JP3572658B2 - Program selection support device and program selection support method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a television channel selection support device for assisting selection of a program to be received or recorded in a home AV device such as a television or a video.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, television program broadcast schedules (hereinafter referred to as program schedules) have been provided to general viewers as printed materials such as newspapers and magazines. In particular, in magazines mainly for the purpose of providing program information issued at regular intervals, such as weekly publications, program listings and content introductions announced by each broadcasting station are not only posted, but programs are classified by field in the program listing. Magazine subscribers, that is, television program viewers, have been provided with convenience by color coding and providing a list of programs in a particular field that are broadcast during a particular period.
[0003]
There is also a service in the United States that provides program information through personal computer communication and runs a dedicated program on a personal computer to search information provided by magazines and the like.
[0004]
In CATV, which provides more channels, a service for providing a program guide using a set-top receiver in each home has begun.
[0005]
On the other hand, television broadcasting also broadcasts programs that introduce programs in specific fields (for example, movie programs and sports programs).
[0006]
Furthermore, in July 1993, "Standard for Television Program Recording Reservation System by Teletext (BTA T-003)" was enacted in Teletext Multimedia Broadcasting (hereinafter referred to as Teletext). Is being launched, a service that distributes directly to homes.
[0007]
Further, data broadcasting using a satellite broadcasting data channel and service provision by ISDB are also being studied.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In recent years, with the spread of satellite broadcasting and CATV, the number of television channels has been increased, and viewers have more choices for programs they want to watch.
[0009]
In newspapers and magazines, the amount of information (the number of channels) that can be listed is limited due to space limitations, and the time and effort required to search is increasing. In addition, other media such as newspapers and magazines must be referred to in order to watch TV, It hinders the convenience of use.
[0010]
In the program guide by broadcasting, information is provided only for a part of programs, and the broadcasting time is limited.
[0011]
Since the provision of program information by teletext is performed within the range of the current teletext standard, only very simple information such as the start / end time of the program and the program name is provided. For this reason, the viewer takes considerable time to search for a desired program.
[0012]
If the provision of program information by a plurality of media starts in the future, it is conceivable that different types of information formats and services will be provided in order to bring out their uniqueness. For example, terrestrial broadcasting may provide only program information of each main broadcast by text broadcasting and BS data broadcasting. In this case, even though the viewer watches the same television, it is troublesome to search for a desired program without distinction between the terrestrial broadcast and the BS broadcast.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a program selection support device for assisting program selection, comprising: program information input means for inputting program information for a program; program information storage means for storing the input program information; Classification word storage means for storing one or more words classified into each field with respect to the field of the program; search means for searching for the program information accumulated by the words stored in the classification word storage means; Determining means for determining the field of the program corresponding to the stored program information based on the search result of the searching means, field specifying means for specifying the field of the program, and program information matching the field of the specified program Sorting means for sorting based on the determination result of the determining means,
If the field of the program is specified, the program name corresponding to the program information selected by the selecting means is displayed.If the field of the program is not specified, the program name corresponding to the stored program information is displayed. Presenting means for displaying in a different display mode when the field of the program is different.
[0014]
Further, the present invention provides a television channel selection support device, further comprising a classification weight updating means for increasing the classification weight of a word included in the program name of a program whose field is determined by the field determining means.
[0015]
[Action]
The TV channel selection support apparatus of the present invention determines a field from words included in a program name, and presents programs in different fields, thereby supporting a viewer to select a program to be selected. Since only the program name is used for field division, conventional program information can be used, and field division can be flexibly handled.
[0016]
【Example】
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention, which will be described below.
[0017]
Reference numeral 11 denotes program information input means for inputting a TV broadcast program table transmitted as a teletext program by a TV station, 12 program information storage means for storing program information of each channel, and 24 programs for each field of the program. Classified word storage means for storing a word indicating that the word is a word, word search means for performing a word search from the program name stored in the program information storage means 12, field determination means for determining the field of the program, and program This is a program guide presenting means for displaying a name and a field of a program.
[0018]
Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The program information input means 11 sequentially selects a channel that provides program information by teletext from a text multiplex broadcast program that provides television program information and sends the broadcast channel, broadcast date, Extract start / end time and program name.
[0019]
The program information storage means 12 stores the information for each television program extracted by the program information input means, and deletes the program information of the television program whose broadcasting has ended. FIG. 3 shows a part of an example of the program information stored in the program information storage unit 12. For example, the first item indicates that “news and commentary” will be broadcast on channel 2 from 2:00 pm to 15 minutes on July 10.
