JP4041266B2 - Content reproduction apparatus and method, and recording medium on which content reproduction program is recorded - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a content reproduction apparatus and method for performing viewing management for each user based on arbitrarily set program viewing restriction conditions, and a recording medium on which a content reproduction program is recorded.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a wide range of management related to content viewing has been addressed, and the needs are increasing. In particular, there have already been many attempts to restrict viewing on children, and the main purpose was to eliminate violent scenes that are thought to have a negative effect on children.
[0003]
In addition, with the recent digitalization of transmission systems and the spread of large-capacity transmission systems using cables and satellites, program information has been transmitted along with video and audio information of broadcast content (programs). Program viewing management using is performed.
[0004]
For example, based on the target age information included in the program information, the parental lock function that a program that is older than a pre-registered age cannot be viewed unless unlocking is performed by entering a user ID (password) is Currently installed in many content playback devices.
[0005]
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-165054 discloses that the cumulative viewing time and the block time during which no operation is accepted on a specific day of the week or time zone are set and managed for each user unit. A video control apparatus capable of performing viewing restriction has been proposed.
[0006]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-203411 proposes a wired TV controller that can limit viewing on a channel-by-channel basis by setting the cumulative viewing time and the number of viewing-permitted days / week for multiple channels. Has been.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above-described conventional program viewing restriction method has the following problems.
[0008]
(1) Setting of viewing restrictions in units of program genres The one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-203411 has viewing restrictions in units of channels, but there are many cases where programs of different genres are broadcast on the same channel. Depending on the time of day, a program of a genre that is not suitable for viewing by children may be broadcast. Further, in recent multi-channel broadcasting by digitalization, it is practically impossible to set for each channel broadcasted in hundreds.
[0009]
(2) System configuration The system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-203411 has a plurality of users because it maintains and manages the total viewing time and number of days for each channel for which viewing restriction conditions are set. In some cases, a large number of values must be held, and the system is naturally complicated.
[0010]
(3) Management of total viewing restriction conditions for all channels and genres The one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-165054 can manage the total viewing time, but cannot restrict viewing on a channel and genre basis. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-203411 performs viewing restrictions on a channel basis, but does not consider the total viewing time of each channel.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a content playback apparatus and method capable of more flexibly managing user program viewing based on viewing constraint conditions for each user considering the program genre, The present invention also provides a recording medium on which a content reproduction program is recorded.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
1st invention of this application is provided with the user identification means which identifies the user who views a program, and the viewing restrictions condition setting means for setting the viewing permission and viewing time limit for every user, The said viewing restrictions conditions And a genre information acquisition unit that acquires genre information of each program, and a viewing-prohibited genre setting unit that sets whether or not to view each program genre. By multiplying a coefficient setting means for setting a weighting coefficient for each genre of the program with respect to a genre that has not been set as the viewing prohibited genre , the program viewing time and the weighting coefficient of the genre to which the program belongs Calculating means for calculating weighted viewing time; and holding means for holding the cumulative total of the weighted viewing time for each user as the cumulative viewing time It compares the viewing time limit for each of the user and the viewing cumulative time for each of the users, is provided with a viewing permission judging means for judging whether or not viewing.
[0013]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the content reproduction apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, an arbitrary time after selecting a program is set as a viewing determination time for the user to confirm the contents of the program and make a selection determination. When the viewing program is changed or the viewing is stopped within the viewing judgment time, the viewing time is not included as the cumulative viewing time.
[0014]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a step of identifying a user who views a program, a step of setting whether to allow viewing for each genre of the viewed program, and a weight set for the genre of the program permitted to be viewed A step of obtaining a coefficient; a step of calculating a weighted viewing time by multiplying the viewing time of the program by the weighting coefficient; and a step of adding the weighted viewing time to a cumulative viewing time for each user and holding the same. And a step of comparing the viewing cumulative time for each user and the viewing time limit set for each user to determine whether or not viewing is possible, and based on the viewing time limit, watching each user's program Is constrained.
[0015]
A fourth invention of the present application records a content reproduction program for realizing the content reproduction method according to the third invention of the present application.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a content reproduction apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 for a general monitor device such as a television receiver or a broadcast receiver connected to the monitor device.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration in the content reproduction apparatus of the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is an RC receiving unit that receives remote control input from a user, 2 is a date and time management unit that manages date and time, 3 is a tuner unit that sets a frequency for receiving a broadcast stream, and 4 is a tuner. This is a stream processing unit that performs processing such as DEMUX of the stream received by the unit 3.
