JP4894658B2 - Display control apparatus and method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device and method, and a program, and more particularly, to a display control device and method, and a program capable of improving operability.

  In recent years, video recorders for recording broadcast programs have become mainstream using large-capacity non-volatile memories such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), and can record many video contents. It was. In the future, the number of video content that can be recorded on a recorder is expected to continue increasing due to the increase in HDD capacity and the commercialization of large-capacity optical discs.

  In recent years, the number of broadcast channels and content has been increasing. In addition to conventional terrestrial analog broadcasting, CS (Communication Satellite) digital broadcasting, BS (Broadcasting Satellite) digital broadcasting, and terrestrial digital broadcasting have started, and the video content that viewers can select has increased significantly. . In the future, video recorders that support these multi-channel broadcasting will be the mainstream. Furthermore, there are recorders equipped with a plurality of tuners and recorders having a function of automatically recording broadcast programs using user preference information and the like as well as user recording reservation operations. Therefore, the amount of recorded content that can be selected by the viewer is expected to increase significantly in the future.

  The user needs to select video content to be actually viewed from a large number of broadcast content and recorded content, and conventional recorders support content selection by the following method.

(1.) A method of presenting content corresponding to the broadcast date and time selected by the user, a method of presenting content in order of broadcast date and time, or a method of presenting content for each broadcast date.
(2.) A method of presenting content corresponding to the broadcast channel selected by the user, a method of presenting content in order of the broadcast channel, or a method of presenting content for each broadcast channel.
(3.) A method of presenting content corresponding to the genre selected by the user, a method of presenting content in the genre order, or a method of presenting content for each genre.
(4.) A method of presenting content having a keyword input by the user in the program information.

Further, the present applicant has previously proposed a method of selecting a program desired by a user (for example, see Patent Document 1). In the previous proposal, a technique for narrowing down desired contents from a plurality of contents is disclosed.
JP 2006-309364 A

  However, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to select a content that the user wants to view from a large number of contents.

  Specifically, with regard to (1.) and (2.) above, the user's motivation for viewing and selecting content is solely due to the content, and the recording date and time and broadcast channel are directly It couldn't be said to help content selection. Although selection by broadcast time or broadcast channel may be useful, it is limited to the case where the user has prior knowledge of the content contents and the correlation between the information.

  Regarding (4.), the user is forced to input characters, and generally cannot be said to be a suitable means for a recorder using a 10-key remote controller as a user input device. In addition, the selection method based on the genre of (3) that allows selection of viewing content from information reflecting the content content is considered useful. However, there are the following two problems in the content selection method based on the genre that is currently widely used.

  The first problem is that the number of broadcast programs belonging to each genre is biased, and the number of recorded contents belonging to each genre is biased by the automatic recording function for recording based on user preference information. The number of contents presented when selecting a genre is biased. For example, when a certain genre is selected, there may be no content, or there may be tens to hundreds of contents in the genre.

  The second problem is that the information used is only the genre information in the program information produced by the broadcast station, so the content itself is not accurately reflected or the information itself is insufficient. May have. For example, some news programs broadcast sports information, but if only “news” information exists in the genre information of the program information, the user selects the “sports” genre. This content will not be presented.

  Further, in Patent Document 1, it is possible to narrow down contents from a plurality of contents, but there is a problem that it is difficult to present desired contents unless an optimum search condition is designated by the user.

  For this reason, it cannot be said that the conventional method is sufficient as a means for the user to select content to be viewed from a large number of contents.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is intended to improve operability.

  A display control device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a category for classifying content into predetermined types, and the display control device controls display of names of the categories having a hierarchical structure. In the case where, the first determination means for determining whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than a first threshold; When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold value, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. And a display control means for controlling the display.

  When a second determination unit that determines whether the number of contents belonging to the lower category is equal to or less than a second threshold is further provided, and the display control unit is determined to be equal to or less than the second threshold The name of the content belonging to the lower category that is less than or equal to the second threshold and the name of the lower category located in the same hierarchy as the lower category to which the content belongs can be displayed on the same screen.

  The display control means further includes third determination means for determining whether the total number of the upper category, the lower category, or the content names displayed on the screen exceeds a third threshold. When it is determined that the third threshold value is exceeded, display of the upper category, the lower category, or the name of the content corresponding to the third threshold value on the screen can be suppressed.

  The display control means can display the name of the upper category and the name of the lower category in an identifiable manner.

  The display control means can display the representation of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold so that the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category is included.

  The content may be a moving image, a still image, or music.

  A display control method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a display control method for a display control apparatus for controlling display of names of the categories having a hierarchical structure, which is a category for classifying content into predetermined types. When the predetermined operation is performed, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is greater than or equal to a first threshold value. When it is determined that it is equal to or higher than the threshold value, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and the name of the higher category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. Controlling the display.

  The program according to the first aspect of the present invention is a category for classifying content into predetermined types, and performs display control processing of a display control device that controls display of the names of the categories having a hierarchical structure on a computer. In the program to be executed, when a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than the first threshold value. When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold and the name of the upper category that is positioned directly above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. As described above, the computer is caused to perform processing including the step of controlling the display.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined operation is performed by the user, the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than the first threshold. If it is determined that the value is equal to or greater than the first threshold, the name of the lower category that is equal to or greater than the first threshold is the same as the name of the upper category that is positioned directly above the lower category. The display is controlled to be displayed on the screen.

  A display control apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is a category for classifying content into predetermined types, and the display control apparatus controls display of names of the categories having a hierarchical structure. If it is determined, the first determination means for determining whether or not the number of contents belonging to the category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold, and it is determined to be equal to or less than the first threshold In this case, the display is controlled so that the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or lower than the first threshold and the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs are displayed on the same screen. Display control means.

