JP7472055B2 - Electronic devices, systems, and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to electronic devices, systems, and programs.

There is a technology that displays a list of recorded program content, identifies the commercial parts of that content, and displays thumbnails of the non-commercial parts.

JP 2003-274361 A

When displaying recorded content such as the above, it is desirable to provide information that takes into account the user's preferences.

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a device that outputs list information of recorded content while taking into account the user's preferences.

The electronic device of the embodiment includes a recording information acquisition unit that acquires recording information, which is information about recorded broadcast programs, a preference information acquisition unit that acquires preference information indicating user preferences, a scene information acquisition unit that acquires scene information about the broadcast program, a statistical information acquisition unit that acquires statistical information, which is statistical information about the broadcast program, and a display control unit that displays a list of the recording information and playback information that plays back a portion of the recording information selected from the list, and the display control unit plays scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and playback information based on the preference information, and if there is no scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information, plays the playback information based on the statistical information.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an example of the overall configuration of a system according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the television device of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the television device of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of preference information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the scene information server of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the scene information server of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing in the system of this embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a recording list screen.

Embodiments of electronic devices, systems, and programs are described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment)
First, an example of the overall configuration of the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of the example of the overall configuration of the system of this embodiment. The system includes a television device 2 (electronic device), a scene information server 3 (server device), and a program statistical information server 4. The television device 2 can communicate with the scene information server 3 and the program statistical information server 4 via a public communication line such as the Internet.

The television device 2 is a broadcast receiver capable of recording broadcast programs, and stores recording information of broadcast programs recorded based on user operations, etc.

The scene information server 3 is a server device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the television device 2 via a network. The scene information server 3 stores scene information for broadcast programs that have already been broadcast. Scene information is information that indicates the title, description, characters, producer, etc. of each scene in each broadcast program. Scene information also includes information for identifying the program, such as the broadcast date and time of the program and the broadcast channel, and information such as the broadcast time of the scene in question.

The program statistical information server 4 is a server device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from the television device 2 via a network. The program statistical information server 4 stores program statistical information. Program statistical information is information that indicates the timing at which a program was popular based on statistical processing. Examples of statistical processing here include processing based on tallying up viewer ratings and processing based on tallying up the number of comments about a program on SNS (Social Networking Service).

The details of each component in the system will be described below with reference to Figure 2 onwards. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the television device 2 of this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the television device 2 includes an input terminal 202, tuners 203a to 203g, a signal processing unit 207, a graphics processing unit 208, an audio processing unit 209, an OSD (On Screen Display) signal generating unit 210, and a video processing unit 211.

A terrestrial digital broadcast signal received by a terrestrial broadcast receiving antenna 213 is input to the input terminal 202. The terrestrial digital broadcast signal is supplied to tuners 203a to 203g via the input terminal 202.

Tuners 203a to 203g are tuners for terrestrial digital broadcasting, and select the broadcasting signal of the channel specified by the control unit 216, which will be described later, from the terrestrial digital broadcasting signal supplied from the input terminal 202.

However, the television device 2 may also have an input terminal to which a satellite digital broadcast signal received by a BS/CS digital broadcast receiving antenna is input. The satellite digital broadcast signal is supplied to a satellite digital broadcast tuner via this input terminal.

The signal processing unit 207 demodulates the broadcast signal supplied from the tuners 203a to 203g to a broadcast signal including a digital video signal and audio signal. The signal processing unit 207 also selectively applies a predetermined digital signal processing to the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal and outputs the result to the graphics processing unit 208. The signal processing unit 207 also selectively applies a desired digital signal processing to the audio signal included in the digital broadcast signal and outputs the result to the audio processing unit 209.

A number of external input terminals 214a to 214d are connected to the signal processing unit 207. These external input terminals 214a to 214d can receive analog video and audio signals from an external device such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) recorder. The signal processing unit 207 digitizes the analog video and audio signals input from the external input terminals 214a to 214d. The signal processing unit 207 also performs a predetermined digital signal processing on the digitized video signal and outputs it to the graphics processing unit 208. The signal processing unit 207 also performs a predetermined digital signal processing on the digitized audio signal and outputs it to the audio processing unit 209.

