JP3654060B2 - Electronic program guide display control apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electronic program guide display control apparatus and method used in a digital broadcast receiver for receiving a digital broadcast in which additional information relating to a channel or program scheduled to be broadcast is multiplexed with video information or audio information and transmitted. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic program guide display control apparatus and method capable of improving operability when searching for a desired program or obtaining program information.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In digital multichannel broadcasting, in addition to video information and audio information, additional information related to programs and channels can be multiplexed and transmitted in large quantities simultaneously. For this reason, the digital broadcast receiver has a function of performing on-screen display generally referred to as an electronic program guide using these additional information. By selecting a channel or program, it is possible to select an actual channel or reserve a program.
[0003]
The electronic program guide includes a back program table that displays program information of programs currently broadcast on each channel, a channel list that displays a list of channel names and channel numbers, and the like. In addition to this, there is an electronic program guide called a weekly program guide, in which channels and time are two axes in the horizontal and vertical directions. In the weekly program guide, from the viewpoint of easy viewing and operability, the display range on one screen is often 3 to 5 channels and 4 to 6 hours. Then, the user scrolls in both the channel and time axis directions by operating the cursor, so that the program information is sent from the sending side with respect to the channel for all currently broadcasted channels. Program information can be displayed over all of the above.
[0004]
Normally, when a user requests display of a weekly program guide, the initial screen that is initially displayed on the receiver side is several hours starting from the current time in terms of time, and in the order of channel numbers in terms of channels. It is often composed of several channels before and after the channel being selected, or several channels after the channel being selected. Thereafter, the user searches for a desired program by scrolling the channel or time, and acquires program information of the program name, start time, end time, and detailed contents (hereinafter, program description) of the program. .
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a conventional electronic program guide display control apparatus and method, the desired program that the user tries to retrieve is the is several days away from the current, also frequently scrolling properly is not performed for a long time In other words, it is very complicated to search for a desired program, and there is a problem that it is not easy to use. Some receivers have a function to specify the date or day of the week and move to the requested date once, and then scroll the program in units of several hours to speed up the program search time. Even if a simple function is used, the above-mentioned problems are not fundamentally solved, although some trouble can be saved.
[0006]
Furthermore, in the weekly program guide, when program information is displayed, the display area on the screen is limited. Therefore, an area (hereinafter referred to as a program cell) in which information of one program can be displayed has a program name or program name Only a part is displayed. Since the area necessary for display of the program description becomes large, when a program description request is made for the program cell indicated by the cursor or the like, it is displayed on a separate screen independently. It is common to do.
[0007]
However, each time a program description of a different program is to be viewed, a desired program must be searched by scroll operation and displayed within the weekly program guide display range, and then a program description request must be made. Furthermore, when it is desired to confirm the program description again for a program for which the program description has been confirmed once, it is necessary to search for the program again by a scroll operation. As described above, in the conventional electronic program guide display control apparatus and method, there is a problem in that the operation for displaying the program description is very complicated and the usability is poor.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, frequently also properly it is to provide an electronic program guide display control apparatus and method capable of searching a program of interest without a long scroll operation For the purpose. It is another object of the present invention to provide an electronic program guide display control apparatus and method capable of improving operability when displaying a program description.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art,
(1) Program information processing means for processing additional information relating to a channel or program to extract program information necessary for the electronic program guide, and a program guide as an electronic program guide using the program information extracted by the program information processing means In an electronic program guide display control device comprising a program guide generation means for generating a time, a time for dividing several days in at least one channel into arbitrary time zones and displaying as a time zone selection screen of one screen A band selection screen display means, a cursor display means for displaying a movable cursor on the time zone selection screen for designating a section indicating a time zone in the time zone selection screen, and a plurality of times designated by the cursor selection determining means for selecting and determining a time zone of the compartment, the program contained in the time zone selected determined by the selection determining means And a selection program list screen display means for displaying the selected program list screen, the selection determining means, to allow the selection decision time period of a plurality of sections spaced from each other on the time zone selection screen, predetermined Provided is an electronic program guide display control device configured to select and determine a time zone for each movement of the cursor within the range of the number of time zones .
