JPH05347719A - System and method for control of video equipment communication - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain remote control for such general household video equipment as a TV set, a video recorder, etc., that can be remotely controlled by means of the infrared rays via a network. CONSTITUTION:A video equipment communication controller 5 sets the operating states of the video equipments 3 and 4 including at least the ON/OFF state of a power supply and the channel setting state when the operation control instructions are inputted to both equipements 3 and 4 via a communication circuit 1 and in response to these instructions inputted via the circuit 1. Then, the controller 5 produces the infrared commands in response to those input operation instructions and sends them to each video equipment to be controlled. The, it is possible to obtain a video equipment communication control system which controls the equipment 3 and 4 that are controlled by a remote control unit using the infrared rays from a remote position via the circuit 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for controlling a video device such as a television or a video from a remote place via a communication line, and more particularly to a video for a general home television or video. The present invention relates to a video equipment communication control system and a video equipment communication control method suitable for efficiently performing remote control of equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to control a video device such as a television or a video from a remote place via a network, the video device is controlled by RS-232C or D2B (Dome.
It is necessary to use a device equipped with input / output control such as stic Digital Bus). However, devices equipped with these interfaces are expensive and not common, and it is difficult to control home televisions, videos, etc. from a remote location via a network.

Regarding the technology for controlling the operation of household televisions and video equipment using a computer and infrared rays, for example, "Transistor Technology January 1990 Issue" edited by CQ Publishing Co. (1990 CQ Publishing (Published by the company), pages 424 to 437.
In this technology, a computer stores control information of each remote controller of a plurality of devices that operate with an infrared remote controller, and the computer centrally controls each device.

However, this technique does not consider remote control including a computer via a communication line. For example, since powering on / off of video devices such as general televisions and video is a paddle (reversing the state), the power control command sent to each video device will turn on / off the power of the video device. Although it is necessary to control after detecting, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, it is possible to detect the operating state such as the on / off state of the power source of the video device such as the television or the video to be controlled and the channel setting state. Can not.

[0005]

The problem to be solved by the prior art is that, in the prior art, in the case of remote control of a general household video equipment operated by a remote control utilizing infrared rays, it is possible to perform remote control via a communication line. It is not taken into consideration, and the operating status such as the power status and channel setting status of the video equipment to be controlled cannot be detected, and the normal home video equipment can be remotely controlled correctly via the communication line. This is a point that cannot be done. An object of the present invention is to solve these problems of the prior art, and to make it possible to remotely operate a video device such as a television or video for general households without a special control interface via a communication line. It is an object of the present invention to provide a video device communication control system and a video device communication control method for enabling these video devices to be used as a display device or a video recording device of a network terminal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a video equipment communication control system and a video equipment communication control method according to the present invention include (1) operation control for a video equipment input through a communication line. An infrared command corresponding to the instruction is generated, and the infrared command is transmitted to the video device to be controlled, and a video device communication control device is provided.
It is characterized by controlling a video device operated by a remote control using infrared rays via a communication line. (2) In the video equipment communication control system according to (1) above,
The video equipment communication control device includes an operation control command, and an input / output control unit that controls transmission / reception of information via a communication line,
An infrared command transmitting unit for generating an infrared command corresponding to the operation control command received by the input / output control unit and transmitting the infrared command to the video device to be controlled is provided. (3) In the video equipment communication control system according to any one of (1) and (2) above, the video equipment communication control device sets at least an on / off state of a power supply of the video equipment and a channel setting state. It is characterized by further comprising a video device operating state setting unit that determines an operating state of the video device including the video device and sets the operating state of the video device to an operating state corresponding to an operation control command input via a communication line. .. (4) In the video equipment communication control system according to the above (3), the video equipment operating state setting section includes a video signal generating section for generating a specific test video signal to be output to the video equipment, and a video equipment from the video equipment. Of the video monitor signal and whether the video monitor signal is the same as the test video signal output from the video signal generating section, and a video signal determining section that determines whether the video signal is the same as the test video signal output from the video signal generating section. Based on the determination result, the operation state determination unit that determines the operation state of the video device including at least the power on / off state and the channel setting state, and the operation state of the video device based on the determination result of the operation state determination unit, An operation state switching unit that switches to an operation state that can correspond to an operation control command input via a communication line is provided.
(5) In the video equipment communication control system according to any one of (1) to (4), an infrared command transmitted from the video equipment communication control is received, and the received infrared command is sent to the video equipment. An infrared command relay device for transferring is provided. (6) In the video device communication control method of the video device communication control system according to any one of (1) to (5), the video device communication control device includes an operation control command input via a communication line. The presence of a video monitor signal from the connected video equipment is detected during reception of the, and if there is no video monitor signal, it is determined that the power of this video equipment is off, and the power of the video equipment is turned on. Is transmitted, and after the power of the video equipment is turned on, the infrared command corresponding to the operation control command is transmitted. (7) In the video equipment communication control method of the video equipment communication control system according to any one of (1) to (6), the video equipment communication control device includes an operation control command input via a communication line. When receiving, the test video signal that has a brightness change in the horizontal direction but no brightness change in the vertical direction is output to the connected video equipment, and this test video signal and the video monitor from the video equipment are output. Match the signal,
If the discrepancy is determined by comparing the luminance distribution of one arbitrary line, and if the test video signal and the video monitor signal do not match, the video equipment is powered on, but the channel is in the desired state. If it is not set to, send an infrared command to switch the channel of the video equipment,
Switch the channel of the video equipment, repeat the match / mismatch between the test video signal and the video monitor signal from the video equipment, and respond to the operation control command when the test video signal and the video monitor signal match. It is characterized by transmitting an infrared command.

