JP4536684B2 - Operation method and electronic device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention operates a display of browsing software operating on a terminal on a computer network with an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard, so that a device connected to the terminal or a device incorporating the terminal is displayed. The present invention relates to an operation method for performing an operation using infrared rays and an electronic device.

  A system for operating a device connected to a computer on the screen of the computer is conventionally known. However, in this system, since the data sent to the device connected to the computer is input to the computer in advance, the operation of the device is limited to the range of the data.

  Furthermore, there are known systems in which a terminal on a computer network receives data from a server or other terminal on the network and controls a device connected to the terminal based on the data. Since only a predetermined set of controls is performed using dedicated control software, it is necessary to change the control software of the terminal when changing the contents of control.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-284482

  The present invention relates to a terminal on a computer network that receives program data from a server or other terminal on the network, and controls channel selection, recording reservation, etc. of a device connected to the terminal based on the program data. An object of the present invention is to provide an operation method and an electronic device that can change the control content of a device connected to the terminal without changing any control software of the terminal.

The operation method according to the present invention includes a step of receiving program data at an operation terminal via a network, displaying a notice button or a detail button on the display screen of the operation terminal together with the received program data, and the display of the operation terminal Selecting a desired program from program data displayed on the screen, and transferring the data of the selected program to an external device via infrared rays. When the notice button or the detail button is pressed, the notice data or the detailed data is downloaded via the network and displayed on the display screen of the operation terminal, and a program reservation selection button is displayed on the display screen . When the reservation / selection button is pressed, if the selected program is pre-broadcast, an instruction to reserve recording of the program is transmitted to the external device, and if the selected program is being broadcast, A command to select the program is transmitted to the external device .

An electronic device according to the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives program data together with a notice button or a detail button via a network, and a display control unit that controls the program data received by the receiving unit to be displayed on a screen. And an input device for selecting a predetermined program from the program data displayed on the screen, and a transfer means for transferring the data of the selected program to an external device via infrared rays. When the notice button or the detail button is pressed, the display control means downloads the notice data or the detailed data via the network and displays it on the screen, and also displays a program reservation / selection button on this screen. When the reservation / select button is pressed, if the selected program is pre-broadcast, an instruction to reserve recording of the program is transmitted to the external device, and the selected program is being broadcast. For example, a command for selecting the program is transmitted to the external device .

  According to the present invention, browsing software is operated on a terminal on a network to access a server on the network. Then, the program data from the server is downloaded and displayed, and a program selection operation is performed on the display screen using the input device. The channel selection data corresponding to this operation is sent by infrared rays to a device connected to the terminal or a device incorporating the terminal, and the device is controlled.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, by operating on the screen of a terminal connected to a computer network, the latest program data sent via the network is used to control the device with infrared rays. It can be carried out.

  Since browsing software such as WWW is used for the screen display of the terminal, the screen display and device operation data can be updated at any time by changing the transmission data of the server on the network. Therefore, it is possible to easily change the operability of the device, change the function, etc. according to the situation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a channel selection / reservation system to which the present invention is applied. This channel selection / reservation system includes an operation terminal 1, a video tape recorder (hereinafter referred to as VTR) 2 and a television receiver (hereinafter referred to as television) 3 which are external devices for the operation terminal 1. The operation terminal 1 is connected to the modem 5 of the provider 6 by a modem 14 and a wired or wireless telephone line 4. A program data server 8, a broadcast station server 9, and other servers 10 are connected to the Internet 7. The operation terminal 1 and the provider 6 may be a medium other than a telephone line (for example, a cable television network or a wireless communication line).

  The operation terminal 1 is composed of, for example, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer), to which a keyboard 11, a mouse 12, an infrared light emitting unit 13, and a modem 14 are connected. Moreover, browsing software 15 such as a WWW (World Wide Web) browser is provided inside.

  The keyboard 11 and the mouse 12 are used for the user to input various commands. The infrared light emitting unit 13 transmits an infrared signal for the operation terminal 1 to control the VTR 2 and the television 3. The modem 14 modulates and transmits data created by the operation terminal 1 and receives and demodulates data sent via the telephone line 4.

  2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the operation terminal 1 when performing channel selection / reservation using the system of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows an image displayed on the display (not shown) of the operation terminal 1 at that time. It is a figure which shows a part of. The operation when performing channel selection / reservation will be described below.

  First, when the user performs a predetermined operation using the key word 11 and the mouse 12, the operation terminal 1 creates a command for accessing the home page of the program data server 8 connected to the Internet 7, and the modem 14 is operated. (Step S1). This command is sent to the provider 6 via the telephone line 4 and the modem 5, and is sent to the program data server 8 connected to the Internet 7 via this command.

  Upon receiving this command, the program data server 8 sends the program data to the operation terminal 1 via the Internet 7. This program data is received and demodulated by the modem 14 and is taken into the operation terminal 1. The operation terminal 1 downloads the program data and displays the program guide and various buttons on the display (step S2).

  The image displayed on the display is, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, a detailed button, a notice button, a reservation / channel selection button, and a link button are displayed on the program guide display screen. The user can select a program by looking at this program guide and press a desired button. The operation terminal 1 performs the process described below according to the button pressed by the user.

