JPH10210378A - Electronic program guide system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To mutually link several kind of program information which differ in supply methods for a terminal equipment, so as to use them by permitting program information given to the terminal equipment to include link information for linking other program information given by other different supply methods. SOLUTION: Program information supplied from broadcasting or internet or a disk medium 103 is stored in a memory 105 through a receiver 101, a modem 102 and a disk drive 104. Program information includes link information for linking program information by differing supply methods. A CPU 108 generates a program information display screen from program information on a link destination, which is stored in the memory 105, based on link information selected by a remote controller or the like. Thus, a user takes out desired program information from multiple program information for selecting a program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic program guide system which is used in a television receiver and allows a viewer to select a program transmitted from a broadcast.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, not only analog broadcasting but also digital broadcasting has become widespread. As the number of channels increases, the range to be selected by the viewer becomes wider, and at the same time, it becomes difficult for the viewer to efficiently select a desired program.

In order to allow a viewer to more efficiently select a desired program from the multi-channel broadcast programs, information on a plurality of programs is displayed on a display screen of a television receiver. An electronic program guide (EPG) has been put into practical use, which is displayed as a table so that a viewer can select a program while checking program information in the program table.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional program information display and control device for performing an electronic program guide operation described in, for example, JP-A-3-284077. In the figure, 1 is a tuner circuit for a television,
Reference numeral 2 denotes an intermediate frequency conversion circuit (VIF) for converting the video signal selectively separated by the tuner circuit 1 into an intermediate frequency, and 3 denotes a video signal converted to an intermediate frequency by the intermediate frequency conversion circuit 2 into RGB signals. A video demodulation circuit 4 for converting the signal into a channel is a channel selection circuit for selecting a television channel and outputting a selection signal to the tuner circuit 1. 5 is a memory card storing television program information, 6 is a memory card 5
This is a memory card interface that outputs a control signal and an address signal and reads data. Reference numeral 7 retrieves desired data from the television program information of the memory card 5 via the memory card interface 6, creates display data, creates various display screens such as time management, and performs various types of television control. This is a display control device that controls television peripheral devices. Reference numeral 8 denotes a real-time clock that outputs the current year, month, and time, etc., 9 denotes a remote control receiving unit that outputs data to the channel selection circuit 4 and the display control device 7, and 10 denotes a television signal output from the video demodulation circuit 3. A switching circuit 11 for switching and outputting a display signal output from the display control device 7, and a display 11 for displaying a signal output from the switching circuit 10.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a data format of television program information stored in the memory card 5. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the television program information is:
"Date" which is the data of the television program broadcast date, "Start time" which is the data of the television program broadcast start time, "End time" which is the data of the television program broadcast end time, ""Channel" which is data, "Special flag" which is a flag indicating whether or not the television program is a special program, "Field flag" which is a flag for recognizing a field according to the content of the television program , A “program name” which is data of a program name of the television program, and “contents” which is data of the content of the television program. As shown in the example, "date" is composed of year / month / day, and "start time" and "end time" are composed of hour / minute. Also,
Data 1 is recorded in the "special flag" when the program is a special program.

Next, the operation will be described. The display 11 normally displays a television screen. At this time, in the switching circuit 10, the television receiver including the tuner circuit 1, the VIF 2, and the video demodulation circuit 3 is selected, and the input of the display 11 is the output of the video demodulation circuit 3. For example, when the user presses a “reservation key” on a remote control (not shown),
The switching circuit 10 selects the display control device 7 side, and the display 11 receives the output signal of the display control device 7,
A program guide for making a program reservation is displayed. The program table is a table in which the program names, broadcast channels, broadcast start time, broadcast end time, etc. of a plurality of television programs are displayed in a predetermined format. By directing and selecting,
The display or recording of a program can be scheduled.

In addition, instead of obtaining television program information from a recording medium such as a memory card, the program information is superimposed on a television broadcast and broadcasted, and this is extracted on the receiving terminal side to create a program table and display the screen. The one that displays a program guide above is also in practical use. Such an electronic program guide for providing program information by television broadcasting is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
A television schedule system disclosed in 504165 is known.

Further, a service for providing program information through a computer network such as the Internet has already been provided. In this method, the latest program information is transmitted to a terminal used by a user through a telephone line in response to access from the user.

Here, an electronic program guide system that acquires program information used for an electronic program guide from a computer network such as the Internet via a telephone line always updates the program information on the data providing side to update the program information. Since it can provide the requested data in response to a request from the user, it has the advantage that the data required by the user can be obtained when it is needed. Since it is used, communication costs are high, and the data transmission rate is slow, so that it takes time to acquire data when the program information is large-capacity data such as image data or audio data. .

