KR100856585B1 - Interactive television system - Google Patents

Abstract

An interactive television system is provided to maximize an interactive function of an interactive television service by receiving and processing data input by a user and displaying the data on an image display unit which are shared by a plurality of users including the user. An interactive television system includes an image display unit(10) which receives an image and data from an interactive television server and displays the image and the data to a user, and receives data input by the user. The interactive television server includes a data receiver(21) which receives the data input by the user via a communication network; a data processor(22) which collects and fabricates the received data and processes it to reflect on data displayed on the display unit; a data storage unit(23) which stores the processed data; and a data transmitter(24) which transmits the stored data to the image display unit via the communication network.

Description

Interactive television system

1 is a block diagram illustrating an interactive television system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an interactive television server of the interactive television system according to another embodiment of FIG.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an interactive television server of an interactive television system according to another embodiment of FIG.

4 is a block diagram showing an example of an image display unit in the interactive television system of FIG.

5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a television receiver and a set-top box.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a set-top box according to another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen configuration of the television receiver of FIG. 5;

8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a user-generated content screen configuration.

9 is a block diagram illustrating an interactive television system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10, 110 ... video display 20, 120 ... two-way television server

40, 140 ... set top box

The present invention relates to a two-way television system, and in more detail, not only a function of displaying broadcast content but also a function of displaying data corresponding to a command again when a user issues a command by pressing a remote controller or touching a screen. It relates to an interactive television system for providing a.

Television (televison) refers to a device or a method of viewing a stationary or moving object from a distance by the power of electricity without a delay of time, and commonly used to refer to a television receiver.

The television receiver is one-way communication, i.e., a system that receives and displays a signal transmitted mainly from a television transmitter disposed mainly in a broadcasting station, and the television receiver cannot request any information from the television transmitter.

It is a two-way television service that has emerged to improve the inconvenience that comes from such one-way communication, for example, it is not possible to watch a desired television program at a desired time and to watch in accordance with a broadcasting schedule.

Interactive TV service is a service that allows viewers to watch the programs they want to watch at a convenient time, unlike general public broadcasting, cable broadcasting or satellite broadcasting. It counts.

Such a two-way television service can be provided only by connecting an interactive set-top box to an existing television receiver and connecting to a line providing the service.

However, the current interactive television service or system is only used for a limited part such as program selection, and thus it cannot be said that it properly performs the interactive function.

Therefore, the following describes a bidirectional television system that complements the bidirectional function.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an interactive television system that enables more active use of an interactive television service.

Specifically, an object of the present invention is to display not only a simple selection function of a program but also data input by a user as it is to a plurality of users.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an Internet protocol television receiver and a digital cable broadcast receiver that satisfy the above functions.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention receives an image and data from a two-way television server and displays it to the user, and comprises a video display unit for receiving the data input by the user, the interactive television server

A data receiver which receives the data input by the user through a communication network; A data processing unit for processing the received data to reflect the data displayed on the image display unit; A data storage unit for storing the processed data; And a data transmitter for transmitting the stored data to the image display unit through the communication network.

Here, the data processed by the data processor is one of auction and voting results associated with the image displayed on the image display unit, a comment on a post displayed on the image display unit, and a short message irrelevant to the display of the image display unit. Is preferably. In this case, the video is preferably user created content (UCC).

The data processed by the data processor may further include advertisement data of a provider associated with a provider of the interactive television server.

In addition, the data input by the user to the image display unit may be user-generated content.

The interactive television server includes a database for storing the user-generated content; And a list manager for managing a list of user-generated content stored in the database.

In addition, the two-way television server preferably further comprises an authentication unit for authenticating whether the user can input and output the use production content.

Preferably, the video display unit further includes a terminal receiving an input by a user, wherein the video display unit may be one of a digital television receiver, a mobile communication terminal, and a portable television receiver.

The image display unit includes an interface unit for displaying a list of data stored in the data storage unit; A data request unit for requesting data corresponding to a list selected by the user through the interface unit to the interactive television server; And a data display unit for receiving and displaying data transmitted from the interactive television server by the request.

