KR100407837B1 - A set-top box which can capture a stilled image and the stilled image capturing method using the set-top box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a set-top box capable of capturing still images and a method of capturing still images using the same.

A still image capture method using a set-top box according to an aspect of the present invention is an image capture method using a set-top box that receives a satellite broadcast from a satellite through a satellite broadcast receiving antenna and displays the received satellite broadcast on a display device. Capturing a still image by analyzing header information included in image data transmitted from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna; And reconstructing the captured still image on an information storage medium to be displayed on the display device.

The present invention captures a specific image included in the image data input from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna, and stores the captured image in an information storage medium to perform various types of image utilization.

Description

A SET-TOP BOX WHICH CAN CAPTURE A STILLED IMAGE AND THE STILLED IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD USING THE SET-TOP BOX}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a set-top box, and in particular, a set-top box capable of capturing a specific still image from a real-time video stream received from a satellite broadcasting antenna and capturing a still image that can utilize the captured image, and a still image capture using the same It is about a method.

In general, in order for a satellite broadcaster to watch a satellite broadcast, a satellite antenna for receiving a satellite signal and a set-top box for controlling the position and direction of the satellite antenna and processing the signal received from the satellite antenna to be displayed on a display device (set) -top box) and a display device (often a TV screen) for receiving and displaying video signals from the set-top box.

Such a conventional set-top box simply displays a signal received from a satellite, and may not capture a still image included in a specific received satellite signal or may not use the captured specific still image as a background of the display device.

In order to solve this problem, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to capture a specific still image included in the image data input from the satellite broadcasting receiving antenna, and to store the captured still image in an information storage medium of various forms Its purpose is to provide a set-top box that enables image utilization.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a set-top box capable of capturing still images according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a still image capture method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view for explaining a still image capture method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Set-top box capable of capturing still images according to one feature of the present invention for achieving the above object,

A set-top box for receiving satellite broadcasts from satellites via a satellite broadcast receiving antenna and displaying the received satellite broadcasts on a display device.

An image data processor which analyzes header information from image data input from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna, captures a specific still image, and decodes the captured still image;

An image data storage unit for storing a still image decoded by the image data processor; And

A control routine for storing the still image decoded by the image data processing unit in the image data storage unit, and a control routine for transmitting the still image stored in the image data storage unit to the image data processing unit for playback through the display device; Main control unit to perform

It includes.

Still image capture method using a set-top box according to another feature of the present invention,

An image capture method using a set-top box that receives satellite broadcasts from a satellite through a satellite broadcast reception antenna and displays the satellite broadcasts received on a display device.

Capturing a still image by analyzing header information included in image data transmitted from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna;

Reconstructing the captured still image and storing the captured still image on an information storage medium for display on the display device

It includes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a set-top box capable of capturing still images according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the set-top box 200 capable of capturing still images according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention corresponds to when image data input from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna 100 is received through an assigned channel. A tuner 210 for receiving image data through a channel; A de-multiplexer 220 for receiving and receiving multiplexed image data received from the tuner 210; An MPEG decoder 230 for decoding demultiplexed image data; The captured image data decoded by the MPEG decoder 230 may be stored in the hard disk 250 according to a user-specified unit, and the stored captured image data may be called from the hard disk 250 to be reproduced through the display apparatus 300. CPI (CPU, hereinafter referred to as CPU) 240 for processing control; A hard disk 250 for storing encoded image data; A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 260 for converting image data decoded by the MPEG decoder 230 into analog data; Memory 270 to temporarily store specific header information and captured still images.

The DAC 260 may include a video DAC 261 for converting image (or video) data into analog data; It is preferable to further include an audio DAC 262 for converting voice (or audio, sound) data into analog data.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings the operation of the set-top box having a security function according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a still image capturing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a still image capturing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The satellite broadcasting reception antenna 100 receives image and sound data transmitted from one or more satellites and transmits the received image and sound data to the set top box 200 (S100). When the tuner 210 receives the image data input from the camera 100 through the assigned channel, the tuner 210 receives the image data through the corresponding channel, and the demultiplexer 220 receives the image data received from the tuner 210. Inverse multiplexing separates the image data and the sound data (S110).