[0020]
The classified word storage unit 24 stores a word for each program field indicating that the program is in that field. FIG. 4 is an example of a word stored in the classified word storage unit 24. For example, the words "soccer" and "J-league" indicate that the program containing the word is a sports program.
[0021]
The word search means 25 retrieves the words stored in the classified word storage means 24 one by one and searches the program name column of the program information stored in the program information storage means 12. For example, in the search when the word “soccer” is retrieved from the classified word storage unit 24, the third item in FIG. 3 is searched.
[0022]
The field determination means 26 determines the field of each program based on the above search result. For example, the program of the third item is hit in the search for the words "soccer", "J-league" and "Gamba" in the sports field. Therefore, it is determined that the program is a sports program. However, since the program of the second item does not hit the search at all (the words such as "television", "telephone", and "consultation" are not stored in the classified word storage means 24), the program belongs to any field. It is determined that there is not.
[0023]
The program guide presenting means 28 displays program information in a specific time zone of a plurality of specific channels as a list. In this display, programs in the sports field are displayed in light blue, and programs in the movie field are displayed in pink. When the user wants to enjoy sports, the program guide presenting means 28 searches for the program by paying attention to the light blue portion. When a movie is reserved for video recording, the user pays attention to the pink portion to search for the desired program. You can look for it.
[0024]
There are various methods of realizing the program list displayed by the program table presenting means 28, such as displaying on a dedicated display device and superimposing on a television screen, but they are omitted because they are beyond the scope of the present invention. Also, a method of specifying a channel and a time zone to be displayed in the program list is omitted since it is beyond the scope of the invention.
[0025]
Further, when changing the channel to a program found by the TV channel selection support device of the present invention or performing recording reservation registration of the program, in addition to channel selection / recording reservation registration of a TV or video by a conventional method, There is also a method in which a switch is provided in the channel selection support device so that channel selection / reservation registration can be performed by pressing a switch corresponding to a program to be channel-selected / reserved, but this is also beyond the scope of the present invention. Omitted.
[0026]
In the above-described embodiment, the configuration for extracting the program information from the teletext has been described. However, a configuration may be adopted in which a service other than the teletext, such as a data broadcast dedicated to the program information, for example, a TV broadcast / CATV ancillary service is received. In addition, a modem interface is provided to automatically connect to a personal computer communication host station to acquire program information, such as a configuration for inputting program information online, and an external storage device such as a floppy disk or IC card is provided. A configuration is also possible in which program information is input by offline input such as inputting program information via a medium or reading an existing program information magazine provided with an OCR.
[0027]
Further, a configuration having input means for two or more program information is also possible. For example, text broadcasting is not performed on all channels. May not be broadcast. In this case, it is also possible to combine input of program information from teletext and input of program information by personal computer communication. As described above, when program information is input from a plurality of media, even if the format and content of the information are different from each other, the information can be handled in a unified manner by converting the information into the same form by the program information input means.
[0028]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 5, and FIGS. In the configuration and the operation of each part of the present embodiment, description of the same program information input unit, program information storage unit 12, classified word storage unit 24, word search unit 25, and field determination unit 26 as in the first embodiment will be omitted.
[0029]
Reference numeral 13 denotes a field input unit for inputting a field of a program / video desired to be selected on a television, and a program desired to be registered for recording reservation, and 58 denotes a field-specific presentation means for presenting program information for each field. Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
[0030]
The field input means 13 is provided with a remote control device (remote control), arranges buttons corresponding to the fields of words stored in the classified word storage means 24, and specifies the field by pressing this button. For example, when selecting a channel for broadcasting a sports program, the user presses a sports button on a remote controller.
[0031]
The word search means 25 searches the program name column of the program information stored in the program information storage means 12 with the word stored in the classified word storage means 24 corresponding to the field specified by the field input means 13, and the field determination means 26 Only programs in the field input from the field input means 13 are selected. For example, when the sports button is pressed by the word search means 25, the words "soccer", "J league", "professional baseball", etc., corresponding to the sports in FIG. 5 are searched from the column of the program name in FIG. When searching for "soccer", the third item in FIG. 5 is searched. When searching for "J-League", the same item can be searched. However, when searching for "professional baseball", there is no item to be searched. In the search by the word search means 25, there are items searched for a plurality of words "soccer", "J-league" and "Gamba", but the field determination means 26 eliminates this duplication and searches for the same program only once. To
[0032]
The field-specific presentation means 58 presents the searched program. For example, when the sports button is pressed by the word search means 25, the third item in FIG. 3 is presented.
