JP4379685B2 - Electronic program information automatic acquisition device, electronic program information automatic acquisition method, and electronic program information automatic acquisition program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic program information automatic acquisition device, for example, EPG (Electronic Electronic Broadcasting) for digital terrestrial broadcasting.
Program Guide) It is suitable for application to a terrestrial digital receiver for acquiring information.

  Conventionally, in a digital broadcasting receiver that receives BS (Broadcasting Satelite) digital broadcasting and CS (Communication Satelite) digital broadcasting, even if a specific channel is being selected, all other channels are included through the channel. Electronic program information called EPG information on which program information relating to a channel is posted can be acquired, and by displaying this information on a monitor, program information relating to all channels scheduled to be broadcast is provided to the user. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, in recent years, terrestrial digital broadcasting has entered a practical stage. However, unlike BS digital broadcasting and CS digital broadcasting, if a specific channel is being selected, an EPG related to the channel being selected is selected. There are cases where only information can be acquired.
JP 2001-186426 A

  By the way, in the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver that receives the terrestrial digital broadcast, only the EPG information of the channel selected by the user can be acquired. Therefore, when the user tries to refer to the EPG of another channel. The other channel had to be selected, and EPG information had to be acquired each time.

  Therefore, in the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver, EPG information of other channels other than the channel selected by the user cannot always be acquired, so it cannot be displayed immediately at the timing desired by the user, and lacks real-time properties. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an electronic program information automatic acquisition apparatus and electronic program information that can easily and easily acquire electronic program information in real time without forcing a user to perform complicated operations. An automatic acquisition method and an electronic program information automatic acquisition program are proposed.

In order to solve such a problem, in the present invention, a broadcast signal of a designated channel is selected from the received broadcast waves, electronic program information relating to the channel being selected is acquired, and a tuning means is selected immediately after power-on. The latest electronic program information of all channels immediately after the power is turned on according to the time range of how many hours or how many days from the present preset by the user should be acquired in sequence through all channels Is acquired by electronic program information acquisition means.

This allows the user to set in advance the time range for how many hours or days from the present immediately after power- on, and to perform normal power-on operations for all channels immediately after power-on. It is possible to automatically acquire the latest electronic program information and adjust the acquisition time until the acquisition is completed.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can set the time range of how many hours or how many days from the present immediately after the power is turned on in advance and perform a normal power-on operation. The latest electronic program information of all channels immediately after power-on can be automatically acquired, and the acquisition time until acquisition is completed can be adjusted, thus easily and easily acquiring without complicating the user. Thus, an electronic program information automatic acquisition device, an electronic program information automatic acquisition method, and an electronic program information automatic acquisition program that can provide electronic program information in real time can be realized.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Circuit configuration of terrestrial digital broadcast receiver In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver of the present invention as a whole, and broadcast from a terrestrial digital broadcast station (not shown) via an antenna 2. The wave is received and sent to the tuner unit 3 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 as a reception signal S1.

  The tuner unit 3 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 has an input interface 8 and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) configuration according to the operation of a user remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 9 in the received signal S1. The program data D2 and EPG information of the channel selected through the control unit 4 are extracted and displayed as program video or EPG on the display unit 7 such as a liquid crystal display through the display controller 6. Yes.

  Here, the tuner unit 3 can receive BS digital broadcasts and CS digital broadcasts in addition to terrestrial digital broadcasts, and can select a channel for the BS digital broadcasts and CS digital broadcasts. Yes.

  Further, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 is supplied with power from the power supply unit 5, and thereby distributes power from the control unit 4 to each circuit.

  Further, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 stores the program video and EPG information of each channel received from the terrestrial digital broadcasting station in the storage unit 10 such as a hard disk, and the program according to an instruction from the user. Video and EPG information can be read out and displayed on the display unit 7.

  In the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 having such a configuration, a terrestrial digital broadcast program image is displayed on the display unit 7 in accordance with a basic program stored in advance in the storage unit 10 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11, or An EPG information automatic acquisition processing procedure, which will be described later, is executed in accordance with the basic program and various application programs, and an initial setting for executing the EPG information automatic acquisition processing will be described as a premise thereof.

(2) Initial Setting Mode First, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 selects the initial setting mode as shown in FIG. 2A according to the electronic program information automatic acquisition program which is one of the application programs. Then, the initial setting screen 15 is displayed on the display unit 7.

