JP2009130742A - Apparatus for managing viewing and listening section information, and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage a section in which a program being recorded comes to a simultaneous viewing and listening enable state during recording, and to confirm a viewed and listened section and a non-viewed and non-listened section when reproducing the program. <P>SOLUTION: An apparatus for managing viewing and listening section information includes: a first determining part for obtaining a first determination result indicating whether or not a recording and reproducing part is recording a program signal in broadcast; and a second determining part for obtaining a second determination result indicating whether or not the program signal in broadcast is in a viewing and listening possible state. In the apparatus, viewing and listening stopping and/or starting point information to the program signal at the time when the first determination result indicates that the recording and reproducing part is recording and when the second determination result shifts from the viewing and listening possible state to a non-viewing/listening state and/or shifts from the non-viewing/listening state to the viewing/listening possible state, is set to be used for display as simultaneous viewing and listening section information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a viewing section information management device and a control method thereof. For example, a television receiving device incorporating a recording / reproducing device, a recording / reproducing device using a hard disk and / or a DVD (digital versatile disc), The present invention is effective when applied to a combination system of a device and a television receiver or a display device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Recording / playback apparatuses that select a program from a broadcast signal and record the program signal have become widespread. Also, television receivers that have an integrated recording / reproducing device have become widespread. More recently, a device incorporating a plurality of tuners has been developed. For example, a user can watch a broadcast program of another channel by switching other channels B, C, D, etc. while recording the broadcast program of channel A. You can also.

  Here, the relationship between the channel data being recorded and the channel data to be viewed is found, and if the channel being recorded is selected and viewed by another tuner using one tuner, the operation is performed. An apparatus having a function of invalidating the above has been developed (for example, Patent Document 1). This is to prevent the user from knowing in advance about the scenes to be enjoyed in the recorded video and the contents of the reasoning drama later when the program being recorded is viewed first by another tuner. It is.

  Moreover, in this patent document 1, when the above operation is performed, in order to prevent the user from viewing the program being recorded with another tuner first, the program being recorded in the recording / playback apparatus is displayed. A chasing playback function is provided. This prevents the user from knowing in advance the scene to be enjoyed with the recorded video or the contents of the reasoning drama later.

  As described above, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, in a system including a plurality of tuners, when the broadcast program X of channel A is recorded by the first tuner, the same A channel is recorded by another second tuner. When the broadcast program X is selected for viewing, the selection is prohibited.

However, in another apparatus, even when the program A being broadcast on the channel A is recorded by the first tuner, it is possible to view the program X being broadcast on the same channel A by another second tuner. There is also. In this type of apparatus, for example, when a broadcast program X on channel A is recorded by the first tuner, a viewer can view the broadcast program X on channel A by the second tuner. In such an environment, the viewer may stop viewing the broadcast program X on channel A by turning off the display unit or switching the channel. Furthermore, the broadcast program X of channel A being recorded may be viewed from the middle of the program. In such a case, if the user later plays back a recorded program X and uses it for viewing, the section (time) that has already been viewed may be wasted time for the user. .
JP 2007-124334 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to manage a section in which a program being recorded is in a state where it can be simultaneously viewed during recording, so that viewing can be omitted for a section that has been viewed when a user views the recorded program. An object of the present invention is to provide a viewing section information management apparatus and a control method thereof.

     In order to solve the above problems, a recording / reproducing unit, a first determining unit for obtaining a first determination result indicating whether or not the recording / reproducing unit is recording a program signal being broadcast, and the broadcasting A second determination unit that obtains a second determination result indicating whether or not the program signal is in a viewable state; the first determination result indicates that recording is being performed; and the second determination result is viewable Viewing that is set to the viewing stop and / or starting point information for the program signal when transitioning to a non-viewing state and / or when transitioning from non-viewing to a viewable state, and is used for display as simultaneous viewing section information And a stop and / or start point management unit.

  According to the above means, the user can control the playback operation of the recording / playback apparatus by using the viewing section information at the viewing stop point or the start point, so that the usability can be improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a recording / reproducing apparatus 100 to which the present invention is applied.

  The recording / reproducing display device 100 includes a plurality of receiving units 1A and 1B that receive radio waves from an antenna or the like. The received data is input to the descrambler 2 and descrambled. The descrambled data is input to the control unit 3.

