JP4931327B2 - Information processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a program, and in particular, an information processing apparatus and method, a recording medium, and a recording medium that can recommend a program that suits the user's preference when making a user recording reservation. Regarding the program.

  In recent years, the spread of electronic program guides (EPG) has become popular. EPG is program guide data distributed from a broadcasting station or the like, and is received and displayed by a terminal device such as a personal computer or PVR (Personal Video Recorder). Furthermore, the EPG can designate a program to be reserved for recording by directly operating the displayed program with a pointer or the like.

  Therefore, the user can easily make a recording reservation for a broadcast program by directly operating the EPG while viewing the displayed EPG.

  Accordingly, a technique called personalization technique has been developed. This is a technique for extracting a user's preference from a viewing history of a television program and recommending a program that the user is likely to like.

As a personalization technology (a technology for recommending a program according to a user's preference), for example, a preference value is calculated from the viewing time or recording time, a program is recommended based on the calculated preference value, and a viewing reservation is made. Alternatively, there is a technique for making a recording reservation (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-114903 A

  However, in the above-described method, since the preference is extracted based on the operation content for the watched broadcast program or the broadcast program reserved for recording itself, for example, although it is a broadcast program of interest, Since programs that have been overlooked in the EPG are not considered when extracting preferences, there is a possibility that users cannot recommend programs that are really interesting.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in particular, by enabling the user's preference to be more accurately weighted, it is possible to recommend a broadcast program that meets the user's preference. .

The information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a first storage unit that stores weight information set for each item of attribute information that is configured by a plurality of items and is used to indicate a preference of a program, and a user operation. The operation means for generating the operation signal, the operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program, or the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing the recorded program Of the operation history stored in the second storage means and the second storage means stored in association with the time when the operation means was operated as the operation history, the time when the first operation was performed, or the first Based on the time from the first time that is set by the operation to the second time that is different from the first operation, or the time that is the second time that is set by the second operation , Included in attribute information Weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each item and extraction means for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information, and the second operation corresponds to the first operation What different operating der the series of operations to be performed by the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second operation is an operation for selecting a recorded program, weight updating means based on the time of the first time to the second time, it characterized that you update the weight information.

The information processing method of the present invention stores weight information set for each item corresponding to an item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of a program, which is composed of a plurality of items based on information about the program. 1 storage means, an operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation, an operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program, or an operation means for viewing the recorded program The second storage means for storing the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated in response to the time when the operation means was operated as the operation history, and the operation history for the program stored in the second storage means Among these, the time when the first operation is performed, or the first time which is the time set by the first operation, or the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed, Is a weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the relation time with the second time relating to the time set by the second operation, and the item included in the attribute information An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: extraction means for extracting a program based on weight information for each, comprising a plurality of items by a first storage means, wherein the preference of the program is A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information used for indicating, an operation step for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation means, and a second storage Operation corresponding to the operation signal generated by the process of the operation step for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the process of the operation step for viewing the recorded program Of the operation history stored in the second storage step processing by the weight update means, the second storage step for storing the information as the operation history in association with the time at which the operation step processing was performed. The time at which the second operation is performed, the time from the first time that is set by the first operation to the second operation different from the first operation, or the time set by the second operation Based on the time of a certain second time, a weight information update step for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information, and the extraction means extracts a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information. includes an extraction step of the second operation, I different operations der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list The second operation is Recorded program is an operation for selecting, processing of weight update step, based on the time of the first time to the second time, characterized that you update the weight information.

The program of the recording medium of the present invention stores weight information set for each item corresponding to an item of attribute information used to indicate the preference of the program, which is composed of a plurality of items, based on information about the program. A first storage means, an operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation, an operation signal generated by the operation means for recording a program, or an operation for viewing a recorded program A second storage means for storing the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the means in association with the time when the operation means was operated as an operation history, and an operation for the program stored in the second storage means Of the history, the first time that is related to the first operation or the time set by the first operation, or a second operation that is different from the first operation was made. Included in the attribute information, weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information, based on the relation time with the second time relating to the time set by the second operation or the time set by the second operation A program for controlling the information processing apparatus, comprising: an extracting unit that extracts a program based on weight information for each item, the program comprising a plurality of items by the first storage unit, A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information used to indicate preference; an operation step for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation means; and a second step The operation signal generated by the operation step processing for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the operation step processing for viewing the recorded program by the storage means Of the operation history stored in the second storage step processing by the weight update means, the second storage step for storing the corresponding operation content in association with the time when the operation step processing was performed as the operation history , The time when the first operation is performed, or the time when the second operation different from the first operation, which is the time set by the first operation, or the second operation is set. Based on the weight information update step for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the time of the second time which is the time, and the weight information for each item included in the attribute information by the extracting means includes an extraction step of extracting a program, the second operation, I different operations der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is to browse the EPG program list Operation The second operation is an operation for selecting a recorded program, the process of weight update step, based on the time of the first time to the second time, characterized that you update the weight information.

The program of the present invention stores first weight information set for each item corresponding to an item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of a program, which is composed of a plurality of items based on information about the program. Generated by storage means, operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation, operation signal generated by the operation means for recording a program, or operation means for viewing a recorded program The second storage means for storing the operation content corresponding to the operation signal to be performed in association with the time when the operation means is operated as the operation history, and the operation history for the program stored in the second storage means Of these, the time at which the first operation was performed, or the first time that was set by the first operation, and the time at which the second operation different from the first operation was performed, or Weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the relation time with the second time relating to the time set by the second operation, and for each item included in the attribute information And a computer for controlling the information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising a plurality of items by the first storage means and indicating the preference of the program. A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information used; an operation step for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation unit; and a second storage unit. Operation corresponding to the operation signal generated by the process of the operation step for recording the program, or the operation signal generated by the process of the operation step for viewing the recorded program Of the operation history stored in the second storage step processing by the weight update means, the second storage step for storing the information as the operation history in association with the time at which the operation step processing was performed. The time at which the second operation is performed, the time from the first time that is set by the first operation to the second operation different from the first operation, or the time set by the second operation Based on the time of a certain second time, a weight information update step for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information, and the extraction means extracts a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information. is a process comprising the extraction step of performing the second operation, I different operations der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is browsing the EPG program list Operation The second operation is an operation for selecting a recorded program, the process of weight update step, based on the time of the first time to the second time, characterized that you update the weight information.

In the information processing apparatus, method, and program of the present invention, weight information set for each item of attribute information, which is composed of a plurality of items and is used to indicate the preference of a program, is stored, and in accordance with a user operation Corresponding to the time when an operation signal is generated and the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated to record the program or the operation signal generated to view the recorded program is operated as the operation history The second operation different from the first time to the first operation, which is the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation, among the stored operation histories. The weight information for each item included in the attribute information is updated on the basis of the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation or the time set by the second operation, and the weight for each item included in the attribute information is updated. The extracted programs based on the information, the second operation is a different operation from the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list The second operation is an operation for selecting a recorded program, and the weight information is updated based on the time from the first time to the second time .

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention may be an independent apparatus or a block that performs information processing.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to enable it to extract the program according to a user preference.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The correspondence relationship between the invention described in this specification and the embodiments of the invention is exemplified as follows. This description is intended to confirm that the embodiments supporting the invention described in this specification are described in this specification. Therefore, although there is an embodiment which is described in the embodiment of the invention but is not described here as corresponding to the invention, it means that the embodiment is not It does not mean that it does not correspond to the invention. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described herein as corresponding to an invention, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to an invention other than the invention. Absent.

  Further, this description does not mean all the inventions described in this specification. In other words, this description is for the invention described in the present specification, which is not claimed in this application, that is, for the invention that will be applied for in the future or that will appear and be added by amendment. It does not deny existence.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a first storage unit (for example, FIG. 1) that stores weight information set for each item of attribute information that is configured by a plurality of items and is used to indicate the preference of a program. EPG data storage unit 19), an operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation (for example, operation unit 11 in FIG. 1), an operation signal generated by the operation means for recording a program, Alternatively, second storage means (for example, FIG. 1) stores operation contents corresponding to an operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing a recorded program in association with the time when the operation means is operated as an operation history. Of the operation history storage unit 17) and the operation history stored in the second storage means, the first time to the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation. Second different from the first operation Weight information updating means (for example, FIG. 1) that updates the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the time when the operation was performed or the time of the second time that is the time set by the second operation. The recommended program calculation unit 21) and extraction means (for example, the recommended program calculation unit 21 in FIG. 1) for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information. What different operating der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second operation is an operation to select a recorded program , and the weight updating means based on the time of the first time to the second time, and said Rukoto for updating weight information.

