JP2010118758A - Display control apparatus, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the following problem: in a control apparatus for scrolling and displaying a plurality of contents, a user can not efficiently select a content required to be viewed depending on displayed contents. <P>SOLUTION: When a plurality of scroll contents are scrolled and displayed, and when a boundary determination part 104 determines that the number of times of displaying scroll contents reaches the predetermined number of times (S203), a classification method is decided (S206), a display control part 105 switches whether classification information is to be displayed or not (S208) so that the classification information (classification information image) of a plurality of contents is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content display method.

  In recent years, it has become common for users to select content that they want to view from a large number of content.

  In other words, for example, there are a wide variety of broadcast program providing methods, and the number of contents that can be viewed is increased accordingly, so the user selects a broadcast program that the user wants to view from a large number of broadcast programs. . In addition, since the performance of storage media has increased, a large number of contents can be stored. Therefore, the user selects a content that the user wants to view from the stored many contents.

As a method for selecting a content to be viewed from a large number of contents, for example, there are the following methods. That is, this is a method of changing the number of contents to be displayed at one time according to the rotation speed of the jog dial (Patent Document 1). That is, in Patent Document 1, when the rotation speed of the jog dial is increased, the scrolling speed is increased and the size of each scrolled content is reduced so that the number of displayed content is increased. Yes.
JP 2003-044194 A

  However, depending on the content, it may not be possible to efficiently select the content to be viewed.

  In other words, for example, in the method of reducing the size of content scrolled according to the rotation speed of the jog dial and increasing the number of displayed contents, if the rotation speed of the jog dial is increased too much, the small content becomes faster. Because it scrolls, there is a risk of missing the content you want to watch.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to more efficiently select a content to be viewed from a plurality of contents.

  The display control apparatus of the present invention for solving the above problems has, for example, the following configuration. That is, a display control apparatus that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents, the scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents, and a scroll time indicating a time when the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll means. Or when the number of times of display of the first content among the plurality of scrolled contents reaches a predetermined number, classification method information for selecting a classification method of the plurality of contents is displayed. As described above, it has control means for controlling the display of the classification method information.

  The display control device of the present invention is a display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents, and uses the scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents and the plurality of content classification information. Classification means for classifying content, and display control means for displaying a result of classification by the classification means when the number of times of display of the first content among the plurality of scrolled contents reaches a predetermined number.

  The display control method of the present invention is a display control method performed by a display control apparatus that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents, and scrolls the plurality of contents continuously and scrolls continuously by the scrolling process. When the scroll time indicating the time at which the content is performed reaches a predetermined time, or when the number of times of display of the first content among the plurality of contents scrolled by the scrolling process reaches a predetermined number of times, And a control step for controlling the display of the classification method information so that the classification method information for selecting a plurality of content classification methods is displayed.

  According to the present invention, since the user can select a desired classification method, it is possible to select content to be viewed more efficiently.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. Note that the display control apparatus 100 of this embodiment is a display control apparatus that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents. Further, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment may be an apparatus incorporated in the display apparatus or a single apparatus connected to the display apparatus. That is, the display control apparatus 100 of this embodiment may be incorporated in devices such as personal computers, workstations, notebook PCs, various home appliances with built-in computers, game machines, mobile phones, digital video cameras, and digital cameras. good. In this embodiment, an example in which a moving image content to be viewed is selected from a plurality of moving image contents will be described. However, it is not limited to moving image content, and may be, for example, still images, audio data, other stream data, or a combination thereof.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the display control apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes an attribute acquisition unit 101, a scroll information acquisition unit 102, an image generation unit 103, a boundary determination unit 104, and a display control unit 105. In addition, the display control apparatus 100 of this embodiment is connected to the operation unit 120, the content storage unit 121, and the display unit 122 by wire or wirelessly.

  The operation unit 120 is, for example, a remote controller for the user to specify a scroll operation or content that the user wants to view. Input information from the operation unit 120 is input to the display control unit 105.

  The display unit 122 displays a still image or a moving image according to the output from the display control unit 105. That is, the display unit 122 displays the reduced moving image or thumbnail image of the moving image content as scroll content in accordance with the output from the display control unit 105. The display unit 122 displays moving image content corresponding to the scroll content selected by the user.

  FIG. 2 shows a display example of scroll content on the display unit 122. As shown in FIG. 2A, scroll contents A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are arranged on the circumference of a circle 201 centered on the central axis 200. In FIG. 2, nothing is displayed in each of the scroll contents A to G, but actually, a reduced moving image or thumbnail image of the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 is displayed. The Each scroll content is scrolled and displayed in the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise) by a scroll operation from the operation unit 120. However, the scroll direction is not limited to this.

  Each scroll content and the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 correspond one-to-one. The user can view the moving image content to be viewed by selecting the scroll content corresponding to the content to be viewed from the plurality of displayed scroll contents.

  In FIG. 2A, in the scroll contents A202, G203, and F204 arranged in the output area 206, a moving image (reduced moving image) obtained by reducing the corresponding moving image content is displayed. In the scroll contents B, C, D, and E arranged outside the output area 206, for example, a representative still image of the corresponding moving image content is displayed. When each scroll content is scrolled counterclockwise on the circumference of the circle 201 around the center axis 200 by the scroll operation, the scroll content displayed in the output area 206 changes. That is, the scroll content displayed in the output area 206 moves from the right end of the output area 206 to the outside of the output area 206 by scrolling. Here, the scroll content that has moved out of the output area 206 by scrolling changes from a reduced moving image to a still image. Then, the scroll content is further scrolled to enter the output area 206 from the left end of the output area 206. Here, the scroll content that has entered the output area 206 by scrolling changes from a still image to a reduced moving image. In other words, in this embodiment, the scroll content is displayed as a reduced moving image of the corresponding moving image content while it is in the output area 206 and is displayed as a still image while it is outside the output area 206. However, the present invention is not limited to this mode. For example, scroll content outside the output area 206 may be displayed in, for example, a single black color.

  In this embodiment, the number of times scroll content is displayed in the output area 206 is defined as the number of times scroll content is displayed. In other words, the number of times scroll content is displayed is a number corresponding to the number of times the content enters the output area 206 from outside the output area 206. That is, when the scroll content A displayed in the output area 206 at the start of scrolling enters the output area 206 from outside the output area 206 by scrolling, the number of times the scroll content is displayed is 4 times. In addition, when one of the scroll contents displayed in the output area 206 is selected by the operation unit 120, the display unit 122 according to the present embodiment displays moving image content corresponding to the scroll content. That is, at the start of scrolling, the display count of the scroll content in the output area 206 is counted as “1”. When the scroll content is further scrolled out of the output area 206 and then enters the output area 206 again, “1” is added to the display count of the scroll content. Thereby, the display count of the scroll content is “2”. The scroll information acquisition unit 102 of this embodiment acquires information on the number of times scroll content is displayed by repeating such processing.