  In this initial setting screen 15, “Setup” is described in the title display column 16, and “Display setting”, “Reservation setting”, “Preference setting”,.・ Various selection items described as “Others” and “Device information” are provided, and when “Various settings / Others” item is selected, the “Various settings / Others” are displayed via the detailed setting display field 18. The detailed information corresponding to the item is displayed.

  In practice, in the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1, when the “AC / ON program information acquisition setting” item in the detailed setting display field 18 is selected by the user in order to execute the automatic EPG information acquisition processing procedure, As shown in FIG. 2B, a pull-down menu 19 is displayed near the “AC / ON program information acquisition setting” item.

  Here, the “AC / ON program information acquisition setting” item automatically acquires EPG information regarding all channels of the terrestrial digital broadcast when the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 is powered on. It is for starting up the function.

  This pull-down menu 19 includes “Do not acquire” and “Acquire 9 hours” for selecting whether or not to automatically acquire EPG information regarding all channels of terrestrial digital broadcasting, and the time (date and time) to be acquired. , "Acquire 2 days" and "Acquire all information" are displayed, and the user designates whether or not to acquire EPG information, or specifies a range in which EPG information should be acquired. .

  As described above, in the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1, the “AC / ON program information acquisition setting” item on the initial setting screen 15 is selected. For example, the initial setting is performed by specifying the “acquisition for two days” selection item. Complete.

  In the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1, the “AC / ON program information acquisition setting” item on the initial setting screen 15 is selected. For example, when the “Do not acquire” selection item is specified, EPG information of all channels is displayed. It does not get automatically.

(3) EPG Information Automatic Acquisition Processing Procedure Next, the EPG information automatic acquisition processing procedure performed in accordance with the electronic program information automatic acquisition program when the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 is turned on again is shown in the flowchart of FIG. It explains using.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 4 of the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 enters from the start step of the routine RT1, moves to step SP1, and confirms that the power is turned on by the user according to the notification from the power supply unit 5. The process proceeds to the next step SP2.

  At this time, the control unit 4 automatically selects a channel at the time of the previous power-off, but does not immediately display the program video of the channel on the display unit 7, but mutes the screen of the so-called program video (Hereinafter, this is referred to as a mute state), that is, a preset still image is displayed instead of the program video screen.

  In step SP2, the control unit 4 determines whether or not the latest EPG information of all the channels immediately after power-on is already stored in the storage unit 10, and when a positive result is obtained, the latest EPG information of all the channels is renewed. Therefore, the mute state is canceled, the program video of the channel is displayed on the display unit 7, the process proceeds to step SP14 and the process is terminated.

  At this time, for example, the control unit 4 compares the version numbers of the EPG information of all the channels currently stored in the storage unit 10 with the version numbers of the EPG information at the current time, and if the version numbers match, A positive result is obtained at SP2, and it is determined that the latest EPG information has already been obtained. If the version numbers do not match, a negative result is obtained at step SP2, and the latest EPG information is not obtained and needs to be obtained. It is made to judge that there is.

  Therefore, if a negative result is obtained in step SP2, the control unit 4 determines that the latest EPG information immediately after power-on has not been acquired yet, and proceeds to the next step SP3.

  In step SP3, the control unit 4 starts the latest EPG information acquisition process immediately after power-on, and proceeds to the next step SP4.

  Here, in accordance with the condition that the EPG information of all channels set in advance on the initial setting screen 15 (FIG. 2) is acquired for two days, the control unit 4 uses one channel for all channels of terrestrial digital broadcasting via the tuner unit 3. Channels are selected one by one, and EPG information is sequentially acquired for each selected channel, whereby the latest EPG information of all channels immediately after power-on is acquired for a total of two days.

  In step SP4, the control unit 4 determines whether the user selects terrestrial digital broadcast instead of BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast via the tuner unit 3 at this time.

  If a positive result is obtained here, this means that the terrestrial digital broadcast is selected by the user, and at this time, the control unit 4 proceeds to the next step SP5.

  In step SP5, the control unit 4 generates an EPG information acquisition screen 20 indicating the acquisition progress state of the EPG information started in step SP3 as shown in FIG. 4 and displays it on the display unit 7, while the EPG information is being acquired. Displaying numerical values while changing in real time what percentage of EPG information for a total of two days has already been acquired for the acquisition rate display column 21 in the screen 20 (at this point, “28% already acquired”) Then, the process proceeds to the next step SP6.

