JPS6260377A - Television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently search information on programs by providing a means for storing program information including data on broadcasting stations, broadcasting times and the types of programs and a circuit counting the current data, setting a flag to information on the program after termination or during broadcasting and referring to the flat so as to search the program. CONSTITUTION:When a flag control circuit 18 detects pulses for a minute out of a clock circuit 19, it takes an indicated address N corresponding to a corresponding data area in a program memory 16 for a top address (x), and reads out the stored contents. If the program is broadcasted right now, a broadcasting flat F1 is set. When the time reaches the broadcast end, the circuit 18 sets a broadcast termination flat F2 and resets the flag F1. When the current time is before the broadcast starting time, a memory indication address N is added with a positive '1', a similar action is repeated. The flags F1 and F2 are set when the program is broadcasted and when it is terminated, respectively. After the operation handling an area dated on a date concerned in the program memory 16 is finished, the circuit 18 waits until clock circuit 19 transmits the next pulses for a minute.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a television receiver having a function of displaying television program information.

[Prior art and its problems] Currently, television receivers are widely used in most households, and their viewing ratings are extremely high. However,
2. Description of the Related Art It is common for households equipped with television receivers to want to watch news and weather forecasts. There are also times when I want to watch a movie or watch baseball. If you want to watch a specific program, you can select it by looking at the TV picture in the newspaper, but sometimes you don't have the newspaper at hand, or you find it troublesome to look at the newspaper. This is especially noticeable when using portable television on the go. As a means to solve such problems, a program memory is provided and TV program information is stored in advance in this program memory, so that it is possible to search for a desired program or display a specified type of program guide on the TV screen. It is possible to do so. In this case, searching all the program information stored in the program memory in order would be time consuming.

Furthermore, there is no point in displaying the name of a program that has already finished broadcasting.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and is capable of displaying a specified type of program guide on a television screen by searching program information stored in a program memory in advance. An object of the present invention is to provide a television receiver that can efficiently search for program information.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides a program information storage means for storing television program information including broadcast station data, broadcast date and time data, program type data, etc., and a clock circuit for measuring the current date and time. Using the timing data of the clock circuit and the broadcast date and time data stored in the program information storage means, an end flag is set for the program information of the program that has finished broadcasting, and an end flag is set for the program information of the program currently being broadcast. A flag is set, and when an instruction to search for program information is given, the program information is searched while referring to the broadcast end flag and on-air flag.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This example uses the Text and Graphic Information System (Videotex)
This example shows an example in which television program information is stored in a program memory using the telesoft software, and the television program information stored in the program memory is displayed on a CRT screen in response to a predetermined key operation. First, the external configuration of the television receiver will be explained with reference to FIG. In Fig. 2, 1 is the housing of the television receiver, and this housing 1
A television receiver circuit and a receiving circuit for a character and graphic information system (Videotex) are provided, the details of which will be described later. The upper front side of the housing 1 is formed obliquely, and the keyboard 2 is provided in that portion. Also, housing 1
A CRT display section 3 is disposed on the top of the screen, and a telephone mounting section 4 is formed on the side thereof, and a telephone 5 is mounted on this telephone mounting section 4.

Next, the configurations of the television receiver circuit 10 and the receiver circuit 20 of the character and graphic information system, which are shown in detail in FIG. 1, will be explained. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 12 denotes a tuner in the television receiver circuit 10, which selects the broadcast waves of a desired channel from among the television broadcast waves induced in the antenna 11 according to instructions from the auto channel circuit 13, converts them to an intermediate frequency, and selects the broadcast waves of a desired channel from among the television broadcast waves induced in the antenna 11, and converts the broadcast waves to an intermediate frequency. Output to circuit 14. This TV circuit 14
After amplifying the television signal sent from the tuner 12, it performs processing such as video detection, synchronization separation, and audio detection, and sends the video signal to the CRT display unit 3 via the display switching circuit 15.
At the same time, an audio signal is output to a speaker (not shown). Further, the T'V circuit 14 is connected to the tuner 12.
A tuning signal is created using the signal from the auto channel circuit 13, and is output to the auto channel circuit 13. Further, 16 is a program memory for storing television program information, and this program memory 16
A search circuit 17 and a flag control circuit 18 are connected to. Further, 19 is a clock circuit which counts the date and time, and searches the current date and current time data by a search circuit 17.
and is output to the flag control circuit 18. The flag control circuit 18 performs control over rewriting of flags in the program memory 16, such as flags indicating that the program is being broadcast, that the program has ended, etc., in accordance with time data from the clock circuit 19. The above search circuit 17
searches the contents of the program memory 16 in accordance with instructions from the keyboard 2 in the receiving circuit 20 of the character and graphic information system, and outputs a channel selection signal to the auto channel circuit 13.

