JP2013106127A - Recording program arrangement device and recording program arrangement method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize setting of a signal bit rate of programs to be recorded in a recording medium on the basis of a result of learning favorite programs of a user by effectively using view history information of the user.SOLUTION: Favorite degree information generation means generates favorite degree information of the program on the basis of history information of programs viewed by a user. When recording a first program received by a tuner in a recording medium, bit rate setting means sets a signal bit rate of the first program on the basis of the favorite degree information, and when rerecording a second program read from the recording medium in the recording medium, sets a signal bit rate on the basis of a storage term of the second program in the recording medium. Recording reproduction means records the first or second program in the recording medium on the basis of the signal bit rate set by the bit rate setting means.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a recorded program organizing apparatus and a recorded program organizing method.

  Recently, as a receiving device for a program signal broadcast on digital television, a receiving device has been developed that has a plurality of tuners and can simultaneously receive a program signal of a plurality of channels (for example, 6 channels or 9 channels). The receiving apparatus is connected to a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of recording a plurality of received program signals on a large-capacity recording medium (hard disk).

  As described above, recording that continuously records all programs of a plurality of channels (or all programs in a specific time zone) for a long period of time may be referred to as time shift recording.

  An apparatus including the above receiving apparatus and recording / reproducing apparatus will be hereinafter referred to as a program signal recording / reproducing apparatus. In this program signal recording / reproducing apparatus, many program signals are recorded on a hard disk. For this reason, when the user selects a program that the user wants to view, the user may take time to select the desired program. Therefore, in order to improve such a problem, a program recommendation device has been developed. The program recommendation device can learn a user's preference (preference) from program information of a program viewed by the user, create a preference model, and store the preference model. This program recommendation device can provide program information recommended based on a preference model to a user through a display when the user selects a program recorded on the hard disk.

  Further, when many program signals are recorded on the hard disk, the capacity of the hard disk is limited. In order to effectively use the capacity of the hard disk, the program signal that is explicitly specified by the user is recorded at the bit rate set by the user, and the program signal that is not explicitly specified by the user is recorded by the user. An apparatus for recording at a bit rate lower than a set bit rate has also been developed.

JP 2007-272451 A JP 2008-262398 A JP 2011-151810 A

  As described above, in a multi-channel program signal recording / reproducing apparatus, when a large number of program signals are recorded on a hard disk, there is an apparatus that adjusts the bit rate of the program signal to be recorded low. However, when adjusting the bit rate of the program signal to be recorded, if the recording is performed by uniformly reducing the bit rate of all the program signals, the user's intention may not be met. For example, a situation in which a program that a user wants to view with high image quality is recorded at a low bit rate may occur.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the user's viewing history information is effectively used to learn the user's favorite programs, and based on the learning result, the signal bit rate of the program to be recorded on the recording medium can be set. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recorded program organizing apparatus and a recorded program organizing method.

  According to the embodiment, the preference level information generation unit generates the preference level information of the program based on the history information of the program viewed by the user. The bit rate setting means sets the signal bit rate of the first program based on the preference information and records the first program read from the recording medium when the first program received by the tuner is recorded on the recording medium. When the second program is re-recorded on the recording medium, the signal bit rate is set based on the storage period of the second program in the recording medium. The recording / reproducing means records the first or second program on the recording medium based on the signal bit rate set by the bit rate setting means.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the table stored in the viewing-and-listening history storage part contained in embodiment. It is a figure of the reference table for the bit rate setting prepared in the bit rate setting means contained in embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure of the viewing history acquisition part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure of the preference model learning part of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement procedure of the preference degree calculation part of FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system for recording a received program in a recorded program storage unit, which is one aspect of the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another system of the embodiment of FIG. 1 and a system for recording a program read from the recorded program storage unit in the recorded program storage unit again. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on a display in embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a television receiver to which an embodiment is applied. The receiving apparatus 101 has a plurality of tuners (for example, nine tuners) and can simultaneously receive a plurality of channels (9 channels in all channels). The stream signal demodulated by each tuner is input to the stream processing unit 102 and separated. The stream related to the broadcast program separated here will be referred to as a program. Here, the program may be referred to as a program signal in another expression, or may be referred to as a broadcast program, a broadcast program signal, or content.