(2) In an electronic program guide display control method for processing additional information related to a channel or a program, extracting program information necessary for the electronic program guide, and generating a program guide as an electronic program guide using the extracted program information. A first step of dividing a time span of several days in at least one channel into an arbitrary time zone and displaying it as a time zone selection screen of one screen, and designating a zone indicating the time zone on the time zone selection screen Therefore, a second step of displaying a movable cursor on the time zone selection screen, a third step of selecting and determining the time zones of a plurality of sections designated by the cursor, and the third step and a fourth step of displaying a program included in the selected determined time period as selected program list screen, the third step , To allow the selection decision time period of a plurality of sections spaced from each other on the time zone selection screen, within a range predetermined time period number, to select and determine a time zone for each movement of the cursor An electronic program guide display control method is provided.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an electronic program guide display control apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic program guide display control apparatus according to the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen display example by the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method of the present invention.
[0011]
In FIG. 1, a digital multi-channel broadcast signal wave received by an antenna 10 is input to a tuner unit 11. The tuner unit 11 demodulates the signal modulated in the transmission process to generate a baseband bit stream signal. The bit stream signal output from the tuner unit 11 is input to the demultiplexing unit 12. The demultiplexing unit 12 separates a specific video information stream and a specific program information stream from a plurality of programs (video information) and a bit stream signal in which program information is multiplexed. In addition, since a scramble is generally applied to a pay program, the demultiplexing unit 12 also performs a descrambling process.
[0012]
The video information stream output from the demultiplexing unit 12 is input to the video signal processing unit 13, and the program information stream output from the demultiplexing unit 12 is input to the program information processing unit 14. The video signal processing unit 13 processes the input video information stream and generates a video signal corresponding to the display format. The program information processing unit 14 processes the input program information stream. That is, the program name, start time, end time and other additional information are extracted from the program information stream.
[0013]
The video signal output from the video signal processing unit 13 is input to the on-screen synthesis unit 18. Various types of program information output from the program information processing unit 14 are input to the program guide generation unit 17. The program guide generation unit 17 generates a predetermined program guide based on various types of input program information and is controlled by the microcomputer unit 19, and inputs the program guide image information to the on-screen composition unit 18. The on-screen synthesizing unit 18 synthesizes the video signal input from the video signal processing unit 13 and the program guide image information input from the program guide generating unit 17 and displays the video to be displayed on the display unit 20 such as a cathode ray tube. The signal is supplied to the display unit 20 as a signal. Only the program guide image information may be displayed on the display unit 20.
[0014]
Further, the microcomputer unit 19 is connected to a memory unit 16 including a ROM and a RAM. The ROM stores various characters, numbers, marks, and other characters to be displayed on the program table generated by the program table generator 17. Further, program information is stored in the RAM. The microcomputer unit 19 reads program information and characters stored from the memory unit 16 and supplies them to the program table generation unit 17. The microcomputer unit 19 controls the tuner unit 11, the demultiplexing unit 12, and the program information processing unit 14.
[0015]
An instruction signal from the user from the input unit 15 provided on the front panel of the remote control transmitter or receiver body is input to the microcomputer unit 19. Under the control of the microcomputer unit 19, the tuner unit 11 generates a specific bit stream signal. Further, under the control of the microcomputer unit 19, the demultiplexing unit 12 separates a specific video information stream and a specific program information stream from the input bit stream signal. Thus, the microcomputer unit 19 operates as a control unit that controls each part of the circuit.
[0016]
Next, the program search operation by the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method of the present invention will be described. In the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method of the present invention, first, a time zone selection screen is displayed. The user appropriately selects a plurality of time zones from among them. Thereby, the selected program list screen is generated and displayed. If a program description is required, the user selects it from the selected program list screen and displays the program description. As described above, in the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method according to the present invention, the user selects a time zone in which a program to be actually displayed as a program table is included on the time zone selection screen, and then included in the time zone. It is characterized in that it takes a two-step process of generating a program guide only by the program to be played.
[0017]
FIG. 2 shows the operation of the time zone selection process. When the program information is requested by the user, a time zone selection screen is displayed in step S21 of FIG. FIG. 4 is an example of a time zone selection screen. The time range displayed on the time zone selection screen is several days, for example, one week from the current time. In FIG. 4, the blacked out portion is a portion outside the selected region that is outside one week from the current time. The time zone selection screen is divided into arbitrary time zones (for example, 1 hour). The user can select a time zone in units of time zones (here, 1 hour) divided by the time zone selection screen, and the number of selectable time zones is, for example, a maximum of 10 cases. Note that what is displayed as the time zone selection screen in FIG. 4 is, for example, the channel that was last selected (that is, the channel that is currently selected), and here, it is assumed that it is a 100-channel news channel. You may display the time-zone selection screen of another channel by operating a channel key.