The program memory 16 stores, for example, 1 yen worth of program information, and the address area is divided into date units, each of which has a leading address (address X) set therein. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a part of the program memory 16 (May 12th), which includes program information such as date, channel, day of the week, start time, end time, program type, and the program being broadcast. A flag F1 indicating that the program has ended, a flag F2 indicating that the program has ended, the program name, etc. are set. These program information are read out by telesoft from the Videotex information center and written through the receiving circuit 20 of the character and graphic information system.

On the other hand, in the receiving circuit 20 of the character/graphic information system, a line control section 21 is connected to a telephone line (not shown) via a terminal section 22. The line control unit 21 also includes a telephone 5.
is connected, and the modem 23 and modem burial device 2
A videotex control device 25 is connected via 4.

Furthermore, the keyboard 2, display memory 2G, and work memory 27 are connected to the videotex control unit @25, and a printer 29 is also connected via a print memory 28. The display memory 26 is a memory for storing received video images, and the stored data is sent to the CR7 display unit 3 via the display switching circuit 15. Further, when the videotex control device 25 reads out television program information from the information center of Videotex using telesoft according to an instruction from the keyboard 2, the videotex control device 25 outputs the television program information to the television receiver circuit 10 and stores it in the program memory. 1
6 to be memorized. Furthermore, the Videotex control device 25
When the type of program is designated by the keyboard 2, the type code and search command are output to the search circuit 17.

Next, details of the search circuit 17 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 171 denotes an address generation circuit. Date data is given to this address generation circuit 171 from the clock circuit 19 in FIG. is given. The address generation circuit 111 operates according to a search command from the keyboard 2, generates address data X in accordance with date data given from the clock circuit 19, and stores it in the address register 172. The address data X set in the address register 172 specifies the start address of the date area of the program memory 16 shown in FIG. Then, information for one program according to the specified address above,
That is, "date", "channel", "day of the week", "start time", "end time", "type", "flag FIJ,
[Flag F2J, “program name” is read, buffer 17
3 is written. Among the information written in the buffer 173, "channel" information is sent to the channel voltage generation circuit 174, "type" information indicating the type of program is sent to the type code comparison circuit 175, and [flag FIJ is sent to the flag discrimination circuit 176. is input. This flag discrimination circuit 176 determines that the 7-lag F1 during broadcasting read out to the buffer 173 is "1".
° or “O”, and if it is “0”, it is sent to the address register 172 via the OR circuit 177 as “+”.
If the signal is “1”, a comparison command is output to the type code comparison circuit 175. Further, the type code comparison circuit 175 is supplied with a code indicating the type of program input from the keyboard 2 via the Videotex control device 25 via a type code register 178. The type code comparison circuit 175 includes a flag discrimination circuit 176.
Buffer 173 when given 111 II times signal from
The type code read out is compared with the type code input to the type code register 178, and if they match, a match signal is output to the channel voltage generation circuit 174, and if they do not match, the mismatch signal is sent to the OR circuit. 177 to the address register 172.

When the channel voltage generation circuit 174 receives a match signal from the type code comparison circuit 175, the buffer 17
A channel voltage is generated according to the channel information given from 3, and is output to the auto channel circuit 13 of FIG.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. Prior to the television program search operation, for example, one month's worth of television program information is read out from the Videotex information center using telesoft as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 to be memorized. That is, the user first specifies the videotex mode by operating keys on the keyboard 2, as shown in step A1 of FIG. Then, the information center of Videotex is called by the telephone 5, and as shown in step A2, the TV program information for one month, that is, the TV including broadcasting station data, broadcasting time data, and program type data, is sent by the telesoft as shown in step A2. Receive program information. In the videotex mode, the display switching circuit 15 is switched to the display memory 26 side, and the received videotex image stored in the display memory 26 is displayed on the CRT display section 3. When the videotex control device 25 receives television program information as telesoft from the information center, it stores the television program information in the program memory 16 in step A3. Thereafter, the videotex control device 25 sends a command to the search circuit 17 to execute an initial process detailed in FIG. 6 in step A4, and ends the program information reception process.

