KR20110051435A - Network television and method for controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A network TV and control method thereof are provided to select desired content by pressing a numeric key for inputting a channel or a channel conversion button. CONSTITUTION: A network interface unit(140) receives at least one content from a content provider. A user interface unit(160) selects a predetermined content among the received content. A control unit(190) maps the selected content to a selected channel. The control unit generates mapping information. The mapping information records a mapping relation between the selected content and channel. A memory unit(180) stores the mapping information.

Description

NETWORK TELEVISION AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a network TV and a control method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a network TV and a control method thereof by mapping content to channel numbers so that a user can select content by channel switching.

Conventional TV transmits contents produced by a broadcaster through radio wave transmission media such as terrestrial, cable or satellite broadcasting, and a user views the transmitted content through a TV receiver capable of receiving the respective transmission media.

However, as digital-based digital broadcasting has been developed and used in existing analog broadcasting, a variety of real-time broadcasting, CoD (Contents on Demend), games, news, etc., using the Internet network connected to each home, in addition to the existing radio media. A variety of content services can be provided to users.

An example of providing a content service using the Internet is IPTV. The IPTV is a content service that transmits various information services, video contents, and broadcasts to a user's television through a high-speed Internet network.

However, the IPTV has only one content provider for providing content, and recently, a broadband TV that is further developed from the IPTV and receives content from a plurality of different content providers has been developed.

Conventional IPTV outputs content by calling a separate content menu to select a content service and executing a corresponding menu, or by pressing a hot key provided on the remote controller.

However, the majority of IPTV users are accustomed to the interface of switching channels by using the channel switch button or the numeric keys for inputting the channel number, which may result in rejection of a content service requiring a separate operation for viewing. There is a problem that the usability of the content service is poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a network TV and a control method for mapping the content to the channel number and selecting the content through channel switching or channel number input.

Network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a network interface for receiving at least one content from a content provider; A user interface unit for selecting predetermined content from the received content and receiving a user input for inputting a channel to which the selected content is mapped; A controller configured to map the selected content to the channel and generate mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the channel is recorded; And a memory unit for storing the mapping information.

Network TV control method according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of receiving at least one content from a content provider; Receiving predetermined content from among the received contents; Receiving a channel to which the selected content is mapped; Mapping the selected content to the input channel and generating mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the channel is recorded; And storing the mapping information.

According to the present invention, the user can select a content to be viewed by pressing a familiar channel switch button or a numeric key for channel input.

According to the present invention, the content can be selected by the channel switching operation, thereby reducing the rejection in using the content service and improving the use rate of the content service.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of a network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the network TV system includes a content provider 20, a service provider 30, a network operator 40, and a network TV 10.

Here, the network TV refers to a TV system equipped with an Internet communication module and capable of receiving a broadcast program or other content through an existing Internet network. The network TV according to the embodiments of the present invention may include a TV receiver or a network capable of receiving a broadcast program or content through the Internet, such as an IPTV, a broadband TV, a web TV, and the like.

The network operator 40 provides the network TV 10 with the base software necessary for the contents provided by the content provider 20 to operate normally in the network TV 10. In addition, the content provider 20 may be provided with hardware information of the network TV 10 necessary for the content to be normally executed on the network TV 10.

For example, the network operator 40 provides a main screen configured when contents provided by content providers are displayed on the network TV 10, and provides a user interface for the user to select content. The network operator 40 may be a server operated by the manufacturer of the network TV 10.

The content provider 20 generates the content and configures the content in a format that can be played on the network TV 10, and provides the contents according to the request of the network TV 10. The content can be any data that can be serviced over a network.

The network TV 10 may be equipped with dedicated firmware for reproducing, searching for, displaying a list, and the like for each content provider 20. The firmware may be mounted on the network TV 10 during the manufacturing process of the network TV 10 or may be downloaded and installed by the user through the network during use.

The firmware of the network TV 10 may be referred to as a program for playing or executing content provided by the content provider 20. The firmware may vary depending on the type of content provided by the content provider 20. For example, when the content provider 20 is a VOD provider, the firmware may be a VOD playback program. When the content provider 20 is an AOD or MOD service provider, the content provider 20 may be an AOD or MOD playback program. If the content provider 20 is a video telephone operator, it may be a video telephone program.

