JP2012151686A - Program recorder, television receiver, program recorder control method, control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program recorder to which recording of a desired program can be set more easily.SOLUTION: The program recorder is provided with: a recorded program storage part 21 which associates a program with at least a program name in program information attached to the program, and stores the program as a recorded program; a program information storage part 20 which stores the program information by each program; a same program detection part 14 which accepts selection of a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage part 21 and an order of recording the same program as the selected recorded program and detects as the same program a candidate program having a program name coinciding with that of the selected recorded program among the candidate programs the program information of which is stored in the program information storage part 20; and a programming registration part 12 which registers programming of recording the same program, on the basis of program information of the detected same program.

Description

  The present invention relates to a program recording device for recording broadcast or distributed program content, a television receiver, a control method for the program recording device, a control program for the program recording device, and a recording medium on which the control program is recorded. .

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, program recording apparatuses that record broadcast or distributed program content have become widespread. The program recording apparatus is built in a television receiver or provided as a recording / reproducing apparatus such as a DVD / HDD recorder or a BD recorder connected thereto.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a digital broadcast recording / reproduction for recognizing the broadcast time of the same program as the currently broadcasted program that will be broadcast the next time and making a recording reservation for the next program of the same program. An apparatus is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses information processing for reading recording information from a recorded optical disk, determining a recording information program selected by a user as a recording reservation program, and setting these programs in a recording reservation mode according to the recording information. An apparatus is disclosed.

  Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a reserved recording setting method and a digital video recording apparatus that can generate reserved recording candidate data from EPG data using recorded program information and can easily select a reserved recording setting. Has been. Specifically, a similar program is extracted from the EPG based on the recorded title data of the selected recorded program, and the extracted similar program data is changed to a format used for reservation setting and stored as reservation candidate data.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a broadcast recording apparatus that facilitates the next recording reservation of a recorded program. Specifically, the program signal is recorded together with program management information, and reservation information for the next program is set according to the management information.

JP 2002-314914 A (released on October 25, 2002) JP 2006-005784 A (January 5, 2006 publication) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-166276 (released on June 22, 2006) JP 2007-221733 A (released on August 30, 2007)

  However, the above-described conventional apparatus causes the following problems.

  Specifically, the conventional apparatus predicts a program broadcast at an appropriate broadcast cycle (daily, once a week, etc.) as the same program mainly by using the broadcast date and time information of the program. Detect programs to be recorded.

  However, program broadcast cycles include extremely short cycles (broadcast multiple times on the same day), extremely long cycles (broadcast once every 3 to 6 months), and the like. Usually, a program to be recorded is searched using EPG data for the most recent week. For this reason, a conventional apparatus that mainly uses broadcast date and time information cannot always make a reservation for recording accurately and continuously in the future. There are also the same programs that are broadcast irregularly.

  Thus, it is possible to more reliably and more easily record a desired program continuously by accurately detecting the same desired program to be broadcast in the future from a large number of programs whose broadcasting cycles are diversified. There is a need for a program recording device that can be used.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a program recording apparatus, a television receiver, and a program recording apparatus control method capable of more easily recording and setting a desired program. Another object is to realize a control program for a program recording apparatus and a recording medium on which the control program is recorded.

  In order to solve the above problems, a program recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a recorded program storage unit that stores a program as a recorded program in association with at least a program name of program information attached to the program, and the program information A program information storage unit for storing each program, selection of a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit, and an instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program, in the program information storage unit Among the candidate programs stored with program information, the same program detecting means for detecting a candidate program having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program as the same program, and the same program detecting means And a reservation registration means for registering a recording reservation for the same program based on program information of the same program.

  According to the above configuration, when the selection of the recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit and the instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program are input to the program recording device, the same program detecting means In response to this, a program presumed to be the same as the selected recorded program, that is, the same program is detected from the program information storage unit.

  The reservation registering unit acquires the program information of the same program detected by the same program detecting unit from the program information storage unit, and registers the recording reservation of the same program based on the program information.

  At least a “program name” is attached to the recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit, and the meta information attached to the recorded program is recorded (or reserved) by the program recording apparatus. Therefore, the amount of information is insufficient to specify a program to be recorded. On the other hand, the program information attached to the program includes information necessary for recording.

  According to the above configuration, the same program detecting means detects the same program that is estimated to be the same as the recorded program from the program information storage unit based on the program name of the selected recorded program. The program information of the detected same program can be obtained from the program information storage unit, and therefore, the recording reservation of the same program as the selected recorded program can be executed.

  As a result, the user can select a recorded program and send a recording instruction, and can set a recording reservation setting for a desired program without inputting detailed settings for other programs. There is an effect.

  For example, a recent program recording apparatus has a rich recording function, and the apparatus may automatically record a program that the user is likely to like based on user preference information. In such a case, it is considered that the user wants to view, like, and continue to watch the recorded program without knowing detailed information about the recorded program. In this case, the present invention makes it possible to easily set a recording reservation by simply selecting a favorite program and instructing that the user wants to continue watching in the future, without the user knowing detailed information about the desired program. So especially effective. In addition, even if the user originally wanted to watch continuously, but only one recording could be performed due to an erroneous operation, the recording reservation setting can be set again only by a simple operation of selecting a recorded program. There is a merit because it can be done.

  The same program detecting means compares the recorded program name character string of the recorded program with the candidate program name character string of the candidate program, and compares the candidate program name character string in the recorded program name character string. It is preferable that the ratio is calculated for each candidate program as a character string matching rate, and candidate programs with the character string matching rate equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold are detected as the same program with the matching program name.

  According to the above configuration, programs whose program names match at least a predetermined threshold can be detected as the same program. If the program names match, the possibility of the same program is high. Further, if the identity is determined based on the program name, it is possible to extract all programs that are highly likely to be the same program regardless of the broadcast date and time or the broadcast cycle. That is, diversification of the broadcast cycle of programs such as extremely short cycle (multiple broadcasts on the same day), extremely long cycle (broadcast once every 3 to 6 months), and the same program broadcast irregularly It can be extracted without any leakage.

  For this reason, it is possible to reliably make a reservation for recording the same program of the selected recorded program, and it is possible to reduce the risk that the user misses the desired program.

  Preferably, the same program detecting means compares the recorded program name character string after the normalization process with the candidate program name character string to calculate a character string match rate.

  In detail, the same program detection means, as the normalization processing, when the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string include a character string enclosed in parentheses, A column can be deleted.

  Alternatively, moreover, the same program detecting means deletes the special character when the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string include special characters as the normalization processing. can do.

  Alternatively, the same program detecting means can convert the character type so that the character types in the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string are unified as the normalization process.

  It is conceivable that the program names may vary even in the same program. In addition, subtitles and the like may be included for each broadcast time, and it can be said that there are few cases where the same program is completely the same.

  According to the above configuration, by performing normalization processing on the character string of the program name, these variations in notation can be unified in the same program. It can be done correctly.

  In the recorded program storage unit, in the recorded program storage unit, among the program information, the start date and time and end date and time of the recorded program are stored in association with the recorded program. The broadcast time length calculated based on the start date and time and the end date and time of the selected recorded program is compared with the broadcast time length of the candidate program to calculate a broadcast time length match rate for each candidate program, Candidate programs with a broadcast time length matching rate equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold may be detected as the same program.

  According to the above configuration, the same program detecting means can use that the broadcast time lengths match as an index for judging the identity of the programs. Further, when there are many candidate programs, if the candidate programs are narrowed down on condition that the broadcast time lengths match, the processing load for determining the program identity by comparing the program names can be reduced.

  Thereby, the same program can be detected more accurately and more efficiently.

  In the recorded program storage unit, in the recorded program storage unit, among the program information, the start date and time and end date and time of the recorded program are stored in association with the recorded program. Compare the start date / time and date / time of the selected recorded program with the start date / time and date / time of the candidate program, and calculate the time lag as an error in the broadcast time zone. Candidate programs that are shorter than the predetermined time may be detected as the same program.

  According to the above configuration, the same program detecting means can use the fact that the broadcast time zone error is small as an index for determining the identity of the program. In addition, when there are many candidate programs, if the candidate programs are narrowed down on condition that the broadcast time zone error is small, the processing load for determining the program identity by comparing the program names can be reduced.

  Thereby, the same program can be detected more accurately and more efficiently.

  In response to an instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program, the same program detecting means, when the recording of the same program reserved for recording by the reservation registration means is completed, the program of the selected recorded program It is preferable to perform the same program detection again based on the name.

  According to the above configuration, every time recording of the same program is completed, the next same program is detected and registered for recording again.

  Therefore, the user can simply set the favorite program to be recorded once in the first time so that the same program can be continuously recorded.

  Alternatively, further, the same program detecting means detects the same program based on the program name of the selected recorded program when the program information stored in the program information storage unit is updated. It is preferable to execute again.

  According to the above configuration, whenever the program information becomes new, the same program is detected and recorded again for recording reservation.

  Therefore, the user can simply set the favorite program to be recorded once in the first time so that the same program can be continuously recorded.

  In the program recording apparatus, the same program detecting means further accepts designation of a recording cycle in recording of the designated same program, and starts and ends corresponding to the next recording cycle of the selected recorded program When a candidate program having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program is detected as the same program from among the candidate programs having the same, and when the recording of the same program is completed, the selected recording The same program may be detected again based on the program name of the program and the recording period.

  According to the above configuration, the same program detecting means efficiently detects the same program after narrowing down candidate programs based on the broadcast period information in addition to the program name, and the reservation registering means reserves this for recording. It becomes possible.

  The user can easily shift the program recording apparatus to the repetitive recording reservation function simply by selecting a recorded program and a broadcast cycle. Conventionally, in order to cause the program recording apparatus to execute the repetitive recording reservation function, detailed information input work has been required. According to the above configuration, the program recording apparatus can perform the repetitive recording reservation function with the above simple operation. Can be executed.

