JP2011139142A - Display device, television receiver, display method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user-friendly display device or the like which displays information of a content visually intelligibly and is more approachable. <P>SOLUTION: A television receiver 10 includes: an image acquisition unit 42 which acquires a character image 102 which corresponds to information of a broadcast program and represents a prescribed character having at least a face, from a memory 7; and a display control unit 21 which displays the character image 102 acquired by the image acquisition unit 42, on a liquid crystal display panel 22 together with the broadcast program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device, a television receiver including the display device, a display method, a program, and a recording medium.

  The following various technologies have been disclosed as devices including a display device.

  Patent Document 1 describes a setting change device that changes settings related to device adjustment. This setting change device displays a menu screen related to device adjustment, and upon receiving an initialization instruction from the user, displays an item for selecting either full initialization or partial initialization on this menu screen, When either full initialization or partial initialization is selected from this item, the change value of the item whose setting has been changed according to the selection is initialized.

  Patent Document 2 describes an electronic program information display method and an electronic program information display device. These methods and devices obtain information on the genre regarding the broadcast program, form a genre screen and display it on the display. In addition, on this display, a designated icon is selected from a plurality of candidate icons prepared for each genre, and when the genre screen is configured, an icon corresponding to each genre is displayed on the genre screen. The display of the designated icon is instructed as follows.

  Further, Patent Document 3 describes an audio device with a personal computer control function that can control a reproduction operation and / or a recording operation based on an operation command signal output from a personal computer. This acoustic device displays a predetermined character image of a standard shape on a display of a personal computer while an operation command signal is output from the personal computer and an operation based on the output is continuously performed for a predetermined time. The display is controlled to change corresponding to the history of reproduction and / or recording.

JP 2007-306113 A (published on November 22, 2007) JP 2006-140783 A (published on June 1, 2006) JP 2002-133762 A (published on May 10, 2002)

  While TVs are becoming more complex and multifunctional, the user's TV viewing time tends to be longer. In order to improve the convenience and operability of a multi-function television receiver, etc., intuitive intelligibility by visual display is required. In addition, since a television receiver is an electronic device that has a wide user group and is often used by young people such as children, it is desirable that the TV receiver be more friendly and user-friendly.

  However, in a conventional television, the user visually recognizes genre information displayed by a character or a small icon displayed next to the character in an electronic program guide (EPG) or an on-screen display (OSD), or the like. Only after viewing broadcast content, the genre of the program could be known, and the genre of the program could not be intuitively understood.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, the purpose of which is to display content information visually and intuitive and easy to understand, and at the same time, a display device having friendliness and user friendliness, A television receiver including the display device, a display method, a program, and a recording medium are provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a display device according to the present invention includes an image acquisition unit that acquires a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to content information; Display means for displaying the character image acquired by the means.

  In order to solve the above problem, the display method according to the present invention includes an image acquisition step of acquiring a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to content information; A display step for displaying the character image acquired in the image acquisition step together with the content.

  If it is said structure, by displaying the character image according to the content information, a user can be notified visually of the content information and can be made to recognize intuitively. In addition, since the character image has at least a face, it is possible to express a character having various expressions, so that the user can visually understand what the content is like in an easy-to-understand manner. it can.

  Therefore, the display device and the display method of the present invention can visually convey the information of the content, and thus can be more intuitively conveyed to the user.

  In addition, by displaying a character image corresponding to the genre of the content, it is more friendly and user friendly.

  The display device according to the present invention further includes genre specifying means for specifying the genre of the content, and the image acquisition means acquires the character image corresponding to the type of the genre specified by the genre specifying means. It may be a thing.

  With the above configuration, by displaying the character image corresponding to the genre of the content, the user can be visually notified of the genre information about the content being viewed, and can be intuitively recognized. Also, since the character image has at least a face, it is possible to express a character having various expressions, so by displaying a character image having an expression corresponding to the genre of the content being viewed, It is possible to inform the user of what the content being viewed is visually easy to understand. Therefore, since the genre information of the content being viewed can be visually transmitted, it can be transmitted to the user more intuitively.

  The display device according to the present invention includes genre information acquisition means for acquiring genre information of content, and the genre specifying means specifies a genre based on the genre information acquired by the genre information acquisition means. Also good. The genre specifying means may acquire genre information from either outside or inside the display device.

