JP2009267506A - Content reproducing device, content providing server, content distribution system, content reproduction method, content provision method, control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a content distribution system which provides a user's desired content while protecting the copyright and keeping high quality with regard to a compressed content being transmitted by broadcast wave. <P>SOLUTION: A digital television 100 comprises an imperfect high quality data acquisition section 23 which acquires beforehand a part of high quality data (first data) for reproducing a high quality content which is the same content as a broadcast content being transmitted by broadcast wave and having quality higher than that of the broadcast content, a display control section 13 for generating high quality data based on the first data thus acquired, and second data included in the broadcast data, i.e. the data of a broadcast content being transmitted by broadcast wave, and a content reproduction section 24 for reproducing a high quality content in synchronism with broadcast of the broadcast content based on the high quality content thus generated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content distribution system, and more particularly, to a content reproduction apparatus that provides high-quality digital content, a content providing server, and a content distribution system having them.

  Terrestrial digital broadcasting has been gradually deployed nationwide since the service began. Accordingly, as this digital broadcast receiver, for example, a digital television has been widely spread. In recent digital televisions, as represented by a liquid crystal television having a liquid crystal display, it is possible to enjoy high-quality images on a flat and thin large screen.

  In addition, while digital content distribution services using broadcast waves have become widespread, in communication means using the Internet, broadband services capable of high-speed and large-capacity communication have developed along with the spread of dedicated media such as optical cables. It was. A transmission service having a communication speed of Gbps or higher is being constructed from the conventional communication speed (about 10 kbps), and it is expected that transmission / reception of high-capacity high-quality data will be accelerated in the future. Multi-channel digital video distribution services using these communication means are also widespread.

  As described above, with respect to digital contents distributed via broadcast waves and the Internet, it is expected that the user's need to enjoy higher quality data will increase in the future. Therefore, it is strongly desired to provide a content distribution system that allows users to enjoy higher quality content by overcoming restrictions such as capacity, communication speed, and communication cost in the communication means.

  In digital terrestrial broadcasting, one HD (high-definition) (high definition, high resolution) class content or SD (Standard-Definition) (SD) (standard-definition) (frequency) for one channel of analog broadcasting (6 MHz) It is possible to broadcast three contents of standard resolution) class. Thereby, compared with analog broadcasting, video / audio can be reproduced more precisely and high-quality content can be provided. Digital data compression techniques represented by MPEG2 and the like greatly contribute to the distribution of such high-definition digital content in digital broadcasting.

  However, when it comes to video, for example, the video provided by conventional digital broadcasting is generally said to be very beautiful video, but when compared with the actual picture taken, the texture, gloss, and hue Has not been faithfully reproduced. As everyone feels, when an image actually captured by a commercially available digital video camera is displayed on a television screen, the facial expression and landscape of the person are different from those actually captured. One of the factors that impairs fidelity when reproducing these texture, gloss, and color is compression technology for digital content.

  For example, a content production company uses a compression technique to keep content captured by a high-resolution camera on a broadcast wave in a certain band. An outline of the conventional content compression processing is shown in FIG.

  First, data obtained by photographing a person or landscape with a high-resolution camera as an object to be photographed is stored as a high-resolution content in a recording medium (digital tape, memory medium, etc.) (S1). In general, a high-resolution camera for business use can express gradation of 12 to 16 bits for each color. The capacity of the accumulated data is about 2.2 Gbps × imaging time (sec) if the HD class content for high-definition broadcasting is 30 frames per second and the depth per pixel is 12 bits.

  Then, color tone conversion processing is first performed on the high-resolution video content in order to compress the depth of each RGB color from 12 bits to 8 bits (S2). Color tone processing methods include table mapping processing and a method of simply deleting lower bits. At this stage, the video content is compressed to about 1.5 Gbps × imaging time (sec) (S3). Next, in the existing MPEG2 encoding system (S4), it is compressed into MPEG2 content of about 24 Mbps × imaging time (sec) (S5).

  Some information reduction processing is performed in the existing MPEG2 encoding system. This information reduction process is an irreversible compression technique and includes, for example, a sub-sampling process and a quantization process. The sub-sampling process is a process for reducing the information amount by thinning out the color difference information, and the quantization process is a process for reducing the information amount by rounding the pixel value of each pixel. These information reduction processes have succeeded in overcoming the limitations of communication means. However, since these compression techniques are lossy, the original high-resolution content cannot be restored in the decoding process on the content playback device side, and the image quality of the video content is inferior to the original one. Is inevitable.

  That is, a lot of information is reduced by the compression technique, and when the user views the video, the actually captured video cannot be faithfully reproduced.

Various techniques have been proposed in order to overcome such factors of image quality degradation. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a receiving system that acquires a high-definition print image (digital content for printing) regarding digital content using broadcast waves. As a result, even when low-quality digital content compressed by broadcast waves is received, high-quality video data suitable for printing can be obtained via the Internet for the digital content.
JP 2004-102590 A (published April 2, 2004)

  However, the above-described method disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem in that digital content for viewing by a user cannot be provided with high quality against video degradation due to the application of compression technology.

  That is, in the method of Patent Document 1, high-definition content is provided via a network for digital content transmitted by broadcast waves, not for digital content for viewing but for image content specialized for a printer. The image quality of the video displayed on the display is not improved.

  Note that this problem does not occur only in the MPEG2 compression coding system, but also occurs in other irreversible compression techniques (MPEG1, MPEG4, H.264 / AVC, etc.).

  By the way, such high-quality content has higher value than broadcast content by broadcast waves, so when it becomes possible to provide high-quality content, illegal acts such as use by unauthorized users are performed. The risk of infringement of copyright on the content increases. Therefore, it is necessary not only to improve the quality of broadcast content but also to consider copyright protection.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide high-quality while protecting copyright of content desired by a user for compressed content transmitted by broadcast waves. It is to realize a content reproducing apparatus, a content providing server, a content distribution system, a content reproducing method, a content providing method, a control program, and a recording medium that can be provided as they are.

In order to solve the above problems, a content playback apparatus according to the present invention is for playing back high-quality content that has the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and has higher quality than the broadcast content. Among the high quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data, data acquisition means for acquiring the first data in advance;
Based on the first data acquired by the data acquisition means and the second data included in the broadcast data that is the data of the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave, the high quality data is generated. Quality data generation means, and content reproduction means for reproducing the high quality content in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content based on the high quality data generated by the high quality data generation means It is said.

  Here, the high-quality content is, for example, data before performing the lossy compression encoding process when the lossy compression encoding process such as MPEG2 is applied to the broadcast content, and any information is reduced. The content has high-quality video (audio) data (high-quality data) that has not been processed.

  The high quality data is composed of first data and second data. Here, the first data is, for example, data corresponding to 95% when the data capacity of the high quality data is 100%, and is acquired by the data acquisition unit. The data corresponds to the remaining 5% and is included in the broadcast data transmitted by the broadcast wave. The ratio of the data capacity is set such that the first data alone cannot be reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus, and the first and second data can be reproduced by being combined with each other. Thus, for example, the first data may be display data that contributes to display, and the second data may be data that does not contribute to display (broadcast content information).

  According to the above configuration, the high quality data acquisition means is the same content as the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave, and the high quality necessary for reproducing the high quality content having a higher quality than the broadcast content. A part of the data (first data) is acquired in advance. The high quality data generating means generates high quality data based on the first data and data (second data) included in the broadcast data that is data of the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave. Then, the content reproduction means uses the generated high quality data corresponding to the broadcast content in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content, that is, as the broadcast content is actually broadcast. Play high quality content.

  Thereby, instead of the broadcast content, it is possible to reproduce high quality content having the same content as the broadcast content and higher quality. Therefore, the user can view the desired content having the same content as the high quality broadcast content whose quality has deteriorated due to the lossy compression.

  Moreover, since data can be acquired before the start of broadcasting, for example, data acquisition processing corresponding to the communication state (communication line load, communication speed, communication cost, etc.) can be performed for each user. Therefore, high-quality content can be viewed regardless of the communication state (communication performance) of the user.

  In addition, since the high-quality content is automatically played in accordance with the broadcast of the broadcast content, the user does not need to separately learn a complicated operation for viewing the high-quality content. High-quality content can be viewed in the same manner as when viewing.

  Furthermore, the data provided to the user in advance (before the broadcast content starts broadcasting) is a part of the high-quality data that cannot be viewed by itself. That is, the user cannot acquire high quality content corresponding to broadcast content before the start of broadcasting. For this reason, it is possible to prevent unauthorized acts such as high-quality content being viewed or leaked to a third party before broadcasting of the broadcast content is started, so that copyright protection can be achieved.

  In the content playback apparatus, in addition to the above configuration, the high quality data generation unit calculates a difference value between the first data and the broadcast data as the second data, and the calculated second data And the first data may be combined to generate the high quality data.

  According to the above configuration, a part of the high quality data (first data) acquired before the start of broadcasting and the difference value between the broadcasting data (data obtained by subtracting the first data from the broadcasting data; the second Since the high quality data can be obtained by combining the data) with the first data, the high quality content can be reproduced in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content.

  In addition to the above configuration, the content reproduction apparatus may have a configuration in which the data capacity of the first data is larger than the data capacity of the second data.

  Thus, by setting a large data capacity of high quality data acquired before the start of broadcasting, higher quality data can be obtained, so that the quality of the reproduced content can be further improved.

