JPH08251122A - Information selection device/method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To indicate only information on a channel, which can be viewed in that area, to a viewer by selecting information on the prescribed channel from information included in EPG based on a reception result. CONSTITUTION: When a broadcasting frequency is latched by a latch circuit 35, a VHF tuner 36 receives (detection/demodulation) the signal of the channel of the broacasting frequency and it is supplied to a signal level detection circuit 37. The signal level detection circuit 37 detects the level from a signal from the VHS tuner 36. CPU 31 reads the signal level. When it is decided to be not more than a prescribed value, it is eliminated from EPG which is stored in RAM 33. Namely, only information on the channel whose level of the reception signal is more than the prescribed value is selected and remained among information of the channels, which are included in EPG stored in RAM 33. Thus, the viewer can easily obtain information of the channel which can be viewed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information selection device and an information selection method. In particular, EPG (Electric Program)
The present invention relates to an information selection device and an information selection method that allow a viewer to select, for example, information about a channel that can be viewed by a viewer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a viewer views a broadcast program (program) by, for example, a television receiver or the like, he or she finds a desired program from a TV program section published in, for example, a newspaper and At the broadcast time of
A television receiver or a remote commander for controlling the television receiver so as to receive the broadcast channel of the program (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a remote controller)
Was operating.

Further, when a newspaper or the like is not at hand, or when the newspaper is at hand and it is troublesome to read it, the television receiver or the remote controller is operated to sequentially change the receiving channel. By doing so, the program displayed on the screen is changed and the desired program is selected.

[0004]

Therefore, in order to obtain information of a desired program, it is necessary to view a newspaper or perform an operation for sequentially changing the receiving channel,
It was troublesome. Therefore, for example, via satellite or the like, it corresponds to information of each channel (each broadcasting station) (for example, information described in a television program section of a newspaper such as a broadcasting channel, a program start time, a program title, etc.). Electronic Program Guide (Electric Program Gu)
ide) (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as EPG) is distributed nationwide, the receiving side displays this EPG, and the viewer can obtain the information of the desired program by viewing this EPG. .

However, in this case, since the EPG is distributed nationwide, in order to make the EPG usable in any region of the nation, the EPG includes information on channels (broadcasting stations) nationwide. There is a need. Therefore, on the viewer side, in addition to the information on the channels that can be received in that area, the information on the channels that cannot be received is also displayed. It was troublesome to find out what the viewer wanted in the area of the viewer.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and makes it possible to present to a viewer only the information of channels that can be viewed in the area.

[0007]

An information selecting apparatus according to claim 1 is included in an EPG based on a receiving means for receiving a signal of each channel in which information is included in the EPG and a reception result of the receiving means. And a selecting unit for selecting information of a predetermined channel from the information.

The information selection device may further include display means for displaying the information selected by the selection means. Further, it is possible to further include a detection means for detecting the level of the signal of each channel received by the reception means, and in this case, the selection means selects the signal detected by the detection means among the information included in the EPG. It is possible to select the information of the channel whose level is a predetermined value or more.

The information selecting apparatus according to claim 4 is the EPG.
It is characterized in that the information of the viewable channel is selected from the information included in.

The information selection method according to claim 5 is the EPG.
Is received, and the information of a predetermined channel is selected from the information included in the EPG based on the reception result.

[0011]

In the information selecting apparatus according to the present invention, the receiving means receives the signal of each channel in which the EPG contains information, and the selecting means is included in the EPG based on the reception result of the receiving means. Information of a predetermined channel is selected from the information.

In the information selecting device according to the fourth aspect, the information of the viewable channel is selected from the information included in the EPG.

In the information selecting method according to the fifth aspect, the signal of each channel whose information is included in the EPG is received, and the information of the predetermined channel is selected from the information included in the EPG based on the reception result. It is designed to be done.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of a broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied. In this broadcasting system, for example, in an EPG distribution center, VHFs nationwide
E of the program broadcast by the (Very High Frequency) broadcasting station
PGs are distributed nationwide via satellites (for example, broadcasting satellites and communication satellites) 4, and the viewer side receives the information in that area from the information included in the EPG from the EPG distribution center. Information on possible VHF channels (broadcasting stations) is selected and displayed.

Large-scale computer for EPG database (hereinafter,
Information necessary for creating an EPG is appropriately stored in a large-scale computer 1 (for example, broadcasting channels of broadcasting stations nationwide, program broadcasting start times, program titles, texts representing program contents, etc.). (Furthermore, this information may be not only text data but also so-called multimedia data composed of, for example, a still image obtained by cutting out one scene of a program, a moving image in which the screen of the program is reduced, the sound of the program, etc. It can be stored. The information stored in the large-scale computer 1 is transmitted to a work station for EPG transmission (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a work station) 2 as necessary, and is edited in a format that is easy for the receiving side to handle. An EPG in the format shown in FIG. 2 described later is created.