  Examples of acquisition from the outside of the display device include genre from an external device such as a hard disk and recording / playback device connected to the display device, from a digital broadcast wave or Internet broadcast data, or from a server connected through a network. The case where information is acquired is mentioned. Further, as an example of obtaining from the inside of the display device, there is a case where genre information is obtained from a memory such as a built-in hard disk or an optical disc inserted into a recording / playback device such as a built-in Blu-ray recorder.

  If it is said structure, by acquiring genre information and displaying the character image according to it, a user can be visually notified of the genre information about the content currently viewed, and it is made to recognize intuitively. be able to.

  The display device according to the present invention further includes keyword search means for comparing information representing at least one of a program name, program content, and performers, which is program information related to content, and a preset keyword. The image acquisition means acquires a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to the match result when the program information matches the keyword.

  According to the above configuration, keywords such as a person name, a region, and a facility name are set in advance through a menu or the like, and information such as the program name, program content, and performers included in the content is set. If it matches the keyword, the content can be determined as a favorite program and the character can be changed.

  In the display device according to the present invention, the character image may be at least one of a still image and a moving image.

  If it is said structure, the character image of various display forms can be displayed. Therefore, the genre information of the content being viewed can be notified more intuitively.

  In order to solve the above problems, a television receiver according to the present invention includes any one of the display devices described above.

  If it is said structure, the television receiver which conveys the genre of content intuitively by visual display can be provided. In addition, a more friendly and user-friendly television receiver can be provided.

  The display device according to the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, a program for realizing the display device in the computer by operating the computer as each of the above-described means and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the display device according to the present invention acquires an image acquisition unit that acquires a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to content information, and the image acquisition unit acquires the character image. Since the display means for displaying the character image is provided, it is possible to visually convey the information of the content being viewed and more intuitively to the user. It is also more friendly and user friendly.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the television receiver in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the display screen which the television receiver in one Embodiment of this invention displays on a liquid crystal display panel.

  An embodiment of a display device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In addition, although the display apparatus shown below shows the example with which the television receiver is equipped, this invention is not limited to this and is applicable to various display apparatuses. In the following description, various preferred limitations for implementing the present invention are given, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the description of the following embodiments and drawings.

(Configuration of television receiver 10)
First, the outline of the configuration of a television receiver including a display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the television receiver 10.

  In FIG. 1, a television receiver 10 (display device) is an entire television receiver having a liquid crystal display panel 22 having a screen size of 16: 9, for example. The television receiver 10 includes a CPU 6 and a memory 7 connected to the bus 8. The operation of the television receiver 10 is controlled by various control programs stored in the CPU 6 and the memory 7. That is, the television receiver 10 is controlled by a computer system including the CPU 6, and a program for operating the television receiver 10 by the computer system is stored in the memory 7.

  The memory 7 is usually constituted by a RAM, but may include a ROM in part. Further, a rewritable flash memory or the like may be included. The memory 7 stores an OS for operating the CPU, various control software, and the like, data relating to program information such as electronic program guide (EPG) data, OSD (on-screen display) data. I remember. The memory 7 has a work area that functions as a work memory necessary for various control operations.

  The memory 7 stores genre information (to be described later) and a character image in association with each other.

  The television receiver 10 is provided with a digital tuner unit 14 and an analog tuner unit 12 so that digital broadcasts and analog broadcasts can be received. The external input unit 31 can be connected to various external devices 30 such as a solid-state memory such as an HDD and an SD card, and a disk device such as a BD (Blu-ray disc), DVD, and CD. A BD / DVD / CD recording / reproducing unit 32 is also incorporated in the main body of the receiver 10. Further, an IP broadcast tuner unit 23 is provided, and IP broadcast reception is also possible.

  In addition, the television receiver 10 includes an AV switch unit 13, a digital demodulation unit 15, a separation unit (DMUX) 16, a video decoding / capture unit 17, a video selector unit 18, a video processing unit 19, an addition circuit 20, and display control. Unit 21 (display means), liquid crystal display panel 22, EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24, audio decoding unit 25, audio selector unit 26, audio output conversion unit 27, speaker 28, channel selection unit 33, communication control unit 34, remote control A light receiving unit 35 and an OPC (RGB) sensor 38 for detecting ambient brightness are provided. The television receiver 10 is further provided with a genre information / program information processing unit 41 (genre information acquisition means, genre specifying means, keyword search means) and an image acquisition unit 42 (image acquisition means).