The information processing method of the present invention stores weight information set for each item corresponding to an item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of a program, which is composed of a plurality of items based on information about the program. 1 storage means, an operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation, an operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program, or an operation means for viewing the recorded program The second storage means for storing the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated in response to the time when the operation means was operated as the operation history, and the operation history for the program stored in the second storage means Among these, the time when the first operation is performed, or the first time which is the time set by the first operation, or the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed, Is a weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the relation time with the second time relating to the time set by the second operation, and the item included in the attribute information An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: extraction means for extracting a program based on weight information for each, comprising a plurality of items by a first storage means, wherein the preference of the program is A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information used for display, and an operation step for generating an operation signal in accordance with a user operation by the operation means (for example, FIG. Steps S11 and S14) and the operation signal generated by the second storage means by the operation step processing for recording the program or the operation step for viewing the recorded program. A second storage step (for example, steps S13 and S15 in FIG. 4) for storing the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the process in association with the time at which the operation step was processed as an operation history; Among the operation histories stored in the processing of the second storage step by the weight updating means, the first time to the first time which is the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation The weight for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed or the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation An information update step (for example, the process of step S36 in FIG. 7) and an extraction step (for example, a step in FIG. 3) for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information by the extraction means. And a processing step S4), the second operation, I different operations Der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing an EPG program list and the second operation is an operation for selecting a recorded program, the process of weight update step, based on the time of the first time to the second time, and wherein users update weight information To do.

  Since the recording medium and the program are the same as the information processing method, description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a video recorder to which the present invention is applied.

  The operation unit 11 includes a keyboard, buttons, a mouse, and the like. The operation unit 11 is operated when a user inputs various commands to the video recorder, and an operation signal generated by the user operation is transmitted to the control unit 12. Supply. For example, the operation unit 11 may receive operation information input by a remote commander or the like.

  The control unit 12 recognizes the operation content based on the operation signal from the operation unit 11, and if it is a command related to recording / playback, the command is sent to the recording operation unit 13, a command related to program display is sent to the tuner 16, and the EPG Commands relating to viewing of the program list are supplied to the EPG program list extracting unit 20 and commands for requesting information of recommended programs are supplied to the recommended program calculating unit 21 to execute predetermined operations. In addition, the control unit 12 stores an operation history in the operation history storage unit 17 based on the operation signal supplied from the operation unit 11. Furthermore, the control unit 12 has a built-in RTC (Real Time Clock) 12a, reads the time when various operations are performed from the RTC 12a, and operates as an operation history by associating the operation content with the time when the operation was performed. It is stored in the history storage unit 17.

  More specifically, as the operation history, for example, an operation for requesting display of an EPG program list, an operation for selecting a recorded program, an operation for setting a recording start time of a recorded program, and an operation for setting a recording end time of a recorded program , Operation to enable viewing (operation to turn on the power), operation to end viewing enabled (operation to turn off the power), operation to start viewing the recorded program, operation to end viewing of the recorded program, and deletion of the recorded program Such as operation. The operation history storage unit 17 stores the operation history together with the above-described operation history in association with each other.

  The recording / playback unit 13 acquires the program of the channel set by the operation command input from the operation unit 11 via the control unit 12 by controlling the tuner 16, and stores the acquired program in the recorded data storage unit 14. At the same time, the stored program is read from the recorded data storage unit 14, reproduced on the display unit 15, and displayed. The recording / playback unit 13 accepts a recording reservation by a command input from the operation unit 11 via the control unit 12 and records the program when a predetermined time is reached for the recording reserved program.

  The recorded data storage unit 14 is, for example, a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, an HDD (Hard Disc Drive), a DVD-R / RW (Digital Versatile Disc-Recoedable / Rewritable), or a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory). Record or play back the recorded data of the program.

  The display unit 15 includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) built in the main body, and displays programs, EPG program lists, recommended program information, and the like. The display unit 15 is not limited to a built-in display unit, and may be, for example, a television receiver connected to the outside.

  The EPG data acquisition unit 18 receives EPG data distributed from a broadcasting station or the like, and stores the received EPG data in the EPG data storage unit 19. The EPG program list extraction unit 20 generates an EPG program list from the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 19 based on a command from the operation unit 11 via the control unit 12 and displays the EPG program list on the display unit 15.

  The recommended program calculation unit 21 basically reads the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 19 of the corresponding program for the program selected for viewing or recording reservation from the EPG program list, and By performing weighting for each value of the attribute, preference information is generated and stored in the preference DB (Data Base) 22.

  Further, the recommended program calculation unit 21 performs a period of time from the time when the first operation is performed on various programs to the time when the second operation is performed (the time when the first operation is performed and the second operation are performed). Based on the time difference (temporal interval), the preference information in the preference DB 22 is updated for items included in the attribute information of the program. Here, as a combination of the first operation and the second operation, for example, for a predetermined program, the first operation is an operation for displaying an EPG program list, and the second operation is an operation for starting a recorded program It is. In addition, as a combination of the first operation and the second operation, (first operation, second operation) = (operation for selecting a recorded program, operation for starting recording), (Operation to end recording reservation, operation to enable viewing), (Operation to enable viewing, operation to start viewing), (Operation to end viewing, recorded program is deleted Operation). Here, (first operation, second operation) indicates a combination of the first operation and the second operation. The recommended program calculation unit 21 performs various operations stored in the preference DB 22 based on the time interval (the time from the first operation to the second operation) when these operations are performed. The weight of the value corresponding to each item of program information (program attribute information) is calculated and updated. Details of updating the weight of the preference DB 22 will be described later.

  In addition, when the operation unit 11 is operated and the recommended program is requested to display the recommended program, the recommended program calculation unit 21 determines the value of the item that takes the maximum value of the weight based on the preference information of the preference DB 22 described above. Search sequentially, extract the program that is a combination of the values from EPG data, and recommend it as a recommended program. This recommended program extraction method is not limited to a program that is a combination of item values that take the maximum weight value, but may be a program that is closest to the combination of item values that take the maximum weight value, for example.

  Next, an operation of generating preference information when the preference DB 22 by the recommended program calculation unit 21 is viewed or when a recording reservation is made will be described.

  The attribute information indicating the preference for each program is stored in the preference DB 32 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, each item of the attribute information used for the preference of the program is a genre, a broadcast day, and a channel. Needless to say, other items may be provided, but here, the description will be given assuming that these are the three types of items.

  For example, when a program having the attribute information indicated by the program information 41 to 43 in FIG. 2 is viewed, the preference DB 32 is stored as the preference information 44. In FIG. 2, in the program information 41, the value of the genre item is “variety” and the weight is 2. Also, the value of the broadcast day item is “Wednesday” and the weight is 4. Further, the value of the channel item is “8ch” and the weight is 1.

  In the program information 42, the value of the genre item is “drama” and the weight is 3. Also, the value of the broadcast day item is “Wednesday” and the weight is 4. Further, the value of the channel item is “6ch” and the weight is 1.

  In the program information 43, the value of the genre item is “news”, and the weight is 2. Also, the value of the broadcast day item is “Thursday” and the weight is 4. Further, the value of the channel item is “4ch” and the weight is 3.

  The recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the program and its genre information from the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 19, and generates the above-described program information 41 to 43. In addition, the setting of the weight with respect to each value is good also as a structure set by default, and can also be set with a user preference from the operation part 11. FIG.

  Further, the recommended program calculation unit 21 generates the preference information 44 based on the program information 41 to 43 described above. More specifically, the recommended program calculation unit 21 generates preference information 44 by adding the value of each item of the program information 41 to 43 and the corresponding weight, and stores the preference information 44 in the preference DB 22.

  That is, in the preference information 44, “variety” of the program information 41, “drama” of the program information 42, and “news” of the program information 43 are recorded as items of genre from the top, and the respective weights are recorded from the top. 2, 3, and 2 are attached.

  Further, under the genre, “Wednesday” of the program information 41 and 42 and “Thursday” of the program information 43 are recorded as broadcast day items, and the weights are 8 and 4, respectively. It is attached. The reason why the weight of “Wednesday” on the broadcast day is 8 is that the respective weights of “Wednesday” of the program information 41 and 42 are added. That is, the recommended program calculation unit 21 adds the weight of each program when the items have the same value.

  Below the broadcast day, “8ch” of the program information 41, “6ch” of the program information 42, and “4ch” of the program information 43 are recorded as channel items. It is attached.

  When a new program is viewed or reserved for recording in the state of the preference information 44, the recommended program calculation unit 21 adds the information of the program information 45 corresponding to the newly viewed program to the preference information 44. Then, the preference DB 22 is updated.

  In FIG. 2, in the program information 45, the value of the genre item is “variety” and the weight is 3. The value of the broadcast day item is “Saturday (Saturday)” and the weight is 4. Further, the value of the channel item is “8ch” and the weight is 5.

  Therefore, the recommended program calculation unit 21 adds the weight 3 of “variety” that is the value of the category item of the program information 45 to the weight 2 of “variety” that is the value of the category item in the preference information 44, As indicated by the preference information 46, the weight of “variety” that is the value of the item of the genre is set to 5. In addition, in the preference information 44, the recommended program calculation unit 21 does not store “Sat”, which is the value of the broadcast day item, and thus newly stores “Sat”, which is the broadcast day item of the program information. The weight 4 of the program information 45 is stored as it is. Further, the recommended program calculating unit 21 adds the weight 5 of “8ch” that is the value of the channel item of the program information 45 to the weight 1 of “8ch” that is the value of the channel item in the preference information 44, As indicated by the preference information 46, the weight of “8ch” which is the value of the channel item is set to 6.

