KR20050089631A - Channel switching method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a channel switching method that allows a user to quickly switch a channel to a desired channel, and after classifying received channels of a broadcast signal into a plurality of channel groups, the user inputs an up or down command. In response to this, the channel is up / down to a predetermined channel group, and the channel is up / down among the channels in the channel group according to a Left or Right command. Accordingly, the user can quickly move a channel to a desired channel by only channel up / down / left / right commands.

Description

Channel Switching Method

The present invention relates to a channel switching method, wherein the received channels of a broadcast signal are classified into a plurality of channel groups, and then up / down to a predetermined channel group according to an up (down) or down (down) command input to the command input unit. The present invention relates to a channel switching method that allows a user to switch channels quickly by up / down a channel among channels in a corresponding channel group according to a left or right command.

In a general channel switching method, as shown in FIG. 1, a broadcast signal receiver automatically searches for viewable channels and stores the retrieved channel information in a memory, or a user directly searches for a channel and stores the channel search information in a memory. When the user inputs a channel change command, the channel is sequentially displayed to the user according to the channel information stored in the memory.

The term “current channel” in FIG. 1 means a channel currently being viewed by a user, and indicates that the user is watching broadcast signals of channels 9-0.

The numbers listed in FIG. 1 mean channel information stored in a memory by searching for channels that are automatically viewable by a broadcast receiver, or channel information stored in a memory by a user searching for a channel directly.

When the user presses the UP key to switch the channel to the upper channel while watching the broadcast of the current channel 9-0, the channel is changed to the channel 9-1 and the broadcast signal of the channel is output. That is, when the user presses the up key, the channel is sequentially switched from 9-0 → 9-1 → 11-0 → ...... 7-0 → 7-1 → 9-0. On the contrary, when the user presses the down key, the channel is switched in the reverse order of the above-described channel change order.

However, unlike the analog broadcasting which has a small number of channels, such a general channel switching method converts to a desired channel when applied to a digital broadcasting with hundreds of channels. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a channel switching method for allowing a user to quickly switch a channel to a desired channel.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method including: a first step of classifying received channels of a broadcast signal into channels having the same major number as each channel group;

A second step of determining whether a channel change command is input after the first step;

As a result of the determination in the second step, when the input channel change command is an up / down channel change command, up / down the channel group is selected in the up / down order, and up / down within the selected channel group A third step of selecting one channel;

And as a result of the determination of the second step, when the input channel change command is a left / right channel change command, including a fourth step of selecting up / down within the channels of the currently selected channel group. desirable.

In addition, the present invention for achieving this purpose, the receiving channels of the broadcast signal is classified into an analog channel and a digital channel, and the digital channel is divided into channels having the same major number again and classified into each channel group, classification A first step of determining an up / down order of one analog channel and a digital channel group;

A second step of determining whether a channel change command is input after the first step;

As a result of the determination in the second step, when the input channel change command is an up / down channel change command, an analog channel or a digital channel group is selected up / down according to the up / down order, and the digital channel group is selected. A third step of selecting one channel within the currently selected digital channel group in the case of up / down;

As a result of the determination of the second step, when the input channel change command is a left / right channel change command, if the current channel is a channel belonging to the digital channel group, it is selected up and down within the channels of the currently selected digital channel group. It is preferable to include a fourth step to.

Before describing the channel switching method of the present invention, the major number of the channel and the minor number of the channel will be briefly explained first to help understanding.

The concept of the major number and the minor number of the channel is proposed to transmit a digital signal while maintaining the number of the analog broadcasting channel currently used as the broadcasting method is changed from the conventional analog broadcasting method to the digital broadcasting method. In the channel display method, channels are represented by two groups of numbers, such as 11-1, and the existing analog channel number is designated as the major number, that is, the first group of two groups of channel numbers, and the second group of numbers. Is determined by the broadcaster as a minor number, that is, the second digit of the two-digit number (the details of the major number and the minor number of the channel is already known in the art and further description will be omitted).

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcast signal receiver to which a channel switching method of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, a broadcast signal receiver to which the present invention is applied is an analog tuner that tunes and demodulates an analog broadcast signal. A demodulation section 20; A digital tuner / demodulator 21 for tuning and demodulating a digital broadcast signal; A switching unit 22 for selecting one of the demodulation signals of the analog tuner / demodulator 20 and the digital tuner / demodulator 21; A demultiplexer unit 23 for separating the demodulation signal selected by the switching unit 22 into an audio signal and a video signal; An image processing unit (24) which performs image processing so that a predetermined image signal separated from the demultiplexer unit (23) can be viewed; A memory unit 27 storing an operation program of the control unit 26; An OSD for controlling the respective units, controlling the switching of the switching unit 22 according to a user's channel selection, and for the OSD unit 28 to display information of a corresponding channel on a screen of the image output unit 25 A control unit 26 for controlling to output a signal; A command input unit 29 for inputting an operation control command of a broadcast signal receiver such as a channel change command and a power control command according to a user's operation; Under the control of the controller 26, an OSD unit 28 for outputting a predetermined OSD signal for displaying information of a corresponding channel on the screen, and an image signal processed by the image processor 24 and the OSD unit 28 It consists of an image output unit 25 for displaying the signal output from the screen on.