  The control unit 3 includes an analysis / separation unit 31 that analyzes and separates input data, an MPEG processing unit 32 that processes MPEG data, and an operation input processing unit that processes a request signal based on a user operation input from the terminal UI6. 33. A program selection control unit 34 is provided.

  Further, it includes a display control unit 35 for processing a display signal and a recording / reproduction control unit 36 for controlling recording / reproduction. The display control unit 35 outputs an output signal from the MPEG processing unit 32, program information, other display signals, and an output signal from the recording / playback control unit 36 to the output unit 4 for display according to the control state. . The display unit 200 receives the signal from the output unit 4 and outputs video / audio. The recording / playback control unit 36 performs recording / playback of program signals and the like on the recording / playback unit 5. The recording / reproducing unit 5 controls the reproduction start and / or stop position of the program signal by a viewing stop point and / or a viewing start point described later.

  Various determination units 37, 38, and 39 are provided. For example, the determination unit 37 determines whether the recording / playback unit is recording a program signal being broadcast. The determination unit 38 determines whether or not the program signal being broadcast is in a viewable state. Furthermore, it has a viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40. The viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 sets viewing stop and / or start point information for the program signal according to the determination results of the determination units 37 and 38. The viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 may store and hold the set viewing stop and / or start point information as it is, or send this information to the recording / playback unit 5 and associate it with the program information on the recording medium. It may be stored in the management information of the medium.

  Further, a determination unit 41 is provided, and the determination unit 41 confirms the content of the viewing stop and / or start point information attached to the program information of the reproduction program.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the apparatus of the present invention. This flowchart shows a case where the following operation is performed. Assume that the recording / reproducing unit 5 is recording a program signal being broadcast under the control of the recording / reproducing control unit 36. At this time, it is assumed that the user is viewing the same program on the display unit 200 at the same time. At this time, the signal being recorded and the signal being viewed may be a signal from the receiver 1A, or the signal being recorded is a signal from the receiver 1A, for example, and the signal being viewed is received. It may be a signal from the unit 1B.

Next, it is assumed that the user has finished watching at the same time by changing the channel or turning off the display. Recording shall be continued. In such cases,
A recording start request is received by an operation signal from the user (step S11). Then, recording is started in the recording / reproducing unit 5 (step S12).

  Next, it is confirmed whether the user is displaying the screen of the display unit 200 on (step S13), and if it is displayed, the process proceeds to (step S14). If not, the process proceeds to a process (step S18) where the same program is not viewed.

  In step S14, it is confirmed whether the program of the recording channel being broadcast is the same as the program of the displayed channel. If the program is the same, it is recognized that the same program is being viewed. Otherwise, the process proceeds to a process (step S18) where the same program is not viewed.

  Until the recording is completed, it is monitored whether the user turns off the display or changes the channel (step S15). When the user turns off the display or changes the channel, it recognizes that viewing of the same program has ended, and temporarily stores the time information at the end of viewing the same program as the viewing stop and / or start point information for the program signal. (Step S16). If the same program is not viewed, it is recognized that there is no time information (step S18).

  When the recording of the program is finished (step S17), the time information of the end of viewing the same program (which may be referred to as the viewing stop and / or start point information for the program signal) is recorded and reproduced together with the recorded program signal. And the process ends (step S19). This time information may be stored in the viewing stop and / or start point management unit 39 as viewing stop and / or start point information for the program signal.

  As described above, the following reproduction is possible when viewing and / or starting point information is provided. That is, when playback of the previous program signal is requested, the viewing stop and / or start point information is used to search for the point at which the user stopped viewing. For this reason, the user can skip the section that has already been viewed of the program to be reproduced and view the remaining sections that have not been viewed.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation when the program recorded as described above is reproduced and viewed.

  When the program recorded by the user is reproduced (step S21), the determination unit 41 confirms whether there is the same program viewing information for this program (step S22). That is, the determination unit 41 confirms the content of the viewing stop and / or start point information attached to the program information of the playback program, and determines whether the viewing stop and / or start point information is set.

  If there is the same program viewing information, playback is performed from the same program viewing end time (viewing stop point) (step S23). Otherwise, normal playback is performed (step S24).

