JP2001078110A - Electronic program guide information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an electronic program guide information display device that can display only electronic program guide information of receptible channels among received electronic program guide information sets. SOLUTION: The electronic program guide information display device that receives electronic program guide information and displays the received electronic program guide information is provided with a discrimination means 7 that discriminates whether or not a broadcast program of each channel can be receptible for each channel included in the received electronic program guide information and a display means 9 that display the electronic program guide information from which the electronic program guide information with respect to channels whose broadcast programs have been discriminated unreceptible is eliminated in the case of displaying the electronic program guide information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in television broadcasting, the number of channels has been increased by satellite television broadcasting, cable television broadcasting, television broadcasting using the Internet, digital television broadcasting, and the like. It is expected that the number will increase to several hundred channels, and it has become difficult to publish electronic program guide information of all channels on a television section of a newspaper as in the past.

To cope with this, it has been considered that information for guiding a program is collectively transmitted by television broadcasting and displayed on the television as an electronic program guide.
The electronic program guide displays electronic program guide information for guiding a program side by side like a television column of a conventional newspaper. In addition, there has been considered a system in which detailed information is linked to arbitrary electronic program guide information in the electronic program guide and can be browsed.

[0004]

As described above, conventionally considered electronic program guides display electronic program guide information side by side. Therefore, in order to find a program to be viewed from there, the electronic program guide is displayed. It is necessary to look at electronic program guide information from corner to corner, but viewing hundreds of channels is too time-consuming.

To solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-178597 proposes an information providing apparatus for providing data of an electronic program guide in a hierarchical manner.

However, in the apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned publication, electronic program guide information of a channel that cannot be received is displayed irrespective of the radio wave condition and broadcast time in each home, so that the program is searched for. However, there was a problem that it was troublesome.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic program guide information display device capable of displaying only electronic program guide information for a receivable channel among received electronic program guide information.

According to the present invention, among the received electronic program guide information, an electronic program guide information display capable of displaying only the electronic program guide information for a channel on which a program is being broadcast at the current time and which can be received. It is intended to provide a device.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic program guide information display device capable of displaying only the electronic program guide information for a channel for which a viewing contract is made among the received electronic program guide information. Aim.

[0010] According to the present invention, among the received electronic program guide information, it is possible to display only the electronic program guide information for a channel on which a program is being broadcast at the current time and a viewing contract is made. It is an object to provide a program guide information display device.

[0011]

A first electronic program guide information display device according to the present invention receives an electronic program guide information and displays the received electronic program guide information in the electronic program guide information display device. For each channel included in the electronic program guide information, determination means for determining whether or not the broadcast of the channel is receivable, and when displaying the electronic program guide information, it is determined that reception is not possible. A display means for displaying the electronic program guide information from which the electronic program guide information relating to the channel has been deleted is provided.

[0012] A second electronic program guide information display device according to the present invention is an electronic program guide information display device that receives electronic program guide information and displays the received electronic program guide information. Extraction means for extracting only the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time from the channels included in the electronic program guide information. For each channel extracted by the extraction means, whether the broadcast of the channel can be received. Determining means for determining whether or not the electronic program guide information is displayed on the electronic program guide information on the channel extracted by the extracting means when displaying the electronic program guide information; Display means for displaying the electronic program guide information from which the guide information has been deleted; Electronic program guide information display device characterized by.

The determination means includes, for example, means for performing a tuning for each channel at predetermined time intervals to detect a reception level, and receiving a broadcast of the channel for each channel based on the detected reception level. The one provided with means for determining whether or not it is possible is used.

[0014] As the determination means, for example, based on information indicating channels receivable in the installation area of the electronic program guide information display device stored in a storage device in advance, broadcast of the channel is received for each channel. What determines whether or not it is possible is used.

When a program constituting a television program is transmitted via the Internet, the determination means includes, for example, a means for accessing a URL corresponding to each channel and detecting a communication speed of the program;
And means for determining whether or not the broadcast of the channel can be received for each channel based on the detected communication speed.