  The recommended program calculation unit 21 generates (updates) preference information by the above-described process and stores it in the preference DB 22 each time the program is selected for viewing or recording by the above-described process.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process which recommends a program based on the preference information of the preference DB 22 described above will be described.

  In step S1, the recommended program calculation unit 21 determines whether or not display of a recommended program is instructed by operating the operation unit 11 via the control unit 12, and it is determined that display of a recommended program is instructed. Repeat the process until For example, when display of a recommended program is requested, the process proceeds to step S2.

  In step S <b> 2, the recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the preference information stored in the preference DB 22 and searches for a value that takes the maximum weight value for each item. That is, in the case of the preference information 46 shown in FIG. 2, the value having the maximum weight value 5 in the genre as an item is “variety”, so “variety” is searched. Similarly, since the item having the maximum weight value 8 in the broadcast day of the week is “Wednesday”, “Wed” is searched for. Further, since the value of the maximum weight value 6 in the channel as an item is “8ch”, “8ch” is searched.

  In step S <b> 3, the recommended program calculation unit 21 extracts a program corresponding to the searched combination of values from the EPG data storage unit 19. That is, since the combination of the item values obtained in the process of step S2 is a combination in which the genre is variety, the broadcast day is Wednesday, and the channel is 8ch, a variety program broadcast on 8ch on Wednesday is extracted. become.

  In step S4, the recommended program calculation unit 21 displays the extracted program as a recommended program on the display unit 15, and the process returns to step S1.

  As described above, the recommended program is extracted in consideration of the weight corresponding to the value of each item included in the preference information, so that the user's preference based on the program information of the program selected so far is reflected. The program can be recommended to the user.

  Next, a weight update process based on the time from the EPG program list display start time to the recorded program selection time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S11, the EPG program list extraction unit 20 determines whether or not the display of the EPG program list is requested by operating the operation unit 11 via the control unit 12, and the display of the EPG program list is requested. Repeat the process until. For example, when display of the EPG program list is requested, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S12, the EPG program list extraction unit 20 reads the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 19, generates a display screen for the EPG program list, outputs the display screen to the display unit 15, and displays it.

  In step S13, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and stores the EPG program list display start time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with the operation history for starting display of the EPG program list.

  In step S <b> 14, the control unit 12 determines whether the operation unit 11 is operated and a program displayed in the EPG program list is selected. For example, if it is determined in step S14 that a program has been selected, in step S15, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and records the selected program selection time together with an operation history for selecting a predetermined program, as an operation history storage unit. 17 to memorize.

  In step S <b> 16, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the operation unit 11 has been operated to input a command for ending the display of the EPG program list. For example, if it is determined in step S15 that a command to end the display of the EPG program list has been input, the process proceeds to step S17.

  If it is determined in step S14 that no program has been selected, the process in step S15 is skipped. If it is not determined in step S16 that a command for ending the display of the EPG program list has been input, the process returns to step S14. That is, the processing of steps S14 to S16 is repeated until a command indicating the end of display of the EPG program list is input. Every time a program is selected for recording in step S14, the recorded program selection history in step S15. At the same time, the time when the recorded program is selected is stored in the operation history storage unit 17.

  In step S <b> 17, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the time from the EPG program list display start time to the recorded program selection time for each program selected as the recorded program based on a command from the control unit 12. More specifically, the recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the EPG program list display start time and the recorded program selection time stored in the operation history storage unit 17 and calculates the time from the time difference.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed and programs A, B, and C are selected as recorded programs at the timing shown in FIG. 6, the EPG program list display of each program is started. The time from the time to the recorded program selection time is calculated as follows. In FIG. 5, programs A, B, and C are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”. The broadcast time of program C is from 23:00 to 23:30, and the genre is “news”.

In FIG. 6, EPG program list browsing start times of programs A, B, and C are times V _A , V _B , and V _C , respectively, and are all time t ₀ . The recorded program selection times of C are times S _A , S _B , and S _C , respectively, and are time t ₁ , t ₃ , and t ₂ , respectively. At this time, the time from the EPG program list display start time of program A to the recorded program selection time is the section (time (t ₁ -t ₀ )) indicated by VS _A in the figure, and similarly, program B , C are intervals (time (t ₂ -t ₀ )) and (time (t ₃ -t ₀ )) indicated by VS _B and VS _C in the figure, respectively.

  In step S18, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates a weight by calculating the following equation (1) for each program.

W _N1 = X ₁ / VS _N
... (1)
Here, W _N1 is the weight of the genre of program N, X ₁ is a reference value (can be set arbitrarily), and VS _N is the time from the EPG program list display start time of program N to the recorded program selection time. ing. For example, in FIG. 6, when the time length is VS _A : VS _B : VS _C = 1: 4: 2, if X _{1 is set} to 4, the genre weights of programs A, B, and C are: “Variety” is 4, “Drama” is 1, and “News” is 2.

  In step S19, the recommended program calculation unit 21 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight, and the process returns to step S11. That is, for example, when the preference information 46 shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the preference DB 22, the recommended program calculation unit 21 sets the weight of the variety to 5 and 9 by adding the calculated value 4 to the same. Then, by adding 1 to 3 as the drama weight to 4 and adding 2 to 4 as the news weight to 4 to update the weight of each item, the preference information in the preference DB 22 Update.

  That is, the shorter the time from the EPG program list display start time to the recorded program selection time is, that is, until the user discovers that there is an arbitrary program in the EPG program list and selects that program for recording. The shorter the time is, the more the user is interested in the program, and the user's preference is increased by adding more weight to the preference information corresponding to the item included in the program information of the selected program. As a result, when recommending a program, it is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items. Further, in the above, an example in which preference information is updated (update of preference information weight information) when display of the EPG program list is requested has been described, but the processing is limited to this timing. Instead, for example, it may be repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals.

  Next, a weight update process based on the time from the recorded program selection time to the recording start time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S31, the control unit 12 determines whether or not a recorded program is selected by operating the operation unit 11, and repeats the process until the recorded program is selected. For example, when a recorded program is selected, the process proceeds to step S32.

  In step S32, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and stores the recorded program selection time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with the operation history in which recording is selected.

  In step S <b> 33, the control unit 12 recognizes the recording start time of the program selected as the recorded program based on the operation content from the operation unit 11 and stores the recording start time in the operation history storage unit 17.

  In step S34, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the time from the recorded program selection time to the recording start time for the program selected as the recorded program based on the command from the control unit 12. More specifically, the recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the recorded program selection time and the recording start time stored in the operation history storage unit 17 and calculates the time from the time difference.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, programs A, B, and C are selected as recorded programs at the timings shown in FIG. 9, and a recording start time is set. The time from the recorded program selection time to the recording start time of each program is calculated as follows. In FIG. 8, programs A, B, and C are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”. The broadcast time of program C is from 23:00 to 23:30, and the genre is “news”.

In FIG. 9, the recorded program selection times of programs A, B, and C are times S _A , S _B , and S _C , respectively, where times S _A and S _B are time t ₁₁ , and time S _C is assumed to be the time t _12, the program a, B, C recording start time of each time R _Astart, R _Bstart, a R _Cstart each time t _13, t _14, t ₁₄ and certain ones. In this case, the time from the recorded program selection time of the program A to the recording start time, a section indicated by the SR _A in FIG. (Time (t ₁₃ -t _11)), similarly, the program B, the C is, SR _B in each diagram section indicated by the SR _C (time (t ₁₄ -t _11)), the (time (t ₁₄ -t _12)).

  In step S35, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the weight by calculating the following expression (2) for each program.

W _N2 = X ₂ × SR _N
... (2)
Here, W _N2 is the weight of the program genre N, X ₂ is a reference value (arbitrarily set), SR _N indicates the time from the recorded program selection time of the program N to the recording start time. For example, in FIG. 9, when the length of time is SR _A : SR _B : SR _C = 2: 4: 3, if X ₂ is 1, the genre weights of programs A, B, and C are: “Variety” is 2, “Drama” is 4, and “News” is 3.

  In step S36, the recommended program calculation unit 21 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight, and the process returns to step S31.

  That is, the longer the interval between the recorded program selection time and the recording start time, that is, the more the user sets the recording at a time earlier than the recording start time (broadcast start time), the more interested the user is in the program. By adding a greater weight to the preference information corresponding to the item included in the program information of the selected program, it is possible to weight the user according to the user's preference and, as a result, recommend the program In doing so, it is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items.

