JP3646296B2 - Image display control apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image display control apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an image display control apparatus and method capable of quickly and reliably selecting a desired program from electronic program guide information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, in Japan, a system for performing television broadcasting via a satellite is being realized. In this system, since television broadcasting is performed digitally, an extremely large number of broadcasting channels such as 100 channels can be secured.
[0003]
Thus, when there are a large number of broadcast channels, it is difficult for the user to select a desired broadcast channel from the large number of broadcast channels. Therefore, the electronic program guide information (Electrical Program Guide (EPG)) is transmitted together with the image data of the program, and is received on the receiving side and displayed on the display, and the electronic program guide displayed on the display is displayed. It has been proposed to use to select a desired program.
[0004]
By the way, when this electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image, the program image is not displayed in such a way that it cannot be seen at all, but the program image can be seen through as a background image. It is possible to display. By doing so, it is possible to select another program while confirming the image of the program being viewed at that time.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in this way, when the electronic program guide is made translucent and displayed so that the program image can be seen through as a background, the character for selecting the desired program is the character of the program as the background image. Since it is mixed with images, there is a risk of misunderstanding. As a result, there has been a problem that it is difficult to select a desired program quickly and reliably.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and enables a desired program to be selected quickly and reliably.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The image display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation means includes electronic information including time information for broadcasting the program when the electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through. The area for displaying the program guide is displayed in a color different from the area for displaying other electronic program guides.
[0008]
The image display control method according to claim 2 displays an electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting a program when the electronic program guide is superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through. The area to be displayed is displayed in a color different from the area for displaying other electronic program guides.
The image display control device according to claim 3, wherein the generation means includes electronic information including time information for broadcasting the program when the electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through. Characters in an area for displaying a program guide are displayed in a color different from characters in areas for displaying other electronic program guides.
The image display control method according to claim 4 displays an electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting the program when the electronic program guide is superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through. The character of the area to be displayed is displayed in a color different from that of the area to display the other electronic program guide.
[0009]
The image display control apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the generation unit displays the electronic program guide superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through, and the electronic program guide broadcasts the program. When the electronic program guide includes a plurality of lines including time information, characters in adjacent areas displaying the electronic program guides in each line are displayed in different colors.
[0010]
The image display control method according to claim 6 displays the electronic program guide superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through, and the electronic program guide includes time information for broadcasting the program. In the case of a multi-line electronic program guide, characters in adjacent areas displaying the electronic program guides in each line are displayed in different colors.
[0011]
The image display control device according to claim 1 and the image display control method according to claim 2, wherein when the electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through , The area for displaying the electronic program guide including the time information for broadcasting is displayed in a different color from the areas for displaying other electronic program guides.
5. The image display control apparatus according to claim 3 and the image display control method according to claim 4, wherein when the electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through, The characters in the area for displaying the electronic program guide including the time information to be broadcast are displayed in a different color from the characters in the areas for displaying other electronic program guides.
[0012]
In the image display control device according to claim 5 and the image display control method according to claim 6 , when the electronic program guide is displayed superimposed on the program image so that the program image can be seen through, When the program guide is an electronic program guide of a plurality of lines including time information for broadcasting the program , characters in adjacent areas displaying the electronic program guides of the respective lines are displayed in different colors.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an AV (Audio Video) system to which the present invention is applied. In this embodiment, the AV system is an IRD (Integrated Receiver / Decoder) that demodulates a signal received by a parabolic antenna 1 from a radio wave transmitted from a transmitting device (not shown) via a satellite (broadcast satellite or communication satellite). ) 2 and a television receiver 3.
[0014]
A command can be input to the IRD 2 (or the television receiver 3) by an infrared (IR) signal by the remote commander 6. That is, when a predetermined switch of the remote commander 6 is operated, the corresponding IR signal is emitted from the IR signal transmitting unit 72 (FIG. 4) and incident on the IR signal receiving unit 54 (FIG. 2) of the IRD2. It is made like that.