The graphics processing unit 208 superimposes the OSD signal generated by the OSD signal generating unit 210 onto the digital video signal supplied from the signal processing unit 207 and outputs the superimposed signal to the video processing unit 211. The graphics processing unit 208 can also output either the digital video signal supplied from the signal processing unit 207 or the OSD signal generated by the OSD signal generating unit 210 to the video processing unit 211.

The video processing unit 211 converts the digital video signal or OSD signal input from the graphics processing unit 208 into an analog video signal or OSD signal in a format that can be displayed on the display screen of the video display unit 233, and outputs it to the video display unit 233. The video display unit 233 is, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display.

The audio processing unit 209 converts the digital audio signal input from the signal processing unit 207 into an analog audio signal in a format that can be played by the speaker 215, and outputs it to the speaker 215.

The television device 2 further includes a control unit 216, a card holder 217, various interfaces 218 to 221, and a brightness sensor 230. The control unit 216 includes a CPU 216a, a ROM 216b, a RAM 216c, and a non-volatile memory 216d.

The control unit 216 comprehensively controls various operations of the television device 2, such as the reception of broadcast signals, such as terrestrial digital broadcast signals and satellite digital broadcast signals. The control unit 216 also controls each part of the television device 2 according to operation information from the operation unit 222 or operation information input from the remote control 238 via the light receiving unit 223.

The CPU 216a controls the overall operation of the television device 2 by executing programs stored in the ROM 216b. The ROM 216b mainly stores the programs executed by the CPU 216a. The RAM 216c provides a working area when the CPU 216a executes the programs. The non-volatile memory 216d stores various setting information, control information, etc. of the television device 2.

The control unit 216 is connected to a card holder 217 to which a memory card 234 can be attached and detached via a card I/F 225. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information to and from the memory card 234 attached to the card holder 217 via the card I/F 225.

The control unit 216 is connected to the LAN terminal 226 via the communication I/F 218. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information via the communication I/F 218 with external devices such as the relay device 400 and LAN-compatible HDD (Hard Disk Drive) connected to the LAN terminal 226. That is, the control unit 216 can send and receive various information with the scene information server 3 and the program statistical information server 4 via the communication I/F 218. However, the communication I/F 218 may be configured to be wirelessly connectable to external devices such as the relay device 400.

The control unit 216 is connected to the HDMI terminal 227 via an HDMI (registered trademark) (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) I/F 221. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information to and from an external device connected to the HDMI terminal 227 via the HDMI I/F 221.

The control unit 216 is connected to a USB terminal 228 via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) I/F 219. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information to and from a storage device 237 including a USB HDD or the like connected to the USB terminal 228 via the USB I/F 219.

The storage device 237 includes, for example, an HDD or SSD (Solid State Drive), and is configured to record the digital signal received by the television device 2 as recording data. However, the storage device 237 may be built into the television device 2. The storage device 237 may also be connected to the television device 2 via a communication line. For example, the storage device 237 may be built into a server device on the cloud, or into a VOD (Video On Demand) management server device.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the television device 2 of this embodiment. The television device 2 includes a storage unit 241 (ROM 216b, RAM 216c, non-volatile memory 216d, and storage device 237 in Fig. 2), and a transmission unit 242, an acquisition unit 243, and a display control unit 244 as functional modules generated as a result of the program stored in the storage unit 241 being executed by the CPU 216a.

The transmitting unit 242 transmits various information to an external device. The acquiring unit 243 acquires various information from an external device and reads out various information stored in the memory unit 241.

The display control unit 244 executes a display process to display various information on the video display unit 233. For example, the display control unit 244 causes the video display unit 233 to display a list of recorded data in response to an input operation by the user (details will be described later).

The storage unit 241 stores recording information, which is information on recorded broadcast programs. The recording information is so-called content information of the broadcast programs. The content information of the broadcast programs includes not only recording information of terrestrial digital broadcast programs and satellite digital broadcast programs as described above, but also content information of programs broadcast via cable television and content information of programs broadcast by network distribution. The recording information also includes the genre, broadcast start time, and channel information of the broadcast program to be recorded. The storage unit 241 also holds preference information, which is information indicating the user's interests. Here, an example of preference information is shown in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, the preference information includes, for example, information on people and things that the user is interested in. Program names may be included as things of interest. The preference information may be categorized by genre. For example, people of interest may be categorized into musicians, entertainers, etc.