  Second determination means for determining whether the total number of the category and the name of the content to be displayed on the screen exceeds a second threshold value is further provided, and the display control means includes the second threshold value. When it is determined that the number exceeds the second threshold, it is possible to suppress the display of the category or the content name on the screen in excess of the second threshold.

  The display control means can display the category name and the content name in an identifiable manner.

  The content may be a moving image, a still image, or music.

  The display control method according to the second aspect of the present invention is a display control method for a display control apparatus for controlling display of names of the categories having a hierarchical structure, which is a category for classifying content into predetermined types. When the predetermined operation is performed, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than the first threshold. When it is determined that the content is equal to or less than the first threshold, Controlling the display so that the name of the content belonging to the category that is equal to or lower than the first threshold and the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs are displayed on the same screen. Including.

  A program according to a second aspect of the present invention is a category for classifying content into predetermined types, and executes display control processing of a display control device that controls display of the category names having a hierarchical structure on a computer In the program to be executed, when a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold value. When it is determined, the display is performed so that the name of the content belonging to the category that is equal to or lower than the first threshold and the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs are displayed on the same screen. The computer is caused to perform a process including a step of controlling.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined operation is performed by a user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold value. When it is determined that the content is less than or equal to the threshold, the name of the content that belongs to the category that is less than or equal to the first threshold and the name of the category that is located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs are displayed on the same screen. As such, the display is controlled.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, operability can be improved. In particular, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce user operations when selecting content by dynamically changing the list to be presented according to the distribution of the content.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, operability can be improved. In particular, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce user operations when selecting content by dynamically changing the list to be presented according to the distribution of the content.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Correspondences between constituent elements of the present invention and the embodiments described in the specification or the drawings are exemplified as follows. This description is intended to confirm that the embodiments supporting the present invention are described in the specification or the drawings. Therefore, even if there is an embodiment which is described in the specification or the drawings but is not described here as an embodiment corresponding to the constituent elements of the present invention, that is not the case. It does not mean that the form does not correspond to the constituent requirements. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described here as corresponding to a configuration requirement, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to a configuration requirement other than the configuration requirement. It's not something to do.

The display control device according to the first aspect of the present invention (for example, the recorder 11 in FIG. 3)
In a display control device that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
Whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is greater than or equal to a first threshold (for example, threshold N) when the user performs a predetermined operation First determination means for determining (for example, the N threshold value determination unit 112 in FIG. 3);
When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are the same screen (for example, FIG. Display control means (for example, the display control unit 114 in FIG. 3) for controlling the display so as to be displayed on the category search selection screen (7).

A second determination unit (for example, M threshold determination unit 113 in FIG. 3) that determines whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category is equal to or less than a second threshold (for example, threshold M);
When it is determined that the display control means is less than or equal to the second threshold, the display control means is located in the same hierarchy as the name of the content belonging to the lower category that is less than or equal to the second threshold and the lower category to which the content belongs. The name of the lower category is displayed on the same screen (for example, the sports selection screen in FIG. 9).

Third determination means for determining whether the total number of the upper category, the lower category, or the content names displayed on the screen exceeds a third threshold (for example, threshold L) (for example, FIG. 3 L threshold value determination unit 111),
When it is determined that the third threshold value is exceeded, the display control unit suppresses display of the upper category, the lower category, or the name of the content that exceeds the third threshold value on the screen. (For example, the process of step S21 in FIG. 5).

A display control method or program according to the first aspect of the present invention includes:
A category for classifying content for each predetermined type, in a display control method of a display control device that controls display of the names of the categories having a hierarchical structure, or a category for classifying content for each predetermined type. In a program that causes a computer to perform display control processing of a display control device that controls display of the category names having a hierarchical structure,
Whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is greater than or equal to a first threshold (for example, threshold N) when the user performs a predetermined operation (For example, the process of step S20 in FIG. 5),
When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are the same screen (for example, FIG. 7 includes a step of controlling display (for example, the process of step S21 in FIG. 5) so that it is displayed on the category search selection screen 7).

The display control device according to the second aspect of the present invention (for example, the recorder 11 in FIG. 3)
In a display control device that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, first determination means (for example, for determining whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold (for example, threshold M)) M threshold determination unit 113),
When it is determined that the value is equal to or less than the first threshold, the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or less than the first threshold is the same as the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs. Display control means (for example, the display control unit 114 in FIG. 3) for controlling the display so as to be displayed on (for example, the sports selection screen in FIG. 9).

Second determination means for determining whether or not the total number of the category and the content name displayed on the screen exceeds a second threshold (for example, threshold L) (for example, the L threshold determination in FIG. 3) Part 111),
When it is determined that the second threshold value is exceeded, the display control unit suppresses the display of the category or the name of the content in excess of the second threshold value on the screen (for example, FIG. 8). Step S41).

The display control method or program according to the second aspect of the present invention includes:
A category for classifying content for each predetermined type, in a display control method of a display control device that controls display of the names of the categories having a hierarchical structure, or a category for classifying content for each predetermined type. In a program for causing a computer to execute display control processing of a display control device that controls display of the names of the categories having a hierarchical structure,
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold (for example, threshold M) (for example, step in FIG. 8). Processing of S40),
When it is determined that the value is equal to or less than the first threshold, the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or less than the first threshold is the same as the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs. The display is controlled so as to be displayed (for example, the screen at the time of sport selection in FIG. 9) (for example, the process of step S41 in FIG. 8).
Includes steps.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system (hereinafter referred to as a content display system) including a recorder 11 and a display device 12.

  In the content display system, various types of content are stored, and information regarding the stored content is displayed. Here, the content is information such as a moving image, a still image, and music. In the present embodiment, these contents will be described as moving picture contents, still picture contents, and music contents.

  The recorder 11 is, for example, an HDD recorder or a personal computer, and is installed in a residence to record or play back content.