[0018]
5 is a multimedia processor that decodes video and audio in the stream processed by the stream processing unit 4, and 6 is a program information and a registration screen for viewing restrictions (viewing time limit). An OSD generation unit 7 for output is an output unit for outputting OSD information such as broadcast program content and program information on a monitor.
[0019]
Reference numeral 10 denotes a memory having a viewing restriction information storage unit 11 that stores information such as registered viewing restriction conditions and user IDs, and 20 denotes a control unit that manages and controls processing in the apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the viewing restriction information storage unit 11 and the control unit 20 in the memory 10 are configured to include each part.
[0020]
In FIG. 2, 15 is a user ID storage unit in which a user ID for setting viewing restriction information or canceling the restriction and storing the viewing is stored in the same way as a general content playback apparatus that restricts viewing. Reference numeral 16 denotes a viewing prohibition information storage unit that stores information prohibiting viewing, for example, viewing prohibited genres.
[0021]
Also, 17 is a viewing management information storage unit that weights programs belonging to a specific genre and manages “viewing time” as information for managing viewing time, and 18 is a viewing management information storage. This is a cumulative viewing time storage unit that holds a cumulative “weighted viewing time” calculated based on information in the unit 17.
[0022]
On the other hand, as in the case of a general content reproduction apparatus that restricts viewing, 21 is information in which the information prohibited by the viewing prohibition information storage unit 16 and the program information acquired by the stream processing unit 4 coincide, that is, This is a viewing permission determination unit that compares whether or not a program attribute for which viewing is prohibited is held, and determines whether or not to permit viewing.
[0023]
Also, 22 calculates the “weighted viewing time” for each user by multiplying the “weighting coefficient” in genre units held in the viewing management information storage unit 17 by the actual viewing time of programs belonging to a specific genre. The viewing time calculation unit.
[0024]
Various types of information as shown in FIG. 3 are stored in the above-described user ID storage unit 15, viewing prohibition information storage unit 16, viewing management information storage unit 17, and total viewing time storage unit 18 in the viewing constraint information storage unit 11. ing. It is assumed that all the information shown in FIG. 3 is registered by a user's remote control input.
[0025]
The user ID storage unit 15 stores “manager ID” and “managed person ID”.
The “manager ID” can change all the setting conditions in the viewing restriction information storage unit 11, and the system side can change the information based on the information registered in the viewing restriction information storage unit 11 during viewing of the broadcast program. It is specified and used by a person who can release the viewing restrictions. That is, if this “manager ID” is not known, the viewing restriction condition and the user ID cannot be changed.
[0026]
On the other hand, the “managed person ID” is a user ID required when viewing a broadcast program in which viewing restriction conditions are registered. If this “managed person ID” is not input, the broadcast program cannot be viewed, and measurement of the cumulative viewing time starts when the user ID is input.
[0027]
For example, when a parent manages the viewing of a child's program in the family, the parent uses the “manager ID” and the child is notified by the parent who is the “manager ID” holder. Broadcast program is viewed using the “user ID”.
[0028]
The viewing prohibition information storage unit 16 stores “prohibited genre” and “specified time (minutes)”. The “prohibited genre” is for checking the program genre described in the program information of the broadcast program so that the specific program genre cannot be viewed. Here, if “adult” is designated, the broadcast program of the genre cannot be viewed without inputting the “manager ID”.
[0029]
“Specified time” is used to specify the cumulative number of hours that a broadcast program of the program genre specified by “coefficient specified genre” described later can be viewed. Here, for example, if “120 minutes / day” is input, viewing a broadcast program of the program genre designated by the “coefficient designated genre” for 120 minutes (2 hours) or more per day is prohibited.
[0030]
The viewing management information storage unit 17 stores “coefficient specification genre” and “viewing determination time (seconds)”. “Coefficient designated genre” does not check the program genre and prohibits viewing of broadcast programs belonging to a specific program genre, but “weighting” calculated using the “weighting coefficient” designated here. If the cumulative “viewing time” is within the range of “specified time” to be described later, the designation is for permitting viewing.
[0031]
[VARIETY, 2.0] in FIG. 3 indicates that the “weighting coefficient” of the variety program is 2.0. Similarly, in the example of FIG. 3, the “weighting coefficient” of the animation program is 1.5. It can be seen that the “weighting coefficient” of the educational program is specified as 0.5.
[0032]
The accumulated viewing time storage unit 18 stores “cumulative time”. The “cumulative time” is a cumulative value of “weighted viewing time” of the broadcast program calculated by the viewing time calculation unit 22 based on “coefficient specified genre”.
