JPH08139619A - Program selection system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To speedily and surely select a desired program out of comparatively frequently watched programs by displaying days of the week on one axis of a screen, displaying a time base on the other axis, and displaying the programs corresponding to the history of reception along the time base. CONSTITUTION: The history of reception in the past is stored, the days of the week are displayed on one of the horizontal and vertical axes of the screen, and the time base is displayed on the other axis. Then, the programs corresponding to the stored history of reception are displayed along the time base. For example, the days of the week are successively vertically displayed from up to down near the left side terminal part of the screen. The clay of the week of that day is displayed at the bottom. Further, the time base is laterally horizontally displayed from left to right near the downside terminal part of the screen. The desired program can be speedily and surely selected and designated out of the comparatively frequently watched programs by an up operation, down operation, left operation or right operation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program selection system suitable for use in, for example, a television receiver which receives a signal transmitted via a broadcasting satellite.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a television receiver, a predetermined broadcast channel can be selected on the basis of a number corresponding to the broadcast channel so that a program broadcast on the broadcast channel can be viewed. There is.

Further, a television set is designed so that a desired program can be reserved by designating a predetermined date or day of the week, time, and a broadcast channel, and the program can be viewed when the time comes. There is also a John receiver.

Further, in a video tape recorder having a built-in video tuner, by designating a predetermined date / time or day of the week, time, and broadcast channel,
A predetermined program can be so-called reserved recording.

However, in such a conventional apparatus, in order to select a desired program, the date, day of the week, time, broadcast channel, etc. have to be selected and designated each time, so that the operability is poor and comparison is difficult. It is difficult to quickly and surely select and specify a program that is viewed frequently.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
As No. 68620, for example, the tuning data for the past one week is learned, and this is stored, and when the power is turned on, the tuning data is read, and the predetermined tuning data is read according to the read tuning data. I previously proposed to automatically receive the broadcast channel.

[0007]

However, in the above-proposed apparatus, the broadcast channel with the highest frequency received in the past is automatically received, but the broadcast channel is always received. However, when selecting a broadcast channel different from the broadcast channel that was received most in the past, there was a problem that the operation was rather troublesome.

On the other hand, in recent years, in the United States, MPEG (M
moving Picture Expentions Gro
Up) and other high-efficiency coding techniques are applied to the cable television (CATV: Cable Television).
n) and digital satellite broadcasting (DSS: Digital)
Satellite System (HughesCo
mm), etc., and multi-channel broadcasting is in progress. With the increase in the number of channels, for example, the number of channels has increased to 150 to 175, and the operation of selecting a desired program from these has become complicated, and a solution has been desired to simplify the operability.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is intended to enable a desired program to be selected and designated quickly and surely from among programs that are relatively frequently viewed. .

[0010]

The program selection system of the present invention is a storage means for storing past reception history (for example, FIG. 3).
38) and the day of the week in the direction of one of the horizontal and vertical axes of the screen and the time axis in the direction of the other axis, and the reception stored in the storage means. Display control means for displaying the program corresponding to the history along the time axis (for example, CPU 29 in FIG. 3)
And a day-of-the-week selecting means for selecting the day of the week displayed on one axis (for example, the operating element 52 to be operated up or down in FIG. 4) and a program selecting means for selecting a program displayed along the time axis ( For example, the operator 52 that is left-operated or right-operated in FIG. 4) and the program confirming means that determines the selected program (for example, the operator 5 that is enter-operated in FIG. 4).
2) and are provided.

The display control means may display the program only for the selected day of the week (for example, the display of FIG. 19),
Only the selected day of the week is displayed (see FIG. 32, for example).
Display).

Further, the day of the week selection means, the program selection means, and the program determination means can be operated by one finger (for example, the operator 52 in FIG. 4).

The display control means can display the days of the week vertically from the top to the bottom and display the programs horizontally from the left to the right (for example, the display of FIG. 19).

On the display control means, a cursor for designating a program (for example, cursor A in FIG. 19) is further displayed, and when the day of the week selection means is operated, the day of the week corresponding to the cursor is changed to another day of the week. (For example, FIGS.
When the program selection means is operated, the cursor can be moved in the left-right direction to a position corresponding to a predetermined program (for example, the display of FIGS. 23 to 27).

A state in which the cursor is displayed on the display control means in correspondence with a predetermined program (for example, the display of FIG. 24).
The day of the week selection means is operated (for example, the operator 5 in FIG. 4).
2), the program at the position corresponding to the cursor can be changed to the program of the next frequency (for example, the display of FIGS. 28 and 29).

Further, the program can be displayed by the name of the broadcasting station broadcasting the program (for example, the display of FIG. 19) or the name of the program (for example, the display of FIG. 33).

Further, the display control means may further display a list of device candidates for recording the selected program in parallel with the day of the week (for example, the display of FIG. 30).

In this case, the list of candidates for recording the program may include a candidate (for example, WATCH in FIG. 30) to be selected when only the selected program is viewed without recording. it can.

[0019]

In the program selection system having the above structure, the history of programs received in the past is stored in the EEPROM 38. Then, a program is displayed on the monitor device in correspondence with this history. Therefore, a desired program can be selected and designated quickly and surely from among the programs that are viewed relatively well.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an AV (Audio Video) system to which the program selection system of the present invention is applied. In the case of this embodiment, the AV system 1 has an IRD (Integrated Rec) for demodulating a signal received by the parabolic antenna 3 via a broadcast satellite (not shown).
In addition to the Ever / Decoder) 2, V of the VHS system
CR (Video Cassette Record)
r) 6, 8 mm type VCR 7, multi-disc player (MDP: Muti-Disc Player) 8,
It is composed of a mini disc (MD: Mini Disc) device 9 and a monitor device 4.

