JPH09205624A - Transmitter, receiver and transmission reception system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reflect early a content of program revision on an electronic program guide conducted by a receiver side and allow the receiver side to make video recording reservation in response to the revision of a broadcast content by allowing the transmitter side to send the revision of the broadcast content as quickly as possible to the receiver side. SOLUTION: Usual electronic program guide data are inserted to a Line 10 for a vertical blanking period of a video signal and only revised information data are sent by a Line 11. Then a receiver side equipment searches the Line 11 in a prescribed time before reservation video recording start to obtain revision information and to rewrite possessed electronic program guide data and the succeeding video recording is executed based on video recording reservation setting data revised based on the newly rewritten electronic program guide data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is based on a transmitter which inserts program guide information into a video signal and transmits it, and a program guide information which is received from the video signal transmitted from the transmitter and is extracted from the video signal. The present invention relates to a receiver capable of performing a control operation related to reserved recording, and a transmission / reception system including the transmitter and the receiver, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Programs such as television broadcasts are transmitted through a space or transmitted to users by cable television (CATV) via cables. The user selects a program of a desired channel from the programs of the transmitted channel, views it on a television, and records it on a recording device. At this time, it is common practice to select a program while looking at the printed program table. However, when the number of channels to be transmitted is large, as in a cable television broadcasting system, the number of channels becomes as large as 150. For example, it is not easy to search for a favorite program from a program table in which programs of 150 channels are posted. .

Therefore, in order to easily search for a desired program, the program table data of each channel is inserted in the vertical blanking period of the video signal of a specific channel so as not to interfere with the television signal of the program. Then, the user displays the transmitted program table data on a television screen to search for a channel and select a program of a desired channel. This program guide data is referred to as an electronic program guide. The electronic program guide can be divided into screens for each type of program such as sports, news, movies, etc., and the program can be selected from the display screen of this electronic program guide. It is possible to receive and schedule recording of the program.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a transmission form of such electronic program guide information. For example, the electronic program guide information is inserted into the line 10 in the vertical blanking period of the video signal of the above-mentioned specific channel and continuously transmitted, and for example, one week (7 days) worth of data is changed every day. It is supposed to be supplied by. Specifically, if the current date is January 1, data of electronic program guide information for one week from January 1 to 7 is set as one cycle as shown in this figure, and is continuously and repeatedly supplied. Will be. The time required to transmit the data for one cycle like this takes a relatively long time, depending on the actual number of channels, and is, for example, about 2 hours in this case.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a program guide screen of an electronic program guide which is formed on the receiving device side based on the received electronic program guide information and is displayed on a television or the like. The column is the title of the program guide screen and is displayed as Program Guide, and the column in the second row is the column showing the date and time, and JAN 1 (Jan 1
There are two grids showing the date of (Sun) 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 to the right of that, 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, in channel CSP2, NEWS1 is broadcast from 8:00 pm for 1 hour and NEWS2 is broadcast from 9:00 pm. Also, it can be seen that a Famous American program is broadcast on channel 26 for two hours from 8:00 pm.

[0006] Although such a program guide screen can be displayed to make a recording reservation, an example of the method will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 15, in which the user can display the program guide screen as shown in FIG. You can view and scroll the screen until you see the program you want to schedule for recording. When the program to be reserved for recording is displayed, the cursor movement key is operated to move the cursor to the column of the program to be reserved for recording. Thereby, for example, the display of the column to which the cursor has moved changes. This change may be performed by changing the background color of the relevant column or changing the display mode such as white. In this state, when the recording reservation key (Reckey) is operated by the operation unit or remote controller (not shown), for example, as shown in FIG. 15B, a display indicating that the recording reservation according to the user's operation is confirmed is displayed. Be seen. In this way, the recording of the designated program is reserved. Then, on the side of the receiving device (recording device), scheduled recording of the program is executed based on the program recording reservation information set as described above. For example, Famous channel 26 shown in FIG. American
If there is a recording reservation for
Fa for 2 hours from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm on the 7th of the month
Operates to automatically schedule recordings of mous American programs.

[0007]

By the way, as a current situation, there are many cases where the schedule of broadcast programs is changed due to the circumstances of the broadcasting station, such as the insertion of special programs or extended broadcasting of sports programs. In this way, when the schedule of the broadcast program is changed, the transmitting side transmits the electronic program guide having new contents corresponding to the changed contents of the program.

Information on the change of the schedule of such a broadcast program (hereinafter, simply referred to as change information)
Is preferably obtained as new electronic program guide information as soon as possible and reflected as new display contents of the program guide screen, for example. However, since the electronic program guide information is transmitted through the specific channel as described above, the change information cannot be obtained during this period when the receiver side tunes to a channel other than this channel. Further, as described above, one cycle of the electronic program guide information corresponds to the amount of data corresponding to several days on a large number of channels. However, since this amount of data is transmitted using a predetermined horizontal line, It takes several hours to transfer the data of the electronic program guide for one cycle. (2 hours in Figure 13)
Therefore, even if the receiver selects the transmission channel of the electronic program guide, the change information is not always obtained immediately. In the worst case, the transmission time of the electronic program guide information for almost one cycle If you don't wait, you won't get the change information.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the user may make a reservation setting on the program guide screen based on the electronic program guide information before the change, even though the time zone of the broadcast program has already been changed. In addition, for example, when the start time of the program scheduled for recording by the user is delayed due to the extension of the previous program, even if the electronic program guide information is updated, this update information is updated by the program start time. It is fully conceivable that such an inconvenience may occur that the recording operation is not performed and the recording operation is performed in accordance with the reserved recording time set initially.