  In addition to the above configuration, the content reproduction apparatus further includes information acquisition means for acquiring content information related to the broadcast content, and the data acquisition means acquires the acquired first data by the information acquisition means. The data may be recorded in the data recording unit in association with the content information regarding the broadcast content corresponding to the high quality data.

  According to the above configuration, when recording a part (first data) of the high quality data acquired by the data acquisition unit in the data recording unit, the data acquisition unit associates the content information of the broadcast content corresponding to the high quality data. To record the high quality data.

  As a result, the content information of the corresponding broadcast content is recorded in the data recording unit for each high quality data. The content information includes, for example, information such as the content title, broadcast start (end) date, channel, genre, and performer. Therefore, even when the high-quality content is reproduced, the user can acquire the content information of the broadcast content having the same content and know the information of the high-quality content.

  In the content playback apparatus, in addition to the above configuration, the content information includes broadcast start date / time information of the broadcast content, and the content playback means associates the broadcast start date / time information with the broadcast start date / time information. The reproduction of the high quality content may be started based on the first data.

  According to the above configuration, when the broadcast start date / time information included in the content information is used and the date / time indicated by the broadcast start date / time information of the broadcast content associated with the high quality data is reached, the content reproduction means High quality content is reproduced using the first data corresponding to the data.

  As a result, the content reproduction apparatus can automatically reproduce high-quality content in accordance with the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content. Therefore, even if the user reserves the viewing of the high-quality content and forgets that, the user can surely view the high-quality content according to the broadcast start date and time of the original broadcast content.

  In addition to the above configuration, the content reproduction apparatus further includes operation accepting means for accepting designation of broadcast content that the user desires to view or record, and the data acquisition means is a designated broadcast received by the operation accepting means. The first data corresponding to the content may be acquired.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the content reproduction apparatus includes a time acquisition unit that acquires a reception time received by the operation reception unit, a reception time acquired by the time acquisition unit, and a broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content. Based on the acquisition data capacity determination, the data acquisition means determines the data capacity of the first data to be acquired so that the acquisition of the first data by the data acquisition means is completed before the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content. Means.

  Here, since the first data is reproduced in synchronization with the corresponding broadcast content, the first data must be acquired in time for the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content.

  In this regard, according to the above configuration, for example, when the first data cannot be acquired before the start of broadcasting, the ratio of the first data to the second data can be changed. Specifically, the first data cannot be acquired at a preset ratio (for example, first data: second data = 95: 5) within the acquisition processing time (= broadcast start date / time−acquisition start date / time). In other words, when the time required for acquisition (required time) exceeds the acquisition processing time, the ratio is changed to, for example, first data: second data = 80: 20. The acquisition start date and time refers to the date and time (acceptance time) when the operation accepting unit accepts a viewing (recording) reservation instruction from the user.

  As a result, when a large amount of acquisition processing time can be secured, the first data (95%) having a capacity corresponding to a desired ratio is acquired. On the other hand, when a large amount of acquisition processing time cannot be secured, the changed ratio The first data (80%) of the capacity corresponding to is acquired.

  As described above, since the data capacity of the first data to be acquired can be changed according to the communication state, even if the desired high quality data cannot be obtained and complete high quality content cannot be reproduced. Therefore, it is possible to reproduce a content having higher quality than at least the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave.

  In order to solve the above problems, a content providing server according to the present invention is a content for reproducing high-quality content having the same quality as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content. Among the high quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data, the reservation receiving means for receiving the request message for requesting the first data from the content reproduction apparatus described above, and the request message Data transmission means for transmitting the first data designated by the broadcast to the content reproduction device, and broadcast data that is broadcast content data transmitted by the broadcast wave, including the second data. Broadcast data transmission means for transmitting to the network.

  According to the above configuration, the reservation receiving unit receives a request for a part of the high quality data (first data) from the content reproduction apparatus, and manages the reservation information. The data transmission means transmits the first data designated by the request message to the content reproduction apparatus.

  As a result, a part of the high quality data requested by the user via the content reproduction device can be provided to the content reproduction device. Therefore, the user can view the desired high-quality content on the content reproduction apparatus while protecting the copyright of the high-quality content.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the content providing server according to the present invention is a high-quality content for reproducing high-quality content having the same quality as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and higher quality than the broadcast content. In the request message for requesting the first data constituting a part of the high quality data received from the client terminal device and the high quality data recording unit for recording the quality data for each broadcast content, Broadcast start date / time information of the corresponding broadcast content, and information indicating the data capacity of the first data determined so that acquisition of the first data is completed before the broadcast start date / time of the broadcast content Reservation receiving means for managing the associated reservation information, and recorded on the high quality data recording unit based on the reservation information. Data generation means for generating the first data from high quality data, and distribution of the first data generated by the data generation means to the client terminal device is completed before the broadcast start date and time, It is characterized by comprising data transmission means for starting distribution processing and broadcast data distribution means for starting distribution of broadcast data which is data of the broadcast content at the broadcast start date and time.

  As a result, since the client terminal device cannot acquire high-quality data before broadcasting the corresponding broadcast content, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that the client terminal device cannot reproduce the high-quality content in time for the broadcast time. Become.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the content distribution system according to the present invention reproduces high-quality content that is the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and has higher quality than the broadcast content. Among the high-quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data, the content providing server described above that provides the first data before the broadcast content starts broadcasting, and the first data The first data received from the content providing server by transmitting a request message for requesting data to the content providing server, and the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content Based on the high quality data generated by the second data included in the broadcast data which is the data of It is characterized in that it comprises a content reproducing device described above to reproduce high-quality content in synchronism with the broadcasting of the broadcast content.

  According to the above configuration, the content reproduction device requests the high-quality data requested by the user from the content providing server, and the content providing server provides a part of the high-quality data requested from the content reproduction device.

  Therefore, it is possible to construct a high-quality content distribution system that provides digital content for users to watch with high quality while protecting copyright on compressed digital content transmitted by broadcast waves. It becomes possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a content playback method according to the present invention is for playing back high-quality content that has the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and has higher quality than the broadcast content. Among the high-quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data, a data acquisition step for acquiring the first data in advance, the first data acquired in the data acquisition step, A high-quality data generation step for generating the high-quality data based on the second data included in the broadcast data that is data of the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave; and the high-quality data generation step Based on the generated high-quality data, the high-quality content is reproduced in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content. It is characterized in that it comprises a Ceiling regeneration step.

  Thereby, instead of the broadcast content, it is possible to reproduce high quality content having the same content as the broadcast content and higher quality. Therefore, while protecting copyright, the user can view the desired content with the same quality as the high quality broadcast content whose quality has deteriorated due to the lossy compression.

  In order to solve the above problems, a content providing method according to the present invention is a content for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by a broadcast wave and having higher quality than the broadcast content. A reservation reception step for receiving a request message for requesting the first data from the high-quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data from the content reproduction apparatus; and the reservation reception Broadcast that is data of broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave, including a data transmission step of distributing the first data specified by the request message received in the step to the content reproduction device, and the second data A broadcast data transmission step of transmitting data to the content reproduction apparatus.

  As a result, a part of high quality data requested by the user via the content reproduction device can be provided to the content reproduction device. Therefore, the user can view desired high-quality content on the content reproduction apparatus while protecting the copyright.

  The content reproduction apparatus and the content providing server may be realized by a computer. In this case, the above-described content reproducing apparatus or the content providing server is realized by the computer by causing the computer to operate as the above-described each unit of the above-described content reproducing apparatus or the content providing server. A control program for a playback device or a content providing server and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention is the first content for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave and higher quality than the broadcast content. Among the high quality data obtained by combining the first data and the second data, the data acquisition means for acquiring the first data in advance, the first data acquired by the data acquisition means, and the broadcast wave High quality data generating means for generating the high quality data based on the second data included in the broadcast data which is the broadcast content data to be transmitted; and the high quality data generated by the high quality data generating means Content reproduction means for reproducing the high-quality content in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content based on the data. Therefore, it is possible to reproduce the content desired by the user with high quality while protecting the copyright of the compressed content transmitted by the broadcast wave.

  An embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, as an example, a content reproduction apparatus as a digital television that receives broadcast content transmitted from a broadcast station by broadcast waves will be described.

Embodiment 1
(Configuration of digital TV)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a content reproduction apparatus as the digital television 100 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the digital television 100 according to the present embodiment includes a tuner unit 101, a TS (transport stream) decoder 111, an AV (audio visual) decoder 112, a graphics generation unit 103, an image superimposing unit 104, an external The configuration includes an interface 105, a content output unit 106, an operation unit 107, a control unit 110, and a recording unit 40.

  The control unit 110 performs overall control of the digital television 100 and includes an input / output control unit 10 and a content reproduction control unit 20. The recording unit 40 records a program executed by the control unit 110 and various data read when the control unit 110 controls content reproduction. Details of the control unit 110 and the recording unit 40 will be described later.

  The content output unit 106 presents the content acquired by the digital television 100 to the user. The content output unit 106 includes a speaker 113 that outputs audio data included in the content, and a display unit 114 that outputs video (moving image / image) data included in the content. The display unit 114 is realized by a display device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), a PDP (plasma display panel), or a CRT (cathode-ray tube) display.

  The operation unit 107 is signal input means for inputting a signal for the user to operate the digital television 100. In the present embodiment, for example, the first operation unit 107a using a remote controller (remote controller) for remote operation outside the digital TV 100 and the second operation unit 107b provided in the digital TV 100 itself are configured. Yes. The digital television 100 has light receiving means (not shown) that receives an instruction signal (for example, an infrared signal) by each key operation on the first operation unit 107a side as a remote controller on the receiving side (light receiving unit side). The instruction signal received by the light receiving means is sent to the control unit 110.

