JP6759278B2 - Video display device and its viewing support method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a video display device, a viewing support method thereof, and a program.

In recent years, with the start of terrestrial digital broadcasting services, BS (Broadcasting Satellite), CS (Communications Satellite) digital broadcasting services, video distribution services, etc., the number of TV channels has increased remarkably. A user posts and shares a program broadcast by such a broadcasting service, a program recording a broadcast program, a video content distributed by a video distribution service, or a server on the Internet by an unspecified number of users. , You can select and watch content that you are highly interested in from a large number of options such as video sites that you can watch (hereinafter collectively referred to as "content"). And information processing devices typified by television receivers and personal computers capable of viewing these contents have become widespread.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-156579

By the way, when a user selects a viewing program, the viewing program has already started broadcasting, and it often happens that the viewing program must be viewed from the middle. In such a case, the user gives up watching the part that has already been broadcast, or if the user wants to watch the watched program from the beginning, the user himself searches the program guide, etc., and the same. I had to see if the show would be rebroadcast.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and when a user designates a program that has already started broadcasting as a viewing program, the content can be regarded as the same as a viewing program that can be viewed thereafter. An object of the present invention is to provide a video display device capable of providing information to a user, a viewing support method thereof, and a program.

The first aspect of the present invention satisfies a predetermined condition that when a viewing program is designated by a user, the viewing program can be viewed after the designated time and can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program. a search unit for searching the content as the viewing candidate content, time in which the viewing program is designated by the user, from the broadcast start time of the viewing program, a predetermined time is determined according to the length of the program genre or program This is a video display device including a notification unit capable of notifying information about the viewing candidate content after the lapse of time .

The second aspect of the present invention is a viewing support method applied to a video display device including a display unit, and when a viewing program is specified by the user, the viewing program can be viewed after the specified time. The process of searching for content satisfying a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program as viewing candidate content, and the time when the viewing program is designated by the user are set from the broadcast start time of the viewing program . It is a viewing support method including a step of notifying information about the viewing candidate content when a predetermined time has elapsed, which is determined according to the genre of the program or the length of the program .

A third aspect of the present invention is a program applied to a video display device including a display unit, and when a viewing program is designated by the user, the viewing program can be viewed after the designated time. In addition, the process of searching for content satisfying a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program as viewing candidate content, and the time when the viewing program is designated by the user are set from the broadcast start time of the viewing program. It is a program for causing a computer to execute a process of notifying information about the viewing candidate content when a predetermined time has elapsed, which is determined according to a genre or a program length .

According to the present invention, when a user designates a program that has already started broadcasting as a viewing program, it is possible to provide the user with information on content that can be regarded as the same as a viewing program that can be viewed thereafter. Play.

It is a schematic block diagram which showed an example of the hardware configuration of the image display device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which extracted and showed an example of the function related to program viewing among various functions which the image display device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention has. It is a figure which showed an example of the viewing candidate content which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which showed an example of the processing procedure of the viewing support method which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an image display device according to the present invention, a viewing support method thereof, and an embodiment of a program will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, an information processing device such as a notebook PC, a mobile phone, or a tablet terminal will be described as an example of the image display device, but the image display device of the present invention is not limited to this example. The video display device may have a function of viewing programs distributed from a plurality of broadcasting stations, and examples thereof include a television receiver and the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the video display device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the video display device 1 functions as, for example, a CPU 11, an auxiliary storage device 12 for storing a program executed by the CPU 11, a data referenced by the program, and the like, and a work area at the time of executing each program. It is provided with a main storage device 13, a communication interface 14 for connecting to a network, an input unit 15, a display unit (notification unit) 16, a TV tuner unit 17, and the like. Each of these parts is connected via, for example, a bus 18. Examples of the auxiliary storage device 12 include magnetic disks such as HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), magneto-optical disks, and semiconductor memories such as SSDs (Solid State Drives).

As an example, a series of processes for realizing various functions described later are stored in the auxiliary storage device 12 in the form of a program (for example, a viewing support program), and the CPU 11 reads this program into the main storage device 13. , Various functions are realized by executing information processing and arithmetic processing. The program is pre-installed in the auxiliary storage device 12, provided in a state of being stored in another computer-readable storage medium, or distributed via a wired or wireless communication means. Etc. may be applied. Computer-readable storage media include magnetic disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, semiconductor memories, and the like.