The service provider 30 provides network communication between the network operator 40, the content provider 20, and the network TV 10. The network may include any wired or wireless Internet network using the Internet protocol. In particular, the service provider 30 transmits the content provided by the content provider 20 to the network TV 10, and performs maintenance management of the transmission network to be a stable reception of the content to the user, and the content provider 20 provides the infrastructure for network transmission.

The network TV 10 receives and plays or executes content through the service provider 30 in response to a user's command. In some embodiments, the network TV 10 may be replaced with a device equipped with a network module, such as a network set-top box or a telephone for a network.

In more detail, the content provider 20 may be a business operator that creates various contents to be provided to the network TV 10. The content provider 20 may include a TV station, a radio station, a VOD operator, an AOD operator, a game operator, a video telephone service provider, and the like.

The TV station refers to a conventional terrestrial or cable broadcasting station. The broadcasting station may create and store a program that users can watch and convert it digitally.

Radio stations provide audio content and may have video channels, but most of them operate without video channels.

VOD operators and AOD operators have different characteristics from TV stations and radio stations. In other words, in the case of VOD or AOD, it saves the broadcasting program, movie, and music that I want and then plays it for viewing. For example, if there is a broadcast program that was not properly viewed because there is no time to watch the current broadcast program, you can access a site that provides such a broadcast service and download the file or play it back.

AOD providers likewise offer the ability to listen to audio programs in real time.

The Music On Demand (MOD) service allows me to download and listen to the music I want. This seems to be similar to AOD, but the target of the service is likely to be record labels or record distributors extending existing Web services.

In addition, the content provider 20 may provide various services to the network TV through the Internet, such as a packet filter (PF) server, an EPG service provider, an electronic content guide (ECG) service provider, and a portal server operator. It can be any server operator.

The PF server is serviced by a company that manages all broadcasting information and location information provided by the content provider. This service mainly contains broadcasting time or location information necessary for broadcasting and information that a user can access.

The EPG service provides EPG information so that a user can search a broadcast program by time zone and grasp by channel.

The ECG service provides the user with the information of the content that the content provider has, the location and access authority of the access server. In other words, it is an electronic program guide that provides detailed information on the content and the function to easily access the server having the content.

The portal server is a web service provided by each broadcasting station. When the portal server receives a request from the user terminal, the portal server connects to the broadcasting server or the web server of the service provider. The role of the portal server is to search for a list of programs provided by each broadcasting station or a content provider providing a content service.

The service provider 30 transmits data and commands of the network operator 40, the content provider 20, and the network TV 10. The service provider 30 may be an internet service provider. According to an embodiment, the service providers 30 may provide the above Internet services by using an existing cable network. In this case, it is necessary to change the equipment of the transmission network.

That is, the service provider 30 should be configured with network equipment capable of real-time data transmission, and can configure the network in consideration of the bandwidth of the network TV 10 side. These devices can reduce bandwidth by processing large amounts of multimedia data using multicast service, which is the basic network service of network TV.

If the bandwidth is not secured, the service provider 30 retranscodes broadcast data transmitted from the optical cable network configuration or the content provider 20 in an effort to secure the bandwidth, such as MPEG-4 or MPEG-7. It can also be transformed into a form.

The service provider 30 may provide a network management system (NMS), a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP), and a contents delivery network (CDN) service.

As described above, the network TV 10 may be replaced by a network set-top box or a network telephone equipped with an Internet communication module. The network TV 10 may have a structure described with reference to FIG. 3.

The network TV 10 basically has a network interface capable of accessing the network, receives an IP address or is already assigned an IP address, thereby receiving and processing a data packet from the network. When the data packet is multimedia data, Can play on the screen.

The network TV 10 may operate to transmit the user's requirements in both directions while processing the multimedia data. In addition, the network TV 10 is preferably provided with buttons for the network TV on the remote control for controlling the network TV 10 so that the service can be used well.

3 is a block diagram of a network TV 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the network TV 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a broadcast receiver 100, a demultiplexer 110, an image signal processor 120, a display 130, and a network interface. The unit 140, the OSD generating unit 150, the user interface unit 160, the storage interface unit 170, the memory unit 180, and the controller 190 are included.

The digital broadcast signal is transmitted in the form of a packetized transport stream by time division multiplexing the video signal, the audio signal and the data signal.

