JP4332762B2 - Information display method and information display apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information display method and an information display device, it can be suitably applied to an information display method and an information display apparatus displays on the display screen predetermined information on waiting time to be displayed on the display screen of the desired information is there.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in digital satellite broadcasting, video data and audio data of a plurality of programs are encoded by a transmission device in accordance with the MPEG2 (Motion Picture Experts Group 2) standard, and then the encoded data is multiplexed and transmitted. Is distributed to a receiving device (hereinafter referred to as an IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder)) provided on the ground via a satellite.
[0003]
The IRD selects a program designated by a viewer by operating a program selection key from among a plurality of programs, decodes video data and audio data of the program, and outputs them to a monitor.
[0004]
In digital satellite broadcasting that distributes a plurality of programs, in addition to video data and audio data of each program, explanation data of each program called program guide information (hereinafter referred to as EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data) is periodically transmitted. To be delivered to. This EPG data includes various judgment materials for the viewer to determine viewing, such as broadcast schedule date information and broadcast content information of each program. In particular, the broadcast content information is a summary of the program content in a simple sentence, and the viewer can easily determine whether or not to view the program described by the information by viewing the broadcast content information. be able to.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, the IRD stores EPG data distributed together with video data and audio data of each program in a memory, and when the viewer designates display of EPG data by operating the operation keys, the IRD responds accordingly. EPG data is read from the memory and displayed on the monitor.
[0006]
However, the IRD requires a processing time of about 40 seconds at the maximum when reading the EPG data of the program designated by the viewer from the memory and displaying it on the monitor. It is difficult to determine whether or not the process is being performed accurately during the capture of EPG data, and a simple sentence on the monitor. Displaying only the content will make viewers bored and is still insufficient in terms of arousing the viewer's interest.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to propose an information display method and an information display apparatus that can attract the viewer's interest in the response time to the operation of the viewer.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention for solving the above problems, when the display means to display broadcast information received, displays the Oite continuous animation image on a display preparation time to broadcast information received is displayed on the display unit By doing so, it is possible to prepare for display of broadcast information without getting viewers bored.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a digital satellite broadcasting system as a whole. The transmission apparatus 1A encodes video data and audio data of a plurality of programs according to the MPEG2 (Motion Picture Experts Group 2) standard, and then the encoded data. Multiplex and transmit via the transmit antenna 1B.
[0011]
The satellite 1C relays the broadcast wave transmitted from the transmission device 1A and distributes it to the reception device (IRD) 3 provided on the ground.
[0012]
The IRD 3 selects a program designated by the viewer by operating the program selection key of the remote commander 5 from among a plurality of programs, decodes video data and audio data of the program, and outputs them to the monitor 100.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, the IRD 3 receives a command signal S50 transmitted from the remote commander 5 (FIG. 1) superimposed on the infrared rays at the remote commander signal receiving unit 25, and converts the command signal S50 into an electrical signal. S51 is generated and sent to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 62 via the front panel microcomputer 61.
[0014]
The CPU 62 controls the overall operation of the IRD 3 by orbiting a predetermined OS (Operating System) when the power is turned on in accordance with a program stored in an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Read Only Memory) 64. When the command from the remote commander 5 is recognized by analyzing the signal S51, a predetermined program is read from the nonvolatile flash memory 63, and processing corresponding to the command from the remote commander 5 is executed according to the program.
[0015]
For example, when the program selection key of the remote commander 5 is operated by the viewer, the CPU 62 sends a channel selection signal S52 corresponding to this to the tuner 66 as the reception demodulation means. The tuner 66 sends a broadcast wave S53 in a band including a channel corresponding to the channel selection signal S52 to a QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) demodulation circuit 67.
[0016]
The QPSK demodulating circuit 67 generates a reception data stream S54 by QPSK demodulating the broadcast wave S53, and sends this to the error correction circuit 68. The error correction circuit 68 performs predetermined error correction processing on the received data stream S54, and then sends this to the descrambler 69 as the received data stream S55.