A third electronic program guide information display device according to the present invention is an electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information. And display means for displaying, when displaying the electronic program guide information, the electronic program guide information from which the electronic program guide information relating to the channel for which the viewing contract has not been made is deleted. Electronic program guide information display device.

A fourth electronic program guide information display device according to the present invention is an electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information. Storage means for storing, at predetermined time intervals, extraction means for extracting only the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time from the channels included in the received electronic program guide information, and displaying the electronic program guide information In this case, display means is provided for displaying electronic program guide information in which electronic program guide information relating to a channel for which a viewing contract has not been made is deleted from the electronic program guide information relating to the channel extracted by the extracting means. And

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the electronic program guide information display device. The electronic program guide information extraction unit 1 receives electronic program guide information arriving from satellite television broadcast, cable television broadcast, the Internet, a mobile phone line, or the like, and extracts a date, a channel number, and a program from the received electronic program guide information. Electronic program guide information such as a broadcast start time and a program broadcast end time is extracted and stored in the first information storage unit 2.

When electronic program guide information is received from a satellite television broadcast or a cable television broadcast, the electronic program guide information received by the receiving circuit unit 3 is transmitted as indicated by a broken line A in FIG. The information is sent to the information extracting unit 1. On the other hand, when receiving the electronic program guide information from the Internet or a mobile phone line, the electronic program guide information is sent to the electronic program guide information extraction unit 1 along the path indicated by the broken line B instead of the path indicated by the broken line A.

FIG. 2 shows an example of information stored in the first information storage unit 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic program guide information extracted by the electronic program guide information extraction unit 1 is:
The first information storage unit 2 stores the information as a one-dimensional program information management table. However, the data format of the electronic program guide information is not limited to this, and the vertical axis indicates time,
Various forms such as a two-dimensional table having a horizontal axis as a broadcast channel are conceivable.

The program information analysis unit 4 analyzes the electronic program guide information stored in the first information storage unit 2 with reference to the current time information output from the timer unit 5, and the program is broadcast at the current time. The channel information of the broadcasting station that is present is stored in the second information storage unit 6.

FIG. 3 shows an example of information stored in the second information storage unit 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the channel information analyzed and output by the program information analysis unit 4 is stored in the second information storage unit 6 as a one-dimensional channel information management table. However, the data format of the channel information is not limited to this.

In FIG. 1, the first information storage unit 2 and the second information storage unit 6 are illustrated as separate blocks, but may be configured by one semiconductor memory. Further, the medium is not limited to the semiconductor memory, and a medium such as a flexible disk or a magneto-optical recording disk may be used. In the case where electronic program guide information is obtained using a network such as the Internet, the first information storage unit 2 and the second information storage unit 6 may be configured by a storage medium shared on the network. Can also.

The receivable channel determination unit 7 determines whether or not the broadcast of each channel can be received based on the reception level detection result of the reception level detection unit 8 for each channel stored in the second information storage unit 6. Is determined. The detailed description of the receivable channel determination unit 7 will be described later.

The electronic program guide display section 9 displays the electronic program guide information for the channels determined to be receivable by the receivable channel determination section 7 among the channels stored in the second information storage section 6. The electronic program guide display section 9 lays out the electronic program guide information as shown in FIG. 4, for example, and displays the layout on a television screen or the like.

FIG. 5 shows the procedure for extracting electronic program guide information by the electronic program guide information extracting section 1.

The extraction of the electronic program guide information is performed, for example, at predetermined time intervals. The electronic program guide information extracting unit 1 receives electronic program guide information arriving from a satellite television broadcast, a cable television broadcast, the Internet, a mobile phone line, or the like (S1). From the received electronic program guide information, electronic program guide information such as a program name, a date, a broadcast station name, a channel number, a program broadcast start time, and a program broadcast end time is extracted (S2). The extracted electronic program guide information is stored in the first information storage unit 2 (S3). As a result, a program information management table as shown in FIG. 2 is generated.