  A television receiver provided with the above-described program recording apparatus also falls within the scope of the present invention.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a control method for a program recording apparatus according to the present invention is a control method for a program recording apparatus, and the program recording apparatus selects at least a program name from among program information attached to the program. A recorded program storage unit that stores the recorded program as a recorded program, and a program information storage unit that stores the program information for each program, and selects a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit, An operation receiving step for receiving an instruction to record the same program of the recorded program, and a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program among the candidate programs whose program information is stored in the program information storage unit The same program detecting step for detecting the candidate program as the same program, and the recording reservation of the same program is registered based on the program information of the same program detected in the same program detecting step. It is characterized in that it comprises a reservation registration step.

  The program recording apparatus may be realized by a computer. In this case, a program for controlling the program recording apparatus for causing the program recording apparatus to be realized by the computer by operating the computer as each of the means, and the program A computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded also falls within the scope of the present invention.

  In order to solve the above problems, a program recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a recorded program storage unit that stores a program as a recorded program in association with at least a program name of program information attached to the program, and the program information A program information storage unit for storing each program, selection of a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit, and an instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program, in the program information storage unit Among the candidate programs stored with program information, the same program detecting means for detecting a candidate program having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program as the same program, and the same program detecting means And a reservation registration means for registering a recording reservation for the same program based on program information of the same program.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a control method for a program recording apparatus according to the present invention is a control method for a program recording apparatus, and the program recording apparatus selects at least a program name from among program information attached to the program. A recorded program storage unit that stores the recorded program as a recorded program, and a program information storage unit that stores the program information for each program, and selects a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit, An operation receiving step for receiving an instruction to record the same program of the recorded program, and a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program among the candidate programs whose program information is stored in the program information storage unit The same program detecting step for detecting the candidate program as the same program, and the recording reservation of the same program is registered based on the program information of the same program detected in the same program detecting step. It is characterized in that it comprises a reservation registration step.

  Therefore, it is possible to realize a program recording apparatus that can more easily record and set a desired program.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part function structure of the television which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of a television. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a television. It is a figure which shows an example of the one program information which comprises the EPG data memorize | stored in the program information storage part of the television. It is a figure which shows an example of the recorded program information memorize | stored in the recorded program storage part of television. It is a figure which shows an example of the recording conditions memorize | stored in the recording condition memory | storage part of television. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the basic video recording function which a television performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the program name character string normalization process which the same program detection part of a television performs. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the basic video recording function which a television performs. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the recording list display screen displayed on LCD of a television.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1
[Outline of TV 100]
In the embodiment described below, a case where the program recording apparatus of the present invention is applied to the television 100 will be described as an example.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the television 100 according to the present invention. The television 100 extracts program information selected by the user or program information that matches a preset search condition from a plurality of program information, and records the program specified thereby in the storage device. It is an example of a program recording device.

  In the present embodiment, the television 100 is employed as the program recording device. The television 100 is a so-called television receiver that receives program data and outputs a program based on the received program data. That is, the television 100 can be said to be a television receiver provided with a program recording device.

  Examples of the television 100 include a liquid crystal television, a plasma television, an organic EL television, a cathode ray tube television, and the like. The TV 100 includes, for example, a HDD (Hard disk drive) recorder built-in TV, an HDD player built-in TV, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorder built-in TV, a DVD player built-in TV, a BD (Blue-ray Disc) recorder built-in TV, and a BD. For example, a player built-in television. In the present embodiment, a liquid crystal television incorporating a BD recorder and an HDD recorder is employed as the television 100.

  The television 100 includes a main body 102 and a remote controller 104. In addition, the television 100 includes not only the remote controller 104 but also an operation button 106 provided on the outer surface of the main body 102 as an input device. For example, the user of the television 100 performs operations such as power ON / OFF, volume adjustment, input switching, channel selection, recording, and playback by operating the remote controller 104 or the operation button 106. Can do.

[About program information and EPG data]
Here, program information handled by the television 100 will be described. The television 100 stores program information for a plurality of programs. Each of the plurality of program information includes the program name, program content, channel ID, branch number, start time, end time, service ID, network ID, OriginalNetwork ID, TransportStream ID, event ID (program ID), etc. Various information is included to identify For example, the television 100 acquires terrestrial digital broadcast program information and satellite broadcast program information via broadcast waves and network communication, and stores the acquired program information. The television 100 generates EPG (electronic program guide) data from these pieces of program information, and holds this in a storage device. The EPG data includes a broadcasting schedule for the latest about one week. When the EPG data is presented to the user as an electronic program guide or the user selects a program that the user wants to view or record, It is read by the television 100 as necessary.

[Program recording function]
The television 100 has a program recording function as the program recording apparatus of the present invention. The television 100 uses the EPG data when performing a program recording function.

  The program recording function is a function of specifying a program using program information included in EPG data, receiving the program data of the specified program via a broadcast wave or network communication, and recording the program data in a storage device. . The storage device may be built in the television 100 or may be an external storage device connected to the television 100.

  In the present embodiment, the television 100 has the following five types of program recording functions.

(1) Immediate recording function This function receives an immediate recording instruction from the user when the TV 100 selects a channel and plays a broadcast program (that is, when the user is watching the program). Then, it is a function that immediately starts recording the broadcast program being selected. When the user wants to record the program being viewed, the user can start recording immediately and easily by, for example, pressing a recording button on the remote controller.

(2) Single recording reservation function When the TV 100 displays an electronic program guide based on EPG data, this function selects a program in the electronic program guide and inputs a recording reservation instruction. The TV 100 registers the recording reservation of the selected program, and starts recording the program when the broadcast time of the program comes. The user can easily make a recording reservation by calling the electronic program guide, selecting a desired program, and pressing a decision button, for example.

(3) Repetitive recording reservation function When the user selects a program from the electronic program guide and designates the broadcast cycle information of the program (for example, daily, weekly, monthly to Friday, biweekly, monthly, etc.), Similar to the “single recording reservation function”, in addition to performing recording reservation and recording for the selected program, it is a function for performing recording reservation for the next broadcast of the program when the recording is completed. According to this function, a repeatedly broadcast program can be repeatedly recorded in a chained manner at a specified period. A user can perform a scheduled recording and recording of a desired program repeatedly broadcast every time only by performing a recording reservation registration operation once.

(4) Automatic Recording Function This function is a function for automatically recording a program that matches a predetermined condition on the television 100 without receiving an instruction input from the user. Specifically, the television 100 selects a program that matches a predetermined condition based on the user's past viewing history, preference information registered in advance by the user, that is, a program that the user is likely to like, as EPG data. The specified program is automatically recorded. Even if there is a program that the user likes, but did not know that there is a broadcast, or a program that had been forgotten to be reserved for recording, the user would miss the program that was automatically recorded by the TV 100. It is possible to watch a favorite program.

(5) Standard recording function This function displays a recording list of programs recorded by the TV 100, and when a user selects a recorded program or plays a recorded program, the standard recording function is displayed. When a reservation instruction is input, the TV 100 guesses and searches for the same program as the selected recorded program from a group of programs to be broadcast in the future of EPG data, and makes a recording reservation for the detected same program. is there. Furthermore, according to this function, when the recording of the same program is completed, the television 100 searches for the next same program and makes a recording reservation again.

  As a result, when the user finds a favorite program that he / she wants to watch repeatedly from among the recorded programs, the user can immediately and easily record and record the favorite program every time.

  According to this function, the television 100 can automatically detect the same program to be reserved using the meta information attached to the recorded program, so that the user does not need to know detailed information about the program. By simply selecting a favorite recorded program, the program can be easily registered as a standard recording target program. That is, the program can be handled in the same manner as the program that is the target of recording by the “repetitive recording reservation function”.

  Here, the same program does not mean that the contents are exactly the same, but is a series that is broadcast multiple times with different broadcast contents, and means programs that belong to the same series. Yes. That is, program names are unified in the same program.

  In the conventional technique, the user wants to continuously record a recorded program that has been recorded only once by the above-described immediate recording function, single recording reservation function, or the like, and by the automatic recording function. When a favorite program to be recorded continuously was found among the recorded programs that had been recorded, the favorite recorded program could not be easily registered as a standard recording target program.

  According to the “basic recording function” provided in the television 100 of the present invention, the same program is detected based on the meta information of a recorded program that has been recorded only once or a recorded program that has been recorded by accident, and recorded. Schedule and record. Therefore, there is an effect that the user can set a desired program continuously and more reliably and easily.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the television 100 of the present invention that realizes the above-described program recording function, in particular, the “standard recording function” will be described in more detail.

[Hardware configuration of TV 100]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the television 100 (main body 102). As shown in FIG. 3, the television 100 includes an external input terminal 201, a terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202, a satellite broadcast tuner 203, a recording / playback unit 204, a BD drive 205, a video selector 206, a video processing circuit 207, an OSD (On-Screen). Display) generation unit 208, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) controller 209, LCD 210, audio selector 211, audio processing circuit 212, amplifier 213, speaker 214, external device interface 215, ROM 216, RAM 217, CPU 218, infrared light receiving unit 219, communication interface 220 and an HD drive 221. In FIG. 3, the path of the video signal is indicated by a solid line, the path of the audio signal is indicated by an alternate long and short dash line, and the path (bus) of data and control signals is indicated by a bold line.

  The external input terminal 201 includes a video input terminal 201a and an audio input terminal 201b. The video input terminal 201a is for inputting a video signal, and is, for example, a DVI terminal. The audio input terminal 201b is for inputting an audio signal, and is, for example, an S / PDIF terminal. However, the external input terminal 201 is not limited thereto, and may be an HDMI terminal or the like in which the video input terminal 201a and the audio input terminal 201b are integrated.

  The terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 is a tuner for receiving a broadcast program broadcast by terrestrial digital broadcast. The terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 includes, for example, an RF unit that converts a received signal into an analog baseband signal, an ADC unit that converts an analog baseband signal into a digital baseband signal, a demodulator that demodulates an MPEG2 stream from the digital baseband signal, And it can be comprised by the decoding part which decodes a video signal and an audio | voice signal from an MPEG2 stream.

