JP2011114608A - Television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce power consumption and improve the suppression effect of sense of incongruity which can be given to a user with the reduction, in a television receiver. <P>SOLUTION: A controller of a television receiver, (1) when power consumption reduction amount is set by operation of a setting key, (2) reduces the luminance of a backlight gradually. During the luminance reduction control, (3) when a channel change operation by a station selection key is detected, the luminance reduction control is stopped (4) to keep the luminance when detecting. Thereafter, during a predetermined waiting period T2, (5) when the channel is returned, the luminance reduction control re-starts. Since the luminance is gradually reduced, the power consumption can be reduced, and eyes of the user can accommodate the luminance reduction, thereby, the sense of incongruity for a user can be suppressed. In addition, since the luminance is kept when the channel change period is shorter than the waiting period, a difference between luminance at the time of channel change and that at the time of recovering is not generated, and as a result, the suppression effect of sense of incongruity can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television receiver that receives a television broadcast signal and displays a program.

  Conventionally, there has been known a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as a receiver) that has a display for displaying a program and gradually reduces the brightness of the display so as not to give the user a sense of incongruity, thereby reducing power consumption. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  By the way, when a user is watching a program of an arbitrary channel, the user may change the channel using a remote control device or the like in order to confirm the contents of the program of another channel, and may return to the original after confirmation. However, in the conventional receiver described above, the brightness of the display continues to decrease, and thus there may be a difference between the brightness when the channel is changed and the brightness when the channel is changed and then restored. For this reason, there exists a possibility of giving a user a discomfort.

  In addition to the above, receivers that reduce power consumption include receivers that change the video display size on the display in accordance with the genre of the program (for example, see Patent Document 2), and programs other than those that are reserved for viewing by the user There is known a receiver (see, for example, Patent Document 3) that lowers the brightness of a display below a normal value when the program is displayed. In addition, the receiver is not a receiver for reducing power consumption, but the amount of power consumed in the total viewing time is calculated from the program information of the program reserved for viewing by the user, and the amount of power consumed is less than the remaining battery level. A receiver that issues a warning (for example, see Patent Document 4) and a receiver that changes the image quality setting of the display based on user-desired image quality data set for each program genre (for example, see Patent Document 5). Are known. However, in the receivers described in Patent Documents 2 to 5, it is difficult to solve the above problem.

JP 2005-236520 A JP 2006-261785 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-210706 International Publication No. 2006/129443 JP 2008-028871 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, can reduce power consumption, and can improve the effect of suppressing the uncomfortable feeling that can be given to the user in accordance with the reduction. An object of the present invention is to provide a television receiver that can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is a tuner for selecting a channel of a television broadcast signal, display means for displaying a program of a channel selected by the tuner, and a channel selected by the tuner. In a television receiver comprising: EPG acquisition means for acquiring EPG information from a television broadcast signal of a different channel; setting means for setting a power consumption reduction amount of the display means; and power consumption by the setting means End time acquisition means for acquiring the broadcast end time of the program displayed by the display means when setting the reduction amount from the EPG information acquired by the EPG acquisition means, and the set time of the power consumption reduction amount by the setting means To calculate the remaining time until the broadcast end time of the program acquired by the end time acquisition means Brightness calculating means for calculating the screen brightness of the display means at the broadcast end time of the program based on the stage, the remaining time calculated by the remaining time calculating means, and the power consumption reduction amount set by the setting means And brightness control means for gradually reducing the screen brightness of the display means during the remaining time toward the screen brightness calculated by the brightness calculation means, and operation means for operating the tuner. When the channel changing operation by the operation means is detected during the remaining time, the brightness control means stops the screen brightness reduction control of the display means and maintains the screen brightness at the time of the detection, and thereafter the predetermined brightness When the channel is returned to the original state during the standby period, the screen brightness reduction control is restarted.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the television receiver according to the first aspect, the luminance control means sets the screen luminance of the display means to a predetermined value when the channel is not restored during the standby period. The screen brightness is gradually increased, and then the screen brightness is gradually decreased.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the television receiver according to the first or second aspect, the brightness control means is configured to display the display means when the broadcast of the program ends and the broadcast of the next program starts. The screen brightness is gradually increased to a predetermined value, and then the screen brightness is gradually decreased.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the screen brightness of the display means gradually decreases, so that power consumption can be reduced, and the user's eyes can be adapted to the brightness decrease, and therefore given to the user. You can reduce the sense of incongruity
In addition, even when a user changes a channel to check the contents of a program of another channel, for example, while displaying a program of an arbitrary channel, and then returns to the original, the channel change period is longer than the predetermined waiting period. If it is shorter, the screen brightness is maintained, so that there is no difference in screen brightness between channel change and return, and the effect of suppressing the uncomfortable feeling that can be given to the user can be improved.
Furthermore, when the power consumption reduction amount is set, the reduction in luminance is adjusted according to the remaining time until the broadcast end time of the program being displayed at the time of setting, and the set power consumption reduction amount, and there are many users. In this case, since the program will be watched to the end, the set power consumption reduction amount can be surely reduced from the normal power consumption.