  The analog tuner unit 12 selects an analog television broadcast signal received through the antenna 11 for receiving an analog broadcast, and performs channel selection according to a channel selection instruction from the channel selection unit 33. The received signal from the analog tuner unit 12 is separated into an audio signal and a video signal in the AV switch unit 13, the video signal is input to the video selector unit 18, and the audio signal is input to the audio selector unit 26.

  The digital tuner unit 14 selects a digital television broadcast signal received via the digital broadcast receiving antenna 40, and selects a channel to be received in response to a channel selection instruction from the channel selection unit 33. The received signal from the digital tuner unit 14 is demodulated by the digital demodulation unit 15 and sent to the separation unit (DMUX) 16.

  The IP broadcast tuner unit 23 selects an IP broadcast received via a communication control unit 34 connected to a telephone line / LAN or the like, and receives a specific IP received in response to a channel selection instruction from the channel selection unit 33. The broadcast is selected and the output is sent to the separation unit (DMUX) 16.

  The separation unit (DMUX) 16 separates the multiplexed video data and audio data input from the digital demodulation unit 15 or the IP broadcast tuner unit 23, sends the video data to the video decoding / capture unit 17, and the audio data Is sent to the audio decoding unit 25. Further, the separation unit (DMUX) 16 extracts data such as EPG data included in the broadcast signal and sends it to the EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24. The broadcast wave signal extracted by the separation unit (DMUX) 16 is recorded in the memory 7 by writing control by the CPU 6 as necessary.

  The video decoding / capture unit 17 decodes the video data separated by the separation unit (DMUX) 16 and captures video information included in the video data as a still image. The video signal decoded by the video decoding / capture unit 17 is sent to the video selector unit 18. As described above, the video signal from the analog tuner unit 12 is input to the video selector unit 18, and the video signal from the external input unit 31 is also input. The video selector unit 18 selects and outputs one video signal from these input video signals according to the control signal from the CPU 6, and sends it to the video processing unit 19.

  The video processing unit 19 performs video processing such as noise reduction processing, sharpness adjustment, and contrast adjustment on the input video signal so as to obtain an optimal video signal for the liquid crystal display panel 22. Convert video data to.

  The display control unit 21 includes a drive circuit for displaying the received video data on the liquid crystal display panel 22. The display control unit 21 adds the OSD data and EPG data from the EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24 added by the addition circuit 20 to the liquid crystal display panel 22 in addition to the video data from the video processing unit 19. Send.

  The liquid crystal display panel 22 displays video data, OSD data, electronic program guide data, etc. received from the display control unit 21.

  The audio decoding unit 25 decodes the audio data separated by the separation unit (DMUX) 16. The audio decoding unit 25 sends the decoded audio signal to the audio selector unit 26.

  The audio selector unit 26 receives the audio signal from the AV switch unit 13, the audio signal from the external input unit 31, and the audio signal from the audio decoding unit 25, and is selected by the video selector unit 18 under the control of the CPU 6. An audio signal corresponding to the video signal is selected, and the audio signal is sent to the speaker 28 via the audio output conversion unit 27. The audio output conversion unit 27 converts the received audio signal into a signal optimal for reproduction on the speaker 28 and supplies the converted signal to the speaker 28.

  The communication control unit 34 performs control so as to establish communication via a network such as a telephone line, a LAN, and the Internet.

  The remote controller light receiving unit 35 is for receiving an optical signal from a remote controller 36 (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller 36) and receiving a control signal from the remote controller 36. The control signal includes a control signal related to an operation for performing a predetermined setting in the television receiver 10, particularly an operation for selecting any one of a plurality of setting items. The remote control light receiving unit 35 transmits the received control signal to the CPU 6.

  The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24 creates an electronic program guide based on EPG data that is periodically updated and stored. The EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24 performs program reservation processing using the electronic program guide. In addition, the EPG / OSD / reservation processing unit 24 draws OSD data stored in advance in the memory 7. The OSD data is data for drawing various information such as a setting screen, a volume cage, a current time, and a channel selection channel.

(Genre Information / Program Information Processing Unit 41)
The genre information / program information processing unit 41 is a genre information associated with the broadcast program from the member that received the broadcast program (content) to be viewed among the separation unit 16, the external input unit 31, and the recording / playback unit 32. To get. Thereby, the genre of the broadcast program is specified.

