JP4217416B2 - Adapter device for online karaoke - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an adapter device that outputs a performance sound and an image using a television receiver installed in a home based on performance data and image data supplied to a mobile phone, and an accounting method therefor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, for example, in a communication karaoke service, karaoke performance data and image data of a predetermined karaoke song according to a request are supplied to a mobile phone. According to this, even without a karaoke device, it is possible to easily enjoy karaoke using a mobile phone.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the communication karaoke service for the mobile phone described above, the display screen of the mobile phone is small, and it is quite difficult to see the telop on the screen that changes in synchronization with the karaoke performance while listening to karaoke. In addition, the sound output from the mobile phone has not only low output but also poor sound quality, and particularly low sound, so that there is a disadvantage that the atmosphere of karaoke cannot be enjoyed easily and sufficiently.
[0004]
The present invention has been made against the background of the above circumstances. The purpose of the present invention is to display a screen that changes in synchronization with the performance of a song using a large display screen even when a mobile phone is used. It is another object of the present invention to provide an adapter device that can perform sound quality and output of a performance sound.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The gist of the invention for achieving the above object was supplied to a mobile phone. karaoke Based on the performance data and image data of the song, karaoke Connected to mobile phones and television receivers to output song performance sounds and images For online karaoke An adapter device, (a) based on specific image information included in the image karaoke Start determination means for determining the start of the performance of the song, and (b) by the start determination means karaoke When it is determined that the performance of the song is started, the image and sound output up to that time in the television receiver are used. karaoke Image switching means for outputting a switching signal for switching to a musical performance sound and an image, and (c) the image is karaoke In sync with the performance of the song karaoke A telop display area for playing a character image representing the lyrics of a song, (d) the start determination means, the start determination means in the telop display area karaoke Start displaying character images representing song lyrics Symbol string indicating The start of performance is determined based on the above.
[0006]
【The invention's effect】
In this way, it was connected to a mobile phone and a television receiver. For online karaoke In the adapter device, in the display area for telop, by the start determination means karaoke Start displaying character images representing song lyrics Symbol string indicating Based on that karaoke When it is determined that the performance of the song has started, the image switching means uses the image and sound that have been output so far in the television receiver. karaoke Since the switching signal for switching to the performance of music and images is output, it was received by the mobile phone. karaoke When the performance of the song starts, the image on the screen synchronized with that is automatically displayed on the television receiver, so that it can be viewed on a display screen larger than the display screen of the mobile phone and has a relatively high sound quality and Since the performance sound can be output at a relatively large volume, for example, karaoke performance can be enjoyed in earnest.
[0007]
[Other aspects of the first invention]
Here, preferably, the start determination means determines the start of the performance of the music based on the symbol display information included in the image. In this way, since the start of the performance is determined based on the symbol display information included in the image synchronized with the performance, it is not necessary to make any special modification to the performance data or image data. A start decision is obtained.
[0008]
Preferably, the image includes a telop display area for exclusively displaying a character image representing the lyrics of the tune at least at the start of performance of the tune, and the start determining means is displayed in the telop display area. The start of performance is determined based on the symbol display information set in advance. In this way, since the start of the performance is determined based on a preset symbol displayed in the telop display area, the performance data and the image data are not required to be changed, and the performance is not required. The start determination of the performance can be obtained more easily by using only one background color without displaying the background image in the telop display area.
[0009]
Preferably, the apparatus further includes mixing means for mixing the performance sound of the music and the sound input from the microphone. In this way, the performance sound of the song and the sound input from the microphone are mixed and output, so that, for example, karaoke can be enjoyed. In this case, the sound quality can be further improved by adding echo reverb to the sound input from the microphone.