VCR6, VCR7, MDP8 and MD
The device 9 is connected to the monitor device 4 via the AV line 11.
Connected with. In addition, the IRD2 has an AV in the VCR6.
Connected by line 11. Furthermore, these respective devices are sequentially connected in series by a control line 12.

For the IRD 2, the remote commander 5
It is possible to input an instruction by an infrared (IR: Infrared) signal. That is,
When a predetermined button switch 50 of the remote commander 5 is operated, an infrared signal corresponding to the button is emitted from the IR transmitter 51 and is incident on the IR receiver 39 of the IRD 2.

The IRD 2 is provided with a front panel 40 having various operation button switches so that the same command as the command issued by operating the remote commander 5 can be directly input. Has been done.

FIG. 2 shows an electrical connection state of the AV system 1 of FIG. The parabolic antenna 3 is an LNB
(Low Noise Block downconv
erter) 3a, converts a signal from a broadcasting satellite into a signal of a predetermined frequency and supplies the signal to the IRD 2. IR
D2 supplies its output to the VCR 6 via the AV line 11 composed of three lines. The output of the VCR 6 is supplied to the monitor device 4 by the AV line 11 composed of three lines. Also, VCR7, M
The DP 8 and the MD player 9 are connected to the monitor device 4 by six, three or four AV lines 11, respectively.

Further, IRD2, VCR6, VCR7,
The MDP 8, the MD device 9, and the monitor device 4 include AV device control signal transmission / reception units 2A, 6A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 4
Each has A. These are wired SI
RCS (Wired Sony Infrared R)
A control line 12 composed of an emote control system) is sequentially connected to the series.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the internal structure of the IRD 2 for receiving the above-mentioned DSS. The RF signal output from the LNB 3a of the parabolic antenna 3 is supplied to the tuner 21 of the front end 20 and demodulated. The output of the tuner 21 is supplied to the QPSK demodulation circuit 22 and QPSK demodulated. The output of the QPSK demodulation circuit 22 is supplied to the error correction circuit 23, which detects and corrects errors and corrects them if necessary.

I consisting of CPU, ROM, RAM, etc.
CAM (Conditi) composed of C card
The key required for deciphering the cipher is stored in the onal access module 33 together with the deciphering program. Since the signal transmitted via the broadcast satellite is encrypted, a key and a decryption process are required to decrypt this encryption. Therefore, this key is read from the CAM 33 via the card reader interface 32 and supplied to the demultiplexer 24. The demultiplexer 24 uses this key to decrypt the encrypted signal.

The CAM 33 also stores billing information and the like in addition to the key and the decryption program required for decryption.

The demultiplexer 24 receives the signal output from the error correction circuit 23 of the front end 20 and decodes the decoded video signal into an MPEG video decoder 25.
To the MPEG audio decoder 26.

The MPEG video decoder 25 stores the input digital video signal in the DRAM 25a as appropriate, and executes the decoding process of the video signal compressed by the MPEG system. The decoded video signal is
It is supplied to the NTSC encoder 27 and converted into an NTSC luminance signal (Y), a chroma signal (C), and a composite signal (V). The luminance signal and the chroma signal are output as S video signals via the buffer amplifiers 28Y and 28C, respectively. Also, the composite signal is
It is output via the buffer amplifier 28V.

The MPEG audio decoder 26 appropriately stores the digital audio signal supplied from the demultiplexer 24 in the DRAM 26a and executes the decoding process of the audio signal compressed by the MPEG system. The decoded audio signal is D / A converted in the D / A converter 30, the left channel audio signal is output through the buffer amplifier 31L, and the right channel audio signal is output in the buffer amplifier 31R.
Is output via.

The RF modulator 41 converts the composite signal output by the NTSC encoder 27 and the audio signal output by the D / A converter 30 into an RF signal and outputs the RF signal. In addition, this RF modulator 41 is
The NTSC system RF signal input from the V device is passed through and directly output to other AV devices.

In the case of this embodiment, these video and audio signals are transmitted via the AV line 11 to the VCR.
6 will be supplied.

CPU (Central Process)
or Unit) 29 executes various processes according to programs stored in the ROM 37. For example, the tuner 21, the QPSK demodulation circuit 22, the error correction circuit 2
Control 3 and so on. Also, the AV device control signal transmitting / receiving unit 2
A is controlled, and another A is controlled through the control line 12.
It outputs a predetermined control signal to the V device and receives a control signal from another AV device.

For this CPU 29, an operation button switch (not shown) on the front panel 40 is operated,
It is possible to directly input a predetermined command. When the remote commander 5 is operated, an infrared signal is output from the IR transmitter 51, the infrared signal is received by the IR receiver 39, and the light reception result is supplied to the CPU 29. Therefore, by operating the remote commander 5, C
A predetermined command can be input to the PU 29.

Further, the CPU 29 uses the demultiplexer 2
Signals other than video and audio signals output by 4
For example, EPG (Electrical Program)
Guide) information, etc. is taken in, EPG data is created from this, and SRAM (Static Random)
It is supplied to the Access Memory 36 and stored therein. The EPG information includes information (for example, program channel, broadcast time, title, category, etc.) about programs on each broadcast channel from the current time to several tens of hours later. Since this EPG information is frequently transmitted, S
The RAM 36 can always hold the latest EPG.