FIG. 6 shows a program information analysis processing procedure by the program information analysis unit 4.

The program information analysis processing is executed at predetermined time intervals. First, current time information is acquired from the timer unit 5 (S11), and a program is broadcast at the current time from the program information management table stored in the first information storage unit 2 with reference to the current time information. The channel information of the broadcasting station being acquired is acquired (S12).

Here, whether or not a certain channel is broadcasting at the current time is determined by checking the program start / end time from all electronic program guide information corresponding to the channel.

For example, if the current time is midnight,
To determine whether or not broadcasting is being performed on channel 2, the program start and end times of the program are checked from all the electronic program guide information on channel 2, and the program start and end times overlap the current time (ie, midnight 1:00). This is performed by determining whether or not a program exists.

The channel information of the channel being broadcast at the current time is stored in the second information storage unit 6 (S13). As a result, a channel information management table as shown in FIG. 3 is generated. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the channels being broadcast at the current time are channels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 34, and BS9.

FIG. 7 shows a receivable channel determination processing procedure by the receivable channel determination unit 7.

The receivable channel determination processing is executed each time the program information analysis processing ends. First, channel information is obtained from the channel information management table stored in the second information storage unit 6 (S21). Then, it is checked whether each of the acquired channel information can be actually received.

That is, the receiving circuit unit 3 is tuned to the channel for each acquired channel information (S23), and the receiving level is acquired from the receiving level detecting unit 8 (S24).
It is determined whether the reception level is equal to or higher than an appropriate level for viewing (S25). If the reception level has not reached the appropriate level, the channel information is deleted from the channel information management table (S26).

For example, channel numbers 4, 34, BS9
If it is determined that the reception level for has not reached the appropriate level, the channel information is deleted from the channel information management table. Then, the reception level check is completed for all the channel information stored in the channel information management table (YE in S22).
S), the current receivable channel determination processing ends.
As a result, only the channel information of the channel whose reception level is determined to be equal to or higher than the appropriate level remains in the channel information management table.

FIG. 8 shows an electronic program guide display processing procedure by the electronic program guide display section 9. The electronic program guide display processing is performed every time an electronic program guide display command is input from the user.

First, receivable channel information is read from the channel information management table in the second information storage unit 6 (S31), and only electronic program guide information corresponding to the read channel information is stored in the first information storage unit 2. It is read from the program information management table (S32). Then, after the read electronic program guide information is rearranged in the order of the broadcast time (S33), the electronic program guide information is displayed on a television screen or the like in a form as shown in FIG. 4 (S34).

According to the above embodiment, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for a channel on which a program is being broadcast at the current time and which can be received can be displayed.

In the above embodiment, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time and which can be received is displayed. Of the information, only the electronic program guide information for the receivable channel may be displayed. In this case, the program information analysis unit 4 and the timer unit 5 connected to the program information analysis unit 4 are unnecessary, and the broadcast of the channel is provided for each channel included in the electronic program guide information stored in the first information storage unit 2. The receivable channel determination unit 7 determines whether or not receivable is possible.

The determination as to whether the channel is a receivable channel may be made as follows.

That is, as shown in FIG. 9, receivable channel information for each area is stored in advance in a receivable channel storage memory 11 for each area which is composed of a nonvolatile memory. Then, when the electronic program guide information display device is installed, the user is allowed to input information on the area where the electronic program guide information display device is installed.
Channel information receivable in the area can be specified based on the information in the area. Based on the specified receivable channel information, it is determined whether the channel is a receivable channel.

A program (video,
When the audio data is transmitted via the Internet, it can be determined whether or not the channel is a receivable channel as follows. That is, a URL corresponding to a channel to be determined whether or not reception is possible is accessed, and a communication speed from a program supply source is checked. For example, if the communication speed is 500 Kbps or less, it is determined that the broadcast of the channel cannot be received.