[0015]
The IRD 2 supplies its output to the television receiver 3 via an AV line 4 constituted by, for example, three lines of a composite video signal line, an audio L signal line, and an audio R signal line. Further, the IRD 2 has an AV device control signal transmission / reception unit 2A, and the television receiver 3 has an AV device control signal transmission / reception unit 3A. These are connected to each other by a control line 5 made of wired SIRCS (Wired Sony Infrared Remote Control System) (trademark).
[0016]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of the front of the IRD 2. A lid 52 is provided at the center of the casing 51 so as to be freely opened and closed so that the IC card 33 can be mounted therein. A power key 53 is provided on the left side of the IRD 2. The power key 53 is operated when the power is turned on or off. Below the power key 53, an IR signal receiving unit 54 for receiving an IR signal from the remote commander 6 is provided.
[0017]
The LED 55 is turned on when a predetermined message is transmitted to the IRD 2 via a satellite. When the user outputs this message to the television receiver 3 for display and confirms this, the LED 55 is turned off. An LED 56 disposed below the LED 55 is lit when the IRD 2 is communicating via a telephone line.
[0018]
The program guide key 57 and the menu key 58 are operated when displaying an electronic program guide or menu on the television receiver 3, respectively.
[0019]
Up key 61, down key 62, left key 63, and right key 64 are annularly arranged on the upper, lower, left and right sides of the determination key 65. The up key 61, the down key 62, the left key 63, and the right key 64 (hereinafter, these keys are also referred to as direction keys as appropriate) are operated when the cursor is moved in the vertical and horizontal directions. The determination key 65 is operated when selecting (selecting) selection. The channel up key 59 and the channel down key 60 are operated when the received channel is up or down.
[0020]
FIG. 3 shows an internal configuration example of the IRD 2. An RF signal output from an LNB (Low Noise Block downconverter) 1a of the parabolic antenna 1 is supplied to the tuner 21 of the front end 20 (receiving means) and demodulated. The output of the tuner 21 is supplied to the QPSK demodulating circuit 22 and QPSK demodulated. The output of the QPSK demodulator circuit 22 is supplied to an error correction circuit 23, where an error is detected and corrected, and is corrected as necessary.
[0021]
An IC card 33 composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like stores a key necessary for decrypting a cipher together with a decryption program. When a signal transmitted via a satellite is encrypted, a key and a decryption process are required to decrypt the encryption. Therefore, this key is read from the IC card 33 via the card reader interface 32 and supplied to the demultiplexer 24. The demultiplexer 24 uses this key to decrypt the encrypted signal.
[0022]
The IC card 33 stores accounting information as well as keys and decryption programs necessary for decryption.
[0023]
The demultiplexer 24 receives the signal output from the error correction circuit 23 of the front end 20 and temporarily stores it in a data buffer memory (DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or SRAM (Static Random Access Memory)) 35. Then, this is read out as appropriate, the decoded video signal is supplied to the MPEG video decoder 25, and the decoded audio signal is supplied to the MPEG audio decoder 26.
[0024]
The MPEG video decoder 25 appropriately stores the input digital video signal in the DRAM 25a, and executes a decoding process of the video signal compressed by the MPEG method. The decoded video signal is supplied to an NTSC encoder 27 (superimposing means) and converted into an NTSC luminance signal (Y), chroma signal (C), and composite signal (V). The luminance signal and the chroma signal are respectively output as S video signals via the buffer amplifiers 28Y and 28C. The composite signal is output from the buffer amplifier 28V via the AV line 4.
[0025]
As the MPEG video decoder 25, an MPEG2 decoding LSI (STi3500) manufactured by SGS-Thomson Microelectronics can be used. The outline is introduced by Mr. Martin Bolton on pages 101 to 110 of Nikkei BP "Nikkei Electronics" 1994.14 (no. 603), pages 101 to 110, for example.
