WO2013093968A1

WO2013093968A1 - Content processing device and status read-out method

Info

Publication number: WO2013093968A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/007147
Authority: WO
Inventors: 卓也森田; 鈴木　秀和
Original assignee: パナソニック株式会社
Priority date: 2011-12-21
Filing date: 2011-12-21
Publication date: 2013-06-27

Abstract

A sound output control unit (107) determines whether or not an HDMI communications unit (104) has received, from an external device (500), an HDMI-CEC command indicating the commencement of output of sound data notifying the device status. If the HDMI-CEC command has been received, the sound output control unit (107) controls the switching of a video sound output processing unit (108), such that video data for the content signal being viewed is output to a video output unit (109) and sound data for the HDMI signal from the external device (500) is output to a sound output unit (110).

Description

Content processing apparatus and state reading method

The present invention relates to a method of reading out a state notified from an external device in a system in which a content processing apparatus capable of viewing content and an external device are connected via a communication interface, and content processing having this state reading function Relates to the device.

While viewing content broadcast on a television device, the act of recording another content on an external device such as a Blu-ray Disc (BD) recorder or dubbing content from a hard disk to a BD disc is: It is done on a daily basis. Such an action on the external device is normally operated independently regardless of content viewing by the television device. For this reason, there is a problem that the viewer cannot know the change in the state that has occurred in the external device such as “end of recording” while viewing the content on the television device.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, when a state change such as “recording end” occurs in the external device, a character string such as “recording end” is displayed on the screen of the television device on-screen ( Various techniques for reading out the sound of “recording end” via an OSD or a speaker have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-248862 A

However, in the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to temporarily switch the screen of the television device to the external device side when the screen of the state of the external device is displayed on the television device or when the voice is read out. For this reason, in order to know the state of the external device, there remains a problem that the video display of the content being viewed on the television device must be suspended.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to read and listen to the state of the external device without interrupting the display of the content video when a state change occurs in the external device operating in the background while viewing the content. It is providing the method of notifying a person, and the content processing apparatus which performs the said method.

The present invention is directed to a content processing apparatus that outputs content video and audio. In order to solve the above problem, the content processing apparatus of the present invention receives a control information for notifying a state output from the external device in a communication unit that communicates with the external device via a predetermined interface. The control unit that determines and controls the audio output of the content processing device based on the control information, and continuously outputs the video of the viewing content according to the control of the control unit, and the external device notified by the control information An audio / video output processing unit is provided for outputting audio for reading out the state.

As the predetermined interface, a communication interface conforming to the HDMI standard is applicable. In this case, it is suitable to use an HDMI-CEC command for the control information. The following control can be easily realized by using the HDMI-CEC command.

For example, the control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio that reads the state of the external device in response to an instruction to start audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command, and the video / audio output processing unit Under the control of the control unit, the audio output is switched from the audio of the viewing content to the audio that reads the state of the external device. In this control, the control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio of the viewing content in response to an instruction to end audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command, and the video / audio output processing unit According to the control of the unit, the sound output may be switched from the sound for reading the state of the external device to the sound of the viewing content.

Alternatively, the control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio that reads the state of the external device in response to an instruction to start audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command, and the video / audio output processing unit Under the control of the control unit, the voice for reading the state of the external device is synthesized with the voice of the viewing content being outputted as voice. In this control, the control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio of the viewing content in response to an instruction to end audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command, and the video / audio output processing unit According to the control of the unit, the synthesis of the voice that reads out the state of the external device to the voice of the viewing content that is output as a voice may be canceled.

Alternatively, if the content processing apparatus includes a storage unit that stores one or more audio files in which the index and the audio representing the state of the external device are uniquely associated, the control unit uses the HDMI-CEC command. In response to the index instruction, the audio specified by the index is acquired from the storage unit, the video / audio output processing unit is controlled to output the acquired audio as audio, and the video / audio output processing unit controls the control unit. Accordingly, it is also possible to synthesize the acquired audio with the audio of the viewing content being output as audio.

