WO2006126442A1

WO2006126442A1 - Program guide creation device, and method for creating program guide table

Info

Publication number: WO2006126442A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/309916
Authority: WO
Inventors: Masami Ichimura; Satoru Kodaira; Naoki Matsufuji
Original assignee: Pioneer Corporation
Priority date: 2005-05-24
Filing date: 2006-05-18
Publication date: 2006-11-30
Also published as: JP2008199072A

Abstract

The service information of a ground digital broadcast is automatically acquired while the BS broadcast is being enjoyed. While the user of a record/reproduce device (1A) is enjoying a broadcast by using a BS/CS digital tuner (11), a CPU (50) switches the reception channels of a ground digital tuner (21) sequentially to receive a ground digital broadcasting station available, and outputs broadcast data (TS2). This broadcast data (TS2) contains the service information of the available ground digital broadcasting station. When an SI filter (25) outputs service data (SI2), a record/reproduce control unit (30) records the service data (SI2) in an information recording medium (31). Under the control of the CPU (50), an EPG processing unit (26) creates program guide table data (EPG2) on the basis of the service data (SI2) read out from the information recording medium (31).

Description

Specification

Program guide generating apparatus and program guide table generating method

Technical field

[0001] The present application relates to a program guide generation device that generates an electronic program guide table.

Background art

In recent digital television broadcasting, an electronic program guide called EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is broadcast together with a program. EPG consists of information called SI (Service Information). SI information is specified in ARIB STD-B10, one of the broadcasting standards. SI information includes EIT (Event Information Table). EIT shows information such as program title, broadcast date and time, and broadcast content. The receiving device generates EPG by receiving this SI information. As a result, digital television broadcasting that enables users to provide electronic program guides to users uses terrestrial digital broadcasting in addition to BSZCS digital broadcasting using satellites. Since BSZCS digital broadcasting is broadcast nationwide, all station SI information including SI information of other stations is inserted in addition to the SI information of the local station in the broadcast signal of a certain station. ing. On the other hand, since terrestrial digital broadcasting is operated using terrestrial waves, broadcast stations that can be received differ from region to region. For this reason, individual SI information only for the local station is inserted into the broadcast signal.

[0003] Therefore, in BSZCS digital broadcasting, SI information of other broadcasting stations can be obtained even if the channel selection is fixed to a certain broadcasting station. However, in terrestrial digital broadcasting, only the individual SI information of the own station is transmitted from one broadcasting station, so if you want to display program guides for all available channels, you need to switch to another broadcasting station. There is. In this case, the program cannot be displayed without interruption. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for acquiring individual SI information by moving a channel selection to another station when a user operates a predetermined key in order to display a program guide of the other station.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-33602

Disclosure of the invention Problems to be solved by the invention

However, according to the conventional technique, there is a problem that the individual SI information of other stations cannot be acquired unless the user operates a predetermined key, and the operation is complicated. For example, when inputting an instruction with a remote control, if there is no remote control at hand, it is necessary to search for the remote control, and if it is necessary to operate the keys of the reception device, the remote control is used for viewing. The user had to move to the installation location and operate the keys.

Examples of problems to be solved by the present application include complicated operations and problems caused by conventional techniques.

Means for solving the problem

[0005] In order to solve the above-described problem, in one aspect of the present application, in a program guide generation device that receives a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputs a program guide table indicating a broadcast schedule, First receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from a satellite and outputting the broadcast signal; and first receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from a plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations and outputting the broadcast signal. (2) The receiving means and the user can select the plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations sequentially during a part or all of the period when the user views the broadcast using the first receiving means! Control means for controlling the second receiving means; extraction means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the second receiving means; and storing the service information extracted by the extracting means Service information storage means and the service A program guide table generating means for reading out the service information of the plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations from the information storage means and processing the read service information to generate the program guide table. To do.