  Next, weight update processing based on the time from the recording reservation end time to the viewable start time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S <b> 41, the control unit 12 determines whether the viewing unit is in a viewable state by operating the operation unit 11, and repeats the process until the viewable state is entered. Here, the viewable state is a state in which the user turns on the video recorder. That is, when the user turns on the video recorder, the user is present near the video recorder when the power is turned on, so that the user can view the video recorder. Therefore, the determination of whether or not viewing is possible is processing for determining whether or not the video recorder has been turned on. For example, if viewing is possible, the process proceeds to step S42.

  In step S42, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a and causes the operation history storage unit 17 to store the viewable start time together with the operation history indicating that the operation has been performed in the viewable state. Here, the viewable start time indicates a start time when the viewable state is entered, and specifically, for example, is a time when the power is turned on.

  In step S <b> 43, the recommended program calculation unit 21 makes an inquiry to the operation history storage unit 17 based on a command from the control unit 12 and searches for the previous viewable start time.

  In step S44, the recommended program calculation unit 21 determines whether or not the previous viewable start time has been searched. If it is searched, the recommended program calculation unit 21 inquires the operation history storage unit 17 in step S45. Thus, a program recorded between the previous viewable start time and the current viewable start time is searched.

  In step S45, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the time from the recording end time to the viewable start time for each searched program. More specifically, the recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the recording end time and viewable start time of each program stored in the operation history storage unit 17 and calculates the time from the time difference.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed, programs A and B are recorded at the timing shown in FIG. 12, and when viewing is enabled, the recording end time of each program is displayed. To the recorded program selection time is calculated as follows. In FIG. 12, programs A and B are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”.

In FIG. 12, the recording end times of programs A and B are time R _Aend and R _Bend respectively, where time A _Aend is time t ₂₁ and time R _Bend is time t _23. The viewable start times of A and B are time C _Astart and C _Bstart , respectively, and both are time t ₂₄ . It should be noted that the time t ₂₀ is the last of the viewing start time. At this time, the time to allow the start time view from recording end time of the program A, a section indicated by the RC _A in FIG. (Time (t ₂₄ -t _21)), in the same manner, in the program B, This is the section (time (t ₂₄ -t ₂₃ )) indicated by RC _B in the figure.

  In step S47, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates a weight by calculating the following equation (3) for each program.

W _N3 = X ₃ / RC _N
... (3)
Here, W _N3 represents the weight of the genre of the program N, X ₃ represents a reference value (can be arbitrarily set), and RC _N represents the time from the recording end time of the program N to the viewable start time. For example, in FIG. 12, when the time length is RC _A : RC _B = 2: 1, if X ₃ is 2, the weights of the genres of programs A and B are “variety” of 1, respectively. "Drama" becomes 2.

  In step S48, the recommended program calculation unit 21 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight, and the process returns to step S41.

  If it is determined in step S44 that the time information in the previous viewable state cannot be searched, the recommended program calculation unit 21 in step S49 finds all recorded programs from the operation history stored in the operation history storage unit 17. The information is read, and the process proceeds to step S46. That is, since there is no information on the viewing start time, all recorded programs are targeted.

  That is, the shorter the interval between the recording end time and the viewable start time, that is, the more the user can view the program by turning on the recommended terminal immediately after the recording of the program is completed, the more the user is interested in the program. By adding a greater weight to the preference information corresponding to the item included in the program information of the selected program, it is possible to weight the user according to the user's preference. When recommending, it is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items. In the above description, the weight is updated based on the time from the recording end time to the viewable start time. However, the weight is updated based on the time from the recording start time to the viewable start time. The same effect can be obtained. The process is the same as the process of updating the weight based on the time from the recording end time to the viewable start time, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a weight update process based on time from the viewable start time to the view start time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S <b> 61, the control unit 12 determines whether the viewing unit is in a viewable state by operating the operation unit 11, and repeats the process until the viewable state is reached. For example, if it is determined that it is in a viewable state, the process proceeds to step S62.

  In step S62, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a and causes the operation history storage unit 17 to store the viewable start time together with the operation history indicating that the operation is performed in the viewable state.

  In step S <b> 63, the control unit 12 determines whether or not viewing of any program is started by operating the operation unit 11. For example, when it is determined that viewing is started, the process is as follows. The process proceeds to step S64.

  In step S64, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and shows the viewing start time together with the operation history indicating that the program started to be viewed and the operation to start viewing the program were performed, as the operation history storage unit 17 Remember me.

  In step S <b> 65, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the time from the viewable start time to the view start time for the program that has been viewed. More specifically, the recommended program calculation unit 21 reads the viewable start time and the viewing start time of the program that has been viewed, which is stored in the operation history storage unit 17, and calculates the time from the time difference.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed and viewing of the programs A, B, and C is started at the timing shown in FIG. 15, the viewing is started from the viewable start time of each program. The time until the start time is calculated as follows. In FIG. 14, programs A, B, and C are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”. The broadcast time of program C is from 23:00 to 23:30, and the genre is “news”.

In FIG. 15, the viewing start times of programs A, B, and C are times C _Astart , C _Bstart , and C _Cstart , respectively, and are all time t ₃₁ , and programs A, B, and C The viewing start times are times V _Astart , V _Bstart , and V _Cstart , respectively, and are _assumed to be times t ₃₂ , t ₃₃ , and t ₃₄ , respectively. In this case, the time from the viewable start time of the program A to the viewing start time, a section indicated by the CV _A in FIG. (Time (t ₃₂ -t _31)), similarly, the program B, the C is, CV _B in each diagram section indicated by the CV _C (time (t ₃₃ -t _31)), the (time (t ₃₄ -t _31)).

  In step S66, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (4) for each program.

W _N4 = X ₄ / CV _N
... (4)
Here, W _N4 represents the weight of the genre of program N, X ₄ represents a reference value (can be arbitrarily set), and CV _N represents the time from the viewing start time of program N to the viewing start time. For example, in FIG. 15, when the length of time is CV _A : CV _B : CV _C = 1: 2: 4, if X _{4 is set} to 4, the genre weights of programs A, B, and C are “Variety” is 1, “Drama” is 2, and “News” is 4.

  In step S67, the recommended program calculation unit 21 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight.

  In step S68, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the viewable state is ended by operating the operation unit 11, and when it is determined that the viewable state is ended, that is, the video recorder is powered on. If it is determined that it is turned off, the process returns to step S61, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  If it is determined in step S63 that viewing of any recorded program has not started, the processing in steps S64 to S67 is skipped, and the processing proceeds to step S68.

  If it is determined in step S68 that the viewable state has not ended, the process returns to step S63. That is, the processes in steps S63 to S68 are repeated until it is determined that the viewable state has been completed.

  That is, the shorter the viewing start time and the viewing start time are, that is, the more the user views the program immediately after the viewing becomes possible, the more the user is interested in that program. By adding a greater weight to the preference information corresponding to the items included in the program information, it is possible to apply a weight corresponding to the user's preference. As a result, the user's preference can be increased when recommending a program. It is possible to recommend a program reflecting the above.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items.

  Next, weight update processing based on time from the viewing end time to the erasing time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S81, the control unit 12 determines whether or not viewing of any recorded program has been terminated by operating the operation unit 11, for example, determining that viewing of any recorded program has ended. If it is determined that it has been determined that a process for ending viewing has been performed, the process proceeds to step S82.

  In step S <b> 82, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12 a and stores the viewing end time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with an operation history indicating that an operation for ending viewing of the recorded program has been performed.

  In step S83, the control unit 12 determines whether or not any program has been deleted by operating the operation unit 11. For example, if it is determined that any program has been deleted, the processing is performed. Advances to step S84.

  In step S84, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and stores the erase time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with an operation history indicating that an operation for deleting the erased program has been performed.

  In step S85, the recommended program calculation unit 21 inquires of the operation history storage unit 17 to determine whether or not the deleted program is viewed. For example, when it is determined that the program is viewed, the process is as follows. The process proceeds to step S86.

  In step S86, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the time from the viewing end time to the erasing time for the program that has been viewed. More specifically, the recommended program calculating unit 21 reads the viewing end time and the erasing time of the program that has been viewed and stored in the operation history storage unit 17 and calculates the time from the time difference.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed and viewing of programs A and B is terminated and erased at the timing shown in FIG. 18, the erase time from the viewing end time of each program is erased. The time until is calculated as follows. In FIG. 17, programs A and B are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”.

In FIG. 18, the viewing end times of programs A, B, and C are times V _Aend and V _Bend , respectively, and are time t ₄₁ and t ₄₃ , respectively. It is assumed that there are times D _A and D _B and times t ₄₂ and t ₄₄ , respectively. In this case, the time from the viewing end time of the program A to erase time, a section indicated by VD _A in FIG. (Time (t ₄₂ -t _41)), in the same manner, in the program B, and Figure It becomes intervals indicated by VD _B in (time (t ₄₄ -t _43)).

  In step S87, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates a weight by calculating the following equation (5) for each program.

