JP3624431B2 - Video on demand system, center thereof, and television system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a video on demand (VOD) system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In conventional TV (TV) general dramas and movie programs, etc., when the program is broadcasted using the products of the sponsors and cooperation used in the production, or the sponsored manufacturers (showing product images to viewers), Lastly, telop introduces the names of manufacturers, places, places, etc. as costume cooperation, art cooperation, and photography cooperation.
[0003]
In the conventional TV program telephone shopping, a limited shopping target product introduced by a program dedicated to telephone shopping is applied for purchase by telephone, postcard, sealed letter or the like.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventional telops are limited to commercials (CMs) that provide information such as product shape, handling method, provider name, shooting location, landscape, etc., in order to obtain detailed information on what the viewer has shown interest You need to search for information by contacting each provider separately. In addition, the telephone shopping program is limited in that only the shopping target products taken up can be purchased, and it is not possible to purchase the non-shopping products broadcast on the telephone shopping program.
[0005]
The object of the present invention is to view detailed information related to the thing (for example, merchandise, ornaments of programs providing / supporting manufacturers, clothes, shoes, furniture, houses, etc.) displayed on the screen of the program to be aired. It is to provide a VOD system that can perform the above.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a video-on-demand system that distributes a program upon request from a center to each TV system, and associates each program with the center and provides detailed information related to the video of the program and items displayed in the program. In addition to distributing the video of the program requested from the TV system, detailed information related to this program is distributed, and the program distributed on the TV system is being broadcast and specified on the screen. In response, detailed information related to the designated object is displayed on the screen of the TV system.
[0007]
[Action]
The center stores the video of the program and detailed information related to the object displayed in the program in association with each program. When a program is requested from the TV system, the related detailed information is also distributed. In the TV system, when an object displayed on the screen of a program being broadcast is specified, detailed information related to the specified object is displayed accordingly, so that the viewer can not only watch the program but also be broadcast. You can easily know the detailed information of the objects. If necessary, electronic shopping for purchasing the product (product) can also be performed.
[0008]
【Example】
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
Basic structure of the system This VOD system has a VOD system widely known in magazines as shown in FIG. 1 as its core, and the center and the distribution and financial institutions required for external CM providers and electronic shopping. The interactive TV system has a connection function and a function of simultaneously displaying still images and moving images on the viewer's TV. Examples of the configuration of the VOD system that is the core of the system for realizing the present invention are the pages 12 to 14 of the magazine "NIKKEIBUSINESS" March 21, 1994, and the magazine "NIKKEI COMMUNICATION" January 17, 1994 issue 52. Pp. 57, and pages 33-39 of the February 1994 magazine “Data Communication” are also described.
[0010]
The details of FIG. 1 will be described. First, the components on the center side of the VOD system (for example, a CATV provider) are the studio equipment 101 that creates and sends an independent program, satellite broadcasting (for example, mobile photography vehicles, NHK BS, CS, etc.). , A Hong Kong starlight network, etc.), a telephone exchange 103 that handles the center's in-house telephone, a moving image input system 10 that handles moving images, a moving image server 11 and the moving image server connected to the LAN, A workstation (WS) 104 that performs distributed authoring such as drawing and processing, a graphics workstation (GWS) 105 for computer graphics (CG), and a multi that performs communication control with outside of these (10, 11, 101 to 105). Media integration node 12, supervises communication status Consisting monitoring system 106. The integrated node 12 is connected to a wide area network 110 (ATM, SDI, or ISDN) supported by a telecommunications carrier, and a CM providing institution system 112 of an external institution, a distribution institution system 113 required for electronic shopping, a financial institution system 114, Connected and exchanges necessary data between various institutions and between various institutions and the viewer's house. Furthermore, the viewer side is connected to the interactive TV 116, personal computer 117, and telephone 118 via the network termination device 115.
[0011]
Next, a video server that handles video on the center (CATV provider) side, that is, stores programs and CMs and distributes video to viewers' homes will be described with reference to FIG.
[0012]
The video input system 10 uses a video tape recorder (VTR) 20 or the like as a video input source and a video input / output board 21 (for example, ATI VGA Wonder's ATI Match32 as VGA card), MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group). A compression / decompression board 22 (for example, Reel Magic of SIGMA DESIGNS) is sent to the video server 11 (for example, Starworks video servers of Starlight Networks server), and the disk array 23 and magneto-optical are transmitted. (MO) Accumulated in the disk library 24 or distributed externally. In external distribution, the video server 11 is connected to an external wide area network 110 via the multimedia integration node 12. The integrated node 12 includes a router module 25 that controls the input / output destination (route) of data to the video server 11, a cell multiplexing module 26 that multiplexes cell data (data in cell units), and a low-frequency telephone ( 50 to 3.4 kHz) to a baseband frequency (in the order of MHz) of the video. Further, via the wide area network 110 and the integrated node 12, the CM video is input from the external CM engine system 112 and the home shopping video is input from the distribution engine system 113 and sent to the video server 11. The data is stored in the disk array 23 and the MO disk library 24. At this time, the correspondence between the program video and the CM corresponding to the program is managed in the management table of the video server 11.