[0006] In another aspect of the present application, in a program guide generation device that receives a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputs a program guide table indicating a broadcast schedule, radio waves transmitted from a terrestrial broadcast station are received. A first receiving means for selectively receiving and outputting the broadcast signal, a second receiving means for selectively receiving a radio wave transmitted from the terrestrial broadcast station and outputting the broadcast signal, and a user Control means for controlling the second receiving means so as to sequentially receive the terrestrial broadcasting stations to be selected during part or all of the period of watching the broadcast using the first receiving means; From the broadcast signal output from the first receiving means First extraction means for extracting the service information; second extraction means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the second reception means; the first extraction means and the second extraction means; Service information storage means for storing the service information extracted by the above-mentioned information, and reading the service information of the terrestrial broadcasting station from the service information storage means, and processing the read service information to generate the program guide table And a program guide table generating means.

[0007] In still another aspect of the present application, a plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations using first and second receiving means that selectively receive radio waves transmitted from a terrestrial broadcast station and output a broadcast signal. In a method for generating a program guide table for receiving a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide from each of the plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations and generating a program guide table indicating broadcast schedules of the plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations, Terrestrial broadcast stations that can be viewed during part or all of the period when the broadcast is being viewed using the terrestrial broadcast station except for the terrestrial broadcast stations that are being received using the first receiving means. And the second receiving means is controlled so as to sequentially receive the specified terrestrial broadcasting stations, and the service information is extracted from the broadcast signals output from the first receiving means and the second receiving means. Memorize, memorize the extracted service information Reading out the service information, and processing the service information read and generates the program guide table.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of service information acquisition processing of the terrestrial digital broadcasting station in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the terrestrial digital broadcasting station specifying process in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for specifically explaining an operation of acquiring service information in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a program guide table.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

[Fig.7] The processing contents of the service information acquisition processing of the digital terrestrial broadcasting station in the same embodiment It is a flowchart to show.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the terrestrial digital broadcasting station specifying process in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for specifically explaining an operation of acquiring service information in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

[0009] ll 'BSZCS digital tuner, 21 ... terrestrial digital tuner, 2nd terrestrial digital tuner, 22 ... demultiplexer, 25- SI filter, 26- EPG processing unit, 81 ... 1st terrestrial digital tuner, 30 ... ··· Recording / playback control unit ······· Information recording medium 50 ··· CPU, TS1 to TS3 "'Broadcast data, SI2"' Service data.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0010] An embodiment suitable for the present application will be described below. The program guide generation device according to the first embodiment of the present application receives a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputs a program guide table indicating a broadcast schedule. The program guide generation device selectively receives radio waves transmitted from a satellite and outputs the broadcast signal, and selectively receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations. A second receiving means for outputting a broadcast signal, and a plurality of the terrestrial broadcasting stations are sequentially selected during a part or all of a period when the user views the broadcast using the first receiving means. Control means for controlling the second receiving means so as to be stationed; extraction means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the second receiving means; and the service information extracted by the extracting means Service information storage means for storing, and a program guide table for generating the program guide table by reading out the service information of the plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations from the service information storage means and processing the read service information Generating means.

In this embodiment, the first receiving means receives satellite broadcast radio waves. The satellite broadcast is, for example, BS broadcast or CS broadcast. This broadcast signal is multiplexed with video signals, audio signals, and service information. The service information may include information identifying the broadcaster, information indicating the current time, and the like, in addition to program guide indicating the program title, broadcast date and time, and broadcast contents. In addition, the service information of the satellite broadcast is the service information of the broadcast station. Includes service information for all broadcast stations. On the other hand, the second receiving means receives terrestrial broadcast radio waves. Terrestrial digital broadcasting corresponds to terrestrial broadcasting. The terrestrial broadcast signal includes a video signal, an audio signal, and service information in the same manner as the satellite broadcast signal. However, terrestrial broadcast service information includes only the service information of the corresponding broadcast station, and does not include service information of other broadcast stations that can be viewed.

[0012] When the broadcast signal is received by the reception unit, the extraction unit extracts service information included in the broadcast signal. When service information is multiplexed on a broadcast signal in a time-sharing manner, the service information is separated into broadcast signals at a predetermined timing. The service information obtained in this way is stored by the service information storage means. The program guide table generating means outputs a program guide table indicating broadcast schedules of a plurality of broadcast stations that can be viewed based on the stored service information.

