JPH11112899A - Digital broadcast receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that allows a viewer to easily select a station, make a reservation, etc. while obtaining information from an electronic program guide displayed on the screen while watching a program. provide. SOLUTION: Broadcast program data and service information data transmitted by broadcast radio waves are received, and based on the service information data, an electronic program table describing information on a program broadcast by the broadcast program data is created. The electronic program guide is simultaneously displayed on a part of the screen displaying the program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus for creating and displaying an electronic program guide in which information about a digital broadcast program is described.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, in digital satellite broadcasting,
The service information can be multiplexed and transmitted together with the program broadcast. The transmitting side transmits program contents and channel contents up to several hours ahead as service information, and the receiving side prepares a receiving device that obtains the service information and displays it on a television monitor, so that it is currently broadcasted. An electronic program guide (see FIG. 6) relating to a program being broadcasted and a program to be broadcast in the future can be provided to the viewer. Also,
Channel selection and program reservation can also be performed using this electronic program guide.

In digital satellite broadcasting, 10
Broadcasting on zero or more channels is possible, and multi-channel broadcasting will be started soon.

[0004]

However, when the number of channels becomes large, the conventional electronic program guide has the following inconveniences, which makes it difficult for viewers to use. First, when displaying a conventional electronic program guide, the viewer may be unable to obtain information on a counter program or a program scheduled to be broadcast in the future while watching a program broadcast, and may be viewing the program. For example, the user has to end the program and display the electronic program guide. Therefore, it is not easy to refer to the electronic program guide easily, but it is difficult for viewers to use.

[0005] Next, the conventional electronic program guide describes all programs scheduled to be broadcast after the current time, for example, all programs scheduled to be broadcasted one week ahead, on all channels. It was difficult for viewers to quickly obtain desired information from the information.

When a program is selected or reserved on a conventional electronic program guide, the electronic program guide cannot be displayed while watching the program as described above. After that, when reselecting a station, the user must end the program again and display the electronic program guide, which is very troublesome. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and allows a viewer to obtain information such as a counter program or a future program while watching a program, and to program based on the information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital broadcast receiving apparatus which can select or reserve a channel and can switch to channel information, counter program information, and future program information in response to a remote control input from a viewer. .

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 1) receives broadcast program data and service information data transmitted by broadcast radio waves. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus for creating and displaying an electronic program guide in which information on a program broadcast by the broadcast program data is described based on the service information data, wherein a part of a screen displaying the program is provided. The electronic program guide is simultaneously displayed.

[0008] Also, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 2), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, the electronic program guide includes a lower part 3 on a screen displaying the program. This is displayed using a one-half area.

In the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 3), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, the electronic program guide contains information on a plurality of programs being broadcast at the current time. The described first electronic program guide, a second electronic program guide in which information relating to a channel being broadcast at the current time is described, and a second electronic program guide in which information relating to a program broadcast after the current time of one channel is described. 3 includes an electronic program guide.

A digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the first and second electronic program guides correspond to the first and second electronic program guides respectively. 1 selected in the electronic program guide
Display control means for transitioning to and displaying the third electronic program guide of the third electronic program guide of the channel of the program and the third electronic program guide of one channel selected in the second electronic program guide. is there.

[0011] Further, in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the present invention (claim 5), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, the electronic program guide is obtained by focusing on the electronic program guide. An arbitrary program or channel is selected.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a tuner, which receives multiplexed digital data broadcast from a broadcasting station. Reference numeral 12 denotes an input unit which outputs channel information designated by a viewer using a remote controller or the like to a channel selection unit. 13
Is a channel selection unit. When a viewer selects a channel, the channel indicates a channel to be selected to the demultiplexing / demultiplexing unit. To instruct. A multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 separates the multiplexed digital data output from the tuner 11 into service information data and broadcast digital data, and decodes channel data sent from the tuning unit 13 out of the broadcast digital data. And outputs the service information data to the service information acquisition unit.
Reference numeral 15 denotes a decoding unit which converts the broadcast digital data transmitted from the demultiplexing unit 14 into an analog signal and outputs the analog data to a television monitor. 16 is a service information acquisition unit,
The service information data separated by the demultiplexing unit 14 is acquired and stored in the service information storage unit, and when new service information data is obtained, the data stored in the service information storage unit is updated. A service information storage unit 17 stores or updates the service information data acquired by the service information acquisition unit 16 in a memory. A service information search unit 18 searches for service information data stored in the service information storage unit 17 according to an instruction from the display control unit, and sends necessary service information data to the display control unit. Reference numeral 19 denotes a display control unit, which inputs necessary data based on the input contents of the input unit 12 to the service information search unit
8 to obtain an electronic program guide based on the service information data and display it on a television monitor screen.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a television monitor screen, which includes broadcast digital data decoded by the decoding unit 15 and a display control unit 19.
Display the electronic program guide from.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the contents of multiplexed digital data received by the data broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the multiplexed digital data is composed of image data, audio data, and service information data for all broadcast programs currently being broadcasted. The service information data is multiplexed after an identification header for identification is added to the head of the service information data. The service information data includes channel information data and program information data for each broadcasted program. Further, the channel information data includes
Channel No. , Channel name, channel type (television, radio, data, etc.), viewing permission status (free program, restricted viewing program, PPV program, etc.)
The program information data includes a channel number for broadcasting the program. , Program name, start date and time, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic program guide displayed on a screen of a television monitor in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The electronic program guide displays program information related to the program. The program information of the program currently being broadcast on the screen (hereinafter, referred to as “current program”), for example, four programs before and after the F program is displayed in four lines. It is written across.