  The content storage unit 121 stores moving image content and attribute information of each moving image content. Then, the content storage unit 121 notifies the attribute acquisition unit 101 of attribute information of each video content in response to a request from the attribute acquisition unit 101. The attribute information stored in the content storage unit 121 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9A is a diagram showing the display order and attribute information of each content corresponding to the scroll contents A to G displayed in FIG. A to G shown in FIG. 9A respectively correspond to the scroll contents A to G displayed in FIG. As shown in the figure, each moving image content A to G has a content number, a channel number, and attribute information 1 to 4, respectively. The attribute information 1 and 2 are information used for classifying moving image contents according to program categories. The attribute information 3 is information used for classifying moving image content according to the past broadcast date. The attribute information 4 is information used to classify moving image content according to, for example, the past broadcast start time or the length of playback time of the moving image content. These attribute information may be added in advance to the moving image content or may be added by each user. The content number indicates the order in which each moving image content is stored in the content storage unit 121. The channel number is a number for identifying the distribution source of each moving image content. Further, the content storage unit 121 outputs data for displaying reduced moving images and thumbnail images of a plurality of moving image contents to the display control unit 105. Further, when scroll content is selected, the content storage unit 121 outputs data for displaying moving image content corresponding to the scroll content to the display control unit 105.

  In FIG. 1, an attribute acquisition unit 101 acquires attribute information of moving image content. That is, the attribute acquisition unit 101 acquires attribute information corresponding to a plurality of contents stored in the content storage unit 121.

  The scroll information acquisition unit 102 acquires scroll information. That is, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 acquires information about the number of times scroll content is displayed from the display control unit 105. As described above, the display count of the scroll content is a number corresponding to the number of times the scroll content enters the output area 206 from outside the output area 206 by scrolling. That is, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 counts the number of display times of scroll content in the output area 206 as “1” at the start of scrolling. When the scroll content is further scrolled out of the output area 206 and then enters the output area 206 again, “1” is added to the display count of the scroll content. Thereby, the display count of the scroll content is “2”. The scroll information acquisition unit 102 of this embodiment acquires information on the number of times scroll content is displayed by repeating such processing. Note that the scroll information acquisition unit 102 of the present embodiment acquires the display count of the scroll content with the highest display count among the plurality of scroll contents to be displayed. That is, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 acquires the display count of the scroll content that moves out of the output region 206 earliest by scrolling among the scroll content arranged in the fixed display region 206 at the start of scroll display. The scroll information acquisition unit 102 notifies the boundary determination unit 104 of the acquired display count.

  The boundary determination unit 104 compares the display count notified from the scroll information acquisition unit 102 with the boundary condition. That is, the boundary determination unit 104 compares the scroll content display count notified from the scroll information acquisition unit 102 with a preset count. Then, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether to switch the classification level of the scroll content to be displayed according to the comparison result.

  Here, the classification level indicates the breadth of the range corresponding to each classification when content is classified. That is, when classified at a lower classification level (small classification), each moving image content belonging to a plurality of classifications belongs to a certain classification when classified at a higher classification level (major classification). Become. In other words, a plurality of moving image contents classified into one classification (for example, sports) at a certain classification level are divided into a plurality of classifications (for example, baseball, soccer, etc.) at a lower classification level. Here, when the classification level increases, a plurality of contents are roughly classified according to the attributes. In the present embodiment, the lowest classification level indicates a state where content is not classified.

  As an example for explaining the classification level, for example, a case where a plurality of contents are classified according to program categories will be specifically described. As described above, the attribute information used for classifying the moving image content according to the category of the program is, for example, the attribute information 1 and 2 shown in FIG. Here, the attribute information 1 is attribute information corresponding to a higher classification level than the attribute information 2. The lowest classification level is a state in which the displayed scroll content and each moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 have a one-to-one correspondence. That is, the moving image content is not classified at the lowest classification level. When the one-step classification level is raised above the lowest classification level, for example, the following classification information is used to classify the moving image content. That is, “domestic news program”, “overseas news program”, “weather forecast”, “baseball”, “soccer”, “tennis”, “triathlon”, “quiz program”, “health program”. The classification information is information used for classifying moving image content based on attribute information possessed by a plurality of moving image contents. That is, when a certain content has, for example, attribute information of “baseball” as attribute information of a classification level (classification level 1) that is one step higher than the lowest classification level, the content is classified as “baseball”. . In addition, when a certain content has, for example, “high school baseball” or “2008 professional baseball” as classification level 1 attribute information, the content may be classified as “baseball”. As described above, when at least a part of the content of the attribute information corresponding to the classification level corresponds to the classification information, if the content is classified so as to belong to the classification, for example, when the user freely inputs the attribute information. Even if it exists, the content can be classified according to the attribute information.

  When the level of classification is further increased, for example, “news”, “sports”, and “variety” are used as classification information for classifying a plurality of moving image contents. In this example, it is assumed that “news”, “sports”, and “variety” are the classification information of the highest classification level. That is, for example, when a content having attribute information “baseball” has “sports” as attribute information of a higher classification level, the content is classified as “sports”.

  In this example, contents classified into “domestic news program”, “overseas news program”, and “weather forecast” at a classification level (classification level 1) one level higher than the lowest classification level are classified one level higher than that. It is classified as “News” at the level (classification level 2). Content classified as “baseball”, “soccer”, “tennis”, and “sumo” at classification level 1 is classified as “sports” at classification level 2. In addition, content classified as “quiz program” and “healthy program” at classification level 1 is classified as “variety” at classification level 2. In this example, classification level 2 corresponds to the highest classification level.

  As described above, when classified at a lower classification level, each moving image content belonging to a plurality of classifications (for example, “baseball”, “soccer”, “tennis”, “sumo”) is classified at a higher classification level. It belongs to one certain classification (“sports”). In this embodiment, in the classification method based on the category of the program, the attribute information 2 is attribute information corresponding to the classification level 1, and the attribute information 1 is attribute information corresponding to the classification level 2.

  Further, as another example for explaining the classification level, a case where a plurality of contents are classified according to the broadcast start time will be described. As described above, the attribute information used to classify the moving image content according to the broadcast start time is, for example, the attribute information 4 illustrated in FIG. Here, when the one-level classification level is raised from the lowest classification level, for example, the broadcast start time of each moving image content is classified every three hours. That is, an example of classification information used for classifying a plurality of contents at classification level 1 is as follows. That is, “broadcast start time from 0:00 to 3 o'clock”, “broadcast start time from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock”,... Until. That is, content having “19: 00-21: 00: 00” or “20: 00-22: 00” as attribute information 4 is classified as “broadcast start time 18:00 to 21:00”. Then, when the one-step classification level is further increased from this state, for example, the moving image content is classified by dividing the broadcast start time every 6 hours. That is, the classification information for classifying the moving image content at this time is “broadcast start time from 0:00 to 6:00”, “broadcast start time from 6:00 to 12:00”, and “broadcast start time from 12:00 to 18:00”. "Broadcast start time from 18:00 to 24:00". That is, in this example, for example, the classification level that divides the broadcast start time every 3 hours is higher than the classification level that divides the broadcast start time every 6 hours. That is, in this example, a state where the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 is not classified is the lowest classification level. Further, when the broadcast start time is divided every three hours, the classification level is higher by one step than the lowest classification level (classification level 1), and when the broadcast start time is divided every six hours is the highest classification level (classification level 2). . That is, for example, when each moving image content belonging to “broadcast start time from 0 to 3 o'clock” and “broadcast start time from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock” is classified at a higher classification level, for example, “broadcast start time” “Time from 0:00 to 6:00”. As described above, when classified at a low classification level, each moving image content belonging to a plurality of classifications belongs to one classification when classified at a higher classification level.

  As another example for explaining the classification level, a case will be described in which a plurality of contents are classified by broadcast date. As described above, the attribute information used for classifying the moving image content according to the broadcast date is, for example, the attribute information 3 shown in FIG. In this example, when the one-step classification level is raised from the lowest classification level (classification level 1), for example, the broadcast date of each moving image content is classified by dividing every week. Further, when the one-step classification level is further increased (classification level 2), for example, each moving image content is classified by dividing the broadcast date every month. Further, when the one-step classification level is further increased (classification level 3), for example, the broadcast date of each moving image content is classified by dividing every year. The highest classification level is when the broadcast date is divided every year.

