KR100313344B1 - Apparatus and method of checking additional service message of rental optical disc player - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a DVD playback apparatus for renting a device, which allows a user to check information on a main playback configuration screen of information stored in a memory which is transmitted from an external server through a communication network at the request of a user, and which is not checked by the user. An additional service message checking apparatus and a checking method according to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for temporarily checking a message for an additional service input from an external server through a communication channel such as a modem is temporarily divided according to its type. Storing; Checking whether a user requests a display of a main playback configuration screen; When the user requests to display the main playback configuration screen, transmitting a command to the control means in the external device to confirm the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the messages stored separately in the memory from the control means in the playback device. ; Confirming a message in a memory in response to the command, and transmitting information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the user from a control means in the external device to a control means in the playback apparatus; And displaying a main playback environment setting screen including information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the user, by allowing the user to check the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user on the main playback environment setting screen. This is a very useful invention that enhances user convenience.

Description

Additional Service Message Confirmation Device and Confirmation Method of Rental Optical Disc Player

The present invention relates to an additional service message confirmation device and confirmation method of a rental optical disc reproducing apparatus for checking a message received from an external server that permits reproduction of a rental optical disc through a communication line. Additional service message confirmation device and confirmation of a rental optical disc playback device for providing a playback configuration screen including information on the presence or absence of a new message or a message not confirmed by a user on a screen of an external device. It is about a method.

Digital Video Express DVD (hereinafter referred to as "Rental DVD") to solve the problem that the DVD, which is gaining popularity as a new information recording medium, is not widely distributed due to the expensive title value despite providing various options for users. While the playback device is being commercialized, this allows a user to purchase and own a rental-only DVD title with a limited playable time at a low price, but can freely watch it without paying a fee within the playable period. When the playable period has elapsed, the system for controlling the playback of the rental-only title is controlled by a system for remotely controlling subsequent playback.

That is, the rental DVD player as described above manages an information storage medium to which each unique number is assigned together with a title such as a movie, a playback device for reproducing the information storage medium, and permission to play the information storage medium. A remote rental system including an external device that performs a predetermined signal processing of data reproduced from the information storage medium after communication and playback permission with an external server. Through the communication channel with the external server can be managed remotely.

In a system having a communication channel capable of transmitting and receiving data between an external server and an information storage medium reproducing apparatus as described above, various additional services are supported in addition to the inherent charge management through the communication channel with an external server. This may be possible, for example, the provision of a commercial information message for the advertisement of the new rental-only information storage medium or the provision of user information messages, such as billing details of the user is being promoted commercially.

However, the rental DVD player as described above is a device for reproducing data stored in the information storage medium after communication and playback permission with a reproduction device for reproducing the information storage medium and an external server that manages the reproduction permission of the information storage medium. Since the external devices that perform the predetermined signal processing are controlled by separate control means, and each playback environment can be set separately, how and in what form the above additional services are supported from the user's convenience point of view. It is very important to see.

The rental DVD player currently under commercialization includes some items for setting the playback environment of the external device on the environment setting screen for determining a playback environment of a general DVD player, for example, the above-described additional service item. The main screen, and the playback environment setting screen of the external device is supported as a sub setting screen of the main setting screen. Considering that various options of the rental DVD player can be selected on the main setting screen, It can be said that it is a preferable design.

In other words, the rental DVD player currently under commercialization has various options that can be set when the general DVD player is played on the main playback environment screen, and an option for specifying the display of the playback environment screen of an external device. It is configured to include options that can be specified.

However, such additional service may be useful depending on whether the additional service data provided from the external server is new to the user or whether there is a message that the user does not acknowledge, and goes through a process of confirming the existence of the message. This may cause inconvenience to the user, such as consuming unnecessary time.

That is, when there is no new additional service data or an unconfirmed message from an external server, it is necessary to prevent the user from unnecessarily moving to the sub-setting screen for external device configuration for message confirmation.