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention inserts data of program guide information serving as a guide of a broadcast program into a predetermined horizontal line of a video signal and transmits it. A transmission apparatus is provided with a transmission unit capable of inserting and transmitting the change information data indicating the change contents of the program guide information to a horizontal line different from the horizontal line in which the program guide information data is inserted. I decided to configure it. Further, the data of the program guide information, which serves as a guide of the broadcast program to be broadcast over a specific period, is divided into units of a predetermined period, and the data of the program guide information for each divided period is divided into different horizontal signals. The transmission device is configured to include a transmission unit that transmits on a line. In addition, the program guide information data that guides the broadcast program to be broadcast over a specific period is inserted into a plurality of horizontal lines of the video signal and transmitted, and the transmission timing of the program guide information data for each line. The transmitter is configured to include a transmitter that transmits differently. In addition, the program guide information data that serves as a guide for the broadcast program is inserted into a predetermined horizontal line of the video signal to be transmitted, and when the content of the program guide information is changed, the change information data is interrupted. The transmitting device is configured to include a transmitting unit that transmits the data. In addition, data of program guide information that serves as a guide for a broadcast program inserted in a predetermined line of a video signal is extracted, and at least settings related to reserved recording can be performed based on the extracted data of program guide information. As the device, when it is determined that there is change information data indicating a change in the content in the program guide information, a control unit configured to execute a required process related to reserved recording based on the change information data. I decided to prepare. Further, a transmitter for inserting and transmitting program guide information data serving as a guide of a broadcast program and change information data indicating change contents of the program guide information in predetermined different horizontal lines or the same horizontal line of a video signal, respectively. And the scheduled recording time of the program set for scheduled recording based on the data of the change information as well as the control of the scheduled recording based on the data of the program guide information extracted from the video signal transmitted from this transmission device. The transmission / reception system is configured to include a receiving device including a control unit capable of executing the setting change of.

According to the above arrangement, the transmission side inserts the change information into a line different from the video signal line into which the normal electronic program guide information is inserted and transmits the change information, or the electronic device is considered to be close to the current time. The program guide information and the subsequent electronic program guide information are transmitted on separate lines respectively, or the same electronic program guide information is transmitted on different lines at different timings. By inserting so as to interrupt the normal electronic program guide information at a high frequency from a predetermined time before the start of the program, which is considered to be affected by the broadcast time zone, a system for providing the change information to the receiving side as quickly as possible is provided. To be prepared. Then, the receiving side can determine the presence / absence of change information from the electronic program guide information supplied as described above, and when the change information is obtained, the setting regarding the reserved recording can be changed based on the change information. With this configuration, it is possible to properly record a desired reserved program by following the change of the broadcast time zone.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in the following order with reference to FIGS. (1). Transmission signal format (2). Configuration of transmitter (3). Configuration of receiving device (4). Embodiment a 1st embodiment b 2nd embodiment c 3rd embodiment d 4th embodiment

(1). Format of Transmission Signal First, in describing an embodiment of the present invention, a format of a video signal into which data of an electronic program guide is inserted in the transmission / reception system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
2 will be described. The data of the electronic program guide applied to the present embodiment is supposed to be inserted into a predetermined horizontal line of the vertical blanking period of the video signal, and is called a closed caption format (Closed C
aption Format). FIG. 12 shows a video signal waveform for 1H in which the electronic program guide data is inserted, and the first period A of this waveform is the period of the color burst signal following the horizontal synchronization signal (Hsync). , In the following period B, the clock run-in of the cycle corresponding to the insertion rate of the electronic program guide data.
The signal is inserted. Data in the next periods C and D
A Frame Code indicating Start is inserted. Then, in the next period X, as shown in FIG.
A 2-byte data signal composed of Byte 1 and Data Byte 2 is inserted, and this data signal is used as electronic program guide information.

(2). Configuration of Transmitting Device Next, as the transmitting device according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
The configuration of the signal processing circuit system for inserting the electronic program guide information shown in FIG. 2 into the video signal will be described with reference to FIG. Specifically, the signal processing circuit system shown in this figure is provided for a transmission system of a broadcasting station of a channel that provides electronic program guide information. In the transmitter shown in FIG. 1, a video signal to be transmitted and output is input from the video signal input terminal T1, then branched and supplied to the sync separation circuit 21 and the insertion circuit 31. in this case,
The sync separation circuit 21 separates and extracts at least the horizontal sync signal from the input video signal and outputs it to the vertical blanking period detection circuit 22 and the line counter 23. In the vertical blanking period detection circuit 22, it is possible to detect the vertical blanking period of the original video signal from the input synchronization signal. If the vertical blanking period is detected here, the vertical blanking period is detected. Vertical blanking period start signal VBI.
St is output to the line counter 23. The line counter 23 counts the line number for each 1H based on the horizontal sync signal supplied from the sync separation circuit 21.