  The external interface 105 communicates with an external device or reads / writes data from / to an external device, and exchanges data between the digital television 100 and the external device.

  For example, the external interface 105 provides service information such as a content providing server 200 for distributing a part of high-quality data (incomplete high-quality data) to a client terminal (digital TV 100), EPG (electronic program guide) data, and the like. This is realized as a communication interface for performing communication for acquiring various types of information from an external server device. In this case, communication with each external device is, for example, a wireless local area network (LAN) realized by infrared rays or Bluetooth (registered trademark), or a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and Realized via the Internet.

  The external interface 105 is realized as an input / output interface that supplies information read from an external storage device that records the incomplete high-quality data or EPG data or a recording medium into the digital television 100. The EPG data may be acquired from a broadcast wave transmitted by the broadcast station 300.

  The incomplete high-quality data is content having the same content as the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast station 300 using broadcast waves, and is one piece of data for reproducing high-quality content having higher quality than the broadcast content. Part. High quality content data reproduced by the digital television is composed of this incomplete high quality data (first data) and complementary data (second data) included in the broadcast content data (broadcast data). . Here, the incomplete high quality data is, for example, data corresponding to 95% when the data capacity of the high quality data is 100%, and is supplied from the content providing server 200. Further, the complementary data is data corresponding to the remaining 5%, and is included in the broadcast data transmitted by the broadcast wave. For example, incomplete high quality data may be display data that contributes to display, and complementary data may be data that does not contribute to display (broadcast content information). In addition, only incomplete high-quality data cannot be played back on the digital television 100 according to the broadcast content, and one reproducible broadcast content is formed by combining with the complementary data. As a result, even if incomplete high-quality data is acquired before the corresponding broadcast content is broadcasted, it is possible to prevent illegal acts such as viewing before the broadcast starts. Protection can be achieved.

  Next, in the digital television 100 according to the present embodiment, a digital broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast station 300 and including broadcast content or EPG data encoded by the MPEG2 encoding / compression method is received and output. The remaining components of the digital television 100 will be described along with the flow up to. The digital TV 100 according to the present invention is not limited to the following components.

  The tuner unit 101 is a tuner for digital broadcasting. When a digital broadcast signal is supplied through an antenna (not shown), the tuner unit 101 selects a received signal, performs demodulation and error correction according to the signal form, and forms multiplexed digital data. The multiplexed digital data is output to the TS decoder 111.

  The TS decoder 111 extracts the TS (Transport Stream) by decoding the multiplexed digital data output from the tuner unit 101, separates it into TS packets for each purpose, and outputs them to the AV decoder 112 and the control unit 110 at the subsequent stage. . Here, TS is a signal sequence in which fixed-length TS packets are continuous, and each TS packet includes information for identifying EPG data and content in addition to video / audio signals (for example, PSI (Program Specific Information). ), SI (Service Information)) and the like. Here, the extracted TS is a TS packet (broadcast content) that includes a video / audio signal for output to the AV decoder 112 and a TS packet that includes a content-related data signal for output to the control unit 110 ( Content information).

  The AV decoder 112 decodes the TS packet (broadcast content) from the TS decoder 111 and separates it into audio data and video data. The separated audio data is supplied to the speaker 113, and the video data is supplied to the image superimposing unit 104.

  The graphics generation unit 103 forms OSD (On Screen Display) information to be output to the image superimposing unit 104. The OSD information is various information stored in the recording unit 40, such as an EPG (electronic program guide), a menu screen (GUI) for the user to operate the digital television 100, and the like. The OSD information includes an operation screen for the user to instruct viewing reservation, recording reservation, incomplete high quality data request, and result display of incomplete high quality data request status.

  The image superimposing unit 104 superimposes the video data decoded by the AV decoder 112 and the OSD image such as an operation screen or an EPG, and outputs them to the display unit 114. As a result, the video data of the broadcast content and the OSD information can be displayed in a superimposed manner on one display screen.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the broadcast content transmitted from the broadcast station 300 can be received by the broadcast image receiving unit including the tuner unit 101, the TS decoder 111, the AV decoder 112, and the like. Yes.

  That is, when the digital television 100 receives a channel selection (program viewing) instruction from the user via the operation unit 107, the digital TV 100 transmits the video data and audio data of the specified content of the specified channel to the content output unit 106. By outputting, the user can view the content of the channel.

  Furthermore, the digital television 100 has a content reproduction control unit 20 in the control unit 110 in order to realize the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention, that is, to reproduce high-quality content corresponding to the broadcast content. ing.

  Details of the control unit 110 and the recording unit 40 will be described below.

(Details of digital TV)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a content reproduction apparatus as a digital television 100 according to the present embodiment. Note that the reference numerals given to the respective constituent elements in FIG. 1 correspond to the reference numerals given to the respective constituent elements in FIG. 2, and the same reference numerals indicate the same constituent elements. Therefore, the description about the component mentioned above is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the digital television 100 includes an input / output control unit 10 and a content reproduction control unit 20 inside the control unit 110.

  The input / output control unit 10 of the control unit 110 includes components in the digital television 100 (the tuner unit 101, the external interface 105, the operation unit 107, the graphics generation unit 103, the image superimposing unit 104, the display unit 114, and the recording unit 40 described above. And the like, and includes a communication control unit 11, an operation reception unit 12, and a display control unit 13.

  The content reproduction control unit 20 performs processing for reproducing broadcast content or high-quality content corresponding to the broadcast content, and includes a channel selection unit 21, an EPG processing unit 22, an incomplete high-quality data acquisition unit 23, and content reproduction. The unit 24 is provided.

  The recording unit 40 from which the content reproduction control unit 20 reads and writes has an incomplete high quality data recording unit 41, an EPG recording unit 42, and a display buffer 43.

  The communication control unit 11 of the input / output control unit 10 controls communication with an external device. More specifically, for example, when acquiring broadcast content, the tuner unit 101 is controlled to acquire broadcast content or EPG data instructed by the channel selection unit 21. Further, when performing bidirectional communication with an external device via the Internet (transmission of a request signal for incomplete high quality data, acquisition of incomplete high quality data, etc.), the external interface 105 is controlled.

  The operation receiving unit 12 receives an instruction signal from a user input to the digital television 100 via the operation unit 107 and supplies the instruction signal to each unit of the content reproduction control unit 20. Examples of the contents of the instruction from the user include an instruction for selecting broadcast content and an instruction for viewing reservation / recording reservation.

  The display control unit 13 controls various signals (video signal, OSD image signal, etc.) for displaying information on the display unit 114. For example, when broadcasting content is displayed, content encoded by the MPEG2 encoding / compression method extracted as video data by the AV decoder 112 is decoded and supplied to the display unit 114 under the control of the display control unit 13. . At this time, the display control unit 13 extracts a signal constituting one screen from the decoded video signal and stores it in the display buffer 43. Then, when a signal constituting one screen is prepared in the display buffer 43, the display unit 114 is controlled to display an image. At this time, if there is an OSD image to be superimposed, the image superimposing unit 104 is controlled to store the OSD image signal for one screen in the display buffer 43 and also output to the display unit 114.

  The channel selection unit 21 of the content reproduction control unit 20 controls the tuner unit 101 via the communication control unit 11 and acquires various information (broadcast content, EPG data, etc.) transmitted from the broadcast station by broadcast waves. is there. More specifically, the channel selection unit 21 instructs the tuner unit 101 on the channel selected by the user. The tuner unit 101 extracts broadcast content corresponding to the channel selected by the channel selection unit 21.

  The EPG processing unit 22 analyzes and processes EPG data acquired by the channel selection unit 21, creates information about broadcast content (hereinafter referred to as content information) as a database, and stores it in the EPG recording unit 42. Content information for each broadcast content recorded in the EPG recording unit 42 is used for receiving viewing / recording reservations, managing / reproducing high-quality content, creating an electronic program guide, and the like.

  The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 acquires data (incomplete high quality data) that constitutes a part of high quality data necessary for reproducing high quality content.

  The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 acquires incomplete high quality data constituting a part of the high quality content from an external device such as the content providing server 200 (FIG. 2) via the Internet. More specifically, a request signal (request message) is transmitted to the content providing server 200 so as to distribute a part of data corresponding to the broadcast content specified by the user (incomplete high quality data), and the content providing server A part of the high quality data of the requested broadcast content is received from 200 and stored in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41.

  The content information of the EPG recording unit 42 is recorded for each broadcast content. Therefore, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 stores the acquired incomplete high quality data in association with the content information of the broadcast content corresponding to the incomplete high quality data.

  Thereby, for example, when the broadcast date and time information of the broadcast content is included in the content information, the content reproduction unit 24 can identify when the original broadcast content of the incomplete high quality data is broadcast. It becomes. Therefore, the content reproduction unit 24 can identify when the high-quality data generated based on the incomplete high-quality data can be synchronized with the broadcast content.

  The EPG recording unit 42 records the content information for each broadcast content extracted from the EPG data by the EPG processing unit 22 as a database. The format of content information in this embodiment is shown in FIG. The EPG processing unit 22 extracts each piece of information shown in FIG. 3A from the EPG data for each broadcast content, and records the information as content information in the EPG recording unit 42.