Furthermore, if the content processing device includes a conversion unit that converts a character string into sound, the control unit extracts a character string that represents the state of the external device stored in the HDMI-CEC command, and converts the conversion unit. The audio / video output processing unit is controlled so as to output the converted audio as audio, and the audio / video output processing unit converts the audio into the audio of the viewing content being output according to the control of the control unit. It is also possible to synthesize synthesized speech.

The processing realized by the content processing apparatus includes a step of receiving control information from an external device via a predetermined interface, a step of determining whether the control information is information for notifying a state of the external device, And when the control information is information for notifying the state of the external device, it is understood as a state reading method including a step of reading out the state of the external device notified by the control information by voice while continuing to output the video of the viewing content. Can do.

According to the present invention, when a state change occurs in an external device operating in the background while viewing content, the state of the external device is read out by voice without interrupting the display of the content video, Notification can be made.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of control information used in the content processing apparatus 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the state reading method by voice switching performed in the content processing apparatus 100. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the state reading method by speech synthesis performed in the content processing apparatus 100. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of control information used in the content processing apparatus 200. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in the audio file storage unit 211. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the state reading method performed in the content processing apparatus 200. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of control information used in the content processing apparatus 300. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the state reading method performed in the content processing apparatus 300. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Concept of the present invention>
The present invention is applied to a system including a content processing apparatus that can input a content signal and perform video display and audio output, and an external apparatus that is communicably connected to the content processing apparatus. Then, the present invention uses a speech reading process without interrupting the display of the content video when a state change occurs in the external device that was operating regardless of the content viewing while viewing the content on the content processing device. Thus, the state of the external device is notified to the content viewer. From this, the external device can be regarded as a “status notification device”, and the content processing device can be regarded as a “status reading device”.

Examples of the content processing device include a device having a screen such as a television device or a personal computer (personal computer).
Examples of the content signal include signals including video and audio, such as a terrestrial digital signal, a BS digital signal, and an MPEG (moving picture expert group) signal.

External devices include, for example, players, recorders, theater amplifiers, digital cameras, movies, door phones, sensor cameras, personal computers, tablet terminals, smartphones, facsimiles, network servers, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, cleaning robots, rice cookers, dishwashers and dryers. And machines that may cause some state change such as a bathroom water heater.
Status changes include, for example, content / video / still image / data recording, copy (dubbing), download, and upload processing completion / processing errors (insufficient capacity, battery exhausted, connection impossible, etc.), telephone / facsimile incoming calls, Mail arrival, information update, automatic setting change, sensor detection, button press detection, filter clogging, ice making, washing, drying, cleaning, rice cooking, temperature control, hot water start / stop, and device failure And so on.

In the following embodiments, as a typical system configuration example, a system including a content processing device corresponding to a television device and an external device corresponding to a hard disk (HDD) recorder is assumed. An example will be described in which HDMI communication conforming to the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard is applied to a communication interface that connects the content processing apparatus and an external apparatus.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a tuner unit 101, a video input unit 102, an audio input unit 103, an HDMI communication unit 104, a video input unit 105, and an audio input unit 106. An audio output control unit 107, a video / audio output processing unit 108, a video output unit 109, and an audio output unit 110. The content processing apparatus 100 is connected to the external apparatus 500 via the HDMI cable 501.

The tuner unit 101 receives a content signal (television signal) broadcast on the ground. The video input unit 102 extracts and inputs video data from the content signal received by the tuner unit 101. The audio input unit 103 extracts and inputs audio data from the content signal received by the tuner unit 101. The HDMI communication unit 104 receives the HDMI signal output from the external device 500 via the HDMI cable 501. Further, the HDMI communication unit 104 outputs predetermined control information (described later) accompanying the received HDMI signal to the audio output control unit 107. The video input unit 105 extracts video data from the HDMI signal received by the HDMI communication unit 104 and inputs it. The audio input unit 106 extracts and inputs audio data from the HDMI signal received by the HDMI communication unit 104.