[0010]
In addition, it preferably includes scoring means for scoring based on the voice input from the microphone. If it does in this way, the singing ability of the person who sang karaoke will be evaluated quantitatively by displaying the scoring result by the scoring means.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a usage information providing system, for example, a communication karaoke service system (apparatus) 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a large number of mobile phones 12 that also function as communication terminals are connected to a wireless communication channel via a plurality of relay base stations 14 and are carried by a telephone company 16 connected to the plurality of relay base stations 14. The exchange or connection of the telephone 12 is controlled. The telephone company 16 includes a server 18 of an information service company called a provider via a gateway 18 having a function of checking by translating a protocol, a wired communication line, a wireless communication line 20 such as a public communication line. 22 is connected. The information service company provides a service for charging the owner of the mobile phone 12 at the same time as providing the mobile phone 12 with a karaoke performance according to the request.
[0017]
The mobile phone 12 includes a plurality of input operation keys 24 and an image display 26. The mobile phone 12 can be communicated by a contract with a mobile phone company and is given a UID (user identification number, for example, a telephone number). The plurality of input operation keys 24 are used for inputting a telephone number of a communication partner, searching for a karaoke song name, etc., and for selecting the telephone number of a communication partner and a karaoke performance song name on the image display 26. The selection menu, images that play telop (lyrics) in sync with the karaoke performance, etc. are displayed.
[0018]
The server 22 of the information providing service company is configured in the same manner as a so-called microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input / output interface, etc., in order to store a database (DB) storing various information. For example, a storage device 28 composed of an HDD (hard disk) is provided. For example, in a song title search service, the storage device 28 is searched based on a signal from the mobile phone 12 by a song title search operation from the mobile phone 12, and the search result is obtained. The mobile phone 12 is displayed on the mobile phone 12, and a communication karaoke service or the like as described later is performed on the mobile phone 12.
[0019]
In the storage device 28, in addition to a user ID (membership number or mobile phone number), membership number, name, data usage frequency, and adapter usage frequency registered in advance for a fee or free of charge, age, occupation, address A member storage area (member database, i.e., member DB) 30 for storing and the like in correspondence with each other, and a list in which song numbers, singer names, song titles, genres, and the like indicating a plurality of types of karaoke songs that can be provided are stored are stored. A song list storage area (song list database, ie, song list DB) 32, data for reproducing a karaoke performance song and a karaoke image in which lyrics telop is played in synchronization with the progression, ie, lyric data, performance data, control data, etc. Karaoke storage area (karaoke database) for each karaoke song corresponding to the number, title data, etc. Namely karaoke DB) 34, and scoring storage area (scoring database ie scored DB) 36 for registering the scoring indicating the singing ability of the member for respective members, are provided. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate the contents of the member DB 30, song list DB 32 and karaoke DB 34, respectively.
[0020]
FIG. 5 shows a circuit configuration of the cellular phone 12 and the communication karaoke adapter device 40 as the adapter device of the present invention connected thereto. The cellular phone 12 includes a control unit 38, a transmission / reception unit 42 that transmits / receives data from the antenna 39, and converts voice data received by the transmission / reception unit 42 into an audio signal to output audio from the receiver 44. A sound unit 48 that converts a sound signal representing the received sound into sound data and outputs the sound data from the transmission / reception unit 42; a sound source unit 52 that generates a performance signal of a preset song at the time of an incoming call and outputs the signal from the speaker 50; And a battery unit 54 that stores electric energy by charging and supplies power to each unit. The control unit 38 controls the transmission / reception unit 42, the image display 26, and the like based on the input signal from the input operation key 24 in order to function as a mobile phone, a karaoke image audio output device, and the like according to a procedure stored in advance. Then, the telephone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, the telephone number of the other party at the time of outgoing call, information (contents) transmitted from the server 22, etc. are displayed on the image display 26. The control unit 38 includes a memory 56 for storing performance data and image data of a karaoke song provided from the server 22 by, for example, a communication karaoke service. When the mobile phone 12 is used for karaoke performance, the control unit 38 reads from the memory 56. Based on the performance data that has been output, the performance sound is reproduced from the sound source unit 52 and output from the speaker 50. In addition, lyrics and images are displayed on the display 26 based on the image data in synchronization with the performance.
