JPH1198431A - Program information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the operating convenience of the program information display device. SOLUTION: In the case of displaying program information for each of a plurality of channels sent from a TV broadcast station, the program information for a plurality of channels is placed in the lateral direction of a display screen and the program information for a plurality of channels is placed by each broadcast time in the depth direction of the display screen and displayed in 3-dimension. In the case of video recording program information set from a plurality of video recording and reproducing devices connected via a network, the program information of a plurality of the video recording and reproducing devices is placed in the lateral direction of the display screen and the program information of the video recording and reproducing devices is placed in the order of video recording in the depth direction of the display screen and displayed in 3-dimension.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to program information transmitted from a TV (television) broadcasting station and program information recorded on an AV recorder / player such as a video tape recorder (VTR). For displaying program information on a display screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for example, in a tuner for receiving and decoding a program broadcast from a CS (communication satellite), program information transmitted separately from a broadcast program from a broadcast station is decoded and displayed on a display screen. A so-called EPG (Electric Program Guide) is known.
Similarly, in an AV recorder / player such as a VTR,
It is known that a user registers the program information at the time of recording and displays the program information at the time of reproduction or the like. As a method of displaying the program information, for example, a plurality of channel program names are arranged in a vertical direction of a two-dimensional display screen, and each broadcast program name of each channel is arranged and displayed in a horizontal direction for each broadcast time. Thus, it is common to display in a matrix.

As another display method, as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-125941, program information is displayed in a matrix at the top of the screen as described above, and a plurality of programs are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Arrange the names of AV devices,
There has been proposed a method of arranging and displaying soft keys for operating AV devices in a horizontal direction. It is not related to program information display, but for personal computers, etc.,
A multi-window screen in which a large number of small screens are shifted and superimposed and displayed is known. An example of this is, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-117890 (JP-A-5-224870).
Publication), the time or length of the meeting is displayed in the vertical direction to display the meeting information, the priority and importance of the meeting are displayed in the horizontal direction, and the number of attendees of the meeting is displayed in the depth direction. A display method has been proposed.

[0004]

However, a plurality of channel program names are arranged in the vertical direction of the display screen, and each broadcast program of each channel is arranged and displayed in the horizontal direction for each broadcast time to form a matrix. The display method has a problem that it is difficult for the user to understand details of the broadcast content. Also, since the number of programs that can be displayed is limited, when displaying programs that are not displayed on the screen, the user can scroll the screen vertically and horizontally using a pointing device such as a cursor key or joystick, or There is a problem that it is necessary to switch to a page, and thus the operability is poor.

Similarly, in the case of an AV recording / reproducing apparatus such as a VTR, a method in which a user registers program information at the time of recording and displays the program information at the time of reproduction or the like, requires information on a program recorded by a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses. Is displayed, it is necessary to perform an operation such as switching the display screen for each recording / reproducing device using a pointing device, and thus there is a problem that operability is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a program information display device which is easy to use for a user.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention expresses the broadcast time of a plurality of program information in the depth direction of the screen and displays it in three dimensions. That is, according to the present invention, a program information receiving means for receiving program information for each of a plurality of channels transmitted from a TV broadcast station, Program information display means for arranging and displaying program information of a plurality of channels, and arranging the program information of the plurality of channels for each broadcast time in a depth direction of the display screen and displaying the program information three-dimensionally. An information display device is provided.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
Program information receiving means for receiving recorded program information transmitted from each of a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses connected via a network; and Program information display means for arranging and displaying program information of a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses, and arranging the program information of the recording / reproducing apparatuses in a recording direction in a depth direction of the display screen in three-dimensional order. An information display device is provided.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an AV system constituting an embodiment of a program information display device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an AV controller in FIG. 1 in detail, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining display processing when the screen display button in FIG. 3 is pressed, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a TV program browser screen, and FIG. 6 shows a local server program browser screen. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining display processing when the cursor button and the enter button of FIG. 3 are pressed, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining “processing for the selected program” of FIG. 7 in detail. , FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of “processing for selected program” in FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a flow for explaining in detail the “sorting by program attribute” processing in FIG. Chart, as shown in FIG. 1
1 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of “rearrangement by program attribute” in FIG. 8, FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen when “program genre” is selected on the initial screen in FIG. 11, and FIG.
Is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of "rearrangement by program attribute" when shifting from the local server program browser screen,
FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen when “a program not yet watched” is selected on the initial screen of FIG.