[0007]

In the present invention, the infrared command to be transmitted to the image equipment such as the television or the video to be operated is generated based on the operation control command inputted through the communication line. At this time, a test video signal is output to the video equipment, and the operating status of the video equipment is checked by comparing this test video signal with the signal output from the video monitor terminal mounted on the video equipment. Determine. As a result, it is possible to control the operation of a home television or video equipment such as a video device from a remote location via the network.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a configuration relating to the present invention of a video equipment communication control system of the present invention. The video equipment communication control system of the present embodiment uses an infrared command in order to use the television 3 for general household and the video 4 for the display device and the video device, respectively, in the communication by the videophone 2 via the communication line 1. Thus, the video equipment communication control device 5 of the present invention for performing remote control of the television 3 and the video 4, and the infrared ray for relaying an infrared command for control from the video equipment communication control device 5 to the television 3 and the video 4. The command relay device 20 is provided.

The video equipment communication control device 5 generates an infrared command corresponding to an operation control command input to the television 3 and the video 4 through the communication line 1 and the videophone 2, and the television 3 and the video 4 are generated. And an input / output control unit 6 for controlling transmission / reception of information via a communication line, including an operation control command for the television 3 and the video 4, and an operation control received by the input / output control unit 6. The infrared command transmitter 7 that generates an infrared command corresponding to the command and sends it to the television 3 and the video 4, the on / off state of the power source of the television 3 and the video 4 and the channel setting state are determined,
TV 3 and video 4 via the infrared command transmission unit 7.
The video equipment operating state setting unit 8 sets the operating state of the operating state to an operating state corresponding to an operation control command input via the communication line 1 and the videophone 2.

The video equipment operating state setting section 8 includes a video signal generating section 9 for generating a specific test video signal to be output to the television 3 and the video 4, and the television 3 and the video 4.
From the video signal generating section 9, and whether or not the video monitor signal is the same as the test video signal output from the video signal generating section 9, and an infrared command transmission. An operation state determination unit 11 that determines the operation state of the television 3 and the video 4 such as the power on / off state and the channel setting state based on the infrared command transmitted from the unit 7 and the determination result of the video signal determination unit 10. The infrared command transmitting unit 7 is controlled based on the determination result of the operation state determining unit 11 so that the operation states of the television 3 and the video 4 are converted into operation control commands input via the communication line 1 and the videophone 2. An operation state switching unit 12 that switches to an operation state that can be handled is provided.

The infrared command relay device 20 receives the infrared command transmitted from the infrared command transmitter 7 of the video equipment communication controller 5, and the infrared command receiver 21 receives the received infrared command from the television 3. The infrared command transmission unit 22 for transmitting to the video 4 is provided. By providing the infrared command relay device 20, it is possible to flexibly determine the installation location of the video equipment communication control device 5 for the television 3 and the video 4.

As described above, by providing the video equipment communication control device 5, in the video equipment communication control system of the present embodiment, the television 3 for general households and the video are connected from a remote place connected via the communication line 1. 4 can be operated.
However, for example, when the TV 3 which is a home TV is used as the display unit of the videophone 2, when the videophone 2 receives an incoming call, the power of the TV 3 is automatically turned on, and It is necessary to switch to the input channel corresponding to the second video. In the present embodiment, the video equipment communication control device 5 includes the video equipment operating state setting unit 8 and can perform such switching control of the operating state of the television 3. The operation according to the present invention will be described below.