  In the “content ID” shown in FIG. 3A, identification information for uniquely specifying the broadcast content is recorded. In the “organization channel”, information for identifying an organization channel necessary for acquiring desired broadcast content is recorded. In “Title”, the title of the broadcast content is recorded. In “Content”, information about the content content such as an outline and a summary of the broadcast content is recorded. In the “broadcast start (end) date”, information specifying the broadcast start (end) date of the broadcast content is recorded.

  In the present embodiment, the content information items of the broadcast content are the above-described six items, but are not limited to the above. The content information can include any information relating to the content that can be extracted from the EPG data (genre information, information on whether or not the content is paid content, etc.).

  The incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 records the incomplete high quality data acquired by the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23. The format of the management information of incomplete high quality data in the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 records the acquired incomplete high quality data in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 as management information in association with the corresponding broadcast content information (for example, “content ID”). To do.

  In the “request status” shown in FIG. 3B, information indicating whether or not a request signal for requesting the content providing server 200 for the incomplete high quality data has been transmitted. In “Content ID”, a content ID for specifying the broadcast content corresponding to the incomplete high quality data is recorded. In “viewing reservation date / time”, information on the date / time at which incomplete high quality data is reproduced in synchronization with the main broadcast is recorded based on the broadcast start date / time information of the broadcast content. In “imperfect high-quality data”, a part of high-quality content data corresponding to the broadcast content is recorded. In “Size”, information indicating the storage capacity of the incomplete high quality data is recorded. Information indicating the progress of the storage of the incomplete high quality data is recorded in the “storage status”.

  Incomplete high-quality data has a great deal of information to ensure its quality and has a large capacity, so acquisition (downloading from the content providing server 200) may take time. Therefore, if information indicating how many percent of the incomplete high quality data has been downloaded is recorded, the digital television 100 can predict how long it will take to complete the download.

  Alternatively, in order to distribute the load caused by communication, it may be possible to divide a large amount of incomplete high quality data into several parts and distribute it. Also in this case, if progress information is managed, it is possible to easily predict how much download will be completed.

  In addition, an auxiliary storage device or recording medium for recording imperfect high quality data without securing an area for directly recording a large amount of imperfect high quality data as in the item “imperfect high quality data”. It is good also as a structure provided separately. In this case, an item of “management address” indicating an address where the incomplete high quality data is stored is provided, and the content reproduction unit 24 performs predetermined incomplete high quality data based on the information indicated by the “management address”. Is read.

  The recording medium for recording incomplete high quality data may be any recording medium that can record digital content, such as a DVD (Digital Video Disc) or a hard disk. For example, a disk-shaped recording medium such as a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory is preferably used. Further, it may be recorded on a recording medium provided in another device via a communication path such as a network.

  In addition to the above-described functions, the display control unit 13 generates high-quality data from the incomplete high-quality data acquired by the incomplete high-quality data acquisition unit 23 and the complementary data included in the broadcast data of the broadcast content. have.

  The content playback unit 24 uses the high quality data generated by the display control unit 13 to play back high quality content in synchronization with the broadcast of the corresponding broadcast content.

  According to the above configuration, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 is a content having the same content as the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave, and a part of the data of the high quality content having a higher quality than the broadcast content. Obtain and record in advance. Then, the content reproduction unit 24 reproduces the high quality data generated by the display control unit 13 based on the incomplete high quality data and the complementary data in synchronization with the broadcast content broadcast.

  Next, a method for reproducing high-quality content by reproducing incomplete high-quality data corresponding to the broadcast of the broadcast content will be described.

(High quality content playback method)
As a method of reproducing high-quality content in synchronization with the broadcast content, for example, using the “broadcast start time” included in the content information recorded in the EPG recording unit 42, the high-quality content is displayed at that time. The method of reproducing is mentioned. More specifically, the content reproducing unit 24 corresponds to each of the incomplete high quality data recorded in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 based on the content ID. Manage broadcast date and time information of the original broadcast content. This is the viewing reservation date / time information of the incomplete high quality data (FIG. 3B).

  When the current time reaches the time indicated by the viewing reservation date information, the content reproduction unit 24 converts the incomplete high quality data associated with the viewing reservation date information to the incomplete high quality data recording unit. The data is read from 41 and supplied to the display control unit 13. The display control unit 13 controls the display unit 114 to display high quality data generated from the broadcast content data (broadcast data) supplied from the TS decoder 111 and the AV decoder 112 and the incomplete high quality data. To do. Specifically, the display control unit 13 calculates a difference value (corresponding to complementary data) between the broadcast data and the incomplete high quality data, and combines (adds) the difference data with the incomplete high quality data. Thus, high quality data can be obtained.

  Thereby, the incomplete high quality data recorded in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 and the complementary data constituting a part of the main broadcast content are combined, so that the high quality data corresponding to the broadcast content is combined. And the high quality data can be reproduced in synchronization with the broadcast of the corresponding main broadcast content. As a result, the user can view high-quality content in the same way as viewing broadcast content.

  As described above, according to the above method, it is possible to reproduce high-quality content having the same content as the broadcast content instead of the broadcast content, and the user can obtain the broadcast content compressed in an irreversible manner. It is possible to provide the same content desired by the user with high quality.

  Further, since the high-quality content can be reproduced in accordance with the broadcast time of the broadcast content, the user does not need a complicated operation for viewing the high-quality content (normal viewing reservation operation) On the other hand, only by performing an operation of selecting high-quality content), it is possible to view high-quality content in the same manner as normal broadcast content viewing.

(Details of content playback processing)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the high-quality content playback process of the digital television 100 (FIG. 1). In this embodiment, the channel selection unit 21 (FIG. 1) stores content information from the EPG data in the EPG recording unit 42, and the user designates the content information using the operation unit 107. Suppose that viewing reservation of desired broadcast content is made to the digital television 100.

  When the operation receiving unit 12 receives a viewing reservation instruction from the user via the operation unit 107 (YES in S101), the operation receiving unit 12 determines whether or not the viewing reservation instruction includes an instruction to acquire high quality data. Determine (S102). When the operation reception unit 12 determines that the viewing reservation instruction is a viewing reservation instruction for normal broadcast content (NO in S102), the control unit 110 performs normal viewing reservation processing (S103). finish.

  On the other hand, when the operation reception unit 12 determines that an instruction to acquire high quality data is included (YES in S102), the viewing reservation instruction is supplied to the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23.

  Next, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 creates a request signal for requesting the content providing server 200 (FIG. 2) for incomplete high quality data based on the content ID included in the viewing reservation instruction. Are transmitted (S104). An example of this request signal is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, in the present embodiment, the request signal is information indicating user preset information (user information 5) and which broadcast content is requested for high quality data. (Content information 6). However, the format of the request signal is not limited to the format shown in FIG. 3C, and what information is included if it is clear who is requesting which content. Also good.

  Subsequently, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 receives the incomplete high quality data related to the requested high quality content from the content providing server 200 that has received the request signal as described above via the communication control unit 11. Then, it is stored in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 (S105). At this time, the incomplete high quality data is recorded in association with the content information of the corresponding broadcast content (that is, broadcast start date / time information). Thereby, the content reproduction unit 24 can manage viewing reservation date / time information of high-quality content generated from incomplete high-quality data.

  Next, when the content playback unit 24 detects that the current time has reached the viewing reservation date and time (YES in S106), it reads incomplete high quality data associated with the viewing reservation date and time information (S107).

  Then, the display control unit 13 reproduces the high quality content generated based on the incomplete high quality data and the broadcast content data (S108).

  According to the above method, when a reservation for viewing high-quality content is received from the user, a request signal for the high-quality content is created and transmitted to the content providing server 200. Thereby, incomplete high quality data can be acquired from the content providing server 200. Subsequently, the acquired incomplete high quality data is recorded in association with information on the broadcast start time of the corresponding broadcast content. When the broadcast start time of the corresponding broadcast content comes, the display unit 114 is read by reading out the incomplete high quality data stored in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 and superimposing the data on the broadcast content. Outputs a video of high-quality content.

  As a result, it is possible to reproduce high-quality content with the same content as the broadcast content instead of the broadcast content, and the content of the same content desired by the user for the compressed broadcast content can be reproduced with high quality. It can be provided as it is.

  Furthermore, since the high-quality content is reproduced in accordance with the broadcast time of the broadcast content, the user does not need a complicated operation for viewing the high-quality content (normal viewing reservation operation). On the other hand, only by performing an operation of selecting high-quality content), it is possible to view high-quality content in the same manner as normal broadcast content viewing.

[Embodiment 2]
In addition to the configuration of the digital television 100 of the first embodiment described above, the digital television 100 as the content playback device of the present embodiment includes a content acquisition control unit 25 and a content management unit 26. Hereinafter, the digital TV 100 according to the second embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the digital TV 100 according to the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, the user 3 operates the operation screen displayed on the display unit 114 (FIG. 2) of the digital television 100 via the operation unit 107, so that viewing reservation and recording of desired broadcast content are performed. A description will be given by taking the digital television 100 in the form of instructing the reservation to the digital television 100 as an example. With this digital television, it is possible to select whether to view (record) the broadcast content as it is (as usual) or to view (record) with high-quality content. Viewing (recording) reservation means that the user designates broadcast content desired to be viewed (recorded) using the EPG. Thereby, the digital television 100 automatically reproduces (records) the designated broadcast content at the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content. When high quality content is selected, the high quality content corresponding to the broadcast content is reproduced (recorded, that is, acquired and recorded).

  The above-described operation screen displayed on the display unit 114 and the viewing (recording) reservation method using the operation screen will be described in detail in “High Quality Content Distribution System” of the third embodiment.

