JPH11187328A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a means for simply selecting and receiving the broadcast program of interested digital broadcasting. SOLUTION: Broadcast is received by a tuner 1, etc., from a radio wave signal S1 and is displayed, etc., on a video/voice monitor 9 for viewing. A viewer designates a concerning key word by inputting from a keyboard 12 and it is fetched into MPU 10 by the procedure of a key word input processing part 14a to be stored in a storing part 11. MPU 10 fetches EPG data from a demultiplexer 4 by the procedure of a program retrieval processing part 14b, retrieves a word/phrase coinciding the key word stored in the storing part 11 from the contents of EPG(electronic programming guide) data and at the time of retrieving the coinciding word/phrase, stores the start time and the finishing time of the program in the part 11. MPU 10 refers to a clock 15 by the procedure of a program receiving processing part 14c and, when it is the time to start the program stored in the part 11, controls a demultiplexer to select the broadcasting program and to start receiving.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiver capable of efficiently selecting and receiving a program of interest from a multi-channel broadcast such as a digital CS broadcast.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, digital broadcasting such as CS broadcasting has been started. In these digital broadcasts, the number of channels becomes enormous, and it is necessary to select a broadcast program of interest from many channels. Therefore, an EPG (Electronic Program) that includes a program name, a program content, a program start time, a program end time, and other program information in the broadcast program.
ming Guide) data is broadcast as additional information.
Conventionally, the contents of this EPG are displayed on a display screen, and a program is selected and received from the display screen. Also, when recording on a video recording device such as a VTR, a start time and an end time are set for each broadcast program. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation for selecting a desired program to receive, record, or the like becomes complicated.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide means for easily selecting and receiving a digital broadcast program of interest.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Digital CS (Community
ication Satellite) A digital broadcast receiver for receiving a broadcast program in which EPG data including the program name, program content, program start time, program end time and other program information such as broadcast is transmitted as additional information. Means for inputting and specifying a keyword specified by a viewer, storage means for storing the keyword, and program search means for searching for a broadcast program containing the keyword from the contents of the EPG data. In addition, a program is searched for and received by a keyword specified by a viewer.

[0005] A control means for controlling the functions of the VTR and other video recording devices is provided, and the searched broadcast program is automatically recorded.

[0006] The control means of the video recording device is an infrared transmitter which includes an infrared transmitter and a drive unit thereof and transmits a control signal by an infrared remote controller of the video recording device.

[0007] The drive section is provided with a code conversion section for converting a control code of the video recording apparatus, so that video recording apparatuses having different control codes can be used.

The keyword input means is provided with a mouse or other cursor moving means for moving and indicating a cursor displayed on a display screen displaying the broadcast program, and is constituted by a virtual keyboard displayed on the display screen.

[0009] On the display screen, a phrase serving as the content of the predetermined EPG data is displayed, and the keyword is selected and input from the same phrase.

The input means has a function of inputting a priority of a keyword, a function of storing the input priority in the storage means, and a function of searching for the broadcast program in accordance with the stored priority. Broadcast programs with higher ranks are preferentially received.

The storage input means is provided with a function of inputting a plurality of keywords and a function of retrieving the broadcast program with all of the keywords or designating a different one of the keywords, and includes all the keywords designated as all. When any one of the keywords matches, the broadcast program of the EPG is received.

The input means has a function of designating a cycle such as daily or weekly, a program start time in the EPG data,
Broadcast time calculating means for calculating a start time and an end time of the broadcast program in each cycle from the program end time and the designated cycle is provided, and the broadcast program is received in each cycle.

The calculating means includes a newly received EPG.
A function of updating and changing the broadcast time of the same program by data is provided, and a broadcast program is received based on the updated program start time and program end time.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention. A target digital broadcast is selected by the tuner 1 from the radio signal S1 from the satellite received by the CS antenna and converted into the intermediate frequency, and the transmission path signal modulated by QPSK (four-layer phase shift keying) is selected. Take out. The signal is demodulated into a bit stream signal by the demodulator 2 and FEC (Forward Error Correc)
), that is, error detection and correction are performed, and transmitted to the descrambler 3. The signal encrypted by the descrambler 3 by scrambling is returned to the original signal, and the broadcast program or the broadcast program consisting of the video signal and the audio signal, the program name, the program content, the program start time, the program end time, etc. E
A packet signal carrying data such as PG is taken out, and the demultiplexer 3 separates each signal. The broadcast program data therein is converted into a baseband video signal and a digital audio signal by the video / audio decoder 5, and the NTSC encoder 7 and the digital / analog converter 8 perform the NTS
It is displayed on a video / audio monitor 9 composed of a PDP or the like as a C video signal or the like for viewing.

When a viewer selects a broadcast program of interest from a keyword, the user first inputs and specifies a keyword of interest from the keyboard 12. The input signal from the keyboard 12 is sent to the keyword input processing unit 1
It is taken into the MPU 10 by the procedure of 4a and stored in the storage unit 11. When the keyword is set, the MPU 10 executes the procedure from the demultiplexer 4 to the program search processing unit 14b.
The PG data is fetched, and a phrase matching the keyword stored in the storage unit 11 is searched from the contents of the EPG data.
When a phrase that matches the keyword set in the content of the EPG data is searched, the start time and the end time of the program are stored in the storage unit 11. When the program stored in the storage unit 11 is started by referring to the clock 15 in the procedure of the program reception processing unit 14c, the MPU 10 controls the demultiplexer to select the broadcast program and start reception.

