KR100606670B1 - Method of Presenting Control Data in Digital Television - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of outputting control data of a digital broadcast receiver such that additional data for a program and additional information service are output not only as an image but also as sound.

A control data output method of a digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention is a method of controlling a broadcast receiver for providing an additional service, the method comprising: receiving a broadcast signal including additional video data together with a video and audio signal of a program; Detecting additional video data from the signal; reading additional sound data pre-stored in association with the additional video data; displaying the additional video data on the screen, and using the additional sound data. Providing a step.

Accordingly, when the user receives additional data through the digital broadcast receiver, not only the image data but also the acoustic data are provided together, thereby increasing the effect of information transmission.

Description

Control Data Output Method of Digital Broadcast Receiver {Method of Presenting Control Data in Digital Television}             

1 is a block diagram showing a signal processing procedure in a conventional digital television.

2 shows an example of an additional data screen that can be displayed as an image in a conventional digital television.

3 is a diagram illustrating an information processing algorithm for outputting additional data as sound in a digital television according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a signal processing procedure for outputting additional data as sound in a digital television according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing an example of an additional data screen that can be displayed as an image in a digital television according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

20: input device 22: central processing unit

24: tuner portion 26: antenna

28: decoding unit 30: channel decoding unit

32: demultiplexer 34: video / sound / data decoding section

36: display unit 38: sound output unit

40: memory 60, 80: selection window

The present invention relates to a method of outputting control data of a digital broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to a method of outputting control data of a digital broadcast receiver such that additional data for a program and additional information service is output not only as an image but also as a sound.

Recently, researches on digital television (hereinafter referred to as "DTV") that digitally process video signals and audio signals and the like have been actively conducted. DTV systems have various advantages over conventional analog TV systems that transmit / receive analog signals. That is, in the DTV system, various digitalized signals may be transmitted / received in various forms, such as one video signal and two or more audio signals simultaneously transmitted / received in one channel. In addition, up to four programs can be simultaneously transmitted and received within a channel, increasing the number of channels. The increase in the number of channels means that the limited frequency resources can be utilized more efficiently. In addition, since DTV can check and correct received signals, it can effectively remove noise that is interrupted during transmission, and can edit images and sounds in various forms by digital signal processing.

In such a DTV system, not only program image and sound information generally provided, but also various additional data information that can be conveniently used by viewers may be provided. One example is broadcast service information such as a program guide. The program guide includes service information such as various channel information, program information, and program schedule for each time zone. Viewers can obtain the necessary channel information by displaying a program guide on the screen if desired during TV viewing. In the conventional analog TV system, although additional services are available using the VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) method, which includes additional data in a vertical synchronization signal, data display methods are extremely limited and can be processed compared to DTV systems. The amount of data that can be used is so small that only fragmentary services are provided.

In the DTV system, each of a program image, an audio signal, and an additional data signal is converted into a digital signal, and then combined and transmitted in a packet unit. The DTV system currently being developed adopts a method of combining digital signals corresponding to program images, sounds, and data according to the MPEG2 standard. Accordingly, the DTV receiver may include receiving the combined signal and processing each signal separately.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a signal processing process in a conventional DTV receiver. If this is described in detail step by step, first, when the viewer selects a channel through the input device 20, the central processing unit 22 of the system controls the tuner unit 24 in response. Accordingly, the high frequency signal transmitted to the selected channel is introduced into the tuner unit 24 through the antenna 26. The tuner 24 performs a process of frequency converting the received high frequency signal into a low frequency signal. The digital signal detected from the high frequency signal is transmitted to the decoding unit 28. The decoder 28 separates and processes each signal corresponding to a program image, a program sound, and additional data from a digital signal transmitted according to the MPEG2 standard, and sends the signal to a corresponding output unit. The decoder 28 is composed of a channel decoder 30, a demultiplexer 32, and an image / audio / data decoder 34. The channel decoding unit 30 restores the digital signals input from the tuner 24 in packet units and sequentially supplies them to the demultiplexer 32. At this time, the process of checking and correcting an error for each bit that may be included in the received digital signal is also performed. The demultiplexer 32 separates each digital signal corresponding to a program image, a program sound, and additional data from an error-corrected MPEG-2 standard digital signal. The separated signals are input to the video / audio / data decoding unit 34 and decompressed. The DTV system currently being developed adopts the MPEG2 method as the compression / restore method of the program video signal, and adopts the Dolby AC-3 method as the compression / restore method of the program sound signal. Each decompressed digital signal is sent to the output. The program video signal is converted into an analog signal through a digital / analog converter (hereinafter referred to as "DAC"), which is not shown in the figure. The analog program video signal is sent to the display unit 36 and output as an image on a TV screen. The program acoustic signal is also converted into an analog signal via a DAC not shown in the figure. The analog sound signal is sent to the sound output unit 38 to be output as a speaker sound. On the other hand, the additional data is transmitted to the memory unit 40 (path A) and stored. As described above, the additional data includes various service information such as a program guide. When the user requests additional data through the input device 20, the central processing unit 22 transmits the relevant data stored in the memory unit 40 to the display unit 36 (path B) in response thereto. Output images to the screen.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of additional data that may be displayed as an image in a conventional DTV. As an example in the figure, a channel number, a channel name, a channel logo, and time zone program information are displayed as a program guide. If the user wants more detailed information about the channel or program, the selection window 60 may be displayed to select details. The selection of information requested by the user is performed by manipulating the corresponding button using the input device 20 such as a remote controller.