[0013] The user selectively watches satellite broadcasting or terrestrial broadcasting. Therefore, the second receiving means is vacant while the user is watching the satellite broadcast. As described above, the service information included in digital terrestrial broadcasting is limited to the service information of the receiving broadcast station. For this reason, when the user starts viewing digital terrestrial broadcasting, it is impossible to obtain service information of other broadcasting stations. Therefore, the control means controls the second receiving means so that a plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations are sequentially selected during the period when the user views the broadcast using the first receiving means! This makes it possible to obtain service information of a plurality of broadcast stations that can be viewed in digital terrestrial broadcasting. As a result, even if the user does not operate the key, service information can be automatically acquired to prepare for the generation of a program guide table. The period during which the second receiving means acquires the service information may be a part of the period during which the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means. In addition, during the period when the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means, the control means may determine the period during which the user selects the satellite broadcast using the input means such as a remote controller. !

[0014] The program guide generation device according to the second embodiment of the present application receives a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputs a program guide table indicating a broadcast schedule. The program guide generation device selectively receives a radio wave transmitted from the terrestrial broadcasting station and a first receiving unit that selectively receives the radio wave transmitted from the terrestrial broadcasting station and outputs the broadcast signal. Above Second receiving means for outputting a broadcast signal and terrestrial broadcasting stations to be selected are sequentially received during part or all of the period when the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means. Control means for controlling the second receiving means, first extracting means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the first receiving means, and the output output from the second receiving means. Second extraction means for extracting the service information from a broadcast signal; service information storage means for storing the service information extracted by the first extraction means and the second extraction means; and terrestrial broadcasting from the service information storage means Program information table generating means for reading the service information of a station and processing the read service information to generate the program guide table.

In the present embodiment, both the first receiving means and the second receiving means receive terrestrial broadcasting (for example, terrestrial digital broadcasting). In this case, the second receiving means is controlled so as to sequentially select the terrestrial broadcasting stations to be selected during the period when the user views the broadcast using the first receiving means! In terrestrial digital broadcasting, service information of a plurality of broadcast stations that can be viewed can be acquired. As a result, even if a user does not operate a key, service information can be automatically acquired to prepare for the generation of a program guide table. Here, the terrestrial broadcast stations to be selected may be all or part of the terrestrial broadcast stations that can be viewed.

[0016] Further, the control means specifies the terrestrial broadcast station excluding the terrestrial broadcast station being received by the first receiving means as the terrestrial broadcast station to be selected, and specifies the specified terrestrial broadcast station It is preferable to control the second receiving means so as to sequentially select the channels. In this case, the terrestrial broadcast station that is being received by the first receiving means is excluded from the terrestrial broadcast stations that are selected by the second receiving means. This is because the service information can be acquired for the broadcasting station being received by the first receiving means before it is received by the second receiving means. In this way, service information of all broadcast stations that can be viewed efficiently can be acquired by excluding broadcast stations that are receiving the target power of channel selection. As a result, the time for acquiring all service information can be shortened.

[0017] In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, a video signal separated from the broadcast signal received by the first receiving means or the second receiving means is used as an information recording medium. Recording means for recording, and when the recording means is recording the video signal supplied from the second receiving means, the user can use the first receiving means V, Even when watching the broadcast! /, It is preferable to control the second receiving means so that the channel selection is maintained as the terrestrial broadcasting station being recorded. In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, when the second receiving means is empty, this is used to collect service information. In a device having a function of recording a so-called back program, there are two systems of receiving means, and the user may watch and record the program using the receiving means when it is empty during a certain period. . In such a case, the second receiving means is controlled so that the channel selection is maintained as the terrestrial broadcasting station being recorded. As a result, the program desired by the user can be recorded reliably, and service information can be collected while the second receiving means is idle.

