JP2009253400A - Av content viewing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an AV content viewing system which reduces a use band of a network for distribution of AV contents, game software, etc., in an in-flight entertainment system of a passenger transporter like an airplane and is free from the problem of radio interference and has an affinity for conventional services. <P>SOLUTION: A video of an AV content selected by a controller 5m at a passenger's seat is displayed by a video display part 45 of a display 6n at the rear of a preceding seat, and sound is modulated by turning on/off or changing the emission amount of a power source LED 48 by sound modulation part 47. This modulated light is received by a light reception part 73 of a headphone 72 and is demodulated into sound by a demodulation part 74, and the passenger listens to the sound. The power source LED 48 changes the color by power-on/off of the display 6n, and sound information received by the headphone 72 is automatically changed by power-on/off. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an AV content viewing system that is mounted and arranged in each seat in a passenger moving body such as an aircraft and views AV (audio visual) content such as movies and music and game software.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, passenger cabins such as aircraft have been provided with various in-flight services for passengers by an in-flight entertainment system called IFE (In-Flight Entertainment) that is installed and deployed in the cabin or in a passenger cabin. As an in-flight service, for example, a passenger can view a movie or music to be distributed using an image display unit of a liquid crystal display device provided on a back seat of each seat or headphones distributed at the time of boarding. In addition, there is also provided a system capable of playing a game using an operation terminal called a handset provided in the armrest of each seat (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). . These services are transmitted as digital data from a content server arranged in the cabin to a seat terminal provided in each seat through a network transmission path.

  A conventional AV content viewing system in an aircraft will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional general AV content viewing system 200. In the AV content viewing system 200, a network transmission path 2 is disposed along a plurality of seats 1m and 1n, and this network transmission path (hereinafter referred to as “transmission path”) 2 is connected to the content server 3. Yes. The content server 3 includes a VOD (Video On Demand) server 3a that provides AV content including video and audio such as movies and games, and an audio server 3b that provides audio content such as music and rakugo.

  The transmission path 2 is configured by an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable, and seat terminals 4m and 4n are connected to the transmission path 2 for each seat. Further, displays 16m and 16n such as liquid crystal are disposed on the backs of the respective seats, and controllers 5m and 5n and headphones 17m and 17n are connected to the armrests of the seats. These devices are communicably connected to the aforementioned VOD server 3a and audio server 3b via seat terminals 4m and 4n.

  Moreover, in the cockpit 8 and the crew room 9, the microphones 8a and 9a of the headset respectively convert the analog voice signal into a digital voice packet and connect to the Ethernet (registered trademark) adapters 8b and 9b. It is connected to the transmission line 2 via The pilot and the cabin crew give an in-flight announcement to the passengers using the microphones 8a and 9a, respectively.

  In such a configuration, for example, when a passenger in the seat 1m selects a movie that he / she wants to watch by operating the controller 5m in his / her seat, the video data and audio data of the movie are sent from the VOD server 3a to the seat 1n in front of the passenger. It is downloaded and stored in the seat terminal 4n (a plurality of contents may be stored in the seat terminal in advance).

  The movie image selected by the passenger is displayed on the display 16n of the front seat 1n, but the sound is transmitted as digital data (voice packets) from the seat terminal 4n to the rear seat terminal 4m via the transmission path 2. The seat terminal 4m demodulates and returns to the original analog audio signal. Passengers can listen to this analog voice through headphones 17m.

  When the passenger selects music, the selected music data is downloaded from the audio server 3b to the seat terminal 4m of his / her seat 1m and can be listened to with the headphones 17m of the seat 1m.

  In-flight announcements from the cockpit 8 and the crew cabin 9 described above can be heard via headphones 17m via the seat terminal 4m of the seat 1m.

  That is, when viewing AV content such as a movie, a passenger with a seat 1m does not complete the process with only the seat terminal 4m of the own seat, but the seat terminal 4m of the own seat and the seat terminal of the front seat The service is provided separately to both terminals of 4n.

  When viewing such AV content such as a movie, the audio is delayed by the transmission time with respect to the video, and therefore processing such as delaying the video display is performed. When the use band including the voice packet is large (when the users of all seats watch a movie all at once), a so-called network congestion state is caused. In this case, the delay of the audio to be transmitted becomes large, the synchronization between video and audio is disturbed, and the quality of the audio is lowered due to packet discard, which greatly reduces the reliability of the entire system. There's a problem.