The additional data display method developed in the TV so far is limited only to visually displaying various data information. Currently, additional data such as a program guide transmitted on a DTV system includes only image data to be displayed on a screen, and does not include sound data. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional DTV receiver, additional data stored in the memory unit 40 is only sent to the display unit 36 at the time of user selection, and is output as an image and is not output to the audio output unit 38. It is constructed. In this case, since sound information is not provided to the data service, a user may experience inconvenience in that the user must keep an eye on the TV screen to obtain additional data information. In particular, a user who cannot see visual information such as a visually impaired person cannot use various additional data expressed only on the screen. Not only DTVs but also general analog TVs have similar problems. For example, if the user changes the channel while watching TV, the channel number selected by the user is displayed on the screen for a predetermined time. Even in this case, since the channel number displayed on the screen is only visually identifiable, there is a disadvantage in that it cannot be used when the screen is not viewed or cannot be viewed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of outputting control data of a digital broadcast receiver such that additional data for a program and additional information service are output not only as an image but also as sound.

In order to achieve the above object, a method of controlling a broadcast receiver for providing an additional service according to the present invention, comprising: receiving a broadcast signal including additional video data together with a video and audio signal of a program; Detecting the additional video data; reading the additional sound data pre-stored in association with the additional video data; displaying the additional video data on a screen, and using the additional sound data. Providing a service.
In addition, in order to achieve the above object, a method of controlling a broadcast receiver for providing an additional service, the method comprising: receiving a broadcast signal including a transmission target additional service data together with a video and audio signal of a program; Detecting the additional target service data and providing the additional sound by using the prestored additional service data stored in association with the additional target service data.
In addition, a method of controlling a content receiver for providing an additional service in order to achieve the above object, the method comprising: receiving a content signal including an additional service data to be transmitted together with video and audio signals of a program; Detecting the additional target service data and providing the additional sound by using the prestored additional service data stored in association with the additional target service data.
Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 is a diagram illustrating an information processing algorithm for outputting additional data as a sound in a DTV according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the DTV system, in order for a user to receive an additional data service not only as an image but also as an audio, a transmitting station (for example, a broadcasting station) transmitting the additional data must include not only the image data of the additional data but also the audio data. A process for providing additional data as sound may be divided into three stages of obtaining, storing, and outputting additional sound data. First, there are two methods of obtaining additional sound data. When the additional sound data is transmitted from the transmitting station of the DTV, the additional sound data can be obtained using a path through which the additional data is transmitted. In this case, the additional sound data is included in the entire additional data in a format such as a descriptor and transmitted. The additional data including the image and sound information is combined with the program image signal and the program sound signal according to the MPEG2 standard and transmitted in packet units. In the case of transmitting additional data in an analog TV system, additional data including sound information may be obtained through a vertical blanking interval (VBI) line. Another way to obtain additional sound data is to use additional sound data embedded in a memory unit in the manufacture of a TV receiver. In particular, in the case of simple additional data, the additional sound service may be provided using additional sound data pre-built in the memory unit of the TV receiver. The additional sound data obtained through the above two methods are all stored in the memory in the TV system. Additional sound data obtained through an external transport channel and stored in the memory may be updated if necessary. The process of outputting the stored additional sound data can be divided into two ways. That is, when the user is provided with an application service such as a program guide, there is a method that can be operated to output the corresponding additional sound information according to the user's intention when the additional data information is displayed on the screen. For example, when a user changes a channel, sound information about the changed channel is automatically output for a predetermined time.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a signal processing procedure for outputting additional data as a sound in a DTV according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, in the signal processing process according to the present invention, as compared with the conventional case illustrated in FIG. 1, the paths A and C and the memory unit 40 through which additional sound data are input to the memory unit 40 are provided. The additional sound data stored therein further includes a path D which is transmitted to the sound output unit 38 and output. All other procedures are the same as in the conventional case. The received digital signal is separated into respective signals through a decoding process as in the conventional case. Each of the separated signals is input to the corresponding output unit or the memory unit 40. In the present invention, the additional data included in the received digital signal includes not only video data but also acoustic data. For example, the program guide includes additional sound data in a format such as a descriptor in a format in which additional video data is delivered in EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data. The additional sound data is detected from this EPG information and transmitted to the memory unit 40 via the path A together with the additional image data. Another method in which the additional sound data used in the present invention can be input to the memory unit 40 is a method of pre-incorporating the additional sound data in the memory unit 40 in the receiver manufacturing step (C path on the drawing). When the user requests additional data information through the input device 20, the central processing unit 22 transmits a control signal to the memory unit 40 in response. Then, the additional image data stored in the memory unit 40 is transmitted to the display unit 36 through the path B and displayed on the screen, and the additional sound data is transferred to the sound output unit 38 through the path D and output as sound. Will be. In this case, it is also possible to allow the sound output to be selectively turned on / off by a user's manipulation.