The audio output control unit 107 receives control information from the HDMI communication unit 104 and controls switching of the video / audio output processing unit 108 based on the control information. The video / audio output processing unit 108 includes video data of a content signal output from the video input unit 102, audio data of a content signal output from the audio input unit 103, video data of an HDMI signal output from the video input unit 105, The audio data of the HDMI signal output from the audio input unit 106 is input. Then, the video / audio output processing unit 108 outputs video data and audio data according to the control instruction of the audio output control unit 107 to the video output unit 109 and the audio output unit 110. The video output unit 109 displays a video on a screen (not shown) or the like according to the video data output from the video / audio output processing unit 108. The audio output unit 110 outputs audio to a speaker (not shown) or the like according to the audio data output from the video / audio output processing unit 108.

Hereinafter, a state reading method executed by the content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention having the above-described configuration will be described with further reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of control information used in the content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. 3 and 4 are flowcharts for explaining the processing procedure of the state reading method performed by the HDMI communication unit 104, the audio output control unit 107, and the video / audio output processing unit 108 of the content processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. It is.

Control information First, as a premise, in the first embodiment, a command of “HDMI-CEC (consumer electronics control)” adopted in the HDMI standard used as a communication interface for connecting the content processing apparatus 100 and the external apparatus 500 is used. Is used as control information.

HDMI-CEC is a device control protocol that allows vendors using the HDMI standard (for example, manufacturers of the content processing apparatus 100 and the external apparatus 500) to define commands independently. As shown in FIG. 2, the command frame used in HDMI-CEC is composed of a 1-byte header area (header), a 1-byte operation code area (opcode), and a 14-byte vendor-defined area (vendor unique). Is done.

In the header area, the address of the destination device for transmitting the HDMI-CEC command, that is, the address of the content processing device 100 is stored. In the operation code area, information (for example, “0x89”) for determining that the HDMI-CEC command is a vendor command is stored. In the vendor definition area, 1-byte information (for example, “0x0a”) indicating that the HDMI-CEC command is “notification state of external device (notice state)” and “audio data indicating the device status” 1 byte of information indicating “start output (start)” (for example, “0x01”; FIG. 2A), or 1 byte indicating “end of output of audio data indicating device status (end)” (For example, “0x02”; FIG. 2B) is stored.

State reading process The state reading process using the above-described HDMI-CEC command includes a method for realizing the state reading process by voice switching (FIG. 3) and a method for realizing the state reading process by voice synthesis (FIG. 4). There is.

The state reading process by voice switching shown in FIG. 3 is started when the HDMI communication unit 104 receives control information, that is, an HDMI-CEC command.
First, the HDMI communication unit 104 confirms the first byte in the vendor definition area of the received HDMI-CEC command, and determines whether or not the command notifies the device status (step S301). If it is determined that the command is for notifying the apparatus state (“Yes” in step S301), the HDMI communication unit 104 outputs an HDMI-CEC command to the audio output control unit 107. The audio output control unit 107 confirms the second byte in the vendor definition area of the HDMI-CEC command acquired from the HDMI communication unit 104, and determines whether or not output of audio data related to the status notification by the external device 500 has been started. (Step S302). When it is determined that the external device 500 starts to output audio data (“Yes” in step S302), the audio output control unit 107 outputs a video / audio output processing unit so that the audio data of the HDMI signal is output to the audio output unit 110. 108 is controlled. The video / audio output processing unit 108 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109 and the audio data of the HDMI signal to the audio output unit 110 in accordance with an instruction from the audio output control unit 107. Then, the connection between each input unit and output unit is switched (step S303).

Thereafter, the audio output control unit 107 confirms the second byte in the vendor-defined area of the HDMI-CEC command acquired from the HDMI communication unit 104, and determines whether or not the output of audio data by the external device 500 is completed ( Step S304). When it is determined that the output of the audio data by the external device 500 has ended (“Yes” in step S304), the audio output control unit 107 outputs a video / audio output processing unit so that the audio data of the content signal is output to the audio output unit 110. 108 is controlled. The video / audio output processing unit 108 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109 and the audio data of the content signal to the audio output unit 110 in accordance with an instruction from the audio output control unit 107. Then, the connection between each input unit and output unit is switched (step S305).