[0018] Further, the second embodiment described above uses a first receiving means and a second receiving means for selectively receiving a radio wave transmitted from a terrestrial broadcast station and outputting a broadcast signal, thereby using a plurality of terrestrial broadcasts. It can be understood as a program guide table generation method for receiving a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide from each of the stations and generating a program guide table indicating broadcast schedules of the plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations. In this method of generating a program guide table, 1) the user can watch the broadcast using the first receiving means, and the above-mentioned terrestrial broadcast stations can be viewed from a part or all of the period that can be viewed. The first receiving means is used to identify a terrestrial broadcast station excluding the receiving terrestrial broadcast station, 2) the second receiving means is controlled to sequentially receive the specified terrestrial broadcast stations, and 3) the first Extract the service information from the broadcast signal output from the receiving means and the second receiving means, 4) store the extracted service information, 5) read out the stored service information, and 6) read out. The program information table is generated by processing the service information. This allows the user to automatically collect service information of other broadcast stations and prepare for the display of the program guide table without having to operate any key to specify the scan period while viewing a channel. It becomes possible. Example

Next, an example will be specifically described. In the following embodiments, a program plan is provided for a recording / reproducing apparatus capable of outputting a program guide table and recording and reproducing video signals and audio signals. Although described as an example of the internal generation device, the scope to which the present invention is applied is not limited to this mode.

[0020] <First embodiment>

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a recording / reproducing apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment. The broadcast wave of BS ZCS broadcast transmitted from the satellite is received by the antenna 10 and supplied to the BSZCS digital tuner 11. In addition to the video information and audio information of the program, the broadcast wave includes incidental information incidental to signal transmission. This incidental information includes service information of all stations used for displaying the program guide table (hereinafter referred to as EPG). The service information indicates the broadcast company code, the current time, etc., in addition to the program title indicating the program title, broadcast date and time, and broadcast content. The BSZCS digital tuner 11 performs demodulation processing in synchronization with the reception channel selected by the user under the control of the CPU 50. In the demodulation process, necessary processes such as data frame reconstruction, error correction, and descrambling are executed to generate MPEG2 transport stream (TS) open broadcast data TS1.

In addition, the broadcast wave transmitted from the terrestrial digital broadcasting station is received by the antenna 20 and supplied to the terrestrial digital tuner 21. The terrestrial digital tuner 21 performs the same processing as the BSZCS digital tuner 11 and generates MPEG2 transport stream format broadcast data TS2. Broadcast waves transmitted from terrestrial digital broadcasting stations include incidental information as in BSZCS digital broadcasting. However, in terrestrial digital broadcasting, each broadcasting station transmits only the service information of its own station, so only the service information of the broadcasting station being viewed is superimposed on the broadcast data TS2, and the service information of other broadcasting stations is not Not included. In this embodiment, the BSZCS broadcast and the terrestrial digital broadcast can be selectively viewed, and the user power cannot be viewed during the period of viewing the SZCS broadcast. . However, the recording / playback device 1A may be equipped with a two-screen mode in which the BSZCS broadcast screen and the digital terrestrial broadcast screen are simultaneously displayed on the display device, but one is selected in the normal mode.

The CPU 50 is a control center that controls each component of the recording / reproducing apparatus 1 A. RAM60 functions as a work area for CPU50, and ROM61 has programs that control CPU50. Predetermined image data is stored. The user operates the remote controller 70 to select a broadcasting station to view, input a program guide table display instruction, or a reservation recording instruction. The remote control transmission / reception unit 71 is an interface that communicates with the remote control 70, and communicates with the remote control 70 using infrared rays.

