JPH0983975A - Television receiver displaying data broadcast reception - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display the present receiving state of an interpolation program in a way easy for a viewer by making a display form showing reception different between when the interpolation program being data broadcast is received first and when a fixed period passes after storing a script after receiving. SOLUTION: Program ROM 28 is provided with a means for always store and update the script of the interpolation program to program RAM 42. A data fetching and error correction part 25 demodulates the script as a computer program included in a data broadcast program. Then CPU 27, program RAM 42, operation RAM 41, etc., are program execution means executing data processing based on the demodulated script. Then for a while after starting the reception of the interpolation program or the update of the interpolation program, a symbol mark is displayed in a first display state and when a fixed time passes after them, it is displayed in a second display state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television receiver for displaying a data broadcast reception status, which captures a text such as a computer program in a data broadcast signal broadcast included in a television broadcast signal and executes the program. The function enables program access, and the reception status of the data broadcast can be displayed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A character broadcasting program has been realized in which character or graphic data is multiplexed and transmitted with an ordinary television broadcasting signal. Currently available teletext programs include news, weather forecasts, traffic information, tourist information, and TV shopping. In addition, there is a case where a questionnaire survey is performed to a viewer in a program.

By the way, the current teletext program is a system in which information is unilaterally provided to a viewer from a television station. For example, in the case of TV shopping, when a shopping information program is broadcast by teletext, the viewer makes a memo of the desired product number or mail order company's telephone number while watching the characters displayed on the screen, and sees the memo. While making phone calls using a telephone, he will place orders and orders. Also, in the case of conducting a questionnaire survey to the viewer in the program, the viewer takes notes such as a telephone number for responding, and responds using the telephone while looking at the memo. In such a case, a problem such as a wrong telephone call due to a wrong dial or a wrong telephone call when a telephone number is erroneously written down occurs.

As described above, in the conventional character multiplex broadcast program, a one-way broadcast from a television station is performed, and the response is long because the system waits for a telephone call from the viewer. In addition, there is a problem that many wrong calls are generated.

In order to solve such a problem, therefore, a program executing means for transmitting computer program data from a broadcasting station side in a character multiplex broadcasting program and executing the computer program is provided in a receiver.
It has been proposed that the program executing means dials the telephone automatically through the communication control means when the viewer gives an operation input and automatically transmits the input data of the viewer. ing. This way,
The number of false calls is reduced, and the response time to the collection station is near real time. Hereinafter, a program that transmits data including supplementary data that supplements a computer program or a broadcast program as described above will be referred to as a complementary program, and a computer program will be referred to as a script.

By the way, most of the circuit blocks for receiving and processing the complementary programs can be shared with the circuit blocks for receiving and processing the character multiplex broadcasting program. Therefore, when designing a receiving device,
The hardware can be reduced in size by using a circuit configuration that can be used by switching the processing mode of the complementary program. Therefore, normally, the circuits that can be shared are set to be utilized as much as possible.

Looking at the use of complementary programs,
In many cases, the supplementary data and the broadcast signal of this program are used together, and the television receiving device is controlled under the control of the above-mentioned script, so that the utility value is often generated. For example, in the case of TV shopping, the video of the product is transmitted by the broadcast signal, the explanation is transmitted as the supplementary data, and the viewer inputs, for example, the selection of the desired product for purchase by key operation while watching the video. . Then
Transmission data including the code of the desired product, the viewer's ID, etc. is automatically generated under the control of the script, and automatic dialing is performed.

Although the complementary program is used as described above, it is important for the viewer to clearly recognize whether or not the complementary program is currently being broadcast. For example, in the state that the operation mode is switched to the complementary program,
When a TV shopping program is being broadcast, if a viewer mistakenly operates the remote controller, an order for a product may be automatically dialed even though no order has been placed. Also, when a program such as a questionnaire survey is being broadcast, if the viewer does not want to respond and the remote control is mistakenly performed, the response may be arbitrarily performed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to determine what the reception status of the complementary program is at present.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a television receiver that displays a data broadcast reception status, which allows the viewer to easily understand the status.

[0010]

Receiving means for receiving a data broadcast program which is included in a television broadcast signal and is multiplexed and transmitted on a data channel independent of the video / audio signal, and the data. Based on the demodulation means for demodulating the script as the computer program included in the broadcast program, the operation input processing means for capturing the operation input of the user, and the demodulated script,
Program execution means for controlling the operation input processing means to perform data processing; data broadcast program presence / absence detection means for detecting presence / absence of the data broadcast program by referring to the output of the demodulation means; When the presence / absence detection means detects that the data broadcasting program is being broadcast, the first complementary program mark is displayed on the display means, and when this complementary program mark is displayed for a certain period of time, it is different from the display position. Complementary program mark display control means for displaying a second complementary program mark at a location.