Next, details of the initial processing in step A4 will be explained with reference to FIG. The search circuit 17 first
As shown in step A11 in the figure, the designated address N of the program memory 16 is set to "1" (first address), and the contents of the designated address are read from the program memory 16 in step A2. Then, as shown in step A13, the date of the program read from the program memory 16 is compared with the current (today's) date clocked by the clock circuit 19, and if the current date is greater, that is, the broadcast date If it is before yesterday and the broadcast has already ended, the process advances to step A14, where the broadcast end flag F2 is set, and then the process advances to step A16. If the current date and the program date match, the process proceeds from step A13 to step A15, in which it is determined whether the current time measured by the clock circuit 19 has passed the end time of the program, If the current time has passed the end time of the program, the process proceeds to step A14, where the broadcast end flag F2 is set.

However, if the current time has not passed the end time of the program, the process advances from step A15 to step A16. If it is determined in step A13 that the current date is smaller than the date of the program, that is, the program has not been broadcast yet, the process directly proceeds to step A16. This step A
In step 16, it is determined whether the specified address N of the program memory 16 has reached the final address, and if it has not reached the final address, the specified address N is set to r+ in step A.
1 J L, then return to step A12. Thereafter, the same process is repeated, program information is sequentially read from the program memory 16, it is determined whether the broadcast of the program has ended, and the broadcast end flag F2 is set for the program that has ended the broadcast. Then, when the designated address N of the program memory 16 reaches the final address, that state is detected in step A16, and the initial processing is ended.

Here, the final address N may be fixed, but the initial processing may be ended when the end code is read from the program memory 16.

After storing the TV program information in the program memory 16 as described above and completing the initial processing, the keyboard 2
You can specify any type of program by key operation and have it search automatically.

When searching for a television program, the user operates the keys on the keyboard 2 to switch to the TV mode, as shown in step B1 in FIG. 7, and operates the program key.

When the TV mode is switched, the Videotex control device 25 constantly checks whether the program key is operated as shown in step B2, and if the program key is not operated, it waits for input to other keys. At the same time, a normal TV reception state is entered, and the video signal output from the TV circuit 14 is displayed on the CR7 display section 3. but,
When the program key is operated, the videotex control device 25
The program proceeds from step B2 to step B3, and a program menu is displayed on the CR7 display section 3. In other words, as shown in Figure 8, "News", "Weather Forecast", "Baseball", "Sports", "Movies", "Culture", "Drama", "Songs",
"Mango", "Quiz", "Wide" (Wide program)
, "Skit" and other program menus along with corresponding numbers in CR7.
It is displayed on the display section 3.

The user selects the CR7 display section 3 as shown in step B4.
The user specifies the corresponding number of the desired program from the program menu displayed on the keyboard 2 by operating keys on the keyboard 2. When the program designation number is input, the Videotex control device 25 outputs the designated program type code and search command to the search circuit 17 as shown in step B5, and then continues in the same state in step B6 until the search is completed. Hold. When the search operation of the search circuit 17 is completed and the designated station is selected, the Videotex control device 1i2
5 is in the state of other key manpower, and the normal T
The V receiving state is entered, and the program of the station selected by the search circuit 17 is displayed as an image on the CR7 display section 3.

Next, detailed operations of the search circuit 17 and flag control circuit 18 will be explained. In FIG. 1, an operating voltage is constantly supplied to the program memory 16, search circuit 17, flag control circuit 18, and clock circuit 19, regardless of whether the power is on or off. The clock circuit 19 constantly measures the current time and date, and supplies the current time information and the current date information to the search circuit 17 and the flag control circuit 18. The flag control circuit 18 controls the program memory 1 based on the time information from the clock circuit 19.
The flags Fl and F2 of the program information stored in the program information are controlled to be rewritten. FIG. 9 shows the flag F1,
This is a flowchart of the F2 rewriting process, and the operation will be explained below according to this flowchart.