Broadcast data TS1 is supplied to the first processing unit U1, and broadcast data TS2 is supplied to the second processing unit U2. The first processing unit U1 and the second processing unit U2 are configured similarly. Here, the second processing unit U2 will be described. When the broadcast data TS2 is supplied to the demultiplexer 22, the demultiplexer 22 separates compressed audio data, compressed video data, and incidental data Din from the broadcast data TS2. Compressed audio data, compressed video data, and auxiliary data Dinf correspond to audio information, video information, and auxiliary information included in the broadcast wave, respectively. The compressed audio data is in MPEG2-AAC format, and the compressed video data is in MPEG2-Video format. The audio decoder 23 decodes the input compressed audio data and generates audio data Da2. The video decoder 24 decodes the compressed video data to generate video data Dv2. SI filter 25 separates the incident data Dinf force service information and generates service data SI2. Here, the demultiplexer 22 and the SI filter 25 function as means for extracting the service data SI2 from the broadcast data TS2.

The service data SI2 is stored in the information recording medium 31 via the recording / reproducing control unit 30. The information recording medium 31 is a hard disk DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or the like that can rewrite and read data. The service data SI2 recorded on the information recording medium 31 is read as necessary and supplied to the EPG processing unit 26 of the second processing unit U2. The EPG processing unit 26 generates program guide table data EPG2 based on the read service data SI2, and supplies this to the output control unit 40. In addition to the service data SI2, the information recording medium 31 includes audio data Da1, video data Dvl supplied from the first processing unit U1, and service data SI1, sound supplied from the second processing unit U2. Voice data Da2, video data Dv2, and reserved recording data are stored.

Here, the scheduled recording data is data for designating scheduled recording, and has information indicating a reception channel, a recording start time, and a recording end time. Time is extended by sports broadcast etc. If longer, changes may occur in subsequent programming. In such a case, the service information transmitted from the broadcasting station is updated, but since the updated service information is broadcast, the service data SI1 and SI2 are updated. The CPU 50 updates the scheduled recording data with the update of the service data SI1 and SI2. As a result, the program desired by the user can be recorded even when the program organization is changed. Therefore, acquiring the latest service information is also important from the viewpoint of reliably recording a desired program.

[0026] Next, the output control unit 40 includes audio data Dal, video data Dvl, and program guide table data EPG1 supplied from the first processing unit U1, and audio data Da2, supplied from the second processing unit U2. Under the control of the CPU 50, the video data Dv2, the program guide table data EPG2, and the reproduced audio data Dpa and video data Dp V reproduced from the information recording medium 31 such as a hard disk are selected and output.

[0027] As described above, since terrestrial digital broadcasting! Each broadcast station only transmits its own service information, in order to obtain service information of other broadcast stations that can be viewed, It is necessary to scan the reception channel of the upper digital tuner 21 to obtain service information of broadcast stations that can be viewed. Here, it is necessary to set the scan period for sequentially switching the reception channels so as not to disturb the user's viewing. In this embodiment, the reception channel of the terrestrial digital tuner 21 is sequentially switched while the user is viewing the BS ZCS broadcast.

[0028] Next, an operation in which the CPU 50 acquires service information of a digital terrestrial broadcasting station will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the contents of the service information income process. First, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the BSZCS broadcasting is being watched (step Sla). Specifically, when the reception channel specified by the user operating the remote control 70 belongs to the BSZCS digital broadcast, it is determined that the BSZCS broadcast is being viewed. If the BSZCS broadcast is not being viewed, the CPU 50 repeats the determination in step S1 until the BSZCS broadcast is started. On the other hand, when it is determined that the BSZCS broadcast is being viewed, the CPU 50 advances the process to step S2a and specifies the terrestrial digital broadcast station from which service information should be acquired.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the contents of the terrestrial digital broadcasting station specifying process. First, the CPU 50 determines whether or not service information has been acquired for all broadcast stations that can be viewed. Determine (step S20a). At this time, the CPU 50 reads the service data SI2 from the information recording medium 31, and stores the service information among the viewable broadcast stations, and determines whether or not the broadcast station has power. When the acquisition of service information for all broadcast stations is completed, the CPU 50 identifies the broadcast station with the earliest acquisition time as the broadcast station from which the service information should be acquired (step S21a). On the other hand, if there is a broadcast station that has not acquired service information, the broadcast station is specified as a broadcast station from which service information should be acquired (step S22a). The reason for specifying the broadcast station with the oldest acquisition time when the service information has been acquired by all broadcast stations is that the possibility that the service information has been updated is high. In other words, when a sports broadcast is extended or a disaster occurs, the program organization may change. According to this embodiment, in such a case, it is possible to acquire the latest service information and update the service data SI2.