The MPEG decoder 230 first searches for a sequence header in the separated video data stream and then searches for a GOP header (S120). As shown in FIG. 3, MPEG data is composed of frames of an I picture (I in the figure), a P picture (P in the figure), and a B picture (B in the figure). It has information that can be decoded. MPEG decoding described below will be described as a frame structure in which a frame is assigned to a picture.

During decoding, the MPEG decoder 230 includes a sequence header, a group of picture (GOP) header, and a picture header as shown in FIG. The decoding is performed in the order of sequence end header.

The sequence header is information that designates a screen format and the like at the head of a sequence layer of MPEG data, and has a horizontal and vertical size of a frame and a quantization table of I frames.

The GOP header is not an important frame when reproducing an I frame, but there is a characteristic that an I frame must appear after the GOP header due to MPEG characteristics. Therefore, it is desirable to add a GOP header so that I frame search can be performed through the GOP header according to the MPEG decoder. In the GOP header, there are "Closed_GOP" and "Broken_Link flag". "Closed_GOP" indicates whether the video in the GOP can be played independently from other GOPs. To indicate that it is not available.

That is, "Closed_GOP" means that the B frame itself is completed by I frames and P frames on both sides of the B frame, and when there is no previous I frame or P frame at the time of capturing the image data, the next I frame or P frame To complete the frame. In this case, if this value is 0, it refers to the reference frame of both I frames or P frames, and if this value is 1, it refers to the next I frame or P frame. The video data capture used in the embodiment of the present invention should set this value to 1 so that the MPEG decoder does not find the I frame or the P frame before the GOP when the video data is reproduced.

In addition, when "Closed_GOP" becomes 1, the "Broken_Link flag" means that one frame of reference is lost because one frame of reference is lost when B frames in the GOP are encoded with a bidirectional frame of reference. When there is a B frame referring to the B frame, this B frame is a flag not to be decoded. In an embodiment of the present invention, if the "Broken_Link flag" value is set to 1, the MPEG decoder 230 is always set to decode only I frames, so that the MPEG decoder 230 does not perform unnecessary work.

When the sequence header and the GOP header are searched and found as described above, the MPEG decoder 230 analyzes the picture header (S130). At this time, the MPEG decoder 230 temporarily stores the found sequence header and GOP header information in the memory 270.

The MPEG decoder 230 searches for the I frame by analyzing the picture header to find the I frame (S140). The MPEG decoder 230 checks whether an I frame is found (S150). If the I picture is not found until the next sequence header and the GOP header are found, the MPEG decoder 230 updates the sequence header and the GOP header stored in the memory 270. Update to the information (S160). Also, set Broken_Link flag in GOP header. Since the sequence header and the GOP header are necessary elements for storing the captured still image on the hard disk 250, they should be stored in the memory 270.

In the I picture check step (S150), if an I picture is detected, the contents of the P picture or the B picture header, the GOP header, the sequence header, and the like are captured until the I picture is detected, and the memory is captured. Temporarily stored at 270. When the capturing of the contents is completed, the MPEG decoder 230 concatenates the sequence header stored in the memory 270 with the updated GOP header, pastes the I picture header and the I picture contents, and finally adds the sequence end header to capture the captured contents. Reconstruct the still image (S170). This is because the MPEG decoder 230 needs to have a format of a sequence header, a GOP header, an I picture header, an I picture content, and a sequence end header in order to reproduce one frame.

The CPU 240 detects the decoding completion of the captured image of the MPEG decoder 230 and stores the decoded image data in the hard disk 250 (S180).

The CPU 240 checks whether the user selects a 'playback mode' for playing the stored image on the display apparatus 300 through a remote control (not shown) or a user's direct set-top box 200 (S190).

If the user selects the 'play mode' for playing the captured image data on the display apparatus 300 when the image data received through the satellite broadcasting reception antenna 100 is being viewed from the display apparatus 300, the CPU 240 controls the MPEG decoder 230 to call the image data stored in the hard disk 250 to decode the reconstructed and stored still image (S200). The CPU 240 checks whether the user wants to continuously display the captured image (S210). If the user wants to continuously display the captured image display request through the display apparatus 300, the MPEG decoder 230 delivers the called image data to the DAC 260, and the DAC 260 transfers the received decoded image data. The image data is converted into an analog image signal and reproduced through the display apparatus 300 (S220).