[0017]
The IRD 3 reads the contract channel encryption key information S56 stored in the IC card 70 inserted in the IC card insertion section via the IC card interface 71, and sends the encryption key information S56 to the descrambler 69.
[0018]
The descrambler 69 extracts the multiplexed data S57 of the contract channel from the received data stream S55 based on the encryption key information S56 and sends it to the demultiplexer 72.
[0019]
The demultiplexer 72 temporarily stores the multiplexed data S57 in a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memoty) 73, rearranges the multiplexed data S57 for each channel on the DRAM 73, and converts the program data of the channel specified by the viewer. The data stream S58 of the program data is sent out to an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) video decoder 74.
[0020]
The MPEG video decoder 74 restores the video data S59 before compression encoding by decoding the video stream composed of the video portion packet in the data stream S58, and sends this to the NTSC (National Television System Committee) encoder 76. At the same time, by decoding the audio stream composed of the audio portion packets in the data stream S58, the audio data S60 before compression encoding is restored, and this is sent to the digital / analog converter 77.
[0021]
The NTSC encoder 76 converts the video data S59 into an NTSC luminance signal and color difference signal and performs a digital-analog conversion process to obtain a video signal S61 composed of an analog signal, and sends it to the monitor 100 (FIG. 1). Thus, the video of the program selected by the viewer is displayed on the display screen 100A (FIG. 1) of the monitor 100.
[0022]
The digital / analog converter 77 converts the audio data S60 into an analog signal to generate an audio signal S62 and sends it to a speaker (not shown) of the monitor 100. Thus, the audio of the program selected by the viewer is output from the speaker of the monitor 100.
[0023]
The IRD 3 is configured to control an external device (not shown) such as a video tape recorder by an external device control microcomputer 78, and can record a program selected by the viewer on the external device.
[0024]
Further, the CPU 62 transmits billing information and the like of the program viewed by the viewer to the information collection center or the like via the modem 79.
[0025]
Here, in digital satellite broadcasting that distributes a plurality of programs, in addition to video data and audio data of each program, explanation data of each program called program guide information (EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data) is regularly distributed. It is made to do. This EPG data includes various judgment materials for the viewer to determine viewing, such as broadcast schedule date information and broadcast content information of each program. In particular, the broadcast content information is a summary of the program content in a simple sentence, and the viewer can easily determine whether or not to view the program described by the information by viewing the broadcast content information. be able to.
[0026]
When this EPG data is received by the IRD 3, it is temporarily stored in the DRAM 73 as multiplexed data S57. When the viewer operates the program guide information selection key of the remote commander 5, the remote commander 5 transmits a command signal S50 for displaying the EPG screen to the remote commander signal receiving unit 25.
[0027]
The remote commander signal receiving unit 25 sends the command signal S51 to the CPU 62 as the recognition means via the front panel microcomputer 61. The CPU 62 analyzes the command signal S51 to generate an OSD (On Screen Display) generation instruction signal S71 for instructing generation of an EPG screen, and sends this to the host interface 74A of the demultiplexer 72 and MPEG decoder 74 shown in FIG. To do.
[0028]
The host interface 74A of the MPEG decoder 74 has a microcomputer, and controls the audio decoder 74B, the video decoder 74C, the graphics unit 74D, the SDRAM access unit 74E, and the mixer 74F based on the OSD generation instruction signal S71. A process for displaying the EPG screen in an overlapping manner is executed.
[0029]
The demultiplexer 72 rearranges the multiplexed data S57 stored in the DRAM 73 for each channel, and sends the video stream S58A out of the program data stream S58 of the channel designated by the viewer to the video decoder 74C of the MPEG video decoder 74. At the same time, the audio stream S58B is sent to the audio decoder 74B.