  The display device 12 is a device that displays content such as a television receiver, for example, and displays the content stored in the connected recorder 11.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the recorder 11 and the display device 12 are described as separate devices, but these devices may be integrated.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the recorder 11.

  In the recorder 11 of FIG. 2, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 is a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32 or a program loaded from a recording unit 36 into a RAM (Random Access Memory) 33. Accordingly, various processes are executed to control each unit of the recorder 11. The RAM 33 also stores data necessary for the CPU 31 to execute various processes as appropriate.

  The CPU 31, ROM 32, and RAM 33 are connected to each other via a bus 34. A content processing unit 35 and a recording unit 36 are also connected to the bus 34.

  The content processing unit 35 is configured to receive (acquire) each broadcast program (content) broadcast from a broadcasting station. The content processing unit 35 includes a tuner 51, an A / D (Analog / Digital) conversion unit 52, and an encoder 53.

  The tuner 51 demodulates a broadcast wave such as a terrestrial wave or a satellite wave television broadcast received by an antenna (not shown), and supplies a video signal and an audio signal obtained as a result to the A / D converter 52. .

  That is, when the radio wave of the channel designated by the CPU 31, more precisely, the radio wave constituting the broadcast program broadcast from the broadcast station to which the channel is assigned is received by the antenna, the tuner 51 demodulates it. Then, the analog video signal and audio signal obtained as a result are supplied to the A / D converter 52.

  The A / D converter 52 performs a process of converting the analog video signal and the audio signal supplied from the tuner 51 into a digital signal, and the resulting digital video signal and audio signal are encoded by the encoder. 53. Hereinafter, a digital signal output from the A / D converter 52, that is, a digital video signal and an audio signal constituting a predetermined broadcast program are collectively referred to as content data.

  The encoder 53 encodes (compresses and encodes) the content data supplied from the A / D conversion unit 52 using, for example, an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) method, and supplies the encoded data to the recording unit 36. Hereinafter, the encoded content data output from the encoder 53 is referred to as compressed content data.

  The recording unit 36 includes, for example, an HDD or the like, and records the compressed content data supplied from the content processing unit 35 in a predetermined file format. That is, the recording unit 36 stores a file including compressed content data. Furthermore, the recording unit 36 also records program information (metadata) of the recorded broadcast program.

  The CPU 31 is also connected to a bus 37, and an input unit 38, an output unit 39, an external AV (Audio Video) output unit 40, a light receiving unit 41, and a communication unit 42 are also connected to the bus 37. Yes.

  The CPU 31 executes various processes in response to a command input from the input unit 38 such as a switch or a command input from the light receiving unit 41 that receives a command from a remote controller (a remote controller 13 described later). . The CPU 31 outputs an image, sound, or the like obtained as a result of the processing to the output unit 39 or the external AV output unit 40.

  Based on the control of the CPU 31, the external AV output unit 40 outputs content corresponding to the file recorded in the recording unit 36, information corresponding to the content, and the like to the external display device 12.

  The communication unit 42 communicates with an external device via a communication network, the Internet, another network, or a communication medium. Note that a program may be acquired via the communication unit 42 and recorded in the recording unit 36.

  Furthermore, a drive 43 is connected to the bus 37 as necessary, and a removable recording medium 44 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory is appropriately mounted, and a computer program read from them is It is installed in the recording unit 36 as necessary.

  Note that the hardware configuration of the recorder 11 is not limited to the example of FIG. 2, and it is sufficient if it has at least the functional configuration of FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary functional configuration of the recorder 11.

  The recorder 11 is configured to include a control unit 101, a recording unit 36, and a light receiving unit 41.

  In the present embodiment, since the recorder 11 has the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 101 is configured as software executed by the CPU 31 shown in FIG. However, by making the hardware configuration of the recorder 11 different from the configuration of FIG. 2, the control unit 101 can be configured as a single hardware unit, or can be configured as a combination of software and hardware.

  The control unit 101 controls the operation of each unit of the recorder 11. The control unit 101 displays information such as the content recorded in the recording unit 36 and the category to which the content belongs in accordance with the command received by the light receiving unit 41 in accordance with the operation of the remote controller 13 by the user. Process to be displayed on.

  The recording unit 36 records a content group 36a composed of one or a plurality of contents. As shown in FIG. 4, the content group 36a is classified into predetermined types according to a category having a hierarchical structure. In the example of FIG. 4, these categories are composed of three layers: a higher category, a middle category, and a lower category.

In the example of FIG. 4, the middle category and the lower category belong to the upper category 1 to the upper category n (n is a natural number) located at the highest level as follows. That is, the middle category 1_1 to the middle category 1_m ₁ (m ₁ is a natural number) belongs to the upper category 1, and the middle category 2_1 to the middle category 2_m ₂ (m ₂ is a natural number) belongs to the upper category 2. The upper category n belongs to the middle category 2_n to the middle category 2_m _n (where m _n is a natural number).

In the example of FIG. 4, the lower category belongs to the middle category as follows. That is, the lower category 11_1 to the lower category 11_l ₁ (l ₁ is a natural number) belongs to the middle category 1_1, and the lower category 12_1 to the lower category 12_l ₂ (l ₂ is a natural number) belongs to the middle category 1_2. ..., the lower category 1m ₁ _1 to the lower category 1m ₁ _lm ₁ (lm ₁ is a natural number) belong to the middle category 1_m ₁ . The same applies to the middle category 2_1 to the middle category 2_m ₂ (m ₂ is a natural number) and the middle category 2_n to the middle category 2_m _n (m _n is a natural number).

  That is, for example, if the upper category is “sport”, the middle category belonging to the upper category includes “soccer”, “baseball”, “marathon”, etc. as subordinate concepts of “sport”. Belongs to. Similarly, the lower category belonging to the middle category “soccer” includes “league game”, “goal collection”, “practice game”, etc. as subordinate concepts of “soccer”.

  As described above, since categories for classifying content into predetermined types have a hierarchical structure, it is possible to search for desired content by narrowing down the content by category.

  In FIG. 4, as an example of the hierarchical structure of categories, three hierarchies including a higher category, middle category, and lower category have been described. Of course, a plurality of hierarchies other than three hierarchies, that is, two hierarchies, three hierarchies or more The same applies to the other hierarchies. Therefore, the hierarchy in which the category having the hierarchical structure is located is also referred to as a first hierarchy, a second hierarchy,..., An nth hierarchy (n is a natural number) in order from the higher hierarchy.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the control unit 101 is configured to include an L threshold value determination unit 111, an N threshold value determination unit 112, an M threshold value determination unit 113, and a display control unit 114.

  The L threshold determination unit 111 determines whether or not the number of display items displayed on the display device 12 is equal to or less than the threshold L based on information related to the category and content loaded from the recording unit 36. The L threshold value determination unit 111 supplies the determination result to the display control unit 114.

  The N threshold determination unit 112 determines whether or not the number of contents in a predetermined category is equal to or greater than the threshold N. The N threshold determination unit 112 supplies the determination result to the display control unit 114.

  The M threshold determination unit 113 determines whether or not the number of contents in a predetermined category is equal to or less than the threshold M. The M threshold value determination unit 113 supplies the determination result to the display control unit 114.

  Details of the threshold L, threshold N, and threshold M will be described later.

  The display control unit 114 controls display of various screens displayed on the display device 12. The display control unit 114 is supplied with the determination result from each of the L threshold determination unit 111, the N threshold determination unit 112, or the M threshold determination unit 113. The display control unit 114 controls display of various screens according to the determination results.

  In this embodiment, the control unit 101 is described as controlling the operation of each unit of the recorder 11 in response to a command from the remote controller 13, but of course, the input from the input unit 38 in FIG. You may control according to it.

  Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 5, “category search” for displaying a menu for searching for desired video content from a category by a user operation among the processes executed by the recorder 11 having such a configuration. An example of processing (hereinafter referred to as upper category and lower category display processing) executed when is selected will be described.

  “Category search” is one of the menus related to the moving image content, and is a menu for displaying the name of the category to which the content group 36a belongs. Therefore, when this “category search” is selected by the user operating the remote controller 13, names of various categories to which the content group 36 a belongs are displayed on the display device 12.

  In step S <b> 11, the control unit 101 determines whether “category search” has been selected based on a command transmitted from the remote controller 13 via the light receiving unit 41.

  If it is determined in step S11 that “category search” is not selected, the process returns to step S11, and the determination process is repeated until “category search” is selected.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S11 that “category search” has been selected, in step S12, the control unit 101 determines from the recording unit 36 that the upper category (first category) that is the highest category in the hierarchical structure. 1 level category) information is loaded.

  In step S <b> 13, the control unit 101 determines whether moving image content exists in a predetermined category based on the loaded upper category information.

  If it is determined in step S13 that moving image content exists in the category, the display control unit 114 causes the display device 12 to display the name of the category in which moving image content exists in step S14.

  Subsequently, the control unit 101 determines in step S15 whether or not all the loaded categories have been completed based on the loaded upper category information, and if it is determined that all the categories have not been completed, Since there is a category for which the presence / absence of moving image content has not been checked, the next category is selected in step S16. Then, when the next category is selected, the process returns to step S13, and the processes of steps S13 to S16 are repeated until the check of the presence / absence of the moving image content is completed for all the categories in the loaded upper category. It is.

  That is, by repeating the processes of steps S13 to S16, the display device 12 displays a list of category names in which the moving image content exists.

  For example, if the content group 36a recorded in the recording unit 36 is distributed in a category system as shown in FIG. 6, the display device 12 displays “sport”, “news” as a list of category names. ”And“ Variety ”are displayed. As shown in FIG. 6, “sports”, “news”, “variety”, “movie”, “drama” exist as upper categories, but “movies” in which the number of video contents in the category is 0 ”And“ Drama ”are not displayed, but only“ Sports ”,“ News ”, and“ Variety ”in which video content exists are displayed.

  In this way, only the category names where the video content exists in the category among the higher categories are displayed, so the meaningless category name is not displayed even when selected, and when playing the video content, It becomes possible to search for desired moving image content more quickly. In addition, it is possible to search for desired moving image content more quickly by rearranging and displaying in order of categories having a larger number of moving image contents.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 5, in step S <b> 17, the control unit 101 loads the information of the lower category (category of the second hierarchy) that is one level lower than the upper category from the recording unit 36.

  In step S <b> 18, the L threshold determination unit 111 determines whether or not the total number of display items displayed on the display device 12 is equal to or less than the threshold L based on the loaded lower category information.

  Here, the threshold value L is a value for limiting the number of category names, content names, and the like displayed on the display device 12, for example. Accordingly, the display device 12 displays a name that is equal to or less than the threshold value L, for example, according to the screen resolution or the like.

  When it is determined in step S18 that the total number of display items is equal to or less than the threshold value L, in step S19, the control unit 101 selects a category that has not been displayed with the largest number of moving image contents.

  In step S20, the N threshold determination unit 112 determines whether or not the number of moving image contents in the selected category is equal to or greater than the threshold N.

Here, the threshold value N is a value for limiting the name of a predetermined category displayed on the display device 12 according to the number of contents in the category. Therefore, for example, the name of the lower category having the number of contents equal to or greater than the threshold value N is displayed on the display device 12. In the present embodiment, a threshold N ₁ and a threshold N ₂ described later are used in the same meaning as the threshold N.