Here, the key input circuit 28 is provided with various required operation keys, and by operating this key input circuit 28, it is possible to specify the line number into which the data of the electronic program guide is to be inserted. ing. The designation information of the line number by the key input circuit 28 is supplied to the CPU 29, and the CPU 29 outputs an instruction signal indicating the designated line number to the line counter 23.

The line counter 23 counts the line number as described above, but when the line with the number designated by the CPU 29 arrives, the clock generator 24 and the insertion delay timer 25 are activated. It is designed to output a start signal for. In this way, the clock generator 24
When the insertion delay timer 25 is activated, the original video signal is at the start time of the line of the number designated to insert the electronic program guide information. And
As the operation when the clock generator 24 and the insertion delay timer 25 are activated, first, the insertion delay timer 25 inserts the Clock Run-In signal of the period B with the delay time corresponding to the period A described in FIG. When the timing to be performed is reached, the insertion start signal Inst. St
Is output. The clock generator 24 receives the insertion start signal Inst. When St is input, the clock signal having a cycle corresponding to the transmission rate of the electronic program guide data to be inserted into the video signal is output to the D / A converter 26 and the data register 27. The D / A converter 26 converts the clock signal supplied from the clock generator 24 into an analog signal and supplies the analog signal to the insertion circuit 31.

In the inserting circuit 31, with respect to the video signal supplied from the video signal input terminal T1, the above D /
The D / A converter 2 is configured to insert the signal supplied from the A converter 26 at the timing described above.
A clock signal converted into an analog signal is input to the insertion circuit 31 from 6 and inserted into the original video signal.
As a result, with respect to the line of the number designated by the key input circuit 28, Clock Ru shown in the period B of FIG.
The nn-In signal will be inserted.

Here, at least the data of the electronic program guide is held in the database section 30. Further, as described later, when there is a change in the broadcast content, the data of the electronic program guide newly created based on the change information and the change content described later is held. The contents of these data to be held in the database unit 30 can be created, rewritten, etc. by operating the key input circuit 28, for example.

The CPU 29 sequentially executes a process of reading required electronic program guide data from the database unit 32 at a predetermined timing and supplies the data to the data register 27. The data register 27 temporarily holds the data supplied from the CPU 29 and sequentially outputs the held data to the D / A converter 26 in synchronization with the timing of the clock output from the clock generator 24. To do. The data signal analog-converted by the D / A converter 26 is supplied to the insertion circuit 31. The insertion circuit 31 inserts the analog data signal supplied from the D / A converter 26 into the original video signal, whereby the 2-byte electronic program guide data signal shown in the period X of FIG. 11 is inserted. To be done.

In this way, by inserting the Clock Run-In signal and the data signal of the electronic program guide into the designated line of the original video signal, as shown in FIG.
With the format described in Section 1, it is possible to insert the electronic program guide data into a predetermined line of the vertical blanking period of the video signal. By continuously performing this operation, it becomes possible to continuously repeat the data of the electronic program guide for one cycle.

Then, such a video signal meets the video signal output terminal T2 and is supplied to, for example, a device or functional circuit section for transmission output (not shown), and finally transmitted as a transmission signal. . As the transmission form of the transmission signal, even if it is a space transmission by radio waves or the like, CA
It may be wired such as a TV (cable television).

(3). Configuration of Receiving Device FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the receiving device as an embodiment of the present invention. In this case, a video signal transmitted as a radio wave is received and displayed and output. And a recording / reproducing device capable of recording / reproducing a video signal.

In the receiving apparatus shown in this figure, the transmission signal input from the antenna 1 is input to the tuner circuit 2, where the reception channel is selected and output as a video signal. In this case, the video signal output from the tuner circuit 2 is the recording circuit 3 and the system controller 5
It is supplied to the internal slice / decode circuit 5a and the terminal T11 of the changeover switch 9.

The recording circuit 3 is constructed so as to record an input video signal using a recording medium such as a video tape. The recording operation is controlled by a control signal supplied from the system controller 5. Controlled by. Similar to the recording circuit 3, the reproducing circuit 4 is configured to perform a reproducing operation on a recording medium such as a video tape and output as a video signal, and the reproducing operation is controlled by a control signal from the system controller 5. . The video signal output of the reproducing circuit 4 is supplied to the terminal T12 of the changeover switch 9. Although the recording circuit 3 and the reproduction circuit 4 actually have a common mechanism circuit section such as a helical scan head and a mechanical deck section, they are shown as different functional blocks here for the sake of convenience.

The switch 9 is selectively switched between the terminal T13 and the terminals T11 and T12, and is switched by a switching control signal from the system controller 5. In this case, when the terminal T13 is connected to the terminal T11, the output signal of the tuner circuit 2, that is, the video signal of the currently selected broadcast channel is supplied to the display circuit 10 via the switch 9,
When the terminal T13 is connected to the terminal T12, the video signal reproduced by the reproducing circuit 4 is supplied to the display circuit 10.