On the other hand, the present invention displays an image to the user, the image display unit for receiving the data input by the user; A two-way television server which receives data input by the user and processes the data to be reflected in data displayed on the video display unit; And a set-top between the video display unit and the interactive television server, relaying data input by the user through the video display unit to the interactive television server, and receiving the data processed by the interactive television server and relaying the data to the video display unit. (set top) is another feature comprising a box.

Here, the data processed by the interactive television server may be a short message that is irrelevant to auction and voting results related to the image displayed on the video display unit, a comment on a post displayed on the video display unit, and whether or not the image display unit is related to display. It is preferable to be one.

In addition, the video display unit is preferably a digital television receiver, wherein the digital television receiver may be an Internet protocol television receiver or a digital cable broadcast television receiver.

In addition, the image is preferably user created content (UCC).

In addition, the data processed by the interactive television server preferably further includes advertisement data of the operator associated with the provider of the interactive television server.

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

1 is a block diagram illustrating an interactive television system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an interactive television system according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a video display unit 10 and an interactive television server 20.

The image display unit 10 receives images and data from the interactive television server 20 and displays them to the user. If the user desires, the image display unit 10 receives data from the user.

The interactive television server 20 includes a data receiver 21 for receiving the data input by a user through a communication network; A data processor 22 for processing the received data to reflect the data displayed on the image display unit 10; A data storage unit 23 for storing the processed data; And a data transmitter 24 for transmitting the stored data to the video display unit 10 through the communication network.

Of course, in addition to the elements related to image processing and transmission, but this is the same as the conventional description will be omitted.

The data processor 22 collects and processes data input by a user and processes the data to be reflected in predetermined data displayed on the image display unit 10. Specifically, the data processor 22 is related to an image displayed on the image display unit. As a result of the auction and voting, a comment on a post displayed on the video display unit, a short message irrelevant to the display of the video display unit, and the like correspond to the processing data.

That is, the data input by the user is reflected in the content displayed on the image display unit used by a plurality of users, thereby maximizing the bidirectional efficiency.

In other words, a comment, a message, etc. input by a user are transmitted to each user through the interactive television server, that is, a broadcaster, as well as a kind of selection function, such as a selection of a conventional simple question.

Through this, evaluation and ranking of the broadcasted video material can be performed in real time or later, and the evaluation becomes a specific evaluation made directly by the user, not an evaluation made by an expert or the like.

In addition, by inputting a schedule message and displaying it to a plurality of users, a function such as a short message service (SMS) may be performed.

Of course, displaying such a specific message to a plurality of users requires a predetermined censoring procedure, so that a separate censor or censor can be prepared by the broadcasting company, and simply authenticates a user who wants to input a message. In addition, the user may be encouraged to enter the responsibility for the text entered by the user.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable to further arrange a user authentication unit 25 for authenticating a user in the interactive television server so as to process only data transmitted by a user who has passed authentication.

Of course, the range is variable. For example, authentication may be required for all data in the voting format, as well as data in the message format, and authentication may be required only for the message format data.

On the other hand, the image displayed on the image display unit 10 is preferably user created content (user created content, UCC), which is often produced by the individual in the case of user-generated content, in the embodiment of FIG. This is because the evaluation of the user-generated content can be made more actively through bidirectionality as described above.

As a result, feedback on the user-generated content is made, so that not only the convenience for the user watching the user-generated content but also the level of the user-generated content can be improved.

In addition, by allowing the user-produced content producer to display data to be displayed separately from the image, it is possible to present a production background, a method, etc., thereby providing more abundant user-produced content.

Since such user-produced content will eventually be transmitted to a video display unit through a broadcasting station, that is, an interactive television server, the interactive television server 20 includes a database 26 storing the user-produced content as shown in FIG. 3; And a list manager 27 for managing a list of user-generated content stored in the database.