In FIG. 1, the communication interface 14 is connected to a network represented by the Internet to provide an interface with the network. The input unit 15 is a user interface such as a remote controller, keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc. for the user to give an instruction to the image display device 1. The display unit 16 has, for example, a display screen composed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and the result of an application software program executed by the video display device 1, a TV program received by the TV tuner unit 17, and communication. It displays a moving image content or the like received by the interface 14. Further, the display unit 16 may be a projector that projects display information.
The TV tuner unit 17 includes at least one of a terrestrial digital tuner, a BS tuner, and a CS tuner, and receives terrestrial digital, BS, and CS broadcasts transmitted from a plurality of broadcasting stations from their respective antennas for demodulation and the like. Perform a predetermined process.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a function related to program viewing among various functions possessed by the video display device 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the video display device 1 includes, for example, a program information database 21, a recording database 22, a search unit 23, a display processing unit 24, an input unit 15, a display unit 16, and a TV tuner unit 17. ..

The program information database 21 stores information about programs broadcast from each broadcasting station. For example, the program information database 21 contains a program name, a genre (for example, "drama", "sports", "variety", "animation", "music", "information", "movie", "theater", "news". , "Weather forecast", etc.), an outline of the broadcast content (for example, subtitle, performer, year of production, etc.), broadcast start time, broadcast end time, etc. are stored in a plurality of program information associated with each other.

For example, the program information database 21 may store an electronic program guide (EPG: Electronic Program Guide) as the plurality of program information.
Further, the program information database 21 may store, in addition to or instead of the information of such an electronic program guide, program information in which program information that can be regarded as the same is associated with each other. By relating the programs that can be regarded as the same to each other in this way, when the viewing program is specified by the user, it is possible to quickly acquire the program that can be regarded as the same as the viewing program.

Further, the program information database 21 may store the program information of the program stored in the recording database 22.
Further, in the program information database 21, video contents and video sites that can be regarded as the same as each program described in the electronic program guide are also stored in the program information database 21 in association with the information of the programs that can be regarded as the same. You may be. Here, the video content includes, for example, video content distributed from a video distribution service, video content that can be posted, shared, and viewed by an unspecified number of users on a server on the Internet. By storing the information of the moving image content in the program information database 21 in this way, it is possible to promptly provide the moving image content as the viewing candidate content described later.
In addition, in this embodiment, "content" means including the above-mentioned program and moving image content.

Further, each program information may include value-added information of the program. Examples of value-added information include video resolution, program broadcasting time, presence / absence of advertisement, presence / absence of extension support, presence / absence of sub-audio, presence / absence of data broadcasting, information on reception status (for example, reception level), and the like. At least one of these added value information may be registered in the program information.

The recording database 22 stores the data of the recorded program. When the recording / playback is instructed by the user, the recorded program specified by the user is read from the recording database 22 and played back, so that the recorded program is displayed on the display unit 16.

When the viewing program is specified by the user, the search unit 23 searches the program information database 21, and the viewing program can be viewed after the specified time, and can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program. Search for content that meets the conditions as viewing candidate content.
For example, in the case of a program, the broadcast of the watched program is started after the specified time, in other words, the watched program is a program whose broadcast start time is set after the time specified by the user. Search for programs that can be regarded as almost the same as viewing candidate content.
In addition, for video content distributed by video distribution services, content posted by an unspecified number of users, etc., the broadcast time is not fixed as in programs, so the time when the program to be viewed is specified by the user. Search for video content that can be viewed thereafter and that can be regarded as almost the same as the viewing program as viewing candidate content.

Here, predetermined conditions that can be regarded as substantially the same can be arbitrarily set. As an example of "predetermined conditions that can be regarded as almost the same", "a program having the same genre and the same title as the viewing program" and "a program having the same genre and the same keyword as the viewing program in the subtitle". , "Programs with the same genre and subtitle similarity of a predetermined value or more", "Programs with the same genre and the same performers", and the like.

The search unit 23 may acquire a program that can be regarded as the same as the viewing program from the program information database 21 by using a machine learning technique such as a neural network or genetic programming.

The search unit 23 may not perform a search when the genre of the viewed program corresponds to a preset genre. For example, in genres such as news and weather forecasts, the same keywords are relatively often used, but the broadcast contents are not the same and tend to differ greatly depending on the program. Therefore, such a genre may be excluded from the search target of the viewing candidate content. That is, when a program belonging to such a genre is designated as a viewing program, the designated viewing program may be displayed on the display unit 16 without performing a search by the search unit 23.

The display processing unit 24 determines a transmission band based on the user's channel selection operation using the input unit 15, and sets a reception frequency matching the determined transmission band in the corresponding tuner provided in the TV tuner unit 17. A program based on the user's channel selection operation is displayed on the display unit 16.
Further, the display processing unit 24 receives the video content or the like on the Internet via the communication interface 14 based on the user's channel selection operation using the input unit 15, and causes the display unit 16 to display the received video content. .. The video content may be displayed by streaming, or the video content once downloaded may be played back in the recording database 22.