[0021]
The communication karaoke adapter device 40 includes a microphone 62 for a singer to input a singing sound of a karaoke song supplied to a predetermined mobile phone 12 via the communication line 20, and is supplied to the mobile phone 12. Based on the performance data and karaoke image data of the karaoke song, for example, the performance sound and karaoke image of the karaoke song from the television broadcast receiver provided at home, that is, the television receiver 64, with higher sound quality and volume than the mobile phone 12. In order to output from the television receiver 64 a karaoke image that is larger and easier to see than the display 26 of the cellular phone 12, the cellular phone 12 and the television receiver 64 are connected. In FIG. 5, the adapter device 40 includes an operation unit 58 that is operated and input by a user, a performance sound signal representing a karaoke performance sound from the mobile phone 12 and a microphone 62, and echo and reverberation by the sound processing unit 60. For example, an audio mixer 66 serving as a mixing unit that outputs an audio signal obtained by mixing an audio signal that has been subjected to audio processing to the television receiver 64, and an image display 26 that has a relatively small number of pixels and a low resolution. A video converter 68 that converts a digital image signal for displaying a karaoke image into an analog image signal for displaying the karaoke image on the screen of the television receiver 64, and lyrics included in the digital image signal or analog image signal A telop area detection (recognition) unit 70 for recognizing a telop area for display; A screen recognition unit 72 that determines the start of karaoke image display from the telops in the telop region recognized by the drop region detection unit 70, and when the display start of the karaoke image is determined by the screen recognition unit 72, the previous images are displayed. Karaoke song using the microphone 62 based on the control sound 74 for outputting the image switching signal for switching from the karaoke image to the karaoke image to the television receiver 64, and the performance sound for playing the karaoke song and the sound sound from the microphone 62. And a scoring unit 76 for scoring the singing ability of the person who sang using a predetermined criterion value.
[0022]
The adapter device 40 includes the following control functions as shown in FIG. That is, an analog image signal for displaying the karaoke image on the screen of the television receiver 64 from a digital image signal for displaying the karaoke image on the image display 26 having a relatively small number of pixels and a low resolution of the cellular phone 12. The video (image) signal converting means 78 for converting to the video signal, and the telop area GT for lyric display included in the digital image signal or the analog image signal are extracted, the start of the telop, that is, the display start of the karaoke screen and the telop When the start of the karaoke screen is determined by the telop detection means 80 and the telop detection means 80 for determining the end of the karaoke screen display, and the telop detection means 80 determines an image switching signal for switching to the karaoke image. Switching means 81 for outputting to the mobile phone 12 and the mobile phone 12 Audio mixing means 82 for outputting audio sound mixed with performance sound for karaoke performance and audio sound from the microphone 62 to the television receiver 64 and the adapter device 40 are connected to the television receiver 64 for karaoke performance. Based on the performance sound for playing the karaoke tune and the sound sound from the microphone 62, based on the performance detection means 84 for detecting that the sound is being used and output to the server 22 via the mobile phone 12. Scoring means 86 for scoring the singing ability of a person who sang a karaoke song using a predetermined criterion value and outputting the scoring result to the server 22 via the mobile phone 12; 40.
[0023]
FIG. 6 shows an example of a karaoke image switched from the previous television broadcast image by the image switching means 81 in the television receiver 64. Below the karaoke image, a telop display area GT for displaying a telop representing karaoke lyrics is provided. FIG. 7 shows a symbol example indicating the start of karaoke performance and a symbol indicating the end of karaoke performance provided at the beginning of the telop at the start of the karaoke performance and at the end of the telop at the end of the karaoke performance prior to the lyrics of the karaoke song, respectively. Each example is shown.