  All channel programs are recorded on the recording medium 120. At this time, the bit rate setting means 230 sets the signal bit rate of each program. The program for which the bit rate is set is recorded on the recording medium 120 by the recording / reproducing means 220.

  The audio signal included in the program to be viewed is input from the stream processing unit 102 to the audio signal processing unit 103, and the video signal is input to the video signal processing unit 105. The audio signal processing unit 103 performs audio decoding processing, and the decoded digital audio signal is input to the audio signal output unit 104. The digital audio signal is converted into an analog audio signal by the audio signal output unit 104 and supplied to the speaker system 111. The video signal processing unit 105 performs video decoding processing, and the decoded video signal is input to the video signal output unit 106. The video signal output unit 106 performs image quality adjustment such as color and luminance of the video signal, and the adjusted video signal is supplied to the display unit 112.

  The receiving device 101, the stream processing unit 102, the audio signal processing unit 103, the audio signal output unit 104, the video signal processing unit 105, the video signal output unit 106, and the like are comprehensively controlled by the control device 200.

  The control device 200 includes a modem 240 that receives an operation signal from the user terminal 300. The user terminal 300 is composed of, for example, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer, or the personal computer itself, and functions as a remote controller. An operation signal from the user terminal 300 is received by the modem 240, and the operation signal is analyzed by the command analysis unit 241. The command analysis unit 241 outputs control signals for a plurality of blocks according to the analysis result, and reflects the operation content in the operation of the entire apparatus.

  The control device 200 includes a preference information generation unit 210 that generates user preference information for a program. Further, it has a bit rate setting means 230 for setting the bit rate of the program to be recorded based on the preference information. Then, it has recording / reproducing means 220 for recording the program signal of the program to be recorded on the recording medium based on the bit rate set by the bit rate setting means 230. The control device 200 can control a hard disk drive and use the hard disk as a storage unit for various data. Further, the control device 200 has an electronic program guide data (EPG data) processing unit 260. The EPG data processing unit 260 extracts EPG data included in the broadcast signal from the EPG data.

  In addition, the control device 200 may include a program special designation unit 271 that can designate a program that is particularly interesting among programs recorded on a recording medium so as not to deteriorate the image quality. Furthermore, the control device 200 may include a collective organizing unit 272 that conditionally collects programs that have been recorded for a long time after being recorded on a recording medium, or programs that are not of interest to the user.

  The preference information generating unit 210, the recording / reproducing unit 220, and the bit rate setting unit 230 are taken out in the lower part of the drawing, and their main components are shown in detail.

  The preference level information generation unit 210 includes a viewing history acquisition unit 10, a viewing history storage unit 20, a preference model learning unit 11, a preference information storage unit 21, a preference level calculation unit 12, and a preference level storage unit 22. The recording / reproducing means 220 includes a recording / reproduction control unit 12 and a recorded program storage unit 23. The bit rate setting means 230 includes the transcoder 14.

  As the above-described viewing history storage unit 20, preference information storage unit 21, and preference level storage unit 22, a partial area of the hard disk may be used, or a semiconductor memory (random access memory, flash memory, etc.) May be used. As the recorded program storage unit 23, a recording area of a hard disk is used.

  The viewing history acquisition unit 10 stores, for example, a plurality of channels of program information (the above EPG data) that can be acquired from a broadcast signal in the viewing history storage unit 20 as a table. Furthermore, when the user views a television program, the viewing history acquisition unit 10 attaches a viewing flag to the column of the program on the table of the viewing history storage unit 20.

  As a viewing flag, when a program being broadcast is viewed by the user at the same time as the broadcast, and when the program stored in the recorded program storage unit 23 is reproduced and viewed by the user There is a viewing flag added to. Based on the viewing flag, the number of viewings per day, week, or month can be obtained.