In step S301, if the HDMI-CEC command does not notify the device status (“No” in step S301), the content processing device 100 performs a predetermined process instructed by the HDMI-CEC command. It will be executed (step S310).

On the other hand, the state reading process by speech synthesis shown in FIG. 4 differs from the process of FIG. 3 in steps S403 and S405.
In other words, when it is determined that the external device 500 starts to output audio data related to the status notification (“Yes” in step S302), the audio output control unit 107 sends the audio data of the HDMI signal together with the audio data of the content signal to the audio output unit 110. The video / audio output processing unit 108 is controlled so as to be output. In accordance with an instruction from the audio output control unit 107, the video / audio output processing unit 108 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109, and outputs the audio of the HDMI signal to the audio data of the content signal to the audio output unit 110. Audio data synthesis processing is performed so that the data is superimposed and output (step S403). When it is determined that the output of the audio data by the external device 500 is finished (“Yes” in step S304), the audio output control unit 107 outputs the video / audio so that the audio data of the content signal is output to the audio output unit 110. The processing unit 108 is controlled. The video / audio output processing unit 108 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109 and the audio data of the content signal to the audio output unit 110 in accordance with an instruction from the audio output control unit 107. Then, the voice data synthesis process is canceled (step S405).

As described above, according to the content processing device 100 and the state reading method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the state change is notified from the external device 500, the audio data received together with the state change is The audio data of the signal is switched and output, or the audio data of the content signal is synthesized and output.
As a result, it is possible to read out a change in state that has occurred in the external device that was operating in the background while viewing the content, and to notify the viewer by reading it out without interrupting the display of the content video.

<Second Embodiment>
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. A content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a tuner unit 101, a video input unit 102, an audio input unit 103, an HDMI communication unit 104, a video input unit 105, and an audio input unit 106. An audio output control unit 207, an audio file storage unit 211, a video / audio output processing unit 208, a video output unit 109, and an audio output unit 110. The content processing apparatus 200 is connected to the external apparatus 500 via the HDMI cable 501.

As shown in FIG. 5, the content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment includes a content processing apparatus 100 (FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment, an audio output control unit 207, an audio file storage unit 211, and The configuration of the video / audio output processing unit 208 is different. Except for these different configurations, the content processing apparatus 100 is the same as the content processing apparatus 100, and thus the same reference numerals are assigned and description thereof is omitted.
Hereinafter, the content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment will be described focusing on the audio output control unit 207, the audio file storage unit 211, and the video / audio output processing unit 208.

Control information The HDMI-CEC command is also used as control information in the second embodiment, but the information stored in the vendor definition area is different from that in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, in the second embodiment, 1-byte information (for example, “notice state” indicating that the HDMI-CEC command is “notice state of the external device” is displayed in the vendor definition area. 0x0a ") and 1-byte information (for example," 1 ") indicating" index corresponding to the device state "is stored.

The index corresponding to the device state is information obtained by replacing the device state with a bit value. The device state corresponding to the index is stored as audio data in the audio file storage unit 211.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in the audio file storage unit 211. As shown in FIG. 7, the audio file storage unit 211 stores a plurality of indexes and audio data (expressed in equivalent terms in the figure) as a pair of audio files. For example, the audio file may be preset in the content processing apparatus 200, may be uploaded from the external apparatus 500 when first connected to the external apparatus 500, or is connected to the content processing apparatus 200. It may be downloaded from a server or the like via a network.

State Reading Process FIG. 8 shows a state reading method performed by the HDMI communication unit 104, the audio output control unit 207, the audio file storage unit 211, and the video / audio output processing unit 208 of the content processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence of.

