JPH07154711A - Program information display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily provide program information under viewing. CONSTITUTION:A work station 2 extracts television column data from a large scale computer 1 at the decided time on that day and transmits them to a broadcasting center 3, at the broadcasting center 3, the television column data are multiplexed to the independent data part of a BS and broadcasted, and the broadcasted signals are received through a BS 4, outdoor device 5 to a TV 6. Then, the television column data are stored through the BS tuner of the TV 6 into a RAM, an NTSC signal generates an NTSC signal from a television column image, which is generated under the control of a CPU, based on the television column data stored in the RAM, and this NTSC signal is mixed to a BS signal or a VHF signal by a mixer so that the television column image is superimposed to images under viewing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program information display system for displaying program information on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a broadcast program (program) is viewed on a television device (hereinafter referred to as TV), it has been performed as follows. That is, program information such as a program name, a broadcast channel, a start time and an end time of a broadcast, a program content, and the like of a desired broadcast program is confirmed from a television program list written in a newspaper or the like, and a remote controller (hereinafter, referred to as Enter this in (abbreviated) and transfer to the TV body. Alternatively, the channel and time may be directly input to the TV body.

[0003]

However, in the conventional TV, the information (program name,
In order to know the start, end time, channel, contents), it is necessary to look up in the TV section of the newspaper, magazine, etc., and there is a problem that the program information being viewed cannot be easily obtained.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a program information display system capable of easily obtaining program information being viewed.

[0005]

A program information display system according to the present invention includes a workstation 2 as information generating means for generating a plurality of broadcast program information relating to a broadcast program, a broadcast program, and a plurality of broadcasts. A broadcasting center 3 as a broadcasting means for periodically broadcasting program information, a RAM 39 as a program information storing means for receiving and storing the broadcasting program information from the broadcasting center 3, and a program display for displaying a broadcasting program from the broadcasting center 3. A program information display system comprising a TV 6 as an information receiving and displaying means, which comprises a CRT 50 as a means,
Is a remote controller 41 as a designated signal generating means for generating a designated signal for designating broadcast program information, and the broadcast program information stored in the RAM 39 is searched based on the designated signal from the remote controller 41, and the searched broadcast program information is searched. Is displayed on the CRT 50, and the CPU 40 is provided as information display control means.

[0006]

In the program information display system according to the present invention, a plurality of broadcast program information from the workstation 2 is transmitted to the broadcast center 3.
In the TV 6 that regularly broadcasts and receives the broadcasted broadcast program information, the TV 6 broadcasts the broadcast program information.
The broadcast program information stored in the AM 39 and the CPU 40 retrieves the broadcast program information stored in the RAM 39 based on the designation signal from the remote controller 41, and displays the retrieved broadcast program information on the CRT 50. To be able to get.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0008] The program data obtained by multiplexing the data in the independent data section of the BS (broadcast satellite), receiving the transmitted information on the television shelf, and decoding the information is currently displayed on the television screen based on the instruction from the user. An example of displaying information (program name, start, end time, channel, content) about a program that the user is viewing is described below.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a program information display system for displaying program information. The TV section data to be displayed on the TV screen is stored in the large-scale computer 1 for the TV section database. This database is transmitted to the workstation 2 as needed. It is not necessary to constantly broadcast the TV section information,
It is enough to broadcast at a predetermined time of the day. The workstation 2 retrieves the TV column data from the large-scale computer 1 at a predetermined time of the day and transmits it to the broadcasting center 3. The broadcasting center 3 multiplexes the TV column data into the independent data section of the BS and broadcasts it. The broadcast signal is transmitted via the BS 4 and the outdoor device 5,
It is received by the TV 6.

FIG. 2 shows the distributed television section data structure. The structure will be described below. The data of this TV section includes a channel header 11 and data 12 of each channel (in the case of this embodiment, channel 1 to channel N).
Up to N channels of data) are arranged.
The channel header 11 has a fixed length, but the data of each channel has a variable length. The channel header 11 includes 13 channels to be transmitted (in the case of this embodiment,
N) is placed at the beginning thereof, followed by the offset value 14 for each channel. That is, as described above, since the data of each channel has a variable length,
The data length is different for each channel. Therefore, the length from the beginning of the channel header 11 to the beginning of the data of each channel is transmitted as an offset value. As a result, it becomes possible to access the data of each channel from the channel header 11.

A program header 15 is placed at the beginning of the data of each channel, and a program 16 of that channel is placed following it. The program header 15 has a fixed length, but the program 16 has a variable length. In the program header 15, the number of programs (M) 17 to be broadcast on that channel is arranged at the beginning, and subsequently, the offset value corresponding to each program information 3-1 to 3-M that constitutes the program 16 18 are arranged. As described above, since the program 16 also has a variable length, the length from the beginning of the program header 15 to the beginning of each program information is defined in the program header 15 as an offset value. It is possible to access each program information from. The offset value for each program information is represented by a fixed length. Program information 3 that constitutes the program 16
From -1 to 3-M, the start time 19, broadcast time (end time) 20, program name 21, and program content 22 of the program are shown.
Are placed.