  The MPEG2 stream demodulated by the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 is supplied to the recording / playback unit 204 via the bus. Also, the video signal and the audio signal decoded by the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 are supplied to the video selector 206 and the audio selector 211, respectively. Note that the CPU 218 controls which channel the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 selects as a demodulation target.

  The terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 is preferably a double tuner capable of simultaneously demodulating two MPEG2 streams broadcast via different channels. In this case, the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 supplies the MPEG2 stream broadcast via the first channel selected as the channel selection target channel to the recording / playback unit 204, and the video signal and audio signal decoded from the MPEG2 stream. Is supplied to the video selector 206 and the audio selector 211. Also, the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 supplies the MPEG2 stream broadcast via the second channel selected as the recording target channel to the recording / playback unit 204.

  Of course, the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 according to the present invention is not limited to a double tuner, and may be, for example, a single tuner or a plurality of tuners including three or more tuners. When the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 is a single tuner, an MPEG2 stream representing a broadcast program can be supplied to the recording / playback unit 204 only when the user is not viewing the broadcast program. Further, when the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 is composed of a plurality of tuners, each channel, each broadcast wave, or each viewer (for example, dad, mother, child, etc.) via a different channel. An MPEG2 stream representing a broadcast program to be broadcast can be supplied to the recording / playback unit 204.

  The satellite broadcast tuner 203 is a tuner for receiving a broadcast program broadcast by satellite broadcast. The satellite broadcast tuner 203 includes, for example, an RF unit that converts a received signal into an analog baseband signal, an ADC unit that converts an analog baseband signal into a digital baseband signal, a demodulation unit that demodulates an MPEG2 stream from the digital baseband signal, and The decoding unit can decode the video signal from the MPEG2 stream.

  The MPEG2 stream demodulated by the satellite broadcast tuner 203 is supplied to the recording / playback unit 204. Also, the video signal and the audio signal decoded by the satellite broadcast tuner 203 are supplied to the video selector 206 and the audio selector 211, respectively. Note that the CPU 218 selects which channel the satellite broadcast tuner 203 demodulates the MPEG2 data stream transmitted through.

  Note that the satellite broadcast tuner 203 in this embodiment is preferably a double tuner that can simultaneously receive two broadcast programs broadcast via different channels, like the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202.

  The recording / playback unit 204 includes a recording unit 204a and a playback unit 204b. The recording unit 204a acquires the MPEG2 stream from either the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202 or the satellite broadcast tuner 203, and writes the acquired MPEG2 stream in the storage device. The recording unit 204a uses a BD drive 205 built in the TV 100, an HD drive 221 built in the TV 100, and various recorders connected to the external device interface 215 as storage devices for recording MPEG2 streams. Can be used. The playback unit 204b reads the MPEG2 stream from the storage device, and decodes the video signal and the audio signal from the read MPEG2 stream. The video signal and audio signal decoded by the reproduction unit 204b are supplied to the video selector 206 and the audio selector 211, respectively.

  The video selector 206 is supplied with the four types of video signals described above. That is, (1) a video signal input from the external input terminal 201 (particularly the video input terminal 201a), (2) a video signal decoded by the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202, and (3) decoded by the satellite broadcast tuner 203. And (4) the video signal decoded by the recording / playback unit 204 (particularly the playback unit 204b). The video selector 206 selects any one of the video signals (1) to (4). The video signal selected by the video selector 206 is supplied to the video processing circuit 207. Note that the CPU 218 controls which video signal the video selector 206 selects.

  The video processing circuit 207 performs image quality adjustment processing on the video signal supplied from the video selector 206. The video processing circuit 207 performs a scaling process on the video signal supplied from the video selector 206. Here, the image quality adjustment processing refers to, for example, changing at least one of the luminance, sharpness, and contrast of the video represented by the video signal by processing the video signal. The scaling processing refers to similar enlargement or similar reduction of the size of the video represented by the video signal by processing the video signal. The video signal processed by the video processing circuit 207 is supplied to the LCD controller 209. Note that the CPU 218 controls how the image processing circuit 207 changes the image quality and size.

  The OSD generation unit 208 generates (renders) an OSD image from the OSD data supplied from the CPU 218. Examples of the OSD image generated by the OSD generation unit 208 include an electronic program guide, a menu screen, and an operation screen. As the OSD data, for example, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) can be used. The OSD image generated by the OSD generation unit 208 is superimposed on the video signal supplied from the video processing circuit 207 and supplied to the LCD controller 209.

  Based on the video signal supplied from the video processing circuit 207, the LCD controller 209 drives the LCD 210 to display the video represented by the video signal. In addition, when the OSD image is supplied from the OSD generation unit 208, the LCD controller 209 displays the video represented by the video signal based on the OSD image superimposed on the video signal supplied from the video processing circuit 207. The LCD 210 is driven to display. In the present embodiment, a liquid crystal television is adopted as an example of the television 100. For this reason, the television 100 employs an LCD 210 as a display, and employs an LCD controller 209 as a display controller. Therefore, when a television other than the liquid crystal television is adopted as the television 100, a display and a display controller corresponding to the television are adopted.

  The above-described four types of audio signals are supplied to the audio selector 211. That is, (1) an audio signal input from the external input terminal 201 (particularly the audio input terminal 201b), (2) an audio signal decoded by the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202, and (3) decoded by the satellite broadcast tuner 203. And (4) the audio signal decoded by the recording / playback unit 204 (particularly, the playback unit 204b). The audio selector 211 selects any one of the audio signals (1) to (4).

  The audio signal selected by the audio selector 211 is supplied to the audio processing circuit 212. Note that the CPU 218 controls which audio signal the audio selector 211 selects. However, the selection of the video in the video selector 206 and the selection of the audio in the audio selector 211 are linked. For example, when the video selector 206 selects the video signal supplied from the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202, the audio is selected. The selector 211 also selects the audio signal supplied from the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202.

  The audio processing circuit 212 performs volume adjustment processing on the audio signal supplied from the audio selector 211. The audio processing circuit 212 performs sound quality adjustment processing on the audio signal supplied from the audio selector 211. Here, the volume adjustment processing refers to changing the volume of the voice represented by the voice signal by processing the voice signal. The sound quality adjustment processing refers to changing the frequency characteristics of the sound represented by the sound signal by processing the sound signal (for example, low frequency emphasis or high frequency emphasis). The audio signal processed by the audio processing circuit 212 is supplied to the amplifier 213. Note that the CPU 218 controls how the sound processing circuit 212 changes the sound volume and sound quality.

  Based on the audio signal supplied from the audio processing circuit 212, the amplifier 213 drives the speaker 214 to output the audio represented by the audio signal.

  The CPU 218 controls each of the above units according to a control signal input to the television 100. As a control signal input to the television 100, a control signal input by the operation button 106, transmitted from the remote control 104, transmitted from the infrared light receiving unit 219, and transmitted from an external device via the external device interface 215. Control signals transmitted from the network device via the communication interface 220, and the like.

  For example, as control by the control signal, control for switching the reception channels of the digital terrestrial broadcast tuner 202 and the satellite broadcast tuner 203, and the video signal and the audio signal selected by the video selector 206 and the audio selector 211 are controlled according to the remote control signal. Control for causing the recording unit 204a to record content (program recording function), control for causing the reproduction unit 204b to reproduce content, and the like.

  The functional configuration for realizing the program recording function in the CPU 218 will be described in detail later.

  The ROM 216 is a readable and non-writable memory in which fixed data such as a program executed by the CPU 218 is stored. On the other hand, the RAM 217 is a readable and writable memory in which variable data such as data referred to by the CPU 218 for calculation and data generated by the CPU 218 by calculation is stored.

  The external device interface 215 is an interface for connecting an external device to the television 100. Examples of the external device interface 215 include HDMI and iLink.

  The communication interface 220 is an interface for connecting the television 100 to a network and various network devices. An example of the communication interface 220 is a LAN interface.

  In this embodiment, as a digital terrestrial broadcasting system, a system for multiplexing MPEG2 streams (ATSC system in the United States, ISDB-T system in Japan, etc.) is assumed, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is not something. That is, for example, instead of multiplexing MPEG2 streams, the present invention can also be applied to a system that multiplexes MPEG4 streams and the like (DVB-T / DVB-T2 system in Europe, etc.). In the latter case, the demodulated MPEG4 stream may be recorded on the recording medium as it is, or the demodulated MPEG4 stream may be converted into an MPEG2 stream and recorded on the recording medium.

[Function of TV 100]
A functional configuration of the television 100 will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a main part of the television 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the television 100 includes a program determination unit 10, a recording execution unit 11, a reservation registration unit 12, a recording condition supply unit 13, and an identical program detection unit 14 as functional blocks. The television 100 also includes a program information storage unit 20, a recorded program storage unit 21, a recording reservation information storage unit 22, and a recording condition storage unit 23.

  Each unit shown as the functional block is executed by a CPU (central processing unit) 218 reading a program stored in a storage device such as a ROM (read only memory) 216 to a RAM (random access memory) 217 or the like. This can be achieved. That is, in the program determination unit 10, the recording execution unit 11, the reservation registration unit 12, the recording condition supply unit 13, and the same program detection unit 14, the CPU 218 executes a program stored in the storage device (ROM 216). These are functional blocks realized by controlling peripheral circuits such as an input / output circuit (not shown).

  In the television 100, each unit of the storage unit is realized by an appropriate storage device such as the ROM 216, the RAM 217, the BD drive 205, and the HD drive shown in FIG.

  Here, a program recording function provided in the television 100 and functions related thereto will be described. Since other functions are general functions of the television receiver, illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  The program information storage unit 20 stores a plurality of program information and EPG data generated from them. For example, the television 100 receives a broadcast wave including terrestrial digital broadcast program information by the terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 202. Also, the television 100 receives broadcast waves including satellite broadcast program information by the satellite broadcast tuner 203. Then, the television 100 extracts program information included in the received broadcast wave, and stores the extracted program information in the program information storage unit 20. The television 100 periodically obtains the latest program information and updates the program information stored in the program information storage unit 20. Details of the program information stored in the program information storage unit 20 will be described later.

