JPH09182035A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the handling of an electronic program guide by setting the broadcast programs of higher receiving frequency in higher ranks of the program guide when the electronic program guide data superimposed on the TV signals are displayed. SOLUTION: A tuner circuit 2 converts the TV signals of the channel designated by a user into the video signals and records them via a picture recording circuit 7. In a specific time when the circuit 7 is kept in a waiting state, etc., the channel where an electronic program guide is inserted is demodulated and sent to a microcomputer B9. The microcomputer B9 takes out the electronic program guide data which are inserted into a vertical blanking period and decodes the data to store them in a memory 10. The user gives an instruction via a remote control 4 to display the electronic program guide on a monitor screen via a display circuit 9b and designates the recording reservation, etc. Then the microcomputer B9 counts the selection frequency of every channel and changes the display array sequence to set the channels of higher selection frequency in higher ranks respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device having an electronic program guide function capable of selecting a desired program from a large number of channels transmitted by space or cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Programs such as television broadcasts are transmitted to users by radio waves transmitted through space, or by cable television (CATV) supplied via cables, to and from users. Among programs, a program of a favorite channel can be selected and viewed by a television receiver, and can be recorded by a recording device.

The selection of a program such as television broadcasting is generally performed while viewing a printed program guide, but when the number of channels to be transmitted is large, for example, 150.
When it comes to channels, it is not easy to search for a favorite program from the program guides of newspapers and publications in which programs on channel 150 are published.

Therefore, in order to easily search for a desired program, program table data for each channel to be delivered should not be interfered with a television signal during a vertical blanking period of a video signal of a specific channel. The user inserts and transmits the program guide data, and the user displays the transmitted program table data on the screen of a television receiver to search for a channel and select a program of a desired channel. Such program guide data is referred to as an electronic program guide, and a program can be selected and received from the display screen of the electronic program guide, or a recording reservation of the program can be made.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a program guide screen of an electronic program guide displayed on a monitor device such as a television receiver. In this figure, the first column is the title of the program guide screen and is displayed as Program Guide, the second column is the column showing the date and time,
Two grids are shown showing the date of SEP 7 and the times of 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Channels are shown at the left end in the third and subsequent columns, and on the right side, the name of the program broadcast at the time indicated by the date and grid shown in the second row is displayed corresponding to this channel. There is. For example, on channel CSP2 from 8:00 pm for 1 hour,
NEWS1 will be broadcast and NEWS2 will be broadcast from 9:00 pm. On channel 26, it is 8:00 p
It is shown that Famous American programs will be broadcast for 2 hours from m.

By displaying such a program guide screen, it is possible to make a recording reservation in, for example, a recording apparatus. The method will be described with reference to FIG.
A program guide screen as shown in (a) is displayed on a monitor such as a television receiver, and the screen is scrolled or a page is advanced until a program to be reserved for recording is displayed. And when the program you want to schedule for recording is displayed,
Operate the cursor movement key to move the cursor to the column of the program you want to schedule for recording. Then, the display of the column to which the cursor has moved changes as shown in FIG. This change is made by changing the background color of the corresponding column or changing the display mode such as white.

In the example shown, City Slicker is broadcast on the 2-hour channel SHOW from 8:00 pm of SEP 7.
The cursor is moved to the program column of s, and the display of that program column is changed. In this state, by pressing the recording reservation button (Rec key), this program is reserved for recording. Then, the display screen becomes a screen for displaying the program for which recording is reserved as shown in FIG. 9B, and SEP
The reservation for the City Slickers, which will be broadcast on the channel SHOW for 2 hours from 7:00 pm on 7th, will be confirmed and the recording reservation by the program guide screen will be completed.

[0008]

By the way, when a program guide screen is displayed in an electronic device such as the recording device as described above, the displayed program guide information is displayed in the order of the channel numbers and is therefore transmitted. When the number of channels is large, it is very troublesome for the user to search the program guide information of the program to be recorded.

As program guide information, generally, detailed program information such as program title, program content, performer information, etc. is sent for each program, but it is uniformly detailed for all programs. When the program information is taken in, the memory capacity for storing the program guide information becomes large, and the cost of the electronic device having the electronic program guide function increases.