The flag control circuit 18, as shown in step C1 in FIG. ,9 reads the date data. Then, the flag control circuit 18 generates a start address X and an end address XEND for the corresponding date area of the program memory 16 in accordance with the date data read from the clock circuit 19, as shown in step C3. Then, the flag control circuit 18 sets the designated address N for the program memory 16 to the leading address X, as shown in step C4, and reads out the stored contents of the program memory 16 in step C5. Then, in step C6, the broadcast end flag F
If the flag F2 is not set, the process proceeds to step C7, where it is determined whether the current time has passed the broadcast start time. If the current time has passed the broadcast start time, the process proceeds to step C8, where it is determined whether or not the current time has reached the broadcast end time.If the current time has not reached the broadcast end time, that is, the current If it is being broadcast, a broadcasting flag F1 is set in step C9. However, if the current time has reached the broadcast end time, the process advances from step C8 to step C10, where the broadcast end flag F2 is set and the broadcasting flag F1 is reset. Then, when the process of step C9 or step C10 is completed, or when it is determined that the broadcast end flag F2 is set (end of broadcast) in step C6, furthermore, in step C7, the current time is changed to the broadcast start time. If it is determined that the specified memory address N has not reached the end address, the process proceeds to step C11, and it is determined whether the specified memory address N has reached the end address.If the specified memory address N has not reached the end address yet, the specified memory address N is changed in step CI2. r+1J and step C
Return to 5. Thereafter, similar operations are repeated, and if the program is currently being broadcast, the on-air 7 lag F1 is set, and if the program has finished broadcasting, the broadcast end flag F2 is set. Then, when the processing for the date area of the current day in the program memory 16 is completed, the determination result in step C11 is Y.
ES, the process returns to step C1, and waits until the next one-minute pulse is sent from the clock circuit 19. Every time a one-minute pulse is output from the clock circuit 19 as described above,
Rewriting control of the broadcasting flag F1 and the broadcasting end flag F2 is performed.

As described above, the flags F1 and F2 in the program memory 16 are constantly rewritten by the flag control circuit 18, but as described above, the type of program is designated by key operation on the keyboard 2, and the step shown in FIG. When the type code and search command are output from the Videotex control device i25 to the search circuit 17 in B5, the search circuit 17
The program search process is started. That is, the type code sent from the videotex control device 25 to the search circuit 17 is set in the type code register 178, and the search command is input to the address generation circuit 171.

When this address generation circuit 171 receives the search command, it generates the start address X of the date area of the program memory 16 in accordance with the date information from the clock circuit 19, and sets it in the address register 172.

The data set in the address register 172 specifies the start address X of the date area of the program memory 16, and information for one program at the specified address is read from the program memory 16 into the buffer 173. When the program information is read into this buffer 173, first, the on-air flag F1 is sent to the flag determination circuit 176, and its contents are determined. If the program read into the buffer 173 is not being broadcast, the on-air flag F1 is “OI+”.
In this case, from the flag discrimination circuit 176 to the OR circuit 177
A “+1” signal is output through address register 1.
The contents of 72 are incremented by "+1". As a result, program memory 1
The next address after 6 is specified, and the program information stored at that address is read into the buffer 173.

Then, the content of the on-air flag F1 is determined by the flag determination circuit 176 in the same manner as in the above case. If the on-air flag F1 is "O", the same operation as above is repeated, but if the flag F1 is "1", that is, if the program is being broadcast, the type code comparison circuit 1 is sent from the search circuit 17.
A “1” signal is sent to 75. When this type code comparison circuit 175 receives a "1" signal from the flag discrimination circuit 176, it compares the type code held in the buffer 173 at that time with the type code held in the type code register 118, and determines whether there is a discrepancy. If so, that is,
If the program read into the buffer 173 is not the program specified by the keyboard 2, a mismatch signal is sent to the OR circuit 117.
is output to the address register 172 via the address register 172. As a result, the contents of the address register 172 are incremented by "+1" to designate the next address in the program memory 16, and the contents are read into the buffer 173. When new program information is set in this buffer 173, the on-air 7 lag F1 and type code are checked as described above. When the type code held in the buffer 173 and the type code held in the type code register 178 match, a match signal is sent from the type code comparison circuit 175 to the channel voltage generation circuit 174. That is, if, for example, "News" is specified as the program type using the keyboard 2, data is stored from the program memory 16 to the buffer 173.
When the "News" program currently being broadcast is read out, a match signal is output from the type code comparison circuit 175 and sent to the channel voltage generation circuit 174. When this channel voltage generation circuit 174 is given the type code match signal, it generates a voltage according to the channel code held in the buffer 113, and the auto channel circuit 174 generates a voltage corresponding to the channel code held in the buffer 113.
Output to 3. When the auto channel circuit 13 receives a channel voltage from the channel voltage generating circuit 174, it controls the reception frequency of the tuner 12 in accordance with the channel voltage, and selects a station on a designated channel. When you specify the type of program using keyboard 2 as described above, the channel that is broadcasting that program is selected and
An image is displayed on the RT display section 3. If no station is playing the specified type of program, such as News 1, the station selected at that time will continue to be received.