  In this embodiment, a plurality of moving image contents are classified according to the above classification level. However, the classification level hierarchy and the attribute information used for classification are not limited to the above example. The boundary determination unit 104 of this embodiment has attribute information corresponding to each classification level in advance. That is, each content is classified as “classic news program”, “overseas news program”, “weather forecast”, “baseball”, “soccer”, “tennis”, “sumo” as attribute information of classification level 1 in the program category. "," Quiz program ", and" health program ". In addition, attribute information such as “news”, “sports”, and “variety” is assigned to each content as attribute information of classification level 2. That is, the classification information to be displayed is determined depending on the classification level. That is, the boundary determination unit 104 of this embodiment determines the content classification level according to the display count of the scroll content, and the display control unit 105 displays the classification information according to the classification level determined by the boundary determination unit 104. Display. For example, at the first classification level, the classification information of the first classification level is displayed. Further, in the second classification level higher than the first classification level, the classification information of the second classification level is displayed. The boundary determination unit 104 according to the present embodiment switches the classification information (classification level) for classifying the content according to the comparison result of the scroll content display count.

  In addition to program categories, past broadcast dates, and past broadcast times, various classification methods can be considered. FIG. 3 shows an example of another classification method. FIG. 3A shows an example of a classification method in which all moving image contents belong to one of the other classification methods. In the figure, a black dot 301 indicates one moving image content. That is, of the 20 moving image contents that are candidates for viewing, there are 6 contents including spring attribute information, 8 contents including summer attribute information, 8 contents including autumn attribute information, and winter contents. It shows that there are five contents including attribute information. In this way, all contents can be classified according to the season at the time of shooting. Note that when one moving image content includes attribute information of a plurality of seasons, one content belongs to a plurality of categories. That is, two of the six moving image contents including the spring attribute information also include summer attribute information, and thus the two moving image contents belong to two categories of spring and summer. Although FIG. 3 illustrates content including attribute information of two seasons that are adjacent to each other, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, for example, the content may be classified by a classification method such as the age at which the image was taken, the number of characters, the category of the program, and the like.

  In this embodiment, contents are classified at a plurality of classification levels according to the set classification method. For example, as an example of categorizing content according to photographed ages, FIG. 3A illustrates a case where ages from 1940 to 1990 are divided into six parts every ten years. Here, when the classification level is further increased, for example, the years from 1940 to 1990 are divided into three by dividing every 20 years. In this way, as the classification level increases, the content is roughly classified.

  FIG. 3B shows an example of a classification method in which at least one moving image content belongs to any one of moving image contents that are candidates for viewing. In FIG. 3B, for example, when the classification of content in which a child appears is selected as the classification method, 15 pieces of content in which a child appears are extracted from 20 moving image contents that are candidates for viewing. It is shown that. In addition, when classification based on the presence / absence of a tracking scene is performed, nine content items having “following scenes” and ten content items having “followed scenes” are extracted from 20 moving image content candidates for viewing. Indicates that it is classified. As described above, when it is desired to extract only content that matches a specific condition, content that is not related to the condition may not be classified.

  The numbers on the right side of FIGS. 3A and 3B indicate the average value of the moving image content included in each category. That is, for example, when 20 moving image contents are classified based on four pieces of classification information of “spring”, “summer”, “autumn”, and “winter”, the case where one moving image content belongs to a plurality of classifications must be considered. The average value of moving image contents included in one classification is five.

  The image generation unit 103 classifies the plurality of moving image contents stored in the content storage unit 121 based on the classification information, and further generates an image (classification information image) indicating the classification information. Note that the image generation unit 103 of the present embodiment generates a still image indicating classification information corresponding to a plurality of contents, but may generate a moving image or the like. Further, the image generation unit 103 may generate a classification information image in advance, or may generate the classification information image in response to the boundary determination unit 104 determining that the classification information image is to be displayed. When the boundary determination unit 104 determines that the scroll content display count has reached a predetermined number, the image generation unit 103 outputs the generated classification information image data to the display control unit 105.

  The display control unit 105 causes the display unit 122 to display the reduced moving image corresponding to the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 and the thumbnail image of the reduced moving image as scroll content. Note that the display control unit 105 scrolls and displays a plurality of scroll contents in response to a scroll operation from the operation unit 120. That is, the display control unit 105 scrolls a plurality of contents (scroll contents). Further, the display control unit 105 reads the moving image content from the content storage unit 121 according to the scroll content designation information received from the operation unit 120 and causes the display unit 122 to display the moving image content. That is, for example, sports content, variety content, and neur content are displayed in order. Further, when the display control unit 105 receives the data of the classification information image output from the image generation unit 103 according to the display count of the scroll content, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 122 to display the classification information image. In other words, the display control unit 105 displays the classification information (classification information image) so that the classification information corresponding to a plurality of contents is displayed when the number of display times of the scrolled content (scroll content) reaches a predetermined display number. Switch whether or not to display.

  Next, the flow of processing of the display control apparatus 100 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of display control processing performed by the display control apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. Note that the display control apparatus 100 according to this embodiment performs processing of each unit illustrated in FIG. 1 using dedicated hardware. However, these processes can also be performed by software. That is, the processing described in the present embodiment may be performed by a CPU that controls each unit of the display control apparatus 100 reading and executing a program stored in a ROM or the like.

  In this embodiment, the process of FIG. 4 is started together with the scroll operation of the displayed content.

  In S201 (scroll procedure), the display control unit 105 displays scroll contents corresponding to a plurality of contents on the display screen of the display unit 122 while scrolling. In this embodiment, a plurality of scroll contents are displayed in a stationary state until scrolling is started. However, for example, scrolling may be started in conjunction with activation of the display unit 122. The scroll content is displayed as a reduced moving image in the fixed display area 206 shown in FIG. 2A and is displayed as a still image outside the fixed display area 206. The scroll content corresponds to the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 on a one-to-one basis. In this embodiment, by selecting scroll content displayed as a reduced moving image, it is possible to reproduce content that the user wants to view. In addition, the display control unit 105 displays the scroll content by scrolling at a scrolling speed according to the scroll operation from the operation unit 120. Further, the scroll display of the scroll content or the classification information image by the display control unit 105 is continuously performed while the processing of FIG. 2 is being executed.

  In step S <b> 202, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 acquires information about the number of times scroll content is displayed from the display control unit 105. As described above, the number of times the scroll content is displayed is a number corresponding to the number of times the scroll content enters the output area 206 from outside the output area 206 by scrolling. In addition, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 according to this embodiment acquires the display count of the scroll content having the highest display count among the plurality of scroll contents to be displayed. Further, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 according to the present embodiment acquires the number of times the content is displayed from the display control unit 105. However, for example, the display count of the scroll content may be calculated from information such as the scrolling speed instructed from the operation unit 120 and the time during which the scrolling is performed. In S202, when the scroll information acquisition unit 102 notifies the boundary determination unit 104 of the acquired display count information, the process proceeds to S203.

  In S203, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether the number of display times of the scroll content notified from the scroll information acquisition unit 102 in S202 has reached a predetermined number. If it is determined in S203 that the number of display times has reached a predetermined number, the process proceeds to S204. On the other hand, if it is determined that the display count has not reached the predetermined count, the process proceeds to S209.