[0013]
An example of the configuration (memory map) of this management table is shown in FIG. First, address (header) information indicating the storage location of the program No. 1 (assignment of the disk array 23 and MO disk library 24) is stored in 31 and related CMs (sponsor of costume cooperation, art cooperation, etc.) in the program. CM) and address information indicating the storage destination of the home shopping screen are stored in 32 and 33. Further, for the program p number, the program address, CM address, and home shopping screen address are registered in 34, 35, and 36 in the same manner.
[0014]
In addition, the structure of a related table (memory map) for associating a CM object with one frame of a program video (one screen is called a frame, and 30 frames per second on a TV) and its CM type An example of this is shown in FIG. First, in order to designate one or a plurality of display objects of frame No. 310 that can be commercialized, that is, capable of detailed information, the coordinates of the four corners on the TV screen are set in areas 311 and 313. A plurality of CM types related in the areas 311 and 313 are registered in the areas 311, 312, and 314. Similarly, the coordinate positions of the four corners of one or a plurality of display objects that can be CM within frame n number 315 are registered in area 316, and the related CM types are registered in area 317.
[0015]
Next, the interactive TV system on the listener side will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the component device includes an interactive TV 116 via a network termination device 115 and a personal computer 117 connected to the TV via a LAN. The personal computer 117 includes a video input / output board 40 that is an interface for video signals, a frame memory 41 that is a buffer for image output (30 frame memories for 1 second of TV video), and JPEG that compresses and decompresses still images. (Joint Photographic Expert Group) compression / decompression board 42, MPEG compression / decompression board 43 for compressing / decompressing moving images, control unit 44, memory 45 for storing video information (program, CM, etc.) and the like Consists of. Further, an electronic still camera 46, a VTR camera 47, and a VTR 48 for inputting still images and moving images to be described later to the system are connected to the video input / output board 40.
[0016]
A method of storing and reproducing still image / moving image data necessary for inserting / combining still images / moving image on the TV screen in the interactive TV system will be described.
[0017]
First, for a still image, a video input / output board 40 mounted on a personal computer 117 is obtained by electronically photographing a subject (viewer / person, object, etc.) with an electronic still camera 46 (for example, DS-100 of Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.). The data is transferred to a JPEG compression / decompression board 42 (for example, IMAGEPRO of Raster Ops) via an interface (for example, VideoVision of Radius) and stored in the memory 45 as compressed data. In order to output the still image, the data 45 is expanded by the JPEG compression / decompression board 42, buffered in the frame memory 41, and then output to the interactive TV 116.
[0018]
Here, this accumulation processing will be described with reference to FIG. First, in processing 51, the data capture from the electronic still camera 46 is performed by the video board 40 and passed to the frame memory 41. Next, in a process 52, a necessary portion is extracted (clip operation from a bitmap) from the data for one captured screen (called a frame). In processing 53, a bitmap portion clipped from a frame (such as a person or an object) is cut out, overlapped with other data (bitmap data change), or the like. In processing 54, JPEG compression of still image data that has been edited is performed by the JPEG compression / decompression board 42, and data is stored in the memory 45 in processing 55. At this time, a management table of accumulated data is also constructed in the memory 45.
[0019]
FIG. 7 explains how to reproduce the still image data 45 accumulated by the processing of FIG. 6 on the TV 116. Using a mouse or keyboard connected to the personal computer 117, the stored data is searched by referring to the management table in the memory 45 in processing 61, and a reproduction instruction is given. The retrieved compressed data (compressed in process 54) is decompressed by the decompression board 42 in process 62, passed to the frame memory 41 via the video board 40, and output 64 to the interactive TV 116. Further, the output screen size on the TV screen (that is, the bitmap on the frame memory 41) and the position of the output location are designated with the mouse (bitmap size designation and position calculation) 64 (similar to a general multi-window) Is performed by the control unit 44.
[0020]
Next, accumulation / reproduction of moving image data in an interactive TV system will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 8 to 9.