EPG created by workstation 2
Is transmitted to the broadcasting center 3. In addition, since it is not always necessary to continuously broadcast the EPG (however, it may be continuously broadcast), in this embodiment, when the predetermined time of day is reached, the EPG becomes the workstation. 2 to the broadcasting center 3.

In the broadcasting center 3, for example, the EPG is multiplexed in an independent data channel of the digital channel data of the satellite, and transmitted via the satellite 4 to all over the country. When the EPG distribution center is, for example, a newspaper company and provides a newspaper data distribution service, it is possible to multiplex and transmit the EPG to the newspaper data. Further, when the EPG distribution center is, for example, a broadcasting station that broadcasts a normal program, it is possible to multiplex and transmit the EPG to the program.

The signal transmitted from the broadcasting center 3 via the satellite 4 is received by the parabolic antenna 5 on the viewer side, and the received signal is supplied to the EPG reproducing terminal 6.
In the EPG reproducing terminal 6, the EPG is extracted from the received signal supplied from the parabolic antenna 5, and the information of the VHF channel (broadcasting station) that can be received in the area is selected from the EPG. Then, the information of the selected channel is supplied from the EPG reproducing terminal 6 to the television receiver (TV) 7 (display means) and displayed.

After that, the viewer views the television receiver 7
When a desired program is selected while referring to the channel information displayed on, the EPG reproducing terminal 6 controls the television receiver 7, for example. Thereby, in the television receiver 7, the channel of the program is detected and demodulated from the VHF television broadcast signal received by the VHF antenna 8 and displayed.

Alternatively, the EPG reproducing terminal 6 controls, for example, a VCR (video cassette recorder) 9. Then, the VCR 9 makes a recording reservation of the program, and when the broadcast start time of the program is reached by this, V
From the VHF television broadcast signal received by the HF antenna 8, the channel of the program is detected and demodulated, and recording is performed. After the recording is finished, the recorded program can be viewed on the television receiver 7 or the like by reproducing the VCR 9.

FIG. 2 shows the format of the EPG output from the workstation 2 (distributed from the EPG distribution center). The EPG is configured such that a channel header is arranged at the head of the EPG and information of each channel (in this embodiment, information of N channels of channels 1 to N) is arranged subsequently. The channel header has a fixed length, and the information of each channel has a variable length.

In the channel header, the total number of channels to be transmitted (the number of channels) N (in this embodiment, N)
Is located at the head of the number of VHF broadcast channels (broadcast stations) in the country, followed by an offset to the information of each channel.

As described above, since the information of each channel has a variable length, the data length of each channel of information is different. Therefore, the beginning of the channel header (EP
By transmitting the offset from the head of G) to the head of the information of each channel, it becomes possible to access the information of each channel. The number of channels N and the offset are both fixed lengths.

At the beginning of the information of each channel, a program header is arranged, and subsequently information on each program broadcast on that channel (program information) is arranged. In addition,
The program header has a fixed length, and each program information has a variable length.

At the beginning of the program header, the number M of programs to be broadcast on that channel is arranged, and subsequently, the broadcast frequency of that channel (the frequency of the carrier of that channel).
Is located (the broadcast frequency also includes broadcast channels). Further, after the broadcast frequency, each program information 3-1 to 3-from the beginning of the program header.
An offset to the head of M is arranged. As described above, since the program information has a variable length, it is possible to access each program information by defining the offset from the beginning of the program header to the beginning of the program information. Note that the number of programs, broadcast frequency, and offset are all fixed lengths.

In this embodiment, in each program information 3-1 to 3-M of channel 3, the start time, broadcast time (or end time), program name, and program content of the program are sequentially arranged. The program information 3-1 to 3-M are arranged in ascending order of the broadcast start time on the channel (channel 3). However, the arrangement order of the program information 3-1 to 3-M is not particularly limited, but by setting the broadcast start time in the ascending order as described above, the program guide shown in FIG. It is possible to generate quickly.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration example of the EPG reproducing terminal 6 which receives the EPG as described above and selects the information of the VHF channel that can be received in the area from the EPG.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31
The (selection means) is a ROM (Read) via a bus.
Various processes are performed by reading and executing the program stored in the (Only Memory) 32. The ROM 32 stores a program necessary for operating the EPG reproducing terminal 6, and a RAM (Random
Access Memory) 33 is the program guide shown in FIG.
The data necessary for the operation of the PU 31 is stored.

