JPH10108083A - Computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the computer system in which optional different TV signals are simultaneously outputted to an external display device and a storage destination in the case of receiving a TV signal and outputting it externally or the optional different TV signals are laid out on a same image pattern of the external display device. SOLUTION: A plurality of TV turners 11, 12 that receive TV signals generate two sets of image information and an optional set of image information is selected and sent to an external display device 20 based on a series of commands from a CPU 16 based on a command from a key board 50. The other set of information is selected and sent to an auxiliary storage device 30. Or a composite image is generated from a plurality of sets of image information and any arbitrary image among the sets of image information and the synthesis information is selected and sent to the external display device 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer system which receives a television signal (hereinafter, simply referred to as a TV signal) and outputs it to an external output device.
The present invention relates to a computer system capable of simultaneously outputting a plurality of mutually different TV signals to a plurality of external output devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The ownership rate of computers in ordinary households tends to increase year by year. Home computers have built-in facsimile transmission and reception functions.
There is a demand for a multi-function type having a V receiving function.

For example, as a general TV receiver, there is a multi-signal receiving apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-75034. This multi-signal receiving device incorporates a simple control unit, display control unit, small memory unit, etc., so that multi-screen display functions such as so-called picture-in-picture, which allocate and display programs of multiple channels on the same screen It has.

[0004]

By the way, when the function of the TV receiver is installed in the home personal computer as described above, if the above-described multi-screen display function and simultaneous recording function are added, There were the following problems.

That is, the conventional computer system only has one TV tuner built therein. For this reason, the user can display or record only one desired program, but cannot record the counterprogram simultaneously with the display, or cannot display a plurality of programs on a multi-screen. .

In view of the above problems, the present invention makes it possible to independently receive two or more different TV signals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system which enables simultaneous viewing of one TV signal and recording of another TV signal, or simultaneous display of two TV signals.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a computer system according to the present invention comprises first and second television tuners for receiving first and second television signals independently of each other. And first and second control switches for controlling the outputs of the first and second television tuners, respectively, and at least one output for outputting the output of the television tuner controlled by both control switches to the outside An output device, and a CPU that controls the control switch and the output device in response to an external signal are provided.

According to the image display device of the computer of the present invention, the first and second television tuners independently receive the first and second television signals, respectively,
Is output to an external output device, such as a display device, via the output device based on the instruction.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the output of the output device is supplied to an image display device and an auxiliary storage device so that one of the first and second television signals can be simultaneously watched and the other recorded. Make it possible.

A signal synthesizing circuit for synthesizing the first and second television signals and outputting a synthesized television signal, and selecting at least one of the first, second and synthesized television signals. It is a preferable aspect of the present invention that the image display apparatus further includes a selection switch provided to the image display device. In this case, selection of watching the first or second TV signal, selection of combining and watching the first TV signal and the second TV signal, and viewing of any one of the signals and the first or second signal are performed. Regardless of the selection of recording the second TV signal or its composite signal, a configuration in which desired processing is performed in response to this is also possible.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A computer system according to the present embodiment has a system body (computer body) 1 having a TV reception function.
0, an external display device 20 such as a display for displaying output information from the computer body 10, and an optical disk or DVD for storing the output information of the computer body 10.
And an external input device (input device) 50 such as a keyboard, a TV antenna 40 for introducing a TV signal into the computer main body 10, and the like.

The computer main unit 10 receives two TV signals via a common TV antenna 40 and sends out two TV tuners 1 for transmitting an image signal and a sound signal including a synchronization signal.
1, 12 and an image synthesizing circuit 13 for synthesizing both image signals to form a synthesized image signal, and selecting one image from images from both TV tuners and a synthesized signal of both images, A first switch 14 for converting into a digital signal and transmitting the same, and a second switch for selecting any one of the image and audio signals from the outputs of both TV tuners 11 and 12 and similarly converting to a digital signal and transmitting the same. 15, an external input / output device 20,
It comprises an output device 17 and an input device 18 for transmitting and receiving signals between 0 and 50.