The list manager 27 creates a list including a title and a brief description of the user-produced content in the database 26 in which a plurality of user-produced content are stored, and if the user desires, the list is transferred to the video display unit. The user's convenience is facilitated by transmitting and displaying.

Of course, the image display unit should be provided with an interface corresponding to the list manager 27, which is preferably processed by software.

The database 26 will eventually be formed as a storage device. Since the user-generated content is also stored in digital format, the database 26 may be combined with the data storage unit shown in FIG. 1 and may be separately configured.

For reference, input of user-generated content to be stored in the database 26 may be transmitted from individual producers using a device such as a computer and a communication network, but since a separate configuration such as a computer is required, the image display unit It is preferable to input directly from.

In the latter case, the data input by the user to the image display unit in the description of FIG. 1 will eventually become user-generated content.

In addition, the data processed by the data processing unit may further include advertisement data of the operator associated with the provider of the interactive television server. In other words, by transmitting predetermined advertisement data to the user, it is desirable to allow the user to select whether or not to display the advertisement, and to provide a benefit such as a discount on interactive television fee when displaying the advertisement.

Meanwhile, for convenience of the user, the display of data displayed together with the image may be displayed in a time zone desired by the user.

That is, the data processed by the data processor of FIG. 1 and stored in the data storage unit may be loaded to a desired time zone by the user. For example, the image display unit may be configured as shown in FIG. 4.

For reference, the description may also be applied to the selection of the user-generated content mentioned above.

Referring to FIG. 4, the image display unit includes an interface unit 11 for displaying a list of data stored in the data storage unit 23; A data request unit 13 for requesting the interactive television server 20 for data corresponding to a list selected by the user through the interface unit 11; And a data display unit 15 for receiving and displaying data transmitted from the interactive television server 20 by the request.

The interface unit 11 receives the list of data from the interactive television server 20 and displays it. For this purpose, the interactive television server should be provided with an element (not shown) for generating a list of data.

Although the interface unit 11 is described as one component, the interface unit will eventually be graphically displayed on the screen by internal processing. Therefore, the interface unit 11 is preferably configured in software.

The hardware component should be a receiving unit for receiving a list transmitted from the interactive television server and a display unit for converting and displaying received contents, but this can be achieved by incorporating software into a conventional video display unit. The description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, the interactive television server preferably further includes an authentication unit (not shown) for authenticating whether or not the user-created content can be input and output to the user, the authentication unit may be combined with the user authentication unit described above. In this way, arranging the authentication unit enables input or output of user-generated content only to users who have been authenticated through the authentication unit, thereby preventing indiscriminate inflow and outflow of user-generated content, and providing a more differentiated service to the authentication target user. To do this.

Meanwhile, the image display unit described above may be a digital television receiver, a mobile communication terminal, a portable television receiver, or may further include a terminal receiving an input by a user. In the case of a television receiver as an example, a remote controller may be used, and a text input method of a mobile phone may be used for comments and messages, or a character input device similar to the keyboard configuration may be used.

In the case of a television receiver including a digital television receiver as a video display unit, a separate set top box is generally required to use an interactive television system. Of course, the function of the set-top box can also be configured inside the television receiver, and the following description will be given of the case where the set-top box is separately configured.

A set top box is a home communication terminal typically used to use next-generation interactive multimedia communications services (so-called interactive televisions), such as video on demand (VOD), home shopping, and network games. Also referred to as a subscriber signal conversion device.

It is connected to a network such as two-way television or a video transmission service of a telephone company (eg, a video dial tone provided by a local telephone company), and is connected to a television receiver at home. The set top box communicates with a video server and the like installed in a telephone company or a CATV station, and has a basic function of receiving and converting video signals. In addition, various standards such as having a telephone interface or a connection interface with a personal computer (PC) are also being examined so that data communication services such as telephone and PC communication can be simultaneously used.

5 is a schematic view showing a state in which the set-top box 40 is connected to the television receiver 30. The television receiver 30 is an element for outputting an image transmitted from the interactive television server as described above. It is desirable to reduce the burden of purchasing a separate television set by the user by configuring an existing analog television receiver or a digital television receiver which is currently emerging.