When an operation control command for the television 3 or the video 4 is transmitted from the communication line 1 through the videophone 2 at the time of reception, the video equipment communication control device 5 is provided.
Needs to turn on the TV 3 and the video 4 first. However, in general, the power of the TV 3 and the video 4 is set to the paddle (the state is reversed), so that the power of the TV 3 and the video 4 is first determined, and then the power is supplied. You need to decide whether to send an infrared command to turn on. Therefore, the video equipment operation state setting unit 8 of the video equipment communication control device 5 causes the video signal generation unit 9 to generate a test video signal,
It is sent to the television 3 or the video 4.

At this time, if the power sources of the television 3 and the video 4 are on, the same signal as the test video signal is output to the video monitor terminal of the television 3 and the video monitor terminal of the video 4. If the power of the television 3 or the video 4 is off, no video signal is output to the video monitor terminal. Here, by the video signal determination unit 10,
The presence / absence of a video signal from the video monitor terminal and the video monitor terminals of the televisions 3 and 4 are monitored, and based on the result, the operation state determination unit 11 turns on / off the power sources of the televisions 3 and 4 and the channel Determine the setting status.

The television 3 by the operation state discrimination unit 11,
Based on the determination result of the power on / off state of the video 4 and the channel state, the video equipment operation state setting unit 8 uses the operation state switching unit 12 to determine the power on / off state of the TV 3, the video 4 and the channel setting state. , Switch to a state in which an operation control command input via the videophone 2 can be handled. For example, when the TV 3 which is a home TV is used as the display unit of the video phone 2, the TV phone 2
When there is an incoming call, the power of TV 3 is automatically turned on,
At the same time, the input channel corresponding to the video of the videophone 2 is switched.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIG.
The operation according to the present invention, including the operation of setting the operating state, will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the video equipment communication control operation according to the present invention of the video equipment communication control system in FIG. Input / output control unit 6 in FIG.
Then, when the command to start up the television 3 in FIG. 1 is received (step 201), the video signal generator 9 in FIG. 1 generates a test video signal (step 202). The video signal for test here has a luminance change in the horizontal direction, but has no luminance change in the vertical direction, so that the video signal determination unit 10 in FIG. By comparing the luminance distributions, it is possible to determine whether the test video signal and the video signal fed back from the television 3 in FIG.

However, in the video signal discrimination section 10 of FIG.
When the video signal fed back from the television 3 of FIG. 1 cannot be detected (step 203), the operation state determination unit 11 of FIG. 1 determines that the power of the television 3 of FIG. 1 sends an infrared command for switching the power supply state of the television 3 in FIG. 1 (step 204), and again the video signal generator 9 in FIG.
Then, the video signal discriminating section 10 discriminates the generation and discrimination of the test video signal.

When the video signal fed back from the television 3 of FIG. 1 is detected, the video signal discriminating unit 10 of FIG. 1 is detected.
Determines whether or not this video signal and the test video signal generated by the video signal generator 9 of FIG. 1 match (step 205). If the brightness distributions do not match (step 206), the operation state determination unit 11 in FIG. 1 determines that the TV 3 in FIG. 1 is powered on but the channel is not set to the desired state. The operation state switching unit 12 of FIG. 1 sends an infrared command for switching the channel of the television 3 of FIG. 1 (step 207), and the test video by the video signal generation unit 9 and the video signal determination unit 10 of FIG. Generates and distinguishes signals.

If the luminance distributions match in step 206, the operation state determination section 11 of FIG. 1 sets the power source of the television 3 of FIG. 1 to the on state and sets the input channel to the desired state. 1 and the infrared command transmitting unit 7 of FIG. 1 transmits the infrared command corresponding to the operation control command input via the videophone 2 of FIG. 1 via the infrared command relay device 20 of FIG. TV 3 in Figure 1
(Step 208).

Next, referring to FIG. 1 again, the operation in the case of monitoring the image stored in the video 4 from the remote place by using the videophone 2 will be described. In such a case, the video equipment communication control device 5 confirms the power supply and the channel state with respect to the television 3, and then the infrared ray corresponding to the operation control command received by the input / output control unit 6 is confirmed. The command is transmitted from the infrared command transmitting unit 1 to the video 4 via the infrared command relay device 20.