[0030]
Further, the demultiplexer 72 reads an EPG data stream S72 composed of packets constituting the EPG screen from the multiplexed data S57 stored in the DRAM 73 as the storage means based on the OSD generation instruction signal S71, and this is read out by the MPEG decoder 74. It is sent to the graphics unit 74D.
[0031]
The graphics unit 74D sends the EPG data stream S72 to the SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) 75 via the SDRAM access unit 74E, and performs predetermined graphics processing on the EPG data stream S72 on the SDRAM 75.
[0032]
The mixer 74E as display control means determines the size of the frame forming the EPG screen and the layout on the screen when clipping the EPG data stream S72 on the SDRAM 75, and clips a predetermined portion of the screen. Then, the EPG screen data S73 is generated by applying a predetermined conversion process to the chroma signal that determines the color of the EPG screen.
[0033]
The SDRAM 75 generates the EPG screen data S73 generated by the graphics processing and sends it to the graphics unit 74D via the SDRAM access unit 74E. The graphics unit 74D sends the EPG screen data S73 to the mixer 74E. The video decoder 74C sends video data S59 generated by decoding the video stream S58A to the mixer 74E.
[0034]
The mixer 74E mixes and outputs the EPG screen data S73 and the video data S59.
[0035]
Thus, when the viewer designates the display of the program guide information by operating the program guide information selection key of the remote commander 5, the CPU 62 of the IRD 3 displays the program guide information by the EPG data on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100 according to the command. indicate.
[0036]
Here, the EPG data received together with the video and audio data of the program in the IRD 3 is, as shown in FIG. 4, under the channel data D10 having the channel number D11 and the channel logo data D12, the program name data D21, broadcast The program data D20 having the data of the day data D22, the program start time data D23, the program end time data D24, the category data D25, and the broadcast content data D26 has a hierarchical structure arranged in order of the program start time.
[0037]
Then, when the viewer operates the program guide information selection key of the remote commander 5, the CPU 62 of the IRD 3 executes the display processing procedure of the EPG screen shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 5, when the CPU 62 enters the display processing procedure RT1 for the EPG screen, when the instruction signal issued in response to the viewer operating the program guide selection key is received in step SP1, the CPU 62 proceeds to the subsequent step SP2 and moves to the DRAM 73. EPG data is read out from the data and displayed on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100.
[0038]
The EPG data read from the DRAM 73 in step SP2 is only the program name data D21, the broadcast date data D22, the program start time data D23, the program end time data D24 and the category data D25 among the program data D20 described above with reference to FIG. It is.
[0039]
Therefore, on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100, as shown in FIG. 6, the program names of programs scheduled to be broadcast at each date and time displayed by the date and time column 111 are sequentially displayed in the channel display column 112 provided for each channel. Is displayed.
[0040]
In this way, when the program guide information 110 for one week is displayed on the display screen 100A, the viewer clicks on the desired program name, so that the CPU 62 sets the detailed broadcast schedule of the selected program. It is displayed in the selected program display column 113.
[0041]
Further, when the viewer clicks on the selected program display column 113, the CPU 62 selects the broadcast content data D20 from the program data D20 of the program selected by the viewer from the EPG data described above with reference to FIG. Starts reading. At this time, the CPU 62 reads out the animation data stored in advance in the ROM 65 (FIG. 2) using the read time of the broadcast content data D20 and displays it in a predetermined display field of the display screen 100A. In this case, animation data consisting of several tens to several hundreds of cuts stored in the ROM 65 is set as one type of animation data, and the CPU 62 uses the animation timer 80 to set each cut constituting the one type of animation data. By sequentially displaying on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100, an animation in which each cut moves continuously is displayed on the display screen 100A.
[0042]
Here, the RAM 65 stores a plurality of animation data corresponding to each category. In this case, one animation data is a series of image data over a plurality of sheets when a moving image is represented by sequentially displaying a plurality of still images of one cut. Then, one is selected at random from a plurality of animation data corresponding to the category of the program that is read and designated as the program guide information by the viewer, and this is displayed on the display screen 100A.