The state reading process shown in FIG. 8 is started when the HDMI communication unit 104 receives control information, that is, an HDMI-CEC command.
The HDMI communication unit 104 checks the first byte in the vendor definition area of the received HDMI-CEC command, and determines whether or not the command notifies the device status (step S301). If it is determined that the command is a command for notifying the apparatus status (“Yes” in step S301), the HDMI communication unit 104 outputs an HDMI-CEC command to the audio output control unit 207. The audio output control unit 207 confirms the second byte in the vendor definition area of the HDMI-CEC command acquired from the HDMI communication unit 104, and determines the stored index (step S801). When the index is determined, the audio output control unit 207 searches the audio file storage unit 211 to identify the audio file whose index matches, acquires the audio data stored in the identified audio file, and performs the audio / video output process. The data is output to the unit 208 (step S802). Then, the audio output control unit 207 controls the video / audio output processing unit 208 so that the output audio data is output to the audio output unit 110 together with the audio data of the content signal. The video / audio output processing unit 208 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109 in accordance with an instruction from the audio output control unit 207, and the audio data provided from the audio output control unit 207 to the audio data of the content signal Is synthesized so as to be superimposed and output (step S803).

As described above, according to the content processing device 200 and the state reading method according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the audio data corresponding to the state change that may occur in the external device 500 is stored in advance. When a change in state is notified from the external device 500, the audio data corresponding to the change in state is combined with the audio data of the content signal and output.
As a result, it is possible to read out a change in state that has occurred in the external device that was operating in the background while viewing the content, and to notify the viewer by reading it out without interrupting the display of the content video.
In addition, since the content processing apparatus 200 stores the audio data corresponding to the state change in advance, it is not necessary to switch the audio data of the content signal to the audio data received from the external apparatus 500.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. A content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 includes a tuner unit 101, a video input unit 102, an audio input unit 103, an HDMI communication unit 104, a video input unit 105, and an audio input unit 106. An audio output control unit 307, a character string conversion unit 311, a video / audio output processing unit 308, a video output unit 109, and an audio output unit 110. The content processing device 300 is connected to the external device 500 via the HDMI cable 501.

As shown in FIG. 9, the content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment includes a content processing apparatus 100 (FIG. 1) according to the first embodiment, an audio output control unit 307, a character string conversion unit 311, and The configuration of the video / audio output processing unit 308 is different. Except for these different configurations, the content processing apparatus 100 is the same as the content processing apparatus 100, and thus the same reference numerals are assigned and description thereof is omitted.
Hereinafter, the content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment will be described focusing on the audio output control unit 307, the character string conversion unit 311, and the video / audio output processing unit 308.

Control information In the third embodiment, the HDMI-CEC command is used as control information, but the information stored in the vendor definition area is different from that in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 10, in the third embodiment, 1-byte information (for example, “notice state” indicating that the HDMI-CEC command is “notice state of the external device” is displayed in the vendor definition area. 0x0a "), 1-byte information (for example," 0x03 ") indicating" the number of commands required to create one character string (total) ", and" command number (count) indicating the transmission order " 1-byte information (for example, “0x01”, “0x02”, “0x03”) and “characters indicating the device status” in a predetermined character code (for example, EUC code, JIS code, ASCII code (ASCII code)) 11 bytes of information (for example, “Dubbing was” (FIG. 10A), “completed” (FIG. 10B)), “to DV D ”(FIG. 10C)) is stored.

The audio output control unit 307 extracts characters stored in the vendor-defined area of the HDMI-CEC command, and reconstructs a plurality of characters transmitted by being divided into a plurality of HDMI-CEC commands into one character string And document it.
The character string conversion unit 311 has a function of converting one character string represented by a predetermined character code into voice data.

State Reading Process FIG. 11 is a state reading method performed by the HDMI communication unit 104, the audio output control unit 307, the character string conversion unit 311 and the video / audio output processing unit 308 of the content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence of.