The broadcast receiver 100 receives a broadcast signal transmitted from the outside through an antenna. The broadcast receiver 100 includes a tuner for tuning a broadcast signal having a predetermined frequency band and a demodulator for outputting a broadcast signal of a tuned specific channel in the form of a transport stream through a VSB (Vestigial Sideband) demodulation process and an error correction process. can do.

The broadcast signal received through the broadcast receiver 100 is divided into various additional data defined by the demultiplexer 110 as a video signal, an audio signal, and PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol) information. Is output.

The video data separated by the demultiplexer 110 is processed by the image signal processor 120 and displayed on the display 130.

In this case, the image signal processing unit 120 includes an MPEG-2 decoder and a scaler for converting video data to match the vertical frequency, resolution, aspect ratio, etc. according to the output standard of the display unit 130.

Here, the display unit 130 may be applied to various types of display modules such as digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), and the like.

The audio signal may be processed by the voice signal processor (not shown) and output to the speaker. The voice signal processor may include an AC-3 decoder.

On the other hand, the additional data included in the additional data separated by the demultiplexer 110 is stored in the memory unit 180 through the storage interface unit 170 to be described later.

The memory unit 180 may be embodied as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM).

The network interface unit 140 receives at least one content from a content provider.

When the network TV 10 of the present invention is an IPTV, the network interface unit 140 receives content from one content provider.

When the network TV 10 of the present invention is a broadband TV, the network interface unit 140 may receive various contents from a plurality of content providers.

As described above, the content may include various kinds of video, audio, or data services such as broadcast programs, VOD services, movies, music, sports, video chats, and the like.

The user interface unit 160 selects predetermined content from the received content and receives a user input for inputting a predetermined channel to which the selected content is mapped.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user interface 160 may include an infrared receiver for receiving an infrared signal input through a remote controller or an RF communication module for receiving an RF signal. In some embodiments, the user interface 160 may include a local key input unit provided at one side of the panel of the network TV 10.

Hereinafter, an operation of the network TV 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9.

3 to 9 are exemplary views illustrating the operation of a network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the network TV 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention receives predetermined content from a user through the user interface unit 160, and inputs a predetermined channel to which the selected content is mapped. I can receive it.

That is, the user selects predetermined content among at least one content provided from the content provider, and the network TV 10 of FIG. 3 outputs the content selected by the user to the display 130.

Then, the user may execute a function of mapping a content to a predetermined channel, for example, a 'channel mapping function' through a remote key or a local key button provided in the network TV 10.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the display 130 may display a message 31 indicating that the 'channel mapping function' has been executed.

According to an embodiment, the message 31 may include a channel input window 32 that receives a predetermined channel to which the content selected by the user, for example, the content currently output on the network TV 10, is mapped.

The user may input a predetermined channel to which the selected content, for example, content currently being output, is mapped to the channel input window 32 through the user interface unit 160.

According to an embodiment, the user interface 140 may receive a channel number of a channel to which the selected content is to be mapped.

That is, the user may input the channel number of the channel to which the content is mapped in the channel input window 32 of FIG. 3.

The controller 190 maps the selected content to the input channel, and generates mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the channel is recorded.

That is, the controller 190 may map the selected and outputted content to the channel of the channel number input to the channel input window 32.

As a result, when the user inputs the mapped channel number using the remote controller or the local key button, the network TV 10 switches to the corresponding channel and outputs the content mapped to the channel number.

Therefore, the user can select a desired content by operating a channel button or pressing a number button similarly to switching broadcasting channels, without having to perform a separate menu operation or pressing a hot key provided on the remote control to use a content service. Can be printed.

After the controller 190 maps the selected content to the input channel, the controller 190 generates mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the input channel is recorded, and the mapping information is stored in the memory unit.

That is, the controller 190 generates mapping information recording that the predetermined content selected by the user is mapped to the predetermined channel input by the user, and stores the mapping information in the memory unit.

The stored mapping information may be used to identify contents mapped to the channel number by reading mapping information about the channel number when the user inputs a predetermined channel number for channel switching.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when there is pre-mapped content in the input channel number, the controller 190 notifies that the pre-mapped content exists in the corresponding channel and performs content mapping for the corresponding channel. You can control to display a notification message to confirm whether or not to proceed.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when there is content already mapped to a channel number input through the channel input window 32, that is, when other content is already mapped, the controller 190. ) May control the display 130 to display a notification message 33 informing the user that other contents are pre-mapped to the input channel number.

Then, the controller 190 may determine whether to overwrite the content by outputting a message confirming from the user whether to map new content to the corresponding channel.

