JPH1065985A - Program guiding display controller and television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate category setting and channel setting by simultaneously displaying a menu screen and a program guiding screen and identifying which one is active and showing it. SOLUTION: A CPU 6 generates on-screen data from various on-screen image generating information which is outputted from an operating part 5 or stored in a storage device 9 and sends it to an on-screen image generating circuit 4, where on-screen image data is generated. An integrated screen of a menu screen and a program guiding screen is shown on a display device 8 through a synthesizing circuit 7. With a menu key 11 pressed down, the menu screen becomes active. Also, with a guide key 12 pressed down, the program guiding screen becomes active. In such cases, a cursor 14 can move only inside an active screen and necessary setting can be made in the area. Furthermore, an active screen is impermeably shown and non-active screen is shown in half- tone to facilitate the visual identification of the active screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a program guide display control device and a television receiver in a television broadcasting system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the DSS (Digital Satellite Broadcasting System) put into practical use in the United States, a large number of channels of 150 or more are prepared, and a large number of programs are provided. In this system, guide information of a currently broadcasted program and a program to be broadcasted in the future is transmitted at predetermined time intervals together with original program data. The user terminal has a function of displaying a program guide screen (program guide table) based on the program guide information.

As shown in FIG. 8, a part of the program guide table e of the entire program guide table E corresponding to the received all program guide information is displayed on the user terminal as a program guide screen. On the program guide screen, a plurality of program guides are displayed in a matrix with the vertical axis as the channel number axis and the horizontal axis as the time axis. In this example, the program guide screen displays programs for five channels, that is, two and a half hours of programs. At the left end, channel numbers are displayed vertically. In the row corresponding to each channel, a frame indicating the time zone of each program broadcast by that channel is displayed, and the title names (A to P) are displayed in each frame.

On the program guide screen, a program can be specified,
A cursor for scrolling the program guide screen is displayed. This cursor movement is performed by operating four cursor movement keys provided for each of the left, right, up, and down directions. Each time a cursor movement key for moving up or down is operated, the cursor moves in units of one channel. Each time a cursor movement key for moving left or right is operated, the cursor moves in a predetermined time unit.

[0005]

By the way, it is convenient if the program guide displayed on the program guide screen can be limited according to the user's preference. Therefore, it is conceivable to provide the user terminal with a function of limiting the category of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen or limiting the channel of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen.

In such a case, setting items such as category setting and channel setting are displayed on the menu screen. By specifying predetermined setting items on the menu screen, category setting, channel setting, and the like are performed. Done.

[0007] The present invention provides a program guide display control device capable of simultaneously displaying both a menu screen and a program guide screen, and capable of visually distinguishing an active screen and an inactive screen. And a television receiver.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A program guide display control device according to the present invention is configured such that an operation input for displaying a menu screen for making various settings or an operation input for displaying a program guide screen is performed. When there is, the first means for displaying both the menu screen and the program guide screen simultaneously and activating only one screen corresponding to the operation input, and among the menu screen and the program guide screen, A second means is provided for displaying a screen that is present and a screen that is not active so that the screen can be visually identified.

As the second means, for example, a means for displaying an active screen opaquely and displaying an inactive screen in halftone is used. More specifically, as a second means, a palette for the menu screen and a palette for the program guide screen are separately prepared, and when the menu screen is active, the transmittance of each palette for the menu screen is set. Is set to a value corresponding to opacity, and the transmittance of each palette to the program guide screen is set to a value corresponding to halftone. When the program guide screen is active, the transparency of each palette to the program guide screen is set. A device having means for setting the transmittance to a value corresponding to opacity and setting the transmittance of each palette to the menu screen to a value corresponding to halftone is used.

[0010] A television receiver according to the present invention includes the above-described program guide display control device.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a DSS (Digital Satellite Broadcasting System) practically used in the United States will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Programs provided in DSS include DS.
There are free programs that can be viewed for free if a system usage fee such as a fee for joining S and a basic fee are paid, and paid programs that are charged separately from the system usage fee. Pay programs are purchased in advance in units of channels and those that are charged only when viewed (PPV: pay
per view). In order to view a PPV program, it is necessary to perform a purchase procedure on a television screen before the program starts or when the program is being broadcast.

[1] Description of configuration of user terminal

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the user terminal.

As the user terminal, a combination of a television receiver and a program guide display control device or a television receiver incorporating a program guide display control circuit is used. The user terminal includes a CPU 6 for controlling the entire user terminal. CPU6
Is provided with a storage device 9 for storing the program and necessary data. The operation unit 5 including a remote controller and the like is connected to the CPU 6.

The CPU 6 controls the tuner 2 to display the program selected by the operation unit 5 and generates an on-screen image generating circuit 4 for generating an on-screen image to be superimposed on a television broadcast image. Control. The on-screen image includes a screen in which the menu screen and the program guide screen are combined, a screen of each layer for the menu screen, a screen of each layer for the program guide screen, and the like.

The input terminal 1 receives a high-frequency signal from a parabolic antenna (not shown). The signal input to the input terminal 1 is sent to the tuner 2. In the tuner, processes such as frequency conversion and QPSK demodulation are performed, and a digital video signal stream is generated. The output of the tuner 2 is sent to the video processing circuit 3.