  When it is determined in step S20 that the number of moving image contents in the selected category is equal to or greater than the threshold value N, in step S21, the display control unit 114 displays the name of the category having the number of moving image contents equal to or greater than the threshold value N. It is displayed on the device 12.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S20 that the number of moving image contents in the selected category is less than the threshold value N, the process of step S21 is skipped, and the process returns to step S18.

  That is, by repeating the processing from step S18 to step S21, the display device 12 has only the names of categories having the number of moving image contents equal to or greater than the threshold value N within a range that does not exceed the threshold value L that is the total number of display items. Is displayed.

  For example, as described above, when the content group 36a is distributed in the category system as shown in FIG. 6, if the threshold L = 5 and the threshold N = 8 are set, step S21 in FIG. The name of the category displayed by the process is as follows. In other words, there are five subcategories with the number of video contents exceeding the threshold N = 8: “baseball”, “soccer”, “general”, “weather”, and “comic”, but the process of step S14 in FIG. , “Sports”, “News” and “Variety” have already been displayed (upper category), so only the remaining two items can be displayed due to the limitation of threshold L = 5. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the display control unit 114 causes the display device 12 to display “general” and “soccer” having a larger number of moving image contents among the five candidates.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a category search selection screen.

  On the category search selection screen, as shown in FIG. 7, a lower category (FIG. 6) is placed below “news”, “sports”, and “variety”, which are upper categories (FIG. 6) in which video content exists. 6) “News / General” and “Sports / Soccer” are displayed.

  That is, “news”, “sports”, and “variety” are displayed on the display device 12 by repeating the processing of steps S13 to S16 in FIG. 5, and the processing of steps S18 to S21 in FIG. Is repeated to display “news / general” and “sports / soccer”.

  In FIG. 7, “News / Overall” means that the lower category “General” is located immediately below the upper category “News”. Similarly, “sport / soccer” means that the lower category “soccer” is located immediately below the upper category “sports”.

  These “news / comprehensive” and “sports / soccer” are different in color from “news”, “sports”, and “variety”, for example, which are located immediately above the categories, as shown in FIG. It is possible to intuitively recognize that the layers are different by changing the display form by, for example, (the hatched portion in the figure).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the category search selection screen. Of course, the above-described layout of each unit, the aspect ratio of the screen, and the like may be other than those shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 5, on the other hand, if it is determined in step S18 that the total number of display items exceeds the threshold value L, no more items can be displayed, so the upper category and lower category display processing ends. .

  As described above, when “category search” is selected by the user, the number of higher video contents in the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category together with the name of the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy. The name of a subcategory with As a result, the user can also check the name of the category located in the lower hierarchy, and can quickly select the desired moving image content. Therefore, operability can be improved.

  By the way, if the item (category name) on the category search selection screen in FIG. 7 is selected, the category located in the hierarchy immediately below the selected category will be displayed. If the category is further selected, Eventually, the video content belonging to the selected category group will be reached.

  Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 8, the item (category name) on the category search selection screen in FIG. 7 is selected by the user in the processing executed by the recorder 11 having such a configuration. An example of processing executed at this time (hereinafter referred to as processing of displaying lower category and moving image content in category) will be described.

  In step S31, the control unit 101, based on the command transmitted from the remote controller 13 via the light receiving unit 41, items on the category search selection screen of FIG. 7, that is, “category” (category name). It is determined whether or not is selected.

  If it is determined in step S31 that “category” is not selected, the process returns to step S31, and the determination process is repeated until “category” is selected.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S31 that “category” has been selected, in step S32, the control unit 101 determines from the recording unit 36 that the lower-level category and the moving image content located in the lower layer in the selected “category” are stored. Load information.

  In steps S33 to S36, as in the processes in steps S13 to S16 in FIG. 5, the control unit 101 and the display control unit 114 perform a process of displaying a list of category names in which moving image content exists.

  For example, as described above, if the content group 36a is distributed in a category system as shown in FIG. 6 and “sports” is selected on the category search selection screen in FIG. As a list of names, “soccer”, “baseball”, “martial arts”, and “land” are displayed. As shown in FIG. 6, there are “baseball”, “soccer”, “land”, “martial arts”, and “golf” as subcategories of “sports”, but the number of contents in the category is 0. A certain “golf” is not displayed, but “soccer”, “baseball”, “martial arts”, and “land” with moving image content are displayed.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 8, in step S <b> 37, the control unit 101 loads, from the recording unit 36, information on lower categories located below the category in which the moving image content exists.

  In step S <b> 38, the L threshold value determination unit 111 determines whether the total number of display items displayed on the display device 12 is equal to or less than the threshold value L, based on the loaded lower category information.

  When it is determined in step S38 that the total number of display items is equal to or less than the threshold value L, in step S39, the control unit 101 selects a category that has not been displayed with the smallest number of moving image contents.

  In step S <b> 40, the M threshold determination unit 113 determines whether or not the number of moving image contents in the selected category is equal to or less than the threshold M.

  Here, the threshold value M is a value for limiting the name of the content to be displayed on the display device 12 according to the number of contents in the category to which the content belongs. Therefore, for example, the name of the content belonging to the category having the content number equal to or less than the threshold value M is displayed on the display device 12.

  When it is determined in step S40 that the number of moving image contents in the selected category is equal to or less than the threshold value M, in step S41, the display control unit 114 displays the content belonging to the category having the moving image content number equal to or less than the threshold value M. The name is displayed on the display device 12.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S40 that the number of moving image contents in the selected category exceeds the threshold value M, the process of step S41 is skipped, and the process returns to step S38.

  That is, by repeating the processing from step S38 to step S41, the display device 12 can store video content belonging to a category having a content number equal to or less than the threshold value M within a range not exceeding the threshold value L that is the total number of display items. Only the name is displayed.