Next, the structure of the TV will be described. On TV6,
As shown in FIG. 3, a signal broadcast from the broadcasting center 3 is demodulated into television channel data by the BS tuner 33 via the outdoor device 5, and the television channel data is stored in the RAM 39 under the control of the CPU 40. In addition to this,
The RAM 39 stores the channel of the program currently being viewed by the user, and this information is rewritten every time the user switches channels. The operation of the CPU 40 is executed by the control program stored in the ROM 38.

Video signals (including audio signals) other than TV channel data input to the BS tuner 33 are input to the mixer 32.
VHF tuner 3 for demodulating the VHF signal from the VHF antenna (not shown) to the mixer 32.
Video signals (including audio signals) from 4 and NTSC
The output of the signal generation circuit 35 is input. The NTSC signal generation circuit 35 is adapted to generate an NTSC signal from a television channel image based on television channel data stored in the RAM 39 which is generated under the control of the CPU 40.

The mixer 32 has a BS tuner 33.
From the NTSC signal generating circuit 35 is mixed with the video signal from the VHF tuner 34 or the video signal from the VHF tuner 34, and the video output 31 is output to the CRT 50.
The television section image generated by the CPU 40 is generated based on the current time by the clock circuit 48.

On the other hand, the TV 6 is provided with a remote control receiving circuit 36 which receives an infrared signal from a remote control 41 which generates an infrared signal and inputs various control contents (commands) by this infrared signal. , Photoelectrically converts the infrared signal and outputs the photoelectrically converted signal to the command decoder 37. The command decoder 37 generates a command corresponding to the remote control input by decoding the photoelectric conversion signal and outputs the generated command to the CPU 40. The command is a command corresponding to various keys provided on the remote controller 41, that is, an up key 42, a down key 43, a program display key 44, a program name key 45, a program time & channel key 46, a content key 47, and the like. The function of each of the above keys will be described later.

The operation of the program information display system thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The workstation 2 retrieves the TV column data from the large-scale computer 1 at a predetermined time of the day and transmits it to the broadcasting center 3. The broadcasting center 3 multiplexes the TV section data in the independent data section of the BS and broadcasts it. The broadcast signal is transmitted via the BS 4 and the outdoor device 5,
It is received by the TV 6.

In the TV 6, C is transmitted via the BS tuner 33.
The PU 40 stores the television section data in the RAM 39. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 40 waits for an input operation of the program display key 44 of the remote controller 41 in step S1, and when the program display key 44 is operated, step S2
Then, the channel of the program currently being viewed by the user is read from the RAM 39, and the current time is read from the clock circuit 48. Next, in step S3, a program corresponding to the above-mentioned channel and time is searched from the distributed program data, and in step S4, the program is sent to the mixer 32 via the NTSC signal generation circuit 35, for example, as shown in FIG. A signal corresponding to the signal of the character portion of the screen 51 as shown in a) is generated. At this time, if the user is watching the BS program, B
If the output from the S tuner 33 is input to the mixer 32 and the VHF program is being viewed, the VHF tuner 3
The output from 4 is input to the mixer 32. Mixer 3
Reference numeral 2 denotes these video image signals and the NTSC signal generation circuit 3
The signals from 5 are overlaid (superimposed) to create a video output 31. The video output 31 is output to the CRT 50 and displays a screen 51 as shown in FIG. 5A, for example.

Similarly, the program time &
It is determined whether or not the channel key 46 has been operated, and if it has been operated, then in step S6, the mixer 32 via the NTSC signal generation circuit 35, for example, as shown in FIG.
A signal corresponding to the signal of the character portion of the screen 52 as shown in (b) is generated, the screen 52 is displayed on the CRT 50,
Return to step S5. If the program time & channel key 46 is not operated, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, it is determined whether or not the content key 47 has been operated, and if it is operated, in step S8, the mixer 3 is operated via the NTSC signal generation circuit 35.
2, a signal corresponding to the signal of the character portion of the screen 53 as shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the CRT 50, and the process returns to step S5. If the content key 47 is not operated, the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the program name key 45 has been operated. If there is an operation, in step S10 the mixer 32 is sent to the mixer 32 via the NTSC signal generation circuit 35, for example, as shown in FIG. ) Screen 5 as shown in
A signal corresponding to the signal of the character portion 1 is generated, the screen 51 is displayed on the CRT 50, and the process returns to step S5. If the program name key 45 has not been operated, the process proceeds to step S11.