The latch circuit 35 latches the broadcasting frequency (FIG. 2) of each channel supplied from the CPU 31. The VHF tuner 36 (reception means) receives VH received by the VHF antenna 8 (FIG. 1).
An F television broadcast signal is supplied, in which the television signal supplied from the VHF antenna 8 is detected and demodulated by the broadcast frequency latched in the latch circuit 35 (latched in the latch circuit 35). The signal of the channel of the broadcast frequency being received is received) and supplied to the signal level detection circuit 37 (detection means). The signal level detection circuit 37 detects the level of the signal of the channel received (detected and demodulated) by the VHF tuner 36.

The satellite tuner 38 is equipped with the parabolic antenna 5.
The signal of the channel in which the EPG is multiplexed is detected and demodulated from the signal received in step S3 and supplied to the independent data extraction circuit 39. Independent data extraction circuit 3
9 is adapted to extract the data of the independent data channel from the signal supplied from the satellite tuner 38, and further extract the EPG from the data. This E
The PG is supplied to the RAM 33 and temporarily stored.

The remote control receiver 40 receives the infrared rays transmitted from the remote control 43, photoelectrically converts the infrared rays,
The data is output to the CPU 31. NTSC
The (National Television System Committe) encoder 41 is adapted to convert a signal input thereto into a signal conforming to the NTSC system and output it to the television receiver 7 for display. The VCR interface 42 controls the VCR 9 under the control of the CPU 31.

The remote controller 43 uses the left cursor key 4
4, up cursor key 45, right cursor key 4
6 and a downward cursor key 47 and a recording reservation button 48 are provided, and when each key / button is operated, infrared rays corresponding to the operation are output.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First of all, step S1
At, the CPU 31 determines whether the EPG is received. Here, this determination is performed by the CPU 31 by monitoring the output of the independent data extraction circuit 39. When it is determined in step S1 that the EPG has not been received, the process returns to step S1. When it is determined in step S1 that the EPG has been received, that is, the independent data extraction circuit 39,
If the EPG is extracted from the signal supplied from the parabolic antenna 5 via the satellite tuner 38, step S
2, the EPG is transferred to the RAM 33 and temporarily stored. Then, the process proceeds to step S3, a variable i for counting the number of channels (the number of broadcasting stations) is set to 1 as an initial value, and the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, the CPU 31 causes the
The broadcast frequency of the i-th channel (broadcast station) is read from the EPG stored in the RAM 33 and supplied to the latch circuit 35. As a result, the latch circuit 35 latches the broadcast frequency of the i-th channel.

When the broadcast frequency is latched by the latch circuit 35, the VHF tuner 36 receives (detects and demodulates) the signal of the channel of the broadcast frequency and supplies it to the signal level detection circuit 37. Then, the signal level detection circuit 37 detects the level of the signal from the VHF tuner 36. That is, the signal level of the i-th channel (VHF channel) is detected.

When the signal level detection circuit 37 detects the signal level of the i-th channel, the signal level is read by the CPU 31 in step S5, and the process proceeds to step S6, where the signal level is predetermined. The CPU 31 determines whether or not the value is greater than or equal to the value.
Here, the predetermined value is, for example, a level that corresponds to the reception intensity of the radio wave that enables good viewing of the program.

When it is determined in step S6 that the signal level of the i-th channel is not equal to or higher than the predetermined value, that is, when the i-th channel cannot be viewed properly in the viewer's area, The process proceeds to step S7, the information of the i-th channel is deleted from the EPG stored in the RAM 31, and the process proceeds to step S8.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S6 that the signal level of the i-th channel is equal to or higher than the predetermined value, that is, the i-th channel can be viewed well in the viewer's area. If so, the CPU 31 determines whether the variable i is equal to the total number N of channels by skipping step S7 and proceeding to step S8. If it is determined in step S8 that the variable i is not equal to the total number N of channels, that is, if there is a channel whose signal level has not been determined in step S6, the process proceeds to step S9 and the variable i is set. It is incremented by 1, and the process returns to step S4. After that, until it is determined in step S8 that the variable i is equal to the total number N of channels, steps S4 to S4 are performed.
The process of 9 is repeated.

Then, in step S8, the variable i
Is determined to be equal to the total number N of channels, that is, when the signal level determination in step S6 has been performed for all channels, the process ends.