  In S204, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether or not the current classification level is the highest classification level. That is, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment determines whether or not the classification level can be further increased. In S204, if the boundary determination unit 104 determines that it is the highest classification level, the process proceeds to S214, and if it determines that it is not the highest classification level, the process proceeds to S205.

  In step S <b> 214, the display control unit 105 determines whether an operation for terminating the scroll display has been performed from the operation unit 120. In S214, if it is determined that an operation for terminating the scroll display has been performed due to an instruction to stop scrolling or the display unit 122 being turned off, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined not to end the scroll display, the process returns to S201. That is, if it is determined in S204 that the classification level has already been reached, the display control unit 105 determines that the classification level cannot be increased any further, and performs scroll continuation or termination processing.

  In step S <b> 205, the attribute acquisition unit 101 acquires moving image content attribute information stored in the content storage unit 121. The attribute information includes, for example, attribute information (for example, sports, baseball, and high school baseball) related to a program category, and attribute information related to a broadcast time (for example, broadcast date, broadcast start time, broadcast time). As described above, attribute information related to a plurality of program categories and attribute information related to a plurality of broadcast times may correspond to one content. In S205, the attribute acquisition unit 101 acquires attribute information corresponding to the current classification level when there is a plurality of attribute information corresponding to the classification level, such as attribute information related to the category of the program. The initial value of the classification level is the lowest level. At this lowest level, scroll content is displayed. Further, at a certain classification level, the attribute information acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 101 in S205 is, for example, high school baseball, professional baseball, etc., and at a higher classification level, the acquired attribute information is, for example, baseball Become. The attribute acquisition unit 101 notifies the image generation unit 103 of the acquired attribute information.

  In step S <b> 205, the image generation unit 103 generates a plurality of images indicating candidates for a plurality of content classification methods according to the attribute information notified from the attribute acquisition unit 101, and sends the data to the display control unit 105. Output. Further, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 122 to display an image indicating the input content classification method candidate, and the process proceeds to S206. That is, in S205, the display control unit 105 performs classification so that classification method information (an image showing classification method candidates) for selecting a plurality of content classification methods is displayed when the scroll time reaches a predetermined time. Controls display of method information. The scroll time indicates the time when the scroll is continuously performed. The images indicating the content classification method candidates are, for example, images as illustrated in classification method candidates 1101, 1102, and 1103 illustrated in “3. Response” in FIG. The classification method candidates 1101, 1102, and 1103 indicate that the content can be classified by the program category (sports, variety, etc.), broadcast date, and broadcast time. For example, the scroll contents 911 and 913 to 918 displayed in FIG. 6 and the scroll contents A to G in FIG. 2 have different display forms, but the present invention can be implemented with either form. That is, in the display form as shown in FIG. 2, the classification method candidates 1101, 1102, and 1103 can be displayed as in “3. Response” in FIG. Further, in the display forms as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the fixed display area as shown in FIG. 2 is not provided. 6 to 8, it can be said that only images that enter the fixed display area of FIG. 2 are displayed. That is, all the seven scroll contents displayed on the display screen 900 are displayed as reduced moving images. However, a fixed display area may be provided in the display screen 900.

  As shown in FIG. 6 “3. Response”, the classification method candidate 1101 has “program category”, the classification method candidate 1102 has “past broadcast date”, and the classification method candidate 1103 has “past broadcast time”. "Is displayed. As described above, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment determines a content classification method candidate according to the attribute information of each content acquired in S205, and displays the image of the classification method candidate. However, the image generation unit 103 may create an image indicating the content classification method in advance.

  In step S206, the image generation unit 103 determines whether a classification method has been determined. That is, the image generation unit 103 selects one image from among a plurality of images (classification method candidates 1101, 1102, 1103) indicating the content classification method displayed in S205, thereby Determine whether the classification method has been determined. As described above, the content classification method includes, for example, a program category (corresponding to the classification method candidate 1101), a broadcast date of the program (corresponding to the classification method 1102), and a broadcast start time of the program (classification method candidate). 1103). However, the content classification method is not limited to these methods. If it is determined in S206 that the classification method has been determined, the process proceeds to S207. If it is determined that the classification method has not been determined, the process proceeds to S214.

  In S207, the image generation unit 103 generates a classification information image to be displayed on the display unit 122 according to the content classification method determined in S206. Then, the image generation unit 103 outputs the generated classification information image to the display control unit 105, and the process proceeds to S208. The classification information image is an image generated so that the above classification information can be understood. When the category of the program is selected, classification information images (character strings) such as “baseball”, “quiz”, “weather forecast”, “domestic news” are generated.

  In step S <b> 208, the display control unit 105 displays the classification information image received from the image generation unit 103 on the display screen of the display unit 122. In other words, when the scroll content is being displayed, it is determined in S203 that the number of display times of the scroll content has reached a predetermined number, and when the classification method is determined in S206, classification corresponding to a plurality of contents instead of the scroll content is performed. An information image is displayed. That is, in S208, the display control unit 105 performs display by the process of S208 that controls the display of the classification information so that the classification information of the plurality of contents is displayed when the number of times the scrolled content reaches the predetermined number. Examples of classification information images to be displayed are shown in “5. Response” classification information images 1301, 1304, and 1305 in FIG. In this example, since the classification method candidate 1101 is selected at the stage of “4. operation”, it is determined in S206 that the content is classified according to the program category, so that the classification information regarding the program category is displayed. become. In this embodiment, the classification information image is a still image, but may be an image including a moving image or sound. Further, the classification information image of this embodiment is an image in which the classification information is indicated by characters, but the classification information may be expressed by combining it with an illustration or the like.

  If the classification information image is already displayed, the boundary determination unit 104 acquires the number of display times of the classification information image in S202. If it is determined in S203 that the number of display times of the classification information image has reached the predetermined display number, the classification information image of the classification information corresponding to the higher classification level than the classification information corresponding to the current classification level is displayed. Is done. That is, when the classification level is switched, the display count is reset, and the display count is counted for each classification level. In this case, the processing of S205 and S206 may be omitted. Here, the classification level and the corresponding classification information will be specifically described. For example, the classification information images displayed according to the current classification level (classification level 1) are “domestic news program”, “overseas news program”, “weather forecast”, “baseball”, “soccer”, “ Suppose they are "tennis", "sumo", "quiz program", and "health program". In this case, when the classification level is further increased (classification level 2), the displayed classification information is, for example, “news”, “sports”, and “variety”. Thus, as the classification level increases, the number of displayed classification information decreases.

  In other words, the display control unit 105 displays the first classification information (classification level 1 classification information image) of a plurality of contents when the display count of the content (scroll content) reaches the first predetermined number of times. Then, when the display count of the first classification information reaches the second predetermined number by scrolling, the display control unit 105 reduces the second classification information (category level 2) of the plurality of contents less than the first classification information. Categorization information image) is displayed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the process of increasing the classification level is performed in response to the display of the scroll content or the classification information image reaching a predetermined number. This is due to the following reason. That is, the fact that the content that the user wants to view is not selected despite the large number of display times is highly likely that the user is at a loss in selecting the content that the user wants to view. Therefore, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment classifies the moving image content according to the scroll content or the number of display times of the classification information image, so that the user can easily select the content that the user wants to view.

  When the display control unit 105 performs a process of increasing the classification level in S208, the process proceeds to S214. Note that the process of raising the classification level includes a process of switching from scroll content display to classification information image display.

