KR20100047766A - Apparatus and method for changing broadcasting channel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for changing a broadcasting channel are provided to tune and decode respectively different channels using two tuners, thereby realizing a channel change without delay during a channel change. CONSTITUTION: If a channel change is requested while the first tuner receives a specific broadcast, a controller(104) makes a channel change in a standby state and controls changed broadcast reception through the second tuner. If the received broadcast is decoded, the controller changes the channel. An image and voice output unit(108) outputs the decoded broadcast signal.

Description

Broadcast channel switching device and method {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CHANGING BROADCASTING CHANNEL}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving technology through a video display device. In particular, at least two or three tuners are mounted on a tuner portion of a television to tune to a channel selected by a user to tune up or down a channel selected by a user. The present invention relates to a broadcast switching apparatus and method in a television suitable for performing a display of a broadcast program being decoded through another tuner when a user changes a channel upward or downward after simultaneously decoding a broadcast.

In general, in a video display device, a television receives a broadcast signal through a tuner unit and tunes a channel, and performs a display through image processing, voice processing, and decoding on a signal of the tuned broadcast channel.

However, since such a tuner is usually equipped with a tuner on a television, when a user performs channel change, the user changes channel tuning from the tuner, decodes the broadcast signal of the tuned channel, and then decodes the broadcast. Since the program is displayed to the user, digital broadcasting has a certain channel change delay compared to analog broadcasting.

In the television according to the prior art operating as described above, since only one tuner is usually mounted on the television, a certain channel change delay is inevitably caused. In order to prevent this, a tuner that can tune to each channel is installed. This is not realistically possible, and one or more tuners may also cause the price of the television to be increased by at least 20-30%. There was no way.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a broadcast channel switching device that can be equipped with at least one tuner in the video display device in addition to the existing tuner unit, and then tuned and decoded different channels, thereby enabling a channel change without delay when changing the channel. Provide a method.

In addition, the present invention is equipped with at least two or three tuners in the tuner portion of the video display device, decoding each channel tuned by tuning the channel up or down, that is, adjacent channels of the channel being watched by the user with each tuner After the simultaneous execution of the user, if the user changes the channel up or down, it provides a broadcast channel switching device and method that can perform the display of the broadcast program being decoded through another tuner.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus includes a tuner unit additionally equipped with at least one tuner for tuning a broadcast signal, and converts a broadcast signal transmitted from the tuner unit into a transport stream, and then performs video and audio decoding. When a channel change is requested while receiving a specific broadcast from the processor and the first tuner, the controller waits for a channel change, controls reception of a change broadcast through the second tuner, and decodes the received broadcast through the video and audio processor. When this is completed, a control unit for performing a channel change and a video and audio output unit for outputting the decoded broadcast signal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a device includes a tuner unit additionally equipped with at least two tuners for tuning a broadcast signal, and converts the broadcast signal transmitted from the tuner unit into a transport stream, and then performs decoding. When receiving the specific broadcast from the processing unit and the first tuner, the second tuner receives the uplink neighboring channel broadcast of the specific broadcast and the third tuner controls the receiver to receive the downlink neighboring channel of the specific broadcast. When the change to the adjacent channel is requested, the control unit for performing a channel change to output the decoded broadcast signal of the tuned through the second tuner, and a video and audio output unit for outputting the decoded broadcast signal; .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a channel change request is performed while tuning a broadcast signal through a tuner unit additionally equipped with at least one tuner, and receiving a specific broadcast from a first tuner included in the detachable tuner unit. In response to the change, the process of waiting for a channel change, performing a change broadcast reception through a second tuner, and if decoding of the change broadcast is completed, outputting the decoded broadcast signal and performing a channel change. do.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method of tuning a broadcast signal through a tuner unit in which at least two tuners are additionally installed, and receiving a specific broadcast from a first tuner included in the tuner unit, may include a second tuner. Receiving the uplink neighboring channel broadcast of the specific broadcast, receiving the downlink neighboring channel of the specific broadcast with a third tuner, and when a change to the uplink neighboring channel is requested, performing a channel change to perform the second tuner; And outputting the decoded broadcast signal of the broadcast tuned through.

In the present invention, the effects obtained by the representative ones of the disclosed inventions will be briefly described as follows.