  When the user presses the reservation / channel selection button (YES in step S3, reservation / channel selection in S4), if the selected program is currently being broadcasted, the channel is selected on the television 3; To make a recording reservation (step S5). In this process, a tuning command (control signal for specifying a channel) is given to the tuner of the television 3 via the infrared light emitting unit 13, or a recording reservation command (control signal including recording start time, end time, and channel) is given to the VTR 2. Realize by giving. For programs that may change the broadcast time (for example, prolonging the broadcast time of professional baseball broadcasts and deferring the broadcast time of the subsequent programs), by providing the identification information in the program data, The recording end time can be changed automatically or upon user designation when making a recording reservation.

  If the user presses the notice button or the detail button (YES in step S3, notice or details in S4), the notice data or detailed data is requested from the program data server 8 (step S6). In response to this request, the program data server 8 sends notice data or detailed data to the operation terminal 1. The operation terminal 1 downloads and displays the advance notice data or the detailed data (step S7).

  A reservation / channel selection button, a program guide button, and an end button are displayed on a part of an image (not shown) displayed at this time. When the user presses the reservation / channel selection button (YES in step S8, reservation / channel selection in S9), if the selected program is currently being broadcast, the TV 3 selects the channel, and if it is before the broadcast, VTR2 To make a recording reservation (step S5). If the program guide button is pressed, the program guide display screen is displayed again (YES in step S8, program guide in S9). If the end button is pressed (YES in step S8, end in S9), the process ends.

  Further, when the user presses the link button, the server of related data is accessed (step S10). As a result, related data is downloaded and displayed (step S11).

  3 (2) to 3 (5) show examples of related data. (2) is the homepage of the TV station, (3) is the homepage of the sponsor, (4) is the homepage of the publisher of the original drama, and (5) is the homepage of the talent office.

  On the homepage of the TV station, program guide (detailed contents of the program etc.) and a reservation / channel selection button are displayed. On the sponsor's home page, a list of programs provided by the sponsor including the program selected in the program guide and a reservation / channel selection button are displayed. On the publisher's home page, an introduction screen of the original drama and a reservation / channel selection button are displayed. On the homepage of the talent office, a list of the talented programs including the program selected in the program guide and a reservation / channel selection button are displayed. Here, the channel selection button may be displayed when the program selected by the user is currently being broadcast, and the reservation button may be displayed before the broadcast. Although not shown here, a program guide button and an end button are also displayed.

  When the user views the homepage of the broadcast station and presses the reservation / channel selection button (YES in step S12, reservation / channel selection in step S13), if the selected program is currently being broadcasted, the channel 3 is selected, If it is before broadcasting, a recording reservation is made with the VTR 2 (step S5). If you look at the publisher's homepage and press the Reservation / Channel selection button, if you look at the sponsor's homepage, select a program from the list of offered programs and press the Reservation / Channel selection button, you will see the Talent Office homepage The same applies to the case where a program is selected from the list of starring programs to watch and the reservation / channel selection button is pressed.

  If the program guide button is pressed (YES in step S12, the program guide in S13), the program guide display screen is displayed again. If the end button is pressed (YES in step S12, ends in S13), the process is performed. finish.

  Thus, according to the channel selection / reservation system to which the present invention is applied, data related to the program can be accessed immediately by using the Internet. In addition, watching the detailed data and related data, you can select the actual broadcast and make a recording reservation on the spot, so you can expect an increase in the audience rating. Furthermore, it is possible to easily and carefully select a program to be viewed or a program to be reserved for recording from among multi-channel broadcast programs.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image by the browsing software is displayed on the display of the operation terminal and the input operation for operating the TV or VTR is performed on the screen. However, the operation terminal is provided with a display. Alternatively, an image obtained by browsing software may be displayed on a television screen. In addition, an operation terminal may be provided inside a television or VTR. Further, the operation terminal can always automatically download data from each server, and the data can be stored in the operation terminal or in a memory connected to the operation terminal. In this case, since the stored data is read out instead of accessing the server by a user operation, the display speed is improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the channel selection / reservation system to which this invention is applied. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of an operation terminal when performing channel selection / reservation using the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a part of an image displayed on an operation terminal when channel selection / reservation is performed using the system of FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Operation terminal, 2 ... VTR, 3 ... Television, 7 ... Internet, 8 ... Server of program data, 11 ... Keyboard, 12 ... Mouse

Claims (4)

Receiving program data on the operation terminal via the network, and displaying the notice button or the detail button on the display screen of the operation terminal together with the received program data;
Selecting a desired program from program data displayed on the display screen of the operation terminal;
Transferring the data of the selected program to an external device via infrared,
When the notice button or the detail button is pressed, the notice data or the detailed data is downloaded via the network and displayed on the display screen of the operation terminal, and the program reservation / selection button is displayed on the display screen. ,
When the reservation / selection button is pressed, if the selected program is pre-broadcast, an instruction to reserve recording of the program is transmitted to the external device, and if the selected program is being broadcast, An operation method for transmitting a command to select the program to the external device . The operation method according to claim 1 , wherein the program data is received from a server via a network. Receiving means for receiving program data via a network;
Display control means for controlling the program data received by the receiving means to be displayed on a screen together with a notice button or a detail button;
An input device for selecting a predetermined program from the program data displayed on the screen;
Transfer means for transferring the data of the selected program to an external device via infrared,
When the notice button or the detail button is pressed, the display control means downloads the notice data or the detailed data via the network and displays it on the screen, and also displays a program reservation / selection button on this screen. When the reservation / select button is pressed, if the selected program is pre-broadcast, an instruction to reserve recording of the program is transmitted to the external device, and the selected program is being broadcast. For example, an electronic device that transmits a command to select the program to the external device. 4. The electronic apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the receiving means receives the program data from a server via a network.

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