  The recorded program storage unit 21 stores programs recorded by the television 100. The recorded program is stored in the recorded program storage unit 21 in association with the meta information. In the present embodiment, the meta information includes, for example, “recorded program name”, “start time (start date / time)”, and “end time (end date / time)”. Further, “program content” indicating detailed information of the program may be included in the meta information. The recorded program and the meta information stored in the recorded program storage unit 21 are read out as necessary when the television 100 displays the recording list and plays back the recorded program. Details of the recorded program and meta information stored in the recorded program storage unit 21 will be described later.

  The recording reservation information storage unit 22 stores program information reserved for recording by the television 100. As the program information stored in the recording reservation information storage unit 22, the TV 100 performs recording such as program name, channel (Service ID), start time, end time, Network ID, OriginalNetwork ID, TransportStream ID, and Event ID. Contains all the information to identify the program. Alternatively, the minimum necessary information may be included so that the program information necessary for recording can be referred to from the EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20. Based on the program information stored in the recording reservation information storage unit 22, the television 100 starts recording the program when the recording reserved program starts.

  The recording condition storage unit 23 stores recording conditions for determining or searching for a program to be recorded or reserved for recording when the television 100 executes the program recording function. In the present embodiment, the recording condition storage unit 23 stores recording conditions for realizing the repetitive recording reservation function, recording conditions for realizing the automatic recording function, and recording conditions for realizing the standard recording function. ing. Details of the recording conditions stored in the recording condition storage unit 23 will be described later.

  The program determination unit 10 uses the immediate recording function, the single recording reservation function, the repetitive recording reservation function, and the automatic recording function to record EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20 for programs to be recorded or reserved for recording. It is decided from among.

  For example, when executing the immediate recording function, when the program determining unit 10 receives an immediate recording instruction via the infrared light receiving unit 219, the program 100 determines a program that is currently being selected and output as a program to be recorded. The program determination unit 10 instructs the recording execution unit 11 to record the determined program. When executing the one-time recording reservation function, when the program determination unit 10 receives a recording reservation instruction via the infrared light receiving unit 219, the program determination unit 10 identifies what the program selected by the user is, and records it as a recording reservation target program. Determine as. The program determination unit 10 instructs the reservation registration unit 12 to register a recording reservation for the determined program.

  The recording execution unit 11 controls the recording unit 204a to execute program recording. The recording execution unit 11 controls the recording unit 204 a to acquire a predetermined program and meta information of the program, and stores them in the recorded program storage unit 21. The recording execution unit 11 executes the recording when instructed to record the program from the program determination unit 10 or when the broadcast start time of the recording target program stored in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 comes. To do.

  The reservation registration unit (reservation registration means) 12 executes recording reservation registration of a recording target program. The reservation registration unit 12 performs recording reservation by storing the program information of the program designated by the program determination unit 10 or the same program detection unit 14 in the recording reservation information storage unit 22. Alternatively, the reservation registration unit 12 records the minimum necessary information for specifying the program so that the recording execution unit 11 can directly refer to the program information of the recording target program from the program information storage unit 20. It is also possible to have a configuration that is only registered in.

  The recording condition supply unit 13 manages the recording conditions stored in the recording condition storage unit 23. Specifically, the recording condition supply unit 13 registers the recording condition in the recording condition storage unit 23 when receiving the recording condition input by the user via the infrared light receiving unit 219.

  Further, the recording condition supply unit 13 reads out necessary recording conditions from the recording condition storage unit 23 when the same program detection unit 14 searches for the same program in order to execute the standard recording function, and the same program detection unit 14. Further, the recording condition supply unit 13 sets a necessary recording condition when the program determining unit 10 determines a recording or recording reservation target program for executing the repeated recording reservation function or the automatic recording function. 23 may be read out and supplied to the program determination unit 10.

  The same program detection unit 14 executes a standard recording function. Specifically, when the same program detection unit 14 receives the standard recording reservation instruction input by the user via the infrared light receiving unit 219, the recording program selected at this time is set as a standard recording target program and the recording condition is set. Register in the storage unit 23. At the same time, the same program detection unit 14 detects a program presumed to be the same as the recorded program from the EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20 based on the meta information of the recorded program. Then, the reservation registration unit 12 is instructed to make a recording reservation for the detected program. The same program detection unit 14 may instruct the reservation registration unit 12 to make a recording reservation for a plurality of programs if there are a plurality of programs estimated to be the same in the EPG data. The same program detection unit 14 may be configured to perform a search again when the EPG data is updated next, when a program that is assumed to be the same is not detected in the EPG data.

  Hereinafter, the data structure of information stored in each storage unit and the operation of each functional block will be described in detail with reference to specific examples illustrated in FIGS. In addition, the specific example shown here is shown as an example in order to make an understanding of invention easy, and does not limit this invention.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of one piece of program information constituting the EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the program information storage unit 20 stores a plurality (M cases, where M is an arbitrary integer) of program information. The program determination unit 10 and the same program detection unit 14 detect and determine program information of a program to be recorded or reserved for recording from among the plurality of program information.

  Each program information includes various information related to the program related to the program information. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, each program information includes broadcast type, channel ID, branch number, network ID, service ID, service name, event (program) ID, program name, start time, Various information such as end time, program content, genre, etc. are included. The start time and end time may include information on the broadcast date (and broadcast day).

  These pieces of information are read out as necessary by each unit of the functional blocks realized by the CPU 218 (the program determination unit 10, the same program detection unit 14, etc.).

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of recorded program information stored in the recorded program storage unit 21. As shown in FIG. 5, the recorded program storage unit 21 stores a plurality (N cases, where N is an arbitrary integer) of recorded program information. The recorded program information is obtained by associating meta information with the program data main body of the recorded recorded program. In this embodiment, “recorded program name”, “start time”, and “end time” are stored as an example of meta information, but the present invention is not limited to this. The recording execution unit 11 may acquire any information from the program information shown in FIG. 4, and the recording execution unit 11 records the meta information acquired from the program information of the recorded program by the recording unit 204a. And stored in the recorded program storage unit 21.

  Furthermore, the recording execution unit 11 may add a function type indicating which recording (reservation) function the recording is based on to the recorded program data as meta information. For example, when recording based on the repeated recording reservation function is performed, the recording execution unit 11 assigns “function type: repeated recording” to the recorded program data. When recording based on the automatic recording function is performed, the recording execution unit 11 assigns “function type: automatic recording” to the recorded program data. Similarly, when recording based on the standard recording function is performed, “function type: standard recording” is added to the recorded program data.

  Thus, the television 100 can sort the recording functions and present a list of recorded programs to the user. Also, the television 100 can make a determination to reserve the next recording target program when the recording based on the repeated recording reservation function and the standard recording function is completed.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of recording conditions stored in the recording condition storage unit 23. In the present embodiment, since the television 100 has a repetitive recording reservation function, an automatic recording function, and a standard recording function, the recording condition storage unit 23 stores each recording condition used for each function. .

(Repeated recording condition)
The recording condition storage unit 23 stores a repeated recording condition 231 as a recording condition used in the repeated recording reservation function. As shown in FIG. 6, the repetitive recording condition 231 includes at least information (program information in the example shown in FIG. 6) for specifying a program to be repeatedly recorded, and broadcast cycle information specified by the user. It is a data structure.

  When the recording condition supply unit 13 receives a selection of a program and broadcast cycle information of the program together with an instruction for repeated recording from the user, the recording condition supply unit 13 associates the program information of the selected program with the broadcast cycle information, The repetitive recording condition 231 is registered in the recording condition storage unit 23.

  When the recording condition supply unit 13 further receives an instruction for repeated recording, the recording condition supply unit 13 supplies program information of the selected program to the program determination unit 10 to instruct recording reservation for the program. Then, the program determination unit 10 detects the program scheduled for the latest broadcast from the EPG data for the designated program and determines it as a recording reservation target program.

  Further, when the recording condition supply unit 13 and the program determination unit 10 execute the repetitive recording reservation function, when the recording of the program that has been previously reserved for recording is completed, the program is recorded as a target for repeated recording. 23, the recording condition supply unit 13 refers to the repeated recording condition 231 and supplies the corresponding recording condition to the program determination unit 10. The program determination unit 10 searches the EPG data in the program information storage unit 20 for a program to be reserved next in accordance with the recording conditions supplied from the recording condition supply unit 13. The program determination unit 10 can determine one next recording reservation target program that matches the conditions based on the program information and broadcast cycle information included in the recording conditions. Then, the program determination unit 10 instructs the reservation registration unit 12 to register the recording reservation of the determined program.

  As described above, the program determination unit 10 and the recording condition supply unit 13 repeat the above-described series of processes, thereby realizing a repeated recording reservation function. If the program determination unit 10 cannot detect program information that matches the conditions from the EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20, the next time the EPG data is updated, What is necessary is just to comprise so that a repeating recording reservation function may be performed.

  Note that the recording condition storage unit 23 may not include the repeated recording condition 231 when the television 100 does not have the repeated recording reservation function.

(Automatic recording conditions)
The recording condition storage unit 23 stores an automatic recording condition 232 as a recording condition used in the automatic recording function. As shown in FIG. 6, the automatic recording condition 232 has, as an example, a data structure including a type of information for narrowing down a program to be automatically recorded and contents to be hit with the type of information. Examples of the information type include “genre”. “Genre” is information that is included in the program information and indicates to which genre the content of the program belongs. In the example shown in FIG. 6, “genre: news / report” is registered as the first recording condition. According to this recording condition, the program determination unit 10 can determine a program belonging to the genre of “news / report” as an automatic recording target program. In addition, there is a “keyword” as another type of information. The keyword to be hit is stored in the contents to be hit of “keyword”. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 6, “keyword: music” is registered as the second recording condition. In accordance with this recording condition, the program determination unit 10 can determine a program having program information in which the keyword “music” is included in “program name” or “program content” as an automatic recording target program. Note that the automatic recording condition 232 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6, and other items (channel ID, performer information, etc.) of the program information can be specified as the recording condition.