The state reading process shown in FIG. 11 is started when the HDMI communication unit 104 receives control information, that is, an HDMI-CEC command.
The HDMI communication unit 104 checks the first byte in the vendor definition area of the received HDMI-CEC command, and determines whether or not the command notifies the device status (step S301). If it is determined that the command is a command for notifying the apparatus status (“Yes” in step S301), the HDMI communication unit 104 outputs an HDMI-CEC command to the audio output control unit 307. The audio output control unit 307 confirms the 4th to 14th bytes in the vendor-defined area of the HDMI-CEC command acquired from the HDMI communication unit 104, and extracts the character represented by the stored predetermined character code. (Step S1101). The audio output control unit 307 extracts all characters transmitted by the HDMI-CEC command. The determination that all the characters have been extracted is based on the fact that the “command number (count)” stored in the third byte in the vendor-defined area of the HDMI-CEC command is stored in the second byte in the vendor-defined area. Whether or not it coincides with “the number of necessary commands (total)” (step S1102). Then, the voice output control unit 307 reconstructs (concatenates) the extracted plurality of characters into one character string, and outputs it to the character string conversion unit 311 (step S1103).

The character string conversion unit 311 receives one reconstructed character string from the voice output control unit 307, converts this one character string into voice data, and returns it to the voice output control unit 307 (step S1104). When the converted audio data is returned from the character string conversion unit 311, the audio output control unit 307 outputs the converted audio data to the video / audio output processing unit 308. Then, the audio output control unit 307 controls the video / audio output processing unit 308 so that the output audio data is output to the audio output unit 110 together with the audio data of the content signal. The video / audio output processing unit 308 outputs the video data of the content signal to the video output unit 109 according to the instruction of the audio output control unit 307, and the audio data supplied from the audio output control unit 307 to the audio data of the content signal Is synthesized so as to be superimposed and output (step S1105).

As described above, according to the content processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, when a state change is notified from the external apparatus 500, the character string received together with the state change is converted into audio data. The audio data of the content signal is synthesized and output.
As a result, it is possible to read out a change in state that has occurred in the external device that was operating in the background while viewing the content, and to notify the viewer by reading it out without interrupting the display of the content video.
Further, since the content processing device 300 generates audio data corresponding to the state change from the character string attached to the command, it is not necessary to switch the audio data of the content signal to the audio data received from the external device 500.

<Connection form with external device>
In the first to third embodiments, the case has been described in which HDMI communication is applied to the interface between the content processing apparatus and the external apparatus, and control information is transmitted using the HDMI-CEC command. However, according to the present invention, the interface between the content processing apparatus and the external apparatus is not limited to this embodiment, and other communication interfaces can be used as long as signals including video data, audio data, and control information can be transmitted and received. It is feasible.

For example, even with the same HDMI standard, Ethernet (registered trademark) communication adopted in the HDMI 1.4 standard can be used for transmission of control information. 12 includes an Ethernet (registered trademark) communication unit 412 so that Ethernet (registered trademark) communication via a general LAN cable 502 (for example, an Internet protocol TV (IPTV)) is provided. Ethernet (registered trademark) communication) can also be used for transmission of video / audio data and control information. If Ethernet (registered trademark) communication is used, a large volume of audio data compressed by an AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) method, an MP3 (MPEG1 Audio Layer3) method, or the like can be transmitted at high speed. Furthermore, not only wired LAN communication but also wireless LAN communication is applicable.

In addition, each functional block constituting the content processing apparatus in each embodiment of the present invention includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a storage device (memory (ROM, RAM, etc.), hard disk, etc.), and an input / output device. It is realized by using resources, and is typically embodied as an integrated circuit IC (also referred to as an LSI, a system LSI, a super LSI, an ultra LSI, or the like). These functional blocks may be individually made into one chip, or may be made into one chip so as to include a part or all of them.
Further, the method of circuit integration is not limited to ICs, and implementation using dedicated circuitry or general purpose processors is also possible. Also, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed after manufacturing the IC or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of the circuit cells inside the IC may be used.
Further, if integrated circuit technology (such as biotechnology) that replaces ICs appears as a result of the advancement of semiconductor technology or another technology derived therefrom, functional blocks may naturally be integrated using this technology.