EEPROM (Electrically)
Erasable Programmable Rea
In the d Only Memory) 38, data (for example, reception history for four weeks of the tuner 21) that is desired to be retained even after the power is turned off is appropriately stored. Also, CPU2
Reference numeral 9 compares the time information output from the calendar timer 35 with the time stamp separated and output from the received signal by the demultiplexer 24, and according to the comparison result, MPEG processing is performed so that decoding processing can be performed at correct timing. It controls the video decoder 25 and the MPEG audio decoder 26.

Further, the CPU 29 causes the predetermined OSD (O
When it is desired to generate n-Screen Display data, the MPEG video decoder 25 is controlled. MP
The EG video decoder 25 generates predetermined OSD data corresponding to this control and writes it in the DRAM 25a,
Further read and output. As a result, predetermined characters, figures, etc. can be appropriately output to the monitor device 4 and displayed.

FIG. 4 shows a more detailed configuration example of the button switch 50 of the remote commander 5. As shown in the figure, the remote commander 5 is provided with an IR transmitter 51 at its upper portion and an operator 52 below it. The operator 52 can be operated in any one direction out of a total of eight directions in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal directions. Also,
The operating element 52 can be pressed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface to function as an enter button switch. That is, this operator 52
Select the direction with one finger, and without releasing your finger,
It is designed so that one finger can be used for further enter input.

A menu button switch 53 is arranged on the lower right side of the operator 52. The menu button switch 53 is operated when the menu screen is displayed on the monitor device 4. On the left side of the menu button switch 53, the escape (ES
C) A button switch 54 is arranged.

Although not described below, various other operation button switches are provided as the button switch 50.

FIGS. 5 to 9 show an example of the structure for detecting the operation of the operator 52. The small stick controller shown in FIG. 5 is arranged inside the remote commander 5 and below the operator 52. That is, the stick 61 is integrally combined with the operating element 52 formed of a flexible resin or the like. Therefore, when the operation element 52 is operated, the stick 61 moves in the direction of arrow 8 in FIG.
It is adapted to move in any one of the two directions or to move in the vertical direction as indicated by arrow b.

A pin 105 is vertically planted below the stick 61, and an end portion of the pin 105 is inserted into a hole 104 formed in a guide plate 103 of the outer body 101 and guided. It is done like this. This outer body 1
At 01, a side plate 102 that is integrally coupled to a guide plate 103 that directs in the Y-axis direction and that directs in the X-axis direction is formed. A shaft 62 extending in the X-axis direction is planted in the side plate 102.

On the other hand, the stick 61 is inserted into the hole 114A formed in the bottom plate 114 of the inner body 111 so that the inner body 111 is arranged inside the outer body 101. As shown in FIG. 9, this hole 114A is a hole that is long in the Y-axis direction. Then, side plates 112 are formed on the bottom plate 114 of the inner body 111 so as to face each other in the X-axis direction, and side plates 112 so as to face each other in the Y-axis direction.
A coupling plate 113 having a height lower than that of the coupling plate 113 is formed. A shaft 63 extending in the Y-axis direction is planted in the connecting plate 113. Guide plate 10 of outer body 101
The hole 104 formed in No. 3 is formed in an arc centered on the shaft 63.

A small stick controller as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 is arranged inside the box 116 as shown in FIG. 5, and the shafts 62 and 63 have holes 118 and 119 formed in the box 116, respectively. It is designed to extend from the outside. The hole 119 is the shaft 6
The diameter of the hole 118 is substantially equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of No. 3, whereas the hole 118 is a hole long in the Z-axis direction. The variable resistor 64 is provided outside the box 116 so as to be coupled to one end of the shaft 62.
Is disposed, and a push button type switch 66 is disposed below the other end. A variable resistor 65 is arranged outside the box 116 in the Y-axis direction and is connected to the shaft 63.

When the stick 61 is rotated about the X axis, the outer body 101 connected to the guide plate 103 via the pin 105 is rotated about the shaft 62 (X axis). At this time, on the bottom plate 114 of the inner body 111, Y
Since the hole 114A that is long in the axial direction is formed, the inner body 1
11 is still stationary.

On the other hand, when the stick 61 is rotated around the Y axis, the hole 1 formed in the bottom plate 114
Since 14A is formed to have a diameter substantially the same as that of the stick 61 in the X-axis direction, the inner body 111 rotates about the shaft 63 (Y axis) as the stick 61 rotates. At this time, the pin 105 is guided by the hole 104 formed on an arc centered on the shaft 63. Further, at this time, the side plate 112 of the inner body 111 has a sufficient distance from the side plate 102 of the outer body 101, and therefore does not contact the side plate 102. Therefore, the outer body 101 remains stationary.

When the stick 61 is operated in the direction between the X axis and the Y axis, the inner body 111 rotates about the Y axis and the outer body 101 rotates about the X axis.

Since the origin return spring 106 is coupled to the lower end of the stick 61, when the rotation operation to the stick 61 is stopped, the stick 61 is origin (vertical position) according to the biasing force of the origin return spring 106. Return to.

When the stick 61 is rotated about the X axis, the shaft 62 is rotated about the X axis.
The resistance value of the variable resistor 64 changes. Therefore, from the resistance value of the variable resistor 64, the rotation amount and the rotation direction of the stick 61 about the X axis can be detected.

When the stick 61 is rotated about the Y axis, the shaft 63 is rotated about the Y axis, so that the resistance value of the variable resistor 65 changes. Therefore, from the resistance value of the variable resistor 65, the rotation amount and the rotation direction of the stick 61 about the Y axis can be detected.

