KR20000019289A - Method for searching program of digital broadcasting reception system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A program searching method is provided to give accommodation to a user by selecting a desired program displaying each program through divided screens when a plurality of programs are transferred through one channel. CONSTITUTION: The method for searching a program among a plurality of transferred programs multiplexed comprises the steps of: detecting program information associated with the multiplexed program, respectively; displaying the program information at plural sub regions on an image mapped screen; and if one of the plural sub regions is selected by a user, displaying a program corresponding to the selected sub region. In the step of detecting, an image information of a frame is detected at each program, and is a reference image information which is inserted for a random search.

Description

Program search method of digital broadcasting receiving system

The present invention relates to a program search method for searching for one of a plurality of programs in a receiver for receiving a digital broadcast signal for multiplexing and transmitting a plurality of programs on one channel.

In digital broadcasting, a program compressed and multiplexed by the MPEG standard is transmitted. According to the MPEG system, one program can be transmitted by a program stream or a plurality of multiplexed programs can be transmitted by a transport stream. That is, one program can be transmitted on one channel or multiple programs can be transmitted by multiplexing. For example, one HD (High Definition) class program or four Standard Definition (SD) class programs may be transmitted on the same channel. If a plurality of programs are multiplexed and transmitted on one channel, a program searching method for selecting and viewing one program among them is required.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a conventional program search method, and illustrates an example of searching a single channel using one tuner. Here, the channel means a channel allocated to a broadcasting station. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of programs multiplexed on a channel are divided into a plurality of sub-screens 10a-10d, and each of the sub-screens 10a-10d displays a screen sampled from the respective programs. Display. For example, the first sub-screen 10a to the fourth sub-screen 10d display screens sampled from the first to fourth programs, respectively.

At this time, each sub-screen is displayed along with the sampled screen and the identification number of the sampled program. The user sees what programs are being broadcast on the current channel through the screen as shown in FIG. 2 and selects a desired program from among them. In detail, the user refers to the program identification numbers displayed on the sub-screens and selects the identification number of the desired program using the ten keys (numeric keys).

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating another example of a conventional program search method, and illustrates an example of searching two channels simultaneously through two tuners. As shown in FIG. 2, the screen is divided into a plurality of sub-screens 20a-20e, and each of the sub-screens 20a-20e displays a screen sampled from the respective channels.

For example, when only one program is transmitted to the first channel and four programs are multiplexed and transmitted to the second channel, the programs of the second channel are displayed by POP (Picture Out Picture) processing. In detail, the fifth sub-screen 20e positioned at the center displays a screen sampled from the first channel, and the first sub-screen 20a to the fourth sub-screen 20d positioned at the periphery are multiplexed to the second channel. Displays screens sampled from the first to fourth programs, respectively.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the respective sub screens display the sampled screen and the identification number of the sampled program. The user sees what programs are being broadcast on the current channel through the screen as shown in FIG. 2, and selects a desired program from among them using a ten key.

According to the conventional program search method as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, since the user selects a desired program by directly inputting a program number using a ten key, there is a problem in that operability is weak and inconvenience in use.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a program search method with excellent operability, which is devised to solve the above problems.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a conventional program search method.

2 is a diagram for explaining another example of a conventional program search method.

3 shows a case where a program selectable by a box is displayed in the program search method according to the present invention.

4 shows a case where a program selectable by a cursor is displayed in the program search method according to the present invention.

5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an apparatus for performing a program search method according to the present invention.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for searching a program from a plurality of programs that are multiplexed and transmitted, the method comprising: detecting program information associated with each of the multiplexed programs; Displaying the program information on a plurality of sub-areas of an image-mapped screen, respectively; And selecting one of the plurality of sub-regions by a user's selection to display a program corresponding to the selected sub-region. Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the configuration and operation of the present invention.

3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a program search method according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a screen is divided into a plurality of sub screens 30a-30d, and each of the sub screens 30a-30d displays a screen sampled from respective programs. For example, the first sub-screen 30a to the fourth sub-screen 30d respectively display screens sampled from the first to fourth programs.

Here, each sub screen is composed of an image mapped screen. The image-mapped screen refers to a screen in which some coordinates on the screen match a certain operation command. In other words, when a coordinate is selected on the screen, the screen is configured to execute a command assigned to the region to which the coordinate belongs. An example of an image mapped screen may be a touch screen. In addition, the number of sub-screens is preferably equal to the number of multiplexed programs, and the area of the sub-screens is preferably divided evenly.

In this case, a box or a cursor indicating that each sub screen is currently in a selectable state may be displayed on the screen.

3 is an example showing that each sub screen is placed in a currently selectable state by a selection box. In FIG. 3, it can be seen that a border is indicated by a thick box around the second sub-region 30b. This box is in a state where a program currently displayed in the second sub-area 30 can be selected, that is, when a selection key (for example, a specific selection button or enter key) is pressed in this state, the program can be viewed. It is present. In this state, when the user presses a select key, a program corresponding to this sub screen is enlarged and displayed on the full screen.