[0024]
8, 9, and 10 are flowcharts for explaining control operations of the server 22, the mobile phone 12, and the adapter device 40, and are repeatedly executed at a relatively short cycle. In the standby state, the server 22 repeatedly determines whether or not the karaoke service is requested and whether or not the communication karaoke is not selected in SA1 and SA16 in FIG. Other control routines are executed. In mobile phone 12, as shown in FIG. 9, it is repeatedly determined whether or not the communication karaoke service is selected in SB1, and if the determination is negative, another control routine is executed. In the adapter device 40, as shown in FIG. 10, it is determined whether or not the telop is started in SC1, and if the determination is negative, the adapter device 40 is put on standby.
[0025]
When the communication karaoke service is selected by operating the input operation key 24 in the mobile phone 12, the determination of SB1 is affirmed and a communication karaoke service request signal is transmitted to the server 22 in SB2. For this reason, in the server 22, the determination in SA1 is affirmed, and the user confirmation is performed in SA2 based on, for example, whether or not the member ID input from the member matches that registered in advance. When the user confirmation is performed in SA2, a song selection list of karaoke songs is transmitted to the mobile telephone 12 that requested the communication karaoke service in SA3. For this reason, the mobile phone 12 affirms the determination of SB3 as to whether or not the music selection list has been received, so that the music selection list is displayed on the image display 26 of the mobile phone 12. When the operator of the cellular phone 12 selects and operates a desired karaoke song from the song selection list displayed on the image display 26, information indicating the selected karaoke song, for example, a song number is transmitted to the server 22. (SB4).
[0026]
When the server 22 determines that the information indicating the selected karaoke song has been received (SA4), the karaoke preparation screen is transmitted to the mobile phone 12 after the karaoke data is prepared (SA5). When the mobile phone 12 determines that the karaoke preparation screen is received (SB5), the karaoke preparation screen is displayed on the image display 26 of the mobile phone 12 (SB6). In the cellular phone 12, when the start operation of the karaoke performance is determined and the information for instructing the start of the karaoke performance is transmitted (SB7), the server 22 determines the reception of the information for instructing the start of the karaoke performance. (SA7), the karaoke performance music and the karaoke data for the karaoke screen are sequentially transmitted to the requesting mobile phone 12, and then the desired karaoke music is selected in SA9 corresponding to the first billing step or the first billing means. Billing for the supply of karaoke data for singing is made to the owner of the requesting mobile phone 12. In this first billing, for example, a preset amount per song is charged.
[0027]
In the mobile phone 12, karaoke data sequentially transmitted from the server 22 is received and downloaded to the memory 56 at the same time, and at the same time, image signals and audio signals are sequentially output from the terminals to the adapter device 40 (SB8). . In the adapter device 40, in SC1 corresponding to the telop detection means 80, the display start of the telop displayed in the display area GT provided below the karaoke image is preset in the telop start period shown in FIG. If it is determined based on the existence of the symbol display data of the selected symbol, the image switching is performed in order to display the karaoke image on the television receiver 64 in SC2 corresponding to the image switching means 81 and the scoring means 86. A signal is output from the adapter device 40 to the television receiver 64, and the singing ability of the person who sings karaoke is started. Thereby, the karaoke image (lyrics and background image) is displayed sufficiently larger than the image display device 26 of the mobile phone 12 on the cathode ray tube of the television receiver 64 connected to the adapter device 40, and the karaoke performance sound and the microphone are displayed. The singing voice input to 62 is output from the speaker of the television receiver 64 connected to the adapter device 40 with a sufficiently higher volume and sufficiently higher sound quality than the speaker 50 of the mobile phone 12.
[0028]
Next, in SC3 corresponding to the adapter device usage determination step or the usage detector 84, an operation signal indicating the operation of the adapter device 40, that is, the usage is output from the adapter device 40 to the mobile phone 12 connected thereto. In the cellular phone 12, when an operation signal indicating use of the adapter device 40 is received (SB9), the operation signal is transferred to the server 22 (SB10). When the server 22 receives the operation signal indicating the use of the adapter device 40 (SA10), the second billing based on the operation signal of the adapter device 40 is performed in SA11 corresponding to the second billing step or the second billing means. Is done. This second charge is not a charge that increases in proportion to the number of times of use, but is charged cheaply per number of uses in the initial period, taking into account trial factors, and charged per normal number of uses when the specified number of uses is reached. If the number of uses increases further, the depreciation state will be taken into account and the fee will be charged again per usage count. For example, the billing value for the unit usage count in the television receiver 64 is low in the first period when the usage count has increased from zero, and is high in the second period when the usage count exceeds the first predetermined value. In the third period that exceeds the second predetermined value that is larger than the predetermined value, the billing set to be low is performed. In the two-dimensional coordinates of the usage frequency axis and the charge amount axis, those having an S-shaped curve characteristic are used.