  On the other hand, if the boundary determination unit 104 determines in S203 that the scroll content display count is less than the predetermined number, the boundary determination unit 104 proceeds to S209 and determines whether or not the current classification level is the lowest classification level. An example of the case where it is determined that the level is the lowest classification level in S209 is a case where the scroll content and the content stored in the content storage unit 121 have a one-to-one correspondence as described above. That is, when the scroll content is displayed instead of the classification information image, it is determined to be the lowest classification level. If it is determined in S209 that the level is not the lowest classification level, the process proceeds to S210. On the other hand, if it is determined in S209 that the level is the lowest classification level, the process proceeds to S212.

  In step S210, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether or not a classification level switching instruction has been issued, for example, using a mouse. That is, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether or not an instruction to lower the classification level is given by an operation from the operation unit 120. If it is determined that an instruction to lower the classification level has been issued, the process proceeds to S211. If it is determined that an instruction to lower the classification level has not been issued, the process proceeds to S214.

  In S211, the display control unit 105 lowers the current classification level. That is, for example, when the classification information image of the highest classification level is displayed, the classification information image corresponding to the classification level one level lower than the highest classification level is displayed by the process of S211. For example, when a classification information image corresponding to a classification level (classification level 1) that is one step higher than the lowest classification level is displayed, the display is switched from the classification information image display to the scroll content display by the process of S211. When the display control unit 105 finishes the process of lowering the classification level, the process proceeds to S214. In addition, when lowering the classification level in S211, the display control unit 105 sorts the scroll content or the classification information image displayed accordingly, according to the classification information that has been used for content classification so far. That is, for example, when the display is changed from the classification information image to the scroll content by the process of S211, the display order of the plurality of scroll contents displayed is such that the scroll contents of the moving image content corresponding to the same classification information are adjacent to each other. Order. That is, the display order of scroll contents is sorted by the finest classification information.

  That is, the display control unit 105 displays the classification information image when an instruction to lower the classification level is given in a state where the classification information (classification information image) of the classification level 1 that is one step higher than the lowest classification level is displayed. Instead, scroll contents are displayed in the order according to the classification information.

  The sorting of the display order when the classification level is lowered will be specifically described. First, it is assumed that the display order of scroll contents to be displayed at the start of scrolling is the order stored in the content storage unit 121. That is, at the start of scrolling, the display order of each scroll content is not sorted according to the category of the program. On the other hand, it is assumed that, for example, a program category is selected as a content classification method in response to the display number of scroll contents reaching a predetermined number. At this time, on the display screen, for example, “domestic news program”, “overseas news program”, “weather forecast”, “baseball”, “soccer”, “tennis”, “sumo”, “quiz program”, “ Each classification information image of “health program” is displayed. Here, when the classification level is lowered by the processing of S211 and scroll content is displayed, the display order of each scroll content is sorted so as to be in the order corresponding to the category of the program. “5. Response” in FIG. 5 indicates that as a result of the sorting, contents belonging to the baseball category (channel 12, channel 60) and contents belonging to the quiz category (channel 3, channel 600) are collected. . FIG. 9 shows an example of the display order of moving image content corresponding to scroll content before and after sorting. FIG. 9A shows the attribute information of each moving image content before sorting and the display order of the corresponding scroll content. As shown here, the display order of each scroll content is not sorted according to the attribute information. On the other hand, FIG. 9B shows the display order of the scroll contents after sorting by the program category. As shown in FIG. 9B, the display order of the scroll contents is sorted according to the program category. This makes it easier for the user to select content that the user wants to view.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S210 that the level is the lowest classification level, the process proceeds to S212.

  In step S <b> 212, the display control unit 105 determines whether moving image content to be viewed is specified by an operation from the operation unit 120. If it is determined that the moving image content to be viewed has been specified, the process proceeds to S213. If it is determined that the moving image content is not specified, the process proceeds to S214.

  In step S <b> 213, the display control unit 105 reads the specified moving image content data from the content storage unit 121, displays the data on the display unit 122, and ends the scroll processing. In other words, if it is determined in S209 that the level is already at the lowest classification level, the classification level cannot be lowered any further, so that processing for determining whether or not the content to be viewed has been selected is performed.

  In the present embodiment, it is possible to specify a content to be viewed when scroll content is displayed (at the lowest classification level). However, for example, a classification information image corresponding to a classification level that is one step lower than the classification information may be displayed by designating the displayed classification information image using the operation unit 120. Further, the scroll content corresponding to the classification information of the classification information image specified by the operation unit 120 may be displayed, and the content to be viewed can be specified from the scroll content.

  That is, the operation unit 120 may be configured to input an instruction for displaying content (scroll content) corresponding to the displayed classification information (classification information image). By doing this, it is possible to eliminate the display of scroll content and classification information images corresponding to moving image content that you do not want to view, so that you can select the content you want to view more efficiently.

  Next, a specific example of an operation from the operation unit 120 and a change in the display screen of the display unit 122 due to the operation will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation performed by the viewer and a change in the display unit 122 caused by the operation.

  In FIG. 5, each state shown within a dotted line 810 corresponds to the display screen of FIGS. That is, the display example of the display screen in the state “1. Initial state” in FIG. 5 corresponds to “1. Initial state” in FIG. 6, and the display example of the display screen in the state “2. Operation” in FIG. Corresponds to “7. Response”. 6 to 8 corresponds to the display unit 122 of FIG. As described above, the display form of the scroll content on the display unit 122 may be a display form as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, or a form as shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the processing of FIG. 5 is started together with the scroll operation of the displayed content.

  In the state “1. Initial state”, the display control unit 105 displays the scroll content (801). That is, the display control unit 105 displays the scroll content corresponding to the moving image content stored in the content storage unit 121 on a one-to-one basis at the start of processing. The display screen 900 at this time is as shown in “1. Initial state” in FIG.

  In “1. Initial state” in FIG. 6, scroll contents 911, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, and 918 are displayed on the display screen 900. In the present embodiment, the scroll content is a reduced moving image or a still image of a plurality of moving image contents. As described above, in the display form as shown in FIG. 2, the scroll content displayed in the fixed display area 206 is displayed as a reduced moving image, and the scroll content displayed outside the fixed display area 206 is displayed as a still image. It was. However, in the display form as shown in FIG. 6, all the scroll contents displayed on the screen may be regarded as being in the fixed display area. That is, in the display form as shown in FIG. 6, when a certain scroll content goes out of the screen from the right end of the screen, for example, by right scrolling, the display of the scroll content is interrupted for a while. Then, when a certain time has passed, it appears in the screen from the left side of the screen, and the display is resumed. That is, the fixed display area 206 in FIG. 2 corresponds to the display screen in FIG. In the case of such a display form, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 acquires the number of times the scroll content is displayed on the display screen 900 as information on the number of display times.

  However, in this embodiment, since the number of scroll contents that can be displayed at one time on the display screen matches the number of scroll contents to be displayed, all scroll contents are always displayed on the screen. That is, for example, scroll content displayed so as to go out of the screen from the right end of the screen by right scrolling appears immediately from the left end of the screen and is displayed. Even in such a case, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 can acquire information on the number of times the scroll content is displayed in accordance with the number of times of movement from the right end of the screen to the left end of the screen.

  In FIG. 6, a left arrow display 902 indicates that a positive acceleration is applied to the scroll speed to the left by placing the mouse pointer 907 on the left side of the center line 919 drawn in the vertical direction on the display screen 900. Yes. The right arrow display 903 indicates that a positive acceleration is given to the scrolling speed in the right direction by placing the mouse pointer 907 on the right side of the center line 919 drawn in the vertical direction on the display screen 900. Further, the down arrow display 904 indicates that the classification level is lowered by instructing this portion (for example, clicking with a mouse). For example, if the current classification level is 1 (a classification level that is one step higher than the lowest classification level), it is possible to switch from the classification information image to the scroll content display by instructing the down arrow display 904.