When the user does not want to display the captured image display (e.g., release the captured image display mode, etc.), the MPEG decoder 230 converts the signal processing environment for the image data into satellite broadcast data decoding transmitted from the tuner 210. The received satellite broadcast data is reproduced by the display apparatus 300 (S230).

Still images captured using the set-top box 200 may be used on a menu screen. That is, since the menu configuration of the set-top box 200 is a very complicated and tedious process, the user can call the still image data stored in the hard disk 250 to display the user's favorite background picture on the background screen when setting the menu. have. In addition, the captured image data stored in the hard disk 250 can be transmitted to the user PC 500 through a communication medium (USB or SERIAL / PARALLEL PORT, etc.) to be utilized on the PC screen, and the specific captured image utilization program. It can also be utilized on the stored mobile communication terminal screen. In addition, the digital still camera 400 and the set-top box 200 are connected to each other, the still image captured by the digital still camera 400 is received, stored in the hard disk 250, and the stored still image is displayed on the display device 300. Can also be used for the screen. In this case, as in the embodiment of the present invention, the format of the sequence header, the GOP header, the I picture header, the I picture content, and the sequence end header may be received and stored, and the stored still image may be utilized through the display apparatus 300. have.

The embodiment of the present invention is only one embodiment, and many changes and modifications may be made to the components of the present invention without departing from the gist of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited only to the embodiments. .

As described above, a set-top box capable of capturing an image of the present invention and an image capturing method using the same capture a specific image included in image data input from a satellite broadcasting reception antenna, and store the captured image in an information storage medium. It enables to use various types of images.

In addition, when setting the menu of the set-top box, the captured image stored in the hard disk can be called to display the user's favorite background image on the background screen.

In addition, the captured image is transmitted to the user terminal to be utilized on the terminal screen.

Claims (8)

In a set-top box that receives satellite broadcasts from satellites via a satellite broadcast antenna and displays the received satellite broadcasts on a display device, An image data processor which analyzes header information from image data input from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna, captures a specific still image, and decodes the captured still image; An image data storage unit for storing a still image decoded by the image data processor; And A control routine for storing the still image decoded by the image data processing unit in the image data storage unit, and a control routine for transmitting the still image stored in the image data storage unit to the image data processing unit for playback through the display device; Including a main control to perform, The header information A sequence header having a horizontal and vertical size of the frame and a quantization table of the I frame; A GOP header to support performing an I frame search; A picture header having image data information of each frame; Contains a sequence end header indicating that a sequence has ended. And a sequence image, a GOP header, a picture header, and a sequence end header, which are decoded in the order of decoding and played back through the display device. delete In the image capture method using a set-top box that receives the satellite broadcast from the satellite via a satellite broadcast receiving antenna and displays the received satellite broadcast on the display device, Capturing a still image by analyzing header information included in image data transmitted from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna; Reconstructing the captured still image on an information storage medium to be displayed on the display device; And Calling the still image stored in the information storage medium, reading the called still image, and reproducing it to the display device; Still image capture method using a set-top box including a. delete The method of claim 3, wherein the header information is A sequence header having a horizontal and vertical size of the frame and a quantization table of the I frame; A GOP header to support performing an I frame search; A picture header having image data information of each frame; Contains a sequence end header indicating that a sequence has ended. And decoding the sequence header, the GOP header, the picture header, and the sequence end header at the time of decoding to be reproduced through the display device. The method of claim 3, wherein the still image capture step Separating image data and sound data from the image data received from the satellite broadcasting reception antenna; Searching for the sequence header and a GOP header in the separated image data; Finding an I frame by analyzing a picture header based on the found sequence header and a GOP header Still image capture method using a set-top box including a. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein finding the I frame If the I frame is not found until the next sequence header and GOP header is retrieved, the method of capturing still images using the set-top box comprising updating the sequence header and the GOP header stored in the memory with the latest information. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein finding the I frame If an I frame is found before the next sequence header and the GOP header are searched, capturing and storing the still image contents in memory until another header is detected; When the capture of the still image contents is completed, the sequence header stored in the memory and the updated GOP header are connected, the I picture header and the I frame including the I picture contents are successively connected, and the captured still image is added with the sequence end header. Steps to Reconstruct the Image Still image capture method using a set-top box including a.