In addition, the state reading method executed by the content processing device in each of the embodiments of the present invention described above is performed by the CPU interpreting and executing predetermined program data that can execute the state reading method procedure stored in the storage device. It may be realized. In this case, the program data may be introduced into the storage device via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a flexible disk, or may be directly executed from the recording medium. The recording medium refers to a semiconductor memory such as a ROM, a RAM, or a flash memory, a magnetic disk memory such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, an optical disk memory such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, or a BD, and a memory card. The recording medium is a concept including a communication medium such as a telephone line or a conveyance path.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a system in which a content processing apparatus that outputs content video / audio and an external apparatus are connected via a communication interface. Suitable for when you want to notify.

100, 200, 300, 400 Content processing apparatus 101

Tuner unit

102, 105

Video input unit

103, 106 Audio input unit 104

HDMI communication unit

107, 207, 307 Audio

output control unit

108, 208, 308 Video / audio output processing unit 109 Video Output unit 110 Audio output unit 211 Audio file storage unit 311 Character string conversion unit 412 Ethernet (registered trademark) communication unit 500 External device 501 HDMI cable 502 LAN cable

Claims

A content processing apparatus that outputs video and audio of content,
A communication unit that communicates with an external device via a predetermined interface;
The communication unit determines reception of control information notifying the state output by the external device, and controls the audio output of the content processing device based on the control information, and viewing according to the control of the control unit A content processing apparatus comprising: a video / audio output processing unit that continuously outputs a video of content and outputs a sound that reads out the state of the external device notified by the control information.
The content processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined interface is a communication interface conforming to the HDMI standard.
3. The content processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit uses an HDMI-CEC command for the control information.
The control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio that reads out the state of the external device in response to an instruction to start audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command,
The content processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the video / audio output processing unit switches the audio output from the audio of the viewing content to audio that reads the state of the external device under the control of the control unit.
The control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio of the viewing content in response to an instruction to end audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command,
5. The content processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the video / audio output processing unit switches the audio output from an audio reading the state of the external device to an audio of the viewing content according to control of the control unit.
The control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio that reads out the state of the external device in response to an instruction to start audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command,
4. The content according to claim 3, wherein the video / audio output processing unit synthesizes audio for reading the state of the external device with audio of the viewing content being audio-output under the control of the control unit. 5. Processing equipment.
The control unit controls the video / audio output processing unit to output audio of the viewing content in response to an instruction to end audio data output by the HDMI-CEC command,
7. The audio / video output processing unit according to claim 6, wherein the video / audio output processing unit cancels the synthesis of the audio that reads out the state of the external device to the audio of the viewing content being audio-outputted according to the control of the control unit. The content processing apparatus described.
A storage unit for storing one or more audio files in which the index and the audio representing the state of the external device are uniquely associated;
The control unit acquires the audio specified by the index from the storage unit according to the index instruction by the HDMI-CEC command, and outputs the acquired audio as audio. Control the part
The content processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the video / audio output processing unit synthesizes the acquired audio with the audio of the viewing content being output as audio according to control of the control unit.
It further includes a conversion unit that converts a character string into speech,
The control unit extracts a character string representing the state of the external device stored in the HDMI-CEC command, converts the character string into sound using the conversion unit, and outputs the converted sound as sound. Control the audio / video output processing unit,
The content processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the video / audio output processing unit synthesizes the converted audio with the audio of the viewing content being output as audio under the control of the control unit.
A state reading method applied to a content processing apparatus that outputs video and audio of content,
Receiving control information from an external device via a predetermined interface;
Determining whether the control information is information for notifying the state of the external device; and, if the control information is information for notifying the state of the external device, continues to output video of viewing content. A state reading method including a step of reading out the state of the external device notified by the control information by voice.