JP2013027008A - Contents display control device and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contents display control device capable of easily selecting contents that a user wants to view most.SOLUTION: A contents display control device comprises: contents information acquisition means for listing contents of a plurality of media and acquiring viewable contents; screen dividing means for dividing a screen into regions in which contents included in the plurality of media are displayed; and display control means for disposing and displaying the viewable contents in the regions divided by the screen dividing means by media. The contents display control device further includes contents selection means for selecting contents to be displayed on a screen from the contents of the plurality of media acquired by the contents information acquisition means. The display control means displays the contents selected by the contents selection means in the regions divided by the screen dividing means.

Description

  The present invention relates to a content display control apparatus and control method for controlling display of video content in a video viewing environment.

  In recent television viewing environments, viewers can view BS broadcasts and cable television, and the number of programs that can be viewed is increasing. For this reason, there are increasing opportunities for television viewers to select programs and make viewing reservations using an electronic program guide (EPG). Furthermore, in a video viewing environment having a storage device or a communication line, viewers can record various TV programs, such as recorded TV programs, VOD contents that can be viewed via communication lines, and streaming video contents. A vast amount of video content can be viewed through various media.

  In order to respond to the user's request to select the program that the user wants to watch the most from these contents, a program guide display and genre search using EPG is used for television programs, and a hard disk (HDD) recorder or set-top box ( In a broadcast receiving apparatus having a storage device such as STB), it is possible to transit between a recorded program selection screen and a VOD content selection screen by performing a media switching operation. In particular, with the interface adopted by Xross Media Bar, it is possible to perform transition of multiple media with few operations by classifying and displaying content on two axes, the media axis and the corresponding content axis.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for improving operability when selecting a program by arranging contents in three dimensions.

JP 2009-111486 A

  In a recent video viewing environment, a viewer can view an enormous amount of video content. However, it is difficult to quickly select the content that the viewer wants to view most with conventional technology.

  For example, in an STB connected to a communication line, it is possible to select a content by transitioning between a TV program selection screen, a recorded program selection screen, and a VOD content selection screen. Because there are many procedures, there is a problem when comparing contents among multiple media.

  In the interface using Xross Media Bar, it is possible to perform transition of multiple media with few operations, but since the contents in the same media are displayed in a row, the listability is improved when there are many contents in the same media. There is a problem of being bad.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying contents arranged in three dimensions, but the problem of poor listability when there are many contents in the same medium has not been solved.

  In addition, all the above-mentioned conventional technologies perform content search independently for each medium. For example, if there is no program that satisfies the search condition in a broadcast program, the same is again performed on the screen of the recorded program or VOD content. There was a problem that search conditions had to be entered.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the screen is divided into the number of media to be displayed, and each medium is classified and displayed in the divided areas, so that the content that the user wants to view most can be obtained. It is an object to provide a content display control device and a control method that can be easily selected.

  In order to achieve the above object, a content display control device according to the present invention is a display control device that displays a list of contents of a plurality of media, and includes content information acquisition means for acquiring viewable contents, and contents included in the plurality of media. Screen dividing means for dividing the screen into areas to be displayed; and display control means for arranging and displaying contents that can be viewed in the areas divided by the screen dividing means for each medium.

  The content information acquisition unit further includes a content selection unit that selects content to be displayed on the screen from the contents of the plurality of media acquired by the content information acquisition unit, and the display control unit includes the content selection unit in an area divided by the screen division unit. It is also preferable to display the selected content.

  In addition, it is preferable that the content selection unit searches for contents of a plurality of media at a time using an arbitrary search condition.

  In addition, it is preferable that the content selection unit searches for content of a plurality of media at once using tag information attached to the content.

  Further, it is also preferable that the screen dividing means arranges a boundary line on the screen and divides the screen into a plurality of content display areas.

  In addition, the screen dividing means can change the position of the content display area of each medium by changing the position of the boundary for dividing the screen in response to the input of the operating means for obtaining an operation instruction from the user. Is also preferable.

  Further, it is preferable that the screen dividing unit changes the size of the display area of each medium according to the selection result of the content selecting unit.

  It is also preferable that the display control means displays the content as a content icon that describes the title and information of the content or uses a thumbnail image of the content.

  Further, when the display control means receives an input of a tap operation on the content icon of the user, the detailed information display area is displayed on the viewable content display screen so as to display the detailed information and in the case of streaming video It is also preferable to perform regeneration.

