JPH08331525A - Closed caption decoder - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When the user selects an unknown word in the closed caption signal, the dictionary is searched and the explanation of the word is displayed. [Structure] When an unknown word is selected by the instruction input unit 20 from the caption extracted by the character signal extracting unit 10, the word searching unit 60 searches the dictionary 90 to extract the meaning, superimposes it on the image, and displays it on the screen display device 80. indicate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a closed caption decoder having a function of designating a word from an English caption displayed on a television screen and displaying a Japanese translation of the designated word. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-165139 as a closed caption decoder for fixing the display position of character information.

In the above-mentioned conventional technique, the display position of the character information by the closed caption decoder can be changed on the receiving side of the video signal, so that the display position is fixed or the position where the open caption does not overlap is displayed. It was something to move. As a result, the nerve is likely to concentrate on the character information, and by moving to a position that does not overlap with the character information by the open caption, it is easy to compare the two.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when an incomprehensible word is displayed in the English caption, a dictionary search must be performed each time, and the entire closed caption must be understood. Was hindering

In addition, understanding the meaning of a word is not sufficient for understanding, and illustrations, maps and the like often facilitate understanding.

In view of such a point, the present invention has an object to help understanding of closed captions by enabling word search at any time while receiving captions.
Another object of the present invention is to display additional information such as a map, an illustration, and a moving image at the same time as the searched word in the closed caption to help understanding.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a character information extracting means for extracting a closed caption signal from a mixed signal of video, audio and closed caption input from an input terminal, Instruction input means for inputting a word search start instruction or word selection instruction,
A display information storage unit that stores display position information on the screen, a display report creating unit that determines the corresponding display position from the display information storage unit, and a selection that determines the word selected from the instruction input unit. Information determining means, word searching means for searching the dictionary for the word determined by the selection information determining means, display control means for controlling display at the display position determined by the display information creating means, and the display control means A closed caption decoder is provided, which is provided with a screen display device which is a display means such as a CRT for displaying the display information.

Further, a reproduction stop determination means for setting whether to perform a word search in a caption while continuing to receive a video or to pause a video to search for a word in a caption is added. -Configure a caption decoder.

Further, additional information extracting means for extracting additional information from a mixed signal of video, audio, closed caption, and additional information input from the input terminal, and a type of additional information to be displayed on the screen display device from the additional information are selected. The present invention is characterized by further comprising additional selective information storage means to be held and additional information selection means for selecting additional information to be displayed from the information stored in the selective additional information storage means.

Further, it is characterized in that it additionally has a selective additional information creating means for controlling the information stored in the selective additional information storage means.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the instruction input means gives a word search start or word selection instruction to the character information extracted from the character information extracting means.

The display information creating means determines the display position of the word selection caption after the word search start instruction or the explanation of the word searched after the word selection instruction based on the display information storage means and superimposes it on the image.

With respect to the word selected by the instruction inputting means and judged by the selection information judging means, the word searching means searches the dictionary for the corresponding explanation, and the display control means controls the display based on the display information of the display information creating means. , Is displayed on the screen display device based on the display control means.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the reproduction stop determination means sets whether to perform the word search in the caption while continuing to receive the video or to pause the video and perform the word search in the caption. .

According to the third aspect of the invention, of the additional information extracted by the additional information extracting means, only the additional information of the type stored in the selected additional information storage means is passed to the display information creating means for word search. Display at time.

Further, according to the structure of claim 4, the additional information desired by the user is instructed from the selection additional information creating means, so that only the additional information desired by the user is displayed at the time of word search.

[0017]

[Examples] The closed captions of the present invention are described below.
An embodiment of the decoder device will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the closed caption decoder in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a closed caption decoder in the first embodiment of the present invention.

Reference numeral 10 is a character signal extracting means, which performs slice processing on the caption signal superimposed on 21 lines in the vertical blanking period of the video signal to extract the binarized signal included in the caption signal. , Generate character information. For details, refer to JP-A-6-268914 Closed Caption Signal Receiver.

Reference numeral 20 is an instruction input means for inputting an operation instruction from an operator. 30 is a display information storage means,
Stores display position information on the screen.

Reference numeral 40 denotes a display information creating means, which determines the display information from the display information storage means 40.

Reference numeral 50 is a selection information determination unit that determines the word selected by the instruction input means 20.

Reference numeral 60 is a word search means, which searches the dictionary for the word determined by the selection information determination means 50.

Reference numeral 70 denotes a display control means, which controls the display of the display information created by the display information creating means 40.