[0021]
First, regarding moving image storage, a subject (viewer / person, landscape, etc.) is photographed from the VTR camera 47 or VTR 48 of FIG. 5 and a video input / output board 40 (for example, Movie Pack of Raster Ops) mounted on the personal computer 117 is taken. ) Is passed to the MPEG compression / decompression board 43 (similar to the MPEG compression / decompression board 22 shown in FIG. 2) and stored in the memory 45 as compressed data. In order to output a moving image, the data in the memory 45 is expanded by the MPEG compression / decompression board 43, buffered in the frame memory 41, and then output to the interactive TV 116 as a moving image.
[0022]
This moving image processing using a personal computer is generally called DTV (Desk Top Video). A configuration example of DTV is also described in pages 130-136 of the magazine Nikkei CG separate volume multimedia introduction guidebook.
[0023]
The moving image data storage processing in the DTV will be described with reference to FIG.
[0024]
First, in processing 71, data from the VTR camera 47 and VTR 48 is fetched by the video board 40 and transferred to the frame memory 41. Next, in a process 72, a required portion is extracted from the captured image frame data 41 (a clip operation of bitmap data in the frame). In the process 73, a bitmap portion (such as a person or a landscape) clipped from the frame is cut out, superimposed with other data (bitmap data change), or the like. In process 74, special effects such as wipe and blue inversion are edited (bitmap data is changed). In process 75, superimposition of characters is performed (bitmap data is changed). In process 77, it is stored in the memory 45. To do. At this time, a management table of stored data (a management table having a structure similar to that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) is also constructed in the memory 45.
[0025]
FIG. 9 explains how to reproduce the moving image data stored in the memory 45 with reference to FIG. Using a mouse or keyboard connected to the personal computer 117, a stored data search is performed by referring to the management table in the memory 45 in a process 81, and a reproduction instruction is given. The retrieved compressed data is decompressed 82 by the decompression board 43, passed to the frame memory 41 via the video board 40, and output 83 to the interactive TV 116. Further, the output screen size and output location on the TV screen (that is, on the bitmap on the frame memory 41) are designated with a mouse or the like (bitmap size designation / four corner coordinate position designation, output reference coordinate position designation). ) Processing 84 is performed by the control unit 44.
[0026]
An interactive TV system (interactive TV 116, personal computer 117) realized by the configuration and processing of FIGS. 1 to 9 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the screen 91 is an example of a screen for selecting a program such as a VOD movie program or movie video in CATV. The video data of the program menu from the center in FIG. 1 is distributed / stored from the video server 11 to the memory 45 of the interactive TV system via the network 110 in advance, and this is transmitted to the TV 116 via the frame memory 41. The selection screen is displayed by outputting the screen. Here, when a drama part is designated with a mouse (coordinate position calculation on the bitmap 41), destination designation (device ID number of the interactive TV 116) information and designated program number (coordinate position calculation on the bitmap 41 are calculated) from the control unit 44. Result) is sent to the center. With this information, the center stores program video data, CM video data related to the program, and home shopping video data on the disk array 23 based on the address table (31, 310, 311, 32, 320, 321) described in FIG. The video server 11 extracts the video data from the disc library 24 and transmits the video data to the destination interactive TV system. These video data are compressed and stored in the memory 45 of the interactive TV system by the same process as in FIG. 8, and the drama broadcast (screen 92) is displayed on the interactive TV 116 by the same process as in FIG. 9. Further, a management table (a management table having the same structure as in FIG. 3) of the program video and the related CM video and home shopping video transferred together with the program video is also copied from the center and sent to the memory 45. The address is stored in the memory 45 of the interactive TV system. Although repeated at this time, all of the program, related CM video data, and home-shopping video are compressed and stored in the memory 45 of the interactive TV system.
[0027]
Here, since the transmission channel of the VOD bidirectional CATV route reaches several thousand or more, even if a program request is simultaneously made from a plurality of different interactive TV systems, the connection between each interactive TV system and the center depends on different channels. Done. Therefore, a center and a data transmission path are established for each channel (that is, for each interactive TV system).