  In addition, it is preferable that the display control unit performs a scroll operation on the content icon displayed in the content display area independently for each content display area.

  It is also preferable that the display control unit sets a sorting rule for content icons displayed in the content display area independently for each content display area.

  Further, it is also preferable that the display control means saves the sorting process rules and restores the previous rules at the next display time.

  In order to achieve the above object, a display control method according to the present invention is a display control method for displaying a list of contents of a plurality of media, in a step of acquiring viewable contents and an area for displaying contents included in the plurality of media. The method includes a step of dividing the screen, and a step of arranging and displaying contents that can be viewed in the divided areas according to media.

  According to the present invention, by using a content display control device that displays a list of contents of a plurality of media, there is an effect that a user can quickly select a content that the user wants to view from contents that can be viewed.

  Furthermore, since content selection is always completed on one screen, there are few operational procedures when selecting content, and there is an effect that convenience is improved.

  In addition, since the search is performed over a plurality of media, there is an effect that when there is no content corresponding to the search in a specific medium, the corresponding content in other media can be easily selected.

The functional structure of the content display control apparatus in this embodiment is shown. An example of the viewable content display screen in this embodiment is shown. This is a screen when the handle point is dragged to the lower right end of the screen. An example of the detailed information display area in this embodiment is shown.

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

  As an embodiment of the content display control device according to the present invention, an example in which the content display control device according to the present invention generates a viewable content display screen inside a tablet terminal will be described.

  The tablet terminal includes a touch screen, and the operation unit receives various types of operation inputs from the user through the touch screen. In this embodiment, “tap” that taps the display screen with the operation element, “drag” that moves the operation element while keeping it in contact with the display screen, and lightly pays the operation element on the display screen. It is possible to receive an operation input of “flick” that moves away from the display screen while moving, and “pinch” that changes the distance between the two operators while keeping them in contact with each other. In the pinch operation, an operation for opening two operators is called “pinch out”, and an operation for closing two operators is called “pinch in”.

  The content display control device 1 according to the present embodiment is a display control device that displays a list of contents of a plurality of media. As shown in FIG. 1, the content display control device 1 can communicate with an external content playback device 2 and view content that can be viewed. A content information acquisition unit 11 to be acquired, a content selection unit 12 for selecting content to be displayed on the screen from the content of the plurality of media acquired by the content information acquisition unit 11, and a screen in an area for displaying the content included in the plurality of media The screen dividing unit 13 is divided, and the display control unit 14 displays the content selected by the content selecting unit 12 in the area divided by the screen dividing unit 13.

  Details of each part will be described below.

<Content information acquisition unit>
The content information acquisition unit 11 acquires information on reproducible content from the content playback device 2. Further, in response to an input from the content selection unit 12, the content corresponding to the condition is output to the content selection unit 12. In this embodiment, the content playback apparatus 2 can receive terrestrial digital broadcast, BS digital broadcast, and CS digital broadcast (hereinafter collectively referred to as broadcast programs), and can acquire streaming video and VOD content via a communication line. is there. The reproducible content from which the content information acquisition unit 11 acquires information is video content stored in the content reproduction device 2 by ripping or downloading, in addition to the above-mentioned content that can be reproduced in real time. All the video contents that can be reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus 2 are indicated.

<Content selection part>
The content selection unit 12 performs a selection process on the viewable content information acquired by the content information acquisition unit 11 and determines the content to be displayed on the viewable content display screen.

  In the example of the viewable content display screen in the present embodiment of FIG. 2, the display control unit 14 to be described later displays a broadcast program icon that can be viewed in the upper right area, and a viewable VOD content icon in the lower right area. A streaming video icon is arranged in the lower left area, and a recorded program icon is arranged in the upper left area.

  If each icon is left as it is, the number becomes enormous, making it difficult for the viewer to select content easily. In the present embodiment, the content selection unit 12 uses a tag to determine content that matches a classification condition that the viewer is interested in, and outputs the content to the display control unit 14. A tag is a keyword that represents a genre or a character related to content, which is generally used in streaming video, etc., and multiple tags can be attached to one content. The keyword search used is possible. The content selection unit 12 uses a tag for searching for broadcast programs and VOD content, thereby making it possible to search for different media in common. In the example of the viewable content display screen in the present embodiment of FIG. 2, the content selection unit 12 determines the search condition using a classification tag display bar that divides the screen vertically.