An electronic program guide system that superimposes program information used for an electronic program guide on a television broadcast and broadcasts the program information superimposed on a television program and broadcasts the information to a memory or a hard disk or the like on a terminal device side. Since the stored program information is read out and the electronic program guide operation is performed as necessary, the communication cost is not required for the user, and the program information is broadcast periodically. Since the contents are always updated to the latest, even if there is a change in the broadcast time of a program, etc., there is an advantage that the electronic program guide operation can be performed in accordance with the change, but the program information is transmitted from the broadcast station side. Information provided by the user, and does not provide the requested information in response to the user's request. Not necessarily have been put, there is a drawback that can not be obtained in some cases the desired information when the user desires.

In an electronic program guide system in which program information used for an electronic program guide is recorded on a recording medium such as a memory card, a CD-ROM, and a video CD and provided to a user, the program information includes image data and audio data. As described above, there is an advantage that information can be read out at a high speed when the data has a large capacity. On the other hand, program information recorded on a recording medium is fixed information and is not updated. However, there is a disadvantage that when there is a change in the electronic program guide operation, an electronic program guide operation corresponding to the change cannot be performed.

[0012]

As described above, the program information used for the electronic program guide includes a memory card, a CD, and the like.
-To a terminal device such as one provided to a user by being recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM or a video CD, one provided by being superimposed on a television broadcast, or one provided by a computer network via a telephone line. There are several types of providing methods different from each other, and each has advantages and disadvantages in terms of usability when used in an electronic program guide as described above. On the other hand, conventionally, it has not been proposed to perform an electronic program guide operation using several types of program information having different providing methods, and program information used in a conventional electronic program guide is shown in, for example, FIG. As described above, it does not include any information indicating a relationship with program information other than the program information, or a plurality of pieces of program information provided by the same method have a hierarchical structure, and each information indicates information indicating the hierarchical relationship. The information indicating the relationship between the program information and the program information having a different providing method is not included.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic program guide system that can use several types of program information having different methods of providing to a terminal device by mutually linking them.

[0014]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an electronic program guide system according to the present invention (claim 1) uses a plurality of types of program information different in a method of providing to a terminal device. An electronic program guide system for performing a program guide, wherein the program information includes link information for linking the program information with other program information provided to a terminal device by a different providing method.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic program guide system according to the first aspect, wherein one of the plurality of types of program information is provided to a terminal device through a communication line. And the program information provided to the terminal device by a different providing method includes address information of a provider of information provided to the terminal device through the communication line as the link information.

Further, an electronic program guide system according to the present invention (claim 3) is the electronic program guide system according to claim 1, wherein information recorded on a recording medium is used as one of the plurality of types of program information. The program information provided to the terminal device by a different providing method includes information indicating a file name of the information recorded on the recording medium or a recording position on the recording medium as the link information.

In the electronic program guide system according to the present invention (claim 4), in the electronic program guide system according to claim 1, the program information provided to the terminal device is:
The program guide information used to create a program guide on the terminal device side, program introduction information on the contents of the program, and related information that is information related to the program. Each of them includes reservation information for reserving a program.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an electronic program guide system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a receiver for receiving a television broadcast signal, which acquires television data such as images and sounds from the television broadcast signal, and extracts program information superimposed on the television broadcast. is there.
Reference numeral 102 denotes a modem connected to a telephone line to acquire information from a computer network such as the Internet via the telephone line. Reference numeral 103 denotes a disk medium which is a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a video disk on which program information is recorded, and reference numeral 104 denotes a disk drive which reads information from the recording medium 103 such as a CD-ROM or a video disk. Reference numeral 105 denotes a work memory used by a CPU, which will be described later, to perform work such as decoding and processing of a program information signal obtained from broadcasting, the Internet, or a recording medium. A ROM 106 stores programs and the like. Reference numeral 107 denotes a hard disk that records program information and the like obtained from broadcasting and the Internet. 108 is RO
This is a CPU that decodes program information based on the program stored in M106 and performs processing such as program table creation. 1
A video player 09 records and reproduces television data from the receiver 101. 110 is the receiver 1
01, and an output of an electronic program guide creating means constituted by the CPU 108 and the like.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a display that receives an output from the switch 110 and displays a screen.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a program information data format and an electronic program guide operation used in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment. In the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment, program information given to the terminal device shown in FIG. 1 by different providing methods such as broadcasting, CD-ROM, and the Internet is used. The program information includes information for creating a program guide (program guide information), information for introducing a program displayed in the program guide (program introduction information), and information for providing information related to the program. (Related information).