  The preference model learning unit 11 learns a preference model related to the user's program preference from past EPG data stored in the viewing history storage unit 20 and preference information including a viewing flag given to the program viewed by the user. To do. The learned preference model is stored in the preference information storage unit 21. For example, the program viewing frequency is obtained from the viewing history of the program, the interest level for the program is set on the condition of viewing time (viewing ratio time with respect to the entire program time), etc., and a model classified by genre is obtained. . The degree of interest can be obtained, for example, by adding points to the number of times of viewing, with each genre and each performer as a key.

  It should be noted that this preference model is not limited to the contents described here, and there are various methods.

  Next, the preference level calculation unit 12 refers to the preference level (probability of viewing by the user) of each program from the preference model stored in the preference information storage unit 21 and EPG data having past and future program information. And may be referred to as a viewing probability).

  That is, the viewing model includes information on the viewing frequency and interest level of the user for a certain program as described above. Therefore, using this viewing frequency and interest level as parameters, the probability (viewing degree) that a similar program in the past or future (such as a continuous drama / news program) is viewed in a certain period is obtained. For example, when a plurality (for example, 50) of viewing candidate programs P1 to P50 are listed in the preference model of the preference information storage unit 21, the corresponding viewing candidate program exists in all the programs (for example, 150) based on the EPG data. Determine whether to do. If there are viewing candidate programs P1-P50, for example, the viewing probability is set high for the program with a high point as described above with respect to the probability (1/150) that each program is selected. Assign a preference level in units. For example, if the number of managed programs is 50 in the preference model, 1 to 50 degrees is assigned. It should be noted that the concept of audience rating described here is an example and is not limited to this method. The degree of preference of each program of the calculated EPG data is stored in the degree of preference storage unit 22.

  In combination with the bit rate setting unit 230, the recording / playback control unit 13 determines, for example, the maximum bit rate / high bit rate / medium bit based on the preference level of the future program stored in the preference level storage unit 22. The signal bit rate is set in five stages: rate, low bit rate, and minimum bit rate. The magnitude of the signal bit rate is highest bit rate> high bit rate> medium bit rate> low bit rate> lowest bit rate. Record at the highest bit rate for programs with a certain preference level a or higher, high bit rate for programs with a preference level less than a b or higher (a> b), and medium bit rate for programs with a preference level less than b I do.

  As described above, the program is stored in the recorded program storage unit 23. Here, the transcoder 14 included in the bit rate setting unit 230 re-transcodes the program data in the recorded program storage unit 23 that has passed a certain period (for example, one week) from the recorded date.

  The transcoder 14 refers to the preference level storage unit 22 and maintains the recorded bit rate at the maximum bit rate for programs with a preference level a or higher in the recorded program data of the recorded program storage unit 23. In the recorded program data, the bit rate is reduced from a high bit rate to a medium bit rate for programs with a preference level of less than a and b, and for programs with a preference level of less than b, the bit rate is reduced from a medium bit rate to a low bit rate. Re-transcode.

  In addition, the transcoder 14 re-transcodes program data for which a certain period (for example, one month) has elapsed from the recorded date and time. At this time, the transcoding unit 14 refers to the preference level storage unit 22 and changes the bit rate from the maximum bit rate to the high bit rate for programs with a preference level a or higher in the recorded program data in the recorded program storage unit 23. For programs with a preference level of less than a and over b, the bit rate is changed from medium bit rate to low bit rate, and for programs with a preference level of less than b, the bit rate is lowered from the low bit rate to the lowest bit rate and re-transcoding is performed. Do.

  Further, the bit rate setting means (transcoder) can increase the rate of reducing the signal bit rate of the re-recorded program when the program is a news program and a weather forecast program. Alternatively, it may be set to be deleted depending on the storage period or program contents.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a program information (EPG data) table stored in the viewing history storage unit 20, for example. The classification items in this table include, for example, channel, program name, viewing flag, number of views per week, number of views per month, storage period, special designation information (information specially designated by the user, reputation on the Internet, etc. Information indicating whether or not it is a topic, keywords registered by the user), the current signal bit rate of the program, other program information (performers, rebroadcasting, series drama type, serial drama type, genre, etc.), There is an area to describe these. Examples of the program that the user specifically designates include a program that the user is particularly interested in, such as a program in which the user himself / herself appears, a memorial ceremony, an important event (sport final). The specially designated program is designated by special designation information input by the user.