In this case, the display circuit 10 displays the video signal supplied from the changeover switch 9 and the electronic program guide extracted from the video signal by the slice / decode circuit 5a in the system controller 5 as described below. A data signal is input. The display circuit 10 executes necessary signal processing on these input signals, and finally outputs a video signal that can be output to the monitor screen as a video output terminal T.
It outputs to 14.

In the case of the receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment, if the channel into which the electronic program guide data is inserted is selected by the tuner circuit 2, the video signal of the channel is sliced in the system controller 5 Data of the electronic program guide input to the decoding circuit 5a and inserted in the vertical blanking period of the video signal (see FIG. 12).
(See) is subjected to waveform shaping and then decoded to obtain electronic program guide data. The decoded data is accumulated in the SRAM 6 by the processing of the system controller 5, whereby the electronic program guide data for one cycle can be held in the SRAM 6. And if required, SR
By reading the data of the electronic program guide stored in the AM 6 and supplying it to the display circuit 10, it becomes possible to display the electronic program guide in the display form as shown in FIG. 14, for example.

Remote controller / key input circuit 7
The remote control / key input circuit 7 receives the operation signal transmitted from the remote controller 8 and supplies it as command information to the system controller 5.
Various key operation units are also provided for the remote controller / key input circuit 7, and the input information of this key operation unit is also output to the system controller 5 as command information. In the present embodiment, the stem controller 5 executes control operations such as tuning of the tuner circuit 2, recording / reproducing operation, electronic program guide display output, and setting of recording reservation based on these command information. There is. It should be noted that the setting of the reserved recording using the electronic program guide display in the present embodiment can be performed by the same display mode as described above with reference to FIG. 15 and the operation procedure accompanying this. Further, the recording reservation setting data is held in the SRAM 6, for example.

In addition, in such a receiving apparatus, when the electronic program guide information is taken in, a predetermined time frame is usually set, for example, in the middle of the night when the user is generally assumed not to watch the broadcast program. The electronic program guide data is set, and within the set time, the channel of the electronic program guide data is automatically selected and received by the process of the system controller 5 to obtain the electronic program guide data. As a result, basically, new electronic program guide information can be obtained on the receiving side on a daily basis.
Further, in the case where normal broadcasting is performed on the channel in which the electronic program guide data is inserted, even when this channel is selected by the user's operation of the remote controller / key input circuit 7, etc. It is assumed that the program guide data is fetched and the SRAM 6 is overwritten with the electronic program guide data.

By the way, as described above, the change information on the electronic program guide cannot be promptly obtained only by the above-mentioned operation of fetching the electronic program guide information at the normal time. In particular, when a later program is postponed due to, for example, an emergency special program or an extension of a sports program,
If the user has set a recording reservation before changing the broadcast time for this delayed program, the broadcast time will be changed unless the recording reservation is reset by the user's own operation. The appropriate reserved recording operation that corresponds to the change of cannot be performed. Even if the recording reservation is not set, it is necessary to respond to the change of the broadcast content such as the broadcast time as quickly as possible, and the change information is provided as an electronic program guide display so that the user can recognize it. Will also be required. Therefore, hereinafter, as a transmission / reception system configured based on the transmission device and the reception device described so far, it is possible to provide the change information of the broadcast contents as described above to the viewer side as quickly as possible. An embodiment will be described which is configured so that an appropriate scheduled recording setting can be automatically changed based on the change information.

(4). Embodiment a First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. In the first embodiment,
First, the transmitting side transmits the electronic program guide information as shown in FIG. The normal transmission form of the electronic program guide information in this case is shown in the upper part of FIG. That is, the normal electronic program guide information is assumed to have been transmitted as described above with reference to FIG. 12 in the conventional example, and for all channels that can be viewed from January 1 to January 7. The data of the electronic program guide is regarded as one cycle (two hours are required here), and this one cycle of data is repeatedly transmitted continuously. This normal electronic program guide information is used for Line 10 (line number 1 in the vertical blanking period of a specific channel).
0 horizontal line). Then, when there is a change in the broadcast content, the transmission side replaces the normal electronic program guide information with data having new content according to the change in the broadcast content, and then transmits.
In the present embodiment, the line in the vertical blanking period of the same channel as the normal electronic program guide data is also used.
As shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, the data of “change information” corresponding to only the broadcast change content is inserted into 11 and transmitted. Since the data amount of the change information is only the change contents of the broadcast, the time required for transmission for one cycle is extremely short as compared with a normal electronic program guide. Then, in the Line 11, such change information data is continuously transmitted every cycle as shown in the figure.

On the receiving device side, under the control of the system controller 5, the channel into which the electronic program guide data is inserted is received under preset conditions or at a predetermined timing, and the change information data is sent to the Line 11. Whether or not the change information is inserted is monitored, and if the change information exists, the data of the change information is fetched and the SRAM 11 is rewritten.