Next, the operation of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment when broadcasting a broadcast program or displaying an electronic program guide using these data will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the multiplexed digital data received by the receiving device by the tuner 11 is sent to the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14. The multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 separates the multiplexed digital data into service information data and broadcast digital data based on the identification header, and then extracts and decodes image data and audio data of broadcast digital data of a designated channel. Send to section 15. The extracted digital data is converted to an analog signal by the decoding unit 15, sent to the television monitor 20, and broadcast on a monitor screen. At the same time, the demultiplexing unit 14 transmits the service information data to the service information acquisition unit 16. Service information acquisition unit 1
6 stores the acquired data in the memory of the service information storage unit 17. When new data is transmitted from the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14, the service information acquisition unit 16 updates data on the memory of the service information storage unit 17.

Next, when the viewer presses a "program guide key" provided on the remote controller by an external input, the input unit 1
2 interprets the input contents and instructs the display control unit 19 to display the electronic program guide. The display control unit 19 issues a request to the service information search unit 18 for service information required to display the electronic program guide. The service information search unit 18 searches for service information data held in the service information storage unit 17 and selects a channel number from the program information data shown in FIG. , The program name, and the start date and time are extracted and passed to the display control unit 19. Display control unit 19
Then, this data is displayed on an OSD (On Screen Display), and the program guide shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20 while the program is being broadcast.

Further, the viewer moves the cursor on the electronic program guide by a cursor key provided on the remote controller in response to an external input, and for example, the program is provided on the remote controller with the cursor indicating the M program. When the enter key is pressed, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents and instructs the tuning unit 13 to tune to the M program. The tuning unit 13 instructs the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 to select a channel to be tuned, and the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 extracts image data and audio data of broadcast digital data of the designated channel and sends them to the decoding unit 15. . The extracted digital data is converted into an analog signal by the decoding unit 15 and sent to the television monitor 20, and the M program is broadcast on the monitor screen.

As described above, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the first embodiment simultaneously displays the electronic program guide on a part of the screen displaying the program contents. , While using the electronic program guide displayed at the same time, it is possible to obtain information on the counter program.

In addition, since the program is selected by the focus (cursor) shown on the electronic program guide, the viewer can select the electronic program guide displayed on a part of the screen on which the program is broadcast. , And a desired program can be easily selected on the electronic program guide.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the electronic program guide displayed on the screen of the television monitor in the digital broadcast receiving device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, (a) is a “program table” displaying program information (channel No., program title, broadcast date, broadcast start time, and broadcast end time) related to the program being broadcast at the current time. At the center, program information of four programs before and after is described over four lines. (B) is a “channel information table” that displays channel information (channel No., channel station name, channel type, and viewing permission state) at the current time, and is arranged before and after the channel currently being broadcast on the screen. Channel information of four channels is described over four lines. (C) is a "quick program guide" displaying program information on a program scheduled to be broadcast after the current time (hereinafter abbreviated as a future program), and includes a program guide of (a) or a channel of (b). Four future programs up to six hours ahead of one channel specified from the information table are described. Although only four programs or four channels are displayed in these electronic program guides, the electronic program guide is scrolled by moving the cursor shown in the electronic program guide up and down with the cursor keys of the remote controller. A large number of programs and channels can be sequentially displayed in either 100 or 200. Here, four programs or four channels are displayed on the electronic program guide. However, considering the size of the screen of the TV monitor 20, consideration is given to viewability. For example, the number may be about six.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying each electronic program guide in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, the algorithm will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as in the first embodiment, when a program is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20 and the program table is displayed in the lower third of the screen, the viewer is When the user presses a program table key provided on the remote controller, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents and displays a message that the channel information table is displayed because the program table key is pressed while the program table is being displayed on the screen. Instruct 19. Upon receiving the display change instruction from the input unit 12 (start), the display control unit 19 checks whether an electronic program guide is present on the screen in the current state (step 1). In the present state, since the program table exists, the program table is deleted (step 2). Next, the display control section 19 determines whether or not to make a reservation and channel selection (step 3), and creates a panel frame of the channel information table to display the channel information table without performing this (step 3). 4). And the display control unit 1
In step 9, a request is issued to the service information search unit 18 for service information required to display the channel information table. The service information search unit 18 searches for service information data stored in the service information storage unit 17, and searches for the service information data shown in FIG.
Of the program information data shown in FIG. , Channel station name, channel type, and viewing permission state are extracted and passed to the display control unit 19 (step 5). The display control unit 19 puts this data in the panel frame and displays it on an OSD (On Screen Display), and the quick program guide (FIG. 4C) is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20.