[0033]
A more specific description will be given below. FIG. 4 shows a registration screen of “coefficient designation genre” using a selection method from a pull-down menu. The user can easily set and register viewing restriction conditions on the selection type registration screen of FIG.
[0034]
Assume that a user registers the following restriction conditions for a child using such a viewing restriction condition registration screen.
[0035]
"Coefficient specified genre"
Program genre = “Variety”: Weighting factor = 2.0
Program genre = “Education”: Weighting factor = 0.5
“Specified time”
“Total time” = up to 180 minutes / day In this case, the managed child may watch TV up to 180 minutes (3 hours) a day, but the actual viewable time is It changes as follows depending on the program genre to be viewed.
[0036]
Case 1: When viewing a variety program for 1.5 hours, 1.5 hours x 2.0 (weighting factor) = 3.0 hours (cumulative time = 3 hours). That is, if a variety program is viewed for 1.5 hours, the designated time (3 hours) is reached, so the actual daily viewable time is 1.5 hours.
[0037]
Case 2: When viewing a variety program for 1 hour, 1 hour × 2.0 (weighting coefficient) = 2.0 hours (cumulative time = 2 hours). Furthermore, when the educational program is viewed for 2 hours, 2 hours × 0.5 (weighting coefficient) = 1.0 hour (cumulative time = 2 + 1 = 3 hours).
That is, if the variety program is added to 1 hour and the educational program is viewed for 2 hours, the designated time (3 hours) is reached, so the actual daily viewable time is 3.0 hours.
[0038]
This process will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the channel selection process is performed, the viewing time calculation unit 22 calculates the “weighted viewing time” of the program that has been viewed.
[0039]
That is, the viewing time calculation unit 22 first obtains the actual viewing time during which the program was actually viewed from the date and time management unit 2 (step 1), and then from the viewing management information storage unit 17 the program to which the program belongs. The “weighting coefficient” of the genre is acquired (step 2). Then, the viewing time calculation unit 22 calculates “weighted viewing time” by integrating the acquired actual viewing time and the “weighting coefficient” (step 3).
[0040]
Thereafter, the calculated “weighted viewing time” is added to the “cumulative time” registered in the viewing cumulative time storage unit 18 (step 4), and the obtained time is regarded as a new “cumulative time”. Re-register in the accumulated time storage unit 18 (step 5).
[0041]
As described above, when viewing a program belonging to the program genre registered in the viewing management information storage unit 17, the “weighted viewing time” calculated by multiplying the corresponding “weighting coefficient” by the actual viewing time is used. When the “cumulative time” to be added reaches “specified time”, it is prohibited. It should be noted that this restriction can be released by inputting the “manager ID”.
[0042]
A program belonging to a program genre that is not designated as either “coefficient designated genre” or “prohibited genre” can be viewed unconditionally. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, since the news program genre is not specified in any of them, it can be viewed unconditionally.
[0043]
Furthermore, the “viewing judgment time” is the same as the “prohibited genre” registered in the viewing prohibition information storage unit 16 for a certain time specified here when the channel selection process is performed. The reproduction process for checking the contents of the program and determining the selection is permitted.
[0044]
For example, if “30 seconds” is entered and registered, if the “prohibited genre” restriction is not applied for 30 seconds after tuning, the selected broadcast program will be played back regardless of other viewing restrictions. Done.
[0045]
Therefore, even if the selected program belongs to the “coefficient specified genre”, the program is played back during the time registered in the “viewing judgment time”. If the “manager ID” or “manager ID” is not input, the reproduction process of the program is stopped after the “viewing judgment time” has elapsed.
[0046]
Here, the playback processing time (viewing time) for viewing determination described above is not a target for measuring the viewing time even for a program for which the cumulative viewing time is calculated. Further, since the user ID is not prompted every time, the user's feeling of use is improved and the channel can be zapped easily.
[0047]
FIG. 6 shows a registration screen for “viewing judgment time”. Here, the viewing determination time can be easily set by numerical input from the remote controller by the user.
[0048]
Next, processing performed when actually watching a broadcast program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The channel selection command input by the user from the remote controller is sent to the control unit 20 via the RC receiving unit 1 (step 1). The control unit 20 checks whether the broadcast program viewed immediately before the channel selection belongs to the “coefficient designated genre” and the timer is operating (step 2).
[0049]
Here, when the timer is operating, the timer is stopped, and based on the actual viewing time and the “weighting coefficient” of the “coefficient designation genre” registered in the viewing management information storage unit 17, The “weighted viewing time” is calculated, added to the “cumulative time” in the viewing cumulative time storage unit 18 and stored (step 3).