That is, in FIG. 4, when the user selects the 'confirm' button provided in the notification message 33, the controller 190 maps new content to the corresponding channel, and when the user selects the 'cancel' button, the controller ( 190 may stop the content mapping operation for the corresponding channel.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 190 may control to display a list of bacont channels composed of bacont channels to which content is not mapped.

Herein, the bacont channel refers to a channel to which content is not mapped among channels output by the network TV 10 of the present invention. In contrast, a channel to which content is mapped is referred to as an occupied channel. do.

As shown in FIG. 5, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 190 may control to display a list of bacont channels composed of bacont channels to which content is not mapped.

Accordingly, the user can easily identify channels to which the current content is not mapped among the channels of the network TV 10, and select any one of the channels included in the bacont channel list to map with the predetermined content. Can be.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the controller 190 may control to display a channel mapping list including content provided to the network TV 10 and channels to which the content is mapped.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the display unit 130 may display a channel mapping list 34 displaying the content provided to the network TV 10 and the channel to which the content is mapped. In the left column of the channel mapping list 34, the name of the content provided to the network TV 10 is displayed, and the channel number of the channel to which each content is mapped is displayed in the right column.

According to an exemplary embodiment, if a predetermined content among the contents included in the channel mapping list 34 has not been mapped yet, a channel number may not be displayed or 'empty' message may be displayed for the corresponding content.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, 'You Tube' content among the contents included in the channel mapping list 34 is not yet mapped to a predetermined channel, and thus, 'You Tube' content The channel section for the message displays 'empty'.

According to an embodiment, the user may select a channel portion in which the message 'empty' is displayed and input a predetermined channel number to map content that is not yet mapped to the channel of the input channel number.

For example, when a channel number '505' is input to a channel portion in which 'empty' is displayed in FIG. 6, the 'You Tube' content may be mapped to a channel corresponding to the channel number '505'.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 190 may search for the content received from the content provider and automatically map the searched content to the bacont channel to which the content is not mapped.

That is, when the user executes the 'automatic channel mapping function' through the user interface unit, the controller 190 searches for the content provided to the network TV 10. Then, the controller 190 automatically maps the content to the channel by mapping the retrieved content to the bacont channel.

7 is an exemplary diagram illustrating execution of an automatic channel mapping function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the controller 190 may search for content provided to the network TV 10. The searched content may be displayed on the display 130 for a predetermined time.

The display unit 130 may display a message 35 for providing a user with an automatic channel mapping process.

According to an embodiment, the message 35 may display the content searched by the controller 190 and a channel to which the corresponding content is mapped.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the message 35 displays the name of the content currently searched by the controller 190, for example, 'You Tube', and the channel number of the channel to which the searched content is mapped. For example, 'CH 504' may be displayed to inform the user of the progress of automatic channel mapping.

As a result, the user can select the content and perform the channel mapping operation automatically without directly inputting the channel to which the selected content is mapped by executing the 'automatic channel mapping' function.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the network TV 10 is a channel browser structured and displayed the accumulate channel to which the content is mapped, the information of the content mapped to the accumulate channel, and the bacont channel to which the content is not mapped. (channel browser) can be displayed further.

8 is an exemplary view illustrating a channel browser according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the network TV 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a channel browser configured to display accumulative channels, information of contents mapped to accumulative channels, and bacont channels in a matrix form. 36) can be displayed.

According to an embodiment, the channel browser 36 may be configured in a matrix form consisting of a plurality of cells.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, the channel browser 36 may display a plurality of channels output from the network TV 10 in each cell in the order of channel numbers, and in each cell, the corresponding cell may be displayed in the corresponding cell. The name of the content mapped to the displayed channel number may be further displayed.

For example, the cell number 361 of the first row and the first column of the channel browser displays the channel number '501' and 'Yahoo' content that is the content mapped to the channel.

Accordingly, the channel browser 36 may inform the user that 'Yahoo' content is mapped to the channel of channel number '501' of the network TV 10.

As described above, the network TV 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may provide the user with information on the accumulate channel to which the content is mapped and the content mapped to the accumulate channel through the channel browser 36.

In some embodiments, the channel browser 36 may further display a bacont channel.

For example, the cell 362 of the first row and the third column of the channel browser 36 shown in FIG. 8 indicates a channel of channel number 503 and is 'empty' as content mapped to the channel. In this case, the channel number '503' may inform the user that the channel is a bacont channel to which content is not mapped.

