KR101125455B1 - Video recording control method and apparatus of digital television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling the storage of multimedia contents of a digital television. In the digital television receiver terminal having a storage device, the recording of the video data is performed in an environment that is poor for recording when the video data is recorded on the storage device. The present invention relates to a recording control method of a digital television that can be prevented from being made.

The present invention searches for information on another physical channel having the same virtual channel with respect to the digital channel, constructs it into a database, and determines a no-signal state when performing a reserved recording for a specified program. If a predetermined time duration is continued, the other physical channel having the same virtual channel is searched for the corresponding channel based on the database, and the searched physical channel is selected to perform reservation recording of the corresponding program.

Digital TV, Scheduled Recording, Recording Control

Description

VIDEO RECORDING CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS OF DIGITAL TELEVISION RECEIVER}

1 is a block diagram of a PVR integrated digital TV to which the present invention is applied.

2 is a flowchart of a channel discovery and channel information storage method according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart of a reservation recording control method according to the present invention;

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: micom 2: machine control panel

3: display unit 4: A / V input unit

5: Codec / VDP section 6: Tuner section

7: TS processor 8: PVR controller

9: Storage Device (HDD) 10: Storage Device Controller (HDD Controller)

11: memory

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for controlling the storage of multimedia content of a digital television, and in a digital television reception terminal having a storage device, recording video data (including audio data. The present invention relates to a recording control method of a digital television that can prevent recording of video data in an environment that is poor for recording.

Digital TV receiver terminal (digital TV) includes a mass storage device such as a hard disk (HDD) to provide a base for storing broadcast signals (A / V data) in the form of digital signals and reproducing and viewing them when necessary. It is becoming.

In other words, due to the development of PVR (Personal Video Recorder), high definition (HD) -class high-definition digital broadcasts can be stored on the hard disk, and users can play them again and watch them whenever they need them. In addition, various functions, such as instant play and trick play, have been added, providing a technical basis for accessing more convenient and useful functions.

In particular, the reservation recording function automatically records the broadcast when the recording information is input, so that the user can play the multimedia content (A / V data) reserved for the storage device (HDD) later and watch it again. One of the useful features. These PVR functions are also installed in digital TVs, allowing users to watch and record TV with just one TV without purchasing a separate PVR.

However, the scheduled recording function in a digital TV equipped with a PVR can be diluted if the user does not deal with recording errors caused by an unexpected environment. In other words, when using a digital TV, it may be in a bad environment for recording without any intention of the user. For example, a channel reserved by the user may be caused by a broadcast station or a bad weather or transmission system. If the received signal is weak due to a stream corruption or a problem in the transmission process, or if it is judged as a no signal in the digital TV, even if recording is performed, there is no video data actually stored in the storage device (HDD). do.

Therefore, even if the recording is scheduled, from the user's point of view, it is necessary to provide complete information about whether the broadcasting signal of the reserved recording program (channel) that he has set up is correctly and stably received and whether the program has been properly recorded. It is difficult to trust. In an extreme example, if a program of a channel reserved by the user is not received at all due to one or more of the above factors from the beginning to the end, the scheduled recording itself becomes meaningless, and the user prefers the user. Because the recording of the selected program is not made itself, it will act as a cause of complaint.

Therefore, there is a need for a means capable of actively and appropriately responding to the digital TV itself in preparation of such a case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a means for enabling normal recording of a program in a digital TV when the program desired by the user is recorded, even when the broadcast stream is damaged or missing.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a means for enabling normal reservation recording of a corresponding program even when the user wants to make a reservation recording of a desired program, even when the broadcast stream of the desired program is damaged or missing.

It is still another object of the present invention to record a program desired by a user, and to detect a signal due to a damage or a loss of a broadcast stream of a desired program, when recording on one physical channel fails. The present invention provides a means for enabling accurate recording of a program to be recorded by finding another physical channel of the program and performing normal recording of the corresponding program.

It is still another object of the present invention to perform a scheduled recording on a single physical channel when a scheduled recording of a program desired by a user, or when a signal is not detected due to damage or loss of a broadcast stream of a desired program, is scheduled. The present invention provides a means for enabling accurate recording of a reserved program by searching for another physical channel of the same virtual channel and performing normal scheduled recording of the corresponding program.

In the recording control method of the digital television of the present invention for achieving the above object, determining the recording state when performing the recording of the specified program, when the recording error occurs as a result of the other physical channel having the same virtual channel for the corresponding channel Searching for, selecting the found physical channel and recording a corresponding program; Characterized in that comprises a.