In order to avoid such a problem, a method of transmitting only voice information wirelessly can be considered. As a wireless transmission method, there is a wireless method using radio waves, or a method of transmitting audio information as shown in Patent Document 3 by modulating visible light of an LED (light emitting diode).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-143083 JP 2006-246297 A JP 2004-248128 A

  However, the method of sending voice information by radio waves is concerned about the problem of interference from adjacent seats and the like and adverse effects on various electronic devices of the aircraft.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a method for transmitting audio information using visible light from an LED, but does not disclose any transmission method and system associated with an AV content service in an aircraft.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and reduces the use band of a distribution network such as AV content or game software for an in-flight entertainment system in a passenger moving body such as an aircraft and It is an object of the present invention to provide an AV content viewing system that has no problem and has good compatibility with conventional services.

  In order to achieve the above object, an AV content viewing system according to the present invention includes a content server storing distribution AV content including video data and audio data, a display on the back, and arranged in the front and rear. Connected to a plurality of seats, a content server and a transmission line, and a seat terminal disposed in each seat with a built-in video / audio storage unit for storing distributed AV content, and connected to the seat terminal And when the predetermined AV content is selected by the controller of the own seat on which the passenger is seated, the seat terminal of the front seat adjacent to the own seat via the transmission path from the content server From the video / audio storage unit of the seat terminal of the front seat based on the passenger's instruction from the controller of the own seat An AV content viewing system that displays video data of AV content that has been read out on a display in the front seat, and the display emits light from the power LED and a power LED that changes color in conjunction with power ON / OFF An audio modulation unit for modulating the light with audio data and transmitting the modulated light, and including a light receiving unit for receiving the modulated light and a headphone having an audio demodulation unit for demodulating the audio data from the modulated light, When the display is turned on, the modulated light of the audio data related to the video displayed on the display is transmitted, received by the headphones and listened to, and when the display is turned off, the audio data not related to the video The modulated light is transmitted, received by headphones, and listened to.

  This reduces the bandwidth used in the distribution network for in-flight entertainment systems and game software, etc. on passenger mobiles such as aircraft, and allows viewing of AV content that is compatible with conventional services without problems of radio interference. A system can be provided. Furthermore, since the audio data to be transmitted is automatically changed in conjunction with the power on / off of the display, the passenger can save the trouble of switching AV contents each time the power is operated.

  The AV content viewing system of the present invention includes a content server storing distribution AV content including video data and audio data, a plurality of seats arranged on the back and arranged at the back, and a content server. A seat terminal that is connected via a transmission line and has a built-in video / audio storage unit that stores the distributed AV content and is arranged in each seat, a controller connected to the seat terminal, and a seat terminal When a predetermined AV content is selected by a controller of the own seat on which the passenger is seated, and the predetermined AV content is connected to the front seat adjacent to the own seat via a transmission path from the content server. Based on the passenger's instructions from the controller of the own seat delivered to the terminal, the video / audio storage of the seat terminal of the front seat AV content viewing system for displaying AV content video data read from the front section on the front seat display and listening to the audio data of the AV content through the headphone of the own seat, the display being turned on / off It has a power LED that changes color in conjunction with it, and a sound modulation unit for modulating the light emitted from the power LED with sound data and transmitting the modulated light, and the seat is modulated with a light receiving unit that receives the modulated light. It has an audio demodulator that demodulates audio data from light, and when the display is turned on, it transmits modulated light of audio data related to the video displayed on the display, receives it at the seat, and passes through the seat terminal When the display is turned off, the modulated light of the audio data not related to the video is transmitted, received at the seat and passed through the seat terminal. Characterized in that it listening with headphones to.

  This reduces the bandwidth used in the distribution network for in-flight entertainment systems and game software, etc. on passenger mobiles such as aircraft, and allows viewing of AV content that is compatible with conventional services without problems of radio interference. A system can be provided. Furthermore, since the audio data to be transmitted is automatically changed in conjunction with the power on / off of the display, the passenger can save the trouble of switching AV contents each time the power is operated. Further, conventional headphones can be used as they are.

  In the AV content viewing system of the present invention, it is desirable that the light receiving units are provided on both the left and right sides of the seat.