  FIG. 3 shows setting information prepared for setting the signal bit rate by the bit rate setting means 230 described above.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the viewing history acquisition unit together with the EPG data acquisition operation. The EPG data is acquired, for example, once a day (steps SA5 and SA1). The acquired EPG data is stored or updated in the viewing history storage unit. When a television program is viewed, a viewing flag is attached to the viewing program column of the EPG data. Also, the viewing count data is updated (see the table in FIG. 2) (steps SA3 and SA4). Next, the process proceeds to step SA5.

  FIG. 5 shows a learning routine of the preference model learning unit 11. A preference model is learned using EPG data (actually, the information in the table shown in FIG. 2) in the viewing history storage unit 20 (step SB1). The learned preference model is stored in the preference information storage unit 21 (step SB2). Next, for example, after waiting for three or four weeks, the process proceeds to step SB1 to create the next new preference model.

  FIG. 6 shows the operation of the preference level calculation unit 12. The preference level of each program is calculated from the preference model and past / future EPG data. The calculated preference level is stored in the preference level storage unit 22 (steps SC1 and SC2). Thereafter, for example, after 24 hours have elapsed, the process returns to step SC1 to calculate the preference.

  FIG. 7 shows a path in which a signal bit rate is set and stored when a broadcast program is received by the receiving apparatus 101 and stored in the recorded program storage unit 23. The newly created program is set with a signal bit rate by the bit rate setting means 230, converted into a predetermined recording format by the recording / playback control unit 12, and stored in the recorded program storage unit 23.

  In FIG. 8, the program stored in the recorded program storage unit 23 is read by the recording / playback control unit 12, the signal bit rate is lowered by the bit rate setting means 230, and the recording / playback control unit 12 again performs a predetermined 4 shows a path that is converted into the recording format and stored in the recorded program storage unit 23.

  In this case, basically, the bit rate setting means 230 adjusts the signal bit rate in the direction of decreasing according to the contents of the program recorded on the recording medium and / or the period recorded on the recording medium. However, the bit rate setting means 230 may suppress a decrease in the signal bit rate when the program is a continuous drama program, a series program, or a specially designated information program. The special designation information is a keyword related to the program acquired from the network or a keyword related to the program registered by the user.

  In the case of suppressing the decrease in the signal bit rate, various forms are possible as a method for determining the degree of suppression. Depending on the specially designated program, the content of the program, the genre, etc., various settings may be made such that the degree of signal bit rate decrease is 0%, 5%, 10%, and the like. Further, the degree of decrease in the signal bit rate may be changed by 5%, 10%, 20%, etc., depending on the contents of the program, the genre, and the length of the storage period.

  Therefore, the control device 200 also includes means for inputting special designation information from the user terminal 300 to the preference history table. Also included is a means for inputting a keyword (for example, saved, highest, excellent, recommended, etc.) from the user terminal 300.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a menu screen when special designation is made for a program and when batch arrangement is performed. The screen 91 in FIG. 9 is a menu, which displays “special designation” and explains its meaning. In addition, “collective organization” is displayed and its meaning is explained.

  When the user operates the user terminal, moves the cursor, selects “special designation”, and presses the enter button, a screen 92 appears. At this time, the special designation unit 271 shown in FIG. 1 is activated. This screen 92 is created using the table of FIG. 2, and displays a channel number, a program name, and special designation information fields. Here, when the user moves the cursor to a line of special designation information corresponding to a desired program and presses the setting button, “Set” is displayed in that column, and it is displayed that special designation has been performed. . In the example shown in the figure, program XXX and program WWW are specially designated. With this setting, even if the program XXX and the program WWW pass through the transcoder as shown in FIG. 8 after one week or one month, the signal bit rate is not lowered.