According to the present invention, at least two to three tuners are mounted on a tuner to perform decoding by simultaneously tuning up and down channels of a selected channel, so that when changing a channel up or down, a channel change can be performed without delay and PIP. In the mode, it is possible to watch a broadcast received through each tuner. By implementing the user can purchase additional tuners only to obtain the advantages, there is an effect that can increase the user convenience.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intentions or customs of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

According to the present invention, at least one tuner is additionally mounted to an existing tuner in a video display device, and then different channels are selected and decoded to enable channel change without delay when changing channels. If the user changes the channel up or down after simultaneously performing the decoding of the tuned channel broadcast by tuning the channel up or down of the selected channel, that is, the adjacent channel, the other channel that is tuned to the broadcast on which the channel change has been performed. It is to decode and display the broadcast signal of the tuner.

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a video display device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an image display apparatus includes a tuner unit 100, a control signal input unit 102, a controller 104, an image and audio processor 106, and an image and audio output unit 108. Include.

In detail, the tuner unit 100 receives the digital broadcast signal, performs channel tuning on the received broadcast signal, and transmits the tuned broadcast channel signal to the controller 104. In this case, since the tuner unit 100 can tune to only one channel, the user can purchase and install at least one additional tuner in the tuner unit, so that the user does not have a channel delay through the purchase of the additional tuner. It is possible to perform the change, and it is also possible to receive broadcasts of other channels through the main broadcast in the PIP (Picture in picture) mode.

Through this, the broadcast signal received through each mounted tuner is transmitted to the video and audio processing unit 106. The control unit 104 controls each of the functional elements, and when the control signal input unit 102 receives the input user control command, the control unit 104 controls the television based on the control command, and checks the broadcast channel tuned to each tuner. And, when the output for the confirmed broadcast channel is requested, it is controlled to be output through the video and audio output unit 108.

The video and audio processor 106 includes a demultiplexer for demultiplexing a digital stream of a broadcast signal transmitted from a channel tuned through the tuner 100 into video / audio / additional / channel information, and a demultiplexer. A parser for analyzing the multiplexed program information, and an image processor for image processing (decoding) the demultiplexed video information.

The video and audio data output through the video and audio processor 106 are provided to the user through the video and audio output unit 108.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a channel change procedure using two tuners in an image display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, after the power of the video display device (eg, the television) is turned on in step 200, the broadcast signal is received by the first tuner in step 202. By transmitting to the voice processing unit 106, the image and voice processing unit 106 performs decoding. On the other hand, the video and audio processor 106 performs demultiplexing, parsing, and decoding, but since the decoding process takes the most time when the channel is changed, the video and audio processor 106 is representative of the video and audio processor 106. Will indicate that decoding is performed.

In step 204, the decoded video and audio data are output through the display unit and the speaker. In this case, when the channel change is performed in step 206, the process proceeds to step 208, in which the controller 100 waits for channel switching and performs channel selection for the broadcast channel requested to be changed through the second tuner, and broadcasts the broadcast channel. The channel signal is decoded through the video and audio processor 106.

After the decoding is completed in step 210, the channel change is performed in step 212. Through this, the user can watch the existing channel for a certain time after the channel change request, and when the decoding of the requested channel is completed and the display is possible, the channel change is performed and provided to the user. The existing channel broadcast can be watched during the delay time.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a channel change procedure using three tuners in an image display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 302, when a video display device (eg, a television) is turned on, a broadcast signal is received by a first tuner in step 302, and the channel tuned to the last tuned channel is turned on again before power is turned off. And by transmitting to the voice processing unit 106, the image and voice processing unit 106 performs the decoding. Thereafter, the broadcast on the decoded video and audio data is output in step 304.

At the same time, the uplink adjacent channel and the downlink adjacent channel of the first tuner are tuned using the second tuner and the third tuner, respectively, and the tuned channel broadcast is decoded by the video and audio processor 106.

In step 308, when a change from the user to the uplink neighboring channel is requested, the controller 104 proceeds to step 310 and the broadcast signal for the uplink neighboring channel of the first tuner received by the second tuner is decoded. In step 316, the broadcast of the upstream adjacent channel is immediately output to the user at the same time as the channel change request.