[0026]
MPEG2-Transportstream is described in pages 231 to 253 of “Latest MPEG Textbook” issued on August 1, 1994 by ASCII Corporation.
[0027]
The MPEG audio decoder 26 appropriately stores the digital audio signal supplied from the demultiplexer 24 in the DRAM 26a, and executes the decoding process of the audio signal compressed by the MPEG method. The decoded audio signal is D / A converted by the D / A converter 30, the left channel audio signal is output from the buffer amplifier 31L via the AV line 4, and the right channel audio signal is output from the buffer amplifier 31R. Are output via the AV line 4.
[0028]
The RF modulator 41 converts the composite signal output from the NTSC encoder 27 and the audio signal output from the D / A converter 30 into an RF signal and outputs the RF signal. In addition, when the TV mode is set, the RF modulator 41 passes an NTSC RF signal input from an AV device such as a cable box to the VCR or other AV device (none of which is shown). Output as is.
[0029]
In the case of this embodiment, these video signals and audio signals are supplied to the television receiver 3 via the AV line 4.
[0030]
A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 29 executes various processes in accordance with programs stored in the ROM 37. For example, the tuner 21, the QPSK demodulation circuit 22, the error correction circuit 23, and the like are controlled. Further, the AV device control signal transmission / reception unit 2A is controlled, and a predetermined control signal is output to another AV device (in this embodiment, the television receiver 3) via the control line 5. Receive control signals from AV equipment.
[0031]
A predetermined command can be directly input to the CPU 29 by operating various keys (FIG. 2) on the front panel 40. When the remote commander 6 (FIG. 4) is operated, an IR signal is emitted from the IR signal transmission unit 72, the IR signal is received by the IR signal reception unit 39, and the light reception result is supplied to the CPU 29. Accordingly, a predetermined command can be input to the CPU 29 also by operating the remote commander 6.
[0032]
Further, the demultiplexer 24 (extraction means) takes in EPG (Electrical Program Guide) data in addition to the MPEG video data and audio data supplied from the front end 20, supplies them to the EPG area 35A of the data buffer memory 35, and stores them. Let EPG information is information about programs of each broadcast channel up to 24 hours after the current time (in the case of EPG2 and EPG1-2) or 150 hours later (in the case of EPG2, EPG3, EPG1-2, and EPG1-3) (for example, In addition to the still image of the program, channel, broadcast time, title, category, etc.) are included. Since this EPG information is frequently transmitted, the latest EPG can always be held in the EPG area 35A.
[0033]
In an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) 38, data to be retained even after the power is turned off (for example, reception history for 4 weeks of the tuner 21, channel number received immediately before a predetermined operation is performed) Last channel)) and the like are stored as appropriate. This memory is used, for example, when the same channel as the last channel is received again when the power is turned on. When the last channel is not stored, the channel stored as a default in the ROM 37 is received.
[0034]
Further, when the sleep mode is set, the CPU 29 operates the minimum circuits such as the front end 20, the demultiplexer 24, and the data buffer memory 35 even when the power is off, and is included in the received signal. The current time is counted from the time information, and control for causing each circuit to perform a predetermined operation at a predetermined time is also executed. For example, timer automatic recording is executed in conjunction with an external VCR.
[0035]
Further, the CPU 29 controls the MPEG video decoder 25 (generating means) when it is desired to generate predetermined OSD (On-Screen Display) data. In response to this control, the MPEG video decoder 25 generates predetermined OSD data, writes it to the OSD area 25 of the DRAM 25a, further reads it, and outputs it. As a result, predetermined characters, figures, images (for example, characters, symbols, icons, screens superimposed on a normal screen in FIGS. 5 to 7), etc. are appropriately output to the television receiver 3 for display. Can do.
[0036]
The SRAM 36 is used as a work memory for the CPU 29. The modem 34 exchanges data via a telephone line under the control of the CPU 29.