Further, the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 16 to display information on the viewing candidate content when the time specified by the user for the viewing program has passed the broadcast start time of the viewing program. Here, although the broadcast time of the viewing program has passed, if it has just started, there may be no problem even if the viewing is continued as it is. In consideration of such a case, the display processing unit 24 notifies the information regarding the viewing candidate content when the time specified by the user for the viewing program is after a predetermined time has elapsed from the broadcast start time of the viewing program. It may be that.

Here, the "predetermined time" can be arbitrarily set, but for example, it may be constant regardless of the content and length of the program, and is determined for each genre of the program or according to the length of the program. It may have been done. For example, a predetermined ratio of time with respect to the length of the program may be defined as "predetermined time".
Further, as the "information about the viewing candidate content", for example, in the case of a program, the title, broadcasting station, broadcasting start time, and the like can be mentioned as an example. Further, for example, in the case of video content or the like, the title and distribution source information or the like can be given as an example.

In the present embodiment, the "viewing program" includes "a program that is desired to be viewed immediately" and "a program that starts recording immediately".
That is, when the user specifies a program of interest from the program guide and wishes to watch it immediately, or when a viewing program is specified by switching channels, the specified viewing program has already started broadcasting. If this is the case (or if a predetermined time or more has passed since the start of broadcasting), the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 16 to display the viewing candidate content.
In addition, when the user specifies a program of interest from the program guide and wishes to start recording immediately, the viewing program for which recording is desired has already started broadcasting (or is broadcast). (When a predetermined time or more has passed from the start), the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 16 to display the viewing candidate content.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the user has designated the program X of the broadcasting station A as a viewing program, but this viewing program has already started broadcasting. In such a case, the display processing unit 24 may perform program information (for example, program δ) of "program α", "program β", "program γ", and "program δ" obtained as viewing candidate contents as a result of the search by the search unit 23. , Title, broadcast start time, etc.) are displayed on the display unit 16.

As described above, the display processing unit 24 may display the added value information of each viewing candidate content together when a plurality of viewing candidate contents exist. As a result, the user can select the viewing candidate content having added value that suits his / her taste from the plurality of viewing candidate contents.
Further, when a plurality of viewing candidate contents exist, the display processing unit 24 has the highest priority viewing according to the priority set in advance by the user or the priority evaluated from the past tendency of the user. Candidate content may be selected and the selected viewing candidate content may be displayed on the display unit 16.

When the viewing candidate content is displayed on the display unit 16, the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 16 to display a message instructing the display unit 16 to select the viewing candidate content for which viewing reservation or recording reservation is desired. Further, when the video distribution content or the recorded program is included in the viewing candidate content, the display processing unit 24 may display a message to the effect of viewing and playing the content on the display unit 16.

When the user selects a viewing candidate content for which viewing reservation or recording reservation is desired, the video display device 1 registers the viewing reservation or recording reservation for the selected viewing candidate content according to the user's instruction.
In addition, the display processing unit 24 ends the display of the viewing candidate content if there is no input by the user within a certain period of time after displaying the viewing candidate content.

Next, the viewing support method in the video display device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the viewing support method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

First, when an input unit 15 such as a remote controller is operated by the user and a viewing program is designated (SA1), the display processing unit 24 performs channel selection processing for the viewing program (SA2). As a result, the transmission band corresponding to the viewing program is set in the TV tuner unit 17, the broadcast data of the viewing program is received by the TV tuner unit 17, and after performing predetermined processing such as decoding, the display unit 16 is displayed. Is displayed.
Subsequently, the search unit 23 searches the program information database 21, and sets the content that can be viewed after the designated time of the viewing program and satisfies a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program as the viewing candidate content. Search (SA3).

Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the time specified by the user for the viewing program has passed the broadcasting start time of the viewing program and the viewing candidate content exists (SA4). As a result, in the case of a negative determination (SA4: NO), the process is terminated as it is.
On the other hand, in step SA4, in the case of affirmative determination (SA4: YES), that is, when the time specified by the user for the viewing program has passed the broadcasting start time of the viewing program and the viewing candidate content exists. , It is determined whether or not the user's designation of the viewing program is zapping (SA5). Whether or not it is zapping is determined by, for example, whether or not it stays on the same channel for a predetermined time or longer. As a result, if it is determined that zapping is performed (SA5: YES), the process is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined that zapping is not performed (SA5: NO), the user is notified of the information of the viewing candidate content (SA6).

When at least one viewing candidate content is specified by the user and an instruction for viewing reservation or recording reservation is input (SA7: YES), the reservation process is performed according to the input process from the user (SA8), and the process is performed. finish. On the other hand, if there is no input from the user within a predetermined time from the display of the viewing candidate content (SA7: NO), the display of the viewing candidate content is terminated and the process is terminated.

