KR20080011489A - Tv which has a function to set up a preference channel automatically and the method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A TV for setting automatically a preferable channel and a method for setting automatically the preferable channel are provided to set the preferable channel automatically on the basis of a time for watching on each of the channels by recording and calculating the amount of time corresponding to the each channel which a user has watched and enable the user to select and watch the set preferable channel, thereby maximizing the user's convenience. A TV for setting automatically a preferable channel comprises a memory unit(130), a timer(110), and a control unit(120). The memory unit records individually at least one channel number which a user views according to a key signal inputted by the user from a key input unit and the viewing start time and close time of each channel number. The timer sets the viewing start time and close time recorded on the memory unit. The control unit calculates the accumulated viewing time of the at least channel number by using the viewing start time and close time recorded on the memory unit and sets automatically preferable channels in the order in which the calculated viewing time is much.

Description

Automatically set preference channels {TV which has a function to set up a preference channel automatically and the method about}

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

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for automatically setting a preference channel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

※ Explanation of symbols about main part of drawing ※

100: key input unit 110: timer

120: control unit 130: memory unit

140: OSD processing unit 150: Display unit

The present invention relates to a preference channel automatic setting television provided with a function for automatically setting a television preference channel and a method for automatically setting a preference channel implemented according to such a function.

A television generally refers to an electronic device that receives a broadcast signal transmitted from a broadcasting station, and separates it into a video signal and an audio signal to output an image through a screen and an audio through a speaker. It is widely understood as a terminal for receiving broadcast signals to which screen technology such as the above is applied.

The preferred channel refers to a channel that a user watches more frequently than other channels due to personal preference or need among various broadcasting channels received through a television.

A user refers to a viewer of a television, who directly manipulates the television to watch a desired broadcast.

Currently, broadcasts received through television are provided through various channels such as cable broadcasts and satellite broadcasts as well as conventional airwave broadcasts, and dozens or hundreds of broadcast contents are provided. In general, users do not need all of the various channels. This is because there are channels that are particularly necessary for the user or preferred according to the user's taste among numerous broadcasts provided through various channels. Accordingly, a user needs to preset specific channels that the user prefers and search only the preferred channels that are set, and watch the broadcasting that he / she needs through the desired channel.

As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, a method of recording a frequency of a channel watched by a user and analyzing the frequency to prioritize the most frequently watched channel has been disclosed. However, this conventional technique has a problem in accuracy because the user is recorded as watched even if the channel passes for the search, not for the purpose of watching the search for various channels. Since a favorite channel is a channel that a user really needs, more accurate criteria should be presented.

 The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the user's preference in order of increasing the amount of viewing time accumulated by recording and comparing each amount of viewing time corresponding to each channel in various channels watched by the user It is an object of the present invention to provide a television and a method for establishing a channel.

A television according to the present invention provided to achieve the above object includes at least one channel number watched by a user according to a key signal input by a user from a key input unit, and a start time and end of viewing at each channel number. A memory unit for recording time respectively; A timer that determines the viewing start time and end time recorded in the memory unit; A control unit for calculating cumulative viewing time in the one or more channel numbers using the viewing start time and ending time recorded in the memory unit, and automatically setting the preferred channel in the order of the calculated cumulative viewing time. It is characterized by.

Preferably, the controller sets a preference channel when the cumulative viewing time in each channel number is greater than a preset time, and the controller is configured to calculate the cumulative viewing time for a preset period.

The key input unit may include a preference channel setting key, and when the preference channel setting key signal is input by the user, the controller controls the OSD to display an OSD menu on the display unit. The set preferred channel is preferably stored in the memory.

According to the method of the present invention for achieving the above object, if the channel switch key signal or the power-on key signal is inputted, recording the channel number and the viewing start time that the user is watching; Recording a viewing end time in the channel number when the channel switching key signal or the power off key signal is input; Calculating and recording the amount of viewing time in the channel number by obtaining a difference between the recorded viewing start time and the viewing end time; And setting a channel number corresponding to each viewing time amount as a preferred channel in the order of increasing the viewing time amount recorded.

The method may further include displaying the set preference channel when the user inputs a preference channel setting key signal.

The above objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 illustrates the internal components of a television according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The television includes a key input unit 100, a timer 110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, an OSD processing unit 140, and a display unit 150.

The key input unit 100 is a component part capable of transmitting a key signal for the user to operate the television. Such a key input unit may be provided as a remote control device separate from the various operation keys provided on the television or the television. The user transmits a power on key signal and a power off key signal to turn on / off the power of the television through the key input unit 100, or the television is turned on. Channel switching key signal for switching the channel to watch in the can be sent. On the other hand, the key input unit 100 is provided with a preference channel setting key 101. When the user inputs the preference channel setting key signal through the preference channel setting key 101, the controller 120 controls the OSD processing unit 140 to display the OSD menu on the display unit 150. Control as possible. The OSD menu will be presented with the preferred channels listed.

Timer 110 is a component part that records a typical current time that is repeated on a 24-hour basis. The timer 110 determines time information related to a channel watched by a user under the control of the controller 120 to be described later. The time information related to the channel the user is watching refers to the time at which the user first started watching a specific channel and the end of viewing of a particular channel by turning off the television or switching to another channel after starting the viewing. It means the time of the point of becoming. This start time and end time mean the beginning and end of one continuous time range.