As described above, while the program is being displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20 and the program table is displayed in the lower third of the screen, the viewer from the outside can When the cursor on the program table is moved by the cursor keys provided on the remote controller and, for example, the determination key provided on the remote controller is pressed while the cursor is pointing to the M program, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents. , M program is tuned to the tuning unit 13, and the interpreted information is also sent to the display control unit 19. Display control unit 19
Then, it is checked whether an electronic program guide is present on the screen in the current state (step 1). In the present state, since the program table exists, the program table is deleted (step 2). Next, the display control unit 19 determines whether or not to make a reservation and channel selection (step 3). Since the M program is selected (S7), the display control unit 19 does not perform an operation of creating an electronic program guide. The tuning unit 13 instructs the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 to select a channel to be tuned, and the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 14 extracts image data and audio data of broadcast digital data of the designated channel and sends them to the decoding unit 15. . The extracted digital data is converted into an analog signal by the decoding unit 15 and sent to the television monitor 20, and the M program is broadcast on the monitor screen. Instead of pressing the enter key as described above, if the cursor is pointing to the M program, and the quick program table key provided on the remote controller is pressed, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents, and Is indicated by the cursor and the quick program guide key is pressed, so that the display control unit 19 is instructed to display the quick program guide related to the channel (901) broadcasting the M program. Upon receiving the display change instruction from the input unit 12 (start), the display control unit 19 checks whether an electronic program guide is present on the screen in the current state (step 1). In the present state, since the program table exists, the program table is deleted (step 2). Next, the display control unit 19 determines whether or not to make a reservation and channel selection (step 3), and creates a panel frame of the quick program guide to display the quick program guide without performing this (step 3). 4). Then, the display control unit 19 issues a request to the service information search unit 18 for service information necessary for displaying the quick program table. The service information search unit 18 searches for service information data held in the service information storage unit 17,
From the program information data shown in FIG. 90
The program name and the start date and time described in the program information data having 1 are extracted and passed to the display control unit 19 (step 5). The display control unit 19 puts this data in the panel frame and displays it on an OSD (On Screen Display), and the quick program table (FIG. 4C) is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20. .

Further, while displaying the program on the screen of the television monitor 20 and displaying the above-mentioned quick program table in the lower third of the screen, an external viewer is provided on the remote controller. When the cursor on the quick program table is moved by the cursor key and, for example, a decision key provided on the remote controller is pressed with the cursor indicating the O program, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents and Is instructed to select the channel, and the interpreted information is also sent to the display control unit 19. The display controller 19 checks whether an electronic program guide is present on the screen in the current state (step 1). In the present state, since the program table exists, the program table is deleted (step 2). Next, the display control unit 19 determines whether or not to make a reservation and channel selection (step 3), and does not perform an operation of creating an electronic program guide to reserve an O program (S7). When the start time of the reserved program is reached, the channel selecting section 13 instructs the multiplexing / demultiplexing section 14 to select a channel to be tuned. The extracted data is sent to the decoding unit 15. The extracted digital data is converted to an analog signal by the decoding unit 15 and sent to the television monitor 20, and the O program is broadcast on the monitor screen.

As described above, while the program is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 20 and the channel information table is displayed in the lower third of the screen, an external viewer The cursor on the program table is moved by a cursor key provided on the
When the quick program table key provided on the remote controller is pressed with the cursor indicating the program, the input unit 12 interprets the input contents and reads the channel number in the channel information table. Since the cursor is pointing to 102 and the quick program guide key is pressed,
Channel No. The display control unit 19 is instructed to display the quick program table related to 102. Display control unit 19
Receives a display change instruction from the input unit 12 (start), and checks whether an electronic program guide is present on the screen in the current state (step 1). In the present state, since the program table exists, the program table is deleted (step 2). Next, the display control unit 19 determines whether or not to make a reservation and channel selection (step 3), and creates a panel frame of the quick program guide to display the quick program guide without performing this (step 3). 4). And the display control unit 1
In step 9, a request is issued to the service information search unit 18 for service information required to display the quick program guide. The service information search unit 18 searches for service information data stored in the service information storage unit 17, and searches the program information data shown in FIG. The program name and the start date and time described in the program information data having 102 are extracted and passed to the display control unit 19 (step 5). The display controller 19 puts this data in the panel frame and displays it on an OSD (On Screen Display). 102
A quick program guide in which information about a future program is described is displayed.