[0030] Returning to FIG. When the broadcast station from which service information is to be acquired is identified, the CPU 50 controls the terrestrial digital tuner 21 to tune to the identified broadcast station (step S3a). As a result, the service data SI2 of the specified broadcast station is output from the SI filter 25, and the service information of the specified broadcast station can be acquired (step S4a). Then, the CPU 50 records the service data SI2 acquired by controlling the recording / reproducing control unit 30 in the information recording medium 31 (step S5a). Thereafter, the CPU 50 returns the process to step Sla.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 4, the operation for acquiring the service information of the digital terrestrial broadcasting station will be specifically described. In the figure, a portion surrounded by a thick frame indicates that the user is viewing. In this example, the BSZCS broadcast is watched in the period from time tO to time tl and in the period from time t2 to time t3, and this period is the scanning period. During this scan period, the terrestrial digital tuner 21 acquires a plurality of broadcast station power service information that can be viewed by sequentially switching the reception channel. In this example, service data SI2 of two terrestrial broadcast stations TV1 and TV2 is acquired during the period from time tO to time tl, and two terrestrial broadcast stations TV3 and TV4 are acquired during the period from time t2 to time t3. Get service data SI2. In the period from time tl to time 2, terrestrial digital broadcasting is viewed. In this case, the service data SI2 of the broadcasting station TV10 being viewed is collected. Is obtained. Thereby, in the terrestrial digital broadcasting for transmitting individual service information, the recording / reproducing apparatus 1A can acquire service information of each broadcasting station that can be viewed.

[0032] When the user operates the remote controller 70 to instruct display of the program guide table, the CPU 50 detects the instruction via the remote control transmission / reception unit 71 and executes control to display the program guide table. . The following processing is executed by this control. First, the service data SI2 is read from the information recording medium 31 by controlling the recording / reproducing control unit 30. Secondly, the read service data SI2 is supplied to the EPG processing unit 26, and program guide table data EPG2 is generated based on the service data SI2. In other words, the EPG processing unit 26 functions as means for reading the service data SI2 of a plurality of broadcasting stations from the information recording medium 31, processing the read service data SI2, and generating program guide table data EPG2. Third, the output control unit 40 selects the program guide table data EPG2, and outputs the video signal obtained by DZA conversion to the display device 2. FIG. 5 shows an example of a program guide table displayed on the screen of the display device 2. The name of the terrestrial digital broadcasting station that can be viewed is displayed in the first area XI of the program guide table, and the program name is displayed in the second area X2. When the user operates the remote controller 70, the digital broadcasting station name and the program name can be selected, and the detailed contents of the selected program are displayed in the third area X3.

[0033] As described above, according to the present embodiment, service data SI2 of a plurality of broadcasting stations that can be viewed by effectively utilizing the terrestrial digital tuner 21 that is vacant while viewing the BSZCS broadcast. Therefore, service information of other digital terrestrial broadcasting stations can be automatically acquired to prepare for the display of the program guide table. Therefore, the convenience that the user does not have to perform any operation to specify the scan period is greatly improved.

[0034] In the first embodiment, when the user watches and listens using the BSZCS digital tuner 11 and records the back program using the terrestrial digital tuner 21, It is not necessary to acquire the service information of each broadcasting station that can be viewed by switching the receiving channel of the digital tuner 21. The reception channel scan using the terrestrial digital tuner 21 may be executed during a part of the period when the user views using the BSZCS digital tuner 11.

[0035] <Second embodiment> FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus IB according to the second embodiment. The recording / reproducing apparatus 1B is different from that shown in FIG. 1 except that it includes an antenna 80, a first terrestrial digital tuner 81, and a third processing unit U3 instead of the antenna 10, the BS / CS digital tuner 11 and the first processing unit U1. The recording / reproducing apparatus 1A of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, a tuner corresponding to the terrestrial digital tuner 21 of the first embodiment is referred to as a second terrestrial digital tuner 21. The third processing unit U3 is configured in the same manner as the second processing unit U2 described above.