[0037]
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the remote commander 6. An IR signal transmitter 72 for generating an IR signal corresponding to the operation of various keys is provided at the upper part. The power key 73 is operated when the power of the IRD 2 is turned on or off, and the television power key 74 is operated when the power of the television receiver 3 is turned on or off. The mute key 75 is operated when the audio signal is muted or unmuted. The switch key 76 is operated when the IRD 2 is remotely controlled by the remote commander 6, and the switch key 77 is operated when the television receiver 3 is remotely operated by the remote commander 6.
[0038]
The input switching key 78 is operated when switching the input to the IRD 2 or the television receiver 3. The screen display key 79 is operated to switch a state in which characters of a predetermined electronic program guide are displayed on the television receiver 3. The dual voice key 80 is operated when switching a plurality of channels as voice channels.
[0039]
The numeric keypad 81 is operated when inputting numbers from 0 to 9. The number 0 key and the “channel selection” key are operated when the number 10 or 12 is input, and the key arranged between the two is operated when the number 11 is input.
[0040]
The menu key 82 is operated when displaying a menu, and the promotion key (promo key) 83 is operated when displaying a promotion channel. The program explanation key 84 is operated to display program explanation information in the electronic program guide. The multi key 85 is operated as an electronic program guide when displaying a reduced screen of each broadcast channel on one screen as, for example, 4 × 4 multi screens. The program guide key 86 is operated when displaying an electronic program guide. The jump key 87 is operated when shifting to the last channel.
[0041]
An up key 88, a down key 89, a left key 90, and a right key 91 (these keys are also referred to as direction keys as appropriate hereinafter) are operated to move the cursor in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. The arranged decision key 92 is operated when inputting a decision of selection. The channel up / down key 94 is operated when incrementing or decrementing the received channel by one. The up key 88, down key 89, left key 90, right key 91, and enter key 92 are an up key 61, a down key 62, a left key 63, a right key 64 and a enter key provided in the main body of the IRD 2 shown in FIG. It corresponds to the key 65, and its arrangement shape also corresponds. The channel up / down key 94 corresponds to the channel up key 59 and the channel down key 60 of FIG.
[0042]
The volume up / down key 93 is operated when the volume is increased or decreased by a certain amount.
[0043]
Next, the basic operation will be described. When the user operates, for example, the numeric keypad 81 of the remote commander 6 to input a predetermined channel number, an IR signal corresponding to the input number is output from the IR signal transmission unit 72. This IR signal is received by the IR signal receiver 39 of IRD2. When receiving a signal corresponding to the IR signal from the IR signal receiving unit 39, the CPU 29 controls the tuner 21 to receive the channel corresponding to the input number.
[0044]
The tuner 21 demodulates the signal corresponding to the channel number designated by the CPU 29 from the signal supplied from the LNB 1 a and outputs the demodulated signal to the QPSK demodulation circuit 22. The signal QPSK demodulated by the QPSK demodulator 22 is further input to the error correction circuit 23, subjected to error correction processing, and then input to the demultiplexer 24. In the demultiplexer 24, the input data is separated into video data and audio data, and the video data is supplied to the MPEG video decoder 25 and the audio data is supplied to the MPEG audio decoder 26, respectively. The MPEG video decoder 25 decodes the input video data by the MPEG method and then outputs it to the NTSC encoder 27. The NTSC encoder 27 converts the input video data into an NTSC video signal. This video signal is supplied to the television receiver 3 via the AV line 4 as a composite video signal via the amplifier 28V, for example.
[0045]
Also, the MPEG audio decoder 26 decodes the input audio data by the MPEG method and outputs it to the D / A converter 30. The D / A converter 30 performs D / A conversion on the input audio data, and outputs it as left and right analog audio signals via the amplifiers 31L and 31R. This audio signal is also output to the television receiver 3 via the AV line 4. In this way, the image and sound of the program instructed by the user operating the remote commander 6 are output to the television receiver 3.