As described above, the additional sound data output together with the additional image data may be used in two cases. The first case is used for application services such as program guides. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of additional data that may be displayed as an image in a digital television according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, unlike the conventional case illustrated in FIG. 2, a selection item “Sound” is additionally displayed on the selection window 80, and when the user selects it through the input device 20, corresponding additional sound data is included. Will be output. Alternatively, when additional data such as channel information is displayed as an image, the additional sound data corresponding thereto may be automatically output without a user's manipulation. Another case where additional sound data may be used is when the user changes channels while watching TV. Not only DTV, but also general analog TV, when the user changes the channel, the channel number input by the user is displayed for a certain time. Even in this case, additional sound data corresponding to the channel number may be output together with the sound. It is preferable to control the program sound signal not to be output for a while while the additional sound data is output.

As described above, the control data output method of the digital broadcast receiver according to the present invention outputs additional data not only as an image but also as a sound. Accordingly, it is possible to solve the inconvenience of the user having to constantly watch the screen in order to obtain additional data, there is an advantage that can increase the effect of information transmission. In particular, when visual information such as a visually impaired person cannot be viewed, additional data may be used through an audio output instead of an image of the additional data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (9)

In the method for controlling a broadcast receiver for providing an additional service, Receiving a broadcast signal including additional video data together with the video and audio signals of the program; Detecting the additional video data from the broadcast signal; Reading additional sound data previously stored in association with the additional video data; Displaying the additional image data on a screen and providing an additional sound service using the additional sound data. The method of claim 1, The additional acoustic data is stored by default when the broadcast receiver is manufactured. The method of claim 1, The additional acoustic data may be provided according to a selection signal input from a user or automatically provided. In the method for controlling a broadcast receiver for providing an additional service, Receiving a broadcast signal including additional service data to be transmitted together with video and audio signals of a program; Detecting the transmission target additional service data from the broadcast signal; And And providing additional sound by using pre-stored additional service data stored in association with the additional service target data. The method of claim 4, wherein And wherein the additional target service data is additional video data, and the additional target service data is additional sound data. The method of claim 4, wherein The additional data to be stored is stored by default when the broadcast receiver is manufactured. In the method for controlling a content receiver for providing an additional service, Receiving a content signal including additional service data to be transmitted together with video and audio signals of a program; Detecting the transmission target additional service data from the content signal; And And providing additional sound by using pre-stored additional service data stored in association with the additional service target data. The method of claim 7, wherein And wherein the additional target service data is additional video data, and the additional target service data is additional sound data. The method of claim 7, wherein The additional data to be stored is stored by default when the content receiver is manufactured.

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