Therefore, the present invention was created to solve the above problems, when the user's request to display the main playback configuration screen of the rental DVD player is input, transmitted from the external server through the communication network to the memory in the external device The sub-environment for setting the playback environment of the external device is displayed by displaying information on the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user adjacent to the additional service designation option item displayed on the main playback environment setting screen. It is an object of the present invention to provide an additional service message confirmation device and a confirmation method of a rental DVD player for checking the information on the main playback environment setting screen even if the screen is not moved to the setting screen.

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an apparatus for renting an optical disc for which a supplementary service message checking apparatus according to the present invention is implemented.

2 is a flow chart showing the flow of a preferred embodiment of a method for confirming an additional service message of a rental optical disc player according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a state transition diagram of the rental optical disc player of FIG.

FIG. 4 exemplarily shows a DVD setup menu provided in the rental optical disc player of FIG.

5A and 5B illustrate CRR (Check Record Request, Check Record Response) data formats, respectively.

FIG. 6 exemplarily shows a DIVX setup menu provided in the rental optical disc player of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 illustrates a control command data format exchanged between both controllers of FIG. 1 according to a user's specific key input.

8A and 8B show an example of a mailbox and a special menu screen provided in the rental optical disc player of FIG.

※ Explanation of code for main part of drawing

1: optical disc

10: modem 20: flash memory

30: Code ROM 40: RAM

50: device control unit 60: DIVX decoder

70: bus controller 80: disk code processor

100: DIVX hardware subsystem 110: remote control signal decoding unit

120: playback control section 121: OSD section

130: servo / driver 140: signal processor

150: data separator 160: MPEG decoder

170: D / A Converter

200: optical disc playback apparatus implementing the additional service message confirmation device according to the present invention

300: external server

The additional service message checking apparatus of the rental DVD player according to the present invention for achieving the above object, to temporarily store the message for the additional service input from the external server via a communication channel such as a modem according to the type Memory for; Control means in the playback apparatus for transmitting a command to confirm the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the messages stored separately in the memory when the user requests a display of the main playback configuration screen; Control means in the external device that checks a message in a memory in response to the command from the control means in the playback device and transmits presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the user; It is characterized in that it comprises a display means for displaying the main playback environment setting screen including the presence or absence information of the message not confirmed by the user confirmed by the operation.

In addition, the method of confirming the additional service message of the rental DVD player according to the present invention comprises: a first step of temporarily storing and storing a message for an additional service input from an external server through a communication channel such as a modem according to its type; A second step of checking whether a user requests a display of a main playback configuration screen; When the user requests to display the main playback environment setting screen, a command for transmitting a command to the control means in the external device to confirm the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the messages stored in the memory from the control means in the playback device. Step 3; A fourth step of checking a message in a memory in response to the command and transmitting information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by a user from a control means in the external device to a control means in the playback device; And a fifth step of displaying a main playback environment setting screen including information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the transmitted user.