4 is an example showing that each sub screen is placed in a currently selectable state by a cursor. In FIG. 4, it can be seen that a cursor is displayed on the second sub-region 30b. This cursor indicates that the second sub area 30 b0 is currently selectable. In this state, when the user presses a select key, a program corresponding to this sub screen is enlarged and displayed on the full screen.

The program search method according to the present invention is performed as follows.

First, it is detected whether multiplexed programs are transmitted in the current channel.

Secondly, if multiplexed programs are being transmitted, program information related to each multiplexed program is detected.

Third, program information is displayed in each of the plurality of image-mapped sub-areas.

Fourth, when one of the plurality of sub-regions is selected by the user's selection, the program is displayed on the full screen of programs corresponding to the selected sub-region.

5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for performing a program search method according to the present invention. The apparatus shown in FIG. 5 includes a tuner 50, an intermediate frequency converter 52, a channel decoder 54, a channel equalizer 56, a transport stream decoder 58, a video decoder 60, and a frame converter 62. ), A memory 64, a graphics processor 66, a central processing unit 68, and a remote controller 70.

The tuner 50 tunes to a channel designated by the user and outputs a broadcast signal of the designated channel. The intermediate frequency converter 52 outputs an intermediate frequency converted broadcast signal suitable for processing by a receiver by intermediate frequency processing the broadcast signal provided from the tuner 50.

The channel decoder 54 channel decodes the intermediate frequency converted broadcast signal provided from the intermediate frequency converter 52. This channel decoding includes demodulation, inverse framing, deinterleaving, error correction, and the like, of the channel modulated signal. For ATSC (Advanced Television Standard Committee) signals, the demodulation of the channel modulated signal corresponds to the process of demodulating the digital signal from the 8 Vestigial Side Band (8VSB) (terrestrial broadcast) or 16 VBSS (cable) modulated signal. do. Error correction corrects errors introduced during transmission by trellis decoding and Reed-Solomon (RS) code decoding. The output of the channel decoder 64 is a transport stream.

The channel equalizer 56 is provided to correct a signal distorted by interference between adjacent channels.

The transport stream decoder 58 demultiplexes each program and element streams of that program from the transport stream provided by the channel decoder 54. Element streams include video element streams, audio element streams, system data streams, and the like. Of these, the system data stream is sent to the central processing unit 68 and the video stream is sent to the video decoder 60.

The video decoder 60 stores the video element stream transmitted from the transport stream decoder 58 and performs the output for decoding and display with reference to the given time stamps DTS and PTS.

The frame converter 62 converts the aspect ratio and the scanning form (sequential scan / bewil scan) of the main level screen compressed by the MPEG2 standard according to the display device (not shown) used.

The graphic processor 64 synthesizes the screen output from the frame converter 62 and the graphic screen generated by the control of the central processing unit 78 and outputs the synthesized screen through a display device (not shown).

The central processing unit 68 controls the TS decoder 58 to demultiplex and output a plurality of programs when receiving a channel having a plurality of multiplexed programs, and the frame converter 62 is shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4. The configured navigation screen. In addition, in response to the user's selection, the TS decoder 58 controls to demultiplex and output only the selected program, and the frame converter 62 releases the search screen shown in FIG. 3 or 4 and returns the selected program to the full screen. Control the output.

A program search process by the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 will be described in detail. Program streams having a plurality of programs are multiplexed into a transport stream by a transport stream multiplexer (not shown). The transport stream consists of a set of transport packets having a size of 188 bytes. Here, each transport packet has a unique PID.

According to the MPEG2 system, a transport stream has some additional information for program specification information (PSI). Among the transport packets constituting the transport stream, a packet having a PID (Packet Identification Data) of 0 includes a program association table (PAT). The PAT includes a program number and a PID of a transport packet that transmits a program map table (PMT) constituting the program.

The PAT contains a program identification number and a PID list or additional information of transport packets in which individual streams such as video and audio constituting the program are transmitted.

The transport stream decoder 58 obtains the PAT from the transport packet with PID = 0, and obtains the PID of the transport packet for transmitting the element streams of each program by referring to the program number and the PID recorded in the PAT. When the program is multiplexed, the video element streams of the respective programs are separated and transmitted to the video decoder 60. Video decoder 60 has buffers for each program therein.

The transport stream decoder 58 may determine whether a plurality of programs are multiplexed on the current transport stream with reference to the above-described PAT, PMT, and the like.

The program search method of the present invention may be performed when a channel change is made or when only one program is transmitted in the same channel and a plurality of programs are transmitted. In fact, digital broadcasting can selectively transmit a single program or a plurality of programs for each time zone.