The set top box 40 is connected to the television receiver 30 to provide bidirectionality to the television receiver, and outputs not only video but also data transmitted from the interactive television server.

As shown in FIG. 6, the set top box 40 includes a back office unit for managing a user's login, authentication, and payment, and a user interface (UI) control for managing a screen configuration of a display. It has an application control unit that manages applications such as departments, games / karaoke, messenger, news, weather, SMS (short service), comments, UCC, and video on demand (VOD).

The data may be information irrelevant to an image, or may be information related to the image, for example, a plot of a currently displayed video program or a previous plot in a drama. In addition, a selection menu of an image related to the currently displayed image may be displayed, such that the currently displayed image may be stopped according to the user's selection and the related image may be displayed according to the selection. Of course, as described above with reference to FIG. 1, the data in the form of a message input by the user is included therein.

Considering the method for displaying the data, first, as shown in FIG. 7, the image to be displayed is reduced and displayed on a portion of the television receiver, and the data may be displayed on the portion where the image is not displayed. The data may be displayed at a predetermined portion (displayed on the image).

The latter case is advantageous when the display of images and other operations are performed simultaneously. That is, it is preferable to provide a convenience to the user by displaying a messenger or the like that is not related to the image on a portion where the image of FIG. 7 is not displayed, and outputting image-related data superimposed on the image (displayed as a video).

In addition, the image may be displayed on the entire television receiver and the data may be displayed on a predetermined portion of the displayed image. In this case, the data may be provided to the user as it is and at the same time. Of course, this case will be useful when the data can be displayed on a part of the area of the screen, such as subtitles (eg, Korean subtitles for foreign currency).

Meanwhile, when the data is updated by the user's participation, that is, inputted by the user as shown in FIG. 1 and the contents are reflected on the screen display, the bidirectional function provided by the set-top box is improved. You can.

For example, a certain product is displayed and the auction data for the product is displayed together, and the auction participation by the user is reflected in the auction data and updated and redisplayed (this process must be associated with an interactive television server). By doing so, the user's participation can be reflected.

As another example, when displaying a user created content (UCC), which is a user-created image, the UCC may be displayed and the user's evaluation of the UCC may be reflected in a voting form.

For reference, the UCC refers to the content produced by the user, specifically, the content produced by the user without commercial intention is shown online.

The UCC has developed in the field of information and communication such as the Internet, digital cameras, and mobile phones, and the general public, which produces faster and more meaningful information than the existing media, has been spreading among non-professional consumers.

In the early days, entertainment and entertainment-oriented content (Entertainment UCC) was simply developed to focus on video-based information content (Information UCC). However, with the rapid development of UCC, there are many issues to be solved, such as copyright infringement, flooding of inappropriate content, defamation and privacy infringement, information manipulation, and rumors.

In this embodiment, the user directly participates in the forward and reverse functions of the UCC, thereby evaluating the UCC and thus inducing the production of high-quality UCC.

Accordingly, the user can actively participate in the evaluation of the UCC, and the content of the participation can be immediately displayed, thereby releasing various contents of the UCC to the user.

The appearance is displayed to the user as an example as shown in FIG. 8, and when looking at the contents, UCC (another video is also applicable) is displayed on a part of the screen, and voting, comments, related services, advertisements, news, and weather are displayed on other parts of the screen. And other data are displayed.

Since it may not be desired by the user in relation to the advertisement, it is desirable to allow the user to select whether to display the advertisement and to provide the user with a kind of additional service when displaying the advertisement. For example, it may be possible to provide a benefit such as a discount on interactive television service usage fee.

In addition, the information to be displayed may be mainly used, and the video may be configured to be negative. In other words, a message posted on a messenger, a comment, or a bulletin board may be used as a main element, and a video may be used only to reduce the freeness of using a messenger or a bulletin board. In this case, although there is no relation to the contents of the video, the messenger, and the bulletin board, the interactive television service provides such a function, so that the interactive television service can be used more efficiently.