W _N5 = −X ₅ / VD _N
... (5)
Here, W _N5 is the weight of the program genre N, X ₅ is a reference value (arbitrarily set), VD _N indicates the time to erase time from the viewing end time of the program N. For example, in FIG. 18, when the length of time is VD _A : VD _B = 1: 2, if X ₅ is 2, the weight of the genre of programs A and B is “variety” is −1. "Drama" is -2.

  In step S88, the recommended program calculation unit 21 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight, and the process returns to step S81.

  If it is determined in step S81 that any recorded program has not been viewed, the process of step S82 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S83.

  If it is determined in step S83 that no recorded program is erased, the process returns to step S81.

If it is determined in step S85 that the erased recorded program has not been viewed, a weight indicating that the recorded program has been erased without viewing is set in step S89. That is, for example, when the program A shown in FIG. 17 is deleted without being viewed, it is determined that the program A was not intended to be viewed, that is, not so much interested, and the variety of genre weights A setting is made to reduce the weight for the preference of the genre, for example, by adding a weight corresponding to the value by (−X ₅ × 10).

  That is, the shorter the time between the erasure time and the viewing end time, that is, the earlier the time when the user erases the program, the less the user is interested in the program, and the items included in the program information of the selected program By reducing the weight according to the corresponding preference information, it becomes possible to perform weighting corresponding to the user's preference, and as a result, recommending a program that more reflects the user's preference when recommending the program Is possible.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items.

  In the above, an example in which the weight of the user's preference information is updated based on the time between the times of the first operation and the second operation has been described. Corrections may be made to the reference value and the operation time.

  FIG. 19 shows a configuration of a video recorder in which a user's state is estimated based on operation contents and each operation time is corrected. In the configuration of the video recorder shown in FIG. 19, the same components as those in the video recorder shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

  A difference between the video recorder of FIG. 19 and the video recorder of FIG. 1 is that a recommended program calculation unit 41 and a preference DB 42 are provided instead of the recommended program calculation unit 21 and the preference DB 22. The basic functions of the recommended program calculation unit 41 and the preference DB 42 are the same as those of the recommended program calculation unit 21 and the preference DB 22 in FIG. 1, but background information and characteristic information are newly stored in the preference DB 42. The recommended program calculation unit 41 corrects the operation time and the reference value according to the operation content using the background information and the characteristic information.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 20, the viewing start time or the viewing start time by the video recorder of FIG. 19 that corrects each operation time and reference value according to the operation content using the background information and the characteristic information. The weight update process based on time will be described. In the flowchart of FIG. 20, the processing of steps S101 to S104 and the processing of steps S107 to S110 are the same as steps S61 to S68 of the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S105, the recommended program calculation unit 41 determines, based on the viewing start time, whether the characteristic information of the program that has started viewing matches the background information.

  That is, for example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 21 is displayed, the following determination is made. In FIG. 21, programs A, B, and C are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 6:00 to 7:00, and the genre is “news”. The broadcast time of program B is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “drama”. The broadcast time of program C is 22:00 to 22:30, and the genre is “drama”.

  Further, here, the background information is information of a table for setting a time zone. For example, as shown in FIG. 22, the start time of “morning” as the time zone is 5:00 and the end time is 12: It is assumed that the start time of the “daytime” time zone is 12:00 and the end time is 14:00.

  The characteristic information is information in a table for setting a time zone for the preference information item. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, a recorded program whose genre is “news” is often watched “morning”. Therefore, a recorded program set as “morning” and having a genre of “drama” is often viewed as “daytime”, and therefore set as “daytime”.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 24, the viewing start times of programs A, B, and C are times C _Astart , C _Bstart , and C _Cstart , respectively, and are all time t ₅₁ . The viewing start times of B and C are time V _Astart , V _Bstart , and V _Cstart , respectively, and are time t ₅₂ , t ₅₄ , and t ₅₂ , respectively. In this case, the time from the viewable start time of the program A to the viewing start time, a section indicated by the CV _A in FIG. (Time (t ₅₂ -t _51)), similarly, the program B, the C is, CV _B in each diagram section indicated by the CV _C (time (t ₅₄ -t _51)), the (time (t ₅₂ -t _51)). Here, the time t ₅₀ is the start time 5:00 of the background information “morning”, the time t ₅₃ is the end time 5:00 of the background information “morning”, and the start time 12 of the “day” : 00. In addition, the time t ₅₅ is the end time 14:00 "day" of background information.

For example, in the case of the program A, in step S105, the recommended program calculation unit 41 uses the background information in FIG. 22 and the characteristic information in FIG. 23 based on the viewing start time of the program A that has been viewed. Whether the characteristic information matches the background information is determined as follows. That is, first, since the genre of the program A whose viewing has been started is “news”, the characteristic information is “morning”. Since the viewing start time is time t ₅₂ , the background information is also “morning”. As a result, since the background information and the characteristic information match, the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the recommended program calculation unit 41 determines whether or not the viewable start time and the background information match. That is, in this case, since the viewable start time is time t _51, it is determined to match because it is the “morning” time zone when the background information is referred to, and the subsequent processing proceeds.

  In other words, in this case, the program A that has been viewed by the process of step S105 has a genre of “news” and is frequently viewed in the “morning”, but has a viewing start time in the “morning” time zone. Furthermore, since the viewing start time at which viewing is started is also “morning” in the background information by the processing in step S106, it is expressed by the above-described formula (4) without any particular processing. The weight is calculated by the operation.

For example, in the case of the program B, in step S105, the recommended program calculation unit 41 uses the background information of FIG. 22 and the characteristic information of FIG. 23 based on the viewing start time of the program B that has been viewed. Whether the characteristic information matches the background information is determined as follows. That is, first, since the genre of the program B whose viewing is started is “drama”, the characteristic information is “daytime”. Viewing start time, because at the time t _54, the background information is "noon". As a result, since the background information and the characteristic information match, the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the recommended program calculation unit 41 determines whether or not the viewable start time and the background information match. That is, in the case of now, viewable start time, because at the time t _51, referring to background information is the time zone of the "morning", viewing start time, and background information because it is "day" of background information It is determined that the viewing start time does not match, and the process proceeds to step S111.

  In step S111, the recommended program calculation unit 41 sets the viewable start time as the start time of the background information.

That is, in this case, the program B whose viewing has been started by the process of step S105 has a genre of “drama” and is often watched in “daytime”. In addition, the viewable start time is “morning” in the process of step S106, but the view start time in the background information is “daytime”. The information, that is, the start time of “daytime” that is the time zone of the viewing start time is reset to t _53, and the weight is calculated by the calculation represented by the above-described equation (4). Therefore, the section (time (t ₅₄ -t ₅₁ )) indicated by CV _B shown in FIG. 24 is corrected to the section (time (t ₅₄ -t ₅₃ )) indicated by CV _B ′, and the expression (4 ) Is calculated, the weight is calculated. As a result, since the drama is watched at “daytime”, which is the time zone set in the characteristic information, the time from the start time that can be watched is shortened. The viewing start time is corrected.

For example, in the case of the program C, in step S105, the recommended program calculation unit 41 uses the background information of FIG. 22 and the characteristic information of FIG. 23 based on the viewing start time of the program C that has been viewed. Whether the characteristic information matches the background information is determined as follows. That is, first, since the genre of the program C whose viewing has been started is “drama”, the characteristic information is “daytime”. Since the viewing start time is time t ₅₂ , the background information is “morning”. As a result, since the background information and the characteristic information do not match, the processing proceeds to step S112.

In step S112, the recommended program calculating unit 41, the reference value X ₄ are multiplied by the coefficient K, the process proceeds to step S107.

  That is, in the case of drama C, since a program that is often viewed during “daytime” is viewed during a time when it is difficult to view “morning”, the user is more interested than a normal program. Therefore, since it is considered that the drama C is being watched in the “morning” time zone, the coefficient K is multiplied and corrected so as to be larger than the normal weight.

  Through the above processing, the characteristics of the program and the viewing state of the user are reflected by correcting the viewable start time from the relationship with the viewable start time, background information, and characteristic information, or multiplying the reference value by a coefficient. As a result, in recommending a program, it is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  In the above example, the case where the item is a genre has been described. However, other items may be used, and similar processing may be performed for a plurality of other items.

  In the above, the case where the same processing is uniformly performed on the value of the preference information item has been described, but the weight may be multiplied by a coefficient corresponding to the value of the preference information item.

  FIG. 25 shows a configuration of a video recorder in which the weight is multiplied by a coefficient in accordance with the preference information item. In the configuration of the video recorder in FIG. 25, the same number is assigned to the same configuration as the video recorder in FIG. 1, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  The video recorder of FIG. 25 differs from the video recorder of FIG. 1 in that a recommended program calculation unit 51 is provided in place of the recommended program calculation unit 21 and the preference DB 22. The recommended program calculation unit 51 has the same basic function as the recommended program calculation unit 21 of FIG. 1, but the recommended program calculation unit 51 multiplies the coefficient by the weight corresponding to the value of the preference information item. .