By the above means, the display form indicating that the reception is changed when the complementary program which is the data broadcast is first received and after the fixed period after the script is stored after the reception, The viewer can recognize the reception status of the complementary program in different cases. This avoids the problem of operating the remote controller by mistake after a certain period of time. Further, at the beginning of reception, it is easy to clearly recognize that the complementary program is being broadcast, which is very useful when using the complementary program.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a system to which a two-way communication device using television broadcasting, which is an embodiment of the present invention, is applied. This system, by utilizing the current character multiplex broadcasting function and telephone communication function, adds a telephone communication function to one-way broadcasting of television broadcasting and expands an upstream data transmission function, The two-way communication function is realized as a whole. This system basically extends the existing teletext system by software. Therefore, even if you add a script to the character multiplex broadcast and broadcast it,
It has no effect on current TV broadcasts, teletexts, and TV receivers.

The overall system is composed of a network including a TV receiver 11, a broadcasting station 12, a telephone network 13, and a collecting station 14. The broadcasting station 12 uses a teletext channel to broadcast a script, which is a computer program for realizing bidirectionality, in a complementary program in synchronization with a normal television program. Alternatively, it is repeatedly broadcast as an independent broadcast within a predetermined broadcast time.
This script is a kind of application program that describes the progress procedure of the two-way communication system.
The V broadcast signal is superimposed and transmitted during the vertical blanking period.

The script is a T that receives a TV broadcast signal.
It is stored in the memory of the V receiver 11 and is executed by, for example, a program execution device (script decoder) incorporated in the TV receiver 11. This script decoder displays a symbol mark indicating that the current program is a complementary program, for example, "i", notifies the viewer of it, and starts script execution in response to an operation input from the viewer. , Respond such as display of program supplement data.

This symbol mark (complementary program mark) display means uses a method unique to this system, and the display means and display form will be described later. The response by the viewer may end in the TV receiver 11 by itself, but the result of the response may be sent to the computer system (collection station 14) provided in various places in the telephone network 13.
It is also possible to send the data via the Internet and to reflect it in real time on the program content provided by the broadcasting station 12. It is also possible to take in data from the collection station 14 side via the telephone network 13.

The TV receiver 11 is equipped with a normal TV broadcast receiving circuit including a character multiplex decoder, and a script decoder and a modem in order to realize a bidirectional function. The script decoder extracts a script from a TV broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast station 12 and executes the script to realize two-way communication. When the viewer responds to send the upstream data, the viewer responds by using the remote controller for TV operation. When data is transmitted to the collection station 14, automatic dialing is performed by a modem connected to the TV receiver 11, and connection is made to the collection station 14. The uplink data may be transmitted immediately or may be transmitted after waiting at night or the like.

Since the modem added to the TV receiver 11 has a function of automatically dialing, it is not necessary for the viewer to dial for upstream data transmission. The telephone number of the automatic dial destination is the broadcasting station 12 for each complementary program.
It is embedded in the script from the side and sent. There may be one telephone number or a plurality of telephone numbers. In the case of a plurality of telephone numbers, the viewer can select a destination.

The script decoder is realized by a processor that executes a computer program. However, since the character multiplex decoder also usually has a built-in processor, the script decoder is actually realized by expanding the function of the character multiplex decoder in software. Therefore, the script decoder includes a character multiplex decoder and a program ROM, and shares many circuits with the character multiplex decoder.

When broadcasting a program of a viewer participation system in which the response of the viewer is reflected in the program, the broadcasting station 12 adds supplementary program data including a script to a broadcast signal including normal video / audio. Insert and send. A program production system for generating and inserting data of a complementary program including a script can be composed of a personal computer and a multiplexer.

The broadcasting station 12 broadcasts by inserting a complementary program into the broadcast radio wave in addition to a normal program. The computer programs to be added are roughly classified into those produced by the broadcasting station itself and those produced and provided by third parties such as advertising companies and mail order companies. Furthermore, there are those produced by broadcasting stations that can be prepared in advance, and those that are inserted live, such as when broadcasting sports.

Here, the structure of the script will be described. The script is created by the production system of the broadcasting station 12, and is sent together with normal images and sounds. The script is realized as a set of objects as follows.

(1) Background / display material (2) Operation button (3) Character string (4) Image, etc. Each object can have a complementary procedure (procedure), which is an extended BASIC language. Described by etc. This language is a normal BASIC with control instructions for two-way communication.