  Next, on the screen 91, when the user operates the user terminal, moves the cursor, selects "Batch Menstruation", and presses the enter button, the screen 93 appears. At this time, the batch organization unit 722 of FIG. 1 is activated. This screen is used when a large number of programs are recorded in the recorded program storage unit 23 and it is desired to perform batch arrangement. On the screen 93, a comment “Except for specially designated programs,... The user can input the bit rates b, c, d, etc. shown in FIG. For example, if c is entered as blank and the enter button is operated, programs with a signal bit rate c or lower are erased at once.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user's viewing history information is effectively used to learn the user's favorite programs, and based on the learning result, the signal bit rate of the program to be recorded on the recording medium Can be set. Therefore, a recording medium such as a hard disk can be used effectively, and hardware can be added and cost burden can be reduced.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Viewing history acquisition part, 11 ... Preference model learning part, 12 ... Preference degree calculation part, 13 ... Recording / reproduction control part, 20 ... Viewing history storage part, 21 ... Preference Information storage unit, 22 ... Preference level storage unit, 23 ... Recorded program storage unit, 101 ... Receiving device, 102 ... Stream processing unit, 103 ... Audio signal processing unit, 104 ... Audio signal output unit, 105 ... Video signal processing unit, 106 ... Video signal output unit, 111 ... Speaker system, 112 ... Display, 200 ... Control device, 210 ... Preference Information generating means, 220... Recording / reproducing means, 230... Bit rate setting means, 240... Modem, 241.

Claims (9)

Preference information generating means for generating preference information of the program based on history information of the program viewed by the user;
When the first program received by the tuner is recorded on a recording medium, the signal bit rate of the first program is set based on the preference information, and the second program read from the recording medium is recorded. When re-recording on a medium, bit rate setting means for setting a signal bit rate based on a storage period of the second program in the recording medium;
Recording / reproducing means for recording the first or second program on the recording medium based on the signal bit rate set by the bit rate setting means;
An apparatus for organizing recorded programs.   The bit rate setting means further includes means for adjusting the signal bit rate in a direction to decrease in accordance with the content of the second program recorded on the recording medium and / or the period recorded on the recording medium. The apparatus for organizing recorded programs according to claim 1.   The bit rate setting means suppresses a decrease in the signal bit rate when the second program is a continuous drama program, a series program, or a program specially designated by special information. The recorded program organizing apparatus. 4. The recorded program according to claim 3, wherein the special information includes a keyword related to the second program acquired from the network or a keyword related to the second program registered by the user, and suppresses a decrease in the signal bit rate. Organizing device.   The bit rate setting means increases the rate at which the signal bit rate of the second program to be rerecorded decreases as the storage period during which the second program is stored in the recording medium is longer. 2. An apparatus for organizing recorded programs according to 2.   3. The bit rate setting means increases the rate of decreasing the signal bit rate of the re-recorded second program when the second program is a news program and a weather forecast program. Record program organizer.   2. The recorded program organizing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a special designation unit for performing a special designation for the second program in order to suppress a decrease in the signal bit rate of the second program.   2. The batch organizing unit that collectively erases a plurality of programs that are recorded on the recording medium and that are input with an instruction of a predetermined signal bit rate, and that satisfy the condition of the predetermined bit rate or less. Recorded program organizing device. Based on the history information of the program viewed by the user, preference information generating means for generating the preference information of the program, and bit rate setting for setting the signal bit rate of the first program based on at least the preference information And a recording program organizing method of an apparatus comprising: a recording means for recording the first program on the recording medium based on the signal bit rate set by the bit rate setting means;
When the control device records the first program received by the tuner on the recording medium, the control device sets the signal bit rate of the first program based on the preference information, and reads the second program read from the recording medium. When re-recording a program on the recording medium, a signal bit rate is set based on a storage period of the second program on the recording medium,
A method for organizing a recorded program, wherein the first or second program is recorded on the recording medium based on the set signal bit rate.

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