  For example, as described above, when the content group 36a is distributed in the category system as shown in FIG. 6, if the threshold value L = 6 and the threshold value M = 3 are set, the processing in step S41 is performed. The name of the moving image content to be displayed is as follows. That is, when the upper category “sports” is selected, the lower categories having the number of video contents equal to or less than the threshold M = 3 are “land” and “golf”, but “golf” is already in the category. Since the content is excluded as a category that does not exist (step S33 in FIG. 8), only “land” is targeted. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, the display control unit 114 displays “World Athletics 2006”, “Berlin Marathon”, and “Inter High Athletics”, which are video contents belonging to the category “Land” of “Sports”. It is displayed on the display device 12.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a sports selection screen.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the sports selection screen belongs to the lower category below “soccer”, “baseball”, and “martial arts”, which are lower categories (FIG. 6) in which the moving image content exists. “World Land 2006”, “Berlin Marathon”, and “Inter High Land” which are video contents (not shown in FIG. 6) are displayed.

  In other words, “soccer”, “baseball”, and “martial arts” are displayed on the display device 12 by repeating the processing of steps S33 to S36 of FIG. 8, and the processing of steps S38 to S41 of FIG. Is repeated to display “World Land 2006”, “Berlin Marathon”, and “Inter High Land”. In addition, although there is video content in “Land”, “World Athletics 2006”, “Berlin Marathon”, and “Inter High Athletics” belonging to “Land” are displayed on the sports selection screen in FIG. Since they are displayed, “land” which is the upper category thereof is not displayed.

  These “World Athletics 2006”, “Berlin Marathon”, and “Inter High Athletics” are, as shown in FIG. 9, “soccer”, “baseball”, and “martial arts” positioned directly above the video content. For example, it is possible to intuitively recognize that the layers are different by changing the display form by changing the colors (hatched portions in the drawing).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the sports selection screen, and the layout of each part, the aspect ratio of the screen, and the like described above may be other than those shown in FIG.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 8, on the other hand, if it is determined in step S38 that the total number of display items exceeds the threshold value L, no more items can be displayed. finish.

  As described above, when displaying a category group located immediately above the moving image content, the names of the moving image contents belonging to the category in which the number of moving image contents is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold are displayed together with the names of the category groups. . As a result, the user can also check the name of the moving image content located in the lower hierarchy, so that the desired content can be selected quickly.

  In addition, since the moving image content can be searched while confirming the content of the next hierarchy, the user's operation steps can be reduced and the operability can be improved.

  By the way, in the above-described example, the moving image content has been described as an example of the content. However, the present embodiment can be applied to a content such as a still image or music instead of the moving image content. Therefore, next, description will be made by taking still image content captured by a digital still camera as an example.

  First, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 10, among the processes executed by the recorder 11 having such a configuration, a “date search” for displaying a menu for searching for a desired still image content from a category by a user operation. An example of processing executed when the selection is made (hereinafter referred to as processing for displaying a higher category and a middle category) will be described.

  “Date / time search” is one of the menus related to still image content, and is a menu for displaying a category in which the content group 36a is classified by shooting date / time. Therefore, when “date search” is selected by the user operating the remote controller 13, the display device 12 displays the names of various categories that classify the content group 36a by shooting date and time.

  In step S <b> 51, the control unit 101 determines whether or not “date search” is selected based on a command transmitted from the remote controller 13 via the light receiving unit 41.

  If it is determined in step S51 that “date search” is not selected, the process returns to step S51, and the determination process is repeated until “date search” is selected. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S51 that “date search” has been selected, the process proceeds to step S52.

  In steps S52 to S56, as in the processes of steps S12 to S16 in FIG. 5, the control unit 101 and the display control unit 114 perform processing for displaying a list of names of categories in which still image content exists.

  For example, if the content group 36a recorded in the recording unit 36 is distributed in a category system as shown in FIG. 11, the display device 12 displays “2004”, “ “2005”, “2006”, and “2007” are displayed. This is because, as shown in FIG. 11, there are “2004”, “2005”, “2006”, and “2007” as upper categories, and the number of contents in these categories is not zero. This is because the names of all categories are displayed.

Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 10, in step S57 to step S61, similarly to the processing in step S17 through step S21 in FIG. 5, in a range not exceeding the threshold value L is the number of display items, the threshold N ₁ or more still picture content Only the names of categories having numbers (medium categories) are displayed on the display device 12.

For example, as described above, when the content group 36a is distributed in a category system as shown in FIG. 11, if the threshold L = 7 and the threshold N ₁ = 100 are set, the steps in FIG. The names of the categories (intermediate categories) displayed by the process of S61 are as follows. That is, the middle category that is the number of still image contents exceeding the threshold N ₁ = 100 is “August 2006”, “January 2007”, “October 2005”, “December 2004” (FIG. 11). In this example, there are four types, “October 2005” and “December 2004” (not shown), but “2004”, “2005”, “2006”, “ Since the names of the four categories (upper category) of “2007” have already been displayed, only the remaining three items can be displayed due to the limitation of the threshold L = 7. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the display control unit 114 has a larger number of still image contents among the four candidates, “August 2006”, “January 2007”, “October 2005”. Three middle categories of “month” are displayed on the display device 12.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a date / time search selection screen.

  On the date / time search selection screen, as shown in FIG. 12, “2004”, “2005”, “2006”, and “2007”, which are upper categories (FIG. 11) in which still image content exists, are displayed. The middle category (FIG. 11) “2006 / August”, “2007 / January”, and “2005 / October” are displayed below.

  That is, “2004”, “2005”, “2006”, and “2007” are displayed on the display device 12 by repeating the processing from step S53 to step S56 of FIG. Steps S58 to S61 are repeated, so that “2006 / August”, “2007 / January”, and “2005 / October” are displayed.