A screen display device 80 is a device such as a CRT for displaying the data retrieved by the word retrieval means 60 at the position determined by the display control means 40.

Reference numeral 90 is a dictionary that holds explanations about words using the words as index keys. Reference numeral 100 denotes a reproduction stop determination means, which determines whether the reproduction mode is to display the data of the word to be searched while the video is being reproduced or the stop mode to display the data of the word to be searched by stopping the video.

With regard to the closed caption decoder of the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above,
The following steps (101) to (110) will be sequentially described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. (101) The operator first uses the instruction input means 20 to give an instruction to perform a search. (102) When the operator inputs the search instruction in (101), the operator selects the reproduction mode or the stop mode for the reproduction stop determination means 100. (103) The display information creation means 40 is the reproduction stop determination means 1
If the reproduction mode is based on 00, the display information storage means 30
The caption display position for specifying the word and the data display position are determined. (104) If the reproduction stop determination means 100 is in the stop mode, the video is temporarily stopped. (105) The display control means 70 is the display information creating means 40.
It is displayed at the display position determined based on. (106) The word to be searched in the caption is selected from the instruction input means 20. (107) The selection information determination means 50 determines the word selected in (106). (108) The word search means 60 searches the dictionary for the corresponding data of the word determined in (107). (109) The display information creating means 40 superimposes the data searched in (108) on the video at the determined display position. (110) Display on the screen display device 80 by the display control means 70.

The specific operation of the first embodiment of the present invention which performs the above basic operation will be described below by taking the case of selecting the reproduction mode as an example. 3 to 7 used in the description of the specific operation below show the state of the screen in this embodiment. (101) When instructing to start the word search in the caption on the screen with the normal closed caption display as shown in FIG. 3, press the "search" key with the instruction input means 20 such as the remote controller shown in FIG. 4 as an example. Push. (102) The operator presses the "playback" key with the instruction input means 20 to notify the playback stop determination means 100 that the playback mode has been selected. (103) The display information creation unit 40 stores the data, an example of which is shown in FIG. 10, from the display information storage unit 30 based on the reproduction mode selection of the reproduction stop determination unit 100. Acquire information such as screen position. For example, the position of the word designating caption is interpreted as (1, 1) * (3, 32) such that the column coordinates of the start position are both 1, the column coordinates of the end position are 3, and the column coordinates are 32. The following coordinates are similarly interpreted. (104) The display control means 70 is shown in FIG.
With the normal caption as it is,
Move the caption at the time of the search start command to the word specification caption position. (105) Using the instruction input means 20, the word to be searched is selected from the word designation caption displayed in FIG. (106) The selection information judging means 50 judges the word selected in (105). (107) The word retrieval means 60 retrieves the corresponding data of the word selected in (106) from the dictionary whose example is shown in FIG. (108) The display information creating means 40 synthesizes the information of the word retrieved in (107) with the position determined in (103). (109) The display control means 70 displays (108) as shown in FIG.
The display of the information of (1) is controlled and displayed on the screen display device 80 such as a CRT.

As described above, when the closed caption decoder of the present invention is used, the unknown word in the caption can be searched each time, and thus the educational effect is great.

Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, (1
A case where the stop mode is selected in 02) will be described.
In this mode, stop the screen and caption,
You can search while looking at the screen. A word is selected as in the first embodiment, and a screen displaying the meaning of the word is shown in FIG.
The word designation caption is the same as that in the first embodiment except that the caption is changed to the caption position.

Further, by temporarily stopping the reception of the image at the time of word search, the understanding of the caption can be further deepened.

Next, a closed caption decoder according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the closed caption decoder in the third embodiment of the present invention.

The components having the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 are the same as those in FIG. Reference numeral 200 denotes an additional information extracting unit,
Illustrations, maps, videos, etc. that promote understanding of caption signals
An animation or the like is extracted together with the signal indicating the type of the additional signal by the same method as the character signal extracting unit of the first embodiment.

Reference numeral 210 denotes an additional information selection unit, which passes only the additional information of the type stored in the selected additional information storage unit 220 to the display information creation unit.

Reference numeral 220 denotes a selection additional information storage unit which stores the type of additional information to be displayed. Reference numeral 230 denotes a selection additional information creation unit, which changes the information stored in the selection additional information storage unit 220 from the information from the user to determine the type of information to be displayed as the additional information.

With respect to the closed caption decoder of the third embodiment of the present invention configured as above,
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 12 and 13.
In both figures, the steps having the same numbers as those in the first embodiment perform the same processing, and therefore the description thereof is omitted.