In addition, the recording control method of the digital television of the present invention for achieving the above object, the step of retrieving the information about the other physical channel having the same virtual channel for the digital channel to build a database, reserved recording for the specified program Determining a no-signal state during the execution, searching for another physical channel having the same virtual channel with respect to the corresponding channel based on the database if the no-signal state persists for a predetermined time or more as a result of the determination; Selecting to proceed with the scheduled recording of the program; Characterized in that comprises a.

In addition, the recording control apparatus of the digital television of the present invention for achieving the above object, the channel database storage means for storing information about the virtual channel and the corresponding physical channel, detects whether or not the reserved recording program channel signal A non-signal detecting means, a control means for searching for the channel database storage means and performing switching control to another physical channel of the corresponding virtual channel when detecting the no signal, and performing recording of the program under the control of the control means. It characterized in that it comprises a recording means.

In the present invention, the database construction is characterized in that the database is searched for a number of physical channels having the same virtual channel for the digital channel during the channel auto scan (Channel Auto Scan).

Further, in the present invention, the database construction is performed at every channel auto scan to update and store the physical channel information of the virtual channel with the latest information at all times.

In the present invention, the determination of whether or not the recording error occurs is characterized in that it is made based on the no signal.

Further, in the present invention, whether or not the non-signal-based recording error, the non-signal continuous time lasts more than a predetermined time, the no-signal state continues more than a set number of times within a preset time interval, or the time when no signal accumulation time is set or more If so, it is determined that the recording error is characterized in that the recording is switched to another physical channel.

In the present invention, a multimedia content (audio / video data) storage device mounted on a digital TV uses a HDD-based PVR, and recording includes digital recording / storage of digital video / audio data, including scheduled recording as well as general real-time recording. The case will be described.

The reservation recording method of the PVR integrated digital TV according to the present invention and the features of the device are characterized in that, when the transmission channel to be recorded is recognized as a no signal due to an unexpected deterioration of the physical channel during the reservation recording in the PVR, By detecting this and scanning another physical channel, another physical channel having the same virtual channel as the program channel to be recorded is found and the program of this channel is recorded instead.

In other words, the present invention focuses on the fact that a digital channel includes a physical channel and a virtual channel, so that when (reserved) recording on one physical channel fails, another physical of the same virtual channel is failed. It provides a means to find a channel and continue recording (scheduled).

One of the characteristics of digital broadcasting is that it has a plurality of virtual channels in one physical channel. For example, digital broadcasting can be transmitted from three locations such as base stations A1, A2, and A3 for region A. If digital broadcasting is transmitted from each local broadcasting station A1, A2, or A3, the same virtual channel (channel number K_No, broadcasting station) can be transmitted. In case of KBS1 TV, transmission may be performed on different physical channels K1, K2, and K3.

In this case, the local user may be an environment in which one broadcast is received from multiple physical channels with the same virtual channel.

For example, in the case of South Korea, digital broadcasting is transmitted from three places such as Gwanaksan, Namsan, and Yongmunsan. In this case, users in some regions have the same virtual channel (for example, KBS 1TV). Example: Channel 9) is placed in an environment that receives from multiple physical channels (eg 479MHz, 539MHz, etc.).

The present invention utilizes the above features. That is, when reservation recording is set to virtual channel 9 and physical channel 479 MHz, if a problem occurs in the broadcast stream transmission process and the corresponding program channel signal is recognized as no signal in the digital TV, the same virtual channel (channel 9 in the example above) According to the example above, another physical channel having a number of times, i.e., 539 MHz, is scheduled and recorded instead, so that a desired broadcast can be recorded without stream damage or stream loss.

In the PVR reservation recording method and apparatus according to the present invention, in the case of channel auto scan, a plurality of physical channels having the same virtual channel are digitalized for digital channels, and no signal of the corresponding program channel signal is recorded during reservation recording. When no signal is detected, another physical channel of the same virtual channel can be retrieved from the database, and the retrieved physical channel can be recorded instead so that the user can save a desired program to the storage device with a minimum recording error. It will provide the foundation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a recording control method and a device of a digital television of the present invention made as described above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a digital television receiving terminal device (digital TV) in accordance with a recording control apparatus of a digital television of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a digital TV according to the present invention includes a microcomputer 1 for establishing virtual channel and physical channel information, performing channel search and switching control according to detection of no signal during recording, and the microcomputer 1. A device control unit 2 for inputting a device operation command by the user, a display unit 3 for video display, an A / V input unit 4 for analog audio and video signal input, and an analog / digital A / A codec / VDP unit 5 for encoding and decoding V data and video display processing, a tuner unit 6 for tuning digital broadcast signals, and a transport stream tuned by the tuner unit 6 TS processing unit 7 for TS (Transport Stream) processing, PVR control unit 8 for digital A / V data storage and playback processing, HDD-based storage device 9 for digital A / V data storage, A / V data storage and output of the storage device (9) It has been made, including the memory unit 11 for storing data such as a storage device control unit (HDD Controller) (10) for control and channel data base.