  In the classification tag display bar, icons of classification tags are displayed in a line. The classification tag icon can be switched between ON display and OFF display, and only the ON display classification tag is used as a search condition. When a tap operation on the classification tag of the user is detected from the operation unit, the classification tag display bar is switched ON / OFF. In the example of FIG. 2, since only the “sports” classification tag is ON-displayed, only content that matches in the sports keyword search is output to the display control unit 14. When a plurality of classification tags are turned ON, the content selection unit 12 searches for the content by taking the AND of the ON display classification tags. For example, in FIG. 2, when the “Chunday” classification tag is turned ON in addition to the “Sport” classification tag, only the content having the keywords “Sports” and “Chunichi” is output to the display control unit 14. The content selection unit 12 can automatically arrange the classification tag display bar so that the ON-displayed classification tag is on top, or can change the arrangement of the classification tags in response to input from the operation unit. It is. In the present embodiment, when the content selection unit 12 receives an input of a drag operation on the classification tag of the user from the operation unit, the content selection unit 12 moves the position of the classification tag to the drag destination so as to interrupt the destination classification tag.

  When the keyword to be searched is already determined, the user can create a new classification tag or change an existing classification tag. In the example of FIG. 2, the icon at the bottom of the classification tag is an icon representing a new tag creation input, and when a tap input is received from the operation unit, a tag can be created by newly inputting a condition. Alternatively, the tag may be changed or deleted by long pressing an existing tag.

  In the present embodiment, one or more tags are attached to each content, and when the display control device 14 (to be described later) displays the detailed information display area, the tags are displayed on the screen. By tapping, the tag can be added to the classification tag display bar. The content selection unit 12 displays the tag on the classification tag display bar in ON display, and updates the arrangement of the content icons. With this function, the user can basically search for content without directly inputting characters, and the convenience of search is improved.

  In this embodiment, when the user first displays the viewable content display screen, the content selection unit 12 uses keywords for genre search generally used as an initial state for classification tags (for example, “drama”, “variety”, “news”, “sports”). By arranging “music” etc., the user can perform a general genre search from the beginning. By using the method described above, the user can freely change the classification tag display bar. The content selection unit 12 stores the state, and when the user displays the viewable content display screen for the second time or later, the content selection unit 12 restores the previous tag display bar.

<Screen division part>
The screen dividing unit 13 classifies and displays the contents output by the content selection unit 12 to the display control unit 14 according to media, and arranges boundary lines on the screen and divides the screen into a plurality of content display areas. The screen division unit 13 in the present embodiment divides the screen into four types of media content display areas using two orthogonal lines as boundary lines. In this embodiment, the classification tag display bar used by the content selection unit 12 and a history display bar described later also serve as a boundary.

  The screen dividing unit 13 can change the size of each content display area by changing the position of the boundary line. When the number of contents selected by the content selection unit 12 is biased by media, the screen division unit 13 changes the size of the content display area according to the number of selected contents of each medium. For example, when the number of programs currently being broadcast selected by the content selection unit 12 is small, the screen division unit 13 displays the content display area of the program being broadcast in a small size, so that the viewer meets the condition of interest. It turns out that there are few programs being broadcast, and it is better to select content from other media.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a viewable content display screen in the present embodiment. Since the intersection of the boundary lines is located slightly upper left from the center of the screen, the size of each content display area is different. The position of the boundary can be changed by receiving an input from the operation unit. In this embodiment, handle points are arranged at points perpendicular to the two boundaries, and a drag operation of the handle point is input from the operation unit. When it receives, it moves the position of the handle point. By performing this operation, the user can freely change the size of each content display area.

  FIG. 3 shows a screen when the handle point is dragged to the lower right end of the screen. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the user can easily display only the content corresponding to a specific medium on the screen by performing this operation. This is effective when the user decides to view or listen to the content of a specific medium or when it is decided from the beginning. The user selects the content that he / she wants to watch the most from the content of a specific media, and if the content of interest is not found, the user can easily search for content from other media by moving the handle point again. At this time, since the search by the classification tag display bar is also reflected in other media, the user does not need to search again in the other media, and the content can be selected efficiently.

  As described above, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the classification tag display bar and a history display bar (to be described later) also serve as the boundary, thereby effectively utilizing the screen.