In the additional service message confirmation device and confirmation method of the rental DVD player according to the present invention constructed and configured as described above, a message for an additional service input from an external server through a communication channel such as a modem is temporarily changed according to its type. Control means in the external device to sort and store, and to confirm the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the messages stored in the memory from the control means in the playback device when requesting the display of the user's main playback configuration screen; And display information on the main playback configuration screen, which is not confirmed by the user, and transmits the message according to the displayed information. Means for displaying the selected contents in the playback apparatus. Performing a switching operation so that a subsequent key input processing operation is performed by the control means in the external device while transmitting to the means, thereby requesting confirmation of the content of a specific message on the menu screen reconstructed by the control means in the external device. The control means in the external device controls the corresponding message among the stored messages to be output as MPEG image data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an apparatus for confirming an additional service message and a method of confirming a rental DVD player according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of a playback device in which an additional service message confirmation device of a rental DVD playback device according to the present invention is implemented, connected to an external server 300 that permits playback of a rental DVD through a communication line, Modem 10 for transmitting and receiving data with the external server 300, Flash memory for storing and storing the message for the additional service received from the external server 300 through the modem 10 according to the type Memory 20, a Code ROM 30 in which a program is stored, a RAM 40 for temporarily storing data reproduced from the rental DVD 1, the rental DVD ( 1) Decryption (Decryption) Decoded (Decryption) Processor (Security Processor) 60, Bus Controller (70) to determine the bus occupancy and route according to the destination of the data, DVD for rental Each disc uniquely assigned Disk code processor 80, and rental DVD hardware subsystem 100 consisting of a rental DVD recording to the playback control section 50 for controlling the respective components for data reproduction to detect the unique number; A remote control signal decoding unit 110 for receiving and decoding a remote control signal input from the outside; An apparatus control unit 120 performing a control function for performing an operation according to the decrypted command; An OSD unit 121 for converting input menu data into an OSD text image signal; A servo / drive unit 130 for rotating the inserted rental DVD 1 at a predetermined speed so as to servo drive the optical pickup (not shown) to detect a recording signal along the track; A signal processing unit 140 for signal-processing the reproduction signal on the rental DVD 1 and restoring data; A data separator Parser 150 for separating and outputting the input data according to the format of the video compressed data by type; An MPEG decoder 160 for decoding the separated output video and audio compressed data; And a D / A converter 170 for converting each of the decoded digital data into an analog signal and outputting the decoded digital data to an external video device (TV, etc.).

Referring to the operation of the present invention through the configuration of each part of the rental DVD player configured as described above, first, the device control unit 120 to display the main playback configuration screen of the signal input from the remote control signal decoding unit 110; It checks whether there is a user request signal, and reads the main playback configuration screen previously stored in a predetermined memory (not shown) in the OSD unit 121 when there is such a request, and inputs it from the external server. According to the type, and transmits a command to check the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the additional service messages stored on the flash memory 20 to the playback control unit 50, and receives the playback control unit 50. ) Is a type of stored whether or not there is a message not checked by the user by checking a message stored in the flash memory 20. Check according to the information about it is sent back to the device control unit 120. The device controller receiving the message presence information not confirmed by the user according to the type thereof controls the display to display the information adjacent to an option item for designating an additional service of the read main playback configuration screen. Can recognize message presence information not checked by the user on the main playback configuration screen without a separate key input.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a preferred embodiment of a method for confirming an additional service message of a rental optical DVD player according to the present invention. Hereinafter, operations of the rental DVD player for implementing the additional service message confirmation device of FIG. In parallel, the method of confirming the additional service message of FIG. 2 according to the present invention will be described in detail.

First, the external server 300 that permits the playback of a rental DVD can provide information such as a fee guide according to a subscriber's rental DVD playback and a guide of a newly released rental DVD using the access number of a subscribed user. And transmit the message by connecting to the modem 10 of the subscriber playback apparatus through a communication line or a switching line (PSTN) in the form of an e-mail, and the playback control unit 50 controls the modem 10. If the message is received through the type is determined, it is stored in the flash memory 20 by type (S10).

As described above, while the message transmitted from the external server 300 is classified and stored in the flash memory 20 by type, the remote control signal decoding unit 110 receives the remote control signal from the outside. If the decoded command is found, the decoded command is shown in FIG. 3 according to the power-on, stop, set-up menu of the device, and the like. As shown in the state transition diagram, in the case of the setup state (M01) for setting the main playback environment (S20), a screen as shown in FIG. 4 including information on whether or not to receive and store a message not confirmed by the user is displayed. The flash memory is output on the screen of an external video device (S21). To this end, the device controller 120 first requests the display of the screen for setting the main playback environment as described above. A check record request (CRR) data having a format as shown in FIG. 5A for requesting confirmation of the presence of a message not identified by the user among the messages stored in (20) is transmitted to the reproduction control unit 50. As shown in FIG. 5A, the CRR data includes a command code of 0x64 and a value indicating a type of a message provided to an additional service. The message type includes a user information message such as a user's billing details and a new message. It is divided into a promotion message including guide information such as a released DVD title, etc., each of which is assigned a value of 1 and 2 to generate and generate between the device controller 120 and the playback controller 50. To be interpreted.