  This EPG information acquisition screen 20 displays a message that “Currently, program guide information is being acquired for two days (acquisition time is about 4 minutes)” and also sets the acquisition range of EPG information. The “program guide acquisition setting” button 22 and the “stop” button 23 for stopping the EPG information acquisition process and returning to the normal terrestrial digital television broadcast are displayed.

  Accordingly, the control unit 4 can indicate to the user that the EPG information is currently being acquired via the EPG information acquisition screen 20, and can present the EPG information acquisition progress state at the present time in numerical values in real time. ing.

  Incidentally, at this time, the control unit 4 displays the EPG information acquisition screen 20 in a state of being superimposed on the background still image.

  In step SP6, the control unit 4 determines whether or not the “program guide acquisition setting” button 22 on the EPG information acquisition screen 20 has been pressed by the user. If a negative result is obtained, the control unit 4 proceeds to step SP9 and an affirmative result is obtained. If it is obtained, the process proceeds to the next step SP7.

  In step SP7, the control unit 4 displays an EPG information setting screen 30 as shown in FIG. 5 on the display unit 7 in response to the “program table acquisition setting” button 22 being pressed, and proceeds to the next step SP8. Move.

  The EPG information setting screen 30 displays a message such as “You can set the acquisition method of program guide information when the AC / power is turned on” indicating that the acquisition method of EPG information at power-on can be set. Along with the initial setting screen 15 (FIG. 2), whether or not to automatically acquire EPG information regarding all channels of terrestrial digital broadcasting, “not acquired” for selecting the time (date and time) to be acquired, Selection items of “acquire for 9 hours”, “acquire for 2 days”, and “acquire all information” are displayed, and whether or not the user acquires EPG information from this, or the time range within which EPG information should be acquired To be specified.

  Therefore, when any of the selection items “acquire for 9 hours”, “acquire for 2 days”, and “acquire all information” is selected by the user via the EPG information setting screen 30, the control unit 4 The acquisition conditions are changed, and EPG information is acquired thereafter according to the changed acquisition conditions.

  In step SP8, for example, when the “acquire all information” item (indicated by the hatched portion) in the EPG information setting screen 30 is selected, the control unit 4 changes the setting to acquire EPG information for a maximum of eight days, and Control goes to step SP9.

  By the way, the time required for obtaining the EPG information is naturally proportional to the data amount of the EPG information. For example, assuming that the number of transport streams per channel is 1.5 seconds and the number of transport streams per channel is “7”. If “acquired for 9 hours”, “cache time (31.5 to 45.5 seconds) = (3 to 5 seconds + channel selection time) × number of transport streams for all channels”.

  Similarly, the time required for acquiring EPG information is “2 days acquisition”, “cache time (1 minute 20 seconds to 3 minutes 40 seconds) = (10 seconds to 30 seconds + channel selection time) × all channels” "Transport stream number of minutes", and if "all information acquisition (maximum 8 days)", "cache time (8 minutes 10 seconds to 21 minutes 10 seconds) = (60 seconds to 180 seconds + channel selection time) x The number of transport streams for all channels.

  Therefore, when the “all information acquisition” item in the EPG information setting screen 30 is selected, the control unit 4 generates an EPG information acquisition screen 40 as shown in FIG. And display it on the display unit 7 and also change in real time what percentage of EPG information for up to 8 days has already been acquired for the acquisition rate display field 21 in the EPG information acquisition screen 40 While displaying numerical values (“13% already acquired” at this point).

  In step SP9, when the acquisition process of EPG information in the last channel is completed, the control unit 4 completes the acquisition process of the latest EPG information for all channels, and proceeds to the next step SP10.

  In step SP10, the control unit 4 generates an EPG information acquisition completion screen 50 as shown in FIG. 7 and displays it on the display unit 7. In the EPG information acquisition completion screen 50, “Program information acquisition has been completed.” Via the message, the user is notified that the acquisition process has been completed for the latest EPG information of all channels immediately after the power is turned on, and the process proceeds to the next step SP14 to end the process.

  On the other hand, if a negative result is obtained in step SP4, this indicates that the user has selected the BS digital broadcast or the CS digital broadcast instead of the terrestrial digital broadcast. Control goes to step SP11.

  In step SP11, since the BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast is currently selected by the user, the control unit 4 displays the BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast program video on the display unit 7, but at the back, step SP3 The process of acquiring EPG information of all channels in the terrestrial digital broadcasting started in step S5 is continued, and the process proceeds to the next step SP12.