[0050]
Next, the channel selection process is started. The control unit 20 acquires the program information of the broadcast program to be newly selected by using the tuner unit 3 and the stream processing unit 4 as necessary. (Step 4) The viewing permission determination unit 21 determines whether the program genre registered in the program information matches the “prohibited genre” stored in the viewing prohibition information storage unit 16. (Step 5).
[0051]
Here, it supplements about acquisition of program information. The reception data subjected to the DEMUX process in the stream processing unit 4 is composed of a plurality of packets. By extracting a packet having a specific packet ID from these packets, necessary program information can be acquired.
[0052]
Program information includes a program genre, a program supplier (company), a program title, a broadcast time, a program content introduction, and the like, which are described according to a format designated by a broadcast management company.
[0053]
When the acquired program genre matches the “prohibited genre”, the control unit 20 generates a screen prompting the input of the “manager ID” by the OSD generation unit 6 and outputs it to the monitor through the output unit 7.
[0054]
Here, when the user inputs the “manager ID” from the remote controller (step 6), the control unit 20 that has received the input from the RC receiver 1 starts the reproduction process (step 7). If the input of the user ID "is not obtained, a non-reproducible screen is displayed along with the reason through the OSD generation unit 6 (step 8).
[0055]
On the other hand, when the acquired program genre does not match the “prohibited genre”, the control unit 20 starts the reproduction process using the multimedia processor unit 5 (step 9). This reproduction process is continued within the “viewing judgment time” registered in the viewing management information storage unit 17. Note that the processing during the effective period of “viewing judgment time” is as shown in the bold line frame in FIG.
[0056]
During this time, the viewing permission determination unit 21 checks whether the acquired program genre does not coincide with the “coefficient designated genre” registered in the viewing management information storage unit 17 (step 10).
[0057]
If they do not coincide with each other, it means that the viewing restriction condition is not applied, so the control unit 20 continues the reproduction process (step 11). However, if the acquired program genre matches the “coefficient designated genre”, the viewing permission determination unit 21 indicates that the “cumulative time” stored in the viewing cumulative time storage unit 18 has already been stored in the viewing prohibition information storage unit 16. It is checked whether or not the “designated time” of registration has been reached (step 12).
[0058]
If the “designated time” has been reached, the control unit 20 prompts for the input of the “manager ID” (step 13), and if the correct “manager ID” is obtained, continues the reproduction process ( If the correct “administrator ID” is not input in step 11), a non-reproducible screen is displayed along with the reason through the OSD generation unit 6 (step 8).
[0059]
If the “cumulative time” held in the cumulative viewing time storage unit 18 has not reached the “specified time”, the control unit 20 prompts the user ID input (step 14). Here, when the “managed person ID” is input, the viewing management information storage unit 17 keeps watching the program of the corresponding genre based on the “weighting coefficient” designated in the “coefficient designated genre”. Until the “specified time” is reached, how many hours can be viewed is calculated according to the following formula (step 15).
[0060]
Remaining viewable time = ("Specified time"-"Total time") / ("Weighting coefficient" of the corresponding program genre)
Subsequently, the control unit 20 starts a timer using the date management unit 2 based on the calculated remaining viewable time (step 16), and continues the reproduction process (step 17).
[0061]
Until the user ID is input from step 4 to step 14 or when the input is not performed correctly, the “viewing judgment time” has elapsed, and the reproduction rejection screen of step 8 has been displayed. Alternatively, when the user selects another program, the viewing time is not measured, and the “cumulative time” in the cumulative viewing time storage unit 18 does not change.
[0062]
The reproduction process described above is stopped when the remaining viewable time becomes 0 by the timer, that is, when the “cumulative time” reaches the “specified time”.
[0063]
In that case, a playback refusal screen is displayed along with the reason, and the user cancels viewing or selects a channel, and the program genre is not registered in the “prohibited genre” or “coefficient specified genre”. You will have to watch broadcast programs belonging to.
[0064]
Even if channel selection processing is not performed, the program information is checked at a fixed cycle, and if the program genre is changed, the processing from step 2 is repeated each time, and the user's program viewing is managed. Is done.
[0065]
When the “manager ID” is input in step 14, the control unit 20 continues the reproduction process without starting the timer (step 17).
However, if an invalid user ID is input in step 14 or viewing is stopped, a reproduction rejection screen is displayed along with the reason (step 8).