The broadcast wave transmitted from the terrestrial digital broadcasting station is received by the antenna 80 and supplied to the first terrestrial digital tuner 81. The first terrestrial digital tuner 81 generates MPE G2 transport stream format broadcast data TS3. The third processing unit U3 generates service data SI2 other than the audio data Da3 and the video data Dv3 from the broadcast data TS3. That is, in this embodiment, a plurality of tuners capable of receiving digital terrestrial broadcasting are provided. Since the second terrestrial digital tuner 21 is provided in addition to the first terrestrial digital tuner 81, the other tuner 1 can receive and record the other terrestrial digital broadcast while watching the program which is one tuner. Can do. It is also possible to record two programs simultaneously on the information recording medium 31 using both tuners.

[0037] In the present embodiment, when one of the tuners is viewing digital terrestrial broadcasting, service information of other broadcast stations that can be viewed is acquired using the other tuner. The operation in which the CPU 50 acquires the service information of the terrestrial digital broadcasting station will be described below. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the contents of the service information income process. First, the CPU 50 determines whether one of the first terrestrial digital tuner 81 and the second terrestrial digital tuner 21 is vacant, and the other is used for viewing power (step Slb). If this judgment condition is denied, the judgment is repeated until it is affirmed. If the determination condition is affirmed, the CPU 50 advances the process to step S2b, and specifies a terrestrial digital broadcast station from which service information should be acquired.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the contents of the specific processing of the terrestrial digital broadcasting station according to the second embodiment. First, CPU50 is the other terrestrial digital broadcasting station that can be viewed. A broadcast station other than the broadcast station being viewed by the upper digital tuner is specified (step S20b). Digital terrestrial broadcasting stations that can be viewed vary depending on the region. For this reason, in order to identify the reception channels that can be viewed by the first and second terrestrial digital tuners 81 and 21, scanning the tuning frequency and searching for a channel through which radio waves are transmitted are performed according to the initial setting. . Then, a channel in which the radio wave is received with power of a predetermined level or higher is specified and stored as a viewable reception channel.

[0039] Next, the CPU 50 determines whether or not the service information has been acquired for all the specified broadcast stations (step S21b), and the acquisition of the service information for all the broadcast stations is completed. The oldest broadcasting station with the most acquisition time is identified as the broadcasting station from which service information should be acquired (step S 22b). On the other hand, if there is a broadcasting station from which service information has not been acquired, the broadcasting station is specified as a broadcasting station from which service information should be acquired (step S23b).

[0040] In the second embodiment, when acquiring service information of a digital terrestrial broadcasting station that can be viewed with the other tuner, the receiving channel is scanned except for the broadcasting station that is currently viewed with one tuner. This is important for shortening the service information acquisition time. Generally, service information is divided into small pieces and transmitted by terrestrial digital broadcasting stations. Therefore, it usually takes a long time to completely acquire all service information. For this reason, it takes more time to acquire service information for all broadcast stations that can be viewed. Therefore, for a broadcasting station that is being viewed using one tuner, service information is acquired by the tuner, and for the other broadcasting stations that can be viewed, service information is acquired using the other tuner. This makes it possible to shorten the time for acquiring service information. Note that steps S3b to S5b shown in FIG. 7 are the same processes as steps S3a to S5a of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Referring to FIG. 9, the operation for acquiring service information of a digital terrestrial broadcasting station in the second embodiment will be specifically described. In the figure, the part surrounded by a thick frame indicates that the user is viewing. In this example, the user uses the first terrestrial digital tuner 81 to watch the broadcast. Then, during the period T1 from time tO to time tl, the broadcast station TV1 is viewed. During the period T2 from time tl to time t2, the broadcast station TV5 is watched. On the other hand, in the second terrestrial digital tuner 21, a viewable broadcast station excluding the broadcast station TV1 is specified in the period T1, and a viewable broadcast station excluding the broadcast station TV5 is specified in the period Τ2. As a result, the second terrestrial digital tuner 21 acquires the service information of the broadcasting stations TV2, TV3, and TV4 in the period T1, and the service information of the broadcasting stations TV6, TV7, and TV8 in the period T2. . As a result, it is possible to obtain service information of a broadcasting station that can be viewed efficiently and prepare for display of the program guide table.