As described above, according to the video display device 1 according to the present embodiment, the viewing support method thereof, and the program, when the viewing program is specified by the user, the viewing program can be viewed after the specified time. Content that exists and satisfies certain conditions that can be regarded as the same as the viewing program is searched as viewing candidate content, and when the time specified by the user for the viewing program has passed the broadcast start time of the viewing program, the viewing candidate content Provide users with information about. In this way, by providing the user with a program that can be regarded as the same as the program that the user has partially overlooked, the user can easily confirm the program that can be regarded as the same that will be broadcast after the present. This makes it possible to easily reserve the provided content (viewing reservation, recording reservation, etc.). Further, when the video content or the recorded program distributed from the video distribution service is provided as the viewing candidate content, the video content or the recorded program can be immediately viewed instead of the viewing program.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. Various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiment without departing from the gist of the invention, and the modified or improved forms are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Moreover, you may combine the said embodiment as appropriate.
Further, the processing procedure of the viewing support method described in the above embodiment is also an example, and unnecessary steps may be deleted, new steps may be added, or the processing order may be changed within a range not deviating from the gist of the present invention. You may.

For example, in the present embodiment, the viewing candidate content is visually notified to the user by displaying the viewing candidate content on the display unit 16, but the notification method is not limited to this example. For example, the notification may be made by hearing through voice or the like, or may be notified by a combination of display and voice.
Further, the input operation for selecting the viewing program by the user and the input operation for instructing the reservation of the viewing candidate content may be performed by operating the input unit 15 such as a remote controller, or may be input by voice.

Further, in the processing procedure of the viewing support method shown in FIG. 4, the search process (SA3) may be performed before the channel selection process (SA2), or these processes may be performed in parallel at the same time. Good.
Further, the zapping determination process (SA5) may be performed immediately after the channel selection process (SA2) or immediately after the search process (SA3). For example, if it takes a long time to search for the viewing candidate content, the notification of the viewing candidate content in step SA6 may be delayed. By taking such a case into consideration and performing the search process at an earlier stage than the zapping determination, it is possible to notify the viewing candidate content more quickly.

Further, in the present embodiment, the video display device 1 is provided with the program information database 21, but the program information database 21 does not necessarily have to be possessed by the video display device 1. For example, it may exist on a predetermined cloud, or such information published on the Internet may be used. For example, the viewing candidate content may be searched by using the electronic program guide published on the Internet, the distribution status of the video content published by the video distribution service, or the like.

1 Video display device 15 Input unit 16 Display unit 17 TV tuner unit 21 Program information database 22 Recording database 23 Search unit 24 Display processing unit

Claims (11)

When a viewing program is specified by the user, content that can be viewed after the specified time and satisfies a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program is searched as viewing candidate content. Search department and
If the time in which the viewing program is designated by the user, from the broadcast start time of the viewing program, which is after a predetermined time determined in accordance with the length of the program genre or a program, the viewing candidate content A video display device including a notification unit capable of notifying information about. The video display device according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit displays information about the viewing candidate content on the display unit. The video display device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the search unit searches for the viewing candidate content from a program information database in which information about a program guide broadcast from each broadcasting station is stored. The video display device according to claim 3 , wherein the search unit searches for the viewing candidate content from a program information database in which an electronic program guide is stored. The video display device according to claim 3 , wherein the search unit searches for the viewing candidate content from the program information database in which program information satisfying a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same is stored in association with each other. The video display device according to any one of claims 3 to 5 , wherein the search unit searches the viewing candidate content from the program information database in which information about the recorded program is stored. The video display device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the search unit searches for the viewing candidate content using content information provided by a video distribution service that can be viewed by a user. The video display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein when the viewing candidate content is designated by the user, the viewing candidate content is reserved for viewing or recording. The video display device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , wherein the search unit does not search for the viewing candidate content when the genre of the viewing program corresponds to a preset genre. A viewing support method applied to a video display device provided with a display unit.
When a viewing program is specified by the user, content that can be viewed after the specified time and satisfies a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program is searched as viewing candidate content. Process and
Time the viewing program is designated by the user, from the broadcast start time of the viewing program, when it is after a predetermined time determined in accordance with the length of the program genre or a program, relating to the viewing candidate content A viewing support method having a process of notifying information. A program applied to a video display device equipped with a display unit.
When a viewing program is specified by the user, content that can be viewed after the specified time and satisfies a predetermined condition that can be regarded as substantially the same as the viewing program is searched as viewing candidate content. Processing and
Time the viewing program is designated by the user, from the broadcast start time of the viewing program, when it is after a predetermined time determined in accordance with the length of the program genre or a program, relating to the viewing candidate content A program that causes a computer to perform the process of notifying information.

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