[0028]
In the drama on the display screen 92, the clothes of the performer (jacket) are liked, and in order to know the details, the clothes are designated with the mouse. Here, a method for detecting a location / location (clothes) designated with a mouse on a moving image will be described. In order to output a moving image to the interactive TV 116, it is performed via the frame memory 41 of FIG. At this time, if each frame memory 41 is viewed, it is not a moving image but a still image. Therefore, the designated position of the mouse in the still image is detected as a bitmap coordinate position of the frame memory 41 that is generally performed. Therefore, a CM management area similar to that shown in FIG. 4 is used to determine which CM object area is the coordinate position designated by the mouse in the display frame (for example, the frame 310). Thereby, the CM object at this time is referred from the table. For example, when the position of the clothes is pointed, the coordinates of 311 in FIG. 4 are specified, and CM type 111: jacket, CM type 112: tie, and CM type 113: pants are specified. ) The screen 93 is changed. This obtains the address of the memory 45 where the video is stored in the management table similar to the management table of FIG. 4, and outputs the CM video data from the memory 45 to the interactive TV 116 by the same processing as in FIG. At this time, the CM may interrupt and flow the drama separately from the drama screen (replace bitmap data in the entire display frame memory 41 with CM data), or display a window (display frame memory in a part of the original drama). The bitmap data of the partial area 41 may be replaced with CM data). As a result, the CM explains the jacket, tie, and pants of the performer's clothes on the screen 93. When a jacket is selected on this screen 93, a jacket pattern selection screen 94 is displayed by selecting the jacket. This is performed by the same processing as the above-described detection of mouse selection and CM video reproduction. Here, a simulation 95 (applying a person's face and body shape to the jacket on the screen) is performed to see how it feels when wearing this jacket. This simulation is performed by accumulating / reproducing one's appearance by the processing of FIGS.
[0029]
As a result of this simulation, if you like and select OK, the screen 96 changes to a purchase (home shopping) screen. In this screen, video data of the home shopping menu from the center of FIG. 1 is distributed / stored from the video server 11 to the memory 45 of the interactive TV system via the network 110 in advance, and this is transmitted to the TV 116 via the frame memory 41. The home shopping screen is displayed by outputting the screen. Here, modem data exchange (electronic shopping) is performed with the distribution agency 113 via the public network 110 by mouse selection, and shopping using the video-on-demand system is completed. Furthermore, the interactive TV system of the viewer and the financial institution system 114 are connected by the result of the electronic shopping, and electronic payment is performed.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
In the present invention, CMs of merchandise that the user likes in the program are streamed from programs that are viewed on the VOD and interactive TV, so that the viewer can collect product information whenever he / she likes. In addition, for the sponsor, the degree of freedom of the CM is increased, and the advertising opportunity and the CM effect are increased (to send the CM information that the viewer wants to know).
[0031]
Next, by linking this CM with electronic shopping, viewers can purchase products, reserve places, etc. whenever they want, and sponsors can expand sales of their products.
[0032]
Furthermore, since it is possible to grasp the number of times viewers access the CM and purchase trends, it is possible to open the way for the collection and use of detailed marketing information of individual consumers.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the moving image server in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table configuration for managing the storage destinations of programs, CMs, and home shopping screens stored in a memory on the center side.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table configuration for managing a relationship with a CM type corresponding to each frame of a program video.
FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of an interactive TV system on the viewer side.
6 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for storing still image data in the interactive TV system shown in FIG. 5; FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for reproducing still image data in the interactive TV system shown in FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for storing moving image data in the interactive TV system shown in FIG. 5;
9 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for reproducing moving image data in the interactive TV system shown in FIG. 5. FIG.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen transition example of an interactive TV for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 ... Video input system, 11 ... Video server,
12 ... Node integrated with multimedia, 112 ... CM provider system,
113 ... Distribution institution system, 114 ... Financial institution system,
116 ... Interactive TV, 117 ... Still image / movie creation personal computer,
21 ... Video input / output board, 22 ... MPEG compression / decompression board,
40 ... Video input / output board, 41 ... Frame memory,
42 ... JPEG compression / decompression board, 43 ... MJPEG compression / decompression board,
45 ... Memory

Claims (3)

In a video-on-demand system that distributes programs upon request from the center to each television system,
The center, a contact Ku means accumulates the information related to the object to be displayed on the video and該番set of each program, together with the image of the requested program from the television system, to those that appear in該番pairs Means for delivering the relevant information,
The television system includes means for displaying, on the screen, the information related to the designated item that has been delivered in response to the designation of the item being displayed on the screen while the delivered program is being broadcast. A video-on-demand system. A center comprising: means for storing video of each program and information related to an object displayed in the program; and means for distributing the information related to the object displayed in the program together with the video of the program A television system that can be connected to a computer via a network,
Means for broadcasting a program distributed from the center;
Means for displaying on the screen the information related to the specified object that has been distributed in response to the specified object being displayed on the screen while the distributed program is being broadcast. TV system. At the center of a video-on-demand system that distributes a program to each television system upon request,
Means for storing video of each program and information related to an object displayed in the program;
Means for delivering the information related to the object displayed in the program together with the video of the program requested from the television system to the television system prior to the display request of the information in the television system. The center of the featured video-on-demand system.

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