same program without interruption.

[Modification]
As described above, according to the video display system of the present invention, when the output is switched between the PC 11 and the television 21, the user can continuously view the same program without performing any operation. Here, when the program that the user was watching in the PC mode or the TV mode is subtitle broadcasting or the like, the subtitle mode and the audio mode after the output switching between the PC 11 and the TV 21 are the subtitle mode before the output switching and It may be different from the voice mode.

  For example, when a user is watching a program with English subtitles in Japanese in the TV mode, the same program may be output from the PC 11 with Japanese subtitles in English by switching to the PC mode. Conceivable. In such a case, the user needs to change the subtitle mode or the audio mode after switching the output, and viewing of the program is hindered.

  Therefore, for example, when the output is switched between the PC 11 and the television 21, mode specifying information for specifying the subtitle mode, the audio mode, etc. applied to the PC 11 or the television 21 may be transmitted together with the channel code. Then, the mode setting means for setting the subtitle mode, the audio mode, etc. on the PC 11 or the television 21 may set the subtitle mode, the audio mode, etc. based on the mode specifying information. Thereby, the subtitle mode and the audio mode can be made the same before and after the output switching between the PC 11 and the television 21.

  Specifically, at least one of the subtitle mode and the audio mode of the program received by the television 21 is transmitted to the television 21 by transmitting mode switching information designating at least one of the subtitle mode and the audio mode of the program being received by the PC 11. Can be made the same as the program being received by the PC 11. Similarly, at least one of the subtitle mode and the audio mode of the television 21 and the PC 11 is made the same by transmitting mode switching information designating at least one of the subtitle mode and the audio mode of the program being received by the TV 21 to the PC 11. can do.

  Further, when scenario information indicating what kind of scene is included at which time in a program can be used, output switching between the PC 11 and the television 21 may be performed using this scenario information. The method for supplying scenario information to the PC 11 and the television 21 is not particularly limited. For example, it may be supplied together with the program in the form of a broadcast wave, or may be supplied via another communication network such as the Internet.

  For example, by referring to the scenario information, it is possible to determine in which time zone of the program the commercial is inserted. Using this, the PC-side cooperation control unit 14 or the TV-side cooperation control unit 24 switches to the PC mode during the time when the commercial is broadcast, and during the time when the main part of the program is broadcast. You may make it switch to television mode. Thus, the user can view the main part of the program in a concentrated manner in the television mode, and the commercial can be viewed while operating the PC 11.

  Further, for example, by referring to the scenario information, it is determined which talent appears in which time zone of the program, and what scene is included in which time zone of the program. be able to. By using this, the PC side cooperation control unit 14 or the television side cooperation control unit 24 broadcasts a time zone in which a user's pre-registered talent appears or a scene that matches the preference information indicating the user's preference. The band may be switched to the television mode. Thereby, the user can view the scene according to the user's preference in the television mode.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the PC 11 is applied as the data supply device has been described. However, the data supply device is not limited to the PC 11. For example, the data supply device may be a door phone with a television. In this case, it is only necessary to detect that the interphone is pressed as a predetermined event and switch the output of the television 21 to the door phone. As a result, there is no fear that the user is obsessed with the television and does not notice the visitor, and viewing of the television is not interrupted.

  The data supply device may be an imaging device such as a monitoring camera. In this case, for example, a change in the captured image may be acquired, the change in the image may be detected as a predetermined event, and the output of the television 21 may be switched to the imaging device. Thus, the user can concentrate on watching the TV when there is no change in the video, and when the video changes, the output mode of the TV 21 is switched, so that the change in the video is not overlooked. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Finally, each block of the PC 11 and the television 21, in particular, the PC side cooperation control unit 14, the PC event detection unit 19, and the television side cooperation control unit 24 may be configured by hardware logic, or as described below. It may be realized by software using

  That is, the PC 11 and the television 21 have a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, and a RAM (random access memory) that expands the program. And a storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data. An object of the present invention is a recording medium in which program codes (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of a control program for the PC 11 and the television 21 which are software for realizing the functions described above are recorded so as to be read by a computer. This can also be achieved by supplying to the PC 11 and the television 21 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.

  Further, the PC 11 and the television 21 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Also, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to a system including a PC and a television, and can be applied to any system including a data output device that outputs data and a data supply device that supplies data to the data output device.