[0046]
In addition, when the demultiplexer 24 detects EPG data from the received signal, the demultiplexer 24 supplies the EPG data to the data buffer memory 35, and stores the EPG area 35A on the upper side.
[0047]
When a predetermined key of the remote commander 6 is operated to read out the EPG information, the CPU 29 reads out the EPG data stored in the EPG area 35A and converts it into the MPEG video decoder 25 and converts it into OSD data. Let The OSD data is output to the NTSC encoder 27, and is superimposed on an image of a normal program and output.
[0048]
FIG. 5 shows a display example of the television receiver 3. That is, when the program explanation key 84 of the remote commander 6 is operated, an IR signal corresponding to this operation is output from the IR signal transmission unit 72. This IR signal is received by the IR signal receiver 39 of IRD2. When receiving this signal input from the IR signal receiving unit 39, the CPU 29 is designated by the program table (not shown) displayed immediately before from the EPG data stored in the EPG area 35A. Detailed information of the broadcast channel program is read out and supplied to the MPEG video decoder 25. The MPEG video decoder 25 generates OSD data corresponding to the input data and outputs it to the NTSC encoder 27. The NTSC encoder 27 converts the input OSD data into an NTSC video signal, and outputs the video signal to the television receiver 3 for display. In this way, an image as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.
[0049]
In the display example shown in FIG. 5, the screen 101 is displayed in a translucent state. That is, the screen 101 is displayed so that the program image can be seen through as a background image. In the area 102 of the screen 101, the number “155” of the channel that broadcasts the program and the title “Satellite Star Movie Theater” of the program are broadcasted “Friday December 15 (Friday) 8:00 pm −10: 20 ”. In the area 105 above the area 102, the title “My Town” of the movie broadcast in this “Satellite Star Movie Theater” program is displayed. In the area 103 below the area 102, this “My Town” is displayed. The director, performers, and synopsis of the movie are displayed.
[0050]
In the area 104 on the right side of the screen 101, a button operated when inputting a channel number “155” and a predetermined command is displayed.
[0051]
Of the areas on the screen 101, the color of the area 102 displaying the time information, which is the most important information for selecting a program, is displayed in a color different from that of the areas 103 and 105 adjacent thereto. Is done. Therefore, the user can quickly and surely know “when and when the program will be broadcast”, which is the largest criterion when selecting the program being introduced.
[0052]
FIG. 6 shows a display example displayed when the promotion key 83 of the remote commander 6 is operated. In this display example, the screen 101 is translucent, and the program image is displayed in a state of being seen through the background. In the uppermost area 111-1 of the screen 101, the channel number “125” currently provided as a promotion image on the promotion channel 111 and its title “Satellite movie star theater” are displayed. 111-2 to 111-11 display the titles and dates of movies broadcast in this program “Satellite Movie Star Theater”.
[0053]
As described above, when the same type of information such as the broadcast date and time and the title is displayed over many lines, the broadcast date and time and the title may be erroneously read across different lines. Therefore, in this display example, the colors of adjacent areas are displayed in different colors. That is, in this display example, the same color is applied every other line. As a result, when the user is following a given line, if the user is careful to always track a line of the same color, the reading position will be erroneously displayed in the next line while reading a character. Is prevented from moving.
[0054]
For example, when the user is reading the area 111-5, the reading position is shifted to the upper adjacent area 111-4 or the lower adjacent area 111-6 while the character is read rightward or leftward. When it has moved, a color different from that of the region 111-5 is added thereto. Therefore, the user can easily recognize that the line has moved while reading ahead relatively easily. In addition, when moving up or down two lines, the color of the area will be the same as the line of interest, but in practice, misreading lines will move to that point. It is rare. Therefore, if the color of each region is set to the same color every other row, reading errors can be sufficiently suppressed. Therefore, information on a desired program can be obtained quickly and reliably.