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 26, based on the time from the viewable start time to the view start time by the video recorder of FIG. 25 that multiplies the coefficient by the weight corresponding to the value of the preference information item. The weight update process will be described. In the flowchart of FIG. 26, steps S121 to S125 and steps S128 and S129 are the same as steps S61 to S65 and steps S67 and S68 of the flowchart of FIG. Is omitted.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 27 is displayed and viewing of programs A and B is started at the timing shown in FIG. 28 (left part), each program can be viewed. The time from the start time to the viewing start time is calculated as follows. In FIG. 28, programs A and B are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “news”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”.

In FIG. 28 (left part), the viewing start times of programs A and B are time C _Astart and C _Bstart , respectively, and are both time t ₆₁ , and viewing start time of programs A and B _Are time V _Astart and V _Bstart , respectively, and both are time t ₆₂ . In this case, the time from the viewable start time of the program A to the viewing start time, a section indicated by the CV _A in FIG. (Time (t ₆₂ -t _61)), in the same manner, in the program B, Each is a section (time (t ₆₂ -t ₆₁ )) indicated by CV _B in the figure.

  In step S126, the recommended program calculation unit 51 executes a coefficient setting process.

  Here, the coefficient setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S <b> 141, the recommended program calculation unit 51 determines whether the genre of the program whose viewing has been started is “news”. For example, since the genre of program A is “news”, the coefficient K is set to 3 in step S142.

  When it is determined in step S141 that the genre of the program that has started to be viewed is not news, in step S143, the recommended program calculation unit 51 determines that the genre of the program that has been viewed is “drama”. It is determined whether or not there is. For example, since the genre of the program B is “drama”, the coefficient K is set to 2 in step S144.

  If it is determined in step S143 that the genre of the program whose viewing has started is not news, in step S145, the recommended program calculation unit 51 determines that the genre of the program whose viewing has started is “variety”. It is determined whether or not there is. For example, when the genre of the program whose viewing has been started is “variety”, the coefficient K is set to 0.5 in step S146. If it is determined in step S145 that it is not a “drama”, the process ends. That is, in this case, when the genre is not “news”, “drama”, or “variety”, the coefficient K is 1 which is the default.

  Now, the description returns to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S127, the recommended program calculation unit 51 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (6) multiplied by the set coefficient.

W _N6 = K × X ₆ / VD _N
... (6)
Here, W _N6 is the weight of the program genre N, X ₆ is a reference value (arbitrarily set), VD _N indicates the time to erase time from the viewing end time of the program N. For example, in FIG. 28, when the length of time is VD _A : VD _B = 1: 1, if X _{6 is set} to 4, the weight of the genre of programs A and B is 3 for “news”, respectively. "Drama" becomes 2.

  The coefficient K in equation (6) may be set not in the numerator in the equation but in the denominator.

  The same applies to the weight update processing based on the time from the viewing end time to the erasing time.

  Here, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 30, the weight of the weight considering the time from the viewing end time to the erasing time by the video recorder of FIG. 25 in which the coefficient is multiplied by the weight corresponding to the value of the preference information item. The update process will be described. The processes in steps S161 to S166 and the processes in steps S169 and S170 in the flowchart of FIG. 30 are the same as the processes in steps S81 to S86, S88, and S89 described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since the process of step S167 is the same as the process of step S126 of FIG. 26, the description thereof is omitted.

  When the EPG program list as shown in FIG. 27 is displayed and viewing of the programs A and B is finished and deleted at the timing shown in FIG. 28 (right part), the viewing of each program ends. The time from the time to the erase time is calculated as follows.

In FIG. 28 (right part), the viewing end times of programs A and B are time V _Aend and V _Bend , respectively, and both are at time t ₆₃ , and the erasure times of programs A and B are respectively It is assumed that the times D _A and D _B are both at time t ₆₄ . In this case, the program A, time from the viewing end time of B to erase time, a VD _A, both represented by VD _B interval (time (t ₆₄ -t ₆₃₎₎ in FIG.

  In step S168, the recommended program calculation unit 51 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (7) for each program.

W _N7 = −K × X ₇ / VD _N
... (7)
Here, W _N7 is the weight of the program genre N, X ₇ is a reference value (arbitrarily set), VD _N indicates the time to erase time from the viewing end time of the program N. For example, in FIG. 28, if the length of time is VD _A : VD _B = 1: 1, and X ₇ is 4, the weight of the genre of programs A and B is “news” is −3, respectively. "Drama" is -2.

  With the above processing, when calculating the weight value of each item value of the preference information, the weight is multiplied by the coefficient, so that the weight reflecting the characteristics of the program and the viewing state of the user can be performed. As a result, in recommending a program, it is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  In the above, the coefficient is set according to the characteristic of the preference information item and the process of multiplying the weight has been described. For example, the coefficient is set according to the characteristic of the preference information item of the program and the viewing time. The weight may be obtained.

  FIG. 31 shows the configuration of a video recorder in which coefficients are set in accordance with the characteristics of program preference information items and viewing time, and weights are obtained.

  In the configuration of the video recorder in FIG. 31, the same components as those in the video recorder in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

  The video recorder of FIG. 31 differs from the video recorder of FIG. 1 in that a recommended program calculation unit 61 is provided instead of the recommended program calculation unit 21. The recommended program calculation unit 61 has the same basic functions as the recommended program calculation unit 21 of FIG. 1, but the recommended program calculation unit 61 corresponds to the characteristics of the program preference information items and the viewing time. Set coefficients and determine weights.

  Next, referring to FIG. 32, FIG. 31 shows the weight based on the viewing time by the video recorder in which the coefficient is set corresponding to the characteristic of the program preference information item and the viewing time, and the weight is obtained. The update process will be described.

  In step S161, the control unit 12 determines whether or not viewing of any recorded program is started by operating the operation unit 11, for example, determining that viewing of any recorded program is started. If so, the process proceeds to step S162.

  In step S162, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and stores the viewing start time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with an operation history indicating that an operation for starting viewing of the recorded program has been performed.

  In step S163, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the viewing of the recorded program that has been viewed has been terminated by operating the operation unit 11, for example, it is determined that the viewing of the recorded program has been terminated. If so, the process proceeds to step S164.

  In step S164, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a and causes the operation history storage unit 17 to store the viewing end time together with the operation history indicating that the operation for ending the viewing of the recorded program has been performed.

  In step S165, the recommended program calculation unit 21 calculates the viewing time.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 33 is displayed and viewing of programs A and B is started or ended at the timing shown in FIG. 34, from the viewing start time of each program. The time until the viewing end time is calculated as follows. In FIG. 34, programs A and B are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “news”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”.

In FIG. 34, the viewing end times of programs A and B are time V _Astart and V _Bstart , respectively, and are time t ₇₁ and t ₇₃ , respectively. _Assume that V _Aend and V _Bend are at times t ₇₂ and t ₇₄ , respectively. Further, it is assumed that the broadcast times of the programs A and B are CB _A (section (time (t ₇₃ -t ₇₁ ))) and CB _B (section (time (t ₇₅ -t ₇₃ ))), respectively.

In this case, the time from the viewing start time of the program A to the viewing end time, a section indicated by the CP _A in FIG. (Time (t ₇₂ -t _71)), in the same manner, in the program B, and This is a section (time (t ₇₄ -t ₇₃ )) indicated by CP _B in the figure.

In step S165, viewing times CP _A and CP _B are calculated for programs A and B in this case.

  In step S166, the recommended program calculation unit 61 inquires of the EPG data storage unit 19 and acquires the viewing time of the viewed program.

  In step S167, the recommended program calculation unit 61 performs a coefficient setting process. The coefficient setting process is the same as the process of step S126 in FIG.

  In step S168, the recommended program calculation unit 61 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (8) for each program.

W _N8 = X ₈ × K × (1-((CB _N −CP _N ) / CB _N ))
... (8)
Here, W _N8 is the weight of the program genre N, X ₈ is a reference value (arbitrarily set), CB _N is broadcast time of the program N, CP _N indicates the viewing time of the program N . For example, in FIG. 34, when the length of time is CP _A : CP _B : CB _A : CB _B = 1: 1: 2: 2, if X ₈ is 2, the genre of programs A and B The weights are -1/2 for "news" and 2 for "drama", respectively.

  In step S169, the recommended program calculation unit 61 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight, and the process returns to step S161.

  Through the above processing, by calculating the equation (8), for example, by setting the coefficient K for the genre “news” to 0 and setting the coefficient K for the “drama” to 1, “news” becomes 2. “Drama” is 1.

  With such a process, depending on the genre, only a part of the program being broadcast may be noticed, and even if not all of the programs are viewed, the weight calculation can be performed by assuming that all of them are viewed. That is, if there is a user who has a small program in the program and likes it only, such as news and variety, only watching a part of the small program will give the same weight as watching all the programs. This can be reflected in the weight of the preference information item. Furthermore, if the information of the portion of the small program is known, the weight of the information of the portion may be increased and reflected in the preference information. Conversely, for a program that is generally watched like drama or sports, if only a part of the program is viewed, it is possible to prevent a very large weight from being reflected in the preference information.