In an AV (audio / visual) system shown in FIG. 1, for example, a tuner 2 for a home LAN (local area network) 1 and a D-VHS type VRT 3 as an AV recording / reproducing machine which is an AV local server. And a home server 4 such as an HDD (hard disk drive) or a DVD-RAM player
, An AV controller 5 and a display device 6 are connected, and a video signal V, an audio signal A, program information, and control information are transmitted as digital signals over the LAN 1. Tuner 2
Receives, for example, a digital broadcast signal broadcast from the CS via the parabolic antenna 7 and outputs the digital broadcast signal to the LAN 1. This broadcast signal depends on the broadcast station, but includes program name, broadcast time, genre, performer, producer, sponsor, synopsis, etc. as program information in addition to the video signal and audio signal of a plurality of channels. .

The home server 4 is capable of recording and reproducing digital video signals and audio signals, and is also capable of registering a program name and a recording time at the time of recording, and outputting the program at the time of reproduction. The display device 6 is provided with an Ir light receiving unit 6a for receiving infrared (Ir) infrared light from the remote controller 8, and a signal photoelectrically converted by the Ir light receiving unit 6a is transmitted to the AV controller 5 via the LAN 1 in detail in FIG. Sent. The display device 6 D / A-converts the video signal V and the audio signal A input via the LAN 1 and outputs them.

As shown in FIG. 2, the AV controller 5 is connected to the LAN 1 via an interface (I / F) 9. The decoder 11 receives signals from the tuner 2 and the home server 4 from the LAN 1 under the control of the CPU 12, and decodes video signals, audio signals, and program information. The CPU 12 stores the program information decoded by the decoder 11 in the memory 13 and controls an OSD (On Screen Display) control unit 14 to display the program information.
Generates a video signal to display a “TV program browser screen”, a “local server program browser screen”, and the like, which will be described later. The video signal of this program information and the video signal decoded by the decoder 11 are
And sent to the display device 6 via the LAN 1.

Further, the AV device control / transmission / reception unit 16 has a CP
Based on the control of U12, various control signals are transmitted and received between the tuner 2, the VTR 3, and the home server 4 via the LAN 1. The operation panel 17 displays the current state of the receiving channel and the like of the system under the control of the CPU 12.

As shown in detail in FIG.
Ir transmitter 21, "screen display" button 22, "decision" button 23, "←", "→", "↑", and "↓"
Are provided with a cursor operation section 24 including various cursor buttons and various function buttons 25. The function button 25 is similar to a remote control of a general TV receiver, such as a “power” button, a “display direct switching” button, a “volume up / down” button, and a “TV channel up / down” button. Has a button.

FIG. 4 shows the processing when the "screen display" button 22 is pressed. Each time the "screen display" button 22 is pressed, a "TV program browser screen" as shown in FIG.
And a "local server program browser screen" as shown in FIG. 6 and a normal program playback screen (browser screen non-display state)
One of the three screens is selectively displayed by toggle. That is, when the "screen display" button 22 is pressed (step S1), first, the current display state is checked (step S2).

If the current display state is a normal program reproduction screen, a process for displaying a "TV program browser screen" as shown in FIG. 5 and a process for the TV program browser screen are executed (step). S3, S4). Also,
When the current display state is the “TV program browser screen”, the “local server program browser screen” as shown in FIG.
(Steps S5 and S6) to display a normal program playback screen when the current display state is the "local server program browser screen". (Step S7). If a button other than the "screen display" button 22 is pressed in step S1, a process corresponding to that button is executed (step S1).
8).

In the "TV program browser screen", for example, FIG.
CH121, CH122 and CH123 as shown in
Are displayed in a horizontal direction, and the broadcast time of the program information of each channel is expressed by the depth direction of the screen. CH121, CH
A small screen that gradually becomes smaller is displayed as if it were behind 122 and CH123. This rear small screen is displayed at the position of the start time based on the broadcast time information of each program, and the display position is indicated by the time direction marker 35.

The left side of the small screen 30 of CH121 and C
A left scroll button 31 and a right scroll button 32 are displayed on the right side of the small screen 30 of H123, respectively, and a program information display section 33 is displayed below CH121, CH122 and CH123. FIG. 5 also shows, by way of example, a state in which the program started at 18:00 of the center CH 122 is selected by the cursor operation unit 24 in FIG. 3, and the cursor 34 is displayed on the screen frame of the program started at 18:00 of CH 122. Is displayed. At this time, a broadcast date and time, a channel number, a title, and the like of the program on which the cursor 34 is displayed are displayed in a summary in the program information display column 33.