When the script is executed, first, screen constituent elements such as a screen background and operation buttons are displayed. When the viewer selects the operation button, a program corresponding to the button is activated.

A method of processing response data is registered in advance in the collecting station 14, and the collected contents can be redistributed to a broadcasting station, an advertising company, a sponsor, a mail order company, etc. in accordance with the method.

The forms of interactive programs that can be realized by this interactive communication system can be roughly classified into the following three types. (1) Complementary data program-Selective display of additional information about advertising products.

The data at the time of sports relay is selectively displayed.・ Display the program contents.・ Memorize the cooking resapies and display them later.

Respond to answers to questions in early childhood education programs.・ Respond to viewers' answers in quiz programs. (2) Response feedback program (use the collecting station) -Take questionnaires on politics, economics, and social reporting.

-Take questionnaires on sports programs.・ Display stats of correct respondents and tournaments in viewer participation quiz programs. (3) Program with transaction (use collection station) -Orders will be accepted at the server (collection station) through TV shopping.

A server (collection station) receives a catalog request or the like in an advertisement with a request such as information. -For audience rating survey, send the viewing program data to the server (collection station) with the consent of the viewer.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a period during which teletext data is transmitted in the TV teletext broadcast signal of the hybrid transmission system. That is, the teletext data is the 14th H (277H) to the 16th H (279H), and the 21th H (284H) in the vertical blanking period.
Is superimposed on. In this vertical blanking period, there is a margin for further multiplexing of data, so for example, the 10th H (second
73H) to 13th H (276H) can be multiplexed and transmitted. Although the script may be multiplexed at a position different from the current character multiplex position in this way, it may be time-divisionally transmitted to the same position as the current character multiplex signal. Also, teletext data can be transmitted on one sub-channel of the audio multiplex signal, and in this case, the data from the FM receiving unit is taken in.

Since the data broadcasting is of the above-mentioned system, the decoder can process both the character multiplex broadcasting program and the complementary program by switching the operation mode.
Here, the problem is the following points.

For example, when the operation mode is switched from the character multiplex broadcasting program to the complementary program and, for example, a television shopping is immediately performed, the script may not be received sufficiently. However, the broadcast signal is the content of TV shopping. In such a case, the viewer will get an error because the script operation is incomplete despite performing the ordering operation. Similarly, in a program for which a questionnaire survey is conducted, an error may occur because the script operation is incomplete even though the viewer responds.

Therefore, in this system, when the complementary program is being broadcast, the complementary program information can be always taken in and updated regardless of whether it is displayed or not displayed, and the complementary program can be accessed immediately. I am trying.

FIG. 3 shows in more detail an example of the structure of the data packet in one line period transmitted in the character multiplex broadcast and the data broadcast. A bit synchronization code and a byte synchronization code are arranged before the data packet. The data packet section includes a prefix, a data block, and a check code. Further, the prefix part includes a service identification code and a packet control code. This service identification code can be used to identify the arrival of the complementary program signal.

The circuit for identifying this service identification code is
The system is configured so that the internal circuit can be identified in both the teletext processing mode and the data broadcasting processing mode.
FIG. 4 shows a specific circuit configuration of a bidirectional communication device provided in the TV receiver 11, a decoder including a character multiplex broadcast decoder and a script decoder, that is, a character multiplex and data broadcast decoder.

The video signal of the receiving channel is input terminal 21.
It is supplied to the sync separation unit 22 and the A / D converter 23 via. In the vertical blanking period of the video signal, data for bidirectional digital communication is multiplexed as described in FIG.
The data digitized by the A / D converter 23 is waveform-equalized by the waveform equalization unit 24 and the data acquisition / error correction unit 2
5 is introduced. The waveform equalizer 24 compensates for deterioration of the video signal converted into a digital signal during transmission.
Separates the digital broadcast signal multiplexed with the video signal,
The multiplexed data and clock in it are output. The data fetching / error correcting unit 25 fetches the multiplexed data in units of 8 bits in the buffer RAM 26 in synchronization with the clock and performs error correction.

The CPU 27 operates based on the fixed program stored in the program ROM 28. Character font RO
A character font for displaying characters is stored in M29, and corresponding character data can be read out by addressing a desired character to the ROM 29.

A synchronizing signal for display synchronized with the TV receiver is introduced to the input terminal 30 and supplied to the display control section 31. The display control unit 31 performs a process of reading the data in the display memory 32 in synchronism with the reproduction of the television image and writing the display data to the display memory 32 in response to a write command from the CPU 27. Display memory 3
The data read from No. 2 is stored in the color map memory 33.
Is supplied as an address input, and each level data of the primary color signals RGB corresponding to the address is output. This level data is converted into an analog RGB signal by the D / A converter 34 and is derived from the output terminal as a display signal. It should be noted that this display signal is displayed on the display as a television image signal in which graphics are superimposed by synthesizing the television image signal by a synthesizing means (not shown).