The program table information includes a program name, a broadcast channel,
Data used to create a program table, such as broadcast time and other genres of programs, is included in the form of text data. In the program information according to the present embodiment, links to other program information are further included. Contains link information to take.

The program introduction information includes data used to display a synopsis of the program and performers in the form of text data, image data, or audio data. In the program information according to the present embodiment, Like the program guide information, it further includes link information for establishing a link to other program information.

The related information includes various data related to the program in the form of text data, image data, or audio data, such as information on other programs related to the program and detailed information on casts. The program information according to the present embodiment includes link information for establishing a link with other program information as well as the program guide information and the program introduction information. As the image data, for example, television data which is not compressed of a moving image or a still image or compressed by MPEG or the like is recorded.

For link information for linking to other program information, it is necessary to specify the program information of the link destination.
If the information is recorded in the OM, the file name or track number of the data on the CD-ROM can be used. If the other program information is information provided from the Internet, an address on the Internet can be used. URL (Uniform Resource Locator) can be used.

In the present embodiment, each data of the program guide information, the program introduction information, and the related information is used as a program code of a related program or data for making a recording reservation such as a broadcast channel and a broadcast time (reservation). Information).

Next, the operation of the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment will be described. In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the electronic program guide operation is performed using information provided by being superimposed on a broadcast, information provided from the Internet through a communication line, and information recorded on a disk medium 103. Information provided by being superimposed on the broadcast is read out via a receiver 101, information provided from the Internet is read out via a modem 102, and information recorded on a disk medium 103 is read out by a disk drive 104. Stored in the memory 105 in the device,
The PU 108 performs processing such as decoding of data and creation of a program table and other program information display screens. The data decoding and processing program is ROM (Read Only Memor
y) 106. Further, information provided by being superimposed on the broadcast and information provided from the Internet through a communication line are recorded on the hard disk 107 as necessary.

The switch 110 outputs either broadcast data (television program), program guide, or other program information display screen data to the television display 111 in response to a user's remote control input or the like.

When the program information display screen data is input, the display 111 displays a program information display screen such as a program guide on the screen. The user selects a desired program on a program table, for example, by operating a remote control key or by moving a cursor on the program information display screen or by selecting means such as a highlighted character jumping at a selected portion. Also,
By selecting the record button displayed on the program information display screen, a program recording reservation can be made using the program code included in the program information or the broadcast channel and broadcast time information of the program. For example, when making a reservation based on the broadcast channel and broadcast time information of the program, the timer of the video player 109 holds the broadcast channel and the broadcast time of the reserved program. ,
The receiver 101 is activated, the designated channel is selected, and the television data of the reserved program is recorded on the video player 109. In addition, not only television data but also data such as texts and programs can be recorded on the hard disk 107.

If the program code has been reserved, the program code is compared with the program code multiplexed from the broadcast station.
9, the television data of the reserved program can be recorded in the video player 109.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a program table created using program table information of program information and displayed on a display screen in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the program table is expressed by a matrix of the day of the week (date) and time. Here, the user moves the position of the point using the up / down / left / right keys and the selection key of the remote controller, and selects a program. When a program is selected, a program introduction display screen created using the program introduction information that is the program information of the link destination based on the link information included in the program guide information of the selected program is displayed on the screen. . At this time, in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment, the other program information linked by the link information included in the program guide information includes the other program information given to the terminal device by the same providing method, and the different providing information. Other program information provided to the terminal device in a manner is included.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the link information included in the program guide information, which is program information provided through broadcasting, is a file name (or track number) in the disk medium.
If so, the CPU 108
File name (or track number) for
Is output from the disk medium 103. Then, the program information read from the disk medium 103 is stored in the working memory 105 and the CPU 108
Creates a program introduction display screen using the program information read from the disk medium 103,
Via the display 111. If the link information included in the program guide information, which is the program information provided through the broadcast, is a URL on the Internet as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 108 accesses a server on the Internet via the modem 102, and Request transmission of information. The information provided from the server via the communication line is stored in the working memory 105, and is stored in the CPU 108.
Creates a program introduction display screen using the information acquired from the Internet, and outputs it to the display 111 via the switch 110. Also, the program guide information, which is program information provided through broadcasting, may include a plurality of link information, and a user may select a desired link destination with a remote controller or the like. Similarly, when a program guide is created and displayed using program guide information that is program information provided from the Internet, for example, the link information included in the program guide information that is the program information provided from the Internet is stored in a disk medium. If the file name (or track number) is inside, the CPU reads the program information of the corresponding file name (or track number) from the disk medium 103 by the disk drive 104, and reads the program information read from the disk medium 103. A program introduction display screen is created using the
Output to 1. Similarly, when a program guide is created and displayed using program guide information that is information recorded on the disk medium 103, for example, a link included in the program guide information that is information recorded on the disk medium 103 is also used. If the information is a URL on the Internet, the CPU 108 accesses a server on the Internet via the modem 102, obtains desired information, creates a program introduction display screen using the obtained information, and switches the switch 110. Output to the display 111 via the It is also assumed that the program guide information, which is program information provided from the Internet, or the program guide information, which is information recorded on the disk medium 103, includes a plurality of pieces of link information, and the user selects a desired link destination using a remote controller or the like. It is good also as a structure which can be performed.