  For example, in digital broadcasting, genre information is classified and associated with major classification and middle classification. The major classification includes, for example, “news / report”, “information / wide show”, “variety”, “movie”, “sports”, and the like. As the middle category, for example, when the major category is “news / report”, there are “regular / comprehensive”, “local / region”, “weather” and the like. In general, a single broadcast program is associated with a plurality of large categories of genre information. For example, in the case of sports news, genre information of large categories “news / report” and “sports” is associated, and further, some genre information of medium categories belonging to these are associated. The genre information / program information processing unit 41 is associated with the content when any of the separation unit 16, the external input unit 31, and the recording / playback unit 32 receives the content associated with the genre information. Get multiple genre information. Here, the plurality of genre information to be acquired may be a part or all of the genre information associated with the content. Further, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 may acquire a plurality of genre information only from the large classification, may acquire a plurality of genre information only from the medium classification, or from the large classification and the medium classification. In addition, a plurality of genre information may be acquired.

  In the present embodiment, a case where the broadcast program received by the television receiver 10 is a digital broadcast program will be described. However, similar processing can be performed for an analog broadcast program. That is, in the case of analog broadcasting, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 can acquire genre information by extracting a keyword representing the type of program as type information by performing audio analysis, image analysis, and the like. It is.

The genre information / program information processing unit 41 may acquire genre information from either outside or inside the display device. Examples of acquisition from the outside of the display device include genre from an external device such as a hard disk and recording / playback device connected to the display device, from a digital broadcast wave or Internet broadcast data, or from a server connected through a network. The case where information is acquired is mentioned. Further, as an example of obtaining from the inside of the display device, there is a case where genre information is obtained from a memory such as a built-in hard disk or an optical disc inserted into a recording / playback device such as a built-in Blu-ray recorder.
By acquiring the genre information of the content and displaying a character image corresponding to the genre information, it is possible to visually inform the user of the genre information about the content being viewed and to make it intuitively recognized.

  Further, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 can compare information representing at least one of the program name, the program content, and the performer, which is program information related to the content, with a preset keyword. is there. In the television receiver 10, a person name, region, facility name or the like is set as a keyword in advance using a menu or the like, and information such as a program name, program content, and performer, which is program information included in the content, is set. If it matches the selected keyword, the selected program can be determined as a favorite program, and the character can be changed.

  Specific examples of keywords include a person name (A mountain B child, C village D male, etc.), a facility name (ABC land, aquarium, etc.), and a region (Tochigi, Hokkaido, etc.). As a keyword setting method, there are an input by a character input screen and a list selection method for general names such as facility names and areas. Characters that are displayed, such as a character with shining eyes, a character with eyes popping out, a joyful character, or a character jumping up, means that the search results are consistent There are characters. Further, a menu for associating a keyword with a character by a selection formula may be used to identify at a glance which keyword matches the displayed character.

(Image acquisition unit 42)
The image acquisition unit 42 acquires character images from the memory 7 and transmits them to the display control unit 21. The memory 7 stores in advance a character image corresponding to the type of genre represented by the genre in association with the genre information. Therefore, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 acquires a character image associated with the acquired genre information from the memory 7. Then, the acquired character image is transmitted to the video processing unit 19.

  With the above components, the television receiver 10 in this embodiment displays a character image by a display method described below.

(Display method)
A method for displaying the character image by the television receiver 10 described above will be described below, and a display method according to the present invention will be described. The display method according to the present invention includes a genre specifying step, an image acquisition step, and a display step.

(Genre specific step)
The genre specifying step is a step of acquiring genre information of a broadcast program to be viewed. In this step, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 includes genre information associated with the program from the member that received the broadcast program to be viewed among the separation unit 16, the external input unit 31, and the recording / playback unit 32. To get.

(Image acquisition step)
The image acquisition step is a step of acquiring a character image representing a character corresponding to the genre information acquired in the genre specifying step. In this step, the CPU 6 controls the image acquisition unit 42 to acquire from the memory 7 a character image representing a character corresponding to the broadcast program genre based on the received control signal. The image acquisition unit 42 acquires a character image from the memory 7 and transmits it to the display control unit 21.

(Display step)
The display step is a step of displaying the character image acquired in the image acquisition step. In this step, the display control unit 21 displays the character image received from the image acquisition unit 42 on the liquid crystal display panel 22 together with the broadcast program.

(Keyword search step)
The keyword search step is a step of comparing information representing at least one of a program name, program content, and performers, which is program information related to the content, with a preset keyword. In this step, the genre information / program information processing unit 41 is the program information of the viewing program from the member that received the broadcast program to be viewed among the separation unit 16, the external input unit 31, and the recording / playback unit 32. From the character string such as program name, program content, performer, etc., it is searched whether there is a match with the set keyword, and the match result is judged.