From the input terminal 36, an operation signal by the viewer is input from the remote controller operation unit. This operation signal is sent to the CPU via the operation input interface (I / F) 37.
It is taken in 27 and analyzed.

38 is a modulator and demodulator (modem),
It constitutes a communication control unit and is connected to the telephone line 40 via the line connection unit 39. The line connection unit 39 controls connection and disconnection of lines and is controlled by the CPU 27.

The CPU 27 is connected to each functional block, that is, the data fetching / error correcting unit 25, the program ROM 28, the character font ROM 29, the operation input I / F 37, the display control unit 31, the modem 38, etc. via a bus line. . Further, a work RAM 41, a program RAM 42, and a non-volatile memory 43 are connected to the bus line.

The program RAM 42 is a memory for storing a computer program transmitted from a broadcasting station,
According to the viewer's operation, the contents of this computer program can be interpreted and the procedure of this computer program (script) can be executed according to the interpreter in the fixed program stored in the ROM 28. The non-volatile memory 43 stores a unique identification number (ID) of this receiving terminal (decoder), and this unique identification number is used when transmitting order data to the collecting station 14 in, for example, TV shopping. To be done. The collection station 14 determines the orderer by recognizing the ID.

The circuit configuration described above is also used when processing a character multiplex broadcast program. That is, when the reception of the character multiplex broadcast program is instructed by the remote control operation, the CPU 27 is switched to be under the control of the character multiplex broadcast program processing program stored in the program ROM 28. Then, the character data sent is the character font R
It is converted into display data by the OM 29 and stored in the display memory 32 via the display control unit 31.

Here, the program ROM 28 is provided with means for constantly storing and updating the script of the complementary program in the program RAM 42. This means is set so that it can operate in a time division manner even when the system is in another processing mode, that is, a mode for processing a character multiplex broadcast signal.

FIG. 5 shows a procedure of means for accumulating and updating a script which is always a text and supplementary data. That is, it is always detected whether or not the complementary program is being broadcast, and if the complementary program is being broadcast, the program data (script, supplemental data, etc.) of the complementary program is broadcast to the program RAM.
The data is stored in 42 (steps A1 to A6). Also, it always detects whether the data of the complementary program has been updated,
When there is an update, the data in the program RAM 42 is updated.

Here, in the television receiver,
A program search function or a program menu display function is provided. For this reason, when the viewer sets the program search function or the program menu display function, and the complementary program data import function described above operates each time, the script may be destroyed. Therefore, after it is determined that the complementary program is being broadcast, it is determined what kind of instruction the receiver is currently operating.
Then, when the program search function or the program menu display function is working, the information update or acquisition of the complementary program is temporarily stopped (step A4,
A5). Also, since the viewer may try to switch channels one after another, in such a case as well, the data of the complementary program is not immediately fetched, and a certain time is waited after the reception channel is set. When the reception channel is not switched even after waiting for a certain period of time, the acquisition of the data of the complementary program of the channel is started (shift from step A5 to A2).

The program search function of the program search machine and the program menu display function switch the reception channels of the tuner one after another,
When the reduced screens of the respective channels are temporarily stored in the memory and displayed, the reduced screens are displayed together with the channel numbers on the same screen. Therefore, in order to realize this function, the image signal processing system is provided with an image reducing circuit, an image memory, and a reduced image synthesizing function.

If the process has proceeded to steps A2, A3, and A6, that is, if the broadcast of the complementary program is detected, the symbol mark (complementary program mark i) is superimposed and displayed on the screen, for example.

When the viewer responds to the complementary program and accesses it, the mode shifts to the complementary program processing mode, and the program executing means starts data processing based on the program (script) (step). A9, A1
0). Then, supplementary data or the like supplementing the program is displayed on the display unit, and the viewer can respond (step A).
11). When the complementary program ends or when the viewer stops accessing the complementary program (step A13), the display of the complementary data is erased, but the process returns to step A2 and the presence or absence of the complementary program broadcast. Is detected.