  According to the invention of claim 2, when the channel remains changed even after the standby period elapses, the screen brightness once increases and then decreases again. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the brightness from being lowered excessively and to reduce the brightness too much. It is possible to prevent a sense of incongruity caused by. Further, since the screen brightness gradually increases, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort caused by the brightness increase.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the program is changed, the screen brightness once increases and then decreases again. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the brightness from being lowered excessively and to prevent a sense of incongruity caused by the brightness being lowered excessively. . Further, since the screen brightness gradually increases, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort caused by the brightness increase.

1 is an electrical block diagram of a television receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the time-dependent change of the brightness | luminance of the backlight controlled by the control part of the said television receiver.

  Hereinafter, a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as a receiver) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the receiver of this embodiment. The receiver 1 receives a digital television broadcast signal (hereinafter referred to as a broadcast signal) via an antenna 2 and selects a broadcast signal channel, and a broadcast signal of a channel selected by the tuner 3. A demodulating unit 4 for demodulating the signal, a separating unit 5 for separating the broadcast signal demodulated by the demodulating unit 4 into a video signal, an audio signal and a data signal, and a video signal, an audio signal and a data signal separated by the separating unit 5 Each includes a video decoding unit 6 for decoding, an audio decoding unit 7 and a data decoding unit 8.

  The receiver 1 also includes a video output unit 9 that outputs the video signal decoded by the video decoding unit 6, an audio output unit 10 that includes a speaker that outputs the audio signal decoded by the audio decoding unit 7, and the above A control unit 11 such as a CPU for controlling each unit; a memory 12 for storing information necessary for the operation of the control unit 11; a remote control device 13 capable of remotely inputting various commands to the control unit 11 using infrared signals; An infrared receiving unit 14 that receives an infrared signal input from the remote control device 13, converts it into an electrical signal, and outputs it to the control unit 11, and a timer 15 that counts time are provided. The control unit 11 corresponds to an EPG acquisition unit, an end time acquisition unit, a remaining time calculation unit, and a luminance calculation unit in the claims. The remote control device 13 operates a tuner 3 to select a desired channel and selects a channel selection key 13a (operation means) and a setting key 13b (setting means) for setting a power consumption reduction amount of the video output unit 9. ) And a release key 13c for canceling the setting by the setting key 13b.

  The broadcast signal includes a video signal and an audio signal of a television program (hereinafter referred to as a program) and a data signal including SI (Service Information) data which is program information of the program, and these are TS (Transport Stream). Multiplexed in format. SI data has EPG information including broadcast start time information and broadcast end time information of a program, and is uniquely created and distributed for each channel.

  The tuner 3 tunes the reception frequency to the frequency corresponding to the physical channel selected by the user, thereby selecting the broadcast signal of that channel.

  The separation unit 5 performs error correction processing on the broadcast signal demodulated by the demodulation unit 4, and extracts video signal, audio signal, and data signal TS packets from the broadcast signal subjected to the correction processing. The video decoding unit 6, the audio decoding unit 7, and the data decoding unit 8 decode the TS packets of the extracted video signal, audio signal, and data signal, respectively. The data decoding unit 8 sends the decoded data signal to the control unit 11.

  The video output unit 9 includes a display 91 and a backlight 92, and a control circuit 93 for them. The display 91 is configured by a liquid crystal display or the like having a display screen for displaying a program based on the video signal. The backlight 92 irradiates the display 91 with light from the back direction. The control circuit 93 performs video display control of the display 91 and screen brightness control of the display 91, that is, brightness control of the backlight 92. The display 91 and the backlight 92 correspond to the display means in the claims, and the control circuit 93 and the control unit 11 correspond to the luminance control means in the claims.

  The control unit 11 extracts SI data from the data signal transmitted from the data decoding unit 8, acquires EPG information from the SI data, and stores it in the memory 12. When the power consumption reduction amount is set by operating the setting key 13b, the control unit 11 reads the stored EPG information from the memory 12, and the broadcast end time of the program displayed at the time of setting is read from the EPG information. get. Then, the control unit 11 gradually decreases the luminance of the backlight 92 according to the power consumption reduction amount until the broadcast end time. The brightness control is performed by the control unit 11 driving and controlling the control circuit 93 and measuring the time by the timer 15.