For example, concretely, as a broadcast content, as shown in FIG.
Until 9:00 pm, "Twilight Zone",
From PM 9:00 to PM 1:00, "Primetim
It is assumed that a change has been made to what was planned as "e", and as a result, a change has been made to the broadcast content as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4B, PM8: 00 to PM8:
It is planned to incorporate the program "NEWS" into the 30th, so that the "Twight Zone" will be PM 8: 3.
From 0 to 9:30 pm, the broadcast time zone will be postponed, and "Pr
“Imetime” has been changed so as to be broadcasted at a reduced time from PM 9:30 to PM 10:00.

In response to this, in addition to the normal transmission of electronic program guide information by the Line 10, the transmission side sends change information data corresponding to the contents shown in FIG.
Will be inserted and sent. In this case, as the data content of the change information, as shown in FIG.
The program ID of each program, the program title, and the broadcast start / end time (including date information) are set.
Send as cycle data. It should be noted that the insertion of the change information data into the line 11 on the transmission side and the update of the contents of the normal electronic program guide information of the line 10 accompanying the change information are performed as described with reference to FIG.

Then, on the side of the receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 2, when Line 11 of the transmitted video signal is monitored and the presence of the change information data having the content shown in FIG. 5 is determined,
This data is fetched and the contents of the electronic program guide data are rewritten to the SRAM 6. However, when the electronic program guide is displayed on the receiving device thereafter, for example, FIG. The display form as shown in FIG. 4 is changed to the display form as shown in FIG. Then, for example, before changing the broadcast content, the user
When the recording reservation of "Light Zone" is made, for example, the system controller 5 can identify the program for which the recording reservation is set by the program ID or the like, so that the data content of the recording reservation setting relating to "Twight Zone" is rewritten. To be done. As a result, in the receiving device of the present embodiment, "Twilight
The changed broadcast time (PM 8: 3)
0 to PM 9:30) It becomes possible to control the recording circuit 3 so as to execute the start / end operation of reserved recording.

As described above, in the present embodiment, only the change information is transmitted at a high frequency on the transmitting device side by the horizontal line (within the vertical blanking period) of the video signal different from the normal electronic program guide. . Then, in response to this, the receiving device extracts only the change information from the line in which the change information data is inserted, and rewrites the held data content of the electronic program guide. As a result, the receiving device surely obtains the change information more quickly than the normal electronic program guide information is scanned to obtain the change information. Based on the change information, the reserved recording time and the like can be changed. It becomes possible to respond.

Here, in the present embodiment, Line1
This is a concrete monitoring method of the receiving device for obtaining the data of the change information No. 1 as early as possible, and particularly for dealing with the change of the recording reservation setting, but various forms thereof can be considered.
For example, under the condition that the display and recording using the video signal output of the tuner circuit 2 are not performed, the system controller 5 causes the tuner circuit 2 to display an electronic program guide at a predetermined time every relatively short period of time. It is conceivable to receive the insertion channel and determine the presence or absence of the change information data of Line 11. Also, when the predetermined start time of the earliest scheduled recording program is reached, the line of the insertion channel of the electronic program guide data is set.
If the search information 11 is obtained and the change information is obtained, it is conceivable to rewrite the electronic program guide information as described above. For example, according to this monitoring method, even if the time of the reserved recording program is changed, it is possible to almost certainly make the recording reservation at the changed time. In some cases, even if the monitoring method is used, the acquisition of the change information of the Line 11 is not completed, and the reserved recording is executed based on the recording reservation setting before the change.
For this reason, when the currently scheduled recording is finished, the line 11 of the insertion channel of the electronic program guide data is forcibly searched, the presence / absence and contents of the change information are referred to, and the program for which the recording is finished is broadcast. If there is change information of contents such as time advance, it is possible to restart the recording operation until a new recording end time. In this case, the program recorded on the recording medium is temporarily interrupted, but as long as the recording medium has room, it is possible to record the program content until the end of the broadcast time. As described above, by adopting the above-described monitoring method of various change information alone or in combination, the change information of the broadcast content can be promptly obtained on the receiving side.

Here, FIG. 6 shows a second monitoring method as a monitoring method for searching a line of an insertion channel of electronic program guide information a predetermined time before the initial start time of the earliest reserved recording program. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the system controller 5 in the receiving apparatus of the present embodiment when the above is adopted. In this routine, in step F101, for example, it is determined whether or not the reserved recording setting data exists in the SRAM 6, and if there is no reserved recording setting data, the process returns to the original routine. If the recording setting data exists, the process proceeds to step F102.

In step F102, the start time of the earliest reserved recording is referred to from the reserved recording setting data, and the process waits until the present time reaches T minutes before the start time of this recording. Then, when it reaches T minutes before the recording start time, the process proceeds to step F103, where the tuner circuit 2 is controlled to receive the transmission channel of the electronic program guide information and scan the Line 11 in which the change information data is inserted. To do. Then, in the next step F104, it is determined whether or not the change information is inserted in the Line 11, and if the change information is not inserted, the process proceeds to step F106, but if the change information is inserted, the step F105 is performed. Then, the change information is extracted from the video signal, and the process of rewriting the electronic program guide data to the SRAM 6 is executed as described with reference to FIG. Further, in step F105, if it is necessary to change the setting data of the recording reservation based on the rewritten electronic program guide data, the changing process is executed, and then the process proceeds to step F106. To be done.