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the scene information server 3 of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 5, the scene information server 3 includes a communication I/F 301, an operation unit 302, a CPU 303, a memory 304, and a storage device 305.

The communication I/F 301 is an interface used for communication with an external device. The operation unit 302 has input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a display device such as a display.

The storage device 305 includes, for example, an HDD or SSD, and stores various information. The CPU 303 executes various programs to control each component of the scene information server 3. The memory 304 includes, for example, a ROM or RAM, and stores various programs and data used in various arithmetic processing by the CPU 303.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the scene information server 3 of this embodiment. The scene information server 3 includes a memory unit 311 (memory 304, storage device 305), and an acquisition unit 312, a transmission unit 313, and a generation unit 314 as functional modules generated as a result of the program stored in the memory unit 311 being executed by the CPU 303.

The storage unit 311 stores programs executed by the CPU 303 and a DB (DataBase). The acquisition unit 312 acquires various information from an external device. The transmission unit 313 transmits various information to an external device. The generation unit 314 generates scene information for each program using publicly known technology. The generation unit 314 stores the generated scene information in the storage unit 311.

Next, the process flow of each component in the system will be described. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the process in the system of this embodiment. The process of the flowchart shown in Figure 7 is a process for previewing recorded programs together with a recording list when a user operates a remote control or the like of the television device 2 to display the recording list.

First, when a request to display a recording list is made by a user operation, the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires the recording information stored in the memory unit 241 (step S1), and the display control unit 244 displays a recording list screen including a list of the acquired recording information (step S2).

Here, an example of the recording list screen will be described with reference to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a recording list. As shown in FIG. 8, recording list screen 501 includes recording list 502 and preview display portion 503. Recording list 502 is an area that displays list information about recording information. Preview display portion 503 is an area that displays and plays back a portion of the contents of recording information selected in recording list 502.

When a recorded program is selected from the recording list 502 by a user operation on the recording list screen 501 shown in FIG. 8, the display control unit 244 sends information that can identify the selected recorded program, such as the channel and start time of the program, to the transmission unit 242, which then transmits the information to the scene information server 3.

When the scene information server 3 acquires information that can identify a program, it transmits scene information of the program to the television device 2. The acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires the scene information from the scene information server 3 (step S3).

The acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires the preference information stored in the storage unit 241, and the display control unit 244 searches for scene information (target scene information) corresponding to the preference information (step S4). If the target scene information is present (step S5: Yes), the display control unit 244 extracts the video of the portion of the recording information that includes the scene indicated by the target scene information as playback information, and displays and outputs the playback information in the preview display portion 503 (step S6).

When there is a plurality of pieces of scene information corresponding to the preference information, the display control unit 244 may extract a portion of the video including the scenes indicated by all of the scene information in the playback order as playback information, and display and output the playback information in the preview display portion 503. In this case, the display control unit 244 can display and output all of the playback information that matches the user's preference information.

In addition, when there is a plurality of pieces of scene information corresponding to the preference information, the display control unit 244 may identify scene information based on the genre of the selected broadcast program and the genre of the preference information from the plurality of pieces of scene information, extract a portion of the video including the scene indicated by the identified scene information as playback information, and display and output the playback information in the preview display portion 503.

For example, if there is a plurality of pieces of scene information corresponding to people of interest in the preference information, the display control unit 244 prioritizes scene information of people of interest who are musicians if the broadcast program is a music program, and prioritizes scene information of people of interest who are comedians if the broadcast program is a variety program. In this case, the display control unit 244 displays playback information based on the preference information corresponding to the attributes of the program, so that playback information that is more in line with the user's preferences can be displayed. Note that a priority may be set in advance for the preference information, and the display control unit 244 may determine the target scene information based on the priority.

Also, in step S5, if there is no scene information of interest (step S5: No), the acquisition unit 243 acquires statistical information of the selected broadcast program from the program statistical information server 4, and the display control unit 244 extracts the video of the part of the recording information that includes the scene indicated by the statistical information as playback information, and displays and outputs the playback information in the preview display portion 503 (step S7). For example, the display control unit 244 extracts the scene with the highest viewing rate in the recording information as playback information. In this way, even if there is no scene information corresponding to the preference information, the display control unit 244 can display playback information of a part that is estimated to be highly rated by users who watched the program. Note that in step S7, the display control unit 244 may play a fixed number of seconds regardless of the content of the recording information, or may play the first scene other than the commercial.