Furthermore, when two or more stations are playing the specified type of program at the same time, the station with the lowest order will be received.

Next, the program guide stored in the program memory 16 is displayed on the CRT display section 3.
We will explain the operation when displaying on .

The display of the program guide is specified by key operations on the keyboard 2, and the program guides to be displayed are as shown in FIG. 10: (1) All program guides to be broadcast in the future.

■ Program schedule for the specified day.

■ A list of programs that will be broadcast in the future in the specified genre (type).

■ A list of upcoming programs on the specified channel.
- ■ One day's program schedule for the specified day of the week (immediate day of the week).

■ List of programs currently being broadcast.

can be specified. When displaying the program guides from ■ to ■ above, for example, as shown in Figure 10, for ■, you must press the "program guide" key alone, and for ■, you must input the "date" and press the "program guide" key. For combination operation E1 ■, specify the program's "type" and press the "program guide" key combination operation F; for ■, specify the "channel" and select "program guide"
For key combination operations G and ■, specify "day of the week" and "
The combination operation H1■ of the ``program guide'' key is designated by the single operation I of the ``broadcasting'' key. When the program guide display designation operation is performed using the keyboard 2, the Videotex system m+ device 25 executes the processes shown in FIGS. 11 to 16.

FIG. 11 shows the processing of the videotex control device 25 in the case of displaying all the program schedules to be broadcast in the future as described in (2) above. When the key operation for the above-mentioned (2) is performed on the keyboard 2, the Videotex control device 25 first sets the specified address N of the program memory 16 to 1 (starting address) as shown in step D1, and in step D2, the designated address N of the program memory 16 is Read the contents of. Then step D
As shown in FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the current date and the date of the program match, and if they match, it is further determined in step D4 whether or not the current time has reached the end time of the program. If the broadcast of the program that has continued from the program memory 1G has not finished yet, the program information is output to the work memory 27 as shown in step D5, and then the process proceeds to step D6. In addition, if it is determined in step D3 that the dates do not match, and in step D4
If it is determined that the broadcast of the program has ended in step D6, the process also proceeds to step D6. In this step D6, program memory 1
It is determined whether the designated address N of No. 6 has reached the final address, and if it has not reached the final address, the designated address N is updated in step D7, and the process returns to step D2. Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and only program information to be broadcast in the future is selected from among the program information stored in the program memory 16 and written into the work memory 27. When it is determined in step D6 that the specified address in the program memory 16 has reached the final address, the program proceeds to step D8 and the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited in an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step D9, the edited program information is transferred from the work memory 27 to the display memory 26.
The data is written in the display memory 26 and then sent to the CRT display section 3 for display. That is, all program schedules to be broadcast in the future are displayed on the R7 display section 3.

Next, the operation when the combination operation E of the "date" input and the "program guide" key in (2) above is performed to display the program guide for that day will be explained with reference to FIG. When the key operation E for the above (■) is performed on the keyboard 2, the Videotex control device f25 first sets the designated address N of the program memory 16 to the beginning of the current date in the date area as shown in step E1 of FIG. Address X is generated and program memory 1 is generated in step E2.
Read the contents of 6. Then, after outputting the program information to the work memory 27 as shown in step E3, the process proceeds to step E4, where it is determined whether the designated address N of the program memory 16 has reached the R end address of the date area, and the final If the address has not been reached, specify address N in step E.
is updated and the process returns to step E2. Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and only the program information to be broadcast on the designated day is selected from among the program information stored in the program memory 27 and written into the work memory 27. When it is determined in step ε4 that the designated address N of the program memo 9 has reached the final address of the date area, the program proceeds to step E6 and the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited in an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step E7, the edited program information is written from the work memory 27 to the display memory 26, and further sent from the display memory 26 to the CRT display section 3 for display. That is, the program guide for the designated day is displayed on the CRT display section 3.