In normal digital TV viewing, the microcomputer 1 controls the tuner unit 6 for a channel selected by the user through the device operation unit 2 so that program tuning of the channel can be performed, and the tuner unit 6 outputs it. The processed broadcast stream is processed by the TS processing unit 7 and delivered to the codec / VDP unit 5, and the codec / VDP unit 5 decodes the corresponding broadcast stream and processes it in the video display processor (VDP). ) Here, the codec / VDP unit 5 encodes the analog audio / video signal input to the A / V input unit 4 or processes the analog audio / video signal in the video display processor VDP and outputs the same to the display unit 3. .

On the other hand, when the user sets the channel Auto Scan using the machine control panel 2, the microcomputer 1 searches for information on the physical channel having the same virtual channel for the digital channel while executing the auto scan, The search result is converted into a database and stored in the memory unit 11. The database for the virtual channel and the physical channel is performed at every auto scan so that the latest channel information can be updated and maintained at all times, and the memory unit 11 is a nonvolatile memory, even if the device is powered off. Do not lose.

When the user executes the recording reservation using the device operation unit 2, the microcomputer 1 stores the recording reservation information for the corresponding program channel in the memory unit 11.

After that, when the recording of the reserved program is started, the microcomputer 1 controls the tuner 6 to perform channel selection control of the corresponding channel. Accordingly, the tuner unit 6 tunes to the program channel reserved by the user, and the broadcast stream of the tuned program is processed by the TS processor 7 and delivered to the PVR controller 8.

The PVR controller 8 interworks with the storage controller 10 and performs a function control such as trick play. The storage controller 10 interoperates with the PVR controller 8 to store audio and video data for the tuned and processed reservation program in the storage 9.

In this way, when storing the reserved program, if the tuner unit 6 detects a no-signal state of the program, it delivers it to the microcomputer 1. When no signal is detected, the microcomputer 1 monitors whether the non-signal state continues for a predetermined time or more, and as a result, searches for the channel database stored in the memory unit 11 when the non-signal time is longer than the predetermined time. Search the database to determine if there is another physical channel of the same virtual channel for the reserved digital channel, and if there is another physical channel, control the tuner unit 6 to move to the searched channel and continue recording. Do it.

Here, in the case where the no-signal continuous time lasts more than the preset time, as well as when the no-signal state continues more than the set number of times within the preset time interval, or when the no-signal accumulation time is more than the preset time, it is determined that the recording error is different. It is also possible to control the recording to switch to the physical channel.

For example, if no signal condition continues for 10 seconds, the recording of switching to the found channel is performed through another physical channel search. Alternatively, when no signal is detected three times or more within 30 seconds of the set time interval, switching to the searched channel is performed through another physical channel search. The former may be useful for continuous periods of no signal, but may not be useful for short repetitions, while the latter may be useful for scheduled recording even when short periods of no signal are repeated. There is an advantage to this. As another method, the cumulative calculation of the time of no signal is calculated, and when the cumulative time reaches 20 seconds or more, the recording of switching to the searched channel is performed through another physical channel search. The last mentioned method can be useful when considering both the number of non-signals and the duration.

2 is a flowchart of a channel discovery and channel information storage method according to the present invention.

The first step S10 is an auto scan execution step. The second step S20 is a step of determining whether the found channel is a digital channel when executing an auto scan. As a result of the determination of the second step (S20), when the channel is not a digital channel, the channel database cannot be constructed, so the database construction process is terminated. As a result of the determination in the second step S20, in the case of the digital channel, the process proceeds to the third step S30. The third step S30 is to search for a physical channel having the same virtual channel and to database it. The fourth step S40 is a step of storing the constructed database in a memory unit.

By performing the sequence shown in Fig. 2, when the digital channel is set in the automatic channel in the PVR, the physical channel is databased compared to the same virtual channel, which is stored in the nonvolatile memory unit (eg, EEPROM), and then the power is turned off. If you do, you have that information. In addition, it is also performed when automatic channel setting is performed again, and has the latest information based on the channel map.