The instructions from the CPU 16 include an instruction to select a TV signal, an instruction to select an individual image and audio signal or a combined image and audio signal, and an instruction to switch an image and audio signal. These instructions are given from the external input device 50 to the CPU 16 via the input device 18, and are generated by the CPU 16 based on these instructions.

The image and audio signals are analog information and are converted into digital signals by the selection switches 14 and 15 which also function as D / A converters. In this case, the first switch 14
Selects only image information and converts it into a digital signal. The second switch 15 selects each individual image and audio signal and gives it to the CPU 16.

The computer body 10 has a sufficient memory capacity for a buffer. The auxiliary storage device 30 can also be used for this purpose, for example, a writable optical disk or the like can be adopted. In this case, when the image information is reproduced later, reprocessing by the computer main body becomes easy.

The TV antenna 40 has a distributor for distributing a TV signal to each of the TV tuners 11 and 12, and is an antenna with a shortening coil mounted on the computer main body 10, and the like. It may be a TV input terminal. In this case, a TV signal can be introduced from another external TV antenna via the TV input terminal.

The TV tuners 11 and 12 are provided with a known RF /
It has circuits for IF signal processing and demodulation. In the TV tuners 11 and 12, a channel of a TV signal is selected based on a channel selection instruction from the CPU 16, and an image and an audio signal are formed by the TV signal of the selected channel.
The image is sent to the image synthesis circuit 13, the first switch 14 and the second switch 15.

In the image synthesizing circuit 13, a configuration of a composite image divided into a plurality of sections is set in advance. According to this configuration, a plurality of pieces of image information are compressed, allocated to the composite image and transmitted to the first switch 14. .

In the first switch 14, each individual image signal and composite image signal and a first selection instruction from the CPU 16 are introduced, and each image signal or composite signal is transmitted to the first switch of the CPU 16.
The selection is made based on the selection instruction, and is transmitted to the external display device 20 via the input device 17 as a digital screen in the normal operation of the computer 10.

In the second switch 15, each individual image and sound signal and a second selection instruction from the CPU 16 are introduced,
Each image and audio information is selected based on a second selection instruction from the CPU 16, and a digital image and audio signal is formed and transmitted to the CPU 16. The CPU 16 introduces image and audio signals from the second switch 15, adjusts these signals to the storage format of the auxiliary storage device 30, and outputs
7 to the auxiliary storage device 30.

In the above computer system, the user's instruction is to select the first or second TV signal,
Selection for combining and watching the TV signal and the second TV signal;
Regardless of the choice of recording the second TV signal, desired processing can be performed in response to this.

Although the present invention has been described based on the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be made from the above embodiments. is there.

[0023]

As described above, according to the computer system of the present invention, a plurality of television signals can be output to a plurality of external output devices at the same time, or these can be combined and output to a common external display device or the like. As a result, the present invention has the remarkable effect of providing a computer system that can respond to various user requests for television signals.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Computer main body 20 External display device 30 Auxiliary storage device 40 TV antenna 50 External input device 11, 12 TV tuner 13 Image synthesis circuit 14 1st switch 15 2nd switch 16 CPU 17 Output device 18 Input device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first and a second television tuner, each of which independently receives a first and a second television signal, and controls an output of the first and the second television tuner, respectively. First and second control switches, and at least one output device for outputting the output of the television tuner controlled by both control switches to the outside;
A computer system comprising: a CPU that controls the control switch and an output device in response to an external signal. 2. The output of the output device is independently supplied to an image display device and an auxiliary storage device, so that one of the first and second television signals can be simultaneously watched and the other recorded. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A signal combining circuit for combining the first and second television signals to output a combined television signal, and selecting at least one of the first, second, and combined television signals. The computer system according to claim 1, further comprising a selection switch provided to the output device.