  Note that the program determination unit 10 may determine an automatic recording target program using a plurality of recording conditions as AND conditions. Also, the user may be able to select whether a plurality of search conditions are used as AND conditions or a plurality of search conditions are used as OR conditions.

  Also, as a recording condition setting method, the user may set individual recording conditions to set arbitrary combinations, but the television 100 stores a plurality of combinations in advance, and this The user may be allowed to select from a plurality of combinations. Also, the recording condition supply unit 13 estimates the user's preference based on the user's past viewing (playback) history, identifies the genre, keyword, etc. that the user is likely to like, and automatically sets the recording condition. The configuration may be registered in the storage unit 23.

  When executing the automatic recording function, the program determination unit 10 searches the EPG data for a program that matches the recording condition supplied from the recording condition supply unit 13 and determines it as a recording target program. Here, as described above, the supplied recording conditions include user preference information such as what kind of genre the user likes and what programs the user has viewed in the past. Therefore, the program determination unit 10 can estimate a program that the user is likely to like based on the preference information and determine it as a recording target program. When the EPG data is updated to the latest one, the program determination unit 10 may detect all the recording target programs to be automatically recorded, and instruct the reservation registration unit 12 to perform recording reservation registration. Alternatively, the program determination unit 10 may monitor the program that will start broadcasting from now on and instruct the recording execution unit 11 to start recording when the program meets the recording conditions.

  Note that the recording condition storage unit 23 may not include the automatic recording condition 232 if the television 100 does not have an automatic recording function.

(Standard recording conditions)
The recording condition storage unit 23 stores a standard recording condition 233 as a recording condition used in the standard recording function. As shown in FIG. 6, the standard recording condition 233 has a data structure including meta information of a recorded program selected by the user as a standard recording target from the recorded program storage unit 21. In this embodiment, as an example, the standard recording condition 233 stores the “recorded program name” of the selected recorded program. When the recording condition supply unit 13 receives a selection of a recorded program from the user together with a basic recording instruction, the recording condition supply unit 13 registers the recorded program name of the selected recording program in the recording condition storage unit 23 as the standard recording condition 233. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The recording condition supply unit 13 may store other meta information attached to the recorded program, for example, the start time, end time, program content, and the like as the standard recording condition 233.

  Further, when receiving an instruction for standard recording, the recording condition supply unit 13 supplies the recorded program name of the selected recorded program to the same program detecting unit 14 to record the same program of the selected recorded program. Instruct reservation. Then, the same program detection unit 14 estimates and searches for the same program from the EPG data based on the designated recorded program name, and supplies the program information of the program detected as the same program to the reservation registration unit 12. The reservation registration unit 12 registers the program information of the program specified by the same program detection unit 14 in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 and performs recording reservation registration.

  Further, when the recording condition supply unit 13 and the same program detection unit 14 execute the standard recording function, the recording condition supply unit 13 sets the standard recording condition when the recording of the program that has been reserved for basic recording is completed. Referring to 233, the corresponding recording conditions are supplied to the same program detecting unit 14.

  The same program detecting unit 14 searches the EPG data in the program information storage unit 20 for the same program to be reserved next in accordance with the recording conditions supplied from the recording condition supplying unit 13. The same program detection unit 14 can determine the next recording reservation target program that matches the condition based on the recorded program name included in the recording condition. When a plurality of programs that are presumed to be the same program are detected, the same program detection unit 14 may determine all of them as recording reservation target programs, and supply the plurality of program information to the reservation registration unit 12. Also good. The reservation registration unit 12 registers program information of the designated program in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 and performs recording reservation registration of the same program. As described above, since the standard recording based on the program name for the selected recorded program continues in a chained manner, the recording of the same program can be continued without the broadcast cycle information.

  In addition, when a recording reservation has already been made for a program detected by the same program detection unit 14 after receiving a standard recording instruction from the user, the user may be notified that the reservation has been registered. If the same program detection unit 14 cannot detect the same program that matches the conditions from the EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20, the next time the EPG data is updated, The basic recording function may be executed.

  According to the above configuration, when the same program detection unit 14 receives a selection of a recorded program together with a basic recording instruction from the user, the same program detection unit 14 estimates and detects the same program from the EPG data based on the recorded program name of the recorded program. . And the reservation registration part 12 performs recording reservation registration of the said program based on the program information of the detected program.

  Furthermore, the recording condition supply unit 13 supplies the same program detection unit 14 with the recording conditions necessary for the standard recording when the EPG data is updated or when the previous standard recording is completed. Since the function is executed, the recording of the same program can be continued without the broadcast cycle information.

  As a result, the user can easily select a recorded program that has been recorded only once, or a recorded program that has been recorded by chance, and can easily reserve and record immediately for the same program scheduled to be broadcast next time. It can be performed. Furthermore, since the recording of the same program is performed at any time when the EPG data is updated or when the previous standard recording is completed, the standard recording of the same program can be continued. Therefore, there is an effect that the user can set a desired program continuously and more reliably and easily.

  For example, since the above-described automatic recording function does not record a program that the user intentionally selects, the program recorded by the automatic recording function is a program that the user likes, but it is determined that the program exists. It is likely that the program was unknown or overlooked. Conventionally, when a user views and likes such a recorded program, and wants to continue watching it in the future, what has been recorded by the automatic recording function is recorded repeatedly so that it can be recorded more reliably and continuously. It was necessary to re-register for the reservation function. However, the operation for this is very complicated for the user. This is because the user checks the program name, channel, broadcast start time, end time, broadcast cycle, etc. of the favorite recorded program, searches for the corresponding program from the EPG data, launches the repeated recording reservation function, This is because it is necessary to manually set information and set recording reservation.

  However, according to the television 100 of the present invention, when a user finds a favorite recorded program, the user selects it and sends an instruction for basic recording, and immediately and easily, with the certainty equivalent to the repeated recording reservation function. It becomes possible to record and set a desired program continuously. This standard recording function is used when a user accidentally finds a favorite program from the recorded programs recorded by the automatic recording function, or the immediate recording function or single recording reservation function performs one-time recording, and then continuously Provides a very convenient user interface for users when they want to watch, or when they have made a one-time recording due to an operation error but want to make a recording reservation so that they can continue watching in the future It becomes possible to do.

[Recording list screen]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a recording list display screen displayed on the LCD 210 of the television 100. In addition, the specific example shown here is shown as an example in order to make an understanding of invention easy, and does not limit this invention.

  As shown in FIG. 10, a tab 111, a recorded program list 112, and a menu list 113 are displayed on the recording list display screen. The tab 111 indicates which recording function the recorded program list 112 being displayed is a set of recorded programs. In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the “recording list” tab is a tab for displaying a list of all recorded programs stored in the recorded program storage unit 21 as the recorded program list 112 regardless of the recording function. The “automatic recording list” tab is a tab for displaying a list of recorded programs recorded by the “automatic recording function” among the recorded programs stored in the recorded program storage unit 21 as the recorded program list 112. . The “standard recording list” tab is a tab for displaying, as the recorded program list 112, a list of recorded programs recorded by the “standard recording function” among the recorded programs stored in the recorded program storage unit 21. .

  The recorded program list 112 displays a list of recorded programs specified in the tab 111. In the present embodiment, as an example, the recorded program list 112 displays a list of recorded program names of recorded programs. The recorded program list 112 may be a thumbnail display of the first frame of the recorded program data, or a broadcast start (end) time.

  The user operates the remote controller 104 to move the cursor 114 so that the cursor 114 is placed on the desired recorded program name, thereby selecting a recorded program.

  The menu list 113 displays a recorded program displayed in the recorded program list 112 or a menu for performing a predetermined operation on the recorded program list 112. For example, when the menu “play from the beginning” is selected, the user can instruct the television 100 to play the recorded program focused by the cursor 114.

  Then, when the user operates the remote controller 104 and selects “Record this program in the future (standard recording)” from the menu list 113, the standard recording of the recorded program focused by the cursor 114 is performed on the television 100. Can be instructed.

  The recording condition supply unit 13 and the same program detection unit 14 receive a standard recording instruction and a recorded program name designated by the cursor 114, and execute the above-described standard recording function.

  Furthermore, when the recorded program being reproduced is stopped halfway, the television 100 may display a message asking the user whether or not to perform standard recording for the recorded program. For example, the television 100 may display on the LCD 210 a dialog “Do you want to reserve this program after the next time? Yes / No” and allow the user to select it. Here, when “Yes” is selected, each unit of the television 100 executes the standard recording function.

[Standard recording function execution flow]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the standard recording function executed by the television 100. Hereinafter, the flow of processing of the television 100 when a basic recording is instructed for the first time for a certain recorded program will be described with reference to FIG.

  The television 100 controls each part of the OSD generation unit 208, the LCD controller 209, and the LCD 210 in accordance with an instruction from the user, and displays, for example, a recording list display screen as shown in FIG. 10 (S101).

  Here, when “standard recording” is selected from the menu list 113 by the user operation (YES in S102), the recording condition supply unit 13 firstly sets the meta information (recorded program) of the recorded program selected by the cursor 114. Name) is stored in the recording condition storage unit 23 (S103). 10, the recording condition supply unit 13 registers the recorded program name “music street walk“ Russia ”” in the recording condition storage unit 23 as the standard recording condition 233. Then, the recording condition supply unit 13 The recorded program name selected by (1) is supplied to the same program detection unit 14 (S104).

  Subsequently, based on the supplied recorded program name, the same program detection unit 14 executes processing for detecting a program that is presumed to be the same as the recorded program selected by the user from the EPG data. The details are as follows.