Of course, a separate terminal, such as a remote control used by the user for the above embodiment, so that characters can be input like a mobile communication terminal, so that a predetermined phrase (comment, etc.) can be directly input and displayed through a broadcasting station. Preferably, a remote controller, such as a keyboard of a computer, may be additionally provided for convenience of text input.

Meanwhile, the displayed voting, commenting, linked service, advertisement, news, weather, etc. are selectively displayed by the user.

On the other hand, the display can be applied to a variety of types, as mentioned above, it is preferable to apply an analog television receiver or a digital television receiver already widely used. Although it is not impossible to apply to a mobile communication terminal and a portable television receiver, since a large area screen is preferable in nature, it is advantageous to be applied to a television receiver having a relatively wide screen as compared to the mobile communication terminal and a portable television receiver. to be.

Among the analog television receivers and digital television receivers, it is more preferable to apply a digital television receiver because of the following advantages of digital television.

Digital television is a television capable of adding high quality screen reproduction and various functions by converting a received broadcast signal into a digital code, and is a so-called third generation television that passed through the black and white era and the color era. Digital television is equipped with a separate IC (Integrated Circuit), which can add various functions, and converts analog signals from broadcasting stations into digital signals to prevent deterioration of video and audio signals. Because of this, you can't see the dual screen caused by the reflection of the analog radio and there's no noise at all.

The multi-screen can be configured with the broadcasting signal memory and processing function of digital television, so that one or two television screens can be simultaneously viewed on one television screen. There are a variety of functions, such as re-checking memorized actions or retrieving them with a printer.

That is, it is easy to implement the bidirectional function when the set-top box providing the bidirectional function is free because of the free configuration of the screen.

The application of a bidirectional set-top box is possible only if the broadcasting station supports bidirectionality. In the current broadcasting station, a system supporting the bidirectional function includes an Internet protocol television and a digital table broadcasting television. Of course, any system equipped with an interactive television server is applicable.

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is an interactive television service provided using a high-speed Internet network, which is different from general cable broadcasting in that a user can watch a program that he / she wants to watch at a convenient time.

It's a type of digital convergence in terms of the convergence of the Internet and television. The difference with traditional Internet TV is that it uses a television receiver instead of a computer monitor and a remote control instead of a mouse.

In order to use such an IPTV, a television receiver, a set-top box, and an Internet line are required. The set-top box can be configured as a set-top box according to the above-described embodiments, so that the user can directly participate in the information displayed instead of simply selecting a program. have.

The IPTV itself can also be provided with various contents and additional services provided by the Internet such as watching movies, home shopping, home banking, online games, MP3, etc. by simply using the remote control. It is not displayed.

The set-top box according to the present exemplary embodiment may provide a variety of information to the user by receiving predetermined data from an interactive television service provider and displaying the data at a location different from the image or at a predetermined portion of the image. In particular, the information is displayed by the user's vote, participation in the auction, posted directly (comments), etc., thereby faithfully performing the interactive function.

Although the above example shows an IPTV formed with the set-top box according to the present embodiment in an Internet protocol television receiver (corresponding to a display), it may be applied to a digital cable broadcasting television receiver that supports bi-directionality with a cable in recent years. In this case, it is obvious that the set-top box is applicable to all cases included separately or in the television receiver.

In order to properly implement the bidirectional function suggested by the present invention in the above description, the configuration of the bidirectional television server of FIG. 1 is required.

9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an interactive television system according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, comprising: an image display unit 110 displaying an image to a user and receiving data input by the user; A two-way television server 120 which receives the data input by the user and processes the data to be reflected in the data displayed on the image display unit; And between the video display unit 110 and the interactive television server 120, relays data input by the user through the video display unit 110 to the interactive television server 120, and transmits the data to the interactive television server 120. And a set top box 140 that receives the data processed by the control unit and relays the data to the image display unit 110.

