JP2842087B2 - AV system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an AV system comprising a plurality of audio / video devices such as a television, a video, a laser disk player, an amplifier, a tuner and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, television (hereinafter referred to as TV), video (hereinafter referred to as VTR), multi-laser disk player (hereinafter referred to as MLDP), amplifier, AM / FM tuner (hereinafter referred to as tuner), etc. are interconnected. An AV system operated by a remote control signal transmitter has been developed.

[0003] A conventional AV system will be described below. FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of this conventional AV system. In FIG. 5, 1 is a TV, 2 is a VTR, 3 is a VTR II (second VTR), 4 is an MLDP, 5 is an amplifier, 6 is a tuner, 7 is a remote control signal transmitter, and 8 is a VT.
An R selection key, 9 is a VTR II selection key, 10 is an MLDP selection key, 11 is a fast forward key, 12 is a communication means, 13 is a control means, 14 is a remote control signal receiving means, and 15 is a remote control signal transmitting means.

[0004] The operation of the AV system configured as described above will be described below.

First, TV1, VTR2, VTRII3, M
The LDP 4, the amplifier 5, and the tuner 6 are connected to an audio signal line and a signal line for device information / control information communication.
VTR2, VTRII3 and MLDP4 are connected by video signal lines. The remote control signal transmitter 7 has a common operation key and a device selection key. The common operation key is a key that can be used in common for some devices such as playback, rewind, and fast forward, and the device selection key is a key for selecting a device to which a remote control signal is to be transmitted. Normally, the user presses a device selection key to select a target device, and presses a common operation key to operate the target device. For example, VTR2 is playing and TV
When a video is output on the screen 1 and audio is being output by the amplifier 5, the user wants to play the VTR 2 fast forward. After pressing the VTR selection key 8 as a device selection key,
The fast-forward key 11 which is a common operation key is pressed.

When a video is output to the screen of the TV 1 during VTR II 3 playback, a compact disc (hereinafter referred to as a CD) is being played by the MLDP 4 and audio is being output from the amplifier 5, the video is fast forward played. In the same way, after pressing the VTRII selection key 9, the fast-forward key 11
push.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when an operation is to be performed using the common operation key, the user must press the device selection key in order to select a target device. Had operational problems. Further, there is a problem that the device selection keys for the number of devices to be selected must be provided in the remote control signal transmitter 7.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an AV system in which the number of keys of a remote control signal transmitter is reduced and user operability is improved.

[0009]

In order to achieve this object, an AV system according to the present invention comprises: a transmitter having means for transmitting a common operation remote control signal not including device selection information;
Device information communication means, a plurality of AV equipment provided with control information communication means, means provided in the AV equipment, the remote control signal receiving means, and equipment operated by the remote control signal information and equipment information in the system. It has a configuration of one or more AV devices provided with means for selecting and transmitting control information.

[0010]

According to the present invention, the device having received the common operation remote control signal selects the target device from the device status information in the system and transmits the control signal.
The user does not need to press the device selection key, and the operability is improved. Further, since the device selection key is not required, the size of the remote control signal transmitter can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[0011]

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an AV system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a system. In FIG. 1, 1
Is TV, 2 is VTR, 3 is VTR II (second VT
R), 4 is MLDP, 5 is an amplifier, 6 is a tuner, 7 is a remote control signal transmitter, 11 is a fast-forward key, 12 is communication means for transmitting and receiving device information and control information to and from another AV device through a signal line, 13 Is a control unit for selecting which device to transmit control information based on device information and remote control signal information in the system; 14 is a remote control signal receiving unit;
Is a remote control signal transmitting means. TV1, VTR2, V
The TRII 3, MLDP 4, amplifier 5, and tuner 6 are connected to an audio signal line and a signal line for device information / control information communication, and TV1, VTR2, VTII3, and MLDP4 are connected to a video signal line.

The operation of the AV system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows a device having a function to be firstly subjected to a common operation remote control signal as a priority order for a device which has received a remote control signal to select a control information transmission target device;
Secondly, the device that is turned on in the first condition, the device that is the image source of the system in the second condition, the fourth
An operation procedure when selecting a device which is a sound source of the system among the conditions will be described. Hereinafter, using FIG. 1 and FIG.
The operation will be described.

When the AV system is operating, any key existing on the remote control signal transmitter 7 is pressed,
When this is received by the TV 1, the TV 1 performs processing according to the procedure shown in FIG. If the condition that the received signal information is a common operation key signal is not satisfied, no processing is performed. If the above condition is satisfied, the following processing is performed only on the devices targeted by the common operation key. First, make sure that the target device is turned on. If the power of at least one of the target devices is not turned on, the process is not performed.
At this point, if only one device is turned on, that device is selected as a control signal transmission target device, and processing is performed by determining the device. When there are a plurality of target devices that are turned on, the device that is the image source of the system is searched for and the process is performed. If there is no video source device, that is, if the AV system is operating only with audio, or if the video source is a device that is not a common operation target device, it will become the system audio source in the target device. Search for the device and perform processing. If there is no device that is the audio source, the process is performed after determining the process when the target device is not determined. In this process, it is conceivable that the process is performed with the priorities of the devices determined in advance, or no process is performed.

When the fast-forward key 11 is pressed while the video is output on the screen of the TV 1 while the VTR 2 is playing and the audio is being output by the amplifier 5, the VTR II included in the target device is pressed.
3, Even if the power of MLDP4 is turned on, the video source V
TR2 is selected and a fast-forward playback operation is performed.