In this way, in FIG. 5, the operation in any one of the eight directions indicated by the arrow a (operation in the horizontal direction) is detected.

When the stick 61 is vertically pressed downward along the arrow b in FIG. 5, since the stick 61 is inserted into the hole 114A of the bottom plate 114, the inner body 111 is not particularly changed. Since the pin 105 implanted in the stick 61 is inserted into the guide plate 103 through the hole 104, the outer body 101 is pressed downward together with the stick 61. The downward movement of the outer body 101 at this time is guided by this hole 118 because the hole 118 of the box 116 through which the shaft 62 is inserted is long in the vertical direction. When the shaft 62 descends to a predetermined position, a part of the shaft 62 presses the switch 66. As a result, the switch 66 is turned on or off, and the downward pressing operation of the stick 61 is detected. Then, when the downward pressing operation on the stick 61 is stopped, the stick 61 returns to the upper origin position according to the urging force of a return spring (not shown) incorporated in the switch 66.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the internal circuit configuration of the remote commander 5. The microcomputer 71 includes a ROM 73 for storing a program and an R
A CPU 72 that executes various kinds of processing according to a program stored in the OM 73, and an R that appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 72 to execute various kinds of processing.
AM74. A button switch matrix 82 is connected to the microcomputer 71 so that it can detect which button switch of the button switches 50 shown in FIG. 4 has been operated.

The A / D converter 77 A / D converts the resistance value of the variable resistor 64 (corresponding to the rotation of the stick 61 about the X axis) and outputs it to the microcomputer 71. There is. Further, the A / D converter 78 is the variable resistor 6
The resistance value of 5 (corresponding to the rotation of the stick 61 about the Y axis) is A / D converted and output to the microcomputer 71. Further, a signal for turning on or off the switch 66 (corresponding to operation of the stick 61 in the vertical direction) is supplied to the microcomputer 71.

Further, the microcomputer 71 uses the LED driver 7
The LED 76 of the IR transmitter 51 is driven via 5 to generate an infrared signal.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the internal structure of the VCR 7. The video / audio signal processing circuit 96 processes the output of the tuner 93 input via the contact b of the switch 94, outputs it to the recording / reproducing block 97, and records it on the built-in magnetic tape via the head amplifier 98. It is done like this. Also, input terminal (LINE IN)
A predetermined video signal and audio signal are input to the 91 via the AV line 11, and are input to the video / audio signal processing circuit 96 via the contact a of the switch 94. Therefore, when the switch 94 is controlled to the contact a side by the control of the microcomputer 99, the signal input through the AV line 11 is supplied to the recording / reproducing block 97 and recorded on the built-in magnetic tape. It is designed to be.

When the microcomputer 99 sets the reproducing mode, the recording / reproducing block 97 reproduces the built-in magnetic tape and the reproduced signal is reproduced by the head amplifier 98.
To the video / audio signal processing circuit 96 via. The video / audio signal processing circuit 96 outputs the input signal to the output terminal (LINE OUT) 92 via the contact a of the switch 95. This output terminal 9
2 is connected to AV line 11, so this A
A video signal and an audio signal are supplied to the monitor device 4 via the V line 11.

When the switch 95 is controlled by the microcomputer 99 and is switched to the contact b side, the video signal and the audio signal output from the switch 94 are output from the output terminal 92 to the AV line 11. become.

Various commands can be input to the microcomputer 99 by operating an operation button switch (not shown) provided on the operation panel 100. When a dedicated remote commander (not shown) is operated, an infrared signal is output from the remote commander. This infrared signal is received by the IR receiver 101 and supplied to the microcomputer 99 via the contact a of the switch 102.

Further, the AV equipment control signal transmitting / receiving section 7A is
Wired SIRCS receiver 103 and wired SI
The RCS transmission unit 104 is included. This wired S
IRCS receiver 103 and wired SIRCS transmitter 1
The control line 12 is connected to 04. Control line 1 to the wired SIRCS receiver 103
When 2 is connected, this connection is detected by a built-in switch (not shown), and the switch 102 is automatically switched to the contact b side by the detection output. As a result, in this case, the output of the IR receiving unit 101 is the microcomputer 9
Only the output of the wired SIRCS receiving unit 103 is transmitted to the microcomputer 99 without being transmitted to the microcomputer 99. In addition, the signal input to the wired SIRCS receiving unit 103 is transmitted via the switch 102 to the wired SIRCS.
It is transmitted to the CS transmission unit 104 and further transmitted to other AV equipment via the control line 12.

A signal detection circuit is provided in the wired SIRCS receiver 103, and the switch 102 is switched to the contact b side only when this detection circuit detects a signal. When this detection circuit does not detect a signal, the switch is switched. 1
By controlling the switch 02 to switch to the contact a side, the microcomputer 99 can be controlled not only by the control signal input via the control line 12 but also by the control signal detected and output by the IR receiver 101. It is also possible to enable it.

Next, the operation will be described. When the menu button switch 53 of the remote commander 5 is operated, the operation is detected by the CPU 72 via the button switch matrix 82. The CPU 72 controls the LED 76 via the LED driver 75 and outputs an infrared signal corresponding to this detection signal from the IR transmitter 51 to the IRD 2. When the CPU 29 of the IRD 2 receives the input of this signal via the IR receiver 39, it controls the MPEG video decoder 25 to generate data corresponding to the menu screen. This data is supplied to the monitor device 4 via the NTSC encoder 27, and a menu screen as shown in FIG. 12, for example, is displayed on the monitor device 4.