FIG. 4 shows a program introduction (or related information) display created on the display screen by using the program introduction information (or related information) of the program information in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment. It is a figure showing an example of a screen. In the program introduction display, the program is introduced using video data such as moving images, still images, and audio along with text data such as the category, characters, and synopsis of the program.
This program introduction information also includes link information for linking to other program information. When the user selects specific link information by operating a remote controller or the like, other link destinations specified by the link information are selected. Another information display screen created using the program information is displayed. here,
As a method of describing the link information, for example, text data is converted to an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Laptop) in which link information such as an address of a link destination data and a file name is written.
nguage). In the hypertext, a keyword having link information in the text is emphasized such as underlining or color coding, and when the user selects the portion with a cursor key, the keyword is linked to other program information related to the keyword. Can be taken.

The related information display is also composed of images, sounds, and text data, and displays other programs related to the program, information on casts, and the like. The related information also includes link information for linking to other program information, and when the user selects specific link information by operating a remote controller or the like, another program of the link destination specified by the link information is selected. Another information display screen created using the information is displayed. As a method of describing the link information, a method of converting text data into hypertext can be used as in the case of the program introduction information.

Here, the other program information linked by the link information included in the program introduction information and related information has the same provision as the other program information linked by the link information included in the program table information. Other program information provided to the terminal device in a different manner and other program information provided to the terminal device in a different providing method are included.

For example, if the link information included in the program introduction information (related information), which is information recorded on the disk medium 103, is a URL on the Internet, the CPU 10
8 accesses a server on the Internet via the modem 102, acquires desired information, creates an information display screen using the acquired information, and outputs it to the display 111 via the switch 110. Also, the disk medium 103
If the link information included in the program introduction information (related information), which is information recorded in the disk drive, is the file name (or track number) in the disk medium, the CPU 108 controls the disk drive 104 to execute the corresponding file name (or track number). Is read from the disk medium 103, an information display screen is created using the program information read from the disk medium 103, and output to the display 111 via the switch 110.

Similarly, if the link information included in the program introduction information (related information), which is program information provided from the Internet, is a URL on the Internet, the CPU 1
08 accesses the Internet server via the modem 102, acquires desired information, creates an information display screen using the acquired information, and outputs it to the display 111 via the switch 110. Program introduction information (related information), which is program information provided from the Internet
Is the file name (or track number) in the disk medium, the CPU 108 reads the program information of the corresponding file name (or track number) from the disk medium 103 by the disk drive 104, and An information display screen using the program information read from the
0 to the display 111.

As is apparent from the above description, in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment, the information is recorded on the disk medium from the information display screen created by using the program information provided by the broadcast by the user's selection. To another information display screen created using program information provided from the Internet or program information provided from the Internet, and provided from the Internet from an information display screen created using program information recorded on a disk medium. Switching to another information display screen created using the program information, and switching to another information display screen created using the program information recorded on the disk medium from the information display screen created using the program information provided from the Internet. Can be freely switched to the information display screen.