  First, the same program detection unit (same program detection means) 14 determines a program name from program information of each program scheduled to be broadcast in the future (hereinafter referred to as a reservation candidate program) included in the EPG data of the program information storage unit 20. Obtain (S105). The same program detection unit 14 may set all programs included in the EPG data as reservation candidate programs (candidate programs), or extract reservation candidate programs based on predetermined conditions in order to narrow down the number of denominators in advance. It may be left.

  Then, the same program detection unit 14 processes the selected recorded program name (recorded program name character string) and the acquired program name (candidate program name character string) of each reserved candidate program based on a predetermined rule. . That is, the program name character string is normalized (S106). Detailed contents of the program name character string normalization process (normalization process) will be described later with reference to another drawing.

Next, the same program detection unit 14 compares the normalized recorded program name with each of the normalized reserved candidate program names, and matches the program name match rate (character string match rate) for each reservation candidate program. Is obtained (S107).
For example, if the recorded program name is "100 World Heritage Sites (Historic Area of Pienza)" and the candidate reserved program name is "100 World Heritage Sites (Duomo Square in Pisa)", all recorded program names Of the 24 characters, 12 characters from the beginning match the candidate reserved program name. In such a case, the same program detection unit 14 calculates the match rate of program names in the candidate reserved program as 12 ÷ 24 × 100 = 50%. Similarly, when the recorded program name is “100 World Heritage Lists” and the candidate reserved program name is “100 World Heritage Lists”, it matches the candidate reserved program name in all 10 characters of the recorded program name. Since there are 10 characters, the same program detection unit 14 calculates the match rate of program names in the candidate reserved program as 10 ÷ 10 × 100 = 100%.

  When the coincidence rate is obtained for all reservation candidate programs, the same program detecting unit 14 detects a reservation candidate program having the coincidence rate equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold as the same program, that is, a recording reservation target program (S108). In the present embodiment, as an example, the predetermined threshold is set to 90%, and the same program detection unit 14 detects a reserved candidate program whose program name matches the recorded program with the matching rate of 90% or more as the same program. Note that the predetermined threshold value is appropriately determined according to the degree of matching between programs that can be determined as the same program according to the contents of the program name character string normalization process performed by the same program detection unit 14. preferable. In the program name character string normalization process in which the entire program can always be matched for the same program, the predetermined threshold is preferably set to 100%. The same program detection unit 14 transmits the detected same program to the reservation registration unit 12.

  Finally, the reservation registration unit 12 acquires the program information of the same program detected by the same program detection unit 14 from the EPG data and registers it in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 (S109).

  In this way, a standard recording function capable of recording the same program simply by selecting a recorded program is realized.

  Note that the same program detected by the same program detection unit 14 is detected based on the matching rate of program names, so that a plurality of the same programs may be detected regardless of the broadcast date and channel. For example, the same program with different broadcast times may be continuously broadcast on the same channel on the same day. Even in such a case, the same program is correctly detected based on the matching rate of the program names.

[Program name string normalization processing flow]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of program name character string normalization processing executed by the same program detection unit 14. Note that the step numbers given to the steps shown in FIG. 8 represent the processing order, but are merely a specific example for facilitating the program name character string normalization process of the present invention. . The processing order of each step shown in FIG. 8 can be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  First, when the program name character string subjected to normalization processing includes a single-byte character, the same program detecting unit 14 executes a process of converting the single-byte character into a full-width character (S201). The program name may include, for example, half-width characters such as numbers, English letters, and katakana, all of which are converted into corresponding full-width characters.

  Next, the same program detection part 14 performs the process which converts a katakana to hiragana (S202). For example, “100 World Heritage 100 selections” is converted to “Sirizu World Heritage 100 selections”. Next, the same program detection part 14 performs the process which converts a small letter into a capital letter (S203). That is, the same program detection unit 14 unifies characters into uppercase letters for languages in which lowercase letters and uppercase letters exist in the characters used, such as English alphabets.

  The character type of the program name character string is unified by the conversion to full-width characters, hiragana, and capital letters. The method of unifying the character types is not limited to the above, and an appropriate conversion rule is applied according to the language used for notation of the program name and the character type used in the language.

  Next, when the program name character string includes a space, the same program detection unit 14 executes a process of deleting the space (S204). For example, “100 selections of World Heritage Sites” is converted to “100 selections of World Heritage Sites”.

  Next, when the program name character string includes a character enclosed in parentheses in the program name character string, the same program detection unit 14 executes a process of deleting the character string in the parenthesis (character string in the parenthesis) including the parentheses. (S205). For example, “Shirizu World Heritage 100 selections (Historic District of the city)” is converted into “Siriez World Heritage 100 selections”. In the present embodiment, the same program detection unit 14 deletes all types of parenthesized characters regardless of the type of parentheses. The method by which the same program detection unit 14 cuts out the parenthesized character string from the program name character string is not limited to this, but for example, the following method is conceivable. The television 100 previously stores information (character code or the like) of characters to be recognized as “parentheses” in the ROM 216 or the like. Then, the same program detection unit 14 determines whether or not the program name includes a character pair having a character code that matches the character code of the parenthesis character stored in the ROM 216. When a pair of parenthesis characters is detected from the program name, the same program detection unit 14 deletes the character pair and the character string sandwiched between the character pairs.

  Finally, the same program detecting unit 14 executes a process of deleting the special character when the special character is included in the program name character string (S206). Special characters are characters that have a special meaning in expressing the type of program, such as [New] indicating a new program and [Re] indicating a rebroadcast. Such a difference in special characters hinders correct identity determination, so it is preferable to delete special characters. The method by which the same program detection unit 14 cuts out special characters from the program name character string is not limited to this. For example, the following method can be considered. The television 100 previously stores information on characters to be recognized as “special characters” (such as character codes) in the ROM 216 or the like. When the program name includes a character having a character code that matches the character code of the special character stored in the ROM 216, the same program detecting unit 14 recognizes the character as a special character and recognizes the program name. Delete from.

  According to the above-described series of program name character string normalization processing, when the recorded program name and the reserved candidate program name are the same program, the program name is normalized so that the matching rate is high. It becomes possible. A specific example is as follows.

  For example, the name of the recorded program is “[Character] series World Heritage 100 selections“ Historic area of Pienza city-Italy ””, and the reservation candidate program name is “[Character] series World Heritage 100 selections” It is assumed that it is Italy ~ "". If the identity of these programs is determined without executing the program name character string normalization process of the present invention, the reservation candidate program is selected from all 32 characters of the recorded program name. In this case, the match rate of the program name is as low as 14 ÷ 32 × 100≈44%, and both are judged as different programs.

  However, in actuality, both programs are the same program only with different subtitles. In order to avoid the risk of such erroneous determination being made, the program name character string normalization process of the present invention is executed. According to the program name character string normalization processing of the present invention, the character type is unified, the subtitles, special characters, etc. that can be changed at each broadcast time are deleted, and only the main title that is difficult to change in the same program remains. Can be normalized.

  According to the program name character string normalization processing of the present invention, in the above-described example, the recorded program name is converted to “100 selections of World Heritage Sites”, and the reservation candidate program name is “100 selections of World Heritage Sites”. Is converted. Therefore, the same program detection unit 14 can calculate the program name match rate as 100% and correctly determine that the reservation candidate program is the same program as the recorded program.

  The program name character string normalization process of the present invention is not limited to the above method. For example, when a character string representing the number of repeated broadcasts (first episode, first episode, # 1, Vol. 1, etc.) is included in the program name character string, such as a series drama, it is broadcast repeatedly. The character string representing the number of times may be recognized and deleted. As a result, the same main title can be left even if the number of broadcasts is different, so that it can be determined that the program is the same with higher accuracy.

  In the above example, assuming that program name character strings have some character string mismatches even between the same programs, program names having a character string match rate of 90% or more are determined to be the same program. The program detection unit 14 has been described. The same program detecting unit 14 is not limited to this configuration, and the number of characters of the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string is reduced to an extremely small number such as 1 to 2 characters by the normalization process. In this case, the threshold value may be dynamically changed according to the situation so that the same program is determined only when 100% completely matches. In this way, by dynamically changing the threshold according to the number of characters after normalization, it is possible to reduce the risk that different programs are erroneously determined to be the same program as character strings having a smaller number of characters.

[Continuous recording flow]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing of the standard recording function executed by the television 100. In the following, with reference to FIG. 9, a description will be given of the processing flow of the television 100 when the standard recording is continuously executed when a certain recorded program is already registered as the standard recording target program.

  When the recording execution unit 11 completes the recording of the recording target program registered in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 (YES in S301), the reservation registration unit 12 repeatedly records the recorded program that has just been completed. It is determined whether the recording reservation function is based on one of the recording reservation function and the standard recording function or not (S302). If the completed recording is not recording by the repetitive recording reservation function or the standard recording function, that is, recording by the single recording reservation function (NO in S302), the reservation registration unit 12 records the recorded program storage unit 21. The recording reservation for the program for which recording has been completed is deleted (S303), and the series of processing ends.

  On the other hand, when the completed recording is a recording based on one of the repetitive recording reservation function and the standard recording function (YES in S302), the recording condition supply unit 13 then performs the completed recording. It is determined which of the repeated recording reservation function and the standard recording function is used for recording (S304).

  If the completed recording is based on the repeated recording reservation function (A in S304), the recording condition supply unit 13 sets the repeated recording condition 231 for the program that has been recorded from the recording condition storage unit 23. Acquired and supplied to the program determination unit 10. The program determination unit 10 determines the next recording reservation target program from the EPG data based on the repeated recording condition 231 (program information and broadcast cycle information). Subsequently, the reservation registration unit 12 registers the program information of the program determined by the program determination unit 10 as the recording reservation information in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 (S305), and ends the series of processes.