(Screen example)
By executing the display method described above, the television receiver 10 of this embodiment simultaneously displays a broadcast program and a character image corresponding to the genre of the broadcast program. An example of a screen displayed at that time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed by the television receiver 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows a display screen 100 on which the television receiver 10 according to the present embodiment displays characters according to the genre of the broadcast program. On the display screen 100, a broadcast program display area 101 and a character image 102 are displayed. FIG. 2 shows a state in which a character image 102 corresponding to a genre called news is displayed when a news program is broadcast in the broadcast program display area 101.

  The character image 102 is an image representing a character corresponding to the type of setting of character display. That is, here, the character image 102 is a character image corresponding to the genre of news. The character image 102 has a display form corresponding to the genre of the broadcast program being viewed in the broadcast program display area 101. That is, here, the character image 102 is a bear wearing glasses only on the upper body.

  In the present specification, the character image is intended to mean an image representing a predetermined character having at least a face. Here, “having at least a face” means a shape including any part constituting the face such as eyes, mouth, nose, etc., preferably in a form in which facial expressions can be recognized. It is a character represented. The character may be, for example, an illustration of a human being, or an anthropomorphization of a living thing or an inanimate object. Further, the character may be represented not only by the face but also by a form including other parts such as the trunk.

  In this embodiment, by displaying a character image in a display form corresponding to the genre of the broadcast program, the user can be visually informed about the genre of the broadcast program being viewed, and more intuitively recognized. Can do. In the case of this figure, the genre of the broadcast program being viewed is news. By associating a character image representing a character wearing glasses, the user can be visually informed that the genre of the broadcast program being viewed is news, and can be intuitively recognized.

  The character image may be a moving image. The animation may be a two-frame animation. Thereby, it is possible to display character images in various display forms. Therefore, the user can be more intuitively notified of related information about the broadcast program being viewed.

  The character image corresponding to the genre of the broadcast program represents, for example, a character that recalls that genre. For example, when the genre of a broadcast program is sports, the character image corresponding to this may be a bear in uniform. Thereby, the user can visually know what kind of program is being broadcast by visually recognizing the character image.

  In addition, the display form refers to the character's facial expression, action, etc. in the character image. Facial expressions include, for example, facial expressions such as laughing, crying, spoofed face, face-down, etc., and movements include, for example, raising and lowering hands, jumping, raising the neck, waving hands, winking, etc. Can be mentioned. By displaying a character image in a display form corresponding to the set value, the user can be visually notified of what the set value is.

  In addition, entertainment properties other than viewing broadcast programs, healing effects, etc. can be provided to the user, making it more friendly and user-friendly.

  Below, the other example of the display screen which the television receiver 10 in this embodiment displays on the liquid crystal display panel 22 is demonstrated.

  The character image 102 may be changed to a character image different from other times at a predetermined time. The predetermined time is, for example, one minute from midnight, a time when the time number is in the middle, a time when a specific function is used, or another specific time zone. Examples of the time when a specific function is used include a time when a timer function that automatically turns off the television receiver 10 is used, a recorder, a game machine, etc. connected to the television receiver 10. There is time to be.

  For example, when the timer function is used, when the timer function is used or the set cumulative number is a specific number, it may be changed to a different character image. Further, when the timer function is used, the character image may be changed to a different character image during the time from the predetermined time before the power is turned off until the power is turned off. For example, it may be changed to a character image of a display form such as a pajamas from one minute before the power is turned off, and may be changed to a character image of a display form sleeping until one minute before the power is turned off. .

  Further, the character image 102 may be changed to a character image representing a character different from other days on a predetermined day. The predetermined date is, for example, a preset date. The day set in advance may be, for example, the first day of every month, a day with an event such as a New Year or a national holiday, or an anniversary set by the user. Further, the predetermined date may be selected at random.

  The character image 102 may be changed to a different character image depending on the weather, temperature, season, and the like.

  The character image 102 may be changed to a different character image, for example, when connected to a recorder or the like manufactured by the same manufacturer as the television receiver 10.

  Examples of different character images include, for example, a character image that is different from a character image that is normally displayed, or a character that is the same but has a different display form (motion, facial expression, clothes, color, etc.). It is done.

  Further, the television receiver 10 may be linked with information such as sound as well as the genre of the broadcast program being viewed on the liquid crystal display panel 22. For example, during the broadcast of a soccer game, when the sound is rising, it may be determined as a goal scene and a character image of the goal may be displayed.