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Next, a second embodiment will be described. Now, assume that a user is recording a program being broadcast, and watching the same program being broadcast from the beginning or midway. In this state, it is assumed that the user ends viewing at the same time by switching the channel or turning off the display, and the program being broadcast and recorded by the user later is played back again. In such a case, the period of simultaneous viewing (program section) is indicated so that the user can select the playback start time. This is an example in the case of reproduction.

  A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In response to an operation signal based on the user's operation, the apparatus 100 receives a recording start request (step S31). The apparatus 100 starts recording the program signal of the reception channel (step S32). Until the recording is completed (step S33), the apparatus 100 performs processing for confirming whether or not the same program is being viewed (routine of steps S33, S34, S37, and S38). First, it is confirmed whether or not the same program is being viewed (step S34).

  If it is not the same program viewing state, the broadcast recorded by the user is displayed, and a process of confirming whether the user is viewing the same program is performed (step S35). When viewing of the same program starts, the same program viewing start time is stored (step S36). Otherwise, the confirmation of the start of viewing the same program is repeated until the recording ends.

  If it is the same program viewing state, it is confirmed whether or not the same program viewing state ends and whether the same program is displayed (step S37). When the same program viewing state ends, the same program viewing end time is stored (step S38).

  When the recording is completed, the recording / reproducing unit 5 records the information on the same program viewing start time and end time together with the recorded program, and the processing is ended (step S39).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation when a program recorded by a user is reproduced. When the program is reproduced (step S41), the determination unit 41 and the recording / reproduction control unit 36 confirm whether there is the same program viewing information (viewing stop and / or start point information) (step S42). When there is the same program viewing information, the same program viewing period is displayed on the display unit 200 with, for example, a time bar (step S43). Various display formats are possible and will be described later.

  The user can select whether or not to perform playback from the same program viewing end time (step S44). The time bar display described above can select whether playback is performed from the beginning of the program or playback is started from the point at which viewing is stopped. If it is selected to play back from the same program viewing end (stop time), playback starts from the same program viewing end time (step S45). Otherwise, normal playback is performed (step S45), that is, playback is started from the beginning of the program.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. In the above embodiment, the information is described as the same program viewing start time and end time information. However, this information can be used as information for inserting a chapter or can be used as information for creating a playlist.

  The operation of the third embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. This embodiment is an embodiment for creating chapter information or playlist information at the start and end of viewing the same program in Embodiment 2 so that the start time and end time can be selected more easily.

  The apparatus 100 receives a recording start request from the user (step S51). The apparatus 100 starts recording (step S52).

  Until the recording is completed, the apparatus 100 performs processing for confirming whether or not the same program is being viewed (steps S53, S54, S57, and S58). First, it is confirmed whether or not the same program is being viewed (step S54). If it is not the same program viewing state, the broadcast recorded by the user is displayed and a process of confirming whether or not the viewing is performed is performed (step S55). When the display of the same broadcast starts, the same program viewing start time is stored, and information for chapter insertion or playlist creation is also stored (step S56). Otherwise, the confirmation of the start of viewing the same program is repeated until the recording ends.

  If it is the same program viewing state, it is confirmed whether the same program viewing state is ended and whether the same broadcast is displayed (step S57). When the same program viewing ends, the same program viewing end time is stored, and information for inserting a chapter or creating a playlist is also stored (step S58).

  When the recording is completed, the recording / playback unit 5 records the same program viewing start time and end time information and chapter information or playlist information together with the recorded program management information (viewing stop point and / or start point management unit 40). The processing is terminated (step S59). The viewing stop point and / or start point management unit 40 may be included in the management information in the recording / playback unit 5.

  The embodiment described above is an example applied to, for example, a television receiver in which the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 and the display unit 200 are integrated. However, the present invention is not limited to such an apparatus, and can be easily applied to a system in which a recording / reproducing apparatus and a television receiving apparatus are separated.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 500 denotes a recording / reproducing device, and 600 denotes a display device. The recording / reproducing apparatus 500 and the display apparatus 600 have a communication function using HDMI, and can exchange and receive channel information, program selection information, other control information, and the like.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 500 includes receiving units 71A and 71B that receive radio waves from an antenna or the like, and a descrambler 72 that descrambles the received data. The descrambled data is input to the recording / playback control unit 73A. The recording / playback control unit 37A includes an analysis / separation unit 731 that analyzes and separates input data, an MPEG processing unit 732 that processes MPEG data, and an operation input that processes a request signal based on a user operation input from a terminal. A processing unit 733 and a program selection control unit 734 are included.