Accordingly, the user can more easily grasp channels provided by the network TV 10 and contents mapped to the channels through the channel browser 36 provided by the network TV 10 of the present invention.

According to an embodiment, the information of the content displayed on the channel browser 36 may include at least one of a name of the content or a thumbnail image of the content.

For example, although the channel browser 36 of FIG. 8 displays only the name of the content, in some embodiments, the channel browser 36 may display a thumbnail image or a representative image of the content mapped to the corresponding channel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user may map predetermined content to a predetermined channel through the channel browser 36.

That is, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the user interface unit selects a bacont channel displayed in the channel browser, receives a user input for designating predetermined content among contents provided to the network TV 10, The controller 190 may map the designated content to the selected bacont channel.

For example, when a user selects an 'add' button provided in the channel browser 36, the controller 190 maps a predetermined content to a bacont channel displayed in the channel browser 36. You can run the function.

Then, the user selects a predetermined bacont channel, for example, a bacont channel of channel number '503', from among the bacont channels displayed in the channel browser 36, and selects among the contents provided to the network TV 10. When the content is selected, the controller 190 may map the selected content to the selected bacont channel.

On the contrary, in some embodiments, the content mapped to a predetermined accumulate channel may be deleted.

For example, a user selects a 'delete' button provided in the channel browser 36, and accumulates a predetermined accumulative channel, for example, channel number '501', among the accumulated channels displayed in the channel browser 36. When the channel 361 is selected, the controller 190 may delete the content mapped to the accumulate channel 361 and convert the channel into a bacont channel.

In some embodiments, the content mapped to the accumulate channel may be moved to another accumulate channel or a bacont channel.

For example, a user selects a 'move' button provided in the channel browser 36 shown in FIG. 8, selects a predetermined accumulative channel, for example, an accumulate channel 361 of channel number '501', Then, when a bacon channel 362 having a predetermined bacont channel, for example, channel number '503' is selected, the controller 190 selects the content 'Yahoo' mapped to the accumulate channel 361 and the bacont channel. (362).

According to an embodiment, the content mapped to the accumulate channel may be changed.

For example, a user selects a 'change' button provided in the channel browser 36 shown in FIG. 8, selects a predetermined accumulative channel, for example, an accumulate channel 361 of channel number '501', Then, when a predetermined content is selected from among contents provided to the network TV 10, the controller 190 may change the content 'Yahoo' mapped to the accumulate channel 361 to the other selected content.

In this way, the user can check at a glance the channel provided by the network TV 10 and the configuration of the content mapped to the channel through the channel browser 36, and delete the content mapped to the accumulated channel. Move, change, or map new content to the bacont channel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the channel to which the content is mapped may be registered as a preferred channel.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a channel to which the content is mapped, that is, an accumulate channel, may be registered as a favorite channel and may be channel-changed in the same manner as a general broadcast channel.

That is, the user may not only view the accumulate channel by pressing a channel switch button or a channel number key provided in the remote controller, but also view the accumulator channel by pressing a favorite channel button.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user interface unit may receive a predetermined channel number, and the controller 190 may control to output content mapped to the received channel number.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, when a user inputs a predetermined channel number, for example, channel number '507' through a remote controller, the controller 190 is mapped to the received channel number '507'. It can be controlled to output the content, for example 'SKYPE'.

In addition, as described above, the user may switch the channel output by the network TV 10 by pressing a channel switch button instead of inputting a channel number. In this case, the controller 190 is connected to the output channel. The mapped content can be controlled to be output.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a network TV control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Step S91 receives at least one content from the content provider. That is, the network interface unit receives one or more contents from the content provider.

In step S92, predetermined content is selected from the received content. That is, the user interface unit receives a predetermined content from the one or more contents received from the user.

In operation S93, a channel to which the selected content is to be mapped is input. That is, the user interface unit receives a channel to which the selected content is to be mapped from the user. According to an embodiment, the user interface may receive a channel to which the selected content is mapped as a channel number.

In operation S94, it is determined whether content is mapped to the input channel.

As a result, if the content is already mapped to the input channel, that is, if the input channel is an accumulative channel, in step S95, whether or not the control unit 190 overwrites the new content on the channel. Get confirmation from the user.

If the user determines to overwrite new content on the channel, the controller 190 maps the selected content to the received channel (step S96).