(Details of digital TV 2)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a content playback apparatus as the digital television 100 according to the present embodiment. Note that the reference numerals given to the respective constituent elements in FIG. 5 correspond to the reference numerals given to the respective constituent elements in FIG. 1, and the same reference numerals indicate the same constituent elements. Therefore, the description about the component mentioned above is abbreviate | omitted.

  The digital television 100 shown in FIG. 5 differs from FIG. 1 in that the content reproduction control unit 20 further includes a content acquisition control unit 25 and a content management unit 26.

  The content acquisition control unit 25 receives part of the high quality data (incomplete high quality data) when the operation reception unit 12 receives a viewing (recording) reservation instruction from the user and high quality content is selected. The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 is controlled to acquire.

  As described above, the incomplete high quality data is reproduced in synchronization with the corresponding broadcast content, so it must be acquired in time for the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content reserved for viewing. Therefore, the content acquisition control unit 25 controls the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 so that acquisition of incomplete high quality data is completed before the broadcast start date and time. As a result, the incomplete high-quality data acquisition unit 23 acquires the incomplete high-quality data by the broadcast start date and time, even when acquiring from the content providing server 200 in a batch or when acquiring in small increments. Can do.

  As described above, incomplete high quality data is, for example, data corresponding to 95% when the data capacity of high quality data is 100%, and data corresponding to the remaining 5% is: This is data that complements the high quality data that is necessary to generate the high quality data. The ratio between the incomplete high quality data and the complementary data is not particularly limited, but in order to obtain a higher quality image, it is necessary to acquire as many incomplete high quality data as possible. preferable.

  The content acquisition control unit 25 can estimate the time taken to acquire (download; DL) the incomplete high quality data after receiving an instruction to acquire incomplete high quality data from the user. If for some reason (such as a lack of communication line or DL instruction time is just before the start of broadcasting), it becomes clear that incomplete high quality data cannot be DL in time for the broadcast start date and time, the first method is The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 can be controlled so that the high quality data is not acquired. Then, the user may be notified that the designated high quality data has not been acquired (is not possible). Thereby, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 can be controlled so as not to unnecessarily DL in response to a request that cannot provide a service. In addition, the user can recognize this.

  Further, when it is determined that the incomplete high quality data cannot be DL in time for the broadcast start date and time, the content acquisition control unit 25 changes the ratio between the incomplete high quality data and the complementary data as a second method. It is good also as a structure. Specifically, the content acquisition control unit 25 does not set a predetermined ratio (for example, incomplete high quality data: complementary data = 95: 5) within the acquisition processing time (= broadcast start date / time−acquisition start date / time). When it is determined that complete high quality data cannot be acquired, that is, when the time required for DL (required time) exceeds the acquisition processing time, the above ratio is set to, for example, incomplete high quality data: complementary data = 80: 20. Change to The acquisition start date / time refers to the date / time (acceptance time) when the operation accepting unit 12 accepts a viewing (recording) reservation instruction from the user. According to this configuration, when a large amount of acquisition processing time can be secured, incomplete high quality data (95%) corresponding to a desired ratio is acquired. Acquire incomplete high quality data (80%) according to the ratio.

  As described above, when the incomplete high quality data cannot be acquired at the predetermined ratio (95%), the content acquisition control unit 25 sets the ratio between the incomplete high quality data and the complementary data according to the acquisition processing time. Change and determine the data capacity of incomplete high quality data. Then, the content acquisition control unit 25 controls the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 so as to acquire incomplete high quality data having the determined data capacity.

  The incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 provides incomplete high quality data based on the content ID included in the viewing reservation instruction (viewing reservation instruction) that the operation receiving unit 12 receives from the user via the operation unit 107. A request signal for requesting the server 200 (FIG. 2) is created and transmitted. An example of this request signal is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the request signal of the present embodiment includes preset user-specific information (user information 5) and information indicating which broadcast content high-quality data is requested ( Content information 6), and the content information 6 includes data capacity information determined by the content acquisition control unit 25.

  Thereby, even when complete high-quality data cannot be obtained, it is possible to obtain high-quality content as compared with broadcast content.

  The content acquisition control unit 25 preferably takes into account the communication state (communication line load, communication speed, communication cost, etc.) between the content providing server 200 and the digital television 100 when calculating the acquisition processing time. . With this configuration, for example, when the load on the communication line between the two is large, the data capacity of incomplete high-quality data is reduced from 80% to 70%, so that the data capacity that can be acquired is reduced, but broadcasting starts. Incomplete high quality data can be acquired reliably before. In addition, when sufficient acquisition processing time sufficient to acquire desired incomplete high-quality data (95%) can be ensured, the content acquisition control unit 25 sets the acquisition start date and time to a time zone in which communication costs can be kept low. Incomplete high quality data can also be acquired in a batch or divided.

  As described above, according to the content acquisition control unit 25 of the present embodiment, the data capacity of the high-quality data to be acquired can be changed according to the communication state. Can be played.

  Here, when the recording reservation is accepted, the content acquisition control unit 25 controls the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23, and acquires the incomplete high quality data acquired in advance and the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave. High quality data generated based on the data is recorded in the recording unit 40. The incomplete high quality data may be subjected to a predetermined process so that it cannot be illegally used. More specifically, for example, if the incomplete high-quality data is encrypted and there is no key distributed only to legitimate users who use the incomplete high-quality data, the encrypted incomplete high-quality data It is conceivable that high quality data composed of quality data and complementary data cannot be decoded. Alternatively, the number of times of use (playback or correction) of high-quality data is determined in advance, the data can be reproduced only by legitimate hardware (digital TV 100) of a legitimate user registered in advance, The thing which performed the prevention process is also mentioned.

  The content management unit 26 manages the incomplete high quality data acquired by the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 recorded in the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41. For example, in order to secure the storage capacity of the storage unit 40, it is conceivable to delete from the incomplete high quality data recording unit 41 incomplete high quality data that has been reproduced in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content and has been reproduced. .

  Note that the timing at which the content management unit 26 deletes the incomplete high quality data may be triggered by the end of reproduction of the incomplete high quality data, or the broadcast content corresponding to the incomplete high quality data may be broadcast. Based on the end date / time information, the trigger may be that the current time has reached the broadcast end date / time.

  Furthermore, from the viewpoint of copyright enhancement, it is preferable to implement a system in which the content provider side (service provider 2, broadcast station 300) can control deletion of incomplete high quality data.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to reproduce the corresponding high-quality content only while the original broadcast content is being broadcast. Thereby, there are the following merits for the content provider side (service provider 2 and broadcasting station 300).

  It is possible to avoid service bias (such as unfairness that only a specific person can watch content with a fixed broadcast time early) that occurs with general viewers and other users Become. That is, it is possible to construct a high-quality content distribution system that provides high-quality content with only the high quality of content as an added value.

  Furthermore, it is possible to prevent unauthorized use of high-quality content, such as high-quality content being viewed by a person other than a legitimate user, or being viewed inappropriately (many times) outside of the main broadcast time. Therefore, management of copyright protection becomes easy.

  In addition, if the user wishes to view or record even if the user pays a fee by using high quality data, the distribution side (system) can manage user information and viewing (billing) information, so that the number of viewing times and viewing period can be limited. This makes it easier to develop a wide variety of viewing environment businesses.

(Details of content acquisition control unit)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing details of the content acquisition control unit 25. The content acquisition control unit 25 includes a time acquisition unit 31, an acquisition time calculation unit 32, an acquisition instruction unit 33, and an acquisition data capacity determination unit 34 therein.

  The time acquisition unit 31 acquires a time (acceptance time) when the operation reception unit 12 receives a viewing (recording) reservation from the user. The acquisition time calculation unit 32 estimates and calculates the time (required time) required by the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 for DL of incomplete high quality data having a predetermined data capacity (for example, 95%). . For example, the DL required time is calculated using the status of the communication line between the digital television 100 and the content providing server 200 (for example, transmission band status information).

  When the required time calculated by the acquisition time calculation unit 32 exceeds the acquisition processing time (= broadcast start time−reception time), the acquisition data capacity determination unit 34 sets the ratio between the incomplete high quality data and the complementary data. change. For example, the acquisition data capacity of incomplete high quality data is set to be smaller than a predetermined data capacity.

  The acquisition instructing unit 33 executes DL of incomplete high quality data with a predetermined amount or a changed data capacity to the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 based on the data capacity determined by the acquisition data capacity determination unit 34. It is an instruction.

  The acquisition instructing unit 33 determines the desired high quality when the data volume determined by the acquired data volume determination unit 34 is very small, for example, when the reception time is just before the broadcast content broadcast starts. It becomes difficult to view the content. Therefore, in such a case, the acquisition instruction unit 33 may not send a DL execution instruction to the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23. At this time, it is preferable to notify the user that the desired incomplete high-quality data is not DL. Thereby, the user can recognize that the high-quality content is not in time for the broadcast date and time.

[Embodiment 3]
In the above-described embodiments, the digital television 100 that reproduces high-quality content corresponding to broadcast content has been described. According to the digital television 100 of the present invention, for example, a high-quality data provider (service provider) provides high-quality data for the digital television 100 to play back high-quality content, and the price of the digital television 100 is It is possible to realize a high-quality content distribution system that receives from a user.

(High quality content distribution system)
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a high-quality content distribution system according to the present embodiment. The high-quality content distribution system 1 according to the present invention provides a terrestrial digital broadcast service and transmits the broadcast content to the digital television (client terminal device) 100 of each user 3. The digital television 100 of the user 3 that receives the broadcast content and reproduces the high-quality content in synchronization with the broadcast content, and one of the high-quality data of the desired content of the user 3 according to the request of the digital television 100 Content provider server 200 of service provider 2 that provides the service section.