  Accordingly, even if the passenger moves and blocks the light receiving part on one side of the seat, the modulated light can be reliably received by the light receiving part on the opposite side, so that sound can be transmitted stably.

  In the AV content viewing system of the present invention, the seat terminal further includes a voice switching unit that switches between a voice transmitted via the transmission path and a voice from the voice demodulation unit of the seat, and based on a switching command from the transmission path. Then, it may be switched to the sound from the transmission path and output to the headphones.

  As a result, even when other important audio information flows through the transmission path while the passenger is viewing the AV content, the important voice information is automatically switched to the passenger so that the passenger misses the important audio information. There is nothing.

  The AV content viewing system of the present invention may be an AV content viewing system mounted on an aircraft, and the audio transmitted via the transmission path may be an in-flight announcement.

  As a result, even if there is an urgent in-flight announcement while watching AV content, the passengers of the aircraft do not miss the in-flight announcement, and the function of the conventional in-flight entertainment system can be realized as it is.

  According to the present invention, the use band of a distribution network for AV contents, game software, etc. of an in-flight entertainment system in a passenger mobile body such as an aircraft is reduced, and there is no problem of radio wave interference and compatibility with a conventional service is good. An AV content viewing system can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
This embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an AV content viewing system 100 according to the present embodiment. The AV content viewing system 100 of the present embodiment is different from the conventional system in the displays 6m and 6n and the headphones 7m and 7n, and the other parts are the same, so the same reference numerals are given and already described. A description of the portions that have been omitted will be omitted.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of the AV content viewing system 100 according to the present embodiment, and is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the seat terminals 4m and 4n installed in the seats 1m and 1n described in FIG. It is. Seat terminals 4m (self-seat), 4n (front seat) and displays 6m, 6n connected to the transmission path 2 are indicated by dotted line frames in the drawing.

  The CPU 41 is a central processing unit that controls the entire seat terminal. The ROM 42 stores a program for the CPU 41. The selection unit 44 sends a command based on the operation of the controller 5m connected to this unit to the bus 40.

  The video / audio storage unit 46 stores compressed video such as MPEG2 and compressed audio downloaded from the content server 3. The video decoder 52 and the audio decoder 53 are decoders for decoding and reproducing the compressed video and compressed audio stored in the video / audio storage unit 46, respectively. The network interface 51 is an interface with the transmission path 2 and has a unique address (MAC address or the like) for identifying the seat terminal. These components are connected by a bus 40 and transmit information to each other.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, displays 6m and 6n are installed on the backs of the seats 1m and 1n. The displays 6m and 6n include a video display unit 45, an audio modulation unit 47, a power LED 48, and a power source. A control unit 49 and a power switch 50 are provided. The video display unit 45 displays video played from the seat terminal.

  The sound modulation unit 47 controls the drive current of the power LED (light emitting diode) 48 according to the sound signal decoded by the sound decoder 53, and modulates the power LED 48 by blinking or changing the light emission amount. The power supply control unit 49 controls the power supply of the backlight (not shown) of the video display unit 45 and the light emission of the power supply LED 48 according to an instruction from the power switch 50.

  The headphone 72 includes therein a light receiving unit 73 that receives the modulated light 48a of the power LED 48 and a demodulating unit 74 that is a sound demodulating unit, and is driven by a battery (not shown). The power LED 48 and the power switch 50 are provided below the video display unit 45, as shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the power LED 48 emits green light when the power is turned on, and emits red light when the power is turned off, so that the passenger can watch the AV content. This power-off state is a standby state, and power supply to the circuits of the displays 6m and 6n is not all stopped, and power is supplied to circuits other than the portion related to video display.

  Next, the operation of the AV content viewing system 100 in such a configuration will be described. Here, a description will be given assuming that a plurality of AV contents have already been downloaded and accumulated from the content server 3 in each seat terminal.

  When the passenger operates the power switch 50 of the display 6n installed on the back of the front seat to turn on the power and operates the controller 5m to select the AV content that the passenger wants to see, the selection unit 44 causes the network interface 51 to Then, a command is sent to the transmission line 2 to the seat terminal 4n of the front seat.