On the other hand, in the display of the symbol mark, the first display of the symbol mark is performed for a while after the reception of the complementary program is started, and for a while after the complementary program is updated, and a fixed time has elapsed. Then (step A8), the second display of the symbol mark is performed (step A13), and then the process proceeds to step A9.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the first display and the second display. FIG. 6A shows a state in which the first display is displayed with an "i" mark in the upper right of the screen, and the second display uses a light emitting element in a corner of the receiver at a position different from the screen. This is the state displayed on the display unit. FIG. 6B shows the first
Is displayed in a large size with an “i” mark on the upper right of the screen, and the second display is displayed in a small size in the lower corner of the screen. The large display of the first display on the upper right of the screen means to alert the viewer that the complementary program has started broadcasting. FIG. 6C shows a state in which the first display is displayed large with an “i” mark in the upper right of the screen, and the second display is displayed upside down in a small size in the lower corner of the screen. Displaying the "i" mark upside down is set to mean, for example, that the complementary program processing mode is off. When the complementary program processing mode is turned on through the remote control etc., the i
The mark is set to display in the normal orientation.

According to this display, it is possible to identify that a fixed time has elapsed since the complementary program was started and whether the complementary program processing mode (program execution) is on or off.

In the above-mentioned display form, the state of the character and the display position are identified, but it may be identified by the change of color or the change of brightness. The character multiplex and data broadcast decoder of the TV receiver described above further has the following functions. When the complementary program is being broadcast, the complementary program information is automatically fetched and stored to enable reliable access when accessing the complementary program. Since the script is completed no matter what time the viewer starts accessing the complementary program, it is possible to prevent a malfunction or the like from occurring.

With the above apparatus, it is not necessary to capture and store the script at the same time as the reception of the complementary program, and it is possible to greatly reduce the time until the completion of the script capture. Depending on the content of the script, it may be necessary to update only the steps of some routines, so in such a case, the above-mentioned means can be used very effectively. Whether or not the data broadcast is sent and whether or not the script is updated can be identified by the identification data described in FIG.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to display the situation in which the reception status of the complementary program is currently in a manner that is easy for the viewer to understand, and it is possible to assist the viewer in terms of operation and prevent erroneous operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system to which a data broadcast transmission and reception device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of character multiplex and data broadcasting signals.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of data packets of character multiplex and data broadcasting signals.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a data broadcasting and receiving apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart shown to explain an operation example of a character multiplex and data broadcast decoder according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example by the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... TV receiver, 12 ... broadcasting station, 13 ... telephone line network,
14 ... Collection station, 22 ... Sync separation section, 23 ... A / D converter, 24 ... Waveform equalization section, 25 ... Data acquisition / error correction section, 26 ... Buffer RAM, 27 ... CPU, 28 ... Program ROM, 29 ... Character font ROM, 31 ... Display control unit, 32 ... Display memory, 33 ... Color map memory, 34 ... D / A converter, 37 ... Operation input I / F, 38
... Modem, 39 ... Line connection section, 41 ... Work RAM, 42
... program RAM, 43 ... non-volatile memory, 12a ... advance notice signal output device, 52 ... channel selection and detection section, 53 ... television signal processing section, 54 ... synthesis section, 55 ... display section, 56 ... character multiplex and complementary program processing Part, 57 ... Main controller.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A receiving means for receiving a data broadcast program which is included in a television broadcast signal and is multiplexed and transmitted in a data channel independent of the video / audio signal, and included in the data broadcast program. Demodulating means for demodulating a script as a computer program to be reproduced, operation input processing means for capturing a user's operation input, and a program for controlling the operation input processing means based on the demodulated script to perform data processing Execution means, data broadcast program presence / absence detection means for detecting the presence or absence of the data broadcast program by referring to the output of the demodulation means, and the data broadcast program presence / absence detection means broadcasting the data broadcast program. When detecting the, the first complementary program mark is displayed on the display means, and the complementary program mark is displayed for a certain period. , A television receiver for displaying data broadcasting reception state, characterized by comprising a supplementary program mark display control means for displaying a second supplementary program mark at different locations from its display position. 2. The complementary program mark display control means includes a first complementary program mark and a second complementary program mark on a display section of the display means.
2. The television receiver for displaying the data broadcast reception status according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing the position at which the complementary program mark is displayed. 3. The complementary program mark display control means displays the first complementary program mark on a display section of the display means, and the second complementary program mark is different from the display section of the display means. The television receiver for displaying the data broadcast reception status according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying the position. 4. The complementary program mark display control means includes a first complementary program mark and a second complementary program mark on a display section of the display means.
2. The television receiver for displaying the data broadcast reception status according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing the position of the complementary program mark from the display form. 5. The complemented program mark display control means provides the first complemented program mark on the display unit of the display means.
2. The data broadcasting reception according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying the second complementary program mark in a second display mode at a position different from the display section of the display means. A television receiver that displays the status. 6. The television receiver for displaying the data broadcast reception status according to claim 1, wherein the first complementary program mark is displayed larger than the size of the second complementary program mark.