Furthermore, the user can confirm detailed information of the program guide by designating a program on the program guide screen and pressing an information key provided on the remote controller, for example. However, the program guide information sent may not be explained even if the detailed information of the program is confirmed, or the information may be small. However, there is a drawback that whether or not such program guide information has detailed information cannot be identified on the program guide screen, and it is not known unless the information key is input.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to display an easy-to-use program guide screen and to realize an electronic program guide in which practical functions are not deteriorated even with a small memory capacity. .

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the electronic program guide data superimposed on a television signal or a cable television signal is extracted to enable reception within a predetermined period. In an electronic device that displays program information of a channel and can reserve and record a desired received program based on the displayed electronic program guide, a detection means for detecting the frequency of the receiving channel selected by the electronic device is provided. The broadcast program judged to be frequently received by the detection means is displayed so as to be positioned above the electronic program guide.

Further, the display information of the broadcast program determined to have a low reception frequency by the detection means is stored in a simplified manner, and the detection of the reception frequency is updated at regular intervals. Further, with respect to the broadcast program judged to have a high reception frequency by the detecting means, the program information with different colors or specific marks is displayed.

According to the present invention, the frequency of the receiving channel selected by the electronic device is detected, and the program frame of the electronic program guide is positioned higher in the program judged to have a higher receiving frequency. In addition, since detailed information of the program is simplified for a program determined to have a low reception frequency, it is possible to realize a user-friendly program guide with a small memory capacity. Further, a program including detailed information of a program and a program not including detailed information of the program can be distinguished by color or by a mark.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a block diagram of a recording apparatus having an electronic program guide function as an embodiment of the present invention. In the recording apparatus shown in this figure, the television signal received by the antenna 1 and input is input to the tuner circuit 2. In the case of the cable television system, various broadcast channels of a specific program broadcast supply company are input from the antenna 1 via a cable via a cable box (not shown).

The tuner circuit 2 converts the television signal of the channel selected by the user into a video signal and outputs the video signal to the recording circuit 7 so that recording can be performed, and the microcomputer B (hereinafter referred to as “μcon”).
It is also output to 9). Also, at a specific time when the recording device is in a standby state, for example, the channel in which the electronic program guide information is inserted in the vertical blanking period is selected and the electronic program guide information is output to the μcon B9.

The remote controller input circuit 3 receives remote controller key information when a key of the remote controller 4 is operated, demodulates the modulated remote controller key information, and outputs the demodulated remote controller key information to a microcomputer A (hereinafter "Μcon
A ").

When the remote control key information is input from the remote control input circuit 3, the μcon A 5 displays the display information according to the remote control key information on the display means such as a display tube or LED.
And the video recording circuit 7 is controlled. Display information corresponding to the remote control key information is also output to the display circuit 8 for display on a screen of a monitor device such as a television receiver (not shown). The recording circuit 7 controls the recording operation based on the information input from the μcon A5, and the display circuit 8 is provided with, for example, a character generator for displaying the display information on the monitor and a frame memory for the display.

The μcon B9 includes a slice / decode circuit (Slice / Decode) 9a and a display circuit 9b.
The video signal output from the tuner circuit 2 is sliced /
It is input to the decoding circuit 9a. If the electronic program guide information is inserted in the vertical blanking period of the video signal demodulated by the tuner circuit 2, the electronic program guide data is taken out and decoded, and then stored in the memory (SRA).
M) is accumulated in 10.

In this case, the slice / decode circuit 9a shapes the waveform of the electronic program guide data, performs the waveform shaping, and then decodes the electronic program guide data. Further, the μcon B9 is provided with a display circuit 9b for displaying the decoded electronic program guide data on the monitor screen, and the display circuit 9b is provided with a character generator and a frame memory for display. .

The change-over switch 11 is a switch for controlling the switching of screens displayed on the monitor screen, and is provided on a remote controller or the like when the user makes a recording reservation or channel selection using an electronic program guide, for example. When the switch key is pressed, it is controlled to connect to the display circuit 9b. In this case, the program guide screen as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the monitor screen, and the user selects the desired program from this program guide screen. You can make a recording reservation by selecting, or select a program.