  The channel selection key 13a includes a plurality of channel keys respectively corresponding to a plurality of channels, or a channel up key and a channel down key for selecting channels in ascending or descending order. The setting key 13b is one or a plurality of keys corresponding to one or more predetermined power consumption reduction amounts. The power consumption reduction amount is a reduction amount from the total power normally consumed by the backlight 92 from the time set by the setting key 13b or the broadcast start time of the program to the broadcast end time of the program.

  Next, the brightness control processing of the backlight 92 by the control unit 11 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. (1) When the power consumption reduction amount of the backlight 92 is set by the setting key 13b, the broadcast end time of the program P1 displayed on the backlight 92 at the time of setting is acquired from the EPG information. Then, the remaining time T1 from the set time to the broadcast end time is calculated. This remaining time T1 is calculated by subtracting the set time from the broadcast end time.

  Then, the brightness of the backlight 92 at the broadcast end time of the program P1 is calculated based on the remaining time T1 and the set power consumption reduction amount. Since the luminance of the backlight 92 decreases as a linear function from a predetermined luminance (hereinafter referred to as normal luminance) B1 during normal time, the inclination of the decrease can be obtained using the remaining time T1 and the power consumption reduction amount. The brightness at the broadcast end time is calculated from the obtained inclination. The luminance decreasing function is stored in the memory 12 in advance, and is referred to when calculating the luminance at the broadcast end time. (2) After calculating the luminance at the broadcast end time, during the remaining time T1 until the broadcast end time, the luminance of the backlight 92 gradually decreases from the normal luminance B1 toward the calculated luminance.

  (3) When a channel change operation by the channel selection key 13a is detected during the remaining time T1, (4) the luminance reduction control of the backlight 92 is stopped, and the luminance at the time of detection is maintained substantially constant. The timer 15 starts measuring a predetermined waiting period T2. (5) When the channel selection key 13a is operated again during the waiting period T2 and the channel is returned to the original state, (6) the luminance reduction control is restarted. At this time, based on the fact that the brightness was temporarily substantially constant, the slope of the decrease may be reset in order to reduce the power consumption by the set reduction amount, or the brightness may be set instead. You may leave the setting of the slope of the decrease.

  (7) When the broadcast of the program P1 is finished, the program is switched, and the broadcast of the next program P2 is started, (8) gradually until the brightness of the backlight 92 reaches the brightness B2 lower than the normal brightness B1. To increase. The arrival period up to the brightness B2 may be set in advance, or may be calculated according to the period from the broadcast start time to the broadcast end time of the program P2. The brightness B2 is set to be gradually lowered every time the program is changed. Here, the power consumption reduction amount during the period from the broadcast start time of the program P2 to the luminance B2 arrival time is calculated. (9) After the luminance of the backlight 92 reaches the luminance B2, (10) gradually decreases again. The slope of the decrease and the brightness at the broadcast end time of the program P2 are calculated based on the remaining reduction target amount obtained by subtracting the calculated power consumption reduction amount from the set power consumption reduction amount. Is done.

  (11) When the channel is not restored during the waiting period T2 (the luminance change at this time is indicated by a broken line), it is determined that the displayed program has been switched to a program of another channel, and the waiting period After the elapse, (12) the luminance of the backlight 92 gradually increases until it reaches a luminance B3 lower than the normal luminance B1. The arrival period up to the luminance B3 may be set in advance or may be calculated according to the period from the standby period end time to the program broadcast end time. The brightness B3 is set to be gradually lowered every time the program is changed. (13) After the luminance of the backlight 92 reaches the luminance B3, (14) it gradually decreases again. The slope of the decrease and the brightness at the broadcast end time are calculated by the same method as that when the program ends and the next program starts as described above.

  After the operation of the setting key 13b, when the power is turned off without operating the release key 13c, the setting of the power consumption reduction amount is stored in the memory 12, and then when the power is turned on, the above brightness control is automatically performed. It is desirable that processing be performed.

  In the receiver 1 configured as described above, the luminance of the backlight 92 gradually decreases, so that power consumption can be reduced, and the user's eyes can be adapted to the decrease in luminance. It is possible to suppress the uncomfortable feeling that can be given to the user.

  Further, when the power consumption reduction amount is set by the setting key 13b, the remaining time T1 until the broadcast end time of the program P1 being displayed at the time of setting is set, and the brightness is reduced according to the set power consumption reduction amount. In many cases, the user will watch the program P1 until the end, so that the set power consumption reduction amount can be surely reduced from the power consumption at the normal time.