  For example, the data output device may be a television receiver that receives a television broadcast, and the data supply device may be a radio receiver that receives the radio broadcast and outputs the received radio broadcast from a speaker of the television receiver. . In this case, since the TV broadcast program and the radio broadcast program are not the same, it is only necessary to receive a program including the same contents in the cooperation process. For example, when a baseball broadcast is being watched on a television broadcast, when the radio output is switched, the baseball broadcast radio broadcast being watched on the television broadcast may be received.

1, showing an embodiment of the present invention, is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a video display system. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the video display process which the said video display system performs. It is a figure which shows an example of the data which show that the output mode was set to PC mode in the said video display system. FIG. 1A illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on a display unit before PC-TV cooperation processing, and FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the image | video displayed on a display part later, and the same figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC and television before and after PC-TV cooperation processing. FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display unit before channel switching, and FIG. 2B is displayed on the display unit after channel switching. The figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC and television before and behind channel switching. FIG. 1A illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on a display unit before television-PC cooperation processing, and FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the image | video displayed on a display part later, and the same figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC and television before and after a television-PC cooperation process. FIG. 2A shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a display unit before channel switching, and FIG. 2B is displayed on the display unit after channel switching. The figure (c) is a figure which shows the main operation | movement of PC and television before and behind channel switching. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the PC-TV cooperation process in the said video display system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the television-PC cooperation process in the said video display system. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the PC-TV cooperation process in the video display system different from the above. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the television-PC cooperation process in the video display system different from the above. FIG. 1A shows an example of video displayed in the television mode, and FIG. 1B shows a display unit when mail software is activated in the PC mode. FIG. 10C is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed when the television mode is set again.

Explanation of symbols

1 Video display system (data display system)
11 PC (data supply device)
14 PC side cooperation control part (cooperation control means, switching signal transmission means)
15 PC-side communication I / F (program information receiver)
16 One-segment tuner (second tuner)
18 Display output I / F (data transmitter)
19 PC event detection unit (event detection means, mail display control means)
21 Television (display device)

Claims (7)

The first data including the data of the program received by the first tuner or the data of the program received by the second tuner, the second data different from the first data is displayed, and the first tuner is provided. A data supply device for supplying the second data to the display device,
The second tuner;
A switching signal transmitting means for transmitting a switching signal for causing the display device to display the second data instead of the first data when a predetermined event occurs;
A program information receiving unit for receiving received program information indicating a program received and displayed by the first tuner on the display device;
Cooperation control means for causing the second tuner to receive program data indicated by the received program information;
A data supply device comprising: a data transmission unit configured to transmit the second data to the display device.   Program switching for causing the first tuner to receive program data including the same contents as the program received by the second tuner, and causing the display device to display the received program data as first data 2. The data supply device according to claim 1, further comprising program switching information transmission means for transmitting information to the display device.   The mode specification information for specifying at least one of the audio mode and the caption mode of the program received by the first tuner is received from the display device, and the program received by the second tuner based on the received mode specification information. 3. The data supply apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising mode setting means for setting at least one of an audio mode and a subtitle mode. A mail reception detecting means for detecting reception of an email;
Mail data generating means for generating mail data for displaying the received electronic mail as an image on the display device,
The above event is an email reception,
When the mail reception detecting means detects the reception of the e-mail, the mail data generating means generates the e-mail data of the e-mail detected to be received, and the generated mail data is used as the second data for the display device. The data supply device according to claim 1, further comprising: a mail display control unit that transmits the data. The first data including the data of the program received by the first tuner or the data of the program received by the second tuner, the second data different from the first data is displayed, and the first tuner is provided. A data supply method of a data supply device for supplying the second data to a display device,
A switching signal transmission step of transmitting a switching signal for causing the display device to display the second data instead of the first data when a predetermined event occurs;
A program information receiving step for receiving received program information indicating a program received and displayed by the first tuner in the display device;
A cooperative control step for causing the second tuner to receive program data indicated by the received program information;
And a data transmission step of transmitting the second data to the display device.   A data display system comprising the data supply device according to claim 1 and the display device.   The program for operating the data supply apparatus of any one of Claim 1 to 4, Comprising: The program for functioning a computer as said each means.

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