  Note that the screen division method in this embodiment is an example, and it is possible to divide the screen for six types of media using three boundaries, and three types by subtracting three boundaries from the center. It is also possible to divide the screen for other media. In addition, the borders do not have to be orthogonal, for example, when a border drag operation is input from the operation unit, the border is rotated around the handle point to freely change the size of each content display area. It is also possible to make it possible.

<Display control unit>
The display control unit 14 receives an input from the content selection unit 12 and the screen division unit 13 and creates a viewable content display screen. First, content information input from the content selection unit 12 is arranged in the content display area created by the screen division unit 13. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each content is displayed with an icon having a fixed size regardless of the reproduction time, data size, and the like. This icon contains the title of the content and simple information. Here, instead of displaying information in characters, it is also possible to use thumbnail images as content icons.

  In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the content icon is a size that fits on the screen in 5 rows and 6 columns, but the size is not limited to this. In addition, when a user pinch-in / pinch-out input is received from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 can freely change the total number of content icons displayed on the screen by reducing or enlarging the size of the content icons. can do.

  When the display control unit 14 receives an input of a tap operation on a specific content icon from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 displays the detailed information display area on the viewable content display screen.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the detailed information display area in the present embodiment. The detailed information display area is detailed information regarding the content icon. In the present embodiment, the content to be displayed as detailed information is EPG program information in the case of a broadcast program or a recorded program. The display button is displayed on the screen, and when the tap input of the view button is received from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 sends a reproduction instruction to the content reproduction device 2. In the case of a streaming video, the display control unit 14 may send a playback instruction to the content playback device 2 when a tap input is received by playing the streaming video and using the view button as a transfer button.

  The display control unit 14 displays a tag (attached tag) associated with the content as an attached tag display area in the detailed information display area. When a user tap operation on the attached tag is input from the operation unit, information on the attached tag is input to the content selection unit 12. As described above, the content selection unit 12 displays the tag on the classification tag display bar in the ON display, and updates the arrangement of the content icons.

  The display control unit 14 stores the history of the content displayed in the detailed information display area. The stored history is displayed on the viewable content display screen. In the present embodiment, a history display bar that divides the screen horizontally is displayed as shown in the example of FIG. 2, and content icons are arranged therein. When a tap operation on the content icon in the user history display bar is input from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 displays the detailed information display area of the content icon again. The user can browse the detailed information of the content whose information has been displayed in the past again by tapping the content icon displayed on the history display bar.

  In the case where the content icons do not fit in the content display area created by the screen dividing unit 13, the display control unit 14 creates a screen of a size that can accommodate the content icons and stores it as a content table. The display control unit 14 cuts out the image information of the size of the content display area from the content table and displays it in the actual content display area. When receiving a user's drag operation or flick operation input to the content display area from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 moves the position of the content display area cut out from the content table along the direction of the operation. By performing a drag operation or a flick operation on the content display area, the user can obtain information on all the contents included in the content table while scrolling. When creating the content table, the display control unit 14 can adjust either the width or the height of the content table to the content display area. By doing so, the user can cover the content only by scrolling in either the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. Here, the operation input for the content display area can be performed independently for each content display area. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the user can independently scroll the display area of the program being broadcast and the display area of the recorded program. In other words, it is possible to display and compare information on an arbitrary broadcast program, VOD content, and streaming video simultaneously on one screen, thereby making it possible to easily select the program that is most desired to be viewed.

  When a large number of content icons are displayed in the content display area, the user should want to arrange (sort) the content icons according to some rule. When the display control unit 14 receives a sort processing input to the content display area of the user from the operation unit, the display control unit 14 sorts the icons arranged in the content table according to the selected rule.

  By sorting, the content displayed on the top screen of the viewable content display screen changes. Here, the top screen is a screen displayed before the viewer scrolls the content display area.

  In order to enable the viewer to quickly select the content he / she wants to view from the contents over a plurality of media, it is necessary for the viewer to display more interesting content on the top screen.

  Here, the display control unit 14 is characterized in that the sorting rules are specified separately for each medium. Since the conditions of the content that the user wants to view vary depending on the media, the content is sorted according to the individual conditions for each media, and the conditions are reproduced when the viewer opens the viewable content display screen again. Thus, even when the user opens the viewable content display screen without having an image of the content that he / she wants to watch, the user can select the content he / she wants to see from a plurality of media simply by looking at the initial state.