  Further, the television receiver 10 is not limited to the case where the liquid crystal display panel 22 displays the video data of the broadcast program, and may display a character image when the game screen is displayed, for example. . In this case, for example, for the purpose of displaying the game time, a character image or the like in a display form having a signboard describing the time during which the game screen is continuously displayed may be displayed.

  Further, when the television receiver 10 displays a warning message, the television receiver 10 may display a character image corresponding to the content of the warning message.

  Further, when the television receiver 10 displays a character image as described above, the character image representing a different character based on the number of times the user has used the television receiver 10, the time, the number of functions used, and the like. May be displayed. For example, the character in the character image displayed by the television receiver 10 may be changed to a more mature character every time the user uses the television receiver 10.

  With the configuration described above, entertainment properties other than viewing broadcast programs, healing effects, and the like can be provided to the user.

(Program and recording medium)
Finally, each block included in the television receiver 10 may be configured by hardware logic. Or you may implement | achieve by software using CPU as follows.

  That is, the television receiver 10 includes a CPU that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM that stores the control program, a RAM that develops the control program into an executable format, and the control program and various types A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing data is provided.

  With this configuration, the object of the present invention can be achieved by a predetermined recording medium. This recording medium only needs to record the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program of the television receiver 10 which is software for realizing the above-described functions so as to be readable by the computer. This recording medium is supplied to the television receiver 10. Thus, the television receiver 10 (or CPU or MPU) as a computer may read and execute the program code recorded on the supplied recording medium.

  The recording medium for supplying the program code to the television receiver 10 is not limited to a specific structure or type. That is, the recording medium includes, for example, 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. A disk system, a card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) / optical card, or a semiconductor memory system such as a mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM can be used.

  Further, even if the television receiver 10 is configured to be connectable to a communication network, the object of the present invention can be achieved. In this case, the program code is supplied to the television receiver 10 via the communication network. The communication network may be any network that can supply program codes to the television receiver 10 and is not limited to a specific type or form. For example, the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a LAN, an ISDN, a VAN, a CATV communication network, a virtual private network, a telephone line network, a mobile communication network, a satellite communication network, or the like may be used.

  The transmission medium constituting the communication network may be any medium that can transmit the program code, and is not limited to a specific configuration or type. For example, wired communication such as IEEE 1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line, infrared light such as IrDA or remote control, Bluetooth (registered trademark), 802. 11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, etc. can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

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

  For example, the display device according to the present invention is not limited to the television receiver 10 and can be realized as a device capable of reproducing (displaying) some content other than a broadcast program. Examples of such devices include mobile phones, car navigation systems, and mobile game terminals. Also, the content is not necessarily limited to a broadcast program.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has high industrial applicability because it can be optimally used as a display device such as a multifunctional television receiver.

10 Television receiver (display device)
21 Display control unit (display means)
41 Genre information / program information processing section (genre information acquisition means, genre identification means, keyword search means)
42 Image acquisition unit (image acquisition means)
101 Broadcast program display area 102 Character image

Claims (12)

Image acquisition means for acquiring a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face in accordance with content information;
A display device comprising: display means for displaying the character image acquired by the image acquisition means. A genre specifying means for specifying the genre of the content;
The display device according to claim 1, wherein the image acquiring unit acquires the character image corresponding to the type of the genre specified by the genre specifying unit. Genre information acquisition means for acquiring genre information indicating the genre of the content,
The display device according to claim 2, wherein the genre specifying unit specifies the genre based on the genre information acquired by the genre information acquiring unit.   The display device according to claim 3, wherein the genre information acquisition unit acquires the genre information from outside the display device.   The display device according to claim 4, wherein the genre information acquisition unit acquires the genre information from a digital broadcast wave.   The display device according to claim 3, wherein the genre information acquisition unit acquires the genre information from the inside of the display device. It further includes keyword search means for comparing information representing at least one of a program name, program content, and performers, which is program information related to the content, with a preset keyword,
The image acquisition means, when the program information matches the keyword, acquires a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to the match result. The display device according to 1.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the character image is at least one of a still image and a moving image.   A television receiver comprising the display device according to claim 1.   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the display apparatus of any one of Claims 1-8.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program of Claim 10. An image acquisition step for acquiring a character image representing a predetermined character having at least a predetermined face according to information of the content;
A display method comprising: display means for displaying the character image acquired in the image acquisition step.

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