  In FIG. 12, “2006 / August” means that the middle category “August” is located immediately below the upper category “2006”. Similarly, “January 2007” means that “January” is located directly below “2007”, and “October 2005” means “October” is “2005 It means that it is located in the hierarchy immediately under "Year".

  These “2006 / August”, “2007 / January”, and “2005 / October” are, as shown in FIG. 12, “2004” located in the hierarchy immediately above those categories, “2005”, “2006”, and “2007”, for example, by changing the display form by changing the color (for example, the hatched portion in the figure), the hierarchy is intuitively different. Can be recognized.

  Note that FIG. 12 is for explaining a configuration example of the date / time search selection screen, and the layout of each part, the aspect ratio of the screen, and the like described above may be other than those shown in FIG.

  As described above, when “date and time search” is selected by the user, more still images in the middle category located in the hierarchy immediately below the higher category together with the name of the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy. The name of the middle category having the number of contents is also displayed. As a result, the user can also check the name of the category located in the lower hierarchy, and can quickly select desired still image content.

  By the way, as in the case of the moving image content, when the item (category name) on the date / time search selection screen in FIG. 12 is selected, the name of the category located immediately below the selected category is displayed. However, if the category is further selected, finally, the still image content belonging to the selected category group is reached.

  Then, referring to the flowchart in FIG. 13, the process executed when the user selects the item on the date / time search selection screen in FIG. 12 among the processes executed by the recorder 11 having such a configuration. An example (hereinafter referred to as a middle category and lower category display process) will be described.

  In steps S71 to S76, as in the processes of steps S51 to S56 in FIG. 10, the control unit 101 and the display control unit 114 perform a process of displaying a list of category names in which still image content exists.

  For example, as described above, if the content group 36a is distributed in a category system as shown in FIG. 11 and “2007” on the date / time search selection screen in FIG. “January”, “February”, and “March” are displayed as a list of category names. This is because, as shown in FIG. 11, there are only “January” through “March” as subcategories of “2007”, and there is still no still image content after “April”. .

Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 13, in steps S77 to S81, the number of contents equal to or greater than the threshold N _{2 is set} within a range that does not exceed the threshold L that is the number of display items, as in the processing of steps S57 to S61 of FIG. Only the names of the categories (subcategories) it has are displayed on the display device 12.

For example, as described above, when the content group 36a is distributed in the category system as shown in FIG. 11, if the threshold value L = 7 and the threshold value N ₂ = 40 are set, the process of step S81 is performed. The name of the lower category displayed in is as follows. That is, when the middle category “2007” is selected, the lower categories having still image content with a threshold N ₂ = 40 or more are “January 2, 2007” and “January 13, 2007”. , “February 10, 2007”, “February 11, 2007” (in the example of FIG. 11, “February 10, 2007” and “February 11, 2007” are not shown), Although there are a plurality of such categories, three intermediate categories of “January”, “February”, and “March” have already been displayed by the process of step S74, so the threshold L = 7 Only the remaining four subcategories can be displayed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the display control unit 114 has more still image content among the plurality of candidates, “January 2, 2007”, “January 13, 2007”, “2007 "February 10," and "February 11, 2007" are displayed on the display device 12.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a screen when a year 2007 is selected.

  On the 2007 selection screen, as shown in FIG. 14, below the “January”, “February”, and “March”, which is the middle category (FIG. 11) where still image content exists. The lower categories (FIG. 11) “January / 2”, “January / 13”, “February / 10”, and “February / 11” are displayed.

  That is, “January”, “February”, and “March” are displayed on the display device 12 by repeating the processes of steps S73 to S76 in FIG. 13, and steps S78 to S80 in FIG. By repeating the process of S81, “January / 2”, “January / 13”, “February / 10” and “February / 11” are displayed.

  In FIG. 13, “January / 2” means that the lower category “2 days” is located in the hierarchy immediately below the middle category “January”. Similarly, "January / 13th" means that "13th" is located directly below "January", and "February / 10th" is "10th" is "2" “February / 11th” means that “11th” is located in the hierarchy immediately below “February”.

  These “January / 2”, “January / 13”, “February / 10”, and “February / 11” are the hierarchies directly above those categories, as shown in FIG. By changing the display form, for example, by changing the color (for example, the hatched part in the figure) from "January", "February", and "March" located in Can be recognized to be different.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of the 2007 selection screen. Of course, the layout of each part, the aspect ratio of the screen, and the like may be other than those shown in FIG.

  As described above, when the upper category is selected by the user, more still image contents among the lower categories located in the hierarchy immediately below the middle category together with the name of the middle category located in the predetermined hierarchy. The names of subcategories with numbers are also displayed. As a result, the user can also check the name of the category located in the lower hierarchy, and can quickly select desired still image content.

  Further, after that, for example, when an item (name of a lower category) in the 2007 selection screen in FIG. 14 is selected, the display control unit 114 displays the name of the still image content belonging to the lower category on the display device 12. Display. For example, when “January / 13th” is selected on the 2007 selection screen in FIG. 14, 51 still image contents shot on January 13, 2007 are displayed. Thereby, the user can display a desired still image content.

  Thus, according to the present invention, the category and content presentation items can be dynamically changed by the distribution of the number of contents in the category system in the recorder. As a result, the user can reach the desired content with fewer operations.

  In addition, since the name of the category located in the lower hierarchy can be presented, for example, it is not presented if the category of “sports” such as “program broadcasting sports information broadcast in news programs” is selected. Even for a program, it is possible to check and select the lower contents from the upper hierarchy where the categories such as “news” and “sports” are located.

  In the above-described example, two patterns of moving image content and still image content have been described. Of course, other content such as music content can be processed in the same manner. In the case of music content, for example, the upper category may be a genre such as jazz, pop, or classic, the middle category may be a singer name, the lower category may be an album name, or the like.