[0055]
In the above embodiment, the color of the area itself is different from that of the other areas. However, it is needless to say that the characters in the area may be different from the characters in the other areas.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the image display control device according to claim 1 and the image display control method according to claim 2, an area for displaying an electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting a program is set as another electronic program. The guide is displayed in a different color from the display area .
Further, according to the image display control device according to claim 3 and the image display control method according to claim 4, the character in the area for displaying the electronic program guide including the time information for broadcasting the program is changed to another electronic program. The guide is displayed in a different color from the characters in the display area.
As a result, in any case, it is possible to quickly and reliably grasp the electronic program guide including the most important time information when selecting a program.
[0057]
According to the image display control device according to claim 5 and the image display control method according to claim 6 , different characters are used in adjacent areas for displaying a plurality of lines of electronic program guides including time information for broadcasting the program. Since it is displayed in color, there is less possibility of misreading the time information that is the most basic for selecting a program, and a desired program can be selected quickly and reliably.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an AV system to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the front of the IRD 2 in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the IRD 2 in FIG. 1;
4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a remote commander 6 in FIG. 1. FIG.
5 is a diagram showing a display example in the television receiver 3 of FIG. 1. FIG.
6 is a diagram showing another display example in the television receiver 3 of FIG. 1. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 parabolic antenna, 2 IRD, 3 television receiver, 6 remote commander, 21 tuner, 23 error correction circuit, 24 demultiplexer, 25 MPEG video decoder, 25a DRAM, 26 MPEG audio decoder, 26a DRAM, 29 CPU, 35 data Buffer memory, 35A EPG area, 36 SRAM, 37 ROM, 38 EEPROM, 39 IR signal receiver

Claims (6)

Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the received electronic program guide information;
In an image display control apparatus comprising: a superimposing unit that superimposes the image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating unit on a program image included in a transmission signal ;
An area for displaying the electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting the program when the generating means displays the electronic program guide superimposed on the image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through. Is displayed in a color different from the area in which the other electronic program guide is displayed. Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the electronic program guide information included in the received transmission signal;
In an image display control method of an image display control device comprising: a superimposing unit that superimposes an image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating unit on a program image included in a transmission signal ;
When displaying the electronic program guide superimposed on the image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through, an area for displaying the electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting the program , An image display control method, characterized in that an electronic program guide is displayed in a different color from the display area.   Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the received electronic program guide information;
  In an image display control device comprising superimposing means for superimposing an image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating means on an image of a program included in a transmission signal,
  An area for displaying the electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting the program when the generating means displays the electronic program guide superimposed on the image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through. Are displayed in a color different from the characters in the other areas for displaying the electronic program guide.
An image display control device characterized by that.   Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the received electronic program guide information;
  In an image display control method of an image display control device comprising: a superimposing unit that superimposes an image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating unit on a program image included in a transmission signal;
  When the electronic program guide is superimposed on the image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through, the characters in the area for displaying the electronic program guide including the time information for broadcasting the program are displayed. Display the electronic program guide in a color different from that of the display area
  An image display control method characterized by the above. Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the received electronic program guide information;
In an image display control apparatus comprising: a superimposing unit that superimposes the image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating unit on a program image included in a transmission signal ;
The generating means displays the electronic program guide superimposed on an image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through, and the electronic program guide includes a plurality of lines including time information for broadcasting the program. An image display control device that displays characters in adjacent areas displaying the electronic program guide in each row in different colors. Generating means for generating an image corresponding to the received electronic program guide information;
In an image display control method of an image display control device comprising: a superimposing unit that superimposes an image of the electronic program guide generated by the generating unit on a program image included in a transmission signal ;
The electronic program guide is superimposed on the image of the program so that the image of the program can be seen through, and the electronic program guide is a multi-line electronic program guide including time information for broadcasting the program. The image display control method characterized by displaying the character of the adjacent area | region which displays the said electronic program guide of each line with a different color.

Images