  In step SP12, when the control unit 4 recognizes that the terrestrial digital broadcast is selected from the state in which the BS digital broadcast or the CS digital broadcast is selected by the user, the process proceeds to the next step SP13.

  In step SP13, when the terrestrial digital broadcast is selected, the control unit 4 determines whether or not the EPG information acquisition process that has been continued since step SP3 has been completed.

  If a negative result is obtained here, this indicates that income processing is still continued for the latest EPG information of all channels immediately after power-on, and at this time the control unit 4 moves to step SP5, After the EPG information acquisition screen 20 or 40 indicating the EPG information acquisition progress state is displayed on the display unit 7, the processing after step SP6 is executed.

  On the other hand, if an affirmative result is obtained in step SP13, this indicates that income processing has already been completed for the latest EPG information of all channels immediately after the power is turned on. Instead of the information acquisition screen 40, the program video of the channel selected for terrestrial digital broadcasting is displayed on the display unit 7, and the process proceeds to the next step SP14 to end the process.

(4) Operation and Effect In the above configuration, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 automatically uses the initial setting screen 15 (FIG. 2) to automatically update the latest EPG information of all channels in the terrestrial digital broadcast immediately after power-on. In the case where the setting for obtaining is automatically made, when the user recognizes that the power is turned on, one channel is set for all channels of the terrestrial digital broadcast immediately after the power is turned on, regardless of whether the terrestrial digital broadcast is selected or not. Channel selection is performed one by one, and EPG information for all the channels immediately after power-on is acquired by sequentially acquiring EPG information for each selected channel.

  As a result, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 can acquire EPG information of all channels immediately after power-on and store them in the storage unit 10. Even when a display request for EPG information in another channel is received while viewing the program video, the EPG information of the other channel can be immediately read from the storage unit 10 and output to the display unit 7 to be provided. Real-time performance is not impaired.

  In addition, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 can always provide the latest EPG information to the user by acquiring EPG information of all channels immediately after power-on.

  Furthermore, when acquiring the latest EPG information for all channels, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 switches the channel selection destination each time EPG information for each channel is acquired. While the EPG information of the channel is being acquired, the program video being broadcast at that time is not displayed on the display unit 7, but the EPG information acquiring screen 20 or 40 is superimposed on a predetermined still image. Then, the EPG information is currently being acquired via the EPG information acquisition screen 20 or 40, and the overall acquisition rate and acquisition time at that time are numerically displayed.

  As a result, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 can make the user recognize the remaining time required to complete the acquisition of the EPG information of all channels. It is also possible to provide the user with a choice of switching the selection destination from the wave digital broadcast to another BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast.

  In this case, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 displays the BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast program video on the display unit 7 while parallelly displaying all the channels in the terrestrial digital broadcast. Since the latest EPG information is continuously acquired, the acquisition process of the latest EPG information for all channels in the terrestrial digital broadcast is completed while the user is viewing the program video of the BS digital broadcast or CS digital broadcast. be able to.

  Therefore, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 can prevent the user from getting frustrated or bored by the time required for acquiring the EPG information during the EPG information acquisition process for the user.

  Further, the control unit 4 of the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 sets the time range when acquiring EPG information using either the initial setting screen 15 (FIG. 2) or the EPG information acquisition setting screen 30 (FIG. 5). The user can select any of the following options: “9 hours acquisition”, “2 days acquisition” or “all information acquisition”, so it can be flexibly adapted to users who want to set EPG information acquisition time short. can do.

  According to the above configuration, the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 can automatically acquire EPG information of all channels in the terrestrial digital broadcast immediately after the power is turned on. Thus, it is possible to easily and easily acquire EPG information for all channels without forcing a complicated operation for acquiring EPG information, and provide EPG information in real time at any time according to a user's request.

(5) Other Embodiments In the above-described embodiment, the case where the EPG information of the terrestrial digital television is acquired by the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 as the electronic program information acquisition device has been described. The present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to radio program information provided by a combination of audio and still images and program information in data broadcasting described in BML (Broadcast Markup Language).