Next, an explanation will be given with reference to FIG. 13 of the operation when the user performs the combination operation F of the "type" of the program and the "program list j" key in (2) above to display a list of programs to be broadcast in the future in that genre. When the key operation F for the above ■ is performed on the keyboard 2, the Videotex control device 25 first sets the specified address N of the program memory 16 to 1 (starting address) as shown in step F1 of FIG. In step F2, the contents of the program memory 16 are read.Next, as shown in step F3, it is determined whether the broadcast end flag F2 is "1" or "0", that is, whether the broadcast of the program has ended. However, if the broadcast has not ended, it is further determined in step F4 whether the program type code and the specified type code match.Then, it is determined whether the program type code and the specified type code match. If so, the program information is output to the work memory 27 as shown in step F5, and then the program information is outputted to the work memory 27 as shown in step F5.
Proceed to step 6. Further, if it is determined in step F3 that the broadcast of the program has already ended, and if it is determined in step F4 that the type codes do not match, the process also proceeds to step F6. In this step F6, it is determined whether the specified address N of the program memory 16 has reached the final address. If it has not reached the final address, the specified address N is updated in step F1, and the process returns to step F2. Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and only the designated type of program information is selected from among the program information stored in the program memory 16 and written into the work memory 27. Then, when it is determined in step F6 that the designated address of the program memory 16 has reached the final address, step F6 is determined.
Proceeding to step 8, the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited into an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step F9, the edited program information is written from the work memory 21 to the display memory 26, and further from this display memory 26 to CR7.
It is sent to the display section 3 and displayed. That is, a list of programs that will be broadcast in the future in the designated genre is displayed on the CR7 display section 3.

Next, the operation when performing the combination operation G of the "channel" designation and "program list" keys in the above-mentioned (2) to display a list of programs that will be broadcast in the future on the designated channel will be explained with reference to FIG. The Videotex control device 25 uses the keyboard 2 to operate the key G for the above ■.
When this is performed, first, as shown in step G1 of FIG. 14, the specified address N of the program memory 16 is set to 1 (starting address), and the contents of the program memory 16 are read out in step G2. Next, as shown in step G3, it is determined whether the broadcast end flag F2 is "1" or "0", that is, whether the broadcast of the program has ended or not. If the broadcast has not ended, further steps are performed. In G4, it is determined whether the channel of the program and the designated channel match. If the channel of the program and the designated channel match, the program information is output to the work memory 27 as shown in step G5, and the process then proceeds to step G6. Further, if it is determined in step G3 that the broadcast of the program has already ended, and if it is determined in step G4 that the channels do not match, the process also proceeds to step G6.

In step G6, it is determined whether the specified address N of the program memory 16 has reached the final address. If it has not reached the final address, the specified address N is updated in step G7, and the process returns to step G2.

Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and from among the program information stored in the program memory 16, only program information to be broadcast in the future on the specified channel is selected and written into the work memory 27. When it is determined in step G8 that the specified address in the program memory 16 has reached the final address, the process proceeds to step G8, where the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited in an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step G9, the edited program information is written from the work memory 27 to the display memory 26, and further sent from the display memory 26 to the CR7 display section 3 for display. That is, a list of programs that will be broadcast in the future on the designated channel is displayed on the CR7 display section 3.

Next, the operation when the combination operation H of the "day of the week" input and the "program guide" keys in (2) above is performed to display the program guide for one day of the nearest specified day of the week will be described with reference to FIG. The Videotex control device 25 includes a keyboard 2
When the key operation H for above ■ is performed, first, as shown in step H1 in FIG. The program proceeds to generate a leading address X for the current day's date in the date area of the program memory 16, and then reads out the contents of the program memory 16 in step H3. Then, as shown in step H4, the program information is output to the work memory 27, and then the process proceeds to step H5, where the program memory 1
It is determined whether or not the designated address N in step H6 has reached the final address of the date area. If the designated address N has not reached the final address, the designated address N is updated in step H6, and in step H3.
Return to

Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and only program information to be broadcast on the designated day of the week, that is, on that day in this case, is selected from among the program information stored in the program memory 16 and written to the work memory 27. be included.

When it is determined in step H5 that the specified address N of the program memory 16 has reached the final address of the date area, the program proceeds to step H7, where the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited in an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step H8, the edited program information is written from the work memory 27 to the display memory 26, and further sent from the display memory 26 to the CR1 display section 3 for display.