The video processing circuit 3 MPEG-decodes the stream output from the tuner 2 to generate a video signal to be displayed on a display 8 such as a CRT. This video signal is sent to the display 8 via the synthesizing circuit 7 and is displayed on the display 8.

Further, the video processing circuit 3 extracts program guide information and time information indicating the current time from the output of the tuner 2 and supplies them to the CPU 6. The program guide information and the time information supplied to the CPU 6 are stored in the storage device 9. The storage device 9 further stores information for generating various on-screen images in advance,
Information about purchased PPV programs, watched PPV
Information about the program is stored.

The CPU 6 generates on-screen data based on input from the operation unit 5 and the like and information stored in the storage device 9 for generating various on-screen images. The on-screen data generated by the CPU 6 is sent to the on-screen image generation circuit 4.

The on-screen image generation circuit 4 has a CPU
Based on the on-screen data sent from 6,
Generate on-screen image data. The on-screen image data generated by the on-screen image generation circuit 4 is sent to the display 8 via the synthesizing circuit 7 and displayed on the display 8. The synthesis circuit 7 synthesizes the output of the video processing circuit 3 and the output of the program guide image generation circuit 4 and supplies the output to the display 8.

The operation unit 5 includes a menu key 11 for activating a menu screen, a guide key 12 for activating a program guide screen, an Exit key 13 for deleting the menu screen and the program guide screen, a cursor. Four cursor movement keys 14L, 14R, 14U, 14D for moving the
Select key 15 for performing selection input, channel UP for changing channel upward or downward
/ DOWN keys 16U and 16D are provided.

[2] Description of on-screen image

When the menu key 11 or the guide key 12 of the operation unit 5 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, the screen in which the menu screen 31 and the program guide screen 32 are combined is displayed on the on-screen. It is displayed as an image. On the menu screen 31, a channel setting button 41 for limiting the channel of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen, a category setting button 42 for limiting the category of the program guide displayed on the program guide screen, a program guide A time zone setting button 43 for setting the start time of the program guide displayed on the screen and a button 44 for performing other settings are displayed.

When the menu key 11 of the operation unit 5 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 2, the menu screen 31 becomes active and the program guide screen 32 becomes inactive.
When the guide key 12 of the operation unit 5 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 3, the program guide screen 32 becomes active and the menu screen 31 becomes inactive. 2 and 3
Indicates that the hatched one is active.

As described above, the menu key 11 of the operation unit 5
Alternatively, when the guide key 12 is pressed, a screen in which the menu screen 31 and the program guide screen 32 are integrated is displayed, but the cursor can be moved only within the active screen, and You cannot move from one screen to an inactive screen.

In this embodiment, the active screen is opaquely displayed so that it is possible to easily visually identify which of the menu screen 31 and the program guide screen 32 is active. Inactive screens are displayed in halftone.

[2-1] Explanation of on-screen data

FIG. 4 shows an image area 21 and an area (on-screen image display area) 22 where an on-screen image is displayed. The video area 21 is an area for broadcasting a television broadcast, and is, for example, 480 pixels × 72.
It is the size of 0 pixel.

The size of the on-screen image display area 22 differs depending on various on-screen images. The on-screen image display area has its position information, that is, the coordinate position (x-start, y-
start) and information indicating the size, that is, the horizontal length x-length and the vertical length y-length.
h.

The on-screen images are, for example, 0 to 1
5 palettes. For each pallet,
RGB and transmittance are specified. Pallets 0-3
Used to draw the cursor. Pallets 4 to 9
Is used to draw the menu screen 31. The pallets 10 to 15 are used to draw the program guide screen 32.

The on-screen data generated by the CPU 6 comprises a header section 51 and a pixel data section 52 as shown in FIG. The header section 51 includes data (x-start, y-start) relating to the position of the area where the on-screen image is to be displayed and data (x-length, y-len) relating to the size of the area.
gth), RGB data and transmittance α for each of pallets 0 to 15 are described. In the pixel data section 52, data indicating a pallet number for each pixel constituting the on-screen image is described.

When such on-screen data is sent to the on-screen image generation circuit 4, the on-screen image generation circuit 4 performs processing for each pixel described in the pixel data section 52 of the transmitted on-screen data. On the basis of the pallet number and the contents of the header section 51, RGB data and transmittance α corresponding to each pixel of the on-screen image are generated and output to the synthesis circuit 5.

[2-2] Configuration of Combining Circuit 7

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the synthesis circuit 7.

The synthesizing circuit 7 performs an operation of (1-α) by a computing unit 101, a first multiplier 102 for multiplying the image data sent from the video processing circuit 3 by an output value of the computing unit 101, and an on-screen image. Second multiplier 1 for multiplying image data (RGB data) sent from generation circuit 4 by transmittance α
03 and the output of the first multiplier 102 and the second multiplier 10
3 is provided with an adder 104 for adding the three outputs.