  Also, as shown by scroll content 911 in FIG. 6, the channel number of the moving image content is arranged at the top of the scroll content. The channel number is a number for identifying the distribution source of moving image content. In the scroll content, a reduced moving image 912 of the moving image content is arranged below the channel number. Thus, each scroll content has a channel number and a reduced moving image of the moving image content. Further, at the start of scroll display, the display order of the scroll contents is arranged in the order stored in the content storage unit 121, for example. However, the configuration of the scroll content is not limited to this. Further, the display order of scroll contents may be, for example, the order of channel numbers.

  In addition, the moving image content corresponding to the content image 911 in FIG. 6 includes “sport”, “baseball”, “ 2006/3/3 ”and“ 12: 00-15: 00 ”. “Sports” and “baseball” are attribute information used for classifying content according to program categories. “Sports” is attribute information of a classification level that is one step higher than “baseball”. “2006/3/3” is attribute information indicating the past broadcast date of the moving image content corresponding to the scroll content 911, and “12: 00-15: 00” is the past of the moving image content. This is attribute information indicating the broadcast time. These pieces of attribute information are attribute information used for classifying content according to the past broadcast date and past broadcast time. The channel number can also be used as attribute information for classifying content. That is, the moving image content corresponding to each scroll content displayed in FIG. 6 has attribute information as shown in FIG.

  When the scroll operation (802) is performed from the operation unit 120 in the state “1. Initial state” in FIG. 6, the scroll is performed. The display screen during execution of this operation is, for example, “2. Operation” in FIG. In this embodiment, the speed and direction of scrolling are indicated by the length and direction of an arrow 1001 arranged at the top of the display screen 900. This arrow is fixedly displayed at the top center of the screen regardless of scrolling of the scroll content.

  Further, as shown in “2. Operation” in FIG. 6, the display unit 122 of this embodiment displays a display count 903 and a switching count 906. Here, the display count 903 indicates the display count of the scroll content acquired by the scroll information acquisition unit 102. As described above, the number of times scroll content is displayed is a number corresponding to the number of times the scroll content enters the display screen 900 (output region) from outside the display screen 900 (output region) by scrolling. In “2. Operation” in FIG. 6, the display count 903 is displayed as “2”. This is a state where, for example, the scroll content displayed in the display screen 900 at the start of scrolling is scrolled out of the display screen 900 and then enters the display screen 900 again. On the other hand, the number of times of switching 906 indicates the number of times to display before raising the classification level. For example, when the switching count 906 is set to “3”, when the scroll content display count reaches 3, the processing for increasing the classification level is performed. That is, the number of times of switching 906 corresponds to the predetermined number of information used for the determination in S203.

  In FIG. 6 “1. Initial state”, the number of display times 905 is zero. This is because the scrolling has not started yet and is not counted as the number of display times. In this case, when scrolling is started, the display count is one. However, it may not be counted as the number of times of display at the start of display.

  If it is determined that the scroll content display count has reached the predetermined count shown in FIG. 4 due to the continued scrolling, the display control unit 105 displays the classification candidate list (803). The display screen at this time is as shown in “3. Response” in FIG. As shown in the figure, the classification candidate list in this embodiment includes “program category”, “past broadcast date”, and “past broadcast time”. The user can select a plurality of content classification methods by selecting any item from the displayed classification candidate list using the mouse (804). Here, as shown in “4. Operation” in FIG. 7, it is assumed that “program category” is selected from the items displayed in the classification candidate list using the mouse pointer 1201. As described above, in this embodiment, the content classification method can be selected in response to the display of the scroll content reaching the predetermined number. By displaying the classification candidate list in this manner, it is possible to select a classification method according to the user's preference according to the number of times scroll content is displayed. However, a classification method may be set in advance, or for example, classification may be performed using a classification method used in the past.

  When the classification method is selected at 804 in FIG. 5, the display control unit 105 switches the classification level. That is, in this form, the display is switched from the scroll content to the classification information image (805). The display screen at this time is as shown in “5. Response” in FIG. As shown in the figure, the display control unit 105 classifies the plurality of contents using the attribute information 2 in FIG. 9 in response to the selection of “program category” as the method for classifying the plurality of contents, The classification information image is displayed. Note that the attribute information shown in the attribute information 2 is attribute information used for classifying content by program category as described above. The attribute information 1 is also attribute information for classifying content according to the category of the program. However, since the attribute information 1 is one level higher than the attribute information of the attribute information 2, the attribute information 2 Classification is based on information. According to the attribute information 2, the content is classified more finely than the classification based on the attribute information 1. When the number of display times of the classification information image reaches a predetermined number due to further scrolling from this state, the content is classified using the attribute information 1, but the description thereof is omitted.

  In addition, in “5. Response” in FIG. 7, classification information images of “baseball”, “quiz”, and “weather forecast” are displayed, but other classification information images (“triathlon” “domestic news”) are displayed by scrolling. Is also displayed as appropriate.

  Further, the display screen 900 after raising the classification level in 805 in FIG. 5 is as shown in “6. Operation” in FIG. As shown in the figure, the number of display times 1401 is one. This indicates that the number of display times of the classification information image has been reset by increasing the classification level. Further, the number of switching times 1402 is five. The number of switching 906 in “1. Initial state” in FIG. 6 was three. As described above, the switching number 1402 corresponds to the predetermined number used for comparison with the scroll content display number in S203 of FIG. The reason why the number of times of switching is changed according to the classification level is as follows. In other words, as the classification level increases, the number of images to be displayed decreases, so even if scrolling is performed at the same speed for the same time, the higher the classification level, the greater the number of display times. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the classification level from changing frequently by increasing the number of times the scroll content is displayed until the classification level is switched in accordance with an increase in the classification level. Conversely, when the classification level is lowered, the number of display times until the classification level is switched is reduced. However, the number of times of switching may be a constant value regardless of the classification level. Further, since the classification method is selected, the classification candidate list is not displayed. Thus, the complexity of the display screen can be reduced by not displaying the classification candidate list after selecting the classification method. Further, it is possible to prevent a new classification method from being selected due to an erroneous operation by the user. However, while the classification information image is displayed, the classification candidate list may be displayed so that the content classification method can be changed. In this way, for example, when the user selects the classification method incorrectly, the desired classification method can be set again.

  After switching the classification level in 805 of FIG. 5, when an instruction to lower the classification level is given from the operation unit 120 (806), processing for lowering the classification level is performed (807). The display screen 900 at this time is as shown in “7. Response” in FIG. As shown in the figure, the scroll content display count 1501 is returned to 1 and the switching count 1500 is returned to 3. Also. Although the display is switched from the classification information image to the scroll content, the display order of the scroll content to be displayed is different from the display order of the scroll content in “1. Initial state” in FIG. That is, the display order of the scroll contents displayed by the instruction to lower the classification level is sorted according to the classification method selected in 804 of FIG.

  FIG. 9B shows the display order and attribute information of each scroll content displayed in “7. Response” in FIG. As shown in the figure, the display order of the scroll contents in FIGS. 8A and 8B is different. That is, in this embodiment, after the content is classified by the classification method of “program category”, the scroll content is sorted by the attribute information 2 indicating the program category by switching from the classification information image to the display of the scroll content. ing. Thus, by displaying the content images sorted according to the selected classification method, the user can more efficiently select the moving image content that the user wants to view.