[0042] In the second embodiment, service information of all broadcast stations that can be viewed, including a broadcast station that is being viewed by the other tuner while the user is viewing using one tuner, is acquired. May be. In addition, when the other program is being recorded using the other tuner, it is not necessary to switch the reception channel of the other tuner and acquire service information of each broadcasting station that can be viewed. Also, scan the reception channel using the other tuner during the part of the period when the user is viewing using the other tuner.

[0043] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention, and any device that exhibits the same function and effect is the present invention. It is included in the technical scope.

[0044] In addition, the entire disclosure of the Japanese patent application (No. 2005-150542) including the specification, claims, drawings and abstract filed on May 24, 2005 refers to all of them. So it is incorporated here.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] In a warp and guide generation device that receives a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputs a program plan internal table indicating a broadcast schedule,

A first receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from a satellite and outputting the broadcast signal;

Second receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from a plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations and outputting the broadcast signal;

Control means for controlling the second receiving means so as to sequentially select the plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations during a part or all of the period when the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means. When,

Extracting means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the second receiving means;

Service information storage means for storing the service information extracted by the extraction means;

Program guide table generating means for reading out the service information of the plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations from the service information storage means, and processing the read service information to generate the program guide table;

A program guide generating device comprising:

[2] In a warp and guide generation device for receiving a broadcast signal including service information indicating program guide and outputting a program plan internal table indicating a broadcast schedule,

First receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from a terrestrial broadcasting station and outputting the broadcast signal;

Second receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted by the terrestrial broadcasting station and outputting the broadcast signal;

The second receiving means is controlled so as to sequentially receive the terrestrial broadcasting stations to be selected for a part or all of the period when the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means. Control means to control;

The service information is extracted from the broadcast signal output from the first receiving means. A first extraction means;

Second extraction means for extracting the service information from the broadcast signal output from the second receiving means;

Service information storage means for storing the service information extracted by the first extraction means and the second extraction means;

Program guide table generating means for reading out the service information of the terrestrial broadcasting station from the service information storage means, and processing the read service information to generate the program guide table;

A program guide generating device comprising:

[3] The control means identifies the terrestrial broadcast station excluding the terrestrial broadcast station being received by the first receiving means as the terrestrial broadcast station to be selected, and identifies the identified terrestrial broadcast station. 3. The program guide generating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second receiving means is controlled so as to select a channel sequentially.

[4] A recording means for recording a video signal separated from the broadcast signal received by the first receiving means or the second receiving means on an information recording medium,

In the case where the recording means records the video signal supplied from the second receiving means, the control means can watch the broadcast using the first receiving means. 4. The program guide generation device according to claim 1, wherein the second receiving unit is controlled so that the channel selection is maintained as the terrestrial broadcasting station being recorded. 5.

[5] The first receiving means and the second receiving means for selectively receiving radio waves transmitted from the terrestrial broadcast station and outputting broadcast signals are used to indicate each of the multiple terrestrial broadcast stations. In a method for generating a yarn and guide table for receiving a broadcast signal including service information and generating a yarn and guide table indicating broadcast schedules of the plurality of terrestrial broadcast stations,

The terrestrial broadcast station that is being received using the first receiving means during part or all of the period when the user is watching the broadcast using the first receiving means. Except terrestrial broadcasting stations,

The second receiving means is controlled so as to sequentially receive the identified terrestrial broadcasting stations, and the support signal is output from the broadcast signal output from the first receiving means and the second receiving means. Extract service information,

Storing the extracted service information;

Read the stored service information,

A program guide table generating method, comprising: processing the read service information to generate the program guide table.