Accordingly, the reproduction control unit 50 receives the CRR data, decrypts the CRR data, and responds to the CRR (Check Record Response) data having a format as shown in FIG. According to whether or not the user confirms, information about whether a message is not confirmed is transmitted to the device controller 120 for each type. As shown in FIG. 5B, the CRR data includes a command code 0x65, a value (1 or 2) depending on the type of the requested message, and the number of new messages of the corresponding type or a message of the corresponding type not opened by the user. It consists of the number of.

Therefore, the device controller 120 decodes the CRR data stream received from the playback controller 50, and if there is a message that the user does not confirm, the string 'NEW' indicating this as shown in FIG. A specific display position to be transmitted to the OSD unit 121 to be converted into OSD text data, and the MPEG decoder 160 is read from a predetermined memory (not shown) in the OSD unit 121. MPEG decoding the screen for setting the environment, the D / A converter 170 converts each of the OSD text data and the main playback configuration screen data into an analog video signal, synthesizes and outputs to the external video device, A menu screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen, so that the user recognizes that there is a mail (NEW) that he or she has not confirmed.

Of course, since the CRR (Check Record Response) data includes information on the number of messages not checked by the user, it is also possible to display the information on the presence or absence of messages not checked by the user as it is.

On the DVD setup screen for setting the main playback environment as shown in FIG. 4, the user selects and inputs a specific icon (S22). If the user selects and inputs the DIVX setup icon for the sub playback environment setting, the device controller The bus controller 70 transmits the corresponding command data to the playback controller 50 so that the playback controller 50 stores the data stored in the code ROM 30 in a format similar to the MPEG format. And a DIVX setup menu as shown in FIG. 6 on the screen of an external video apparatus by a predetermined decoding operation in the MPEG decoder 160 via a data separator 150 and on a DIVX setup menu as shown in FIG. 6, or If a mail (i.e. information message) or a special (i.e., promotion message) icon is selected and input on the DVD setup menu as shown in FIG. 4 (S30), the device controller 12 0) transmits command data requesting the output of a mail or a special message to the reproduction control unit 50. In the case of requesting a mail, a command code of 0x5F and a DIVX setup-on are shown as shown in FIG. 0x01 and 0x0001, a parameter representing a mail request, are sent as a data stream. If a special message is requested on the DVD setup menu of FIG. 4, 0x5F and DIVX setup on the same command code as the mail request are sent. 0x01, which indicates 0, and 0x0002, which is a parameter indicating a request for a special (promotional message) message, is transmitted as a data stream, and the device controller 120 does not process the subsequent user key input and directly processes the playback controller. (50), and according to the response data indicating the result or whether the operation can be performed, etc. By switching to the state (M03 of Fig. 3) to take the appropriate control action, the main and slave (Master-Slave) related to process the user key input is to be switched.

The reproduction control unit 50 performing the operation control function by the above process transmits the data indicating whether the message is opened or not based on the storage state for each type of message in the flash memory 20 to the device control unit 120. OSD text data, and data constituting the message screen, the basic background and the picture information is transmitted to the data separator 150 through the bus controller 70 to image data through the MPEG decoder 160, As shown in FIG. 8A, the mailbox as shown in FIG. 8A or the special screen as shown in FIG. 8B is displayed on the screen of the external device.