In this embodiment, the numbers 1 to 9 are used.
An operation palette having nine button icons shown by is displayed. At this time, a predetermined one of the nine button icons is highlighted as a cursor. By operating the operation element 52 of the remote commander 5 in the up / down / left / right directions, the highlighted cursor can be moved in the direction corresponding to the operation. Then, when the operator 52 of the remote commander 5 is enter-operated while a predetermined button icon desired to be selected is highlighted, the CPU 29 executes the process assigned to the button icon.

For example, when the button icon of the general guide is selected, the CPU 29 causes the MPEG video decoder 2
5 to display a general guide screen (broadcast channel selection screen) on the monitor device 4. The user can select and designate a predetermined program on this screen.

When the CPU 29 is instructed to receive a predetermined program, the CPU 29 controls the tuner 21 to receive the broadcast channel. The output of the tuner 21 is supplied to the QPSK demodulation circuit 22, is QPSK demodulated, and then is supplied to the error correction circuit 23, where error correction processing is performed.

The demultiplexer 24 decrypts the encrypted signal supplied from the error correction circuit 23 with reference to the key read from the card reader interface 32. Then, the decoded video signal is converted to MPE
The audio signal is output to the G video decoder 25,
It is output to the PEG audio decoder 26.

The MPEG video decoder 25 decodes the input digital video signal encoded by the MPEG system and outputs it to the NTSC encoder 27. The NTSC encoder 27 converts the input video signal into an NTSC video signal and outputs it to the monitor device 4 as an S video signal or a composite video signal.

Similarly, the MPEG audio decoder 26
The MPEG-encoded digital audio signal input to is decoded, D / A-converted by the D / A converter 30, and output to the monitor device 4.

When such a viewing operation is performed,
The CPU 29 executes a favorite guide list creation process as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the tuner 21 is receiving a predetermined program. If not, the tuner 21 waits until the reception, and when the predetermined program is received, In step S2, the data of the received channel and its time are fetched. The data of the receiving channel can be fetched from the output of the tuner 21, and the time data can be fetched from the calendar timer 35.

Next, in step S3, the latest past 4
A weekly favorite guide list is created and the favorite guide list is stored in the EEPROM 38.

This favorite guide list is a list showing what kind of programs the user was watching on each day of the week, with each day of the week and time as parameters.

FIG. 14 shows an example of this favorite guide list. In this example, the vertical axis indicates the day of the week, and the horizontal axis indicates the time in units of 30 minutes. And within 30 minutes from the specified time on each day of the week,
The channel number of the broadcast channel that has been viewed in the past 4 weeks is registered. The broadcast channel numbers are registered in order from the one with the highest frequency. For example, on Sunday (SUN) for 30 minutes from 0:00 to 0:30, the broadcast channels are best received in the order of the fourth channel, the tenth channel, the eighth channel, and the twentieth channel.

This data is updated to the latest corresponding data for each day of the week.

When creating this favorite guide list, it is theoretically possible to count all channels received for a short time (for example, several seconds) as receiving channels. However, even if the reception time is too short, by registering the broadcast channel in the reception history, even if the broadcast channel is being switched to select another broadcast channel, the middle The broadcast channel is registered as if it was received. Therefore, it is preferable to register only the broadcast channel that has been continuously received for a predetermined time, such as 5 minutes or more, as a reception channel.

Next, when the user displays the menu shown in FIG. 12 on the monitor 4, the favorite guide (FAVORITE GUID) indicated by numeral 8 is displayed.
The processing when the button icon of E) is selected,
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

When this process is started, first, in step S11, the user selects the button icon of the favorite guide shown in FIG. As described above, this selection is performed by operating the operating element 52 in the vertical and horizontal directions to move the highlighted cursor to the button icon of the favorite guide represented by the number 8 and then performing the enter operation. It is done by doing.

When the operation of the favorite guide button icon is instructed, the CPU 29 proceeds to step S12.
Then, a favorite guide screen as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the monitor device 4. This display is also CPU
29 is performed by controlling the MPEG video decoder 25.

As shown in FIG. 19, in this embodiment, the days of the week are displayed in the vertical direction in the vicinity of the left side edge of the screen, in the order from top to bottom. That day at the bottom (current)
Day of the week (Friday (FRI) in this embodiment) is displayed. As a result, in this embodiment, Saturday (SAT) is displayed at the top, and the days (SU
N), the month (MON), the fire (TUE), the water (WED), the tree (THU), and the day of the week (FRI) are displayed in order.

Further, in this embodiment, the time axis (time) is displayed horizontally in the horizontal direction and from left to right near the lower end of the screen. In this embodiment, the time axis from 7:00 to 9:30 is displayed. And
A program corresponding to the reception time of the favorite guide list stored in the EEPROM 38 is displayed along this time axis. In this example, the recent past four
The program that the user watched most frequently during the week is displayed by the name of the broadcasting station (including its abbreviation).

In the case of this embodiment, the most CBS broadcasts are received from 7:00 to 7:30 on Friday, and the time from 7:30 to 8:30 is C
We receive the most NN broadcasts, and at 8:30
From 9 minutes to 9:30, it means that the most NBC broadcasts were received.

The first time on the time axis is a time before the current time, and is the broadcast start time of the program being broadcast at the current time. In other words, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 19, the current time is from 7:00 to 7:30.