In the above embodiment, the information of the unreceivable channel is deleted from the channel information in the channel information management table stored in the second information storage unit 6. As shown in FIG. 10, a channel for which the user has a viewing contract is registered in a contract information storage memory 12 composed of a non-volatile memory and a contract channel determination unit 13 is provided, and is stored in a second information storage unit 6. A channel to which the user has not subscribed to viewing may be deleted from the channel information in the channel information management table.

In this way, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time and the viewing contract has been made can be displayed. .

[0047] Of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel for which the viewing contract is made may be displayed. In this case, the program information analysis unit 4 is unnecessary, and the first information storage unit 2
Among the channels included in the electronic program guide information stored in the program, only the electronic program guide information for the channel for which the viewing contract is made is displayed.

[0048]

According to the present invention, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for a receivable channel can be displayed.

According to the present invention, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time and which can be received can be displayed.

According to the present invention, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel for which the viewing contract has been made can be displayed.

According to the present invention, of the received electronic program guide information, only the electronic program guide information for the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time and the viewing contract has been made can be displayed. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic program guide information display device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a program information management table.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a channel information management table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display of an electronic program guide.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an electronic program guide information extracting process performed by an electronic program guide information extracting unit;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a program information analysis processing procedure by a program information analysis unit.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a receivable channel determination process performed by a receivable channel determination unit.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an electronic program guide display processing procedure by the electronic program guide display unit.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of another electronic program guide information display device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of still another electronic program guide information display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 electronic program guide information extraction unit 2 first information storage unit 3 reception circuit unit 4 program information analysis unit 5 timer unit 6 second information storage unit 7 receivable channel determination unit 8 reception level detection unit 9 electronic program guide display unit 11 area Separate receivable channel storage memory 12 Contract information storage memory

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information, wherein for each channel included in the received electronic program guide information, a broadcast of the channel is received. Determining means for determining whether the electronic program guide information can be received, and displaying the electronic program guide information from which the electronic program guide information relating to the channel determined to be unreceivable has been deleted when displaying the electronic program guide information Means for displaying an electronic program guide information. 2. An electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information, comprising: at predetermined time intervals, selecting from among channels included in the received electronic program guide information; Extracting means for extracting only a channel on which a program is broadcast at the current time; determining means for each channel extracted by the extracting means for determining whether or not broadcast of the channel is receivable; and an electronic program guide When the information is displayed, the electronic program guide information on the channel determined to be unreceivable by the determination means is displayed from the electronic program guide information on the channel extracted by the extraction means. An electronic program guide information display device, comprising: 3. A means for detecting a reception level by performing tuning for each channel at predetermined time intervals, and receiving a broadcast of the channel for each channel based on the detected reception level. 3. The electronic program guide information display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit for determining whether or not the electronic program guide information is the following. 4. The determining means is capable of receiving a broadcast of the channel for each channel based on information indicating channels receivable in an installation area of the electronic program guide information display device, which is stored in a storage device in advance. 3. The electronic program guide information display device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program guide information display device is configured to determine whether or not the electronic program guide information is an external program guide information. 5. When a program constituting a television program is transmitted via the Internet, the judging means accesses a URL corresponding to each channel to detect a communication speed of the program. 3. An electronic program guide according to claim 1, further comprising: means for determining, for each channel, whether or not the broadcast of the channel can be received based on the communication speed. Information display device. 6. An electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information, comprising: storage means for storing a channel for which a viewing contract is made; Display means for displaying, when displaying, electronic program guide information from which electronic program guide information relating to channels for which a viewing contract has not been made is deleted. 7. An electronic program guide information display device for receiving electronic program guide information and displaying the received electronic program guide information, comprising: storage means for storing a channel for which a viewing contract is made; Extracting means for extracting only the channel on which the program is being broadcast at the current time from the channels included in the received electronic program guide information; and displaying the electronic program guide information when the electronic program guide information is displayed. Display means for displaying electronic program guide information in which electronic program guide information relating to a channel for which a viewing contract has not been made is deleted from the program guide information.