JP5603047B2 - Electronic program guide display system and control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a technique of an electronic program guide Display system and a control method for displaying a television broadcast program.

  A text multiplex broadcast in which digital data including text information is superimposed on a video / audio signal of a television broadcast has been put into practical use. As one of the information provided by the character multiplex broadcasting, there is an electronic program guide including a program name, a broadcasting time, and the like of a television broadcast program (hereinafter referred to as “program”). The electronic program guide is displayed on a display device such as a television. In addition to the text multiplex broadcasting, there are cases where a method of distributing using an individual radio wave region or a method of distributing via a network such as the Internet or a cable may be used as a method for distributing the electronic program guide.

  These electronic program guides may be distributed using an electronic program guide (EPG). In an electronic program guide using an electronic program guide, based on program information (program metadata), for example, a program of a specific genre that matches user preference information within the frame of an existing genre defined in the ARIB standard is displayed. The program was selected, displayed on the screen, and the user could easily select the program from the screen (see FIG. 12).

  The method of recommending a program to the user differs depending on the method of acquiring user preference data. For example, an initial interest registration method for recommending a program based on information obtained by initially registering information related to the user's interest, or There have been methods such as a viewing history usage method for recommending programs using the history of programs that the user has watched in the past, and a collaborative filtering method for recommending programs using the viewing history of other users. .

  However, when a program is selected by simply using the sum or average of metadata collected based on the user's viewing history, etc., as in the viewing history usage method, etc., if the history is not accumulated to some extent, I can't recommend a program that exactly matches my preferences. Furthermore, in the viewing history utilization method, the relationship between metadata is lost, and sufficient personalization cannot be performed. In addition, by stacking histories, for example, items such as genres that are easy to overlap as histories (items that are easy to detect as user-preferred) and items such as performers whose elements are easy to spread as histories (user-preferred) There is a case where the weighting is biased with an item that is difficult to detect.

  Therefore, as a related technique, a technique that appropriately weights an item such as a genre that is easy to overlap as a history and an item such as a performer that easily spreads an element as a history and solves the above problems has been proposed (for example, , See Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-200339

  However, in the related art described above, using an existing genre defined by the ARIB standard, a program of a specific genre that matches user preference information within the frame of the existing genre is only selected. For example, in the ARIB standard, the breakdown of “animation” as a genre includes only a subcategory of “domestic animation” and “overseas animation” and is not sufficiently subdivided. In some cases, the accuracy of obtaining the value is low.

  In order to accurately obtain a program that matches user preference information, it is preferable to generate a user-specific genre and select the program using the user-specific genre. That is, it is only necessary to use a user-specific genre (unique genre) other than the existing genre (existing genre) defined by the ARIB standard.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, to provide an electronic program guide Display system and a control method capable of displaying a program matching the preference information of the user accurately retrieve and For the purpose.

EPG Display system of the present invention, an electronic program including a plurality of electronic program guide display device for displaying an electronic program guide, respectively, and a server device connected by the plurality of electronic program guide display device and the network a table display system, when registering the unique genre of one user to be added to an existing genre defined in existing standards, using a predetermined viewing habits with the other users, via the server device meta data of a program are linked to the viewing program of the existing genre of the other user collected by, and registers as program meta data corresponding to the unique genre of the one user.

The control method of the present invention, an electronic program guide display including a plurality of electronic program guide display device for displaying an electronic program guide, respectively, and a server device connected by the plurality of electronic program guide display device and the network a control method of the system, a unique genre of one user to be added to an existing genre defined in existing standards, when registering using a predetermined viewing habits with the other users, the server device meta data of a program are linked to the viewing program of the existing genre of the other user collected via, and having a step of registering as a program meta data corresponding to the unique genre of the one user .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately acquire and display a program that matches user preference information.

It is a figure which shows the electronic program guide which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a display device and the like according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the genre management table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining "program metadata" concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic program guide which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure by which the program name and "program metadata" concerning an embodiment of the invention are displayed simultaneously. It is a figure explaining the point management table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display method of the program registered into the genre management table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display method of the program registered into the genre management table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the case where the display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shared by several persons. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic program guide relevant to this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The electronic program guide in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is displayed on a display device that includes a display unit that displays the electronic program guide. The display devices widely include known electronic program guide display devices such as TV receivers, personal computers, and mobile phones.

  An example of the configuration of a display device or a management device of the display device (hereinafter referred to as “display device or the like”) in this embodiment is shown in FIG. The display device or the like is an information processing device including a CPU 10 that executes software, a data storage unit 20, a main memory 30, an input device 40, and an output device 50, which are connected via a bus 60 for data transfer and the like. Yes.

  The data storage unit 20 stores program codes of software executed by the CPU 10 such as application software, API middleware, and device drivers, and data such as tables. The main memory 30 temporarily stores data generated by the processing of the CPU 10. The input device 40 is a remote controller, a keyboard, a mouse, or the like that receives video / audio signals and text information of television broadcasts, and that allows a user to input data and the like. The output device 50 is an interface capable of external transmission, a display as a display unit, or the like.