  In addition, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, various determination units 37, 38, and 39 are provided. For example, the determination unit 37 determines whether the recording / playback unit is recording a program signal being broadcast. The determination unit 38 determines whether or not the program signal being broadcast is in a viewable state. Furthermore, it has a viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40. The viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 sets viewing stop and / or start point information for the program signal according to the determination result of the determination unit 38. This viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 may store and hold the set viewing stop and / or start point information as it is, or send this information to the recording / playback unit 5 and associate it with the program information on the recording medium. It may be stored in the management information of the medium.

  Further, a determination unit 41 is provided, and the determination unit 41 confirms the content of the viewing stop and / or start point information attached to the program information of the reproduction program.

  The recording / reproducing apparatus 500 can communicate with the display apparatus 600 via the communication unit 75.

  The display device 600 also includes a plurality of receiving units 76A and 76B that receive radio waves from an antenna or the like. The received data is input to the descrambler 77 and descrambled. The descrambled data is input to the display control unit 78A.

  The display control unit 78A also analyzes and separates input data, an analysis / separation unit 781, an MPEG processing unit 782 that processes MPEG data, and an operation input process that processes a request signal based on a user operation input from a terminal. A section 783 and a program selection control section 784.

  The display device 600 may also include various determination units 37, 38, and 39 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Furthermore, a viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 may be provided. Reference numeral 80 denotes a display unit, and 79 denotes a communication unit.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the above-described apparatus. In this example, an example of an operation flow on the recording / reproducing apparatus 500 side is shown.

  The apparatus 500 receives the recording start request signal based on the operation signal from the user (step S81). The recording / reproducing apparatus 500 starts recording the selected program (step S82). Information on the program of the channel displayed on the display device 600 is received via the communication units 79 and 75. Then, it is confirmed whether the program being recorded and the displayed program are the same program. If the program is the same program, it is recognized that the same program is being viewed. Otherwise, the process proceeds to the process of not viewing the same program ((Step S87) (Step S83).

  Until the recording is completed, the channel displayed on the display device 600 is received via the communication units 79 and 75 to monitor whether the user has turned off the display or changed the channel (step S84). When the user turns off the display or changes the channel, the user recognizes that viewing of the same program has ended, and temporarily stores the time information at the end of viewing the same program as recorded information (step S85). If the same program is not viewed, it is recognized that there is no time information (step S87). At this time, the viewing stop point and / or start point management unit 40 sets time information for the end of viewing the same program.

  Then, at the time when the recording is completed (step S86), the time information for ending the same program viewing is recorded in the recording / reproducing unit 74 together with the recorded program signal, and the process is terminated (step S88). Alternatively, it may be stored and managed by the viewing stop point and / or start point management unit 40.

  As described above, according to this apparatus, it is possible to resume playback from an unviewed part in a recorded program without the user's awareness, and it is possible to save the overlapping part and shorten the viewing time. It becomes.

  In addition, according to the present apparatus, it is possible to resume playback from an unviewed part in a broadcast recorded without the user's awareness, and it is possible to save the overlapping part and shorten the viewing time.

  The viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 further includes means for setting chapter delimiter information at the beginning and end of the section that was simultaneously viewed using the viewing stop and / or start point information. Thereby, an unviewed section can be set when a chapter is set.

  FIG. 9 shows a display example on the display unit when the apparatus of the present invention operates. FIG. 9A shows an example in which recorded program information is displayed. For the program information, an operation unit (for example, a remote controller) is operated to display a menu screen. Next, it is displayed by selecting an item of recorded program information with the cursor and pressing the enter key. At the top of the screen, for example, a time display is obtained in the horizontal direction, and recorded program information of different dates is displayed in the vertical direction. In this display example, recorded program information on October 10, October 11, and October 12 is displayed. October 10 shows that program 25 from 1:30 to 3:30 and program 02 from 4 to 4:30 was recorded, and this time zone has a different color from the other parts. Colored and displayed. October 11 indicates that the program 31 from 24:30 to 1 o'clock has been recorded. Furthermore, October 12 indicates that the program 11 from 1:30 to 4 is already recorded.