[0018]
In FIG. 2, in step S22, the input unit 15 waits for an input operation from the user. If there is a cursor movement request, the process moves to step S23 to move the cursor, and the process returns to step S22. In the time zone selection screen of FIG. 4, the cursor is indicated by a thick frame. When an instruction to select and select a time zone is given, in step S24, the time zone and date information as the time zone identification information and the channel number as the channel identification information are stored in the memory unit 16. In the time zone selection screen of FIG. 4, the hatched time zone is the selected time zone. In step S25, it is determined whether or not the number of registrations has reached the maximum value of 10, and if not, the process returns to step S22. If the maximum value has been reached, the program information acquisition process is started.
[0019]
If a program information acquisition start request is made in step S22, it is determined in step S26 whether one or more specific time zones are registered. Move on to the acquisition process. If not registered, the process returns to step S22. In the example of FIG. 4, registration on April 2 (Friday) from 7:00 to 8:00 is registered for a specific time zone, April 2 (Friday) is registered from 17:00 to 18:00, and April 3 is registered. (Sat) 7:00 to 8:00 registered 3 April 4 (Sunday) 17:00 to 18:00 registered 4 April 5 (Monday) 7:00 to 8:00 registered 5 A case is shown in which the program information acquisition processing is started by operating the “acquisition start” button displayed on the screen (in the time zone selection screen), with the total number of registrations in the specific time zone being five.
[0020]
In the program information acquisition process, the program information processing unit 14 extracts and processes the program information stream from the demultiplexing unit 12 based on the time zone information, date information, and channel number information stored in the memory unit 16. The microcomputer unit 19 stores necessary program information in the memory unit 16. In the program information acquisition process, all program information of programs existing in the time zone selected on the screen of FIG. 4 is acquired.
[0021]
FIG. 3 shows the operation of the program information display process after the program information is acquired. In FIG. 3, in step S31, a list of selected programs selected and acquired by the process of FIG. 2 (hereinafter, selected program list) is displayed. FIG. 5 shows an example of the selected program list, in which all programs included in the time zone selected by the registrations 1 to 5 are displayed as a list. In this example, registrations 1, 3 and 5 are each composed of one hour programs, and registrations 2 and 4 are each composed of two 30-minute programs. Therefore, a total of seven programs are displayed as a list.
[0022]
In FIG. 3, in step S32, the input unit 15 waits for an input operation from the user. If there is a cursor movement request, the process moves to step S33 to move the cursor, and the process returns to step S32. In the selected program list screen of FIG. 5, the shaded portion indicates the cursor position. If an instruction for requesting program description display is given, the program description for the program pointed to by the cursor is displayed in step S34. FIG. 6A is an example of a program description display. Thereafter, in step S35, the input unit 15 waits for an input operation from the user, and in step S36, the selected program list screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed again, and the process returns to step S32.
[0023]
In the example of FIG. 3, when a previous screen display request is made in step S35, the selected program list screen is displayed again. However, the display time of the program explanation display is counted by a timer built in the microcomputer unit 19. The selected program list screen may be redisplayed after a predetermined time has elapsed. Further, in the example of FIG. 3, after displaying the program explanation screen of a certain program, to display the program explanation screen of another program, the user is once returned to the selected program list screen. As another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6B, scroll buttons are displayed on the screen (in the program explanation screen), and program descriptions of other programs on the selected program list are sequentially displayed by operating the scroll buttons. You may make it display.
[0024]
In this embodiment, after all the program information of the program existing in the time zone requested by the user in FIG. 4 is acquired, the selected program list screen of FIG. 5 is displayed, but all the program information is acquired. Instead of waiting for completion, a list may be displayed in order from the acquired program information. Alternatively, only the program information of the program name, start time, and end time may be acquired first and displayed as a list, and the program description information may be acquired and displayed after a request for program description display is made. In the above example, the operation when displaying the program explanation screen as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B using the selected program list screen of FIG. 5 has been described. A list screen may be used to select a program for viewing or to reserve a program.