  The electronic program guide in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a user-specific genre (unique genre) other than the existing genre (existing genre) defined by the ARIB standard. The unique genre is a genre that matches the user's preference. The original genre is a detailed genre of existing genres (for example, anime, drama, soccer, etc.) stipulated in the ARIB standard (for example, “cool sports anime”, “high school romance drama”, “international game commentary” The person may be xx's soccer broadcast "). Hereinafter, a method for creating a unique genre will be described.

In the first creation method, a user operates a predetermined input device such as a display device for an electronic program guide, and a unique genre “genre name” is newly added to a genre management table as shown in FIG. 3, for example. sign up. The genre management table or the like may be displayed on a predetermined display unit and operated by the user while visually recognizing it.
Then, “program metadata” associated with the newly registered “genre name” is registered in the genre management table. For example, “Cool sports animation” as “Genre name” may be associated with “Production company” as “XX company” and “Creator” as “Taro Yamada”. Further, “nonsense and mysterious comedy animation” as “genre name” may be linked with “XX company” as “production company” and “Hanako Suzuki” as “creator”. Note that “program metadata” includes a wide range of attribute information of the program such as “performer” and “director” in addition to “production company” and “drawer”. It may be defined in the future other than “program metadata”, and the same applies in the following description.

  A display device in which data related to an electronic program guide is distributed via text multiplex broadcasting, a separate radio wave area, or a network such as the Internet or a cable, etc. Based on “program metadata”, refer to the “program metadata” column of the above genre management table, and if it matches, classify the program into “genre name” linked to the “program metadata” And display. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, there is “Captain Man Tsubasa” as a program. Among the “program metadata”, “production company” is “XX company” and “creator” is “Yamada”. In the case of “Taro”, the control unit of the display device or the like acquires the information of “Product Company” for “Program Company” and “Taro Yamada” for “Creator”. Then, referring to the “program metadata” column of the genre management table, “cool sports animation” is searched as “genre name” where “production company” and “drawer” match. Then, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the program name “Captain Man Tsubasa” of the program classified as belonging to the genre is displayed in “Cool sports animation” of “Genre name”.

  In the second creation method, the user selects a program that the user himself / herself determines as a genre to be newly created as an original genre from the electronic program guide displayed by the existing method on the display device, and the program name is displayed. In this state, the “genre name” of the unique genre associated with the program is registered by operating a predetermined input device such as a display device. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, “Cool sports animation” is registered as the “genre name” of the original genre, “XX company” as “production company” from “program metadata”, and When only “Taro Yamada” is selected as the “drawer”, only those two “program metadata” are linked as “genre names”. As a result, in the genre management table, “production company” “XX company” as “program metadata” and “creator” are linked to the new “genre name” “animated cool sports animation”. Only “Taro Yamada” is registered. In this way, the user can input the “program metadata” without reference to the reference information, instead of inputting the “program metadata” at all. It may be possible to change and input “drawer” “Jiro Sato” with “drawer” “Taro Yamada” as a hint.

A third preparation method will be described. First, as in the first creation method, the user operates a predetermined input device such as an electronic program guide display device to newly register a unique genre “genre name” in the genre management table. The genre management table or the like may be displayed on a predetermined display unit and operated by the user while visually recognizing it.
Then, “program metadata” associated with the newly registered “genre name” is registered in the genre management table. As in the second creation method, the user selects a program from the electronic program guide displayed by the existing method on the display device of the electronic program guide, and sets “genre name” and “program metadata” of the original genre. It may be to register.
Then, the user operates a predetermined input device such as an electronic program guide display device, and for example, “performer”, “production company”, “director”, and “creator” from “program metadata”. If “caster” matches, 1 point is awarded. If “production company” matches, 2 points are awarded. If “director” matches, 2 points are awarded. If “creator” matches, 1 point is awarded. A point management table to be performed is created (see FIG. 7).
The display device or the like refers to the genre management table and the point management table, and extracts programs whose total value of the designated attribute points in the “program metadata” is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value in the data storage unit 20. Grouped as belonging to the “genre name” of the original genre and displayed on a predetermined display unit.
The user operates a predetermined input device such as an electronic program guide display device to correct the grouping result. For example, an ungrouped program is added, or a grouped program is deleted.
The display device or the like, among the “program metadata” of the program added by the user correction, does not match the “program metadata” of the already grouped programs (for example, the name of the new “music manager”) Are newly registered in the genre management table as “program metadata” linked to the “genre name”, and are newly registered as given points in the point management table. In addition, when there is data (for example, the same name of “director”) that matches the “program metadata” of the already grouped programs among the “program metadata” of the programs added by the user's correction , Weight the points of “director” “△△”. In other words, when the “supervision” in the point management table matches, giving 2 points is changed to giving 3 points. This is because it is considered that programs individually designated by the user include “program metadata” that more accurately characterizes the genre.
When the correction feedback by the user correction is repeated, a unique genre reflecting the user's subjective preference is formed. Note that the same program may belong to a plurality of genres.