  In the seat terminal 4n in the front seat, the AV content designated by the passenger is selected from the AV content stored in the video / audio storage unit 46, and the video of the selected AV content is reproduced, decoded by the video decoder 52, and displayed on the display 6n. It is displayed on the video display unit 45. The audio of the selected AV content is also decoded by the audio decoder 53 and then sent to the display 6n. The green light emitted from the power supply LED 48 is modulated by the audio modulation unit 47 built in the display 6n. The light 48 a is transmitted toward the light receiving unit 73 of the headphones 72.

  The light-receiving unit 73 receives the green light-emission modulated light 48 a of the power supply LED 48, is demodulated into the original audio signal by the demodulating unit 74, which is an audio demodulating unit, and the passenger listens as sound through the headphones 72.

  When the provision of AV content is finished and the passenger operates the power switch 50 to turn off the power, the power LED 48 switches to red light emission as shown in FIG.

  At the same time, a preset audio content such as BGM (background music) is selected from the video / audio storage unit 46, and the power modulation LED 47 modulates red light emission. Therefore, the passenger can automatically enjoy BGM and the like even after viewing the selected AV content. In this way, in conjunction with the ON / OFF of the power switch 50 of the display 6n, the sound related to the video displayed on the display 6n is transmitted by the green light of the power LED 48 when ON, and BGM or the like is transmitted when OFF. It switches automatically and transmits with the red light of the power LED 48. As a result, the passenger can save the trouble of changing the channel to BGM by using the controller 5m or the like.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the light of the power supply LED 48 is modulated by the audio signal, the modulated light is captured by the light receiving unit built in the headphones, and is demodulated into sound and listened to. Thus, there is no need to communicate audio between the front and rear seats via a transmission line such as Ethernet (registered trademark). For this reason, the audio signal can be stably transmitted because the audio signal does not compress the bandwidth of the transmission path. Also, since the video and audio are processed by the same seat terminal (front seat), the video and audio can be easily synchronized. Further, since visible light having high directivity is used for voice transmission, it is possible to avoid interference of voice signals between adjacent seats, and to provide stable voice to passengers.

(Embodiment 2)
In the present embodiment, a part of the configuration of FIG. 2 described in the first embodiment is changed, and the details will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  In FIG. 5 showing the main configuration of the AV content viewing system, the components given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 are the same as the components in FIG. In FIG. 5, the light receiving portions 73a and 73b are provided on the left and right sides of the seat 1m as shown in FIG. The demodulator 74 connected to the light receiving units 73a and 73b is connected to a switch 54 that is an audio switching unit connected to the bus 40.

  An audio interface 43 is connected to the switch 54, and the audio signal from the audio interface 43 and the audio signal from the demodulator 74 are switched by the signal from the bus 40 and output to the headphones 71.

  When the passenger operates the power switch 50 of the front seat to turn on the power and operates the controller 5m to select the AV content that the passenger wants to see, the selection unit 44 enters the transmission path 2 via the network interface 51. A command addressed to the seat terminal 4n of the section seat is transmitted. At the same time, the input of the headphones 71 is switched to the demodulator 74 side by the switch 54.

  The operation of the seat terminal 4n for the front seat is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  However, the sound can be heard not with the dedicated headphone 72 but with the conventional headphone 71 connected to the armrest of the own seat by wire, and when an in-flight announcement occurs, the transmission line 2 is automatically switched by the switch 54. You can listen to in-flight announcements transmitted via. Switching when an in-flight announcement occurs may be performed by a switching instruction signal sent from the transmission line 2, or may be performed automatically by detecting an in-flight announcement signal.

  In addition, since the modulated light 48a and 48b of the power LED 48 of the seat terminal 4n is received by the two light receiving portions 73a and 73b on the left and right sides of the seat, the passenger moves to the left and right to receive one of the modulated lights 48a and 48b. Even if it is shut off, the sound can be received by either of the light receiving portions 73a and 73b, so that the sound is not interrupted.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the modulated light 48a and 48b from the power LED 48 is not directly received by the dedicated headphones 72, but is received and demodulated by the light receiving units 73a and 73b installed in the seat. Is taken into the seat terminal 4m and then output to the conventional headphones 71. This makes it possible to receive other services such as in-flight announcements even while viewing AV content wearing headphones.

  In the above description of the embodiment, it has been described that the power LED 48 emits green light when the power is turned on and emits red light when the power is turned off. However, the present invention is not limited to this light emission color, and any other combination of colors is possible. It goes without saying that the same effect can be obtained even if the light is emitted.