[0033]
This embodiment is more effective than the first embodiment when it is desired to select a specific field, for example, a sports program or a movie. It is also possible to configure to have both functions of the present embodiment and the first embodiment. That is, when the field is designated by the field input means 13, the operation described in the present embodiment is performed, and otherwise, the operation described in the second embodiment is performed.
[0034]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 6, and FIGS.
[0035]
The description of the same parts as in the first and second embodiments is omitted.
14 is a classification word storage means for storing a word indicating a program in the field and a classification weight for each field of the program, and 15 is a word stored in the classification word storage means 14 and a program stored in the program information storage means 12 Word search means for searching the program name column of the information, 16 a field determination means for determining the program category weight and determining the program field, and 18 a program table presentation means for displaying the program name and field.
[0036]
Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 shows an example of the storage contents of the classified word storage means 14. For example, the first item indicates that the word “soccer” is a word indicating a sports field and its classification weight is 100. The larger the value of the classification weight, the higher the possibility that the program including the word of the item in the program name is a program in the field. That is, it is indicated that the program name including the word “soccer” is more likely to be a sports program than the program name including the word “Gamba”.
[0037]
The word search means 15 searches the column of the program name of the program information stored in the program information storage means 12 using the words stored in the classified word storage means 14. The search results are compiled for each program by the field determination means 16, and the sum of the category weights for each field is calculated to be the category weight of the program.
[0038]
A program field is designated by the field input means 13, and the program fields are displayed on the program guide presenting means 18 in the descending order of the classification weight of the field.
[0039]
The sum of the classification weights of the words included in the program name was calculated to obtain the classification weight of the program by the field determination means 16, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the above method, the longer the program name is, the more words are included and the classification weight of the program tends to be large.In order to correct this, for example, a method of setting the maximum value of the classification weight of the word as the classification weight of the program is used. However, the correction method is not limited to this.
[0040]
The input of the field by the field input means 13 is omitted, and the program is colored in accordance with the classification weight of each field, and the program table presentation of the present embodiment is performed in the same manner as the program table presentation means 28 of the first embodiment. The information may be displayed on the means 18. For example, a program with a classification weight of 200 or more in the sports field is displayed in blue, and a program with a classification weight of 200 or more in 200 is displayed in blue, and a program with a classification weight in the movie field of 200 or more is displayed in red. To display. In this case, in order to make a recording reservation registration of a sports program, a desired program is first searched for by paying attention to a blue portion, and if not found, a light blue portion may be searched for. Further, means for changing the threshold value of the color classification may be provided.
[0041]
If the field input by the field input means 13 is omitted, a default field may be provided for each day of the week and time zone, and the field may be input. For example, assuming that sports are set in the daytime on Wednesday and Saturday and movies are set as the default fields after 11:00 pm on all days, inputting the fields in the field input means 13 when making a reservation for recording a J-League soccer or late-night movie is required. Can be omitted. In addition, in a device in which the device of the present invention is incorporated in a television receiver or a video, a field of a program in which a channel is matched or a program in which a reservation recording is performed is automatically collected, and the best viewing / reservation recording is performed for each day and time zone. The field that performed the above can also be set as the default field.
[0042]
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1 and FIGS. 3, 7, and 8. The description of the same parts as in the third embodiment is omitted.
[0043]
Reference numeral 17 denotes a classification weight updating unit which decomposes the program name into words for programs whose classification weight of the program obtained by the field determination unit 16 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and for each of these words, only If there is a program name that does not include a program name, the classification weight of the program is obtained, and one minute (a value rounded down to 1/100) is used as the classification weight if the word is stored in the classification word storage means 14. In addition, if the word is not stored, it is additionally stored.
[0044]
For example, the sports classification of the program of the third item in FIG. 3 will be described in detail. The classification words of the sports field included in this program are “soccer”, “J-league” and “Gamba” from FIG. 7, and the classification weights of the respective programs are 100, 90 and 60. Therefore, the classification weight of the program is 250 of the sum of these. It becomes. First, the classification weight of the program name "J-League" Gamba x Jubilo "" which does not include only this word for "soccer" is 150, and 1/100 (the value rounded down to the nearest whole number) is 2 for the word "soccer". The classification weight becomes 102 in addition to the classification weight 100 of. For the word “Jubilo”, the classification weight of the program name “Soccer J League“ Gamba × ”” that does not include only this word is 250, and this one third is added to the classification word storage unit 14 as the classification weight of the word “Jubilo”. Remember. The same operation is performed for other words. The stored contents of the classified word storage unit 14 at the time when these operations are completed are as shown in FIG.