In the broadcast signal receiver applied to the present invention, the tuner / demodulator 20, 21 tunes a broadcast signal of a predetermined channel selected by a user's operation, and applies the tuned information to the controller 26. The controller 26 receiving the tuning information determines whether the received broadcast signal is an analog signal or a digital signal, and applies a predetermined control signal to the switching unit 22 according to the determination result. Herein, if the corresponding channel is an analog broadcast channel, the switching unit 22 selects and outputs a broadcast signal of the corresponding channel tuned / demodulated by the analog tuner / demodulation unit 20, while the corresponding channel is a digital broadcast channel. The digital tuner / demodulator 21 selects and outputs a broadcast signal of the corresponding channel tuned / demodulated. Thereafter, the demodulated broadcast signal is separated into an image signal and an audio signal by the demultiplexer unit 23 and output, and the separated image signal is applied to the image processing unit 24 to perform image processing, and the audio signal is a predetermined audio processing / output. Processed and output by means (not shown). In addition, the image signal processed by the image processor 24 is applied to the image output unit 25 and output to be viewed by the user.

Next, the channel switching method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

First, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a channel switching method of the present invention. As shown therein, receiving channels of a broadcast signal are divided into channels having the same major number and classified into respective channel groups ( In step S300, the up / down order of each classified channel group is determined (S310).

After the step S310, the control unit 26 determines whether a channel change command is input (S320), and if a channel change command is input, whether the input command is an up / down command. Determine (S330).

As a result of the determination (S330), in the case of an up / down command, the channel group is up / down according to a predetermined up / down order in the up / down direction, and one within the up / down channel group Select a channel to switch to the selected channel (S340).

On the other hand, the determination result (S330), it is determined whether the left / right command is input to the channel change command input when the input (Up) / Down (Down) command is not (S350) .

As a result of the determination (S350), when inputted, the channel is up / down within the channels of the currently selected channel group (S360).

That is, one embodiment of the present invention is, for example, as shown in Figure 4 (where Figure 4 is a channel switching for classifying the channels into a plurality of channel groups for each channel having the same major number and switch channels accordingly As an example of the method, reference numerals 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 indicate channel groups according to the major numbers, and channels 6-0, 7-0, 9-0 and 11-. 0 and 13-0 are analog channels, and other channels are digital channels, and it is assumed that each broadcast signal receiver receiving the broadcast signal is already known from the channel information provided by the broadcasting station.) -If you are watching broadcast of 0 analog channel, if user selects and presses Right key, channel is 9-0 → 9-1 → 9-2 → 9-0 → 9-1 ... To the sequential order (as opposed to the user pressing the Left key Case, the channel in the reverse order of the above-described channel order is switched). Here, check that channel 9-2 is switched back to channel 9-0. In addition, when a right command is input to the channel 9-1 in the channel 9-0, the channel 9-1 is a digital broadcast channel, so that the switching unit 22 controls the control unit 26. In accordance with the digital tuner / demodulator 21 selects and outputs the broadcast signal to be tuned / demodulated.

If the user selects and presses the down key, the major number 11 channel group 43 → major number 13 channel group 44 in the channel group indicated by code 42 to which channel 9-0 currently being viewed belongs. → channel number group 41 (major number 6) → channel group number 41 (major number 7) → channel group number 42 (major number 9) 42 ... sequentially, where each channel group In the case of switching to a channel, the selected channel (eg, 6-0, 7-0, 9-0, 11-0, 13-0) is selected within the channels of each channel group.

Next, referring to another embodiment of the channel switching method of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, receiving channels of a broadcast signal are divided into analog and digital channels, and the divided digital channels are channels having the same major number again. Each of them is classified into respective channel groups (S500), and the up / down order of each classified analog channel and digital channel group is determined (S510).

After the step S510, the controller 26 determines whether a channel change command is input (S520), and if a channel change command is input, whether the input command is an up / down command. Determine (S530).

As a result of the determination (S530), in the case of an up / down command, the analog channel or the digital channel group is up / down according to a predetermined up / down order in the up / down direction, and the digital channel group is up. In the case of / down, one channel is selected within the currently selected digital channel group and the channel is switched to the selected channel (S550).

On the other hand, the determination result (S530), it is determined whether the left / right command is input to the channel change command input when the input (Up) / Down (Down) command is not (S550) .