  It is assumed that the user moves the cursor and stops at the position of the program 25 in order to view the program 25 now. Then, the information on the viewing stop and / or start point management unit 40 regarding the program 25 is read out. For example, a comment display 900 is obtained. In this comment, for example, the time bar 901 of the program 25 is displayed. The time bar 901 is divided by coloring so that a section simultaneously viewed by the user during program recording and an unviewed section become clear.

  An explanation is also displayed, for example, a comment such as "This program has been viewed for 30 minutes from the beginning. It has been viewed from 1 hour 30 minutes to the end." Also, in this case, do you want to watch from the beginning before pressing the play button? Do you want to watch only unseen sections? A comment that prompts the user to make a selection is also displayed. This selection is executed, for example, by selecting any comment with the cursor using the operation keys of the remote controller and pressing the enter key. Here, if the user presses the playback key without any selection, playback of the unviewed section is automatically executed.

  Various display forms are possible, and the display form is not limited to this embodiment. In short, any means for clearly informing the user of the unviewed section and the viewed section may be used.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine suitably the component covering different embodiment.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the recording / reproducing apparatus to which this invention was applied. It is a flowchart which shows one operation example of the apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the apparatus of FIG. 1 performs a reproduction process corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 2. 6 is a flowchart showing another operation example of the apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart when the apparatus of FIG. 1 performs a reproduction process corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 4. 6 is a flowchart showing still another operation example of the apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the recording / reproducing apparatus to which this invention was applied. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of the apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display in a display part when the apparatus of this invention operate | moves.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1A, 1B ... Reception part, 2 ... Scrambler, 3 ... Control part, 4 ... Output part, 5 ... Recording / reproducing part, 37, 38, 39 ... Determination part, 40 ... Viewing stop point and / or start point management unit.

Claims (10)

A recording / playback unit;
A first determination unit for obtaining a first determination result indicating whether or not the recording / playback unit is recording a broadcast program signal;
A second determination unit for obtaining a second determination result indicating whether or not the program signal being broadcast is in a viewable state;
The first determination result indicates that recording is being performed, and the viewing stop for the program signal when the second determination result shifts from viewable to non-viewing state and / or from non-viewing to viewable state, and Alternatively, the start point information is set and the viewing stop and / or start point management unit is used for display as simultaneous viewing section information,
A viewing section information management apparatus characterized by comprising:      A viewing section information management apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs the simultaneous viewing section information to a display unit when the recording device is ready to reproduce the recorded program signal.      2. The viewing section information, when displayed on the display unit, indicates a section of the program signal by a time bar, and performs a display for identifying the simultaneous viewing section on the time bar. Viewing section information management device.      The viewing stop and / or start point management unit further includes means for setting chapter delimiter information at the beginning and end of a section that was simultaneously viewed using the viewing stop and / or start point information. The viewing section information management device according to claim 1.      2. The recording / reproduction unit, the first and second determination units, and the viewing stop and / or start point management unit are provided in a recording / reproduction display device integrated with a display unit. Viewing section information management device.      The recording / playback unit, the first and second determination units, and the viewing stop and / or start point management unit are provided in a recording / playback apparatus integrated with a display unit, and the output unit is connected via a communication unit. The viewing section information management device according to claim 1, wherein the viewing interval information management device is connected to a display device. A receiving unit for receiving a plurality of program signals, a recording / reproducing unit, and a control unit;
A first determination is made as to whether or not the recording / playback unit is recording a program signal being broadcast,
Performing a second determination indicating whether or not the broadcast program signal is in a viewable state;
The viewing stop and / or start for the program signal when the first determination indicates that recording is in progress and the second determination shifts from viewable to non-viewing state and / or from non-viewing to viewable state A control method for a viewing section information management device, characterized in that point information is set and used for display as simultaneous viewing section information.      8. The method of controlling a viewing section information management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the program signal recorded in the recording apparatus is prepared for playback, the simultaneous viewing section information is output to a display unit.      8. The viewing according to claim 7, wherein, as a display form of the viewing section information, the section of the program signal is indicated by a time bar on the display unit, and a display for identifying the simultaneous viewing section is performed on the time bar. Control method of section information management device.     8. The viewing section information management according to claim 7, wherein a comment indicating whether viewing from the beginning of a program or viewing of an unviewed section is displayed on the display unit as a display form of the viewing section information. Control method of the device.

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