[0029]
In the above state, in the adapter device 40, the end of the karaoke performance song, that is, the end of the telop is determined based on the symbol display data (character code) of a preset symbol (telop) at the end of the performance shown in FIG. Then (SC4), the image switching signal output to the television receiver 64 for switching back to the image before the start of karaoke is switched (SC5), and the scoring result is transferred from the adapter device 40 to the mobile phone 12 connected thereto. (SC6). In the mobile phone 12, when data indicating the scoring result is received (SB11), the data is transferred to the server 22 (SB12). When the server 22 receives data indicating the scoring result (SA12), the scoring is registered for each owner of the mobile phone 12 (SA13). When the server 22 determines that the operation signal of the adapter device 40 is finished and the use of the karaoke adapter device 40 is finished (SA14), a signal for displaying an image before selecting the karaoke service is sent to the mobile phone 12. This is transmitted (SA15), and the image before requesting the communication karaoke service is displayed on the image display 26 of the mobile phone 12.
[0030]
As described above, according to this embodiment, in the communication karaoke adapter device 40 connected to the mobile phone 14 and the television receiver 64, the telop detection means (start determination means) 80 (SC1) starts the karaoke performance song. Is determined, the image switching means 81 (SC2) outputs a switching signal for switching to the performance song and karaoke image of the selected karaoke song from the image and sound output so far in the television receiver 64. Therefore, when the karaoke performance is started on the television receiver 64, the image of the karaoke screen synchronized with the karaoke performance is automatically displayed on the television receiver 64, so that the karaoke screen is viewed on a relatively large display screen. Karaoke songs are output with relatively high sound quality and relatively high volume. Earnest can enjoy the karaoke music piece using a Ikurohon 62.
[0031]
In the present embodiment, the telop detection means (start determination means) 80 (SC1) determines the start of karaoke performance based on the symbol display at the tip of the telop included in the karaoke image. Since the start of the karaoke performance is determined based on the symbol display included in the karaoke image synchronized with the karaoke performance, the karaoke performance data and the image data need not be specially modified, A start decision is obtained. In the present embodiment, the telop detection means 80 determines the start and end of the karaoke performance based on the symbol display data of the preset symbols shown in FIG. When the image signal output to the device 40 is analog, the determination may be made based on a display image signal of a preset symbol.
[0032]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the karaoke image includes the telop display area GT for exclusively displaying the character image representing the lyrics of the karaoke song at the start of the karaoke performance, and includes a telop detection means (start determination means) 80 ( SC1) determines the start of a karaoke performance based on a preset symbol that is exclusively displayed in the telop display area GT, and is therefore set in advance in the telop display area GT. Since the start of the karaoke performance song is easily determined based on the symbols, it is possible to determine the start of the karaoke performance song without requiring any special modification to the karaoke performance data or the image data. In the telop display area GT, the background image is not displayed and only one type of background color is used, so that the start determination of the karaoke performance song can be obtained more easily.
[0033]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the scoring means 86 for scoring the singing ability of the voice based on the voice input from the microphone 62 is included, so that the karaoke can be performed by displaying the scoring result by the scoring means 86. The singing ability of the singer is quantitatively evaluated.