  In this embodiment, sorting is performed according to program categories. However, for moving image content having attribute information indicating the same program category, attribute information 3 (past broadcast date) is sorted in the oldest order. ing. In other words, the display order of the scroll contents 411 and 414 corresponding to the moving image contents having the same attribute information 2 is set so that the scroll contents 411 corresponding to the moving image contents with the older broadcast date are displayed first. Sort the display order. The display order of the scroll contents 413 and 416 corresponding to the moving image contents having the same attribute information 2 is set so that the scroll contents 413 corresponding to the moving image contents with the older broadcast date are displayed first. Sort the display order. In this way, by sorting using other attribute information, it is possible to make it easier to select content to be viewed. However, instead of the attribute information 3, other attribute information such as a channel number and a time when the content is stored in the content storage unit 121 may be used.

  As described above, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has a classification candidate list that indicates candidates for a classification method for classifying a plurality of contents in response to the number of times scroll content is displayed reaching a predetermined number. Is displayed. Then, according to the selected classification method, the contents are classified by classification information corresponding to a plurality of contents, and the classification information image is displayed. Further, when the number of display times of the classification information image reaches a predetermined number, the content is classified with classification information having a higher classification level, and the classification information image is displayed. As described above, the display control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment switches the classification level according to the number of times scroll content is displayed.

  If an instruction to lower the classification level is given while the classification information image is displayed, the classification level is lowered. If the current classification level is a classification level one level higher than the lowest classification level (classification level 1), the display is switched to display scroll contents by a process of lowering the classification level. Further, the display order of the classification information image or content image displayed by lowering the classification level is sorted by the attribute information used for classification.

  In this way, it is possible to select content to be viewed from a plurality of contents more efficiently. That is, the classification level can be switched in conjunction with the number of times scroll content is displayed. Further, when the scroll content display count reaches a predetermined count, the scroll content is sorted in an order corresponding to the desired classification method by displaying a classification method candidate list for selecting a classification method. be able to.

  As described above, the scroll content display method may be in the form as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, or in the form as shown in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, an example has been described in which all moving image contents are classified by a classification method as shown in FIG. However, as shown in FIG. 3B, the moving image content may be classified by a classification method in which at least a part belongs to one of the classifications. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, when “drama” is designated by the classification method selected when the number of times scroll content is displayed reaches a predetermined number, scroll corresponding to moving image content having drama attribute information is provided. Only the contents (A, D, G) may be classified. In this case, other moving image contents (B, C, E, F) are not classified. When an instruction to lower the classification level is given by the user, as shown in FIG. 2C, the display order of the scroll content is such that the display position of the scroll content corresponding to the moving image content having drama attribute information. Sorted adjacent. Here, the display of scroll content not related to the selected classification method may be deleted. In this way, the display of content that does not meet certain specific conditions can be eliminated at an early stage. Further, by collecting the scroll contents related to the selected classification method by the classification information image, for example, when the contents to be viewed are determined by the erasing method, the contents to be viewed can be selected more efficiently.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the classification level of the moving image content is switched according to the display count of the scroll content. However, in this embodiment, the classification level of the moving image content is switched according to the scroll time for the scroll content. As in the first embodiment, raising the classification level includes switching from scroll content display (minimum classification level) to classification information image display.

  In FIG. 1, when scrolling is started by an operation from the operation unit 120, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 according to the present embodiment starts counting the scroll time. Then, the scroll information acquisition unit 102 outputs the acquired scroll time to the boundary determination unit 104. This process corresponds to S202 of FIG.

  Then, the boundary determination unit 104 determines whether or not the scroll time counted by the scroll information acquisition unit 102 has reached a predetermined time. This process corresponds to S203 in FIG.

  If it is determined that the scroll time has reached the predetermined time and the current classification level is not the highest classification level (S204), the attribute acquisition unit 101 acquires attribute information, and the display control unit 105 Displays a classification method candidate list (S205).

  Further, when the classification method is determined (S206), the image generation unit 103 generates a classification information image corresponding to the current classification level (S207). Then, the display control unit 105 increases the classification level (S208). By raising the classification level, if the scroll content has been displayed so far, the classification information image will be displayed. If the classification information image has been displayed so far, the classification information image by a rough classification Will be displayed. That is, the display control unit 105 switches whether to display the classification information so that the classification information (classification information image) of a plurality of contents is displayed when the scroll time reaches a predetermined time. Note that the processing in S209 to S214 is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  Further, when the display time of the classification information image exceeds a predetermined time, the classification level is further increased as in the first embodiment. That is, when the scroll time reaches the first predetermined time, the display control unit 105 sets the first classification information (1) assigned to the first number of classifications when the plurality of contents are classified into the first number. A classification level 1 classification information image) is displayed. Then, when the scroll time reaches a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, the plurality of contents are classified into the second number less than the first number. Second classification information to be given (classification level 2 classification information image) is displayed.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the number of times of switching 906 and the number of times of display 905 are displayed on the display screen of the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, switching times and display times are changed instead of these displays. Display. This switching time corresponds to a predetermined time used for comparison with the scroll time in the processing corresponding to S202 of FIG. The display time indicates the scroll time acquired by the scroll information acquisition unit 102.

  The switching time in this embodiment is a value corresponding to the current classification level. That is, the boundary determination unit 104 sets the switching time so that the switching time is shorter when the current classification level is higher than when the classification level is low. This is due to the following reason. That is, when the classification level is increased, the number of images to be displayed is reduced. Therefore, even when scrolling is performed at the same speed for the same time, the higher the classification level, the larger the number of image display times. The fact that the content that the user wants to view is not selected despite the large number of display times of the image is highly likely that the user is at a loss in selecting the content that the user wants to view. Therefore, in this embodiment, the switching time is set so that the switching time (predetermined time) is shorter when the classification level is high than when the classification level is low. By doing so, for example, when the user is at a loss in selecting the content that the user wants to view, it is possible to easily select the content that the user wants to view earlier. However, the switching time may be a constant value regardless of the current classification level.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the scroll time reaches a predetermined time, the moving image content is classified and the classification information image is scroll-displayed. This is because, when the scroll time is continued for a long time, it can be determined that there is a high possibility that it is difficult to select content to be viewed even if the same scroll is continued. When an instruction to lower the classification level is given, the scroll content or the classification information image to be displayed is sorted in the order according to the classification so far.

  By doing in this way, the classification level of a moving image content can be switched with the simple structure of measuring the time when scrolling was performed, and the content which a user wants to view can be selected efficiently.

  It should be noted that the classification level can be controlled more efficiently by using the scroll speed information together with the scrolling time. That is, even if the scrolling time is the same, the number of times scroll content is displayed may be different depending on whether the scrolling speed is fast or slow. Thus, for example, if the scrolling speed is fast, the user may want to change the classification level before the scrolling time reaches a predetermined time. Therefore, when the scroll speed is fast, for example, the scroll time threshold for raising the classification level is set lower than when the scroll speed is slow. In this way, the classification level can be controlled more efficiently.

