JP2001292384A - Electronic program guide device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] Conventionally, when a viewing / listening is reserved for a television program in which only the broadcast time is set, there arises a problem that the recognition of the subsequent program contents is forgotten to be recognized or the recognition is delayed. There was a possibility. SOLUTION: When only a program broadcast time is determined and a TV program whose number of programs, program contents and the like are undetermined is reserved, EPG data of a reserved program in a memory 11 storing the program reservation information is stored. It detects that the version information has been updated, and notifies the CRT display 9 that the contents of the reserved program have been determined based on this detection output.
To notify the viewer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic program guide device, and more particularly, to an electronic program guide device using EPG (Electronic Program Guide) data transmitted from a broadcasting station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, instead of a paper medium such as a newspaper or a magazine, an EPG is used to notify a broadcast schedule of a television program.
Various uses of (electronic program guides) have been proposed, some of which have already been implemented. By the way, as one of the operation modes of the TV program, there is a case where only the broadcast time of the TV program is framed, and the actual number of broadcast programs and the program content within the frame are not determined unless it is close to the broadcast date. . An example of such a case is a case where the broadcast content of a television program is determined based on the popularity vote of the viewer. FIG. 4 shows an example of a program table in such a case. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a program having only a frame.

[0003] Here, if a viewer makes a reservation for viewing a television program in which only the above-mentioned framing is performed using the EPG, the viewer may be late in recognizing the determination of the subsequent program contents or the like. There is a problem that the user may forget or recognize. This means
This leads to making unnecessary reservations.

[0004]

As described above, when a viewing reservation is made for a television program in which only the above-described framing is conventionally performed, it is delayed for the viewer to recognize the determination of the subsequent program contents and the like. There is a problem that the user may forget or forget.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in response to the above-described problems. For example, even when a television program in which only the above-described frame is arranged is reserved for viewing, it is possible to recognize the determination of the subsequent program contents and the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic program guide device capable of performing the above.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic program guide apparatus for extracting EPG (electronic program guide) data from a broadcast signal, and storing the extracted EPG data. EPG data storage means, program information update detection means for detecting update of program information from EPG data stored in the EPG data storage means, and notification for notifying update of program information based on the output of the program information update detection means Means. An electronic program guide device according to claim 2 is the electronic program guide device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic program guide device generates a predetermined program guide from EPG data stored in the EPG data storage device. A program scheduler for reserving a desired program based on the program guide created by the program scheduler, and a reserved program information storage for storing program information reserved by the program scheduler; The detecting means is configured to detect an update of the reserved program information stored in the reserved program information storage means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the electronic program guide device according to the first aspect, wherein the EPG data is stored in the EPG data storage device. Program reservation means for reserving a desired program based on the program table created by the program table creation means; reserved program information storage means for storing program information reserved by the program reservation means; Program information update data storage means for storing the update data of the program information detected by the above, and update tendency information extraction means for extracting update tendency information from the program information update data stored in the program information update data storage means. The program reservation means is configured to make a program reservation using the update tendency information extracted by the update tendency information extraction means. Than it is.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic program guide device according to the first aspect, the program information update detecting means determines only the program broadcast time, and the number of programs and program contents are not determined. Is configured to detect the update of the program information relating to the TV program of the present invention.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic program guide device according to the first aspect, the notifying means is configured to notify the update of the program information by video or audio.

[0010]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the basic configuration of the electronic program guide device of the present invention. The electronic program guide device according to the present embodiment includes a tuner 1, EPG data extraction means 2, video signal processing means 3, EPG data storage memory 3, EPG data update detection means 4, EPG data update notification means 5, program guide creation means 6. , A video signal processing means 7, a display data selection means 8, and a CRT display 9.

Next, the operation of the above device will be described. The tuner 1 receives a channel of a specific broadcasting station, receives video and audio data, and receives EPG (Electronic Program Information Guide) data from the broadcasting station. The EPG is, for example, broadcast schedule data of a television program transmitted from a television broadcast station every week, and includes, for each program, a title, a start date and time, an end date and time, a classification, a program description and the like. Things.

The EPG data extracting means 2 separates the EPG data from the tuner 1 and outputs it to the EPG data storage memory 3. The program guide creating means 6 performs data processing for EPG display based on the EPG data stored in the memory 3 so that the CRT display 9 can display a program by EPG.

On the other hand, the video signal processing means 7 performs video signal processing by extracting video data from the signal received from the tuner 1. The display selection means 8 is controlled by a viewer's instruction from a remote controller (not shown) or the like to select whether to display a video or an electronic program guide. It should be noted that the display selection means 8 is usually provided with the video signal processing means 7.
Is selected so as to output the video information from the CRT display 9.

Here, consider the EPG data of a program in which only the broadcasting time is set. Version information such as a date or a version number is added to EPG data transmitted from a broadcasting station (for example, in the case of BS digital broadcasting, a version number is added as version information). When the broadcast content of the framed program is determined, the version information (date or version number, etc.) of the EPG data changes. Therefore, if the EPG data update detecting means 4 detects a change in the version information (date or version number, etc.) of the EPG data relating to the framed program in the EPG data storage memory 3, the broadcast of the framed program is performed. You can know the content is confirmed. An update notification is output from the EPG data update notification means 5 based on the update detection output of the update detection means 4. In the case of the present embodiment, since the content of the framed program is forcibly fixed and displayed on the CRT display 9 as a message in a form of being superimposed on the video display image, the viewer is sure to know the update of the program. Can be done. By supplying the output of the update notifying means 5 to the input terminal of the display selecting means 8, the update notification is displayed on the CRT display 9 only when the viewer selects the display of the update information with a remote controller or the like. It goes without saying that it is possible to do so.