[0043]
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the viewer designates a program name “golf tournament”, the CPU 62 selects from among a plurality of animation data stored in the ROM 65 corresponding to “sports” that is the category of the program. One is selected at random and displayed on the display screen 100A.
[0044]
Thus, on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 14, as the program guide information 120, a channel display column 121 representing the selected channel and a selected program display column 122 representing the broadcast date and time of the selected program are displayed. At the same time, a broadcast content display field 123 is displayed, and a moving animation image 125 read from the ROM 65 is displayed using a waiting time until broadcast content data to be displayed in the broadcast content display field 123 is read from the DRAM 73. The Then, in the broadcast content display field 123, a text 124 indicates that the broadcast content data is being captured together with the moving animation image 125.
[0045]
Thus, the viewer who views the display screen 100A can recognize that the system is capturing data by the text 124 displayed in the broadcast content display field 123, and at the same time, the processing of the system is continued by the moving animation image 125. I can confirm that.
[0046]
When the animation image 125 is displayed while the broadcast content data is being fetched in this way, the CPU 62 determines whether or not the reading of the EPG data (broadcast content data) is completed in step SP3 shown in FIG. The processing step SP3 is repeated until a positive result is obtained.
[0047]
If an affirmative result is obtained in step SP3, this indicates that the reading of the broadcast content data from the DRAM 73 has been completed. At this time, the CPU 62 proceeds to step SP4 and ends the display of the animation image 125. Instead, the broadcast content data is displayed on the display screen 100A.
[0048]
Thus, as shown in FIG. 15, a detailed description of the program selected by the viewer as the program guide information is displayed in the broadcast content display field 123 on the display screen 100A, and the CPU 62 moves to step SP5 and ends the processing procedure. .
[0049]
Thus, in the waiting time until the broadcast content data of the program guide information is displayed on the display screen 100A, the viewer does not get bored by watching the moving animation image 125 displayed in the broadcast content display column 123. You can wait for
[0050]
In the above configuration, every time the viewer selects a desired program from the program names displayed in the program guide information (FIG. 6), the broadcast content data is read from the DRAM 73, and the processing required for the reading is performed. In time, the animation is read from the ROM 65 and displayed on the display screen 100A of the monitor 100.
[0051]
In this case, a plurality of animations are stored in the ROM 65 for each category, and one of the plurality of animations is randomly selected and displayed each time a viewer designates it.
[0052]
As a result, even if the viewer continues to specify programs of the same category, a different animation is displayed on the display screen 100A each time, and viewers who view the animation can display broadcast content data without getting bored. Can wait. Further, the animation selected at random by the CPU 62 is an animation corresponding to the category of the program selected by the viewer, so that an animation related to the viewer's interest is displayed on the display screen 100A. Thus, the CPU 62 can make preparations for displaying the broadcast content data while further attracting the viewer's interest.
[0053]
Further, the CPU 62 displays the animation associated with the category of the program selected by the viewer, so that the viewer can confirm the category of the selected program by the animation.
[0054]
According to the above configuration, whenever a viewer designates display of broadcast content data of a desired program in the program guide information, an animation that moves during a period of preparing to display broadcast content data in response to the designation is displayed. By doing so, it is possible to prepare for display of broadcast content data without getting viewers bored.
[0055]
In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which an animation randomly selected from a plurality of animations is displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of last scenes of a specific moving animation are prepared. Only the last scene may be changed.
[0056]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the animation 125 corresponding to the category of sports is displayed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other categories include animation corresponding to drama, movies, education, and the like. Can be displayed. In this case, the shape of the display frame of the broadcast content display field 123 may be changed corresponding to the category. For example, when an animation corresponding to a movie category is displayed, the animation may be displayed in a frame representing a movie film.