On the contrary, if the user determines not to overwrite new content on the corresponding channel, the controller 190 returns to step S93 and receives a new input channel to which the selected content is to be mapped.

If content is not pre-mapped to the corresponding channel in step S94, that is, if the input channel is a bacont channel, step S96 maps the selected content to the input channel.

Step S97 generates mapping information in which the mapping relationship between the selected content and the received channel is recorded, and step S98 stores the generated mapping information in a memory unit.

Unlike in the step S92 and step S93, the user directly selects the content and the channel, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the controller 190 searches for the content received from the content provider, The searched content may be automatically mapped to the bacont channel to which the content is not mapped.

According to an embodiment, the controller 190 may control to display a list of bacont channels composed of bacont channels to which content is not mapped, so that channel mapping may be performed more easily than a user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the controller 190 may control to display a channel browser in which the accumulate channel to which the content is mapped, the information of the content mapped to the accumulate channel, and the bacont channel to which the content is not mapped are structured and displayed. Can be.

According to an embodiment, the information of the content displayed on the channel browser may include at least one of a content name, a thumbnail image, or a representative image.

According to an embodiment, the controller 190 may add new content to a bacont channel or delete, change, or move content mapped to an accumulate channel through a channel browser.

In step S99, a predetermined channel number is input. That is, after mapping the content to a predetermined channel as described above, the user can switch the channel of the network TV 10 by inputting a predetermined channel number.

Then, in step S100, the content mapped to the input channel number may be output, and the user may control the content to be viewed through the existing channel switching operation.

According to the present invention, a user can watch content provided to a network TV such as an IPTV or a broadband TV by pressing a familiar channel switching operation, for example, by pressing a channel switching button or pressing a channel number key.

Although the present invention has been described through the above embodiments, the above embodiments are merely intended to illustrate the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications may be made to the embodiments described above. The scope of the invention is defined only by the interpretation of the appended claims.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a system configuration of a network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 10 are exemplary views illustrating the operation of the network TV according to an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart illustrating a network TV control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (15)

A network interface unit configured to receive at least one content from a content provider; A user interface unit for selecting predetermined content from the received content and receiving a user input for inputting a channel to which the selected content is mapped; A controller configured to map the selected content to the channel and generate mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the channel is recorded; And A memory unit for storing the mapping information; Network TV comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the user interface unit receives a channel number of a channel to which the selected content is to be mapped. The method of claim 1, And the control unit searches for content received from the content provider, and automatically maps the searched content to a bacont channel to which content is not mapped. The method of claim 1, The network TV further comprising a display unit for displaying a list of bacont channels composed of bacont channels that are not mapped content. The method of claim 1, The display unit may further include a display unit configured to display an occupied channel to which contents are mapped, information on the contents mapped to the accumulated channel, and a channel browser in which a bacont channel to which the contents are not mapped is structured and displayed. Network TV. The method of claim 5, And the information of the content includes at least one of a name of a content or a thumbnail image. The method of claim 5, The user interface unit selects the displayed bacont channel, receives a user input for selecting a predetermined content among the received contents, And the control unit maps the selected content to the selected bacont channel. The method of claim 1, The user interface unit receives a predetermined channel number, The controller controls the network TV to output the content mapped to the received channel number. Receiving at least one content from a content provider; Receiving predetermined content from among the received contents; Receiving a channel to which the selected content is mapped; Mapping the selected content to the input channel and generating mapping information in which a mapping relationship between the selected content and the channel is recorded; And Storing the mapping information; Network TV control method comprising a. The method of claim 9, Retrieving content received from the content provider; Automatically mapping the retrieved content to a bacont channel to which content is not mapped; Network TV control method further comprising. The method of claim 9, And displaying a list of vacant channels composed of bacont channels to which content is not mapped. The method of claim 9, Displaying a channel browser in which content is mapped to an occupied channel, information on the content mapped to the accumulated channel, and a bacont channel to which content is not mapped; How to control network TV. The method of claim 12, And the information of the content includes at least one of a name of a content or a thumbnail image. The method of claim 12, Receiving the displayed bacont channel; Receiving predetermined content from among the received contents; And Mapping the selected content to the selected bacont channel; Network TV control method further comprising. The method of claim 9, Receiving a predetermined channel number; And Outputting content mapped to the received channel number; Network TV control method further comprising.

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