<Other embodiments>
In the first embodiment described above, the example in which the classification information image is displayed in response to the display frequency of the scroll content reaching the predetermined number has been mainly described. However, for example, the display order of the scroll content may be sorted in the order corresponding to the selected classification method in response to the display count of the scroll content reaching a predetermined number. That is, instead of displaying the classification information image as in the first embodiment, the display order of the scroll contents may be sorted. That is, the image generation unit 103 classifies the plurality of contents using the classification information of the plurality of contents. However, in this form, no classification information image is generated. The display control unit 105 displays the result of classification by the image generation unit 103 when the number of display times reaches a predetermined number. Even in this case, it is possible to select contents to be viewed more efficiently. Further, for example, a representative image of moving image content belonging to the classification may be displayed in the classification information image as in the first embodiment. In this way, since the user can know the moving image content classified in the state where the classification information image is displayed, the user can select the content to be viewed more efficiently.

  In the second embodiment, the example in which the classification information image is displayed in response to the scroll time reaching the predetermined time has been mainly described. However, for example, when the scroll time reaches a predetermined time, the display order of the scroll contents may be sorted in the order according to the selected classification method. That is, the display order of scroll content may be sorted instead of displaying the classification information image as in the second embodiment. That is, the image generation unit 103 classifies the plurality of contents using the classification information of the plurality of contents. However, in this form, no classification information image is generated. Then, the display control unit 105 displays the classification result by the image generation unit 103 when the scroll time reaches a predetermined time. Even in this case, it is possible to select contents to be viewed more efficiently. Further, for example, a representative image of moving image content belonging to the classification may be displayed in the classification information image displayed in the second embodiment. In this way, the user can know the moving image content classified in the state where the classification information image is displayed, so that the user can select the content to be viewed more efficiently.

  In the first embodiment, the classification level is increased in response to the display of the scroll content or the classification information image reaching a predetermined number. However, the classification level may be increased in response to the display frequency of the scroll content or the classification information image reaching a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time. That is, a time limit may be provided for counting up the number of display times. That is, for example, when the display count of the scrolled content (scroll content) reaches a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time from the start of scrolling, the display control unit 105 displays the classification information of a plurality of contents. Switches whether to display classification information (classification information image). This is done for the following reason. In other words, even if the number of times of display exceeds the predetermined number of times, if the user is scrolling slowly, the user may not want to change the display of the scroll content currently displayed or the classification information image Is expensive. Therefore, when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of scrolling, the display count so far is reset. In this way, the content that the user wants to view can be selected more efficiently.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where each moving image content is one program has been described. However, each moving image content may be obtained by dividing one program into a plurality of programs. An example of this case is shown in FIG. In the figure, A1, A2, and A3 indicate that the baseball content of A in FIG. 9A is divided into three contents according to the inning. When one program is divided into a plurality of moving image contents in this way, classification is performed in the same manner as in the above embodiment using the attribute information (attribute information 3 in this example) used for the division. Can do. That is, for example, when the user wants to watch the “7-9 times” scene of “baseball” but the game to be watched is not particularly determined, if the classification by the attribute information 3 is indicated, “7-9” of each baseball program The times can be sorted so that the display order of the scenes is adjacent. In this way, it is possible to select content to be viewed more efficiently when only the scene that the user wants to view is determined in advance.

  The object of the present invention can also be achieved by the following embodiments. That is, a recording medium in which a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded is supplied to the system or apparatus. The computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, a DVD, or the like is used. it can.

  The present invention is not limited to the form in which the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer. That is, an operating system (OS) running on a computer performs part or all of actual processing based on an instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized by the processing. included.

  Further, the present invention includes the following forms. That is, the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. .

Configuration diagram of a display control apparatus according to the present embodiment Display example of a plurality of content images in this embodiment The figure which shows the classification method of the content in this embodiment A flowchart showing a processing procedure of the present embodiment The figure which showed the example of the processing of this embodiment Example of display screen in this embodiment Example of display screen in this embodiment Example of display screen in this embodiment Example 1 of content display order and attribute information Example 2 of content display order and attribute information

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Attribute acquisition part 102 Scroll information acquisition part 103 Image generation part 104 Boundary determination part 105 Display control part 120 Operation part 911, 913, 914, 915, 916, 917, 918 Content image 905 Display frequency 906 Switching frequency

Claims (12)

A display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
Scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents;
The classification method information is displayed so that when a scroll time indicating a time when the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll means reaches a predetermined time, classification method information for selecting the plurality of content classification methods is displayed. And a control means for controlling the display of the display. A display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
Scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents;
The classification method information is displayed so that the classification method information for selecting the classification method of the plurality of contents is displayed when the display number of the first content among the plurality of scrolled contents reaches a predetermined number. And a control means for controlling the display of the display. A display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
Scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents;
Classification means for classifying the plurality of contents using classification information for classifying the plurality of contents;
A display control apparatus, comprising: a display control means for displaying a result of classification by the classification means when a scroll time, which is a time when scrolling is continuously performed by the scroll means, reaches a predetermined time. A display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
Scroll means for scrolling the plurality of contents;
Classification means for classifying the plurality of contents using classification information for classifying the plurality of contents;
A display control apparatus comprising: a display control unit configured to display a result of classification by the classification unit when the number of times of display of the first content among the plurality of scrolled contents reaches a predetermined number. The control means is configured to display the classification method information when the display number of the first content among the plurality of scrolled contents reaches a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time from the start of scrolling. The display control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein display of the classification method information is controlled. An instruction means for instructing a classification method of the plurality of contents;
When the scroll time reaches a first predetermined time and the classification method is instructed, the control means gives the first number of classifications when the plurality of contents are classified into the first number. And when the scroll time reaches a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time, the plurality of contents are set to a second number less than the first number. 2. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second classification information given to the second number of classifications is displayed when the number of classifications is classified into two. An instruction means for instructing a classification method of the plurality of contents;
The control means displays the first classification information of the plurality of contents when the number of display times of the first content reaches a first predetermined number of times and the classification method is instructed, and the scrolling causes the first content information to be displayed. The second classification information of the plurality of contents less than the first classification information is displayed when the number of times of display of the first classification information reaches a second predetermined number. Display controller. The display control apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an input unit configured to input an instruction for displaying content corresponding to the displayed classification information. A display control method performed by a display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
A scrolling step of scrolling the plurality of contents;
When the scroll time indicating the time when the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll process reaches a predetermined time, or the display count of the first content among the plurality of contents scrolled by the scroll process is predetermined. And a control step for controlling the display of the classification method information so that the classification method information for selecting the plurality of content classification methods is displayed. Method. On a computer that scrolls and displays multiple contents,
A scrolling procedure for scrolling the plurality of contents;
When the scroll time indicating the time when the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll procedure reaches a predetermined time, or the display count of the first content among the plurality of contents scrolled by the scroll procedure is predetermined. And a control procedure for controlling the display of the classification method information so that the classification method information for selecting the classification method of the plurality of contents is displayed. . A display control method performed by a display control device that scrolls and displays a plurality of contents,
A scrolling step of scrolling the plurality of contents;
A classification step of classifying the plurality of contents using classification information of the plurality of contents;
When the scroll time indicating the time when the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll process reaches a predetermined time, or the display frequency of the first content among the plurality of contents scrolled by the scroll process is predetermined. And a display control step of displaying a result of classification by the classification means when the number of times is reached. On a computer that scrolls and displays multiple contents,
A scrolling procedure for scrolling the plurality of contents;
A classification procedure for classifying the plurality of contents using the classification information of the plurality of contents;
When the scroll time indicating the time during which the scroll is continuously performed by the scroll procedure reaches a predetermined time, or the display count of the first content among the plurality of contents scrolled by the scroll procedure is predetermined. A program for executing a display control procedure for displaying a result of classification according to the classification procedure when the number of times is reached.

Images