In this embodiment, the cursor A is initially displayed at the intersection of the day of the week axis and the time axis, that is, the lower left corner. That is, the lower left corner is the default display position.

Further, in this embodiment, upward and downward triangular figures are displayed at the upper end and the lower end of the vertical day of the week axis, and the day of the week can be set by operating the operating element 52 up or down. It has been suggested that it can be changed. Similarly, at the left and right ends of the time axis,
It is suggested that a triangle pointing to the left and a triangle pointing to the right are arranged, and the time axis can be changed by performing a left operation or a right operation on the operating element 52.

As described above, the day of the week axis and the time axis are displayed in a substantially L-shape near the left end and the lower end of the screen, respectively. Therefore, the tuner 2 displayed on the monitor device 4 at that time is displayed.
The reception image of No. 1 is hidden by these days of the week and the time axis, and the difficulty of seeing is minimized.

Next, in steps S13 to S16, it is sequentially determined whether any one of the down operation, the up operation, the enter operation of the operator 52 and the escape operation of the escape button switch 54 has been performed. When it is determined in step S13 that the down operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S17 and the cursor A
The process of moving the day of the week relatively upward is executed.

That is, the CPU 29 controls the MPEG video decoder 25 and causes the CRT 4A of the monitor device 4 to
An image as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed. In the screen of FIG. 20, as is clear from the screen of FIG. 19, the cursor A is not actually moved, and the day of the week in the cursor A is changed from Friday (FRI) to Saturday (SAT). . That is, the day of the week is scrolled upward by one step.

On the other hand, in step S14,
If it is determined that the up operation has been performed, a process of moving the day of the week downward is executed in step S18. That is, the CPU 29 controls the MPEG video decoder 25 to cause the CRT 4A to display a screen as shown in FIG. As is apparent by comparing the screen of FIG. 19 and the screen of FIG. 21, Thursday (THU) is displayed in the cursor A in the screen of FIG. 21, and the day of the week is displayed by one step in the screen shown in FIG. It has been scrolled down only.

After the processing of steps S17 and S18, the process returns to step S13.

Furthermore, it is determined in step S16 whether or not the escape operation has been performed, and if it is determined that the escape operation has not been performed, step S13.
Then, the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.

That is, by performing the up operation or the down operation a predetermined number of times, the cursor A
It is possible to display a predetermined day of the week in the display.

Although the position of the cursor A is fixed and the day of the week is relatively scrolled up and down in the above, when the up operation is performed in the state shown in FIG. 19, for example, as shown in FIG. As described above, the cursor A itself can be moved upward, and at this time, the program display unit can also be moved upward and displayed. However, in this case, as the cursor A is moved upward, the central portion of the screen is hidden by the program name, and the original image becomes difficult to see. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 19 to 21, it is preferable to fix the cursor A and scroll the day of the week up and down.

When the escape button switch 54 is turned on with the cursor A positioned on the day of the week axis,
This is detected in step S16, and the favorite guide process ends.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S15 that the enter operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S19, and as shown in FIG. 23, the cursor A is moved from the day of the week axis to the time axis (on the program). . Then, in steps S20 to S25, it is determined whether a right operation, a left operation, an up operation, a down operation, an enter operation or an escape operation has been performed.

If it is determined in step S20 that the write operation has been performed in the state shown in FIG. 23, the process proceeds to step S26, and the process of moving the cursor A to the right is executed as shown in FIG. It This processing is also executed by the CPU 29 controlling the MPEG video decoder 25.

The size of the cursor A is not fixed and has a size corresponding to the size of the program on the time axis.

On the other hand, in step S21,
When it is determined that the left operation is performed in the state shown in FIG. 23, the process proceeds to step S27, and the cursor A is moved leftward as shown in FIG.

However, when the cursor A is further moved to the left in the state shown in FIG. 23, the cursor A returns to the day of the week axis. So, like this, cursor A
Is located at the end (in this case, the end on the left side), and when it is instructed to move further to the left, as shown in FIG. Be moved to. In the example of FIG. 25, the time zone from 6:00 to 7:00 before 7:00 is displayed. Since most of the USA broadcasts were received in this time zone, the USA name is displayed on this time axis.

Similarly, for example, in the state shown in FIG. 23, the write operation is performed twice, and the cursor A is further moved to the right in the state where the cursor A is moved to the right end as shown in FIG. When the write operation is performed, the time zone that is further ahead of the time zone that has been displayed up to now is displayed as shown in FIG. 27, for example.

Therefore, it is possible to display the time axis of a predetermined time zone on the screen by appropriately repeating the left operation or the right operation with the operator 52.

If it is determined in step S22 that the operating element 52 has been operated up, the process proceeds to step S28, at which time a process of displaying a more frequent program is executed in the time zone in which the cursor A is located. To be done.

For example, when the up operation is performed in the state shown in FIG. 24, the program in the time zone in which the cursor A is positioned is the program currently displayed (in the case of FIG. 24, CN
N) More frequent programs are displayed as shown in FIG. In the embodiment of FIG. 28, the TBS broadcast channel is displayed. That is, in the time zone from 7:30 to 8:30, it means that TBS was watched more frequently than CNN.

Similarly, if it is determined in step S23 that the operating element 52 has been operated down,
In step S29, a less frequent program is displayed.

For example, when the down operation is performed in the state shown in FIG. 24, the cursor A is positioned at 7:30.
From 8 minutes to 8:30
The broadcast channel received at a lower frequency is changed as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 29, CNN
ABC is displayed instead of. That is, in this example, a lot of ABCs are received next to CNN.