  On the other hand, when the completed recording is based on the standard recording function (B in S304), the recording condition supply unit 13 refers to the standard recording condition 233 related to the completed recording, and the recording condition That is, the recorded program name is acquired and supplied to the same program detecting unit 14 (S306). The subsequent processing for standard recording in the same program detection unit 14 is the same as the processing in S105 to S109 shown in FIG.

  Alternatively, when the program information and EPG data stored in the program information storage unit 20 are updated (YES in S307), the recording condition supply unit 13 uses the standard recording conditions 233 stored in the recording condition storage unit 23. Get the name of the recorded program. When the standard recording conditions 233 are stored for a plurality of recorded programs in the recording condition storage unit 23, the names of all the plurality of recorded programs are acquired (S308). The recording condition supply unit 13 supplies the acquired recorded program names to the same program detection unit 14. The same program detection unit 14 repeats the processes of S105 to S109 shown in FIG. 8 for all recorded program names acquired from the recording condition supply unit 13.

  The timing at which the EPG data is updated is not limited to this. For example, “when the television 100 reads EPG data from the ROM 216 to the RAM 217 after the television 100 is started”, “the television 100 is normally operated. “When the update timing is reached at a predetermined time interval during program selection (viewing)”, “when the power of the television 100 is turned off”, etc. are assumed.

  In addition, for example, when the standard recording fails when the television 100 is not turned on (eg, the power cable is not inserted) in the broadcast time zone in which the reserved program is to be recorded, the television 100 When the power is turned on, the reservation registration unit 12 refers to the recording reservation information storage unit 22 and deletes the failed recording reservation based on the elapse of the reservation time. At this time, the recording condition supply unit 13 and the same program detection unit 14 can execute the same program search for a new recording reservation for standard recording in the same processing flow as when recording is completed.

  According to each of the above methods, the same program that is presumed to be the same program as the recorded program is detected from the EPG data using the recorded program name of the recorded program that has already been recorded, and the program information of the same program Can be reserved for program recording.

  The recorded program meta information is often not as enriched as the EPG data program information, and the recording execution unit 11 cannot identify the program only with the recorded program meta information, and therefore the recording reservation registration cannot be performed. However, according to the above method, since the same program that is the same as the recorded program is detected from the EPG data only by using the recorded program name of the recorded program, the program information of the detected same program is acquired. Can do. Then, it becomes possible to make a recording reservation for the same program as the recorded program. Therefore, the user can easily set a desired program to be recorded or reserved for recording only by selecting a recorded program and instructing a standard recording.

  Furthermore, the same program detection unit 14 performs program name character string normalization processing for increasing the matching rate for the same program for the recorded program name and the reserved candidate program name, so that the same program of the recorded program can be detected more accurately. It becomes possible to do. As a result, there is an effect that the user can more reliably and easily set recording of a desired program continuously.

  Further, the recording condition supply unit 13 records the standard recording based on the standard recording condition 233 registered in the recording condition storage unit 23 when the EPG data is updated or when the recording of the standard recording target program is completed. Recording conditions necessary for executing the function are supplied to the same program detection unit 14. As a result, the standard recording for the recorded program once selected is continued in a chain without interruption. As a result, the user can simply select a recorded program and instruct basic recording, and can easily set a desired program to be recorded or reserved for recording continuously by the same handling as the repeated recording reservation function. It becomes possible.

<< Embodiment 2 >>
In the first embodiment, the same program detection unit 14 uses only “recorded program name” as meta information of a recorded program when searching for the same program of the selected recorded program from EPG data. explained. However, the configuration of the program recording apparatus of the present invention is not limited to this. The same program detection unit 14 uses the information of “(broadcast) start time” and “(broadcast) end time” as the meta information of the recorded program, thereby efficiently or more accurately using the standard recording function. It can be realized.

(1) Using Broadcast Time Length The same program detection unit 14 includes “(broadcast) start time” and “(broadcast) end time” shown in FIG. 5 among the meta information associated with the selected recorded program. From these, the broadcast time length of the recorded program is calculated. For example, the broadcast time length of the recorded program 3 shown in FIG. 5 is obtained as “30 minutes”. Then, the same program detecting unit 14 further calculates the broadcast time length of the reservation candidate program, and compares the broadcast time length of the recorded program with the broadcast time length of the reservation candidate program. Then, the coincidence rate of the broadcast time length can be used for determining the identity of the program.

  For example, when the broadcast time length of the recorded program is “1 hour” and the broadcast time length of the reservation candidate program is “2 and a half hours”, the matching rate of the broadcast time length in the reservation candidate program is 250%. Become. When the broadcast time length of the recorded program is “2 hours and a half” and the broadcast time length of the reservation candidate program is “1 hour”, the matching rate of the broadcast time length in the reservation candidate program is 40%. Become. Even if the same program is broadcasted for one and a half hours as a special version, it is possible to broadcast a special candidate version of a reserved candidate program whose broadcast time length match rate is in the range of 40% to 250%. It is possible to determine that the reservation candidate program outside the above range is a different program.

(2) Using the broadcast time zone The same program detection unit 14 acquires “start time” and “end time” shown in FIG. 5 from the meta information associated with the selected recorded program, and these Thus, the start time and end time of the broadcast of the recorded program are specified. And the same program detection part 14 specifies the start time and end time of a reservation candidate program further, and compares both. For example, when the broadcast time zone of the recorded program is 8:00 to 9:00 and the broadcast time zone of the reservation candidate program is 8:15 to 9:15, the error of the start time and the end time is respectively 15 minutes. For example, it is possible to determine that an error is less than 3 hours as the same program, and to determine a different program when the error in the start time and the end time is 3 hours or more.

  In the present embodiment, the same program detection unit 14 combines three indicators of “program name match rate”, “broadcast time length match rate”, and “broadcast time zone error” between the recorded program and the reservation candidate program. By using the same program, the same program can be determined more efficiently and accurately.

  For example, in S105 of the execution flow of the standard recording function in FIG. 7, if the number of reserved candidate programs acquired from the EPG data is larger than expected, an enormous processing load is required for searching for the same program. Processing time. Therefore, in order to reduce the denominator of the reservation candidate program, it is preferable that the same program detection unit 14 extracts only the program whose broadcast time length match rate is within the range of 40% to 250% as the reservation candidate program. Alternatively, it is preferable to extract only programs whose start time and end time are less than 3 hours as reservation candidate programs.

  According to this configuration, a program with an unexpectedly long broadcast time or a program with a completely different broadcast time zone can be excluded from the reserved candidate programs in advance as the same program, and processing for the standard recording function Efficiency can be greatly improved.

  Alternatively, a weighting coefficient may be assigned to each of the three indicators, an overall program matching rate may be obtained for the reservation candidate program, and the same program may be detected from the reservation candidate programs based on the overall program matching rate. In this case, the same program detection unit 14 assigns the highest weight to the match rate of the program name, assuming that the match rate of the program name is close to 100%, which is the most important in determining the same program. By using the length coincidence rate and the broadcast time zone error indicator as supplementary information, it becomes possible to determine the identity of the program with higher accuracy.

  Further, when the number of characters in one or both of the program name character strings to be compared becomes 0 characters by the character string normalization process, the same program detecting unit 14 determines “program name match rate”. The same program may be detected using only the indicators of “broadcast time length match rate” and “broadcast time zone error” without using the indicator of. In this case, since the same program detection unit 14 cannot use the most important “program name match rate” index, the “broadcast time length match rate” matches 100% and “broadcast time zone error” "Is detected as the same program to be recorded next time. According to this configuration, even if the same program cannot be detected with the program name, the same program with a very high possibility of being the same program whose broadcast time length and broadcast time zone almost completely match each other. It can be detected as a program. Therefore, it is possible to reduce a risk of failing to record a program that the user wants to watch again.

<< Embodiment 3 >>
In each of the above-described embodiments, the TV 100 displays a menu item for instructing execution of the standard recording function on the recording list display screen (“Record this program in the future (standard recording)” in the menu list 113 in FIG. 10). It was the structure which provides. Further, the television 100 receives an instruction for standard recording, performs a standard recording function using a recorded program name (and start time / end time) as meta information, and detects the same program of the recorded program. Met.

  According to the above configuration, since the same program that is estimated to be the same as the recorded program can be continuously recorded without omission, the user can more securely view the favorite program with a simple operation. .

  On the other hand, many other programs (noise) with similar program names may be recorded, and there are some users who want to extremely avoid the storage device being filled with such noise programs.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a configuration will be described in which the television 100 detects one identical program having the highest likelihood of being the same as the selected recorded program, and implements the repeated recording reservation function based on the same program. To do.

  In the present embodiment, when the television 100 displays the recording list display screen shown in FIG. 10, in the menu list 113, in addition to the menu item of “record this program in the future (standard recording)”, “this program Menu item “Record weekly (repeated recording reservation)”.

  When the standard recording is selected, the television 100 performs the standard recording function as described in the above embodiments, but when the repeated recording reservation is selected, the television 100 operates as follows. To do.

  That is, first, the same program detection unit 14 of the television 100 sets meta information about a recorded program focused by the cursor 114 when a repetitive recording reservation is instructed, that is, a program name, a start time and an end time ( Broadcast date and broadcast day).

  Then, one program having the highest likelihood of being the same as this recorded program is detected.

  In this embodiment, an instruction to record “weekly” is input. Therefore, in order to detect one program that is presumed to be the same more reliably, the same program detection unit 14 first extracts a reservation candidate program having the broadcast time zone error of less than 3 hours from the EPG data on the same broadcast day. To do.

  Next, the same program detection unit 14 normalizes the program name, compares the recorded program name with the reserved candidate program name of the extracted reserved candidate program, and calculates the matching rate.

  Then, the same program detecting unit 14 detects the highest reserved candidate program having the matching rate of program names of 90% or more as the same program. Here, when the same program cannot be narrowed down to one, the broadcast time length and the broadcast time zone of the recorded program are used by using the indicators of the above-mentioned “broadcast time length match rate” and “broadcast time zone error”. Then, the closest reservation candidate program is detected as the same program. Here, the same program detection unit 14 calculates the total match rate based on the three indexes of “program name match rate”, “broadcast time length match rate”, and “broadcast time zone error”, and has the highest overall match rate. High reservation candidate programs may be detected as the same program.