First, the user is asked whether or not to change the additional information to be displayed. (Step 201.) When changing, the selection additional information storage unit 220 whose example is shown in FIG.
The selected additional information creation unit 230 takes out the data of (1) and sends it to the display information creation unit 40. (Step 202).

The display information creation section 40 displays the data of FIG. 15 on the screen display device 80 through the display control section 70 and the step 203), and the user selects the type of information desired.
(Step 204). The selection additional information creation unit 230 changes the data in the selection additional information storage unit 220.

When the additional information extracting unit 200 extracts the additional information, the additional information includes a tag indicating the type of information (map, illustration, animation, etc.) and the additional information itself. It is checked whether this type is included in the selected additional information creation unit 230. (Steps 206, 20
7).

If it is included, the additional information selection unit 210 passes the additional information to the display information creating unit 40 (step 2
08) In step 209, the display information is created using the display information in the display information storage unit 30 whose data is shown in FIG. 16 as an example. An example of display information is shown in FIG.

If not included, display information is created in step 210.

[0042]

As described above, in the closed caption decoder of the present invention, a word that cannot be understood in the caption is designated, and the Japanese translation of the designated word is displayed, so that the word search is performed at any time during reception. Can help you to understand the content of the caption, learning effect is great.

Also, by temporarily stopping the image and performing word search, it is possible to carefully watch the explanation of the word while watching the screen and the caption at the time when the caption occurs, so that the understanding of the scene is further deepened. .

Further, additional information such as illustrations, maps, animations, etc. can be displayed at the same time as the word search results, and the understanding can be further deepened.

Moreover, only the type of additional information desired by the user can be displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a closed caption decoder according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a closed caption decoder according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a normal closed caption decoder in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an instruction input means 20 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Figure showing an example

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a caption display position when a reproduction mode is selected in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of search information display at the time of word search in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of search information display at the time of word search in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a dictionary in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display information address in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display information storage unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram of a closed caption decoder according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a closed caption decoder according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a closed caption decoder according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of search information display at the time of word search in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a selection additional information storage unit in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display information storage unit in the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Character Signal Extraction Section 20 Instruction Input Section 30 Display Information Storage Section 40 Display Information Creation Section 50 Selection Information Judgment Section 60 Word Search Section 70 Display Control Section 80 Screen Display Device 100 Play Stop Determination Section 200 Additional Information Extraction Section 210 Additional Information Selection Part 220 Selected additional information storage part 230 Selected additional information creation part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A dictionary holding a description of a word using the word as an index key, character information extracting means for extracting a closed caption signal from a mixed signal of video, audio and closed caption input from an input terminal, and a user. Input means for inputting a word search start instruction or word selection instruction, display information storage means for storing display position information on the screen, and display information for determining display information from the display information storage means and video Creating means, selection information determining means for determining the word selected from the instruction input means,
The word search unit that searches the dictionary for the word determined by the selection information determination unit, the display control unit that controls the display information determined by the display information creation unit, and the display information determined by the display control unit are displayed. A screen display device is provided, and with respect to the character information extracted from the character information extracting means, the instruction input means instructs a word search start or word selection, and the display information creating means is based on the display information storing means. The word search means corresponds to the word selected by the instruction input means and determined by the selection information determination means, from the dictionary, by determining the display position of the word selection caption or the description of the searched word and superimposing it on the image. Screen display device for retrieving the description, the display control means controls the display based on the display information of the display information creating means, and displays based on the display control means. Closed caption decoder characterized by comprising. 2. A reproduction stop determination means for setting whether to perform a dictionary lookup of a word while continuing to receive an image from the instruction inputting means or a pause of the image to perform a dictionary lookup of a word, and the reproduction stop determination is added. 2. The closed caption decoder according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting a reproduction state or a stop state of the image by the means to look up a dictionary of words. 3. A closed caption decoder according to claim 1, further comprising: additional information extracting means for extracting additional information from a mixed signal of video, audio, closed caption and additional information input from an input terminal, and the additional information. Additional selection information storage means for holding the type of additional information to be displayed on the screen display device, and additional information selection means for selecting additional information to be displayed from the information stored in the selection additional information storage means. Of the additional information extracted by the additional information extracting means, only the additional information of the type stored in the selected additional information storage means is passed to the display information creating means and displayed at the time of word search. -Caption decoder. 4. The closed caption decoder according to claim 3, further comprising selective additional information creating means for controlling the information stored in the selective additional information storage means, and providing the additional information desired by the user. A closed caption decoder, wherein only the additional information desired by the user is displayed at the time of word search by giving an instruction from the selective additional information creating means.