If it is determined in step S25 that the escape operation has been performed, step S3
The process proceeds to 0 and the process of moving the cursor A on the day of the week axis is executed. For example, when the escape button switch 54 is turned on in the state shown in FIG. 23 or 24,
The cursor A is moved on the day of the week axis and the state returns to the state shown in FIG. Then, the process returns to step S13, and the subsequent processes are repeatedly executed.

That is, by operating the escape button switch 54 in this way, it is possible to return the cursor A to the day of the week axis, redo an erroneous operation from the beginning, or set a different day of the week.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S24 that the enter operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S31, and the program on the time axis where the cursor A is located at that time is temporarily stored in the SRAM 36. Then, the program is highlighted. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, when the operator A is operated while the cursor A is located on the program of CNN, the name CNN is highlighted with brighter brightness as shown in FIG.

Further, in step S32, a list of recording devices (devices capable of recording among the AV devices connected to the AV system 1) is displayed as shown in FIG. In the embodiment of FIG. 30, four types of WATCH, MD (mini disk device 9), VHS (VCR6), and 8 mm (VCR7) are displayed as candidates for the recording device. Then, when this list is displayed for the first time, the cursor B for selecting a predetermined recording device from this list is positioned on WATCH. That is, the default display position of the cursor B is on WATCH.

Next, in steps S33 to S36, it is determined whether an up operation, a down operation, an enter operation, or an escape operation has been performed. If it is determined that none of the operations has been performed, step S33. Then, the subsequent processing is repeatedly executed.

Incidentally, steps S13 to S16 of FIG.
In the process of (1), it is not determined whether the left operation or the right operation is performed. That is, even if these operations are performed, the operations are ignored. As a result, the day of the week is first selected, the enter operation is performed to confirm the day of the week, and then the program is selected.

Similarly, steps S33 to S3 in FIG.
In 6, it is not determined whether the left operation or the right operation is performed. In other words, even if these operations are performed, the operations are ignored. This is
This is because the recording device list is displayed in one column as shown in, and it is not necessary to move the cursor B in the horizontal direction to select the recording device.

When it is determined in step S33 that the up operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S37, and a process of moving the cursor B upward is executed.
When it is determined in step S34 that the down operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S38, and a process of moving the cursor B downward is executed.

For example, in the state shown in FIG. 30, when the up operation is performed, the cursor B moves to the position shown in FIG.
As shown in, it is moved and displayed on the lowermost side of 8 mm. Of course, in this case, when there are four or more list candidates, the cursor B may be substantially stopped and the list candidates may be scrolled downward.

If the down operation is performed three times in the state shown in FIG. 30, the cursor B also moves downward by three steps, so that the state shown in FIG. 31 is obtained.

When it is determined in step S36 that the escape button switch 54 is turned on, the process returns to step S30, the cursor A is moved to the day axis, the process returns to step S13, and the subsequent processes are repeated. Run. That is, in this case, all the processes are to be redone from the day of the week selection process.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S35 that the enter operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S39, and the recording device on which the cursor B is positioned is SRA.
It is stored in M36 and the device is highlighted.
For example, as shown in FIG. 31, when the enter operation is performed with the cursor B positioned 8 mm above, 8 m
m (VCR7) is stored as a recording device,
It is highlighted.

Next, in step S40, it is determined whether the stored recording device is WATCH. If the recording device is not WATCH, that is, 8 mm (VC
If it is one of R7), VHS (VCR6), and MD (mini disk device 9), the process proceeds to step S41, and it is determined whether or not the broadcasting of the stored program has already started.

For example, in the state shown in FIG. 31, it is stored that the CNN broadcast is received from 7:30 to 8:30. In this case, the current time read by the calendar timer 35 is Already at 7:30
If the time has passed and the time is before 8:30, the process proceeds to step S42 to immediately start the process of recording the stored program by the recording device storing the stored program. That is,
A process of recording a program broadcast on the CNN at 8 mm (VCR7) from the current time to 8:30 is executed.

That is, the CPU 29 controls the tuner 21 to receive the CNN and outputs its demodulated output,
It is supplied to the 8 mm type VCR 7 via the AV line 11 and the VCR 6 and the monitor device 4. At the same time, the CPU 29 sends the control line 12
A request signal for starting recording is output to the VCR 7. V
When receiving the request signal, the microcomputer 99 of the CR 7 controls the recording / reproducing block 97 to start the recording operation. As a result, the program of the selected and designated CNN can be recorded.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S41 that the broadcasting of the program has not started yet, the process proceeds to step S43 to execute the reservation process for recording the stored program in the recording device that stores the program. That is, when the CPU 29 reaches the time of 7:30,
Received the program of N, received until 8:30, and 8m
It is registered in the reserved recording list of the SRAM 36 so as to be recorded in the m-mode VCR 7. When the CPU 29 detects that the calendar timer 35 has reached the time registered in the recording reservation list, the CPU 29 starts the reserved recording process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S40 that WATCH has been designated as a candidate for a recording device in the list of recording devices, the process proceeds to step S44, and the program designated using the cursor A in step S31 is broadcast. Is already started and is not yet finished. If it is already started and is not yet finished, the process proceeds to step S45 to immediately receive the program. That is, the CPU 29 is the tuner 21.
Is controlled so that the designated program is received and displayed on the monitor device 4.

On the other hand, in step S44,
If it is determined that the broadcast of the designated program has not started yet, the process proceeds to step S46, and the program is reserved and registered in the SRAM 36.