As described above, the information of the channel that cannot be viewed properly in the viewer's area is the EPG.
By being deleted from the RAM 33, information of channels that can be favorably viewed in the area of the viewer remains in the RAM 33. That is, the EP stored in the RAM 33
Of the channel information included in G, only the channel information for which the level of the received signal is equal to or higher than a predetermined value is selected and remains. It should be noted that the CPU 31 is adapted to change the number of channels N, the offset, etc., of the information included in the EPG, as necessary, as the channel information is deleted.

After that, the CPU 31 creates a program guide as shown in FIG. 5 from the information of the selected and remaining channels, and displays it on the television receiver 7. That is, C
From the information on the remaining channels, the PU 31 creates a bit map of a program guide in a matrix form in which the vertical axis or the horizontal axis is the time or broadcast channel, as shown in FIG. 5, and stores it in the RAM 33.

In each column of the program table, the start time, program name (title), program content, etc. included in the program information (FIG. 2) are arranged. In addition, in FIG. 5, information of channels 1 and 4 to N is selected from the information of channels 1 to N, and a program guide created from these information (from information of channels 1 to N, channels 2 and 3 Information is deleted, and a program guide created from the remaining information) is shown. Furthermore, here, for example, the program information with the earliest broadcast start time is arranged above, the program information with the later broadcast time is arranged below, the program information with the smaller channel number is arranged on the left, and the program information with the larger channel number is arranged on the right. It is designed to be placed.

The bitmap of the program guide is supplied to the NTSC encoder 41, where it is converted into a signal conforming to the NTSC system. Then, this signal is supplied to the television receiver 7, whereby the television receiver 7 displays a program guide as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

Here, if the entire program guide shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the television receiver 7, it becomes difficult to read the contents due to its resolution. Therefore, in the CPU 31, a range of, for example, 3 channels × 3 hours, which is a part of the created program table, is read from the RAM 33 and displayed on the television receiver 7.

FIG. 6 shows the program guide shown in FIG. 5 which is broadcast between 18:00 and 20:00 of channels 1, 4, and 5 surrounded by dotted lines in FIG. It shows the situation. Further, the display of the channel or time in each of the channel column or the time column in FIG. 6 is changed according to the range of the program information read from the program guide shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 31 displays a program guide and also a cursor 51 for selecting a program. Here, in FIG. 6, the cursor 51
However, the shape of the cursor 51 is not limited to this, and the shape of the cursor 51 causes the viewer to have an image indicating the program (for example, an arrow). Shape).

The cursor 51 is moved to the left from the current position by operating the cursor keys 44 to 47 of the remote controller 43.
The program can be moved to the position of the program located above, to the right, or below. That is, when the cursor keys 44 to 47 of the remote controller 43 are operated, infrared rays corresponding to the operation are output from the remote controller 43 and received by the remote controller receiver 40. Remote control receiver 40
Receives infrared rays from the remote controller 43, further photoelectrically converts them, and outputs them to the CPU 31. The CPU 31 moves the cursor 51 as described above in response to the signal supplied from the remote control receiver 40.

Further, the program guide shown in FIG. 6 is adapted to be scrolled. That is, for example, the cursor 51
When the down cursor key 47 is operated in the case of being located at the bottom row in FIG. 6, the CPU 31 causes the R 31
From AM33, the range shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5 is shifted down by 1 hour, and the range of 3 channels × 3 hours, that is, the program guide broadcast between 19:00 and 21:00 of channels 1, 4, and 5 is read, It is output to the television receiver 7 and displayed. As a result, the position of the cursor 51 remains the same, and the program guide is scrolled upward by one hour.
The scrolling is similarly performed when the other cursor keys 44 to 46 are operated.

The viewer operates the remote controller 43 to move the cursor 51 to, for example, the section of the program for which the recording reservation is desired. Then, the recording reservation button 48 is operated at that position. Then, the signal corresponding to that operation,
It is received by the CPU 31 as described above. C
When the PU 31 receives the operation signal corresponding to the operation of the recording reservation button 48, the PU 31 reads the broadcast channel (broadcast frequency) together with the information (program information) of the program where the cursor 51 is located from the RAM 33, and the VCR interface 42 Output to.

Then, the VCR interface 42
On the broadcast channel, the program broadcast during the broadcast time is recorded from the start time included in the program information,
Control VCR9. As a result, recording reservation is made for the VCR 9.