The memory unit 130 records the specific channel number watched by the user and the watching start and end times at the specific channel number according to the key signal input by the user in the key input unit 100. The key signal input by the user means the channel switch key signal and the power on / off key signal described above. For example, when a user starts to watch channel 10 at 9:32, the memory unit 130 starts a time of 9:32, which is determined by the timer 110, under the control of the controller 120, and starts the time of channel 10. Record as. When the user continuously watches channel 10 and then switches to another channel at 10:12 or turns off the television, the memory unit 130 controls the time determined by the timer 110 under the control of the controller 120. Record 12 minutes as the end time for channel 10. Such time data is divided into various channels and stored in the memory unit 130.

The OSD processing unit 140 is a component for allowing a user to output an OSD menu on the display unit 150 by manipulation of the key input unit 100. The preferred channel output by the controller 120 is displayed on the OSD.

The display unit 150 is a component that displays an image output as a screen of a typical television.

The control unit 120 functions to organically integrate and control each component described above. In particular, by controlling the timer 110, the viewing start and end times of the channels watched by the user are recorded in the memory unit 130, and the viewing time amount using the viewing start and end time data recorded in the memory unit 140. Calculate and compare In addition, when the user operates the key input unit 100 and transmits a preferred channel setting key signal, the amount of each viewing time corresponding to the channel numbers watched by the user recorded in the memory unit 130 by receiving the key signal. Compare and compare the preferred channels in order of increasing amount of viewing time.

In addition, the control unit 120 calculates the viewing time for each channel using the time data stored in the memory unit 130 and compares a lot of viewing time of each channel with less. In the previous example, the viewing time on channel 10 would be 40 minutes. This viewing time can be accumulated over time and can be calculated for various channels. The user sets a specific time range in advance so that the user can automatically set the favorite channel when the accumulated amount of viewing time is larger than the time range set by the user. For example, if the time preset by the user is 2 hours, the viewing time of each channel is stored as the favorite channel from the time when the amount of time exceeds 2 hours. In addition, the user may be able to set the top 5 channels or 10 channels as the preferred channel according to the amount of the accumulated time amount among the amount of time exceeding the preset time. Such data is stored in the memory unit 130. In addition, the user may set a specific time period to calculate time data for selecting a preferred channel only within this time period. For example, if the period set by the user is 3 days, the amount of viewing time corresponding to the channels watched by the user within the preset period of 3 days is calculated.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of setting a preference channel according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. When the channel change key signal or the power-on key signal described above is transmitted from the user through the key input unit 100 (S200), the controller 120 receives the key signal and the control unit 120 receives the timer 110. Based on the time determined in step S210, the control unit 100 records the watching start time of the specific channel viewed by the user in the memory unit 130 (S210). If the channel switching key signal or power-off key signal is transmitted from the user to another channel through the key input unit 100 again (S220), the control unit again performs the same operation as in " S210 " On the basis of the time determined by the timer 110, the controller 110 controls to record the viewing end time of the specific channel watched by the user in the memory unit 130. The controller 120 calculates the difference between the recorded start and end times. The amount of recorded time is individually applied to various channels, and is accumulated in the amount of time corresponding to each channel number over time.

 The control unit 120 compares the amount of each accumulated time amount is less and less (S250). The criterion of the greater or lesser amount of time may be based on whether or not the above-mentioned user preset time is exceeded. You can also compare the amount of time that is relatively large and small. The controller 120 sets a preference channel based on the compared amounts of time (S260). The set preference channel is stored in the memory unit 130. The user presses the preferred channel setting key provided in the key input unit to transmit the preferred channel setting key signal to the control unit 120 (S270). Then, the controller controls the OSD processor 140 to display the preferred channel on the display 150 (S280).

As described above, according to the preferred channel automatic setting television and the preferred channel automatic setting method according to the present invention, the amount of time corresponding to each channel number watched by the user is recorded and calculated to automatically watch the amount of time for each channel number. The preference channel is set on the basis of the standard, and the user can select and watch the set preference channel, thereby maximizing user convenience.

Claims (7)

A memory unit for recording one or more channel numbers viewed by the user according to a key signal input by the user from the key input unit, and a viewing start time and end time of each channel number; A timer that determines the viewing start time and end time recorded in the memory unit; A control unit for calculating cumulative viewing time in the one or more channel numbers using the viewing start time and ending time recorded in the memory unit, and automatically setting the preferred channel in the order of the calculated cumulative viewing time. Preferred channel automatic setting television, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, And the controller sets a preferred channel when the cumulative viewing time in each channel number is greater than a preset time. The method of claim 1, And the control unit calculates the cumulative viewing time for a preset period. The method of claim 1, The key input unit includes a preference channel setting key, and when the preference channel setting key signal is input by the user, And the control unit controls the preference channel to display an OSD menu on a display unit. The method of claim 1, And the set preferred channel is stored in the memory. Recording a channel number watched by a user and a viewing start time when a channel switching key signal or a power-on key signal is input; Recording a viewing end time in the channel number when the channel switching key signal or the power off key signal is input; Calculating and recording the amount of viewing time in the channel number by obtaining a difference between the recorded viewing start time and the viewing end time; And, And setting a channel number corresponding to each viewing time amount as a preferred channel in order of increasing amount of viewing time recorded. The method of claim 6, And if the user inputs a preference channel setting key signal, displaying the set preference channel.

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