Further, in this embodiment, the program confirmation notification is output to a CRT display for displaying a television screen, but this notification is transmitted to a display provided separately from the CRT display (for example, a television). The information may be displayed on a receiver or a liquid crystal display provided on a remote controller (not shown). In order to notify the liquid crystal display provided in the remote controller, data may be transmitted from the television receiver to the remote controller. Further, the notification is not limited to issuing a message, and for example, a dedicated lamp provided on a television receiver or a remote control may be turned on.
Alternatively, the notification may be made by voice.

According to the above-described embodiment, when the number and contents of the framed programs for which only the time frame is determined are determined, the viewer can automatically know this, which is useful.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the electronic program guide device of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a viewing reservation. In this embodiment, a program reservation unit 10, a reserved program information storage memory 11, and a reserved program execution unit 12 are added to the configuration of the previous embodiment shown in FIG.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. The program reservation unit 10 uses the electronic program guide from the program table creation unit 6 to reserve the program based on a control command signal from a remote control (not shown) operated by a viewer who intends to make a program viewing reservation. Is output to the reserved program information storage memory 11. Note that the program reservation by the remote controller 5 by the viewer selects the display selection means 8 which is normally set so that the video information of the video signal processing means 7 is selected and output to the CRT display 9 by a remote control (not shown). Control is performed to select the program guide screen output from the program guide creating means 63 and display the program guide on the CRT display 9. In addition, program reservation is performed by selecting a program on the screen using a remote controller, but a detailed description of this method is omitted because it is a known matter.

The data of the broadcast program designated by the program reservation means 10 is input to the reserved program information storage memory 11 as described above. This data is input to the EPG data update detection means 13 and Update detection of the version information in the middle is performed. Therefore, as in the previous embodiment, when the viewer makes a viewing reservation for a program framed only for the broadcast time, and when the broadcast content is determined, the EPG
A change in the version information of the data is detected by the EPG data update detection means 13, and an update notification is output from the EPG data update notification means 5 based on the update detection output of the update detection means 13. If the content of the framed program is forcibly confirmed and displayed on the CRT display 9 as a message in a form of being superimposed on the video display image, the viewer can be sure that the program framed only for the broadcast time for which viewing reservation has been made. You can know that has been determined.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the electronic program guide device of the present invention. In the present embodiment, information on what kind of program the program framed only for the broadcast time frame has been determined in the past is stored, and when the program whose frame is only framed is reserved, the information is This is displayed.

In this embodiment, the configuration of the embodiment of FIG.
PG update data storage memory 21, update tendency extraction means 22
Has been added. The update tendency extracting unit 22 includes an EPG data storage unit 22a, a frequency-sorting unit, and a higher-order data selecting unit 22b.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. In this embodiment, when an update of the EPG data is detected,
The G update data is stored in the EPG update data storage memory 21. The data stored in the memory 21 is used by the update tendency extracting means 22 to extract information on what kind of program has been determined in the past for a program framed only for the broadcast time frame. More specifically, the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage unit 22a is stored in the EPG data storage unit 22a, and the updated EPG data including the past data is stored in the EPG data storage unit 22a. Sort the data in order of frequency and select the top three. This information is presented to the viewer at the time of programming reservation of the program. The presentation information includes information on the type and number of video components constituting the program (three standard (SD) videos, one high-definition (HD) video, etc.), data on the genre of the program, and the like. Is mentioned.

In the above embodiment, in addition to the effects of the previous embodiment, when the viewer makes a reservation for viewing a television program that is framed only by the broadcast time using the EPG, the past organization information can be used. Is useful.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to make the viewer surely recognize the update of the program information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic program guide device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the electronic program guide device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the electronic program guide device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a program table in which only broadcast time is framed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Tuner 2: EPG data extraction means 3: EPG data storage memory 4: EPG data update detection means 5: Update notification means 6: Program guide creation means 7: Video signal processing means 8: Display selection means 9: CRT display 10 : Program reservation means 11: Reserved program execution means 21: EPG update data storage memory 22: EPG update tendency extraction means 101: Program framed only for broadcast time

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An EPG (Electronic Program Guide) from a broadcast signal
EPG data extraction means for extracting data, EPG data storage means for storing the extracted EPG data, program information update detection means for detecting update of program information from the EPG data stored in the EPG data storage means, An electronic program guide device comprising: a notifying unit for notifying an update of the program information based on an output of the program information update detecting unit. 2. A program guide creating means for creating a predetermined program guide from EPG data stored in the EPG data storage means, and a program for reserving a desired program based on the program guide created by the program guide creating means. A reservation program storing means for storing the program information reserved by the program reservation means; the program information update detecting means for updating the reserved program information stored in the reserved program information storage means; 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to detect.
Electronic program guide device as described in the above. 3. A program guide creating means for creating a predetermined program guide from EPG data stored in the EPG data storage means, and a program for reserving a desired program based on the program guide created by the program guide creating means. Reservation means; reserved program information storage means for storing program information reserved by the program reservation means; program information update data storage means for storing update data of program information detected by the program information update detection means; Update tendency information extraction means for extracting update tendency information from the program information update data stored in the program information update data storage means, wherein the program reservation means is provided with the update tendency information extracted by the update tendency information extraction means. 2. The electronic program guide device according to claim 1, wherein a program is reserved by using the program. 4. The program information update detecting means is configured to determine only a program broadcast time, and to detect an update of program information relating to a television program whose number of programs, program contents, and the like have not been determined. The electronic program guide device according to claim 1. 5. The electronic program guide device according to claim 1, wherein said notifying means is configured to notify the update of the program information by video or audio.