As a result of the determination (S550), when inputted, the channel is up / down within the channels of the currently selected channel group (S560).

Such another embodiment of the channel switching method of the present invention, for example, as shown in Figure 6 (in this case, the received channels of the broadcast signal is classified into an analog broadcast channel and a digital broadcast channel, and the classified digital broadcast again FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a channel switching method of classifying a channel into a plurality of channel groups for each channel having the same major number and switching channels accordingly, and the repetition of the description corresponding to the case of FIG. 5 will be omitted). 0 and 7-0 are analog channels indicated by 60 and 61, respectively, other channels are digital channels belonging to the digital channel groups 62, 63, and 64, and the digital channel groups 62, 63. , 64) is classified by channels having the same major number among digital channels.

If the user is currently watching broadcast of channel 6-1, if the user selects and presses the right key, that is, if the user inputs the right command, the channel is 6-1 → 6-2 → 6-3. → It switches to 6-1 ...... sequentially and if the Up key is selected and pressed, that is, if the Up command is input, major number 7 digital channel group (63) → major number 9 Digital channel group (64) → channel number 6-0 analog channel (60) → channel number 7-0 analog channel (61) → major number 6 digital channel group (62) Is switched to.

In the above two examples, when the user selects and presses the Up or Down key during the movement between the channel groups, that is, when the Up or Down command is input, the Up / Down command is performed. Although only the case of moving to a selected channel of the next channel group in the down direction (channels 6-0, 7-0, 9-0, and the like in the above example) has been described, the specific channel of the channel group must be described. It does not have to move to, but may be pre-programmed at the time of manufacture of the broadcast signal receiver or may be set in advance by the user.

On the other hand, while the present invention has been shown and described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment, the present invention provided by the claims below, it is shown and described only the method of classifying the digital and analog methods and switching channels accordingly. In addition, it is possible to classify channels according to criteria such as analog terrestrial wave, analog cable, digital terrestrial wave, and digital cable, and to switch channels accordingly. And one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention can be changed.

As described above in detail, in the channel switching method of the present invention, after receiving channels of a broadcast signal are classified into a plurality of channel groups, the channel switching method is upgraded to a predetermined channel group according to an up or down command of the command input unit. / Down, and according to the Left (Right) or Right (Right) command, up / down to a predetermined channel among the channels in the channel group allows the user to move quickly to the desired channel using only a predetermined direction key.

1 is a diagram illustrating a general channel switching method;

2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a broadcast signal receiver to which a channel switching method of the present invention is applied;

3 is a view showing an embodiment of a channel switching method of the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of classifying channels according to a predetermined criterion and switching channels according to the channel switching method of the present invention;

5 is a view showing another embodiment of a channel switching method of the present invention;

6 is a diagram illustrating another example of classifying channels according to a predetermined criterion and switching channels according to the channel switching method of the present invention.

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

20: analog tuner / demodulator 21: digital tuner / demodulator

22: switching unit 23: demultiplexer

24: image processing unit 25: image output unit

26 control unit 27 memory unit

28: OSD unit 29: command input unit

Claims (5)

A first step of dividing received channels of the broadcast signal into channels having the same major number as each channel group; A second step of determining whether a channel change command is input after the first step; As a result of the determination in the second step, when the input channel change command is an up / down channel change command, up / down the channel group is selected according to the up / down order, and up / down within the selected channel group A third step of selecting one channel; And a fourth step of selecting up and down within the channels of the currently selected channel group when the input channel change command is a left / right channel change command as a result of the determination of the second step. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the up / down order of the channel groups of the first step is; Channel switching method characterized in that to determine sequentially in order of the major number of the channel. The receiving channels of the broadcast signal are classified into analog channels and digital channels, and the digital channels are divided into channels having the same major number again and classified into respective channel groups, and up / down of the classified analog channels and digital channel groups. A first step of determining the order; A second step of determining whether a channel change command is input after the first step; As a result of the determination in the second step, when the input channel change command is an up / down channel change command, an analog channel or a digital channel group is selected up / down according to the up / down order, and the digital channel group is selected. A third step of selecting one channel within the currently selected digital channel group in the case of up / down; As a result of the determination of the second step, when the input channel change command is a left / right channel change command, if the current channel is a channel belonging to the digital channel group, it is selected up and down within the channels of the currently selected digital channel group. A channel switching method comprising a fourth step. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the up / down order of the analog channels and the digital channel groups of the first step is; First, analog channels are sequentially determined in the order of their channel numbers, and then digital channel groups are sequentially determined in the order of their major numbers. 4. The apparatus of claim 1 or 3, wherein the selected one channel of the channel group comprises: The channel switching method characterized in that the minor number is the fastest among the channels of the channel group.