[0034]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when the communication karaoke adapter device 40 is not used, in the SA9 corresponding to the first charging step or the first charging means, the usage information, that is, for singing the karaoke of the predetermined selected song The user of the mobile phone 12 is charged based on the provision of the karaoke data to the requesting mobile phone 12, but when the communication karaoke adapter device 40 is used, the second charging step or the second charging is performed. In SA11 corresponding to the means, the user of the mobile phone 12 is charged based on the use information, that is, the use of the karaoke data in the television receiver 64, that is, the use of the communication karaoke adapter device 40. By reducing the billing based on the use of the adapter device 40, the use of the online karaoke song or its adapter It can be provided an accounting system such as to promote the use of location 40.
[0035]
Further, according to the present embodiment, in SA11 corresponding to the second billing process, the billing value for the number of unit use in the television receiver 64 is low in the initial first period when the number of use has increased from zero, and the use thereof. Since the charge is set in the second period in which the number of times exceeds the first predetermined value and is set low in the third period in which the number of times exceeds the second predetermined value larger than the first predetermined value, the television receiver is set. In the first period where the number of uses is small at 64, it can be used as a trial period at a reasonable price. In the second period when the number of uses is large, normal regular billing is performed and the number of uses is considerably large. During the period, since it is depreciated, it can be used cheaply.
[0036]
As mentioned above, although one Example of this invention was described based on drawing, this invention is applied also in another aspect.
[0037]
For example, the communication karaoke adapter device 40 of the above-described embodiment is connected to the cellular phone 12 and the television receiver 64 via a cord, but directly to the cellular phone 12 or the television receiver 64 via a connector. May be connected.
[0038]
In the above-described embodiment, the communication karaoke service that distributes the desired karaoke performance piece selected as the usage information has been described. However, the game software distribution that distributes the selected desired game or the like as the usage information. It may be a service. In this case, for example, the adapter device is provided with a signal input device for game input instead of the microphone 62, and the game is performed using the television receiver 64 disposed at home instead of the operation on the mobile phone 12. It can be performed.
[0039]
In addition, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication karaoke service system including a communication karaoke adapter device to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a member DB provided in the storage device of the server in FIG.
3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a song list DB provided in the storage device of the server in FIG. 1. FIG.
4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a karaoke DB provided in the storage device of the server in FIG. 1; FIG.
5 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the mobile phone and the adapter device of FIG. 1. FIG.
6 is a diagram showing an example of a karaoke image displayed on the screen of the television receiver of FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
7 is a diagram exemplifying preset start symbols and end symbols indicating the start time and end time of a telop detected by the telop detection means provided in the adapter device of FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
8 is a flowchart for explaining a main part of a control operation of the server of FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
9 is a flowchart for explaining a main part of a control operation of the mobile phone shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
10 is a flowchart for explaining a main part of a control operation of the adapter device of FIGS. 1 and 5. FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
12: Mobile phone
20: Communication line
62: Microphone
64: TV receiver
80: Telop detection means (start determination means)
81: Image switching means
84: Use detection means (use determination step)
86: Scoring means
GT: Display area for telop
SA9: First billing process
SA11: Second billing process

Claims (3)

Communication karaoke adapter device connected to the mobile phone and the television receiver to output the performance sound and image of the karaoke song from the television receiver based on the performance data and image data of the karaoke song supplied to the mobile phone Because
Start determination means for determining the start of performance of the karaoke song based on specific image information included in the image;
If the start of the performance of the karaoke songs is determined by the start determination means, a switching signal for the switching in the television receiver from the image and sound that has been output so far to play sounds and images of the karaoke Image switching means for outputting,
The image includes a telop display area for flowing the character image in synchronization with the performance of the karaoke represent the lyrics of the karaoke,
The start determination unit, a communication karaoke adapter and wherein the determining the start of the performance based on the symbol string indicating the start of displaying a character image representing the lyrics of the karaoke songs in the telop display area. The communication karaoke adapter device according to claim 1, further comprising mixing means for mixing the performance sound of the karaoke song and the sound input from the microphone. The communication karaoke adapter device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising scoring means for scoring based on voice input from the microphone.

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