When the automatic recording is set from the keyboard 12, the broadcast of the program searched by the keyword as described above is received, and the MPU 10 transmits the program to the infrared transmitter 13 by the procedure of the automatic recording processing unit 14d.
The control signal of the VTR 20 is sent to the VTR 20 to control the VTR 20 so that the program start time to the end time
Automatically record the specified broadcast program. Automatic recording processing unit 14d
A conversion function for converting and outputting control codes such as recording start and end for each company's VTR using a LUT (Look Up Table) or the like is provided. The designated control code is transmitted so that a different VTR or the like can be used.

Although the keyboard 12 can be separately installed, the MPU is operated by the procedure of the virtual keyboard processing unit 14e.
By controlling the on-screen display unit 6 by 10 to display a virtual keyboard on the display screen of the video / audio monitor 9 for displaying a broadcast program, and by moving the cursor with an externally provided key or mouse to designate the A keyword or the like can be input and set.

According to the above-described procedure of the keyword input processing section 14a, when a keyword is input and designated, a video /
It is also possible to display words and phrases which are the contents of the predetermined EPG data on the display screen of the sound monitor 9 and designate a cursor from the words and select and input a keyword. In addition, when a keyword is input, a plurality of keywords are input, and priorities between the keywords are also input and specified, and are stored in the storage unit 11, and broadcast according to the stored priority according to the above procedure. It is also possible to search for a program and preferentially receive a broadcast program with the same priority. Further, a search or AND function with all input keywords and a search or OR function with any of the input keywords
Provide a function, search by multiple keywords AND, OR
And a search by a combination thereof can be performed, and a program can be searched by a flexible keyword.

When periodic reception or recording such as daily or weekly is designated by input from the keyboard 12 or the like, the start time and end time of the designated broadcast program are found from the EPG as described above, and the periodic reception is performed. Processing unit 14f
According to the procedure described above, 24 hours are added to each hour every day, and 7 days are added every week, so that reception and recording are performed at each time. When periodic processing is designated, EPG data is monitored and newly received EPG data is monitored.
It is also possible to provide a function of updating and changing the broadcast time of the same program based on the data, and to receive the broadcast program based on the updated program start time and program end time.

[0020]

According to the present invention, there is provided a digital broadcast receiver for receiving a broadcast program in which EPG data containing program information such as a digital CS broadcast program name, program contents, program start time, program end time and other program information is transmitted as additional information. A keyword input means for inputting and specifying a keyword specified by a viewer with respect to the broadcast program, a storage means for storing the keyword, and a program for searching for a broadcast program including the keyword from the contents of the EPG data Equipped with search means,
By searching for and receiving a program using a keyword specified by a viewer, it is possible to easily select and receive a digital broadcast program of interest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main block diagram of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 tuner 2 demodulator 3 descrambler 4 demultiplexer 5 video / audio decoder 6 on-screen display unit 7 NTSC decoder 8 digital / analog converter 9 video / audio monitor 10 MPU 11 storage unit 12 keyboard 13 infrared transmitter 14a keyword input processing Unit 14b program search processing unit 14c program reception processing unit 14d automatic recording processing unit 14e virtual keyboard processing unit 14f periodic reception processing unit S1 radio signal

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. Digital CS (Communication Satellite)
ite) EPG (Electr) containing the program name of the broadcast, the program contents, the program start time, the program end time and other program information.
onic Programming Guide) In a digital broadcast receiver for receiving a broadcast program in which data is transmitted as additional information, a keyword input means for inputting and specifying a keyword specified by a viewer with respect to the broadcast program, and storing the keyword A storage means, a program search means for searching for a broadcast program including the same keyword from the contents of the EPG data, and a clock for measuring real time, wherein the program is searched and received by a keyword specified by a viewer. A digital broadcast receiver characterized by: 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling the functions of a VTR and other video recording devices, wherein the searched broadcast program is automatically recorded. 3. The video recording device according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes an infrared transmitter and a driving unit thereof, and performs the control using an infrared transmitter that transmits a control signal by an infrared remote controller of the video storage device. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 2. 4. The digital drive according to claim 3, wherein the drive section is provided with a code conversion section for converting a control code of the video recording apparatus, so that video recording apparatuses having different control codes can be used. Broadcast receiver. 5. The keyword input means includes a mouse or other cursor moving means for moving and indicating a cursor displayed on a display screen for displaying the broadcast program, and comprises a virtual keyboard displayed on the display screen. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein 6. The display screen, wherein the predetermined EPG
6. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 5, wherein a phrase serving as data content is displayed, and the keyword is selected and input from the phrase. 7. The input means has a function of inputting a priority of a keyword, a function of storing the input priority in the storage, and a function of searching for the broadcast program according to the stored priority. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein a broadcast program having the same priority is preferentially received. 8. The input means is provided with a function of inputting a plurality of keywords and a function of retrieving the broadcast program with all of the keywords or designating a search with one of the keywords. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast program of the EPG is received when any of the included keywords matches any of the specified keywords. 9. The input means has a function of designating a cycle such as daily or weekly, and a program start time and a program end time in the EPG data and the designated cycle, the broadcast program of the same cycle being specified. 2. The digital broadcast receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a broadcast time calculating means for calculating a start time and an end time, wherein the broadcast program is received at the same period. 10. The calculation means according to claim 1, wherein said newly received E
10. The digital broadcast reception according to claim 9, wherein a function of updating and changing the broadcast time of the same program by PG data is provided, and the broadcast program is received based on the updated program start time and program end time. Machine.