JP2013078094A - Remote control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote control system which allows an extremely easy operation for viewing television programs, easy viewing of current and formerly recorded programs, and easy recording and viewing reservation for future programs.SOLUTION: A remote control displays, on its display part, all the past, present and future programs, which have been acquired from a television through communication means, as an integrated electronic program guide, and allows a user to view television, reproduce recorded programs and make recording and viewing reservation with intuitive and consistent operations of selecting programs on the electronic program guide on the remote control.

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote controller for a television receiver and a video recorder.

  In recent years, data broadcasting such as electronic program guides has been greatly enhanced by digital terrestrial television broadcasting, BS, CS broadcasting, or the like.

  Furthermore, the television receiver has a built-in recording function, or an external recorder that can be handled in the same way as the built-in via a link function is convenient.

JP 2007-306366 A JP 2003-125230 A

  However, the remote control of the television receiver remains in the configuration and appearance as it is.

  In order to select and operate various functions such as TV viewing, recording, playback of recorded programs, recording reservation, etc., the remote controller has become huge, and many buttons are arranged on top of it to fully understand and store the functions of the TV receiver. It is very difficult to use for users who have not.

  In addition, the operation methods of most additional functions other than limited functions such as channel operation and volume adjustment are standard for each company and are different in each company and are not uniform.

  To play a recorded program on the remote controller of the TV receiver of Company A, press the “View” button located at a position unrelated to the recorder operation buttons such as “Play” and “Stop”. In the remote controller of the video recorder of Company B, the user cannot guess from the button name, such as pressing the “Home” button.

  A first invention for solving the above problems includes a communication device in which a remote controller performs two-way communication with a television receiver in order to display a program video and an electronic program guide on the remote controller. A remote controller system for receiving program-related information including a broadcast video and an electronic program guide.

  The second invention adds the program list recorded on the video recorder built in the television receiver or the externally connected video recorder to the electronic program guide received and held by the television receiver. This is a remote controller system characterized by seamlessly displaying two program guides on a remote controller.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, when a program being broadcast at the current time on the electronic program guide is selected on the display device of the remote controller, the program is received by the television receiver, and a program belonging to the past time is selected on the display device. In this case, when the recorded program is reproduced and a future program is selected, the remote controller becomes a recording reservation screen or a viewing reservation screen on the screen of the television receiver or the display device of the remote controller. System.

  According to the present invention, when the remote controller is turned on, the television receiver is turned on, the remote controller is also turned on, communication is automatically performed between them, and the electronic program guide is displayed. It is transmitted from the television receiver to the remote controller, and the electronic program guide is displayed on the display device of the remote controller.

  When the user selects a program on the electronic program guide, a command having the selection information is sent from the command generation device of the remote controller to the television receiver, the corresponding program is selected, and necessary processing is performed.

  In the present invention, past programs can be selected on the electronic program guide in the same way as programs currently broadcast.

  The user can move the screen of the remote controller by an operation such as scrolling and can seamlessly display the electronic program guide of the past part.

  As for past programs, the recorded programs are displayed on the electronic program guide, and the reproduction starts when the recorded programs are selected.

  In the operation area of the display device of the remote controller, the function buttons of the recorder, such as stop, pause, fast forward, rewind and playback, are displayed as necessary button icons when necessary as a context menu.

  By scrolling the screen by flicking or the like, the future electronic program guide is displayed on the remote controller, and when a program is selected, the screen switches to a “recording reservation / viewing reservation” screen, and the reservation can be made.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the past, present, and future program viewing and reservation functions that were conventionally distributed to the recorder operation button, channel button, electronic program guide display button, etc., are desired to be viewed from the electronic program guide. It becomes possible to execute with a single operation of selecting.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the screen of the display device at a point in time in the present embodiment. The screen is divided into a main screen that displays an electronic program guide, television video, and the like, an information area that displays various supplementary information, and an operation area that displays context operation buttons.

  When the power switch of the remote controller is turned on, both the television receiver and the remote controller are turned on, and the electronic program guide is automatically transferred from the television receiver to the remote controller and displayed on the screen of the remote controller.