[0025]
By the way, in CS digital broadcasting using a communication satellite at present, multi-channel broadcasting of several hundred channels is performed, and most of them are pay channels. Each channel has a program structure specialized in specific broadcast contents (for example, baseball, movies, etc.), and the user subscribes to a channel operator that suits his / her hobby and views it. ing. For this reason, in CS digital broadcasting, the channel directivity of the user is stronger than other broadcasting. Therefore, as described above, even time zone selection within a specific channel is sufficiently effective. As another embodiment, it is possible to select a time zone over a plurality of channels.
[0026]
Hereinafter, a configuration example in the case of selecting a time zone over a plurality of channels will be described. A “channel selection” button for selecting a channel is displayed on the time zone selection screen of FIG. When the user selects the “channel selection” button by an instruction such as a cursor, a “channel number input screen” that prompts the user to input the channel number of the newly selected channel is displayed, or the channel number can be input or selected. Processing for displaying a list of channels and selecting one channel from the list is added after step S22 of the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0027]
When a new channel is selected, the time zone selection screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed with the channel number / channel name display column changed to that of the newly selected channel, and from here, the program information is displayed to the user again. Let the user select a time zone with the required program. When the user newly selects a time zone, the memory unit 16 stores the time zone and date information pointed to by the cursor as time zone specifying information and the channel number of the newly selected channel as channel identification information. Through the above processing, it is possible to realize a request registration process for program information across a plurality of channels.
[0028]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method of the present invention displays the time over several days at least one channel as the time zone selection screen is divided into an arbitrary time zone, time zone In order to specify the time zone on the selection screen, a movable cursor is displayed on the time zone selection screen, and the time zones of multiple zones specified by the cursor are selected and determined, and the selected time zone is selected. Within the range of the predetermined number of time zones, so as to display the included programs as the selected program list screen, and further to allow the selection decision of the time zones of a plurality of sections separated from each other on the time zone selection screen, Since the time zone is selected and determined every time the cursor moves, the target program can be searched without scrolling frequently or for a long time. In addition, operability when displaying the program description can be improved. Accordingly, the digital broadcast receiver equipped with the electronic program guide display control apparatus and method of the present invention is extremely convenient.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen display example according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen display example according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen display example according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Antenna 11 Tuner part 12 Demultiplexing part 13 Video signal processing part 14 Program information processing part (program information processing means)
15 Input unit 16 Memory unit 17 Program guide generation unit (program guide generation means)
18 On-screen synthesis unit 19 Microcomputer unit 20 Display unit

Claims (4)

Program information processing means for processing additional information related to a channel or program to extract program information necessary for the electronic program guide, and generating a program guide as an electronic program guide using the program information extracted by the program information processing means In an electronic program guide display control device comprising a program guide generating means,
Time zone selection screen display means for dividing the time spanning several days in at least one channel into arbitrary time zones and displaying the time zone selection screen as one screen;
Cursor display means for displaying a movable cursor on the time zone selection screen for designating a section indicating the time zone on the time zone selection screen;
Selection determining means for selecting and determining the time zones of a plurality of sections designated by the cursor;
A selection program list screen display means for displaying a program included in the time zone selected and determined by the selection determination means as a selection program list screen ;
The selection determination means sets a time zone for each movement of the cursor within a predetermined number of time zones within a predetermined range of time zones so as to allow selection and determination of a plurality of time zones separated from each other on the time zone selection screen. An electronic program guide display control apparatus characterized by being configured to select and determine .   2. The electronic program guide display control device according to claim 1, further comprising program explanation screen display means for displaying a detailed explanation of the program displayed on the selected program list screen as a program explanation screen. In an electronic program guide display control method for processing additional information related to a channel or a program, extracting program information necessary for the electronic program guide, and generating a program table as an electronic program guide using the extracted program information.
A first step of dividing the time spanning several days in at least one channel into arbitrary time zones and displaying them as a time zone selection screen of one screen;
A second step of displaying a movable cursor on the time zone selection screen for designating a section indicating a time zone on the time zone selection screen;
A third step of selecting and determining the time zones of a plurality of sections designated by the cursor;
And a fourth step of displaying a program included in the time zone selected and determined in the third step as a selected program list screen,
The third step includes a time zone for each movement of the cursor within a predetermined number of time zones within a predetermined range of time zones so as to allow selection determination of a plurality of time zones separated from each other on the time zone selection screen. An electronic program guide display control method characterized by selecting and deciding .   4. The electronic program guide display control method according to claim 3, further comprising a fourth step of displaying a detailed explanation of the program displayed on the selected program list screen as a program explanation screen.

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