  In the above-described embodiment, the user can select any of “9 hours acquisition”, “2 days acquisition”, or “all information acquisition” as a time range that can be freely changed by the user. As described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of various other time ranges such as “acquisition for 6 hours” and “acquisition for 1 day” may be selected.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 as the electronic program information acquisition apparatus of the present invention is mounted on the terrestrial digital broadcast receiver 1 and applied is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the electronic program information acquisition unit 11 of the present invention is installed in a broadcast-type receiver or a personal computer having the reception function that can acquire the electronic program information of the channel only for each channel. And may be applied.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the above-described EPG information automatic acquisition processing procedure is executed by loading the electronic program information automatic acquisition program stored in the storage unit 10 in advance has been described. The present invention is not limited to this, and the above-described EPG information automatic acquisition processing procedure may be executed by reading from a removable medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and installing an electronic program information automatic acquisition program. good.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a tuner unit 3 as a channel selection unit that selects a channel of terrestrial digital broadcasting, and a tuner unit as an electronic program information acquisition unit that acquires electronic program information related to the channel being selected. 3 and the control section 4 as a control means for acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on by sequentially selecting all the channels via the tuner section 3 after the power is turned on. The case where the electronic program information acquisition apparatus of the invention is configured has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the electronic program information is not limited to this, and the electronic program information is selected by channel selection means, electronic program information acquisition means, and control means having various circuit configurations. An acquisition device may be configured.

It is a rough-line block diagram which shows the circuit structure of a terrestrial digital broadcasting receiver. It is a basic diagram which shows an initial setting screen. It is a flowchart which shows the automatic acquisition process sequence of EPG information. It is a basic diagram which shows EPG information acquisition screen (1). It is a basic diagram which shows an EPG information acquisition setting screen. It is a basic diagram which shows EPG information acquisition screen (2). It is a basic diagram which shows an EPG information acquisition completion screen.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Terrestrial digital broadcasting receiver, 3 ... Tuner part, 4 ... Control part, 5 ... Power supply part, 7 ... Display part, 10 ... Memory | storage part, 15 ... Initial setting screen, 20 ... EPG information acquisition screen, 30 ... EPG information acquisition setting screen, 40 ... EPG information acquisition screen, 50 ... EPG information acquisition completion screen.

Claims (8)

A channel selection means for selecting a broadcast signal of a designated channel among the received broadcast waves;
Electronic program information acquisition means for acquiring electronic program information related to the channel being selected by the channel selection means;
Immediately after the power is turned on, all channels are sequentially selected via the channel selection means, and the time immediately after the power is turned on according to the time range of how many hours or how many days from the present preset by the user should be acquired . An electronic program information automatic acquisition apparatus comprising: control means for acquiring the latest electronic program information of all channels by the electronic program information acquisition means. 2. The electronic program information automatic acquisition according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays the acquisition progress state numerically while acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on by the electronic program information acquisition means. apparatus. When the time range is changed while the electronic program information acquisition unit is acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on, the control unit switches to the time range after the change. The electronic program information automatic acquisition device according to claim 2, wherein the electronic program information is acquired. When the time range is changed while the electronic program information acquisition unit is acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on, the control unit switches to the time range after the change. The electronic program information automatic acquisition apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the electronic program information is acquired and the acquisition progress state is also changed and numerically displayed. Even when a channel unrelated to the electronic program information is selected by the channel selection means, the control means obtains the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on by the electronic program information acquisition means. The electronic program information automatic acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program information is acquired on the back side. The electronic program information automatic acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays a predetermined still image while the electronic program information acquisition means is acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels immediately after the power is turned on. An electronic program information acquisition step of selecting a broadcast signal of a designated channel among received broadcast waves by a channel selection unit and acquiring electronic program information related to the channel by an electronic program information acquisition unit;
Immediately after the power is turned on, all channels are sequentially selected via the channel selection means, and the time immediately after the power is turned on according to the time range of how many hours or how many days from the present preset by the user should be acquired . An electronic program information automatic acquisition method comprising: a control step of acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels via the electronic program information acquisition means under the control of a control means. Against the computer,
An electronic program information acquisition step of selecting a broadcast signal of a designated channel among received broadcast waves by a channel selection unit and acquiring electronic program information related to the channel by an electronic program information acquisition unit ;
Immediately after the power is turned on, all channels are sequentially selected via the channel selection means, and the time immediately after the power is turned on according to the time range of how many hours or how many days from the present preset by the user should be acquired . An electronic program information automatic acquisition program for executing the control step of acquiring the latest electronic program information of all the channels via the electronic program information acquisition means.

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