When the VTR II 3 is being reproduced, an image is output on the screen of the TV 1, the compact disk (hereinafter referred to as a CD) is being reproduced by the MLDP 4, and the audio is output from the amplifier 5, and the fast forward key 11 is pressed. , VTRII3 as a video source is selected.

FIG. 3 shows, as a priority order for a device that has received a remote control signal to select a control information transmission target device, a device having a function to be firstly subjected to a common operation remote control signal;
The second condition is a device that is turned on in the first condition, the third condition is a device that is a sound source of the system in the second condition, and the fourth condition is a second device.
An operation procedure when selecting a device which is a video source of the system among the conditions will be described. The operation procedure of FIG. 3 is different from that of FIG. 2 in that the order of the process of searching for a video source and the process of searching for an audio source in the system are interchanged.

When the fast forward key 11 is pressed while the VTR II 3 is playing and a video is output on the screen of the TV 1, the CD is being played by the MLDP 4, and audio is being output from the amplifier 5, the audio source is shown in FIG. MLDP4 is selected.

In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, there is an item for checking whether or not the power of the target device is turned on. In other words, this is effective when selecting a device that is a video source or an audio source but is not turned on, or when selecting a device that is turned off in a process when the target device is not determined.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the operation target device is selected only by pressing the common operation key of the remote control signal transmitter 7, so that an AV system with good operability for the user can be provided. it can.

(Embodiment 2) Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an AV system showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a TV, 2 is a VTR, 3 is a VTR II (second VTR), 4 is an MLD
P and 5 are amplifiers, 6 is a tuner, 7 is a remote control signal transmitter, 11 is a fast-forward key, 12 is communication means, 13 is control means, 14 is remote control signal reception means, and 15 is remote control signal transmission means. The above is the same as the configuration in FIG. The difference from FIG. 1 is that 16 priority order selection switches are provided. The priority selection switch 16 is a switch for selecting whether to give priority to the video source or to the audio source. When the VTR II 3 is playing and the video is output on the screen of the TV 1, the CD is being played by the MLDP 4, and the audio is output from the amplifier 5 and the fast forward key 11 is pressed, the priority selection switch 16 is set to the video side. If it is, the video source VTRII3 is selected by the procedure of FIG. 2, and if it is on the audio side, the audio source MLDP4 is selected by the procedure of FIG.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by providing the priority order selection switch, A
The user can switch the procedure selected by the V system.

The AV system can be easily realized by performing any one of the remote control signal and the device information / control information communication by optical communication such as infrared rays. In addition, a communication line such as a telephone line may be used for device information / control information communication. If you communicate between devices via phone,
Extensive AV that is not limited to the frame of one room or one house
System can be configured.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, a device that has received a common operation remote control signal selects a target device from the remote control signal information and the device status information in the system and transmits a control signal. This eliminates the need for the user to press the device selection key, thereby improving operability. Further, since the device selection key is not required, the size of the remote control signal transmitter can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an AV system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the case of giving priority to a video source in the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in the case of giving priority to a sound source in the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an AV system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional AV system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 TV 2 VTR 3 VTRII 4 MLDP 5 Amplifier 6 Tuner 7 Remote control signal transmitter 8 VTR selection key 9 VTRII selection key 10 MLDP selection key 11 Fast-forward key 12 Communication means 13 Control means 14 Remote control signal receiving means 15 Remote control signal transmitting means 16 Priority Order selection switch

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transmitter having a transmitter for transmitting a common operation remote control signal not including device selection information, and a plurality of AV devices having a communication unit for communicating device information and control information. At least one of the AV devices selects a device to be operated based on device information in the system obtained by the communication device and the remote control signal information, the receiving device receiving the remote control signal; An AV system comprising control means for transmitting the control information according to the following. 2. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein communication of the remote control signal is performed by optical communication such as infrared light. 3. The AV according to claim 1, wherein communication of either or both of the device information and the control information is performed by optical communication such as infrared rays.
system. 4. The AV system according to claim 1, wherein communication of one or both of the device information and the control information is performed by general-purpose line communication such as a telephone line. 5. The AV device according to claim 1, wherein a video source of the system, an audio source of the system, and power supply status information of each device in the system are received from device information in the system, and the device to be operated is selected. system. 6. A priority order for selecting a control information transmission target device is as follows: first, a device having a function to be a target of a common operation remote control signal; second, a device which is powered on among first conditions; 6. The AV system according to claim 5, wherein a device which is a video source of the system in the second condition and a device which is an audio source of the system in the second condition are selected. 7. As a priority order for selecting a control information transmission target device, first, a device having a function to be a target of a common operation remote control signal, second, a device which is powered on among first conditions, and 6. The AV system according to claim 5, wherein a device which is an audio source of the system in the second condition and a device which is a video source of the system in the second condition are selected. 8. As a priority for selecting a control information transmission target device, first, a device having a function to be a target of a common operation remote control signal, second, a device which is a video source of the system in the first condition, Third, the selection of a device which is a sound source of the system in the first condition is performed.
V system. 9. As a priority for selecting a control information transmission target device, first, a device having a function to be a target of a common operation remote control signal, second, a device which is a sound source of the system in the first condition, Third, in the first condition, a device which is a video source of the system is selected.
V system. 10. The AV system according to claim 5, further comprising means for allowing a user to select video source priority or audio source priority as the priority for selecting the control information transmission target device.