The data processed by the interactive television server 120 is correlated with auction and voting results related to the image displayed on the image display unit 110, a comment on a post displayed on the image display unit, and the presence or absence of a display related to the image display unit. The video display unit 110 may be a digital television receiver as described above. In this case, the digital television receiver is preferably an Internet protocol television receiver or a digital cable broadcasting television receiver to which an interactive television system is currently applied.

On the other hand, it is more advantageous to use the interactive television system to target the user created content (UCC). This is based on the premise that the user-generated content itself is stored in the interactive television server by using the bidirectional as described above, and the user can directly participate in the evaluation of the user-generated content. By displaying the user-produced content together or separately through the user's video display unit, it is helpful to improve the level of the user-produced content.

In addition, the data processed by the interactive television server may further include advertisement data of the operator associated with the provider of the interactive television server, so that it may be considered to give a certain benefit to the interactive television server provider, that is, the broadcaster and the user using the same. .

As described above, the interactive television system according to the present invention receives and processes data input by a user so that the interactive display system is displayed on a video display used by a plurality of users including the user. There is an advantage to maximize the function.

In particular, the user-produced user-created content is transmitted using a two-way television system, stored and provided to a desired user, a plurality of users directly review the provided user-produced content, and the user's output such as comments By being displayed on the video display unit, it is possible to improve the level of the user-created content, there is an advantage that can increase the broadcasting satisfaction of the user watching this.

Claims (17)

Receiving an image and data from an interactive television server and displaying the image and data to a user, and having an image display unit for receiving data input by the user, The interactive television server A data receiver which receives the data input by the user through a communication network; A data processing unit for processing the received data to reflect the data displayed on the image display unit; A data storage unit for storing the processed data; And And a data transmitter for transmitting the stored data to the video display unit through the communication network. The method of claim 1, The data processed by the data processor is one of auction and voting results related to the image displayed on the image display unit, a comment on a post displayed on the image display unit, and a short message irrelevant to whether the image display unit is displayed or not. Characterized in an interactive television system. The method of claim 2, And the video is user created content (UCC). The method of claim 2, And the data processed by the data processing unit further includes advertisement data of an operator associated with a provider of the interactive television server. The method of claim 1, And the data input by the user to the video display unit is user-generated content. The method according to claim 3 or 5, The interactive television server includes a database for storing the user-generated content; And And a list manager for managing a list of user-generated content stored in the database. The method according to claim 3 or 5, The two-way television server further comprises a UCC authentication unit for authenticating whether or not the user input and output of the user-created content. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The video display unit further comprises a terminal for receiving an input by a user. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, And the video display unit is one of a digital television receiver, a mobile communication terminal, and a portable television receiver. The method of claim 1, The image display unit includes an interface unit for displaying a list of data stored in the data storage unit; A data request unit for requesting data corresponding to a list selected by the user through the interface unit to the interactive television server; And Data display unit for receiving and displaying the data transmitted from the interactive television server in response to the request Interactive television system comprising a. The method of claim 2, The two-way television server further comprises a user authentication unit for performing a user authentication. An image display unit which displays an image to a user and receives data input by the user; A two-way television server which receives data input by the user and processes the data to be reflected in data displayed on the video display unit; And A set-top between the video display unit and the interactive television server, which relays data input by the user through the video display unit to the interactive television server, and receives the data processed by the interactive television server and relays the data to the video display unit. set top) box Interactive television system comprising a. The method of claim 12, The data processed by the interactive television server is one of auction and voting results related to the image displayed on the image display unit, a comment on a post displayed on the image display unit, and a short message irrelevant to whether the image display unit is displayed or not. Interactive television system, characterized in that. The method of claim 12, And the video display unit is a digital television receiver. The method of claim 14, And the digital television receiver is an internet protocol television receiver or a digital cable broadcasting television receiver. The method of claim 12, And the video is user created content (UCC). The method of claim 13, And the data processed by the interactive television server further includes advertisement data of an operator associated with a provider of the interactive television server.

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