  The broadcast content supply apparatus 301 compresses the produced broadcast content by the MPEG2 encoding compression method, converts it into broadcast stream data, transmits the broadcast wave on the digital television 100 (broadcast content C1). The digital television 100 selects a channel corresponding to the broadcast content, receives the broadcast content on the broadcast wave, displays video, and outputs audio. Thereby, the user 3 can view the broadcast content provided by the broadcast station 300.

  The content providing server 200 receives provision of high quality data from the broadcast content supply device 301 of the broadcast station 300 that is a broadcast content supply source (high quality data C2).

  The user 3 uses the digital television 100 communicable with the content providing server 200 to specify broadcast content to be viewed with high quality from the electronic program guide (EPG) acquired in advance, and information on the specified broadcast content is the content. To the providing server 200. For example, a high-quality content viewing reservation can be made in the same way as a normal viewing reservation. At this time, information (ID) for specifying the content and broadcast date / time information may be transmitted to the content providing server 200 of the service provider 2 as reservation information for high-quality content (reservation information D1). The reservation information D1 received by the content providing server 200 includes high-quality data size information (data capacity information) suitable for the communication state with the digital television 100.

  The content providing server 200 transfers a part of the high quality data (incomplete high quality data) corresponding to the broadcast content specified by the “data capacity” included in the reservation information D1 to the digital television 100 of the user 3, for example. And distributed using the Internet (incomplete high quality data C2 ′). The incomplete high-quality data distribution method can be considered to send all necessary incomplete high-quality data at once, or to divide and send little by little in consideration of the burden on the communication line. In any case, the delivery is controlled to be completed at the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content corresponding to the incomplete high quality data.

  When the digital television 100 reproduces high-quality content (or finishes reproduction) using the incomplete high-quality data C2 ′ and the complementary data C1 ′ included in the broadcast content C1 in synchronization with the start of the main broadcast. The digital television 100 transmits viewing information indicating that the user 3 has viewed high-quality content to the content providing server 200 of the service provider 2 (viewing information D2).

  The viewing information D2 serves as a receipt for certifying receipt of a product (in the present embodiment, incomplete high quality data). Upon receiving the viewing information D2, the content providing server 200 performs a billing process based on the content of the viewing information D2, and pays the billing destination (user 3) as a price for the viewed incomplete high quality data C2 ′. A viewing fee is charged and received (viewing fee F1).

  The content providing server 200 pays the usage fee to the broadcasting station 300 according to the viewing information D2 (that is, according to the usage fee for incomplete high quality data) (usage fee F2). Then, an agency fee is collected from the broadcasting station 300 (an agency fee F3).

  The personal information used for the user's billing process may be a card ID that has a one-to-one correspondence between the card information and the user's personal information, such as an existing B-CAS card. Alternatively, the service provider 2 manages the serial number assigned to the digital television 100 so that the digital television 100 and the user 3 have a one-to-one correspondence with the personal information of the user. Also good. However, in order for the service provider 2 to provide the service and perform billing processing, the user is registered in advance as a high-quality content user, and the service provider 2 grasps the personal information of the user 3 and the information of the digital TV 100 as the providing destination. There is a need to.

  According to the high-quality content distribution system 1 described above, the user 3 obtains a part of desired high-quality data from the content providing server 200 by paying a viewing fee to the content providing server 200. High quality content can be viewed.

  Therefore, it is possible to construct a high-quality content distribution system 1 that provides digital content for viewing by a user with high quality for compressed digital content transmitted by broadcast waves.

  Further, in the high-quality content distribution system 1, the service provider 2 uses the high-quality data provided from the broadcast station 300, obtains an agency fee F3 from the broadcast station 300, and provides a high-quality content viewing service as a business to the user. It becomes possible to provide. On the other hand, for the broadcasting station 300, it is possible to provide data (high quality content) before compression that has been reduced without being provided to the user by the normal compression technique as it is. As a result, it is possible to effectively use the information resources generated by the production and obtain a profit as a usage fee from the content providing server 200.

(Configuration of broadcasting content supply device)
Here, the transmission of the broadcast content C1 to the digital television 100 and the supply of the high quality data C2 to the content providing server 200 are performed by the broadcast content supply device 301 belonging to the broadcast station 300. Hereinafter, the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 7B is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the broadcast content supply apparatus 301. As shown in FIG. 7B, the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 includes a control unit 310 that performs overall control of the broadcast content supply apparatus 301, and a recording unit that records various information used when the control unit 310 executes various processes. 320. The control unit 310 includes a high quality data transmission unit 311, a broadcast content transmission unit 312, and a broadcast content creation unit 313 inside. The recording unit 320 includes a high quality data recording unit 321 and a broadcast content recording unit 322.

  The high quality data transmission unit 311 supplies high quality data to the content providing server 200. The broadcast content transmission unit 312 transmits broadcast content on a broadcast wave.

  The broadcast content creation unit 313 creates broadcast content suitable for transmission by applying lossy compression encoding processing such as MPEG2 to the broadcast content. Note that the data before the lossy compression encoding process is high-quality content having high-quality video (audio) data in which any information is not reduced, and the data after the lossy compression encoding process is Broadcast content suitable for transmission by broadcast waves (but information is reduced for that purpose). The data before the lossy compression encoding process (high quality data) is provided to the content providing server 200, and the data after the lossy compression encoding process is transmitted to the digital television 100 by broadcast waves.

(Content providing server configuration)
Next, the content providing server 200 that supplies a part of the high quality data (incomplete high quality data) to the digital television 100 and executes the charging process will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the content providing server 200 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the content providing server 200 includes a communication interface 30 for communicating with an external device, a control unit 60 that performs overall control of the content providing server 200, and when the control unit 60 executes various processes. The recording section 50 is provided for recording various data to be read / written.

  The recording unit 50 includes a high quality data recording unit 51, an EPG recording unit 52, a reservation information recording unit 53, and a billing information recording unit 54.

  The high quality data recording unit 51 records the high quality data C2 obtained from the broadcast station 300 (FIG. 7A) for each broadcast content. Note that the format of the management information of the high quality data in this embodiment is almost the same as that in FIG. The difference is that instead of the items “request status” and “storage status”, an item “broadcast station ID” indicating from which broadcast station 300 the high-quality data is acquired is included. Moreover, you may include the item of "acquisition date" which shows when it acquired.

  The EPG recording unit 52 records content information for each broadcast content extracted from EPG data in a database. Note that the format of content information in this embodiment is the same as the format shown in FIG.

  The reservation information recording unit 53 records the reservation information D1 (FIG. 7A) received from the digital television 100 for each user and each content. Based on each piece of reservation information recorded in the reservation information recording unit 53, incomplete high quality data is distributed to the user at an appropriate timing. Details of the format of the reservation information will be described later.

  The billing information recording unit 54 records the viewing information D2 (FIG. 7A) received from the digital television 100 for each user and each content. Based on each piece of viewing information recorded in the billing information recording unit 54, billing processing for the used high quality data is executed, and the viewing fee is collected appropriately. Details of the format of the viewing information will be described later.

  The reservation receiving unit 61 receives the reservation information D1 (FIG. 7A) from the digital television 100 and manages each reservation information recorded in the reservation information recording unit 53. More specifically, the reservation information received from the digital television 100 (FIG. 3C) is received, and the reservation information is stored for each user and for each content.

  FIG. 9A shows a format of reservation information recorded for each content for each user in the present embodiment. In “Reservation No” shown in FIG. 9A, identification information for uniquely managing the reservation information is recorded. Information recorded in the “user ID”, “content ID”, and “broadcast start date / time” corresponds to the information of the same item name shown in FIG. Since the “content ID” corresponds to the “content ID” recorded in the EPG recording unit 52, the content providing server 200 uses the same EPG data that the digital television 100 refers to to broadcast content. It is possible to identify and refer to other content information associated with the broadcast content.

  “Viewing fee” indicates the price of the high-quality data corresponding to the broadcast content having the content ID, and the viewing fee charged to the user after the high-quality data is used by the user. The amount information is recorded. The “supply status” records information indicating the progress of supply of the requested high quality data.

  The “acquired data capacity” indicates an acquirable data capacity determined by the content acquisition control unit 25 of the digital television 100 out of the entire high-quality data capacity corresponding to the broadcast content.

  The incomplete high quality data generation unit 62 reads out appropriate high quality data recorded in the high quality data recording unit 51 based on the reservation information recorded in the reservation information recording unit 53, and acquires “acquisition” included in the reservation information. Generate incomplete high quality data according to "data capacity". For example, when the acquired data capacity included in the reservation information is 95%, data corresponding to 95% of the high quality data recorded in the high quality data recording unit 51 is generated, and the acquired data included in the reservation information When the capacity is 80%, data corresponding to 80% of the high quality data recorded in the high quality data recording unit 51 is generated.

  The incomplete high quality data transmission unit 64 transmits the incomplete high quality data generated by the incomplete high quality data generation unit 62 at an appropriate timing. The appropriate timing is a timing at which the completion of transmission of incomplete high quality data comes before the broadcast start time of the original broadcast content. That is, the incomplete high quality data transmission unit 64 starts the distribution of the incomplete high quality data based on the capacity of the incomplete high quality data to be transmitted and the required delivery time estimated from the degree of congestion of the communication line. Determine timing. The incomplete high quality data transmission unit 64 should transmit when it determines that the supply completion time of the supplied incomplete high quality data is not in time for the broadcast start date and time of the corresponding broadcast content. The incomplete high-quality data may be transmitted with a reduced data capacity, or the distribution may be canceled and a message to that effect may be transmitted to the digital television 100 of the supply destination.