That is, in the first to third tuners, the broadcast signals for the respective channels are received and transmitted to the video and audio processing unit 106, and the video and audio processing unit 106 decodes the respective broadcast signals. The controller 104 selects a broadcast signal for the corresponding channel decoded by the video and audio processor 106 according to a user's channel change command transmitted through the control signal input unit 102 to the video and audio output unit 108. Will be delivered.

Likewise, when a channel change is requested to a downlink neighboring channel in step 312 instead of an uplink neighboring channel in step 308, the broadcast signal for the downlink neighboring channel of the first tuner is decoded by the third tuner in step 314. In step 316, the broadcast of the downlink adjacent channel is immediately output to the user at the same time as the channel change request.

On the other hand, the second tuner can tune to the uplink adjacent channel, the third tuner can be set to tune to the user preferred channel. As described above, the channel tuning method is not limited, but the broadcast channel signals to be tuned are simultaneously decoded to output the decoded broadcast screen to the user without delay when a change to the corresponding channel is requested.

As described above, according to the present invention, by attaching at least one detachable tuner to an existing tuner unit and tuning a different channel to decode each channel, the present invention enables channel change without delay when changing channels. If the user tunes the channel up or down of the selected channel simultaneously to decode the tuned channel broadcast, and then the user changes the channel up or down, the other tuner tuning the corresponding broadcast on which the channel change has been performed. Decode and display the broadcast signal.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but is capable of various modifications within the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the scope of the following claims, but also by those equivalent to the scope of the claims.

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a video display device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a channel change procedure using two tuners in an image display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a channel change procedure using three tuners in an image display apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (6)

A tuner unit additionally equipped with at least one tuner for tuning a broadcast signal; A video and audio processor which converts the broadcast signal transmitted from the tuner into a transport stream and then decodes the broadcast signal; When a channel change is requested while receiving a specific broadcast from the first tuner, the channel change is waited for, and the reception of the change broadcast through the second tuner is controlled, and the received broadcast is decoded through the video and audio processing unit. A control unit for performing a channel change, Image and audio output unit for outputting the decoded broadcast signal Broadcast channel switching device comprising a. A tuner unit additionally equipped with at least two tuners for tuning broadcast signals; A video and audio processor which converts the broadcast signal transmitted from the tuner into a transport stream and then decodes the broadcast signal; When receiving a specific broadcast from a first tuner, the uplink neighboring channel is controlled while receiving an uplink neighboring channel broadcast of the specific broadcast by a second tuner and receiving a downlink neighboring channel of the specific broadcast by a third tuner. A control unit for performing a channel change to output a decoded broadcast signal of a broadcast tuned through a second tuner when a change to the channel is requested; Image and audio output unit for outputting the decoded broadcast signal Broadcast channel switching device comprising a. 3. The method of claim 2, The control unit, When receiving a specific broadcast from the first tuner, the downlink channel is controlled to receive an uplink neighboring channel broadcast of the specific broadcast by the second tuner and to receive a downlink neighboring channel of the specific broadcast by the third tuner. And when a change to an adjacent channel is requested, controlling to output a decoded broadcast signal of the broadcast tuned through the third tuner by changing the channel. Tuning a broadcast signal through a tuner unit in which at least one tuner is additionally installed; When a channel change is requested while receiving a specific broadcast from the first tuner included in the tuner, waiting for a channel change and performing a change broadcast reception through a second tuner; When decoding of the changed broadcast is completed, outputting the decoded broadcast signal and performing a channel change Broadcast channel switching method comprising a. Tuning a broadcast signal through a tuner unit having at least two tuners; Receiving an upcoming adjacent channel broadcast of the specific broadcast with a second tuner and receiving a downlink adjacent channel of the specific broadcast with a third tuner while receiving a specific broadcast from a first tuner included in the tuner; Outputting a decoded broadcast signal of a broadcast tuned through the second tuner by performing channel change when a change to the uplink neighboring channel is requested; Broadcast channel switching method comprising a. The method of claim 5, The method, If a change to the downlink adjacent channel is requested, performing a channel change to output a decoded broadcast signal of a broadcast tuned through the third tuner Broadcast channel switching method further comprising a.

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