Then, the video signal discriminating section 10 discriminates the identity of the video signals by looking at the luminance distribution for one line. In addition to this discriminating process, the chroma signal is also processed. As a result, when there is no horizontal luminance change and the color component is only blue, it can be determined from the video 4 that a blueback signal is being output, and this can be used for control such as the beginning of the tape. That is, when the video 4 is controlled, a blue back signal is usually output from the video 4 when the no-signal portion is reproduced. Therefore, by providing a no-signal section at the beginning of the tape, It is possible to perform cueing from a remote location by detecting a blue back signal during rewinding or playback operation.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in the video equipment communication control system and the video equipment communication control method of the present embodiment, the operation control command input through the communication line is used. When controlling the operation of the TV or video by the corresponding infrared command, first turn on / off the power of the TV or video and the setting state of the channel,
Be appropriate. As a result, a general household television or video can be used as a display device or a video input device for a videophone, and the user can
It is possible to control a video device such as a home-use television or video connected to a communication line or a communication device such as a videophone via the network while monitoring the state.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. For example,
A configuration without the infrared command relay device shown in FIG. 1 may be used. In addition, by installing a learning function in this infrared command relay device, it normally operates as a transmitter of infrared commands for televisions and videos, and when it is out, it relays commands from remote locations to televisions and videos. It can also be used as. Further, in the present embodiment, the setting of the operating state of the television and the video is performed by the infrared command, but other signal lines may be used.

[0024]

According to the present invention, it is possible to set the operating state such as the power supply state and the channel setting state of a video device such as a television or video for general household use through a communication line, and to use infrared rays. It is possible to easily configure an efficient network by using a general home video device that operates with a remote controller as a display device or a video recording device of a network terminal.

[0025]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a configuration relating to the present invention of a video equipment communication control system of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a video equipment communication control operation according to the present invention of the video equipment communication control system in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Communication line 2 Videophone 3 Television 4 Video 5 Video equipment communication control device 6 Input / output control unit 7 Infrared command transmission unit 8 Video equipment operating state setting unit 9 Video signal generating unit 10 Video signal discriminating unit 11 Operating state discriminating unit 12 Operation State switching unit 20 Infrared command relay device 21 Infrared command receiving unit 22 Infrared command transmitting unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A video equipment communication control means for generating an infrared command corresponding to an operation control command to the video equipment input through a communication line and sending the infrared command to the video equipment to be controlled. A video equipment communication control system for controlling a video equipment operated by a remote control using infrared rays from a remote place via a communication line. 2. The video equipment communication control system according to claim 1, wherein the video equipment communication control means includes the operation control command, and controls input / output control means for transmitting / receiving information via the communication line. And an infrared command transmitting means for generating the infrared command corresponding to the operation control command received by the input / output control means and sending the infrared command to the video equipment to be controlled. system. 3. The video equipment communication control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the video equipment communication control means has at least an on / off state of a power supply of the video equipment and a channel setting state. The operation status of the video equipment including the above is determined, and the operation status of the video equipment is
A video equipment communication control system, comprising: a video equipment operation state setting means for setting an operation state capable of responding to an operation control command input via the communication line. 4. The video equipment communication control system according to claim 3, wherein the video equipment operating state setting means includes video signal generating means for generating a specific test video signal to be output to the video equipment, and the video. Video signal discriminating means for discriminating the presence or absence of a video monitor signal from the device and discriminating whether or not the video monitor signal is the same as the test video signal outputted from the video signal generating means,
On the basis of the discrimination result of the video signal discrimination means, an operation state discrimination means for discriminating the operation state of the video equipment including at least an on / off state of a power source and a channel setting state, and based on the discrimination result of the operation state discrimination means, A video equipment communication control system comprising: an operation status switching means for switching an operation status of the video equipment to an operation status capable of responding to an operation control command input through the communication line. 5. The video equipment communication control system according to claim 1, wherein an infrared command transmitted from the video equipment communication control is received, and the received infrared command is sent to the video equipment. A video equipment communication control system, characterized in that infrared command relay means for transferring to the video equipment is provided. 6. The video device communication control method for a video device communication control system according to claim 1, wherein the video device communication control means is an operation control input through the communication line. When receiving the command, the presence / absence of a video monitor signal from the connected video equipment is detected. If there is no video monitor signal, it is determined that the power of the video equipment is off, and the power supply of the video equipment is determined. Is transmitted to an infrared command to turn on the video device, and after the power of the video device is turned on, an infrared command corresponding to the operation control command is transmitted to the video device communication control system. Method. 7. The video device communication control method for a video device communication control system according to claim 1, wherein the video device communication control means is an operation control input through the communication line. Upon receiving the command, a test video signal that has a brightness change in the horizontal direction but no brightness change in the vertical direction is output to the connected video equipment, and the test video signal and the video equipment are connected to each other. If the test video signal does not match the video monitor signal, the power of the video equipment is turned on. Although it is in the state, it is determined that the channel is not set to the desired state, the infrared command for switching the channel of the video device is transmitted, and the channel of the video device is switched, When the test video signal and the video monitor signal from the video equipment match / mismatch repeatedly, and when the test video signal and the video monitor signal match, the infrared command corresponding to the operation control command is sent. A video device communication control method for a video device communication control system, comprising: