KR100201835B1 - Channel turning apparatus & method therefor television - Google Patents

Abstract

A channel selecting apparatus and method for a television are disclosed. The first and second tuners tune and output a specific frequency of the television signal in response to the first control signal, and the IF circuit detects and amplifies the intermediate frequency of the television signal from the first and second tuners, and sets the mode. The unit switches the output of the video signal and the audio signal in the television signal from the IF circuit in response to the second control signal, the audio signal output unit amplifies and outputs the audio signal from the mode setting unit, and the video signal output unit is the mode setting unit. Amplifies and outputs a video signal from the channel, and the function setting unit generates a channel tuning key signal in response to the viewer's key operation, and the controller outputs a screen of the channel tuned to the PIP mother screen in response to the channel tuning key signal. At the same time, the first and second tuners and the mode setting are performed so that the screen of the channel that is higher than the channel that has been tuned or the channel of the channel lower than the channel that is tuned is output on the PIP sub-screen. The first and second control signals for controlling the government are generated, and the storage unit inputs and outputs data for the channel stored by the viewer in response to the control of the controller. According to such a channel tuning apparatus and method, when a channel key signal of a viewer is generated, the channel is raised or lowered by one step so that the output channel of the own screen is the parent screen, and the output channel of the parent screen is one step above or below the mother channel output channel. Output the channel to the subscreen. Therefore, the viewer can easily and accurately check the contents of the channel, and channel selection is facilitated by stopping the channel in the channel desired by the viewer.

Description

Channel Tuning Device and Method of Television

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a channel tuning apparatus for a television, and a method thereof, and more particularly, when a viewer tunes a channel by operating a channel up / down key provided on a remote controller in a channel storage mode. The present invention relates to a channel tuning apparatus for television and a method of increasing the efficiency of channel searching by outputting the tuned channel and the next stored channel on one screen.

Currently, television broadcasting is entering the multi-channel era due to the increase in the number of broadcasting stations and the birth of CATV (Cable Television). As the viewing channels are diversified as described above, televisions output a plurality of channels simultaneously on one screen, and the viewers tend to provide convenience when viewing the television. For example, there is a picture-in-picture (PIP) function in which a television has two tuners, which divides one screen and outputs multiple channels simultaneously. The PIP function is a method of selecting and outputting a specific channel received by a television as a mother screen, and selecting another channel as a child screen and outputting it on one screen.

There are also two ways that viewers tune into channels on television. One method is to tune a channel by directly inputting the number of a specific channel to a television by directly operating a channel channel selection key formed on a remote controller. The other method is called channel storage mode. The channel storage mode is a method of sequentially searching all channels received from a television, and tuning a broadcast channel according to the sensitivity of the received broadcast signal to store a plurality of channels. The viewer selects the channels stored in the television only by operating the channel up / down keys installed in the remote controller.

The automatic channel storage mode is a useful function in CATV (Cable Television; hereinafter called CATV) in which a plurality of channels received from a television exist. When the automatic channel storage mode is executed, the television tunes the broadcast channel according to the received broadcast sensitivity, and the viewer edits the tuned channel again. That is, the viewer operates the channel up / down keys on the remote controller to output the selected channels one by one to the television, and then determines whether to store the channels according to the output state. In a television having the function of the automatic channel storage mode, whenever a viewer operates a channel up / down key installed on a remote controller, the stored channel is output one screen by one channel.

However, when there are a large number of channels stored on the television due to the increase in the number of television stations and the establishment of CATV stations, the viewer inputs channel up / down keys and searches all the channels stored in the television. There is a problem that it takes a long time to select one of the channels.

The present invention is to solve this problem in the case of a television equipped with a plurality of tuners and a built-in PIP function, when the viewer tunes the channel by operating the up / down keys installed on the remote control by performing the automatic channel storage mode By simultaneously outputting the tuned channel and the next stored channel on one screen by using the PIP function, the time required for channel search is reduced, thereby increasing the efficiency of channel selection in a television storing multiple channels. An object thereof is to provide a tuning device and a method thereof.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a channel tuning apparatus for a television according to the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a channel tuning method of a television according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

l 0: antenna 20: 1st tuner

25: second tuner 30: IF circuit

40: mode setting unit 50: audio signal output unit

5l: speech processing unit 52: amplification unit

53: speaker 60: video signal output unit

61: image processing unit 62: synchronization separation unit

63: sub-image processing unit 64: main / sub screen display unit

65: CRT drive circuit 66: CRT

67: OSD generator 70: control unit

80: function setting unit 90: storage unit

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a channel tuning apparatus for television includes: first and second tuners for tuning and outputting a specific frequency of a television signal transmitted from a broadcasting station in response to a first control signal from the outside; An IF circuit for detecting, amplifying and outputting an intermediate frequency of a television signal from the first and second tuners, and outputting a video signal and an audio signal from a television signal from the IF circuit in response to a second control signal from an external source A mode setting unit for switching a signal, an audio signal output unit for amplifying and outputting an audio signal from the mode setting unit, a video signal output unit for amplifying and outputting a video signal from the mode setting unit, and a key operation of a viewer A function setting section for generating a channel tuning key signal in response to the channel tuning key signal from the function setting section; The first and second tuners output the screen of the channel selected on the PIP mother screen and simultaneously output the screen of the channel higher than the channel selected or the channel lower than the channel selected on the PIP sub-screen. And a control unit for generating first and second control signals for controlling the mode setting unit, and a storage unit for inputting and outputting data for a channel stored by the viewer in response to the control of the control unit.

A channel channel tuning method for a television according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a television channel tuning method for tuning a channel by a built-in PIP function, wherein the viewer tunes a plurality of broadcast channels. Checking whether the channel is currently output among the stored channels; determining whether the viewer inputs a channel up key after the step; and if the channel up key is input, outputs a channel selected on the PIP mother screen. Outputting a channel that is higher than a channel output on the PIP mother screen among the storage channels to the PIP sub-screen, and after the step, it is determined whether the viewer inputs a channel down key. And outputting the channel which is lowered than the channel that is output on the PIP mother screen among the storage channels at the same time as the PIP sub-screen, And in said step, and a step of when a viewer inputs a channel selection key to return stage check the channel selection key input performs a channel selecting operation.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a channel selecting apparatus of a television according to the present invention.

In the channel tuning apparatus for television according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an antenna 10 for receiving a video signal and an audio signal transmitted from a broadcasting station is mounted at a predetermined position of the television, and an output terminal of the antenna 10 is provided. Two tuners, that is, a first tuner 20 and a second tuner 25, which tune to a specific frequency according to a channel selected by a viewer from among a plurality of received frequencies, are connected to the PIP (Picture-In-Picture) screen on a television. Obtains the video signal output to The output terminal of the first tuner 20 and the second tuner 25 detects an intermediate frequency band of the video signal and the audio signal tuned by the tuner 20 at the output terminal of the tuner 20 and IF circuit 30 for amplifying and outputting is connected. The output terminal of the IF circuit 30 is connected with a mode setting section 40 for selectively outputting video and audio signals from a television. An audio signal output unit 50 for amplifying and outputting an audio signal from the input signal is connected to an output terminal of the mode setting unit 40, and an output signal amplification of the input signal is output to an output terminal of the mode setting unit 40. Video signal output unit 60 to be outputted.

In addition, a viewer outputs a control signal to the first tuner 20, the second tuner 25, and the mode setting unit 40, and a viewer is connected to an input terminal of the control unit 70 that performs predetermined control on channel selection of a television. A function setting unit 80 made of a remote controller (not shown) for transmitting a signal for setting the selected function is connected. The output terminal of the control unit 70 is connected with a storage unit 90 for storing data for the channel stored by the viewer.

Here, the configuration of the voice signal output unit 50 is as follows. The output terminal of the mode setting unit 50 is connected to a voice processing unit 5l for removing a noise or the like contained in the voice signal and processing the voice. An amplifier 52 which receives a small signal of an audio signal and amplifies it into a large signal is connected to an output terminal of the audio processor 5l, and a speaker 53 that outputs an audio signal to a viewer at an output terminal of the amplifier 52. ) Is connected and configured.

In addition, the configuration of the video signal output unit 60 is as follows. An image processing unit 61 is connected to an output terminal of the mode setting unit 60 to remove an image of noise included in an image signal received by the first tuner 20 and to process the image. A synchronizing separator 62 for separating the synchronizing signal from the image signal output from the image processing unit 61 is connected to one output terminal of the image processing unit 6l. The synchronization separator 62 is connected to a sub-image processor 63 which removes noise included in an image signal received by the second tuner 25 by a switching operation of the mode setting unit 40. The image processor 6l is connected to an OSD (On Screen Display) generator 67 for generating a text signal under the control of the controller 70. The image processor 6l and the sub-image processor The output terminal of (63) is connected with a main / sub picture designation unit 64 for adjusting the output ratio of the main picture and sub picture on the television. At the output terminal of the main / sub picture display unit 64, the color signal and the luminance signal Y of Red (R), G (Green), and B (Blue) output from the image processing unit 61 and the sub image processing unit 63 CRT driving circuit 65 for driving CRT (Cathode-Ray Tude (hereinafter CRT) 66) is connected on the basis of.

The operation and effects of the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 as follows.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a channel tuning method of a television according to the present invention.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the video signal and the audio signal transmitted from the broadcasting station over the air are input through the first tuner 20 and the second tuner unit 25 through the antenna 10. The audio signal and the video signal input from the first tuner 20 and the second tuner unit 25 are applied by the IF circuit 30 to detect an intermediate frequency. The intermediate frequency of the voice signal detected by the IF circuit 30 is processed by the voice processing unit 5l in the voice signal output unit 50 through the mode setting unit 40 to remove noise, and then the amplification unit 52. Amplified by the speaker 53 and output through the speaker 53.

In addition, the video signal of the plurality of channels passing through the first tuner 20 and the second tuner 25 is set to the intermediate frequency of the video signal detected by the IF circuit 30 by the control signal of the controller 70. When inputted to the unit 40, the mode setting unit 40 applies an image signal output for the PIP mother screen to the image processor 61, and outputs an image signal output for the PIP sub-picture to the image processor 6l. The sync separator 62 detects a sync signal from the video signal applied to the video signal to the sub-image processor 63, receives one channel on one screen of the television, selects and outputs the mother screen, and receives another channel. Output to the subscreen.

The image processor 6l and the sub-image processor 63 receive R (Red) and G () output from the OSD generator 67 which receives a control signal of the controller 70 and generates a text signal. Green and B (Blue) color signals and luminance signals Y are synthesized. The image processor 61 and the sub-image processor 63 remove noises included in the image signal, and then the R / R, G (Green), and B (Blue) The color signal and the luminance signal Y are output. The main / sub picture designation unit 64 outputs an image signal to the CRT driving circuit 65 so as to generate a CRT based on a color signal of red (R), green (G), blue (B), and luminance signal (Y). By driving 55, one channel is received on one screen, the mother screen is selected and outputted, and the other channel is received and the PIP function is output to the own screen.

Here, the controller 70 performs the automatic channel storage mode on the television, tunes according to the received frequency, and stores the data of the stored channel in the storage 90.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the channel selecting method of the television according to the present invention, the controller 70 sequentially searches for all channels received from the television by performing a channel storage mode through the function setting unit 80. In operation 101, the broadcast channel is tuned according to the sensitivity of the received broadcast signal to determine whether a plurality of channels are stored in the storage unit 90 (step 101). After step 101, the control unit 70 checks the channel through which the audio signal and the video signal are output through the television (step 102). After step 102, the control unit 70 checks the channel through the function setting unit 80. The viewer inputs a channel up key of the function setting unit 80, i.e., a key for adjusting the tuning direction of the stored channel in the ascending direction, in order to determine whether to input an operation for tuning channels stored in the television by operating the up / down keys. It is judged whether or not (step 103).

If the viewer inputs the channel up key to the control unit 70 through the function setting unit 80 in step 103, the control unit 70 outputs a control signal to the first tuner 20 to display the video signal according to the channel selected by the viewer. And outputs a control signal to the mode setting unit 40, and applies the received video signal to the image processing unit 6l to output the channel selected by the viewer on the PIP mother screen (step l04). After step 104, the control unit 70 outputs a control signal to the second tuner 25, and the channel which is higher than the channel applied to the image processing unit 61 among the channels stored in the storage unit 90 and output to the PIP mother screen. Is applied to the sub-image processing unit 63 to output to the PIP sub-screen (step 105). For example, when the channel 90, channel 7, channel 9, and channel 11 are stored in the storage unit 90, When watching channel 7 and inputting the channel key through the function setting unit 80 to tune to channel 9, the video signal and the audio signal received on channel 9 are output on the PIP mother screen, and the channel ll is received on the PIP child screen. Outputs only a video signal.

If the viewer inputs the channel down key to the controller 70 through the function setting unit 80 in step 103, the controller 70 outputs a control signal to the first tuner 20 to the channel selected by the viewer. In response to the video signal, a control signal is output to the mode setting unit 40 and the received video signal is applied to the image processing unit 61 to output a channel selected by the viewer on the PIP mother screen (step 107). After the step 107, the controller 70 outputs a control signal to the second tuner 25, and the channel lowered from the channel applied to the image processor 61 among the channels stored in the storage 90 and output on the PIP mother screen. Is applied to the sub-image processing unit 63 to output to the PIP sub-screen (step 108). For example, when the channel 90, channel 7, channel 9 and channel 11 are stored in the storage unit 90, When watching channel 11 and selecting channel 9 by inputting a channel down key through the function setting unit 80, the video signal and the audio signal received on channel 9 are output to the PIP mother screen, and the channel 7 is displayed on the PIP child screen. Only the received video signal is output so that the viewer can simultaneously know the program broadcast on channel 7.

Thereafter, the controller 70 determines whether the viewer has input the channel selection key (step 109). If the viewer has input the channel selection key, the control unit 70 returns to step 103 and performs the tuning operation according to the selection key input by the viewer.

According to the channel selection apparatus and method of the television according to the present invention as described above, while the channel key signal of the viewer is generated, the channel that is output to the mother screen by raising or lowering the channel by one step to the mother screen, and to the mother screen It outputs the channel with one level higher or lower number than the output channel on the sub screen. Therefore, the viewer can search the next channel after accurately checking the channel currently output on the parent screen and the child screen, and the channel displayed on the child screen can be displayed in the next step regardless of whether the channel is rising or falling. Through the output, the viewer can easily and accurately check the contents of the channel, and it is easy to tune the channel by stopping the channel on the channel that the viewer wants to watch. It is effective to increase the efficiency of channel selection in the storing television.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and modifications and improvements are possible within the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in the art.

Claims (2)

First and second tuners 20 and 25 for selecting and outputting a specific frequency of a television signal transmitted from a broadcasting station in response to a first control signal from the outside; An IF circuit (30) for detecting, amplifying and outputting intermediate frequencies of the television signals from the first and second tuners (20, 25); A mode setting unit (40) for switching outputs of a video signal and an audio signal in a television signal from the IF circuit (30) in response to a second control signal from the outside; A voice signal output unit 50 for amplifying and outputting a voice signal from the mode setting unit 40; A video signal output section (60) for amplifying and outputting the video signal from the mode setting section (40); a function setting section (80) for generating a channel tuning key signal in response to a viewer's key operation; In response to the channel selection key signal from the function setting unit 80, the screen of the channel tuned to the PIP mother screen is output, and the screen of the channel higher than the channel selected or the channel lower than the channel selected is displayed. A controller 70 generating first and second control signals for controlling the first and second tuners 20 and 25 and the mode setting unit 40 to be output to the PIP sub-screen; And a storage unit (90) for inputting / outputting data on a channel stored by the viewer in response to the control of the control unit (70). In the television channel tuning method in which the channel is tuned by the automatic channel storage mode with the built-in PIP function, I) A viewer tunes and stores a plurality of broadcast channels and checks the currently output channel among the stored channels. 10l-102; H) After step I, it is determined whether the viewer inputs the channel up key, and when the channel up key is input, the channel is output to the PIP mother screen and the channel that is higher than the channel output to the PIP mother screen among the storage channels is PIP. Outputting to the own screen (103-105); m) After step I, it is determined whether the viewer inputs the channel down key, and when the channel down key is input, the channel is output to the PIP mother screen and the PIP channel is lower than the channel output of the PIP mother screen among the storage channels. Outputting to the own screen (066-108); And IV) after step H to m, when the viewer inputs a channel tuning key, returning to step H and performing a tuning operation.