  With the above processing, it is possible to weight the program using the characteristics of the program, and it is possible to appropriately reflect the user's preference in the weight of the item of the preference information. It is possible to recommend a program that reflects the user's preference.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 35, the configuration of a video recorder that performs weighting based on the order of viewing start of a plurality of recorded programs will be described. In the configuration of the video recorder in FIG. 35, the same number is assigned to the same configuration as the video recorder in FIG. 1, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  A difference between the video recorder of FIG. 35 and the video recorder of FIG. 1 is that a recommended program calculation unit 71 is provided instead of the recommended program calculation unit 21. The recommended program calculation unit 71 has the same basic functions as the recommended program calculation unit 21 in FIG. 1, but the recommended program calculation unit 71 updates the weight based on the order of viewing start of a plurality of recorded programs. To do.

  Next, the weight update process based on the viewing start order from the viewable start time will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S181, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the operation unit 11 is operated so as to be in a viewable state, and repeats the process until the viewable state is obtained. For example, if it is determined that the viewing is possible, the process proceeds to step S182.

  In step S182, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and stores the viewable start time in the operation history storage unit 17 together with the operation history indicating that the operation is performed in the viewable state.

  In step S183, the control unit 12 determines whether or not viewing of any program is started by operating the operation unit 11. For example, when it is determined that viewing is started, the process is as follows. The process proceeds to step S184.

  In step S184, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the program is the first viewed program among the plurality of recorded programs. For example, if it is determined that the program is the first viewed program, step S185 is performed. , The rank counter Rank is reset to 1.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S184 that the program is not the first watched program, the control unit 12 increments the rank counter Rank by 1 in step S186.

  In step S187, the recommended program calculation unit 71 calculates the weight based on the rank of the program whose viewing has been started.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 37 is displayed and viewing of programs A, B, and C is started at the timing shown in FIG. 38, the order of the viewing start time of each program is Are set in the order in which viewing is started. In FIG. 37, programs A, B, and C are shown from the top, the broadcast time of program A is from 21:00 to 22:00, and the genre is “variety”. The broadcast time of program B is from 22:00 to 23:00, and the genre is “drama”. The broadcast time of program C is from 23:00 to 23:30, and the genre is “news”.

In FIG. 38, the viewable start times of programs A, B, and C are times C _Astart , C _Bstart , and C _Cstart , respectively, and are all time t ₈₁ , and programs A, B, and C The viewing start times are times V _Astart , V _Bstart , and V _Cstart , respectively, and are _assumed to be times t ₈₂ , t ₈₃ , and t ₈₄ , respectively. In this case, the time from the viewable start time of the program A to the viewing start time, a section indicated by the CV _A in FIG. (Time (t ₈₂ -t _81)), similarly, the program B, the C is, CV _B in each diagram section indicated by the CV _C (time (t ₈₃ -t _81)), the (time (t ₈₄ -t _81)).

  Therefore, in step S187, the recommended program calculation unit 71 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (9) for each program.

W _N9 = X ₉ / Rank _N
... (9)
Here, W _N9 is the weight of the genre of program N, X ₉ is a reference value (can be set arbitrarily), and Rank _N is the viewing start order of program N. For example, program A in Fig. 38, B and rank C, 1 position, 2 position, when a 3-position, when the reference value X ₉ is 4, the weight of the genre are "variety" 1, "drama "Is 2, and" News "is 1.33.

  In step S188, the recommended program calculation unit 71 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight.

  In step S189, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the viewable state is ended by operating the operation unit 11, and if it is determined that the viewable state is ended, that is, the video recorder is powered on. If it is determined that it is turned off, the process returns to step S181, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  If it is determined in step S183 that viewing of any recorded program has not started, the processing of steps S184 to S188 is skipped, and the processing proceeds to step S189.

  If it is determined in step S189 that the viewable state has not ended, the processing returns to step S183. That is, the processes in steps S183 to S189 are repeated until it is determined that the viewable state has been completed.

  In other words, the higher the viewing start order, that is, the sooner the user can view the program, the sooner the user views the program, the more interested the user is in the program, corresponding to the items included in the program information of the selected program By adding a larger weight to the preference information, it becomes possible to weight the user according to the user's preference. As a result, when recommending a program, a program that more reflects the user's preference is recommended. It becomes possible.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 39, a description will be given of the configuration of a video recorder that weights each item of preference information based on the time from the last viewing end time of a program such as a series drama to the next viewing start time. . In the configuration of the video recorder in FIG. 40, the same number is assigned to the same configuration as the video recorder in FIG. 1, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  The video recorder of FIG. 39 differs from the video recorder of FIG. 1 in that a recommended program calculation unit 81 is provided instead of the recommended program calculation unit 21. The recommended program calculation unit 81 has the same basic functions as the recommended program calculation unit 21 of FIG. 1, but the recommended program calculation unit 81 starts the next viewing from the last viewing end time of a series program such as a series drama. The weight of each item of the preference information is updated based on the time until the start time.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 40, a description will be given of the process of updating the weight of the value of each item of the preference information based on the time from the last viewing end time of the series program to the next viewing start time.

  In step S201, the control unit 12 determines whether or not viewing of any recorded program is started by operating the operation unit 11, and until it is determined that viewing of any recorded program is started. Repeat the process. For example, if it is determined that viewing of any recorded program has started, the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a and causes the operation history storage unit 17 to store the viewing start time together with an operation history indicating that an operation for starting viewing has been performed.

  In step S <b> 203, the recommended program calculation unit 81 inquires of the operation history storage unit 17 and searches for a program of the same series as the program that has recently been viewed and started to be viewed. That is, it is searched whether the program that has started to be viewed is, for example, a series program such as a series drama, and the previous program is recently viewed.

  In step S204, the recommended program calculation unit 81 determines whether or not a program of the same series as the program that has been recently viewed and started to be viewed has been searched. For example, the program that has recently been viewed and that has started to be viewed now. If a program of the same series is retrieved, the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S205, the operation history storage unit 17 is inquired, and the recommended program calculation unit 81 obtains the last viewing end time of a program of the same series as the program that has been recently viewed and started to be viewed now.

  In step S206, the recommended program calculation unit 71 calculates the time from the previous viewing end time of a program in the same series as the program that has just started to be watched to the viewing start time of the program that has just been viewed, and the calculation. The weight is calculated based on the given time.

  For example, when an EPG program list as shown in FIG. 41 is displayed and viewing of programs A1, A2, B1, and B2 ends or starts at the timing shown in FIG. Based on the viewing end time and the viewing start time, the weight is calculated as follows. In FIG. 41, programs A1, A2, B1, and B2 are shown from the top, the channels of programs A1 and A2 are “8ch”, the genre is “drama”, and both programs are of the same series. It is a program. Further, the channels of programs B1 and B2 are “6ch”, the genre is “drama”, and both programs are programs of the same series.

In FIG. 42, programs A1 and B1 are programs that have been viewed last time, and the viewing end times are times V _A1end and V _B1end , respectively, and are times t ₉₁ and t ₉₃ , respectively. The programs A2 and B2 are programs that have been viewed, and the viewing start times are times V _A2start and V _B2start , respectively, and are times t ₉₂ and t ₉₄ , respectively. At this time, the time from the viewing end time of the program A1 to the viewing start time of the program A2 is a section (time (t ₉₂ -t ₉₁ )) indicated by VS _A in the figure, and similarly, the program B1 time from viewing end time to the viewing start time of the program B2 is a section indicated by VS _B in FIG. (time (t ₉₄ -t _93)).

  Therefore, in step S206, the recommended program calculation unit 81 calculates the weight by calculating the following equation (10) for each program.

W _N10 = X ₁₀ / VS _N
... (10)
Here, W _N10 is the weight of the genre of programs N1 and N2, X ₁₀ is a reference value (can be set arbitrarily), and VS _N is the time from the viewing end time of program N1 to the viewing start time of program N2. Show. For example, as shown in FIG. 42, when the programs A1 and B1 finish viewing and the programs A2 and B2 start viewing, the channel weights are 2 for "8ch" and 1 for "6ch", respectively. .

  In step S207, the recommended program calculation unit 81 updates the preference information in the preference DB 22 based on the calculated weight.

  In step S208, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the viewing is ended by operating the operation unit 11, and repeats the process until the viewing ends. If it is determined in step S208 that viewing has ended, in step S209, the control unit 12 reads the time of the RTC 12a, and displays the viewing end time together with the operation history indicating that the operation for ending viewing has been performed. The data is stored in the storage unit 17, and the process returns to step S201.

  In step S204, if a program of the same series as the recently watched program that has been started is not searched, the processes of steps S205 to S207 are skipped.

  As a result of the above processing, the shorter the time interval for viewing a series program such as a recorded series drama, that is, the more the user views the series program sooner, the more the user is interested in that series program. By adding a larger weight to the preference information corresponding to the item included in the program information of the program, it becomes possible to perform weighting corresponding to the user's preference, and as a result, in recommending the program, It is possible to recommend a program reflecting the user's preference.