  Alternatively, when the same program cannot be narrowed down to one, the same program detection unit 14 may verify the program names of the plurality of reservation candidate programs again. As a result of the verification, if the main title is the same, but the program name includes a character string representing a different number of repeated broadcasts (first, first episode, # 1, Vol. 1 etc.), The same program detection unit 14 may determine a program having a program name that includes the first (small number) repeated broadcast number as the same program. Alternatively, the program closest to the number of broadcasts of the previously recorded program may be determined as the same program.

  The same program detection unit 14 transmits the detected one same program to the reservation registration unit 12. The reservation registration unit 12 acquires the program information of the same program detected by the same program detection unit 14 from the program information storage unit 20, and registers the same program in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 as a repetitive recording reservation target. In this embodiment, since weekly recording is instructed, the reservation registration unit 12 makes a reservation for repeated recording of the same program on the basis of the broadcast cycle information “weekly” (herein also referred to as “recording cycle”). be able to.

  The recording condition supply unit 13 registers the program information of the same program reserved and registered by the reservation registration unit 12 and the broadcast cycle information “weekly” in the repeated recording condition 231 of the recording condition storage unit 23.

  According to the television 100 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to detect one same program from the EPG data even from a recorded program whose information content in the meta information is scarce, and further use program information of the detected program. In this way, repeated recording reservations can be registered. Therefore, it is possible to easily shift to the repetitive recording reservation function for one desired program simply by selecting a recorded program without requiring a user's detailed input operation. As a result, it is possible to reduce the proportion of noise programs occupying the capacity of the storage device.

  In addition to the menu item “Record this program every week (repeated recording reservation)” in the menu list 113 of FIG. 10, the television 100 records “This program is recorded daily (repeated recording reservation)”, and Menu items such as “Record this program from Monday to Friday (repeated recording reservation)” may be displayed. Thereby, the choice of the broadcast period which a user can select spreads.

≪Modification≫
The television 100 of the present invention preferably further presents a message on the LCD 210 for notifying the user of the status of recording and recording reservation. For example, when the same program is detected and the recording reservation is completed, a message such as “A program with the same title has been reserved for USB-HDD recording. To change the reservation, please go to the reservation list.” Display. The reservation list refers to a list of recording reservation information stored in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 and displayed on the LCD 210.

  On the other hand, it is also conceivable that the same program that matches the condition of the same program name (and the same day of the week and the same time zone) is not detected. In such a case, for example, the TV 100 may say, “The program with the same title could not be found and could not be reserved. The time of the corresponding program may have changed, or the program guide may not be obtained. , Make a reservation on your own after confirming with the program guide. "Is displayed.

  It is also conceivable that a recording reservation that overlaps with a time slot for recording the same program has already been registered. In such a case, for example, the TV 100, for example, “Reservation could not be made because there was a duplicate reservation at the same time. When reserving this program, the duplicate reservation is deleted from the reservation list, and the reservation is made again. Please display a message such as

  Even if the same program is to be reserved, the maximum number of reservations allowed in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 may be exceeded. In such a case, for example, the TV 100 “cannot make a reservation because the number of programs that can be reserved has been exceeded. To reserve this program, delete other reservations from the reservation list and make a reservation again. . "Is displayed.

  In addition, the storage capacity of the recorded program storage unit 21 is insufficient, and reservations can be made but recording may not be possible. In this case, it is necessary to perform reservation registration and alert the user to ensure the storage capacity of the recorded program storage unit 21. For example, the television 100 displays a message such as “The program of the same title has been reserved for USB-HDD recording. The capacity of the hard disk is insufficient.” Furthermore, the television 100 may display a message such as “To record this program, another XXXMB is required.”

  Further, there is a possibility that an age viewing restriction may be provided in the program information for each program, and if the user's age information registered in advance in the television 100 does not satisfy the age viewing restriction, the program reservation is made. Registration is not possible. In such a case, the TV 100, for example, “Recording was not possible because a viewing age limit has been set for the program to be recorded. The viewing age limit for the program and the age information set on the unit are not available. A message such as “Please check” may be displayed.

  Further, reservation registration may already be made in the recording reservation information storage unit 22 for the same program to be reserved. In such a case, for example, the television 100 displays a message such as “A program with the same title has already been reserved. To change the reservation, please go from the reservation list.”

  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 television 100, in particular, the program determination unit 10, the recording execution unit 11, the reservation registration unit 12, the recording condition supply unit 13, and the same program detection unit 14 may be configured by hardware logic. However, it may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the television 100 (program recording device) includes a central processing unit (CPU) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a read only memory (ROM) that stores the program, and a random access memory (RAM) that expands the program. access memory), 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 a recording medium on which a program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of a control program for the television 100, which is software that realizes the functions described above, is recorded so as to be readable by a computer. This can also be achieved by supplying to the television 100 and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  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 television 100 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.

  The present invention relates to a program recording apparatus for recording a program, for example, an HDD (Hard disk drive) recorder (/ player), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorder (/ player), a BD (Blue-ray Disc) recorder (/ player). And a television receiver such as a liquid crystal television, a plasma television, an organic EL television, and a cathode-ray tube television incorporating the same.

10 Program Determination Unit 11 Recording Execution Unit 12 Reservation Registration Unit (Reservation Registration Unit)
13 Recording condition supply unit (recording reservation instruction means)
14 Same program detection unit (same program detection means)
20 Program information storage unit 21 Recorded program storage unit 22 Recording reservation information storage unit 23 Recording condition storage unit 100 Television (program recording device)
102 Main body 104 Remote control 106 Operation button 111 Tab 112 Recorded program list 113 Menu list 114 Cursor 201 External input terminal 201a Video input terminal 201b Audio input terminal 202 Terrestrial digital broadcast tuner 203 Satellite broadcast tuner 204 Recording / playback unit 204a Recording unit 204b Playback unit 205 BD drive 206 Video selector 207 Video processing circuit 208 OSD generation unit 209 LCD controller 210 LCD
211 Audio selector 212 Audio processing circuit 213 Amplifier 214 Speaker 215 External device interface 216 ROM
217 RAM
218 CPU
219 Infrared receiver 220 Communication interface 221 HD drive 231 Repeat recording condition 232 Automatic recording condition 233 Standard recording condition

Claims (15)

A recorded program storage unit for storing a program as a recorded program in association with at least a program name of program information attached to the program;
A program information storage unit for storing the program information for each program;
The selection of the recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit and the instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program are received, and among the candidate programs whose program information is stored in the program information storage unit, The same program detecting means for detecting candidate programs having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program as the same program;
A program recording apparatus comprising: reservation registration means for registering recording reservation of the same program based on program information of the same program detected by the same program detection means. The same program detecting means is
The recorded program name character string of the recorded program is compared with the candidate program name character string of the candidate program, and the ratio of characters that match the candidate program name character string in the recorded program name character string is determined as the character string matching rate. Calculated for each candidate program,
The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a candidate program having the character string matching rate equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold is detected as the same program having a matching program name. The same program detecting means is
3. The program recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the character string matching rate is calculated by comparing the recorded program name character string after the normalization processing and the candidate program name character string. The same program detecting means is
The parenthesis and the character string in parentheses are deleted when the normalization processing includes a character string enclosed in parentheses in the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string. 4. The program recording device according to 3. The same program detecting means is
5. The special character is deleted as the normalization processing, when the special character is included in the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string. Program recording device. The same program detecting means is
The character type is converted so that the character types in the recorded program name character string and the candidate program name character string are unified as the normalization processing, according to any one of claims 3 to 5, Program recording device. In the recorded program storage unit, among the program information, the start date and end date and time of the recorded program are stored in association with the recorded program,
The same program detecting means further includes:
The broadcast time length calculated based on the start date and time and the end date and time of the selected recorded program is compared with the broadcast time length of the candidate program to calculate a broadcast time length match rate for each candidate program,
7. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein candidate programs whose broadcast time length matching rate falls within a predetermined range are detected as the same program. 8. In the recorded program storage unit, among the program information, the start date and end date and time of the recorded program are stored in association with the recorded program,
The same program detecting means further includes:
Compare the start date / time and end date / time of the selected recorded program with the start date / time and end date / time of the candidate program, and calculate a time lag as an error in the broadcast time zone,
8. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a candidate program in which an error between a start date and an end date is less than a predetermined time is detected as the same program. 9. The same program detecting means is
In response to an instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program, when recording of the same program reserved for recording by the reservation registration unit is completed,
9. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the same program is detected again based on the program name of the selected recorded program. The same program detecting means is
When the program information stored in the program information storage unit is updated,
10. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the same program is detected again based on the program name of the selected recorded program. The same program detecting means further accepts designation of a recording cycle in recording of the designated same program,
A candidate program having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program is detected as the same program from candidate programs having a start date and time and an end date and time corresponding to the next recording cycle of the selected recorded program. And then
When recording of the same program is complete,
11. The program recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the same program is detected again based on the program name of the selected recorded program and the recording cycle.   A television receiver comprising the program recording device according to any one of claims 1 to 11. A control method for a program recording apparatus, wherein the program recording apparatus stores a program as a recorded program in association with at least a program name of program information attached to the program, and the program information. A program information storage unit for storing each program,
An operation receiving step for receiving selection of a recorded program stored in the recorded program storage unit and an instruction to record the same program of the selected recorded program;
The same program detecting step of detecting, as the same program, a candidate program having a program name that matches the program name of the selected recorded program among the candidate programs whose program information is stored in the program information storage unit;
A program recording apparatus control method comprising: a reservation registration step of registering a recording reservation of the same program based on program information of the same program detected in the same program detection step.   The control program for functioning a computer as each means of the program recording apparatus of any one of Claim 1-11.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the control program of Claim 14.

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