  Further, even when the user changes the channel to confirm the contents of the program of another channel, for example, while displaying the program P1 of an arbitrary channel, and then returns to the original, the channel change period is longer than the waiting period T2. If it is shorter, the luminance of the backlight 92 is maintained, so that there is no difference in luminance between channel change and return. Therefore, it is possible to improve the effect of suppressing the uncomfortable feeling that can be given to the user.

  Further, when the channel remains changed even after the standby period T2 elapses, the luminance of the backlight 92 once increases to the luminance B2, and then decreases again, so that the luminance can be prevented from excessively decreasing. It is possible to prevent a sense of incongruity caused by too much falling. In addition, since the luminance gradually increases, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort caused by the increase in luminance. Further, since the brightness B2 is lower than the normal brightness B1, the increase width when the lowered brightness is increased to the brightness B2 can be reduced, so that the user does not feel uncomfortable.

  In addition, when the program is changed, the luminance of the backlight 92 is once increased to the luminance B3 and then decreased again, so that it is possible to prevent the luminance from being excessively lowered and to prevent a sense of incongruity caused by the excessively low luminance. . In addition, since the luminance gradually increases, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort caused by the increase in luminance. Further, since the luminance B3 is lower than the normal luminance B1, the increase width when the lowered luminance is increased to the luminance B3 can be reduced, and therefore, the user does not feel uncomfortable.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible according to a use purpose. For example, the channel selection key 13a, the setting key 13b, and the release key 13c may be provided on the main body of the receiver 1. Further, a plasma display or an organic EL display may be used in place of the display 91 and the backlight 92.

  Further, when the luminance of the backlight 92 is increased at the time of program switching, the luminance may be returned to the normal luminance and then gradually decreased again.

  In addition, a video reproduction device that outputs a video signal may be connectable. In this case, the display 91 displays video based on the video signal input from the video playback device, and the luminance of the backlight 92 decreases from the normal luminance every time a specific time such as 2 hours or 4 hours elapses. And then rise. This decline and rise are repeated. Further, a mode key for switching between a television mode for receiving a broadcast signal and displaying a program in real time and a video mode for reproducing a video signal from a video reproduction device may be provided. In this case, it is desirable that the brightness control processing content of the backlight 92 by the control unit 11 is switched based on the operation of the mode key. Specifically, it is desirable that the luminance control of the above-described embodiment is performed in the television mode, and the luminance control is performed at the specific time described above in the video mode.

1 Television receiver 3 Tuner 91 Display (composing display means)
92 Backlight (composing display means)
93 Control circuit (constructs brightness control means)
11 Control unit (configures luminance control means, EPG acquisition means, end time acquisition means, remaining time calculation means, luminance calculation means)
13a Tuning key (operation means)
13b Setting key (setting means)
T1 Remaining time T2 Standby time

Claims (3)

A tuner that tunes the channel for television broadcast signals;
Display means for displaying a program of a channel selected by the tuner;
In a television receiver comprising: EPG acquisition means for acquiring EPG information from a television broadcast signal of a channel selected by the tuner;
Setting means for setting a power consumption reduction amount of the display means;
End time acquisition means for acquiring the broadcast end time of the program displayed by the display means when the power consumption reduction amount is set by the setting means from the EPG information acquired by the EPG acquisition means;
A remaining time calculating means for calculating a remaining time from a setting time of the power consumption reduction amount by the setting means to a broadcast ending time of the program acquired by the end time acquiring means;
Brightness calculating means for calculating the screen brightness of the display means at the broadcast end time of the program based on the remaining time calculated by the remaining time calculating means and the power consumption reduction amount set by the setting means;
Brightness control means for gradually reducing the screen brightness of the display means during the remaining time toward the screen brightness calculated by the brightness calculation means;
Operating means for operating the tuner,
When the brightness control means detects a channel change operation by the operation means during the remaining time, the brightness control means stops the screen brightness reduction control of the display means, maintains the screen brightness at the time of detection, and then performs a predetermined predetermined A television receiver, wherein when the channel is restored during the standby period, the screen brightness reduction control is restarted.   The brightness control means gradually increases the screen brightness of the display means to a predetermined value when the channel is not restored during the standby period, and then gradually reduces the screen brightness. The television receiver according to claim 1.   When the broadcast of the program ends and the broadcast of the next program starts, the brightness control means gradually increases the screen brightness of the display means to a predetermined value, and then gradually decreases the screen brightness. The television receiver according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned.

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