In the "local server program browser screen", as shown in FIG.
Small screens 30 of “D-VHS” and “DVD-RAM” are displayed arranged in a horizontal direction, and each small screen 30 is displayed in order to express the recording order of the program of each local server in the depth direction of the screen. Is displayed on the top as if it were behind it. The rear small screen is displayed at the position of the recording time based on the information of the recording time for each program, and the display position is indicated by the time direction marker 35.

A left scroll button 31 and a right scroll button 3 are provided on the left side of the "DVD" small screen 30 and the right side of the "DVD-RAM" small screen 30, respectively.
2 is displayed. Further, below the small screen 30 of “DVD”, “D-VHS” and “DVD-RAM”, a program information display column 33 is displayed, and in this column 33, the genre of the program on which the cursor 34 is displayed, In addition to the program name, the location of the recorded local server, the recording date and time, whether the content was played back in the past, halfway played, erasable / non-erasable, and the like are displayed.

FIG. 7 shows an “enter” button 23 and “←”,
The processing when the cursor buttons 24 of “→”, “↑”, and “↓” are pressed is shown. First, when the cursor button 24 is pressed, a process of moving the currently displayed selection target in the direction instructed by the cursor button 24 is executed (steps S11 → S12 → S
11). When the “enter” button 23 is pressed, it is determined whether the current position of the cursor is the small screen 30 or the scroll buttons 31 and 32 (step S13 → S1).
4).

Then, in the case of the small screen 30, "processing for the selected program" shown in detail in FIG. 8 is executed (step S15), and then this button processing ends. In the case of the scroll buttons 31 and 32, the small screen 30 is scrolled left and right according to the direction (step S16), and then the process returns to step S11. If any button other than the "Enter" button 23 and the cursor button 24 is pressed, the process corresponding to that button is executed (step S17), and the button process is terminated.

For example, when the "TV program browser screen" shown in FIG.
When the button is pressed twice, the cursor 34 moves to the position of the small screen 30 of the CH 123 on the right side, and the program information display section 3
3 is switched to the program information of CH123. When the cursor key “→” is further pressed, the next screen, for example, CH
122, CH123 and CH124 (or CH124,
The small screen 30 (which may be the next page of CH125 and CH126) is displayed, the cursor 34 moves to the position of CH124, and the program information display section 33 switches to the program information of CH124.

Similarly, when the left cursor button "←" is pressed once in the state shown in FIG.
The cursor 34 is moved to the position of the small screen 21, and the program information display column 33 is switched to the program information of CH 121. When the cursor key “→” is further pressed, the screen of the previous page is displayed.

In the state shown in FIG. 5, when the up cursor key "@" is pressed once, the currently broadcasted CH1 is pressed.
The display is switched to a small screen relating to the program next to the program 22, and information relating to the switched program is displayed in the program information display column 33. As described above, every time the cursor key "@" is pressed once on the information, information on the next program is displayed. In addition, every time the down cursor key “↓” is pressed once, information on a previous program (not broadcasted) is displayed.

When the enter button 23 is pressed, the current position of the cursor is displayed on the scroll buttons 31 and 32.
In the case of, the small screen 30 is scrolled left and right, and when the current position of the cursor is the small screen 30 currently being broadcast, the reception and display of the program is started. Here, when the current position of the cursor is the program following the program currently being broadcast, the program shifts to the “program reservation mode”, and when the broadcast start time of the program comes, the program is displayed or the program shifts to the recording state.

When the determination button 23 is pressed while the “local server program browser screen” shown in FIG. 6 is displayed, the small screen 30 is similarly displayed when the current position of the cursor is the scroll buttons 31 and 32. Is scrolled right and left, and when the current position of the cursor is on the small screen 30, the reproduction display of the local server is started.

Next, the "processing for the selected program" in step S15 shown in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. In this process, first, as shown in FIG. 9, four small screens of "reproduction of selected program", "display of detailed information of selected program", "rearrangement by program attribute", and "reservation of recording of selected program" (S22), (S23),
(S24) and (S25) are displayed, and the cursor button 24 is displayed.
And one of the buttons is selected by the determination button 23 (step S21), the respective processes are executed (step S21).
22-S25).

In the processing of "display detailed information of selected program", "program genre", "performer", "producer", "sponsor" transmitted from a broadcast station, not the summary of program information display section 33 ”,“ Synopsis ”and other detailed information about the program. In the process of “recording reservation for selected program”, a server that can record broadcast programs automatically and remotely can be set in advance, and when the recording reservation button is pressed, the recording target channel, recording date and time, etc. are stored in the server. Registered and automatically recorded at broadcast time. Also, a plurality of server devices capable of recording can be set by assigning priorities. If recording cannot be performed at that time because a device that can record has already been reserved, an error message is displayed when a recording reservation is set.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a process of "rearrangement by program attribute" and a display screen, respectively. In this process, first, as shown in FIG. 11, small screens (S32) such as "program genre", "performer", and "sponsor", (S32)
33), (S34), and (S35) are displayed, and when one of them is selected by the cursor button 24 and the enter button 23 (step S31), the respective processes are executed (steps S32 to S35).