3 is a flowchart of a reservation recording control method according to the present invention.

The first step (S100) is a step in which a user makes a recording reservation, stores reserved information, and starts execution of a scheduled recording for a corresponding program.

The second step S200 is a step of determining whether a program channel to be reserved and recorded is a digital channel. As a result of the determination of the second step (S200), the virtual channel-based channel switching is not possible in the case of the non-digital channel, so the process is ended, and in the case of the digital channel, the process proceeds to the third step (S300).

The third step S300 is a no signal discrimination step. If no signal state is detected in this step, the process proceeds to the fourth step S400 and continues recording based on the currently set channel. However, if no signal condition is detected, the process proceeds to the fifth step S500.

A fifth step S500 is to find another physical channel by referring to the constructed database, and to search for a physical channel having the same virtual channel as the channel to be reserved for the current reservation. The sixth step S600 is a step of determining whether another physical channel exists as a result of the search in the fifth step S500.

As a result of the determination of the sixth step S600, if another physical channel does not exist, the process is terminated, and if there is another physical channel, the process proceeds to the seventh step S700 to move to the found channel to perform recording. Even when the current channel is in a no-signal state, the program can be safely recorded using another physical channel on the same virtual channel.

By performing the series of procedures shown in Fig. 3, by using the channel information obtained in Fig. 2, no signal recording is prevented during scheduled recording. Once recognized, the function is activated.

In this case, the criterion for determining no signal should be no signal for a predetermined time or no signal is detected for a set number of times or more within a set time interval.

If the reservation recording control procedure is configured in the above flow, a reservation can be prevented and reservations for a desired program can be securely and accurately performed.

Although the schedule recording has been described so far, the same method can be applied to the real-time recording of the current program. In this case, even if the current viewing channel is in the no-signal state, the same virtual channel is used when watching without recording. Automatic switching to another physical channel may enable viewing of the program.

According to the present invention, when a scheduled recording of a PVR integrated digital TV, if a signal is not input from the physical channel to which the scheduled recording is set, another physical channel for the corresponding virtual channel is searched to reduce the case of the scheduled recording failure. It can be effective.

Claims (10)

Determining a recording state when performing a recording of a specified program; searching for another physical channel having the same virtual channel with respect to a channel on which the designated program is broadcast when a recording error occurs; selecting the found physical channel Recording the designated program; Recording control method for a digital television comprising a. The recording control method according to claim 1, wherein the recording is a reserved recording.  The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: building information about another physical channel having the same virtual channel into a database, and selecting a channel search to switch when the recording error occurs based on the database search. Recording control method of a digital television. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the database building step includes searching and physicalizing a plurality of physical channels having the same virtual channel with respect to the digital channel during a channel auto scan. . 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the database building step is performed at every channel auto scan to update and store physical channel information of a virtual channel with the latest information at all times. The recording control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination of whether a recording error occurs is performed based on no signal. The method of claim 6, wherein the non-signal-based recording error is determined by: whether the continuous signal-free time lasts more than a preset time, the no-signal state continues more than a preset number of times within a preset time interval, or the non-signal accumulated time is set. The recording control method for a digital television, characterized in that if the abnormality is determined to be a recording error to switch recording to another physical channel. Retrieving information about another physical channel having the same virtual channel with respect to the digital channel and constructing it into a database; determining a no-signal state when performing a reserved recording for a specified program; Searching for another physical channel having the same virtual channel with respect to a channel on which the designated program is broadcasted based on the database if the duration is longer than a predetermined time; and performing reservation recording of the designated program by selecting the found physical channel. ; Recording control method for a digital television comprising a. Channel database storage means for storing information about the virtual channel and the physical channel having the virtual channel, non-signal detection means for detecting whether or not a reservation-recorded program channel signal, the channel database storage when the signal is detected Control means for searching for means and performing switching control to another physical channel having the same virtual channel for the channel on which the program is broadcast; recording means for recording the program under the control of the control means. The recording control device of the digital television characterized by. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the non-signal-based recording error is determined by: whether the signal-free continuous time lasts for more than a preset time, the signal-free state continues for more than a predetermined number of times within a preset time interval, or the time for which no signal accumulation time is set. The recording control apparatus for digital television, characterized in that it is determined that the recording error in the case of abnormality, and switching recording to another physical channel is performed.

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