On the other hand, in the state where the changeover switch 11 is connected to the display circuit 8, for example, when the user makes a recording reservation by inputting the recording date, the recording channel and the recording time from the remote controller or the operation section of the apparatus main body. The recording reservation information is displayed on.

When the user uses the program guide to make a recording reservation, the program guide is displayed on the monitor screen, and the screen is scrolled until the program guide information desired to be reserved for recording is displayed or the page is advanced. To do. Then, when the program guide information to be reserved for recording is displayed, operate the cursor movement key provided on the remote controller 4 or the like to move the cursor to the column of the program guide to be reserved for recording and press the recording reservation button "Rec key". As a result, this program is reserved for recording.

The program information of the program guide sent to such a recording device is inserted in the vertical blanking period (VBI) of the video signal of a predetermined channel, and the recording device receives the data of this program guide. Then, it is stored in the memory 10. The storage capacity of the memory 10 can store, for example, program information for 70 channels for 7 days.

Next, the flow of the program guide data on the network is shown in FIG. The data of the program guide inserted in the vertical blanking period of the video signal of a predetermined channel includes the program title, program start time / end time, program content, category, etc. that are collected for each channel. For example, after the program guide data of program 1 of channel 1 to program N is sequentially transmitted, the program guide data of program 1 to program N of channel 2 is sequentially transmitted. Then, program 1 to program N of channel N
After the data of the program guide is transmitted, the program guide data of the next day will be transmitted from the program 1 of the channel 1.

The processing operation performed in the μcon B9 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S101, it is determined whether or not a receiving channel is newly selected, and if the receiving channel is selected, a timer is started (S102). Here, for example, when it is determined that the value of the timer is equal to or longer than the predetermined time T and the channel is fixed to the selected channel,
As if the user is watching that channel,
The count value of the tuning counter indicating the frequency of the reception channel is incremented by "+1" (S103, S104). In this way, the count value of the tuning counter is incremented by "+1" only when the channel is fixed for a predetermined time T or more, unless the user simply selects and receives the program in order to search for a desired program. This is to count only the channels that you really watched.

Next, in step S104, the channels are rearranged in the descending order of the frequency of channel selection based on the value of the channel selection counter. If the channel order is changed, the program guide displayed on the program guide screen is displayed. The channel order of is also changed correspondingly (S105, S106, S107). If the timer value is less than the predetermined time (T) in step S103, the process branches to step S108 where the channel is switched to another channel or input line, or the power is turned off to finish the channel selection. It is determined whether or not it has been done, and if the channel selection has not ended, the process returns to step S103 and the timer is checked again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S108 that the tuning has been completed, the value of the timer is cleared in step S109 and the processing operation is ended. If it is determined that the channel order is not changed in step S106, the processing operation is ended without rearranging the channel order of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen.

In the processing example performed by the above-mentioned μcon B9, the channel selection frequency is detected, and the channel order of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen is changed every time the count value of the channel selection counter changes. Although the channels are rearranged, the invention is not limited to this. For example, the channels may be rearranged at a predetermined time once a day, or the channels may be rearranged at a power-off timing.

As described above, when the program guide program guides displayed on the monitor screen are rearranged in accordance with the channel selection frequency, the channels are conventionally arranged in the order of channel numbers as shown in FIG. 4 (a). For the program guide screen,
As shown in FIG. 7B, the program guide information of the channel that the user receives frequently can be displayed at a higher position on the program guide screen, which makes it easier to search for the program guide and is easier to use. Can be improved.

When the number of program channels that can be received in the area is large relative to the capacity of the memory for storing the program guide data, the program guide is used by using the count value of the channel selection counter. It is also possible to store detailed information of the above in a simplified manner. In this case, for example, from the value of the channel selection counter counted in a certain period, as shown in FIG. 5, it is classified into a channel having a high reception frequency and a channel having a low reception frequency.
All of the transmitted program guide data is stored in the memory. On the other hand, for channels with low reception frequency,
Only the program title and the start / end time of the transmitted program guide data are stored in the memory.