[0045]
Here, the classification word storage means 14 may be updated at regular intervals, for example, one day at a time at midnight. Further, the classification word storage means 14 may not be updated by the classification weight calculation of all programs, but may be updated only for programs for which channel selection and recording reservation have been actually performed. The update of the classification weight is not limited to the method described in the above example.
[0046]
Further, when the capacity of the classified word storage unit 14 is insufficient, the classification weight may be reduced by the same amount all at once, and words having become 0 or less may be deleted.
[0047]
Further, a means for externally inputting the contents of the classified word storage means 14 can be provided so as to be able to cope with the transition of words used in the program name. By inputting, the operation of a plurality of devices can be made the same.
[0048]
In the present embodiment, compared to the third embodiment, not only the words registered in advance but also the names of the programs that have been actually viewed / recorded / recorded are updated, so that it is possible to expect an improvement in program category classification performance.
[0049]
In all the above embodiments, the field is not limited to general fields such as "sports" and "movie". For example, fields such as "programs frequently viewed by a specific viewer" and fields such as "specific persons" are provided. You can also.
[0050]
Also, if a program whose channel has been tuned or scheduled recording is input to the apparatus of the fourth embodiment and the classification weight is updated as a program in a field such as "frequently-viewed program", actually viewing / reserving recording is performed well. The current program is displayed on the program guide presenting means 18 as a field of "frequently viewed programs". This is an application of the tuning method according to the invention of Japanese Patent Application No. 5-279521 to the apparatus of the present invention, and the present invention and the invention of the above-mentioned application can be realized by the same apparatus.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of contents stored in a classified word storage means in the first and third embodiments. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the invention; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the storage contents of the classified word storage means in the third and fourth embodiments; FIG. 8 is the classification weight in the fourth embodiment; Diagram for explaining the operation of the updating means [Explanation of reference numerals]
11 Program information input means 12 Program information storage means 13 Field input means 14, 24 Classified word storage means 15, 25 Word search means 16, 26 Field determination means 17 Classification weighted update means 18, 28 Program table presentation means 58 Field-specific presentation means

Claims (6)

A program selection support device for assisting in program selection,
Program information input means for inputting program information for a program;
Program information storage means for storing the input program information;
Classification word storage means for storing, for one or more program fields, one or more words classified into each field;
Search means for searching for the program information accumulated by the words stored in the classified word storage means;
Determining means for determining the field of the program corresponding to the program information stored based on the search result of the search means,
Field designation means for designating the field of the program;
Selecting means for selecting program information matching the field of the specified program based on the determination result of the determining means;
If there is a field designation of the program, a program name corresponding to the program information selected by the selection means is displayed,
Presenting means for displaying a program name corresponding to the stored program information in a different display mode if the program field is different, if the program field is not specified;
A program selection support device comprising: The classification word storage unit further has a word classification weight in the field for words classified in each field,
The determining means further obtains a program classification weight, which is a classification weight for the program, based on a word classification weight in the field of a word included in the program information of the program,
2. The program selection support device according to claim 1, wherein the presenting unit displays the program names in the order of the program classification weights. 2. The program selection support device according to claim 1, wherein information including a word stored in the classified word storage unit can be updated. The information including the word stored in the classified word storage means can be updated,
3. The program selection support device according to claim 2, wherein the update of the classification weight value of the word stored in the classification word storage unit is performed for a word of a selected or recorded program. 2. The program information input means according to claim 1, wherein the program information for the program is input from at least a plurality of media including broadcasting and communication, and is converted into the same format to uniformly handle the program information. Item 5. The program selection support device according to any one of Items 4. A program selection support method for a program selection support device for assisting in program selection,
A program information input step for inputting program information for the program;
A program information storing step of storing the input program information;
A classification word storing step of storing, for one or more program fields, one or more words classified into each field;
A search step of searching for the program information accumulated by the words stored by the classified word storage step;
A determination step of determining the field of the program corresponding to the program information stored based on the search result of the search step;
A field specifying step for specifying a field of the program;
A selection step of selecting program information that matches the field of the specified program based on the determination result of the determination step;
If there is a field designation of the program, a program name corresponding to the program information selected in the selection step is displayed,
And displaying the program name corresponding to the stored program information in a different display mode if the program field is different if the program field is not specified.

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