  In this embodiment, as a sort rule, in the case of a program being broadcast, the length of the remaining broadcast time, the ratio of the remaining time to the broadcast time, the attention level of the program aggregated on the web, and the audience rating of the previous broadcast are displayed. prepare. In the case of a recorded program, the recording date and time or the number of times of reproduction are prepared. By doing so, the user can first confirm content that has not yet been played back or content that has been recorded recently. In the case of streaming video, sorting rules such as the total number of times of reproduction, the latest number of times of reproduction, the resolution, the length of the reproduction time, and the price, resolution, the number of times of purchase, etc. are prepared for VOD content.

  In order to specify these sorting rules separately for each medium, in this embodiment, when a tap operation is performed on the icon displaying the media type displayed next to each content display area from the operation unit, display control is performed. The unit 14 displays a menu screen for each medium, and displays candidates for sorting processing. In this way, the user can perform the sorting process individually on the content display area of each medium. In addition, when the handle point is moved to the four corners of the screen, a screen for selecting the sort processing may be displayed. When the handle point is moved to the four corners, only the content icon of a specific medium is displayed on the screen, so the displayed content display area is sorted. The direction of sorting can also be selected. For example, when the lower left streaming video display area in FIG. 2 is sorted, it may be sorted in the row direction from the upper left to the lower right, or may be sorted in the column direction. Further, sorting from the upper right to the lower left may be selectable. This is also related to the shape of the content table, that is, the direction of the user's scroll operation. Therefore, when the content table is vertically long, that is, when the user browses the content display area by the up / down scroll operation, the user should sort in the row direction. Therefore, it is possible to automatically determine the sorting direction.

  The display control unit 14 retains the last set sorting rule and reproduces it when the viewer opens the viewable content display screen again. By doing so, it is highly likely that the user will be able to select the content he / she wants to see from multiple media just by looking at the initial state. Become.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and includes designs and the like that do not depart from the gist of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an example of what is built in a tablet terminal capable of communicating with the content playback device is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and what is built in the content playback device itself such as a TV or PC, What is built in a portable terminal or a remote controller that can communicate with the content reproduction apparatus is also included in the technical idea of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Content display control apparatus 2 Content reproduction apparatus 11 Content information acquisition part 12 Content selection part 13 Screen division part 14 Display control part

Claims (13)

A display control device that displays a list of contents of a plurality of media,
Content information acquisition means for acquiring viewable content;
Screen dividing means for dividing the screen into areas for displaying content included in a plurality of media;
Display control means for arranging and displaying contents that can be viewed in the area divided by the screen dividing means for each medium;
A content display control device comprising:   Content selection means for selecting content to be displayed on the screen from the contents of the plurality of media acquired by the content information acquisition means, the display control means selected by the content selection means in the area divided by the screen division means The content display control device according to claim 1, wherein the content display control device displays content.   The content display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content selection unit searches for content of a plurality of media at a time using an arbitrary search condition.   The content display control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the content selection unit searches for content of a plurality of media at a time using tag information attached to the content.   5. The content display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the screen dividing unit arranges a boundary line on the screen and divides the screen into a plurality of content display areas.   The screen dividing means can change the position of the content display area of each medium by changing the position of the boundary for dividing the screen in response to the input of the operating means for obtaining an operation instruction from the user. The content display control device according to claim 5.   The content display control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the screen dividing unit changes the size of the display area of each medium according to a selection result of the content selecting unit.   8. The content display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays the content as a content icon that describes the title and information of the content or uses a thumbnail image of the content. .   The display control means receives a tap operation input to the content icon of the user, displays the detailed information display area on the viewable content display screen, displays detailed information, and plays back in the case of streaming video. The content display control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the content display control apparatus performs the content display control apparatus.   The content display control apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the display control unit performs a scroll operation on the content icon displayed in the content display area independently for each content display area.   The said display control means sets the rule of the sort process with respect to the content icon displayed on the said content display area independently with respect to each content display area, The any one of Claim 8 to 10 characterized by the above-mentioned. The content display control device described.   12. The content display control apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the display control unit stores a rule for sorting processing and restores the previous rule at the next display time. A display control method for displaying a list of contents of a plurality of media,
Obtaining viewable content;
Dividing the screen into areas for displaying content contained in multiple media;
Arranging and displaying viewable content in the divided areas according to media,
A content display control method comprising:

Images