  The billing processing unit 63 receives viewing information (usage notification message) for notifying that high-quality data has been used from the digital television 100 and performs billing processing. More specifically, the billing information shown in FIG. 9B is generated based on the viewing information, and each billing information is stored in the billing information recording unit 54 for each user and for each content.

  FIG. 9B shows the format of billing information recorded for each content for each user in this embodiment. In “Billing No” shown in FIG. 9B, identification information for uniquely managing the billing information (viewing information) is recorded. Information recorded in “user ID”, “content ID”, “data capacity”, and “viewing fee” corresponds to the information of the same item name shown in FIG. “Broadcasting station ID” records information that identifies the provider of the high-quality content that is used (included in the viewing information), that is, the payee payee for the service provider 2. “Usage fee” records information on the amount of usage fee that the service provider 2 should pay to the broadcasting station 300. If the agency fee is determined in advance, an item of “agent fee” may be added and information on the amount of agency fee collected from the broadcast station 300 may be recorded.

  “Settlement status” records information indicating the progress of the billing process. For example, “Billed” (viewing fee to the user), “Retrieving viewing fee”, “(Paid usage fee to the broadcasting station)”, or “(Receiving agency fee) (from broadcasting station)” Information.

  According to the above configuration, the reservation receiving unit 61 of the content providing server 200 receives a request for high quality data from the digital television 100 of the user 3 and manages reservation information. Based on the reservation information, the incomplete high quality data transmission unit 64 delivers a part of the requested high quality data (incomplete high quality data) to the digital television 100 at an appropriate timing. When the incomplete high quality data is used in the digital television 100, the billing processing unit 63 receives viewing information from the digital television 100, manages the billing information, and pays for the used incomplete high quality data. Billing / collection will be conducted appropriately. Note that the system may be charged according to the acquired data capacity.

  Accordingly, the user 3 obtains a part of desired high quality data from the content providing server 200 by paying the viewing fee to the content providing server 200, and the acquired incomplete high quality data and broadcast data of the broadcast content are acquired. Based on the above, high-quality content can be viewed on the digital TV 100.

  Therefore, it is possible to construct a high-quality content distribution system 1 that provides digital content for viewing by a user with high quality for compressed digital content transmitted by broadcast waves.

  Furthermore, in the high-quality content distribution system 1, the service provider 2 uses the high-quality data provided from the broadcast station 300, obtains an agency fee F3 from the broadcast station 300, and provides the user with a high-quality content viewing service as a business. It becomes possible to provide. On the other hand, for the broadcast station 300, it is possible to provide uncompressed data (high quality content) that has been reduced without being provided to the user by the normal compression technique. As a result, it is possible to effectively use the information resources generated by the production and obtain a profit as a usage fee from the content providing server 200.

  Also, the high-quality data to be provided is not a full amount of data corresponding to one broadcast content, but a part of data that cannot be viewed by itself. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the high-quality data corresponding to the broadcast content from being viewed or used before the broadcast content is broadcast, so that the copyright of the broadcast content can be protected.

  In the present embodiment, the high-quality content distribution system 1 is described in which the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 as a high-quality data supply source and the content providing server 200 that provides high-quality data to the user 3 are separately configured. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  When the service provider 2 also serves as the broadcasting station 300 (or when the broadcasting station 300 also serves as the service provider 2), the broadcast content is transmitted and a part of the high quality data corresponding to the request is transmitted. Can be provided directly to the user 3. That is, the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 may be configured to include each unit of the content providing server 200 of the present invention (the content providing server 200 includes each unit of the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 of the present invention).

(Configuration of operation screen)
Next, an operation screen for viewing (recording) reservation displayed on the display unit 114 (FIG. 2) of the digital television 100 will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, as an example, (1) an operation screen for making a viewing reservation and (2) an operation screen for canceling the viewing reservation after the viewing reservation will be described. However, the following description does not limit the operation on the operation screen realized in the digital television 100 according to the present invention to viewing reservation.

(Operation screen example 1-Viewing (recording) reservation)
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen displayed when viewing (recording) is reserved and its transition, which are displayed on the display unit 114 (FIG. 2) of the digital television 100 in the high-quality content distribution system 1. Each operation screen (operation screens 14a to 14e) illustrated in FIG. 10 is generated as OSD information by the graphics generation unit 103 and displayed on the display unit 114 by the display control unit 13.

  The operation screen 14a is an operation screen displayed when an instruction to display an electronic program guide (EPG) for viewing (recording) reservation is input by the user via the operation unit 107 of the digital television 100. . In the EPG displayed on the operation screen 14a, the horizontal axis represents the broadcast time information 141, and the vertical axis represents the channel number information 142. The square representing the program (broadcast content) displayed in the program display field 143 has its vertical display position determined according to the channel, and the horizontal length of the square is determined according to the broadcast time zone. . In the present embodiment, when the user selects this square using the operation unit 107, an instruction for viewing (recording) reservation for a program (broadcast content) recorded in the square is input.

  Outside the EPG display area on the operation screen 14a, a program information button for displaying detailed program information, a genre search button for searching for a desired program by genre, and confirmation of viewing (recording) reservation status are displayed. A reservation list button 144 for performing operations, an explanation of operation buttons for performing screen switching, etc. using keys provided on the operation unit 107 may be displayed.

  When a mass (broadcast content) is selected by the user via the operation unit 107, an operation screen 14b for selecting a program reservation method is displayed next. A program reservation method selection menu 145 is displayed, and “viewing reservation button”, “recording reservation button”, and “non-reservation button” are displayed as reservation method options. In addition, program information such as performers of the program may be displayed outside the display area of the selection menu 145 on the operation screen 14b.

  When the “no reservation button” is selected, the operation screen 14a is displayed again. On the other hand, when the “view (recording) reservation button” is selected, an operation screen 14c for designating the type of the selected reserved program (normal content (broadcast content) or high-quality content) is displayed. Is done.

  On the operation screen 14c, a selection menu 146 for selecting the type of the reserved program is displayed, and “high quality button”, “normal button”, and “return button” are displayed as selection types. When the “return button” is selected, the operation screen 14b is displayed again. When the “normal button” is selected, normal program viewing (recording) reservation processing that is not charged is executed.

  When the “high quality button” is selected, an operation screen 14d for notifying detailed information related to a reserved program such as billing information is displayed next.

  Detailed information 147 regarding the reserved program is displayed on the operation screen 14d. The detailed information 147 includes, for example, video / audio format information, presence / absence of subtitles, information on whether there is accompanying data, content data capacity, information on whether recording is possible, and the reservation Fee information for high-quality content corresponding to the program is displayed. In addition, a “cancel button” for canceling the operation for selecting the high quality content and a reservation button 148 for confirming the selection of the high quality content are displayed.

  When the “cancel button” is selected, the selection of the high-quality content is canceled and the operation screen 14c is displayed again.

  When the reservation button 148 is selected, an operation screen 14e is displayed as a viewing (recording) reservation result confirmation screen for high-quality content. When the reservation button 148 is selected, a request signal (FIG. 3C) for requesting high-quality content is transmitted through the network to the content providing server 200 of the service provider 2 (FIG. 7A). . The request signal includes user information 5 for billing processing.

  A confirmation menu 149 for reserved high-quality content is displayed on the operation screen 14e. Here, the viewing fee information may be displayed again. When the “return button” is selected, the operation screen 14d is displayed again.

(Operation screen example 2-Confirmation / cancellation of reservation)
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen at the time of reservation confirmation / cancellation displayed on the display unit 114 (FIG. 2) of the digital television 100 in the high-quality content distribution system 1 and its transition. Each operation screen (operation screens 15 a to 14 d) illustrated in FIG. 11 is generated as OSD information by the graphics generation unit 103 and displayed on the display unit 114 by the display control unit 13.

  The operation screen 15a is an operation screen for displaying a reservation list for confirming the reservation status displayed when the reservation list button 144 displayed on the operation screen 14a is selected. In the reservation list on the operation screen 15a, the broadcast time, channel, and program name are displayed for each reserved program. In addition, for each reserved program, a viewing flag indicating whether or not the reserved program has been viewed may be displayed.

  Here, when information 151 of a reserved program listed in the reserved list is selected, an operation screen 15b for displaying more detailed reserved program information of the reserved program is displayed next. As the detailed information 152 of the reserved program information, for example, in addition to the detailed information 147 on the operation screen 14d, type information indicating whether the reserved content is normal content (broadcast content) or high-quality content is displayed. Further, a cancel button 153, a “change button”, and a “do not change button” are displayed as operation options that can be executed for the selected reserved program.

  When the “button not to change” is selected, the operation screen 15a is displayed again. When the “change button” is selected, the operation screen 14c is displayed again, and the type of the reserved program can be selected again.

  When the cancel button 153 is selected, an operation screen 15c for canceling the reserved program is displayed. On the operation screen 15 c, “cancel” “do button” and “do not button” are displayed as options for the cancel operation. When the “no button” is selected, the operation screen 15b is displayed again.

  On the other hand, when the “Yes button” is selected, the operation screen 15d for displaying the result of the reserved program cancellation processing is displayed next. On the operation screen 15d, a message notifying that the reserved program has been canceled is displayed. In addition, when the “return button” is displayed and selected, the operation screen 14a may be displayed again. As described above, the reservation program canceling operation can be ended.