When a program is selected, the recording reservation can be made as described above, and the program can be displayed on the television receiver 7. That is, CP
The U31 stores the broadcast channel (broadcast frequency) together with the program information of the selected program in the RAM as described above.
When the start time included in the program information is read out from 33, the VHF tuner 36 is controlled so as to receive the broadcast channel of the program (this control is performed by the latch circuit 35 as described above). Is done by latching). The program of the channel received by the VHF tuner 36 is supplied to the television receiver 7 through the independent data extraction circuit 39 and the NTSC encoder 41, whereby the television receiver 7 outputs the selected program. It In this case, when the selected program is being broadcast, the program is immediately output from the television receiver 7.

As described above, based on the reception result of the VHF tuner 36, the EPG is used to select and display the information of the channel that can be favorably received in the viewer's area, so that the program desired by the viewer is displayed. Can be easily found.

Although the present invention has been described in the case of being applied to a broadcasting system for transmitting an EPG via the satellite 4, the EPG can be used in addition to the satellite 4, for example, other wireless transmission media, optical fibers, CATV ( Cable television)
It is also possible to transmit using the cable network, public line, or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the EPG of the VHF television broadcast program is transmitted. However, in addition to this, the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) television broadcast program, the CATV program, or these programs may be transmitted. It is also possible to transmit the EPG and the like of all the programs.

Furthermore, the E of the program broadcast via the satellite
It is also possible to transmit the PG. That is, a program broadcast via a satellite cannot be received unless the parabola antenna is installed in the direction of the satellite, but normally, the viewer points the parabola antenna in the direction of a certain satellite. It is installed. In such a case, by applying the present invention, it is possible to obtain only the information of the satellite program that the viewer can receive from the EPG that includes the information about the program broadcast through different satellites.

In the present embodiment, it is determined from the signal level of each channel whether the channel is receivable (viewable). However, it is determined by other methods whether each channel is receivable. You can also choose to do so. That is, for example, the EPG should include the information about the viewable area, and the receiving side
It is possible to determine whether each channel is viewable or not based on the information. Also in this case, the information of the channels that the viewer can view can be obtained (selected) from the EPG.

Further, in this embodiment, the EPG reproducing terminal 6
Although the EPG reproducing terminal 6 is an independent device, the EPG reproducing terminal 6 can be integrated with the television receiver 7, the VCR 9, and the like. In this case, the VHF tuner 36 and the satellite tuner 38 can be shared with the television receiver 7 and the VCR 9, and as a result, the cost of the device can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the EPG is transmitted, but in addition to this, for example, a storage medium (for example, a memory card) storing the EPG is periodically delivered, and the receiving side It is also possible to read the EPG from the storage medium and use it.

[0059]

According to the information selecting device and the information selecting method described in claim 5, the signals of the respective channels included in the EPG are received, and the signals are included in the EPG based on the reception result. Information of a predetermined channel is selected from the information provided. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain, from the EPG, information on channels that can be viewed by the viewer.

According to the information selection device of the fourth aspect,
From the information included in the EPG, the information of the viewable channel is selected. Therefore, it is possible to provide the viewer with only the information of the channels that can be viewed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a broadcasting system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an EPG format.

3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of an EPG reproducing terminal 6 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the EPG reproducing terminal 6 in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a bitmap of a program guide expanded in a RAM 33 of FIG.

6 is a diagram showing how a program guide is displayed on the television receiver 7 of FIG. 1. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Large Computer for EPG Database 2 Workstation for EPG Transmission 3 Broadcast Center 4 Satellite 5 Parabolic Antenna 6 EPG Playback Terminal 7 Television Receiver (TV) 8 VHF Antenna 9 VCR 31 CPU 32 ROM 33 RAM 35 Latch Circuit 36 VHF Tuner 37 Signal Level Detection Circuit 38 Satellite Tuner 39 Independent Data Extraction Circuit 40 Remote Control Receiver 41 NTSC Encoder 42 VCR Interface 43 Remote Commander 44 to 47 Cursor Keys 48 Recording Schedule Button 51 Cursor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a signal of each channel whose information is included in an EPG (Electric Program Guide), and information of a predetermined channel from information included in the EPG based on a reception result of the receiving means. An information selecting device, comprising: selecting means for selecting. 2. The information selection device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the information selected by the selection means. 3. The detection means for detecting the level of the signal of each channel received by the reception means is further provided, and the selection means selects one of the signals detected by the detection means among the information included in the EPG. 2. The information selection device according to claim 1, wherein information of a channel whose level is a predetermined value or more is selected. 4. An information selection device, characterized in that information of a viewable channel is selected from information included in an EPG (Electric Program Guide). 5. A signal of each channel including information included in an EPG (Electric Program Guide) is received, and information of a predetermined channel is selected from the information included in the EPG based on the reception result. How to select information.