After the user checks his / her unopened or unopened mail (message) on the menu screen of FIG. 8A or 8B, for example, a mailbox menu screen as shown in FIG. 8A, the user opens a specific unopened mail with the cursor keys of the remote controller. When the selection is made using the enter key (S40), the device controller 120 transfers the content selected by the user to the playback control unit 50 as it is, and the playback control unit 50 transfers the transferred content. The mail is selected by the user to be interpreted, and thus, only the mpack data corresponding to the specified mail is read from the mail data stored in the form of mpack data in the flash memory 20, and the bus controller 70 is read. The data separator 150 transmits the data to the data separator 150. If the external server 300 encrypts and provides a message to prevent the leakage of personal information on the communication line. The encrypted message is restored to the data stream before scrambled by the DIVX decoder 60, transmitted to the data separator 150 through the bus controller 70, and separated into data for each type, thereby performing the above-described imaging process. The content of the specific message requested by the user is displayed on the screen of the external video device (S41).

The additional service message confirmation device and confirmation method of the rental DVD player according to the present invention constituted and configured as described above, when the user's request to display the main playback configuration screen of the rental DVD player is input, By displaying the information regarding the presence or absence of a message which has not been confirmed by the user among the messages stored on the memory in the external device and adjacent to the additional service designation option item displayed on the main playback configuration screen, the user can add the additional service. Even if you do not go to the sub environment setting screen for the playback environment setting of the external device in order to know whether there is an unchecked message among the messages provided by, the user can check it on the main playback environment setting screen, which greatly increases the user's convenience. It is a useful invention.

Claims (8)

In the method of confirming an additional service message provided from an external server that controls playback control of a rental information storage medium, A first step of sequentially storing an additional service message provided from the external server; A second step of checking whether there is a message which is not checked by the user among the sequentially stored messages when a screen data output request for reproducing environment setting of the rental information storage medium is requested; And a third step of displaying the checked result information on a reproduction environment setting screen of the information storage medium. The method of claim 1, Additional service message provided from the external server, Additional service message confirmation method, characterized in that provided in at least two types according to the purpose. The method of claim 1, Additional service message provided from the external server, And a commercial information message provided with at least a user information message provided with a billing history of the user and an advertisement of a new information storage medium. In the method of confirming an additional service message provided from an external server that controls playback control of a rental information storage medium, A first step of classifying and storing additional service messages provided from the external server by type; A second step of checking, by the type, the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among each of the classified and stored messages when a screen data output request for reproducing environment setting of the rental information storage medium is requested; And a third step of displaying the identified result information for each type adjacent to the additional service designation option separately displayed for each type on the reproduction environment setting screen of the information storage medium. An apparatus for checking an additional service message provided from an external server that controls playback control of a rental information storage medium. Storage means for temporarily storing an additional service message provided from the external server; First control means for detecting the presence or absence of a request for outputting screen data for setting a reproduction environment of the rental information storage medium, and for confirming whether there is a message not checked by the user among the temporarily stored messages according to a detection result; ; And a second control means for checking the message stored in the storage means according to the transmitted request signal of the first control means and transmitting information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the user to the first control means. And the first control means controls to display information corresponding to the presence information received from the second control means so as to be displayed adjacent to the additional service designation option on the screen for the reproduction environment setting. Message acknowledgment device. The method of claim 5, Additional service message provided from the external server, Apparatus for checking additional service messages, characterized in that provided in at least two types according to the purpose. The method of claim 5, Additional service message provided from the external server, And a commercial information message provided with at least a user information message provided with a billing history of the user and an advertisement of a new information storage medium. An apparatus for checking an additional service message provided from an external server that controls playback control of a rental information storage medium. Storage means for classifying and storing the additional service message provided from the external server by type; Detecting whether the screen data output request for reproducing environment setting of the rental information storage medium is requested, and transmitting data for checking the presence or absence of a message not checked by the user among the stored messages classified by type according to the detection result. First control means; And a second control means for checking whether a message classified by type is stored in the storage means in accordance with the request signal of the first control means for each type and transmitting information on the presence or absence of a message not confirmed by the user to the first control means. Composed of, The first control means controls to display the information corresponding to the presence information of each type received from the second control means so as to be displayed adjacent to the additional service designation option displayed separately by type on the screen for the reproduction configuration. Additional service message confirmation device characterized in that.