  Further, in the above-described example, the content classified into categories by “program information” (video content) and “shooting date / time” (still image content) has been described as an example. Any information that can identify content such as data may be used. Furthermore, the content selection method of the present invention can be applied to, for example, program selection at the time of recording reservation in a recorder, viewing selection of recorded content, and the like.

  Further, as the CPU 31 of FIG. 2, the Cell described in “Birth of Cell”, Nikkei Electronics, Nikkei BP, February 28, 2005, pages 89 to 117 can be adopted.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software may execute various functions by installing a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware or various programs. For example, it is installed from a recording medium in a general-purpose personal computer or the like.

  The recording medium is distributed to provide a program to the user separately from the computer, and includes a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk) on which the program is recorded, an optical disk (CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory)) 2), a magneto-optical disk (including MD (Mini-Disk) (trademark)), or a removable recording medium 44 of FIG. 2 composed of a semiconductor memory or the like. 2 includes the ROM 32 and the recording unit 36 shown in FIG. 2 in which a program is recorded.

  The program for executing the series of processes described above is installed in a computer via a wired or wireless communication medium such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting via an interface such as a router or a modem as necessary. You may be made to do.

  In the present specification, the step of describing the program stored in the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in chronological order according to the described order, but is not necessarily performed in chronological order. It also includes processes that are executed individually.

  Further, in this specification, the system represents the entire apparatus constituted by a plurality of apparatuses.

  Furthermore, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a content display system. It is a block diagram which shows the example of a structure of the hardware of a video recorder. It is a block diagram explaining the functional structural example of a video recorder. It is a figure explaining the example of the category system of content. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a high-order category and a low-order category display. It is a figure explaining distribution of a category. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the screen at the time of a category search selection. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a low-order category and the moving image content in a category. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the screen at the time of sport selection. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a high-order category and a middle-class category display. It is a figure explaining distribution of a category. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the screen at the time of date search selection. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a middle category and a lower category display. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the screen at the time of 2007 selection.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Recorder, 12 Display apparatus, 13 Remote controller, 31 CPU, 32 ROM, 33 RAM, 35 Content processing part, 36 Recording part, 38 Input part, 39 Output part, 40 External AV output part, 41 Light receiving part, 42 Communication Unit, 43 drive, 44 removable recording medium, 51 tuner, 52 A / D conversion unit, 53 encoder, 101 control unit, 111 L threshold value determination unit, 112 N threshold value determination unit, 113 M threshold value determination unit, 114 display control unit

Claims (14)

In a display control device that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
When the user performs a predetermined operation, a first determination is made as to whether or not the number of contents belonging to a lower category located in a hierarchy immediately below an upper category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than a first threshold. A determination means;
When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold value, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. A display control device comprising: display control means for controlling display. A second determination means for determining whether the number of contents belonging to the lower category is equal to or less than a second threshold;
When it is determined that the display control means is less than or equal to the second threshold, the display control means is located in the same hierarchy as the name of the content belonging to the lower category that is less than or equal to the second threshold and the lower category to which the content belongs. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the name of the lower category is displayed on the same screen. A third determination unit configured to determine whether the total number of the upper category, the lower category, or the content names to be displayed on the screen exceeds a third threshold;
When it is determined that the third threshold value is exceeded, the display control unit suppresses display of the upper category, the lower category, or the name of the content that exceeds the third threshold value on the screen. The display control apparatus according to claim 2. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the name of the upper category and the name of the lower category in a distinguishable manner. The display control device according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit displays the representation of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold so that the name of the upper category located in a hierarchy immediately above the lower category is included. . The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content is a moving image, a still image, or music. In a display control method for a display control apparatus that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.
When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold value, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. Display control method including the step of controlling the display. In a program for causing a computer to perform display control processing of a display control device that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and that has a hierarchical structure,
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to the lower category located in the hierarchy immediately below the upper category located in the predetermined hierarchy is equal to or greater than the first threshold value.
When it is determined that the value is equal to or higher than the first threshold value, the name of the lower category that is equal to or higher than the first threshold value and the name of the upper category located in the hierarchy immediately above the lower category are displayed on the same screen. A program that causes a computer to perform processing including a step of controlling display. In a display control device that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
First determination means for determining whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold when a predetermined operation is performed by a user;
When it is determined that the value is equal to or less than the first threshold, the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or less than the first threshold is the same as the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs. A display control device comprising: display control means for controlling display so as to be displayed on the display. A second determination means for determining whether the total number of the category and the name of the content displayed on the screen exceeds a second threshold;
The said display control means suppresses the display on the said screen of the category or the content name of the part which exceeded the said 2nd threshold value, when it determines with exceeding the said 2nd threshold value. Display controller. The display control device according to claim 9, wherein the display control unit displays the category name and the content name in an identifiable manner. The display control apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the content is a moving image, a still image, or music. In a display control method for a display control apparatus that controls display of names of the categories that are classified into predetermined types of content and have a hierarchical structure,
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold value,
When it is determined that the value is equal to or less than the first threshold, the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or less than the first threshold is the same as the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs. A display control method including a step of controlling the display so that the display is displayed. In a program for causing a computer to execute display control processing of a display control device that controls display of names of the categories having a hierarchical structure, which is a category for classifying content into predetermined types.
When a predetermined operation is performed by the user, it is determined whether or not the number of contents belonging to a category located in a predetermined hierarchy is equal to or less than a first threshold value,
When it is determined that the value is equal to or less than the first threshold, the name of the content belonging to the category equal to or less than the first threshold is the same as the name of the category located in the same hierarchy as the category to which the content belongs. A program that causes a computer to perform a process including a step of controlling the display so that it is displayed on the screen.

Images