  When the user wants to watch a program being broadcast at the current time, the user selects the program on the electronic program guide on the screen. As a result, a command based on the selection information is sent from the command generator to the television receiver, and the television receiver displays the program.

  The user can scroll the screen of the electronic program guide by a flick operation or the like. In the present embodiment, the screen can be scrolled up, down, left and right by flicking.

  It moves along the time axis in the vertical direction, and moves along the channel in the horizontal direction. When scrolling upward, a past program table that has already been broadcast is displayed.

  When the displayed recorded program is selected by a tap operation or the like, a command corresponding to the information is sent from the command generator to the television receiver, and playback starts.

  When a recorded program is selected, an icon of a button for operating the recorder is displayed in the operation area of the remote controller, and it is possible to stop, pause, fast forward, rewind, etc. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing this state.

  Further, when scrolling downward along the time axis, a future electronic program guide is displayed. When a program is selected by tapping, a context menu of “recording reservation”, “viewing reservation”, and “return” is displayed. If one of them is selected, a corresponding command is generated by the command generator and sent to the television receiver.

"Effect of the embodiment"
As described above, according to the present invention, the TV program viewing operation, which has been complicated so far, can be performed very easily. Program viewing, and recording and viewing reservations for future programs.

"Other embodiments"
The present invention is not limited to a television receiver, and can be directly applied to a recording device having a television tuner such as a Blu-ray recorder or a hard disk recorder.

  The electronic program guide for past programs may be in the same format as the electronic program guide for current and future programs. FIG. 3 shows the embodiment. In short, it is important to display from the electronic program guide of the current program to the past electronic program guide seamlessly, and it is important that the user can use it seamlessly.

    In the embodiment, from the current and future electronic program guide acquired by the tuner and the recording list of past programs, a seamless electronic program guide over the past, present, and future is generated in the television receiver and sent to the remote controller. This processing may be performed in the remote controller when the remote controller receives the electronic program guide and the recording list.

  It is also possible to display the video of the selected program on the display device. FIG. 3 shows the embodiment.

  In short, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  It can be used in equipment equipped with a television tuner such as a terrestrial digital television apparatus and a video recorder.

It is a screen block diagram of the remote controller system concerning this invention. It is a screen at the time of video recording reproduction of the remote controller system concerning the present invention. It is a screen block diagram of other embodiment of the remote controller system concerning this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the remote controller system concerning this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Power switch 102 Main screen 103 Past recorded program list 104 Program currently broadcast 105 Future program 106 Information area 107 Operation area 108-110 Operation button icon 201 Recorded program being played back 202 Operation while playing back a recorded program Area state 301 Past area 302 Recorded program 303 Currently broadcast program 304 Future program 305 Selected program video 401 Control device 402 for controlling the entire remote controller Display video, information, operation commands, etc. Display device 403 Sensor device that senses input from outside 404 Data processing device that processes various information obtained by remote controller 405 Command generation device that generates operation instructions to television receiver Bidirectional communication with television receiver Communication device to perform

Claims (3)

  Display device for displaying TV broadcast video, program related information, operation related information, sensor device for sensing user operation, TV broadcast video, program related information, and user operation obtained from the sensor A data processing device for processing information, a command generating device for generating a command for operating a television receiver, and a communication device for performing bidirectional communication with the television receiver, and video and program related information of television broadcasting from the television receiver Receiving a remote controller system. The remote controller system of claim 1,
A recorded program is created as a past electronic program guide from a list of programs recorded on a TV receiver built-in recording device or an external recorder that has a link function with the TV receiver, and is acquired by the TV receiver. A remote controller system characterized by being displayed in combination with an electronic program guide at the present time. The remote controller system of claim 1,
When a program being broadcast at the current time on the electronic program guide is selected on the display device of the remote controller, the program is received by the television receiver, and a program belonging to the past time is selected on the display device. A remote controller system, wherein when a recorded program is reproduced and a future program is selected, a recording reservation screen or a viewing reservation screen is displayed on the screen of the television receiver or the screen of the remote controller.