FIG. 12 shows a display screen when the "program genre" is selected. The genres include, for example, "news" and "variety" so as to correspond to the display contents of the "TV program browser screen" shown in FIG. , "Movie" small screen 3
0 are displayed in a horizontal direction, and gradually represent “news”, “variety”, and “movie” on the small screen 30 in order to express the depth direction. Is displayed on the screen. Similarly, the rear small screen is displayed at the position of the start time based on the information of the broadcast time for each program, and the display position is indicated by the time direction marker 35.

A left scroll button 31 and a right scroll button 32 are displayed on the left side of the "news" small screen 30 and the right side of the "movie" small screen 30, respectively. A program information display section 33 is displayed below "" and "movie". In this section 33, the program information of the program currently selected by the cursor 34 is displayed. In addition, the genres not currently appearing on the screen can be displayed by the scroll buttons 31 and 32.

FIG. 13 shows a display screen of "rearrangement by program attribute" in the case of shifting from the "local server program browser screen" shown in FIG. In this process, small screens of "program genre", "program not yet watched", and "program being watched" of the local server are displayed.

FIG. 14 shows the display screen shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 shows a display screen in which “program not yet watched” is selected and switched by the cursor button 24 and the enter button 23, and “played-back” is displayed so as to correspond to the display content of the “local server program browser screen” shown in FIG. Are registered and displayed in the horizontal and depth directions, and similarly, a left scroll button 31, a right scroll button 32, and a program information display section 33 are displayed. . In addition, cursor button 2
When the scroll buttons 31 and 32 are selected by 4 and the enter button 23 is pressed, media not currently appearing on the screen are displayed.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, the broadcast time of a plurality of pieces of program information is expressed in the depth direction of the screen and displayed in three dimensions. When displaying the program information of each channel, the usability can be improved. Further, according to the present invention, the recording order of a plurality of programs recorded in the recording / reproducing apparatus is expressed in the depth direction of the screen and is displayed in three dimensions, so that a plurality of programs connected via a network are displayed. When displaying the recorded program information transmitted from each of the recording / reproducing apparatuses, the usability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an AV system constituting an embodiment of a program information display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the AV controller of FIG. 1 in detail.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a remote controller of FIG. 1 in detail;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a display process when the screen display button in FIG. 3 is pressed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a TV program browser screen.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a local server program browser screen.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a display process when the cursor button and the enter button in FIG. 3 are pressed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining in detail “processing for a selected program” in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of “processing for selected program” in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining in detail a “rearrangement by program attribute” process in FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of “rearrangement by program attribute” in FIG. 8;

FIG. 12 shows a “program genre” on the initial screen of FIG.
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen when is selected.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an initial screen of “rearrangement by program attribute” when a transition is made from the local server program browser screen.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen when “a program not yet watched” is selected on the initial screen of FIG. 13;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 LAN 2 Tuner 3 D-VHS-VTR 4 Home server (HDD / DVD-RAM) 5 AV controller 6 Display device 8 Remote controller 11 Decoder (program information receiving means) 12 CPU 13 Memory 14 OSD (On-screen display control unit)
(Constructs program information display means together with the CPU 12.) 15 Display synthesis section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A program information receiving means for receiving program information for each of a plurality of channels transmitted from a TV broadcast station, and a plurality of program information in a horizontal direction of a display screen based on the program information received by the program information receiving means. Program information display means for arranging and displaying the program information of the channels and arranging the program information of the plurality of channels for each broadcast time in the depth direction of the display screen and displaying the program information three-dimensionally. apparatus. 2. A program transmitted from a broadcasting station is selected by selecting one of program information of the plurality of channels displayed in a three-dimensional manner in a horizontal direction and a depth direction of the display screen with a cursor. 2. The program information display device according to claim 1, wherein the program information can be received by making a reservation. 3. Program information receiving means for receiving recorded program information transmitted from a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses connected via a network, and displaying based on the program information received by the program information receiving means. A program information display means for arranging and displaying program information of a plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses in a horizontal direction of a screen and displaying the program information of the recording / reproducing apparatuses in a recording direction in a depth direction of the display screen in a three-dimensional manner. A program information display device comprising: 4. The program information display device according to claim 1, wherein the program information display means displays the program information by arranging each of the program attributes by switching the display screen.