FIG. 6 shows an example of this, and the program of channel 1 that is frequently received is the program 1 that is sent.
~ All data such as the title, start / end time, program content, category, etc. of program N are stored in the memory, and the programs of channel 2 with low reception frequency are the titles of program 1 to program N, start / start, etc. Only the end time data is stored in memory.

That is, if the number of channels that can be received in the area where the device having the electronic program guide is installed is, for example, 50, the program guide data will be obtained for the 30 most frequently received programs. All are stored in the memory, and the data of the remaining 20 channels of the program guide, which is received infrequently, is not taken in detail. Further, for a program having a high reception frequency, for example, program guide data for 7 days may be stored, and for a program having a low reception frequency, only program guide data for 3 days may be stored.

As described above, the program guide data of a program that is frequently received by the user and frequently received is taken in in detail, and the program guide data of the program that is not frequently received by the user is simplified or stored. By changing the number of days of the program guide data to be stored, it is possible to store the program guide data of many channels with a small memory capacity.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the program guide data is simplified as described above, the user cannot identify that the program information is simplified on the program guide screen. For example, regarding a program including detailed program guide information, FIG.
It is possible to identify the presence or absence of detailed information on the program guide screen by changing the color of the program frame as shown in, or by adding a mark "i" at the beginning of the program frame as shown in FIG. I made it possible.

As described above, the detailed program guide information or the simplified program guide information can be identified on the program guide screen so that the program guide screen can be easily identified. The usability of the guide can be further improved.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the channels are rearranged in the descending order of reception frequency and displayed on the program guide screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and examples thereof include sports, news and movies. You may make it display on a screen for every frequency of reception of programs of such types. In addition, the detailed information of the electronic program guide is stored according to the reception frequency of the channel, or the detailed information is stored in a simplified manner, but the present invention is not limited to this. You may make it detect and classify for every program.

Further, although the embodiment of the present invention has been described with respect to the case where the invention is applied to the recording device provided with the electronic program guide, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applied to the electronic equipment provided with the electronic program guide function. It can be widely applied.

[0039]

As described above, in the electronic equipment of the present invention, the frequency of the selected channel is detected, and the program information of the electronic program guide is ranked higher for the program judged to be frequently used. Since it is displayed at the position, it is possible to easily search the program guide and improve usability. Moreover, although the program information is stored for all channels determined to have a high reception frequency, the detailed information of the programs is simplified and stored for channels determined to have a low reception frequency. It is possible to realize an electronic program guide with a small storage capacity without deteriorating the function. Further, since the program having detailed information as the program information of the program guide can be distinguished from the simplified program, there is an advantage that the usability of the program guide can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a recording device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of program guide data on a network.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of detecting a reception frequency according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example displayed on a program guide screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing frequencies of selected channels.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of program guide information stored in a memory.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display screen capable of identifying the contents of the program guide information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of an electronic program guide displayed on a screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display screen of a method for making a recording reservation using an electronic program guide.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Antenna 2 Tuner Circuit 3 Remote Control Input Circuit 4 Remote Control 5 μconA 6 Display Means 7 Recording Circuit 8 Display Circuit 9 μconA 9a Slice / Decode Circuit 9b Display Circuit 10 SRAM

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electronic program guide data superimposed on a television signal or a cable television signal is extracted to display program information of a reception channel which can be received within a predetermined period, and the displayed electronic information is displayed. An electronic device capable of reserving and recording a desired received program based on a program guide is provided with a detection means for detecting the frequency of a reception channel selected by the electronic device, and the detection means determines that the reception frequency is high. An electronic device for displaying a broadcast program so as to be positioned above the electronic program guide. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the display information of the broadcast program determined to have a low reception frequency by the detection means is stored in a simplified manner. 3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the detection of the reception frequency is updated at regular intervals. 4. The program information is displayed by adding a color-based or specific mark to a broadcast program judged to be frequently received by the detecting means. Electronic device described in.