  As described above, a user operation for viewing (recording) reservation for high-quality content can be made common with an operation for instructing reservation of broadcast content that is normally broadcast. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform another complicated operation in order to view high-quality content, and it is possible to reduce the user's trouble.

  Also, in the digital television 100, since many of the high-quality content designation processes can be made common with the broadcast content designation process to be broadcast, many of the members for processing each can be made common, and the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention The configuration of the digital TV 100 can be simplified.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Finally, each block of the digital television 100, the content providing server 200, and the broadcast content supply apparatus 301, in particular, the incomplete high quality data acquisition unit 23 and the content acquisition control unit 25 may be configured by hardware logic. Alternatively, it may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  In other words, the digital television 100, the content providing server 200, and the broadcast content supply apparatus 301 are configured such that a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, and a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program. A RAM (random access memory) for expanding 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 to provide program codes (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of control programs for the digital television 100, the content providing server 200, and the broadcast content supply apparatus 301, which are software for realizing the functions described above. ) Is readable by a computer and supplied to the digital television 100, the content providing server 200, and the broadcast content supply device 301, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) is recorded on the recording medium. This can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  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 digital television 100, the content providing server 200, and the broadcast content supply device 301 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.

  According to the high-quality content distribution system of the present invention, it is possible to reproduce high-quality content corresponding to broadcast content deteriorated by a compression technique on the receiving side. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to various high-quality content distribution systems that provide video data, audio data, image data, and the like that have been deteriorated by the lossy compression encoding method while maintaining high quality. In addition, by setting a service provider, high-quality data can be smoothly exchanged between a broadcast station that is a broadcast content supplier and a user who has a content playback device to provide high-quality content. It is possible to build a high-quality content distribution system that provides profit as a service. Furthermore, since high-quality content provided to users before the start of broadcasting of broadcast content is a part of data that cannot be viewed by itself, the high-quality content is copyrighted without being illegally used. Protection can be achieved. Therefore, a content playback apparatus for playing back high-quality content is a variety of audiovisual equipment that can acquire the broadcast content and the high-quality data necessary for playing back the high-quality content, such as a digital TV and a mobile phone with a TV tuner. It can be applied to telephone, radio, etc.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the content reproduction apparatus as a digital television which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the content reproduction apparatus as a digital television which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the example of the format of the content information recorded on an EPG recording part, (b) shows the example of the format of the management information of the high quality content recorded on a high quality content recording part (C) is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of a request signal when the high-quality content acquisition unit requests a high-quality content from the content providing server. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the high quality content reproduction process of the digital television which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the content reproduction apparatus as a digital television concerning other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the content acquisition control part shown in FIG. (A) is a figure which shows schematic structure of the high quality content delivery system which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (b) is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the broadcast content supply apparatus shown to (a). . It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the content provision server which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the example of the format of the reservation information recorded on a reservation information recording part for every content for every user, (b) is the charge information recording part recorded for every content for every user. It is a figure which shows the example of a format. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation screen at the time of viewing (recording) reservation displayed on the digital television in a high quality content delivery system. It is a figure which shows the example of the operation screen at the time of the reservation confirmation / cancellation displayed on the digital television in a high quality content delivery system. It is a figure which shows the outline of the conventional content compression process.

Explanation of symbols

1 High-quality content distribution system (content distribution system)
2 Service provider 3 User 10 Input / output control unit 11 Communication control unit 12 Operation receiving unit (operation receiving means)
13 Display controller (high quality data generation means)
20 Content playback control unit 21 Channel selection unit (information acquisition means)
22 EPG processing unit 23 Incomplete high quality data acquisition unit (data acquisition means)
24 content playback unit (content playback means)
25 Content acquisition control unit 26 Content management unit (content management means)
30 Communication Interface 31 Time Acquisition Unit (Time Acquisition Unit)
32 Acquisition time calculation unit (acquisition time calculation means)
33 Acquisition instruction section (acquisition control means)
34 Acquired data capacity determining unit (acquired data capacity determining means)
40 Recording unit 41 Incomplete high quality data recording unit (data recording unit)
42 EPG recording unit 43 display buffer 50 recording unit 51 high quality data recording unit 52 EPG recording unit 53 reservation information recording unit 54 charging information recording unit 60 control unit 61 reservation receiving unit (reservation receiving means)
62 Incomplete high quality data generator (data generator)
63 Charge processing unit 64 Incomplete high quality data transmission unit (data transmission means)
100 Digital TV (content playback device, client terminal device)
101 Tuner section (broadcast receiving section)
103 graphics generation unit 104 image superimposition unit 105 external interface 106 content output unit 107 operation unit 107a first operation unit 107b second operation unit 110 control unit 111 TS decoder (broadcast image receiving unit)
112 AV decoder (broadcast receiver)
113 Speaker 114 Display Unit 200 Content Providing Server 300 Broadcasting Station, Content Providing Server 301 Broadcast Content Supply Device 310 Control Unit 311 High Quality Data Transmitting Unit 312 Broadcast Content Transmitting Unit (Broadcast Data Transmitting Unit)
313 Broadcast content creation unit 314 Correction information creation unit 320 Recording unit 321 High quality content recording unit 322 Broadcast content recording unit 323 Correction information recording unit

Claims (14)

High quality formed by combining first data and second data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content Of the data, data acquisition means for acquiring the first data in advance;
Based on the first data acquired by the data acquisition means and the second data included in the broadcast data that is the data of the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave, the high quality data is generated. Quality data generation means;
A content reproduction apparatus comprising: content reproduction means for reproducing the high-quality content in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content based on the high-quality data generated by the high-quality data generation means.   The high quality data generation means calculates a difference value between the first data and the broadcast data as the second data, and combines the calculated second data and the first data. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the high quality data is generated.   The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a data capacity of the first data is larger than a data capacity of the second data. It further comprises information acquisition means for acquiring content information related to the broadcast content,
The data acquisition unit records the acquired first data in a data recording unit in association with content information regarding broadcast content corresponding to the high quality data acquired by the information acquisition unit. Item 4. The content playback device according to any one of Items 1 to 3. The content information includes broadcast start date and time information of the broadcast content,
5. The content playback means starts playback of the high-quality content based on the first data associated with the broadcast start date / time information at the broadcast start date / time of the broadcast content. The content reproduction apparatus described in 1. An operation receiving means for receiving designation of broadcast content that the user desires to view or record;
6. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data acquisition unit acquires the first data corresponding to the designated broadcast content received by the operation reception unit. . Time acquisition means for acquiring the reception time received by the operation reception means;
Based on the reception time acquired by the time acquisition means and the broadcast start date / time of the broadcast content, the acquisition of the first data by the data acquisition means is completed before the broadcast start date / time of the broadcast content, 7. The content reproducing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an acquired data capacity determining unit that determines a data capacity of the first data to be acquired. High quality formed by combining first data and second data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content Reservation receiving means for receiving a request message for requesting the first data from the content reproduction device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Data transmitting means for transmitting the first data designated by the request message to the content reproduction device;
A content providing server comprising: broadcast data transmitting means for transmitting broadcast data, which is broadcast content data transmitted by the broadcast wave, including the second data to the content reproduction device. A high-quality data recording unit that records high-quality data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content;
In the request message received from the client terminal device for requesting the first data constituting a part of the high quality data, the broadcast start date / time information of the broadcast content corresponding to the high quality data and the first data Reservation receiving means for managing reservation information associated with information indicating the data capacity of the first data, determined to be acquired before the broadcast start date and time of the broadcast content;
Data generating means for generating the first data from the high quality data recorded in the high quality data recording unit based on the reservation information;
Data transmitting means for starting distribution processing so that distribution of the first data generated by the data generating means to the client terminal device is completed before the broadcast start date and time;
A content providing server comprising broadcast data distribution means for starting distribution of broadcast data as data of the broadcast content at the broadcast start date and time. High content obtained by combining the first data and the second data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave and having higher quality than the broadcast content. The content providing server according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, among quality data, the first data is provided before the broadcast content broadcast starts.
The first data received from the content providing server by transmitting a request message for requesting the first data to the content providing server, and transmitted by the broadcast wave in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content The high-quality content is reproduced in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content based on the high-quality data generated by the second data included in the broadcast data that is the broadcast content data to be transmitted. A content distribution system comprising: the content reproduction device according to claim 1; High quality formed by combining first data and second data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content Of the data, a data acquisition step for acquiring the first data in advance;
The high quality data is generated based on the first data acquired in the data acquisition step and the second data included in the broadcast data that is data of the broadcast content transmitted by the broadcast wave. High quality data generation step,
A content reproduction method comprising: a content reproduction step of reproducing the high-quality content in synchronization with the broadcast of the broadcast content based on the high-quality data generated in the high-quality data generation step. High quality formed by combining first data and second data for reproducing high-quality content having the same content as broadcast content transmitted by broadcast waves and having higher quality than the broadcast content A reservation accepting step for receiving a request message for requesting the first data from the content reproduction device according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
A data transmission step of distributing the first data specified by the request message received in the reservation receiving step to the content reproduction device;
A broadcast data transmission step of transmitting broadcast data, which is broadcast content data transmitted by the broadcast wave, including the second data to the content reproduction device.   The control program for functioning a computer as each means of the content reproduction apparatus of any one of Claim 1 to 7, and the content provision server of Claim 8 or 9.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the control program according to claim 13 is recorded.

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