  The AV content viewing system according to the present invention can be used not only for entertainment such as vehicles such as buses and railroads, ships such as ferries and passenger ships, but also for learning such as schools, cram schools, and libraries.

The figure which shows the whole AV content viewing-and-listening system in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the main structures of the AV content viewing-and-listening system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the seat part The figure which shows the lighting state of the same power supply LED The figure which shows the main structures of the AV content viewing-and-listening system of Embodiment 2 of this invention. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the seat part The figure which shows the whole structure of the conventional AV content viewing-and-listening system

Explanation of symbols

1m, 1n seat 2 transmission line (network transmission line)
3 Content server 3a VOD server 3b Audio server 4m, 4n Seat terminal 5m, 5n Controller 6m, 6n, 16m, 16n Display 7m, 7n, 17m, 17n, 71, 72 Headphone 8 Cockpit 8a, 9a Microphone 8b, 9b IP adapter 9 Crew Room 40 Bus 41 CPU (Central Processing Unit)
42 ROM
43 Audio Interface 44 Selection Unit 45 Video Display Unit 46 Video / Audio Storage Unit 47 Audio Modulation Unit 48 Power LED (Light Emitting Diode)
48a, 48b Modulated light 49 Power controller 50 Power switch 51 Network interface 52 Video decoder 53 Audio decoder 54 Switch 73, 73a, 73b Light receiver 74 Demodulator

Claims (5)

A content server storing distribution AV content including video data and audio data;
A display is arranged on the back, a plurality of seats arranged back and forth,
A seat terminal connected to the content server via a transmission path and having a built-in video / audio storage unit for storing distributed AV content;
A controller connected to the seat terminal,
When the predetermined AV content is selected by the controller of the seat where the passenger is seated, the predetermined AV content is delivered from the content server to the seat terminal of the front seat adjacent to the own seat via the transmission path,
An AV content viewing system for displaying video data of AV content read from a video / audio storage unit of a seat terminal of the front seat on a display of the front seat based on an instruction of a passenger by the controller of the own seat There,
The display includes a power LED that changes color in conjunction with power ON / OFF, and an audio modulation unit that modulates light emitted from the power LED with the audio data and transmits modulated light.
A light receiving unit that receives the modulated light and a headphone that has a sound demodulation unit that demodulates sound data from the modulated light;
When the display is turned on, the modulated light of the audio data related to the video displayed on the display is transmitted, received by the headphones and listened,
An AV content viewing system, wherein when the display is turned off, modulated light of audio data not related to video is transmitted and received by the headphones. A content server storing distribution AV content including video data and audio data;
A display is arranged on the back, a plurality of seats arranged back and forth,
A seat terminal connected to the content server via a transmission path and having a built-in video / audio storage unit for storing distributed AV content;
A controller connected to the seat terminal;
And headphones connected to the seat terminal,
When the predetermined AV content is selected by the controller of the seat where the passenger is seated, the predetermined AV content is delivered from the content server to the seat terminal of the front seat adjacent to the own seat via the transmission path,
Based on the passenger's instruction from the controller of the own seat, the video data of the AV content read from the video / audio storage unit of the seat terminal of the front seat is displayed on the display of the front seat, and the AV content An AV content viewing system for listening to audio data with the headphones in the seat,
The display includes a power LED that changes color in conjunction with power ON / OFF, and an audio modulation unit that modulates light emitted from the power LED with the audio data and transmits modulated light.
The seat has a light receiving unit that receives the modulated light and a sound demodulating unit that demodulates sound data from the modulated light,
When the power of the display is ON, the modulated light of the audio data related to the video displayed on the display is transmitted, received by the seat and listened to by the headphones via the seat terminal,
AV content viewing characterized in that when the display is turned off, modulated light of audio data not related to video is transmitted, received by the seat, and listened to by the headphones via the seat terminal system. The AV content viewing system according to claim 2, wherein the light receiving units are provided on both left and right sides of the seat. The seat terminal further includes a voice switching unit that switches between voice transmitted via the transmission path and voice from the voice demodulation unit of the seat;
4. The AV content viewing system according to claim 2, wherein the audio content is switched to sound from the transmission path based on a switching command from the transmission path and is output to the headphones. 5. 5. The AV content viewing system according to claim 4, wherein the AV content viewing system is installed in an aircraft, and the sound transmitted through the transmission path is an in-flight announcement.

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