  A fourth creation method will be described. Information on each user's own genre created by the first to third creation methods described above is stored in a predetermined server connected to a display device or the like via a network. And, for example, using the tendency that Mr. A is “I like fighting anime”, Mr. B has newly added “genre name” and “animated fighting anime” to the genre management table from his display device. When the “program metadata” associated with the newly registered “genre name” is registered in the genre management table, the animation of A's viewing history (A ’s display device, etc.) The programs are regarded as programs belonging to a unique genre of “Fighting Anime” and collected via a predetermined server, and “program metadata” of the collected programs is registered in the genre management table.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a method for displaying a program registered in the genre management table. The genre management table creation method may be any of the first to fourth creation methods described above. Further, a plurality of these creation methods may be combined.

  First, existing genres such as animation 201 and sports 202 shown in FIG. 8 are displayed on the output device 50. Among these, when the user selects the animation 201 using the input device 40, the “genre name” registered in the management table is displayed. Here, a hot-blooded robot animation 211, a cool sport 212, and a cute super 213 shown in FIG. 8 are exemplified. Among these, when the user selects the cute super-power 213, programs 221 to 223 shown in FIG. 8 registered in the genre management table are displayed. From this display, the user can make a recording reservation or a viewing reservation.

  FIG. 9 shows another example of a display method of programs registered in the genre management table. When the user designates a date via the input device 40, a program guide broadcast on the designated date is displayed on the output device 50 as shown in FIG. The column of the program guide shown in FIG. 9 shows “genre names” registered in the genre management table, and the row of the program guide shown in FIG. 9 shows the broadcast time zone of the program. For each program, the broadcast channel and program name are displayed. In this case, the programs with the same broadcast date and time within the same unique genre will overlap in display. For example, in the “cool sports thing” of FIG. 9, two programs are broadcast at 19:00 units. When the broadcast date and time overlap, a shadow is provided on the display of the program to indicate that a plurality of programs are broadcast. At this time, it is preferable that the program determined to be closest to the user's preference is displayed in the forefront. Using the program table shown in FIG. 9, the user can make a recording reservation or a viewing reservation. Thus, by displaying the program for each “genre name” along the time axis, the user can visually know the broadcast time of the program. Thereby, it is possible to more smoothly select a program to be reserved or viewed.

  When a unique genre is created by each of the creation methods described above, when a user wakes up to a new trend of a program, it can be managed in a genre different from the conventional trend. For example, a new “genre name” “cute” It can be managed without mixing the characteristics of the “animation of sports sports” and the conventional “anime of sports sports” (without losing the characteristics just like sports).

  Further, when the display device is shared by a plurality of people such as family members, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, “drama” (existing prescribed genre) as an example of a specific genre, a father, mother, child Convenience improves because each person has a unique genre that matches their preferences and can be selected.

  In the electronic program guide according to the present embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 11, data related to the electronic program guide is stored in the data storage unit 20 under the control of a predetermined control unit realized by the CPU 10 such as a display device (S101). Among the stored data, those that match the original genre registered in the genre management table of the data storage unit 20 (selectable in a pull-down format or the like) are classified as programs corresponding to the original genre (S102) and displayed. It is displayed by being output on the display unit of the apparatus (S103). From the data of the program scheduled to be broadcast on the display device or the like as data related to the above electronic program guide and the data of the recorded program, the program belonging to the unique genre designated by the user is searched and classified and displayed. Support program selection.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, a process for realizing the function of each device may be performed by causing each device to read and execute a program for realizing the function of the display device or the like. Further, the program is transmitted to another computer system by a transmission wave via a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a magneto-optical disk, or via a transmission medium such as the Internet or a telephone line. Also good.

10 CPU
20 Data storage unit 30 Main memory 40 Input device 50 Output device 60 Bus

Claims (6)

An electronic program guide display system including a plurality of electronic program guide display device for displaying an electronic program guide, respectively, and a server device connected by the plurality of electronic program guide display device and the network,
Unique genre of one user to be added to an existing genre defined in existing standards, when registering using a predetermined viewing habits with the other users, the other collected via the server device electronic program guide display system and registers the metadata of the program to be linked to the viewing program of the existing genre of the user, as the program meta data corresponding to its own genre of the one user. The electronic program guide display system according to claim 1, wherein the unique genre is set in association with a genre name and specific program metadata characterizing the unique genre. 3. The electronic program guide display system according to claim 2, wherein the specific program metadata is acquired from program metadata of a predetermined program. A control method for an electronic program guide display system, comprising: a plurality of electronic program guide display devices each displaying an electronic program guide; and a server device connected to the plurality of electronic program guide display devices via a network,
Unique genre of one user to be added to an existing genre defined in existing standards, when registering using a predetermined viewing habits with the other users, the other collected via the server device control method characterized by comprising the step of registering the meta data of a program are linked to the viewing program of the existing genre of the user, as the program meta data corresponding to its own genre of the one user.   5. The control method according to claim 4, wherein the unique genre is set in association with a genre name and specific program metadata characterizing the unique genre.   6. The control method according to claim 5, wherein the specific program metadata is acquired from program metadata of a predetermined program.

Images