In step F106, the process waits until the recording start time of the earliest recording reserved program is reached based on the recording reservation setting data currently held in the SRAM 6,
When the recording start time is reached, the process proceeds to step F107, and the tuner circuit 2 and the recording circuit 3 are controlled so that the earliest recording reserved program is recorded. By performing such processing, when the earliest recording-reserved program has a change in the broadcast content such as the broadcast time, the recording operation is started / ended at the changed broadcast time. It will be.

Of course, it is conceivable that the broadcasting of the program scheduled as a change content of the broadcasting will be stopped,
When the program reserved for recording has been discontinued, for example, the setting data of the reserved program for which recording has been discontinued is deleted in step F105, and the program start time before the change is reached. Also, the recording operation is not executed.

Further, as a method of monitoring the change information data, the system controller in the case of adopting the monitoring method of searching the line 11 of the insertion channel of the electronic program guide data again at the time when the reserved recording is finished, which is described above. The processing operation of No. 5 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. At the first stage of this routine, it is assumed that the recording operation is currently in progress. First, in step F201, the program waits for the end time of the current reserved recording program, and when the end time is reached, step F2
At 02, the recording operation is stopped. Next, the system controller 5 tunes to the channel into which the electronic program guide information has been inserted by the tuner circuit 2 and scans the Line 11, and in the next step F204, it determines whether there is change information data and if there is no change information, The routine is returned to, that is, the recording operation is finished as it is. On the other hand, when it is determined in step F204 that the change information data is inserted, the process proceeds to step F205, and the electronic program guide data (and the recording reservation setting data) is stored in the SRAM 6 based on the change information data. Is rewritten and the process proceeds to step F206.

In step F206, the electronic program guide data rewritten in step F205 is referred to, and it is determined whether or not the end time of the recorded program that has just ended is delayed. This routine is to be exited while the recording operation of is ended, but if it is determined that the end time is advanced, the process proceeds to step F207 and the recording operation is continued until the new recording end time of the previous recorded program. The tuner circuit 2 and the recording circuit 3 are controlled so as to restart the recording.

B Second Embodiment FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a transmission form of electronic program guide data according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the transmitting side, as shown in this figure, in the vertical blanking period of the video signal of the specific channel,
Data of the electronic program guide is transmitted using three horizontal lines of Line 10, LINE 11, and Line 12. In this case, for example, assuming that the line 10 continuously transmits the data of the electronic program guide for January 1 to January 7 as one cycle as shown in the figure, the electronic program of the same content in the line 11 is transmitted. The guide data is transmitted at a timing delayed by a certain time with respect to the data transmission timing of Line 10. Then, with respect to the Line 12, the transmission timing of the Line 11 is delayed by a certain period, and
The electronic program guide data having the same contents as ne10 and line 11 are inserted and transmitted. In this case, assuming that the data transmission time on each day from January 1st to January 7th is almost the same, the electronic program guide data of Line 11 is delayed by about 2 days from Line 10. And the data of Line12 is Line11
It will be delayed by about two days.

Corresponding to the electronic program guide data transmitted in this way, the receiving side causes the system controller 5 to execute the processing operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9, for example. It is possible to deal with the changed contents of the electronic program guide earlier than when the data of the electronic program guide is transmitted only by the line.

In the routine shown in FIG. 9, in step F301, a request for taking in the data of the nth day from the data forming the electronic program guide for one cycle is received. In this case, specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, one cycle is formed by the data for 7 days from January 1 to January 7, so that the data acquisition on January 3 is required, for example. In this case, it is considered that the data acquisition request for the third day has been made, and “3” corresponds to the variable n. Note that step F301
Various conditions can be considered as the conditions for requesting the data acquisition on the n-th day in, for example, based on the operation of the remote controller / key input circuit 7 by the viewer and the information such as the current date and time. It is conceivable that the system controller 5 itself determines that the data of the nth day is to be taken in at a predetermined timing and makes this request to take in the data of the nth day.

When the system controller 5 receives the data acquisition request for the nth day in step F301, the system controller 5 proceeds to step F302 to select the channel in which the electronic program guide is inserted, and first to the Line 10 Is searched, and the process proceeds to step F303. This step F3
In 03, the electronic program guide of the currently searched Line 10 is identified as to what day it is, and this is taken as the data of the mth day, and the process of specifying the variable m is performed. For example, the currently received Line1
When the electronic program guide data of 0 is for January 4, that is, for the fourth day, the variable m is defined as "4".

In the next step F304, the system controller 5 calculates nm = S based on the variables n and m obtained in the above steps F301 and F303, and in the next step F305 the calculated result S The values of the calculation result S are 1, 2, 3, -4, -5,-
If it is any of 6, go to Step F308,
While continuing to scan the Line 10, it waits for the reception of the electronic program guide data on the nth day. On the other hand, if the value of the calculation result S in step F305 is any one of -1, 0, 6
After proceeding to F306 and switching the line to be scanned to Line11, proceeding to step F308, the line 11 waits for reception of the electronic program guide data on the nth day. If the value of the calculation result S is 4, 5, 2, or 3, the process proceeds to step F307, the line to be scanned is switched to Line 12, and the process proceeds to step F308. Then, in step F308, when the electronic program guide data for the nth day requested in step F301 is obtained, the system controller 5 proceeds to step F309.
Then, the electronic program guide data of the nth day is rewritten in the SRAM and the routine is exited.