The program information provided by broadcasting is as follows:
Generally, since there is no information for specifying each piece of information, the link information is described in the program information recorded on the disk medium or the program information provided from the Internet. It is not possible to switch from an information display screen created using program information or program information provided from the Internet to another information display screen created using program information provided by broadcasting. Switching from an information display screen created using program information recorded on a medium or program information provided from the Internet to another information display screen created using program information provided by broadcasting is performed by a terminal. This can be done by software for performing electronic program guide operations on the device. Is shall. If the program information provided by broadcasting has identification information for specifying each program information, the identification information is added to the program information recorded on the disk medium or the program information provided from the Internet by link information. By linking with this link information, program information recorded on a disk medium or program information provided by broadcasting from an information display screen created using program information provided from the Internet can be used. It is possible to switch to another information display screen created by the above.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the program guide information, the program introduction information, and the related information are each provided to the terminal device by the same providing method, and the program information is provided to the terminal device by a different providing method. Since link information for linking to other program information is included, if the user selects specific link information by operating a remote controller or the like, if only other program information provided to the terminal device in the same providing method is provided. The electronic program guide operation using other program information provided to the terminal device can be performed by different providing methods, and thereby, the user can extract desired information from many pieces of information for program selection and the like. . In particular, in the electronic program guide system according to the present embodiment, at the time of the actual electronic program guide operation, for example, by setting software for performing the electronic program guide operation in the terminal device, for example, high image data, audio data, etc. Information for which a transfer rate is required uses program information recorded on a storage medium such as a disk and provided to a terminal device. Information that is likely to be changed, such as a broadcast time and a broadcast channel, is broadcast or Internet. A configuration in which an appropriate type of program information is selectively used from among a plurality of types of program information provided differently according to the type of information, such as using program information provided to the terminal device through Then, an extremely efficient electronic program guide operation can be realized. Similarly, on the program information provider side, information requiring a high transfer rate, such as image data and audio data, is provided by recording it on a storage medium such as a disk, and is used to change broadcast time, broadcast channel, and the like. If the information having a high possibility is provided to the terminal device through broadcasting or the Internet, a more user-friendly service can be provided.

In the present embodiment, each data of the program guide information, the program introduction information, and the related information is used as a program code of a related program or data for making a recording reservation such as a broadcast channel and a broadcast time (reservation). Information), the cell of the record button on the display screen is pointed and selected by the cursor on the information display screen of any of the program guide, the program introduction display, and the related information display, or the remote control is used for recording. By pressing the button, a recording reservation can be made. Also, for example, while browsing related information,
When the record button is selected, it may be configured so that all the programs related to the related information can be reserved for recording.Furthermore, after all the related programs are reserved for recording on the related information display screen, the screen is switched to the program guide display screen Alternatively, the recording schedule may be individually canceled on the program guide display screen.

In the above embodiment, the program information recorded and provided on the recording medium is the program information recorded on a disk medium such as a CD-ROM or a video CD. May be program information recorded on a memory card. In this case, as the link information for linking to the program information recorded on the memory card, an address of the memory or a file name of the data stored in the memory can be used.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention (claim 1), there is provided an electronic program guide system for performing an electronic program guide using a plurality of types of program information different in a method of providing to a terminal device, Since the program information includes link information for linking the program information with other program information provided to the terminal device by a different providing method, the user can operate a specific link by operating a remote controller or the like. By selecting the information, it is possible to perform an electronic program guide operation using not only other program information provided to the terminal device by the same providing method but also other program information provided to the terminal device by a different providing method. Accordingly, there is an effect that an excellent electronic program guide system that allows a user to extract desired information from a large amount of information for program selection or the like can be realized.

According to the electronic program guide system according to the present invention (claim 4), in the electronic program guide system according to claim 1, the program information provided to the terminal device includes a program table on the terminal device side. The program table information used to create the program, the program introduction information on the contents of the program, and the related information that is information related to the program. All of the program table information, the program introduction information, and the related information reserve the program. Recording program information, a program guide, a program introduction display, and related information display can be reserved on any information display screen, and an electronic program guide system that is extremely convenient for the user. There is an effect that can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic program guide system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a format of data of program information according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a program guide display screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a program introduction display (related information display) screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic program guide system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a format of data of program information in a conventional electronic program guide system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Receiver 102 Modem 103 Disk Medium 104 Disk Driver 105 Memory 106 ROM 107 Hard Disk 108 CPU 109 Video Player 110 Switcher 111 Display

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electronic program guide system for performing an electronic program guide using a plurality of types of program information provided differently to a terminal device, wherein the program information is obtained by using the program information and a different providing method. An electronic program guide system comprising link information for linking another program information provided to a terminal device. 2. The electronic program guide system according to claim 1, wherein information provided to the terminal device through a communication line is used as one of the plurality of types of program information, and a program provided to the terminal device by a different providing method. An electronic program guide system, wherein the information includes address information of a provider of information provided to a terminal device through the communication line as the link information. 3. The electronic program guide system according to claim 1, wherein information recorded on a recording medium is used as one of the plurality of types of program information, and program information provided to the terminal device by a different providing method is used. An electronic program guide system, wherein the link information includes information indicating a file name of information recorded on the recording medium or a recording position on the recording medium. 4. The electronic program guide system according to claim 1, wherein the program information provided to the terminal device is program table information used for creating a program table on the terminal device side, and program introduction information on the contents of the program. , And related information that is information related to the program, wherein each of the program guide information, the program introduction information, and the related information includes reservation information for reserving a program.