That is, the program guide for the designated day of the week is displayed on the CR1 display section 3.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step H1 that the current day of the week and the specified day of the week are different, the process proceeds to step H9 to calculate the date of the nearest corresponding day, and step H10
Then, the leading address X' corresponding to that date is generated as the designated address N of the program memory 1G. After that,
Processing similar to steps H3 to H6 above (Step)-1
Repeat steps 11 to 1-114. Then, in step 873, the designated address is the R end address X'E.
When it is determined that ND has been reached, the process proceeds to step H7, where editing processing is performed, and then output to the display memo η26 and displayed on the CR1 display section 3, as shown in step H8.

Next, perform key operation I for "Broadcasting" in ■ above,
Regarding the operation when displaying the program guide currently being broadcast, Part 1
This will be explained with reference to Figure 6. The Videotex control device 25 is
When the key operation I for the above ■ is performed on the keyboard 2, first, as shown in step T1 in FIG.
The start address X for the current date of the date area is generated as the designated address N of the program memory 16, and step I
2, the contents of the program memory 16 are read. Next, as shown in step I3, it is determined whether the on-air flag F1 is 1" or "On, that is, whether the program is being broadcast or not. The program information is outputted to the work memory 27 as shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step I3 that the program is not being broadcast, the process immediately proceeds to step 5 without performing the process in step I4. In step 15, it is determined whether the specified address N of the program memory 16 has reached the final address. If it has not reached the final address, the specified address N is updated in step 6 and the process returns to step 2. Thereafter, similar processing operations are repeated, and from among the program information stored in the program memory 16, only the program information currently being broadcast is selected and written into the work memory 27.

When it is determined in step 5 that the specified address in the program memory 16 has reached the final address in the current day's date area, the program proceeds to step I7 and the program information stored in the work memory 27 is edited in an easy-to-read format. Thereafter, as shown in step 8, the edited program information is written from the work memory 27 to the display memory 26, and further sent from the display memory 26 to the CR1 display section 3 for display.

That is, a list of programs currently being broadcast is displayed on the CR1 display section 3.

In the above embodiment, if the program guide cannot be displayed on one screen, it may be scrolled or displayed for one day or one channel, and then moved to the next page by pressing a specific key such as the return key. do it.

Further, in the above embodiment, if the program information stored in the program memory 16 includes a large amount of performer information, it is possible to display a list of programs with specified performers.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, there is provided a program information storage means for storing television program information including broadcast station data, broadcast date and time data, program type data, etc. A clock circuit is provided to measure time, and based on the clock circuit's clock data and the broadcast date and time data stored in the program information storage means, an end flag is set for the program information of the program that has finished broadcasting, and an end flag is set for the program information of the program that is currently being broadcast. The on-air flag is set in the program information of the program, and when a program search instruction is given, the program information is searched while referring to the above-mentioned broadcast end flag and on-air flag. A specified type of program can be searched for from stored program information and displayed on the television screen, the status of the program can be easily recognized by the flag, and the program information can be efficiently searched in the program memory. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information storage in a program memory. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing details of the search circuit in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the program information receiving operation, and FIG.
The figure is a flowchart showing the details of the initial processing in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the program search operation, Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of displaying a program menu, and Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the details of the initial processing in Fig. 5. 10 is a diagram showing an example of key operations for specifying and displaying various program schedules. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing operations for displaying all program schedules to be broadcast in the future. A flowchart showing a processing operation for displaying a program guide for a specified day, Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing operation for displaying a list of programs of a specified type, and Fig. 14 shows a processing operation for displaying a program guide for a specified channel. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing operation for displaying the program guide for a designated day of the week, and FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing operation for displaying the program guide currently being broadcast. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Television receiver housing, 2... Keyboard, 3... CRT display part, 4... Telephone mounting part, 5...
・Telephone, 10... Television receiver circuit, 11...
- Antenna, 12... Tuner, 13... Auto channel circuit, 14... TV circuit, 15... Display switching circuit, 16... Program memory, 17... Search circuit, 18... Flag i control circuit, 19... clock circuit,
20...Character/graphic information system receiving circuit, 21...
Line control unit, 23...modem, 24...modem system i
l! Device, 25... Videotex control device, 26.
...Display memory. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Program information storage means for storing television program information including broadcast station data, broadcast date and time data, and program type data; a clock circuit; and timekeeping data of the clock circuit and stored in the program information storage means. a flag setting means for setting an end flag in program information of a program whose broadcast has ended and a broadcasting flag in program information of a program currently being broadcast based on the broadcast date and time data; and an instruction for instructing a program information search. and search means for searching the program information storage means while referring to the flag set by the flag setting means according to instructions from the means.