Here, the processing operation of FIG. 9 described so far will be described with a specific example with reference to FIG. 8 described above. For example, here in Step F301, the seventh
In the case of the day, that is, in the case of FIG. 8, it is considered that there was a request to import the electronic program guide data on January 7 (in this case,
The variable n is 7.) Then from step F302
After the processing of F303, L of the electronic program guide insertion channel
It will be identified that the data content of the electronic program guide currently received by ine10 is the mth day. Here, the electronic program guide data currently received by Line10 is January 4, January 5, If it is either January 6th,
That is, when the variable m is 4, 5, or 6, n obtained by the processing of steps F304 to F305
Since the calculation result S of -m is either 1, 2, or 3, the process proceeds to step F308 while maintaining the state of searching Line 10, and the electronic program guide data of January 7 is received. You will have to wait.

On the other hand, when the electronic program guide data currently received by the Line 10 is January 1 or January 7 (variable m = 1 or 7), the calculation result S is 0 or 6. And as a result, by proceeding to step F306,
It switches to the search of Line 11 and waits until the electronic program guide data on January 7 is received. As a basis for performing this processing, if the electronic program guide data is set to January 1 when it is received by the Line 10, L
If ine10 tries to capture the electronic program guide data on January 7th, it is necessary to wait for a considerably long time, which is spent for data transmission for January 2nd to January 6th, during line 10 If the current electronic program guide data of is January 7th, it means that it is necessary to wait until the data of January 7th of the next cycle comes. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the search is switched to Line 11, but at this time since Line 11 receives the electronic program guide data for January 6 and January 5, as can be seen from FIG. 1 earlier than executing a search with Line10
Data of 7th of a month can be imported.

If the electronic program guide data currently received by Line 10 is January 2 or January 3, the line 12 search is switched to wait for January 7 data (F307 → F308). ). At this time, as can be seen from FIG. 8, the Line 12 receives the data for January 5th and January 6th, so that the data for January 7th can be obtained early.

As can be understood from the above description, in the present embodiment, electronic program guide data is transmitted to a plurality of lines at different timings, and the receiving device side handles this. As shown in FIG.
By carrying out the processing as shown in, it becomes possible to obtain an electronic program guide of a required date at an early stage, and this can be reflected in the electronic program guide display and the recording reservation operation. Note that, in this case, the system is configured to transmit the electronic program guide by three horizontal lines, but the number of lines used may be changed according to the actual usage pattern.

C Third Embodiment FIG. 10 shows a transmission mode of electronic program guide data as a third embodiment. In this figure, it is assumed that the electronic program guide data is transmitted by using the Lines 10 and 11 in the vertical blanking period of the specific channel. In this case, the period is 1 as in the previous embodiments. Month 1
Data will be transmitted from January to January 7.
And, for example, in Line 10 from January 1 to 1
Of the data up to the 7th of the month, the data from the 1st of January to the 3rd of January is transmitted as one cycle.
In No. 11, the remaining data from January 4th to January 7th is transmitted as one cycle.

On the receiving side, the horizontal line containing the date for which the import request is made is selected, and the electronic program guide data of the required date is waited to be received and the data is rewritten. However, even in this case, the electronic program guide data for the required date can be obtained more quickly than in the case where the electronic program guide data is transmitted by only one line. In the present embodiment, for example, the allocation of data for 7 days to Line is not limited to FIG. 10 and the number of usage lines is not limited to two.

D Fourth Embodiment FIG. 11 shows an example of a transmission form of electronic program guide data as a fourth embodiment. In this case, for example, Line 1 in the vertical blanking period of a specific channel.
Only 0 is used. If, for example, a program scheduled to be broadcast from time t4 to t6 is changed to move down its broadcast time,
On the transmitting side, basically, as shown in the electronic program guide data for one cycle transmitted from time t1 to t2, the data of the change information corresponding to the above-mentioned change contents is interrupted at a predetermined timing. It will be inserted and sent. Then, the electronic program guide data for one cycle is similarly transmitted from the next time t2, but within this period, the predetermined time (T minutes) of the program scheduled to be broadcast from time t4 to t6. Over the period from time t3 to time t4, which is the previous time, the frequency of transmission of the change information data is increased and is repeatedly transmitted.

Then, on the side of the receiving device, in accordance with the electronic program guide data transmitted as described above, for example, the process according to the flowchart of FIG. 6 in the first embodiment is executed. It becomes possible to control the execution of the recording operation in response to the relatively urgent change of the broadcast content as shown in FIG. That is, in the present embodiment, the system controller 5 is configured to execute the process of scanning the Line 10 in step F103 in the routine shown in FIG. Thereby, for example, the times t4 to t in FIG.
Even if the program is reserved for recording in advance, assuming that it is scheduled to be broadcast during the period of time 6, it is possible to capture the data during the period of time t3 to t4 by executing the above processing. Becomes As a result, the recording reservation setting of the program can be automatically changed so that the program recording can be performed according to the changed contents.