Since the program content displayed by the operation with the content key 47 may not be displayed on the screen in some cases, the up key 42 and the down key 43 move the program content up and down only when the program content is displayed. It is possible to scroll to. Therefore, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the up key 42 has been operated, and if it is operated, in step S12, the CPU 40 shifts the control to the up scrolling process so that the content above the currently displayed content is displayed. If there is content that has not been displayed yet, scroll up one level and return to step S5. If the up key 42 has not been operated, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, it is determined whether or not the down key 43 has been operated, and if there is an operation, step S13.
At 14, the CPU 40 shifts the control to the downward scroll processing.
If there is content that is not fully displayed below the content that is currently displayed, scroll one step down. If the down key 43 is not operated, step S
Proceed to 15. The details of the upward scrolling process and the downward scrolling process of the CPU 40 will be described later.

Then, in step S15, it is judged again whether or not the program display key 44 has been operated. If the program display key 44 has been operated, in step S16, an image based on the television section data (FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C). The image) is erased and the process ends. If the program display key 44 has not been operated, the process returns to step S5 and the process is repeated.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the upward scrolling process of the CPU 40 in step S12 is performed in step S31.
Then, it is determined by the content key 47 whether or not the program content is currently displayed. If it is being displayed, the process proceeds to step S32. If it is not being displayed, the process ends. Step S
At 32, it is determined whether the number of lines of the program content is larger than the number of lines that can be displayed on the screen. If the number is larger, the process proceeds to step S33, and if not, the process ends. Step S
In 33, it is determined whether or not there is still displayable program content above the currently displayed program content. If there is any program content that can be displayed, the process proceeds to step S34, and if not, the process ends.
Then, in step S34, the process scrolls up one step and the process ends.

In the downward scroll processing of the CPU 40 in step S14, as in the upward scroll processing, as shown in FIG. 6B, it is determined in step S41 whether or not the program content is currently displayed by the content key 47. If it is being displayed, the process proceeds to step S42, and if it is not being displayed, the process ends. In step S42, it is determined whether the number of lines of the program content is larger than the number of lines that can be displayed on the screen,
If it is large, the process proceeds to step S43, and if not, the process ends. In step S43, it is determined whether or not there is still displayable program content below the currently displayed program content, and if there is, the process proceeds to step S44.
If not, the process ends. And step S44
Then, the process is finished by scrolling down one step.

As described above, according to the program information display system of the present embodiment, the workstation 2 retrieves the TV column data from the large-scale computer 1 at the predetermined time of the day, transmits it to the broadcasting center 3, and broadcasts it. In the center 3, the TV section data is multiplexed into the independent data section of the BS and broadcast, and the broadcast signal is received by the TV 6 via the BS 4 and the outdoor device 5, and the TV section data is the BS tuner 33 of the TV 6.
The NTSC signal generation circuit 35 generates an NTSC signal from a TV channel image based on the TV channel data stored in the RAM 39 which is stored under the control of the CPU 40 and is generated by the control of the CPU 40. By mixing the signal with the mixer 32, it is possible to superimpose the TV section image on the image being viewed, so that the program information being viewed can be easily obtained by a simple operation of the remote controller 41.

[0026]

As described above, according to the program information display system of the present invention, a plurality of broadcast program information from the information generating means is periodically broadcast by the broadcasting means, and a plurality of broadcast broadcast program information is displayed. In the information receiving and displaying means for receiving, a plurality of broadcast program information is stored in the program information storing means,
The information display control means retrieves the broadcast program information stored in the program information storage means on the basis of the designation signal from the designation signal generating means, and displays the retrieved broadcast program information on the program display means, so that the program is easily viewed. There is an effect that the program information of can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a program information display system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram showing a structure of television section data used in the program information display system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the TV shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the program information display system of FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of program information on the CRT according to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of an up scroll process and a down scroll process of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Large-scale computer 2 Workstation 3 Broadcast center 4 BS 5 Outdoor device 6 TV 31 Video output 32 Mixer 33 BS tuner 34 VHF tuner 35 NTSC signal generation circuit 36 Remote control receiving circuit 37 Command decoder 38 ROM 39 RAM 40 CPU 41 Remote control 42 Up key 43 Downward Key 44 Program Display Key 45 Program Name Key 46 Program Time & Channel Key 47 Content Key 48 Clock Circuit 50 CRT

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Information generating means for generating a plurality of broadcast program information relating to a broadcast program; broadcast means for broadcasting the broadcast program and periodically broadcasting the plurality of broadcast program information; A program information display system including: a program information storage unit that receives and stores the broadcast program information; and an information reception display unit that includes a program display unit that displays the broadcast program from the broadcasting unit. The information reception display means is stored in the program information storage means on the basis of the designation signal generation means for generating a designation signal designating the broadcast program information, and the designation signal from the designation signal generation means. An information display control means for searching the broadcast program information and displaying the searched broadcast program information on the program display means. Information display system. 2. The program information display according to claim 1, wherein the information display control means controls the program display means to superimpose the broadcast program information on a display screen of the broadcast program. system. 3. The program information display system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of broadcast program information are program name information, start time, end time, channel information, and program content information.