[0066]
As described above in detail, according to the system of the present embodiment, viewing restrictions are managed in units of program genres, so that a plurality of programs belonging to different program genres are broadcast on the same channel. However, it is possible to eliminate undesirable programs or restrict viewing.
[0067]
Even when there are many channels, viewing restrictions can be reliably managed regardless of the total number and content change. Furthermore, since the cumulative viewing time is calculated and managed using the “weighting coefficient”, it is possible to manage not only the viewing management in units of program genres but also the total viewing time.
[0068]
In the above-described system according to the present embodiment, only one managed person is set. However, a plurality of managed persons are set, and “managed person ID”, “ A system that sets “prohibited genre”, “designated time”, and “coefficient designated genre” and manages “cumulative time” corresponding to these can also be realized.
[0069]
In the above example, the stream processing unit 4 is configured to acquire necessary program information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the program information is acquired via a removable recording medium or a network. You may do it. Furthermore, it is obvious that the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention is applicable not only to a monitor apparatus and a broadcast reception apparatus that receive and reproduce a broadcast program, but also to various data reproduction apparatuses.
[0070]
Further, a recording medium on which a program for realizing the content reproduction method described above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7 is provided is detachable from the system main body, and the content reproduction program read from the recording medium is temporarily stored in the memory 10. It may be configured to be stored and executed by the control unit 20.
[0071]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, viewing restrictions are managed in units of program genres, so even if a plurality of programs belonging to different program genres are broadcast on the same channel, unwanted programs are excluded, or Viewing can be restricted.
[0072]
Even when there are many channels, viewing restrictions can be reliably managed regardless of the total number and content change. Furthermore, since the cumulative viewing time is calculated and managed using the “weighting coefficient”, it is possible to manage not only the viewing management in units of program genres but also the total viewing time.
[0073]
In addition, an arbitrary time is set as the viewing judgment time so that the user can check the contents of the program and determine the selection of the program. The viewing time is not measured for a certain amount of time after the station, and it is also freed from the hassle of prompting the user ID to be entered, improving the user's feeling of use and enabling easy channel zapping. Become.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration in an embodiment of a content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a control unit and a viewing restriction information storage unit in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of a viewing restriction information storage unit in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a coefficient designation genre registration screen in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing of a viewing time calculation unit in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a registration screen for viewing determination time in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing viewing management processing in an embodiment of the content reproduction apparatus of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 RC reception unit 2 Date and time management unit 3 Tuner unit 4 Stream processing unit 5 Multimedia processor unit 6 OSD generation unit 7 Output unit 10 Memory 11 Viewing restriction information storage unit 15 User ID storage unit 16 Viewing prohibition information storage unit 17 Viewing Management information storage unit 18 cumulative viewing time storage unit 20 control unit 21 viewing permission determination unit 22 viewing time calculation unit

Claims (4)

User identification means for identifying a user who views the program;
Viewing restriction condition setting means for setting whether or not viewing is possible for each user and the viewing time limit,
A content playback device that restricts viewing of each user's program based on the viewing constraint condition ,
Genre information acquisition means for acquiring genre information of each program;
Viewing prohibited genre setting means for setting whether or not to allow viewing for each program genre;
Coefficient setting means for setting a weighting coefficient for each genre of a program with respect to a genre that is not set as the viewing prohibited genre ;
Calculating means for calculating weighted viewing time by multiplying the program viewing time by the weighting coefficient of the genre to which the program belongs;
Holding means for holding a cumulative total of the weighted viewing times for each user as a cumulative viewing time;
A content playback apparatus comprising: a viewing permission determining unit that determines whether or not viewing is possible by comparing the viewing cumulative time for each user and the viewing limit time for each user. The content playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
A setting means is provided for setting an arbitrary time after selecting a program as a viewing judgment time for the user to confirm the contents of the program and make a selection judgment,
A content playback apparatus characterized in that if the viewing program is changed or the viewing is stopped within the viewing judgment time, the viewing time is not included in the cumulative viewing time. Identifying a user watching the program;
Setting whether or not to allow viewing for each genre of the viewing program;
Obtaining a weighting factor set for the genre of the program permitted to view ;
Multiplying the program viewing time by the weighting factor to calculate the weighted viewing time;
Adding the weighted viewing time to the cumulative viewing time for each user and holding the weighted viewing time;
Comparing the viewing cumulative time for each user with the viewing time limit set for each user and determining whether or not viewing is possible,
A content playback method, wherein a program viewing of each user is restricted based on the viewing limit time.   A recording medium on which a content reproduction program for realizing the content reproduction method according to claim 3 is recorded.

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