The transmitting device and the receiving device applied as the present invention are not limited to the configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and can be appropriately changed according to actual use conditions. It is said that Further, as the operation on the receiving side corresponding to the transmission method of the electronic program guide according to each of the above-described embodiments, the processing of the flowcharts shown in the drawings can be appropriately changed. In the above description, it is assumed that the electronic program guide information transmission methods according to the respective embodiments are independently adopted. However, a plurality of these electronic program guide information transmission methods are used. It is also conceivable that the transmission is performed in combination, and that the receiving side operates so as to obtain new change information more quickly in accordance with such a transmission form.

[0058]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is possible to quickly respond to changes in broadcast contents, and it is possible to promptly provide a user with a new electronic program guide display. To be done. In addition, even if the broadcast content is changed such that the recording reservation setting needs to be changed, the change information can be retained before the recording operation is started. Since it is possible to appropriately perform the recording operation properly by following the change such as the delay of the broadcast time of the reserved recording program, it is possible to provide the user with a useful transmission / reception system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a transmission device as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a receiving device as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission system of an electronic program guide according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display change mode of an electronic program guide display based on change information data.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the contents of change information data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the receiving apparatus before the start of recording, which corresponds to the transmission method of electronic program guide information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the receiving device at the end of recording, which corresponds to the transmission method of electronic program guide information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission system of electronic program guide information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of the receiving device at the time of importing an electronic program guide, which corresponds to the transmission method of electronic program guide information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission system of electronic program guide information according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission system of electronic program guide information according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a waveform diagram showing a video signal format for electronic program guide data transmission adopted in the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a transmission method of electronic program guide information as a conventional example.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a display form example of an electronic program guide display.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a recording reservation setting operation together with an electronic program guide display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Antenna 2 Tuner Circuit 3 Recording Circuit 4 Playback Circuit 5 System Controller 5a Slice / Decode Circuit 6 SRAM 7 Remote Control / Key Input Circuit 10 Display Circuit 21 Sync Separation Circuit 22 Vertical Blanking Period Detection Circuit 23 Line Counter 24 Clock Generator 25 Insertion Delay Timer 27 Data register 30 Database section 31 Insertion circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location H04N 5/262 H04N 7/087 5/44 7/083 7/087 7/088

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A program guide information data serving as a guide of a broadcast program is inserted into a predetermined horizontal line of a video signal for transmission, and a horizontal line different from the horizontal line into which the program guide information data is inserted. On the other hand, a transmission device comprising: a transmission unit capable of inserting and transmitting change information data indicating the change contents of the program guide information. 2. Data of program guide information, which serves as a guide of a broadcast program to be broadcast over a specific period, is divided into units of a predetermined period, and the data of the program guide information for each divided period is a video image. A transmitting device comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits by a horizontal line of different signals. 3. Data for program guide information, which serves as a guide for a broadcast program to be broadcast over a specific period, is inserted into a plurality of horizontal lines of a video signal and transmitted, and data for program guide information is provided for each line. A transmitting device comprising: a transmitting unit configured to transmit at different transmission timings. 4. The program guide information data serving as a guide of a broadcast program is inserted into a predetermined horizontal line of a video signal and transmitted, and when the content of the program guide information is changed, the change information is changed. A transmitting device comprising: a transmitting unit that interrupts and transmits the data. 5. The transmitting means is configured to increase the interrupt frequency of the change information data and transmit the interrupt data when a predetermined time before the broadcast time of the program corresponding to the change information data is reached. The transmitting device according to claim 4, wherein 6. Data of program guide information to be a guide of a broadcast program inserted in a predetermined line of a video signal is extracted,
A receiving device capable of performing at least settings related to reserved recording based on the extracted program guide information data, and it is determined that there is change information data indicating a change in content in the program guide information. And a control unit configured to execute a required process related to the scheduled recording based on the change information data. 7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the control device is capable of executing a change setting of the reserved recording contents based on the data of the change information written in the storage device. Receiver. 8. The control means determines whether or not there is change information data for a predetermined period within the broadcast time of the reserved recorded program or after the recording operation is completed, and the recording end time is extended as the change information regarding the reserved recorded program. If it is, the receiving apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the recording operation end time can be extended based on the change information. 9. The control means is capable of displaying and outputting a menu image for preset recording setting based on the data of the program guide information and the change information. Receiver. 10. Data of program guide information to be a guide of a broadcast program and change information data showing change contents of the program guide information are inserted into predetermined different horizontal lines or the same horizontal line of a video signal and transmitted. The recording-related control can be performed based on the transmitting means and the program guide information data extracted from the video signal transmitted from the transmitting means, and the recording reservation is set based on the change information data. A transmission / reception system comprising: a reception unit having a control unit capable of changing the setting of the reserved recording time of a program.