In this case, thereafter, when the CPU 29 detects that the time output by the calendar timer 35 reaches the time registered in the SRAM 36, the CPU 29 causes the tuner 21 to receive the program registered in the reservation list, and the monitor device Four
Output to and display.

In this embodiment, when a predetermined program is selected by performing an enter operation, a list of recording devices is displayed as shown in FIG. 30. At that time, the cursor B is WATCH as a default display position. Is located at the position that specifies. So instead of recording
In the case of just watching, if the enter operation is performed once to confirm the program and then the enter operation is performed once again, the cursor B is located on the WATCH, and the reservation is completed quickly. be able to.

In the above embodiment, all seven days of the week are displayed, but it is also possible to display only one selected day as shown in FIG. is there. By doing so, it is possible to further reduce the range in which the original display image is hidden.

However, even in this case, although not shown, the day of the week is assumed to exist in the vertical direction, and the day of the week in the cursor A is changed to a predetermined day by performing an up operation or a down operation. be able to.

Further, in the above embodiment, the program is specified by displaying the name (including the abbreviation) of the broadcasting station broadcasting the program. However, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the program name may be displayed.

FIG. 34 shows another configuration example of the remote commander 5. In this embodiment, an up button switch 161, a down button switch 162, a left button switch 16 are used instead of the operator 52 in FIG.
3, and a direction button switch 160 including a light button switch 164. By operating any of these button switches, the operation can be performed in any of the up, down, left and right directions. Further, an enter button switch 165 is provided so that it can be operated when performing an enter operation.

When the remote commander 5 is constructed as shown in FIG. 34, the inside thereof is constructed as shown in FIG. As is apparent from comparison of FIG. 35 with FIG. 10, in this embodiment, the variable resistors 64 and 65, the switch 66, and the A / D converters 77 and 78 in FIG. 10 are omitted. ing. That is, in this embodiment, the operation of the direction button switch 160 and the enter button switch 165 is detected by the button switch matrix 82 like other button switches.

In the above, the case where the present invention is applied to the IRD2 for receiving and decoding satellite broadcasting has been described as an example.
The present invention can also be applied to a television receiver, a VTR, or the like.

[0132]

As described above, according to the program selection system of the present invention, the past reception history is stored and the program corresponding to the reception history is displayed along the time axis.
It is possible to quickly and surely select and specify a desired program from programs that are viewed relatively often.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of an AV system to which a program selection system of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical connection state of the AV system of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration example of an IRD 2 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the configuration of the upper surface of the remote commander 5 of FIG.

5 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a small stick controller that detects an operation of an operator 52 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a right side view showing the configuration of the embodiment of FIG.

9 is a plan view showing the configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.

10 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration example of a remote commander 5 in FIG.

11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a VCR 7 in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example of a menu screen.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a favorite guide list creation process performed by the CPU 29 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the contents of a favorite guide list.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a favorite guide performed by the IRD 2 of FIG.

16 is a flowchart following on from FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart following FIG.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart following FIG.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 to 18;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 to 18;

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 to 18;

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 15 to 18;

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen for explaining the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

34 is a plan view showing another configuration example of the remote commander 5 of FIG. 1. FIG.

35 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the remote commander 5 of FIG. 34.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 AV System 2 IRD 3 Parabona Antenna 4 Monitor Device 4A CRT 5 Remote Commander 6 VCR (VHS) 7 VCR (8 mm) 8 Multi Disc Player 9 Mini Disc Device 21 Tuner 23 Error Correction Circuit 24 Demultiplexer 25 MPEG Video Decoder 26 MPEG Audio Decoder 27 NTSC Encoder 29 CPU 35 Calendar Timer 36 SRAM 38 EEPROM 39 IR Receiver 50 Button Switch 52 Operator 53 Menu Button Switch 54 Escape Button Switch

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing past reception history, a day of the week is displayed in one of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the screen, and a time axis is displayed in the other axis. While displaying, a program corresponding to the reception history stored in the storage means, display control means for displaying along the time axis, and day of the week selection means for selecting the day displayed on the one axis, A program selection system comprising: a program selection unit that selects a program displayed along the time axis; and a program determination unit that fixes the selected program. 2. The program selection system according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays a program only for a selected day of the week. 3. The program selection system according to claim 2, wherein the display control means displays only the selected days of the week. 4. The program selection system according to claim 1, wherein the day of the week selection means, the program selection means, and the program determination means can be operated with one finger. 5. The display control means displays the day of the week vertically from top to bottom, and displays the program horizontally from left to right. 4. The program selection system according to any one of 4 above. 6. The display control means further displays a cursor for designating the program, and when the day of the week selection means is operated, the day of the week corresponding to the cursor is changed to another day of the week. The program selection system according to claim 5, wherein when the selection means is operated, the cursor is moved in the left-right direction to a position corresponding to a predetermined program. 7. The display control means, when the day of the week selection means is operated in a state in which the cursor is displayed corresponding to a predetermined program, displays the program at the position corresponding to the cursor as follows. 7. The program selection system according to claim 6, wherein the program is changed to a program having a frequency. 8. The program selection system according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the program by the name of a broadcasting station that is broadcasting the program. 9. The program selection system according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the program by the name of the program. 10. The program according to claim 1, wherein the display control means further displays a list of candidate devices for recording the selected program in parallel with the day of the week. Selection system. 11. The program selection according to claim 10, wherein the list of device candidates for recording the program includes candidates to be selected when the selected program is simply viewed without recording. system.