[0057]
In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which a plurality of animations corresponding to a category are prepared and animations corresponding to a designated category are displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the viewer can view the program. You may make it display the animation which characterizes these according to the time or date which is looking at guide information. For example, an animation of a sky pattern corresponding to morning, noon, and night may be displayed, or an animation expressing an image of a season or holiday corresponding to a date may be displayed. Further, instead of the time or date when the viewer is watching the program guide information, an animation corresponding to the time when the designated program is broadcast may be displayed.
[0058]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the animation corresponding to the category of the program designated by the viewer is displayed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an animation unrelated to the category is displayed. Also good. For example, display the fortune of the day when the viewer is watching the program guide information, display an animation that the “Omikuji” box rotates and “Omikuji” appears after a predetermined time, or animate “Janken” Various display contents can be applied, such as displaying with a quiz and displaying the answer after a predetermined time.
[0059]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the animation is displayed during the waiting time for displaying the program guide information is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other various information different from the program is displayed. This can be widely applied when displaying an animation during a waiting time.
[0060]
In the above-described embodiment, the present invention has been described for displaying information received by a receiving device of a digital satellite broadcasting system. However, the present invention is not limited to this and is distributed by terrestrial broadcasting or cable broadcasting. The present invention can be widely applied when displaying information.
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in an information display device for displaying received broadcast information on a display means, storage means for storing a plurality of animation data in advance, and related animation data related to the received broadcast information. Animation data selecting means for selecting the relevant animation data, reading means for reading the related animation data from the storage means, and continuous animation images generated from the related animation data during the display preparation period until the broadcast information is displayed on the display means. By providing display control means for controlling display, animation related to the preparation period until receiving and displaying broadcast information can be displayed, so that the preparation period can be used effectively without getting viewers bored. Thus, the preparation period can be used effectively without getting viewers bored. The obtained information display device can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a digital broadcasting system having an information display device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information display device according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an MPEG decoder.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of program information.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an EPG screen display processing procedure;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an EPG screen.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an animation displayed on an EPG screen.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an EPG screen on which broadcast content data is displayed.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital satellite broadcasting system, 1A ... Transmitter, 1C ... Satellite, 3 ... IRD, 5 ... Remote commander, 25 ... Remote commander signal receiver, 62 ... CPU, 65 ... ROM, 72 ... Demultiplexer, 73 ... DRAM, 74 ... MPEG decoder, 75 ... SDRAM, 76 ... NTSC encoder, 110, 120 ... Program guide information, 123 ... Broadcast content display column, 125 ... Animation.

Claims (6)

In an information display method for displaying received broadcast information on a display means,
A storage step of storing a plurality of animation data in the storage means in advance;
An animation data selection step of selecting related animation data related to the received broadcast information;
A reading step of reading the related animation data from the storage means;
A display control step for controlling display of the continuous animation image generated from the related animation data in the display preparation period until the broadcast information is displayed on the display means;
Information display method comprising a. The animation is selected at random from multiple animations
Information display method according to 請 Motomeko 1. The display preparation period of the broadcast information is started based on a display designation operation of the broadcast information by a viewer.
Information display method according to 請 Motomeko 1. In an information display device for displaying received broadcast information on a display means,
Storage means for storing a plurality of animation data in advance ;
Animation data selecting means for selecting related animation data related to the received broadcast information;
Reading means for reading out the related animation data from the storage means;
An information display device comprising: display control means for controlling display of a continuous animation image generated from the related animation data on the display means during a display preparation period until the broadcast information is displayed on the display means . Said storage means stores a plurality of said animation data, the above animation display control means for displaying the animation data selected at random from among the animation data of multiple
Information display device as claimed in 請 Motomeko 4. The information display apparatus, information display device according to 請 Motomeko 4 Ru comprising a broadcast information display control means for starting the display preparation of the broadcast information based on the display specification operation by the viewer.

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