When a state in which a plurality of programs are multiplexed and transmitted to a channel selected by a channel change, a multiplexing mode change, or a channel search mode is designated, the program search process of the present invention is performed.

First, the transport stream decoder 58 separates the video elements corresponding to each program and transmits them to the video decoder 60. Here, the PID of a transport packet having a video element stream corresponding to each program is defined by the PAT.

Video decoder 60 stores the video element streams of each program in respective buffers. Among the video element streams stored in the buffer, a reference picture for random search is reproduced in synchronization with the DTS. According to the MPEG2 standard, a GOP is presented as a random access unit. This GOP consists of a plurality of frames (usually 15). The GOP includes at least one I picture (Intra Picture). The I screen is a reference screen in GOP units.

The plurality of reference screens reproduced for each program are transmitted to the frame converter. The frame converter 62 converts and reproduces the reproduced reference screens according to a resolution and a scanning format suitable for the display device.

The graphic processor 64 subsamples the plurality of reference screens transmitted from the frame converter 62 and synthesizes the one screen into one screen. Memory 66 is provided for this purpose. An area of the memory 66 is divided by the number of multiplexed programs, and sampling information of each subsampled reference screen is stored in the memory 66.

One screen image is output by reading the screen information stored in the memory 66 at once.

The graphics processor 76 generates a box or cursor indicating a selectable state, moves the box or cursor in response to a user's moving command, and determines an identification number of the selected program in response to the user's selecting command. In addition, the identification number of the determined program is transmitted to the central processing unit 68.

The movement of the box or cursor is controlled by the remote controller. The user is controlled by an air mouse or cursor movement keys installed on the remote controller.

The central processing unit 68 provides the graphics processor 64 with information about the number of multiplexed programs. The graphic processor 64 determines the subsampling rate of each reference screen and the configuration of the search screen according to the number of subscreens provided by the central processing unit 78.

The graphic processor 64 determines the number and positions of sub-screens constituting the display screen according to the program number information provided by the central processing unit 68. For example, when four programs are multiplexed, the display screen is divided into four sub-screens as shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, and each sub-screen has an area divided evenly into quarters. That is, in the square divided display screen, the upper left sub screen is allocated for the first program, and in the same manner, the fourth program is allocated to the lower right sub screen.

The reference pictures of each program are subsampled at a ratio of 1/2 in the horizontal direction and 1/2 in the vertical direction. The subsampled reference pictures are stored in the memory 66. The memory 66 basically has a memory capacity corresponding to one screen of the display device. The memory 66 is divided by the number of multiplexed programs, and each divided memory area stores the subsampled reference screen.

The graphic processor 64 reads the screen information stored in the memory 66 and outputs it to the display device along with the box or cursor information.

Here, the size and movement of the box or the movement of the cursor is controlled by the central processing unit 78 and the graphics processor 64. The graphics processor 64 moves the box and the cursor in response to a user's move command. In addition, in response to a user's selection command via the remote controller 70, the controller recognizes the position of the selected sub-screen and transmits this information to the central processing unit 68.

The central processing unit 68 recognizes the number of the program corresponding to the position of the selected sub picture and provides it to the transport stream decoder 58 and the video decoder 60.

The transport stream decoder 58, which has received the number of the selected program from the central processing unit 68, selects only the transport packet related to the selected program and transmits it to the video decoder 60. The video decoder 60 decodes the video information of the program provided by the transport decoder 58 and transmits the decoded video information to the frame converter 62.

The graphic processor 64 outputs only the screen corresponding to the selected program in full screen size.

The user moves the cursor installed in the remote controller 70 to select one of the sub-screens, and if the desired program is input, enters an enter key to display the full screen.

The audio decoder is not shown in the apparatus shown in FIG. This is because most audio signals are muted during the search process. In another embodiment, audio information of a currently selectable program may be reproduced according to a movement of a box or a cursor.

As described above, the channel searching method and apparatus according to the present invention display each program through a divided screen when a plurality of programs are transmitted to one channel, and select a desired program by using a box or a cursor. It has the effect of promoting convenience.

Claims (5)

In a method of searching for a program from a plurality of programs to be multiplexed and transmitted, Detecting program information related to each of the multiplexed programs; Displaying the program information on a plurality of sub-areas of an image-mapped screen, respectively; And selecting one of the plurality of sub-areas by a user's selection to display a program corresponding to the selected sub-region. The program searching method of claim 1, wherein the detecting process detects image information of one frame in at least each program. The method of claim 2, wherein the image information is reference image information inserted for random search. The method of claim 1, wherein the display process And display the number of sub-areas of the image-mapped screen at least equal to the number of the multiplexed programs. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection process is And a cursor indicating a selectable subarea between the subareas of the image-mapped screen in response to a user's region moving command.