  The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software. When a series of processes 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.

  FIG. 43 shows a configuration of an embodiment of a personal computer when the electrical internal configuration of the video recorder of FIGS. 1, 19, 25, 31, 35, and 39 is realized by software. . The CPU 101 of the personal computer controls the overall operation of the personal computer. Further, when an instruction is input from the input unit 106 such as a keyboard or a mouse from the user via the bus 104 and the input / output interface 105, the CPU 101 is stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 correspondingly. Run the program. Alternatively, the CPU 101 reads a program read from the magnetic disk 121, the optical disk 122, the magneto-optical disk 123, or the semiconductor memory 124 connected to the drive 110 and installed in the storage unit 108 into a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103. To load and execute. Thereby, the function of the client PC 14 of FIG. 4 described above is realized by software. Further, the CPU 101 controls the communication unit 109 to communicate with the outside and exchange data.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 19, 25, 31, 35, and 39, the recording medium on which the program is recorded is distributed to provide the program to the user separately from the computer. Are recorded on a magnetic disk 121 (including a flexible disk), an optical disk 122 (including a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk)), and a magneto-optical disk 123 (MD (Mini-Disc) )), Or a package medium made of a semiconductor memory 124 or the like, but also provided in the ROM 102 in which the program is recorded and the storage unit 108 provided to the user in a state incorporated in the computer in advance. Hard disk.

  In this specification, the step of describing the program recorded on the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in time series in the order described, but of course, it is not necessarily performed in time series. Or the process performed separately is included.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. It is a figure explaining calculation of preference information. It is a flowchart explaining the program recommendation process by the video recorder of FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining weight update processing based on time from the start of EPG program list browsing to the selection of a recorded program by the video recorder of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining recording program selection time and recording start time. 6 is a flowchart for explaining weight update processing based on time from a recorded program selection time to a recording start time by the video recorder of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining recording program selection time and recording start time. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a weight update process based on a time from a recording reservation end time to a viewable start time by the video recorder of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining recording reservation end time and viewable start time. 6 is a flowchart for explaining weight update processing based on time from a viewable start time to a view start time by the video recorder of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining the viewable start time and the view start time. 3 is a flowchart for explaining weight update processing based on time from a viewing end time to an erasing time by the video recorder of FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining viewing end time and erasure time. It is a block diagram which shows the other structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. FIG. 20 is a flowchart for describing weight update processing based on a time from a viewable start time to a view start time by the video recorder of FIG. 19. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a figure which shows the example of background information. It is a figure which shows the example of characteristic information. It is a timing chart explaining the viewable start time and the view start time. It is a block diagram which shows the further another structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. FIG. 26 is a flowchart for describing weight update processing based on a time from a viewable start time to a view start time by the video recorder of FIG. 25. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining the viewing start time, viewing start time, viewing end time, and erasing time. It is a flowchart explaining the coefficient setting process by the video recorder of FIG. FIG. 26 is a flowchart for describing weight update processing based on time from a viewing end time to an erasing time by the video recorder of FIG. 25. It is a block diagram which shows the further another structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart explaining the update process of the weight based on viewing-and-listening time by the video recorder of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining viewing time. It is a block diagram which shows the further another structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. FIG. 36 is a flowchart for describing a weight update process based on the viewing start order from the viewable start time by the video recorder of FIG. 35. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining viewing time. It is a block diagram which shows the further another structure of the video recorder to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart explaining the update process of the weight based on the time from the last viewing end time of the series program by the video recorder of FIG. 39 to the next viewing start time. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of an EPG program list. It is a timing chart explaining the last viewing end time of a series program, and the next viewing start time. It is a figure explaining a recording medium.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Operation part, 12 Control part, 12a RTC, 13 Recording / playback part, 14 Recording data storage part, 15 Display part, 16 Tuner, 17 Operation history storage part, 18 EPG data acquisition part, 19 EPG data storage part, 20 EPG program List extraction unit, 21 recommended program calculation unit, 22 preference DB, 51 recommended program calculation unit, 61 recommended program calculation unit, 71 recommended program calculation unit, 81 recommended program calculation unit

Claims (4)

A first storage unit configured to store weight information set for each of the items of attribute information configured by a plurality of items and used to indicate a preference of a program;
An operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation;
The operation means operates the operation signal corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing the recorded program as an operation history. Second storage means for storing in association with the set time;
Among the operation histories stored in the second storage means, the time from the first time to the first operation being the time when the first operation was performed or the time set by the first operation; A weight for updating the weight information for each item included in the attribute information based on the time at which a different second operation is performed or the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation Information updating means;
Extracting means for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information;
The second operation, I different operations Der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second The operation is an operation of selecting a recorded program, and the weight update unit updates the weight information based on the time from the first time to the second time . First storage means for storing weight information set each time the item corresponds to the item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of the program, which is configured by a plurality of items based on information about the program;
An operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation;
The operation means using the operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program or the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing the recorded program as an operation history. Second storage means for storing in association with the time when
Among the operation histories for the program stored in the second storage means, a first time which is a time related to the first operation or a time set by the first operation, or The item included in the attribute information based on a time when a second operation different from the first operation is performed or a relation time with a second time relating to a time set by the second operation Weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each;
An information processing method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: extraction means for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information,
A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information composed of a plurality of items and used to indicate a preference of a program by the first storage unit;
An operation step of generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation means;
Corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation step process for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the operation step process for viewing the recorded program by the second storage means A second storage step for storing the operation content to be associated with the time when the processing of the operation step was performed as an operation history;
Of the operation history stored in the processing of the second storage step by the weight update means, the first operation time is the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation For each item included in the attribute information based on the time from the time to the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed, or the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation A weight information update step of updating the weight information of
An extraction step of extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information by the extraction means,
The second operation, I different operations Der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second The operation is an operation of selecting a recorded program, and the processing of the weight update step updates the weight information based on the time from the first time to the second time. Method. First storage means for storing weight information set each time the item corresponds to the item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of the program, which is configured by a plurality of items based on information about the program;
An operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation;
The operation means using the operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program or the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing the recorded program as an operation history. Second storage means for storing in association with the time when
Among the operation histories for the program stored in the second storage means, a first time which is a time related to the first operation or a time set by the first operation, or The item included in the attribute information based on a time when a second operation different from the first operation is performed or a relation time with a second time relating to a time set by the second operation Weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each;
An information processing apparatus comprising: an extracting unit that extracts a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information;
A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information composed of a plurality of items and used to indicate a preference of a program by the first storage unit;
An operation step of generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation means;
Corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation step process for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the operation step process for viewing the recorded program by the second storage means A second storage step for storing the operation content to be associated with the time when the processing of the operation step was performed as an operation history;
Of the operation history stored in the processing of the second storage step by the weight update means, the first operation time is the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation For each item included in the attribute information based on the time from the time to the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed, or the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation A weight information update step of updating the weight information of
An extraction step of extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information by the extraction means,
The second operation, I different operations Der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second The operation is an operation of selecting a recorded program, and the weight update step processing updates the weight information based on the time from the first time to the second time. A recording medium on which a readable program is recorded. First storage means for storing weight information set each time the item corresponds to the item of attribute information used to indicate a preference of the program, which is configured by a plurality of items based on information about the program;
An operation means for generating an operation signal in response to a user operation;
The operation means using the operation signal generated by the operation means for recording the program or the operation content corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation means for viewing the recorded program as an operation history. Second storage means for storing in association with the time when
Among the operation histories for the program stored in the second storage means, a first time which is a time related to the first operation or a time set by the first operation, or The item included in the attribute information based on a time when a second operation different from the first operation is performed or a relation time with a second time relating to a time set by the second operation Weight information updating means for updating the weight information for each;
A computer for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: extraction means for extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information;
A first storage step for storing weight information set for each item of attribute information composed of a plurality of items and used to indicate a preference of a program by the first storage unit;
An operation step of generating an operation signal in response to a user operation by the operation means;
Corresponding to the operation signal generated by the operation step process for recording the program or the operation signal generated by the operation step process for viewing the recorded program by the second storage means A second storage step for storing the operation content to be associated with the time when the processing of the operation step was performed as an operation history;
Of the operation history stored in the processing of the second storage step by the weight update means, the first operation time is the time when the first operation is performed or the time set by the first operation For each item included in the attribute information based on the time from the time to the time when the second operation different from the first operation is performed, or the time of the second time which is the time set by the second operation A weight information update step of updating the weight information of
An extraction step of extracting a program based on the weight information for each item included in the attribute information by the extraction means;
The second operation, I different operations Der the series of operations to be performed in response to the first operation, the first operation is an operation for browsing the EPG program list, the second The operation is an operation of selecting a recorded program, and the weight update process updates the weight information based on the time from the first time to the second time .

Images