As described above, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention has, in addition to the configuration in the first embodiment, an electronic program table as the program table, the channel information table, and the quick program table. Viewers can select and display an electronic program guide in which only the necessary information is described. The station can be selected and reserved.

Also, the display control means for transitioning from the state in which the program table or the channel information table is displayed to the above-mentioned quick program table is provided. The program guide is displayed step by step, so that information can be grasped in various ways, and by obtaining a large amount of information step by step, information necessary at each step can be easily grasped.

Further, since the electronic program guide is displayed in the lower third area on the screen displaying the program, the viewing of the program is hardly affected, and the electronic program guide is easy to read. It is easy to grasp.

[0031]

As described above, according to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention (claim 1), the broadcast program data and the service information data transmitted by the broadcast wave are received and the service information data is received. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus for creating and displaying an electronic program guide in which information on a program broadcast by the broadcast program data is described based on the electronic program guide, wherein the electronic program guide is displayed on a part of the screen displaying the program. Since the tables are displayed at the same time, there is an effect that the viewer can obtain the information of the counter program using the electronic program table displayed at the same time while watching the program.

According to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention (claim 2), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of claim 1, the electronic program guide is displayed on a screen displaying the program. Since the display is performed using the lower third area, there is an effect that the viewing of the program is hardly hindered, and the electronic program guide is easy to see and grasp.

According to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention (claim 3), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of claim 1, the electronic program guide relates to a plurality of programs being broadcast at the current time. A first electronic program guide in which information is described, a second electronic program guide in which information about a channel being broadcast at the current time is described, and information about a program broadcast after the current time of one channel are described. Since the third electronic program guide is included, the viewer can select and display an electronic program guide in which only necessary information is described. There is an effect that channel selection and reservation can be easily performed with reference to the table.

[0034] According to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention (claim 4), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of claim 3, the first and second electronic program guides are used in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus. A transition is made to the third electronic program guide of the channel of one program selected in the one electronic program guide and the third electronic program guide of the one channel selected in the second electronic program guide. Since the display control means is provided for displaying, a plurality of electronic program guides suitable for each purpose can be displayed in a stepwise manner, so that the information can be grasped from various angles, and a large amount of information can be stepwisely displayed. This has the effect that necessary information can be easily grasped at each stage.

Further, according to the digital broadcast receiving apparatus of the present invention (claim 5), in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, the electronic program table has a focus indicated on the electronic program table. Viewers choose any program or channel,
There is an effect that information can be obtained from an electronic program guide displayed on a part of a screen on which a program is broadcast, and a desired program can be easily selected on the electronic program guide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital broadcast receiving device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contents of multiplexed digital data received by the data broadcast receiving device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic program guide displayed on a screen of a television monitor in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the electronic program guide displayed on the screen of the television monitor in the digital broadcast receiving device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an algorithm for displaying each electronic program guide in the digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional electronic program guide displayed on a screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 Tuner 12 Input unit 13 Tuning unit 14 Demultiplexing unit 15 Decoding unit 16 Service information acquisition unit 17 Service information storage unit 18 Service information search unit 19 Display control unit 20 TV monitor

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electronic program guide that receives broadcast program data and service information data transmitted by broadcast radio waves and describes, based on the service information data, information on a program broadcast by the broadcast program data. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus for creating and displaying, wherein the electronic program guide is simultaneously displayed on a part of a screen displaying the program. 2. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program guide is displayed using a lower third area on a screen displaying the program. A digital broadcast receiving apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program guide is a first electronic program guide in which information on a plurality of programs being broadcast at the current time is described. A second electronic program guide in which information relating to the first channel is described, and a third electronic program guide in which information relating to a program broadcast after the current time of the first channel is described. Receiver. 4. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first and second electronic program guides respectively include the first and second electronic program guides.
Transitions to the third electronic program guide of the channel of one program selected in the electronic program guide of the above and the third electronic program guide of one channel selected in the second electronic program guide for display A digital broadcast receiving apparatus, comprising: 5. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program guide is for selecting an arbitrary program or channel according to a focus indicated on the electronic program guide. Digital broadcast receiving device.