Therefore, when the transmittance α is 1, only the image data (on-screen image data) sent from the on-screen image generating circuit 4 is output from the synthesizing circuit 7. Therefore, in this case, only the on-screen image is visible in the area where the on-screen image is displayed.

When the transmittance α is 0, only the image data (television broadcast image data) sent from the video processing circuit 3 is output from the synthesizing circuit 7. Therefore, in this case, only the television broadcast image is displayed.

When the transmittance α is about 0.5, an image which can be viewed as a television broadcast image through an on-screen image is obtained. Within the range where the transmittance α is larger than 0 and smaller than 1, as the transmittance α increases, the ratio of the on-screen image data included in the composite image of the on-screen image data and the television broadcast image data increases.

[2-3] Description of On-Screen Data Generation Method

FIG. 7 shows a procedure of on-screen data generation processing performed when an operation input for displaying an on-screen image is performed.

When an operation input for displaying an on-screen image is made, when the menu key 11 or the guide key 12 is pressed, an operation input for displaying an on-screen image of each layer of the menu screen is made. This means that there is an operation input for displaying an on-screen image of each level of the program guide screen.

Also, the storage device 9 stores an active screen determination flag F for storing which of the menu screen and the program guide screen is active. The flag F is set (F = 1) when the menu key 11 is pressed, and is reset (F = 0) when the guide key 12 is pressed.

In the storage device 9, a reference pallet table in which RGB data and transmittance data are stored for each pallet (pallets 0 to 15) is stored in advance. Then, in the initial setting at power-on,
A work pallet table having the same contents as the reference pallet table is created based on the reference pallet table.

When there is an operation input for displaying an on-screen image, it is first determined whether or not the active screen determination flag F is set (step 1).

When the active screen determination flag F is set, the menu screen is active, and is used for the menu screen in the work palette table to make the menu screen opaque. The transmittance α of the pallets 4 to 9 is set to 1 (step 2). Further, in order to make the program guide screen halftone, the transmittance α of pallets 10 to 15 used for the program guide screen in the work pallet table is set.
Is set to 0.5 (step 3). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 6.

In step 1, if the active screen determination flag F is not set, the program guide screen is active. The transmittance α of the pallets 10 to 15 used for the guidance screen is set to 1 (step 4). Also, a palette 4 used for the menu screen in the work palette table to make the menu screen halftone.
The transmittance α of the pallet 9 is set to 0.5 (step 5). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 6.

In step 6, on-screen data for the on-screen image to be displayed this time is generated. At this time, the contents of the work pallet table are used as the RGB data and the transmittance for each pallet (palette 1 to pallet 15) described in the header section 51. Therefore, the transmittance α of the on-screen data generated when the menu screen is active for the pallets 4 to 9 in the header portion is 1, and the transmittance α of the pallets 10 to 15 is 0.5.
Becomes As a result, when the menu screen is active, the on-screen image for the menu screen is opaquely displayed, and the on-screen image for the program guide screen is displayed in halftone.

On the other hand, the transmittance α of the on-screen data generated when the program guide screen is active for the palettes 4 to 9 in the header portion is 0.5.
And the transmittance α of the pallets 10 to 15 is 1. As a result, when the program guide screen is active, the on-screen image for the program guide screen is opaquely displayed, and the on-screen image for the menu screen is displayed in halftone.

[0050]

According to the present invention, a program capable of displaying both a menu screen and a program guide screen simultaneously, and capable of visually distinguishing between an active screen and a non-active screen. A guidance display control device and a television receiver are obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a user terminal.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an on-screen image displayed when a menu key 11 of an operation unit 5 is pressed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an on-screen image displayed when a guide key 12 of an operation unit 5 is pressed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a video area 21 and an on-screen image display area 22.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of on-screen data.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a synthesis circuit 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of on-screen data generation processing performed when an operation input for displaying an on-screen image is performed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a program guide screen displayed on a user terminal in DSS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Tuner 3 Video processing circuit 4 On-screen image generation circuit 5 Operation unit 6 CPU 7 Synthesis circuit 8 Display 9 Storage device 11 Menu key 12 Guide key

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Nobuhiro Hara 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] When an operation input for displaying a menu screen for performing various settings or an operation input for displaying a program guide screen is made, both the menu screen and the program guide screen are displayed. Are simultaneously displayed and only one of the screens corresponding to the operation input is made active, and the active screen and the non-active screen of the menu screen and the program guide screen are visually recognized. A program guide display control device, comprising: a second means for displaying the program guide so that the program guide can be identified. 2. The program guide display control device according to claim 1, wherein the second means displays an active screen opaquely and displays an inactive screen in halftone. A second means for separately preparing a palette for the menu screen and a palette for the program guide screen, and when the menu screen is active, the transmittance of each palette for the menu screen is not changed. Set the value corresponding to transparency and the transmittance of each pallet to the program guide screen to the value corresponding to halftone. When the program guide screen is active, set the transmittance of each pallet to the program guide screen. 3. The program guide display control device according to claim 2, further comprising means for setting a value corresponding to opacity and setting a transmittance of each palette with respect to the menu screen to a value corresponding to halftone. 4. A television receiver comprising the program guide display control device according to claim 1, 2 or 3.