In the above embodiment, the scene information of a recorded program is acquired when the recorded program is selected, but the scene information may be acquired in advance. Also, in the above embodiment, the system includes a program statistical information server 4, but the system does not need to include a program statistical information server 4.

In the above embodiment, the acquisition unit 243 has been described as acquiring the recording information stored in the storage unit 241, but the acquisition unit 243 may acquire the recording information from an external device via a network or the like. The external device may be, for example, a server device on a cloud or a VOD management server device.

The television device 2 according to this embodiment acquires preference information and scene information, and displays, on a list screen of recorded information, scene information corresponding to the selected recorded information and playback information based on the preference information. This allows the television device 2 to preview a scene that takes into account the user's preference information, and output list information of recorded content that takes into account the user's preferences.

The programs executed by each device (television device 2, scene information server 3, program statistical information server 4) in this embodiment can be provided by recording them in an installable or executable format on a recording medium that can be read by a computer device, such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Recordable), or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). The programs may also be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. For example, the television device in the above embodiments may be an electronic device that does not have a display means and has a receiving function that outputs a video signal to an external display device, such as a set-top box or a recorder. In addition, these novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

For example, among the image icons displayed on the user terminal, an image icon that can be enlarged on a television device may have a button on or near the image icon to instruct the television device to enlarge the image, and the color, shape, or display format of the enlarged image icon may be changed to make it visually distinguishable from other image icons that can be enlarged but cannot be displayed. Furthermore, when an instruction to enlarge the image on the television device is given from the user terminal, or during display processing on the television device, a voice notification may be given via the user terminal or the television device.

2...television device, 3...scene information server, 4...program statistical information server.

Claims (5)

a recording information acquisition unit that acquires recording information that is information on recording of a broadcast program;
A preference information acquisition unit that acquires preference information indicating a user's preference;
a scene information acquisition unit for acquiring scene information of a broadcast program;
a statistical information acquisition unit for acquiring statistical information that is statistical information on the broadcast program;
a display control unit that displays a list of the recording information and playback information for playing back a part of the recording information selected from the list;
the display control unit reproduces playback information based on scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information;
if there is no scene information corresponding to the recording information and the preference information selected from the list, playback information based on the statistical information is played back.
Electronics. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, when there is a plurality of pieces of scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information, the display control unit plays back playback information of the scene information based on the genre of the broadcast program of the recording information and the genre of the preference information. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein, when there is a plurality of scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information, the display control unit plays the playback information of the plurality of scene information based on the playback order of the recording information. A system including a server device and an electronic device,
The server device includes:
A storage unit that stores scene information of a broadcast program;
a transmission unit that transmits the scene information to the electronic device;
Equipped with
The electronic device includes:
a recording information acquisition unit that acquires recording information that is information on recording of a broadcast program;
A preference information acquisition unit that acquires preference information indicating a user's preference;
a scene information acquisition unit that acquires scene information of a broadcast program from the server device;
a statistical information acquisition unit for acquiring statistical information that is statistical information on the broadcast program;
a display control unit that displays a list of the recording information and playback information for playing back a part of the recording information selected from the list;
the display control unit reproduces playback information based on scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information;
if there is no scene information corresponding to the recording information and the preference information selected from the list, playback information based on the statistical information is played back.
system. Computers are electronic devices.
a recording information acquisition step of acquiring recording information which is information on recording of a broadcast program;
A preference information acquisition step of acquiring preference information indicating a user's preference;
A scene information acquisition step of acquiring scene information of a broadcast program;
a statistical information acquisition step of acquiring statistical information which is statistical information on the broadcast program;
a display control step of displaying a list of the recording information and playback information for playing back a part of the recording information selected from the list;
In the display control step, playback information based on scene information corresponding to the recording information selected from the list and the preference information is played back ;
if there is no scene information corresponding to the recording information and the preference information selected from the list, playback information based on the statistical information is played back.
program.

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